CHAPTER 12

The cookout was great. I’d told Robert to bring his family around two so as expected Dad pulled his SUV into the driveway just after one. I helped him carry the extra chairs into the back yard as Mom and my mother-in-law carried their coleslaw and potato salads into the kitchen. They had enough to feed a small army. I knew it would be a special day.

Jennie had told me last night just as I was falling asleep that she wanted to start the day with a bang. She did, setting the alarm for seven, leading me straight to the shower, then back into the bed for some of the most incredible sex of our lives. She pinned me to the bed—not really, I was much bigger and stronger than she was—and licked her way around my chest and abdomen en route to my cock which by then was hard enough to hurt. Only when she thought I could take no more did she sit on me, slowly lowering herself down my pole. Jennie’s head was up and her back was arched as her face clearly showed her ecstasy. Jennie rode me slowly for several minutes until neither of us could take any more. I drove into her fiercely as she ground her clit into my abdomen. We came together, Jennie with a long feral scream that ended only when we were both sated and too exhausted to even move.

“Now that’s the way to start the day!” All I could do was groan until I looked at the clock, lifted Jennie and hustled her back to the shower. We enjoyed a quick breakfast before cleaning the house and setting up the deck for the party. We had the world famous potato salad and coleslaw along with my hand-made burgers and a huge package of Nathan’s hot dogs from Costco.

The real star of the day was Heidi who loved playing with Ted’s kids. Robert’s family arrived first and they were tentative with her, especially Robert’s daughter Sandra, nine, who was obviously terrified. I kneeled in front of her, one hand on Heidi’s collar and whispered, “Sandy, you should never show an animal that you’re afraid. Be confident and she’ll respect that.”

“I’m afraid she’ll bite me.”

“She won’t…I promise. She only bit that man because he hurt Jennie. Now…all you need to do is hold your hand out and let her sniff you. Okay? I’ll hold her by the collar.” She nodded and I moved aside. Holding Heidi’s collar with one hand and her wrist gently with the other I slowly brought the two together. Heidi sniffed as I told her, “Heidi…protect.” She looked at me then sniffed again, finally licking Sandy’s hand. I knew Sandy was okay when she laughed. Then I repeated the process with Robbie, Robert’s son, Anne, his wife, and Robert.

They were still a little reluctant, but when Joseph and Gretchen arrived that changed in a heartbeat. Joseph went straight to the garage for Heidi’s Frisbee. They played for almost an hour until I made them stop so Heidi could have a drink and rest.

“It’s hard to believe that’s the dog that almost killed Alcott.” Robert and I were seated in a pair of folding chairs under a big maple with Heidi enjoying a long drink at our feet. The kids were in the garage washing their hands and arms in my sink as Joseph and Gretchen had done at least a dozen times over the past few months.

“She’s like Jekyll and Hyde. She’s the perfect family dog. She loves us and we love her. She only turns on her Hyde persona when instructed to by one of us although she reacted to Jennie’s scream. I will admit we had a few scares when Heidi was new to us. Jennie can be a screamer. Once Heidi was sure that both of us were okay she was back to her family pet mode. Now she just ignores us. Heidi!” She came to us at a trot. I petted her, scratched her chest and stuck my arm into her mouth, holding it there for a minute. “Tells you something, doesn’t it? She’s only dangerous to outsiders. Want to try?”

“No thanks, Tim—she doesn’t know me well enough.”

“Maybe not…but I do and that’s what counts. She takes her cues from Jennie and me. When the baby comes she’ll take care of it, too.” Later, after dinner, Robert and Anne asked me to contact Karl Kline on their behalf. They went to meet with him the following weekend, returning home $6,000 poorer, but with their new pet, Cara—Heidi’s sister who had been specially trained to deal with children.

Robert walked into my office almost two weeks later to give me an update. “You wouldn’t believe the change in Sandy. She’s taken Cara under her wing. She showed Cara around the yard and set up Cara’s bed in her room. It seems that she was being bullied by a couple of boys in the neighborhood. She asked Anne to have Cara sit in the front yard to wait for her yesterday. Anne had just told her to sit and stay when she took off like a shot. The boys had pushed Sandy to the sidewalk, spilling her books. Cara stood over her, growling at the two boys until Sandy told her to back off.” He laughed. “I doubt they’ll do that again. Sandy told me they were terrified. She insists on taking Cara for a walk every afternoon and feeding her after we eat. If I had known what a change a dog would make in her I would have bought one years ago.” We shared a laugh and returned to work.

Simon Alcott unfortunately survived his twelve-hour surgery and the skin grafts from his thigh and was transferred to the Suffolk County Jail three weeks later. By then he had amassed more than five hundred charges, mostly involving fraud and larceny related to his dozens of major building projects, but also nine allegations of forcible rape and sexual assault from his interactions with Jennie. He was also sued by virtually every customer he’d had over the past twenty years. Unfortunately, he failed to survive his first week in jail. About ten days before his transfer a deadly accident in the public housing projects in the South Bronx took the lives of sixteen people including that of Alexandra Suarez, eight years old, when the steel staircase suddenly collapsed. Alcorp had been the contractor. The steel was found to be not ten percent below spec, but twenty.

Alexandra was the shining light in her brother’s life. Pepe vowed revenge and, as the leader of the area’s most powerful Hispanic gang, he had plenty of contacts in the jail. Simon had been there only four days when he “tripped,” breaking his nose. The following night a fight broke out in the shower. When the room was cleared by the guards a body lay at the opposite end of the room, his head bashed in and his windpipe crushed—injuries that virtually exactly matched those incurred by Alexandra. I was one of many—I was sure—who was glad to see the bastard dead, especially because Jennie would never have to testify in court.

I was sure that everything would get back to normal now—whatever that was. Jennie’s pregnancy was, thankfully, mostly uneventful with the exception of about a dozen incidences of morning sickness. She was just entering her eighth month when Claire called me on the intercom. “Mr. Healey, you have a visitor, but she won’t give me her name.”

“That’s odd,” I thought, but I walked immediately to my office door, putting on my best “client smile.” I stepped into the doorway, “Good afternoon, I’m Tim Healey…how may I help you?”

“By going into your office, if that’s acceptable,” the sixty-something woman replied. She was short, with long brown hair tied up into a tight bun, brown eyes, and what I thought was expensive makeup.

“Of course.“ I stepped aside and, with a wave of my arm, showed her in.

“Please close the door. My words are for your ears only.” I did, but not knowing who or why or what, I turned on my portable digital recorder. I showed her to a chair in front of my desk as I retreated behind it.

She waited a few seconds before beginning. “I know you ratted out my husband.”

“I’m sorry? Perhaps if I knew who you are I’d know what I’m accused of.”

“I’m Suzanne Alcott—Simon’s wife.”

“Oh,” I commented neutrally. “I’d say I was sorry for your loss under other circumstances, but I’m not. If anyone deserved to die it was your husband.”

“I must agree. You see, I sent the information to you in the hope you’d expose him. I must say you exceeded even my high expectations. Simon was a serial cheat; he cheated at everything—life as well as business. Would you believe that he actually bragged about forcing your poor wife to have sex with him? The son of a bitch even showed me pictures on his phone. They were most lurid and disgusting. He bragged about how he coerced her and even how he had made her cry every time. When he wasn’t bragging about that it was how he had cheated on this project or that.”

“I am sorry. No woman should have to take that kind of treatment.”

“I didn’t, did I? I got even by exposing him. You were an excellent agent for my vengeance…even better than I had hoped.”

“What’s going to happen to you financially? Are you going to survive all the lawsuits and fines?”

“Oh, yes; you see I have my own money—an inheritance from my grandparents. I never relied on Simon for money. Actually, it was the other way around. He was loving and attentive when we were first married then his business took off and work became his life and his wife. I had my share of lovers, maybe more than my share, but I had the decency to keep my mouth closed and my affairs private. I’ll want you as my accountant. It’s good to know I’m dealing with an honest man for a change. Simon insisted we use some friend of his and I strongly suspect he took advantage. I have an appointment with Mr. Reinhardt in fifteen minutes. I intend to tell him how impressed I am with you. I will insist on you handling my account personally.”

“I don’t know if we can do that, but we do have an outstanding accounting staff.”

“I assure you that Mr. Reinhardt will agree. You’ll manage my entire portfolio—more than one hundred million dollars. Thank you for meeting with me about my account. The other thing will remain our secret.”

“Yes, I’m sure it will.” We rose and I walked around the desk to shake her hand. I escorted her up in the elevator to Robert’s office.

The following morning I had another performance review. It was confirmed then that I would manage Mrs. Alcott’s funds and I’d receive an additional $40,000 salary due to the extra work. Actually, Robert and I both understood all too clearly that I’d pass along an equivalent amount of work to my staff, but that was left unsaid. Once I had absorbed that news Robert gave me the bombshell. “I want to discuss your bonus for the year.”

I was suddenly nervous, but I almost pissed my pants ten seconds later. “What do you think is our biggest division, Tim?”

“Um…if I had to guess I’d say either stocks or mutual funds. I know we get a five percent commission on every purchase and sale.”

“Not even close; we have a dozen sales personnel and four secretaries in stocks and fewer than that in mutual funds. How many do you have?”

“Thirty-seven accountants, nine pool secretaries, Gayle, her secretary, and Claire, but a lot of our fees are small.”

“That’s true, but your division earns a profit of more than five million a year. It’s the backbone of the business and all of us in management know it. It’s my practice to give ten percent of the division’s profit as the VP’s bonus. You’ll receive a check for $523,000 less taxes a week from Friday. Nice going, Tim; you earned it.” He clapped me on the back, rose and shook my hand enthusiastically. “Thanks, too, for your help with our dog. That couldn’t have worked out better.” I returned to my office in shock.

I had barely sat my butt in my chair when my private line rang. “Tim Healey,” I said as I answered.

“Hi, baby…busy?”

“No, but I have some news. I got another raise today and I learned about my bonus, too. We need to celebrate. You up to going out to dinner tonight?”

“I don’t know, Tim. I’m feeling a bit odd. The baby’s been kicking all day and my back is killing me.”

“Are you okay? Need me to come home?”

“No, but I do miss you. I’d say more, but your folks are here for a short visit.” I couldn’t hold back a chuckle. Both my parents knew, as did her mom, how often we made love. We’d never seen any reason to hide that part of our love for each other.

“Would they like to join us?”

“I don’t know how I’ll be feeling, so maybe another time. I’ll tell them about your good news. See you soon, darling.” I told her how much I loved her and we ended the call. I was surprised to see Jed, the bonds division VP in my doorway.

“Damn, Tim—I wish I had someone I loved as much as you love Jennie.”

“It’s just luck, Jed. I was in the right place at the right time.”

“I suspect it’s a bit more than that. I heard you met in high school. That true?”

“Yes…we’ve been together ever since. I couldn’t be happier. You know she’s expecting in less than a month?”

“I heard…congratulations. I stopped by to ask you about Mrs. Alcott’s account; any idea what you’re going to recommend?”

“Not yet; I have to speak with her about her goals. I don’t even know what she currently has in the portfolio. Don’t worry…I won’t forget you.” Jed thanked me and left me to my work. I had a lot to do if I wanted to dig into her portfolio in the morning.

I finished up just after five, driving straight home to Jennie. I found her seated eyes closed and half asleep on the couch, her swollen belly all but covering her lap. Leaning down I kissed her lips then, pulling up her blouse, I planted another kiss on her abdomen. “Hi, darling; why don’t you tell me about your day. You sounded so excited on the phone. Did you get a good raise? I know nothing about bonuses so….”

Sitting next to her I kissed her cheek. “I don’t know how you can put up with me. I’m such a failure.”

“Ooh, it must have been a good raise.” She turned to kiss me passionately—a prelude to our upcoming sex which was now either oral or manual or a combination of the two.

“Ummm, do you think forty thousand is good?”

“Really? Forty thousand? That’s wonderful!”

“Yes, and—believe it or not–I have Mrs. Alcott to thank for it. Did I mention that she stopped in to see me yesterday afternoon? She’s the one who sent me all that incriminating information. It seems that Simon bragged about forcing you into sex with him, showed her pictures he’d taken with his phone, and everything. His entire life was apparently one cheating episode after another. Oh, yeah—I got 523 for my bonus.”

“Five hundred and twenty-three dollars?”

“No, my beautiful mother-to-be—five hundred and twenty-three thousand;” Jennie took one look at me and fainted dead away. I needed a wet wash cloth from the lavatory to revive her. I kissed her cheek and then her lips as soon as she opened her eyes.

“I’m so glad I married a failure like you, Tim.”

“Me, too; I love you, Jennie…more than I could ever tell you. Would you like me to massage your back or rub your feet?”

“That would be great, but first I need your cock and…since I can’t take it in either of my preferred holes I need to suck you off. You can do me with your hand.”

She kissed me as she reclined on the couch. We’d done this several times every day for the past week. I stood and removed my suit, shirt, and underwear while Jennie shimmied out of her slacks and panties. Then I kneeled in front of the couch. Jennie’s mouth was at just the right height for my cock, but first I leaned down for a long searing kiss as my left hand found her milk-swollen breast and my right her tender pussy.

Jennie broke the kiss to take me into her mouth. I hardened in an instant as I teased her nipples and began my exploration of her moist hot cunt. I began at her labia, running my hand over her smooth naked skin. We’d both kept our groins hairless, shaving each other in the shower twice a week. Jennie responded immediately by groaning into my hard cock. In only a minute we were lost in each other—Jennie sucking me mightily and me fucking her tight tunnel with my slender finger. I felt I was getting close so I bent around her belly to take her clit between my teeth. She came as hard as ever, shaking and trembling on the couch even as she sucked me dry. I covered her mouth with mine as soon as she released my cock. We kissed for five or more minutes until I broke it to ask, “How about that back rub?”

I moved first to her feet. Kissing and sucking each toe I moved my thumbs around the soles and heels of her feet. I knew she loved this and her groans showed her appreciation. I stopped after roughly fifteen minutes and Jennie rolled over.

She had trouble lying on her stomach until I pushed some throw pillows under her chest and thighs. Then I began her massage. The extra weight of the baby on her slender body caused her terrible problems with her back. Beginning just above her ass I began the massage using the heels of my hands and my thumbs, moving them in small circles on both sides of her spine, I made my way up to her shoulders and back down again, finishing by gently kissing each of her firm ass cheeks. “Surely, you don’t expect me to cook after that.”

“No, I don’t. I want you to relax and take it easy. Why don’t I call for a pizza?”

“I can’t eat pizza. Remember? I’ll have a tossed salad with chicken breast and low fat Italian dressing. You can have the small pie. Is that okay?” It was and, after just one more sensational kiss I rose to make the call, remembering at the last instant to pull my pants up my legs and hips and to slip my shirt over my shoulders. Jennie replaced her clothes not a minute before the delivery.

This became our routine over the next ten days except those times when we were invited to her mom’s or my parents’ homes for dinner. On most of those days Jennie and Heidi had been driven there mid-afternoon. We were both only children so I knew how much our parents were concerned for Jennie’s welfare.

I phoned Mrs. Alcott the following morning at ten. I began by asking if I had phoned too early. “What time do you start work, Tim?”

“Our official time is nine, but I’m almost always here by 8:30, Mrs. Alcott.”

“I’m always up before that so you can call me anytime you’re at work and I insist you call me Suzanne. I’m calling you Tim so it seems only fair you do the same.” After agreeing I asked about her risk tolerance and her expectations for the portfolio. I was assured I would receive everything by noon. Thanking her, I ended the call and handled some routine tasks while waiting for the delivery. It came at 11:45.

I set the folders on my table as I opened my sandwich. What I saw was enough to give me indigestion, but to be sure I asked Jed and Stephan, the VP for stocks to join me. They shared my distress. We met together all afternoon to restructure the Alcott portfolio. I phoned her just before five to ask if she could join me tomorrow morning.

I began as soon as she was seated at my table. “You were right to have concerns about your investments, Suzanne. About two-thirds are fine—not great, but okay. The rest is nothing but garbage. For example, you have ten million in Greek industrial stocks. I’m sure you know that their economy is in the toilet. You’ve lost almost five million on them alone.” I continued to describe almost another twenty million we thought was useless. Stephan and Jed joined us around 9:30 as we mapped out our strategy for her. She left at noon; Jed and Stephan placed their sell and buy orders that afternoon. The records showed that Suzanne’s portfolio had earned an average of 1.6 percent over the past three years—absolutely dreadful in today’s market. She earned 7.86 percent her first year with us and did even better in the future.

CHAPTER 13

I was sure that I’d get a call at work to rush home so I could drive Jennie to the hospital just as I was sure we were having a girl. Whenever the baby was active, kicking and moving around, I’d tell Jennie, “She’s really active today. She’s going to be just like you.”

“Oh, no; it’s going to be a boy and you know it,” she always retorted with a laugh. Things became so heated that we’d made a bet: the winner to get a blowjob from the loser. We made it while we were laughing and loving each other. We gave each other oral every day now and would for at least a few months after the birth. We both knew that the winner was going to reciprocate. It would be impossible to lose this bet!

We also knew that Jennie would be late. Dr. Dan had told us any number of times that the first baby was almost always a week or two late and that he’d induce labor if nothing had happened by then. She was ten days past her projected due date and growing more impatient with every passing day when we drove to dinner at her mom’s home on a Saturday afternoon. We were sitting in the living room enjoying some iced tea and conversation when Heidi jumped up from the floor. I thought she had heard someone at the door, but she went straight to Jennie and laid her head on Jennie’s leg. Not ten seconds later we all heard
Jennie, “AHHHH!” It was her first contraction.

I wrote the time in my note pad even as Heidi looked up at her mistress. “How did she know?”

“I have no idea, Jennie, but I’ve read that animals can sometimes tell all kinds of things are going to happen like tornados or earthquakes. I read in the Wall Street Journal last week about a woman who brought two premature twins home from the hospital. Late that night her Boston Terrier jumped up onto her bed and woke her up. She pushed the dog down, but he did it again. This time she followed the dog to the babies’ room. One of them had stopped breathing. How did the dog know that? They called the police and an ambulance. That dog saved the child’s life, but how could it possibly know?”

I kept track of Jennie’s contractions and an hour later my mother-in-law suggested I phone Jennie’s doctor. A minute later I was speaking to his service and explaining what had happened. I was surprised at how thorough the woman was—almost as surprised as I was ten minutes later when Dr. Dan phoned me back. “Sorry, Mom—we’re off to the hospital.” But first I phoned Sharon to ask if we could drop Heidi for the night. Of course, she agreed immediately. Heidi ran into the house as soon as she saw Joseph and Gretchen. Sharon wished us well and five minutes later we were back on the road.

“I’m glad you insisted on bringing the bag with us, Tim.”

“I had a feeling our beautiful daughter was about to make her first appearance,” I said with a smile.

“I think you mean our handsome son,” Jennie said as she leaned over to kiss my cheek. Unfortunately, her next contraction hit when her was half-way across the console. I took her hand in mine and kissed it. We were less than a mile from the hospital. 

I stopped at the entrance to Admissions yelling, “I need help; my wife’s in labor.” A nurse from the nearby emergency room came with a wheelchair as I ran back to the car.

“It’s our first,” Jennie calmly explained to the nurse. Then she explained that Dr. Berman was expecting her. Out in the parking lot I looked and looked and looked for a spot in the crowded lot. Finally, I pulled onto a grassy area and wrote a note on a legal pad and stuck it under my wiper—PLEASE DON’T TOW. WIFE IN LABOR. CAN’T FIND A REGULAR SPOT. WILL MOVE LATER.

Running frantically back to the hospital, I couldn’t find Jennie. I ran around like a wild man until a nurse stopped me. “Third floor; take the elevator over there and relax—it will be hours before your daughter is born.” I looked at her in amazement. How did she know we’d have a girl?

Once on the third floor I went straight to the nurses’ station. “I’m looking for my wife—Jennie Healey. She’s in labor.”

She chuckled. “Excuse me for laughing, but I’ve heard that about 10,000 times.” She checked a clip board and looked up. “Room 312.” Thanking her, I dashed down the hall, running in to find Jennie lying patiently in a bed.

“Has Dr. Dan been in yet?”

“Not yet, but they’ve told me he’s in the hospital. Relax, Tim—I’m not his only patient, you know. Why don’t you phone Mom? I’m sure everyone would like to know what’s going on.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and phoned Jennie’s mom, explaining everything that had happened, including how I had run around like a maniac. I could hear our mothers laughing. I felt like a fool.

“I feel like a fool running around like a madman.”

Jennie pulled me to her and invited a kiss. “You’re hardly a fool, Tim. You’re just a nervous loving husband and that’s only one of the reasons why I love you so much.” She pulled me back down and we were about to kiss again when Dr. Dan strode into the room dressed in those horrible green scrubs, his head clad in one of those tight caps that surgeons wear.

He began his examination of Jennie and ten minutes later he told us, “I’m glad you’re here. It’s begun, but it will be hours. Tim, you will need to get dinner in a few hours. Jennie, you can have water or soda, but no caffeine. Have either ginger ale or Sprite. Okay, I have two other patients to see and then I’ll check in with you again. I expect your water to break in a few hours. Don’t be disturbed. We’ll get you up and change the entire bed. It happens all the time.” He shook my hand and kissed Jennie’s cheek which surprised me. ‘Gayle would kill me if I let anything happen to you. She already knows. I phoned her as soon as you spoke to me; my wife’s orders. Even doctors have bosses, you know!” He laughed and we joined him.

I pulled a chair up to the bed. Then I remembered my car. Jennie laughed as I explained. I kissed her then returned to the lot. A note had been written under mine. “IT’S OKAY. I’M A FATHER OF FOUR.” Twenty minutes later I found a place to park legally and returned to Jennie. Nothing had happened in the room, but I did run into our parents in the waiting area. I told them what Dr. Dan had explained.

They had come prepared for a long wait with I-pads and books. Dad even had a pillow for his head. I hugged and kissed them all before returning to Jennie.
The waiting was interminable. I fidgeted for what seemed to be hours until Jennie told me to get some dinner. I walked down to the cafeteria ruing the cold greasy meat loaf instead of the delicious pot roast Jennie’s mom had promised. I ate—barely tasting anything—until I saw my dad walk in. He sat with me and told me about waiting for me to arrive. I knew he meant well, but all he did was make me even more nervous than I already was. Once I was done I bought a jumbo ginger ale with lots of ice. We walked back to the elevators for another long wait.

There was a big commotion in Jennie’s room when I returned with nurses and aides actively moving in and out. My heart was in my throat with thoughts of everything bad that could have happened. “I’m okay, Tim. My water just broke. They’re cleaning up the mess and changing my bed just like Dr. Dan said. They’ve already notified him and he’ll be back soon.” I felt as though the weight of the world was off my shoulders as I found my way back to my chair.

I held Jennie’s hand and kissed her often as the minutes dragged on. Dan was in and out several times during the night telling us just after ten that it wouldn’t be long now. Taking me aside he whispered, “Now is when Jennie will need you most. Wipe her face and give her soda, but mostly just encourage her. She’s strong and healthy. She’ll be fine.”

The birth began in earnest thirty minutes later. I wiped Jennie’s face with a damp towel and held her hands, encouraging her to push through the pain. It seemed to take forever, but an hour later I was a father. I leaned down to Jennie to whisper and tell her that I had never loved her more than at that moment then I added the coup de grace. “I think you owe me something. We have a beautiful daughter. She looks just like you.”

Jennie was exhausted, but she laughed. “I do not look like a prune. It’s much too early to tell who she’ll look like. Babies always look funny when they’re born. I just hope she doesn’t have your hair.”

“Me, too.” My hair was totally unruly. I could never comb it. Even using Elmer’s Glue on it wouldn’t work. That was why I always kept my hair short—less than a half-inch long. I stepped back to allow Jennie to hold our daughter for the first time. “I think I should get our parents. They’re just down the hall.” I kissed Jennie again and my little girl for the first time.

I was rarely good at keeping secrets and this was one of those times. Our parents stood as they saw me approach, grinning ear to ear. “C’mon and see your new granddaughter. She’s just beautiful…just like her mother.” We walked down the hall and into the room. I stepped aside to phone Sharon and then Gayle, telling her I’d try to come to work on Monday. She told me to forget it. She’d phone Robert tomorrow and give him the good news. I returned to our beaming parents. Both of our mothers had already held her and I awaited the inevitable question.

“Are you two finally going to tell us her name?”

Jennie looked to me. We had decided to name our baby after her father; he had been a wonderful man—James if a boy, Jamie if a girl—but we had refused to tell anyone. “Jamie…after Jennie’s dad…Jamie Elizabeth Healey.” They smiled in their agreement. They left fifteen minutes later and I left fifteen minutes after that, telling Jennie I wanted her to rest and she wouldn’t as long as I was there.

I drove straight to Sharon’s house where she greeted me with a big hug, thanking God Jennie and Jamie were both okay. I gathered up Heidi’s bowls and took her home. She looked all over for Jennie so I tried to explain that she might be home tomorrow, but probably Monday. After taking a quick shower I fell into bed. It was the first time I’d slept alone since before Jennie and I had become engaged seven years ago.

I dropped Heidi off with Joseph and Gretchen again on Sunday morning en route to the hospital, spending the entire day with Jennie and Jamie, even when Jennie slept. Then I got up from my chair and walked down to the nursery where I looked at my baby daughter marveling at the miracle of birth. I left around seven that evening, picking up Heidi again. Once home she looked again for Jennie. “Tomorrow morning, Heidi; Jennie will be home then.” I grabbed a can of beer and opened a can of tuna. Five minutes later I sat in front of the TV to eat my sandwich. I had just begun when I remembered to feed Heidi. Once I was done I showed Heidi the photos I had taken of Jamie and Jennie. I knew it was silly, but I was just so damned proud.

I was at the hospital at 8:00 the following morning. Jennie was brought to the entrance in a wheelchair with Jamie in her arms. I stopped the car, took Jamie carefully and placed her into the rear-facing car seat. After strapping her in carefully I helped Jennie into the front seat. I drove home slowly and carefully—the most care I’d ever shown driving.

Heidi was so happy to see Jennie; her tail wagged from side to side about as fast as I’d ever seen it. Once Jennie was seated she held Jamie out for Heidi to smell. Heidi sniffed then looked at Jennie. “Heidi…protect,” she instructed. Heidi sniffed again as we knew she would then licked Jamie’s hand. She sat in front of Jennie as I took Jamie and placed her into her bassinette. It was small and light so I could move it up into our bedroom when we went to sleep or when Jennie needed a nap—like now. I helped Jennie up the stairs and into bed, tucking her in with a kiss before returning to the living room. Heidi was there looking at Jamie as she slept. Heidi took one look at me before curling up on the floor in front of the bassinette. I knew Jamie was in good hands—er, paws.

We moved the bassinette into our bedroom at night. At first Jamie would sleep only two hours at a time so we were up all hours of the night. Heidi looked on as I changed the diapers. “Yes, Heidi—babies sometimes stink,” and she took a special interest when Jamie was breast-fed. After a month we moved her into her own room. I was hardly surprised that first night to find Heidi sprawled out on the floor in front of the crib. I moved her bed to Jamie’s room while Jennie was feeding her. She slept with Jamie every night, protecting her.

I often placed Jamie onto a blanket on the floor. Then I’d play with her—kissing her hands and feet and cheek while singing. Only a baby or someone totally in love with me would tolerate my voice. I’m completely tone deaf. All music sounds the same to me. Heidi often came over to Jamie, lying next to her and often licking her hands or feet. Jamie always laughed when she did.

Once she was able to roll over she rolled until she ran into Heidi. Heidi never moved away—not even a single inch. When Jamie learned to crawl she climbed over Heidi, often napping on Heidi’s body. Again, Heidi never budged. The bond between the two of them became as strong as the bond between Heidi and us.

Jamie was three weeks old when Jennie walked down to the living room on a Saturday afternoon. I was watching a college football game at the time. “I need to go out, Tim. For one thing, I need to get out of the house, and I need to do a little shopping. I just put Jamie into her crib so she should be okay for a few hours. I should be back in about two.” She kissed me and strode out the door, returning almost three hours later laden with shopping bags, but she wouldn’t show me what she had bought. “It’ll be a surprise. Trust me!”

We continued to satisfy each other orally every day; I knew I had to be careful because of the stitches from the birth. All that ended one Friday almost three months after Jamie’s birth. I walked through the door anticipating an eager greeting from Heidi and a kiss from Jennie. Instead, I found a note hanging on the closet door. “Upstairs and hurry.”

Praying that Jennie was okay I took the stairs three at a time. My mood changed immediately when I opened the bedroom door. The room was illuminated by several candles and lying on the bed was my love. She was in a sexy pose, her body covered by a long black and almost transparent peignoir over a tiny pair of black panties and nothing else. She held a flute of champagne out for me. I took it and we drank as Jennie lost the peignoir and threw my clothes onto the floor. We kissed and groped like a pair of high school kids on their first date until Jennie pushed me back to climb over my hips and lower herself onto my hard stiff pole.

I felt like it was our first time together. It had been so long—more than four months—since we last made love and I knew we’d missed each other terribly.

Looking up at my beautiful sexy wife I mouthed the words “I love you,” and I was thrilled when Jennie repeated. Holding her hips I drove up, lifting her from the bed with every thrust. Jennie’s eyes were the window to her soul. They reflected the rapture she experienced as she ground her clit into me with astonishing force.

We moved together for almost ten minutes as we kissed and I massaged her breasts and teased her nipples. I could tell from her breathing—it was rapid, shallow and erratic—that she was getting close. I knew she was there when she clamped her mouth over mine. She shook violently as I drowned her poor battered cunt with my juice. We were a sweaty mess when Jennie collapsed onto my chest. I held her as never before as I told her over and over how much I loved her. I was thrilled to have Jamie, but I was ecstatic to have my wife back. We made love two more times that night and again the following Saturday morning. Other than an occasional meal and taking care of Jamie and Heidi that was all we did the entire weekend—fuck and sleep. By Monday we were back to our pre-pregnancy sex schedule. If anything, we did it more often and with more emotion because we knew what we had missed over the past four months.

We had another child when Jamie was two and—yes—it was another girl and—yes—I collected on that bet, too. When Jamie was five we shared all our information about Heidi, even teaching her the attack commands and the strict conditions under which they might be used. Personally, I doubted that Jamie would even have to give Heidi the attack command. I was sure that Heidi would protect Jamie just as she had Jennie.

Jennie and I had a third child when Jamie was four and her sister, Samantha, was two. This time Jennie finally won our bet. We had a son we named Scott. Now we were done. By then Robert Reinhardt had retired due to ill health—a severe heart attack–and the four VP’s bought the company from him. As the VP in charge of the largest division I was asked to become the new company’s president and CEO at the age of thirty-six. I had forty-eight accountants working under me and the division earned a profit of more than $7,000,000 annually thanks primarily to Suzanne Alcott who had recommended us to friends and lovers alike.

There were many changes in our lives then. We moved to a bigger home in a better neighborhood and with better schools. We drove better cars and Jennie spent almost all her time caring for our family. There were a few things, however, that never changed. Jennie and I still made love virtually every day unless one of us was ill and we still loved each other as much as we did way back when we were teenagers. Jennie never failed to tell me how happy she was married to a colossal failure like me. We always laughed at that. We were millionaires many times over which made it possible for us to help our less fortunate parents. However, that wasn’t the source of our riches. That began with our love for each other and carried through to our children. All in all we had a great life—a life that started way back in high school when Jennie decided she wanted a studious nerd instead of a jock. What a fantastic decision!

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