I was on I-57, two hours south of Chicago, the city where I had started. I wished I hadn't, started that is. My watch said it was only four in the afternoon, but the clouds and the blowing snow made it appear much, much later. The going seemed to be getting worse.

My vehicle was the only reason I even considered to stay on the road, that and the fact I had promised my folks in Florida that I would be there for Christmas day dinner.

My vehicle was a late model Dodge crew cab, turbocharged, Cummins diesel dually with four wheel drive and a manual transmission. Back in the cap covered bed I carried a half ton of bagged sand for added weight. As long as I could see, I could stay on the road and keep going without too much trouble. And, I didn't drive over forty miles an hour and often much more slowly as conditions warranted.

I'd stopped counting the number of cars in the ditch in both the north bound and south bound lanes as well as those in the median--at least when I could see them. Drivers just wouldn't slow down and they paid for it. Any number of them zoomed by me in the passing lane and I found some of them a ways down the road, in the ditch.

Much, much later, I finally made it to Marion, Illinois where I pulled off the Interstate for fuel. A drive that normally would take no more than five hours and usually less, hat taken nine and a half hours this time in the snow storm

I needed a break from the tension of driving under such poor conditions as much as my truck needed fuel. Fueling completed, I pulled the truck over to the parking area and struggled through the blowing snow to the truck stop restaurant.

An empty stool at the counter beside two obvious truckers was my target. Maybe they knew something of I-24 through Tennessee and I-75 south from Chattanooga. I ordered a hot sandwich and coffee.

I looked to the two truckers on my right and said, "My name's Bruce and I'm headed for I-24 and then south on I-75. Do you know anything about conditions on those roads?"

The trucker nearest to me answered, "My moniker's 'Droopy.' Road conditions thata way aren't the best but I hear they's a lots better than the ones north from here."

"Yes, the drive from Chicago to here was about twice the normal amount of driving time."

"That's what Jeb and me heard."

"You guys team drivers or solos?"

"Weun's a team on a reefer. Goin' where you come from, Chi-town."

"Good luck. Myself, I'm headed for North Fort Myers, Florida. Christmas with the parents and all that."

"Well, you all will like to run out of the snow somewheres between Chantenoogy and 'Lanta."

"Much obliged," I said as I laid down a tip and rose from my seat. "I got a feeling the state will shut down I-57 before much longer. It's really bad, and getting worse."

"Thanks, sonny, weuns might just spend a little Z time in the sleeper while this blows over."

I walked off to the cashier and then back out to my truck. I had left the diesel run with the wipers running and defroster on high, so my windshield was clear and the side windows only a bit slushy. Unlocking, I climbed into the cab and headed back out for the Interstate.

The run across I-24 was interesting, but not as bad as the run down I-57. It only took me half again as long to reach Chattanooga as usual instead of the nearly twice as long on the trip to Marion.

About an hour or more north of Chattanooga, I got flagged down by a figure waving franticly by the side of the Interstate. The figure was holding a wrapped up bundle in its other arm. A small car was nearly buried in the roadside ditch behind the figure. The snow was swirling so hard at that particular moment, I almost ran the person down.

I managed to get the truck stopped and the figure dashed for me. I rolled my window down as the figure reached my door. From the depths of that heavy, hooded parka and muffler wrapped face, I heard a female voice come out of a teeth chattering mouth.

"Oh God, mister, I'm so glad you stopped. I've been standing out here nearly fifteen minutes since my car ran out of gas and no one would stop. I was about to freeze to death. My baby can't take much more of this."

"Well, we can't have that now, can we. You'd better go around the front of the truck where there is some light and get in here out of this weather."

"Oh thank you so much."

"You'd better hand that baby in to me first; then hang onto the truck to get to the passenger door.

She picked her way carefully around the truck, steadying herself on the truck with her free hand. She got the passenger door open and climbed in, slipping on the first step, but then making it.

After she reclaimed the baby, she exclaimed, "Oh shit, I forgot my bag with the baby's things in it in my rush to get to you."

"Just sit here in the warmth and I'll go back and get it for you,"

"Thanks," she chattered, "I'm so stiff with cold I can hardly move."

I pulled my parka over my head, tied it shut, pulled on my gloves, and climbed our into the snow storm. It took me a bit to find the bag as it was a ways back and the blowing snow had almost buried it already. But I did eventually find it and then made my way back to my truck.

"Damn, but it is cold out there. How's the baby"

"Apparently, none the worse for the experience. She was wrapped up well and was quite snug and warm. I was so scared she wouldn't be."

I got on the road and moving again without getting hit.

"Where were you headed before you went off the road?"

"I was headed for my mothers place in North Fort Myers. My boyfriend left me a week after the baby was born. He just walked out and said he wouldn't be back."

"How old is she now?"

"Tracy is six weeks old now. By the way, my name's Samantha. But everyone just calls me, Sam. Howd ja do?"

"My name's Bruce and I do quite well although I'd do much better if I could get out of this snow pretty soon."

"Yeah, ain't that the truth. Listen, Tracy has started crying yet, but it's way past her feeding time. Do you mind if I feed her?"

"Not at all."

"I mean, I have to breast feed her."

"Still no problem. That's the best way. I have all I can handle driving this truck in this storm without leering at you breast feeding. You can go ahead and feed her."

"Thanks."

Samantha proceeded to wiggle out of her parka and open her blouse. She wasn't wearing a bra, so the baby had easy access to the nipple. Yes, I had looked long enough to see that much and to determine that Sam had very significant set of mammaries. Then I turned my attention back to the road and didn't look their way again until Sam moved enough to rebutton her blouse.

When she got that done and picked Tracy up off her lap, I said, "Those back seats are already folded down and you can crawl back there and lay down on the resulting flat surface and snuggle with Tracy if you want to snooze a bit. You'll have to crawl over the center console, but it shouldn't be too hard for you. I'm going to pack it in at Chattanooga and get a room. I've been on the road from Chicago and can't go much further without some rest. It isn't such a good idea to be without seat belts, especially under these conditions, but I'll try not to get into an accident. Chattanooga isn't much further anyway."

"That sounds good to me, Bruce."

Samantha must have dozed off because I never heard a peep except for her regular breathing until we hit the lights of Chattanooga.

I called back to Samantha, "Hey Sam, wake up, you need to get into a seat belt here in town."

She woke from what she said was only a doze and crawled back up front. We had to drive around for a while to find a motel with any room at all, but we finally found one with only one room left, a room with only one king size bed. I grabbed it.

"I'll go back out to the truck and get our stuff. You go ahead to the room."

"Ok."

I noted what the room number was while we registered. I trudged back out into the storm to gather my overnight bag and the bag for baby Tracy. I carried it all back down and into the first floor room. A soft knock from me and the door opened instantly. With a big grin, Samantha let me in. It was then I noticed that she was likely in her mid twenties. I, on the other hand, was thirty-five.

"Samantha..."

"Please," she interrupted me, "just call me Sam."

"Sam, you and Tracy take the bed; I'll go back down to the desk clerk and get some extra bedding and sleep on the floor."

"The hell you will! There's no way I'm going to let you sleep on the floor. You need more rest than that will give you. You've been a perfect gentleman and if I know people, I don't think that's going to change."

"Ok, I'm too damned tired to argue. You use the bathroom first. While you do that, I'll call the desk clerk and see if I can get a crib for Tracy."

"Ok."

I managed to snare the last available crib. The desk clerk brought it to the door in just a few minutes. Sam had left the baby in the middle of the bed in my care. I opened the made up crib and put Tracy in it. She never blinked an eye. She was deep asleep.

Sam didn't take long in the bathroom.

"Your turn, Bruce."

She had showered and I climbed into the still warm stall and had a hot shower of my own. I put on a clean pair of boxers and went back out.

Only a small lamp by the bed was on. Sam was in bed snuggled neck deep in the warm covers. I sat on the bed, doffed my shorts and slid under the covers. Sam noticed but never said a word. She just doused the light and we both fell into an exhausted sleep.

I woke to a semi-dark room. Sam was dressed.

"Well, hello sleepy head."

"Hi. Jeeze, is it ever going to get light?"

"It's almost night again. You've nearly slept the clock around."

"God, I knew I was tired, but I didn't think it was that bad."

"You looked so sweet sleeping there that I'd not the heart to wake you. You needed the rest. I even got up to feed and change the baby and you never stirred. Since I've nothing but the clothes on my back, I slept naked just like you. You never made a move on me. You were dead out."

"Like I said, I was tired."

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one."

"Anybody for food?" I asked. "I'm starved."

Tracy whimpered and Sam said, "I've got to feed Tracy first and then I'm all for some food."

This time I watched as Sam again unashamedly bared both breasts and fed the baby. It wasn't sexy or erotic, just a natural, warm mother/baby relationship. When the baby had enough, Sam stood, breasts still bared, and gave Tracy to me.

"Would you burp her and hold her for me while I wash up 'the table'?"

"Sure."

I was no stranger to holding babies as my wife and I had raised twin girls and I mean the both of us. I changed diapers, bathed them, and held them at length. I loved kids, especially babies.

Tracy burped right off and I cuddled her to sleep within seconds after that. Sam came out to find me quietly droning meaningless words to Tracy.

"That's quite a picture. You look quite happy and natural holding a baby."

"I just love babies and holding them."

"Tell me more, but over some food, please."

So, we wrapped up the sleeping Tracy and ourselves and trudged out to the nearby Bob Evans restaurant for some badly needed sustenance.

Over our food and numerous cups of coffee, we told each other about ourselves. I went first. Normally, I tended to be on the reticent side, but since I felt quite at ease in Sam's presence, my story tumbled easily from my lips.

"My wife and I were married at seventeen, right out of high school. She got pregnant on prom night, but we had been together since our freshman year. We had identical twin girls. The twins were just shy of thirteen when we lost one in a car accident."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. What happened, if it isn't too painful for you to talk about it."

"No, it was five years ago and I'm over the worst of it now. Life does go on. To answer your question, my daughter had been riding with a friend with the mother of the friend the driver. A semi truck ran a red light and broadsided them into a telephone poll. All three of them died instantly."

"That's awful."

"Yes, my wife never really got over that. She had some health concerns, one fairly serious, but the death of our daughter caused her to just give up. She died mostly from a broken heart."

"What happened to your other daughter?"

"Judy is a freshman at Vassar. She lives with my sister for the time being, but I don't think that will last too much longer. She wants to be on her own like most any other college kid."

"So what have you done for the last five years, Bruce?"

Sam was by now holding one of my hands in both of hers. I didn't offer to withdraw it and she didn't seem inclined to let go.

"I've a good executive job in Chicago as a business manager consultant to which I devoted most of my time, like sixteen hours a day, since the accident and my wife's death. So much so, that I've just about burned myself out. As a result, I readily accepted the invitation of my folks for Christmas dinner in North Fort Myers. That by the way, is where I'm headed."

"Oh. What about women friends?"

"Because of the time I devoted to my job and my lingering feelings for my wife, I've essentially locked any female companionship out of my life the past five years."

"My God, that must be almost as bad as your tragic losses."

"I've really not had much time to think about it. It's been either work or sleep."

"I don't see how you could stand it."

"It's been a difficult time. So, what's your story?"

Sam finally did let go of my hand as she began to tell her story.

"Oh, I grew up on a farm in rural Macomb, Illinois. I graduated at seventeen and pregnant. I lost the baby in a miscarriage at three months. The father was an ass and fled rather than face his responsibilities. I worked minimum wage jobs and dated over the next six years."

"You didn't try to go on to college?"

"No. In the first place, there was no money to do that. In the second place, my parents split up two years after I graduated and Dad took off. But he'd already disowned me and kicked me out because of the pregnancy, the hypocrite.

"Why do you say that, Sam?"

"Because he fathered me when Mother was not quite sixteen and I was born nine months after that birthday. They didn't get married until a year after that."

Mom picked up and moved to Florida to lead her own singles life. She didn't want me along to hamper that lifestyle. The only thing left for me was to get a job with only a high school diploma."

"So, what about the last two years?"

"I met this guy. He seemed like a dream come true. That didn't last long. He moved in with me fairly quickly. He didn't want to work. It was nearly impossible to support us both on my low income. He was physically abusive and that got intolerable once he found out I got pregnant again."

"I'll never understand a man like that. I'll wager he never understood or appreciated a woman like you."

Sam blushed, but beamed at my compliment.

"Especially such a beautiful woman."

That brought an even deeper blush.

"So then what happened?"

"As I told you when you picked me up, after the baby was born, he just took off, but not before he gave me one more bad beating."

"You're heading for you mother's place you said?"?

"Yes, I've always know where she was. As I said, she ended up in Florida sometime after she split with dad. She said I could stay now for a while, but I had to find a place of my own pretty quick like."

"Since we're both headed for essentially the same place, may I offer you and Tracy a ride the rest of the way?"

"Yes," she said very softly.

"What about your car?" As tired as I was at the time, I'd nearly forgot about that.

"It was registered to my boyfriend. My name's not associated with the car in any way. It's not in the best of shape, so he left it as well as me. Let the authorities track him down."

"If they can't track him down," I replied, "either the state or the towing company will sell it at auction. Either way, I guess you're clear of it. Didn't you leave personal belongings in it?"

"Yeah, but none of the stuff I left is traceable to me."

"I told the desk clerk when I phoned him about getting the crib for Tracy that we might keep the room a second night. The snow is letting up some, but I'd like one more night of rest and hope it quits by morning. I've got two more days before Christmas dinner with the folks. We'll probably even have time to get you some more clothes to wear. Ok?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Tracy had been sleeping soundly on the padded bench seat next to her mother through all of this. But she woke and indicated she was hungry again and probably needed changing as well. Sam bent down and picked her up. I paid the bill and we all suited up for the trek back to the room across the side street from the restaurant.

We stopped at the desk and I paid for a second night. When we got back to the room and peeled out of our cold weather gear, tracy opened her blouse again and sat in a chair to feed Tracy. Once more, I watched in contentment as Tracy emptied first one breast and then the other. She was indeed a hungry little girl. Sam smiled at the baby and me the whole time Tracy fed.

With a smile, Sam handed Tracy to me once more and she left for the bathroom to wash "The Table" again. Tracy suddenly emitted quite a disagreeable odor. I promptly set about changing her. When Sam returned, she looked on in surprise.

"You're changing her?"

"Remember, Sam? My wife and I raised twin girls. I'm quite comfortable not only holding a baby, but also changing one or even feeding one--with a bottle of course."

"Of course," Sam giggled.

Her blouse was still open. She took Tracy when I completed changing her and tucked her into the crib. Then Sam turned and walked back to me. Her tits had the cutest little bobble as she did so.

Sam slipped her arms around my neck and crushed her bare breasts into me. Her rigid nipples nearly drilling into me. She looked up at me and puckered her lips. I can take a hint. I leaned down and kissed her. That kiss went on, and on, and...

We finally broke the kiss, which had turned into a wet French type session, and just looked into each other's eyes.

"I think I'm falling for you," whispered Sam. "You're such a kind and gentle man. Not once have you put pressure on me or tried to make a pass at me, even with naked breasts while feeding Tracy. I feel completely at ease with you, dressed or naked."