5 comments/ 47850 views/ 36 favorites Love on a Family Cruise By: DrSqueaky I was sitting on the deck of the cruise ship, by the pool, soaking in sun while watching the lovely ladies in their sunwear. My kids were both in their kids club, more than content to spend the day with their peers instead of with their boring old dad. Big Mouse runs quite a well-oiled machine, and there were lots of activities for them. As a result, I had plenty of time to sit around and do nothing but watch what sights there were to see. It had been one year since my wife had been killed in an automobile accident. I had wanted to take the kids somewhere far away when that day came around to make ease the pain its anniversary would bring. Heather was now 13, Anthony 10; the Big Mouse cruise ship gave them the chance to do whatever they wanted, to be more independent than they were in normal life, so it seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. Most of the ladies I was watching were moms with their kids. Some of them were still quite attractive and maintained a nice figure, but wherever there was a mom there pretty much was guaranteed to be a dad. The few exceptions I could see were young, unwed mothers who were being taken on this trip by grandma and grandpa. Sure, many of them looked very, very nice, but I was over 30. In the few sporadic attempts at singles events I had tried in the last few months, I had quickly found that outside of basic lust, they were just not in the same frame of mind that I was. Aside from our both having kids, I had nothing in common with them. The ladies that weren't moms were either over fifty or else also very young; frequently these ladies were honeymooners, or more rarely simply vacationing with boyfriends. This wasn't a singles cruise—that wasn't the goal of this trip—so I wasn't seeing anyone that I might spend any time with. And frankly, that was exactly what I expected. There was an adult-only pool, but that was filled with the young lovers and I really didn't want to watch them snogging by the pool in my own state of loneliness. I found that there was actually more to see at the children's pool than the family pool—which made sense, I suppose, in that on average the younger kids who would prefer the children's pool would also have younger mothers. I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the moms wore, and still looked quite good in, bikinis. Course, many of them also hadn't hit 25 yet. I was being careful not to be too obvious in my observing; the last thing I needed was some dad getting in my grill for staring at his wife too much. About half the dads were floating around the pool area somewhere, the other half were doing other things but sooner or later checked in with the wife, so it was obvious who the couples were. There were three in particular that I spent a lot of time watching. One was a blonde who had had her hair braided in tropical fashion (done on board, most likely) and whose belly was as flat and skinny as any of the jailbait in the teens club. She only had one child (so far), as I would have expected based on her slimness. Her husband (or baby-daddy) looked like he was 16; for all I know he was. The second was a strawberry blonde had long flowing hair and lots of freckles that caught my attention because her suit was more revealing than most—more like the newlyweds fore than the mothers aft—and had the body to carry it off. I predicted that she would have a diamond the size of a child's fist, which I eventually confirmed. Her husband was a little older but very tan like her and wearing an excessive gold watch; a rich guy and a trophy wife. The third one, however, I never saw speaking to anyone else—no obvious husband or grandparents. She had brunette hair with auburn accents, from the sun perhaps, long and naturally curly. She wasn't quite as skinny as the other two, but she still looked quite good. Belly, thighs, hips: she wasn't rail-thin, but she had a natural, attractive, feminine shape. But what really attracted attention one's attention to her were the marvelous globes on her chest. Her breast were almost perfectly spherical, D-cups I'm sure, and yet at least in the bikini had almost no sag given their mass. Her bikini was brown with a gold metal ring holding the two cups together—but the supermodel the designer had in mind when he designed her suit was a B-cup at best. Because her chase was much larger, the cups stuck out further than intended. Because they stuck out further, the valley between them was deeper and revealed more of those wonderful melons than had been intended, either. In fact, it was deep enough that you could see two shades of color on their skin. The bottom, nearer her chest, was a darker shade of tan like the rest of her upper torso. Then there was a lighter region above that, a region that had not seen quite as much sun. I spent some time daydreaming as to whether, were you to reach the peaks of her Kilimanjaros, you would find yet a third shade that had not seen sun at all. The lovely lady was quite busy, however, keeping an eye on two very active kids, both of whom looked under five. As the afternoon wore on, I spent more and more time watching her and her mesmerizing cleavage; she was far too busy to notice a lonely thirtysomething watch her every move. I wasn't watching the time (I was watching her) but the pool started getting empty, indicating that dinner time was nearing. I went back to my room to discover that both of my kids had left messages saying they were dining with their peers; that was fine, that was part of the whole idea of our being here. But it left me alone for dinner, and I didn't feel like sitting through a formal dinner alone. So instead I headed up to the alternative dining buffet on deck and sat at the bar to eat. During dinner the deck was largely deserted—but I noticed that the woman I had spent all afternoon ogling was also there, sitting at a side table feeding her kids pizza. It looked very much now like she was on this cruise as a single parent like myself, in which case I could see where pizza on deck made a lot more sense than trying to entertain two little ones during a two-hour fancy dinner. It was harder for me to watch her, though, since the bar chairs faced inwards and I would have had to turn noticeably to keep watching her. I stole glances as I could; I considered sending her a drink, but that just didn't seem proper or like it would even be appreciated. After dinner she took her kids below decks; perhaps she was taking her kids to their club. It didn't matter, I didn't know where she was headed and I was not going to go spying all over the ship trying to find her. I pulled out the daily schedule, decided what I was going to do with myself. An item caught my attention that hadn't before: a singles mixer. It was scheduled for early evening, right after the first dinner seating. Well, I was single; I guess it couldn't hurt to check it out. I would have loved it if the lovely lady from the deck was there, but I had no reason to believe she would—I didn't know for sure she was single, and she had to watch those two little kids. I changed out of my suit and put on a more evening-appropriate outfit. I ordered a drink at the sports bar and sat there sipping it, waiting for the social to begin—I certainly didn't want to be the first one there, that would make me appear too desperate. I waited until I heard the social director staff talking to people asking if they were single and directing them into the bar before going there myself. I was given a bolt when I entered; the old nut-and-bolt trick was a pretty tried-and-true starter for a singles night. "First couple to match nut and bolt win a prize," the staff kept announcing. I looked around and there, sitting at the back by herself, was the lovely brunette from upstairs. She hadn't had time to dress up much; I could still see the string of her bikini, but she had put on a dress-like cover-up and a pair of high-heeled wedges. But even with the cover-up, those wonderful round breasts with their two shades of tan peeked out from under her clothes. I didn't even look at who else was there; I didn't care. I made a beeline for her booth. "Hello," I said, sliding in across from her. "I'm Rick. Does your nut match my bolt?" "I don't know, let's see," she said gamely in a soft voice. I gave her my nut and she tried to screw them together. Not even close. "You know, I don't really care about whether your bolt fits or not," I said, "I saw you up on deck this afternoon keeping an eye on your kids, and I'm happy to get the chance to meet you. What's your name?" I caught her by surprise by the fact that I had seen her earlier, but answered "I'm Kelly. My son Jeremy is five and my daughter Jenny is three." "Mine are quite a bit older; my daughter Heather is 13, and Anthony is 10," I replied. "Oh, you have kids too?" she asked, again slightly surprised. I could see why; in the corner of my eye I could see that nine out of ten people at this party were college-age kids; Kelly was probably closing in on 30. "Yes, although you wouldn't know it—I think I checked them in to their kid clubs yesterday and I don't think I've seen them since," I replied. "On the other hand, you have time to yourself," she said. "I wish mine were more interested in their club; they just want to be at the pool with mommy." "I remember those days—it's the age," I answered. "On the plus side, you don't have to find ways to entertain yourself all day. So, how did you end up here in the singles mixer?" "Well, my husband was killed in Iraq," she replied, "so I guess that mean's I'm single again." That made my blood boil a little—I had very strong feelings about the war, and now I was meeting someone firsthand whose kids would never know their father on account of massive policy stupidity. But if she was married to a military man, she might not feel the same way about it, so I didn't know what if anything I could say. Fortunately she saved me with a more pressing question. "What about you?" she asked. "My wife was killed in a car accident a year ago tomorrow; I brought my kids on this cruise to help them make it through the day," I told her. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "Likewise," I replied. But it was interesting that we were both widows, not divorcees. That meant neither of us carried the emotional baggage of a failed marriage. By this time, almost everyone else had met their match and was going through the obligatory matching-nut pleasantries. There was of course one man and one woman that were perplexed by not finding their matches, and they were sharing their perplexity. "Excuse me a second," I said, and headed toward them. "I think you're looking for this, I said to the girl, who matched the nut perfectly. Turning to the guy, I said "trade you?" "Yeah, sure," he said, secretly happy inside since the girl was pretty hot, but not wanting to appear so on the outside. I brought my newly traded bolt back to the table and said "now we should match." It fit easily. "See—we were meant to meet," I quipped; she laughed sweetly. They did a bunch of singles mixer games after that, but Kelly and I didn't take part in any of them; we sat in the back booth intently getting to know each other. The host at first tried to get us to join in, but noticing that we were hitting it off and that, after all, was the point, eventually let us be. "So where do you live?" I asked. Turned out she lived in Chicago, which was just about 100 miles from where I live—certainly a manageable distance. Since her husband had been killed, she brought her kids down to see their grandparents (hers) who lived in Florida for two or three weeks. She had hit upon the idea of taking the cruise to give the grandparents a rest from the kids—and presumable, give her a break from her in-laws. In the next hour we talked about our jobs, parenting, widowhood, cruises, and as many things as we could in an hour. But when the hour was up she got a page on her beeper to pick up her kids. "What is your stateroom?" I asked. "I'd like to try to find you tomorrow—maybe we can meet for dinner or something." She was a little hesitant, but we had gotten along very well, so she gave me her room number. I watched the sashay of her hips as she left to pick up her kids; she turned and gave me a little wave as she walked out the door. Impulsively, I blew her a kiss; as soon as I did, I hoped I hadn't just blown it by being presumptuously familiar. I sat in my table for about half of the next activity just on the off-chance she came back, but of course she didn't. I went up to my stateroom and dreamt about her all night. ------------------- Next morning my kids joined me for breakfast—it was our day in Nassau, and Heather in particular had shopping on her mind, so I was needed for a change. I saw Kelly feeding her kids across the room, but I didn't want my kids to know I was looking for someone—certainly not today. At one point she and I made eye contact and smiled briefly, but her kids were jumping out of their skins to get going and they left long before my kids finished scarfing down their donuts. My kids dragged me through the shops of Nassau for three hours before they were finally appeased and we headed back to the ship. They went to their clubs of course; I changed into swimwear and went to the deck to look for Kelly. As I expected, she was shepherding her kids around the kid's pool. She was sitting on the ledge of the shallow water, so I thought it wouldn't be a problem to sit with her and lend her a hand. As I got close, however, I could see that she had splotches of bright red sunburn already appearing on her back, above and below the knot in her bikini. "Hey Kelly, how are you doing?" I said. She turned towards me, saying "Hi Rick, how was Nassau?" "It was OK...but your back isn't," I said. "You're already beet red—you need to do something about that, like right now." "Oh, is it really bad?" she asked. "Jeremy was the only person I could ask to put sunscreen on my back. I'm afraid he doesn't really get the idea yet." "I kind of guessed that—you're covered in some spots and beet red in others. Can I help?" I asked. "Please, I would appreciate that," she replied, "that's my sunscreen over there." I went and fetched her sunscreen, poured some onto my fingers, and started gently spreading it on her back and shoulders. In part I was being careful because she was already burned in spots and it might hurt when I touched it. But it was equally true that I was just enjoying touching a woman's soft skin again; I was as much caressing her as spreading sunblock. I think she noticed that I didn't just goop and slobber the stuff, and I think she kind of liked it. "Thank you," she said. "Oh, that's quite all right," I said, "anytime." And I meant it. I now continued with my original plan, sitting on the edge of the kiddie pool and talking to Kelly when I could in-between her attending to and entertaining her kids. They were cute, little Jenny especially; I played with them some myself. Jenny wouldn't stop giggling when I would hold her up and then let her fall into the water before catching her again. Yes, I was doing that in part to make a good impression on Kelly, and we both knew it. But I did know a thing or two about kids, and the fact that playing with them came naturally rather than being contrived DID, in fact, leave an impression. By midafternoon, she felt comfortable enough to ask me to keep an eye on them while she went to the bathroom. Five minutes later she was back, saying "Thank you. You have no idea how traumatic it is to have to drag the kids out of the pool to go with me every time I need to go potty....I mean, go to the bathroom." She reddened slightly, but I just laughed; "Clearly, you need to spend a little more time with adults." We both seemed to enjoy each other's company. She liked having an adult to talk to, at least once in a while, and having help with the kids. I could easily see myself getting to know her better—but this was day two of a four-day cruise, so time was not on my side. As a result, I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could, but I also didn't want to become a pest and wear out my welcome. When dinner came around, she again elected to feed them from the quick meal options nearby. She could have taken them down to her room to feed them, but instead did it right on the deck, so I asked if she minded if I joined them. She said "if you don't mind boring fast food, you're certainly welcome to join us." So I dined with them, helping her kids with their chicken strips and fries too. About 7:30—and about the time when I figured she would probably be putting them to bed soon—I got a page from Anthony. I couldn't have asked for a better way to exit. Before I went to see what he needed, I asked her if she was planning to go ashore tomorrow, our day at the private island. "Oh yes...my kids just love the beach," she replied. "I would have never guessed," I said facetiously, "would you mind if I looked for you ashore after breakfast." "If you like," she replied, "we'll be somewhere near where the water hits the sand." With that I excused myself to attend to Anthony. He didn't need anything important; he had wanted to buy something and I hadn't given his card purchasing rights (for exactly that reason). As I walked to get him, I pondered whether I was being too pushy—although I hadn't asked her for anything other to than to permit me to be in her vicinity. Perhaps I was being too persistent, though, because I was with them most of the day. Well, if I was, then she could just tell me to leave her and her family alone and I'd be no worse off than when I started. And so far, she hadn't asked me to leave her alone. --------------------- Next morning at breakfast Heather was all agog about some way-overpriced trinket jewelry in the gift shop she had seen and couldn't afford. I listened politely, but in reality my mind was thinking only of Kelly. As soon as they were done eating, the kids left to go ashore with their friends in the club. I took my time changing and heading ashore, not wanting to get there before Kelly and her kids. The private island was very beautiful. It was dominated by a large half-moon shaped bay trimmed with white sand. Parts of the bay were cordoned off for activities like snorkeling; a large section in the middle was the swimming beach. The ship anchored off the far point of the half-moon, so it was a bit of a walk to the swimming beach. There were hundreds of people on the beach. Lounge chairs were set all across the sand, and most of them were occupied by girls in bikinis, tanning. There were family clusters too, some on the beach, many more in the water. As I walked towards the waves, I saw little Jenny in the distance. She was scooping sand with her hand, trying to make a sand castle, but she had no sand toys. Soon I spotted Danielle and Jeremy; they were playing in the sand, but it appeared that both of the kids were being whiny about not having toys. I decided to make a detour to the island gift shop (surely Big Mouse would never miss a chance to sell us something) and bought a small pre-packaged bag of beach toys. I headed back down to where I had seen Kelly. Kelly had her back to me and the kids were playing, so they didn't notice me until I was almost on top of them. "But I wanna dig a hole," Jeremy was whining. "I know, honey, but we don't have a shovel," she was saying, "this is the best we can do." "Maybe you can use my shovel, Jeremy," I interjected. Mother and son turned towards the voice as I walked up and handed Jeremy the bag of toys. "I'll be you can find some things to dig with in here." Jeremy tore the bag open and found a shovel. In no time he was happily digging himself to China. Love on a Family Cruise "Rick, you didn't have to do that," she said. "No, but I wanted to," I replied. "My kids are way too old and too cool to build a castle; I don't get a chance to enjoy watching a 3-year old play in the sand anymore." After a pause, I asked "Do you need someone to put sunblock on your back?" "Yes, actually I do," she replied, "before I end up in the infirmary with third-degree burns." She pointed to a deck chair where I recognized her bag; I fetched her sunblock and gently caressed it onto her back like I had the day before. Out of the corner of my eye, it looked as if she was closing her eyes and concentrating on feeling my fingers touching her as much as I was trying to memorize the textures of her back. With the kids now equipped, they suddenly needed a lot less attention. I pulled a couple of chairs closer to the waves and we actually got to sit down. "You don't have to stay here and help me watch the kids," she said, "there's so much to do here." "If you don't want me to stay here, just tell me and I'll head back to the ship," I replied, "but other than that, my kids are in the club and don't want to see me, and somehow beach activities are not as fun by yourself." I paused to help Jenny fill her sand pail. "Besides, I like playing with your kids, they're so cute." I paused for a second, then looked up at Kelly, adding "They take after their mother." If it hadn't been clear before, it was obvious that I liked Kelly. In spite of that, she showed no signs of balking at my attention. In the late afternoon, Kelly said "Rick, there's a neat little party for the 3-5 year olds in the club tonight. I'm going to feed the kids early and then take them to the club so they can take part. That means I'll actually be able to have dinner in the dining room tonight. Would you care to join me?" "I would love to," I said, trying not to belie on the outside the fact that my brain was jumping for joy on the inside. I was on cloud nine the rest of the afternoon. I decided it was best to let her take care of getting her kids ready by herself, so I told her I'd meet her at the port side deck bar at 5:30. I put on a shirt and tie and was sitting at the bar nursing a drink by 5:15, as if I would miss her if I weren't in position when she walked past. I needn't have worried; I saw her the second she popped out on deck. And I wasn't the only one who noticed her—dressed for dinner, she was simply ravishing. She was wearing a halter-topped sundress, pale yellow with flower prints primarily in orange. It was loose and flowing, ending a couple of inches above the knee. But it accentuated her tan skin, emphasizing her shapely legs and making the cut exposing her cleavage appear deeper than it was. When she stood up very little was visible, but when she moved those wonderful globes didn't always go where they were supposed to and they would peek out from behind her dress. She had a short black sweater over the dress in case the dining room air conditioning was too cold, contrasting with her white high-heel sandals. She also had worked on her hair; it was still long and flowing, but there were more loose curls amid the auburn cascade than before. I got off my stool, at which time she saw me and headed my way. I wanted to at least hug her, but the only physical contact we had had to that point was putting sunscreen on her back; it didn't seem appropriate. So I simply gestured towards the nearest door and said "Shall we?" She smiled and said "Sure," then wrapped her arm around mine so I could escort her to the dining room. Neither of us had gone to dinner the first two nights; the waiters were surprised to see new faces popping up on the third day of the cruise. Nevertheless, dinner was outstanding; even the appetizers took at least 15 words each to describe on the menu. The waiter made suggestions and did not steer us wrong, either on food or in the bottle of wine we shared. We were of course stuffed to the gills after dinner, so I suggested that we should take a walk on the top deck. She accepted my invitation and held my hand as we walked the deck. The strong winds the ship generated danced with her hair. The last rays of sunlight were sinking below the horizon on the starboard side; we stopped to watch the beautiful sunset. I put one arm around her waist while we stood by the deck rail; she responded by moving closer to me, pulling my other arm around her waist as well. I clasped my hands together around her, and she laid her hands on top of mine. My head was right above her shoulder, and I could feel the rising and falling of her breath. She felt warm and soft, and smelled...well, wonderfully feminine. For that moment, everything was right with the world. "You know, you only live like an hour and half drive from me," I said softly, since her ear was right by my mouth. "I know people who commute that far to and from work every day." She turned a little so she could look at me. "I guess what I'm trying to say is," I said haltingly, "that, once we get back home and all, maybe we could...that is I'd sure like to maybe take you out to dinner sometime." She turned the rest of the way around so she was facing me, and put her arms on my shoulders. "Are you asking me out on a date?" she said with a gleam in her eye. "Uh, well," I hemmed and hawed, suddenly unsure of myself, "you could say that tonight was a date, and I just thought that since you live so close, maybe we could do it again even after the cruise ends. I could even bring along a babysitter, my daughter has passed the babysitting course, and..." The flow of words stopped, because Kelly was pressing her lips against mine. Our first kiss, and I had been caught completely off-guard. I was speechless when the kiss came to an end. "You're very sweet, Rick, and you've been very nice to me and to my kids. I'd love to have you come down and go out to dinner with you. Bringing Heather is very thoughtful, but won't be necessary; I can leave the kids with my mother if I need a babysitter. She doesn't live too far away." I was torn about what to do next; I wanted to get at least her phone number in case I somehow lost track of her, but I doubted I had anything on me to write with, and besides I didn't want to have to let go of her, she felt so soft and wonderful in my arms. Just then a beeping sound interrupted the reverie; her beeper was going off. She checked it, and sure enough, she needed to go attend to her kids. "I'm sorry, Rick...I'd love to stay here and watch the sunset with you, but..." she started. "I know. The kids should always come first." I said. Then suddenly what I had just said about Heather babysitting gave me an idea. "Hey...would you feel comfortable with Heather babysitting?" "I've never met her," she said, "but I guess I don't see why not." "If I can arrange it, how would you feel if we let Heather babysit for the kids tomorrow night?" I asked. Then we could go to dinner and do whatever we wanted to afterwards without having to worry about getting paged." I could see she was torn, and further under time pressure to get the kids. I told her "Think about it, I'll look for you at the pool tomorrow." She brightened, saying "OK. I'm getting spoiled by all your help with the kids." She reached up and kissed me again. "Good night, Rick. See you tomorrow?" "You bet" I replied, and with that she was off. ------------------- At breakfast, I worked out a plan with my kids. Anthony's club had a late-night movie, so I could send him to the club until at least midnight. I promised Heather that I would buy her that expensive thingy in the gift shop if she would babysit Kelly's kids from 6-12; I suggested she might want to swim with them until it was just before their bedtime to tire them out. Then, before Kelly left for the pool, I stopped by to say good morning and introduce Heather to Kelly and her family. Then we went our separate ways; Kelly's family to the pool, the kids to their club, and me—well, nowhere. I had decided it would be best to give them a good hour or so head start before I went up to join them, so I found a place to watch the news and drank too much coffee. When I did go up, it was almost like we had a routine; I put sunscreen on Kelly's back, then I sat with her by the pool to watch her kids. The topic of tonight came up. "Your daughter seems very mature and trustworthy," Kelly said. "Yes, especially since her mother passed on. She makes a very good babysitter for her age," I added. "What were you thinking for tonight?" Kelly asked. "I was hoping we could go to dinner like last night, but then we could have some time to ourselves afterward," I explained. "We could walk the deck, or go to a show, or sit in a bar—whatever you like. Heather can put your kids to bed, and Anthony is at a late movie until midnight. I just thought it might be nice to know that we could have a whole evening to ourselves without getting beeped." I could tell she was interested, but felt perhaps a little guilty, like she was shirking her responsibilities as a mom. I didn't think the kids would mind as much as she imagined. "Hey Jenny, Jeremy," I called to them. By now they were used to my being around, so they responded to me "Did you like my daughter Heather who you met this morning?" "Yeah!" they replied. Kids love being with older kids. "What would you think if, after dinner, Heather went swimming with you while mom went to dinner? Then Heather will put you to bed, but don't worry—mommy will be there when you wake up in the morning. Sound like fun?" "Yeah! Can we mom? Can we mom?" the crowed. "OK, OK, you win," Kelly laughed, referring both to me and to her kids. "You can have Heather babysit for you tonight." I smiled at Kelly and she locked gazes with me—until Jenny tugged on her arm for something. I stayed with them until midafternoon, when we both went to our cabins to pack as best we could—tomorrow morning we would be back in port. I also had to make sure of the arrangements for dinner that night—like going with Heather to buy her that thing she wanted badly enough to babysit for. --------------------- Heather and I knocked on Kelly's cabin door at 6:00. We heard excited shouting from the kids inside even before the door opened. It opened a crack, and two little kids in swimsuits ran out and grabbed hold of Heather; she was a little taken aback by the welcome. Then the door opened fully and I saw Kelly. It literally took my breath away. Kelly was wearing a dark green, jewel-tone dress, again wide and loose but ending about mid-thigh. It had a plunging neckline and was held up by two thin spaghetti straps. Her pendulous breasts pushed outwards on the dress, with the result being that a healthy slice of her breasts was visible, peeking out in the middle. Her hair was long and wavy and flowed about her shoulders like a veil. With the dress she wore high heels with clear plastic straps, the kind that are supposed to be invisible from a distance. She was reaching for her little sweater as she headed out into the hallway. "Mommy's all dressed up tonight!" Jeremy informed Heather. "So I see," said Heather, shooting me a look that may have been intended to mean something like "way to go dad," but with a 13-year old who can tell? "Kelly," I stammered, "you look...incredible tonight." Suddenly my shirt and tie didn't seem dressy enough; I wish I had packed a jacket or even a tux. "Thank you," she said shyly. "Lets go swim, let's go swim!" Jeremy and Jenny began chanting together. "OK, OK, we can go swimming," replied Heather as the kids tried to drag her down the hall. She held them off long enough to get final instructions from Kelly, then gave in and was dragged to the deck much like if she had been walking an oversized Great Dane. "I wish I had a jacket to wear, I feel underdressed," I said. "You feel underdressed? I'm the one that's half-naked," she confided. I didn't know how to respond; most of what I was thinking was dreadfully inappropriate. "You don't look half-naked, you look completely stunning" is what I eventually came up with. "Well, thank you. I only packed my sexy dress because my girlfriends told me to; I didn't think there was any way I'd actually have occasion to wear it. Guess they were right." She gave me a peck on the cheek, then took my arm and we headed to dinner. I had paid extra to dine in the optional, ultra-fancy restaurant. As a result, instead of being at a larger table we had a table for two by a large window that looked out over the stern of the ship. We could watch the wake of our boat as we cut through the ocean waves. The lighting was romantically subtle, and I bought us a bottle of the best wine in the house to share with dinner. We were in no hurry today, and enjoyed each others' company; over two hours had passed before we finished dinner. After leaving the restaurant, I put my arms around her as she held the railing and we looked out from the deck at the sea. "So what strikes your fancy tonight? Dancing? A show? An after-dinner drink? Nice thing about cruises—you name it, its here." "I'd kind of like to just sit somewhere where we can look out at the ocean and maybe have another bottle of wine," she replied. When she said that, it dawned on me that she had an interior cabin; because I had expected to spend a lot of time bored and by myself, I had spent a little more for a room with a porthole. It was much more than I expected—a window probably five feet across, with a small foyer/seating area arranged to allow the best possible views out the porthole. "You've not seen my room, have you?" I said. "I've got an exterior room with a beautiful porthole—and a love seat in just the right place to look out from. But I don't know if you would feel comfortable in my cabin..." She turned and put her arms around me. "No? Should I not trust you?" she kidded. We kissed, then she said "I'm very curious to see what your view is like." I led her to my cabin, holding the door open for her. "Wow," she said, seeing the view for the first time. She took off her sweater and dropped it on the bureau while I ordered a bottle of wine from room service. She stood in front of the window admiring the view while I was on the phone, then when she heard me hang up she moved over to the love seat and met me there. She sat, knees together and pointed towards the porthole, her whole body slightly slanted so as to see out. I sat next and slightly behind her, my left arm around her, my right hand holding hers. We sat, saying nothing, enjoying the view and the closeness of each other's proximity, until the door knock announced the arrival of the wine. I answered the door, brought over the wine and poured two glasses. Then I resumed my position, only now we each held a wine glass in our right hands. Fortunately my cabin was on the starboard side; the sun was already below the horizon but red light still faintly colored clouds in the distance and provided a little light with which to see the sea. "It's beautiful," she sighed finally. "Not as beautiful as you," I replied, then regretted it; "I'm sorry, that was corny." In spite of myself I kissed her shoulder. She turned toward me with a look I'd never seen before in her eyes. "It may be corny, but you say it like you mean it." "I do mean it," I replied. "I can't tell you how much better this cruise has been than I ever dreamed it could be—and all because of the time I've spend with you." Kelly put down her wine glass, so I did too. She turned towards me now, and held my hands in hers. Her eyes searched mine, but what she sought I did not know. "You are really very sweet, Rick. Thank you for all the help with the kids." "Oh, it's no problem..." I started. "...and thank you for the wonderful times you've given me," she interrupted. "I thought I would just be a mommy for four solid days. I never dreamed I'd get...time for me...like I have." I didn't know what to say. What I was thinking that the last girl I had feelings for like I was experiencing at that moment, I had eventually married. I decided to kiss her to break the awkward pause. She responded as she hadn't before; she pulled me close to her, wrapping her arms around my neck, and we made out repeatedly—with tongue. Because she held me so close, I felt those wonderful globes pressing against my chest. They felt soft yet firm; I couldn't stop thinking about how their heft and mass must feel. Suddenly she stopped and pulled back; I let her take whatever space she needed. I think she had a touch of guilt, or maybe she like me was worried about not pushing too far too fast. "I'm sorry, if you don't feel comfortable, we can go somewhere else, or..." I stammered. She put her finger over my mouth to shush me. "Rick, you're so thoughtful. No, if there's a problem, it's that I feel too comfortable here, with you. I did only just meet you three days ago." "I understand," I said. "Please, take all the space you need. I...." I wasn't sure if I should say what I was thinking, but now that I'd started to say it, I was kind of stuck. "I...haven't felt like this since I was dating my first wife. I don't want to risk losing something with real potential because I was too impatient." Something melted inside her when I said that. "Rick," she said, stroking my chin, "you're been the perfect gentleman ever since I first met you. And I really appreciate it, because it's still hard to start over, even after all this time. What I'm trying to say is...I feel strongly for you too, Rick, and sometimes it's hard because those feeling stir up memories of my husband. But he's gone and never coming back—and you're here—and you've been so nice..." she held me tight and we made out again. This time, there was urgency in the way she kissed me; I worked hard to keep my lust under control. Suddenly she stopped again, and asked "What time is it?" I thought she was worried about her kids; I glanced at the clock and told it was almost 10:00. "And Anthony is at a movie until midnight?" she asked. "Yes, should be," I answered, not sure why that was important. "Rick, would you go put out the 'Do Not Disturb' sign and bolt the door?" she asked. I wasn't about to say no to that. My heart was racing as I went to secure the door. What did she have in mind? When I turned around, she was no longer on the love seat; she had kicked off her shoes and was laying on her side on the bed, head propped up on one arm, smoothing the bed covers in front of her in case there was any question as to where I should go. I gulped, slipped out of my shoes and lay on the bed, facing her but six inches away. "What's the matter? Am I poison?" she whispered. I slid closer, and she held me and we kissed some more. Not only did I feel her breasts, but she ran her foot up and down the side of my leg as we were kissing. My penis began to stir, but I had no graceful way to adjust it to a more comfortable position. She stopped kissing me and let go her grip, but stayed pressed against me. She again propped up her head, but this time she was playing with the left spaghetti strap of her dress. "I know that you can be the perfect gentleman," she breathed, "perhaps you'd like to...NOT be a gentleman for a little while?" She lifted her head, reached over with her right hand, and slipped the spaghetti strap off of her shoulder, pulling it down as far as it would go, producing the intended result: her wonderful, spherical breast was now completely uncovered. "I've noticed you seem to like looking at these," she cooed. I was busted, but perhaps in a good way. "Interested in a closer look?" Her exposed breast was even more breathtaking than I had imagined. Her areola was large and brownish red, and the answer to the earlier question was no: there wasn't a third color of tan on its skin. Her breast was round and sagged surprisingly little for its mass. Love on a Family Cruise I was mesmerized. I slowly reached for her breast, almost as if it were a mirage that might disappear if I got too close. It was electric when my fingertips finally made contact with its soft, fragile skin. I touched breast on the sides at first, running my fingers along the smooth skin, feeling the texture of its entirety. I inched my fingers closer to the top until at last I dared to run my index finger in circles over her areola. The nipple responded, peeking out slightly; I touched it gently. I had to taste it. I slowly moved my face closer to her breast, sticking out my tongue when I was in range and feeling her soft skin on my tongue. Circling her nipple with my fingertip, I ran my tongue up and down the sides of the mountain, then moved my hand in order to suck the nipple. I pulled lightly on it with my lips, which caused it to extend to full length in my mouth. Then I ran my tongue eagerly, lovingly over the soft flesh. She reached up with her left hand to gently touch the back of my head while I sucked on her tit. Her eyes were closed, enjoying my attentions. She shifted slightly and pulled her other strap off, saying "This one's feeling jealous now." Indeed, its nipple wasn't fully erect yet; I took it into my mouth and quickly rectified the situation while allowing my finger to again circle the first. I squeezed them both together; they rose up even higher. I situated both nipples close to each other so that I could run my tongue over both of them with a single stroke, then repeated that action over and over. My first wife had a lot of great qualities, but she didn't have a rack anything like this. They may not have been the biggest tits I'd ever seen, but they were the best, most perfect tits I'd ever had the pleasure of sucking on. Her tits weren't the only part of her body I found amazing, though, and I wanted to explore her further. I pulled the top of her dress down some more so that her tummy and belly button were exposed. I had seen them frequently, of course, when she was wearing swimming suits on deck, but this was my first chance to appreciate them up close. Moving down slightly, I held each of her breasts in one of my hands, stroking the nipples, while I proceeded to move my tongue up and down the soft, gentle curves of her belly. I noticed that she lifted her pelvis from time to time; she was getting aroused. Then she lifted her left shoulder slightly. I looked up and realized she was trying to reach for my zipper. I paused for a minute and tossed my pants aside; when I resume licking her torso, she was able to reach under my boxer briefs and took my penis in her gentle hands. I felt her fingers touching me. She felt along the underside of my dick lengthwise, then oriented to its position she encircled it and began to stroke it. She moved her hand up and down slowly and gently, more just to feel me than to jerk me off. I moved up on the bed and took her nipples into my mouth once more, but really I was mostly interested in making it easier for her to reach my cock. She watched me, then she peeked at my crotch to see if she could catch a glimpse of my dick, but with my boxer briefs on she couldn't. I decided I would make it easy for her; I got up from the bed and took off all of my remaining clothes. She in turn slipped her dress down and off, tossing it towards the love seat, but left her bikini briefs on. Then she rolled over, knelt straight up on the bed, and "walked" over to the edge where I was undressing. When I dropped my shorts, she was there, waiting to embrace and kiss me. Now when she held me, it was her naked breasts pressing against my naked flesh; it was amazing. I could actually feel the points of her nipples against my chest. She didn't keep both hands embracing me for long, however; she dropped one down and resumed stroking my dick with it, while holding me and kissing me with the other. Her stroking felt real good, and I was already at maximum erection. She stopped kissing me, looked at me with a naughty look, then dropped down to all fours so that she was eye-level with my dick. The hand that was stroking me she now used to stroke and cup my balls. As she did, she planted as series of kisses on my dick, from the base all the way to the tip. When she got there, she stuck out her tongue and ran it in circles around the tip. My cock stretched from its base, trying to extend even further, in response to the feeling. Looking up at me, she now ran her tongue along the underside of my dick. I closed my eyes with pleasure. Taking her hand to pull my dick outwards, she kissed the top side and again ran her tongue in circles along the tip. Finally, I felt my dick enveloped in warm dampness; I opened my eyes to see that she had taken me into her mouth. It was her eyes were closed now as she sucked me, sliding the top three or four inches of my dick into her mouth and out again, caressing it with her tongue the whole time. I can't begin to describe to you how good it felt. It was a bit awkward, however, just standing there with my arms at my sides while she sucked me, so I put one hand gently on the back of her head. I wasn't trying to force my dick in deeper, I was just giving her feedback that her efforts were greatly appreciated. She kept sucking me at a steady rhythm, as opposed to trying to build arousal until I reached orgasm. This was a foreplay blow job, not a blow job that was an end unto itself. I looked down at her and watched her magnificent globes jiggling back and forth slightly in rhythm with her sucking; I realized that they were within arms reach, so I let go of her hair and cupped my hands, holding one of her breasts in each. With gravity pulling down, their full, wonderful mass pressed against my palms. They were amazing. I separated my two ring and middle fingers slightly to allow her nipples to slip through, then I pinched them lightly between my fingers. In this fashion, her own motion ended up stimulating her nipples. She pulled my dick out her mouth for a moment and uttered a slight sigh; my hands must have felt good on her tits. She opened her eyes and looked up at me, keeping me hard with gentle strokes of one hand. Then she adjusted her position so that she was now sitting on her feet instead of on all fours, giving me better access to her breasts. I stroked and played with them while she kissed and licked my dick and ran her fingers over my sac. Then with a slight, naughty smile, she swallowed me again. Her oral ministrations were awesome. Suddenly I felt like I wasn't giving her sufficient reciprocation for the pleasure she was giving me. To rectify the situation, I tried to reach for her panties, but they were out of reach while I was standing. She was watching paying attention to my dick, not my face, so she didn't know why I had been reaching—she just knew I was trying to move. She again stopped sucking, stroking me, and looked up to see what I was up to. I responded by leaning over her, kissing her, and touching the outside of her panties. I rubbed her crotch blindly while kissing her; I felt her hips moving in response. Encouraged, I gently guided her to lay on her back, kissing her and rubbing her. She parted her thighs to provide access. This made it easier for me to now slip my fingers under her panties, and for the first time I felt the warm wetness inside. I noticed that her breath immediately became shallower. I kissed and stroked her a little longer, then scooted over so that I was between her legs. I grabbed her panties on both sides and pulled; she helpfully lifted her butt so they came off easier. She pointed both legs straight up in the air, allowing me to pull them off with a single, straight shot. When they cleared her toes, she spread her legs wide, knees bent, and I went to work on her crotch. Kelly had a bikini wax of course. Other than that she had all her pubic hair, but it appeared to have been groomed, much like a man might maintain a beard; there were no tangles or snarls among the dark curls. Her labia were gently flushed with color but still formed a tightly closed line. I slipped a finger between her hair and gently along the length of her slit. She was well aroused and wet; her lips started opening with just the slightest of pressure. I slipped a finger into her snatch, testing the waters in a sense; there was plenty of lubrication as far as I could reach. I gently licked the area around her clitoris; I felt the knob rising up to meet me, and also noticed changes in her breath. I used my middle for forefingers to gently part her labia, then ran my tongue up and down the soft, tender flesh this action exposed. I then used the forefingers of both hands to spread her lips open even wider, and again ran my tongue along the soft flesh inside. The smell of her juices surrounded me. I returned my attention to her clit, slipping two fingers into her vagina at the same time. I could feel her hips grinding against me, semi-voluntarily assisting my building her towards orgasm. She ran one hand through my hair, encouraging me. I looked up at her; my view was dominated by her large breasts, but I could see enough of her face to tell that she had her eyes closed and was getting very aroused. You never know what to expect when you have sex with a new partner for the first time, but I was pretty confident that I was close to bringing Kelly to orgasm. I returned my attention between her legs with renewed vigor. I resumed my two-finger split position, licking her up and down but concentrating on her clitoris. Her hips were nearly bucking like a bronco now, and she couldn't have controlled her moans anymore if she wanted to. Now I felt two hands on the back of my head, holding me into position, while she ground her pubic bone into my tongue. "Oh...oh...oh..." she said, and then I felt her entire body tense up momentarily. Immediately after, I felt shudders emanating from her diaphragm and coursing throughout her entire body, accompanied by "mmm....mmmm" sounds. When the pulsing stopped, I gently licked her pussy, looking up at her, happy that I had been able to bring her to orgasm. But she reached for me and pulled me up; she wanted to kiss me, damn the pussy juice all over my face. But she kept her legs wide open while she kissed me, and I felt her hands groping for my dick. She wanted me to seal the deal. Suddenly it occurred to me that I wasn't wearing a condom, and I didn't know if she was protected or not. "Are you sure this is all right, I mean, that this is safe?" I asked indirectly. Kelly smiled with lusty eyes, and whispered "The same friends that convinced me to pack my sexy dress convinced me I should go back on the pill again. I figured I'd want it eventually, and now was as a good a time as any." As she said this, she was lining up my dick with her pussy; all I needed to do was push it in. "I'm sure glad I did," she added.All systems go. I pushed my hips forward, and my dick slid easily into Kelly's well-oiled vagina. Mouths and pussys both feel awesome when they envelop a dick, but they are not interchangeable; each has its own unique feel, its own advantages and disadvantages as a source of erotic stimulation. A pussy may not have a tongue to provide focused stimulation, but a mouth is designed primarily for chewing food; it can't replicate the feeling of soft, warm, gentle pressure on all sides over the entire length of a penis. If felt like heaven when I buried my cock inside of her. Kelly moaned while I entered her; it must have felt good from her end, too. Her hand no longer necessary, she let go and crooked her arm above her head. She closed her eyes, feeling me inside her, often emitting noises that belied her pleasure. I propped my arms down next to her and watched her respond to my thrusting. Her breasts rebounded satisfyingly with every push. Her face communicated unreserved enjoyment. She curled her hips up slightly to facilitate my penetration. She was beautiful, and completely in the moment. Something must have told her that I was watching her, because she opened her eyes and looked at me. We looked each other in the eyes without breaking the pace of our fucking. She put her hands on my shoulders, smiling slightly; she would close her eyes momentarily from time to time, when it felt particularly good. Then the reached for my neck and pulled me down; she French kissed me while I did my best to keep sliding in and out of her pussy. When she let go of my neck, I put my arms down in the indentations of her waist. Then I pulled her legs, placed one on each of my shoulders, and thrust in as far as I could go. My thrusts now penetrated her even more deeply. But as I kept thrusting I noticed that her moaning wasn't as loud, and I think she didn't like having her legs between us as much as before. So I let her legs slide off my shoulders; she again bent her knees and spread her thighs, but this time she pulled back on her knees with her hands, pulling them up to her chest, giving me even more access to her pussy. Her eyes were closed, and I noticed her skin start to redden with a flush of excitement. The way that she lay there, opening herself to me, struck a chord in my spine; my excitement began to rise, building towards an inevitable orgasm. Pure arousal drove me forward; I picked up the urgency of my thrusting, unable to slow down now even if I wanted to. She immediately sensed what was happening; she opened her eyes so that she could watch me as I peaked. She moved her hands from her knees to my shoulders—without altering the angle of her spreading for me. My eyes were open but my mind was barely aware of what I was seeing; the pleasurable sensations traveling up my spinal cord were crowding everything else out of my brain. I was dimly aware of her gazing at me softly, tenderly, and of her biting her lip. I suspect she knew it was very sexy when she bit her lip, but by that point any additional stimulation was like throwing a brick in the Grand Canyon. My dick, her pussy, our friction—it was taking me over. Then it happened—I felt my dick gain extra rigidity, and nuts received the signal to release. The orgasm was about to arrive, and could not be derailed. She could feel the extra stiffness, too, and knew my time had come. I press my pelvis against hers hard, pushing my dick as far into her depths as I could reach. My dick exploded once, twice, three times, each accompanied by feelings of indescribable pleasure through the wholeness of my being. A slight pause, two more spurts, and it was over. As soon as my ejaculating stopped, Kelly reached for me and pulled me down to kiss me. She left her legs open, and I left my dick inside her. It had been a long time since I had felt so close to another human being. I propped myself up on my elbows, dick still in her but shrinking fast, and looked into her beautiful eyes. I wanted to say "I love you," but I knew that that was post-coital thinking. At that point I knew I liked her a lot, and felt very close to her at that moment, but I didn't know yet that it was truly love. But I definitely should say something. "That was...oh my god..." I stammered. "That was wonderful," she interrupted, then kissed me. "Thank you." "Me? No, you're..." I protested. She silenced me with a finger on my mouth. "You don't have to say anything—just hold me." And that what I did. I pulled out, lay next to her, and held her close in my arms. I kissed her from time to time, stroked her skin, but mostly just held her and enjoyed being close to her—for 45 minutes. And I would have stayed that way, but it was 11:30. Anthony's movie might not really last until 12, and I didn't want the first time he met Kelly to be him finding her naked in bed with his dad. What happened next was laughable. We looked like two teenagers caught in the act in an R-rated comedy, whose parents just walked in to the house and they have less than a minute to put their clothes back on and make it look like they were doing something, anything other than what in fact they were doing. We frantically tossed this on and that on, straightened this, flattened that—and when we were done, we still looked obviously tussled. We looked at each crumpled other and both burst out laughing. She came to me at a normal pace now, and we embraced and kissed a long, passionate kiss. I finally thought of something suave to say. "Thank you, Kelly, for making this cruise one of the best times of my life." She looked up at me with big, green eyes, and I could tell that she felt the same way. And the best part of it was, this wasn't the end—it was just the beginning. Suddenly there was a noise at the door, and seconds later Anthony burst in. He was quite surprised to find me awake and a stranger in his room. "Uh, oh, sorry," he started in. "Hi Anthony, how was the movie?" I asked. "Um, it was good," he said. That's all he ever said. "Anthony, I'd like you to meet Kelly," I said. "Nice to meet you," Kelly said holding out her hand; Anthony mumbled the same as he shook it. "Kelly lives in Chicago, and I'm going to going down to visit her in a week or so," I said. "Oh, that reminds me; let me write down your address." I wrote down her information on the ship's stationary and programmed her phone numbers into my phone immediately. Then she took my arm and I escorted her back to her cabin, giving her a long, I'm-going-to-miss-you-but-I'll-see-you-soon kiss. Then we opened the door, Kelly went in, Heather came out, and the evening was over. ------------------- I was disappointed that I didn't see Kelly at all the morning we disembarked, but it wasn't that surprising; we were taking a bus to the airport, while she was getting picked up by her parents and spending another week in Florida. I called her on her cell, however, when I got back home, to tell her I had made it and make sure she had too. She was still in Florida that next weekend, but by the weekend after that she was back and I went down to visit her. For six months, I went to visit Kelly every weekend. Sometimes I would stay for a couple of days and we could sleep together; other times schedules permitted nothing more than a few hours of visiting on Sunday. Either way, I just liked being with her, and I spent the rest of my week thinking about and looking forward to the time I would see her. And we talked on the phone every day. After three months I felt confident enough in my feelings to tell her that I loved her. She immediately responded that she loved me too—the only reason she hadn't said those magic words before was because I hadn't. There's nothing worse than to love someone that doesn't love you back. After six months I told her I really wished she could come live with me, or me with her, if there was anyway way it could be done. Within the month Kelly was able to arrange a transfer to a branch office within commuting distance from my house. She picked up and moved in with me, and we became one happy, blended family. We took another cruise one year after the one where we met. I proposed to Kelly on our last night at sea. The following year we did the cruise again—only this time, the Captain married us in the grand foyer on the first night out. Ever year since, all six of us have taken the same cruise, on the same week, to celebrate our finding love on a family cruise. Next year, it will be all seven of us. Funny, Kelly's due date is exactly nine months since our last cruise ended. If it's a boy, I don't think we're going to have any choice but to name him Mick.