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Whisper

By: dollybird



It started when she peeked her head into dorm room, moving the door open slightly. I looked up from my book and smiled. "Katherine." 

I liked to whisper her name because screaming it always made me feel slightly dirty. 

She pushed the door all the way open, the smooth rounded shape of her hips framed in the doorway. The red silk of the soft robe made her curves more appealing, almost gift-wrapped. 

I knew exactly what would be waiting when I untied the bow around her waist: moist pale pink skin with fine dark curls. As soon as she stepped through the door she spun around and closed it. I was still reclining on among my pile of bed pillows, gazing at the orbs of her ass, pantyless beneath the shimmering fabric of the robe. Only when she loosened the pages from my fingers did I realize that I had not set my book down yet. "Distracted weren't you?" she murmured. 

I recognized the glow in her eyes, a special sultry glance that means "peel the clothes off me and eat me like a piece of fruit." She is like a fruit, but not the kind of fruit I would peel. I have to just bite right into her flesh, really taste her. I think perhaps she is a peach or maybe a mango.

My arms formed a ring around her waist, hands resting on the upper mounds of her ass. I pulled her tiny lips near mine and parted them with my tongue. I could feel my nipples growing hard at the first contact. She loves to kiss and I am glad she taught me how. I was the first girl she ever kissed, but the boys who came before me must have given her some good lessons, because the pressure of her tongue is perfect against my fuller lips. 

Removing my hands from her posterior, I began to slowly unknot the red silk cord that kept her robe near her skin. I had decided that my body needed to take the place of the smooth fabric. 

I felt her first moans in my throat as the tips of my fingers covered her breasts in goosebumps. Reluctantly, I moved my mouth from hers to the rounded hollow above her collarbone. This is her special spot, the place on her body she most likes a lover to kiss. 

I can smell her pussyjuices as I circle the tip of my tongue down her chest, into her cleavage. The fine trail of hair along her stomach is soft to the touch and I place a hand on the small of her back as it arches. This brings her clit up to meet my tongue as it approaches. 

Years of making out in the childhood bedrooms of ex-boyfriends have taught her to be very quiet in her pleasure. I try every night to excite her enough to force her to cry out. I love the way my name sounds when shouted. Tonight I succeed. As my mouth is filled with sweetness, the air rings with my name and the obvious sounds of her enjoyment. 

As she ties her robe back on, she tells me, "None of those boys ever made me this loud" I am proud as she continues, "I don't think boys know how to make a woman really come." To prove it, she kisses me again, though my mouth tastes like her. This is all the encouragement I need to shake against her, rocking my hips against hers and calling out her name. This time, a whisper just won't be enough.

Whisper



Hi Folks. I originally wanted to do something more shocking with this story. All the way until the moment I posted it I was torn between which version to use. I decided in the end to do both. Like "Fur" last year I'm putting out both versions. Most of you will already know where to find the other version. This is the nice or hopeful version. The mean version is somewhere else. As usual the story wouldn't be as smooth or as easy to read without the help of the truly gifted Mikothebaby so please include her in any Kudos and since I'm the one who wrote any goofs are all mine. SS06

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Have you ever run into something out of nowhere that caused you the most intensive pain you've ever experienced? I mean not like a sudden heart attack or getting shot by a stray bullet because those are pass/fail situations. And wait, before we go into this, I know that women are going to trot out child birth. Well sisters, you've been riding that old horse for too long. Child birth is voluntary pain and you get the greatest reward on earth for it so just let it go. I'm talking about soul searing pain that never goes away and continues to affect your life long after it's over.

The shitty thing about it is that I've always expected it in a way, but I'd kind of allowed myself to become complacent. I'd started to believe that if it hadn't happened by now, it probably wouldn't happen. So I let my guard down and I started to believe that something I'd gotten away with stealing was mine. I'll tell you, all that shit they say about how crime doesn't pay is right. The sad thing is that if I had to do it all over again and this time I knew what would happen...Shit, I'd probably still do it anyway.

My name is William Place. My friends and family call me Will. When this all happened I'd been married for eight years to the most beautiful, magical woman I'd ever known. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to think so. I guess over the years I've gotten so used to seeing her in varying stages of beauty and grooming, that I'd forgotten how truly breathtaking she is. Most people who see her coming into a store or walking down the street watch her as she passes. My son and I don't give her a second look. She's just, "Honey," or "Mom," to us.

I guess the weirdest thing about Peyton is that she almost never goes all out. Peyton can grab a shower, throw on some lip gloss, step into a dress, brush her hair back and then stand next to women who've been at the hairdresser's and a salon and a makeup artist for several hours and just look so much better that there's no contest. Peyton is an angel made flesh.

The shitty thing about growing up in a moderately sized town is...well everything. If you grow up in a large city, you're only one of millions of people, so whatever happens to you doesn't matter much and people tend to forget about it. When you grow up in a small town, you're only one of a few and most of the people get along and they're friendly to some extent so you already kind of know who the bad guys are. In the middle there are enough people that you can't meet or know everyone, so the bad guys have a place to hide. But the town is small enough that everyone still knows when something shitty happens, they just probably don't know the parties involved.

Growing up, almost everyone in my circle knew about Larry Miller. I think that I probably heard about him for the first time when I was about 18. Larry was my age and people around town called him the prince of pussy. The rumor was that Larry was one of those "lock up your daughter" types. If there was a woman around and Larry saw her and had an interest in her, he would probably eventually fuck her.

I thought for a long time that Larry was probably some kind of old wives tale. You know, just a story they made up to scare the average guy into getting married. He was like the Boogie man or the Wendigo. But instead of eating children, he was more like, "Oh shit; you should have married her. She's with Larry Miller now."

In the first place, there were so many women in our town that got married right after high school or part way through college that I believe a lot of the girls just threw out Larry's name when they were tired of waiting for a ring. A lot of them were wide assed farm girls that normally wouldn't be considered...Okay I know that what I'm about to say is going to sound sexist, or chauvinistic, or misogynistic but I'm sorry, it's the truth. Anyway, a lot of them, my own sister included, would normally be considered, "practice girls."

A practice girl is someone you have a relationship with and fuck and do all of the things that everyone else does but you never intend to marry them. In a lot of cases, there's only one thing wrong with them or a couple, or even nothing wrong with them, but for some reason you just don't see yourself being with them for the rest of your life.

The bad thing about it is that the practice girl never realizes that she's a practice girl. She really believes that you're her one and only and vice versa. So she starts to put some pressure on you. It can be very subtle, like cutting down on the frequency of sex. Or slightly less subtle like walking you inside of the local jewelry store and standing in front of the engagement ring display.

Anyway, Larry Miller turned a whole lot of practice girls into wives at the mere mention of his name. I heard my sister planning out her strategy with her best friend who also used it successfully.

My sister, Summer, had never even seen Larry Miller, but she told her boyfriend Mark Thyme that she'd met the most interesting guy that afternoon at work. Mark asked her what was so interesting about him and she'd told him that she couldn't put her finger on it, but there was just something about him. Mark asked her what his name was. I guessed that he just wanted to try to find the guy and tell him to lay off of Summer. When Summer said, "Larry Miller. Do you know him?" Mark turned green.

The thought of having his steady supply of pussy gone sent him into fits. And the thought of being one of those guys who's taken a girl back after she fucked Larry Miller was worse. Everyone in town would be laughing at him. Shit, if Summer got pregnant ten years from then people would still wonder if it was really Larry's baby. Larry probably had some type of super sperm that laid there, waiting for just the right time to fertilize an egg.

So Mark jumped up and proposed to Summer. They went out and bought a ring the very next day. I guess Mark was hoping for a long engagement but before he knew it, he was married. The same strategy worked for a couple of Summer's friends. There are probably a lot of guys around our town who realized years later that they'd been trapped and it was too late to do anything about it.

I myself finally got a chance to meet Larry our third year in college. He, like me and almost everyone else in our town, went to the state university that was about twenty miles outside of town. To tell you the truth, I didn't see anything special about Larry. He was taller than I was at the time and a bit bigger, but he was just a regular guy.

When I saw him around girls though, my opinion just changed. Larry was as smooth as they come. That part was probably from all of the practice he got. He was also the biggest fucking liar I ever met. Larry would just make shit up and somehow it never blew up in his face. There was also something more to Larry and his success than met the eye.

I saw several guys try to use the same lines that Larry got away with and they were never able to pull it off. Larry could also go into a party full of women from another school and five minutes later, take one of the girls upstairs. After seeing him in action, I just couldn't figure it out. Years later, I came to realize that it probably just had something to do with pheromones. But then it was a mystery.

Around school, Larry left a trail of broken relationships, to say nothing of broken hearts in his wake. As more and more women fell for Larry's charms, he went from being called the prince of pussy, to the baron of bullshit. Most of the guys on campus hated Larry with a passion. He had very few male friends and most of the ones he had were bottom feeders who only wanted Larry's leftovers.

I watched the drama from the sidelines. I had no interest in it. I looked at college as the last vestiges of childhood before my real life began. I didn't form any lasting relationships because I was very sure that I wouldn't be sticking around in my small town when I finished. In fact, I didn't even intend to finish school here. I wanted a Master's Degree in Engineering. And although our University had a program, I wanted my Master's to come from a more prestigious school like the University of Michigan or MIT.

I had girlfriends or girls that were friends while in school but I made it sure that there were never any strings. I'm a decent looking guy so there were a couple of times during my time in college that girls mentioned "permanence," or "commitment," to me. I quickly moved on. One girl during my senior year even tried the Larry Miller move on me. Kathy and I had gotten to be very close. She'd even started leaving things around my apartment and had some clothes and a toothbrush there because she stayed over so often.

Kathy had been so subtle about it that she even knew all of my neighbors. Shit, I didn't know most of those people so I thought it was funny that she did. But out of nowhere one night, we'd been watching TV and I started to yawn. I wasn't actually sleepy, I was horny.

"You know, I met the most interesting guy today," she said.

I was so amped up about getting my dick wet that I continued to listen to her. "What made him interesting?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said. She got this weird listless tone in her voice as if she was remembering something really special. The tone in her voice was either fake or real. If it was fake the bitch was trying to manipulate me. If it was real, then she had either fucked Larry already or was thinking about it.

"Grab your purse," I said. "Let's go for a ride." She looked startled. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the apartment. I made sure she got her purse. We drove around in circles for a while and she had the biggest smile on her face. In her mind, she'd successfully executed the Miller maneuver on me.

I think she was really surprised when I pulled in front of one of the dorms on campus and parked. I got out of the car and pulled her out after me. I think you all can imagine her surprise when I sat her down on a bench in the park that over looked the dorm building. 

I got down on one knee in front of her and took her hand in mine. I looked up into her big pretty eyes...And believe me there was nothing wrong with Kathy. She was a pretty woman. She had big soft boobs that I loved playing with. She had great legs and an incredible ass. Kathy was one of those curvy, Marilyn Monroe types. And as I've said, there was nothing wrong with her. She'd make a wonderful wife for someone. But I wasn't that guy. As nice as Kathy was, she was, at least for me, a practice girl. Shit, if Kathy had been patient and waited a few more years, I probably would have married her. But what I wanted most in life then was an advanced degree and a ticket out of that small town. I didn't bust my ass in the first phase of college to end up working in the local Factory.

I took Kathy's hand in mine and looked up into those big pretty eyes and did some acting of my own. "Kath, Honey?" I said. "Uhm the guy you met this afternoon; the interesting one. Was his name Larry Miller?"

"Yes," she said. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Because if you sit here on this bench for a while, you'll probably see him stagger in after he's done fucking some other guy's girl. That's his dorm across the street. Good night," I said.

I got back into my car and rolled down the window. I was driving my first car then. It was a 1998 Mustang in Arctic white. It was only a V6 and it had those annoying rims that were panted the same color as the body, but it was a great car for a college kid.

Kathy was still in shock as I rolled down the window. "Your dorm is only a few blocks that way," I told her. "When you come by tomorrow, to pick up the rest of your stuff from my place, please leave the key on the table."

She was too shocked to even react. She just stared at me wide eyed as I drove off. I felt like an asshole. It just wasn't the way I normally did things. But I had no intention of being manipulated into something that I was ready for.

As I've said before, I've seen too many guys who got Millered and were stuck in relationships they didn't want to be in. When I got married, I wanted it to be to someone who just knocked my fucking socks off. I wanted to marry someone that I had lots of things in common with. I didn't want to get married to someone just because we were comfortable together and I liked fucking her. As hard as this is to say when you're a guy; I wanted romance and magic. Other than that we may as well just be friends with benefits.

When I finally got home that night, it was well after midnight and I had an early class the next day. I'd had several calls while I drove around trying to calm down and get my head straight. Most of them were from Kathy so I ignored them.

The next day she continued calling and I kept ignoring her. Finally my phone rang and according to my caller ID it wasn't Kathy. It was my sister, Summer. I was immediately worried about my parents, so I answered it.

"Hey Will," she said. "We need to talk."

My sister and I aren't very close so I wondered what the hell she wanted. My sister is the type of woman who's always there when SHE needs you.

"Are Mom and Dad, okay?" I asked.

"We're all a little shaken up," she said.

"Were you guys in an accident?" I asked. "Is everyone okay?"

"We weren't in an accident," she said. "It's about Kathy. Why the hell are you treating her like shit? She's all broken up and crying. We all thought that the two of you would probably have some kind of announcement soon."

"Why the fuck would you all think that?" I asked, smelling a rat.

"Well...the two of you are so good together and, uhm, I uhm, kind of spoke to her and..." she said.

"You kind of thought that I was stupid enough to fall for the shit you bamboozled poor Mark into marrying you with, right?" I hissed.

"Uhm...yeah," she said.

"Summer, I'm not stupid," I said. "That type of shit doesn't work on me. I will not be manipulated into doing anything I don't feel is right for me. I'm not ready to be married. I have no intention of starting a career at the local plant and buying a house and settling down. I want bigger and better things from my life."

"So did Mark," she said. "Sometimes men have no idea of what's good for them. You guys sit there on your asses playing video games and dreaming of Victoria's secret models and Lamborghinis, when the real world and perfectly good women who love you are right in front of you. I just didn't want you to miss out on a good thing."

"So you put her up to this shit?" I asked.

"Well yeah," she said hesitantly. "What difference does it make?"

"Because now instead of just losing a bed buddy, I've lost a sister as well," I said, hanging up the phone.

For the next few days I fended off comments and questions from family members and friends about why I was being such an asshole. I had two standard lines I gave them and a great kicker. The first line was telling them all that I had a plan for my life and I told them what that plan was. The second part was when I told them about needing to be in love before I got married. Then finally, I told them about my sister's little trick and how she'd used it to get Mark to propose to her and lock him in but I wanted to get married on my own time line and not because Summer had decided that it was time for me to do it.

It seemed to make sense to most people. I think that it did cause a few problems for Summer when Mark called me and he and I talked. He didn't divorce her, but it put his entire marriage in a different perspective. I think Mark realized that he'd been played. He hadn't been able to go to college. He'd had to start working for his father because Summer got pregnant before either of them came close to finishing. Summer is two years older than I am and Larry Miller is my age so Mark realizes now that there probably wasn't anything going on with them.

I think that by the time that everyone got over what I'd done, the whole town knew that I wanted my Master's in Engineering and I wanted true love. That made it even funnier when I ended up doing almost exactly what Summer had planned for me. I was working so hard trying to avoid the girl that Summer had manipulated into Millering me, that I ended up getting Millered for real.

About three weeks after the Kathy incident she was still on my trail. She'd started trying to catch me at home and I knew that eventually I was going to have to speak to her but it just hadn't been long enough. In the back of my mind, I was really hoping that the term would end and I could avoid her forever. I mean everyone knew that I intended to go to MIT in the fall which would involve me moving to a different state. I'd been offered an internship in Florida for the summer. If I could just hold out for another two or three weeks, it would be over.

Anyway, I left the apartment one day and saw Kathy sitting on my car reading a book. It was a warm day and the car was parked in the shade, so it looked like she was going to be there for a while.

I'd actually only planned on driving over to the library to do some research, so instead of confronting her and getting into an argument or a long drawn out and tearful exchange, I did something more mature. I snuck out the back door.

I was on the next block headed for the library when I passed the bus stop. I had just gone past it when I realized that the woman in the bus stop was crying. For the benefit of everyone reading this, I need to point out that I really am not the asshole that a lot of my actions make me seem like. I'm just an average guy who wants to get what he earns. I like to have a plan and a system of morals and stick to both.

The woman crying in the bus stop affected me. I couldn't just walk by without at least trying to see if I could help. She was a tiny little thing with a blue hoodie on. There was an explosion of tawny waves coming from under it. The second biggest miracle was that she'd been able to get the hood on over all of that hair. When I asked her if I could help her, she looked up at me and I saw the greatest miracle of my life.

My crying girl at the bus stop was Peyton Carlisle. Dunt da duh dah! When you read that Dunt da duh dah! part you have to imagine that you've just heard a fanfare of trumpets. Anyway, Peyton Carlisle, Dunt da duh dah! is the most beautiful female creature in our town. Every guy in town is, and was, as far as I can remember, in love with her. Shit, my father was in his mid-forties and even he'd look up any time someone so much as mentioned Peyton Carlisle. Dunt da duh dah! Wow that's annoying.

I couldn't figure out why she'd be hanging out in a bus stop crying. So I asked her again if I could help.

"Thanks for asking, Will," she sobbed. "But no one can help me. My parents are going to kill me." I was shocked to see her crying like that. And even more shocked that Peyton, Dunt da duh dah! Okay that was the last time. I was shocked that she knew my name.

"You know me?" I asked.

"Will, we've gone to school together since middle school," she said with the sadness still in her voice.

"Peyton, whatever is going on, we can fix it," I said.

"No, we can't fix it," she screamed.




Whisper



"Peyton, I'm an engineer," I laughed. "I can fix or rebuild anything. If I can't make it better than it was, at least I can make it so that it works."

"I'm pregnant," she said. If there had been a way to suck words back inside of your mouth, I'd have sucked mine all back in. But I just sat down on the bench next to her and tried to give her a supportive ear.

Peyton's parents were extremely Catholic. She had an uncle who was a priest and her entire family was deeply involved in the church. She wasn't quite as devoted as the rest of them, neither were any of her siblings, but the ramifications of her situation were quite dire.

Part of the way this situation had manifested itself was because of who she was. Peyton is so pretty that guys just took one look at her and fell for her. She just didn't see it. Her two sisters were the same way. When she looked in the mirror she just saw a girl.

Most of her life she'd only been allowed to date guys who met with her parents' approval. For the most part they were guys she'd met through or at church events. So up until a couple of months ago, Peyton at twenty three, was a virgin. Then she'd met a new guy in her church. He'd just joined and it turned out he went to our college as well. His name was Larry and he'd impressed everyone at the church. He actually asked her father first if it was okay for him to date her.

Peyton had put Larry off for two or three weeks, which for Larry, who was used to screwing girls on the first date and then moving on, was something of a record. And Larry stayed with Peyton for a week or so after getting her cherry. Then he moved on and started to avoid her. When Peyton's period didn't come, she took a test and called Larry when she found out that it was positive. Larry told her not to worry and that things would work out. He continued to avoid her. He told her that those home tests were often wrong and that she should get a real doctor's test.

She made the appointment and asked for him to go with her. When the day for the appointment came, she couldn't find Larry anywhere. He'd taken his finals early and moved away.

"What was Larry's last name?" I asked.

"Miller," she said tearfully. "I don't know what I'm going to do. My entire family will disown me."

"Peyton, you need to tell them sooner or later," I said. "A part of us being adults is accepting the responsibility for the things that we do. If you wait until you start to show, it will be far worse on you than if you're honest and up front about it. And don't worry, your parents will love you know matter what. And your friends will support you too."

"Do you think so?" she asked. By that time we'd been talking for most of the afternoon. I took her to a small restaurant and we ate and talked some more. She told me that I'd made her feel a lot better and if her baby was a boy, she'd name him after me.

"I'm damned sure not going to name him Larry," she said. She gave me her phone number and told me to call her the next day. Then she had me call the number right then so it was in my phone. I walked her back to her dorm and I was flying. I'd seen Peyton around town or around school for most of my life and had never even imagined us talking, let alone me having her phone number.

As silly as it seems, that afternoon I fell for Peyton so hard that there was simply nothing I wouldn't have done for her. Even as I walked home after leaving her, I remembered hundreds of little details about her from growing up. I remembered times I'd seen her smile and had been agog at how pretty she was. I remembered the grace that she'd handled embarrassing moments with and I realized that like most of the guys I knew, I'd probably always been a little in love with Peyton, I'd just never thought even in my wildest dreams that I'd have a shot.

Luckily for me things seemed to go my way that day. When I got back to my apartment, Kathy was gone. She'd left a note on my car that she really wanted to talk to me. So I decided to call her the next day. Unfortunately for me, life interfered. I've never really been messy. I grew up in a home that was always spotless, so I tended to keep my apartment that way too. With Kathy having spent the better part of a year auditioning for the role of wife, she'd really helped. So my apartment was never the typical bachelor pad.

I was trying to do some of the studying I'd neglected that afternoon when my phone rang. I assumed that it was Kathy and decided to just go ahead and get it over with.

"Will, it didn't work," said a tearful voice. "They threw me out...I'm"

I surprised even myself. "I'll be right there," I said.

I was in my car and moving before it even registered in my own mind what I was doing. As I said, I've always tried to be a good guy. But sometimes I tend to lead with my emotions and just let them take over. It often gets me into trouble that a bit of rational thought would prevent.

I drove back to Peyton's parents' house and knocked on the door. The door opened slowly and Peyton's dad stood there holding a drink in his hand. He was clearly upset. He also wasn't the pious church going man that everyone had come to know and respect at that moment.

"What do you want?" he asked taking another sip of his drink.

"I'm here to see Peyton," I said. He took one look at me and his face got red.

"Are you the one who..." he began and I for some reason, was as pissed as he was. As I look back on things now I realize that both of us had misunderstandings at that moment. If either one of us had just slowed down and let the other speak. Things might have gone better. But for me they'd have been far worse. If we had taken the time to talk or to listen to each other, he might not have hated me, but I probably wouldn't have ended up with Peyton either.

"Yes," I said. "I'm the one who..." I was going to say, "I'm the one who told her to tell you she was pregnant."

"Well good," he said. "You can take her ass with you..." I later learned that he was only upset and never intended to kick Peyton out of the house.

"I will," I spat.

Peyton's mother looked relieved. Peyton herself was afraid and shocked.

"But Daddy he..." she began.

"Get the hell out of my house," he said. Peyton had already packed a small suitcase. I guess her mother had intended for Peyton to go and stay with a relative until this thing could be worked out but it just didn't end up that way.

I gently guided a crying Peyton out to my car. We drove around for a while and I finally got her to talk. Then I got her to eat and we talked some more. Once again that moderately sized town thing came up. A lot of people knew who I was and everyone knew who Peyton was. So when people around town saw us together, especially huddled in a booth talking very seriously, it got around.

When I insisted that we be placed in an area without smokers and Peyton sheepishly explained to the waitress that she was pregnant, that was all it took. Word had gotten around town in less than two days that I had gotten Peyton Carlisle pregnant.

That first night we didn't go back to my apartment until almost midnight. Peyton was falling asleep in my car. We'd tried a few of her friends but unfortunately Peyton only knew "good girls," that she'd gone to church and school with. All of them were horrified that she was pregnant; including her best friend, Millie, whom she'd spent the previous day studying with. I didn't understand how one day could make her more or less of a monster.

Finally I told her that we could go to my apartment and she nodded her head. I got out a pillow and a blanket. She headed right for my couch and I grabbed her arm. I guided her into the bedroom. She was so tired she didn't object. I closed the door behind her and headed for the couch.

The next day I had an early final, it was my last one. I woke Peyton and asked her if she had any classes left. She said she didn't, so I let her sleep and went and took my final. When I got back, I made a big breakfast. Apparently the smell of the food woke Peyton, because she quietly came out and sat down at the table. She just looked at me.

"Hungry?" I asked and she nodded. I guess it was too early in her pregnancy for morning sickness and not all women get it. I think that Peyton's appetite and all of the food she eats just goes towards making her prettier. As she shoveled down food, she just got better looking. Realistically, she probably just felt more comfortable and less hungry but I had to feed my fantasy.

"Will, what are we going to do now?" she asked. God damn it, I loved to hear her say, "We."

"Do you mean today or in the long run?" I asked.

"Both," she said. She looked at me intently and I really loved the feeling.

"Peyton, we have some decisions to make," I said. "If hearing her say, "we," had lit ME up, when I said, "we," HER face positively glowed.

"Okay, the first decision to make is yours Peyton," I said. "Do you actually want to have this baby?"

She nodded very quickly. "I made a really bad mistake," she said. "But killing a child would be a bigger one." I heard all kinds of echoes of her Catholic upbringing there but as I'd told her, that part was her choice.

We spent the rest of the day making plans and scheduling appointments. I found out then exactly how sheltered Peyton's life had been. She didn't know how to do anything. Even the classes that Peyton had been taking at the university were all geared towards her someday being the perfect wife.

We went to an appointment with both the local doctor and Peyton's priest. Both of whom looked at me as if I'd taken a shit on the Mona Lisa. We got Peyton the vitamins she needed and signed up for parenting and birthing classes. We also got a very stern lecture from the priest and appointments for both of us to see him separately.

It took a couple of days for things to settle down and for us to get into a rhythm. But we discovered that we got along great and were very comfortable together. Then the phone calls started to come in.

"Will, there's a girl on the phone for you," said Peyton. Her face looked concerned. "Her name is Summer," she said.

I ran over and took the phone from her and hung it up. "Girlfriend?" she asked.

"That wasn't a girl, Peyton," I said seriously. "That thing used to be my sister."

Her face lit up again. The next time the phone rang was far more serious. It was one of Peyton's sisters. She had all kinds of news for Peyton. Her father was still angry and getting angrier as the days went on. He had forbid any of them to have contact with Peyton. Even after speaking to the priest who couldn't reveal any information on Peyton to him, he continued to rail against her. I thought that it was all just posturing because he didn't want his other two daughters to follow Peyton's example. 

She was never to set foot in their house again. And if she didn't get married before the child was born she's be stricken from the family forever. He refused to have any bastards destroy their family lineage. Then the priest started in on us. I guess he figured that if we did something to placate Peyton's father everything would work out. But all that did was get my dander up.

I told him we'd be fine. Peyton asked me that night what my plans had been for the summer before she impacted my life. I told her about going to Florida for my internship and then going to Boston and she cried. I woke early the next morning and left before she got up. I think that Peyton had assumed that I'd gone to school. I'd gone to the plant and put in an application. They were always looking for fresh young engineers and hired me on the spot. It was a Thursday and I didn't have to start work until the following Monday. I went to see the priest for my solo appointment after that. Payton's was scheduled for the next day.

When I got home I knew that something was odd. Peyton was fully dressed and her suitcase was by the door.

"I was hoping that you could take me to the bus station," she said.

"Peyton, I'll take you anywhere you want to go," I said. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to stay with my Aunt Sally," she said.

"I thought you didn't like her," I said.

"I don't," she said sadly. "But she's the only person who'll take me in and I can't ruin your life, Will. You've done too much for me already. You're supposed to be in Florida by next week so I have to go somewhere."

"Peyton, I've already called the company in Florida to tell them I'm not coming. I start working at the plant next week. They're going to pay me a great salary and we'll have benefits too; as soon as I get my ninety days in. So we'll be fine. Plus it'll give you a chance to put some of that fancy education your parents paid for to use." Her face got the weirdest look on it and she hugged me.

She came back to me a couple of hours later with her serious face on. "Will, can we talk about something?" she asked. I just smiled and nodded.

"I don't know why you're doing all of this for me...for us," she corrected. "But I need to ask you an even bigger favor."

"Okay," I said. "I'll do it." Her face brightened.

"Will, you should probably let me ask you first and give you an explanation of my plan," she said.

"Peyton, you already know, I'd probably do anything for you," I said. She turned around and just walked away then and started crying on my bed. I followed her into the room and started rubbing her back.

"Peyton, what's wrong," I asked her.

"It's me Will," she cried. "I'm just asking for too much. Ever since I've met you, I've just been taking things from you without giving you anything in return. But this is just too much."

"If it's too much, I'll tell you," I said. "What do you want Peyton?" Even as I asked, my mouth dropped open in shock. And she looked up at me.

"No Peyton," I said suddenly. "I absolutely refuse. Even for the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, there are limits. I absolutely refuse to sell my Mustang and buy a minivan."

"You think I'm beautiful?" she asked.

"You don't want a minivan?" I asked in the same tone.

"No, I wanted a year of your life," she said seriously.

"Peyton, I'm twenty two," I said. "I've got a lot of years left. You can have one of them."

"Seriously?" she asked and her face got even brighter.

"You really don't want a minivan? I get to keep my car?" I asked. Then she hugged me with everything she had and just shook her head looking at me.

"Yes, you can keep your car," she said still smiling at me and shaking her head.

"Okay, what do I have to do?" I asked. "Do I have to become Catholic and go to church for a year?"

"Of course not," she said. "But you will have to go to church a few times, like when we get married and..."

"When we what?" I asked.

"Will, I know it's a lot to ask," she began. "But I've thought this all out. I looked at it from my dad's perspective. He's really into our family history and what other people will think and all of that. So if we get married before the baby is born, then there's really no scandal. I'm sure that once we're married, he'll come around and then once the baby is five or six months old, we'll file for a divorce and you can go on to MIT just one year later. There's not nearly as much shame to the family if I get divorced as there'd be if I was an unwed mother. Being an unwed mother is usually chalked up to the parents not raising you right. But a divorce can be blamed on a lot of things. And of course, you'll have a friend for life and my undying gratitude."

"Okay," I said. But I was a little bit hurt. "Half of the town thinks I got you pregnant anyway," I said.

"I love you Will," she said. "Thank you so much."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "It's probably not going to happen."

"Why not," she said.

"Because Larry will come to his senses and come back for you before the baby is born," I said.

"Why the hell would he waste his time?" she said. It was the first curse word I'd ever heard from her and there was some anger mixed in with it. "There's nothing here for him. My baby doesn't need him in his or her life and I don't either. I wish with all my heart that I'd met you before I met him."

I don't think I heard another curse word from Peyton for weeks afterwards. The next time she'd curse would be on our wedding night.

The next day at Peyton's appointment with the priest, we told him the news. Peyton also got to meet my family that day too. My mom adopted Peyton that afternoon. My dad kept patting me on the shoulder. He had that, "Cat that swallowed the canary," look the whole time. Even my brother was smiling at me. Summer wasn't as thrilled, but even she came around when she was included in planning the wedding.

The announcement for the wedding date went up on the church bulletin board so her parents must have seen it, but we still didn't hear a word from them. There were so many people who showed up for our wedding that we had to turn some of them away. The church simply couldn't hold them. I did manage to slip her mom in the side door so she could watch the ceremony without being seen and I pointed her out to Peyton as we did the ceremonial kiss. The strangest thing about is was that when we did the kiss, I only expected a perfunctory peck but Peyton pulled me in for a full-fledged lip lock that lulled the church into silence. Her technique showed that Peyton hadn't kissed a lot of guys but her eagerness shocked me.

My parents had given us a week long cruise for our honeymoon and we had to miss the reception to drive to the airport. Peyton held my hand as we left the church and everyone in town seemed to be happy. On the way to the airport, Peyton asked me why I was smiling so much.

"Are you that relieved that the ceremony is over?" she asked. "Honestly, I don't understand men. Don't you understand that for a woman her wedding day is the highlight of her life? It is the bride's day. Your mom and I have planned this day for the past six weeks. I was barely able to fit in my dress. My little bump here is starting to show. In a few weeks, everyone in town will know who doesn't already."

"Well, don't worry," I said. "I'm sure your next one will be better."

"My next what?" she asked.

"Wedding," I said. She just looked at me strangely.

We got on the plane with Peyton carrying her veil and her book of thank you cards. She was filling out thank you cards for everyone who'd attended the wedding. She'd have more thank you cards after we went through all of the wedding gifts. She spent an hour telling the flight attendants about our wedding.

The plane landed late and we had to hustle to get to the ship. But we made it with time to spare. We settled into our cabin and then went to explore the ship. We were both pretty exhausted from traveling and all of the festivities, so we had dinner in our cabin. Peyton went into the bathroom and I grabbed a blanket. When she came out of the bathroom, I watched her from the other side of the room. I almost laughed at her.

She had on a very tiny pair of white panties with white stockings and garters. She had on a lacy white bra and the very same long trailing veil that she'd just gotten married in. She carried a small bouquet to make up for the one that she'd thrown back at the church. She slowly walked towards the bed the way she'd walked down the aisle only hours before. She stood in front of the bed looking like an angel. My jaw dropped open. Her breasts stood like two quivering melons on her chest. Her legs were perfect. Stories could be written about her ass alone. Even the tiny baby bump growing below her breasts only made her even sexier.

Suddenly, she dropped the flowers on the bed and looked around the room. "Will," she yelled. "Why the hell are you on the sofa?" She came across the room and just plopped down in front of me. She folded her arms across her chest, clearly angry.




Whisper



"What's wrong Peyton?" I asked.

"Remember I told you about memories and how important they are for a woman," she said. "You just messed up my wedding night memory. Now come on over here and do this right."

"Do what right?" I asked. "Peyton, are you so caught up in our fake wedding that..."

"What God damned fake wedding?" she hissed. "Our wedding was real. Sure it's only going to last a year or so. But for that year, I'm going to be the best God damned wife that any man ever had. Will, you've already done more for me than anyone else in my life has. I'm going to make sure that you never regret what you've done for me. Now get in that damned bed.

She flounced back into the bathroom and came out again a few minutes later. She lay down beside me and looked at me with a combination of fear and lust. It turned out that she'd only had sex with Larry twice and the first time she'd been a virgin. Neither time had lasted very long, so she was unprepared for what we did that night.

I started out by just massaging her all over. As I removed each piece of lingerie, I lightly rubbed every inch of skin it revealed. Then I started from her toes and kissed my way back up her body. I spent a lot of time on her breasts and then her pregnant tummy.

Her toes were already curling up and I hadn't really done anything to her yet. "Oh Will, you'd better get started soon or I'm going to explode," she whined. I just smiled and kissed her again.

"So explode," I said. "Then we'll just start again." As I kissed and licked her tummy her whole body stiffened and her legs just spread. I recorded that for future knowledge. She liked it when I kissed her tummy.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I lowered my head between her legs and started to ease my tongue into her sparsely furred slit. Her reaction was immediate and violent. She slammed her legs together almost trapping my head between them, but at the same time she tried to push me away.

"Will, that's dirty, it's..." she began.

"Peyton, did it feel good?" I asked.

"Uhm..." she stalled.

"Peyton, you said that this wasn't a fake marriage," I said. "If we're really married then we have to do anything we can to make each other happy and bring each other pleasure. So I think we should have a Charlie Rich marriage."

"Will, who is Charlie Rich?" she asked, still trying to push me away from her.

"He's a country singer," I laughed.

"Oh no," she said. "No yodeling in our house." I ran one finger up her leg and under it and she moaned. As I rubbed the area around her pussy, she started wiggling her toes again.

"What does he sing?" she asked still moaning.

"His biggest hit is a song about how, "No one knows what goes on behind closed doors," I said smiling.

"I like him already," she said, letting her legs flop back open. I dove for her and licked her from anus to clit in one long slow stroke. All it took was a couple more of those and she screamed."

"Will, you have to fuck me now," she squealed. "Please, just do it." I slowly pushed my dick inside of her. It took some effort because as wet as she was, Peyton was still really tight. It dawned on me that she only had sex a couple of times and that had been a while ago. So I took everything very slowly. I didn't worry about getting off myself. I just wanted to make it as pleasurable for Peyton as possible.

After only a few strokes, Peyton started lifting her hips to match me and things began to get intense. She grabbed the sides of my head and started kissing me. "Will, I can't help it," she hissed. "It feels so good." She started thrusting her hips faster and moving faster and harder. She grabbed me around my waist and started pulling me towards her, forcing me into her faster and harder. She pushed her tongue down my throat and wrapped her legs around my waist and howled like a she wolf when she came. A few moments afterwards, I couldn't hold it and just let go. I shot more semen into her than I had ever put into any woman in my life.

I held her gently and she held me back. Then I noticed that she was crying. I'd heard about Catholic guilt and I wanted to try to comfort her.

"Peyton, you know we're married, so it wasn't a sin and..."

"Will, shut up," she said suddenly.

"I just wanted you to be happy," I said. "And not regret what..."

"Will, did you see what happened between us?" she said. "Did you feel what I felt when our bodies were slapping together like two animals? All I wanted was for you to get deeper inside of me with your tongue and your thing and I just wanted it to last forever. I wanted to be a part of you. That's the way it's supposed to be. The only thing I regret was that it wasn't you who got to me first. The only thing Catholic I'm thinking is, "God I wish this was your baby."

She rolled over and we spooned. She placed my hands on her breasts.

"Peyton, who says it isn't?" I asked.

"Isn't what?" she said.

"Peyton, only four of us know that I'm not the person who got you pregnant. Me, you, Larry and God; no one else has a clue. Everyone in town thinks it's my baby, so why can't it be?"

"We'll talk about that later," she said. "Can we do it again?"

By morning Peyton and I had tried quite a few things. She'd given her first blow job and we'd tried a few different positions. I also learned that her two times with Larry had been very quick. When he'd gotten her cherry, it had hurt her like hell and she hadn't been ready for it. She'd sworn she'd never do it again until the next time she was with Larry. The thing that frustrated her, the most was that she didn't even like Larry but when he was around she just couldn't say no. The second time was worse than the first. He just pushed his dick inside of her and she'd struggled not to cry out. Both times had been really rushed affairs and they'd been afraid of getting caught.

She accused me of turning her into a whore because of the way she reacted to what we did. During our week at sea, we didn't see much of the sea.

We went back to town far closer than we'd been before the wedding and Peyton had a new wiggle in her walk. Peyton was the kind of wife that every man dreams about. Her public displays of affection had every guy I knew seething with jealousy. Even heavily pregnant, Peyton was the sexiest thing on two legs. We went to our parenting classes and we went out on date nights a lot.

We got help from my parents and friends when we moved into a medium sized house. We bought the house more for an investment than anything else. When our marriage was over, I could live in it or sell it. Peyton would probably move back in with her parents.

Larry had gotten a great sales job with a company from New York. He came into town a few times a year but during Peyton's pregnancy we never ran into him. When the baby was born, we named him William James Place Junior. He was a happy little boy and everyone loved him. I was handing out candy cigars in the hospital and noticed that one of the guys I'd just given one to was Peyton's father. He looked at me and his glare softened and he just nodded. When he nodded at me, I was sad because I was sure it was the beginning of the end.

I, of course, took a few days off from work so I could be at the hospital every day with Peyton and the baby. Peyton grabbed onto my hand like it was a life preserver and she was drowning every time I walked back into the room. The day after the delivery, a nurse from the hospital's records department came in and gave me a bunch of insurance forms to sign and Will Jr.'s birth certificate. I handed it to Peyton who smiled and handed it right back to me and told me I was supposed to sign it. So I did. Over the next few days, almost every person that we knew in town came in to visit with us or to see the baby.

I was very shocked when a really pretty girl with chestnut brown hair just came right up to me and hugged me. Then she kissed me on the cheek and I almost fainted. A guy a couple of years younger than me came over and shook my hand. I thought he might've been her boyfriend or husband and might also be pissed but he just patted me on the back.

Before I could figure out what was going on, they left. They'd obviously just come from seeing the baby and I guessed that they were just feeling good after seeing him. I wondered what it was about babies that seeing one, even when it belonged to someone else, just gave people hope.

As I stared at Will Jr. through the glass, I realized that my plan was not going to work. I'd done all of this stuff for Peyton. I'd tried to remain distant, but the fact was that I loved her. When I'd first agreed to the scam or whatever it was, it had simply been for a chance to get to know her. And as stupid as it seems, most guys will do absolutely anything for a pretty woman; especially if she's in trouble. Women have that maternal instinct and will do anything to protect a baby. Men have the knight in shining armor complex and we need to go to the rescue of damsels in distress.

But somewhere along the way, I seriously fell for Peyton. And when this whole thing was over in a few months, I was going to be hurt badly. The ones who fly the highest always get hurt the worst when they fall. And for the past few months, I'd been living as close to heaven as was possible on Earth.

Then there was Will Jr. He was only a day old and somehow when I looked at him I felt a connection that I shouldn't have. He was not my biological child but I loved that wrinkled, wiggling, tiny lump of flesh just as much as if he was.

At that moment, I seriously considered running out of that hospital and never looking back. When Peyton ascended back to Heaven to be with her perfect family, I would be the one crying and missing her. I decided that the best possible way to do it would be to leave her a note explaining why I'd done it. I was trying to figure out what to write when I felt someone behind me.

"He's so beautiful isn't he," she said. It was the woman from before. I just nodded.

"Why are you crying," she laughed. "I guess you and Peyton are probably the happiest people on earth. I've never seen my sister so happy and I guess most of that is because of you. My mom has been down here twice, yesterday and today. Even my grumpy old dad was here yesterday. Once he came by, there was no way of stopping mom. He still claims that Peyton is persona non grata in the house but he isn't fooling anyone. Oops, we've never actually met have we? I'm Julie, Peyton's older sister. The man I was with before is our brother and your brother, Jeff. You're Will, right?"

I just nodded. "You guys are so lucky. You have a nice house, a perfect baby and each other. Will, my sister loves you so much. I've never seen her like this before. We just went up to visit her. Every time she says your name she lights up. I only came down here to tell you that she wants you to come back up to her room when you're done, "Staring at the baby and wondering how we're going to get him home." Those were her words not mine. Anyway, I have to go. See you around brother."

That was it. There was no easy escape for me. I was locked in. I knew at that moment that I couldn't leave Peyton until she told me that she didn't need me anymore. As I watched Julie walk away, I noticed a couple of things that I thought were interesting too. There were guys in her wake who walked into walls or tripped trying to look at her and she never even seemed to notice it. Julie, when we talked, seemed to think of herself as just some normal girl. She thought Peyton was somehow gifted or lucky to have ME.

When I got back to Peyton's room she was talking to a nurse. She smiled as I came into the room and held her cheek up. The nurse looked at me and smiled.

"Oh go ahead and kiss her," she said. "I think everyone in town knows that you two do a lot more than just that." Peyton smiled even more and turned a little red. But she moved her cheek and kissed me full on the lips and stuck her tongue in my mouth. I was a little bit embarrassed. Then I noticed that my mom, my dad and my sister were moving past the nurse.

"Good Lord. Haven't you guys done enough of that already," laughed my sister.

"You shouldn't get him so worked up, Peyton," said my mom. "You know it's going to be a while before the doctor clears you to go back to any...uhm activity."

"Maybe we just won't tell the doctor," smirked Peyton. "Besides, there's all kind of...uhm activity." My dad's eyes almost exploded. It was strange to hear someone as angelic appearing as Peyton talking as if she was dying to have sex.

My sister and my dad hadn't seen the baby yet. I took them over to the nursery so they could see him. Peyton and my mom chatted happily as we left. I remember thinking that Peyton, besides being amazingly beautiful, had layers to her that I'd never imagined. She was also pretty smart. Things were going along just the way she'd said they might.

She was also a hell of an actress. A big part of it had to be that beautiful, guileless face of hers. She was simply so beautiful that even when she was speaking utter bullshit, you just wanted to believe her. Again, I wondered about the people she left in her wake. My father was in awe of her. My mother loved her like a second daughter. Even my God damned sister, herself a con artist who had trapped her husband, had fallen for Peyton hook, line and sinker. Was I the only one who saw through it? And to be truthful, I only knew because I'd been there from the planning stages.

In the end, I had to admit that I was probably the stupidest one of all. Because I HAD been there when we planned this whole charade out and it had still affected me. I deserved the kick in the teeth that I was going to get when it ended, but I wasn't sure my family did; and what about Peyton's family?

Shit, this was like Loki trying to con his way back into Asgard. All of the people there were good so they believed everyone was good. But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that maybe Peyton and Larry Miller deserved each other.

As my dad and sister stared at the baby and tried to pick out traits in him that looked like me and which ones looked like Peyton, I laughed inwardly at how stupid they were. "Oh my God," gushed my sister. "That is so your kid."

"Of course it is," I said. I decided that it was too early in the game to piss on anyone's corn flakes so why not help the fantasy along.

"No, stupid," she said. "I mean really. Peyton has those insane cornflower blue eyes. You have those brown, shit colored eyes. My nephew has your eyes, not Peyton's. And have you noticed his frigging leg?"

"What's wrong with his leg?" I asked, staring at the glass even harder.

"There's nothing wrong with it Sherlock," she smirked. "But he has the same birthmark on his right thigh that you have. That mole dead center on his right thigh; didn't you see it?"

"Oh that," I said. What Summer didn't realize was that Larry had brown eyes too. And moles as birthmarks were fairly common. The baby and I sharing the same spot for a birthmark was definitely a coincidence, but for all I know, Larry could have had one too.

We went back up to the room and Summer kept going on and on about his eyes and the frigging birthmark. She, my mom and even the nurses were working themselves into a frenzy talking about how much the baby looked like me. I started to feel sick. And the thing that made me feel worse was hearing Peyton join in with them. She even had a smile on her face that made me feel even worse. It was like she was enjoying herself while we lied to all of these good people who only wanted the best for her and her child. 

I began to wonder how they'd all feel when Larry came back to claim his family. Would they all feel really stupid then? And would they all blame me?

I mean really, I probably wouldn't care very much because when this all ended I'd be on my way out of town. I'd be ready to head for Boston and MIT with the money I'd have saved making my first year there easier. The only problem was the fact that I hadn't been able to save much money. Buying the house and equipping it for Peyton and her child had limited the amount that I was able to put away.

Of course, I could always sell the house. Peyton would probably move back in with her family, so she wouldn't need it. I'd have to talk to her about it as soon as I got a chance. When my mom and dad left, dragging Summer away with them, I felt awful.

"Will, come over here and sit with me," smiled Peyton. She amazed me. Her face was lit up like a fucking Christmas tree and I just felt sick about lying to all of those people.

"Are you okay, Honey?" she asked. "You look a little green." She pressed my hand between hers and kissed it. I almost threw up. She was just carrying this whole thing to fucking far. Trying to run her bullshit on some people who didn't know any better was one thing, but I'd thought that WE were friends. I thought that I deserved better than that, but I guess that she saw me as just another person to fuck over. Everything was fine as long as Peyton got what she wanted.

"They always get that look," said a voice from behind us. "Your father got that look every time, Peyton. The first time, he wondered if we'd be able to make it financially. When you're a young couple and haven't been together for that long, adding a baby to the mix is scary. When there are only the two of you, you know you can survive on anything. You can eat chips and soda and almost live on love. But when you bring a baby into the mix, especially at first, the responsibility just seems huge. You two will do fine."

I turned and saw myself staring at an older version of Peyton. I was stunned. And though I tried to hide it, I was jealous. I felt cheated. I deserved the chance to see Peyton grow into that woman. They always say that if you want to see the woman your wife will be in twenty years or so, look at her mother. I was looking at the woman I wanted to be married to in my mid-forties.

"Mommy, what are you doing here?" asked Peyton. She started to tear up and I couldn't help it. I went into protection mode.

"Your brother and both of your sisters have been here to see their nephew," she said. "Julie and Jeff came to visit YOU too. Even your father was here yesterday to see his grandson. He won't admit it but he won't lie either. He gets angry and changes the subject, but he's been here. So I decided that I could come too."

"I love your father Peyton and I always will, but you're my daughter and what's done is done. You made a mistake, is the way your father puts it now. When you left eight months ago, he called you all kinds of biblical names and said that you'd committed a sin against God and your family."

"Now he just says it was a mistake, but admits that you're trying to put it behind you. Peyton when you came and told us about it, I was shocked. But even that day, when you stormed up to your room and called William here and he rushed right over, I began to doubt that you'd made a mistake. When he stood up to your father and took you out of there, I had to question it even more."

"Maybe what you did isn't what we wanted for you, but you're happy and my grandson is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. Even now, when I look at the two of you together and the way you look at each other, I hate to say it; but your father was wrong. There haven't been any mistakes made. You guys are doing fine without us. In fact, I think we need you, more than you need us."

"I'll go and check on the baby," I said. "That way you guys can talk for a while." As I got up from the bed, I noticed it again. Peyton seemed reluctant to let go of my hand. She kept her fingers curled up with mine until the last instant that we broke contact. It pissed me off even more. The woman was even trying to con her own mother.




Whisper



A couple of days later, Peyton came home and I had to go back to work. My mom came over to help Peyton out with the baby. For some reason that the doctors couldn't figure out, having the baby had left Peyton very weak. Her iron levels were very low which left her out of breath after even the most minor activity. The two of them had worked that out at the hospital. 

What shocked me was one day as I was giving Peyton breakfast; it wasn't my mom who came to sit with her but her mom.

"What would you like for breakfast, Honey," she asked stepping into the room. "Oh you're already eating."

"Will takes really good care of me, Mom," said Peyton.

"I can see that," said her mom. "Will, I'll make dinner. You just go on to work and don't worry about her."

"That's kind of hard," I said. As her mother went into the nursery to see if Will Jr. was awake, I looked at Peyton. "It won't be long now," I whispered. She got the weirdest look on her face then. It was a look that I'd never seen on Peyton's face since we'd been together.

All the way on my drive to work I ruminated on that look. I figured out that Peyton was probably some kind of control freak. And my deciding to dictate some phase of how our fake/temporary marriage was going had pissed her off. I started to feel like the sooner things ended the better.

When I got home that evening, I noticed that her mother's car was still in our driveway and there were a couple of other cars there as well. If her mother had made dinner and stayed over it might give me some time to work on some of our household projects that I'd neglected over the past few weeks. I drove my Mustang into the garage and left by the door that opened into my yard and there he was.

"You have a lot of room here," he said. "I like the deck you're building. This will be nice when you finish it." And then he walked back inside of MY house. Every single word that he'd said had simply implied that everything we had wasn't good enough for his daughter. He also implied that I wasn't good enough for his daughter. He'd also implied that she wouldn't be here for long. He'd said "YOU," have a lot of room here. That told me that if he had his way, I'd be living here alone. Then it was the deck, "You're building." That implied that if I was as successful as Peyton deserved, I'd have been able to afford to have professionals build it. The whole one sided conversation just left me pissed off.

Then there was the fact that the bastard had just started talking to me like we were friends or he was some sort of mentor figure in my life. It was as if in his twisted fucking mind the whole thing about him throwing his daughter to the wolves had never happened. Maybe he wanted to think that I'd stormed the fucking castle and begged for the hand of the princess in marriage and he had reluctantly given her to me and therefore could offer me sage advice from time to time.

I guess I was supposed to simply forget that he'd thrown his own daughter out like garbage and hadn't given a fuck about what happened to her because of his church twisted views on parenting.

In the end though, I had to admit that the bastard had my nuts in a vise even though he didn't understand it. In order to get rid of Peyton's ass, I had to make nice with him so she could blend back in with her family. That night was a big step towards that. The entire family was there. Julie was there. Jeff offered to come over on the weekend and help me with the deck.

I got to meet the youngest sister, Penny, who was a year younger than Peyton. I'd actually seen her at the hospital and hadn't related her with the others because her perfection was marred by the fact that she wore glasses. But when she took them off to wipe them, you could clearly see the resemblance. After that, the glasses just made her look even hotter.

Peyton had gotten out of bed to come and sit at the table to have dinner with us. I fawned over her and she loved it. I even carried her back to bed, while her mom and sisters were almost in tears about how romantic it was.

If it hadn't been for her father, whose middling comments belittled everything we did or had, it would have been a truly nice evening, however fake it was. 

Over the next few weeks that was how it went. We did all kinds of family activities that blended both families and our neighbors into one huge extended family. I tried to keep my family out of things to limit the amount of pain they'd have when it all blew up, but wasn't successful. Before I knew it, Peyton's mom and my mom were in the same book club and bridge club. My mom even started going to church occasionally and joining in a lot of the lady's activities and charities.

I knew it was time to bring on the endgame, so I sat Peyton down one evening to talk to her.

"Peyton, I think it's time," I said.

She just smiled at me and said, "It's past time, Honey, but the doctor said that having the baby kind of tore me up down there and he wants us to wait until the inflammation down there is completely gone. But trust me. I want you just as badly as you want me; maybe even more. You shouldn't have gotten me started doing that. We're going to be doing a lot..."

"Peyton, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"Making love, Silly," she said smiling. "Isn't that what you were talking about?"

I just nodded and we moved on. We had a few more dinners with both sides of the family and a big picnic with everyone. By the middle of the summer, our house became the place where everyone hung out.

The only fly in the ointment, again, was her father. Not only did he have to constantly talk about how everything we had was never great, only nice or okay. He'd started to talk about how he'd always wanted things to go for Peyton. One evening he went too far and I had to politely excuse myself and leave the table.

"Peyton, do you remember that nice man you dated a couple of times, Larry Miller? Well he's a young man who's going places in this world. He's already made a mark for himself in the sales world. I heard from a business associate of mine that he won some kind of sales award. He lives in New York now. He bought himself a huge old mansion and is renovating the whole thing. It'll be worth millions when he's done," he'd said. Then with everyone looking at him, he lightened it up. "Not that your little house here isn't cozy. But that Larry Miller, that's a guy."

I'm sure John knew that his Larry Miller comments had gotten to me when I left the table. And like most bullies, once he discovered that he'd found my weakness, he continued to use it whenever he had the chance.

If I got a raise, he'd trot out the Larry Miller play. When I bought Peyton a brand new car, the exact car that she wanted, he swore that Larry Miller would have bought her a Lear jet by then. And as he ate at me, I realized that we long past the time line for the plan. Fall was already here and Will Jr. was eight months old. The original idea was for us to break up in time for me to go to MIT back in September.

"Peyton, are you ready?" I asked.

"Of course, I'm ready," she said. "I love you, Dummy. I'm always ready. You were the one who got attacked while we were still in the shower last night. And I really liked it when you..."

"Peyton, that's not what I meant," I said. "It's October, somehow we kind of missed our scheduled breakup."

"I know, Will," she said sadly. "How long do I have?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"How long can you put up with me," she said. "I don't want to prolong your torture especially when you've been so wonderful and..." she just started crying. It was even worse than when I first met her at that bus stop.

"Peyton, you should be happy," I said. "Your plan worked just like you figured." She looked at me and started crying even more.

"Will, it didn't work at all," she said. "It failed completely."

"What do you mean?" I asked. She sat down and took my hands in hers.

"Will, do you believe in love at first sight?" she asked.

"I guess it's possible," I said. "Shit, I believe in ghosts and even in vampires, so what do I know?"

"Will, when two people fall in love at first sight, it's usually just lust," she said. "They go off and screw each other's brains out and wake up and discover that they don't even like each other. It's awkward and then they go their separate ways. Love isn't like lust. Love can include lust, but love is more about the feeling you have about that person and it has to be mutual. When you love someone, you put their needs ahead of yours. You want them to be happy above all else. You just glow when that person comes into the room. "

"Will, growing up, I had seen you around and I always thought that you were a nice guy. You're kind of cute and a lot of the girls around town thought you'd be husband material. Even though you and I had never spoken to each other, I liked you. But when you stopped what you were doing to try to make me feel better on the worst day of my life, that like changed."

"Like my mom said, when you came in there and confronted my father over me, it became even stronger. When you started taking care of me, I knew that we would work. But Will, that first night when you slept on that couch and gave me your bed, I loved you. I half expected you to come to bed with me and I was going to let you."

"My dumb assed plan Will, was never about getting back with my family. Will, you were rubbing my tummy every night and talking to OUR baby, I was in heaven before we got married. I came up with the whole marriage thing because I wanted to be married to you. I thought that once we got married, you'd never want it to end like I don't. I thought that maybe you'd start to love me too. My mom and even your mom are sure you do, even though you've never once said it. I tell you at least five or six times a day that I love you, but you've never said it. I guess that if I was as smart as you seem to think I am, I'd have figured that out by now." She sighed and another huge tear rolled down her cheek.

"So Will, you've done all of this, including changing your plan for your life, for me. You did it all just to give me a chance to be happy, so it's time for me to make you happy. I'll go back home to them tomorrow. Can we have one more night together, please?"

"But if you really think that all of this was just to get me back with MY family, then maybe you aren't as smart as I've always thought you are either, because Will, MY family is you, me and OUR baby," she said.

For a long time we just sat there, with me in shock. Finally I spoke. "Peyton, I love you too," I said. "I think I have from the very beginning but I just never thought that you'd feel the same way. I agreed to marry you, Shit, I'd do anything for you. I've been trying for so long to just keep it together because I knew that when you did leave me, it was going to kill me."

"Oh my God," she gushed. "I'm in love with a moron." She grabbed me and started raining down kisses on me. "Will, you changed your entire life for me. A bulldozer couldn't pull me away from you. We'll be together til death do us part."

After that night, the years just ticked by happily. There was one incident after we'd been married for about three years that changed things between Peyton's father and me though. It was Thanksgiving and we were having dinner at her family's house. I'd recently been promoted to head my department. Everyone in town was talking about it. I was the youngest head of the engineering department in the company's history.

Jeff, who was majoring in Engineering, had mentioned it and asked me if I could get him an internship with the company. And I'd told him that I'd take care of it. A few minutes later, Peyton's dad started talking about how he'd heard that Larry Miller had just bought a Ferrari. That car, he'd said, was probably worth more than my house. Peyton had slammed her knife and fork down on the table so hard that she'd chipped her plate.

"Daddy, I need to talk to you, now!" she said. She pointed towards her father's office that was off limits to everyone. He got up and followed her there. It was really awkward sitting at the table after that. I helped collect the dishes and take them to the kitchen. After about twenty minutes of muffled voices coming from the office, Peyton stepped out and closed the door behind her.

"Will, grab your son. We're going home," she said. All the way home she never said a word. She just smiled and held my hand as usual.

When we got into bed that night and she reached for me, I asked her what happened. "Will, we'll still see my mom and my brothers and sisters. But I was just tired of all of the bullshit. Every time he opened his mouth, God damned Larry Miller fell out. I hope the two of them are happy together, because I'm really happy with you. Of course, I'd be happier if you were IN me instead of staring at me like that but..." I got the hint and she was happy within moments. I couldn't believe that she'd stood up to her father for me.

The next evening, when I got home, I got to find out exactly how strongly she'd done it. It had been a major blow to her father's well-being. The first had been when her father had found out that she was pregnant. This had been the second. And he was waiting for me in the driveway when I got home.

"Will, can I talk to you?" he asked. I was surprised because he usually just started talking and told me what he wanted to say. 

"Sure," I said. "Let me get the door."

"No," he said grabbing my arm. "I'm not sure I'd be welcome."

"Of course you are sir," I said.

"Then I shouldn't be," he said. "Will, I'm an asshole. I just didn't realize it until yesterday. I've always wanted the very best for all of my kids. I always thought of you as being okay but I was never sure that you were good enough for Peyton. Yesterday, when Peyton was bragging about your accomplishments and then Jeff started in too, it was just too much. I didn't know that you'd graduated first in your class and were going to go to MIT for an advance degree in Engineering."

"Sir, none of that matters," I said. "I'm happy and..."

"But you could have been rich and..." he said.

"Sir, I am rich. Peyton and Will are much more valuable to me than all of the money in the world," I said.

"My daughter thinks about you the same way," he said. "I can't believe that it was me who ruined her life."

"Sir, you didn't ruin her life..." I began.

"Yes I did," he snapped. "I was the one who refused to let her date. And even then, I had to approve everyone she even thought about dating. She didn't go out on a single unsupervised date until she was twenty one years old and I practically threw her at that bastard. He conned me too, you know. I thought I knew everything. Peyton didn't know anything about dating or men and I just fed her to him like a lamb to the slaughter. He slaughtered her alright. He left her pregnant and then he just ran out on her. Her reputation and my family's would have been destroyed if not for you. And I've been throwing him in your face for years. I had no idea what an asshole he was. I spoke to a few people in town about him. Did you know that whenever he comes into town to sell to his customers here, he's still doing it?"

"Leopards don't change their spots sir," I said. "But in the end, I still feel that I got the best end of the deal."

"No son," he said. "Peyton did."

After that, we were all one big happy family until the summer that W2 or just Two turned eight. I was a doting father. I was very involved in everything that he did and Peyton and I only grew to love each other more. There was simply nothing I wouldn't do for Peyton. We were so happy that naturally something would have to fuck it up.

It was a typical Saturday morning. Two and I were in the backyard. He was practicing his swing on the practice pole we had next to the garage. Two was the shortstop and best hitter on his little league team. We had a game that morning, which was why I was in such a hurry to cut the grass. Peyton was having some of her friends over to plan a big backyard party for Two's birthday. After cutting all of the grass in the front of the house, I'd cut the grass in the back. All I need to do was to use the string trimmer and do the edges and trim the hedges and plants and we could head for the game.

Peyton came to a lot of Two's games but I never missed one. Most of the time, she just sat in the stands holding my hand. I think she was there more to be with me than to watch the game, but I didn't mind. Our love life and even our sex life, was more vigorous than it had been from the start.

I've often thought that perhaps it was the way we got together that made us hold onto each other so tightly. But the reason didn't matter, what mattered was that we did. We had been arguing a bit lately which was unusual for us. She just seemed to be cranky and kind of bitchy. I thought that maybe since she'd been tired lately that she was coming down with something.

A couple of Peyton's friends were already there. They were sitting in the kitchen while she got ready for their meeting.

My Black and Decker dual reel string trimmer picked that moment to run out of string. I put it down on the side of the house and went to the garage for a replacement cartridge.

"Two, remember what your coach told you," I yelled to him. "Don't stop when you make contact. Swing through the ball. You'll get more distance on the ball that way."

"Got it dad," he said. He hit the next one harder and his follow through was perfect. I tapped the top of his batting helmet so the bib went over his eyes.

"Dayaaaad," he whined. "How am I supposed to see like this?"

"You can't see?" I asked.

"Not at all," he said.

"Good," I yelled tickling him until he fell on the ground screaming with laughter. "We're leaving in twenty," I said.

As I went back beside the house, I was trying to change the string cartridge as I heard them.

Unfortunately, I could only make out bits and pieces of the conversation. I was lucky I heard what I did because they weren't even talking. Their voices were barely above a whisper.

I heard one voice say, "...Larry Miller is back again," there was a brief pause and the other said something that I couldn't make out, but it ended in, "She loves him..."

I heard "Whisper whisper...best sex she's ever had."

"Whisper, whisper... doesn't know how to tell Will..."

"Whisper...doesn't know how he'll take it..."

I was stunned. I just stood there. I guess I'd always known that the bastard would be back someday. But the word around town was that he was some kind of big shot. He lived in a multimillion dollar mansion in New York and was dating a supermodel. While she was out of town, he was banging women left and right. Why the hell would he need Peyton?

Then I remembered that though I'd gotten used to her, Peyton was still the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. She wasn't the kind of woman a man could forget. Maybe Larry had just decided that enough time had passed since the way he'd deserted her and had come back for her.

What hurt me more was that apparently Peyton had gone for it. But shit, what did I expect? Women always had fallen for Larry. Peyton herself had even told me that she just couldn't resist Larry, even after the first time. She'd sworn to herself that it wouldn't happen again but he got her again the next time he saw her.

And all this time I'd really believed that Peyton loved me. I guess I was just someone to be there for her while Larry was away. Shit, I was almost crying as I stood there.

"Will, what are you doing?" she snapped, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You're supposed to be doing the trimming, not standing there staring at the ground. What is it with you? Those hedges aren't going to trim themselves and..." 




Whisper



There it was again, the attitude. She was treating me like I was her fucking gardener, not her husband. The difference was that now I knew where the bitchy behavior was coming from. Peyton was either feeling guilty about fucking Larry. Or she felt guilty about betraying me but either way, I was done taking it.

"Fuck you Peyton," I snapped. She was immediately stunned. In our entire relationship, I had never once raised my voice to her. I had also never responded with anything other than, "Okay, Peyton."

"If trimming the fucking hedges is that God damned important to you, then you do it yourself," I growled.

"Two, we're leaving," I yelled. He came around the garage carrying his helmet, his glove and his bat. We got into the new Mustang I'd bought only a month ago. This car was incredible. It wasn't a fucking Ferrari like Larry drove while he was at home in New York, but it was, in my opinion, the best Mustang ever made. 2013 was also the last year that Ford would be building the Boss 302 as well, so that made the car an instant collector's item.

I backed the car out of the driveway with Peyton standing there with her mouth open. She tried to call me a couple of times during the afternoon but I just let the calls go to voice mail. I sat there watching my son play baseball and feeling like my entire life was going down the drain. I was only thirty-two years old but I felt like I was close to a hundred. It was as if all of the life had simply been sucked out of me.

"Hey there," said a female voice from behind me. "Long time, no see. As I recall it we were pretty special to each other once. Then I did a really dumb thing and you left me for Peyton."

I looked up and saw Kathy standing there.

"Will, you look pretty down," she said. She sat down next to me and tried to cheer me up. When the game was over she was happy and as cheerful as ever while I dreaded going back home. Two's team won the game, but their rivals had also won their game earlier. To determine which of the two teams went to the local league's championship game, there had to be a one game, winner take all playoff.

The coaches got together and decided to play the game the next day. It would be a Sunday so the winning team would have the next six days to get ready for the championship game the following Saturday. Kathy told me that one of her coworkers had a son that had played for the other team. She gave me her card and told me to call her anytime I needed to talk.

Truthfully, I barely remember talking to Kathy at all. Peyton was my whole world and my whole world was in the shitter.

I hugged Two and told him that he'd played brilliantly. "Ice cream brilliant or McDonald's brilliant?" he asked.

I took him to McDonald's and got him his favorites. When we walked into the yard, Peyton had a houseful of her friends. Most of them would be helping with Two's party. Even my mom and sister and Peyton's sisters were there.

"Will, we need to talk," she said.

"Peyton, maybe we should talk later," I said. "You have company."

"But Will," she began. I turned and walked out of the room. In less than ten minutes, I'd threaded my way through the women there and the Boss and I were back on the road. I had no idea where I'd go or what I'd do. I only knew that I didn't want to be around Peyton.

I had to give it to her though. The woman didn't waste time. She was ready to have that talk and give me my walking papers. At least she didn't intend to cheat on me for years and stretch things out. I went and saw a friend of mine who handled a lot of the legal matters for the plant I worked in.

When I told him what I wanted, he ran his hand over my forehead.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" he asked. "Why the hell would you want to divorce HER?"

"Uhm didn't you get the part about HER cheating on me?" I said.

"Live with it," he said. "That woman is AMAZING."

"There's no one that is so amazing that you give up your pride for them," I said.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You look pretty fucking miserable."

"Just get me the papers," I said.

"Okay, it'll take three days," he said. "It's the standard stuff. Irreconcilable differences. You get half; she gets half, plus child support and probably the house."

"No child support," I said. "And I'm keeping my house. She'll probably be living in a mansion in New York."

He looked up at me then and said, "Larry Miller?" I just nodded.

"Dude, I have to tell you something," he said smiling.

"Save it for next time," I said. He seemed like he really wanted to talk but I left. Just like with the first conversation I'd had with Peyton's father, I should have let him talk to me.

After leaving his office, I just drove around for a while. Peyton called me a couple of times but I didn't listen to the messages that she left or answer the phone. All the time that I was driving around, that nagging little voice in the back of my head kept saying the same thing.

"I told ya," it kept saying. "Why would someone like her ever want to be with a blockhead like you Charlie Brown?"

That whole thing brought me back to the question I was pondering when I began this small tale of love gone bad. Finding out that Peyton was cheating on me and the other things the women had whispered was the most painful thing in my life. As I drove aimlessly around town, I felt like a bullet to the head might be the best solution. And I wasn't talking about the latest Stallone movie.

Once again, the small town thing came up. There were simply only so many places I could drive before I started to repeat myself and it got boring. I kept playing the Evanescence song, "Whisper," over and over again because it really fit my mood. I guess that showed how pissed I was. Peyton, despite the fact that Sundays were usually spent languishing in bed with yours truly, still held on to some of her fanatical Catholic beliefs. There were simply some bands that she, despite having never really listened to them, associated with, "Devil worship." Evanescence was one of those bands.

Finally, when I'd had a chance to do some thinking, I decided that I wasn't doing myself any favors. I was acting like a child. Running away from the problem had never solved anything. There was also the fact that if Peyton had made her choice, there was nothing I could do about it. This was my chance to do what I should have done in the first place. This was my chance to take control of my own destiny.

What I needed to do was to just move on. The best possible scenario would be for me to take my years of experience and finally go ahead and get out of this town. Sure, I'd stayed here and I'd gotten comfortable, but that had only been because I had Peyton and Two. I'm only thirty two years old. It wasn't too late for me to find a woman who loved me for me and have my own kids. Maybe Boston, being a bigger, more modern city might even have a few women that would rival Peyton in terms of beauty. But to tell the truth, I was tired of spoiled, entitled bitches. Maybe this time I'd pick a woman for true love instead of growing to love a pretty face.

I needed to be calm and handle things far better than I had. I needed two more days for my lawyer to get the papers ready. Then I would take some time off from work and just go to Boston to see what I could do there. I'd immediately start my own online job search Monday at work or even tomorrow after Two's game. 

I drove up into the driveway and waved at a lot of the departing ladies. I went up to play a few video games with my son while Peyton talked to the last of her lingering guests.

She passed by the room a couple of times and smiled in, but I pretended not to see her. Two was tired from his game that day and I could tell that even though it was still light outside that he was getting sleepy. "You have to play your best tomorrow, Champ," I told him. "So you'd better hit the hay."

Within a few moments, he was asleep. I went back downstairs and into the garage. I got the hose and buckets and all of my car wash supplies out. I had just soaped the car down after rinsing it thoroughly when Peyton came outside. For a while she stood there and watched me and I pretended not to notice that she was there.

She had the biggest smile on her face as she watched me. There was something that was just so sexy about her that I couldn't help but get angry all over again. Why the hell had she picked me to twist to her will. There were probably hundreds of guys in town. I knew that I was being unfair to her. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And at every step of the way, I'd always had the choice to walk away. She had even asked me to marry her. I could have said, "No," at any time.

Maybe she saw this as just another step. Maybe she thought that she could go out and occasionally fuck Larry and then come home to me. I had read about shit like that on the internet. But I just wasn't that kind of guy.

"Will," she said tapping me on the shoulder. "Can we talk?"

"There's no need," I said. "I already know."

"Well, I can tell you're not happy about it but can I at least explain this to you from my point of view?" she said.

"This isn't something, I planned Will. It just sort of happened and we..." she began.

"Tell the truth for once, Peyton," I said, far more angrily than I'd planned. "It's something that you have been thinking about in the back of your for a long time, right? You've probably been thinking about it since the beginning."

"Is it really that big a God damned deal?" she asked angrily. "Does everything we do have to be according to some grand plan that YOU have?" she asked.

"Peyton, I've never been able to plan anything with us. Ever since I met you it seems like I just react to what you want and try to make YOU happy. So I guess this shouldn't be any different from everything else. Just do what you want."

"You know Will, maybe I don't know you as well as I thought I did," she said. She looked as if she was going to cry. "Somehow, I thought that this would make you happy. Somehow I thought that even if you weren't that keen on the idea, you'd see how happy it makes me, how fulfilled I am and that would make you happy too."

The next thing I knew, she was walking away crying and I was even angrier.

I turned the volume back up on my headphones just as Amy Lee launched into the chorus.

* * * * * *

Don't turn away. Don't give in to the pain.

Don't try to hide. Though they're screaming your name.

Don't close your eyes. God knows what lies behind them.

Don't turn out the light. Never sleep, never die.

* * * * * *

When they got to the end of the song, instead of the whispered voices in Latin, I kept hearing those two women whispering about Peyton and Larry. I got even angrier and had to calm myself down. After I washed my car, I went into the kitchen to grab something to eat. Peyton came in while I was looking through the refrigerator.

"Do you want me to make you a plate?" she asked calmly.

"No thank you," I said just as calmly. She looked at me strangely.

"Suit yourself then," she said. "But, I don't want any crumbs in my bed so..."

"You don't have to worry about that Peyton," I interrupted. "I'll sleep in the other room."

"No you are not," she hissed. "Just because we disagree over what I do with my own body does not mean that you get to..."

"Stop Peyton," I said. "I'm trying to keep things as calm around here as possible. So I want you to listen to me for once. No matter how we feel, or how we used to feel. There are more important things around here to deal with. For instance, Two has the most important game of his life tomorrow. If his team wins they go to the league championships next week. We don't need to wake him up because we're arguing. Can we let him have his chance to be in the spotlight without ruining his moment by making this about us?" She nodded.

"You're a good father Will," she said. "That's why it..."

"Peyton, you can't have it both ways," I interrupted. "And that's always been one of your problems. Even in the beginning Peyton, I went along with it because I loved you so much. But in the beginning it was you screwing Larry and me getting to take care of you," her eyes narrowed when I said that.

"But now you come in here and you tell me that we're disagreeing about what you want to do with your own body, yet you want to tell me where I can lay MY body down to sleep. You can't have it both ways Peyton," I said.

"Will, I don't know what's gotten into to you lately," she said. "You've been acting crazy all day. But when you come to your senses..."

"Peyton, you've been treating me like shit all week," I countered. "But I found out why, this morning and..."

"So you understand then?" she said.

"I just think that maybe a couple of days away from each other would put this into perspective," I said.

"Will, I don't want a couple of HOURS away from you," she said tearfully. "But I'll do whatever you want. And she left the kitchen. "Goodnight Will," she sobbed.

The next morning I woke up early and made breakfast for Two. That way he'd be ready for his game. I wasn't hungry and strangely Peyton didn't get up. I couldn't believe that she wasn't planning on coming to the game. But maybe having a chance to sneak off and fuck Larry was more important than her child's happiness. Or maybe it was just a case of Larry getting all of the fun and me getting all of the responsibility, as usual.

We got to the ball park pretty early. We were there about an hour before the game was supposed to start. I grumbled hello to several other parents and sat down in the bleachers to watch the warm ups. Just before the game started, I realized why Peyton wasn't there or at least I thought I had. It was Sunday and Peyton always liked the eleven o'clock Mass.

The game started right on-time. I waved at Kathy when I saw her in the stands. She'd told me the day before that a coworker of hers had a child who played on the other team. We'd beaten that team yesterday. Their season was over. I couldn't think of a reason for her coworker or the coworker's child to be here. I also noticed that she was sitting alone.

I didn't gesture for her to come and sit with me because I just wanted to be alone. She seemed to be talking on her phone a lot anyway. I tried to concentrate on the game, but I couldn't. My mind kept going back to Peyton. I couldn't believe that I'd been so stupid.

By the fourth inning it was obvious that the game was going to be a tough one. The lead had seesawed several times and at the end of the fourth, we had a one run lead that I knew wouldn't hold up. I looked at Two and whistled as loud as I could when he fielded a ground ball and threw the batter out at first and then settled back into position like a pro.

I barely noticed as someone settled onto the bleacher next to me.

"Which one is my kid?" he asked. I thought he'd said which one is YOUR kid.

"The shortstop," I said without thinking.

"Oh he's good," he said. "He's a chip off the old block. He's just like I was at his age. Of course, I played football instead of baseball."

I turned and looked at Larry Miller's smiling face. I was filled with a rage that I'd never known in my life. I had to keep it together I told myself. As we watched, Larry cheered and whistled along with everyone else.

"Hey, why does he have your last name?" he asked. I ignored him.

"Why do they keep calling him Two when his number is eighteen?" he asked.

"Two is his nickname," I said. "Instead of calling him Jr. we call him Two."

"Wait," he said. "You named my fucking kid after yourself. You're a piece of work buddy."

Two's team won in the last inning. They managed in the top of the inning to pound out three runs to give them a two run lead and held it with solid defensive fielding.

"See ya later," said Larry. "I'm going down there to meet my kid."

I jumped down off of the bleachers instead of walking over to the end and going down the stairs.

When Larry stepped off of the bleachers, I move in front of him.

"Larry, stay away from him," I said. He just smiled as he looked down at me. Larry wasn't much bigger than me but he was bigger.

"Why can't I go and see my own kid?" he asked.

"Because he's not your fucking kid," I said. "You gave up any and all right to see him, meet him or do anything else with him, when you ran your ass out of town as soon as Peyton told you she was pregnant."

"I had better things to do with my life than get tied down to some small town prom queen," he said. "But now I'm back and I'm going to be a part of my son's life."

We'd gotten louder and louder to the point where a lot of people were watching us. Larry tried to push me out of the way and I lost it. I punched him in the face as hard as I could. The first punch rocked him. The second punch knocked him on his ass. And I followed him down to the ground, raining punch after punch on him long after he'd stopped even trying to defend himself. I felt arms trying to pull me off of Larry and then everything went blank.

* * * * * *

Peyton

I never had to vomit. I woke up Sunday morning with my stomach tied up in knots as it had been for the past week or so. I reached for Will and then remembered that he'd slept in the guest room last night. I still didn't understand why he was being such an asshole. In the entire time that we'd been together, this was the first time we'd ever disagreed on anything. And it was too late to put that Genie back in the bottle. There was nothing that could be done about it now. It wasn't like I could take a pill and be un-fucked.

As I looked at the clock on the wall after taking a shower, I noticed that it was far later than I'd thought. It was too late for me to even do what I'd planned to do that day. I'd planned on showing up at Two's game to sit by Will in the stands. I love my son. The only thing that comes close is how much I love his father. But baseball is just boring. There is no point to it. I mostly just go to the games to sneak in a little bit more time with my husband. I love sitting there holding his hand. I love to see him jump up and whistle whenever Two does something. He is a much better and much more involved father than mine ever dreamed of being.

It's a good thing that Two has two parents though, because I've missed this game. The only question now is whether I have to be cheerful, "Championship Mom," or consoling, "We'll get 'em next year Mom."

As a car pulls into our driveway, I feel funny. It doesn't sound like Will's Mustang. I walk over to the door and see Two walking into the house with a big smile on his face. But his coach is the one behind him and he looks funny.

"Hey Two," I said. "Congratulations Honey. Where's your dad?"

"He had to do something with the Sheriff," says Two, hoisting his trophy into my face.

"When Dad gets here we're going to McDonald's," he smiled. "We ALWAYS go to McDonald's." He excitedly ran upstairs to his room.

"Ron, where's Will?" I asked. Ron was the coach of Two's team and a friend of both mine and Will's.

"Peyton, Will is in jail," said Ron. "He beat the cowboy shit out of Larry Miller. We're lucky it was after the game and all of the kids were on the field waiting for their trophies. They had to Taser him, Peyton. I've never seen Will or anyone else that angry in my life. It was scary. It was like he was fighting for his life. Nobody around here really likes Larry Miller. He's a piece of shit and he always has been. He's gotten engaged to and fucked two or three of the girls who work around town and always runs back to New York."

"Yeah," I said. "He was kind of slimy back when we were in college too. I haven't seen him in years. God, my son is eight years old so I'd say it was almost nine years since the last time I saw him."




Whisper



Less than a year ago the future of Michael's family had seemed boundless. In the middle of his life Michael had decided to become a lawyer and had just landed a job with a non-profit firm. His beautiful wife of twenty years, Claire, had accepted a professorship at an ivy league institution and they were going out to celebrate. Emily could not attend as she had the final stage of her college orientation the following day. After much laughter and wine they stumbled into a cab and headed home. The driver was finishing a double shift and his falling eyelids failed to avoid a deer. His attempts to head off placed them in the path of oncoming traffic; the cab was struck several times. Claire did not survive. 

In his grief Michael's life fell apart. Losing interest in work, he spent days at home, lost in mourning. Emily did what she could to help him. She would come home to clean the house and fix her father his favorite meals, like her mom would do. She'd shave Michael when he got to "scruffy" and made little jokes to get him to half-smile. Every now and then he'd stop her from what she was doing. He'd hold her hands in his, taking in deeply how much she looked like Claire.

One night he'd gotten drunk and passed out naked the bathroom floor. Emily had gotten him into the shower and washed him down. Running her hands over his body she remembered how strong he always was and how much weight he'd lost. Her eyes only glanced over his penis although the size of it, even flaccid, gave her pause. She cleaned it gently like the rest of him, her hand lingered a moment to determine it's girth; thinking if he was any other man, she'd want that in her mouth at the moment. 

She took him up to bed. Putting night clothes on him seemed too daunting a task. Laying him down gently he slumped over precisely onto the pillows. She lifted his feet and pulled to covers over him. 

"Shut...shut the light Claire," he slurred. "Come to bed."

Emily's heart dropped. He thought she was her mother. Emily shut the hallway light and climbed into bed with him. His light and rhythmic snoring eventually put her to sleep as well. 

The rain fell hard. Lightning crashed over and over, the wind blowing violently in her face. Emily didn't know which way to run. The air was grey and blue, she couldn't see. Turning in all directions she spotted a thin women in a white nightgown in the near distance. It was her mother. She yelled without sound to her and started running. Her mother was crying, a hand over her mouth. Emily heard cracking. The ground they were standing on started to separate. Claire extended her arm towards Emily as she ran faster. But it was too late. The cliff broke way and descended slowly into the mist. Emily screamed silently and woke up. 

She rubbed the side of her face and looked at the clock. 4:46 A.M. Oh good, she thought, a few more hours. Turning over her dad lay in the same position on his side. Bring her knees up to-wards her chest, Emily felt an obstacle. Lifting the covers she reached down to what she thought was an extra pillow. It was her dad's penis, fully erect. Startled she backed away a little and bit her lip. Then, curious, she reached down and ran a finger over it. It was beautiful, she thought. Putting her whole hand on it she ran it down the shaft. The knowledge that it was her father was obscure by thoughts of placing it inside her, in her mouth, against her stomach. She began to rub it a little faster, wanting it for herself. Pre-cum bubbled to the top of the head and brought her back to what she was doing. She was fondling her dad. Vacillating between arousal and disgust she turned over, forcing herself back to sleep. 

Eventually Michael returned to his life, without Claire. Quitting his job at the non-profit, Michael sought employment in the prestigious Upton, Hister and Fauns, a corporate firm. He said it was to get him re-focused on his career and to get on with his life. They mostly handled probate cases and some international law. Michael threw himself into his work and all seemed to be well. Until one night.

Michael paced up and down the hallway.

His obsessions were getting the better of him. The membership in the Cloven Club had begun to take hold of his world. At first it was merely indulgence with many women. Then came the games. Last week he'd attended their Deviants Against Drunk Driving, that included a milk bar. Seven women had volunteered their milk for the event. Stepping up for seconds with the petite Spanish dispenser, he realized could pore his own provided he didn't injury the tap. Biting her lip, eyes half-closed at each serving, intimating that there was more to her service than simple sobriety. Motioning him over at the close of the event to visit an antechamber where she gathered Michael's own non-alcoholic beverage. Her firm hand wrenched his penis in several directions, covering it occasionally with her own lactating lubricant until he could no longer resist relinquishing his sperm. Filling half a glass, she merely smiled at him, never saying a word. Stunned at the sight of the topless beauty strolling beyond the curtain, lifting the glass to her lips, all he could do was exhale. 

His next event was The Human Pin Cushion Contest. For a small fee a member could select a needle to insert into a volunteer. For a larger fee the insertion area widened. Suspensions and a partial re-enactment of the Wiwanyang Wacipi, Native American Sun Dance, opened the contest. At first he'd been appalled, and later numb, after thirty minutes. He'd come away amazed, even talking to a cushion or two about their experience. Several of cushions participated later in his first "pricking". Standing inside a small circle Michael bowed heavily on one knee with his left palm face-up, held above his head. Phyx, a cushion, slowly brought down a four-inch needle until it completely entered Michael's palm. With all his might Michael struggled to maintain the pose. His wave of pain cause his muscles to tense, but he held his breathing as instructed and the promised calm eventually arrived. He'd been grateful as his proctors wordlessly nodded and stepped away. 

He looked at the door in front of him. Muffled sounds of rushing water vibrated against the wood. Breaking his gaze to the floor another event rose up inside his mind. 

At the height of his success at Upton, Hister and Fauns, Michael's mask was beginning to slip. The Cloven Club had been a release of sorts, but now he relied on it for total distraction. His grief would creep in and the control that he'd fought so desperately for would deteriorate. Smoking marijuana his 1962 Lincoln outside the club one night Michael had an itch. He wanted to go down. Down to his base instincts. Inside he ordered several drinks, mistakenly telling the bartender that he felt the need for an exorcism. 

Suggesting a visit to the Purple Room, a room he'd never been to nor heard of, Michael nodded and stumbled in the general direction. The man at the door was a tall, gaunt African-American male with black crescents under his eyes. He smiled and pulled back the curtain. There were several cabaret style chairs facing away from each other in the middle of the room. Red, floor-length curtain ran along the walls. The lights were recessed into the ceiling and began to flicker. Michael fell into the chair, the whiskey grew warm inside him. Licking his teeth Michael's mind begged for the darkness and depravity to enter; to show him the face of evil and pain to which he would say was nothing compared to what he harbored inside. 

The lights grew dim. From the shadows fully robed women in sheer black strode forth with lanterns held above their heads. Circling the room without a sound. Michael's vision grew hazier as smoke because to move across the floor, following the path of the women. At first he smelled hazelnut and then nag champa. Finally the unmistakeable smell of marijuana crept into the room. All of it made his head spin a little more. The door man walked up behind him and unexpectedly clapped a hand on Michael's shoulder.

"Ayahuasca" he whispered. 

Michael looked up him and swallowed hard. Ayahuasca, he thought, a tropical vine native to the Amazon region, noted for its hallucinogenic properties. Oh shit. 

That's what the bartender had given him. He'd heard not to be too liberal with what was said to the bartender, but ayahuasca! Well this is what he wanted, he thought, and settled back into the ever growing stupor. His control was gone. The floor started to shift and grow small sprouts. Small drumming sounds came from the folds of the room. Across from him a black, flowing object moved towards him at an uncomfortable speed. In a death shroud came a lithe figure, sword in hand. Michael jumped as he tried to steady himself. Then the sword vanished but the figure remained. It was a woman, completely nude under the shroud. Through the mist it fell to the floor and to Michael's horror, there stood his dead wife. He'd begged for darkness to visit and it's face has risen to his fears. She slowly walked towards him and sat on his lap. Her hand reached for his zipper and found his cock. She rubbed her pussy over it, kissing his neck. He was overcome. This is what he'd wanted. Clasping her tight he kissed her back. Her gasp met his lips as he entered her. She impaled herself over and over again. He whispered her name a thousand and one times, his greatest wish being answered. He cried out as he came. Tears fell as he resigned to the moment. He could no longer feel his limbs or restrain the apparition that was now leaving him. Her face was undeniably Claire's. He watched it for as long as he could as it faded back into the mist. 

Morphing back to his surroundings, Michael looked at his watch. Five minutes had passed. Whispering steam bellowed around a blue towel dangling from the knob. The door was now open. Unsure when that happened he slowly stepped one black leather shoe in front of the other. They fell silent on the carpeted floors. Effortlessly retreated at his touch as the hissing grew louder and the door. Without a thought he rolled up his left sleeve. His white button-down shirt and black pants were remnants of his evening at the Cloven Club once again. Black flowers against a white countryside made of plastic stood between him and a growing desire. He wanted to take hold of absolute certainty, what he had heard before and armed with it, attain bliss. This soft sound was being repeated over and over. Michael leaned in closer, his ears piqued. 

There is was. A sound, almost a voicelessness murmur, repeating the same words over and over. 

"Oh Daddy. Please touch me there. I love you. Hold me. Yes Daddy."

Michael took half a step back. He was stunned. The words filled him with a shaking fear and an exhilarated delight. His right hand moved on its own, rising and entering the plastic field. A smooth dark brown curtain of hair matted against tan skin flashed at him through the opening. Meeting the curve of her spine at the flesh and his hand move downward towards their segmentation. Fingers met others, already in motion, creating a gasp and even further movement.

Emily suddenly felt fingers between her legs. It had startled her enough to bring her back to the shower. Moments before she'd been in private train car, traveling from Brussels to Italy with her father. He'd taken her there in celebration of her eighteenth birthday. Together they read the Sunday comics on his tablet. She sat on his lap like she used to, shifting herself in her dress as the car rocked along the tracks. The train lurched to one side. Emily reached down to steady herself, her hand discovering her father's erection. She looked into his deep blue eyes and smiled. Kissing him deeply, she turned to face him and guided his hands to her breasts. He'd undressed her slowly, paying attention to every part of her. Making sure his daughter felt pleasure with everything he did. She gave him wet kisses everywhere, reaching down and stroking him deliberately. Massaging his muscular arms she leaned back, inviting him to take her right there. Licking his fingers she placed them inside her. It was perfect. 

And then came the real thing. Her hand moved to cover his. Arching her back, she spread her hands wide against the tile and pushed back. The fingers curled inside of her, twisting until they found the spots to make her squeal and squirm. Emily ground her teeth as orgasm after orgasm rolled over her. Without turning around she groped through the curtain, searching for more. She closed her eyes and found her father's penis, as hard as ever. Shuffling back, Emily bent half way over. Guiding his penis inside her she pushed back hard. A small growl erupted from her and she began grinding against him. With each thrust she grew wetter and wetter, desperately trying to take all his length inside her. Her fingers clawed at the tile looking for more leverage. Her leg found cleft made by the tub and the wall providing more force. Taking hold of his hip, pulling towards her to close the gap. Her yelps became cries, decimating her concentration and the mantra. She exploded all over him, shaking violently. Every last pore rippled with pleasure her body relaxed. And then she felt it. 

Michael could barely believe what was happening. His daughter had just cum on his dick, before he'd finished. Astonishment gave way to disbelief Michael threw aside the curtain. Clamping down on her hips, driving deeper into her. Her hair soaked his bandage, his fist tightening around it. She felt amazing. The scent of her juices washed over him, rising with the steam. Flexing the hand around her hip, he relinquished it to find her breast. First he slid the nipple between two fingers, then twirled, and finally pinching with an ever-growing pressure. Groaning loudly she went back to diddling herself. Inside her there was a small resistance, something that he had reached as she lowered her body to touch her toes. 

Spreading her legs out, she hissed out repeatedly, "Yes Daddy," and then "Oh God Daddy. Again Daddy!!" Several screeches and a guttural moan filled the room as she came again. He could wait no longer. She's all he'd thought about for weeks, even months. He stopped and she turned, puzzled. Picking her up, he mounted her gently on his cock. Their eyes locked as he entered her. Their breathing stopped, taken over by the slow squishing sound of penetration. She leaned her forehead against his, her eyes closing as his thrusts increased. Michael was ready to cum. He pulled on her ass harder and harder. He wanted nothing more than to join with her in the release and feel at one with his daughter. Emily felt the oncoming orgasm, the feeling mounting in her belly. Her fists balled tight she wrapped her arms around her dad's neck. He felt like he was growing inside her. Aching to feel his warmth stay inside her she locked her legs. There was nothing left for him to hold onto. Michael lept from the cliff of his grief, through the veil of the orgasm into the abyss of joy as he came inside Emily. Her teeth grinding, hair matted, Emily felt his ultimate release inside her. She leaned back slowly in his arms and opened her eyes to a waking dream. Now, above all moments, was the time to tell him that she was the dancer at the Cloven Club.



Whisper



Imagine a soft whisper of breath touches your neck and the words "close your eyes" cascades past your ear. You succumb to the sensation of lips touching your bare neck and the shiver of the taboo experience races to every nerve in your body. You sence of touch reveals deft hands nimbly unfastening the buttons of your shirt one by one. You know you should resist but wait to see what happens next. You can feel the air touch the skin of your chest as the shirt is pulled away. A gasp of pleasure falls across your ear as the stranger sees your bra enshrouded breasts. 

The fabric of your shirt is pulled over your shoulders and you lean forward to ease it off. Warm lips touch where fabric so recently conceled and the hairs stand erect on your arms. The taunt bra straps can be felt sliding over your shoulders followed by the feeling of a hand sliding behind your back and with precise and practiced handling the catch is released. The fabric relaxes and and your breasts follow. Rolling your shoulders forward the stranger slides the straps off and your breasts are revealed in full. 

"Simply amazing." The sound is soothing and complimentary and you are pleased that the sight of your body excites him further. You can feel his soft hands sliding from your sides following your rib cage without causing your tickelish spot to make you jump. The feeling of his hands sliding around to your stomach and up uder your breasts makes you hold your breath. You think to yourself, "This is so wrong, but it feels so good." 

His hands cup the undersides of your breasts and lifts them feeling their weight and heft before sliding up to explore the rippled and erect nipples. They stand out begging to be fondled, caressed, and suckled on. The fingers cozy up to them and light pinch and tug at them. The inner connection between them and your moistening inner thigh is undeniable. Your squirming goads him to venture deeper. You inhale as his hands slide down your stomach, circling your belly button and dancing about the edge of your pants. You suck in you tummy creating a gap for his fingertips to breach under the taunt fabric. 

His fingers touch the top of your panties and you intake sharply knowing that he will soon be touching other things. You feel the button on your pants pop loose and the slight vibration as your zipper is opened inch by inch. Kisses touch your arm as you feel him move around to your side and then front. Lifting your hips from the chair he slides your pants off leaving the panties in place. Your knees spread in anticipation of his touch. A warm tongue glides from your knee slowly up to your inner thigh stopping as it touches the edge of your panties. His hands are smothly exploring the tender cloth and all you can think about is "Do it, take me now." 

You slide to the edge of the seat presenting your sex to him. The light cloth of your panties is pulled taunt against your pussy and the outline becomes obvious that you are excited and wet. A soft whimper escapes past your mouth as you feel his lips touch your panties. His hot breath on your lower hips and sends thrills through you. You realize you're shaking with anticipation at this point. His mouth slithers over your pussy and you can feel his warm breath mixing with your heated pussy. Fingers are felt sliding under the edges of your panties and grazing the edges of your lips. You want so desperately to feel his fingers exploring every inch of tender wet skin. 

"Oh yes" your legs spread wider inviting him in. He slides the panties away from your crotch and lightly kisses your clit like a long time lover tenderly kisses a forehead. The volt of electricity shoots through you. You can feel the warm juices seeping from your pussy. A finger slides over your slick lips and glides around the outer edge of your pussy. A tongue touches your clit and wriggles about delving into the inner folds and you can feel every bump on his tongue as it moves about. At the same time a finger slides up to your waiting entrance. and presses against the tight muscles there. Pushing slightly it breaches the way and you gasp at the wave of pleasure. Your breathing halts as you entire focus is on the events taking place in and around your hot wet box. 

He plays with you and you can hear him say "Absolutely beautiful, is there nothing about you that isn't perfect in my eyes?" 

You feel him bend inward and kiss your lips lightly at first then deeper and stronger. At this point he is french kissing your pussy like a long lost lover. Your eyes are shut tight and cute wrinkles form at the edges of your eyes as you focus on the fantasy imagery swiming past your dream like vision. Your own hands slide down to your inner thighs and rake your fingernails over the tender area leaving pink lines on your milky white skin.

His teasing continues and your hands inch closer want desperately to dive in and finish yourself off. As his tongue slithers and wiggles on and in your pussy he takes one of your hands in his. Your grip tightens around his hand as you moan out load. His other hand is busy twisting two fingers into you and back out again as his mouth takes your clit in and suck on the tender nub. He takes it gently in his teeth and flicks the tip of his tongue over the exposed inner core. 

You can barely breathe as you experience the intense waves of electricity pulsating through your spine, spiking out to your nipples, and finishing the jouney to your dream enshrouded mind. You don't remember running your fingers into his hair and pulling his face into your pussy but as the first orgasm approaches you feel the tightness in your arms start to build. You inhale loudly as the brink approaches, your stomach tightens and pulls you forward as your entire being is centered on this one moment in time. His face burried in your pussy, this man whom you would never have assumed could make you feel this good, he whom has surprised you at every turn, he is the focus of your thoughts emotions and desires. He has given you so much and only wants you to be happy in return. 

Then like the busting of dam, you let loose with and ear rattling "YES! Oh fuck yes, that's it, oh my god." Like jumping off a cliff in a hang glider you pass over the edge of your first writhing climax. You are flying high above the world, floating blissfully on the clouds of extasy. You can only barely recall how you got here but you are blissfully aware of light and tender movements at the entrance to your inner being. The obviously juicy fingers are skimming over your lips and inner folds of the most beautiful flower on the planet. Your world returns slowly and you can feel the air around you caress your skin once again. 

You slowly open your eyes, "That was amazing, where did you learn to do that?"

"Sweetheart, that was only the begining. I could pleasure you for years. Ready for another?"