I woke up, a bit disoriented, until I realized that Ed was wrapped all around me.

Oh, man, did that feel nice!

I could’ve stayed there forever. Well, almost. The ol’ bladder pressure eliminated that thought. I quietly extricated myself from Ed’s arms—he didn’t even stir, he was still out—threw on my clothes, and went to find the bathroom.

Ed’s Mom was there. OK, so I blushed. Coming out of my boyfriend’s bedroom in the morning and running into his Mother was another new experience.

"Good Morning, Natalie? Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Bauer."

"Where’s Ed?"

"Still out like a light," I laughed. "I’m looking for the bathroom."

"Right there," she pointed. "If you want, come on down when you’re done. I’ll put coffee on." And down the stairs she went.

I did my business, went back and checked on Ed—still out—and decided to go downstairs. I had a feeling Mrs. Bauer wanted to talk to me.

I came downstairs and she had the coffee done, and was reaching for cups. "How do you take your coffee, Natalie?" she asked.

"Light and sweet," I giggled. "I like the caffeine but try to dilute the taste." She laughed, and fixed the coffees. Pointing to the kitchen table, she sat down. I joined her.

"When Ed asked if you could stay over, I was a little worried that your mother didn’t like the idea. So, Ed told me your whole history. I just wanted you to know that I knew."

"That’s fine," I smiled. "If your son is going out with someone, you deserve to know how screwed up she is."

"From meeting you, and talking to Ed, I don’t get the impression that you’re screwed up. You seem to me to be a very bright young lady trying to pick her way through a life that hasn’t been very kind."

"Thank you," I said. "Ed tells me you and Mr. Bauer are great parents. Wise, open, non-judgmental, all that good stuff."

She laughed and looked up at the ceiling, "Why, thank you, Ed."

I laughed and continued, "You’ve never tried to, I don’t know, brainwash your kids or anything."

"No."

"I’ve found out it’s easy to do. I’ve found out it’s hard to break once it’s been done to you. I’m still figuring some of that out. I guess that’s why I feel a little screwed up."

"Ed tells me you hit it off with Amanda Frazier."

"Yeah, she’s great," I smiled. "Jared, too."

"Amanda, from what I understand, had some of her own brainwashing to break through when she entered the program."

"I know a little of that. Maybe I’ll talk to her more about it."

"Natalie," she said, "if things are that bad at home, maybe you should find another place to live. I told Ed last night that you’re always welcome here."

Oh, man, how sweet is that? "Thank you so much, that’s very generous. I’ll keep it in mind. For right now, I think I’m all right. I’m just not going to buckle under to her demands anymore, or listen to her ridiculous ideas. But I’ll stay there for the time being." I grinned. "I love your son, but living together is a wee bit premature."

"You could stay in Ed’s sister’s room until she gets home from college."

"Nah, that wouldn’t happen." Then I realized what I said. I blushed purple.

Mrs. Bauer just laughed. "Ed told me you two made love for the first time last night."

"Yeah," I admitted.

"He also said it was something of a breakthrough for you."

"You could say that," I blushed deeper.

"It was for him, too, you know," she said. I looked up, startled. "When he told me about it, those were the words he used—made love. Ed doesn’t make love, he has sex. Yeah, it’s hair-splitting, but, with Ed, it’s a pretty strong semantical point. Ed doesn’t use the L-word," she grinned. "Not since…." and then she trailed off.

"Not since Annie. I know," I smiled. "He said it, you know. That he loves me."

"You are kidding," she gasped. "Natalie, honey, I don’t want to alarm you, but I wonder if you know how hard it was for him to say that."

"I have an idea," I grinned. "It was hard for me to say. Though he made it easier by saying it first." She giggled at that. "But, yes, I know about Annie—but I’ve never said it to anybody. Frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever felt it. And that includes my mother. This is new, everything about this is new. Being in love, having friends—heck, enjoying sex." I blushed again. "You’re easy to talk to," I said.

"Thank you. That’s nice to hear, considering my son takes all his problems to Ellie Kirkland," she laughed. "That’s a joke—Ellie’s the best."

"I’ve never met her. Ed’s suggested I should. I’m worried that she’d get protective services involved."

"Not if you do it informally. Besides which, wouldn’t that be a good thing? You’re being abused, Natalie. Let’s call it what it is—abuse and neglect."

"Marginal abuse, at best," I contended. "Neglect? Yeah. But I’m almost 17. I don’t want to go to foster care at my age. Besides which," I sighed, "though college is my way of getting out, part of me is worried what’s going to happen when I’m gone."

"To you?"

"No, to Mom. Mrs. Bauer, she’s incapable of taking care of herself. I do all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, everything. She’s either at work, passed out drunk, or with a guy—or watching TV. When I leave, she’s going to go straight downhill. I know she’s done some nasty things to me, but she is my mother."

Mrs. Bauer looked at me. "Now I know why you and Ed hooked up. You’re both givers. However, I’m going to tell you something that I told Ed when he was going through that whole Annie mess—keep a little bit for yourself. Ed didn’t, with Annie, and it cost him. I don’t think you have to worry about Ed, because with him you’ll get back everything you give."

"Moreso," I grinned.

"I agree, but I’m biased," she laughed. "But when it comes to your mother? Keep a little bit for yourself."

"That’s what I’m learning to do," I admitted.

Just then, Ed came downstairs and walked into the kitchen. "Oh, no. My mother and my new girlfriend having a coffee klatch. Shoot me now. How far are we into the Embarrass Ed stories? Is it almost time for the embarrassingly cute baby pictures? I know how this stuff works." His mother and I were both giggling. He came up behind me, leaned down, and kissed me on the cheek. "Morning."

"Morning," I smiled back.

He headed for the coffee, and went back into it. "I suppose I should thank my lucky stars that Katherine isn’t here. She’s got a treasure trove of Embarrass Ed stories, and no hesitation about telling them. Hell, I think she’s working on a book." He sat down with us at the table. "So, tell me, Natalie. What horrible things do you now know about me?"

"Nothing," I smiled. "No embarrassing stories."

"Yet," his mother said with a laugh. "I’ve got plenty of time for that."

"Remind me to burn all the baby pictures," Ed quipped. "So, where’s Dad?"

"Where else? It’s Saturday morning," his Mom said.

"Ah, yes. Dad plays golf," he told me. "Golf—the only sport whose practitioners make baseball players look like they’re in shape!"

"I don’t know," I said impishly, "I didn’t notice any stamina problems." Then I remembered his mother was there. I blushed bright red. "Oops."

She just laughed. "Ah, young love," she said.

"Y’see, that’s the good part about being the youngest of three," Ed said. "Mom has seen and heard it all."

"Definitely," she agreed. "Ed’s brother Patrick is a junior in college, and his sister Katherine is a freshman. And Patrick was a wild child. Katherine had her own set of issues."

"Being a bitch, mostly," Ed said, earning a glare from his mother. "You know it’s true," he maintained.

Mrs. Bauer sighed. "They’ve never gotten along."

"Anyhow, enough of Kate. I’m in too good of a mood."

"Who’s up for breakfast?" Mrs. Bauer said.

"I’m starving," Ed admitted. "Nat?"

"Well, I don’t want to impose."

"Don’t be ridiculous," Mrs. Bauer said. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled," I smiled.

"Scrambled it is. Ed, I heard the mailman. Can you check the mail?"

"I have nothing but boxers on," he said, bemused.

"You’ve been naked all week!" she pointed out.

"Relax. I’ll get it. You wouldn’t want to overexcite the neighbors," I teased. "Besides, it’ll be payback for breakfast."

I went out and got their mail, and brought it in. It was their mail. I didn’t snoop. But I couldn’t help but see the return address on the top letter.

They told me to just put it on the coffee table, so I did, then went back into the kitchen. We ate breakfast and chatted. Then, Mrs. Bauer got up and said, "So, what’s in the mail?"

I followed her, and whispered, "I was not snooping, but I saw the top letter. Would you mind if I gave it to him?" She looked at it, looked at me, smiled, and handed it. Ed came out of the kitchen and sat on the couch. I sat next to him.

"Anything for me?" he smiled at his mother. I took a deep breath, and handed him the letter.

"I saw this, it was on top. I think you should open it," I told him.

"Annie," he said in a whisper.

"I think you should open it," I pressed. "You should stop sending them back unread. You need to open it."

"Why?" he asked me, incredulous.

"Because you still care about her."

"But I have you now," he grinned.

"That doesn’t matter," I argued. "Look, if you open that letter and it says she wants you back, she can’t live without you, blah blah blah—would you dump me and go back with her?"

"Not a chance," he smiled.

"Good. So, then, it doesn’t matter that you have me. Because you still care about her. Maybe not in a romantic way, but you still care about her. I think you always will." I took a deep breath. "Look, because of the way I was up until a week ago, there are very few people I’ve cared about. Because of you and your friends, that number has gone way up in a week. Because of that, I know how valuable it is. Ed, open the letter."

He stared at it for a good minute—and then he opened it. I’ll admit, I was surprised. And, judging from the look on her face, Mrs. Bauer was shocked. I watched him as he read, getting shakier by the minute. When he was done, he put the letter in my lap.

"This is yours," I said, trying to hand it back.

"No. Read it. Please." He was practically on the verge of tears. "I’ll be right back." He headed upstairs.

"That wasn’t you, I don’t think," his Mom told me with a smile, "he hates crying in front of me." She took a breath. "That was one of the most selfless, loving, generous things I’ve ever seen. You’re quite a girl, Natalie Weinberg."

I just smiled, and blushed. Then I picked up the letter. It was dated Wednesday.

"Dear Ed,

Here I go again, writing the letter that’ll never be read. Sometimes I wonder why I bother. Crazy hope, I guess.

I’m fine. Aunt Kristina and Uncle Jack are wonderful. They’ve become the parents I hadn’t had since Dad died. I’ve gotten over a lot of things that happened. I’m in therapy, and it helps. I’ve been in it right along.

I talked to Amanda last night. She said there’s a new girl in your life—she said there’s nothing happening quite yet, but she thinks there will be. She also said you’d probably be pissed that she told me—and she’ll probably be pissed that I mentioned it here. Of course, you’ll never read this. But, if you do, please, Ed: GO FOR IT! You deserve it. Of all people, you deserve it. It still kills me that I couldn’t have been the one—but I couldn’t. Not then. And you’ll never know how sorry I am for that.

I’ve been dating Gary for six months. He’s the first, really, since—you know. I had to re-learn how to love and trust someone. It was easy—because you taught me. It’s my fault that I caught on too late, not yours.

Every letter I’ve ever sent has ended the same way. You’ve been my best friend since I was eleven. You’ll always be my best friend. And I miss my best friend very, very much.

Love,

Annie."

I finished—blinking back my own tears—when Ed came down, a forced smile on his face. He was dressed.

I stood up and walked over to him, handing him the letter back. "Ed?" I said. "Newburgh’s only twenty minutes away."

"I can’t," he said.

"Not only can you, you need to. Look, I know you loved her, but forget about your relationship. That was doomed, you know it, and she obviously knows it, too. But she was your best friend! That is not doomed, and doesn’t have to be. If this were—I don’t know—Amanda, would you even think twice?"

He grinned, surprising me. "That’s exactly what Mike said that night at The Mariner."

"Wow. And my mother’s not even a psychologist," I laughed. "Ed, get your car keys. You need to do this."

"Not by myself."

"OK," I agreed. He went to get the car keys.

"Natalie?" His mother said. "You’re a miracle worker."

"Just giving back what I’ve already gotten, that’s all," I smiled.

I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I couldn’t believe it. Part of me was screaming in terror at just the thought.

But I was doing it. We got into Newburgh and found the address pretty easily.

I pulled up in front of the house. I admit it, I was shaking.

"Good luck," Natalie said, and leaned over and kissed me.

"Aren’t you coming?" I asked.

"Nope. I’m going to go for a little walk. We passed a store back on the main street, I’m going to walk there and get something to drink. Ed, you haven’t seen her in two years. It’s not my place to be there."

"Natalie, I—" he began.

"It’s not my place. Not right at first. This is between the two of you. I’ll be back. GO. I’ll make sure you get in the house, and then I’ll go for my walk. I’ll be back." And she smiled at me.

I kissed her, and opened the drivers’ side door, and headed up the walk. My brain was in turmoil. I didn’t know what to think. Except one thing—the trust that Natalie had in me was nothing short of astounding.

I rang the bell. A woman answered.

"Hello, I was looking for Annie Zipelski. Is she in?"

"Yes," she looked at me a bit suspiciously. Probably because I was a guy, and not the boyfriend. "May I ask who’s calling?"

"Yes, ma’am, please tell her it’s Ed Bauer."

"What?" she said incredulously. "You came?" She opened the door all the way. "Get in here!" She gave me a huge grin, then walked down a hall that led from the front door. At the end of the hall, there was a flight of stairs.

"Annie? Get down here. You have company," she yelled up the stairs.

"Gary? Eileen?" I heard from upstairs.

"None of the above. But, believe me, it’s someone you want to see."

"OK," I heard in a tentative voice, and then heard footsteps on the stairs. She came down, and turned the corner, and there she was. Two years, and she hadn’t changed much. The same shoulder-length brown hair in a ponytail, the same bright brown eyes, the same petite-yet-proportional body. She smiled at the woman—her aunt, I’d surmised—and then turned and saw me.

The look of absolute shock on her face was something to behold. "Eddie?" she managed in a strangled voice.

"Hiya, Zippy," I grinned.

"Ohmygod EDDIE!" she yelled, and then ran down the hallway, and launched herself into my arms so hard she almost tackled me. "Oh God Eddie, you came you finally came!" she babbled. "I didn’t think you’d ever!"

"You know me, Zippy. Stubborn as all get-out."

"Oh, that doesn’t matter. You finally came," she said, hugging me so hard I thought my ribs would break. "And nobody’s called me Zippy in years," she laughed. "I missed it. I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

"Oh, man," she said, at a loss for words. "Come in. Sit down." She led me into the living room, and to a couch.

"Why now? Not that I’m complaining, mind you," she asked.

"Natalie," I smiled.

"Did you finally read my latest letter?" She asked. I nodded. "Is Natalie the girl Amanda told me about?"

"Yeah," I said. "We’re going out."

"You have no idea how happy that makes me," she said. "I just hope she’s worthy of you."

"She is," I said. "You’ll figure that out in a minute. Anyhow, Natalie slept over last night. That was—you know—our first time."

"How sweet," she giggled.

"Anyhow, Mom was making breakfast this morning, and Nat volunteered to go get the mail. She saw your letter—she knows all about you—and talked me into reading it. Then talked me into coming here."

"I’m glad you did."

"So am I," I admitted.

"Natalie sounds like something else. She knows everything?" I nodded. "And she still pushed for you to come here?" I nodded again. "She must really trust you."

"She does," I agreed.

Annie sighed. "I still have all the letters you sent back. The first six months or so—well, I’m now glad you never read them. They were a combination of pitiful wailing that you had abandoned me and me throwing my sexual exploits in your face." She took a deep breath. "It is easier for me to see, from two years’ distance, just how completely fucked up I was back then."

"Understandable, you know," I said.

"Maybe. But I’ve had a hard time forgiving myself for how badly I hurt you. The only person, at that time, who’d ever truly cared about me, and I hurt you, badly. How long did it take you to get over it?"

"That’s not important," I said.

"How long, Ed?"

I took a deep breath. "It’s not going to make you feel any better."

"I don’t care."

"Natalie and I have been going out for a whole two days," I said. She giggled. "So it just happened, OK? And I almost walked away from it."

"Because of me," she said. I nodded. "Oh, God, Ed, I’m so sorry."

"It wasn’t really you. We were both young. And I should’ve realized that you were in no condition to have any kind of a relationship. But it was easier, in some ways, for me to hide behind it for two years."

"How did you finally get past it?" she asked.

I laughed. "Natalie kicked my ass."

She laughed herself. "Oh, I really wanna meet this girl!"

"You can. She’s here. She came with me. She decided to go for a walk, because she said we should have the Grand Reunion by ourselves, but she’ll be back.’

"Good."

"And you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, Gary. Six months now. I didn’t get over it all that easily, either, it just took me a bit shorter than you. Gary’s great, you’d like him."

"Good," I said.

She sighed. "Ed, we were only ‘together’ like that for three months. And I don’t want to say it didn’t matter, because that’s not true. But that’s not really it. Look, Aunt Kris and Uncle Jack have shown me that I can be cared for by people that don’t violate me. And Gary taught me how to love again." Then she started sniffling. "But you can’t replace a best friend. Dammit, Ed, you were my best friend forever! You’ll always be my best friend!" Now she was crying full-bore. "And that’s what I couldn’t stand! Oh, God, Ed, I lost—my—best—friend—and—I—couldn’t--," and then she was just crying. I took her in my arms and let her.

"It’s OK. We both made mistakes. I should’ve done this a year ago."

"Oh, God, Eddie!" she howled, and just kept crying.

Then I heard, "Annie?" from the doorway. Annie looked up, and said, "G-gary," and tried to control herself. Ah, this was the boyfriend.

"Who is this?" he said, looking none too happy. Hey, I didn’t blame him. If I saw Natalie crying in the arms of a guy I didn't know, I’d be suspicious myself. I just tried to look like a nice, non-threatening puppy.

Annie just held her hand out to him, vehemently, while she tried to get herself under control. "Gary," she finally sniffled, "this is Eddie."

"Eddie Bauer?" he said. Annie nodded. "Man," he said, coming over to me and shaking my hand, "I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time."

"I guess I talk about you," Annie admitted, as she hugged Gary.

"Incessantly," Gary laughed. "Hey, I didn’t know her back then. I’m glad someone was looking out for her when all hell broke loose. Though I know it cost you some."

"Yeah, but it was worth it." I finally admitted it—to myself. Especially here, seeing her happy, healthy, safe—it was worth it. Totally.

You know the expression, peace of mind? I had just gotten it.

"Ed?" Annie’s aunt said, peeking into the room. "Is that your red car out front?" I nodded. "There’s someone in it."

"A cute blonde?" I chuckled. She nodded. "That’d be Natalie."

"His girlfriend," Annie told Gary. "Let’s go!" she enthused. "I want to meet this girl!" She ran out of the house ahead of me, and beat me to the car. Nat looked up in surprise as Annie appeared at the open window.

"Are you Natalie?" Annie asked. "I’m Annie. Thank you. It means a lot."

"Means a lot to him, too. He just needed to be reminded." They both giggled.

Natalie had gotten out of the car, and she and Annie were standing next to one another, grinning at me. What did I see when I looked at them? The girl that I loved—and my best friend. It felt like the world’s biggest weight lifting off my shoulders.

"Can you guys stay a while?" Annie asked.

"A bit, as long as we’re not messing with any of your plans," I said.

"No, we were just going to hang out," Gary said from behind me.

"That’s settled, then. Come on. Aunt Kris will make lunch," Annie giggled.

We ended up on the patio, eating sandwiches and drinking cokes. It might have been awkward for Natalie—and Gary, for that matter. But it wasn’t.

"I hear you play ball," Gary said.

"Starting third baseman," I said—OK, with a bit of a brag. "I love baseball."

"Scuttlebutt has it you guys have a heck of a team this year. I know you shut our guys down opening day. With a girl pitcher, even," he chuckled.

"Girl pitcher?" Annie asked.

"Lily Woodard. Moved down here this past winter from Boston. She’s unbelievable. Throws ninety, and her breaking stuff is lethal. She’s also a great kid."

"She’s almost as funny as Ed is," Natalie said. "And, I’m sure you know, Annie, that is saying something."

"It sure is," Annie agreed. She turned to Gary. "Ed is the funniest person I’ve ever met."

"Moi?" I said. "Funny? Looking, maybe. Anyhow, back to Lily—she’s great. I’ve gotten to know her really well."

"I’m wondering about a girl pitcher, though. Do all the guys hit on her?" Annie asked.

"Not unless they want Mike to beat them up," I chuckled.

"Mikey Kirkland?" Annie asked. "You mean he and Lily….."

"Are so madly in love you wouldn’t believe it," I laughed. I turned to Gary. "Ever been to a baseball game, and, on the mound, before the game, seen the catcher give the pitcher a good-luck kiss? We sure do have an interesting team."

"I’ll say," Gary laughed.

"The first time they ever made love was in right field," I added.

"That’s great," Gary laughed. "Where else are two baseball players gonna do it, right?"

"Especially if you know those two. It was perfect," I agreed.

"Now, I write to Amanda, and we talk every so often, and she’s with Jared Wicklow? I knew him slightly but thought he was a geek," Annie said.

Natalie broke up laughing. "You wouldn’t say that if you ever saw him naked."

"Huh?" Annie said. Natalie held her hands in front of her, very far apart. "It’s famous far and wide. And I do mean wide. And long, too." Annie broke up laughing.

"And how have you seen Jared naked?" she asked Natalie with a smirk.

"It’s hard to avoid. He and Amanda go naked all the time," I laughed. "I know it had just started before you left, and freshmen weren’t doing it then, but you remember The Program, right?" I asked Annie.

"Are they still doing that?" she asked in surprise. "I thought it was a disaster."

"It’s gotten better," I told her.

"I had heard about that," Gary said. "Evidently, that girl pitcher was nude when you guys played us. A buddy of mine on the team said she got all cut sliding into home."

"Oh, the funniest part was when a bouncer went through the mound, and she got dirt in her you-know-what. And took a water bottle in the dugout and cleaned herself out. Mikey and I cracked up, but all the rest of the guys looked at her like she was an alien being or something." Annie was cracking up. "Anyhow, as for Jared and Amanda, they did The Program back in September. That’s how they met. But, since then, they’ve discovered they like nudity."

"And the halls clear to make room for Jared’s dick every time they do," Natalie laughed.

"Well," Annie asked, "has the great Ed Bauer strut his naked stuff all over school yet?"

"This week," I told her. She giggled. "Yup. Haven’t had any clothes on in school for the past five days. And, yes, that includes two ball games that I was manning third base in nothing but spikes and a jockstrap. Natalie, too. That’s how we met."

"Oh, and you know the fun part?" Natalie said. "Tonight is our junior prom. Don’t ask me what my dress looks like because I won’t be wearing one."

"Oh, man," Annie was laughing so hard I thought she was going to choke. "You have to go to your Junior Prom naked?"

"Yeah. It’s a school-sponsored activity, and program week runs until Sunday. So, yup, we’ll be nekkid at the prom," I said.

"I want a picture!" Annie laughed.

"I’ll send you one," I grinned.

"Damn, I wish we had The Program here," Gary said.

"It’s done a world of good for a lot of people," Natalie said. "Me, for one. I was very repressed."

"Amanda, too," I told Annie.

"I love Amanda, but she always did have a stick up her ass," Annie said.

"Not anymore. The Program cured that, and in a hurry."

We chatted for a while longer, then we had to go. Natalie had a hair appointment.

Annie walked us out to the car. After I got in, she reached in the driver’s side window and hugged me. "Thank you for coming." And she turned to Natalie. "And thank you for convincing him to."

"It was my pleasure," Natalie said.

"Ed?" Annie looked at me. "Don’t be a stranger, OK?"

"Not on your life," I promised. She kissed me on the cheek and then took her head out of the window. "See you soon," I said to her.

"Good," she said. We drove away.

We drove for a bit, then Natalie turned to me and said, "How do you feel?"

I think that’s when it hit me, for real—what she had just done for me. And I remembered what I had done for her back on Wednesday. And I remembered what she had said when I asked that very question. And the answer was the same. "Reborn. I feel reborn."

"I’m glad," she said.

"I love you," I told her.

"I know," she giggled. "I love you, too." She took a breath. "I admit, I was worried a wee bit. I almost felt like I was throwing you back into the arms of your first love. But you had to do this."

"When you got out of the car, and you were standing next to her, I took a look—and saw the woman that I love, and my best friend. That’s what I saw. And it felt, in that instant, that all was right with the world. I will always love her. But I’m in love with you. And I never would have been able to do this without you. Don’t forget that."

Oh, man. Is it possible to feel this good about yourself?

I couldn’t believe it. I was floating. And Ed looked so happy. And he still loved me! Yeah, I was a little worried—but I knew this was something that had to happen.

"You know what?" I told him. "I really liked her."

"Yeah, I could tell," he said. "I liked him, too. Gary, her boyfriend." He sighed with a smile. "I’m glad she’s happy. I’m really glad. She deserves it." He shot me a glance. "I just want you to know, that I meant what I told her. I’m not going to go two years without seeing her again. She’s too important to me. However, you have nothing to worry about."

"I know," I said. We got back to Westport, and he dropped me off at the beauty salon.

"Are you going to tell Amanda?" I asked him.

"Well, you’re having your hair appointment with her—I figured you’d beat me to the punch," he laughed. "No, go ahead. Gloat. Amanda’s going to think you walk on water for getting me to do this."

I laughed, kissed him, and went into the salon.

Amanda greeted me, and we got adjoining chairs. We small-talked for a while, and then I lowered the boom.

"Guess who I met today?"

"Who?" she asked.

"Annie Zipelski."

"HUH? What? Where did you meet Annie?"

"In her house." Pause. "With Ed."

"WHAT? Ed? At Annie’s? What….HOW?" She was completely incoherent!

"Well, I have to tell you the whole story. I, well, spent the night at Ed’s last night."

"Yay!" she enthused. "Was that the first?"

"Yeah," I admitted.

"Was it good?" she asked. "I know you’ve had a rough time."

"It was marvelous. Incredible. All those things," I giggled. "Anyhow, I slept over, and was there this morning. The mailman came." I explained to her how I got the mail, and then convinced Ed to read her letter.

"And then you got him to go over there?"

"Yeah."

"What happened?" she asked.

"Well, I missed the first half hour or so—that was their time, so I took a walk. I understand it was your basic teary reunion." Amanda laughed. "Then her boyfriend showed up about the same time I got back from my walk. They came out and got me, so I met her then. We were there for close to three hours."

"That was a chance you took, you know," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but I didn’t think it was ever a huge one. Let’s not forget, he’s taken some serious chances on me this week."

"So, how’d it go?"

"Really well, I think. Ed looks like he’s got the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders. And, I have to admit, I really liked Annie." I grinned at her. "You write to her, right?" she nodded. "And you never told her about Jared?"

"I’ve mentioned him. She knew him a bit when she lived here. I’ve told her that we’re going out, and that I really love him."

"Yeah, but you never told her about his secret weapon," I grinned.

"You DIDN’T!" she gasped.

"Well, it came up in conversation. She said that she remembered Jared as a geek. And I said that’s because she’s never seen him naked."

"Oh, Man," she laughed. "I think I’m going to hear about it the next time I talk to her." She sighed. "Maybe I’ll see her more often. She drives now—and she could always get here, because her aunt works here—but she’s shied away from coming, because of Ed. It would be nice if that changed."

"I think it will," I told her. "Let’s just say that what I saw today was a friendship rekindled. I think Annie’s going to be around."

"That would be really cool," she said. "And it’s really cool that you have no problem with that."

"The past is the past. Relationships end. Friendships shouldn’t."

"I still can’t believe you got him over there!" she said. "You two really love each other. It’s so nice to see. You know how I feel about Ed. I love seeing him this happy."

"Yeah, I do, too. Almost as much as I love being this happy."

I didn’t go right home. I went to Mike’s. Found him and Ellie in the kitchen.

"Hey, pal. What’s up?" Mike asked.

"Guess where I just was," I said, pulling a chair up at the table.

"Where?" he asked.

"Annie’s house."

If Mike looked shocked, Ellie looked really shocked. "You’re kidding," she said. "You actually went to see Annie. I do not believe it."

"Yeah." I went through the whole thing, with the letter, and Natalie convincing me to open it, and all.

"How was it?" Mike asked.

"Great. It was really great to see her again. Somebody want to tell me why I waited so long to do this?"

"I think you know," Ellie laughed.

"Probably," I agreed. "It wasn’t time."

"This isn’t going to, you know, rekindle anything and cause problems with Nat, is it?" Mike asked.

"Not a chance," I said. "I’m in love with Natalie. I told her that yesterday."

"Good for you!" Ellie enthused. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Getting her hair done," I laughed. "With Amanda. She said she couldn’t show off any fancy dress tonight, so she was going all out with her hair."

"Oh, I forgot," Ellie giggled. "When Mike told me that Natalie was going to the prom with you, I forgot you’d still be in the program. That should be interesting."

"I’m surprised she agreed to go, frankly," I said. "Very, very glad—but surprised."

"It’ll be fine. She’s a lot more at ease," Mike said. "I don’t think she’ll ever be Jared and Amanda when it comes to nudity," he laughed, "but she’s a lot better."

I chatted with them for a while, and then went home. Took a shower, all that.

Natalie had stayed at Amanda’s place after her appointment—not surprisingly, she didn’t want to go home. The plan was for everyone to meet at Mike’s house—including all the parents, so all could get pictures without making the limo go all over Westport. I stopped off at the florist to get her a corsage—a wrist one, natch, since I wasn’t going to be pinning anything to naked boobs—and headed over to Mike’s. I was the first one there.

"Very nice, Ed," Ellie greeted my naked self as I walked in.

"Thanks, Ellie."

"Are your parents coming?" she asked.

"Yeah, I had to make a stop, but they’ll be along. My Mom was joking about not having ‘real’ prom pictures of tuxes and dresses and stuff."

"She’ll get over it," Ellie laughed.

Just then, Amanda bounded in. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Amanda, looking damn good. So, where’s my girlfriend?" I said.

"Gathering her nerves," Amanda laughed. "I just had to tell her that all the parents will be here tonight—and her being naked."

"Yeah, and what’s worse, not all the parents will be here," I pointed out. "I don’t even think her mother knows that the prom is tonight."

"Oh, shit, I forgot about that," Amanda said.

"It’s OK. I’ll go pump her up."

"Before you go," Amanda said, and grabbed my arm. She leaned up and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "That was a very, very good thing you did today."

"For me, too," I grinned.

"Good. Go rescue Natalie."

I stepped out of the house, and there she was, coming up the walk. They had really done a great job on her hair, and I know Amanda helped with her makeup. That, plus her watch, a gold chain, and her shoes, was all there was. God, she was beautiful.

"Hi," she said shyly, coming into the house.

"Hi yourself, gorgeous," I said, and kissed her. I took her over and introduced her to Ellie.

"Pleased to finally meet you, Natalie," she said. "Ed, you didn’t tell me how stunning she was." Natalie just blushed.

"Oh, I love an all-over blush," Mike joked.

"Well, it’s not all blush. I’m a wee bit sunburned," Natalie admitted. "I have used sunscreen, but I think I spent too much time this week at baseball games."

"Well, you’re very light complexioned," Ellie said.

"Yeah. It’s the Nordic genes. My mom has a bit of Jewish in her—hence Weinberg—but she’s mostly Swedish. And my father, I’ve been told, was Latvian."

Mike and I just looked at each other—and started howling. Poor Natalie had no idea what was going on. We couldn’t stop laughing. When Mike finally did, sort of, it was only long enough to ask Natalie, "So, can you milk a goat?" Which started both of us up again. We finally calmed down long enough to explain the Ed’s Latvian Soulmate joke to Natalie. Then she laughed harder than either of us.

Anyhow, all the parents showed up, along with Jared and Lily, and the picture-taking commenced.

I know it was tough on Natalie—not just being nude, but being the only one without a parent there. However, Lily’s dad quickly sized up the situation, and grabbed a roll of film. "I’ll be your photographer tonight, Natalie," he said. "I’ll make sure you get these."

"Thanks," she managed to get out.

We plied in the limo and headed to the Prom.

You know what? It was great. Honestly, I had been a little nervous about doing the prom nude, but it was great. We had a blast.

There was only one problem. "You know, I didn’t think of this," Natalie said at one point.

"Think of what?"

"Think of the effect that dancing with you all night in the nude was going to have on me." She blushed. "I am really horny."

"Well, you just keep that thought," I laughed.

She did, until we got back to my house. Then she showed me how horny she was. I cured that problem. Repeatedly. Then we cured each other.

We fell asleep intertwined again. I hadn’t felt this good in a long time.

--End of part six—