Chapter 8

I woke up in a wonderland of delights yet again, a tousled brown head in my face. And aleggy, naked body. That wiggled when I touched it. And the face that turned, sleepy-eyed, to look at me.

"Good mornin', guy," Haley said. "I love you."

"I love you too, little kitten," I said.

She hooked a hand behind my head and pulled me to her lips for a kiss. "Mmmm," she purred afterward.

"I'd love to stay like this, princess, but..."

"Oh, sure. Leave me," she giggled as she let me up to make my bathroom call. Of course, when I turned around, she was standing there nervously.

"I didn't HAVE to until YOU did," she said.

She took the toilet after I finished. I was washing my face when I heard it flush, then a young pair of arms wrapped around my waist.

"What time do we have to leave today?" she asked.

"Checkout time is eleven. Why?"

"'Cuz I think we can go do breakfast, then come back to the room, and that gives us time to play before we have to go."

"You like this..." I turned to face her.

"I love you, Bill. And it ain't about sex. But it's sooo much fun, just to be able to play together and not have to worry about the clock or who might come knock on the door. So we can stay until we have to go, an' then we're gonna be back home, an' we'll STILL love each other, and we'll still be able to get together, but I'll remember THIS weekend for the rest of my life..."

"Then let's go get breakfast, little one, ' I said.

Another round of kisses and caresses and we got dressed. A short jaunt up the road got us in position in front of plates of pancakes. I was sipping my coffee.

"Can I have a sip?" Haley asked.

"Sure. You might not like it. Some people don't."

"Oh, EVERYBODY drinks coffee," she said, taking my mug. She took a sip. Her eyes connected with mine and she smiled. "See!" Another sip. "Good, actually..."

"I make better at home," I said.

"I've smelled yours. Now you have to start making enough for TWO."

The waitress passed by. I snagged her for a second mug of coffee, then sat there regarding my young love's face in the pretty autumn light streaming in the window. We talked happily until the mugs were empty and we refused refills. I paid the ticket and we were on our way back to the room.

She giggled once we got in the elevator. "Just a few more happy hours, baby..."

At ten-thirty, we took a shower and dressed, then checked out. I had a very relaxed, very happy Haley against my side, all the way home.

Two hours later, we reached the house and it wasn't much of a surprise to see that the RV wasn't home at her house. She went to her house, dropped off her overnight bag, then came back to mine.

I stretched out in the recliner with her cuddled in my arms, nuzzling the fragrant softness of her hair.

"Mmmm, baby," she said. "This is how I KNOW we're a normal couple."

"How so?" I asked.

"Because we've made love physically all weekend, and we're still makin' love, just like this..."

"Yes, we are making love, little one," I said. We had the TV on but it only provided background sound for us to gently nap together after we moved to the sofa.

Finally we heard the sound of her folks' return. Our wonderful weekend was over.

As I worked around the house, taking care of the chores that evening, I reflected on how good it felt to have Haley with me all that time. The bed was especially empty that night as I dozed off, and I missed the elbows and knees, and when the alarm went off, I missed the sight of that smiling, tousled head on a pillow next to me.

Monday after work we were back onto the track. She was there waiting when I pulled in. We went over the homework, she working while I showered, then a little bit of happy play where we brought each other to happy orgasm with our mouths.

When It came time to let her out of my arms for her return home, she said, "You know I have that field trip tomorrow. I won't see you unless I come over late. We're not supposed to be picked up at school until after six."

"You have to come over if you can, baby," I said. "I don't wanna think about going twenty-four hours without my Haley."

"I'll figure out something. Maybe I left a book over here." Her eyes sparkled as I kissed her then let her out of the door.

So I wasn't in as big a hurry to get home the next day, but there I was anyway. No Haley. I decided that I needed to keep some appearance of activity that showed that everything I did WASN'T centered around a little fourteen year old brunette. That's why I was sitting in my lounge chair under the tree in the front yard, paperback book in one hand, beer in the other, enjoying the tempered warmth of early autumn in Louisiana.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked up. Marie, Haley's mom, was walking towards me, beer in one hand, Marlboro in the other. "Hey, Bill," she said. "You mind some company for a minute?"

My mind questioned, but my mouth said, "Oh, sure, Marie. Come sit!"

She sat her plump butt down. "Cheap date," she laughed. "Brought my own beer."

"I don't have any of the lite stuff," I said, but if you want a Shiner, I got plenty."

"Nah, this is good. Wanted to talk about Haley, anyways..."

My antennae went up.

"How'd she work out with you an' Deena this weekend?" That was our cover story: Haley was with me and Deena.

"Oh, it was great! We did the museum, the zoo, the mall ... I have as much giggly teen girl as I ever wanted..."

Marie looked at me. "Seriously, Bill, since she started school this year, an' since she hangs out with you so much..." she paused, "An ' Deena, she's just NOT a problem at home."

"Good," I said. "Haley's a good kid..."

"She's better'n a good kid. My sister's got a kid her age that's a hellion. Haley's not. Her daughter's chasing ever'thing with pants. Haley's not." She took the final drag off her cigarette and dropped it into her empty beer can.

"You want one of these?" I asked. "I'm about ready for another one."

"Well, yeah, I guess so," Marie said.

"I'll be right back," I said. I collected our empties and went into the house, returning with two fresh bottles.

She looked at me. "I got to thinkin' about it, Bill. I mean, she's fourteen. She's good in school. REAL good, actually. I never did that good. Never. And every day, when she gets home, she straightens up her room, and then sits there with her backpack, waitin' for you to get home." She sighed. "She likes spending time over at your house, whether Deena's there or not. Same thing on weekends. It's 'Momma, is it okay if Mister Bill takes us to the movie' or 'I'm gonna go with Mister Bill to the store, just to get out of the house..." She looked at me. "Mister Bill is awfully big in my daughter's life."

"Uh ... Marie..."

"Look, Bill. You're a nice guy. All I'm sayin' is that I have a great daughter, and I'm tryin' to figure out why. I'm not exactly Supermom. And with Steve an' Li'l Steve, I guess Haley gets..." Another sigh. "What I'm sayin, Bill, is that when she's with you, y'all could be fuckin' each other silly, an' I STILL get a great daughter out of it..."

I guess that sound of my jaw hitting the ground was audible.

"Oh, I'm not accusing you of that, so don't panic." Her eyes, at least, were laughing. "I'm just sayin' that she's fourteen, and when I was fourteen, I was goin' through boyfriends at about one ever' two weeks, an' Haley's NOT. I mean, I don't see notebooks with boyfriend names written all over 'em, an' the phone ain't ringin' off the wall, none of that." She grinned at me. "I was kind of a slut ... my daughter ain't. She's got her Mister Bill, and she's rock-steady."