Chapter 3

The parking lot was almost full, including her aunt's car. We walked right in and sat down at the table with them.

"Appetizers are on the way," Jenny said. "Hi!"

Laci added her chirpy "Hi!" I noted that she didn't look "butch" this evening. Neither of them was particularly feminine-looking, but then again, my jeans-clad Kim fit right in.

Laci noted, "You two look like a couple of bookends."

"Yeah. Isn't it NEAT? And I didn't tell 'im what to wear, either. It just happened!"

And so we had a good meal, conversing about Kim's day, my new car, Kim driving my new car, the music thing, the computer.

"Yeah," Jenny pointed out... "That was the "We're in the bedroom hookin' up" comment."

Kim giggled. "He's making his second bedroom into an office. He's got a really BIG..." and she pulled the same evil grin on her aunt, this time in person. "printer."

Laci laughed. "That's disgusting..."

"It's FUNNY!" chirped Kim.

Laci didn't let up. "So Tim, you're walking into this place with a teenaged girl wrapped around your arm and somebody you know from work happens to see you..."

"Then," I said, "they think either of two things. The ones with the clean minds will think "There's Tim with his niece." The ones with the dirty minds will say "Way to go, Tim!" And me? I don't care." And I recalled that yes, when we walked in; Kim was indeed wrapped around my arm. Since she'd spent the majority of the time we were walking together in the exact same configuration, I hadn't given it a lot of thought.

Kim just smiled. "I'm just being friendly, that's all."

Jenny dropped the bomb, though. "I thought ya'll made a nice couple."

I chose to push that statement to the back of my mind.

Jenny kept on. "Tim, what do you have planned for the rest of the evening?"

"Plans? I don't have plans. I was going to go to my new home and go to sleep in front of the TV. Why?"

"Well," Jenny said, "If you want to join us, we can go to our house and play Trivial Pursuit. We can always stand some fresh meat."

I was thinking, "Ah, Trivial Pursuit. The game my sister refuses to play with me any more." But I said, "I haven't played that in YEARS."

The check came and I tossed a gold card at it over protests from Jenny and Laci. "No, I was going to pay for Kim anyway. It's no big deal."

"You're setting women's lib back a decade..." Laci said.

"'Women' has nothing to do with it. You ever see a bunch of guys eat together? Fistfights erupt over who GETS to pay. But if I've offended, you can slip me a twenty..."

"I'm not THAT offended," Laci laughed.

"Let's go," Jenny said. We got up to leave and I paid attention this time as Kim wrapped her arm around mine. We had to unhitch to get past the crowd at the exit, and when we got outside, I decided to just experiment. I put my arm around her waist. She COULD have pulled away. Really. She could have. But that's not what she did. What she did was step closer to me and swing her hips to bump mine, and then smile at me.

We got in the car. Kim spoke first. "Why'd you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" I played dumb.

"Put your arm around me ... walking out."

"Because YOU'VE been putting your arm in mine. And I thought it just might be pleasant to have my arm around a pretty girl."

"Oh."

I looked sideways at her as we navigated out to the street. There was a smug expression on her face. So I assumed that I had not offended.

"Just so you know, this 'pretty girl' is used to winning at Trivial Pursuit. Aunt Jenny has 'Kimberly Rules', you know..."

"I don't know. What's 'Kimberly Rules'?"

"Don't act like I told you, but the only way I can get them to let me play is spot 'em each a couple of pieces for a head start." She was grinning.

"That's nice to know. My sister didn't think of 'Timothy Rules'. They just stopped playing with me."

Giggle. "Then THIS is gonna be fun. Just play along like you don't know anything. I don't know if they'll try Kimberly Rules with you being new and all."

It was a good thing that all the hot chocolate mugs were empty by the time it was readily apparent that Kim wasn't pulling punches, and neither was I. Each of us had completed all the categories while Jenny still needed two and Laci three. And I won the game ONLY because I answered the end of game question before Kim got maneuvered to the final spot.

Jenny and Laci expressed friendly outrage. Kim was giggling. "You beat me. I haven't been beat in a fair game since Aunt Jenny bought the stupid thing."

Laci said, "Hmmpphh! Engineer. I should've known better."

"I'm sorry, guys," I said. "Next time I'll spot you some pieces." I smirked.

"Like we do to Kim? Kimberly Rules?"

Kim giggled. "I told 'im already. But I thought I'd beat HIM, too!"

Jenny tittered, "Little Miss Kimberly has met her match."

"Nuh-uh," I said. "I'm forty. She's sixteen. Imagine how she'll be with twenty more years..."

Laci said, "She won't live that long. Somebody'll kill 'er in the first Trivial Pursuit slaying on record."

I sat on the sofa, falling back into the cushions. "Mmmmm. This feels good. The floor was killing me." And Kim slid in beside me. And surprising me, Jenny slid in on the other side. Now this was a normal sized sofa, made for three. Laci taking her place between Jenny and the other end of the sofa had us all cozy. My arms were trapped between me and the two women, so I did the natural thing and pulled them free and put them on the back of the sofa. Kim took this as her cue to snuggle in against me. That was less of a surprise than her next move, which was to take the hand of that arm and pull it down over her shoulder, wrapping it around her. And the surprise ratcheted up a notch when Jenny's hand went inside my leg, ostensibly to pull herself closer to me to better fit Laci into the group.

I glanced at Jenny. Jenny's eyes met mine. "Oops," she said. "I didn't mean to grope Kim's guy."

"You groped MY guy?" Kim squealed. "Aunt Jenny!"

Jenny was reaching for the TV remote. "It was an accident." She snickered. "That's an outie. I prefer innies. But I fear that we are overloading Tim's senses."

"Yeah, something like that." I said. "I haven't sat with this many pretty ladies in a long time. Like never."

"Silver words'll get you nowhere, buddy boy," Laci laughed.

And Kim put the cap on it. "Besides, Aunt Jenny, he's mine. I've got dibs." And when I turned to look at her, she smiled sweetly. She patted my hand, whispering theatrically. "I'm just saving you from ravenous females."

I looked at my watch. After eleven. "Well, ladies, I think it's time I go save myself. It has been a delightful evening with you all." I turned to sweet, pretty Kim. "And especially you, Miss Kim."

I got up, expecting to let myself out. Kim bounced up immediately, taking my hand, and then Jenny and Laci got up too. I led the gang to the door. "I can find the door, ladies," I said.

Laci laughed, "Yah hear that, Jen? He still calls us ladies."

Jenny smiled. "You can call us ladies, Tim. We're glad you joined us. But next time you get to play by Kimberly Rules. Just so you know."

And I was surprised to have Kim throw arms around my neck and kiss me lightly on the lips. "Thank you for sharing your day with me, Tim." And another kiss. "Tomorrow?"

"Sure, sweetie," I caught myself saying. "But after nine, okay?"

"Okay. G'nite, babe!"

I don't remember walking home.

I lay in bed after the shower and the shave and while I was drifting asleep, it was appearing that I'd acquired a teenaged girlfriend. An unusual teenaged girlfriend.

Sleep came. Good sleep. Really good sleep, because I awoke to a ringing, buzzing commotion as my cellphone tried jitterbugging at the end of its charger cable. I blinked my eyes, trying to clear then as I reached around to grab the phone. The clock said 09:00. The phone brought me a smile, because it had a number I didn't recognize and when I answered, the voice coming out was sweet and teenaged and sounded very much like Kim.

"Hi, babe," she said. "Did I wake you up?"

"Uh-huh," I said. "But I usually don't sleep this late anyway."

"I set my alarm for nine," she said. "And when it went off, I called you. If you come over, we're doin' breakfast here. Bacon and eggs and hash browns."

"Who's cooking that?" I asked.

"We all are," Kim answered. "Aunt Jenny's a pretty good cook. Me and Laci, we're helpin'."

"They said that I was invited?"

"Yeah. I won't tell you what else they said." Giggle.

"What else did they say?"

"Ummm, oh well, they said that I shouldn't HAVE to call. I should just roll over and slap you on the butt."

"Uh..."

"Yeah, that's kinda what I said. Are you comin' over?"

"Yeah. I'll be there. In a few minutes. I need to get dressed."

Brightly, she answered. "'Kay, babe. See ya in a minute."

I hoped that weekend morning informal dress would work. I pulled on a pair of khaki shorts (belted, of course. Engineer, you know.) a colored, pocketed (that makes it formal) t-shirt, and shoes with athletic socks. Five minutes later I was let in the door by Kim in a nightshirt and ushered into the dining room. "Sit!" she said.

Jenny's head and shoulder appeared in the kitchen door. "How do you like your eggs?" She was wearing a football jersey. I couldn't see what was on the bottom half.

"Over easy works fine."

"Coffee?" came Laci's voice.

"God, yes," I said. "Two sugars. One cream."

Laci came in with a tray. "Do I look like a waitress?" The tray held mugs of steaming coffee and a sugar bowl and little pitcher of cream.

I looked. She was wearing a nightshirt, long t-shirt looking thing that ended at the thigh. It did little to hide some rounded curves and a nice pair of titties that despite the absence of a bra, were NOT sagging. In the back of my mind I was entertaining the thought that she was actually attractive. I took the offered tray and doctored my coffee to my taste. I was savoring caffeinated vapor and sipping when Kim sat a plate of food in front of me and sat down beside me with her own plate.

Jenny appeared with plates for herself and Laci. Jenny's football jersey was all she had on too, and hers ended slightly below the cheeks of her ass. I breathed deeply. At least she had panties on.

Kim looked at me. Yes, there were two other women in the room, women who, had it not been for them being lesbian, I would have, well, they WERE still attractive. But I had eyes for Kim. Only.

Kim smiled. "I forgot your orange juice."

"I'm okay, Kim," I said.

"Nope. I'll be right back." She came back with four glasses and a carton of juice. She sat back down, poured her and me each a cup and scooted her chair closer as we ate breakfast together. We finished together and as I sat back, I felt her hand pat my bare knee under the table. I couldn't let this go unacknowledged. I reached under the table and squeezed her fingers. She smiled at me.

We found out that four was entirely too many for the small kitchen of these apartments. Jenny and Kim shooed me out. I thanked them for breakfast and went back to my own apartment. Twenty minutes later there was the doorbell. I opened it, expecting Kim. It wasn't Kim. It was Jenny.

"Oh, hi," I said. "Come in."

"Tim, I don't have long, Laci's waiting on me, and Kim's taking her shower. We need to talk."

"We? About what?"

"Not what," she said, "who. Kim."

"Okay. You've got my attention." I was all ears.

She drew a breath. "Things are strange in my life right now. Laci an' me, well, we'd be living together, but she's worried about what it shows Kim. But that's not the half of it."

"No?"

"No. Kim's never been one to go on about guys. She's been on two, maybe three dates since she moved in with me. And then YOU come along. It's like somebody hit her in the head with a hammer. Tim, don't take this wrong, but she's thunderstruck. I've heard of it. I might even believe it, you know, 'love at first sight' but maybe it's fairy tale stuff, too, but you need to know..."

"How do you know this?" I asked.

"Every time she's been with me the last two days it's been "Tim this" and "Tim that" and "He's so nice. Don't you think he's nice?"

"Look, Jenny. I just met her and you two days ago. I didn't do anything to encourage her. She's the neatest girl her age I've ever met. Make that ANY age. She's a dream for a geek like me. But I'm over twenty years older than her. I just thought I was somebody interesting to her, somebody to break the routine."

"So you're saying 'no way'? I mean, if she..."

"Oh, I'd love to think it was possible. She's smarter than smart, and funny and mature and ... Do you see how ... I ... sound?" I don't know what I was trying to say.

"So you would... ?"

"Hurt her? Never!"

"But what if she looks at you and says, 'Tim, I love you... ' Then what, Tim?"

"Then I have a very delicate balance to walk, because I've already had my heart ripped out by one woman."

"Don't you hurt my Kim, boy. She needs love. Not to be used. To be LOVED. I sound like I'm trying to convince you..." Jenny's face told me volumes.

"No, Jen," I said. "I was teetering on the edge. I fear I may have just been pushed over."

"Good. Be good to her. I know where you live."

"Yeah, okay. Can Laci be the best man at our wedding?"

"Oh, shit, Tim! Wait'll I tell her you said that." Jenny left. I walked back to my recliner. Sat. I hadn't felt anything like that since I walked off the plane after Iraq.

The doorbell rang again. I opened it, knowing that this one was Kim. It was. "Okay, babe, what do YOU have in mind today?"

"D'ya have a problem with a ride around the countryside. A park maybe. Pretty day. Nature and all that?" She looked at me, those blue eyes expectant above the freckles punctuating her cheeks.

I couldn't help but smile. "A brilliant idea. Let me grab some stuff."

"Uh, what kind of stuff?" She eyed me.

"Babe!" I said. "New car. Nothing in it. We need to have a FEW things. Tools and such. AND, with the prospect of sitting in a park somewhere, perhaps a blanket to protect tender heinies from the immediate contact with nature..."

Giggle. "You ARE an engineer."

"Yeah. Let's see ... I walked up the hall and retrieved an old blanket. "Here's a blanket that'll work. We can get the trouble bag out of the truck. I'll buy the stuff to equip another one this week. Let's go, punkin..."

"Punkin?" she squealed. "is that a good thing?"

"Everybody loves punkins, babe. Even forty year old engineers."

Hands wrapped around my biceps as we walked out. When I got back from the truck with the trouble bag, Kim was sitting in the driver seat, smiling. "You don't mind if I drive, do you?"

"To the gas station," I said. "I have a voucher from the dealer for a tank of gas. And then I drive."

"Oooo-kay..." she feigned a pout. "I never have any fun..."

"Little girl, your life is ALL fun right now. Wait'll you get into college..."

And off we went. At the gas station, I filled us up, then we drove off with me in the driver seat. She reached over the console and took my hand. At the stoplight I looked at her face. That perfect, loving face. 'Loving?'

"Uh, Tim..." Little voice. "you don't mind talking to me, do you?"

"Nope, Kim, you're the easiest person in the world to talk to. These last two days have been an absolute blast."

"With me?"

"With you. I wish I was eighteen again. You'd be on my list for sure."

Her expression got a bit grim. "But since I'm sixteen, and you're forty, I'm a non-person..." her eyes lost the gleam.

I sucked in a sharp breath as the light changed. "Not exactly, Kim. Twenty-four years is a lot of age difference. But there are things that I found out about you in the last two days that make you so much ... but twenty-four years..."

Kim took control. "Tim Duncan. I am an honors student in high school. I have a 4.0 average in math, and that includes trig and calculus. I think I can tell you the difference between sixteen and forty-one. It's twenty-five. And I could've been a NUN for all I cared about boys in high school. The smart ones. The cool ones. The nerds. The geeks. The jocks. I didn't care. I even dated. A few times. D'you know what it's like being a female and going out with a guy and you want to talk about things like the space station or current events and you find out that what your chosen partner for the evening has in mind is a little exploration of your body? Or "babe, I know where there's a party, and they got beer an' weed..."? And that's what passes for MY social life? I even went on a weekend with a church group. Separate buses for the boys and the girls. And you should've heard the stories the girls were tellin' each other. A church group! And ... I ... was the ONLY virgin in the bunch."

I listened, driving.

"And so here I am, living with my lesbian aunt, the one person in my life who treats me like family, and I've got most of the teachers in school looking upon me favorably, and life is just a little bit better, and then YOU walk into my life. It's like somebody whanged me in the head with a cast iron skillet."

She crossed her arms. Her bottom lip was stuck out. Not pouting. Determined. She continued. "It's like "Blam!" and a little voice said, "Kimberly, now that we have your undivided attention, that guy over there, HE'S the ONE.", and I am wondering what exactly that takes..."

"What what takes?" I asked.

"Getting it through your terribly intelligent but apparently clueless skull."

"I think you're doing a pretty good job of it right now."

The smile came back. A little, anyway.

"Okay," I said. "My turn."

The smile waned. "I'm listening."

And a voice in my head, Jenny's saying "Don't you hurt my Kim." With that in mind, I asked, "You're in advanced placement classes, right?"

"Yes," she said, cautiously.

"Then you know about terms like forever and infinity and stuff like that."

A cautious nod.

"Well, let me tell you, Miss Kimberly Elkins, I once loved a woman and stood in front of friends and family and declared that love, forever, just like she did. 'Forever' didn't mean the same to her that it did to me. That like to have killed me. For real. Had it not been for some of the friends and family, I would not have made it. As it was, I did. And when I tried to replace what was missing, I was treated very shabbily, used, by women who wanted something when they offered little in return." I heaved in a breath. "So, Miss Kimberly, what does LOVE mean to you? And I KNOW you know what forever is."

Serious-faced Kim looked at me. "Don't you think that didn't cross my mind? When I graduate from college, I will be twenty and you will be forty-five. Under present day actuarial figures (WHAT??? I was playing with a sixteen year old girl who knew "actuarial"?), you're pretty much assured, being in good health, of living until you're eighty, and a bit more. Using that math that you accuse me of knowing, I think we will have forty good years together. Now, Mister Engineer, wouldn't you rather have forty good years with the person you love than forty years without them? I thought real love wasn't about physical things like looks ... and age."

I couldn't help the smile. "Is this the way that it's always going to be?"

"Is WHAT the way?"

"You being right all the time."

"Always?" she beamed.

"You're not the only one who can get struck by lightning. Or a cast iron skillet."

Her eyes brightened. "So do you..."

"Love you? Yes, Kimberly Elkins. I love you."

"I love you too, Tim," the words rushed out. She pulled my hand to her lips and kissed it.

"Now what, little love?" I asked.

"We had a day planned, didn't we? She smiled. "Let's do it."

"So it shall be," I said. Oh, there was still turmoil in my head. But there was a big spot of thought that was settled. And very happy. Looking at a smile I would come to know and savor, apparently so was Kim. My Kim.

We did drive through the countryside, autumn in the Deep South being different than up north, and a riverside park provided us a place to spread that blanket out.

I did the spreading. Kim knelt in the middle of it, and for the first time, I could really LOOK at her without feelings of guilt or worry that she'd see me looking longer than was acceptable. Her face turned toward me. A zephyr blew a wisp of hair across her face and she shook it back in place with a toss of her head, leaving her bangs in delicious disarray. Her blue eyes. The slight smile on her lips. Trusting. She extended her hand.

"Here. Beside me." She said it with serious tone. I complied.

She got close to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. The little kiss last night? Today's was better. Softer, tentative, yet. She sighed. And kissed, we kissed again. I barely parted my lips and brushed my tongue across her lips. Her lips parted and the tip of her tongue met mine. For the first time. Her lips pressed harder and her tongue explored. Finally we broke, with us sighing in duet.

"Tim," she said, "I hope I don't disappoint you, but that was my first real kiss. With a grown-up guy. For real. Not little kids."

"It was the absolute most wonderful kiss I have ever had, Kim."

"No, you don't have to say that, Tim. I know you've been with other women. More experienced and all that."

"No, baby, YOU need to understand. You kissed because YOU wanted to kiss ME, not because you were just with somebody and you were expected to kiss. And I didn't think that there was a snowball's chance in hell that I'd ever get a kiss like that again in my life. No, Kimberly, your kiss is my rebirth."