-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Tuckin' for Granted -*- Copyright 2002 by Ellen Hayes.

Any resemblance between the writings in this work, and any actual
persons or places, living or dead, are purely coincidental, except when
used for satirical purposes.

This work contains adult situations, adult language, adult concepts, and
possibly sex.  If you are legally not allowed to read materials
containing such things, then you will be breaking the law by reading
this.  I am not responsible.
Continuing to read this document, or storing it or reproducing it
in any format means that you explicitly affirm that you are legally
allowed to possess and read such materials in your city, county/parish,
state, and country.

All rights reserved.  See the bottom for distribution rights.


Tuckin' for Granted


***
19:20 10 Aug

     We had the entire contents of our packs, harnesses, and pockets,
minus the clothing still in the wash and the Colt I'd been carrying, all
laid out nice and neat for inspection long before Dad and Brian got done
doing half of the kids' stuff.  "Hey!" I insisted.  "Do the count!"
     Dad came over, leaving Brian to keep supervising the layout, and
asked me, "How did those pads work out?"
     "Great!" I enthused, and picked up the knee pads to show him the
scrapes.  "See what didn't happen to my knees this time?  Or even my
pants?"
     "I think those go on the Recommended list," Dad agreed.

***
19:41 10 Aug

     Dad had finished compiling the list of who needed what, for my team
anyway, and so we were done with THAT part.  Then, we started packing it
all back up so we could take it into the basement, unpack half of it,
get replacements for everything we'd used and pack those, put the half
we unpacked into other places, get the clothing out of the dryer and
pack that up, and then go to bed.  Which was not gonna be soon enough
for me, either, no matter how fast we got it done.

***
20:35 10 Aug

     Mike had a small backpack which I vaguely remembered from the camp,
which made me chuckle.  "And, man, I didn't even look at that Computer
Shopper I mutilated," I sighed as I shook my head.  "I thought I'd have
more time..."
     "Still, it was a good trip," Mike reminded me.
     "Man, that was indeed cool, this year," Dan said, and Mike nodded.
"Do it again next year?"
     "You know it!" I said, before Mike and I locked hands.  He was
extremely satisfied with the trip too.  I was just happy that I didn't
have more than minor scratches to deal with.
     When we let go, Mike said, "And I'll call Kim to let the rest of
them know we got back," which made Dan laugh for some reason as I
nodded.

***
20:48 10 Aug

     Since there hadn't been anyone in the shower when we were there,
Amy and I took the opportunity to use up some more hot water and re-
cleanse ourselves, just in case.  I was starting to realize that I was
finally clean, but it had taken a while.
     "Um, Amy?" I asked once we had the door to my room shut.
     "Yeah?"
     "Travis wanted me to call when we got done..."  She looked mildly
upset at that, which is why I hurried up with, "Do you want to call him
and tell him we're back and okay and everything?"
     "You want ME to?" she asked, looking very puzzled.
     "Well, I mean, either of us, but I thought I'd offer if you wanted
to," I said, more than glad I'd thought of this before I called him.
     "Well, but, um," she said.

***
20:50 10 Aug

     "Yeah, we got the post-trip inventory done and everything," Amy
said, looking at me while wearing the headset.  "Yeah, it was fun."  She
made looping motions around her ear at me, but that was probably because
I was wrapped around the stupid bear in lieu of talking to him.

***
20:54 10 Aug

     I was trying very hard not to listen, because it was making me a
little crazier than I needed, when I realized that Amy was trying to get
my attention.
     I removed the pillow from my head, picked up the paperback she'd
thrown at me, and asked, "What?"
     "He wants to see us, or you, tomorrow night," she said, one hand
hanging off the pickle where it was probably poised over the mute
switch.  "Wanna?"
     "Yeah!"
     "With me?"
     "Um, whatever you want?" I lied.
     She chewed her lip for a while as she stared off into space, then
nodded and pulled her hand down from the pickle.  "Um, Travis?  She said
um, that she could come over Monday if you'd take us both out Tuesday
night?"
     I hadn't said any such thing, but on the other hand, I hadn't said
any such thing so this was all her fault if she didn't like it.

***
21:01 10 Aug

     She'd finally let me have the headset.  "Travis?" I asked as I
slipped it on.
     "Valerie?" asked Travis.  "I missed you."
     I couldn't help the huge smile that broke out at that point.
"Yeah... I missed you too..."  Amy made a retching motion, so I turned
to where I couldn't see her any more.

***
21:14 10 Aug

     I'd limited myself to fifteen minutes, because it looked like Amy
was going to stay and keep track, or something, and I didn't need her
upset with me again.  "Okay, so, I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow,
right?"
     "And then both of you?  On Tuesday?"
     "Yeah, both of us.  And be ready to party!" I said for Amy's
benefit.
     "Which day?" he asked.
     "Uh huh," I grinned, hoping that he would catch the idea without me
having to say it out loud.  Parts of me had missed him more than I'd
thought.
     "Both?" he guessed.
     "Right, yeah," I agreed happily.  "But, I wanna go to bed early,
'cause I have to go to work tomorrow and I'm still tired, a little,
okay?"
     "Okay... sleep well, okay?"
     "I will..."
     Pause.
     "Want Amy to hang up?" I asked, which made him laugh.

***
21:16 10 Aug

     "You didn't tell him about the Scout thing, did you?" Amy asked as
I pulled the headset off me and put it on the foam head.
     "Good gods, no!  And don't even THINK about it when you're around
him, okay?" I chuckled.  "I think he's telepathic, and that's JUST the
kind of thing he'd get upset about..."
     We laughed for a while.
     "Can you get the pictures developed tomorrow?" Amy asked.
     "I think so... you want prints, right?"  She nodded.  That made
four sets.  "I could go to the store quick, or drop them off before
Travis- no, go to the store during the day, take the kids out for
walkies."
     She chuckled, then scooted over, flipped up the covers, and
generally indicated she wanted me to get into bed.  "Whatcha wanna do
Tuesday?"
     "Maybe dancing or something?  If we can find a place open Tuesday
night," I said as I got into bed.  "I dunno if there is anything.
Remember we tried to find a place Monday night that time?"
     Amy nodded.  "Maybe we could just go out to eat or something," she
suggested.
     "Well, whatever," I agreed.  "When do you go back again?"
     "Thursday night," she sighed.
     "And I start school with the Little Brother thing Friday," I sighed
in return.
     "Crap, crap crap crap crap," Amy sighed, and rolled over.

***
21:18 10 Aug

     I'd thought she was going to sleep, like I was going to do, but
when I felt her shuddering and realized she wasn't giggling, I knew
something had gone horribly wrong.  "Amy?!" I asked as I sat up and
turned the light on again.
     She rolled over, and she was indeed crying.  I was sort of
surprised when she reached out to me though, especially when she cried
in my ear, "I just wanted to have more time with YOU this summer!  And
it's almost OVER!"
     *Oh, SHIT,* I thought, when it finally sunk in that I had less than
a week of freedom left.  Four days, actually.  And Amy was leaving
before then, and...
     All that, plus the fact that Amy was weeping practically into my
ear, and over the same things, set me off too.

***
06:11 11 Aug

     I'd stayed in bed with Amy an extra ten minutes or so, because I
didn't want her to leave either, and the minutes now seemed precious.

***
06:59 11 Aug

     "So how did it go?" asked Rachel, who surprisingly was up at this
hour, or at least enough to sit up in bed, hidden behind covers, and
talk.
     "The hiking went pretty good," I admitted.  "Nothing bad happened,
for once, which is a great thing.  Mike had this idea, for pads, like
skating pads?"

***
07:12 11 Aug

     "Going out tonight?" she asked, as I stuffed a nicer dress into my
backpack.
     "Yeah, Travis missed me, can you believe it?" I joked, hoping it
was completely true.  "And then, he's gonna take me and Amy out Tuesday
night, so..."
     "Wow, cool," she nodded.

***
07:39 11 Aug

     Strangely enough, the photo developing place was open at a
convenient time for me.  It was convenient because I didn't want Travis
or the kids seeing these pictures, at least not until I could select an
edited set, and I was going to be busy for a while.

***
07:50 11 Aug

     "Did you get some rest?" Miz Parker asked.
     "Oh, yeah, at least last night after we got home and did all the
cleaning up and stuff," I sighed, and smiled.
     "And did you stay away from the bears?" she smiled back.
     "Heck no!  What did you think we were planning on eating if not
bears and rabbits and things?"
     Her face went sort of wild for a moment, which made me laugh.

***
08:04 11 Aug

     "Of course it rained!  Duh!  We were HIKING," I emphasized to the
innocent children.  "It always rains.  Unless it snows," I amended.
     "It doesn't snow in August," Gary mentioned.
     "It does in December, though," I countered.  "If it doesn't rain.
I like the snow better."
     "You camp in the SNOW?" David gasped.
     "Oh yeah," I said.  "Great fun," I lied.  Actually, if it snowed a
lot it WAS fun, because then we could build snow caves or igloos and
then hide from each other until the food ran out.  Or until sometime
after the food ran out, depending on how much hunger you could tolerate.
I could handle a lot.
     On the other hand, if it snowed a little, or alternated between
snow and rain, then it really sucked.
     "Guess what WE did?" Gary bragged.
     "No telling," I smiled.  "What did you do?"
     "Kim took us out," Ricky started.

***
09:16 11 Aug

     "Hey guys?" I said to the guys, after I'd finished cleaning up from
a breakfast that somehow wasn't that interesting.  "I had a deal for
you..."
     They looked at me suspiciously.  They were getting smarter.
     "I've been having this craving... if you guys can behave in a
grocery store so I could get the ingredients, we could bake cookies?"
     They practically exploded at that.  But it was a happy explosion.

***
09:22 11 Aug

     Oh, Ghu, I'd forgotten what a pain it was trying to load up enough
supplies to take a baby out.  It wasn't all nice and organized and stuff
like the hiking supplies; now I knew why Dad insisted we keep it all
packed and racked even right after we got back.

***
09:40 11 Aug

     "No, we are NOT getting candy," I said loudly and sternly over the
protests, "We are here to get COOKIE SUPPLIES.  For baking COOKIES.
NOTHING else.  And STAY WITH ME."
     It didn't help.

***
09:51 11 Aug

     Come to think of it, I never had found baking sheets in their
kitchen either.  Damnit.

***
10:02 11 Aug

     *Man,* I realized, *I am gonna have half the ingredients for about
fifteen dozen cookies.*  Or, to look at it another way, I'd have enough
to replace what I'd used up and hadn't been replaced yet.  Miz Parker
was apparently serious about not liking to cook; I couldn't imagine how
she'd not restocked on flour for example the last time she went to the
store, but there ya go.
     Or, I could make more cookies.  *Because, I bet Travis would want
some, and then Dad and Amy and Susan'll whine if I don't bring any home
if I did baking here - they'll smell it on me - and...*
     *More,* I decided.  *LOTS more.*
     As I turned, mentally revising the list way upwards, I saw that
down at the end of the aisle were the hind ends of two boys - I'd
started with three - just turning a corner. "BACK HERE, NOW!  ALL THREE
OF YOU!" I yelled immediately.
     I heard the skreeks of braking tennies, then they came back a lot
slower than they left.  "But we wanted-" Gary started.
     "You wanted to get stuck here and have to hike back to the house?
I did a lot of that last week, and with a pack- you saw it yourselves.
It's no problem for me, but your little legs might get tired," I said
sarcastically.
     They gave me dubious looks, but didn't argue directly.
     I thought about things for a minute, then waved to get their
attention.  "So, you guys want something special for lunch while I'm
here?"
     Distraction works most of the time; it worked this time too.
     "Wait!" Ricky yelled over the other two after a few moments.  "What
did you eat when you were hiking?  Can you fix that?"
     "You're kidding, right?" came out of my mouth in amazement.

***
10:05 11 Aug

     "You're kidding, right?" Gary asked me after I got done recounting
the menu.
     "No, I'm not.  You have to get things that are light weight,
because you have to carry them for a WEEK, and everything gains weight
as you hike.  And when you get to camp and just have SOMETHING to eat,
it's like four times better than it would be at home."
     "For real?" David asked.
     "Oh yeah," I grinned.  "Even I ate three meals every day because I
was hungry," I admitted.  "And you can spend an hour or two thinking of
how you're going to cook something as you're hiking, and that makes it
even better."  Assuming it didn't catch fire, of course.  Things that
had caught fire were not usually good to eat afterwards.  "Hey, I got an
idea... How about hamburgers plus something like a side dish?"

***
10:17 11 Aug

     Unfortunately, most of the things I was in the mood for, and that
would go well with hamburgers, also tended to require a small amount of
things that only came in large packages.  And I couldn't go home and
raid Mom's kitchen for a few cups of this or that either.  So, the best
solution was the semi-instant potato soup option, because I was going to
need the other ingredients for things when I started cooking dinners for
them anyway.  Plus, you could never have enough good cheese, in my
opinion.

***
10:19 11 Aug

     I hadn't thought that saying 'Get another bag of flour just like
this one' could cause problems; I mean, it's simple pattern matching,
right?
     The, "Hey Val!  CATCH!" told me I was wrong.
  
***
10:22 11 Aug

     I was about ready to explode anyway, when I noticed that Ricky was
nowhere to be found.  "Where's Ricky?" I asked the other two.
     I got noncommittal shrugs, then panicked, "We dunno!"s a moment
later.  I might have reached for one, but I didn't mean to.
     I turned to the cashier.  "Can you page the missing third one for
me?"
     "Sure, what's his name?"
     "Ricky Parker.  Can you say he's gonna die if he doesn't get here
in sixty seconds?"
     She chuckled and shook her head as she picked up the phone and
dialed, '88' I noticed which would have been amusing some other time.
"Ricky Parker, come to register five right now, your mom's waiting for
you, Ricky Parker," she said.
     "Can you do that about ten times louder?" I asked as she hung up.
"I want it to give him a headache."
     "They sure can be a handful, can't they?" she said, smiling.
     "Nnn-  Yeah," I managed to force out over what I wanted to say.  It
wasn't her fault anyway, it was Ricky's.
     The sound of running sneakers caused me to turn, and there he was.
     He immediately started, "But I was-"
     "NEXT TIME," I said as loud as I could without yelling, as I
pointed at him, "YOU DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT, YOU GET TO WALK HOME."
     "But-"
     "AAAAHT!  No excuses, just do it right next time.  Got it?"
     "Fine," he said sullenly, looking away from me.
     The thing about Dad had been, he would never let me say anything
when I screwed up like Ricky had, like explaining how important it was
to examine the lawn sprinklers they had in the gardening aisle or
whatever.  On the other hand, he also wouldn't stand there and lecture
me for ten minutes on how I should be more responsible and so on like
Mom did.  Half and half, I guess.  Except, I think I preferred the
shorter version from the adult perspective.

***
10:25 11 Aug

     "Thank you, Missus Parker," the cashier said with another smile as
she handed me the receipt, and I almost laughed when I caught it, which
was halfway back to the car.  *Great, not only do I look like a girl,*
which I had to admit the dress and makeup probably encouraged, *but now
I look old enough to have four kids.*
     That was actually depressing.

***
10:38 11 Aug

     "You mean I still get cookies?" Ricky asked in amazement.
     "Well, yeah- THIS TIME," I emphasized.  "If you guys make it hard
or painful for me to go to the store to get the ingredients, though, I'm
not gonna go to the store any more, and therefore, no more cookies ever
again.  Got it?"

***
10:50 11 Aug

     "Oh, god," I sighed, as I looked at the kitchen and realized I was
going to be cooking for the next two hours.  "Guys, if we delay lunch
some, we can have cookies for dessert, is that okay?"
     Yes, it was.  Enthusiastically so.

***
11:35 11 Aug

     "Isn't that a lot of chips?" Gary asked.
     "Yes, it is."  I shook the second bag to make sure I'd gotten them
all, then reached for the third.  "You gotta problem with that?"
     "NO!" they all assured me.

***
11:38 11 Aug

     "So we each stir for a while, and then pass the bowl to the person
on the right when we get tired," I said after we'd all sat down on the
floor in the kitchen.  "Because this is going to take a while."  It
wouldn't have taken quite so long if Stella hadn't insisted on being fed
in the middle of things.  Naturally, all of the boys claimed
incompetence in baby feeding, and I thought it was safer if I did it,
rather than letting them demonstrate just how incompetent they were by,
say, 'accidentally' getting the spoon stuck up Stella's nose.
     "Aw, man," David complained.
     "Fresh cookies," I enticed.  "Mmmmm...."
     "Okay!" he agreed.

***
11:44 11 Aug

     I kept an eye on the kids and wondered why Mike had paged me, as I
dialed his house.
     "'Lo?"
     "Hey, it's me," I said.
     "Tuck!  'Sup?"
     "Ah, well, you paged me, so I was sort of wondering-"
     "Whatcha doin' tonight?"
     "Um... Amy called Travis, and this is the night I get with him
before she goes back, remember?  So... and then tomorrow she's going out
with both of us, and then I dunno."
     Pause.
     "What's Amy doing today?" he asked.
     "Packing, I think.  For the trip home, not hiking."
     "Damn.  You know George is back?" Mike asked.
     "No!  How's he doing?"
     "Looks weird, has a tan, that kind of thing.  You know," Mike
guessed.  George had done this before.  "Maybe we'll see what Amy's up
to, and catch you Wednesday or something?"
     "Yeah...  Um, Mike?"
     "You want to know if I told him, and Dan, about you and Travis?"
     "Uh... yeah."  Mike could be uncanny at times, but we'd known each
other forever, so it was simply a good mental logic tree.  I hoped.
     "No, not yet, but you need to at some point."
     "You think it's a good idea?"
     "I think you need to, if you're going to keep dating Travis, yeah,"
Mike said.  "Or you're going to have to lie to them about what you're
doing when you're out on a date.  Remember how well that works?"
     I winced, and rubbed my wrist until I noticed me doing it and
stopped.  "Yeah, okay... when, though?  I think this is gonna take some
time, or at least it might, so I don't want to just casually drop it on
them.  There should be some time for discussion."  So to speak.
     He thought.  "That is a problem," he admitted.  "Maybe... maybe
Wednesday or something?"
     I suggested, "Give it a bit longer, I think George is going to be
desperate to do something that doesn't involve agriculture, and having a
nice serious talk is going to interfere with that, which'll just make
him bitchy about the whole issue to start with."
     Mike snorted, "Yeah, true...  Just, Tuck?"
     "Yeah?"
     "Don't be stupid this time and let it wait until they find out by
accident or something?"
     "No.  Not again."
     "Good," he said, sounding very satisfied.

***
12:04 11 Aug

     It was starting to get hot in the kitchen with the oven preheating,
and so I got rid of the boys by 'allowing' them to lick the spoons and a
bowl clean if they would take care of Stella elsewhere.  That removed
the possibility of cooking HER.
     Now I just had to worry about cooking ME.

***
12:38 11 Aug

     "I thought you were COOKING, not WASHING CLOTHES!" Ricky said
accusingly as he caught me in the act of adding detergent to the washer.
     "Trust me," I smiled.  "And go watch TV for a few more minutes."
     "Augh," he complained as he left.

***
12:44 11 Aug

     "Hey guys, burgers are rea..."  I stopped talking because they
couldn't have heard me over the hollering anyway.  I think they were
hungry.
     "Ahhhhahahahbububb," Stella commented, amazed.  And blowing spit.
     "Something like that," I agreed as I bent down to scoop her up so I
could wipe her mouth and take her along to go deal with the monsters.

***
12:46 11 Aug

     "What are you eating?" Ricky asked as the other two gobbled.
     "Mine," I said, pointing at my place, which had a large salad with
ground beef dribbled over it.
     "Just a salad?" he confirmed.
     "The thing _I_ missed most on the trail was fresh green stuff," I
told him.  "How's the soup?" I hinted.  David was the first to sniff,
then take a spoonful.
     "Nggg'ws-"
     "REALLY don't talk with your mouth full of SOUP," I sighed as I got
up to get some paper towels.

***
13:18 11 Aug

     It looked about time to stuff cookies in the oven, so I got up and
did that, with four sheets, and spent the next few minutes pre-loading
the other sheets and fending off the kids.  "Guys, go finish your
burgers!" I insisted.

***
13:33 11 Aug

     As if I'd planned it - because I had - about the time the kids got
done eating, the first cookies were just about ready.  I spent a couple
agonized minutes switching baking sheets around to and from the oven and
discreetly blocking their attempts to grab the sheets, and then shut
them up by saying, "Oh but they're too hot!"  Well, that didn't shut
them up directly.  "So let me show you a trick."  THAT shut them up.

***
13:34 11 Aug

     I'm sure I was in a position Miss Manners would not have approved
of, but with my legs spread out I had enough room between them to
CAREFULLY lower a still scarring-hot pan into the pool.  This was why
I'd gotten baking sheets with continuous lips around the edges.
     "If you try this with glass, like a casserole dish or something,
though, it might shatter.  So don't."
     "Why doesn't the metal shatter?" Ricky asked.
     I thought about that for a second.  "One of the, the things that
makes a metal a metal, and not a non-metal, is something called
'ductility'.  What that means..."

***
13:36 11 Aug

     "Oh," they all said.
     "Make sense?" I confirmed, and they all eventually nodded.
     "You're smart," Gary said.
     "I try."  I tried slipping off a wet oven mitt and touch-testing a
cookie, then slid it off and popped it in my mouth.  "MMM-Hmmm," I
decided, and quickly held the cookie sheet where they could frenzy over
it without drowning.

***
13:45 11 Aug

     And, the wet oven mitts went into the dryer load, like I'd planned
too.  Heh.

***
15:04 11 Aug

     Time for the second set of batches, since the kids were now
swimming well away from the cookie dough, ho ho.  This might just be
enough cookies.  Maybe.  Considering I was stacking them in gallon
ziplock bags and I was running low on the box I'd bought.

***
16:01 11 Aug

     The kitchen was now cleaned up except for one large bowl full of
dough, and the sheets which I thought were already starting to get
broken in.  And it was just time to go out and re-goo the kids.  "Well,
feel like a little sunshine?" I asked Stella.  She blew spit over her
face, which I took as an affirmative.

***
17:16 11 Aug

     I had, frankly, made far too many cookies, which was sort of stupid
of me, in a way.  On the other hand, nobody would be whining about how
they didn't get any, either.  And Travis would, I bet, be VERY happy
with fresh-baked cookies.  That thought gave me enough strength to put
the last load into the oven, remove the next-to-last from the sheets,
and then run for the living room and coolth.

***
17:32 11 Aug

     "Helll-urp," said Miz Parker as she put a hand to her throat.
     "You like cookies, right?" I asked rhetorically.  I knew she was
salivating like Stella; I'd heard her choke on it.
     "What..."
     "I felt like cookies today," I grinned.  "STRANGELY enough, so did
the boys.  Imagine that!"
     "You... baked cookies?"
     "All, bloody, day," I said slowly.  "On the other hand, there ARE a
zillion of them...  Want to try a few, ruin your dinner?" I grinned.

***
17:44 11 Aug

     I came out of the downstairs bathroom, feeling somewhat refreshed
from a quick washcloth-bath plus a change of clothes and makeup, to find
Miz Parker just letting Travis in the door.  "TRAVIS!" I exclaimed, and
ran to show him how much I'd missed him, which was a lot.

***
17:47 11 Aug

     "Are you wearing perfume?" he asked as he put me down.
     "Sort of," I chuckled.  I'd added a tiny dab of vanilla in the
appropriate places, just to go with the cookies.  "C'mere, let me show
you what we did today..."

***
17:49 11 Aug

     It was a good sign when a taster's eyes rolled back into his head,
I thought.
     As Travis had orgasms, Miz Parker looked up from the receipt and
asked, "Valerie, why did you buy cookie sheets?"
     "Because you didn't have any?  Last time I baked something I had to
use the roasting pan."  A non(non-stick) roasting pan, I didn't add
bitterly like I felt.  And no aluminum foil either.  It had been a pain.
     "Yeah we do, they're..."
     "Where?" I prompted.
     "Uh..."  She looked around at the cabinet doors.  Then she started
opening them.
     "That," I said after she opened the third set, "was why I bought
baking sheets.  And if you don't think it's legit, that's fine, but then
I take them home with me tomorrow."  They did need to be cleaned, and
I'd only been able to wash half of them.
     "Nnnnn..."
     "How many do I get?" Travis asked, looking enviously at the couple
of grocery sacks I'd mostly filled when I ran out of ziplocks.
     "That bag," I said as I pointed, and his hand zapped into the bag
like lightning and came out with two, which he inhaled.
     "Never mind," Miz Parker said, digging in her purse.  "If you just
promise me to bake at least one more time, on a Friday or something..."

***
17:52 11 Aug

     Everyone was in the kitchen exclaiming over the cookies, except me,
who was standing around basking in the praise, when the door opened
again and Mister Parker came in.  "Well, hello..."  He trailed off and
sniffed.

***
18:04 11 Aug

     I'd stayed long enough that Mister Upshaw was also testing a few,
just a few of course, and I had trouble stopping my grin enough to reply
to the occasional compliment that was still coming my way.
     I did, however, manage to catch Miz and Mister Parker sort of
making significant glances to each other, which were similar enough to
my parents' that I could decode them.
     'See?' went Miz Parker.  'Didn't I tell you she was a good idea?'
     'Okay, you win,' he nodded.
     I managed to avoid dancing, but it was incredibly hard.

***
18:10 11 Aug

     "Still want something to eat at Wendy's or something?" I asked
Travis when we got outside, finally.
     He sighed, and messed up my hair while grinning.

***
18:39 11 Aug

     I suppose it was a good thing that Amy was cool with sharing
Travis, on account of she wasn't exploding, but on the other hand, I had
greatly missed doing things with him for the last two weeks.
     I hadn't thought two weeks of enforced celibacy would make me so
horny, though.
     I let go of his mouth, sat back on his lap and rubbed against his
crotch, and asked, "You did put clean sheets on the bed, right?"
     "Yeah," he sort of asked.
     "I think I need to examine them, though," I told him.
     "Oh?"
     "Yeah.  Like, now?"
     "Oh!"
     "But let me go to the bathroom first?"  To slip into something
protective, I didn't say.

***
18:47 11 Aug

     He was sitting on the bed as I knelt in front of him and
semi-subtly rubbed myself as I went down on him.  I'd had to make Travis
sit on his own hands, but he seemed willing enough, especially when I
said I'd stop if he didn't.
     The amount of sounds I could generate out of him, just from
different kinds of manipulation were something fun to experiment with,
and he didn't seem to be minding, except I did clip him a bit with a
tooth again.  It was hard not to.
     In a way it was kind of sick, I guess, me being on my knees in
front of him and sucking his dick like crazy as I fondled him with the
hand that wasn't fondling me, but on the other hand, I was almost glad
to be here in front of him doing exactly this, because I knew I could
make us both happy this time.  And I had missed him so much...
     He sounded like he was getting a lot closer than I was, so I slowed
down on him, doing some licking around for a while, and speeded up on
me, and shortly thereafter, I was close enough that I speeded up on him
too, and I came about ten seconds before he did.

***
18:50 11 Aug

     "I missed you," he said as he stroked my face.  "Oh God I missed
you..."
     "I missed you too," I sighed happily, and wriggled closer to him on
the bed.  I was going to need to wash this dress, because it was almost
as sweaty as the one I'd baked in all day, but it was worth it.

***
19:16 11 Aug

     "Well helllllllo!" I said to That Thing, which had woken up and was
now nuzzling insistently against me.  "Want some more?"
     "Val, I mean, you don't have to-"
     He could say the stupidest things, I decided, as I kissed him into
silence.

***
19:21 11 Aug

     "But I WANT to try it again," I insisted.  I thought I'd found the
'trick' in the bathroom before we came in here, plus what Dave had made
me watch.  I hoped.
     "But, I mean..."
     Oh.  "Well, I mean, if you don't want to we don't have to, I just
thought you liked it last time?"
     "I did, I mean, I just thought it might have-"
     I didn't want to hear him say 'hurt' so I put a finger over his
lips just in case that's what he was going to say.  "Who asked for it?
Who begged for it?  Who had their little butt up in the air, squealing
for it?"  That last made him chuckle.  "Now, do I have to go through
allllll that again?"
     "You really sure?"
     *No.*  "Yes!"  It was a pretty exciting idea, and I thought I had
a clue this time.  "But I want to do something a little different this
time, okay?"  I also thought I ought to exchange my condom for a 'fresh'
one; not that there was much to worry about, but it would make me feel
better.

***
19:24 11 Aug

     "No, I mean, lots," I said, and turned around and grabbed the
bottle and squeezed some out on That Thing, currently wrapped in a fresh
condom like my smaller one was, and then smeared it around with my
fingers.  "Like, lots and lots?"
     "This much?"
     "It will make it SO much better," I said, though failing to add
'for me' or 'this time'.  He might get guilty over it.

***
19:26 11 Aug

     He slid my panties down my legs, and I moaned uncontrollably as I
twitched some more because my nerves were sparking in anticipation
again.  *This is definitely going to be better than last time!*

***
19:30 11 Aug

     SOMETHING was working better, because this time I had no real urge
to scream with agony.  It was sort of uncomfortable, though - well, a
lot in a way - and it wasn't quite as exciting for me as I'd thought-
     *Wait,* I realized after my eyes opened and I saw the bed shifting
back and forth underneath me.  "Travis, pull out for a second," I said
loudly enough I hoped he could hear me.
     He could because he did, and I wasted no time rearranging myself
and the pillows on the bed so I would get some lovely crotch friction
working for me.  "Okay, NOW try it!"
     He wasted far too much time grabbing me again, and even more
finding the right place to stick it - heat-seeking missile of love, HAH!
The thing was completely without onboard guidance - but when he did, and
hesitantly started thrusting again, I knew I had a winner.
     "Ohhhhhhh, Travis speed up or I'll replace you with an electric
motor," I threatened, and when he got done laughing - which made him
stop, an unexpected and unwelcome side effect - he did speed up.
     And then his hands were grabbing me firmly around my hips-

***
19:33 11 Aug

     And he was-
     And I was-
     And I did.  Screaming.

***
19:48 11 Aug

     "No, I really want a shower, honey!" I insisted, licking his neck
in the hopes it would paralyze his tongue.  I'd waited, as customary,
until I thought I could stand up without support, but I did feel kind of
slimy.  I'd used a towel to wipe off both of us, but still...
     "Okay, okay," he gave in.  "Can I just lie here and steam?"
     I laughed as I disentangled myself from him.  "Sure... back in a
VERY short while, I promise."

***
19:51 11 Aug

     I didn't hurt NEARLY as much as I had the first time, and it had
certainly been more pleasurable this time, but I was sore enough that I
didn't want to try it again tonight.  *After Amy leaves?* I thought, and
then nodded to myself; that would work out perfectly.
     Not to mention, I was a little tired of being sweaty, but maybe the
hiking had sensitized me for a while.  But that's why I was in the
shower.

***
19:56 11 Aug

     I came out of the bathroom, wrapped in another clean towel, and
went in to his bedroom, and stopped in shock.
     "No... way," I finally said.
     "Oh!  I mean, uh," Travis said, pulling the covers over That Thing,
which had arisen a THIRD time.  I thought I'd subdued it twice already.
"We don't have to," he said as I looked at his face.
     I thought about it, then licked around inside my lips and cheeks.
*Not too cramped,* I decided.  "But we could," I smiled, and came back
over to the bed.  "If you wanted?"
     He laughed then, which confused me.  "Jeezus," he finally choked
out, "like I'd say no?"
     "It could happen!" I insisted.  "Boys can say no too!"
     He nodded at my point, but then pointed at the tent pole in the
covers.  "Yeah, _I_ could say no, but..."
     "But That Thing has... desires," I said ominously.  He laughed
again, which inspired me to whip the covers off That Thing while he was
helpless.  "Connnndom!" I demanded, holding out my hand, and he
scrabbled in his bedside table for the box.

***
20:05 11 Aug

     It was taking him a lot longer than it had last time, and my mouth
was getting seriously sore and my neck muscles were  starting to scream
with the effort, but I forced myself to keep going, because I thought it
would be incredibly demoralizing to ask for a rest.
     Besides, I'd hiked for a week; I could handle this.

***
20:07 11 Aug

     I was not terribly socially adept, but even I knew that the thing
you did NOT want to say after your boyfriend ejaculated while you were
blowing him, was 'Jeezus, FINALLY!'  So, I didn't; I just crawled up
alongside him, made sure my towel was in place, and nuzzled against him.

***
20:13 11 Aug

     Listening to him snore faintly was disgustingly cute and made me
feel warmer and fuzzier, so I was very careful in setting my watch alarm
not to disturb him.
     Some time soon, I wanted to take a few hours and make long, sweet,
love to him; on the other hand, we'd been apart for basically two weeks,
and he was apparently as horny as I was, so some 'simple' lusty fucking
was good for us right now.  At least, I liked it and he hadn't
complained.

***
21:00 11 Aug

     I was just about to go to sleep myself when Travis sat up suddenly.
"Valerie?" he asked.
     "Mmmhmmm?"
     "Did I fall asleep?"
     I opened my eyes and looked up at him, and he looked so worried
that I had to chuckle.
     "I'm serious!" he insisted.
     "Yes you did and it was tremendously cute," I raised my voice over
his frantic apologies, "and I didn't want to wake you because I knew you
were tired out and I wanted to do the same thing!"  I put an arm in
front of his chest and tried to pull him back down, which he resisted
long enough to tell me it was futile trying to make him do it.
     "You just have no idea how cute you were," I said to him when he
was back down, and then I inadvertently giggled.
     "I'm really sorry I-"
     "I'm really glad," I said, smiling at him.  "Travis, we went
through, what, an hour and a half of off-and-on high intensity aerobics?
Right?"
     I poked him a few times until he answered, "Well, yeah, but-"
     "BUT," and then I laughed for a while because 'butt' had been
pretty good tonight, comparatively.  "Um, BUT," I restarted when I
stopped chuckling, "but I like it and I think it's a compliment, that I
tired you out.  And if I'd wanted you awake, I KNOW," I lied, "I could
have said just the tiniest word and you'd have woken up instantly."  I
probably would have had to hit him repeatedly with a stick after the
first five minutes, but that was okay.
     He sort of whuffled at that.
     "I won the discussion, you lost, lie down and cuddle me you goon,"
I said.
     "I'm not a goon," he said lamely as he did the rest of it.
     "No, you're not, you are a sweet and wonderful guy who has tired me
out too and I want to snuggle with you so I can smell you while _I_ take
a nap because _I_ am exhausted," I smiled, and put an arm around him and
stuck my face into his chest hair.
     He sighed, and then we wriggled mutually for a minute until one of
his arms was under my neck and his other hand could play with my hair,
which was more than acceptable.
     This gay thing could work out, I decided.

***
22:00 11 Aug

     My watch alarm went off, which was greatly annoying because it
meant I had to get up.

***
22:04 11 Aug

     "Oh, no!" I giggled as I looked at Travis and my eyes fell on the
tent pole propping up the covers that wasn't really a tent pole.  "Not
AGAIN!"
     "Val, no," he sort of laughed himself.
     "Just a quick one?" I suggested.  I HAD missed him.  And,
apparently, he had missed me.  Which made me smile.
     He stared at me for a few moments, then asked in an amazed voice,
"Are you serious?"
     "Pull those sheets off and see," I dared sexily.

***
22:10 11 Aug

     "Oh my-" he gasped, and then he did it again.  I was probably not
going to be able to talk coherently for a while; I had been stupidly
rash in demanding he 'let' me give him another one.
     He fell on the bed when he was done, and I cautiously got up until
I found that my knees weren't as cramped as I'd thought once I moved
them a little.  He seemed to like doing it with him standing and me
kneeling in front of him, or at least he went faster.

***
22:17 11 Aug

     "So, me an' Amy tomorrow night, right?" I confirmed after I'd
sucked up some drool.
     "Oh, God, can I handle the two of you?" he chuckled as he continued
rubbing my neck.
     I just laughed dementedly at him.

***
22:33 11 Aug

     "Oh, Dave!" I said when I saw him watching television in the living
room.
     "Hey, girl, whasSUP?" he asked.  I think it was a question, anyway.
     I went over and grabbed his shoulders and kissed his cheek.  "I saw
my boyfriend again tonight, and it went PERFECT," I told him after he
got done pushing me away and wiping his face.
     "The-" he said, and pointed.
     "Uh huh!" and then I had that stupid-looking post-fucked smile on
my face again.
     "Didn't I tell you, Unka Dave knows these things!" he said gayly.
"And welcome to the ranks of the successfully butt-fuck'ed, we'll send
you your certificate in the mail."
     "What?  No, don't MAIL one!  I've-"

***
22:35 11 Aug

     "Well he COULD have been serious," I complained to Rachel over her
giggles.  "How should _I_ know?!"
     "I'm just glad it went well for you," she said when she finally got
some composure back.

***
23:02 11 Aug

     "I'm only two minutes late," I told Dad, "and if you complain you
won't get any of these."  And I pulled out a cookie from my take-home
supply and showed it to him.
     He glared at me, and looked at the cookie, and pointed and asked,
"How many?"
     "Oh, I brought home about five dozen," I smiled.  And rustled the
bag.  "Mmmm, triple chips too."
     "Get out of here, go to bed, leave the cookies," he growled.
     "Leave WHAT?" Brian asked incredulously from behind me.

***
23:06 11 Aug

     "I take back everything bad I said about you in the last four
hours," Brian said after he swallowed the third one.
     "Four HOURS?"
     After consideration, Brian nodded conciliation and said, "EIGHT
hours."
     "Brian!" Mom complained while she giggled.
     "TWELVE hours," Dad told Brian.  "This didn't cost you any money."
     Brian nodded and agreed, "Twelve hours, then."  And reached into
the bag for a fourth one.

***
23:16 11 Aug

     I walked into my bedroom after another shower and the rest of the
bed-prep stuff.  My butt was pretty stiff and a bit sore, but without
the agonizing pain I'd had last time, and so I'd managed to walk around
normally this time when I got home.  "Tuck?" Amy asked from the bed.
     I'd thought I was walking normally.  "Yeah?"
     "Hold me?"
     That was unusual, so I hurried over.  "Amy?  What's up?"
     "Ohhhh," she groaned, "my period started today, and I feel like
shit.  Just hold me?"  After I got into bed, I did exactly that.

***
23:28 11 Aug

     "I hate my period," she said when she let go.
     "Me too, if you do.  Want some cookies?"
     "Do what?"
     I got up, found my pack, and unzipped it and got my tiny bag out.
I'd known I wasn't going to be allowed to keep any for myself if I
didn't stash some of my own.

***
23:33 11 Aug

     Cookies required milk, and so she'd taken a robe of hers when I
insisted I needed mine, and we went downstairs to find a whole bunch of
them perched over MY cookies with the jug of milk.  It looked like a
drug party, which resemblance only got closer when they all looked up
guiltily.
     "You're getting better," Susan said, and grinned at me.
     "You could pay Tuck more to stay home and do this, ya know," Brian
pointed out.
     "Oooh, no, I already made the deal," I said, smiling politely.

***
23:48 11 Aug

     Amy snuggled FIRMLY against me again when we got back into bed.  I
guess she thought I was helping or something.

***
06:00 12 Aug

     Oh, God, another day.  And my mouth still felt cramped.

***
06:05 12 Aug

     "I might as well," Amy told me as we got ready to shower, "I mean,
we're still going out tonight, right?"
     "Yeah, of course!  I DID check... um, though I didn't ask what we'd
be doing, he did remember we were all going tonight though."
     "Okay, so, I mean, I got half my packing done, and it's not like I
get to see you that much before I leave, right?  So..."  She shrugged.
     "I might not bake today, though."
     "They might have SOME cookies left at their house," she grinned.

***
07:07 12 Aug

     "Look, you don't need all that," Amy insisted.  "Here, just use
eyeliner and some of that pale shadow, right?  That's why you're running
out, you use too much.  Save the whole shebang for tonight."

***
07:10 12 Aug

     "Okay okay," I submitted.  I still looked okay in the mirror, but
it had taken half the normal time to put my makeup on.

***
07:40 12 Aug

     "Lemme see!  Lemme see!" Amy insisted as I forked over about a
bazillion dollars to the photo place.  I handed her one envelope, and
she hauled it open and started laughing immediately.
     I pulled over to a clear place in the parking lot and grabbed a set
myself as Amy dealt them into four sets.
     It was fantastic.
     The ones of us doing the usual camping and hiking things had come
out pretty good, with a couple of excellent ones I thought, like the one
of me with the wok-hat on and grinning like a fool, or the one with Amy
and Mike 'sharing' a piece of cornbread as they almost kissed.  And the
landscape shots had gone alright, too.
     On the other hand, the couple photos of young Boy Scouts beating
and kicking older Boy Scouts were delightful, and the one of the Soviet
flag flying proudly on the flagpole, with nothing else visible, was
simply beautiful.
     It HAD been a good trip.

***


"Next to dogs, cookies are a man's best friend." - Marion Cunningham


Distribution:
No part of this work may be distributed as an original work by another
person or group.
Permission is given to redistribute this by electronic means, as long as
the entirety of the work (from the BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE header to
the END PGP SIGNATURE footer) is distributed, and credit is given to the
original author, me.  And no fee may be charged.
Archiving is permitted provided no fee is charged for access.

All rights reserved.


+ ==[--------   Ellen Hayes   @>--,--'---      ellen@barkingduck.net +
PGP DH/DSS keyfing: 33D4 156A AE39 53E2 0313  6714 2878 56A8 61B0 9CDC
+ http://www.barkingduck.net/ehayes -=[1990]=- vicki .sig virus 11.4 +


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQCVAwUBPGz9PnYDebnvyV1VAQEYigP+OSKQKC2eRSD+wb/i0DfmyWp7S74SEskE
wF1sEnh3CKkdoJNzVlnJdQ41sJfay9rxmIcnSs7TuZrHnf8qZYb/eSvAMfU1Vtsg
rjXEXzvNKfTjXpQtznv2yevvxa+90DTrFQvuML6rf5Sr6ekkwcMXHHtgfEub4Nn8
k3jJrDXE/nw=
=6U2e
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
