Innocent Milf

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The rest of the semester passed both too quickly and too slowly.

Endless hours of reading, writing, and lectures were broken up by Aikido practice and the occasional movie night in our dorm room. Beth usually joined us for these, now. I felt myself smirking at the inversion of being the extra guy alongside a couple. Aaron had told me with great enthusiasm how he and Beth had come back to our dorm room the night of the Halloween party. Since then, I had returned from lecture more than once to find a tie hanging from the doorknob.

Turnabout was fair play, so I always left them to it--I was hardly a voyeur.

Aaron and I alternated movies--Dune,Die Hard, andLast of the Mohicansfor me,Wrath of Khan,Clash of the Bionoids, andLegendfor Aaron. I found myself unable to turn off my literature-analyzing brain as I watched, and started to see even old favorite movies of mine through a different lens. The continuation of Movie Night felt at once familiar and jarringly different. Without Jack and Cary, the experience was missing something.

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, I was looking forward to wrapping up the semester. My AP credits would ensure that I had sophomore standing going into the spring. I only visited Cary once during the long Thanksgiving weekend. And even though we spent most of the time glued to one another and chatting, her kids were home. So I found myself roped into more reading and video games than other activities I might have chosen if Cary and I were alone.

Patrick had decided to move his Nintendo from his dad's house over to Cary's apartment. As a result, he asked more than once for me to sit down and be the second player--he complained that Cary wasn't up to the task. Annie would often sit in-between us and explain the events taking place on-screen. Her narratives rarely had much connection to the actual characters, but her imaginative dialogue and storytelling was fascinating.

"That's the pizza delivery man," Annie announced with seven-year-old certainty as Patrick and I directed Ninja Turtles on the screen to pummel a giant mohawk-sporting warthog. "He was late and now he's a bad guy."

"Future lit major here," I joked to Cary. For her part, Cary glowed with happiness seeing me interacting with her kids, and bustled around the apartment decorating or fixing things up to her satisfaction. I helped make dinner, and the two of us sat snuggled together on the couch watchingSleepless in Seattlelater on after the kids went to bed.

I had thought that I would be bursting at the seams, ready to rip Cary's clothes off as soon as I saw her. I was right. But I also felt a happy, quiet peace just being in her presence, as if I had spent the weeks since Halloween coiled up and her proximity relaxed some inner spring. Her kids were fun and cute--even if they did put a damper on my plans to ravish their mother over the weekend.

My parents were glad to see me for short vacation, although I felt like there was some sort of unspoken fence between us. They joked about my newfound independence at college, and asked how things were going. I told them about Aaron and my classes, and my plan to get at least one class taken care of over the summer at the local community college.

For most of Thanksgiving, they seemed on the verge of saying something, but always drew back. I wondered if they were just having trouble dealing with Empty Nest Syndrome, or whether there was something they wanted to tell me. Maybe Grandma Baker had gotten sick or Uncle Liam had gotten injured. The conversation never happened, and I returned to school to finish things up without incident.

Christmas break came pretty quickly. By the time I had gotten used to the idea of finals, they were already done and one semester of college was behind me. I had to wake Aaron up the morning of his Calculus final because he had stayed up most of the night playing a game he had just installed on his computer calledWarcraft. His panicked dash out the door while pulling on a sweatshirt left me gasping with laughter.

Driving back home gave me a couple of hours to think. As the landscape sped by and I climbed in altitude, I suddenly wondered if my parents had somehow found out about Cary. Wasthatwhy they had been so weird over Thanksgiving? I felt certain Liss hadn't told them. So who?

Eric. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I was certain it was correct.

When I got home, Mom and Dad suggested we go to a restaurant to celebrate my being back home for a little while. Sitting in Bennigans and munching on appetizers, I decided to just break the seal.

"So, what's got you two so agitated?" I asked. "You seemed like you wanted to say something at Thanksgiving, but never got around to it."

"Subtle as a nine-iron," Dad muttered into his drink, without making eye contact.

Mom looked pained, but sat up straight with her hands on the table. "Are you seeing Miss Bernham? Cary? I mean, seeing her romantically. As a couple."

Seeing no reason to play dumb, I nodded. "Yep. We're both very happy."

Dad choked on his drink. Mom went a little pale, but her voice stayed steady. "Just like that, huh?"

I shrugged. "Did you want me to dance around it? Lie about it? I was trying to figure out a way to tell you two, but it never seemed to happen." I blew out a sigh and sat back in my chair, "I should have told you before I left for school. I guess I just didn't want you to worry."

"Worry?" Dad frowned. He was dangerously close to doing his cowboy voice, which meant he was nervous. "What makes you think we'd be worried? That you wouldn't have better sense than to get involved in an ugly, messy divorce? That you're pushing your way into a family with impressionable kids? That the ex-husband is certifiable?"

"Neil." Mom's voice was soft, but firm.

My heart was pounding, but I realized that I wasn't as afraid of this as I had been. Even a few months ago I would have been much more concerned about my parents' disapproval. It looked like college really had made me more independent. Struggling to remember that they were only trying to look out for me, I took a deep breath. "Yeah, all of those, I guess." I laced my fingers and leaned forward, elbows on the table. "It's not like I haven't thought of those things. And others."

"And you still just jumped in, feet first?" Dad continued.

I almost laughed. "You and Jack. He said the same thing." I tilted my head, remembering. "He actually said some pretty rude things. But he's adjusting." Our food arrived, and we all fell quiet except to thank the waiter. If there was one thing that Bakers didn't like, it was making a scene in public. As Dad crunched into his Monte Cristo sandwich, I added, "I thought about a lot of reasons not to be involved, but they didn't come close to overruling the most important thing."

Mom took a sip of her iced tea and looked me over, just as critically as she had when I returned from Ty's graduation party. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I mean, really sure? Cary is a wonderful lady, and it was very nice of her to hang around with you and Jack, but..."

"But?" I popped another friend mushroom into my mouth.

"But she's still nearly old enough to be your mother," Dad said. "And to be quite frank, we want to make sure this isn't a Mrs. Robinson situation."

Thatgot under my skin, and they could both see it. Dad held up his hands placatingly before I could say anything. "All right, I didn't mean to get you all hot under the collar. You seemed to be cool as a cumber just a minute ago."

Mom reached out and put her hand over mine. "Sweetie, we love you. And weareworried about you."

I sighed. A year ago, I would have been angry and maybe even stormed away under a petulant cloud. Today I understood just enough of their concerns to not stay mad at them. So instead of snapping at them, I decided to try reason. "What did you think was going to happen when I went off to college?" I asked.

Mom frowned slightly, but answered. "The same thing that happens to lots of kids when they go to college. You'd take your classes, study, and probably have some fun that we'd rather not know about."

I nodded slowly. "So, you guys thought I would probably have a girlfriend. Or at least date around."

Dad snorted. "The sixties aren't so far away that we've forgotten what college was like," he answered. He gave my mom a sudden sardonic grin. "Grad school, on the other hand, is just a haze." I caught Mom halfway to a grin.

"Why didn't you check up on me, then?" I challenged. "You have my phone number. If the idea of me making bad decisions about relationships worries you so much, why not say anything earlier?"

Mom's eyes narrowed. "This feels like a trap."

I smirked. "Yeah, wellyouraised me. You were supposed to say that you trusted me to make my own decisions and you realized that you couldn't watch over me forever."

Both of my parents crossed their arms almost simultaneously. I laughed, and once they realized what they had done, they started to chuckle as well. Dad finally shook his head slowly. "Outmaneuvered by our own progeny," he groused. "This is what we get for sending him to those advanced classes as a kid."

Mom wasn't ready to let it go, but at least looked less wary. "How serious is this? Are you going to keep seeing her throughout college?" she asked.

I nodded without a second of hesitation. "As far as both of us are concerned, this is a long-term thing." I deliberately ate another mushroom. "Like I said, we're both very happy."

Dad blew out a sigh, and it sounded so much like me--or I sounded so much like him when I did it--that I couldn't restrain a smirk. He saw, and arched an eyebrow. "Don't get all smarmy on us, kiddo. We still think you're making a mistake. But it's your mistake to make."

I asked the question that had been nagging me. "So, who spilled the beans? Was it Eric? Her slimy ex?"

Mom snorted. "Give ussomecredit. You told us yourself in a manner of speaking. It was obvious that you were seeingsomebodyover the summer, and the pieces weren't that hard to put together. Your father and I both wondered about it."

"Really?" I looked back and forth between them. "Like what? What did I do to give it away?"

"Well, for starters, you started bounding up the stairs like an excited puppy every time you knew she was coming over and the doorbell rang," Dad said. "You hadn't done that since you'd gotten dumped by... what was her name? Tammy?"

"Tamara," Mom supplied. "I liked her."

"You like Cary, too," I reminded both of them.

They exchanged a look. "We do," Dad said. "And I guess we'll just leave it at that."

Mom pushed her empty glass to edge of the table to summon a waiter. "Anyway, once Mr. Personality showed up at our house and told us, we had more or less figured it out anyway, and were just waiting for you to come clean."

It took me a moment to realize what she was saying. I found I was making a fist. "He came over to ourhouse?"

"Just after you left for college. He showed up drunk on our driveway and rang the doorbell." Mom looked angry. "He said you were a homewrecker, and trying to break up his happy family."

"I told him to get lost," Dad said. "Or we'd call the cops." He looked over at Mom. "Your mother was already holding your old aluminum Little League baseball bat, ready to knock him into next Sunday."

"Way to go, Mom," I grinned.

Dad rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we got paperwork for a restraining order filed. That way Joyce doesn't have to pull a Reggie Jackson upside his head. But you can see why we're more than a little worried about this."

I sighed. "So it's him again. Not the age?"

Mom's mouth twisted. "I think we'd be lying if we said that age had nothing to do with it. But it's the 90's--lots of things that used to be considered more taboo are becoming less scandalous."

"We're being smart," I assured them. "And trying to take things as they come."

Dad made a dismissive grunt. "I very much doubt that. I was 19 once. Raging hormones."

I laughed out loud. "Ha. Jeez, that's almost exactly what Liss said."

"Is there anything thathasn'tbeen said yet?" Mom asked, slightly nettled.

I thought about it. Everybody seemed so intent on punching holes in this relationship that I felt pretty secure in my position and responses. Finally, I shrugged. "Probably. I'm sure there are some pitfalls we haven't thought of yet. Just likeanyrelationship." A memory surfaced. "I told Instructor Joe--you know, from Bowie knife class--that it really wasn't anybody's business but my own. You guys are sort of an exception, I guess."

"You guess?" Dad waved down a waiter to get Mom's glass refilled. "Thanks for that."

"As far as I know, it's not the norm for friends and family to gather around and try to knock the legs out from under a new relationship," I said. "I don't think you're really trying to do that. But Idothink that everybody feels weirdly entitled to express an opinion about Cary and I that wouldn't be the case if she were nineteen."

My parents looked at each other, as if sharing some psychic communication. Dad sighed. "She isn't. But I hear you." He cast a glance at Mom for confirmation. "Wehear you. We may not totally understand or approve, but I suppose it's not really our place to do that anymore."

"I thought you just said that you like Cary," I said.

"We do." Mom answered hastily. "We just need to come to terms with rearranging our understanding of who she is to our baby boy now." She patted my hand. "Which you will always be to us. You're stuck with it, kiddo."

The rest of dinner was much less eventful. And even though the shadow of my parent's mild worry and disapproval hung over the rest of vacation, I felt like a weight had been lifted.

* * * * *

* * * * *

Cary nearly bowled me over when I arrived to pick her up for lunch at her gallery a few days later. She was radiant and had small spatters of paint on her overalls. Her hair had been pulled back into a messy bun, and strands strayed loose in the winter breeze. Not that 'winter' in Arizona meant much. Her arms wrapped around me and she pressed herself up against me. I could feel the shape of her through my light jacket. I hugged her back, and drew her into a kiss that she had to stand on her tiptoes to continue.

"Hmm. I missed you," she said. "I'm so happy that we get almost a month together." We got into my crappy old Escort, held together at this point mostly by hope and stubbornness. Cary pulled the seatbelt across her chest and grinned at me. "Any plans for the rest of the day?"

"Just hanging out with you," I answered.

Cary smiled. "Coming over after work?"

"Of course. If that's okay. But I thought I could stay and watch you paint, too," I said. "You've heard me play mandolin enough. But I've never gotten to see you while you're actually making your art."

Cary looked suddenly shy. "Um. Really? I mean, if you want. I don't think anybody else at the gallery will mind. It's in the studio in the back anyway." Her smile crept back, bigger. "You always know how to make me feel special."

"I loved watching you finger-paint the rocks on our prehistoric getaway," I said. Cary grinned and blushed as she remembered. I shifted into drive and left the parking lot of her gallery. "And I think that somebody is most themselves when they're doing what they love. So, I get to just seeyou. Unfiltered, real Cary."

She squirmed in her seat. "Hah. Wow. You're making me think about something other than lunch."

My grin was huge and instinctive. "Hey,I'mnot on a schedule."

Cary's hand wandered over to my crotch. "Oh yeah? Big talk for somebody who can't take his hands off the wheel." She gave me a squeeze, and I could feel myself hardening quickly.

"Unh. Seems like you're looking to make some trouble," I grunted, not displeased.

She didn't answer, but slowly unzipped my fly. I raised an eyebrow and risked a glance towards Cary. She was smiling devilishly as her fingers deftly undid the button of my jeans and worked their way into my boxers. I tried to keep a straight face as I cruised down the Main Street while my mischievous girlfriend started to roll her hand up and down my shaft.

We pulled up to a stoplight, and I let out a long breath. Anybody with a cab higher off the ground than a Ford Escort would be able to see exactly what was happening in the car. Cary seemed completely unconcerned with propriety, stroking my stiffening shaft with increasing urgency. I looked at her for a moment. "Hey, if I lose it all over my pants, we're going to have to do drive-through, 'cause I'm not walking into the diner like that."

A gleam entered Cary's eye. As the light turned green, she punched the red button on the seatbelt to release it. I barely had time to gasp "What--?!" before she had leaned over my arm as it worked the stick shift and took me into her mouth. Cary had given me blowjobs before, but nothing like this. The situation had me both slightly alarmed and aroused.

I struggled to keep the wheel steady as my heartbeat soared. Cary bobbed up and down, the bun of her hair bobbing back and forth, and her loose strands waving like a headbanger's hair. She was breathing hard through her nose with exertion, and I suddenly found myself wondering how many people could see what was happening on our way to the diner.

"Hey," I said, voice strained. "You gotta--I'm gonna--"

Cary increased her rate, and I shuddered, trying and mostly failing to keep my attention on the road. I managed to keep moving more or less straight down the street as I felt myself jerk. I emptied into Cary's mouth, and she made a muffled sound. She stayed down, tongue swirling around the tip. I stroked her hair with one hand and she sat up.

I turned a disbelieving stare on her as we hit another red light. Cary gulped and traced her forefinger around her lips. I couldn't stop staring at her--both in adoration and shock. "Wow. Whoa. I can't believe you just did that."

A high-pitched giggle escaped Cary. "I can't either. I've never done anything like that. Ever."

I struggled to zip myself up with one hand before the light turned. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. But what on Earth possessed you?"

She shrugged, seemed somewhat mystified herself. "I... I just really wanted to do something for you. And I was feeling competitive."

"Competitive?" I groped for her hand to hold as we drove the last leg of the trip to the diner.

Cary's expression grew distant, and she didn't say anything else until we walked into the diner. I glanced back and forth, sure that everybody could tell what we had just been up to. Cary disappeared immediately into the restroom and emerged shortly after with a big grin. She snuggled into the seat beside me and laid her head on my shoulder.

"Is everything okay?" I asked after we ordered our drinks. "Has Lori been picking away at the idea of our relationship again? Or is Eric..."

"Let's not talk about him," Cary said. "He's determined to be nasty about this. At least he's mostly taking it out on me, and not the kids. I think he reallymayhave hired a private eye. How he can afford to do that is beyond me." She nuzzled up against me and pretended to read the menu. "I'm just... a little insecure about things right now."

"You don't have anything to be insecure about," I said firmly. Then, giving her a playful pinch, I added, "Although if giving me special attention like that makes you feel less insecure, I'm totally fine to help build your self-esteem."

Cary chuckled. "Um. Well, I wouldn't expect thatallthe time. One of my girlfriends told me about doing that once, and I thought that there was no way it would work out in real life."