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Sid & Me

By: LinaHorny



"Sid...come over tonight. I'm soo lonely.." I whined, fingering the dainty pearls I had decided to wear that day for work. "It's been a crap day and I can't be satisfied by just my fingers for too long..."

"I don't know..", you started, regretfully so, "I have work early tomorrow and if I go over there, I probably won't be waking up until noon or so.. if even then!"

"Come on, Sid!" I begged, taking my necklace off and rubbing my neck. "I'll even make dinner.."

"I already had dinner," you teased. Your voice sounded halted, as if you were masturbating on the phone with me. I squeeze my legs together and could feel my cunt heat up.

"Don't worry, what I'll give you won't make you too full and you'll always want seconds."

"R-really?", you asked after expelling a long breath. I bit my lip as I started rubbing my clit through my white lace panties furiously.

"Aaaah..heh..yeah," I replied, already breathless, "Are you coming over?"

"Of course, I could never say no." I smiled and hung up the phone, so anxious for your cock that I forgot to say goodbye. I contemplated continuing the abuse on my hungry hard clit but I wanted to save all my feminine silky cum for you. I wanted to unleash my orgasm all over your dick and feel your balls become wet from it. I smiled, staring at the paper bag on the table and my shiny new dog tag.

* * * * *

My heart leapt when I first heard you knocking on my door. My pussy was burning for some relentless dick. I had every once in a while rubbed my pussy just to quiet it but that wasn't very successful. I had to contain myself from ripping off your pants and underwear and just sticking it deep into my needy honeypot.

"What's this?", you asked of my attire. I faltered a minute, not hearing your question. My attention was only concentrated on the beautiful mountain building up in the crotch of your trousers.

"Uh..um..", I got on my knees and handed you the leash that was attached to my neck. "You're always so willing to be dominated by me, Sid.. I wanted to do this for you. I wanted you to control me for once. I'll do anything, Sid. ANYTHING for you."

"I.. Oh, god.. I don't know what to say."

"Yes, you do. I'm your slave for the day. Give me your dirtiest smut. Make me your dirty slut." You smiled, the freedom fully realized now.

"You'll do anything?" I nodded, my mouth dry but my pussy dripping onto my vinyl thong. "Crawl in a circle for me. I want to see what you've done to yourself." I did so, showing of my wetness through the leather thong, the leather boots with sharp heels, the chain garter belts digging through my skin, and the swell of my tanned breasts through the revealing leather top (only my nipples were hidden and not well because they were as hard as your delicious dick). "Can I slap your ass?" I crawled around again, thrusting my ass out, making the thong dig erotically at my ass crack.

"Don't ask. Tell and do, master." With that, a hard slap was felt. It reverberated through my pussy, making me hotter and even wetter.

"What's in the bag?" You slapped me harder since I didn't answer fast enough. I was too busy sighing happily. "Tell me, whore!" You slapped again, this time, grabbing my ass cheeks hard and tugging. "You like this? You like me making your skin pink and hot?"

"Yessss!" I hissed, wiggling and feeling your hardness through your clothing.

"You better answer me quickly, you fucking slut, or you won't get any of this inside of you!" You thrust through your clothes. I had to hold back screaming 'Fuck me NOW!'

"They're vegetables I thought you would like to use on me.." I said, a bit weakly from the pleasure. My ass tingled delightfully as you ground into me.

"Oh.." You walked to the table and examined what I had bought. "Two carrots, a cucumber, few bananas.. Mm.. tasty. You know what would go great with this, slave? Wine. Have you got any?"

"Yes, master." You took out my bottle of Lambrusco out of the fridge and pointed to the floor ahead of you. I crawled hurriedly to you and wondered what you were going to do. "Take off your boots. I want to see as much of that sexy body as possible, you cunt."

I took them off, breathing quickly. When would I feel something inside me? "Give them to me!", you yelled when I had carelessly left them on the floor. In the time that it took me to take off my boots, you had poured two large glasses of wine and had taken a huge gulp of the wine. "That's for us. After I fuck the shit out of you, of course." I groaned at your words and almost started touching myself. "No. Did I tell you to do that?"

"No.." I said meekly, withdrawing my hands from in between my cunt lips.

"Then don't. Period. Unzip me." I unzipped your pants, gazing at the large member in front of my eyes. It was so long, it parted my lips even though I was about a foot away from you and hard enough to hurt my lips from the pressure. "Go ahead. Do what you're best at." I grabbed your cock by the based and wrapped my lips around most of your cock, lubricating it with my saliva and pumping with my fingers. I used my tongue generously and expertly as I licked the underside and swirled the around the head. The sounds of my sucking and gradually taking all of your cock down my throat got us both off. I was almost too delirious with joy to feel you pour the remaining wine over my head and body. I shivered from the contrast between the cold wetness of my skin and the hot stickness between my legs. Your thick cock rubbed the insides of my mouth harshly as I deep throated that monster, my nose buried in your lush pubic hair. "Suck it, bitch. Keep sucking!"

Without a word of warning, you roughly lowered my leather thong, took one of my boots and rammed the heel up my ass. My mouth, as stuffed as it was with dick meat, could barely open as a loud muffled groan escaped me. You fucked me fast and deep with my boot heel, as you began to insert a finger and then many in my greedy pussy. I sucked even more rapidly, pressing myself closer, proud that I had been able, for the first time, swallow your entire dick, large head and all. With a husky groan, you inserted your thumb, being to fist me as I massaged your large balls. Not wanted to leave them lonely, I removed your dick from my mouth, leaving it slimy and beautiful, as I tongued and sucked at those magnificent balls of yours. My pussy clenched at your hand, my hole ripped open and yet thirsty for more. As I jerked you with my hand, and held my head between your legs, licking at the area between your balls and anus and sucking your balls alternately, moans erupted from me and one my one free hand began to grip at your hips as I could feel myself beginning to climax. Before I could, however, you pulled out your hand with a sickening moist POP and laid it on my back. "Oh, godddd...!! Keep doing that, slave. Lick me there!" You yelled, my long tongue so close to your asshole.

Even though I was the slave, I teased YOU by licking closer and closer but yet never hitting that spot you so craved to be touched. My ass began to burn as you thrust that sharp end faster and deeper into my tight practically virginal hole. Your groans became rapid and breathless, signaling a massive cum was about to ensue. I moved and placed my mouth back on your cock, this time, instead of using my hands to manipulate your dick, I licked my fingers and stuck them inside your asshole, planning to stretch out your asshole as you did my pussy.

"Two can play that game!" In one swift move, you drove the large wine bottle into my pussy, finally relenting my asshole. As I screamed from the torture/incredible pleasure, you came into my open mouth and on my entire face. My eyes, closed in disbelief over a large glass bottle being rammed up my juicy love hole, were now smothered in your thick gooey jism. The intensity of our situation, caused me to cum as well, leaking a huge gush around the dark glass bottle. Through this, I still didn't let up on your asshole, containing 4 of my slim long fingers. Whenever I was about to open my eyes, you shot another stream, now lower onto my breasts and neck. I opened my mouth hungrily, trying to get whatever of that precious juice I could. Finally, when you had nutted completely, you slumped back and exhaled a long breath.

"Can I wipe it off, master and eat every drop off my fingers?"

"Yes," you replied breathlessly. I could feel the bottle pulsating from the strength of my cumming pussy. I wiped my face, daintily like a cat, and sucked hungrily at the milky strains. "I love your cum, master. It's so fucking delicious," I said, eating the last of what was on my face but leaving the cum still stuck on my hair and boobs. Your cock had wilted a bit but still contained most of it's hardness. I knew it would until it had the chance to explode in the velvety insides of my inviting pussy.

You were still breathless and hadn't uttered one command. I was starting to feel lost. "Can I take this wine bottle out?" I purred. You nodded slowly, still amazed at the how glorious this had all turned out. I grunted, as I pulled it out, my pussy not willing to let it go easily. Amazingly, my pussy still ached with need. I knew I needed your wonderful tongue work. I laid on the floor, not caring if the wine stained my carpet. It would only serve as a reminder of this incredible night. I began to finger myself, digging deep within. When I pulled my hand out, it was soaked. I lapped at that, again much like a cat. "I love the taste of my own cunt, Master. Do you?" I asked, holding out my wet hand innocently.

"Of course! You know I do!" Your cock rose to full attention once more and you leapt on top of me. I closed my eyes and cooed as you began to suck on my clit. Soon, your soft tongue lapped at my abused slit with the kindness you normally displayed.

"OH, GOD!! I'm going to cum ALREADY!!" You tongue fucked me, lapping up my plentiful juicies for maybe another min because waves of warm cum drenched your face. "Oh, oh, oh.. FUCKING HELL!!! THIS IS SO FUCKING GOOD!!" I screeched coming so many times I couldn't even guess the number. My stomach clenched with intense orgasms as you alternated between sucking and nibbling lightly on my clit to fucking me as deep as you could with your tongue. My pussy clamped down, completely shut, from the pleasure.

"I love when this happens," You growl. "It's like you're a virgin again!" You slipped my thong off completely and ram me with your massive tool. I squealed with delight.

"OH, YES, SID!! SIIIIIIIIIIDDD!!!" I matched you thrust for thrust as we grunted in unison. "FUCK MEEEE!!!" I felt that wondrous familiar feeling of being ripped wide open as you thrust deeper and deeper into my tight hole. Faster and faster until it felt like we were on a roller coaster ride, your dick ramming me, and your balls slapping against my pussy lips. I gripped your back and tore at the skin with my nails as yet another climax made it's appearance. I yelled louder than I ever had. You put my legs on your shoulders and drove DEEPER still, until I could barely contain myself and came again and again. Finally, as I felt the last one ebbing away, you filled my tingling insides with pint after pint of man juice. You laid top of me, your dick still emptying itself in my insides, and held me tightly. As your dick grew flaccid, I could feel myself leaking unto the carpet, both your cum and mine.

"You know.. we never did use the vegetables.."

"I know." I laughed, wrapping my legs around you drifting into sleep. There's always tomorrow morning."

"God.. I KNEW I wasn't going to get up before noon.."

Sid and Melissa



At eighteen, Melissa was hardly sexually experienced. This was a small college town in a state in which abortion was not legal. A girl of her age couldn't just walk into the family doctor's office and say, "Hey, I really want to fuck! Put me on birth control pills." When she started college in the fall in the big city, she was sure she'd be able to get on the pill.

Her first, "lover", if you could even call him that, had been an upper classman at the university in town. They'd really only had sex once; he'd gotten her drunk. He had used a condom and the stories about condoms breaking and girls getting pregnant terrified her. She hadn't let him do it again. Neither of them had been particularly talented at oral sex. He had used his fingers...and other things on her. She'd let him put his cock in her mouth but she didn't really know what to do and he had become impatient and started fucking her mouth; he had cum and she had gagged and choked and hated the taste and the slimy feel.

Over the summer while her college boy friend Roger was away, she had met Sid. He was cute, and a bit of a bad boy, she thought, or at least very unlike the coat and tie college boys she was used to. He also went to college but not at the same prestigious one her boy friend did. He had been in the Army and now worked for a security, private investigation and bail bonding company while going to school full time. He had stopped to help her when her stupid car broke down. As he worked under the hood, she could not help notice his strongly muscled arms and shoulders. His blond hair was tousled, not plastered down as was the current fashion. He had a cute, tight little ass. He had invited her for coffee after he'd gotten the car started and she had accepted.

She had been prepared for her parents not to like him, since he probably wasn't from a "good family" and was unlikely to ever become a doctor or lawyer. He was actually very well spoken and obviously bright. He just didn't buy into all of the fake airs and show that boys who went to THE university did. He was just Sid, with an easy smile and friendly eyes but an underlying seriousness that said, "don't fuck with me". 

To her surprise, her mom and dad had warmed up to Sid quickly. Her dad had served in combat in another war; in a time when most kids were fighting to avoid the draft, Sid had volunteered at seventeen and served in the war as a door gunner on a helicopter. Her dad respected that and appreciated Sid's maturity and his quick wit. She was almost jealous that her dad and Sid had quickly grown to be such good friends. Her mother just thought he was adorable. Melissa was sure that her mother would have fucked Sid given half a chance, in spite of the age difference.

Melissa was quite sure that Sid was very sexually experienced, certainly more so than she was. She had enjoyed making out with him; he had wonderful hands and was an exceptional kisser. He had worked his fingers down there and expertly made her cum. Her boyfriend had never succeeded in that department; she had faked it and he had believed the canard. She would usually finish herself off back in her own bed in her parents' home.

Over a two week period their sexual exploration had become more intense. To her surprise, Sid had not pushed her to fuck. Tonight, she knew she wanted to but also knew she was terrified of getting pregnant. They had reached that stage in their activities where it was time. Her white cotton panties were somewhere, but certainly not where they belonged. For the first time she had chosen not to wear a girdle which provided young women of the time with a difficult to remove barrier. He had made love to her young pussy with his lips and tongue. Melissa had experienced an intense orgasm and then a second smaller one. She would take his cock in her mouth and try to do better than she had in the past. Sid sat back down on the couch in his small apartment. He kissed her softly and she tasted her own steamy little cunt in his mouth. It excited her. Melissa was naked from the waist down. Her furry little pussy glistened in the soft light. She felt delightfully grown up...wanton and sexy, even slutty.

"You're not on the pill, are you Melissa?"

"No?" She replied, almost questioning.

"We can't really go any farther, babe. I'm not crazy about rubbers and they're pretty unreliable anyway. They make a foam, but it's nasty and messy and not much more reliable than condoms...and I hate the taste."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be! I understand." He said, and then again began to kiss and fondle her. 

She would give him a blow job; she'd let him cum in her mouth, even let him fuck her mouth if he needed to so that he could cum. He had gently repositioned her; he was behind her now, softly stroking her small breasts, removing her blouse and bra. She could feel his hard cock against the cleft of her ass. She wanted to so much...wanted it inside her. And then, his lips were moving down her back as he kissed and nipped his way toward her full, yet firm young ass. He was giving her globes tender love bites. 

His tongue was working its way up and down the cleft of her butt cheeks. He was spreading her ass open with his hands, she assumed to gain access again to her plump pussy lips. And then to her shock, his tongue found its intended target and was running in slow circles around the edges of that tight muscle which guarded that dirty place. And then that amazing tongue was inside and she started to move and then, there was a finger in there and then---no! That's awful! It's nasty, I shouldn't allow him to do that...but it feels so good...

"What are you doing!" She almost shouted, pulling away from him.

"Well, I was having a delightful time making love to your cute little ass hole with my mouth."

"You like that?"

"Quite a lot, actually, and since I did notice that your sweet little butt was responding appropriately, so did you."

He wanted to have anal sex with her! Only men did that to each other...strange men. Her hole was very tight and his cock was the biggest one she'd ever...well only the second one, actually, but it was bigger than her boyfriend's was. Her best friend's boyfriend had tried it with her and she had said it hurt a lot and she hated it and it had been messy and gross.

"Have you ever done in that way before, with a girl I mean..."

"Certainly not with a guy, but yes, a few times. First, back in high school; 'teenage birth control' where I grew up. Then there was a girl in Thailand when I was on R&R who introduced me to the finer points. And one other time with another girl who had the same problem you have, she didn't want to get pregnant and wasn't on the pill." He replied, almost clinically.

"But it hurts...it's dirty and messy...its..."

"It can hurt at first, I'm told, less if you are relaxed, you are well lubricated, the guy is patient and let's you get used to it."

"Look, Melissa, it's safe, pregnancy-wise. Most women, again I'm told, will never really get into it. A lot do it to avoid getting pregnant and make their boyfriend happy—at least that was my high school experience. Those that get into it and even prefer it are in a small minority. Girls that end up enjoying it, ah, practice opening themselves up with their fingers and other things. They, ah, clean themselves out back there before trying it, even use an enema. I'm sorry. I was just testing the waters, so to speak."

"Were you going to try to put your prick inside there?"

"Not tonight. You're not ready by a long shot...and maybe you never will be. But be honest, you liked my tongue back there---didn't you?"

"Yes, sort of." She said, embarrassed to admit that she had.

"Hey! It's getting late. I need to get you back home. Here are your panties...unless you want to let me keep them in my hope chest."

"Okay."

"Huh?"

"You can keep them."

Back in her own bed at home, Melissa was pleased that she didn't need the usual finger fuck to get herself off. Sid had handled that issue very nicely. Her ass...he wanted to put it in her dirty little ass. As she thought about it, her fingers drifted there. Without thinking, she soon had two fingers in there. It was just too small and tight. Owe! Damned fingernails. Her hairbrush had a round handle. Shit, that hurts! Lubrication...what to use. She had KY which she occasionally used to insert a tampon when she knew her period was about to start. It was in her medicine cabinet. She coated the handle of the hair brush and tentatively pushed it inside her hole. Oh, gross! It's got shit on it! Oh well, it's my shit and he said maybe an enema...Okay, that's not so bad. But her hairbrush handle was barely half as big around as Sid's cock. Something bigger, she thought. She ran to her bathroom. The shampoo bottle in the shower! It had a slightly tapered shape. More KY...okay, shove it carefully in there. Not bad, not bad...it burned a little and she stopped. It was hardly half way in, certainly not in far enough to stretch her tender little hole as much as it would be stretched by...his cock.

It's so damned full! It's also cold and hard. A cock would feel better there, wouldn't it? It was so nasty. She looked down in amazement as her little shitter stretched obscenely in response to the invasion. She began to move it in and out. Her fingers worked their magic on her little nub. The orgasm snuck up on her and she cried out. Oh, shit, I hope mom and dad didn't hear that!

"Everything okay in there honey?" Her mother called from the door as Melissa quickly hid the evidence of her perversion under the pillow.

"I'm fine, mom, I just stubbed my toe. You can come in, if you like."

Her mother came in, dressed in her traditional floor length flannel gown and sat on the edge of the bed. Melissa's mom was forty six but still by any estimation an attractive woman.

"Did you and Sid have a good time?"

"Sure, mom."

"I really like him. He's not like most of the phonies over at THE university." Her mother paused, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Honey, we need to sit down and have that mother-daughter talk that I know makes you uncomfortable. You're eighteen now, you'll be going off to college in a just a few days."

"Oh mom!"

"Don't oh mom me. Look, I had sex for the first time when I was almost exactly your age. It wasn't anything to write home about and I was scared to death---particularly about getting pregnant. Tomorrow morning after I take your brother to day camp I made an appointment for you with Dr. Caruthers. Things happen and passions flame. I want you to start taking birth control pills---just in case. I wish they'd had them when I was your age! Then again, we found creative ways to deal with things, often discovering that the alternatives could be a hell of a lot of fun."

"Mom, do you and dad still..."

"Oh please! Now I'm going to make you really uncomfortable. Look, you know I don't have periods anymore---so I can't get pregnant. No more messy jelly and uncomfortable diaphragms, no pill that make me fat, no inconvenient times of the month. You dad and I fuck more now than we did when we were your age. And without the fear factor of an unwanted pregnancy, it's more fun than ever." Her mother paused. "Have you?"

She could not remember ever hearing her mother say, fuck. "Yes and no. Once with Roger, with a rubber, I was scared to death, he came almost immediately...it wasn't very good."

"I'm sorry hon, but just for the record, my first time was every bit as dismal. It wasn't until I met your dad that I found out what it was supposed to be like---and I've been addicted ever since."

"Before the pill, how did you keep from getting..."

Her mother's boldness shocked Melissa. "I learned to suck cock. I owe your dad for that one. I was totally incompetent the first time or two but he was patient and I came to enjoy it a great deal---still do!"

And then to her further surprise, Melissa's mom gave her daughter a short dissertation on the finer points of exceptional cock sucking.

"And then, of course, Melissa, your pussy and mouth are not the only places that a nice prick can find a happy home in." Her mother said, almost lasciviously.

"You and dad..."

"My first and only—and at least once a week to this day! It's real useful when you have your period. At first, I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. Again, your dad was very patient. By the time I was twenty, I had grown to enjoy being boned up the shitter more than I might have admitted at the time. Now that I'm post menopausal, we usually have to use a little lube anyway, even the regular way. You father usually lubes both my holes and we just go whichever way strikes our fancy...usually both, cunt first, then my butt. And then of course there is your father's talented tongue...Have you done it that way, yet?"

"No, but I..."

"Want to try it?"

"I guess."

"Practice, cleanliness, the right lube and the right man." Her mother said and then gave Melissa more specific guidance.

Melissa said goodnight to her mother and gave her a big hug. "Thanks mom, you're the greatest."

The next day the two women visited the family doctor. Melissa left with her first little round tray of pills---pills that Dr. Caruthers warned her would not be effective for at least a week. While waiting for the prescription at the drug store, Melissa's mother also picked up a dozen disposable enemas. "Half for you, half for me." Her mom said with a twinkle in her eye.

To her further surprise, Melissa's mom made one more stop on the way home, parking in front of a sleazy looking store that obviously sold items of erotic interest. Melissa was further shocked when she discovered that her mother and the woman who owned the store were obviously on a first name basis. Melissa had no idea what such stores sold. A half an hour later she left with an ample sampling of their wares.

Her mother had selected an anal lube, her favorite and in fact had ended up getting a bottle for each of them. Melissa now owned her first official vibrator. She also possessed an instructional manual, entitled simply, "Sucking Cock". The piece de la resistance was a small wooden box containing an assortment of ever larger butt plugs.

"I have that same set, Melissa, well actually I also have a larger set. Sometimes I'll shove the biggest one up my ass---well lubed, of course---and go visit your father at his law office wearing a loose skirt and no panties. I'll just wink at his secretary as I breeze by---hell she knows damned well what's going on. I'll put one foot up on his desk and shake my fanny in his face. He'll work that bugger in and out for a while and then use his tongue. Then he'll just butt fuck me like some crazed animal until we both cum. Then the delightfully dirty bastard will suck his own cum out of my little shitter. The first time a man shoots his cream in your rectum, you're going to come unglued, baby. He likes me to play with and lick his ass too. As a matter of fact I've got a strap-on now, and sometimes...oops! Too much information!"

"Mom, is there anything you and dad..."

"Don't do? Yea, were not into scat or golden showers. Oh, well piss on each other in the shower---we still shower together in case you hadn't noticed but we don't drink it. A little mild bondage is fun and a little spanky, nothing approaching real BDSM. We've never had any desire to swing or bring other couples in to the scene. We have taken vacations at clothing optional beaches and still love doing it outside. A couple of times, we have brought another woman home. It excites your dad to watch another woman eat me---and vice versa. And I have to admit that watching your dad bone some little bitch---we tend to go for younger women, not much older than you are---gets me off. I know he's never cheated on me, nor have I on him. We're best friends and love each other to death; we have no secrets. Our sex life is very intense and the excitement has kept both of us from even thinking of straying for a very long time."

"What do you think of Sid, mom?"

"I like him a lot and not just because he is cute! He probably isn't going to end up being a doctor or lawyer, but he'll do just fine in life. Did you know that your dad hired him, or more accurately, his firm, to do some investigative work for one of his clients? You know how picky your dad can be. He'd been looking for a new PI since his former one, a very old friend, had a stroke and had to retire. First, your dad told me that Sid's firm did exceptional work: on time, discreet and thorough."

"He went down to their office to pay them and met the senior partner, a retired military guy. Well, it turns out that Sid doesn't exactly work for the firm, he's a partner with an ownership position. The senior partner retired from the Army and took the business over from his uncle who had decided to retire. Sid served with him, 'over there' and there is a definite bond between the two men, almost father-son, but something more. You know your dad, he and the senior partner struck up a friendship and ended up going to lunch together."

"You've seen your dad in court questioning a witness, so as you would expect, he probed. It turns out that Sid and the senior partner got shot down together in the same helicopter. They hit nose first and the two pilots were killed on impact. They rolled over and the crew chief was crushed to death. The senior partner, Mike Sampson, I believe, was a Major riding in the back on a command and control mission. He had a broken leg---compound fracture---and a punctured lung. Sid was pretty beat up but had escaped serious injury. Every attempt to get in and extract them was forced back by enemy fire. Nightfall came. So, Sid patched up Mike Sampson as well as he could, threw him over his shoulder and escaped and evaded through ten miles of jungle, finally getting to a safe extraction point two days later. The Major, Mike, put him in for the Medal of Honor. It was downgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award you can get. When Sampson got out of the hospital, they retired him on disability. He tracked Sid down and convinced him to move here. Sid enrolled in college and Mike offered him a partnership. Your dad now uses their firm for all of his work, including bail bonding."

"Look, Sid's got some rough edges and he works in an industry that can be pretty nasty. He's a tough kid that didn't grow up with much and spent some time on the mean streets. He's what, twenty-three? He's got a good job, he's a business owner from heaven's sake; he'll get his degree because it's important to him. He knows how to take care of himself, and while you're far too young to even be thinking about marriage, whatever happens when you go off to college, stay in contact with him."

Melissa's mom was almost done. "A long time ago when I thought I was some kind of debutante---well, actually, I was---I was sitting in a bar in NYC one night after attending one more meaningless society party with one more, living-off-daddy's-money, drunken date, when a young soldier, just back from the war, still in uniform with a chest full of medals walked in. The assholes I was with---fucking draft dodgers, every one of them, made jokes—loud enough that he couldn't help but here. All he did was smile, tell the bartender to buy our table a round and then ignore us. I went over to thank him, to the derision of my companions. When I looked into those deep blue, sad eyes, it was all over. My little pussy was dripping! Bluntly, I dragged him to a hotel across the street and fucked his brains out....and continued to do so for the next three days. And that's how I met your daddy. We got married two years later as he was finishing up college and getting ready for law school. My parents almost disowned me but finally came around. Today they love him to death." 




Sid and Melissa



Melissa's mom paused once more. "Honey, I don't know if that's who Sid is, but he reminds me a little of your dad when he was that age. He's a fucking man. He's solid. He's tough. And somewhere down the road, if you two get serious and you win his heart, he'll never hurt you, always protect you and love you like no other man on this earth until the day he dies."

Melissa did not see Sid over the next couple of days. He had called to cancel a planned date, indicating that he was going to be doing some night work for the next two nights. He had suggested that she come over for lunch on the day after he completed his work since he planned to sleep in on that morning. She was still in awe of the frank and explicit conversations she and her mother had enjoyed, doubting that many of her friends had mothers that open. When she arrived at Sid's apartment he had already started preparing lunch consisting of a homemade soup and sandwiches on fresh baked bread.

"Where did you learn to cook?" She asked.

He laughed. "Melissa not everyone in life grows up with someone taking care of their every need. Both my mom and dad worked. My dad was a cop, which is probably why I was kind of a rebel when I was in high school. I have two younger brothers and a little sister. I learned to cook, clean, do laundry---even sew---at an early age. After my dad died..."

"Your dad died?"

"He got killed on duty. Stupid, really, just a domestic dispute, but one in which there was a gun involved. He hadn't been on the force long enough for a pension. The insurance policy money didn't last very long. Mom worked all the time, I took care of my brothers and sisters. My mother took a second job but she just couldn't deal with it and ended up getting sick and going into the hospital. My brothers and sisters went to live with our grandparents on my mother's side a few weeks from the end of the school year. I stayed with the parents of a friend so that I could finish high school. On my seventeenth birthday, a week after high school graduation, I forged her signature and went into the Army. She got better, then she went home to live with her folks to be with the other kids. Mom had a relapse and died while I was overseas. I didn't even find out until two weeks after the funeral. She was a good person; she gave it everything she had---gave her kids all that she was capable of---but the demand was just more than the supply that was available."

"It's kind of weird. My brothers and sister were probably better off growing up where they did and with our grandparents. They're good folks and they love those kids like they're their own. I don't see them as often as I guess I should; they live a long way from here. I sent them money every month, letters not often enough and the occasional phone call. My grandfather thanked me for the financial assistance but didn't always cash the checks. My siblings all are pretty independent kids and as of a couple of months ago, gramps said they really didn't need the money anymore, since my sister was pretty much on her own. I told him to let me know if things changed. We really haven't been part of each other's lives for the last six plus years. I know they're doing okay and they're good kids."

"Do you think you'll ever get back together with them?"

"Let's see, mom had her kids about one year apart, so I have a brother who just turned twenty-one, he's in college with an athletic scholarship, one twenty, he's finishing up JC and has been accepted to the police academy, and my sister is nineteen and just graduated from high school. She wants to be an RN and is currently working as an LPN at a hospital with an RN training program. I feel like, for a least a few years there, I raised them but we've drifted apart."

"Do you miss them?"

"Sure. But they have lives to lead and they don't owe me anything. I don't want them to ever feel as if they are beholden to me for anything I did. I did what I had to do...what older brothers are expected to do. Hell, having to be the disciplinarian at home certainly straightened me out. It's funny how all that responsibility doesn't give you much time for screwing off. It also helped me understand at an early age that life can be tough and the sooner you accept that and tackle it head on, the better off your life will turn out."

"When are you going to graduate from college?"

"Well, thanks to some of the credit I got for military service, the CLEP tests I took, the courses I took in night school when I was in the Army and the course load I've been taking, I've only got a semester to go. It's really kind of amazing. I wasn't much of a student in high school. I never got any 'F's or 'D's but I just bumbled along. Now it just seems so easy, going to school, I mean. The Army discipline didn't hurt and I'm getting a degree for me, not anyone else. No one in my family every graduated from college, hell I'm not sure any of them ever went to college at all prior to this generation. I'll probably graduate Summa with all A's and it just seems so damned easy. More than easy, I really enjoy it. Learning for the sake of learning give me a real rush. Going to college is like recreation."

"And after?"

"I came back from the war with the GI Bill determined to get a degree in something, maybe become a teacher, maybe a business degree, I wasn't really sure. There are not a lot of civilian jobs out there for which the ability to clean, maintain and shoot the M-60, 7.62 millimeter machine gun is a prerequisite. If the Major hadn't tracked me down, I suppose I'd be a semester away from getting a degree somewhere closer to where I grew up wondering what I was going to do with my life."

"The Major...Mike?"

"I got the idea that he and your dad had become friends, but I'm not sure how much you know. Mike's a little older than a typical Major. He was prior enlisted; he won a battlefield commission in the last war. I didn't even really 'know' him over there in this war. I was a Spec Four and he was a Major. He'd flown with us a few times and I saluted him when he got on board. He was a damned good officer. Maybe because he'd been enlisted, he always took time to talk to the lower ranks. It's the old Army joke, we were on a first name basis, I called him sir and he called me Sid. But the enlisted guys liked him and respected him."

"And then you saved his life."

"He and I were the only survivors of the crash. When we realized they weren't going to be able to get us out before nightfall, he told me to go, leave him, he was all fucked up. He'd just hold me back. We'd both get captured. He had his sidearm and when the time came, he'd do what he had to do. I said, with all do respect, 'fuck you sir', patched him up as best I could, threw his scrawny ass over my shoulder and took off. I grew up hunting with my dad when I was twelve or thirteen. They talk about jungle, but it was more like real heavy forest; I knew how to move through that kind of terrain and do so quietly. I had a map, a compass and a radio. The pilot, God rest his soul, had shown us where we needed to get to---from the air---if we ever went down. Two days later we were dehydrated and hungry and the Major was in really bad shape. There were times that I wasn't sure he was alive. He kept trying to get me to leave him. I didn't. On the third day, the right people heard our radio and they came and picked us up. The Major was evacuated to Germany and then back to the states; he had a long recovery. I was patched up, given a three day R&R and was back flying door gunner by the end of the week. I never expected to see him again."

"After a combat tour, I came back to the states with a few months left to go and they offered me an early out—with no reduction in GI Bill benefits. I took it. My last day on active duty, they were going to pin a medal on me for saving the Major and have a big parade. Imagine my surprise when he hobbled out there on that reviewing stand with a cane to pin it on me. He took me to lunch afterwards. They were going to force him out before he got his thirty years due to his injuries. He was planning to move here and take over his uncle's business. He asked me to come with him. I didn't have anywhere to go in particular so I said yes. Neither of us really knew what the hell we were doing but we figured it out and the business is starting to make a few bucks. So, now, after my long windedness and in answer to your original question, I'm probably going to stay right here and keep doing what I'm doing with the Major."

Sid paused. "He didn't have to come looking for me and the deal he made me as far as the business is concerned was extremely generous. I only learned after we started working together that he'd lost his son over there. Hell, in many ways we're still getting to know each other. So, we're business partners, but if the truth be told, he's the father I lost too young and I guess I'm the son he never got to know as an adult. We're family. His wife left long ago, he's not that close to his siblings and his parents are deceased. I respect him more than anyone I've ever known. He's a hell of a lot of fun to work with and I like him. Hell, I more than like him, I love the guy."

Wow, Melissa thought to herself, Sid is what, five years older than I am? He's done so much, seen so much, endured so much pain and what have I done? What could he possibly see in a pampered little poodle like me? He's so different than any boy I've---he's not a boy, he's a man. Maybe I don't really mean anything to him, I'd certainly understand that; I'm just a little piece of fluff.

"Why did you invite me for coffee that first day?"

"Because you were cute. Your eyes were like no girl's eyes I'd ever seen before. You were literally the first girl, nice girl, anyway, I'd really met or talked to in this town, or at least the first one I'd wanted to. You were different than women, girls, I'd gone out with before. You were confident, sassy, tall, athletic and you had a killer ass. You were smart, funny and easy to talk to, I discovered over coffee. I had no idea how old you were; I was surprised when you told me you were only eighteen. You seemed so much older, more mature. You took me home to meet your parents and I fell in love with them on the spot. Then like all nasty men, I was also hoping I might just get into your pants."

"Well, I'm sorry that I'm a bit of a disappointment in that regard."

"Far from it! I haven't just made out with a girl for hours on end since, oh, hell who knows. I've had a wonderful time with you every time we've gone out together. I know I got a little carried away the last night we were together...I'm sorry."

"I wanted you to...I still do..."

"Melissa, look you're a nice girl; we're not exactly from the same side of the tracks, okay? I like you a lot but I'm pretty sure we're on different paths, life-wise. You're going to start college a thousand miles away from here in a few days. I'd really like to keep being friends. Sounds like a girl talking, doesn't it? 'Can't we just be friends?' You're a pretty special girl. Hell, you're very special, but you're also very young. Yeah, I'd love to get in your pants, but you know what? We're not going to do the nasty. Are you okay with that?"

"I guess, I don't know. Look you turn me on like no guy I've ever..."

"And exactly how many guys is that? Shit, you're practically a virgin...aren't you? Well?"

"I guess." Melissa said, and then for what reason she didn't understand, she told Sid her entire, pathetic sexual history.

"Look, Melissa, I was sexually active in high school. Where I grew up, too many of us were. Girls looking for a ticket out of a shitty home life, guys just looking to build a rep. When I was waiting to go overseas, I shacked up with a girl---a woman---a lot older than me. We knew there wasn't a future; we weren't in love, but the sex, for a kid barely eighteen was, well, amazing. I learned a lot. She taught me how to fuck but she also taught me how to make love. I got it on with the typical hookers that GI's meet and pay for in Bangkok...learned a few things there, too. I've gone out with and fucked a couple of women since I moved here. The night clerk down at the jail, who I got to know posting bail for a bunch of stupid, drunken, university jerks. It was nothing special, just a fuck. A couple of one night stands I picked up at a local bar. You're not just a fuck, not just a piece of ass---and don't you dare ever become one! You're too good for that. You've got a college education to get and I've got a business to build. I don't want to lose contact with you. Can you deal with what I'm saying? Friends? Maybe, someday..."

She put her arms around him and kissed him softly. "You've got this hot little society girl who is ready to give herself to you---anyway you want her---and you just said no. Maybe I am starting to grow up. I want to fuck you so bad you don't even know, but I get it. Oh shit! Someday a very lucky girl is going to make you her man for the rest of her life. Damn, all I've ever known is boys and then I meet a man, a real man, with fucking scruples, no less! You're pretty special, Sid, more special than I could have imagined. Well, you've got it! I'm not going to let you get away easily but I'll play by the rules---your rules. Is that fair enough?"

They just sat together and held each other for a very long time. They didn't see each other again during her few remaining days at home. They talked on the phone and he came to see her off at the airport. As she boarded her plane to go to New York, the pampered princess, as she saw herself, wasn't sure she would ever grow into the woman that Sid deserved, but she was damned sure going to try.

For a while, Mellissa got caught up in the social whirl of the big city, attending the exclusive girl's college, once little more than a finishing school, that both her mother and grandmother had attended. She spent Christmas vacation with her roommate, a young lady with far more money and family status than her family had ever had. She dated, but it never amounted to anything. She had invited Sid to a dance between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but he couldn't get away. She had her first lesbian relationship, with the aforementioned roommate. They had gotten drunk and horny one night, both deciding the next day that it had not been something they wanted to do again. Before she realized it, summer vacation was upon her. Sid had once again passed on the big spring dance invite. They wrote to each other almost weekly. His letters touched her heart as she hoped hers touched his. And then, as summer approached she decided to do something that her classmates would have shunned in an instant. She volunteered to go to the third world with a nonsectarian missionary organization. She sent Sid a letter telling him of her decision as she was boarding the plane to leave.

For that three months, Melissa was introduced to a level of poverty and deprivation that no National Geographic article had ever prepared her for. It was the first time in her young life that she had ever really done anything important...that mattered. When she returned in the fall, her classmates joked about her summer, as most of them had vacationed in the social havens of Europe or California. She, however, was hooked. She would go back, wherever, during the following summer. She had never felt so vital in her young life.

That second Christmas, she and Sid again missed each other. The business he and the Major were building was starting to take off and he had to go to the other coast to kick off some big contract over the holidays. She increased her course load dramatically, bent on graduating early and doing something important, whatever that might be. By coincidence, she and Sid got to spend an afternoon together the day she was scheduled to leave from New York, this time for the Dark Continent. He looked good, she had thought. His wardrobe had improved substantially. She kidded him about his new look. He looked like a young entrepreneur in his J. Press suit. She wanted him desperately but it was not to be. They just held each other for what seemed like hours at the airport. They were still connected, of that she was sure. Her look too, had changed. She had grown up; she was dressed to go do something of value, not attend a tea party. She'd long since abandoned most make up and had cut her hair short.

They wrote to each other regularly, coupled with the occasional overseas phone call. She returned to school that fall knowing she could graduate early; she was tired of New York and tired of school. She just wanted to get on with her life. Most of her classmates, on the other hand, simply wanted to extend the party on their parent's dole for as long as humanly possible. She got her degree as planned and was offered a meaningful position with an NGO in Central America. They needed her there immediately; the person she was replacing had fallen ill. She couldn't reach Sid; she had to leave him a message with Mike.

"Sid!"

"Yes sir?"

"That little girl you've been corresponding with over the last few years left you a message. I tried to get a hold of you but you were out of pocket. By now, she's winging her way to Central America, to a country that I once did a short tour in and as I'm reading the news, not someplace she ought to be going. What exactly is your relationship with her, anyway?"

"I'm not sure Mike. I guess she's about the nicest girl I've ever really gotten to know. We haven't seen much of each other over the last few years. You know her dad...her mom's pretty neat, too."

"Are you in love with her?"

"Probably at some level but she comes from a different address than I do and I..."

"Well son, I'm the last guy in the world to give you advice regarding affairs of the heart, but I talked to her for a while on the phone. I liked her a lot. She's spent some time in some real shit holes in the last few years and that doesn't exactly sound like debutante activity. You don't suppose that she might be trying to prove to some bone headed guy that she's worthy, do you? Oh, fuck son, if I know anything, that girl's in love with you. I don't like where she's going...I don't like it one bit. There are very bad people down there---I know. And in terms of whatever address you came from, I think you better take a closer look at our bank balance. You've damned well moved uptown since I met you---hell we both have."

"Oh thanks Mike, that's the ultimate guilt trip...she went there to impress me?"

"That'd be my call."

"Damn, Mike, if anything happened to her because of me..."

"Stop taking responsibility for other people's decisions. All I'm saying is, stay in touch and stay up to date on what's going on down there."

Bad things happen in bad corners of the world. A few months later, there was a revolution spurred by narco-terrorists in that abysmal little country. The borders were sealed. Foreigners still in the country were trapped; reports of brutal rapes and killing began to slip out. All communication was cut off. Sid confirmed after several calls to the NGO that Melissa was among those trapped.

He and Mike spoke to people from the State Department and got nothing but bullshit; the government had no plans to get those Americans being essentially held hostages out, at least not officially. Reconnecting with some of his old special ops contacts, Mike confirmed that, while a plan had been put together, the chickenshit President, who had already allowed two countries to fall to the nation's enemies didn't have the guts to approve it. Sid was almost sick with worry and, yes, guilt. He spent time with Melissa's parents who were worried sick. He felt responsible. They would hear none of it.

Mike disappeared for three days. When he returned he was smiling, which Sid found incongruous.




Sid and Melissa



"Do you want to get her out of there?"

"What?"

"This bastard's presidency is over; he will not be elected to a second term and may yet face articles of impeachment. He's finally been shouted down by those in Congress and his own administration who have finally admitted his incompetence. In any event, we're finally going to do what we should have done a month ago. An MEU is going to go in heavy and get out the officials, the government employees and consular staff. The 82nd and 101st are being mobilized should they be needed. Special Ops troops---some Delta folks, Rangers, Marine recon, SEALS and assorted volunteers---are going to go try to find the NGO and USAID people and extract them. A carrier battle group is moving into position off the coast to launch whatever air assets are required. I've got a plane standing by to take us from here to Bragg. Get your ass changed. The extraction task force leaves Bragg in three hours. If you really want to feel responsible for her actions---which is total bull shit---than do something about it."

Eight hours later, after a traditionally noisy and bumpy ride in a Hercules, Sid touched down on a primitive air strip just across the border from the revolution. He was no longer a soldier; to his surprise a three star at Bragg had approved his inclusion on the mission. It had been a very interesting conversation.

"Sid, I'm very proud to meet you. What goes around comes around. Back before you were probably even born, a scrawny little buck Sergeant hauled my busted up ass out of a shitty little country that we weren't even supposed to be in. I never got to return the favor. Thanks for bringing Mike home. He filled me in on your situation. You're in. I'm going to assign a very competent Master Sergeant to look out for your ass, although Mike assures me that you can handle yourself. Let's go get those kids out of that shit hole. Mike's staying here with me to watch the show from above; he's getting too old for this shit."

Within thirty minutes of touching down, they lifted off again in a flotilla of Army and USMC helicopters. Intel indicated that the USAID and NGO people had abandoned their distribution points and had fled to surrounding villages when the first rebel forces came through and captured their locations. There were still bands of rebels, more criminal gangs than anything, searching for the foreigners. Those that had been caught by the rebels had been brutalized or killed. 

Sid's flight was headed for the village that would most likely have provided some degree of sanctuary for the group Melissa had been in charge of. In another thirty minutes, they were touching down in a clearing at the edge of the village in question. The crack troops fanned out and began to search each primitive dwelling. The natives had been fed, clothed and provided medical care by the foreigners and would have been quick to provide assistance had most not been dead or very nearly so. They had risked their lives to hide their benefactors and had paid a terrible price.

The big master sergeant stuck to Sid like glue as they went from hut to hut. There was sporadic fire as small groups of rebels attempted, unsuccessfully, to interfere. Sid's heart began to sink as they neared the last few huts. They had found a number of the NGO staff; none had personal knowledge of what had happened to Melissa.

Melissa had heard the gunfire. She assumed the rebels had finally returned to finish their task. She was tired, wet, cold, hungry and dehydrated as she huddled under a broken table in a dark corner of a small dwelling on the edge of the village. I guess this is it, she thought to herself. They'll find me this time. Since I'm a woman they will undoubtedly not kill me immediately but rather keep me around for a few days of entertainment. If I had a gun...a weapon...I could end it before they capture me. Hell, the lack of food and water might yet deny them their sadistic pleasure. I never thought this was how my life would end...there are so many things I wanted to do with my life...so many things I never got to do. She began to slip in and out of consciousness.

Sid was giving up hope. There was only one dwelling left to search. If she wasn't there...

As he and the big Master Sergeant kicked in that final door and peered into the dark interior it was all Sid could do to fight back his tears. There was no movement, no sign of life. As they worked their flashlights across the dirt floor, Sid plaintively cried out her name.

"Melissa!!!!"

Sid was calling to her from so far away. She wished she could have held him in her arms one last time...made love with him...they never had made love. She was slipping into delirium. 

"Melissa!!!"

Oh, Sid, I love you so much, wanted to love you so much. As she began to slip under, she uttered his name and the thought that had been in her heart for so long. With the little energy she had left in her battered body, she spoke, possibly, it occurred to her, for the last time.

"Sid, I will always love you."

They almost didn't hear her. They were exiting the hut when the big Master Sergeant said. "Wait, I heard something! There's someone alive in there!"

Rushing back inside, the two men began to tear the room apart. And there she was, hidden in a corner, crumpled in a pathetically tiny heap, alarmingly emaciated, covered in filth and not moving.

"Melissa!" Sid screamed almost at the top of his lungs. She groaned and her body shuddered...almost a death rattle. She was alive...barely.

I'm dreaming now, Melissa mused, Sid is with me, he's carrying me, carrying me to that final resting place. 

"Melissa!!" Sid cried as he scooped her body into his arms and rushed out of the hut running for all he was worth to get her to the waiting choppers and lifesaving medical attention.

"Sid..." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. Her mind was a jumble. I'm so tired...just need to go to sleep...no need to hang on any more...just let death take me...peaceful...no pain. No, no...can't do that...Sid wouldn't do that...want him to be proud of me...want him to know that I wasn't afraid...never gave up...not a quitter.

"Don't you dare die on me, young lady!" Sid commanded, as he reached the first chopper and the medics took charge, checking her vital signs, examining her for injuries and starting the lifegiving fluids flowing into her veins which would provide the only hope she might have for survival. A band of rebels had been spotted nearby. The good guys did not have sufficient force to engage them. It was time to leave.

As Sid held her hand during the flight back to friendly territory, the medic worked desperately to bring Melissa back from the edge of shock, a state that in her current debilitated condition, she would most likely not survive.

Sid was holding her hand. She could see his face so clearly. She smiled, her parched lips painfully cracked from the lack of water. That's the vision I wanted before I died, she thought to herself, his face, almost filling her field of vision. 

"Oh, Sid, I'm so sorry...I wasn't strong enough...I let you down."

"Melissa, dammit, talk to me, baby, talk to me! God dammit I love you, stay with me girl, fight, fight with everything you've got inside you. Don't quit on me! Don't leave me!" 

He kissed her parched lips and softly caressed her face, remembering another woman long ago that he had so desperately loved who had not had the strength to go on...to live.

He's kissing me, kissing me goodbye... And then, as if in a fairy tale, but more directly because the medics' Herculean efforts were finally having the desired effect, her eyes opened and she knew in that instant that she was not in a dream...she was alive and he was with her. He had come for her; he was taking her home. She raised her arm and put it around his neck.

"I'm here baby, I'm okay...I'll be okay...I love you."

Melissa was far from okay. She had come within minutes of death, a combination of exposure, hypothermia, exhaustion and too long without food or water. Fortunately, she was young and strong and had a lot more fight inside her than her previous life should have given her. There were others of her team, those who had survived, in equally desperate straits. A DC9 evac jet had flown into the staging area during their absence with a team of doctors and nurses. The critically depleted aid workers were moved to that aircraft for the much speedier return to US soil. Flying nearly twice as fast as the lumbering C130, the DC9 would have its precious cargo at a US hospital in an hour or so---and they would have expert medical attention during the flight.

Sid returned to Bragg and was reunited with Mike who had followed the action electronically from afar.

"Sid, they decided to take her to the University hospital back home. They have experience there treating extreme exposure cases. She slipped in and out a couple of times on the flight back. They almost lost her; her heart stopped but they brought her back. She lost a lot of body weight, almost thirty pounds; her blood chemistry is all fucked up. The next twenty four hours will tell the story. If she's alive in twenty-four hours, in view of her youth and her physical condition before all this started, she has an excellent chance of making a full recovery, but it's going to be nip and tuck. She's in ICU; they've intentionally put her on the edge of coma in order to let her body heal itself. The plane is standing by; let's go home."

The news hit the public later that same day. The President had tried to take credit for the rescue which he had in fact postponed far too long. His story had not held up. The American people were furious at his inaction which had cost a number of lives and impeachment talk became more serious. The man who would become the next president had too much class to beat up his opponent, instead, rallied the country around the brave men in uniform who had executed the rescues and asked for a collective prayer for those selfless young people who had just be trying to make a difference for a people and a country that had so little.

There were pictures and even film of some of the rescues. Sid had not even been aware that reporters or service journalists had been present. All three of the major news magazines splashed a wire photo of a soldier, his face unrecognizable under combat camouflage, tears streaming down his face, running through a village, carrying a woman identified as one of the NGO directors, toward a waiting chopper. The military had been, "unable" to identify the soldier in question and no one stepped forward to claim credit. The AP photo later won the Pulitzer prize. Melissa would later be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the incoming Chief Executive for her brave efforts to keep her people together, safe and alive, often going without food or water so that others might live.

Melissa did not regain full consciousness for almost a week. She spent the next month in the hospital. The doctors said she was a "fighter". They said someone with less grit and guts would have expired. Gradually, her body began to take on weight, her skin color improved and at the end of the month, she was ready to go home. Sid and her parents had spent every possible moment with her throughout that month. When she was discharged, her prognosis was excellent. She'd need to take it easy for the next six months and gradually work her body back to its former state. 

It was during that month that Melissa was in the hospital that Sid knew that he could never let any harm come to this young woman for the rest of his life. He'd lost the other woman he had loved, his mother, and he was damned if he was going to lose Melissa. He loved her; he was so damn proud of her. She had been so very brave and had taken care of so many. Now she needed someone to take care of her, or so he thought.

Sid and Melissa spent a lot of time together over that six months. They kissed and they held each other. They slept in each other's arms, sometimes at her parents, often at his house. He treated her like fine china, afraid that she might shatter; the day came as the six month anniversary of her discharge loomed when she would have no more of it.

"Sid! Enough! I'm fine. I'm all better. Stop treating me like a fragile, petite flower. That's not who I am, anymore...not who I'll ever be again. I feel fine, bluntly, I'm horny as hell. I love being in your arms but, I need to get laid. And you're the only man in the world that I want to have make love to me, now---right now---and for the rest of my life."

In spite of his misgivings, Melissa could be very persuasive. The two lovers were soon naked and exploring each other with an insatiable hunger. When it was time, when he entered her body for the first time it was, for both of them, a sublime and magical moment. It just got better every time they coupled over the ensuing days.

"You're not on the pill, are you Melissa?" Sid said one morning after another month had passed.

"No." She said, emphatically with no question in her voice.

"You know what happens to girls who fool around without birth control?"

"Yep. The nasty brute who knocked 'em up has to marry them."

"Are you pregnant?"

"I haven't checked, officially, but it's pretty damned likely. A woman knows those things; if so, it happened in the last week."

"Hmmm..." Sid said, unable to stifle a grin. "I just might have something here that's just your size." He said, slipping the elegantly simple ring on the correct finger.

"I love you Melissa. I don't have a proposal speech prepared but I had planned to ask you to marry me today...pregnant or not. Will you marry me?"

"Did you ever doubt it? Of course I'll marry you. I've been in love with you for a very long time. I was never sure that I was your kind of girl...that we would ever have a future."

"A long one, I would hope, with one proviso---you find another line of work! Next time...I don't want there to be a next time! I almost didn't get there in time. I almost lost you. I can't go through that again." Sid said.

"You never could have respected me if I'd just been another country club debutante. Sure, to some degree I made those trips and did that work to prove that I was worthy of your love but just as much I did it to prove something to my self. And it was, for the most part, the most rewarding work I could ever imagine having done. But guess what? There are lots of people right here at home that need help."

She paused, then went on. "I got a letter in the mail, yesterday from the new President of the United States. He asked me to help start an aid group right here, a domestic NGO, so to speak, in our country, working with people in Appalachia, in the inner cities, and in the poverty-stricken small towns where industry has deserted them. It will be private, funded by donations but sanctioned by the government. My role would probably be more in the realm of advice and coordination. I don't think it will pay very much but raising a family on one pay check can be pretty tough these days. I told him I was seriously expecting a marriage proposal in the next few days and I wanted to start a family so it would have to be decidedly part time and the day would come when I would need to retire and become a full time mommy. You do want children, don't you?"

"As many as you are comfortable with, dear heart. And just so you keep that pretty little butt of yours safe and on American soil I'm fine with it."

"Speaking of my pretty little butt..."

"Well, we're not teenagers, and we've already missed the birth control window so..."

"So why would we want to do something so nasty, perverted and sinful?"

"Well..."

"Let me tell you a quick story about a mother-daughter chat I had several years ago when I thought you were about to tap my little ass the first time." Melissa told him the story of the chat that night and the activities the following day with her mother. 

"Your mom and dad?"

"Pretty regularly, I gather, so, I have been practicing, and I did bring the right lube, so, if you think you're up to it..."

Sid flipped Melissa over, and began to work her, too his surprise, already lubed little hole with his tongue. Melissa reveled in the absolute nastiness of what he was doing to her tight little pooper. Before she new it, she felt his hot cock slip into her rump and she knew her mother had been right. Oh, yeah, I could get used to this. Sid was gentle, making love to her with his lips as he plunged to the very depths of her body. And then he came inside her. Her mother had been right again. She absolutely came unglued when his hot fluid bathed the insides of her even hotter rectum. She came, almost unable to stop as she screamed his name in ecstasy.

Melissa had prepared for this day; there had been no pain and the fullness of Sid's fat cock had been the most amazing thing she had ever experienced. Sid had been concerned that she might be sore. She wasn't at all and as a result, enticed him to possess her anally one more time that afternoon. The second was decided less tender and romantic as Sid thrust inside her from behind and above but it was every bit as satisfying for both of them. 

"You're mine now, forever, no other man's." He had whispered hoarsely in her ear as she felt his dick harden in anticipation of dumping another hot, sticky load in her fine little rear.

"Make me your woman baby, I'm your little bitch any time and any way you want me."

Several hours later, Sid and Melissa shared the news with her parents.

"How soon do you expect to pull this off, kids?" Melissa's mom asked.

"Soon, mom, soon. After everything that's happened...in a month?"

"Well that will be a challenge but miracles can occur as we've recently discovered. We'll get working on in!"

Later that evening they told Mike. Sid asked him to be his best man. The Major could not keep the tears from his eyes as he looked upon this young couple that had become so very important to him. His mind began working as he contemplated what he hoped would be a unique wedding gift.

Sid was left alone for a couple of days to deal with the exploding business as both Mike and Melissa had to travel out of town. Sid was not sure what Mike was attending to and assumed that Melissa had a meeting of some sort involving the new domestic relief organization. In fact, Mike and Melissa were traveling together.

While the press had never ferreted out Sid's involvement in the rescue, they had discerned the identity of the frail women being carried to the waiting chopper in the photo and, much to her chagrin, she had become somewhat of a celebrity. She had done a couple of national interviews rationalizing that it would give her an opportunity to talk about the new organization.

"Have you talked to them?"

"I have on several occasions. I fear that, as is too often the case, there has been a major lack of communication here. They somehow seem to believe that Sid doesn't come see them because he resents the burden their existence put on his young life. We know that nothing could be farther from the truth. They're not angry---they love their older brother and feel a real debt to him. They're just a little hurt, that's all. It's time to meddle, hon! We both love this guy to death and if we can put this family back together, well that would be a pretty neat wedding gift. His little sister is the least bent out of shape; I implored her to put together this meeting and she agreed. We're going to meet the three kids---and the two boys' wives at the sister's home."

As Mike and Melissa knocked on the door of the home in which, Bethany, Sid's little sister lived, Melissa was nervous. We can't fail, she thought to herself.

Introductions were made all around; Sid had a brother named Kevin, the one closest in age to him and Daniel, his youngest brother. Mike sensed that the two wives were potential allies as was Bethany, but was still unsure of the two brothers. Where to begin?




Sid and Melissa



Melissa took the ball and started to run with it. "We're here to try to clear up what appears to be a colossal misunderstanding and explain why Sid has not come to see you in a very long time. I know from what Mike has shared from his chats on the phone with each of you that you somehow believe he is resentful...that he resents the burden you think you placed on his life after your father died and when your mother's health started to fade. In fact, the truth is the exact opposite."

Sensing that Melissa, who had made a great opening was struggling, Mike took charge.

"Mike loves the three of you very much. He never for a moment resented you or his responsibility toward you. In truth, he cherished that time and would tell you that the responsibilities he had to assume made him a better person and in essence gave his life purpose and helped straighten him out, so to speak."

Melissa chimed in. "He was always afraid that somehow, you would be beholden to him, feel some sort of debt to him, some debt that you would not feel able to ever repay and that it would make it uncomfortable for you to be around him. I know it sounds screwy, even laughable if it wasn't so damned sad. Look, Sid is the most incredibly selfless man, person, I've ever known. He would, literally risk his life for another human being and then, for whatever reason, be uncomfortable as hell when that other person tried to thank him, not wanting to impose on them a debt or a sense that he expected repayment, which he never would."

"What do you want us to do?" Daniel said.

"In three weeks, this lovely young lady is going to become your brother's wife. I love your brother as I'm sure your father loved all of you; I owe him a debt that I could never in my life pay back. He is my business partner and my dearest friend. It would mean more than you know if you all could attend their wedding. We've come to personally deliver the wedding invitations. I know you all have jobs and obligations and traveling a thousand miles to attend a wedding seems like an awful imposition."

"Sid wants us there?" Kevin asked.

"Of course he does. Hardly a day goes by when he doesn't think about...talk about all of you. At this moment, however, he's pretty sure you won't be there." Melissa said.

Mike took over. "I know you have to search your hearts but let me at least offer some support in terms of the logistics. It's a weekend wedding; the festivities begin Friday evening with the rehearsal dinner. On that Friday at noon, a nine passenger business jet is going to land at the air park a few miles from where you all live. It will stay on the ground until three or so, and then depart or it will leave as soon as the five of you are on board. It will bring you back home after the wedding reception. Sid and Melissa are moving to a new house after the wedding. Sid's current home will be available for you to stay in. Transportation once you are there will be taken care of."

"That's extremely generous of you." Daniel, the skeptic said. "What in it for you?"

Had he been a lesser man, Mike might have grown angry. Instead he spoke calmly. "Let me tell you the story of how Sid and I got to know each other." 

And he proceeded to tell the story from the time he had first met Sid and had his life saved by him.

"I can never repay Sid for my life. I offered him a job when he got out of the Army as my partner in a failing little business and he accepted. I made him my partner. And, dammit, even that didn't come close to repaying him! Hell, thanks a whole lot more to him and his tireless efforts than me and mine, that business became extremely successful. So, once again as the debt column goes, I still owe him. Taking him on as a business partner was the shrewdest move I ever made. But he means much more to me; he is my dearest friend and putting a smile on his face---pulling something off beyond his wildest imagination---well it couldn't get much better than that."

Kevin was warming and Daniel was wavering. Bethany had just leapt over the fence and the two wives present were in.

"What's your story, Melissa, how did you happen to become out brother's fiancée?" Daniel asked.

"I met Sid when I was eighteen, now almost five years ago. I was a country club girl; he stopped and fixed my car. He was cute and built and asked me to have coffee. He was a hottie; we went back to his place and made out. I wanted to sleep with him. He told me I was a nice girl and too young but he wanted to be friends. We became very good friends. We stayed in touch over the last five years but didn't really spend any time together. Hell, I fell in love with him that day almost five years ago and no matter where I traveled in the world he was never far from my heart."

Melissa paused as her eyes began to moisten. "He is, simply the finest man, the most loyal, wonderful, caring man I've ever met. He can be tough and stubborn, but when the chips are down, he'll be there and I plan to spend the rest of my life with him."

It was at that moment that Melissa saw the news magazine cover from so many months before on Bethany's coffee table. She jumped up and grabbed it, staring at the picture on the cover, then turning it in the direction of the others.

"Do you know who that dying lump of flesh in that soldier's arms is? It's me, me, perhaps minutes from death at twenty three, so many miles away from my mommy and daddy in a war torn hell of a country. And do you know who that soldier with tears streaming down his face as he rushes me toward the only chance I have for life is? It's Sid! It's your brother. They never released his name because he wasn't even supposed to be there; he was a civilian. When we got on that helicopter that day, I didn't have any fight left in me; the easiest thing for me to do was just die. But oh no! I couldn't fall in love with any man, I had to fall in love with this wonderful, crazy, amazing man named Sid, who just doesn't know how to leave people, who couldn't leave you kids when it would have been easier and who couldn't leave Mike when the odds were stacked against them. I don't know which was more powerful that day, my need to be strong, to show your brother that I was not some simpering debutante---that I was worthy---someone of substance or the fact that he just wouldn't let me let go. I felt him kiss me and touch my cheek. Things were a jumble, but I distinctly heard him say, 'I love you, stay with me girl, fight, fight with everything you've got inside you. Don't quit on me! Don't leave me!' And somehow, in that instant, I realized that in Sid's life it has been all too common for those he loved the most to leave. And at that moment, the most important thing I could do to break that chain of tears was live, for him, for me---for us. Look, it's just a wedding and we've taken too much of your time..."

"We'll be there." They said almost in unison.

"Thank you for not taking no or maybe for an answer." Kevin added.

Daniel's wife spoke. "You're that woman, the one who almost died trying to save those people, the President..."

Melissa smiled. "If you had told me five years ago that I would be that woman, I would have said you were nuts. But then I met your brother. And while I realize that appearances can be deceiving, my gut tells me all three of you turned out okay. Just say thank you and give him a big hug. That'll be the most fantastic gift you could give him and all the payback he'll ever need."

On the flight back home, Melissa turned to Mike.

"We're moving to a new house?"

"Oops, that wasn't supposed to slip out. It's really Sid's wedding present to you. Your mom and dad know, they even helped design it."

"Design it?"

"It's a brand new house on a few acres on the edge of town which will be just barely completed in time for you two to live in it when you get back from your honeymoon. At least you haven't seen it; don't spoil the surprise when Mike shows it to you sometime in the next week."

"Mike, new houses can be expensive; I don't really even have a job and..."

"Don't worry your pretty head, little lady, over the last eight years our business has done pretty well; Mike can afford it."

Mike continued. "We were doing okay when I met your dad; we'd turned the corner and it looked liked we'd be able to both make a decent living out of it if we kept working night and day. Your dad was very pleased with the work we did for him; he told other lawyers. We did good work for them and then we started getting out of town calls. We ended up having to expand the business. We opened a branch on the West coast, then another in the Northeast, we're solidly in the Midwest now and are getting ready to open in Dallas later this year. We've almost completed the spin-off of the bail bonding business; it's a particularly slimy line of work but extremely profitable if you run it right but we both hated the day to day part of it. Sid and I will still make money on it but won't have to make those late night visits to the drunk tank anymore—or track down and recover the occasional bail jumper."

"Mike went on. "Melissa, the part of the business that really surprised us was security. We got some contracts with local companies pretty early on, then bid for and won the University's security contract which led to other similar contracts and even government---federal mostly---contracts. That led to several investigative contracts doing background investigations for employers, which is a hell of a lot more pleasant than divorce work. This sleek little business jet you're seated in right now is not a charter, we own it. It's one of three although this is the nicest one. Right now, Sid and I are trying to decide whether or not to go public before the end of the year. We'd lose some control, but the influx of cash would enable us to continue to expand; in our line of work we've become a recognized name, nationally. We've carved out a different niche than the better known firms, a high end niche. We're not cheap, don't try to win contracts just on price and are very respected."

"I'm prying, Mike, and if you don't want to discuss it, I'll understand, but what's the split between you and Sid?"

"It started as 80-20, which is sort of a joke because twenty percent of what we started with was pretty much twenty percent of squat. It was Sid's idea to go for the high end market, I resisted him at first but he was right. Your husband-to-be has uncanny business sense, a tireless work ethic and is still the company's best salesman. People trust him and they trust me; any success we've built started with trust."

Mike continued. "I kept giving Sid a point here and there over the years; I didn't even tell him about it at first. Hell, in the early years we were shoving every dime back into the business and I felt guilty about how little money he was taking home. I made it official a few months ago when we prepared to incorporate. Sid is a full partner; we each own half the business. We have hard assets but the essence of the company is our reputation---goodwill I believe they call it. The best news is that as the world becomes a more dangerous place, security is an exponentially growing business and we're running near the head of the pack."

"Melissa, we're just starting to work with the investment bankers and analysts to determine what the business is worth from an IPO standpoint and how much we each want to retain if we go public. We're being told that the economy is ripe for the IPO market again, a market in which timing can be everything. I don't even want to guess at this stage. I seriously doubt that it's going to be a nine figure offering but I'm reasonably certain it'll be a solid eight figure number."

"Sid didn't grow up with much, hell I didn't either; he's as generous as they come but it's taken me years to get him to spend any money on himself. He lived in that dumpy apartment for years, drove his old beater and wouldn't spend money on clothes. I finally convinced him that our company's image was going to suffer. Sid never had any money. Unlike the kids who leave college to earn a big professional sports contract and then are dead broke five years later, Sid saves a lot more than he makes. He's paying cash for the house he's building, not the best tax decision but that's Sid. I tried to get him to join a country club, I thought it would be good for business but he doesn't play golf or tennis and has never enjoyed hanging out with that crowd. Oh, he can go toe to toe with that set, but it's just business for him and he doesn't derive any pleasure from it. So, while anything can happen and economies and industries falter, we're in pretty good shape."

"As insiders we have to hold our shares for three years after the IPO and then there are legal limits and practical stock price effect limits on how quickly we can unload. I'm almost sixty; as long as I'm healthy and still enjoy it, I'll stick it out, albeit in a much less hands-on capacity. At the present, I sense that Sid still feels a lot of personal ownership and responsibility for the business, more than I do. He's a lot younger than I am and it's going to be harder for him to let go of the reins. That's where you come in! I seriously hope that as you two start a family and a life together that Sid will finally realize what's important in life and just kick back a little."

What had Melissa's mother said so many years ago about Sid? "He probably isn't going to end up being a doctor or lawyer, but he'll do just fine in life." It looked like he had done more than just fine. And he loved her. She was going to be his wife. She'd done just fine too, she thought to herself.

A week before the wedding, Sid drove Melissa out to see their home to be.

"Mike never could keep a secret; he told me he'd let the cat out of the bag. So you know, but at least you've never seen it. Here, put this on."

"Oooo, a blindfold! That's kinky. Is this going to be a regular part of our marital life?"

"Well I'm not going to wear it. I never could keep my eyes off of you. Looking into those amazing eyes of yours is just not something I'm willing to give up even for a minute."

"Oh damn, you are a silver tongued devil!"

They arrived at the home site and Sid led the blindfolded love of his life to a point in front of the house. She could hear workers furiously hammering and drilling things.

"Open your eyes." Sid said, as he untied the blindfold.

It was every little girl's dream house. It was a magical combination of every home she had ever dreamed of, every picture she'd every drooled over in a magazine. He took her for the grand tour. It was a very big house with lots of room...room to raise a family ...their family.

As they drove back to town, Melissa asked Sid a question.

"When will it be finished?"

"Thanks to good weather, a couple of weeks sooner than originally scheduled. The decorators will be in tomorrow, with any luck. Well, the head decorator is actually your mother, so if it's not to your liking, blame her. But I like it---a lot---and she seems to know you pretty well. Assuming no major setbacks, they'll finish just about the time you and I are getting ready for the rehearsal dinner."

"Where are we going on our honeymoon, or is that a secret too?"

"That is a touchy subject. I really wanted to take you to some absolutely amazing and decadent far off place. I made and canceled several plans. But with our luck, they'd have a revolution there. I've made reservations for a hideaway with very few people around up in the mountains on a lake north of where I grew up. It's a place I always wanted to go when I was a kid but never thought I'd be able to afford."

"Do we have to wear any clothes there?"

"No, it's pretty comfortable up there this time of year, a little cool at night----there is a fire place---but with enough altitude that insects aren't a real problem."

"And can we fuck any time and any place---and any way we want to---even outside?"

"There won't be anyone around for miles."

"Good! And what's next on the agenda?" Melissa asked, as Sid's truck made its way down the winding gravel road to the highway.

"Where does that road go?" Melissa asked, suddenly.

"It's hardly a road, more of a trail, an old logging path. It makes a steep climb to the top of the hill, well, I guess it's a mountain, at least in this part of the country. There's an abandoned sawmill just before the crest."

"I want to see it! Do we have time? Will we get stuck? Who owns it, will they mind?"

Sid spun abruptly off the gravel road, engaged the four wheel drive and gunned the engine up the steep opening in the forest.

"I guess you're going to see it, we have all the time in the world, I bought this truck with four wheel drive to deal with the snow in the winter and, ah, I, or, more accurately if you say, 'I do' a week and a day from now, we own it. We own the whole damned mountain so if we don't mind..."

The view at the top was breathtaking. There was a warm soft breeze. There was still one thing that she and Sid had not done, sexually. She had wanted to but every time they had gotten naked over the previous weeks they had found other carnal pursuits to delight each other. Sid brought the truck to a halt at the edge of the old saw dust field, once a mound, now more like an open plain. Climbing down from the truck cab, Melissa quickly removed her clothes, allowing the soft breeze to blow through her hair which she was again allowing to grow out. She loved the nakedness, the feel of the soft air blowing against her body and tickling her little pussy. She grabbed a blanket from behind the seat and turned to Sid, who was absolutely speechless as he devoured her wanton, naked beauty with his eyes.

"Show me some cock, big boy, get your ass out of those clothes." Sid quickly complied. 

Melissa then led him to the sawdust remnants and spread out the blanket. She pushed him down playfully, dragging her furry muff over his rapidly inflating cock. And then she moved down his body and he knew what was coming as she began to caress his cock and balls with her tongue. Before he could protest his long hard organ was engulfed in her hot, wet mouth and she was blowing him.

Remarkably, his was only the second man's cock she had ever taken orally. The other time, years early she had been inexperienced. She'd worn out that damned book her mother had given her. She'd practiced over the years on inanimate objects. She'd dreamed about this moment, still a little scared that she wouldn't do it right, still not sure how she would react when he shot his sticky load in her mouth.

It was some combination of anticipation and the fact that she was sucking a very special cock, the one that belonged to the man she loved so much. She was instantly surprised at how much the slick organ moving inside her mouth excited her. She could feel the warm breeze ticking her cunt and ass, either or both of which she planned to surrender on this mountain top before they departed. She began to moan as the pleasure of sucking her man's fuck tool aroused her to new heights. She knew he was close; she had no intention of letting him pull his throbbing meat out of her mouth, pulling his tight little ass to her so that he would understand that she wanted him to cum in her mouth. And he did, screaming her name and shooting his sweet cream on her tongue and at the back of her throat. This time it was different, the sticky, syrupy thickness excited her as she desperately tried to consume every drop of her man's essence. She didn't gag or choke. She reveled in the special taste of this wonderful man's spunk, draining him completely. And then he kissed her and shared his own taste with her...and she was in heaven. Once again, dear old mom had been right.

"Wow." Sid said as he held her tightly next to his strong body.




Sid and Melissa



"Okay, I know this is going to sound like bullshit. You know that before I met you I had only one other cock in my mouth and I didn't know what to do and I didn't enjoy it..."

Melissa went on. "Well you have my mom to thank for that blow job---and many more if you found it remotely pleasurable." And then she told Sid about the book her mom had bought her and her practice sessions over the years.

"You are trying to tell me, that, in essence, that was your first blow job, and the first time a man every came in your..."

"Uh, huh. Look, I wasn't celibate those years we were apart but I wasn't exactly getting banged on a regular basis, hell, as I look back, a handful of very short and unrewarding episodes and it was never much to write home about. But I never let another man take me orally. There was only one man I ever wanted to do that with---you. I was scared just now, afraid I'd screw up, gag, spit or not really like it, in spite of my mother's wise counsel. You might be pleased to know that I fucking loved it. So, should a time come when you tire of my little pussy or my tight little pooper, I'm sure I can find a way to satisfy you. And speaking of my ass and pussy, you're hard again. I don't suppose you brought any lube so we might want to pass on the ass fuck but my little cunt is positively dripping. Do me baby. Do me from behind, hard, like a bitch in heat, nasty, I'm yours."

"Take it, you hot little cunt! Take it all, take that cock in your tight little pussy. Work that ass baby, fuck me back, oh yeah, that's right, cum for me baby, let me hear you moan, oh yes, that it, right now, your ready, here it comes...oh, fuck!!!!"

"I need total honesty." Melissa said after they had both come down from another spectacular fuck. "You won't hurt my feelings, but I've just got to know, these things are important to a girl. You once told me, let me get this right, 'You're not just a fuck, not just a piece of ass---and don't you dare ever become one!' Well, I didn't, but when it comes to you, and God I love you so damned much, I want to be a fuck, a piece of ass---your piece of ass... I want to be the best damned piece of ass you ever thought of getting---am I getting close?"

"You are fucking with me, little girl, aren't you? You're amazing; nothing in my life before even comes close to you. How lucky can a guy get? You want to hear it? Okay, you're a great fuck and a hot little piece of ass. I also love you more than any man could ever love a woman. Are you happy now?"

"Right answer but with proper instruction and lots of practice I'm sure I can improve. Damned, you're getting hard again! Use your fingers...get some of that slippery stuff out of my pussy and grease me up...use your mouth...I'm very relaxed right now. Oh, that's good, work those fingers in their...yes, now, slow, that's right, balls deep baby, oh God you fill me up...that's so fucking good...oh fuck!"

"You are insatiable!" Sid exclaimed as they cuddled together toward sun set.

"Look, love of my life, I am going to fuck your skinny little butt every day and every way until I take my last breath. First, with you, at least, I've learned that I'm perpetually horny. Secondly, I have no intention of ever giving you a chance to even think about another woman. Am I making myself perfectly clear?"

"Crystal."

"Just checking." Melissa said, playfully.

Melissa was at her parents' house when Mike called. "I always love talking to you hon, but I need to talk to your mom. There's been a slight change of plans. Bethany called; she asked if the grandparents were invited and I said, of course. She's also bringing her fiancé. Even better, they're all taking time off from work and we're sending the plane up a day early. The whole gaggle will be here for lunch on Thursday---we need to plan a lunch on Thursday!"

The cover story was a simple one. Dear friends of Melissa's parents wanted to sponsor a special luncheon for family and close friends. Their own house was being renovated so the luncheon was going to be at Melissa's parents' house. Sid bought it.

Mike took the nine passenger van they often used for dropping off and picking up security staff and met the plane. He dropped the family off a half an hour before the luncheon was scheduled and then parked the van down the street.

"Who are these people again?" Sid asked Melissa as they pulled into her parents' driveway. 

"They're just very old, very dear and very intimate friends of the family. Don't worry, I'll introduce you to each of them and stay close in case you forget a name." She said with a Cheshire cat grin.

"There aren't many cars." Sid observed.

"Ah, well, they may have walked, they live close by." Melissa replied.

Sid heard soft voices in the dining room as he and Melissa entered the house. Melissa took him by the hand and kissed him softly.

"I love you, Sid. While I helped a little, this is really Mike's wedding gift, to you, to us. I hope you like it."

As they entered the dining room, Sid was dumb struck. It had been eleven years since he had last seen his siblings and grand parents. He was almost in shock as the recognition hit him. As strong a man as Sid was, he could not fight back the tears as he realized that Mike and his bride to be had arranged the most special wedding gift of all. The room was soon filled with a babble of voices as long hugs were exchanged. Melissa, her parents and Mike stood to the side, beaming with pride. 

Kevin was working on his second graduate degree and teaching at the university while also working as an assistant coach of the football team. Daniel was a police sergeant who had gone on after his junior college degree and earned his bachelors. Bethany was a Registered nurse and had recently completed her four year degree. Her fiancé was a lab director; they worked at the same hospital. Kevin's wife was also a teacher at the University and about to complete her Doctorate. Daniel's wife was an assistant district attorney. The grandparents, now retired, were fit and seemed to have aged well since Sid had last seen them. Everyone had turned out just fine.

After lunch Sid walked over to Mike. "This is one hell of a wedding present, partner. Thank you." Sid, said, given the Major a hug.

"I was just trying to catch up on the old, 'I owe you' list. How am I doing?" Mike said softly.

"I'm pretty sure this takes you over the top in that regard." Sid said.

Melissa and the three women were chatting together, having quickly struck up friendships as they compared notes on their respective families.

"I'm not going to let this be a once a decade occurrence. I'm being selfish in that regard. I've never seen Sid so damned happy. You all being here completes him. You're a family; we're a family, now. Nothing should ever change that in the future. I wish we all lived closer together."

"We all feel a little guilty that Mike spent all this money to get us here, renting a plane and all. Next time we'll pay our own way; we've all come out pretty well in life---thanks in no small measure to our brother Sid---and I think we can afford it." Bethany said.

Melissa laughed. "Ladies, my mom knew your brother was something pretty special before I even realized it. Years ago, right after Sid and I met, she said. 'He probably isn't going to end up being a doctor or lawyer, but he'll do just fine in life.' He's done more than just fine. Sure, the pilot needs to get paid and they burn a little fuel but Mike and Sid own that airplane, or at least their business does. They're equal partners in what has become a very successful enterprise. Hey! Maybe you could all move here? I mean, we have a major university and one of the top medical centers in the country. They're always looking for sharp law enforcement types and my dad has a law practice that he needs to retire from in the next few years. I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself."

It was a very special and wonderful wedding, made even more so by the fact that all of the people that Sid and Melissa loved dearly were in attendance. The honeymoon in the mountains was a special time of discovery for the two young lovers. Over the years that followed all of Sid's siblings ended up moving and building their own homes on the expansive property which Sid had purchased. The business went public; Mike and Sid stayed on in management roles for a few years and then retired to the board of directors.

Melissa became a minor celebrity in the NGO world; Sid absolutely would not let her risk her life in the far flung corners of the world again. She kept busy at home and was deliriously happy doing so. They had four children...two boys and two girls.

It was on a beautiful spring day many years later as Sid and Melissa hustled their four children off to school that she looked over at her husband, the love of her life, the man who had saved her life and thought back those many years before to words her mother had uttered: "He'll never hurt you, always protect you and love you like no other man on this earth until the day he dies." As he took her in his strong arms she realized what a smart woman her mom had been.

Edited by Red Martha.