Finally facing his demons rather than ignoring them, Ephraim Josh Gravely MSgt USAF Ret. reached out and sought counseling, family friend Macy Jarecki was able to refer him to someone that specializes in PTSD and survivor's guilt. With his doctor and his fiancée Veronica's support Josh has a good start on beating back the demons that haunt him. One of the tools he and Veronica uses to help him with dealing with his trauma is his land. He owns 50 acres of forested land, an old scout camp from the 40s, which is now Josh and Veronica's love nest. And there's nothing better than sharing their bounty with their friends and family on a warm summer weekend...

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Stormwatch - A Serene Summer Day

Mike von Köster got up with the sun just lighting up the horizon, it was a beautiful morning here back in the woods, peaceful. It's not quiet, but it is peaceful, the noises he heard here were not gangs carrying on in the streets of Erie PA, but God's own creatures doing their thing in the woods. A hoot owl interrupted his sleep, but it wasn't police sirens, or gunfire followed by shrieks and shouts, just an ol' owl calling his hen. Then came a late-night thunderstorm, thunder crashed, and rain hammered on the metal roof, not a gunshot or a stabbing out on the street but a sweet rain to clean the air.

Plus, a late-night visitor roused during a thunderstorm joined Mike in his bed for comfort, which was a welcome plus. "I don't know why I try to sleep in that other room, I always end up over here," she said.

"I don't know why you do that either, you're always welcome here," Mike replied and with that, the other bedroom became a spare room.

This morning Mike eased his achy old body out of his bed, thankful it's not an old camping cot from his youth, being careful not to disturb his visitor who looked so much like an angel as she slept. He leaned over and kissed her forehead which brought a sweet little smile to her lips then he turned and dressed quietly and went to the bathroom to wash up. Each ache elicited a grunt of pain, but he was able to keep them quiet, so he didn't wake his visiting angel. He guessed she was now a permanent resident angel. Mike built locomotives for over forty years, then when he got injured, he was shuffled off to a nursing home with a gold watch that never really worked and a pension check his ex-wife and his ex-daughter somehow emptied.

He wasn't angry, the job gave him the ability to raise two beautiful daughters by himself, and when he needed them, Veronica was there for him, always there to cheer him up. When his ex-wife and oldest daughter cleaned out his meager savings and his pension, his daughter Veronica and her man were there for him immediately. They gave him a room in their house and an old man's dream, a cabin by the lake, a radio, a TV with rabbit ears, and a helper. Short, sweet, and very curvy, a darling brunette who would do anything to make life a little bit easier for him.

The cabin is a big old log cabin built eighty years ago by some agency, maybe the forest service, they guess that because the exterior is painted in that Forest Service shade of green that appears nowhere in nature. The title to the land should show who it really was, but Mike didn't think that Josh would care. The cabin has a new roof, a new floor and a bedroom at each end, the middle is a large great room with a huge stone fireplace and chimney, kitchenette, and a small bathroom with shower.

He put a pot of coffee on to brew then stepped out onto the porch and turned on the only radio station he could pick up, WPIG. Early morning farm reports, it reminds him of TV in his youth back in the 60's. It was a chilly morning, the weatherman said the day promised to be hot, but right now a little heat is needed. He started a small fire in the brick firepit. It was a simple square made of cinderblocks, but it served as a firepit, barbeque, and with the right wood, a fish smoker. The snapping and popping of the little fire and the smell of the fragrant birch smoke, the occasional splash of an early morning trout, even the damp chill of the morning air was all good to Mike. As he watched the morning mist rise on the pond the curvy little brunette stepped out onto the porch and handed him a cup of coffee, then sat down in an Adirondack chair next to him and sipped her own coffee.

"Thank you, sweetie."

"How ya doing this morning grandpa?"

"Some creeks, some groans, but it's a beautiful morning."

"Yes, it is.

The sound of footsteps on wood reached their ears from across the pond, the other side still shrouded in mist, then could be heard the whirring sound of a small electric trolling motor and soon a pontoon boat appeared out of the mist and headed toward them. The boat pulled up to the dock in front of them with practiced ease and Josh leaned toward them from the captains chair and called, "Morning dad, I'm going to drown a few worms, would you care to join me?"

Mike pointed to the little rowboat tied up alongside the dock, "Thank you son, but I'm going to set to the oars in a few minutes and try my luck back in the woods," and he pointed to the mist shrouded northwest corner of the pond.

"Audrey, you're welcome to come too," said Josh.

Audrey raised her slim leg and showed off her neon yellow sneakers. "I'm going for a jog with Ronnie then help her with breakfast."

"Ok then, be that way," smiled Josh, "See you at breakfast." And with a wave Josh started the electric trolling motor and the old pontoon boat slowly headed out to the middle of the large pond.

After the sound of the motor faded into the mist, Mike looked over at the little brunette who was looking at something on her phone. "What' ya looking at sweetie?" Audrey Mitchel showed Mike a picture on her phone, it was from the company holiday party, and it showed Josh Gravely in his USAF dress blues with a gorgeous blond on each arm. "Holeee Smokes, look at those ribbons! And where was my daughter when this was took?"

"She was dancing with her Army buddy Mitch McDonnell."

"Her old dancing instructor. Were you there?"

Audrey pointed to the younger looking of the two blonds, "right there, can't you tell?

"No! That was you?" Mike was shocked, that photo didn't look like her at all. Audrey's parents were odd, they urged their daughter to dye her hair blond like her mother, wear tight fitting clothing like her mother, wear her makeup like her mother, and when she was old enough, to fuck her father like her mother.

"That was mom's idea, she thought dad would look best with a blonds on each arm, so she dyed my hair blond like hers and we dressed the same with our boobs hanging out... but mine are real," she grinned.

"My goodness," said Mike. "Josh doesn't look very happy in this picture, does he."

"Well, I was grabbing his ass." When Mike looked at her with a disapproving look, she said, "Mom told me to do it, mom didn't like Veronica at all."

From what Veronica told Mike about Audrey's mom; Mike wasn't happy with her mom much either. He started to get up and he worked his way out of the chair and with a groan he stood. "I had better get going, those fish aren't going to catch themselves." He disappeared into the cabin and returned with his fishing pole, tackle box, bait box and his travel mug filled with hot coffee. He bent and kissed Audrey on top of her head and said, "You be careful on your run, don't let Ronnie run you into the ground.

She rose and gave him a proper kiss and said, "Thank you, grandpa, I'll be careful." She watched Mike walk down to the dock and get into the boat and with a few pulls at the oars he was heading off. They were on the northeast corner of the roughly rectangular pond; he's headed to the northwest corner, so he'll be rowing for a while. A thought occurred to Audrey, and she pulled her phone from her pocket and did a few internet searches and found exactly what she was looking for.

Audrey is a friend of Veronica's; they were nearly inseparable for a couple of years. Audrey's parents were both sexually wild, they pulled Audrey into an incestuous threeway that at first was fun and sexy, but after a while her parents became quite demanding and that she didn't like. She liked the sex, but her mother was very aggressive, extremely demanding, and liked inflicting pain, and Audrey didn't like that very much. If she was going to have a female lover, she wanted someone sweet like Veronica. At the same time her parents were very poor gamblers and ended up running afoul of the Mafia. To pay their gambling debit they tried some underhanded business shenanigans, and they ended up being grabbed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and to stay out of prison they squealed on their Mafia connections and were pulled into Witness Protection Program.

Audrey went along with them into hiding at first, but when they began talking about conning the SEC with some other scheme and they became very angry at her in bed, she snuck out and ended up in Florida where she, with a little help from Anthony Friedman, her dad's former boss, met up with Josh and Veronica. They invited Audrey to come live with them while she gets her feet back under her. At the same time, the nursing home where Mike was living was going to evict him for nonpayment. His ex-wife and other daughter Maurene cleaned out his pension and his savings and he was soon to be homeless. Mike moved into the in-law suite of Veronica's house and an affection grew between Mike and Audrey, she started calling him grandpa and he started calling her 'lil girl.

As Audrey finished her internet search she heard the chirp of a whistle, she and Veronica wear whistles on lanyards around their necks when they're in the woods to call for help in an emergency. This chirp meant that Veronica had started her morning jog. Audrey closed up the cabin and headed up the path to where she would meet Veronica. Soon the tall, slim blond and the short, curvaceous brunette were jogging along the path. The path is a dirt road through the forest that weaves and winds from one cabin to the next eventually in a large loop. Although most of the cabins were in ruins due to neglect and vandalism, Josh has done his best to collect unburned logs and clean up collapsed cabins and restore the cabin sites to an area where tent or an RV could camp, and he rebuilt several standing cabins. Audrey and Veronica ran about four laps around the property enjoying the jog through the woods then headed back to the cabin. Normally Ronnie would be heading back to wash up and head into Orchard Park for work, but this is a long weekend, Independence Day!

The sun was now above the horizon and the morning mist started to "burn off" quite quickly. Mike rowed across the width of the pond enjoying the sounds of the forest starting to wake up, the songbirds were quite excited to greet the dawn and Mike enjoyed this part of the day more than any other. Even yesterday when it rained all day, he sat on the porch with Audrey watching the gentle rain as it fell on the pond and Audrey told him stories of her youth with parents that he sincerely did not approve of. To get her mind off of her parents' "oddities" he taught her how to clean and filet fish, and between cloud bursts he took her out to the dock and taught to catch sunfish and blue gill.

Now he was in his favorite portion of the pond, the pond had backed up into the forest and this section of the pond was filled with large trees both standing and fallen. It was easier to ship the oars and pole the boat through the maze of trees, but back here there were big trout easing their way between, around, and under the logs that filled the water. This place was a challenge, he's lost many a hook to underwater hazards, but those trout called to him.

He fished for an hour or two, enjoying the morning peace. He shared this corner of the pond with a deer that stopped for a drink, and a raccoon who appeared to be heading home after a long evening. As he prepared to bait a hook that a fish just cleaned, there came the clanging of that big triangle bell from back at Josh and Ronnie's cabin, breakfast is ready! He polled his way out of the trees, even in their death the trunks of these once proud trees had a strength and dignity. Their smaller branches and bark had fallen off long ago and what remained were tall grey forked columns that reached for the sky and sheltered trout the size of salmon. When he finally broke into the open water leaned the pole he made from a sapling he had cut against a tree trunk and began to row toward Josh and Veronica's cabin. Josh was waiting for him with the pontoon boat and moved toward him. "Let's go eat dad!" Josh called with a grin and tossed Mike a line, then he revved up the gasoline outboard motor and as Mike held tight as Josh towed him to his cabin.

They washed up and settled in at the picnic table in front of Josh and Veronica's cabin for pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and coffee. The smell of wood fire, coffee and bacon added to the perfume of the forest as Mike settled in for breakfast with the people he loved most. "So, what has everybody planned for today?" Veronica asked.

"I have some elm to buck and split," said Josh. They found a big elm that had gone down in a storm a year or two ago, with the neighbor's help and his tractor they pulled it up to the area where the cabins sit, the remains of one of the wrecked cabins is now firewood storage.

"That sounds like a workout," said Veronica with the subtle twitch of an eyebrow.

"I have a full day of glorious nothing to do," said Mike. "I think I might help cut some wood."

"Oh no grandpa," announced Audrey, "we're going shopping!" She whirled and turned to Josh, "Can I borrow the truck?"

"What's wrong with your car?" asked Josh.

She handed her phone with the search results to Josh, "It won't fit in my car."

Josh looked at the phone and it showed a small dormitory style refrigerator. "Why a mini-fridge?"

"Because I'm tired of reaching into the fridge for a snack and coming out with a cup full of worms!"

"Still, that should fit in your car." Then Audrey flipped the screen displaying a six-foot tall three foot wide, two-foot-deep plastic "Garden Shed." Josh looked at it then said, "You want dad to do some gardening?"

Audrey shook her head, "it's for his fishing poles! I keep knocking them over, he leaves them everywhere."

Before anyone else could speak, Veronica handed Audrey her credit card and said, "Get two." When the chuckling died down Josh reminded everyone, "we have company coming today, Ant said they would arrive after lunch."

"I can't wait to meet Antman," said Mike. "He sounds like a great guy."

"Daaad!" whined Veronica and Audrey. "It's not Antman, it's Ant, A-N-T, short for Anthony."

"I think he just likes to get you guys stirred up," grinned Josh.

When breakfast was finished Josh and Veronica were washing dishes and they peered out the cabin door to see Audrey rowing Mike across the lake to their cabin to put his fishing gear away. "Who woulda thunk it," muttered Josh softly.

"Those two are nearly inseparable now," said Veronica. She wasn't smiling, not by a long shot.

"You sound concerned." Josh could understand her concern, Audrey's dad groomed her to love a father figure, and he did it quite vigorously. Veronica's dad Mike is a big boy now, he can handle himself. Besides, if Audrey is after Mike for his money, the joke is on her, that well has been sucked dry. Audrey has more money than Mike does. Veronica's older sister Maurene had been dipping into their dad's accounts for some time. So, by the time Josh and Veronica convinced Mike to come up to Buffalo and visit for the summer, the nursing home was getting ready to kick him out because Mike was out of money.

"Shouldn't I be concerned? How many years has she been fucking her father?" Veronica was really angry. "Dad hasn't had..." Josh silenced her with a gentle finger to her lips and she stopped before she said something truly ugly.

Fresh from bouts of psychiatric counseling every week since they returned from Florida, Josh was full of sage wisdom. "It's not going to do anyone good if you get mad at them..."

"I'm not mad at them," said Veronica trying to restrain herself, then she sadly wept, "I'm mad at my mom, I'm mad at my sister, how could they do that to him? He's such a gentle hearted man... like you."

Josh shook his head, "You must be talking about a different Ephraim Gravely than the one I know..."

"Hush!" she put a finger on his lips as he did to her. "You know what kind of past I had but you still love me." She was talking about her past being used by rich men as 'fuck-toy arm candy.'

"Well, when you put it that way, I guess I am pretty wonderful." They stepped out on the porch and sat in their chairs and watched Audrey rowing the boat around in lazy circles, she and Mike laughing like kids. As the sun came up over the tree tops the remains of the mist faded and the morning dew began to dry up.

"When do the Friedmans arrive?" she asked as their hands clasped.

"Ant said somewhere around two," said Josh. The CEO of their company, Andalon, and his huge family were nearly permanent residents here at Josh and Veronica's cabins. Cabin 8 was still set up like in the old girl scout camp days, with military style metal bunkbeds in a huge common area. Two full size refrigerators were installed for Anthony, Marge, and their seven children.

"And Terri?"

"Terri pulled a long shift last night so she'll probably be pretty late, we may have to save her some dinner," said Josh as they headed down to the woods on the far side of the pond where the cabins were situated. "It's going to be a hot one, today!" said Josh taking off his jacket and tossing it on the utility wagon he was pulling. The wagon also contained a sledgehammer, wedge, chain saw, oil, and a gas can.

"Oh, I invited the Jareckis also," said Veronica. The Jareckis are their neighbors out here in the countryside and in the village of Springville. Out here they have a big plot of land across the road and their home in Springville is just two blocks away. There are two families, Paul Jarecki, his wife Andi, and their twin girls Sandy and Madeline, and their baby son Daniel, and Paul's brother John Jarecki, his wife Macy, and their infant daughter Katarina. Their Jarecki set up is three small barns in a row, the two outer barns are living space for each family the center barn is a common kitchen and bathroom with shower and a sauna.

"This is your first trip up here with the whole gang, isn't it?" asked Josh. "This is the first time the pond is really warm enough this summer for the kids to go swimming."

"Swimming? No, I don't do swimming with a pond full of kids, I'm going to let you play lifeguard," laughed Veronica as she poked Josh with a finger.

The woods were warm and fragrant, the intoxicating scent of the pines was invigorating, and when they finally got to the remains of cabin three, they were more in the mood for loving than for cutting wood and they melted into each other's arms. However, as they gazed into each other's eyes and Josh clasped her round, firm butt cheeks and pulled her close, Audrey and Mike appeared from around a corner in the path. "AaaHEM," coughed Audrey, "We're not interrupting anything, are we?"

"Your timing is immaculate," said Veronica as she turned around in Josh's arms. "We were just starting to cut wood."

"So is that what you young kids call it," chuckled Mike, then he winced from the elbow to the midsection that Audrey gave him.

"Can we get the keys to your truck?" Audrey asked sweetly.

"Here you go, and lock the gate when you go," said Josh as he tossed her the keyring, "There's a lot of vandalism in the back country here and we can't hear people up at the cabin from here."

"Gotcha," said Mike as Audrey took the keys. "Don't wait up for us," which earned him another elbow from Audrey.

"Daaad," groaned Veronica. Then she laughed and gave him a hug, "I'm so happy you two get along."

"We're happy too," smiled Mike and the May/December pair headed off to the cabin while Josh went into the woodshed to get his cross buck, a pair of heavy boards bolted together shaped like a big X when he noticed something.

"Shhh!" warned Josh with a finger to his lips, then he urged Veronica to follow him. They quietly followed Mike and Audrey's trail up the path then ducked behind a bush and Josh pointed to the couple.

"What..." whispered Veronica then she saw what Josh saw, "They're holding hands!" Audrey and Mike were definitely holding hands, as natural as can be as they walked together up the path. Josh and Veronica couldn't hear the conversation between Audrey and Mike, but Veronica wanted to dash up there and break them up. Josh grabbed her hand and stopped her, but Veronica insisted, "That's my dad."

"Let him be," whispered Josh firmly. "I'm sure he's got a lifetime full of regrets thanks to your mom and your sister. Let's let him enjoy being alive."

Veronica paused, then slumped in surrender. "I know, I just get protective."

"I know, you love him. Let's let them enjoy life for the weekend." He led his despondent fiancée back to the woodpile. "Let's cut some firewood."

"If that's what you're going to call it," said Veronica with a grin.

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

Terri McCarthy pulled up to Josh Gravely's property, once a camp for Girl Scouts, then later a church camp, now a private retreat for her manager and his fiancée. She was told that there's four cabins, a trout pond, and 50 acres of forest with trails to explore. The gate was closed and locked but she could see Veronica's SUV parked in the driveway, maybe they were still in bed, she thought. Or possibly they took his Jeep into town for breakfast, or maybe they ran home for a couple of minutes, this isn't far from Springville where they live. She beeped the horn a couple of times then got out of her car and walked up to the gate. Still no indication that Josh was here. Hell, he invited her to come up and spend the weekend, maybe go swimming or catch some fish and she's locked out? She worked all last night then napped rather than getting 8 hours of sleep, she was excited to get here so she drove all that way to find the gate was locked.

She climbed over the cattle gate that guarded the driveway and walked up the pine tree lined driveway until she came around the end of the tree line and saw what the trees were hiding. His cabin sat hidden from the road by the trees, a large log cabin that was painted Forest Service Green probably back in the '40s when it was built, it had several windows and a big, covered porch facing the pond which looked so inviting.

It's only 11:00 AM, but it's getting hot, the cicadas were already buzzing in the muggy, thick, still air, and not far off she could hear the unmistakable whining of a chain saw accompanied by the clang! Clang! Clang! coming from the flagpole. A huge flagpole with no flag stood before the cabin, the wind caused the rope to bang the snaffles against the pole and she thought it was odd for an "army guy" like Josh not to have a flag on his flagpole. She was quickly distracted by a chainsaw firing up, "He's probably cutting firewood," she thought. She knocked on the door but heard no answer inside, finding the door unlocked she peeked inside. The cabin was neat and orderly, a cozy looking little love nest. She set her bag down inside the cabin then closed the door. She stripped off her t-shirt and walked toward the pond wearing her shorts and a modest bikini top.

The smell of fresh cut grass filled the air and Terri remembered how Veronica mentioned that she and Josh loved to spend their time at the cabin cutting the grass and chopping firewood in the morning and splashing and playing in the pond all afternoon. Try as she might Terri has yet to get Veronica to say a word about their evening activities, she just gets a sweet smile from the Executive Assistant to the CEO. It's been seven months since Josh proposed to Veronica in front of the whole company, Veronica could at least come up with a little info on their after-school activities.

Terri waded out knee deep into the pond, the water was cool and refreshing, it's going to feel great later this afternoon as the day heats up. A splash and ripples in the glassy surface of the pond showed Terri where a fish leapt for a tasty looking insect. She noticed a small outboard motor attached to the end of the T shaped dock and realized that the end of the dock was actually a pontoon boat. "I could seriously live here," she muttered. "I'm Canadian, I should live here, in the woods, with the mooses and the trouts." Veronica had mentioned to her that the couple was planning to live out here during the summer months, and Terri wondered maybe they had moved out here already.

Again, the chain saw roared to life, it wasn't too far away from where Terri was. She waded ashore and put on her flip flops and followed a path back into the woods. The chain saw shut down and soon the sound was replaced by a clanking sound. Finally, she came to a curve in the road and through the underbrush she saw Veronica and Josh working in front of a shed that was surrounded by bushes and shrubs, they were obviously cutting firewood. They had a tree trunk sliced into eighteen-inch segments and now they were splitting the wood for firewood. Veronica had her mane of blond hair pulled back to a ponytail and was wearing a sports bra, shorts, and gloves. She and Josh placed a log segment on a large stump cut so short only a couple of inches protruded above ground. She then crouched next to the log and held a heavy metal wedge in the center of the log segment while Jake tapped the wedge with a heavy sledgehammer until it was deep enough that Veronica didn't have to hold it up. "You're good Effy," she said.

"Ok Nica, stand clear," he called. As soon as Veronica was clear Josh swung the sledgehammer and with a piercing clang, he drove the wedge halfway into the log. Then he swung again, and again, and again, driving with all his might, until finally the log split.

"That's six Effy," said Veronica as she pushed the log halves apart and set the wedge again on a log half.

"I'll get the next one in five," said Josh as he tapped the wedge into place and with two swings split the log half into quarters, then again into eighths. Some pieces they split one or two more times depending on how thick they were, then they then piled their pieces of firewood on a neat stack in the shed, rolled another log section into place on the short stump and started again. Over and over, they split the log sections and Terri watched from behind her shrub, fascinated at the teamwork. She wasn't surprised at Josh, he was a rough and tumble guy, but Veronica! She's a fashion model, a company officer, and here she is hauling firewood? And she's got abs! Damn!

They got down to their last log section and their banter, which was getting flirtatious, now got absolutely raunchy. Josh had pulled his sweat soaked t-shirt off and was glistening in sweat. "Holy shit," muttered Terri seeing her boss in a new light.

"You haven't got it in five yet Effy," taunted Veronica as they set the wedge on the last log section.

"Maybe I haven't had the right encouragement," he said as she backed up clear of the swinging hammer.

"You split it in five and you're getting a blowey right here."

"No hands?" Crouching nearby, Veronica responded by holding her mouth open wide with her hands behind her back. "Nica baby, you say the sweetest things." He swung the hammer with all his might and missed the wedge.

"That's one," sneered Veronica, "why don't you try hitting it with your purse? Or better yet why not hit it with your dick?"

With a growl Josh swung even harder and drove the wedge halfway into the log. "Come on, hit it like you mean it!" shouted Veronica. Clang! His third swing drove the wedge all the way in, just the shiny metal top of the wedge could be seen above the wood, but the log remained unsplit. It cracked and groaned from the intrusion of the wedge, however.

As he wound up for a fourth swing she shrieked "Hit it like you hit my pussy!" CLANG! His fourth swing drove the wedge through the log and a half inch into the stump beneath it, the log halves fell away. Terri was in complete and utter shock hearing her personal idol utter those words. The shock was greater than the shock she has as a child at the revelation that her parents had sex. Veronica shook her hands, dropping her gloves like a hockey player heading into a fight. Before the log halves stopped moving Veronica was on her knees in front of her man unbuckling his belt and unzipping his worn jeans. She yanked down his jeans and Terri discovered that her boss was going "commando."

Terri wanted to turn away, she wanted to ignore what was going on. If it were someone else, she would have walked away, or she'd walk up and embarrass them with some wise ass remark, but she wouldn't watch. But this was between the two people she cared about and when Veronica began licking and sucking Josh's balls she was transfixed. Terri was surprised with the eagerness that Veronica went at Josh's big cock, Veronica was a saint in her eyes. Yeah, she had sex, but Terri envisioned Veronica in big, girly canopy beds wearing gauzy negligees with champagne instead of foreplay and a blowjob was for the lower classes, she had servants do that for her. But here she was covered in sawdust, dirt and sweat, kneeling at the feet of the man she loved, sliding her tongue up and down his cock.

"That is so beautiful Nica," groaned Josh, "your tongue is so incredible. Thank you." Veronica just smiled and skinned off her sports bra and tossed it aside.

"Holy shit!" Terri almost said aloud. Veronica's full breasts were firmer than hers and Veronica is twice her age! (Not quite) She watched in awe and envy as Veronica returned to Josh's cock. Her tongue swirled around the head of his straining cock, teasing and taunting him. With a groan he put his hands on her head, but she looked up at him and grinned, "We said no hands, remember?"

He smiled down at her and chuckled, "Yeah, we did." And he put his hands on his hips and Veronica gulped a third of his cock in her mouth. "They laugh and tease each other during a blowjob?" Terri asked herself. She decided to take mental notes, she's got a date with Ned next week, she might learn something.

Mental note #1 - have fun.

She watched as Veronica slowly took a third of his cock in her mouth and stopped as Josh threw his head back and groaned. Her tongue was sliding and rubbing against the underside of his cock. The gentle warm, wet friction was slowly driving him out of his mind. Terri saw that even though Veronica's lips were moving slowly up and down his cock, her tongue was very active.

Mental note #2 - more tongue.

"Oh God Nica! You're incredible, that's so good!" groaned Josh through clenched teeth.

Veronica pulled off his cock and began licking and suckling the head of his pole. "You inspire me Effy," she smiled. "What's this Nica and Effy stuff?" wondered Terri, she doesn't remember hearing them use those names before.

Mental note #3 - secret names.

Although the shade of the woods was cool and refreshing compared to the morning sun out by the pond, there wasn't a hint of a breeze and the humidity was near 100%, even Terri was starting to sweat in her little hiding spot. And now she realized she couldn't just turn around and go away, they'd see her. She was just as captive as her boss was to Veronica's enchanting mouth. And she was getting hot in other ways. Watching her two friends in their love play was so wrong, spying on them was so kinky, that she was getting as turned on as they were. As Veronica slurped and sucked on Josh's cock one hand was at her own breast, twisting and pulling on a nipple, pleasing herself as she pleased Josh. Terri gasped quietly when a jolt of pleasure shot through her, and she realized that unconsciously she had freed her own tits from her bikini top and was twisting and pinching her own nipples.

Veronica and Josh kept their eyes locked on each other most of the time as she sucked and swallowed his hard throbbing cock, only on rare occasions Josh would throw his head back and groan, breaking their eye contact. Somehow Veronica was able to crouch and pull her shorts down without breaking contact with Josh's cock or his eyes. But Terri was ahead of Veronica, she had her own shorts and bikini bottom down and was gently rubbing her clit before Veronica joined her in self pleasure.

Mental note #4 - eye contact.

Now Veronica did the unthinkable (to Terri), she winked up at her lover then slowly eased his full length into her mouth and down her throat. She gasped and choked at one point and the constriction of her gagging around his cock gave Josh intense but guilty pleasure, in the past when this happened, he always wanted to pull out, but she never let him, she wanted to finish. Terri watched in wide eyed amazement as Veronica took his entire length until her nose was nestled in his pubic hair. Josh was as amazed at Terri was, but Veronica swallowed his entire cock without a hint of gagging.

Mental Note #5 - I need practice.

Veronica massaged his cock with her tongue, her goal is to lick his balls with his cock still in her throat nudging her tonsils, but not today, they're both too spun up with passion. All that work, the sweating, the sexy teasing, along with a very special secret had them trembling with passion. Slowly she pulled off his cock and gasped for air and he crouched down and kissed her and murmured something to her that Terri didn't catch, but Veronica heard it and smiled. "No, and I'm not done yet," she smiled. "Gimme!"

Josh stood and Veronica went back at his cock. They were getting frantic, as the pleasure built in the lovers and their unseen watcher, their motions became jerky. Terri and Veronica both strummed their clits and pinched their nipples while Josh, out of his mind and in a sexual frenzy, began fucking Veronica's mouth. "Oh Nica, oh Nica," he groaned over and over. For her part Veronica was grunting happily with every stroke of his cock in her mouth. "Mmmhh! Mmmhh! Mmmhh!"

Terri was close to cumming herself, she was afraid of screaming, but she couldn't stop, she couldn't slow down, and the effort to remain silent made the sensations that much more intense. Even imagining what would happen if they heard her come was fueling her fires. But Veronica "rescued" Terri. Veronica suddenly pulled back whirled around on her hands and knees and demanded "Fuck me! Fuck me now!"

Terri's eyes widened as Josh dropped to his knees and slid his cock into his lover's hot wet pussy. "Fuck me!" Veronica continued to demand. "I'm so close," she growled and shoved her ass back towards Josh. He grabbed her hips and began to fuck madly. Like a man possessed he drove his cock into her over and over, the sound of his groin clapping against her ass filled the forest.

"Oh yes!" shrieked Veronica, "Just like that! More! Harder!" Josh just growled in response and plowed his cock into her harder and harder, straining to smash his cockhead into her cervix. Veronica's breasts swung madly as her body shook from the impact of his fucking. "Cum in me Effy," she began to gasp as she lowered herself to her elbows, "come on, knock me up! Fuck a baby into me!"

Terri was shocked, Veronica wants to get pregnant? This was suddenly twice as hot as before! With one hand savagely pinching and pulling first one nipple then the next and the other had rubbing her clit harder than ever before, Terri joined her idol in a climb to orgasm. And suddenly it hit. Just as Veronica shriek of "I'MMMM CUMMMING!" echoed through the forest, so did Terri's stifled gasps of blessed release.

Wave after wave of carnal pleasure crashed through the bodies of the two women, both began to tremble wildly as their cum coursed through their bodies and minds. Terri doubled over as the waves crashed through her, but Veronica was still being savagely fucked by the wild man she created all she could do was hang on and enjoy the ferocious pounding.

Now Josh began to grunt, "Oh God! Oh God! I'm going to..."

"No!" gasped Veronica, "In my mouth! I want it!" She whirled around and Josh struggled to hold it in, he rocked back on his knees as Veronica plunged her mouth onto his cock.

"AAAWWWW!!! AAAWWWW!!! AAAWWWW!!!" roared Josh as his pulsating cock fired spurt after spurt of his semen into her sucking mouth. His body was wracked with waves of release, it was the strongest orgasm of his life. "Oh my god," moaned Josh as the mental and physical maelstrom subsided. Veronica continued to suckle the remaining sperm from his deflating pole. He slumped down to a sitting position and Veronica pulled herself onto his lap. Then Josh did something that shocked Terri to the core, he kissed Veronica and said, "Thank you darling, you are incredible."

Mental note #6 - find a guy who will kiss me after a blowjob.

"Mmmm, thank you, ya big gorilla. That was the biggest one yet," Veronica said. "You filled me up, I may not need lunch now." Even though their conversation was vulgar her voice was now soft and tender, the Veronica that Terri knew. Terri quietly muted her phone and took a picture of this scene, Josh and Veronica naked, both streaked with sweat and grime, her breasts covered with dirt from being rubbed into the forest floor during the wild fucking, she was sitting on his lap, and they were romantically holding each other and kissing tenderly.

"Come on baby," said Jake, "It's nearly eleven thirty, Terri said she'd be here by noon." Wait, what? Terri looked at her watch, it showed twelve thirty... then she compared it to her phone, her phone showed eleven thirty. Shit. Cheap fucking watch! Now what? If they walk past her, they'll know she is there hiding.

Veronica saved her again. "Let's finish up this log and go wash off." Josh agreed and they pulled their clothes back on and went back to splitting that last log into cord wood. As they split it up, Terri was able to put her boobs back in her bikini top and pull up her shorts.

Just as they finished stacking the freshly split wood, they filled their utility wagon with aged wood that was split last year, they turned and there was Terri taking their picture. "Hey Terri!" said Veronica.

"Just in time to avoid the work. Been here long?" asked Josh as he set the wedge and the sledgehammer in the wagon and started to pull it back up the tractor path.

"You know, I walked around lookin' for ya, eh? Then I waded in the pond a little, it's a bit chilly don't cha know. Then I heard ya chopping the wood and came back here, eh?" Her Canadian accent was coming on fierce, a sure sign she was lying about something. As Terri chattered on about her drive up from south Buffalo, Josh winked at Veronica over Terri's head.

"Well, thank you for coming," said Veronica as she hugged Terri from behind, then quick as lightning she snatched Terri's phone from her hand and started going through the pictures. "That one's nice, that one's really nice, Oh! I want a copy of this one. Don't you think it's nice honey?" As Terri struggled to get her phone back from the taller, stronger woman, Veronica turned the phone toward Josh to show him the picture of the lovers holding each other in post coital rapture.

"I want a copy of that one," grinned Josh.

"No way!" said Terri as she tried to get the phone, but Veronica handed it to Josh who danced around the wagon and shared the photo to his phone before handing the phone back to Terri. Finally defeated Terri sighed. "So you knew I was there?"

"The whole time," grinned Veronica as she put her arm around Terri to reassure her that they weren't mad.

"Really the whole time?" Terri asked, surprised.

"Unless it's a really nasty log, Josh never needs more than five swings to split it," said Veronica. "He usually gets it in three. When he started taking seven and eight swings, I knew something was up. Then he told me where you were hiding while we were stacking the wood."

Terri's jaw dropped. "So, you knew I was watching, you made the bet, you knew he would win, and you knew you would end up giving him a blowjob in front of me." She was utterly shocked, everything she knew about these two was changing by the minute.

"Yeah," laughed Josh. "A bit kinky, don't cha know, eh?" Southern boys can't do a Canadian accent, but Josh came close.

"You guys are freaking me out!" exclaimed Terri as they came up to the cabin. She helped them stack the firewood as she ranted. "Here I am thinking you're normal and I end up with a front row seat to a blowjob that you performed just for me. And who says thank you for a blowjob?"

"Polite men," said Veronica.

"But I was right there!" cried Terri, "it's like finding out your mom and dad are into anal!" She looked from Josh to Veronica, both were smiling innocently. "Anal too? Oh, that's bullshit! You two are freaking me out!"

Josh stepped into the cabin while Veronica calmed Terri down. "Look, I'm sorry you got a little freaked out, but if you had walked straight up to us, there would not have been a show."

"Yeah, you're right," said Terri, hoping she sounded remorseful. "It really was hot though, if you ever make a video..."

"That's enough for now," said Josh as he stepped out of the cabin wearing cut-off jeans and carrying towels. "Leave your stuff here, we're going to go wash off in the pond."

"K." Terri followed Veronica down to the shore, the sun was higher in the sky, and it was getting stifling hot. A dip in the pond is going to feel good. They splashed and washed and cleaned up nicely then they led Terri on to the dock. As they stepped out on the dock Veronica said "You got to check out our pontoon boat, it looks like it's part of the dock, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it's neat!" agreed Terri, "Ya know Ned, the guy I'm seeing in Fort Erie? He has a pontoon boat, it's really his dad's but he's the one that takes it out the most..." as she chattered on, Josh had cast off the lines and started the motor. Soon they were gently cruising around the pond. The pond is not huge, but it covered several acres. Josh wanted to tell her about the creek that fed it and the waterfalls at the output end, but Terri continued chattering about Ned and his "party barge" on the Niagara River.

Veronica took two folding chairs and led Terri to the open fishing platform on the bow and she and Terri sat right at the edge of the bow enjoying the ride on the glass smooth pond. As Terri came to the end of her story which included the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police), US Coast Guard, and a stolen beagle puppy, Veronica said, "There's a couple of things we need to discuss." Terri nodded thinking she was in trouble. "First of all, if you were offended by our little show, we sincerely apologize. It was a bit of fun, and it will never happen again, are we alright with that?"

"Yeah, I'm cool. To me it was actually something special," said Terri. "I love you both, and I am flattered that you did that knowing I was there watching. It's like being a part of the family... in a weird kinky kind of way."

"That's sweet, and you're right, you're very important to us. That's why we asked you to come out this weekend, I have my matron of honor picked out and I want you to be my bridesmaid."

"WAAAA?!?" Terri's eyes popped open wide, the woman she admires more than anyone else in the world besides Kat Timph just asked her to be her bridesmaid? "Wha... ulp... uhh..." she sputtered, "Yeah! Yes, I'll do it, I'm honored, when's the wedding? What color are we wearing? Where will it be? Can my mom come? She told me I'd never be in a wedding leastwise my own..." she chattered away like a wind-up doll on speed until Veronica shushed her.

"We still need to talk about our little show, ok?" Terri nodded so Veronica continued, "second, it is a secret, you can't tell a soul, you can't share that picture. I'm not going to ask you to delete it, but we will ask you to get it off your phone as soon as possible because you might get hacked. Are you ok with that?"

As the boat made a wide sweeping turn Terri nodded, "Yeah, I'm cool." The boat sped up a little bit and the breeze felt awesome. "Can I take my top off? This feels so nice."

"Yes, good idea!" and soon both were topless as they cruised across the center of the pond enjoying the feel of the warm wind on their breasts. Veronica turned to Terri and said, "Oh, I almost forgot. Last thing about our little show..."

"Yeah?" asked Terri, she was the picture of relaxation, the waves, the warm sun, the cooling breeze, she was almost asleep.

"It's not free," said Veronica with an evil grin. Veronica braced herself as Josh set the motor to reverse and opened the throttle. The bow suddenly dove down from the change in momentum and the wake lifted the stern causing the bow to lean forward, the water splashed over the deck as the boat suddenly reversed and with a healthy push from Veronica, Terri's momentum carried her through the air into the pond. As she struggled to the surface, she saw Josh and Veronica on the forward deck of the boat kissing tenderly.

"Ha ha, very funny... hey... HEY! ... Help me out you guys, eh? Awww, not again! Stop it, help me out!"

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

"I don't believe you did that to me," grumbled Terri as she sat on the patio of Josh and Veronica's cabin.

"Well, now you know the price of admission in case there's another show tonight," smiled Veronica as she handed Terri a wine cooler. "And take your feet off the porch railing."

"Yes mom," Terri moaned, then her emotions quickly changed course like the pontoon boat, "that was cool! The boat just flipped down and tossed me in the water," she said as she illustrated the bow dropping when the boat came to a sudden stop with her hand. "Just like that! How did it happen?"

"You'll have to ask Josh, he was driving," Veronica smiled as she sipped her wine cooler. As is her nature, Terri was flipping back and forth between "that was so mean" and "that was so cool." Right now, Josh was out on the pond on the pontoon boat and was catching dinner. He had the boat anchored in the middle of the pond and was doing a good job of hauling in perch. Southern boys and their fishing, thought Veronica, how did Josh survive being sent overseas to war zones without his fishing pole? She leaned back and put her feet up on the porch rail and was considering some serious sunbathing when Terri asked another question.

"So, what's with those names you use, Nica and Effy?"

Veronica actually bristled when she heard Terri say them. "Those are our names. They are the names our grandmothers called us when we were younger and I'd rather you forgot that you heard them."

"Ok, sorry!"

"I didn't mean to be nasty," said Veronica calming down, "It's just..." she paused for a long time fondly recalling events of eighteen months ago, "the very first conversation Josh and I ever had centered around those names. I asked him if anyone ever called him Effy, short for Ephraim, and he said just his grandma. I told him that my grandma called me Nica, and... we just want to keep them ours, if you know what I mean." She never said out loud that their grandmothers were the only woman in their lives that showed them love. It was another thing that bound her and Josh together.

"No, I think it's sweet... I'd love to have something like that with someone," said Terri. They watched Josh tie up the pontoon boat to the head of the dock before Terri felt another question trying to burst free. She was silent for three minutes which is about as long as she's capable of being quiet. "Do you want to have a baby?"

Veronica acted like she was shocked. "What gives you that idea?"

"Well, at the Christmas party you were constantly holding those babies, both you and Josh," started Terri.

"Well, they're cute when they're newborn. Who doesn't like a newborn baby?" Veronica deflected.

"Well, earlier you said, "fuck a baby into me."

"I did?" Veronica's voice was tiny. She thought back to events of the morning, when she was getting brutally fucked by Josh and loving every inch of it, and Terri was hiding in the shrubs nearby watching. Josh had her just at the edge of orgasm, his cockhead tapping at her cervix, his girth stretching her open delightfully, their bodies slapping together, her breasts swinging from the savagery of the fuck and her newfound delight in exhibitionism was being satisfied. It was glorious. When her mind was in complete meltdown as she teetered at the brink of a tremendous orgasm, she said... "Yeah, I guess I did say it."

After a long pause Terri asked, "What kind of birth control are you using?"

"My calendar." Veronica watched Josh walk up the hill from the pond to the cabin. Pole and tackle box in one hand, a large stringer of fresh caught fish in the other. As their eyes met, he broke into a smile, happy to see her, happy to provide for her.

At the cleaning table Josh had built behind the cabin, he held a clinic on how to fillet the perch, he also had a few bluegills in the mix, and in a short amount of time he cleaned the fish and added them to the morning haul and saw that they had enough fish for dinner for the five of them. He placed the filets in some salt water and put them in the fridge, bringing out two more wine coolers for the girls, then took his bucket of left-over fish parts from the cleaning process and headed back down to the pond.

Just as Terri was about to ask what Josh was going to do with that bucket, a car horn honked and shortly a large Ford Transport van appeared around the tree line. "My matron of honor is here," said Veronica happily in a sing-song voice.

"Oh no," moaned Terri, "I knew I should have asked who her matron of honor was first." Every employee of Andalon knows that van. Only one person at Andalon needs transportation for nine people, the founder and CEO Anthony Friedman. He pulled up in front of the cabin and Veronica leapt up as Marjorie Friedman got out of the passenger seat and they hugged. Being CEO of Andalon, Anthony is Veronica's boss, but Marjorie is also Veronica's boss; Veronica is her executive assistant for her parental aid charity.

Two of the youngest Friedman children wanted out also so now there were a pair of boys orbiting Veronica and Marjorie. "We saw your neighbor Andi and her girls on the road, they said they're coming here to go swimming," said Marjorie

"They have a standing invitation," smiled Ronnie. "I can't wait to see how big Danny is!"

"Great, more kids," mumbled Terri.

Making sure that there were no children in the way, Anthony verified they were in cabin number eight and headed toward the tractor path through the woods. "Cabin number eight?" asked Terri as the two little boys squinted up at her. "I thought there were only four cabins."

"There used to be twelve," said Veronica, "the ones nearest the road got vandalized the worst while this place was abandoned. All the cabins that were left standing are further back in the woods, eight, ten, eleven, and twelve. There's also a pavilion back there, way off the path. Plus, Josh and his buddy Gus just finished rebuilding number five because it was right on the pond."

"Why don't you call them one two three and four?"

"Because" said Marjorie as she pointed to a large 1 carved into the log above the door to Josh and Veronica's cabin, "They've all been branded."

"The woodshed you saw this morning is what remains of number three," smiled Veronica seeing if Terri would be embarrassed. "We have a lot of logs piled up from the damaged cabins so we're planning to rebuild two more of them."

Soon, their neighbor Andi showed up with the twins, both wearing matching pink swimsuits, heart shaped pink sunglasses and bright pink floaties. She was pushing baby Danny in a stroller that had a sun shield for the baby. Veronica and Marjorie hugged Andi then crouched down in front of the stroller to look at the baby. "Oh my God, he's gotten so big!" gasped Terri as Veronica lifted the fussy baby out of the stroller for Andi. "And he moves!"

"Of course, he moves," said Andi as she dug out his pacifier and his bottle, then re-arranged the blankets. "He never stops moving."

"He does all kinds of things," said one of the twins, probably Sandy, she's the most gregarious of the two. "He can talk but nobody understands him."

"Can he walk?" asked Terri who knows nothing about babies other than how you make them.

"He walks real good," said Madeline, "but not when his feet are on the ground." As Andi put Danny back in the stroller he started kicking. "See? That's how he walks, but he stops when you put his feet on the floor."

Just then Josh returned from "feeding the fish." "All raht, all raht! The gang's all here!" he called in his deepest accent.

"You talk funny," said one of the boys. Their names were Morgan and David and will forever have to live down Mogan David wine jokes.

"Which wunna y'all said that? as it you Jake? Was it you Elwood? Let me let you in on a little secret of life. Ah'm bigger than y'all, that makes you the ones that talk funny."

"That's my Unka Josh," Sandy explained to David. "He's silly, but he's ok."

"Listen up, here's the safety briefing," and he explained to the four kids his rules about going outside of the marked off swimming area (that's where the sharks are), rough housing, sharks, going out too deep, sharks, fighting, sharks, and peeing in the pond (it attracts sharks). "Ok, Jake, Elwood, go get your swimsuits and your floaties and report back, GO!" and the youngsters took off running along the path in the woods like a shot. They weren't sure where their dad and their siblings were, but they didn't think they would be hard to find. Meanwhile, Josh and the twins slowly entered the pond, getting them used to the water before the boys came back to roughhouse.

Andi, Marjorie, Terri, and Veronica headed back into the woods walking along the path. As they neared the shrubs where Terri crouched just a few hours ago, David raced past them headed in the opposite direction dressed in a swimsuit and flipflops and carrying a towel followed by Morgan, Shelia, June, and Greg. "Is Josh going to handle all of that?" asked Terri. Veronica looked back up the tractor path at the five youngsters racing to the pond with a worried look on her face.

"He did last summer," said Marjorie. "We were here several times, he taught them all to swim."

"You didn't tell me," Veronica was shocked.

"Ant and I told you we were taking the kids to the cabin at the lake, right? Here we are."

"You didn't say Josh's cabin or Josh's Lake." Veronica was coming to the realization of how little she knew about these people that she cared so much about. When Marjorie mentioned spending a week in a cabin at the lake, Veronica thought of those ten thousand square foot log palaces she reads about at some high-class resort, not an abandoned old scout park near Zoar Valley. "I didn't know..."

Marjorie laughed, "Of course you didn't. When Josh came to Andalon last year, he invited us out for a picnic, and we were hooked. You two weren't a thing last summer, you had no way of knowing because you were both too busy making cow eyes at each other to talk to each other."

"Cow eyes," snorted Terri, "that's hilarious."

"He taught my girls to swim too," said Andi, "he'll be fine."

Marjorie turned to Andi and said, "I didn't know you were Josh's camping neighbors too! I saw you on the road walking this way and I said, "I recognize that girl!" and Ant said, "That's the baby race girl." You should have come over last summer and joined us."

Andi stopped and scooped a fussy Danny out of his stroller and handed him to a terrified looking Terri. "We're neighbors here, and we're neighbors in town too," said Andi. "Last summer we were building another cabin on our farm for John and Macy, and I was feeling a bit bloated," and she pointed at Danny meaning she was pregnant. "Macy and I didn't get around much last year." She fished a bottle out of the depths of the stroller and took Danny back from Terri.

Veronica turned to Marjorie, "Remember when you came to my house for dinner and you saw that big Victorian house two blocks away, the one with the huge porch and the black iron fence on the corner?" Marjorie nodded. "I made Anthony drive past that house about three times so I could look at it."

"That's her!" Veronica pointed at Andi.

"No! Really? I've got to see your home!" As the women chattered, Terri began to look sadder and sadder. "What's wrong Terri?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know, I don't have a house, I don't have any kids, I don't even have a man, I don't fit in here."

"Look at it this way," said Andi as she settled Danny in with his bottle, "You don't have a mortgage, you don't have a hundred thousand dollars in student loans, you can drink whatever you want, whenever you want, and you don't pee every time you sneeze."

"Ain't that the truth," groaned Marjorie.

Soon they reached Cabin Number Eight, it looked like Josh's cabin from the outside tucked away in the woods with nearly a dozen folding chairs of various sizes on the porch. Inside it looked like a military barracks. The interior was primarily one large room containing five military style metal frame bunkbeds lined in a row so ten could sleep in there. There was an ancient wooden footlocker at the head and foot of each bed, two large picnic tables stretched between the beds and the huge stone fireplace. There was a small kitchen at one end of the cabin and a scoutmaster's room at the other end with a queen size bed for Ant and Marj. Ant and the two oldest girls, Linda and Billie, were making up the beds as the women stepped into the cool darkness. All of the windows were open, but the two bare lightbulbs barely illuminated the activities far below. As they unrolled the mattresses, they were busy making sure that the bed wetters were on the bottom bunks.

"The kids love it here. At home they have rooms where they retreat to avoid each other," explained Marjorie. "Here it's all one big bedroom and NO video games." She sighed and put her hands on her hips. "This is how families should live." Then to Anthony she asked, "Do we have everything?"

"I think we're good on this end, would you have a box fan we can put in the windows? It's kind of musty in here, said Ant." Then his oldest daughter Billie said something to him, and Ant said, "Go ask her."

Billie, a slim, black haired, terrified pre-teen stood in front of her idol, Veronica, and nervously said in a tiny voice, "Do you have that game box?" When she spoke, she displayed a mouth full of braces. Terri knows how the young girl feels, she still feels the same way when talking to Veronica.

"Of course, Billie," Veronica then bent down and said to the terrified youth, "And you come over to my cabin after dinner tonight, we'll do all kinds of girly stuff, we'll do makeup and do our nails, it'll be fun."

A look of absolute joy washed over Billie's face. An angel from heaven wants to spend time with her! "Yeah!" she gasped, "I'll be there!"

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

After a quick trip to Walmart in Springville where they got the plastic tool sheds and the "Bait fridge" Audrey took Mike on a tour of the village of Springville. Mike doesn't get out much, after his injury he was sort of locked away. His therapy was minimal, and once his money was gone, he was ignored by the retirement home staff. The retirement home fed him but provided no other services, and eventually told him that the room and meals would end shortly. If it wasn't for Veronica and Josh, he would have ended up homeless, living on the street in an Erie, PA winter.

Now he was living in a beautiful, warm, in-law suite in his daughter's home with the greatest son-in-law a man could wish for, fishing any time he wants, a cabin of his own... and a twenty-one-year-old... what is she to him? Their relationship never made any sense to him, but he loves every minute of it. She's a beautiful, curvaceous brunette woman, a large breasted darling who could have any man at her beck and call with a snap of her fingers and a wiggle of her shapely hips and round firm ass, but here she is spending her time with a broken-down old welder. And she's smart too, she took some classes at the local community college to learn how to care for him and Josh, she said, "someone has to know how to care of you busted up old guys," and she aced all of her classes. She liked the classes so much she's now planning on going back to school for more and wants to go into nursing as a profession.

After a tour of the village, they ended up on route 39 passing farm after farm, the only interruption was the tiny village of Morton's Corners where they stopped to look at the general store and Mike got to meet the proprietors Elmer and Elinore Ingvist. "Hi Audrey," said the silver-haired seventy year old Elinore, "Camping this weekend?"

"Yep, this is my patient, Mike van Köster."

"You must be Veronica's father," said Ellie as they shook hands, "It's so good to meet you! When is that beautiful daughter of yours going to marry my son?"

"Well, she was planning to marry Josh, I didn't know there was another..."

"I'm just kidding, Josh has been my son even before Doc Jarecki bought that patch across the street from him."

Relieved, Mike looked around, it's one of those great old stores that has everything. He noticed nearly a dozen washboards of four different sizes hanging on the wall behind the counter. "I didn't realize you had a lot of jug bands in the area. Are those washboards made for different keys?"

"Heavens no! They're still used for washing delicates the old-fashioned way, in fact they're becoming more popular for that. Environmentally friendly I'm told." She went to one of the boards hanging on the wall and showed that it was a cover for a small cabinet, and it swung open on hinges. "Crafters love them."

"That is right crafty! Give me two of them, I'm going to put Josh's wood working tools to use."

After that stop they ended up on the road again, heading west, away from the cabin. "Getting a little peckish?" Audrey asked.

"I could eat," said Mike. He didn't eat much at breakfast because his heart was still all a-flutter after waking up next to Audrey.

"I know a great sandwich shop in Gowanda," said Audrey as they sped along.

Mike looked out at the fields of corn and said, "Knee high by the fourth of July," and those fields were at least that tall.

"You a farmer Grandpa?" asked Audrey.

"Nope, in fact that's all I know about farming."

They had stopped in a little pizzeria in the village of Gowanda and got a couple of sub sandwiches for a picnic lunch and the smell of those capicola delights was driving them crazy with hunger as they now headed to Audrey's "picnic spot."

"We're almost to my private beach," said Audrey with a wink as they headed back toward their cabin on Zoar Valley road. Finally, she came to a pull-off and parked on a gravel lot right next to Connoisarauley Creek. After a short walk through a wooded area, they came to a wide sandy beach where Connoisarauley Creek met the larger Cattaraugus Creek. "This is Doctor Jarecki's secret fishing spot," she said as she started to take off her clothes.

Mike didn't know if he was going to tell her to stop. He should say "Stop! What are you doing?" but he didn't want to. It quickly became apparent that she was wearing a bikini under her jeans and T-shirt.

Seeing the look on Mike's face she giggled, "What - do you think I was getting nekkid?"

He shrugged, "there's always hope."

"Maybe someday," Audrey said with a playful smile. She spread out the blanket they brought and sat down for their lunch. The sandwiches were capicola, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, with too much oil on a fresh baked Italian read with a crunchy crust. They were cool and greasy, just the way Mike likes his subs, and the garlic in the salad oil was overpowering and so delicious! Washed down with ice cold Pepsi and to Mike it was the feast of kings.

After lunch they lay back on their blankets and watched the clouds. They were big and puffy, and many were recognizable shapes that Audrey always saw first. Mike rolled on his side and let his eyes rove over Audrey's luscious body, and soon she rolled on her side to look at him. As they gazed into each other's eyes like a pair of mooning teenagers Audrey asked, "What are you thinking about right now?"

Mike smiled, he couldn't tell her, he couldn't tell himself what he was thinking. She urged him again with a "Hmmm?" He finally lied, "Your boobs."

"That's not true," she said, his eyes told her that he was thinking about something different.

"Yes, it is!" he lied, "They're beautiful." That part is the truth, most women in his life are modestly endowed, but Audrey's breasts are large and full. They spilled over the top of her bras and jiggled when she walked. He suspected that she had some bras that were the wrong size, and she wore them to tease him because when she goes jogging with Veronica or when she's fishing with Josh her breasts are modestly supported and encased. Now they were laying one atop the other as she laid on her side and it looked so sexy. It was best to concentrate on that.

"If I tell you my secret, will you tell me yours?" she asked.

"Ok, I promise to tell, what is your secret?"

"I..." she looked like she was going to cry. "I call you grandpa so no one will know how I really feel about you."

Mike found a clean napkin and dabbed the tear away from the corner of her eye. What she just admitted made his heart soar and made him very scared at the same time. "My secret is that I like it when you call me grandpa for the same reason, so no one will know how I truly feel about you." He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips and felt her melt in relief as they kissed. "I think we have the same secret," he whispered.

"What do we do?" she said, her voice shaking in fear.

He smiled and softly said, "I don't know, but it sure is fun."

Audrey sighed softly and said, "yes, it is... grandpa."

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

After spending time with the Friedmans, Terri, Andi, and Veronica walked back to the pond and when they got there, they found that Paul Jarecki and his dog Wonka had joined the kids in the water. Paul is tall and slim with narrow set eyes and a hook nose who was madly in love with the woman and children he was blessed with not very long ago. Josh had marked out a swimming area with ropes and buoys made from old Clorox jugs and inside that area the pond was a churning froth of splashing children. The youngest were staying nearest the bank, splashing and playing in the mud or throwing a tennis ball into the pond for Paul's dog Wonka, their older siblings were either racing back and forth on the lawn running into the pond at full speed or on to the dock to dive.

"Mom! Lookat me swim! Lookat me!" cried both twins Sandy and Madeline as they waded out chest deep and practiced their arm strokes like "Unka Josh" taught them.

"Show mommy your kick boards," said their dad, Dr. Paul Jerecki who sat in the water nearby making sure they weren't run over by the bigger kids.

"Yeah! Mommy watch!" The twins ran up to the lawn and grabbed a couple of small foam flotation boards and dashed back out into the pond. Instead of trying to lay on them as most kids would do, they held them out at arm's length and lay face down in the water blowing bubbles and kicking their legs, an important part in learning to swim properly.

"Very good!" cheered their mom Andi who scooped their little brother Danny out of his stroller and waded knee deep into the pond.

"Is Danny going swimmin'?" chirped the twins as they splashed up to their mom and watched her lower Danny to the pond to get his tiny feet wet. He squealed and kicked at the cool, refreshing water.

"No, I don't think so," said Andi, a doctor herself. "Pond water is yucky for little babies, we'll give him a bath back at our cabin. You guys go swim and listen to your dad and Uncle Josh."

"Kay!" then they cried the battle cry of all swimming children, "Watch me!"

Josh had marked a spot on the dock where he allowed the older kids to "dive" from, and he was doing a yeoman's job insuring they didn't land on each other. The water was chest deep for him where he stood next to the dock

Veronica and Terri could only watch in amazement; neither of them knew of this side of Josh. "Damn," muttered Terri. "I'd ask him what he did on the weekend, and he would just say "Ah wuz fishin'." Her imitation of Josh's drawl was pretty good.

Veronica shook her head and smiled broadly, her man! She couldn't contain her happiness as she walked out on the dock and knelt down to kiss Josh whose chin came up to the edge of the dock. It's a floating dock so the myriad of Friedman kids running on the dock made it wobble and rock. "What's that smile for lil' lady?" Josh asked.

"I didn't know you had a soft spot for kids," she said as they kissed.

"You didn't ask," he said. He nearly pulled her into the pond as he broke their kiss trying to prevent Morgan from diving onto his sister June.

"Do we have a window fan for their cabin?" asked Veronica, "and Billie wants a gamebox, whatever that is."

"There are two box fans in the garage, the game box is in the cabinet next to the fireplace, and take them another tank of propane, I think theirs is low. You can take the Willies if you want."

With a quick goodbye peck Veronica sprinted back to Terri and shouted, "We got the Jeep!"

A few minutes later, with everything loaded and the golf cart moved out of the way, Veronica prepared for her first solo flight on Josh's 1949 Willies CJ-2a Jeep. Terri's been in it before, this was the Jeep in which she wanted to ride topless as she and Josh cruised the back roads of the Southern Tier of Western New York last summer. It was nearly original, with only an aftermarket set of seatbelts and safari top added. Veronica has driven standard before, but never a vehicle with a manual choke. Her dad's old snow blower had a manual choke so this should work the same way, and she figured it out. That part was easy, the hard part was remembering that the starter button was on the floor. Set the brakes, all three shift levers in neutral, pull the choke out all the way then push it halfway in, pump the gas once then halfway and hold it, then with the left foot hit the starter button. The old machine roared to life and with a few minor coughs, and as Veronica eased the choke in slowly and Terri said, "You know how to work these old machines... I thought you were younger than that."

Veronica glared at Terri as they backed out of the driveway and turned toward the path to head back toward Cabin #8. Veronica never knew what life was like before power steering, but she learned quickly and soon the old veteran was soon cruising through the forest.

Veronica took Terri the long way, the path is actually a big, winding, mile long loop where Veronica goes jogging every morning. She pointed out the remains of the demolished cabins, one of which is planned for rebuilding and another that only needs a roof and a new floor. Another spot where the cabin was gone had a level gravel parking pad, picnic table, firepit, and one of those metal monopole charcoal grills you would see in older parks. In the deepest part of the woods, they came across what looked to Veronica like a picnic shelter, but Terri insisted that it was a chapel, it was a pavilion but only had a small stage at the rear, the rest was a dirt floor.

Rounding a corner and turning left at a Y in the road they arrived at Cabin 8 where they found the Friedmans still setting up. They dropped off the fans, propane, a few empty plastic jugs to collect spring water at the nearby spring, and a large wooden box filled with decks of cards, a chess/checkers set, and board games of every kind to a grateful Billie. Then saying their goodbyes, they went back to look at that open pavilion bringing Marj along with them to inspect the place.

"This is the place," said Veronica as she stood where she thought the bride and groom should stand. It wasn't a ruined cabin, it was a nice pavilion, open sided with a stage at one end. The scouts must have had shows and maybe church services here. What looked like rows of stumps were log sections that were set in the ground up on end, Veronica assumed there were boards nailed to the stumps to make benches. "This is where Josh and I will have our real wedding."

"It is kind of dark in here," said Terri as she and Marj tried to glean some history from the carvings in the beams that held the roof up.

"It'll be fall," said Veronica, "There will be fewer leaves on the trees, and if we do it in the morning, the sunlight will come in from that direction lighting us up," she said as she pointed up the main aisle toward the eastern horizon.

"You want to have a morning ceremony?" asked Marj.

"More time to honeymoon," said Veronica with a waggle of an eyebrow. "I was thinking a Saturday morning, then the gang from work can come. What's that field right there between the trees?"

"Looks like a ball diamond," said Terri as she stood on a stump to look. There was a tall chain link fence on one end of the field, it had to be a softball diamond.

"That would be a great parking lot for the guests," said Marj as she stepped up on a stump to look. The field is near Trevette Road, they could add a driveway.

"I'll see if Andi and Paul have a brush-hog to clear the undergrowth," said Veronica.

"I've got to get back and get dinner started," said Marj who has a tribe to feed.

By the time Veronica and Terri got Marj back to her cabin, Ant had dinner almost ready, the kids were in their family's cabin and were changing out of their wet bathing suits, Ant had a fire going and the oldest girls Linda and Billie were helping him get dinner ready. Marj hopped off the jeep and said, "This is why we're here Ronnie, Ant works so hard at Andalon he misses things like this."

When they got back to the cabin Josh was setting the picnic table for dinner, he had an umbrella up over the table and two large citronella candles burning on the table and a Coleman stove heating up a pan full of oil sitting at the end of the table. "Where was Josh's pickup all day?" asked Terri, who noticed that it was back as they returned his prized jeep to the garage.

"That was..." Veronica caught herself, she just realized that no one told Terri about Audrey, even though Audrey has been back in Western New York for weeks. "That was my dad," Veronica finally finished. "He went into town to get a plastic shed to store his fishing poles."

"Wha?"

"They left just before you got here, and it looks like they spent quite a day in town."

"They who?" asked Terri. From across the pond could come the sound of the plastic shed banging and bumping as it was being jostled into position, accompanied by laughter. "Sounds like he's got company."

Josh came up behind Veronica and put his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear, "Come on, you can't deny him that kind of happiness. Either of them."

"I know," she whispered.

Just then the sound of a feminine voice floated from across the pond, "Oh Mike, you're horrible... do that again." followed by peals of laughter.

"Let's feed the kids," sighed Veronica and she walked over to the porch where a triangle bell straight from a western movie was hanging from the edge of the porch roof. She took the striker and rattled it around the triangle and yelled "Supperrrr!"

"Coming!" came the cry from across the lake. Suddenly the porch on the cabin across the pond was illuminated by the gentle yellow glow of a bug light and after a moment the sound of oars splashing and the sound of a feminine voice calling "Stroke! Stroke! ... what? I can't believe you said that you dirty old man! Stroke! Stop it, you're making me laugh... Stroke!"

"This is killing me," grinned Terri, "I can't wait to see who this is."

In the gathering dark of the evening two figures appeared coming up from the pond, the short feminine looking shadow said, "I have to go wash up," and dashed for the cabin. Mike stepped into the circle of candlelight while at the end of the table Josh fired up the Coleman stove and started to fry the fish.

Veronica handled the introductions, "Terri, this is my dad, Mike von Köster. Dad, this is my friend from work, Terri McCarthy."

"Hi Mike," said Terri. "Who's your little buddy? Sounds like she likes you."

"Terri!" Veronica snarled.

"We knew it was going to happen," Josh muttered in a sing-song voice.

Mike's voice suddenly grew very cold, and his handshake grew very firm. "She's my friend... we're very close." The last time Veronica heard her dad's voice that cold was when he found that Maureen, Veronica's sister, cleaned out his savings account.

Terri immediately knew that she had gone too far. A shadow stepped out of the cabin, stepped into the candlelight said nervously said, "Terri... it's me."

Terri looked, blinked, looked again and suddenly recognition dawned on her. "Audrey?" Terri gasped. She practically shoved Mike aside to get to Audrey. "I didn't recognize you with your hair all normal n' shit! I was afraid you were going to be someone awful, eh?"

"I thought you hated me," gasped Audrey as Terri hugged her.

"Maybe for those awesome boobs, but I never hated you," said Terri. "I hated your dad, he was an asshole, he was always hitting on me n' shit."

"Mom was worse," said Audrey relieved to find that the woman she wondered about for years didn't hate her.

"You mom was?" gasped Terri as they sat down and began talking like the old friends that they never were but always wanted to be.

"Gawd yes," said Audrey, then as they leaned close to talk, Josh slipped a paper plate with fresh fried perch fillets in front of them, and Veronica loaded their plates with potato salad and fresh slaw. The two young women didn't notice as they conversed.

As Mike was starting to edge his way onto the picnic table seat next to Audrey, Josh indicated a big comfy folding chair at the head of the table, "Dad, why don't you sit at the head of the table?"

Mike looked a little confused and said, "This is your land, this is your house..."

"Dad," smiled Josh, "this is your family, all of us."

"Including her?" asked Mike as he pointed out Terri.

"Yeah," sighed Veronica, "her too."

"Hey!" said Terri, her nose wrinkling in mock anger.

Josh placed a paper plate with two large fillets at the head of the table. "Here's your smallmouth from yesterday.

Mike sat down with a smile, a tear welling up in a tired eyes, for the first time in such a long, long time all was right with the world. "Thank you, son," he said hoarsely. He and Audrey held hands through dinner, this time atop the table.

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

It was a warm, beautiful night, and the girls were gathered on the patio of Veronica and Josh's cabin chattering happily and painting each other's nails while they talked about the upcoming wedding. Linda and Billie, Ant's oldest daughters. Billie is theirs, Linda is their adopted daughter, a slim black girl with long wavy hair who is the same age as Billie and both were in their glory; the most beautiful woman they know, Veronica, and the coolest girl on earth, Terri, were painting their nails, doing their hair, fetching them drinks and snacks. Terri and Veronica remember what it was like to be at that age when they were taller than the boys in their class and their breasts just wouldn't form no matter what prayers they said, what diet they ate, or what exercise they did. Being awkward, geeky, and having a mouth full of braces was tough on a girl and it's amazing any of them make it through that stage.

For the girls, their mom, and Terri the only thing worth talking about (besides the male half of society) was The Wedding. So far, the only thing that Veronica knew about her wedding was that she wanted it to be small, she had a huge church wedding planned ten years ago and it exploded in her face when her sister ran off with the groom.

Macy Jarecki strolled over from their cabin to aid in the planning from a Pastor's point of view adding a new sense of excitement to Linda and Billie's evening when Veronica introduced the ebony beauty as another fashion model! "You were a fashion model and now you're a pastor?" gushed Linda.

"Not so much pastor at the moment," said Macy as she started to work on Marjorie's nails. "I am starting to practice as a psychologist now."

"And a psychologist?" squeaked Billie.

"And a mother, most important job of all. My idol was Doctor Ruth Westheimer, she was a renowned psychologist," she said as she and Marjorie chose a nail color from Veronica's well stocked collection. "Before that she was a sniper in the Israeli army."

"That's so cool," said twelve-year-old Linda. "I want to be a sniper."

"Don't let your dad or Mr. Josh hear you say that" warned Marjorie. "Your dad will ground you and Josh will train you." After the laughter settled down, she asked Macy, "can you do Ronnie's wedding at your church?"

"Non, we are a conservative Christian congregation," said Macy as she trimmed Marjorie's toenails. "Veronica and Josh are living together; we cannot consecrate such a union in our church. We could if they lived separately for months."

"Aww, what a rip," moaned Linda.

"Yeah, you should be more open to other people's beliefs," said Billie, like her parents she's a devout in their religion.

"Oui, I will consider that over my breakfast tomorrow," said Macy as she winked at Marjorie. "You are welcome to join us, we are having bacon and eggs."

As the young Jewish teens sputtered, their mother laughed, "Touché Pastor. Girls, being open to other people's beliefs does not mean you have to give up your own, am I right Macy?"

"Oui, John cannot perform the ceremony, however I may because I am not actually a Pastor at the church. I checked with the head of the church board just in case someone asks me to perform such a ceremony," said Macy with a sideways glance at Veronica.

Veronica's eyes shot open, she never thought of Macy! "Would you?" She came up behind her friend and threw her arms around Macy. "Would you please?"

"Oui, I would be happy to," laughed Macy. "Let go! I will get polish on us!"

"Wait a minute!" cried Terri. She pointed at Veronica and said, "You said that pavilion is where you're going to have your real wedding, you had a pretend wedding?"

"Well, not a pretend wedding..." Veronica paused and looked slyly from girl to girl, "it was legal."

"WAAA?" Terry grabbed Veronica's hand and sure enough, she was wearing a wedding band along with a small engagement ring, her "Camping Ring" she wears so she doesn't damage her good ring with the 2.5 carat rock.

All the girls except Marj cried out in shock, "You're married?"

From across the dark pond, they could hear Audrey call using a rolled-up sheet of plastic as a bullhorn "I knew you couldn't keep a secret!" Turning, the girls could see Audrey sitting on the porch next to Mike across the pond waving at them in the light of their bug light.

"I take it Audrey was there?" asked Macy over the excited pre-teen gibbering.

"Yes, yes, hush!" said Veronica trying to settle Linda and Billie down so she could do Billie's toenails. "Yes, Josh and I went down to Georgia..."

"They was lookin' for a soul to steal..." grinned Terri. Then when she realized everyone was staring at her cried, "What? It's a country song!"

"We met up with a member of Josh's old flight crew... they were both injured on his last combat mission..." she tightened up, sniffed and wiped a tear away with her arm. "We realized that life is... temporary, and when you find love, you hold on tight. So, after we found Audrey down there we went to a justice of the peace and got legally married. She was our witness."

"Awww, that's so sweet," said Terri as Billie and Linda nearly swooned with romantic overload.

"That's why I'm happy for dad and Audrey," Veronica said very softly. Then collecting herself, "now we're going to have a REAL wedding, consecrated by our friends and family right here in our woods. A nice autumn gathering with a roast calf, hot apple cider, powdered donuts and camping in the cold."

"Looks like I'll have to find a different cabin," said Terri as she patted the timbers of cabin number 1. "I think mine is going to be the honeymoon suite."

"We have a spare room over here!" came a call from across the pond.

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

Back in the woods Josh was sitting at a campfire with Anthony in front of cabin number eight. The younger kids were inside the cabin, they had been playing a board game and listening to a Buffalo Bisons Triple A baseball game on the radio until Morgan, the youngest, fell asleep. That's when Anthony, with the help of Josh packed them all off to bed, then retired to the campfire for cigars and some adult beverages. The sun, the swimming, and the food insured that all of the young Friedmans fell asleep after a few minutes of teasing and telling jokes. There was a small fire in the huge fireplace as a nightlight for them, and as they began to nod off, they watched that fire like it was the best TV entertainment they had ever seen.

"You're loving spending this time with the kids, why don't you stay an extra day, Ant?" asked Josh. "We have high speed internet in my cabin, you can work from there on Monday if you have to."

"I don't know..." Anthony looked up at the stars peeking down between the treetops and considered the offer. After a few moments he saw a shooting star which made up his mind for him. He pulled his cellphone from his pocket and called his VP of Finance Stanislaus Dombrowski. "Hey Stash, do we have anything on the books for Monday? Really? That settles it... no, I'm taking a personal day on Monday..." He paused as he listened to Stan then broke up laughing, "Same to you buddy, see you Tuesday."

After taking a puff of his cigar and a sip of whiskey Anthony turned to Josh and said, "Stan says hi."

"I'm sure he didn't put it quite like that," said Josh as he sipped his beer. Stan's dislike of Veronica was legendary. He found out that Veronica was a fan of the Cleveland Browns and labeled her a traitor to everything Buffalo. Both Buffalo and Cleveland had labeled themselves as 'the Queen City of Lake Erie' and in reality, both were vying for the title of 'the Mistake on the Lake.' "Ronnie's coming around," said Josh. "We'll be going to the pre-season opener for the Bills next month. I took her to a Friday night Bison's game, and she loved it so much we haven't missed one since. She almost caught a flying fish last week."

Friday night baseball games are legendary in Buffalo. The city loves their triple A baseball team, the Bisons, and they love their parties. Combine the two and you have Friday nights at the ballpark. And the ballpark was named after the city's favorite brand of hot dogs, you can't get any more Buffalo than that. Cheer leaders shooting t-shirts into the stands, fireworks after the games and beer so cold you could get frostbite carrying it back to your seat. The flying fish are a classic promotion, small plushie fish are fitted with parachutes and tossed from the upper deck. If you catch a fish the fish entitles you to a free fish fry at participating restaurants, and Friday fish fry is also a Buffalo favorite. Restaurants across western New York vie for customers with a fish fry big enough to feed the crew of a whaling ship.

"Speaking of fish, have you two been back to the Ellicott Manor again?" Anthony grinned. On their first date Veronica and Josh went tobogganing at Chestnut Ridge Park then had a fish fry at the Ellicott Manor for their first date. While at the Ellicott Manor Josh serenaded Veronica while the entire restaurant watched, then they headed straight for the cabin where they ended up in front of his fireplace, "christening" it.

Josh sighed, "No, not yet..." he pulled his phone out and made a quick check. "The Bisons are on the road next week, we'll do it then. Why don't you bring your brood to fish fry with us?" Josh was sure he heard at least two muffled cries of "Yes!" from Anthony's cabin.

"We don't do fish fry," said Anthony. "We're not Catholic." The fish fry came from the Catholic tradition of eating fish on Fridays. Like everything that was meant to be a penance, Buffalo celebrated it, like their NHL and NFL teams that always miss the big win, Buffalo loves the underdog.

"Oh, come on," said Josh. "You got seven kids, no one will ever figure out that you're not catholic."

"What about my yarmulka?"

"Catholic bishops wear yarmulka looking things."

"Marj will love the idea of a Catholic bishop with seven kids," Anthony smiled. "Ok, I'll ask Marge when they get back."

"They're right there," said Josh pointing to the pitch-black forest.

"What do you mean?"

Josh picked up his flashlight and pointed it to the area he had indicated. Sitting there, just off the tractor path was the golf cart with Veronica, Marjorie, Terri, and the two girls Billie and Linda, who all started giggling when they were spotted. They had driven over to Macy's cabin and dropped her off, then after a quick tour of the Jarecki cabins, they headed back to Josh's scout camp. The golf cart is electric and silent, so they took a slow drive through the woods using a flashlight to illuminate the path. They took the long way around the loop and came up to Cabin #8 as quietly as possible and sat in the dark listening to the men talk.

"How did you know we were there?" asked Veronica as she sat in a folding chair next to Josh and snuggled up next to him.

"I heard you guys whispering all the way around the loop," he said as he put his arm around his woman.

"I want to be a sniper," announced Linda. "Just like Doctor Ruth."

"I'll teach you a few of the basics," said Josh.

"You're grounded," said her father as he puffed his cigar while Veronica looked at Marjorie with newfound amazement. The girls joined Josh and Anthony at the campfire and the adults talked softly as the fire burned down, enjoying the warm summer evening.

"When do the fireflies come out Mr. Josh?" asked Billie.

"They should be starting to come out if they're not out already," he answered. Then noticing Veronica's questioning look he said, "We have a lot of fireflies, it's really pretty."

Fireflies! Veronica remembered catching fireflies in jars with her sister in the field down by the railroad tracks when they were kids. Now she was starting to miss her sister. It was years ago when she ran off with Veronica's fiancé and the last time Veronica heard from her was both the best day and the worst day of her life. Josh's words finally came to her cutting through the fog when he said to Ant and Marjorie "Ok, it's settled. Fish fry next Friday, and full week in Casa Del Ocho this summer" He turned to an excited pair, Linda and Billie, "... depending on parental permission."

"That's right," added Marjorie. "Fireflies don't have chores, but you two do and you have to show us your willingness to help out around the house if you want to spend a week here."

"Yes mom," the girls droned in unison.

"I think I've had enough fun," said Josh, "it's been a long day and it'll be a longer day tomorrow. Are you two with me?" And after saying their goodbyes, Josh, Veronica, and their "daughter" Terri hopped on the golf cart and silently trundled off into the night using flashlights for their headlights.

They did one slow lap around the path again, so Josh could get a quick look at the chapel and the ball diamond, then they came to the Y in the road and instead of turning left which would complete the loop, they turned right which took them behind the pond. "I've never been back here," said Veronica softly in awe of the beauty the moon was starting to show as it rose in the east behind them.

"Shh, and flashlights off," said Josh as they eased forward through the thickening woods navigating by moonlight. Finally, they got to an area where the road dipped and crossed a culvert that allowed a stream to gurgle under them. Railings made from cut saplings gave this the appeance of a bridgeHe stopped the cart on the bridge and said, "This is the outflow of the pond, there's a waterfall downstream as this creek heads into Cattaraugus creek down in Zoar Valley," he whispered.

"Why are we whispering?" whispered Terri, then she saw it, one by one the fireflies began to blink on, that pretty bio-luminescent green, flashing and flying, swooping and gliding the little lights called out to each other. "That's so cool!" The fire flies were everywhere, in the bushes, on the trees, on the bridge railings and flying slowly about. They watched the fireflies for a long time, the spectacle was amazing, then then headed back to the cabin.

"Thank you for sharing that," sighed Veronica as she hugged Josh's arm.

"This was just the start of the show," grinned Josh. "There should be more in the coming weeks."

When they got back to the cabin they settled in, and Terri sat down on the couch. "This couch looks familiar." Other than dashing into the cabin to use the bathroom, it was her first real chance to look around in the cabin.

"It's a donation from Anthony," said Veronica as she helped Terri unfold the couch and put on the sheets and blankets. "It was in his office."

"Really? He just gave it to you?"

"He says we wore it out," said Josh as he got a nice fire going in the fireplace. It was supposed to be chilly later tonight.

Terri was aghast, she had heard the rumors, but she didn't believe them. "Did you guys really...?"

"How could we?" asked Josh, "I was stuck at work and Ronnie was way over in..."

Veronica came up behind Josh and put her hand on his mouth. "Enough, our little girl is old enough to know about the facts of life."

Terri slowly sank to the couch. "You guys did?"

Veronica sat next to Terri and took Terri's hand to comfort her. "Yes. I kind of... When the storm hit, I locked my keys in my office and almost froze to death. Josh rescued me and we..."

"This is where the birds and bees come in," said Terri.

"Yes," said Josh sitting on the other side of Terri. "You see, when mommy bird and daddy bird love each other very much..." He was silenced by a barrage of hits from Terri and Veronica.

"So you guys got it on all week long until you were able to drive home, and then you went out partying!" Terri sounded like she was going to cry.

"We actually put in some serious hours," said Josh. "You guys worked remotely, but someone had to do a lot of hands-on work. We did not mess around during office hours."

"We didn't even see each other most of the time," said Veronica, it was not hard to tell that she was sad about that.

For her part Terri looked totally shocked, Veronica and Josh trapped in the Andalon building for a whole week? That's so... a thousand ideas and emotions streaked through her mind until she finally asked brightly, "Did you guys get it on in the server room?"

"Ok, bedtime you," said Josh sternly. "I'm sure that most of the scenarios you dream up will be more interesting than what really happened."

"Night mom, night dad," said Terri as she lay back and looked up to the beams holding the cabin together, the firelight causing their shadows to dance against the interior of the roof. She notice on one of the horizontal beams a pair of eyes peering down at her. "You guys have a racoon in here!" she called.

"He won't eat much," came the response from the closed bedroom door.

Terri lay on the surprisingly comfortable couch in a cabin in the woods on a Friday night, totally sober. As she gazed up at the stuffed raccoon who was staring down at her she said a prayer of thanks to a God she was sure didn't listen for a pair of "parents" like Josh and Veronica. Finally, hearing no moans, sighs, laughs, or bedsprings from the bedroom, Terri drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

The fire in their fire pit crackled and the flames danced. When Audrey saw the lights go off in Josh and Veronica's cabin across the pond, Audrey threw a few more sticks on their fire then crawled in Mike's lap. "What are we going to do poppa?" said Audrey as she curled up.

"This is nice, I like this," said Mike. It was a little hard to breathe, but it's been ages since there's been human contact in his life like this, not since before Veronica was born. He kissed her forehead and held her close.

"No, I mean you an' me. Us. What are we going to do?"

"Tonight? I was thinking of a quick shower then off to bed. Tomorrow? I don't know, I gave up thinking about tomorrow a long time ago." Audrey looked in his eyes and saw the sadness that decades of being beaten down can do to a man. For his part, Mike saw what his sorrow was doing to her. "Tomorrow, after lunch, I'm going to talk to Veronica about us."

"She's going to hate me," said Audrey.

"Then she's going to hate me too."

They cuddled silently until the fire went out then they rose and went inside. "It's supposed to be chilly tonight," said Audrey.

"Tell you what, you go take your shower and I'll get the bed made up, ok?" When Audrey smiled and nodded, Mike gave her a swat on the delectable butt and said, "Scoot!"

As she showered, Mike started a fire in the fireplace and folded the open, Josh moved the couch from his cabin into this cabin when Josh got that nice couch from Anthony. When Audrey came out of the shower the bed was made up with quilts and pillows and the fire was warm and cheery. "Go wash up poppa," she said as she got under the quilt. He bent and gave her a little kiss then she pushed him away, "Go! You smell like smoke, fish, and a really good sub sandwich," and off he went to the shower. When Audrey heard the shower running, she slipped out of bed and took off Mike's T-shirt that she was wearing as a nightgown, pulled on her robe, and slipped into the bathroom. She tapped on the shower stall and said, "Let me wash your back poppa."

"Ok," said Mike sounding a bit unsure.

She soaped up her hands and opened the curtain and Mike shyly turned his back to her and she began running her hands over his back. Mike isn't built too bad for his age, he's slim, 5'8" with a full head of salt and pepper hair and Audrey soaped up his back. His muscles were so tight! He must be really nervous about something. As she scrubbed his back with a washcloth, she noticed something, so she peeked and sure enough, he was erect.

Audrey continued to wash his back and pondered her next move. She didn't want to take advantage of him, but he was in need... she was in need... Steeling her courage she soaped up her hands again then reached for his cock. Mike felt her hand wrap around his cock, and he jumped at her touch, but she pulled him back with her other hand which was on his chest. "Let me take care of you darling," she whispered.

"Baby please..." he gurgled, but the word 'stop' just wouldn't come out. The word darling was ringing in his head and his heart. She pulled him back to lean against her with her left hand as her right hand slid up and down the length of his cock, the first time a woman has touched him in a sexual way in years. There was Gloria Hadwell at the nursing home, they were warming up to each other, but she disappeared when she found out he was being evicted, and she found that out before he did.

The feeling of Audrey's large, firm breasts pressing against his back, her soapy left hand sought out his nipple and when she found it her finger circled it sending thrills through his body, and her right hand slipping up and down the length of his cock, slowly, then faster and faster. Then her left hand joined her right on his cock, they twisted and turned as they slid up and down, wet, unrelenting friction, his mind was melting, he was helpless to her ministrations as he tightened up... his orgasm just a few strokes away.

"Come for me darling," she whispered and suddenly her right hand flashed up and down the length of his cock, her left hand cupping his aching balls.

"Aaahhhh... I'm going to... I'm going to..."

"Cum for me lover, I want your cum," she whispered. Her words and her hands brought him over the edge and suddenly he was cumming. Spurt after spurt fired out of his cock and was caught in the stream of the shower. His body twitched and jerked with each powerful wave of release, and he thought he was going to faint from the power of his orgasm.

Audrey held his cock and balls gently as the spasms faded and his cock slowly deflated, and his balls relaxed in her hand. A feeling of euphoria washed over Mike; he had completely forgotten how wonderful something as simple as a handjob felt when another person was involved. "Oh darling!" he said as he turned around to Audrey. "That was so..." He stopped there, the look on her face was one of near terror. She was huddled into herself as if waiting for a beating and was trembling. "What's the matter love?" She was so fearful that he completely missed the fact that she was naked also. Her hourglass figure is an erection producing work of art, but right now all that Mike saw was the fear in her eyes, and now she was looking downward, avoiding his look.

"Was it ok? Did I do good?" she asked in a tiny, fearful voice.

What do I say to that? he asked himself, it was obvious that the wrong word would crush her. What did those people do to this precious waif? With a finger under her chin, he lifted her eyes to his and it was a fight, she didn't want to lift her eyes. When she finally surrendered and looked up, he saw terrified anticipation in her eyes. What do you say to that? He realized that his indecision was making matters worse, she was becoming more afraid with every second that ticked by. Just say what's in your heart! he demanded of himself, the same advice he gave Maurene and Veronica all of their young lives.

"That was so wonderful... I love you darling," he whispered then he leaned in for a kiss, so sweet, so gentle. She melted in his arms as her terror washed away. Their kiss lasted forever, a delightful eternity where only the two of them existed and their ages were no longer a barrier. When their lips parted their forever continued as they drank in each other's eyes. Finally, Mike turned off the water and carefully dried Audrey before leading her back to the living room.

"Do you poppa? do you love me?" she asked as they cuddled watched the fire burning in the big stone fireplace.

"Yes, I do," he whispered in her ear.

"I'm not sure I know what that means," she said as she watched the fire.

"My generation said that it means never having to say you're sorry, but that's wrong, everyone messes up. We need to say I'm sorry when we mess up." She lay pondering what he was getting at when Mike said, "If I scared you or upset you when I said I love you then I'm very, very sorry."

Audrey rolled over in his arms to face him. "No, that's not it, I feel the same way about you," Audrey said. "It's just... I want to go fast, but I think we need to go slow."

As they lost themselves in each other's eyes, Mike said, "at my age, slow is the only speed I got left."

"That's why I love you," she responded. "You let me pick the speed." After a kiss she smiled and said, "I do love you."

"Wouldn't you previous... partners let you pick the speeds?" He didn't want to say lovers or parents, so partners had to suffice.

"No, if mom wanted sex, I had to jump." She rolled over to face the fire again and wiggled her ass back at him and as they cuddled, they drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

Josh was breathing heavily now, but it was easier to breathe than before, they were much lower now. He secured his gun team in their seats except for Craig, he was secured to the floor, Josh didn't have the heart to move him much. The Ws were injured but alive, he bandaged up their injuries as best he could and went back to the main gun, the 105mm Howitzer. It was stuck in the down (loading) position and without power it would not come back up to 90 degrees. There was no working with the flight crew and the IO team over the intercom because there was no intercom, or any other power back here. They'll have to land with the gun with the muzzle pointing down, it shouldn't drag on the runway when they land... maybe.

He prepared to buckle himself in when he took role call in his head, flight crew and engineer should be ok, the cockpit wasn't hit. The IO team was secure in their booth, but it looked like their systems were out. Josh's team on the guns was hit the worst, his friend Craig Dempsey lay dead on the deck, chest ripped wide open, he bled out moments after the blast... the Ws, Wyatt and Wayne injured and strapped in... who am I forgetting...

"Ellie!" Where the hell is the load master Elinore Stadelmeyer? She should be here somewhere... damn it! Josh began to look around as best as possible, but with the lights out he couldn't see much. They've been in near total darkness since he put the fires out.

He pulled out a flashlight, it wasn't much but it was enough. He frantically searched the blood slicked belly of the gunship, looking underneath stowage and seats, where the hell is she? She's not a tiny woman, just as tall as he is, she couldn't be hiding anywhere. THINK! Where is she? Ok Josh, think... She usually sits on the rear door when it's closed, it's a 45-degree angle ramp, and it puts her out of the gun crew's way, but she's available if needed.

Now with the flashlight Josh saw where all that noise was coming from, wind being sucked through a huge hole, that's where the roaring sound is coming from. When the gun or missile or whatever hit, it blew open a huge hole. Josh had a sick feeling that Ellie was sucked out into the night and they lost her... but then he saw the strap, there's a safety strap that hooks to the harness that she wears when she walks out to the end of the door when it's open, she wears it when they're firing for some reason. The strap was hanging out of the hole. He grabbed the strap and there was tension on it! He leaned over and peered out into the night and by the light of the flashlight he saw Ellie hanging from the strap in the slipstream... she had a knife and was cutting the strap!

"ELLIE! STOP!" he shrieked, and he began to haul the safety strap in. He was weak and shaking, his boots slipping and sliding on the spilled blood, they're going to land any moment and she'll be dragged to death! He's got to get her inside the plane! "ELLIE! STOP!" Suddenly his feet slipped, and he went out the hole with a scream...

"What's wrong!" Terri cried as she threw open the bedroom door. She saw Veronica sitting on the bed, Josh's head on her lap, he was curled up and shuddering but as Veronica shushed away his terror and gently stroked his head he began to calm down.

"Give me a couple of minutes," said Veronica softly without taking her eyes from her trembling husband.

About ten minutes later, when Josh was fully asleep, Veronica came out of the bedroom wearing a large heavy sweater and walked straight out to the porch and Terri followed. Out on the porch Veronica lit a hurricane lantern with shaking hands then lit a thin black cigar and puffed on it nervously. The silvery moonlight made the scenery look almost surreal and she realized why Josh bought this place, just looking at the lake and the trees probably does more for him than an entire battalion of VA psychologists. "What happened in there?" asked Terri. "I thought he was going to kill you."

"No, he'd never do that," said Veronica. "He ummm..." she puffed again then took a nip from a bottle of apple schnapps that was left on the porch for these such occasions. "His last mission was pretty bad, they were hit and were on fire, they lost two engines... one of his crew members was killed, another one, her name was Ellie, Josh found her dangling outside of the airplane on a strap. She didn't have the strength to pull herself in and saw that they were landing..." Veronica had to hold back the tears, "she was trying to cut the strap, she didn't want to be dragged to death." Now Veronica's hands were shaking, she couldn't imagine the horror that shattered her husband. With shuddering hands she took another swig from the schnapps then said, "He fell out of the plane trying to pull her in."

"He fell out of the airplane? What happened?" asked Terri, her eyes huge in surprise.

"He held on to her strap and another guy came and pulled him in, then he pulled Ellie in... He got her inside and put a tourniquet on her leg and strapped her in before the plane landed. It was a rough landing and he got hurt..." The only other thing that Josh said about that mission was that he got a medal for it, but he can't discuss the medal because of politics."

"Holy shit," said Terri in a tiny voice. "Politics?"

"They were flying over a country that wasn't a friend of ours. They can't go handing out medals for actions taken in a country we don't have permission to fly over."

"That's fucking stupid," said Terri.

"Tell me about it." Veronica looked at the sliver moon and smiled. "He saved an extra life that night. When Ellie got home and got her brain straightened out and got fitted for her new leg, she and her husband..." Veronica sighed happily. "Somewhere down in Florida is a baby girl named Joshilyn who will probably grow up very, very happy her mother didn't name her Ephrath, the feminine equivalent of Ephraim." Veronica pulled out her phone and showed Terri a picture of a very pregnant Elli and her husband Nate before they left Amelia Island. Ellie's metal leg was prominent in the picture.

"Damn," gasped Terri, she now understood why her boss shows up to work looking exhausted and jumps at loud noises. "Does his night terror happen a lot?"

"Not anymore, this was the first in a long time... he's getting help." Veronica sat down in a comfortable folding chair and passed the schnapps to Terri. "Twenty-two veterans kill themselves every day... and now I understand why. Josh's story has a happy ending, but many don't..." She sipped from the bottle again. "Not here. Not on my watch."

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

Morning was beautiful and Josh's terror of the night before was forgotten, but the experience leaves him emotionally crippled the morning following his dream. Terri woke up just as the sun rose above the horizon and was feeling pretty good that she beat Josh and Veronica to wakefulness, she didn't hear a sound from their room. She pulled on sweatpants and a zip up hoodie then stepped out onto the porch and as the sky started to lighten, through the morning mist. "Coffee! I'll put on some coffee," she decided.

Terri went back inside and being as quiet as possible she grabbed the percolator and added water and coffee grounds then stepped outside again. She opened the metal grate to the fire ring and started to build a fire when she saw movement down at the pond... it wasn't a deer, it was her hosts standing back-to-back on the dock, fishing. As she watched, Veronica reeled in a nice size fish, put it on the stringer and blew a chirp on her whistle, then she handed her rod and reel to Josh and headed off to her morning jog.

Muttering under her breath Terri abandoned the idea of a fire in the big metal fire ring, slammed the metal grate on it, put the camp coffee pot on the table waiting for another time. She headed down to the dock where Josh handed her Veronica's fishing pole wordlessly, then before Terri could cast said, "Come on," and he led her onto the pontoon boat.

Casting off they putt-putted out to the middle of the big pond where he shut off the motor and dropped an anchor and there, they fished quietly in the morning fog which slowly began to lift. The silence was finally broken by Terri reeling in a nice small mouth bass. Terri expertly unhooked her fish and held him up for inspection. "Whatcha think boss?"

"That's a nice fish, and you did really well with him."

"Of course, I'm Canadian, it's what we do." Terri examined her fish closely, "Is he a keeper?"

"That's up to you, he could be your dinner tonight." Josh took out his phone and took a picture of a broadly grinning Terri and her fish before she crouched down and released him.

"No fish fry tonight?" asked Josh as Terri expertly put a worm on her hook.

"Nah, I'll let him go back to swimmin' an' shit, but next time there's tartar sauce in his future." Terri watched her fish swim off happily. "I'll send that picture to Ned, just to make him feel bad, that guy can't catch a cold."

"There they go," said Josh and he pointed out Audrey and Veronica as they jogged past a break in the trees.

They fished in silence for a long time then, "hey, that's a nice wedding ring you're wearing," said Terri out of the blue. "Get it in a box of Cracker Jack?"

"First of all, you are too young to remember when Cracker Jack came in an actual box with prizes, and secondly I knew that Veronica was going to let you guys know."

"You planned it?"

"Sort of, we figured that would take the pressure off the "planning committee" and we could have a nice happy celebration instead of a huge serious production come September."

"I think your plan is going to work." Terri added her new fish to the stringer, "they were talking about rolling a keg down the aisle when we left."

"That's more like what we wanted," chuckled Josh.

A few minutes later Terri watched Josh's eyes track Veronica and Audrey as they jogged past the opening in the trees. "You ok with Audrey and Veronica's dad?"

"Yeah, I'm happy for the both of them..." He crouched and released a really aggressive bluegill. "They've both been fucked over by life; I think they were beat into a shapes that compliments each other."

"They're really happy together, like you and Veronica," Terri looked at her boss out the corner of her eye.

"Don't you go getting all philosophical on me," said Josh.

"No, really. You two fit together so nicely, it's like a TV show, the Glamor Girl and the Redneck, it would be like Taylor Swift and..."

"Jeff Foxworthy?" offered Josh.

"I was going to say Larry the Cable Guy, but that Jeff guy will do, I think I've heard of him." Josh shook his head, and they fished in silence. "I just want you to know..." Terri fought for the words then finally said, "If something is on your mind you can come to me, ya know? I might not understand, but I can listen n' shit."

"Well, I appreciate the offer, I truly do, but don't be offended if I don't take you up on it. I've got two shrinks, a pastor, a wife, and a pastor's wife listening to me whine, I don't need a co-worker to find out just how fucked up I am."

"I heard you last night," said Terry softly. "I just wanted you to know..."

"I understand, all I ask is that you... just... be good."

"Wha?"

"Listen, we... people like me we sign up hoping to make a difference. They send us somewhere to fix something and we go hoping to fix a situation, and we all leave something behind... But when we come back and see what's going on here..." his face started to turn red. "I can't watch the news; I just want to..." he let out an angry breath, his fingers tightened on his rod and reel. "When I do watch the news, I just think I wasted my time; I can't fix over there with everything over here falling apart..."

The boat had turned in the gentle breeze and where they sat, they could see both cabins facing the pond, Audrey and Veronica bent over by Josh and Veronica' cabin, puffing through huge smiles after their four-mile jog. "This is my world now," he said relaxing. "It was a long time getting here, and this is where I'll stay. They need me and..." he reeled in his line. "... that's all I got to say about that."

Terri looked at her boss confused, just what was he mad at? It was deeper than she wanted to think right now, but at least he appreciated the offer. "You know what your problem is redneck? You're out here fishin' and there ain't no beer!"

"No beer until after lunch, that's the rule," he said as he pulled in the anchor then waved at Mike emerging from the trees at the far corner of the pond in his rowboat. "Ready for breakfast dad?"

"You bet son!"

The pontoon boat pulled up to Mike's rowboat and Josh handed down a rope to Mike then slowly headed back to the dock. Josh tied up to the dock and took his cooler of fish and added Mike's catch then wordlessly headed back to the cleaning table behind the cabin while Terri and Mike watched. Neither had seen Josh like this, most of the time he's either happy or grumpy, right now he's just... numb.

The sun was burning off the morning clouds as Audrey and Veronica brought plates of pancakes and sausage from the kitchenette. "Where's Josh?" Veronica asked.

"He's behind the cabin cleaning fish," said Terri, her face lined with concern. As Veronica set the pancakes down and opened the picnic table umbrella Terri said quietly, "I think I broke him."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked him to talk to me and he... he started getting all sad n' shit. Said he wasted his time in the army and he hasn't said nothin' since."

"Air Force," corrected Veronica for the umpteenth time. As Veronica hurried behind the cabin Terri looked at the big flagpole, the clanging of the snaffles against the metal pole was beginning to haunt her.

Veronica found Josh at the cleaning table, the fish were filleted, the mess cleaned up, and Josh was staring at the table with a sad look in his eye and a very sharp knife in his hand. "Terri says you think you wasted your time in the Air Force," said Veronica softly. She was terrified, that knife was so sharp...

"Yeah, it looks like it... look at the news... What the hell was I defending and protecting? Why the hell did I bother?"

"It isn't our problem anymore," said Veronica. "You did your job, and we were good while you were guarding us. Now we need you to defend and protect me, and now dad and Audrey."

"It's just..." he was in agony trying to form the words that would describe the reason for his anger without sounding childish. "I... am... so... angry that they put me out, just because I can't run... I was a shop chief, and a damn good one... Do you realize how much money this cost us when they turned me out before I reached 20 years? My retirement is a fraction of what it should be..."

"We don't need the money; I just need you..." She gently touched his arm, and she felt the tension drain out of him. His body relaxed; he eased his fileting knife into the sheath, and he handed it to her. She didn't take the knife, instead she opened his tackle box and after a pause he placed the knife in the tackle box where it belonged. Veronica felt Josh trembling and realized that he was close to having a melt-down and she looked him in the eye, "We are going to be ok, whatever it takes, ok?"

Josh nodded and responded to her kisses but remained silent.

"Well, come on, come and have breakfast and we'll go look at our wedding chapel, you don't have to talk, we'll go look at a bit of the property you haven't looked at before. That always cheers you up."

After a sadly quiet breakfast, Josh, Veronica, Audrey, and Mike took a ride in the golf cart to inspect Veronica's find while Terri remained behind saying that she had something to do. At the pavilion they saw that what Josh thought was a picnic pavilion and ignored pending other concerns, just might be a chapel, or an outdoor classroom, or a meeting hall. Stout upright logs held aloft a peaked roof above a dirt floor with a raised stage at one end. Inside and outside of the pavilion there were rows of logs set vertically into the ground and rose to about two feet like stumps, The outside stumps were weather rotted but those under the roof were in good shape although they were mostly hidden by the weeds. "I'll bet you that these held up benches."

"You think?" asked Veronica.

"Yeah," said Josh as he considered them. "Yeah, set a two by twelve across like this," he said as he laid a long stick across a pair of posts. "Now look, you have about eight rows of benches and an aisle down the middle." He looked around and nodded, "we just need some lumber and a Weed Wacker."

"Ok, I've decided on the venue," said Veronica firmly. "When do the leaves start to turn? I want a fall wedding." He was starting to warm up, she sighed happily.

"Terry said you found a diamond ball too," said Audrey.

"Over here," They walked through the path to the open area with the chain link fence, "I think you're right, come on help me look," said Veronica and as they looked through the weeds Audrey and Mike walked around with them searching for evidence of what this area was.

Josh called out, "Found it! Home plate!" and sure enough, there was the hard rubber pentagon, showing its age, but it was still there. The four gathered around artifact like they found a key to a deep mystery.

"Do you remember how far you have to go?" Mike asked Veronica.

"Fifteenteen paces," she smiled as she stood on home plate.

"Step it off honey," said Mike and he gave her a little league pat on the butt sending her on her way.

"One... two... three..." she counted taking big steps straight back into the field covered with brush, long grass, and not a few saplings. "...thirteen ...fourteen ... fifteen." She stopped and looked down and looked around then cried "Here it is!" she stepped a few feet to her left and a pace back toward home plate. "Found it!"

Josh stepped up and saw that she was standing on a plank of rubber. The Pitchers' Rubber. "You look comfortable here," said Josh.

"Best damn softball pitcher in the southside city little league!" grinned Mike.

Just then the rumble of a tractor came to them, and they looked toward the main road and saw Andi Jarecki driving up on an orange Kubota tractor. "Someone said you need a brush hog," called Andi. Attached to the back of the tractor was a device perfect for what they need, a brush hog which truly is a weed whacker from hell. Andi found a ditch crossing that Josh never noticed before and brought the tractor with brush hog on to the ball diamond and Andi shut the tractor down. This was a true testament of love that Paul has for his diminutive wife that he would allow her to drive off with his beloved Kubota tractor and his favorite implement to cut some brush he's never looked at.

Andi hopped off and said, "Whatta ya got here?"

"Looks like we found a ball diamond, Doc," said Mike and gave her a good layout of how big he suspected the diamond to be.

"Let's take a look and make sure there's nothing you don't want me chopping up, I brought a few rakes," said Andi as she untied the rakes from the brush hog.

"What are we looking for?" asked Audrey.

"Oh, you know, stuff, garbage. Jerks toss out tons of garbage. Cans and bottles, we can pay for the gas for this jaunt on deposit returns... I don't know... third base? An old umpire? Disgruntled fans?"

While Veronica sped back to the took shed to grab a weed whacker and a chain saw to knock back the saplings and a few garbage bags, Josh, Mike and Audrey started poking through the undergrowth and found quite a few cans and bottles and stacked them up on the side where Andi would avoid them. They also found several metal fence posts hiding among the saplings and a long stretch of knocked down chain link fence. Now Josh was starting to get excited, they could put this fence back up! He tended to worry about intruders coming in through the woods uninvited.

Then Andi climbed up on the Kubota and fired it up, lowered the brush hog, engaged the PTO and went to work on the field. The brush hog roared and groaned and atomized the bushes, weeds, and saplings to tiny, tiny chips. She worked the edge of the field first and trimmed away all the overgrown weeds and saplings growing up through the fallen chain link and while she was trimming the rest of the field, Josh, Mike and Audrey propped the chain link up against its ancient supports while Veronica ran back to the garage for a spool of fencing wire and a pair of pliers to hold the chain link fence up.

Josh was going to run back but Andi said "No, we need you here to supervise," she stood up and pointed to Veronica, "You go blondie." Josh didn't see the wink, but Veronica did, and she rushed off to hop on the golf cart before Josh could react. She retrieved the wire and pliers wondering what the tiny doctor was winking about but when she came out of the garage, there was a crowd around the porch of her cabin, all the Friedmans (Friedmen?) were there as well as Paul, John, Macy and the twins.

"What's going on?" she asked Terri who was setting up a stereo.

"Why doesn't Josh fly a flag? There's nothing wrong with this flagpole," said Terri in reply.

"I don't know, I asked him once, but he didn't say anything," replied Veronica.

"We plan to find out, give us a blow on the whistle when you're ready to head back for lunch," said Paul and with a wave of her hand Veronica headed back to the ball field.

They worked cleaning up the ball diamond and found it could be used for a nice pickup game of ball with the addition of bases and a pair of foul poles. Andi cut a path through the underbrush to the Pavilion, putting a nice curve in the path to prevent guests from having a direct line of sight to the pavilion until they were almost on top of it. "Let's go back for lunch," called Veronica and she blew a long note on her whistle, and they headed back in the golf cart with Andi following on the Kubota tractor.

When they got to the cabin the entire Friedman family and both Jarecki families were all standing and looking at the flagpole. Morgan and David were laughing for some reason, and the twins were glaring at them like angry mothers. Billie was standing at the flagpole, her arms filled with colored cloth and Paul Jarecki, a retired Lieutenant Colonel stood on the other side of the pole from her holding the lanyard. In a voice that would put many first sergeants to shame, Paul called out, "HAND SALUTE!"

As soon as he did that, Macy Jarecki hit play on a portable stereo and suddenly the air was filled with the national anthem. All of the participants placed their hands on their hearts and Paul began to raise the flag. It was a big American flag that caught the light breeze and filled out as it rose and connected to the lanyards below it was a crimson flag with a large letter G for the university of Georgia. The Dawgs.

Startled by the sudden ceremony Josh stood with his hand on his heart (it's still hard not to salute) and watched the flag catch the breeze as Paul tied off the lanyard and placed his hand on his heart. "Terri wanted to cheer you up," whispered Veronica.

"Shhh," said Paul, it may be a little late in the day and impromptu, but it is still a flag ceremony. With his free hand he pulled her close. Finally at the end of the anthem, Paul called "Ready TOO!" thankfully nobody cried "Play Ball!" as their hands dropped to their sides.

Andi came up and nudged Josh, "the university of Georgia flag was a Christmas present but it got lost and we found it a week ago."

"It's beautiful, thanks." Josh couldn't believe how much this meant to him, he gazed at the flags for a long time. He finally thanked everyone for coming as Marj, Macy, and Veronica started to put together the picnic lunch for the gang, hotdogs, potato salad and cupcakes for Linda's birthday. He started to seek out Terri in the crowd when he felt a tug at his leg, looking down it was little Madeline, the quiet twin. She held her hands up showing she wanted to be lifted up. He scooped the tiny child up and said "What's up little one? You never want me to pick you up."

"Auntie Terri said you were sad," said the tiny girl.

"Yeah, a little. But I'm better now. You cheered me up."

Madeline nodded at him. "Don't. Be. Sad." And she punctuated each word with the shake of a tiny fist with a tiny finger extended. Then she looked around and said, "Down."

"I guess she told me," Josh said to Veronica after he set Madeline down and they watched the tiny moppet run off to reunite with her sister.

"It's a hard lesson, but someone had to teach you."

They joined the gang who was seating children at the picnic table and feeding them. The meal was filled with laughter as the kids planned an afternoon of hiking in the woods. As they ate, Josh stood and said, "I want to thank you all for the flag ceremony, it truly means a lot to me."

"Why don't you ever put the flag up?" asked Terri making sure everyone could hear her ask.

"Because if you lift it too high the snaffle gets caught in the pulley."

Terri looked up at the tall, tall pole with the two flags now hanging limp without a breeze. "Shit," which brought a chorus of heckling from the kids, "You said a bad word!"

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

After a day spent giving the kids rides on the pontoon boat and leading nature walks through the woods, a bonfire was set by the pond and the Friedman family sat around the fire toasting marshmallows and singing songs. Audrey and Mike sat side by side on the porch of their cabin watching the fun across the pond, the fire reflected against the glassy surface of the pond and occasionally when Ant sets off a firework it was magical to watch the rocket arch skyward, its trajectory echoed on the surface of the pond. Occasionally a pop or a bang echoed from across the road at Paul and Andi's cabin.

"Knock, knock!" called Veronica in a singsong voice as she and Josh stepped around the corner of the cabin. "Would you mind some company?"

"Not at all," said Mike, "Pull up a chair. Care for some coffee?"

"No thank you, no coffee for me," said Josh as he and Veronica opened a pair of folding chairs and sat close to each other.

"I'm good, thank you dad," said Veronica. She suddenly got very serious. "Dad, we need to talk to you about something."

"I think I know what you're going to say," said Mike. "And we've already made up our minds..."

"Dad please, listen to Nica," said Josh, and he placed his hand on Mikes hand.

Mike stopped suddenly and his eyes softened. "My mom used to call her Nica."

"And she calls me Effi, which is what my grandmother used to call me."

"Daddy, Audrey, please." Veronica took a deep, shaking breath. "Effi and I have been watching you and Audrey since the day you met, and we saw that spark..." She slid out of her chair and crouched down in front of her dad and held his hand. "What I'm trying to say is that whatever happens with you two we want to be there to help, and if you want other kinds of help Macy said she'd be available. She's a trained psychologist and can provide counseling. All we want is to be your help, your partners."

Mike and Audrey were speechless, they didn't know what to say. "We thought you were going to throw us out," Audrey finally said.

"We want to help," said Josh. "We don't throw family away, you and Audrey are more than welcome in our house, in our cabins. We love you, and we can't lose you."

"But what if," Mike was having trouble forming the words. "Things happen and... uhh..."

"Babies?" asked Veronica.

Audrey nervously nodded yes, "I wasn't raised umm... normally. I don't know how to do it right..."

"I don't either," admitted Josh. "The only way I knew how to avoid beatings was to mow lawns until I had money to buy my folks some whiskey, which was the only thing that would make them happy."

Veronica shuddered at the thought of the shattered home life that Josh somehow survived. "We will figure it out. Daddy raised me and did a pretty good job, momma left not long after I was born, and daddy did it all."

"Does that answer your questions dad?" Josh asked.

Mike's voice shuddered with relief as Audrey leaned on him, the joy on their faces was contagious. "Thank you son, thank you baby," he said as he patted Veronica's hand. "I'm sure more questions will pop up in the future, thank you so much. We've been trying to hide our feelings for each other... finally this weekend we decided to stop hiding what we felt, to just be us and we prayed you didn't kick us out."

"Oh, I'm sorry daddy, it must have been horrible for you, cried Veronica as she hugged Audrey and her father."

"You know," said Josh, "If you're so inclined, we can make extra space at the altar in September."