11 comments/ 41764 views/ 5 favorites Wally's Pool By: Scorpio44a Elements of this story could qualify it to be in Group, in Erotic Couplings, or perhaps some other category. I put it in Novels or Novellas because there it doesn't tell the reader what the focus of the story may be. If you are reading it after 28 Sept. 2011 you are reading a revised version of the story. As always I encourage feedback, especially feedback that may help me improve as a writer. *** I just wanted to make things better for my family. When Shanna and I'd been married five years we managed to buy a house. Not a big house. Not even a new house. Three bedrooms, two baths with a good sized back yard, a lemon tree, and a two car garage. The year we bought that house I realized the universe pays attention to what people do. I'd heard the old saying that nature abhors a vacuum. I'd heard it tied to the other saying I first heard at church. The Devil has work for available hands. They made the two sayings mean that we ought to always be doing something good or the Devil will find something to fill the time and or space. When we bought our house we bought a three bedroom house. We only needed one. Practical, levelheaded people would have closed two bedroom doors and left them closed. We thought having three bedrooms prepared us, in case someday we decided to have kids. In the midst of moving in we had fun in our new home and that included having sex in every room of the house. More than once! We began moving in on September seventh. We painted every room, bought used furniture so none of the rooms would be empty, and had our own private sex parties in every room. On October twenty-eighth I came home from work to find a candle lit dinner on the table and Shanna all dressed up, beaming like she had won the lottery. We were pregnant. The very next October I came home from work and found a candle lit dinner on the table and Shanna standing beside the table, holding our five-month-old daughter in her arms. She was smiling, wearing the same red dress she had worn the year before and together they gave me the news; Nature had filled all our bedrooms. Jake was born May sixteenth the next year. Eight days after we celebrated Lynn's first birthday. That October I was a bit concerned on the drive home each day. We'd filled the bedrooms. I didn't need or want a candle lit dinner. I had joked with Shanna that the candles were the cause of pregnancies, not our oft repeated sexual antics. The candlesticks didn't show up at dinner. In fact they never were seen on our dinner table again. Jake was born seventeen years ago. Long and lean is how I'd describe him now. I'd say handsome but that would be a proud Dad saying it. Instead I'll just say he never lacks for attention from the young women at school, church or anywhere he goes. Lynn is now eighteen. She eased into puberty at about ten and by twelve was being mistaken for a high school cheerleader. They both are athletic looking and very healthy. Lynn loves wearing her strawberry blond hair in a ponytail and walking so it swings. Our neighbors, for all those years, were Wally Clarke and his wife Carolyn. They had the house next door. They had the house all the kids in the neighborhood loved. It wasn't the same as our house. Oh, it was built by the same builder, at the same time and almost the same floor plan as ours. But Wally hated cutting grass and pulling weeds. Wally put in a pool in his back yard. He became the favorite adopted Uncle of every kid in the neighborhood. He taught all the kids how to take care of the pool and how to swim. He was willing to supervise the kids in the pool almost any day. He got the sounds of laughing, happy children around him and he never had to cut the grass. What tiny bit of grass he had in his front yard one of the neighbor kids willingly cut for him. Often that kid was Jake. The year Lynn turned eight and Jake seven Wally made some changes at his house. The law in our area requires that any backyard with a pool be fenced with at least a six-foot fence. When Wally had the pool put in he had it fenced with a cinder block fence. In April of the year Lynn turned eight a crew arrived and extended the wall up. It became a ten-foot high wall. It was topped with broken glass imbedded in mortar. Wally did not want anyone crawling over that fence! He had meetings with all the kids who used the pool and their parents. He let us know what the change was all about. "Last summer, in my brother's neighborhood, some kids didn't want to wait for him to get home to go swimming. They climbed his fence and went swimming. A ten-year-old drowned. My brother decided to fill in his pool with dirt. He had to go to the funeral of a kid he loved. I don't want anything like that to happen here. No one goes swimming without a Lifeguard present. At the moment I'm a certified lifeguard and so is Carolyn. That means either we supervise or no one gets wet." We got the message. He even put up a sign in the pool area saying no one was allowed in the pool without a lifeguard present. Then he added one more change. From noon on Sunday until three in the afternoon on Monday there would be no one under eighteen allowed in the pool area or in their house. Lynn's birthday that year was on a Sunday. She asked Wally if she could have her party at his house. He said yes, if the party was on Saturday. Sundays were now adults only days. She agreed. The party was great and everyone had a great time. On her actual birthday our family of four went to Disneyland. Shanna and I were invited to a pool party for adults on the first Sunday of that June. We made the proper arrangements for child care for Lynn and Jake and went to the party. Wally grilled salmon, burgers and steaks. Carolyn made a great salad and ten adults enjoyed an afternoon and evening without children. Our conversations were about children, about work, about money and about the future. Two weeks later we were invited again. At least once a month Shanna and I were invited to the adult pool parties at Wally and Carolyn's. The list of participants changed almost every time. We enjoyed the adult-to-adult time together and looked forward to the gatherings. Up until the adult parties started Shanna had two swimsuits. By the end of that summer she had four. As the weather cooled in November Wally turned on the heater and we swam in warm water. His skill at the barbecue increased and our meals together were very enjoyable. The Sunday after Thanksgiving was to be another change. We were invited for dinner for the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving. Just Shanna and me. Carolyn made lasagna and a salad. We ate and cleaned up much as we usually did when we ate together, except the kids were not included. After dinner we sat in their family room. Wally began the meat of the evening by saying, "I'll bet you've been wondering what's going on. Well, it's time you learned." Carolyn took over. "Wally and I love having all the kids around. We put in the pool more for them than for us. In the last couple of months we've had an experience that got us both thinking. We went with my sisters to an event in Las Vegas." Shanna interjected, "They live in Vegas, don't they?" Carolyn and Wally both nodded as Carolyn continued, "At that event over three hundred people had a pool party at a hotel. There was food, music, dancing, swimming and no kids." "We had a great time." Wally said, "And since there were no kids around the party got a little more adult." Carolyn added, "What Wally's saying is that some of the swimsuits disappeared. Many of the women went topfree and many of the men went naked." "Topfree?" Shanna asked. "They were bare chested." Wally said, smiling. "Really?" I asked. "Yes! At first we were a little shocked, but the longer we stayed the more we liked the environment. The adult nature of it. By that evening we were both participating." "Hold up." I said. "If this is going where I think it's going you're inviting us to a pool party where being naked or topfree is going to be Ok. Right?" "The first Sunday of every month from now on our adult pool party will be clothing optional." Wally said. "And you are invited." Carolyn added. "And the party this Sunday?" Shanna asked. "Everyone invited to this Sunday knows about the first Sunday parties. If everyone at this Sunday agrees then this Sunday could be clothing optional." Wally said. Carolyn said, "Let me clarify. Clothing optional means that people can be clothed or naked or partially naked as they choose. Someone can come to a first Sunday party and stay clothed. It will be Ok." "Or," Wally said, "They can walk in and strip down to skin and that will be Ok as well." Carolyn added, "What won't be Ok is overt sexual contact. We aren't swingers. The parties aren't about swinging." "Oh." I said, "We'll be skinny-dipping, not having an orgy out by the pool." Wally and Carolyn nodded and I felt the energy in the room ease. "Who is invited?" Shanna asked. "Married couples only. You've met everyone invited for this Sunday and for the first Sunday. We have talked about it and here's what we've decided..." Wally said. Carolyn took it, "Married couples only. Shacking up doesn't count. Both partners must attend. No overt sexual intercourse." "We have a guest room if someone can't wait long enough to go home." Wally said smiling. "Kissing each other is Ok and when it gets serious we will ask people to take it inside or home." Shanna looked at me and said, "We'll need to talk this over before we commit to anything. I'm not sure about doing this." "Talk it over. Talk it over with us, come this Sunday. I'm sure the other couples want to talk it over, too. In any case, this is only something that happens among adults. The kids aren't invited or included and won't be." Later, we walked home. Shanna took the babysitter home and I got ready for bed. When she joined me in bed she said, "What do you think?" Her hand snaked to my erection and found it mostly hard. "I guess that tells me you kinda like the idea." "I do, and I'm a little worried." "Worried?" She asked, sliding her hand up and down my shaft. "Yes, worried. The thought of walking around Wally's backyard hard with five or six women looking scares the hell out of me." Shanna stroked me a little harder and said, "The other men will be there, too." "And what if they are bigger than me? And what if I am the only one that doesn't get hard?" Her mouth opened and the head of my cock disappeared inside. My focus was refocused on what she was doing and not on the future. I helped her out of her t-shirt and panties. I could smell her arousal. "What if everyone hates my smell?" She asked during a moment when she had pulled my cock out of her mouth. "They won't! It's the best!" "You can't know that! The only way we'll know anything for sure is to go and participate. Even if one of the men as a cock bigger than yours, I'll still want yours. Will you still want me after you see Carolyn naked? Her breasts are bigger than mine." "Bigger doesn't mean better." "Remember you said that." She dove down onto my cock as she said that and I lost focus on anything else. It wasn't long before we were kissing and I was tasting my own taste in her mouth. Soon after that the taste in my mouth was Shanna's unique flavor. To muffle her noises as she came she stuffed her mouth full of me. We cleaned up, redressed in our nightclothes and went to sleep. The alarm woke us and before we could get up Jake and Lynn were in bed with us. "It smells funny in here," Jake said. Shanna opened the bedroom windows and we got ready for our day. Nothing more was said about the smell. We accepted the invitation for Sunday. Throughout the week I kept wondering if I could strip down in front of a dozen people. I wondered what Carolyn looked like naked and which other women would be there. On Saturday, the day before the party, I wondered what I would do if one of the men at the party came on to Shanna. Saturday evening we got Lynn and Jake asleep by ten. I followed Shanna into our bedroom suite and we took a shower together. As a part of our play I kissed her low on her neck. She pulled away a little and said, "Please. No marks. I couldn't go to the party tomorrow with hickies on me." I stopped. I hadn't thought about that. Shanna picked up her pink razor and started shaving, then she stopped. She said, "No point in shaving tonight. I'll be nervous enough I'll shave an hour before the party anyway." She got a weird look on her face and asked, "Do you think the other women shave their pussies?" I had never thought about it! Was Carolyn a bald pussy woman? I said, "Do lots of women shave there?" "At the gym I've seen quite a few shaved women. I don't know percentages or anything but..." She didn't finish the statement. We finished up in the shower and got out. As we dried off Shanna said, "Forget pajamas. We deserve a private area, for just us. From now on our bedroom is just ours. No kids allowed." I added, "Yeah. That will end children making comments about the way our bedroom smells." She giggled and said, "I thought I'd die when Jake said that!" I dressed and went to the garage and got a latch to install inside our bedroom door. I got it installed and latched before we went to bed. We were semi-quiet in bed that night. Sleeping nude was new for us and we both seemed to like it... a lot. When the alarm sounded in the morning the kids came to the door and discovered it wouldn't open. They called to us through the door. I responded, "Get dressed for breakfast. Our bedroom is for adults only. Meet us in the kitchen, dressed for the day." The sound of a herd of buffalo running down the hallway let me know they were doing as I asked. We dressed and were just about ready to leave our sanctuary bedroom when I asked, "So, are you going bald to the party?" Shanna stopped, looked me in the eyes and answered, "I'm not sure. I think I'll ask Carolyn about it." I had breakfast and went off to do my Saturday chores with thoughts of Carolyn and Shanna bald causing me to stay aroused most of the day. As I was washing Shanna's car I saw her go into Carolyn's house. She was inside for almost an hour. When she came out she saw me and blew me a kiss. I wondered what it meant. Had they shaved together? Was Shanna going into our house to shave? Were they both going to be natural women, unshaved and untrimmed, at the party? I didn't have answers, just lots of questions. The party next door was scheduled to begin "anytime after noon." My plan was to take the family out for breakfast with Lynn and Jake's bags packed for Sunday with my parents. My Mom had agreed to the sleepover and Dad had plans to take Jake to a college water polo game. Shanna did her Saturday and Sunday chores on Saturday. She had both kids working all day too. I called in a pizza order and dinner was handled with a minimum of fuss and clean up. Wally came over after dinner and asked if we could come over in the morning, at about eleven, to help with the preparations for the party. We figured that would be easy to arrange so we agreed. We watched Wally walk back to his house and Shanna asked, "You nervous?" "No! Not me." I said. Ten seconds passed and I added, "Scared shitless." Jake hadn't heard everything, but he had heard me use the word shitless. He made the announcement, "Dad said shitless!" Morning came and our routine was anything but routine. The kids hadn't learned yet that our bedroom was off limits. We hadn't learned to always latch the door before going to bed. Lynn burst into our bedroom at seven-oh-five and found us asleep. Shanna was bare to her waist and I was covered except for my ass. Lynn squealed and backed out of the room as quickly as she could. However, her squeal woke us both. The door got latched and we got dressed. Our normal shower in the morning was postponed until after we deposited the kids at Grandma's house. Breakfast at IHOP had always been reserved for special mornings. As I parked in front of IHOP Jake asked, "What's so special about today?" "You're spending today and tonight at Grandma's." Shanna answered. "Ok! Can I order whatever I want?" "Anything under seven dollars." I said. "What he ordered was under seven dollars, as long as I didn't include tax. He ate all of it. I needed to use the restroom and Lynn asked Jake to go with me. "Why? I don't need to go." I got him to go with me. I figured Lynn needed to talk to Shanna about something, probably about seeing us naked. When we got back we paid the bill and took the kids to Grandma's. As I backed out of the driveway to head home Shanna said, "She wanted me to know she saw my breasts and your balls." We both laughed. She explained how she had minimized the damage done by us being seen and how Lynn had said balls look gross and she was glad she didn't have any. We were home by ten. After a short discussion about what to wear to the party we went into the shower. Shanna brought shaving gel and a new razor into the shower. I brought a new razor, too. Usually Shanna shaves when I'm not in the shower with her. As I shaved my face she shaved her everything. She did her pits first and then started at her right ankle and worked up that leg. Without touching her light colored bush she went down to her left ankle and started up that leg. By the time she was shaved to her bush I was as hard as a rock and smiling. She looked over and said, "See something you like?" "Yes, and I'm wondering if I get to see even more?" "I should make you wait to find out. Go ahead and get out and dressed. I'll finish up in here and join you in the kitchen." "Not a chance! If you're going to be bald, I want to be the first to see it." She loaded her hand with shaving gel and applied it to her bush. I handed her a new razor and she said, "Well, here goes. Don't say anything or I might cut myself!" I knelt and watched as she shaved her bush completely. She propped a foot on the edge of the tub and used a hand to spread herself so she could assure she got every hair. By the time she was done I knew we wouldn't be next door by eleven. Right there on the bathroom floor Shanna had her first orgasm of the day. I ate my first bald pussy and fucked my first bald pussy, too. Dressed in clean clothes we knocked on their door at eleven-ten. Wally opened the door and said, "I win!" "You win what?" Shanna asked. Carolyn answered, "He bet me you'd be a little late. I let him win. I thought you'd be even later." We didn't ask why they thought we'd be late. I was given the job of getting the barbeque grill going. Shanna and Carolyn went into the kitchen to get everything but the meat ready. Wally loaded an ice chest with drinks and ice and set the whole thing against one wall of the patio. No glass bottles. There was wine but the bottles were inside the house and the wine glasses were plastic. Glass is too dangerous near a pool. My focus on getting the fire perfect held my attention until a cold beer was handed to me by Ralph. I looked up at him and realized I had no idea how long he and Janice had been there. As with many pool parties the men congregated around the barbeque and the ladies congregated in the kitchen, in the beginning. Wally had two barbeques. One he used for grilling and one for smoking. The one for smoking had been going when I arrived. It's lid was down and the temperature gauge read one-seventy when I first looked. At about one it still read one-seventy. On the grill we put two chickens, some brots and some veggies. The chickens had no skin and were covered in Wally's special BBQ rub. The three salads came out to the table carried by the ladies. Wally and I put the grilled meats on platters and opened the smoker to see what special things Wally had made for us. We found three racks of baby back ribs and a brisket. The smell alone is so delicious it must be against the law in at least three states. Wally's Pool As we sat down to eat Carolyn got everyone's attention. She said, "This meal is special. We think the world of each of you, our friends, and we want to play a game during dinner. Here are the rules. You can eat as much of anything as you like, however you cannot feed it to yourself. Want a bite of brisket? Ask someone to feed you some brisket. You can eat ribs or chicken, but you cannot hold anything for yourself." We all laughed. This would be fun. Carolyn went on. "Any food that spills must be cleaned up, but cannot be cleaned up using anything but a mouth. She picked up a slice of tomato from the salad on her plate and plopped it on the exposed portion of her breast. She turned to Wally and asked, "Wally, would you clean up this spill for me please?" He smiled and bent to her cleavage. He made loud slurping noises as he cleaned up the spill. When he stopped Carolyn looked down and said, "Thanks. You did a good job." And, she kissed him. When the cheers died down Carolyn asked if we understood the rules of the game. Pete was sitting between Carolyn and his wife, Pattie. He asked, "How will we know who won the game?" "The only way to lose this game is if you don't play." Wally said. He turned towards Carolyn and asked, "Sweetheart, is there something you'd like to bite?" "Yes, some brisket, please." Wally cut a bite sized piece and fed it to her. She made appreciative noises and asked him what he wanted to try. The rest of us started eating and laughing and having fun. After about ten minutes Carolyn said, "There is a new rule. You cannot get more than two bites from the same person. If I got my last two bites from Wally and I want something else to eat, I have to ask someone else for a bite." Shanna said, "If all the women shift over two seats every two bites that will work." She stood and moved to her right two seats. Donna Smith took Shanna's seat and Carolyn sat on my other side. Carolyn asked for a bite of ribs. I held the rib up for her and as she bit it fell apart. A piece fell into her cleavage. I watched it fall, looked up into her eyes as they sparkled with mischief and then over at Shanna. Shanna said, "You know the rules. Clean up your mess." I dove in. Carolyn's breasts must be at least "D" cups. The more I dove for the rib meat the deeper it slid between her breasts. I heard laughter and giggling. I got all the meat and cleaned up the sauce with my tongue. When I came back upright I looked over at Shanna and Ralph was looking for something he had dropped inside her shirt. I noticed that every woman had been spilled upon and every man was willingly into clean-up. It wasn't long before Donna spilled some salad on Frank's lap and "had to" clean it up for him. She made noises while she did the job, and so did Frank. At some point in the meal someone spilled something and the spilled upon removed the soiled clothing, to facilitate clean-up. Carolyn collected the spilled on clothes and started a load of wash in her washing machine. The machine was just inside their back door. She stood at the washer in just her shorts and said, "It's not quite a load. I need a few more things to have a full load." Shanna reached onto my plate and got a hand full of BBQ sauce. She rubbed it down the fly of my shorts and said, "I think Pete needs to have his shorts washed." I spread a hand full of sauce on the front of her shorts and said, "Oops! Looks like these shorts have to get washed too." Shanna laughed and helped me take off my shorts. She unbuttoned them and unzipped them then hooked her thumbs into the waistband and started them down. They were down two inches when I realized she had hooked my shorts as well. I looked down at her and she smiled up at me. I surrendered. When she lowered my shorts far enough my hard cock sprang into view. She kissed the tip and finished removing my shorts. Immediately, I dropped to my knees and unsnapped Shanna's shorts. I hooked her waistband and looked into her eyes. I mouthed, "I love you" and drew her shorts to the ground in one quick move. She didn't have panties on. Her wet, bald pussy was lit by the afternoon sun and never looked better to me. As she lifted one foot to step out of her shorts I kissed her pussy. I heard Carolyn say, "Oh, my God! I just flooded!" We looked over and Wally was kneeling in front of her, feasting on her pussy. She was looking at us. I picked up our shorts and my underwear and dropped them in the washer. Then I picked up Shanna and dropped her in the pool. In less than a minute there were ten people in the pool. When the first load was done in the washer, the rest of the clothes from dinner were put in. Our clothing optional party had become fully nude. Play in the pool was adult. I was touched by most every woman at the party and was invited to touch every woman. Not a single other man touched or kissed Shanna's genitals. Later I confirmed that husbands touched wives, but only their own. Carolyn, Shanna and Donna were the only bald women at the party. Donna had a pierced nipple. Shanna asked why only one. "Because that one hurt so much I've never had the nerve to do the other one." Donna answered. The dishes got done, the food put away and the patio cleaned by a happy crew of nude adults. It was near midnight when Shanna and I went home. As Wally let us out of his house he told us to come back for breakfast. There would still be some people there who had slept over. We showered and crawled into bed. Our windows were open. We heard the unmistakable sounds of coupling. We made it a duet and it quickly became a choir. As couples began cumming the giggles and laughter began as well. It finally calmed down and I thought sleep would come until I heard a voice say, "G'Night John Boy." The laughter did finally die. We did finally sleep. At breakfast the next morning Wally said it was the best Thanksgiving weekend he'd ever had. We all agreed, until the next Thanksgiving. But that's another story, maybe for another time. Jake turned seventeen one May a few years after the adult parties started. Wally had required that all the kids fifteen or older who used his pool be trained as lifeguards and learn CPR. In June Wally was sitting in his chair supervising some of the younger kids swimming and playing in the pool. Jake was there as the lifeguard. He wore an armband that made him the official lifeguard. He saw Wally slump over, grabbing his chest. Jake yelled, "Clear the pool!" and all the kids did just that. No arguments or delays. Jake got three of the older kids started on Wally, doing CPR. Jake ran to the phone and called 911. Then he called Carolyn at work. He got all the kids dried off and headed home by the time the paramedics arrived. Wally made it to the hospital. Jake called me at work and rode to the hospital with Wally in the ambulance. That evening, with Carolyn, our family and two other neighbor families gathered in his room beside him, Wally died. His heart quit. After he was gone Carolyn said, "He got his wish. Wally and I couldn't have children. He always wanted kids around. He said the sound of children is the sound of Heaven. Even as he was dying he had the kids he loved close by. We were really blessed." We all shared hugs and soft words for a few more minutes, then Jake said he would drive Carolyn home. They left the hospital with their arms around each other. Our car was quiet on the way home. Three days later the funeral was held. I counted thirty-seven kids at the funeral. They all loved Wally. The eighty parents and other adults at the funeral all loved him, too. At the gravesite we all watched as his casket was lowered into the vault. Then I saw Brett White, a seven-year-old walk near the edge and toss something into the vault. It was a bright yellow pair of swim goggles! As Brett stepped back, Jake reached into his sport jacket and pulled out the armband he wore when he was the Lifeguard at Wally's pool. He dropped it in. Lynn dropped something too. It was wrapped in cloth and dark green. Thirty-seven kids each brought something to send with Wally. Something personal. When the last item was in, the ceremony was over and we left the cemetery. Carolyn's two sisters had driven from Las Vegas for the funeral. Back at the house there was food, and a chance for all of us to talk and be with Carolyn. About an hour into the gathering I found Carolyn sitting in the chair she often sat in to watch TV. I took her hand and asked her to come with me. I led her to the back door leading out to the pool. All thirty-seven kids were quietly sitting out there around the pool. Some were looking at the water, some held each other, a couple were on their knees praying. No one sat in Wally's chair. Carolyn and I stayed inside and cried together. By the time it was dark everyone except Carolyn's sisters had gone home. The next day was Friday. I was at work by seven-thirty in the morning. I got a call from the Principal of the high school at nine. He wanted my thoughts about naming the swimming pool at the school after Wally. Wally had donated thousands of dollars toward the building of the pool, and had been a huge supporter of athletics at the school for years. I told him I thought it was a great idea. On Saturday morning Carolyn knocked on our door. It was strange because we had stopped knocking years before. The kids knew to always knock before going into either house, but the four of us didn't knock anymore. She knocked. I saw who was at the door and didn't motion her inside. I went to the door, opened it and held it for her. "Can I talk with you and Shanna?" She asked. I noted that she seemed more frail than I had ever seen her, shorter and thinner as well. I had her sit in a chair in our living room and found Shanna in the laundry area. We sat on the couch. Carolyn said, "My sisters want me to move to Las Vegas with them. They are right. Staying here would be too painful. But... I need someone who loves the kids as much as Wally and I to buy the house. I want the kids to keep swimming, keep laughing together." Shanna responded, "I know just the family! Have you set a price?" "It depends. We've got heart, soul and lots of years into this home and into all the kids. The price depends on who buys it. Wally left me pretty well set, so it isn't about the money. Who do you have in mind?" "Us!" Shanna said. She looked at me as she said it. I melted. She thought we could take over for Wally. Carolyn began to cry. Tears streamed down her face. She said, "I hoped it would be you. Put your house up for sale. I'll make arrangements to be moved out by the end of the month and you can move in anytime after that." "We need to talk price." I said. Carolyn looked at Shanna and said, "He's a lot like Wally, you know." Then she looked at me and said, "The price for the house is a dollar!" The realtor tried to get her to change her mind during the six weeks of paperwork, but she never budged. She said she and Wally had discussed it and the decision was final. With costs and taxes it cost a little more than the dollar, but not much. Our house sold for five-hundred-eighty-five thousand. Jake and Lynn had money for college and we had substantially added to our retirement fund. We were invited to Carolyn's housewarming party in Las Vegas and we went. In the car driving to Las Vegas we got to talking about Wally. I asked Lynn, "What was it wrapped up in cloth that you put in the vault with Wally?" She sat quietly for over a minute. Her answer surprised me. "Remember when I was twelve? I was growing and becoming a woman. I bought a swimsuit I thought Roger Conners would like. I wanted Roger to like me. One day when Roger was in Wally's pool, I put it on and went over. Wally took one look at me and wrapped a towel around me and got me back inside his house. He sat me down and explained things to me. I've never worn a revealing suit like that since that day. He was right. If Roger was gonna like me, it needed to be me he liked, not my boobs or my butt." She paused and said, "I gave Wally that suit. I'd kept it as a reminder of what's important. I didn't need it anymore. I have plenty of memories of being loved by him, by Carolyn, by you. He can have the suit." Jake asked, "What ever happened to Roger?" Lynn smiled and said, "He got Pattie Franklyn pregnant in ninth grade. Haven't seen or heard of either of them since." Just inside the front door at Carolyn's sister's home in Las Vegas was a sign. It read, "Beyond this point this home is clothing optional. If seeing people less than fully clothed will upset you, do not proceed past this point." Just after we saw the sign Carolyn's sister took it down. I noticed the sign had been up long enough to leave a pale place on the wall when she took it down. On the anniversary of Wally's death the high school put a sign at the entrance to the pool naming it the Wally Clarke Swim Stadium. Carolyn came back for the ceremony. In her honor and Wally's the pool was filled with kids for the ceremony. Pictures were taken and they made the front page of the paper. That Sunday we had a pool party. It wasn't a first Sunday party, but it was a clothing optional, adults only party. The first one attended by an unmarried woman, Carolyn. Jake and Lynn went to Grandma's that weekend. When the party was over and the three of us were the only one's left in the house Carolyn came and put her arms around both of us. She said, "I know I'm an old lady and my best looking years are way behind me, but I want to ask for a favor." "Whatever it is, we'll say yes." I said. Shanna nodded. "I want to sleep between you both... after we make love." I was stunned. And, I understood. Shanna took one of Carolyn's hands and I took the other. We went into the bedroom and loved her. When she left for Las Vegas the next day Shanna said, "Any time you want to visit, that spot in our bed is yours." The people who bought our old house have been married five years. They have no kids. I could have warned them, but I didn't. Shanna gave the wife the candlesticks we'd used years before to celebrate when Shanna got pregnant. I told her not to bring them back, they now belong to her. I'll bet they have a baby next year. Those candlesticks are magic.