That night at supper the mood was euphoric, with the possible exception of Sally.   She had seen the same thing happen that day that always happened.  Men just weren't interested in her.  She tried hard to be happy for Meg and Prudence, and she was pleasantly amazed at Wally's interest in Rachel.  But her face was back to its normal unsmiling visage as she dealt with supper.  She was distracted during the evening radio mystery, and was still feeling sorry for herself when she opened the door to her room and went in, wondering if she'd be able to get to sleep.<br><br>


Bobby was in her bed, and he was naked.  She'd forgotten completely that it was Wednesday.<br><br>


He smiled at her and her heart melted.   She was blinded by tears of mixed happiness and disgust with herself for feeling so alone.<br><br>


"Ohhh Bobby" she moaned, and she ran to the bed, flinging herself on top of him and kissing him urgently.   They fumbled with her clothing, and she was almost mad with desire by the time he got her dress off of her.  She let him remove her panties and threw her legs wide in welcome.   Her groan of satisfaction was loud as she sheathed his stiff prick deep in her belly.<br><br>


On this night Sally was, again, insatiable, as she drank in everything Bobby had to offer her.  Finally she slept, entwined in his arms.<br><br>


Her smile was back.

</p>
<p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0; border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">

In another house, on a farm nearby, three weary fighting men bedded down together in Wally's room.  Donna had offered them individual rooms, but they delined.  They had slept together for years, in conditions much worse than this, and neither Jimmy nor Ralph complained that his bed was on the floor.  Donna provided blankets enough that one could be rolled up for a pillow.  For the men it was, if not heaven, close enough for now.<br><br>


They talked in the dark, as men do on a campout, or hunting trip, and the women were discussed in intimate detail that would have embarrassed them had they known.  Breasts and hips were compared and judged better than the other man's pick.  Wally got guff for being interested in a woman who had obviously spread her legs for another man.  They didn't know about the girl who'd taken his virginity.<br><br>


"She's beautiful, and intelligent," said Wally, who claimed his own bed that first night, but offered to trade out in nights to come.  "And she was raped, or almost raped.  Either way, she can have more babies in the future.  I'd sure like to see what one of mine would look like coming from her."<br><br>


"That's just plain nuts," said Ralph.  "She's been ridden already, pardner."<br><br>


"Well, maybe she's broke for riding, but the way I see it, that just means she'll be more gentle," quipped Wally.  "At least I'll be able to stay in the saddle."  He grinned in the dark.<br><br>


"There is that," admitted Ralph.  "And I have to admit that Prudence has been broke to ride too."<br><br>


"Right now I don't care if they're ALL pregnant," said Jimmy, completely unaware of his prophetic comment.  "I ain't seen a woman like Meg in longer than I can remember.  I'm hard as nails right now just thinking 'bout her."<br><br>


"Don't mess up my mamma's blankets" warned Wally, laughing.  "She'd have my head."<br><br>


"Never you mind 'bout that, buddy," said Jimmy.  "I'm saving it up for later."<br><br>


There was the usual joking banter about dreams they had about what might happen, and of getting slapped for pursuing those dreams, and ending up with blue balls as each man claimed that HE would be successful, but the others would fail in their pursuit of their chosen women.<br><br>


All of them went to sleep with hardons before it was finished.

</p>
<p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0; border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">

Over the next three weeks the soldiers, perhaps because they were used to pursuing their mission to the end, bitter or sweet, were relentless in their pursuit of the women who had caught their eye.<br><br>


Wally visited the school first, and convinced Rachel to have dinner with him at the restaurant in the saloon.  That caused a sensation, which they both ignored.   She was nervous about letting him come to her house, primarily because she was sure that tongues would wag.  When it occurred to her that tongues were already wagging, and had been for months, she put her attention on this amazing man and stopped caring.  He'd be gone in less than a month, and she wanted to enjoy the facade of normality he brought to her.
<br><br>

By the time they'd known each other for a week, and he began wanting to spend the afternoons with her, she felt compelled to talk to Bobby about it.  She explained that this man wanted to be with her during the times they usually spent in bed, and asked him how he felt about that.<br><br>


"Do you like him?" he wrote.<br><br>


She nodded, a strange reversal of their usual roles.<br><br>


"Then you should spend time with him," wrote Bobby.<br><br>


Wally spent the first two weeks just talking, or listening to her read, or walking with her, hand in hand.   He talked little about the war, but talked much about the places he'd seen, and the people he'd met.<br><br>

  
Rachel was smitten.
<br><br>

When, two weeks before he was to ship out, he calmly said "I'd sure like to try for that kiss now Rachel."<br><br>


Still unbelieving, she let him kiss her.   His kiss was different than Bobby's.  The stubble on his face was rough, and he tasted different.  But his kisses were just as hot, and Rachel was just as horny as she was with Bobby.<br><br>


A week before he left, he relived his one sexual escapade, as the skinny girl's image was replaced forever by Rachel.   Blond, pale and round, she rode his stiff prick until it bulged and spat her full of Pratt seed, his hands caressing the bulge made by the life inside her.   He loved her, and didn't care where the baby had come from.  He would love it too.<br><br>


Every day until he left, he tried to impress on her how much it meant to him that she would grace him with her love.  And every day she fell more and more under his spell as he held out to her more than she ever thought she'd be offered.

</p>
<p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0; border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">

For Jimmy and Meg it was a much more easy-going relationship.  His light heartedness, and the interest he showed in her were both welcome to a girl who hadn't been on a date since before the war started.   They found it easy to talk and Meg was giddy, except for the fact that she was pregnant, and nobody knew it yet.  That bothered her a lot.  It bothered her so much she asked Jimmy what he thought about Wally's interest in Rachel.<br><br>


"I don't know," he said, as they walked along the street.  She had actually taken her days off for two weeks in a row, and had spent most of each day with Jimmy.  They walked, her fingers loosely held in two of his.  "I mean if he likes her, and it doesn't bother him, then who am I to say anything about it?"<br><br>


"But you wouldn't want to be seen with a pregnant woman," she said, her hopes fading.<br><br>


"I never thought about it.  Why, are you pregnant too?"  He grinned, thinking he had made a joke.   
<br><br>

But her reaction to that wasn't to slap him, or laugh, or call him a name.  She just walked on, and pulled her fingers from his.<br><br>


"Uh oh," said Jimmy, stopping.  "I said something bad, didn't I?"<br><br>


Meg held back her tears.  "You won't want to be seeing me any more, I suppose."<br><br>


Jimmy's reaction to that was not what she expected.<br><br>


"What the heck is in the water 'round here?" he said.  "That Rachel girl and now you too?   How the heck did this happen?"<br><br>


Meg, who knew exactly how it had happened, and who, up to now had decided that she would raise Bobby's baby proudly, despite what she knew would happen when people found out, got a little surly.<br><br>


"You know how it happened," she said.  "It happened the way every baby gets made.  <br><br>


"But I thought you didn't have a man friend," said Jimmy helplessly.<br><br>


"I don't," she said.  "And I'm not telling anyone who made this baby in me either!" she said hotly.  "This was a special situation, and I can't talk about it ... won't talk about it."<br><br>


"Hey," he said, holding up his hands.  "Don't be all mad at me.  I didn't do it."<br><br>


"No, but you COULD have!" she cried.  She rubbed her fists into her eyes, forcing herself to stop crying by will alone.   She was not going to break down in front of this man.  "If only I'd have met you before.  It could have been you!   But you were off in that stupid war, instead of here, making me happy.  So somebody ELSE had to make me happy!"  She was on a roll now, but Jimmy let it all roll off of him.  Her comments suggested she was more interested in him than she had let on.  He let her finish, and she stood there, quivering.<br><br>


"OK" he said calmly.  "You got that off your chest?  I thought we were on a walk here."  He reached for her hand and started walking.  He had to pull to get her moving.<br><br>


"Some day I have to hear the story of how this happened.  You're no tramp.  Believe me, I know a tramp when I see one.  So I'll take it on your word that something important happened, and the guy can't take credit for it.  Maybe that's what happened to Miss Rachel too."<br><br>


"But you don't hate me?" whined Meg.<br><br>


"Meg, I got to confess that I been tryin' to get under your skirts ever since I saw you.  Now that don't make me any better or worse than the man that got there first.  Least that's the way I see it.  Hell, I never had a girlfriend who was pretty and smart.   I kind of thought I'd like to try that for a while."<br><br>


They walked on for a while, quietly.<br><br>


"How can you be interested in a fallen woman?" she asked finally.<br><br>


He looked at her.  "One way of lookin' at things is that, if I should happen to get lucky enough to get under your skirts ... I shore won't be able to knock you up all accidental like."<br><br>


"That's a bit crude," said Meg, pulling at her hand.  He held on tightly.<br><br>


"Another way of lookin' at things is that anybody can make a mistake, but that don't mean they have to be punished more than yore labor pains are goin' to punish you later on."<br><br>


He stopped and faced her, taking her other hand too.<br><br>


"I like you Meg.  I like you a lot.  It was strange circumstances that brought us together here, and I suppose it's strange circumstances that happened before I got here.  But if you don't plan on taking up with the father of what's inside you, then I'd kind of like to have somebody to come back to when this war is over."<br><br>


"You'd come back to me?" she squeaked.
<br><br>

"Wally's offered both Ralph and me room and board for helping him work the farm after the war.  When things get goin' we'll even get some pay.  Maybe some day I'll have a place of my own.  Here's as good a place as any to start a family.   If you think about it, I even got a head start on that!"  He grinned.  Then his face got serious.  "And no little baby should be without a mamma AND a pappa.  I know what that's like, and it shouldn't happen to anybody."<br><br>


Meg looked at his face.  He wasn't the handsomest man she'd ever seen, and he wasn't as educated as some men she'd met.  She had noticed that his speech got much better sometimes, like he was putting on a hick face, and sometimes forgot to keep that up.  He was like Bobby, an orphan who made his way in the world as best he could.   He intrigued her, and she liked him too.
<br><br>

"Have you ever been skinny dipping?" she asked him, turning to lead him to the creek, where a wide turn held fairly deep water.<br><br>


As Jimmy would tell it later, to his two best friends, he found out what had attracted Wally to a good looking pregnant woman.  When Meg dropped her clothing on the bank of the creek, she stood proudly.  There was only a gentle swell to her belly, making it round enough that what her clothes hid, was plain to see when her soft abdomen was revealed. He stopped his description there, though, because what else he saw he wanted to keep just to himself.  <br><br>


He was only down to his pants when she stood naked before him, and it stopped him cold.  He, like Bobby, had been housed in places where he never got to see what a woman's body looked like.   He had told lies about being with women, while he was in the Army, but Meg was the first woman he'd seen like this.  Being older, and hearing the other men talk, he had a much better grasp of the sex act than Bobby had.  But he was still a virgin, and this woman was not.   He suddenly got cold feet.  What if he didn't do it right?  What if he couldn't do it at all?  His prick, which had firmed up nicely, began to wilt.   He didn't want to take his pants off.<br><br>


Meg stood and watched him, saying nothing.  Similar fears were going through her mind.  What if he found her ugly, with her swollen belly?  What if, after she had made herself naked in front of him, he didn't want her any more?  Her proud shoulders drooped.  When he didn't move, she bent to pick up her dress.<br><br>


"I understand," she said miserably.  "They were nice words, but ..."<br><br>


"NO!" he blurted.  "Wait ... please.   It's just that ... well, I'm kind of ashamed to say this, but ... well, I never done this before."<br><br>


"But ... you said you wanted to ..." said Meg, confused now.<br><br>


"Oh hell, men lie about all kinds of stuff," he said.  When she winced he held up his hands.  "NO!  I don't mean I was lying about that.  Not about you.   Oh this isn't going good at all!" he said.  "What I mean is I want to, but I don't know how.   I don't want to ..."  He trailed off.<br><br>


Meg's hopes were rekindled.  "Fail?" she said.<br><br>


He hung his head.  "Yeah ... fail."<br><br>


What she'd done with Bobby raced through her mind.  Bobby had made her feel beautiful and desirable and loved.  She would always love Bobby for who he was, and what they'd shared.  Now, here was another orphan who she could experience things with ... teach things.<br><br>


"You won't fail," she said, dropping her dress again, and stepping toward him.  "I won't let you fail."<br><br>


She went to him and said "Let me."  She knelt in front of him, working at his pants until they gaped open.   She worked them down, pulling his drawers down with them and baring his limp penis.   She was amazed at how similar it looked to Bobby's, but how different it was too.  She looked up at him, through her lashes.<br><br>


"It's quite handsome."  She felt foolish.  "I've only seen one other, but yours compares nicely."   Then she felt even sillier, and blushed.<br><br>


Now Meg's inexperience came into play.  She wasn't aware that oral sex wasn't widely known of or practiced in the 1940s.  She just did what she'd done with Bobby.   Grasping his penis, she leaned forward and sucked it into her mouth.   She'd brought Bobby's from this state to full rigidity, and she knew how to do that.<br><br>


Jimmy had heard of this, but hadn't believed the men who claimed it was the best thing since sliced bread.  He decided he owed them an apology.  Within half a minute, he was, as he had characterized it, "hard as nails."<br><br>


Meg pulled of his now rampant prick.  "I like it better this way," she said.  "Do you want to go swimming now?"<br><br>


"No ma'am, I do not," croaked the soldier.<br><br>


"Good," said Meg.   She sat him down on the grass and pulled the pants off his feet, after unlacing his boots.  He lay back, staring at her as she worked.<br><br>


"Meg, honey," he said.  "You have got the most beautiful breasts in the whole world."<br><br>


"Thank you," she said, her confidence soaring.  "Would you like to taste them?"<br><br>


"More than anything I can think of," he panted.<br><br>


Meg had learned from Bobby about being on top of him.  Sometimes he liked her to be that way, and he played with her breasts when she rode him like that.  She straddled Jimmy and, putting one hand on his chest, squatted slowly, bringing her pussy down to meet the stiff prick she held in her other hand.   She notched it, and sank gratefully down on it with a sigh.<br><br>


Jimmy gasped as his prick was covered by heat.   Then she leaned forward and dangled one of those fabulous breasts in his face.  He sucked at the nipple, lifting his head, as she began to rock on him.<br><br>


Meg, used to being able to bring her orgasms almost on command now, decided to have a quick one, just in case he got overexcited.  When it happened, she told him it was happening, and she told him how happy he was making her.  When her pussy rippled along his prick, he groaned and gave Meg the only other seed she'd ever had in her body besides Bobby's.
<br><br>

They lay together, catching their breath, and Meg kissed him for the first time.  He laughed when the kiss was over.<br><br>


"I never figured to do what we just did before I ever kissed the girl," he said.
<br><br>

"I really am a hussy," she said, but she didn't feel all that guilty any more.<br><br>


He had to pee, and jumped up to go do that into a bush.  When he came back she was looking at him with tears in her eyes.<br><br>


"You have scars too," she said.  "On your back."<br><br>


"That's over and done with," he said gruffly.  Then he was curious.  "Scars like who?"<br><br>


"Bobby," she said shortly.  "He's got them all down his back, even on his legs and rear.  It breaks my heart," she moaned.<br><br>


Jimmy thought about the fact that Meg knew what Bobby's naked backside looked like.  That thought buzzed in his mind.  When would she have seen that?  He knew the boy had been sent to Milleson House by mistake.  Mavis had asked him about that.   And he'd only been at the orphanage a short time.  So, he was as fully grown when she saw him as he was now, for the most part.<br><br>


He looked at Meg.<br><br>


"It was Bobby, wasn't it?"<br><br>


Meg covered her face with her hands and cried.<br><br>


Jimmy felt heat build in his chest, that threatened to burst out.  "Did he force you?" he asked heavily.<br><br>


Meg's hands flew away from her face, shock showing there.  "Oh no!" she said.  "I was just giving him a bath.  We didn't know how smart he was then, and we thought he was simple minded.   And while I washed him ... things got kind of complicated," she ended.
<br><br>

"But he didn't force you?" he asked again, the heat fading slowly.<br><br>


"No" she said.  "I'm a trollop ... a hussy.  I seduced him," she moaned.  "He was so scarred up, and seemed so sweet.  He's never forced me to do anything."  Her memory of losing her maidenhead had altered over the months.  Until recently - very recently -  it was one of the high points of her life.<br><br>


Jimmy reached over and smoothed his hand over Meg's humped abdomen.<br><br>


"So this is my little brother's baby in there?" he asked.<br><br>


She nodded, her eyes red. "He's not really your brother," she sniffled.<br><br>


With very serious eyes, Jimmy said "We're all brothers and sisters, who come from those places.  He's my brother all right.  We're family as far as I'm concerned."   He stroked her belly again, sliding his hand to her breast.<br><br>


"My brother's baby," he mused.   "I think I can live with that," he said, leaning in for another kiss.<br><br>


This time Jimmy got on top of her, and, as he experienced sliding his stiff cock in and out of a welcoming, loving woman for the first time in his life, he asked her to be his bride.

</p>
<p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0; border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">

Prudence also had a lot on her mind as Ralph pursued her.  Like the others, her cherished time with Bobby had become so important that she hadn't paid as much attention to her cycle as she should have.  The result was that, as of June the fifteenth, she was exactly two weeks overdue for her "monthly trial" as she thought of it.  She had never been late in her life.  Her suspicions, voiced to Donna three weeks earlier, had born out true.  She was quite sure that she was pregnant.  She had always wanted to be pregnant, but not quite this way.<br><br>


Now, she had been notified that her husband was seeking a divorce, and she would probably have to find some other place to live.  <br><br>


Ralphs attentions were unwelcome, since he was a soldier, but welcome, since he was a nice man, who treated her with respect.  She actually liked him a lot, even though she tried not to show it.  She didn't know what to do, and she couldn't talk to anyone about it except Donna, who was busy with her son.  Had she known that Meg was showing, and that Sally too had missed two periods, she might have done things differently.<br><br>


But the truth of it was that she saw Ralph as a possible way out of her predicament.  She would later confess to him what had happened, based on true and deep love she felt for him then.  And, he would forgive her, but she didn't know that now, of course.  <br><br>


But for now, her motives were less than sterling.  She didn't feel good about it, but she did what she thought she needed to do.  She accepted his attention, and encouraged it.  She knew Donna would give her fits later, but ... that would be later.<br><br>


Within three weeks she felt terrible.  He really WAS a nice man, with a quick wit who made her laugh.  He was a strong and dependable man too, from what she could see.  He told her about Wally's offer of employment, and how he dreamed of having a family.  He had saved almost all his Army pay, and had a nest egg that would allow him to buy land, or perhaps start a business when the war was over.<br><br>


As he showed her what a decent man he was, she felt worse and worse about what she was hiding from him.  But she kept her mouth closed, and continued with her plan.<br><br>


At the 4th of July picnic, she had no trouble at all succumbing to his advances and she led him to her house, where they made wild, sweet love in her bed.  She cried tears of shame, mixed with tears of joy.  Had she been a less desperate woman, she might have broken under the strain.<br><br>


Three days later she kissed Ralph goodbye at the train station.  He asked her to wait for him, and she said she would.
<br><br>

To punish herself, she told Bobby that they could not make love any longer ... that she belonged to Ralph now.   She did not tell him that he had made her pregnant.  She only felt worse when Bobby wrote her a note, telling her how glad he was for her new found happiness.  <br><br>


She had to tell Donna then what she was doing.  She couldn't bear to have Bobby making love to Donna in her house any more.  Donna was disgusted with her, and tried to talk her out of her deceit, but Prudence begged her to leave it alone.  After that Bobby went to Donna's house on Saturdays.

</p>
<p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0; border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">

Mavis could feel the change in the mood of the house when the men shipped off to war.  She understood the fear that the girls felt.  Meg had announced her engagement to Jimmy, and Prudence made a happy face when she said she was promised to Ralph, saying nothing about the baby inside her.   Donna stopped talking to her unless it was absolutely necessary.<br><br>


In another few weeks Meg was showing through her clothes, and Sally as well.  Prudence, later in August started showing too.  Mavis, along with Sally, had seen no need to deprive herself of Bobby's affections, and had missed the first period she had ever wanted badly to arrive.<br><br>


All in all, things were glum indeed.  The reaction of the townsfolk wasn't quite as negative as Mavis would have expected.  She kept Sally and Meg in the house as long as she could, and their first exposure to the public view as obviously pregnant ladies didn't come until September.  Prudence had already been seen to be heavy around the middle as she shopped for food.  As luck would have it, there were two or three other women in town who needed bigger dresses.  Two of those women were married to soldiers on that train.   One was the sister of a soldier.   People in town counted back, and remembered that trainload of lonely GIs, and made assumptions that were not as negative as if those soldiers had not been around.  Somehow, the idea that lonely soldiers might have strayed with the women didn't seem so bad as it might otherwise have.<br><br>


Though the people of Hampstead Nebraska weren't aware of it, what would come to be known as the Baby Boom of the late forties had begun.<br><br>


War news was now avidly sought by more than just Donna, and Bobby and Mavis played with the children while the adults huddled around the radio set.  Rachel became a constant visitor, and listened with them.<br><br>


The attitude of the women toward Bobby was something a good doctoral thesis on psychology could have been based on.  
<br><br>

Donna might have been the best study.  Only Prudence knew that she too was involved with Bobby sexually.  The others thought their secrets were secrets.  But Donna wasn't stupid, and when bellies began to swell all around her it didn't take long for her to make assumptions about who was "responsible".   Rather than making her slack off her relationship, she used both Prudence's time and her own, keeping Bobby at her house all morning, or all afternoon, urging him to do the same thing to her that he'd done to all of them.  She, alone, tried her best to get pregnant with Bobby.  And when, in August, she knew she WAS pregnant, she exulted in that knowledge.   What she felt with him was so precious that she wanted his baby, to take the place of her grown son, and the babies her dead husband hadn't been able to give her.   And when that baby was old enough, she'd have another one, if Bobby was still available to father one on her.<br><br>


None of the rest of the women had intended to, or wanted to get pregnant with Bobby's baby.  All of them knew it was their own fault that they had conceived.  Even though, in today's world, Bobby's part in the process would have resulted in him taking half of the responsibility, the women didn't look at it that way.  They still viewed Bobby as the hapless youth who had made them so happy with his loving touches, and kisses ... and more, as they manipulated him. <br><br>


Even so, like Donna, they all still loved him, and they loved the feel of his babies growing in their wombs.  At the same time, they wished they weren't with child, because of the problems those swelling bellies caused.  <br><br>


Some people love to drive fast, even though it scares them to death.  It's the same with being in high places, or handling dangerous creatures.  There is a thrill that can't be experienced any other way, but that thrill also carries with it dangers.  These women felt that way.  None of them would have though of ending the pregnancy Bobby had caused in them.  But most would have rather it hadn't happened.<br><br>


And yet, all of them were, in one way or another, glad beyond reason that it HAD happened.  <br><br>


For Sally, as she rubbed her hands over her bulging abdomen, she felt only her love for Bobby.  No one had cared about her before she was pregnant, and she was fast coming to an acceptance that what people outside the house thought about her now just didn't matter.  Now that some of the other women had given up their access to Bobby, she expanded it, sleeping with him two nights a week.  She wished she could sleep with him every night.<br><br>


For Mavis, she would have the chance now to have her own baby, something she had given up on long ago.  She, like Sally, was fast approaching the point where she didn't care what others in town thought about her indiscretion.  She felt no compulsion to stop what she did with Bobby.  She felt lavishly wonderful and complete when he pounded her and she clamped her teeth on her gag.<br><br>


Everyone in the house assumed that Prudence's baby was Bobby's too.  It was impossible not to for them, even though she had told them how, in a moment of weakness, she had let Ralph have her.  But none of them would say anything to Ralph about that, and he would think it was his baby.   She felt miserable about that, but at the same time she firmed her resolve to get another man, however she could.  She had nightmares about him coming back and deciding that he didn't want her after all.   Or that he wouldn't come back at all.<br><br>


Meg had experienced a roller coaster of emotions, first with Bobby himself, and then, against all odds, with Jimmy, who decided to love her despite the fact that she was a fallen woman.  She still had trouble believing that this was all going to work out as well as Jimmy had described it to her as they lay in the sun on the grass.  His dreams were infectious, and she had only hope for a bright and happy future - as long as Jimmy came back from the war.  Since he had left she had forced herself to be true to him.  She still ached for Bobby's touch, though, and Jimmy's acceptance of his little brother's baby in his fiancs belly only made it harder to keep from stealing away in the night to Bobby's bed.<br><br>


Of them all, Rachel's attitude about life had changed the most.  Her inflated view of her own importance had died a horrible death when her pregnancy became common knowledge.  That she loved Bobby so much made her accept the ridicule and shame as something she deserved for some unstated reason, and she refused to name him as the father.  And then when Wally accepted her as she was, with another man's baby in her womb, her world had expanded to include a new kind of joy and love.  She still loved Bobby.  She would always love Bobby.  But now she had experienced something that went beyond meeting just her physical needs, on an emotional level that Bobby couldn't approach.  It could be argued that, had Bobby been completely truthful with her, and the other women, he could have met that need too.  But he limited his own world by the role he played.  <br><br>


The dichotomy was that he had expanded his world even more, in one sense, with his prevarication.  He had worked to climb up the levels of Mr. Maslow's pyramid.  It had worked for him in some ways, and not in others.<br><br>


And all the women were conflicted in some ways, and happy in others.  It is the natural state of humanity when they struggle to climb from one level of Mister Maslow's pyramid to another, or get knocked from one level to the one below.  Life is just that way.<br><br>


Bobby's life, however, was about to take a turn for the worse.  At least initially.<br><br>


It happened one day in July, when harvest was in full swing, and carefully hoarded and rationed gasoline was being used to transport grain from the fields to the grain elevator in town.  There was dust everywhere, in choking clouds, and it was hot and sticky.<br><br>


Mavis decided that a picnic was in order, down at the creek, at the bend where Meg had skinny-dipped with Jimmy, and where he had proposed to her.   There had been four days of heavy rain north of them, to the anguish of the farmers, who couldn't harvest if the moisture content in the grain was too high.   The weather had been fine around Hampstead, but the watershed came toward them.  As a result, the little placid creek was a rushing maelstrom of turbulent water.   Since swimming wasn't part of the plan, however, the lush grassy spot was the perfect place to get away from the dust and noise, and enjoy nature.<br><br>


They were playing a game of keep-away with the rolled up sock ball.  That ball had caused a boy to almost lose the use of his hand when the broken window almost ruined it.  Now that ball almost caused more tragedy.<br><br>


Bobby was watching, lying on his side in the grass, while the children ran and played.  He saw the ball arch up into the sky, and saw June Bug reaching for it, running full speed ... toward the creek.  As in slow motion he saw her trip, and fall headlong over the embankment.  Below that, he knew, ran raging water.<br><br>


His scream of "JUNE BUG" was out of his throat before he had any rational thought.  The women were in two groups, one with Mavis, Meg and Donna, who were preparing the food, spreading it out on a blanket.  Prudence, Sally and Rachel were sitting on another blanket, just chatting while they kept one eye on the children.  <br><br>


None of them had seen June Bug's tumble.  At Bobby's strange yelling voice, though, all six women looked up.<br><br>


Bobby's mind put first priority on the little girl who loved him and sat on his lap listening to stories.  He jumped up and yelled again.  "JUNE BUG JUST FELL IN THE RIVER!"<br><br>


Then he ran, cutting at an angle away from where she had disappeared, heading downstream, hoping he could run faster than the water was carrying the little girl.  He fell once, rolled and was up and running again as if he had done it on purpose, as some fancy stunt.  He reached the shore, tearing through the brush growing on the bank and raking long bloody scratches on his arms and face.   As he broke through, he saw her bobbing body about to sweep past him.  One arm was up in the air as she struggled to stay afloat.<br><br>


He dove as he saw her little body disappear under the water.<br><br>


Bobby couldn't swim.   Only providence managed to put both him and June Bug at a part of the creek where the water was shallow enough that, once he felt her clothing in his grasp, allowed him to push off the bottom so that his head broke the surface.  The water swept him and his charge along and toward the shore where the creek made a wide curve, where it was shallower still.  He managed to get his feet in front of him and, when they dug into the bottom of the creek, the water stood him up and almost knocked him over again.   His instinctive movement to lean back as June Bug's weight came onto his arm saved him.  Teetering in water up to his thighs, he kept leaning and pulled the little girl's body to his.  He couldn't know that, when he hugged her fiercely to his body that he squeezed her hard enough to force the water out of her lungs, almost as if he had done what would some day be called CPR to her.  <br><br>


As he staggered toward the shore, toward a branch that was hanging out, she began to cough, and her limp body took on some tone.  He adjusted her in his arms, getting his arm under her buttocks, as if he was just carrying her from one place to another.    She coughed more, and began crying, her body shaking in his arms.  He picked his way through the brush, onto dry land, and stood, looking around.  He was disoriented now, and looked back at the creek, knowing he needed to go upstream.<br><br>


He started slogging in that direction, cooing in June Bug's ear that everything was going to be all right, and that she was safe now, and patting her on the back.  She hugged him tightly.<br><br>


He heard the women before he saw them through the dense brush that lined the side of the creek.  They were yelling to each other as they picked their way through the vegetation, telling each other they didn't see anything.  The, through a break in the branches, Bobby saw a splash of color that was Sally's blouse.  She had pulled ahead of the others because she wore slacks this day.  <br><br>


Knowing that he had already alerted them to the fact that he could speak, and knowing he couldn't carry June Bug much further, he called out.  "Sally ... over here."<br><br>


She screamed, and the other voices slowly converged on them as she took June Bug from his arms and he sat weakly on the ground.  Within minutes he was surrounded by women, all of whom ignored him completely, and tended to the crying little girl.  She still coughed, but less often now, and her gasping breaths reassured the women.  She was handed to Donna, who turned and began retracing her steps toward the swale where the other children huddled nervously, abandoned by their adult supervisors.  Lou Anne and Jenny, as the oldest, had taken charge and kept the children in a group.<br><br>


Mavis looked down at Bobby, a strange look on her face, and she held out her hand to him, pulling him to his feet.  Her fingers went to the bleeding scratches on his face, which looked much worse than they were because the blood had mixed with the water running down from his hair.  It wasn't until they were into the clearing that she spoke.<br><br>


"So you can speak after all."  She looked at him sideways.  "Unless this is a miracle of some sort."<br><br>


Bobby couldn't look at her.   "No miracle," he mumbled.<br><br>


"Well, well, well," was all she said.<br><br>


It was immediately decided that the picnic was over ... that June Bug needed to be looked at by the doctor.  Prudence said she would stay and recover the blankets.<br><br>


"Bobby will stay and help you," Mavis said tersely.<br><br>


The women herded the children out toward the road, and the short walk back to town.  bobby began folding up blankets, and putting food back in the baskets that had carried it to the site.  Prudence glanced at him repeatedly.  He felt her looks.
<br><br>

"Are you mad at me?" he asked.<br><br>


Prudence jumped at the sound of his voice, still not used to the idea that he could make that kind of noise.<br><br>


"Why?" she asked.  She had lots more questions, but that one was the most important, to her mind.  Why had the man she loved so much lied to her.<br><br>


"I was afraid you'd send me away," he said.  "It was kind of an accident that it happened.  But this was so much better than anywhere else I'd been I just wanted to stay."<br><br>


"You're much more intelligent than we thought," she said, amazed at his cultured voice and his diction.<br><br>


"I guess so," he responded.<br><br>


Prudence couldn't help but think about all the times they'd lain in bed, as she talked to him, and urged him to love her again.  She felt naked somehow, but realized that was silly.
<br><br>

"So it was all a game," she said.  There was sadness in her voice.<br><br>


Bobby looked up, hearing that sadness.  "No.  It was no game.  Everything was very real."<br><br>


"When we were alone together ..." she started.  She couldn't, somehow, say the words out loud.  "The look in your eyes ... it made me feel ... special.   Was that real too?"<br><br>


"Yes," he said.  He wasn't used to talking, and it was easier to mimic with his voice what his motions had communicated so efficiently.   <br><br>


Then he asked again.  "Are you mad at me?"<br><br>


"I don't know," she answered truthfully.   "I have to think about that."<br><br>


They walked in silence back to Milleson House.

</p>
<p style="padding : 0 0 10px 0; margin : 10px 0 10px 0; border-bottom : 1px dotted #2b7bff;">

The doctor was there when they arrived, having been gone for by Sally.  He had just pronounced June Bug fine, but put her on some of his carefully hoarded penicillin to handle any infection that might pop up from having inhaled any water.  He had been told about what happened, including Bobby's sudden ability to speak.  When Bobby and Prudence came in, weighed down by their burdens, he turned to the boy.<br><br>


"Well, you are just full of surprises, aren't you?"<br><br>


Bobby just hung his head.<br><br>


The doctor cleared his throat.  "Well, be that as it may, it's turned out to be a good thing you came to Hampstead.  It's saved the lives of two people."   He packed up his black bag and closed it.  "You ladies ... all you ladies," he said looking at Mavis, "You need to get in to see me about prenatal care.  I'll expect to see you all," he said with authority in his voice.<br><br>


The women nodded as one, looking startled.<br><br>


"I wonder if I could have a word with you privately?" he said, looking at Bobby.<br><br>


Bobby looked at Mavis, who waved her hand toward the parlor.  She turned back to June Bug, who had calmed down and was enjoying all the attention.<br><br>


The Doctor took Bobby into the parlor and faced him.  He reached into his bag for mercurochrome and began to treat the scratches on Bobby's face and arms.
<br><br>

"Have you always been able to talk?" he asked.<br><br>


"Yes sir," was Bobby's reply.<br><br>


"Tell me what happened when you ... stopped that man."  Bobby knew he was talking about Rachel's attempted rape.<br><br>


"He was attacking her and I hit him," said Bobby.  "She was screaming," he added.<br><br>


"Did you see him actually ... uh ... was he actually in ... I need to know if he had sex with her," he finally finished.<br><br>


"Why?" asked Bobby.<br><br>


"Because, when we buried that man, I got a look at him, and he was wasting away with a disease that that teacher will have if he actually raped her.   If he did, then I need to start her treatment as soon as possible.  She keeps telling me that he didn't, but she can't remember everything and she is, after all ... well, with child."<br><br>


"He didn't rape her," said Bobby.  "He was ready to, but I hit him and made him stop."<br><br>


"You did at that," said the doctor.  "All right.  That's what I needed to know.  He looked shrewdly at Bobby.  "You visit her house frequently, don't you?"<br><br>

Bobby got cautious.  "She lets me read books ... teaches me things."<br><br>


The doctor nodded.  "As I suspected, of course.  Well, education is very important, especially if you can talk.  All this is confidential, of course.   Teaches you things.   Humph.   Lot of pregnant women around here."  He looked at Bobby.<br><br>


"Yes sir," said Bobby.<br><br>


The doctor smiled.  "Well, since from what I can see there are no other men around, I suppose it's handy for them that you're here."  He winked.  "And it's a good thing you were there at the creek, and saw what happened.  That little girl owes you her life."  He seemed to be thinking about something.   Then he straightened up.  "Yes ... I'm thinking it's a good thing you came here."<br><br>


With that he shook Bobby's hand, and headed for the door.  "Teaches him things!" he chuckled as he opened it and left.  <br><br>


With lunch missed, and supper being prepared, the women were too busy to deal with Bobby.  June Bug wanted to sit on his lap anyway, and she stared at him with adoring eyes.  Not only did he dispel monsters from the closet, he had saved her life too.  She felt compelled to give him a hug about every two or three minutes, and had to be pried off of him for supper.<br><br>


After supper, it being bath night, the women were still busy, and both June Bug and Emily were in their rightful places on his lap as Meg read.  When the second shift of kids came out of the bathroom, and had been dressed for bed, Mavis looked at Bobby.<br><br>

"I reckon you'll take your own bath tonight, young man," she said.<br><br>


"Yes ma'am," he answered.   He headed for the bathroom.  He was in the bathtub when Sally came in with his night shirt.<br><br>


"Here," she said, putting it on the floor by the wall.<br><br>


"Are you mad at me?" he asked her, sitting in the warm water.<br><br>


"Yes!" she said.  "NO! ... oh I don't know!" she finished.  She turned and left before he could say anything else.<br><br>


When he came out, all five women were waiting for him.  They were seated at the dining table, and there was an empty chair waiting for him too.  