Chapter 48

Cindy's Turn-

Hi! I'm Cindy! Dan's been telling our story for a while. He's doing pretty good, I think, but I think I want to take a shot at it. So here we go. I hope you like it.

Like he was saying before, Friday was the day we both went to the doctor. It was a week after our really horrible night, but we're on OUR way back. We went to the doctor. Of course Dan drove. I think that's one thing that I find most aggravating: I can't drive. I'm fourteen. I can fly. On our last trip to Louisiana, Dan let me do the whole thing, from origin to destination, start to stop, communications and all. But I can't get THAT license, and I can't get a stupid driver's license. So Dan drives. Of course, with HIM driving, that means I get to snuggle against him.

So we're at the doctor. He looked at me first. He says I'm in good shape as far as healing. I don't have any infection and my wounds are just scratches, really. Doctor Granelo says that I can lose the bandages when the scabs start falling off on their own.

I watched him examine Dan. Dan's shoulder was kind of like mine, scabbed over. Dan's leg, well, it was still off-color, but a shotgun pellet went in under the skin and came back out. It's a good thing that doofus was loaded with goose loads. If that had been a buckshot, Dan would still be hurting bad.

My baby's butt ... You have to know I LOVE Dan's butt. He's pretty muscular, not one of those grotesque weight-lifter guys, just not fat. And I love feeling his butt. That one cheek, though, well it's healing, but that was his worst wound. The doctor says Dan needs to come back next week.

He told Dan that he seems to have a pretty good handle on bandaging and wound care.

"I have a darned good nurse," Dan told him.

"Turnabout is fair play. He changed my bandages. I changed his," I said.

"You both do good work," he said. "No infections. Looking good." He told me, "Just keep doing what you're doing. And make him come back in a week, okay."

"Yessir! I'll get him here." I will. I'm taking care of the thing I love most in the world.

When we left the doctor's office, we went out to the project. You just have no idea how I feel about going out there. The first time I went there, six or seven months ago, it was a huge mess. Now it's all clean. Noisy, too, and most of the people that used to wave at me are gone on to other construction jobs somewhere else, but I feel like I have roots in that project.

Mizz Sara was happy to see me. EVERYBODY knows about our incident, mainly because I made the phone calls after it happened, and Dan had already been back to work, so they knew most of the details, but when I showed up, they fussed over me. Dan brought me into a new world, you know. People treat me like a person. I know that I'm like a daughter or a little sister or niece. Or like Mister Bill, Dan's old boss. I was Mister Bill's grand-daughter, he said.

One of the guys that's running the plant told me he wished his daughter would have half of my ambition about those things. I told him, "Mister Ray, I appreciate that. All you can do is love her and give her places to choose a path and then help her along it."

I don't know. That's something about me and Dan. It's eerie. We just sort of clicked together, like two magnets. He always talked to me like I was a PERSON. Mom and none of her friends ever did that. Mizz Helen always did. And then there was Dan! Before I met him, I thought an engineer was the guy at the front of the train. Dan told me what engineers do. And when I saw him in HIS element, I KNEW what I wanted to do.

So we visited my project. MY project. One of the supervisors took me to the new control room and spent some time showing me what was going on. It was neat, because when he said 'boiler feedwater pump', I actually KNEW where that pump was, and which motor control center it came from. I told him that, and I honestly think it shocked him.

"You pay attention, don't you?" he said.

"Yes, I do, Mister Lee. Three different engineers showed me that pump during construction."

Mister Lee caught one of the operators walking by. "Brian, do YOU know where #1 pump feeds from?" The guy shook his head. Mister Lee laughed. "She does. Pack your stuff. She's replacing you!"

I knew he was kidding, and so did the operator. But it's neat that we can laugh about it.

We went through the maintenance shop and I saw Mizz Sara's husband, Mister Johnny. He's got his own office there. I know Mizz Sara's happy about that. We get a chance to talk when I help her with her filing in the office.

When we got back to the big office, Dan was there with Mister Jerry. He's an engineer too. Dan's working for Jerry right now. Jerry, as far as I'm concerned, is an excellent replacement for Mister Bill. Treats me like I'm his daughter, even though I'm married to Dan.

When I got there, Mister Jerry was telling Dan that it was okay for just go home and come in Monday.

"Thank you, Mister Jerry," I said.

"That's okay, darlin'," he answered. "I know it's been a crazy week for you and Dan."

"It sure has," I replied.

Dan and I walked out to his truck and got inside.

"I guess we'll go see Helen at the park, huh?" he asked.

"I guess," I answered. I snuggled against him and held his right arm as soon as he got straightened out on the highway. And I leaned my head on his shoulder. Secure. Dan makes me feel secure. This guy got shot trying to protect me and my house. I like to think that most couples are that way about each other. But I KNOW Dan is.

He asked why I just giggled. I told him, "Because every time I play with your butt, it's gonna remind me that you defended me."

"Not gonna let somebody hurt my Cindy," he said. He touched my knee, and then his hand went on the inside of my thigh. That makes me quiver. I think he knows it.

We got out of the truck at the office in the RV park. I wish our trailer was there. then we'd be home, with a whole afternoon to ourselves.

Mizz Helen was at the same place she always was, in the park office, and she smiled when we walked in.

"Hi, Mizz Helen," I said.

She always seems to be able to smile for me. Even back when I was living with Mom. Maybe more then, really, because until Dan came along, Mizz Helen was more of a mom than my own was.

"How'd the doctor visits go?"

"He said we're doin' good," I said. I explained about the bandages. "Dan's gotta go back next week, but I'm done."

Dan said something about how it had been an interesting week.

Mizz Helen looked at him funny. "Dan, you and your wife got shot. You killed two guys. And you flew to Louisiana and back, THEN went to work. You know how to make a week interesting."

I giggled. I always thought Mizz Helen was smart, and to hear her talk, that confirmed it. And she's what Dan calls 'good people.' Like Mister Charlie.

"We're getting back to normal," I said.

Dan hugged me a little. That's another thing. Ever since we got married and he won't go to jail for touching me, he touches me and I touch him. It's like we're confirming that each other is real. He keeps telling me that it's like a dream.

He said, " Like there's EVER been anything normal about us."

That remark got Helen to laughing. "You know, I'm too close to y'all. I'm used to you two. I can only imagine how it looks to other folks."

My turn to chuckle. "Dan's the one the catches all the flack for that. But we have soooo many friends who treat us like we're normal. Or something like it, anyway."

We all talked for a little while and then Dan pushed me out the door. We were headed to Mizz Helen's house. It was nice of her to give us a place to stay. We were fortunate. Mizz Helen and Mister Charley took care of us so well after the incident. Mister Charlie's house, well, I told Tina that it was like 'Tara' in "Gone with the Wind". I was only exaggerating a little bit. They all did their best to make us at home, and it was exactly what we needed, but now I want Dan and I want privacy.

I'd really like to have our little trailer back. But Dan says they told him MAYBE next Friday. I can't wait. When I moved in with Dan, that was the first time in my life, well, at least since I was old enough to pay attention to such things, that I felt safe and cared for. It was little, but I've been living in a travel trailer with Mom for years, and the size didn't bother me a bit. It was me and my guy. US! And that made it home.

Mizz Helen's house, as nice as it was, and as nice as it was for her to let us stay there, it just wasn't OUR home. I think Dan understands this. But we both appreciate the idea that we'll be in a place with a little more privacy. Seriously, when we ... Well, sometimes we get a little noisy. Me more than Dan. But we DO! I have plans, you know.

Dan looked at me while we were driving to Mizz Helen's house. "You're thinking about something, little redhead," he said.

Pet names. Dan has a million of 'em. And I love every one. He looks at me and I can see that he loves me. And when he talks to me, I can hear it in his voice and the words he uses. Dan's the smartest guy I know, and with Mister Charlie as my adopted grand-dad, and Mister Bill and Mister Jerry, I know some SMART guys, but Dan, he's the top of the list. So I know that he chooses his words. And he chooses ones that make me happy.

He caught me smiling again while I was thinking that. "Okay," he laughed, "NOW what are you thinking?"

"Just that you started calling me names like that the first time we went out to eat together."

"That's because you were this impossibly cute little girl that should have reasons to smile," he said. "After Mizz Helen told me your circumstances, I thought that at least I could do what I could to make you happy." He squeezed my knee.

"And, sir," I picked, "exactly when did that include marrying me?" I liked talking about the evolution of our life together. Makes me appreciate it all that much more, you know.

"The night of the thunderstorm. And no, it was BEFORE you jumped in my bed."

I saw those blue eyes of his and THEY were smiling. I didn't trap this guy at all. He was meant for me as much as I'm meant for him.

"But what could I do?" he continued. "You were thirteen." He sighed. "I guess you lived more than a lot of women twice your age, though. God, I love you, Cindy!"

And that's why I hate seatbelts. My guy needed a kiss right then. Oh, well. We all have to deal with adversity.

It wasn't too long before we pulled into the driveway of our temporary home. We went inside and soon as I was in the door, I locked it behind me and captured Dan from behind.

"Wow, sweetness," he said. "You make me feel good when you do that."

I had my arms around his waist and was holding him as hard as I could. Sometimes I wish we could just melt together. I let him go so he could turn around, and as soon as he did, I gave him that kiss that I'd been keeping since the drive over. I love kissing. Dan's the ONLY guy I ever really kissed, and when we kiss, my toes actually curl. And if we're standing, he HAS to hold me, because sometimes my knees get weak.

When we stopped that kiss, I took him by the hand and dragged him towards the sofa. No, NOT the bed. Yet.

Dan knows me. He laid back on the sofa and spread his arms. That's my place: In his arms. He likes it. I like it. I can tell he likes it, because he gets so hard, soooo fast!

"I'm not hurting you, am I, baby?" I asked him. I didn't need to ask. His eyes didn't say anything about hurt. I learned to read Dan's eyes a long time ago.

His lips kissing mine answered my question. I don't want to think about how passionate Dan might have been before he met me. I know he was married, and I know he almost got married after his first wife died, so I know he had sex with other women. All I know about sex was what I heard from Mom and her boyfriends making noise at the other end of our old trailer.

But here's Dan, and honestly, if it was any more intense, I fear I might burn out my brain. I actually pass out sometimes when he makes me come, because I wake up and he's holding me in his arms, kissing me softly, the way he does sometimes. Mizz Ann asked me one time if I was happy about 'our relations'. Mizz Ann is sooo refined and genteel. But she asked me. And I told her that if it was any better, I'd just DIE. Mizz Ann smiled.

So her I am, laying on top of the guy who is the ONLY man I will ever make love with, and his hands are roaming over me, loving me, touching me, and causing quivers all through my body. My own hands, this time, I was holding his head. Dan still keeps his hair, like, Army short, just like Mister Jim. It's not stylish, but Dan's 'style' is something he IS, not something he looks like, and I love feeling his hair, bristly on the sides, soft on top where it's a little longer, and I know that even if we weren't tangled up together, he purrs when I caress his head.

I pulled away from his lips and kissed him on the nose. "Baby," I said, "Why don't we go to the bedroom? Hmmm?" Ummm, he's SOOOO obvious!

He's still got a little limp in his walk, what with that chunk missing from his butt and the hole in his calf, but he was right there with me. He went to one side of the bed and I went to the other and we pulled the covers back. Mizz Helen has excellent tastes in mattresses. This one is perfect. It's even better when you crawl across it naked and find the love of your life meeting you in the middle in a similar condition.

Dan likes my titties. I'm glad. They're not very big, even in the eighth grade. I used to worry. I stopped worrying. I mean, he does things to 'em that ... Well, he can play with 'em for a while and then all he has to do is TOUCH my button and I come my brains out. Of course, I can do the same thing to him. IF I do his LEFT nipple. It's funny. The right one is not nearly as sensitive.

So we're in the middle of the bed, on our knees together, and I'm wrapping one arm around him and the other one is kind of between us because I know he's hard and I like feeling him and our mouths are together and we're playing little games with our tongues and it's really magical. And I know what I want. Right NOW!

I pulled Dan back on top of me and I spread my legs so he's between them and he knows what I want because I'm wet and he's leaky and I don't stop kissing him and I feel his hard thingie slide down from between us, over my muffin, and then it's between my lips and I sort of work my butt a little and the head of that THING just pushes its way into me and we're MATED! This is the part where I leave this universe!

Dan is so perfect. He says that it's not him, it's US, we're perfect together, but I can feel him inside me and everything is just so unbelievably good, and if I wiggle just a little bit I can rub my button on him every time he pushes into me and then I wrap my legs around his and make SURE that he hits ME every time he pushes and I know it's our first one today but I've been thinking about it and he's been just being Dan and now ... it starts with little tingles and gets bigger and bigger and my universe shrinks to just THAT part and BANG!BANG!BANG! and he reads me and I'm coming and I feel my Dan coming because it's hot and and it's squirting deep in me and he's throbbing and he can't push those long strokes any more, just little short ones and that's just fine with me because they just tickle my button to keep me coming ... Ahhhhhhh!