Chapter 5: The Fireman Returns

It wasn't long after our impromptu session in the kitchen that something happened to make me think once again that we really were not the same as we once were. Diane is a very lovely woman in her own right. Only five-foot-two, but attractive without being truly beautiful. She was curvaceous without being plump. Her generous breasts had retained their shape even after three children, while her slightly rounded stomach was the only change from when we were first married. Her brown, curly hair had always been cut short and never seemed to be out of place.

I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world when she consented to marry me. I wasn't looking for some beauty queen, but Diane was closer to that image than any woman I was ever likely to date, much less marry. Her parents seemed reasonably satisfied that I was a decent guy and would treat their only daughter properly. Three children later they were sure of it.

My parents thought the sun rose and set on Diane. I'm sure my father had the occasional lustful thoughts, while mother rejoiced in finding a daughter she would never otherwise have. I was an only child. So, from our parents' point of view, we were a good match.

Diane was very traditional when it came to sex. She was a virgin when we married despite my best efforts to put an end to that situation. She was determined and I wasn't about to ruin the best chance I was ever going to have at capturing a truly desirable wife. I remembered many lustful looks from guys when we were at the beach in the summer and she was wearing her favorite "look what I've got" bikini. I was proud but nervous at the same time.

When we married, that first night wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't great either. I came so quickly that I'd barely broken her hymen when it was over. I made a quick recovery, but not until we had changed beds to avoid the bloody mess we had made. It kind of took the romance out of the evening.

The next day ... the next morning in fact ... things improved dramatically. Diane made it clear that she enjoyed sex and was going be looking to me to provide her with appropriate satisfaction. In other words: "Get it up, keep it up, and make it happen." I had a steep learning curve ahead of me. You see, I too was a virgin on our wedding night. Yes, I know, that's not what most twenty-two-year-old men would admit to. I'd spent two years with Diane before we married and I had done almost everything with her short of actual intercourse. But, she was worth the wait.

She was very patient with me, realizing of course that I was a beginner just like she was. She never complained, but I knew I had responsibilities and I was trying everything to meet them. When the two of us had gone as long as we had without experiencing sex, it was inevitable that we would try and make up for lost time. Certainly Diane did. She wasn't particularly interested in anything other than conventional sex, but until I could demonstrate some mastery of that simple act, I could hardly complain. She did enjoy my getting her ready with oral sex, but she was very reluctant to return the favor.

When she was in the mood, which was often in our early married life, she would play a little word game with me called "fireman." It was simple enough. She would tell me that she needed to call the fire department to put out a fire and I was the fireman who would arrive with the hose to do the job. It was fun and a way for us to add a little something to our sex life.

But the fun had faded away when the children came along. It wasn't that we stopped making love. It was the day-to-day struggle to look after the kids, go to work, pay the bills and then, if we were lucky, have a few minutes to ourselves. And then, over time, I let myself go and became a lot less attractive to her. I had no one to blame but myself. Only a near-fatal accident had altered the situation.

Now, despite the pressure on Diane, something seemed to have changed her in the past year. The children were still there and just as demanding of her time. The new career she had chosen was just beginning to pay off and took a lot of her energies as well. Add to it the fact that I wasn't there to assist in any way. She had to do it by herself. When I gave that some thought, I realized I hadn't been very much help when I was there, so maybe she didn't really notice my absence.

Before I decided to take the driving course, I was running small errands for Diane. It would allow her to concentrate on her work and I could be her gofer at the grocery store or deliver packages of information if they were urgent. I was happy to do it. It gave me a feeling of usefulness while I waited to see if I had a future as a bus driver.

Diane's house had a single car garage attached to the mud room near the kitchen. I was parking my Subaru on the driveway and using the front door to enter the house. One sunny mid-week morning I arrived back at the house from running an errand for her and when I stepped up to the front door I noticed a sign on it. Fire Department Entrance. It didn't twig on me at the time, but I stepped in and went to the kitchen to find Diane. She wasn't there.

I headed down the hall since she did much of her work in the master bedroom at a desk that she had placed along the wall near the window. Since the door to the bedroom was closed, I tapped lightly before entering so that I wouldn't surprise her. The surprise was on me.

Diane was lying on the bed, naked, with a little paper sign on her belly. As I approached her, I could see the writing. Fire Hazard. The light went on at that point. Better late than never.

"Your fire department at your service, ma'am," I grinned wolfishly.

"You aren't dressed like a fireman," she said in her sultriest voice.

"Allow me to rectify that," I said as I began to remove my clothes.

Diane had two of those little self-adhesive red bows that you get at Christmas for wrapped presents stuck to her breasts, covering the nipples. She had another larger bow much lower down. It was quite a creative display and it got the response from me that she was hoping for.

I didn't take long to get naked. "Mind if I unwrap my presents?" I asked.

"Do the big one first," she groaned, now anticipating how I would begin.

I got another surprise when I gently removed the big bow to discover she had shaved much of her pubic hair off, leaving only a neatly trimmed segment above my intended target.