© 2024 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

This story was crafted for the 2024 April Fools contest. It is a standalone story and leans on no other stories for its content, although for followers' enjoyment it will mention other characters. For those interested in the Stormwatch timeline, this story occurs fifteen months after StormWatch - A Party of Four and shortly after StormWatch - The Love Boat.

StormWatch - Dirty Pool

The Alberta Clipper sets sail for Buffalo

Beautiful Veronica Gravely was having lunch in the lunchroom of the Andalon Network Services building. She had just returned from a quick visit out west to spend time with friends they met on a cruise in January. Veronica was a stunningly beautiful woman with thick, flowing dark blond hair, which was sporting a new reddish tint. Slim, yet curvy, with large breasts. She was a former beauty pageant winner, and she looked the part. She had that classic beauty, a young Elizabeth Taylor beauty about her. A beauty that often stopped the thought processes in men, especially the thought processes in business adversaries, which she and her boss Anthony Freidman took advantage of with skill and ease.

Veronica was sitting alone, staring at an open tablet, seeing the words on the screen but not paying attention to them. She was the picture of loneliness as she slowly munched the salad her 24 year old stepmother packed for her. How many men in the lunchroom sneaking desirous glances at her would be shocked to find that if they sat down and talked with her, they would find that she was just one of the gang? She was raised by a single dad on a diet of softball in the street, football on the front lawn, and frisbee in the park. Despite her heart stopping beauty, Veronica was camping, fishing, cold beer, and listening to the Buffalo Bills on the radio while you raked the leaves. She truly was one of the guys if you gave her the chance.

"So, how was Minnesota?" asked Terri McCarthy as she sat down next to Veronica and nearly frightened her to death. Terri was a cute, bubbly computer technician with short black hair and "mousy" facial features. She worked for Veronica's husband Josh, building and deploying servers on the company network. When hearing that friends that they made on a cruise were pregnant, Veronica and Josh flew out to visit them in Minnesota. Veronica was back to work and Terri was back to her adoration of Veronica.

"It was cold," said Veronica, who was still trying to get over Terri's sudden appearance.

"I heard that about Minnesota. It's near Saskatchewan, right?" She picked a mushroom out of Veronica's salad and popped it into her mouth.

"No, it's near Ontario, and you should know that, you're Canadian," said Veronica as she longingly looked at the bag of chips that Terri opened. Salt and vinegar. They would go so good with a ham sub from Sorrentino's, thought Veronica.

"Can't be," said Terri as she took another slice of raw mushroom from Veronica's salad and left a salt and vinegar chip in front of Veronica as payment. "Minnesota is like a thousand miles away."

"That's right," said Veronica as she ate the chip and wished she had a Genesee Cream Ale to wash the chip and several of its buddies down. "Ontario goes all the way out to Manitoba."

"Whoa," said Terri, her eyes wide in shock at the size of her home province. Like many of her generation, Terri's command of geography was left up to Google Maps.

Just then, the owner and CEO of Andalon sat down at the table with Terri and Veronica. Anthony Friedman was a 'hands on' kind of manager. He let his supervisors supervise, but he was always in the know, especially when it came to the hardware of his company. He put a hand on Terri's shoulder and said, "How's that blade server for Winston Financial coming?"

"It's all configured. It's on the test stand now getting the Virtual Machines loaded up."

"There ya go. I knew you could do it." Smiling at Veronica, he asked, "How was Minnesota?"

"It was a blast, sir. Our friends Lanh and Kim-ly are so excited about their babies, and their older sister Tam pretends to be upset but she's hoping for a girl. All three sisters are pregnant at once. Wow." Veronica shook her head and smiled. "I'm really hoping we can get together with them for another cruise with Paul and Andi. We really hit it off." Paul and Andi were neighbors who owned a yacht, and they recently had a wonderful cruise on the neighbor's yacht and made some incredible friends.

"What is Mister Gravely doing?" asked Anthony. Josh had remained behind in Minnesota for a few extra days when Veronica returned to work.

"He's helping our friend Don rebuild the motor on an antique John Deere tractor," said Veronica as she packed up her lunch bag.

"Sometimes a battered veteran needs to spend time with his brothers," said Ant and Anthony was known to his friends.

Both Don Campbell and Josh Gravely were seriously wounded veterans, and they bonded the moment they met on the cruise months ago. When Andi, Paul, Josh, and Veronica went to visit Don and his wife Lanh on their dairy farm, Don mentioned he was rebuilding a 1940 John Deere model A tractor and Josh jumped in to help and after that Veronica didn't see her husband except when he and Don took meal breaks from their labor of love. Now Veronica knows what to get Josh for his birthday.

"They really do," said Veronica. "He and Josh were talking about a family campout this summer."

"I'm happy to hear that," said Anthony. Ant and Josh had become good friends since Ant hired him, and Anthony was worried about Josh's emotional wellbeing occasionally. As he stood to leave, Ant said, "Mrs. Gravely, our one o'clock is now our one forty-five. Any problems with that?"

Veronica opened the leather cover of her tablet and glanced at their schedule. "For once, this works out better than originally scheduled." Veronica was Anthony's executive assistant, and she had as much say in the company as any of the vice presidents.

"See you then, oh, and Terri, do you think you can pull StormWatch this weekend?"

Stormwatch was a pain in the ass, but it was paid overtime even for salary workers. A manager in the hardware department would stay overnight during bad weather and monitor the 'server farm' and keep the emergency exits clear. If there was any problem with frozen pipes, blocked exits, hung servers, power outages, or anything that would affect their customers' experience, the person with the bright orange StormWatch access badge did everything they could do to get it fixed.

"Stormwatch?" asked Terri. "Isn't that for managers?"

Ant stroked his chin. "Let's talk about that in my office." Looking even more terrified than she did earlier when she thought Yi was an HR Headhunter, she followed Anthony into his office.

As the door closed behind Terri, Veronica got up and dashed to the open office area where over a dozen programmers worked. "Mateo, come on. You're needed."

Without questioning the beautiful company officer, Mateo Buran logged off his workstation and followed Veronica. When Mrs. Gravely talks, you listen. She led Mateo to the main entrance waiting area where several comfortable chairs and couches were arranged outside of "Officer Row." Five offices were set up in a row. The CEO, Veronica's office, then the Vice Presidents of Sales, VP of Accounting, and VP of Legal. "Stand right here and wait," said Veronica, then she and Yi backed away and stood off to the side. A couple of minutes later, Anthony's door opened and put an end to Mateo's confusion.

Terri backed out of the office saying, "Yes sir, I will sir, and thank you sir!" Then she turned and saw her boyfriend standing there waiting for her and she squealed at the top of her lungs and flew into his arms. "Ijustgotapromotion!" she cried "I'mJosh'sassistant inchargeofserverdeployemnt!" The words came too fast for human comprehension.

"Slow down!" laughed Mateo. Mateo was a laid-back young man. He was practically the opposite of Terri. Where she was bubbly and easily excitable, Mateo was calm and deliberate in everything he did. While Terri loved the pressure and hard work of deploying a new server or bringing a customer online for the first time, Mateo loved nothing better than line after line of properly formatted computer code.

"I got a promotion!" gushed Terri. "I'm the assistant manager of server development and deployment."

"Congratulations!" he said, and he picked her up and spun around with her.

"I have Stormwatch this weekend. We're supposed to have an Alberta Clipper," she said with a frown.

"Alberta is on the other side of the continent," said Mateo.

"It is? I thought it was near Montana. Anyhow, an Alberta Clipper is what they call it when the jet stream dips down and kicks your ass, eh?" said Terri, a true ditz.

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Veronica had a busy day. It was a lot of work getting back up to speed after nearly a week off. Normally when she takes time off, she keeps updated with the company business, but spending a week on a dairy farm and hanging out in their friends' Pho restaurant was just so nice and peaceful, she didn't want to get back involved with the pressure of Andalon until she had to. She ended up paying for that relaxation with a gigantic stack of work that was waiting for her. She received several text messages from Josh throughout the day, letting her know the progress on the tractor motor.

That evening she got home to her dad, Mike, his twenty-four-year-old nurse/lover/wife Audrey and their son, Mike Jr., and reacquainted herself with her normal life, but without Josh. Four month old Mike Jr. was happy to see his big sister, and they ended up falling asleep together on the couch and had to be awakened for dinner. "You didn't have to make dinner for me," said Veronica as Audrey gently roused her.

"I didn't. Your dad wanted to make you dinner. He says he misses cooking for you."

"That's so sweet. I missed you guys."

"You were only gone a week," said her dad as Audrey took the sleeping baby and they sat down to dinner. "It's not like you were swept off to Oz or something."

"It's just so different from what I do, it kind of is like Oz." then she thought about the property that she and her husband owns, a cabin in the woods far from the maddening city. "But it was also very familiar."

The next couple of days at work she was slammed, rarely getting home before 7 or 8 PM. Audrey would have dinner made for her, but she insisted that Audrey and Mike eat at a respectable hour and not wait for her.

"Josh will be home tomorrow. I'm going to pick him up at the airport after work," said Veronica. "We will probably have dinner in town."

"We'll be gone by the time you get home," said Mike as he cradled Little Mike. "Your Aunts Darla and Lana want to see their newest nephew."

"Your sisters finally got over the shock of having a sister-in-law a third of their age?" asked Veronica.

"I guess so," said Audrey. "But I'm still worried." The young mother looked anxious.

"Don't worry," said Veronica. "Life happens. Nothing is perfect. If Darla gets snotty, ask her when her parents' wedding was."

"When?" gushed Audrey.

"About two months after she was born," said Mike as he patted the hand of his young wife. "We are not the black sheep of the family."

"You guys fit right in. How long are you staying down there? The weather is supposed to turn crappy on Friday."

"Till Monday or Tuesday," said Mike.

Erie, Pennsylvania, was only about an hour and a half away, but Veronica worried about her dad. He's had a rough life and she and Josh wanted to make his remaining years memorable. (Which Audrey was doing nicely) It's not a hard winter drive, but she said, "if you need any help at all, I want you to call me." Veronica noticed they weren't taking her seriously. "I'm sincere! I don't want to see my kid brother freeze to death."

Veronica's relationship with her dad Mike, his wife Audrey, and their baby, Little Mike, was interesting. Her Dad, Mike, was a retired welder, and his wife, Veronica's mother, left him when Veronica was young, and cleaned out their bank accounts. The only thing that she left behind for Mike was a mortgage on an ancient house and two young girls to raise, Veronica and her older sister Magda. When Mike retired, he lost the house and moved into a nursing home, but Veronica's mom took every dime from his pension fund and the nursing home kicked him out. He was left disabled and homeless. Veronica's fiancé, Josh, immediately insisted on taking Mike into their home and caring for him.

The moment he said that, Veronica knew deep in her heart that she had chosen the right man.

Not long after that, a VP of Sales and Marketing, Brandon Mitchell and his wife Emily, tried to use Veronica in their very kinky lifestyle like they did to their daughter Audrey. They were trying to manipulate Andalon's IPO so the Mafia would take ownership of Andalon and, in return the Mitchell's gambling debts would disappear. But Veronica was on to them. She asked the VP and his wife to talk, and they met at a hotel where Brandon and Emily tried to use Veronica as a sex slave. However, Veronica had the room bugged and cops were waiting in the attached rooms and the Mitchells were arrested. Brandon had a lot of information on the Mafia that the feds wanted, so they spilled their guts and went into witness protection with their daughter Audrey.

Before all this, Audrey was like Veronica's kid sister: she was constantly at the Andalon office. She was her father's gofer, but she spent most of her time following Veronica around and running errands for her. She and Veronica became very close friends and when Veronica found that Audrey's parents were using her for a sex toy, Veronica was devastated. After Audrey 'escaped' from witness protection, she returned to college and continued her nursing classes, and did amazingly well. Veronica and Josh hired her to care for Mike, and the two fell in love. Audrey became Mike's lover, and before Little Mike was born, she became his wife. "This doesn't bother you?" Veronica recently asked Josh.

He just grinned at her and said, "What, that my retired father-in-law married his twenty-four-year-old nurse and now I'm changing my brother-in-law's diaper? Girl, I'm from South Georgia, of course it's unusual. I'm used to the bride being a close relative."

"Oh, stop!" she said as she slugged Josh. But his taking it in stride with gentle humor did more to ease her nerves than anything else.

She took Little Mike from Audrey's arms and cuddled her little brother. Josh was in Minnesota milking cows and rebuilding a two-cylinder John Deere engine and Veronica never felt so alone in her life.

"We'll be fine, and you'll have the entire house to yourself," said Big Mike.

"You guys need to go as soon as possible," said Veronica. "I don't want you guys on the road when this weather front hits."

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Josh Gravely alighted from United Airlines flight 617 in a surprisingly good mood. The flight actually landed in Buffalo early, and during the flight Josh didn't jump out of the emergency exit at thirty thousand feet. That's always the sign of a good flight.

The first thing he did when he got off the plane was take out his cell phone and make a quick call. "How did it go Ephraim?" came the female voice in his ear buds.

"It went great! Minneapolis to Chicago was a pain, but I didn't get really involved in the puzzle first. But Chicago to Buffalo was awesome. I was so deep into the puzzle that I didn't notice the flight at all."

"That's great," said Dr. Helen Lennox. "All we have to do is get that mind of yours focused on something other than flying."

"Aww, y'all jes try'n to learn this good ol' boy to talk 'American good." Josh had added his deep baritone southern drawl. Josh Gravely was tall and good looking, his dark brown hair was still cropped military style and his beard was trimmed close. He glanced through his book of New York Times crossword puzzles one last time, then stuffed it in his backpack. "Thank you for your encouragement, doc. I'm guessing I'll be making that flight again in December."

"Just because you're not flying, don't give up on your crossword puzzles. They're great mind exercises," said Helen, Josh's psychologist. "But this isn't a cure. This is just a trick to keep your mind busy. Your subconscious can catch on at any moment." Josh has had an issue with flying ever since he had, as he puts it, an AC-130 shot out from under him. He lost a good friend and almost died as he rescued another friend, then was seriously wounded in a very rough landing. After that incident Josh became afraid to fly. He would get drunk before his flight, but as his fear and psychosis worsened, the alcohol made it worse. Eventually he was convinced to speak to Dr. Lennox, and she was able to help him deal with his terror. This was the first solo flight he's taken since he was still in the Air Force and was shipped home from his assignment in Korea.

"Thank you again, doc. You saved an entire planeload of people from my usual theatrics." He pocketed his phone and, dragging his carry-on, he hurried to the main terminal. He stepped outside and waited for Veronica, who was just now pulling into the airport. Soon Josh's "Almost Olive Drab" Jeep Gladiator pickup truck stopped, and he threw his bags in the back of the truck. There at the cab, an exhausted-looking Veronica awaited him. "Oh, my poor baby," crooned Josh as he took her in his arms. They kissed passionately and held each other close. It was the longest separation of their relationship, and it was painful for both of them.

They kissed among the swirling snow in the freezing temperatures. "God, I missed you Nica," said Josh between kisses.

"I'm so happy you're home, Effi," purred Veronica. Their pet names, Nica and Effi, were pet names that their grandmothers used for them, and it was the subject of the first conversation they ever had. These love names bound them together and just hearing Josh call her Nica rekindled her already blazing love for him. Josh led Veronica to the passenger side of the truck and held the cab door open for her.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Famished," said Veronica. She was so busy with work that she missed breakfast and lunch.

"I know a place not far that I've been dying to try," said Josh and he put the Jeep pickup in gear, and they were off. They drove north on Cayuga road through some of the oldest houses in the town of Amherst, New York. "So did Anthony accept my proposal to promote Terri?" asked Josh.

"He promoted her on Tuesday. As I was talking with Terri, he called her into his office and told her. She's pulling Stormwatch this weekend."

"Do you think she'll convince Mateo to stop in on Saturday?" chuckled Josh. Terri was like a daughter to him, and it was fun to watch her grow into her job and mature as an engineer. They turned onto Main Street in Williamsville and, just a couple of blocks away, they stopped at the oldest building in the village, the Eagle House.

Built in 1827, the Eagle House has been serving food and drink to travelers since it opened. It was once an overnight stop for stagecoaches heading in and out of Buffalo, and in the 1840s and 1850s, it was a stop on the Underground Railroad. "This is so nice!" gushed Veronica as they entered. They could have stepped back in time 150 years. The furnishings and the ambiance were as historically accurate as possible. On one side of the room was an immense stone fireplace and a wood fire crackled and snapped inside of a glass front wood stove insert. The flames danced slowly and hypnotically on the logs of maple and oak.

"Where would you like to sit?" asked the hostess. "We have a table near the fire."

"Perfect," said Josh and soon they were sipping wine and reviewing the menu when an obviously drunk man stepped up to the table and just stood there looking down at them. "Can I help you?" said Josh, a bit perturbed.

"You're new here," the drunk slobbered. "I'm Dan."

"I'm Josh, and this is my wife Veronica," said Josh, trying to be polite.

"Ronnie?" said Dan. He thought for a moment, then said, "I know Ronnie."

Just as Josh was about to say something, another man came up and tried to get Dan to return to their table. "Come on, Dan."

"No," said the drunk. "This is Ronnie... I know her from somewhere."

"You don't know her. Come on, Dan."

Then Josh stood up and tried to reason with them and another man came up and said, "Is that Ronnie?" The four men looked at each other, then on perfect pitch in perfect four-part harmony, they started singing.

"If you knew Ronnie

Like I know Ronnie

Oh, Oh, Oh what a gal

There's none so classy

As this fair lassie

Oh, Oh, Holy Moses, what a chassis..."

The four men sang the old, funny, Eddie Cantor song that they changed just for her, and Veronica laughed and clapped as they sang. At the end, they slowed down and transitioned to the first song that Josh and his barbershop harmony buddies serenaded her with.

Let me call you sweetheart. I'm in love with you.

Let me hear you whisper that you love me too

Keep the love light glowing in your eyes so true

Let me call you sweetheart. I'm in love with you.

As they hit the last, perfect note, the harmonics of the diminished seventh chord actually generated a fifth voice, and the restaurant rang with their creation. All the diners in the restaurant applauded and Josh kneeled in front of Veronica and presented her with a perfect red rose. They kissed, then Veronica gushed, "Oh you guys," as tears formed in her perfect eyes. The other patrons of the Eagle House continued to applaud while Veronica stood and hugged Josh's friends. "What's the big occasion?"

Josh, Dan, Bill, and the tenor Westley looked at her in shock. Then the three barbershoppers walked off without saying a word, shaking their heads. "What? What's going on?" asked Veronica. Something was up. She was getting used to their sense of humor.

"Nothing," said Josh, pretending that he was holding back the disappointment. Actually, he was sure that she wouldn't remember, and he was right.

"Tell me, what is going on?" she demanded. "If you don't tell me, I'm going to order a boiled horse steak in Russian and make a big fuss..." She spoke enough Russian to do that.

"What were you doing five months ago today?" asked Josh.

"I was..." she thought back and counted the months. "We were getting married... we're celebrating our five-month anniversary?" Josh nodded happily and handed her a menu.

"I thought we were celebrating every month," he said.

"We are?" she asked.

"Well... yes. We had a nice one-month anniversary on November 30." Veronica nodded. They went to Manhattan that weekend. "And we had a really big party in December," he continued.

"That was New Year's Eve!" Veronica insisted.

"And a great party in January..."

"We were on a cruise with Andi and Paul! The entire week was a party."

"And we had a nice, quiet little celebration last month," he said.

"That was my birthday!" Then she started laughing at Josh's dizzy logic. "What do you have planned for next month?"

"I was thinking of renewing our vows."

"You're so silly," she laughed. It was so wonderful to be back together. They were only apart for a few days, but it felt like he was gone for months. It was like a huge part of her was torn away and left in Minnesota.

"I can't wait to spend some time with Little Mike," said Josh with a sigh. His tiny brother-in-law was becoming a big part of his life.

"You're going to have to wait for a few more days for that. Dad and Audrey are in Erie."

"And they took Little Mike with them? That's awful selfish of them."

Veronica could barely hold back her laughter as the waiter took their orders. It was so good to have him home; it was like all her smiles were gone with him for a week. Veronica had the banana pepper chicken (chicken breast stuffed with gorgonzola spinach stuffing, breaded and topped with banana pepper sauce and a cool tomato balsamic compote) and Josh had the haddock casino (haddock topped with garlic toasted breadcrumbs, sweet pepper, onion, and bacon) "And can I get two small containers of the casino to go?"

"The casino?" asked a waiter.

"A friend has two little girls, and they love clams casino without the clams." Casino dressing is a specially flavored stuffing that when mixed with chopped clams and served on a clam shell becomes Clams Casino, another gastronomic delicacy loved in Western New York.

"I'll ask the chef," and the waiter headed back to the kitchen.

"So, how were things at work while I was gone?" asked Josh. Even though they work just a few feet from each other, they see two different worlds at Andalon. Veronica deals with the Big Picture: the contracts and the business owners. Josh deals with the hardware and the software and the customer's employees that make the system work.

"Winston Financial is finally coming together," she said. "We finally got the contract ironed out, and I got the high-speed connectivity set up. Terri started putting blade servers together for them yesterday. Kissing Bridge Emergency Hospital just got a new CT scanner and thought it would just magically connect to our system. It took me days to straighten out that contract." Poor Veronica had an enormous pile of work waiting for her when she got back from Grant Valley, Minnesota, and like always, she dove in headfirst and tried to get everything completed on her first day back.

"Nicca," said Josh softly as he took her hand, "You can't fix everything all at once. Take your time, give your assistant some of the load."

"My assistant? Who is that?" she demanded.

"Anthony."

When he named the CEO of their company, Veronica started laughing. "He wasn't here while we were gone. There was a Sci-Fi convention in Pittsburgh... you probably know the rest of the story."

Josh sure did. Their boss, Anthony, is a diehard Star Trek and Babylon 5 fan. "So, who was running the company while we were gone?"

"Terri." Josh rolled his eyes. That was a scary thought, leaving Terry in charge of the company, but Veronica was kidding. There is a skilled management team above Terri and Josh. Terri and Josh are the worker bees that get the dreams and schemes to work. Their talk continued when their food came, and they ate. Every bite, every morsel was perfect. When it was time to say goodbye, the manager arrived with two small foam containers of the casino stuffing used on the haddock casino. "Thank you very much," said Josh.

"Thank you for the serenade you provided for us," said the manager as they got their coats.

"It's just something the boys do when Veronica and I want to be alone." It was snowing outside, and the temperature started dropping. "This is an unusual place," said Josh. "The winter doesn't really seem to hit until February. The worst storms I've seen have been in March."

Veronica watched the snow spiral down and said, "my dad always told me that if you wanted snow for Christmas, give your kid a bike. If you didn't want snow, give them a sled."

Josh couldn't wait to get home. Up in the hills in Springville, they get much more snow than down here near Buffalo. Since getting a pair of snowmobiles and a couple of pairs of cross-country skis, Josh and Veronica have become real snow enthusiasts. But mostly there was a matter of a reunion with Veronica. He could not wait to get her home. With Mike and Audrey gone, they could have sex anywhere in the house. "What are you thinking?" asked Veronica.

"Truth?" said Josh as he helped her get into the truck. "A blowjob in front of the fireplace would be so nice right now."

"That is entirely possible," said Veronica, but as the heater in the truck filled the cab with warm air, her eyelids grew heavy...

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Veronica woke to the sound of children. "What the..." She looked at her watch. It was on the charging stand and said that it was 12:30 pm. She slept the entire night away? She missed the reunion sex with Josh? It was the first good night's sleep she's had in a long time, but she didn't want a good night's sleep. She wanted a full night's sex. His side of the bed was empty, and she heard the call of a seven-year-old girl calling, "Uncle Josh!" The twins were here.

Josh dressed her in her favorite flannel nightgown, so she got up, ran a quick brush through her thick locks, then pulled on a robe and went downstairs. The sounds of children's laughter were even louder and when she got downstairs, she found that her living room was filled with children. There were the seven-year-old Jarecki twins, Sandy and Madeline, and with them were their year old brother Danny and their year old cousin Katrina. The governess Yi, and Katrina's mom Macy were out for a walk in the snow and stopped by. The cause of the laughter was the twins watching Danny and Katrina trying to walk while wearing all their snow gear. Danny and Katrina could only waddle two steps before falling on their bums.

Yi was a beautiful Korean/American woman who was their neighbor's executive chef and the governess for their children. She's also 'sort of married' to Kenny, the owner of the local feed and farm supply store.

Katrina's mother, Macy, was a beautiful French Canadian black woman and was probably the most accomplished woman Veronica had ever met. She had two doctorates (theology and psychology) and she saved Josh's life. In the depths of his despair, she introduced him to Doctor Helen Lennox, a specialist who was successfully treating him for his PTSD.

"You shouldn't laugh," said Veronica to the laughing twins. "Your mother told me that you didn't walk until you were two and a half years old."

Sandy turned to Madeline, and they spoke for a moment in their own private language that their parents called "TwinBabble" and then Sandy answered Veronica, "It's because we didn't have anywhere to go."

"That's awesome. I have to write that one down," said Josh, trying not to laugh. "Oh! I have a treat for you two." He handed Yi a plastic bag with two Styrofoam containers.

Yi opened a container and saw the dressing and tasted it. "That's interesting... what is it?"

The twins stealthily snagged a pinch each and tasted it. "Crams!" they cried and tried to grab the container from Yi.

"It's the dressing from clams casino without the clams. The twins will eat it all day long."

"Good to know. Don't! You'll spoil your lunch!"

"Awww..." huffed the twins in unison.

"We need to go," said Yi as she scooped up Danny.

"Glad to see you back," said Macy, who lunged to capture Katrina. The little imp had scooted away on hands and knees.

"It's good to be back where it's relatively warm," said Josh. "The high Wednesday in Minnesota was forty degrees below zero."

Yi was shocked at the sound of a temperature that low, but Macy grew up in Quebec and spent quite a few cold winters up there. Forty below happened often for Macy in her youth. She scooped up her daughter Katrina, and they headed out the door. "Thanks for stopping by!" said Josh as he stood on the porch in the blowing snow, the steam rising from his coffee. After arranging the kids on two plastic sleds, Yi and Macy waved goodbye and headed up the street. Their house was only two blocks away.

"Well," said Josh as he and Veronica settled down together on the couch. "What would you like to do?"

"I was kind of hoping to go to the cabin and fire up the snowmobile," said Veronica, "but I don't know if the road is going to be open. What would you like to do?"

"That sounds like fun, but I've had enough cold right now. Wanna play pool?"

"We haven't shot pool in a while," said Veronica. "I was thinking about something more intimate."

"Lesbian rules," said Josh with a twitch of his eyebrows.

Veronica smiled. Josh called them lesbian rules because, at one point, Veronica was involved in a relationship with a woman who taught her to play pool. Rhiannon was a skilled teacher, she used sex as a reward or a penalty. She would lick Veronica to ecstasy if Veronica won, but if Veronica lost, Veronica would have to serve whatever sexy purpose Rhiannon could dream up. Veronica was at a place in her life where she wanted the companionship and sex, and having sex with a woman wasn't exactly what she wanted but there was no chance of pregnancy and Rhiannon never failed to get her off.

Veronica kissed Josh and said, "you know the rules, right?"

The rules were simple; it was APA rules eight ball. You played the best of seven games and to keep score; you wore four articles of clothing. Every time you lost a game, you took off one article of clothing and handed it to the winner. During play, you could do all you wanted to distract the other player, but you couldn't physically touch the other player or their stick after they leaned over to line up their shot, and then until their ball hit another ball or a rail. The first player naked became the willing sex slave of the winner.

"I'm going to go get dressed," said Veronica, and she dashed upstairs. Ever since she and Rhiannon tied up Josh and played a set of games for him to watch (Veronica ended up with Josh's cock in her mouth and Rhiannon's strap-on dildo in her pussy) Veronica wanted to play "Lesbian Pool" with Josh.

When they got married, she felt secure enough in their relationship to ask him to play, but they ended up with Mike, Audrey, and Little Mike in the house. They lived in the in-law suite in the basement, but Josh and Veronica kept their sex lives up on the second floor. Veronica was sure that Audrey wouldn't mind walking into a room and seeing her and Josh having sex. Audrey was just that kinky, but Mike wouldn't find it funny.

Audrey's sexual upbringing was quite advanced, and she was into a lot of kinky things thanks to her dad. The minute Audrey turned 18, her father and mother added her to their marriage bed. The sex was great, but the whole thing was very confusing to her. She definitely didn't like being paraded around and handed out as a party favor at swinger parties, but she developed a taste for older men, which probably explained how she fell in love with Mike. It definitely has to be love, thanks to his ex and his oldest daughter, Mike has nothing. "That's why I feel so secure with her love," laughed Mike. "I got nothing left for her to take but my love."

"You have your rowboat," kidded Josh once.

"That's your rowboat," said Mike. "But don't worry. I'm leaving it to you in my will."

Veronica came down the stairs in a low cut burgundy blouse and a pair of gray sweatpants. Like Josh, she was wearing warm, fluffy socks. The natural wood floor of the billiards room is quite cold on snowy, blustery days. Josh opened the curtains in the billiards room to let in the light, but all that could be seen outside was the swirling snow. "It reminds me of the day that we..." he let the statement "first made love" hang in the air.

"That was incredible," said Veronica as she looked out the window with Josh. "Why did we wait so long?"

"The weather was too nice. Ain't nothing better than sitting on your boss's desk, getting a blowjob during a blizzard," he grinned, and they kissed.

"I prefer getting fucked senseless on my boss's office furniture," said Veronica. They made love the first dozen times on Anthony's couch. Anthony actually gave them the couch from his office as a wedding present. It's now sitting in front of the fireplace in the cabin.

"Blizzard sex is the best."

"I wonder if Terri has fucked Mateo unconscious yet," speculated Josh as he racked the balls.

"She's been trying pretty hard to do just that," said Veronica. "Call it!" she said as she flipped a quarter in the air.

"Heads," called Josh. The coin hit the table and bounced once.

"It's heads," said Veronica. "You get to break."

Josh selected his favorite cue stick from the rack and placed the cue ball on the far left side of the "Kitchen Line" then lined up his shot. Veronica was standing on the other side of the pool table pretending to lick her cue stick like a cock, but Josh was in the zone. Nothing else existed except him, the cue ball and "the pocket." The pocket was just like in bowling, that spot between the head pin and the pin behind it. This was between the one ball and the striped ball behind it.

Josh unleashed a lightning strike that slammed into the pocket with an ear-splitting Crack! and scattered balls in all directions, but the eight ball was the one he watched. Done perfectly, this shot will sink the eight ball on the break. The eight ball was driven back. It hit the back rail with enough force that it caromed off and headed straight for a side pocket.

Veronica saw what he was watching and groaned. If he sank the eight ball on the break, he would win the game. It rolled straight as an arrow toward the side pocket, but at the last minute a lazily rolling two ball wandered in front of the eight ball and the eight ball knocked the two ball into the pocket. The eight ball came to a rest in front of the side pocket, effectively taking the side pocket out of play. "You almost got it that time," said Veronica. "You've been practicing."

"That's what we did in the evening in Minnesota. Don and I would shoot pool against his dad and his father-in-law at the American Legion. Those old guys were hustlers."

The game progressed with Josh shooting low balls, and Veronica shooting stripes. It had been a while since she played, so she was warming up. Lately, the pool table has only been used for folding laundry and changing Little Mike. "Why are you hitting your shots so hard?" asked Veronica. "Use a little finesse."

"Nah, power good!" growled Josh, and he unleashed a thunderbolt that drove the four ball into the pocket so hard it hopped back out.

"HA!" cried Veronica. They both know that a ball that comes out of the pocket remains on the table. "Power BAD, finesse good!" she said as she took a very careful shot down the full length of the table and gently pocketed the fifteen ball.

The game went on, Veronica and Josh trading points until Veronica cleared her seven balls and gently tapped the eight ball into the side pocket. "Pay up!" The loser chose which article of clothing to remove, so Josh took off his pants and was now wearing his boxer shorts.

He racked the balls while Veronica chuckled. "You know, a Genny Cream would go down so nice right now," he said as he racked up the balls. She sighed and walked out to the kitchen to get their beers, and as she left, Josh swapped out the cue ball for one he brought home with him from Minnesota. He finished racking the balls and took the cold Genesee Cream Ale from Veronica when she returned to the billiards room. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said as she sipped her beer, then she turned to shoot. When she lined up her shot to break, she saw Josh was standing at the other end of the table. He had pulled his cock out of his fly and his erect dick was practically waving at her ten feet away. "You..." she stifled whatever remark she was going to make.

Josh was gently chalking his cue stick and feigning innocence. "Pardon? Did I mis-rack the balls?" Veronica looked again. Now he had his balls hanging out, too. And he knows how much she loves his balls! She tried to shoot, but she miscued and had to try again. "Is there something that's distracting you, dear?"

She shook her head. "You're going down, redneck," she threatened.

"Yes ma'am. On your pussy, ma'am." His words went straight to her clit and Veronica's shot was woefully weak, and her break left a large cluster of balls in the middle of the table. Josh just thrust his hips, making his hard cock wobble and said, "Power good."

He dominated that game, picking his balls out of the cluster in the middle with well placed, solid strikes. Veronica eventually caught up as she used finesse and a gentle touch and ended up winning by the skin of her teeth. Josh removed his flannel shirt to reveal a white tank top. "That shirt doesn't say anything," she said. "It's probably the only shirt you have that doesn't have the name of a football team or an off color slogan." He even has a t-shirt that says I ❤ ️Pussy in huge letters with the silhouette of a small cat underneath.

"Fo the lahf of me, I know not what you mean," he said with the deepest southern accent he could conjure up.

Her next break was a good break, but Josh began kissing and caressing her and her game was slipping away. Veronica had two balls left and Josh had four, and she accidentally pocketed the cue ball. She called "ball in hand," as she got the cue ball out of the pocket.

"Yes, ma'am!" said Josh as he cupped his balls. He was having a riot driving her out of her mind. Usually, she's the one that was best at psychological warfare. She knows he's visually inspired, so she would often deep throat a dildo or caress and squeeze her breasts while he tried to line up a shot. It ruined his shot every time. But for some reason, he appeared to be winning the psychological warfare. Now he just had to win the game.

He took the cue ball from her and walked around and around the table, looking for a useful spot to place the ball. Finally, he set the cue ball down and slammed the eleven ball in the side pocket. That was quickly followed by the twelve, the fifteen, the nine and the eight. "I'll take my reward now if you don't mind, Ma'am?" and he held his hand out.

Veronica pulled her burgundy blouse off, revealing that she was wearing a clean white tank top also instead of a bra. Her erect nipples pressed against the light cotton material, and Josh's cock was suddenly hard again. Now the game was on. Josh broke to start game number four and his hands were all over her as they played. "I missed you so much in Minnesota," he whispered in her ear, nibbling on her earlobe as he teased her. His nibbles caused tingles that traveled through her body. "But I really missed you last night."

"I'm sorry," she said as she caressed his cock for the first time. Her hands traveled lightly up and down its length. "I'll make up for falling asleep."

"Oh, you know you will." His deep, southern baritone voice sent even more tingles through her as thoughts of how he planned his payback raced through her mind. She had no idea how low he would stoop to exact his revenge.

Josh had her so frustrated she couldn't hit anything. She no longer had control over the cue ball. She could hit short shots with no problem, but with mid-range shots she wasn't hitting the ball correctly and instead of hitting left of center to tap it to the right, she'd hit right of center sending it off in the wrong direction. Or missing completely. Or hitting one of Josh's balls, giving Josh a "ball in hand," allowing him to replace the cue ball wherever he wanted.

For his part, Josh was still slamming the cue ball as hard as he could. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective, and he used to be such a technician when he shot! He always calculated not only trajectory but the power behind the shot. Now it's full on power. And his hands! They roamed over her body, slipping up under her tank top to caress and gently heft her breasts. "You're driving me crazy," she groaned as she leaned back against Josh, his hands cradling her breasts, his fingers squeezing her nipples. She shuddered all over. It was HIM that was supposed to be distracted!

With trembling hands, she leaned over and lined up her shot. Her three ball was sitting in front of the corner pocket, an easy shot. She gave the cue stick a medium stroke and the cue ball gently veered right and tapped the eight ball as it rolled. That corrected its trajectory and sent it straight to the three ball, which dropped in the pocket! But so did the eight ball. "Pay up," said Josh with mock sorrow.

She slipped off her sweatpants and handed them to Josh, leaving her in a tank top that matches his (she took it from the same 3 pack he got his shirt from) and a very tiny pair of panties. He took his beautiful wife in his arms, and they kissed, his hands gently sliding over her round ass cheeks. When their lips parted, she looked deep into her husband's eyes and said, "You're cheating."

"In the words of WC Fields, anything worth having is worth cheating for. My break."

As Josh dug the balls out of the pockets and rolled them toward Veronica, she said, "WC Fields? You try to seduce me with the words of WC Fields?"

"How's this. 'Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.'"

"Jesse Ventura? Now you're quoting Jesse 'The Body' Ventura?" she demanded as she lifted the triangle after racking the balls.

"Now I am impressed," gushed Josh. "You know quotes from Jesse Ventura?"

"I did a photo shoot with him once," she said as Josh slammed home the cue ball and scattered the balls, sinking two stripes and a solid.

"I can't wait to see those breasts of yours," said Josh as he lined up a shot. "Have I ever told you how much I love your breasts?"

"Yes," she was trembling again.

"When I made you cum by stimulating your breasts, that was incredible," he said as he sank another ball. "I love how your nipples crinkle up when you're chilly, but I really love warming them up with my mouth when they're like that." He rose and spun and squeezed Veronica's breasts as he nibbled on her neck, quickly finding *that* spot that sends tingles through her body whenever he nips at her neck there. "God! You are beautiful! I am so jealous of Anthony getting to spend all those hours with you."

"You have me for the other sixteen hours of the day," she finally said. She was quickly becoming a quivering pile of mush. Rhiannon could never get her this hot and no other man came close.

"It's not enough," said Josh as he pulled Veronica in for a kiss that left her clit tingling and her empty pussy trying to clench something that wasn't there. "Your shot."

Both Josh and Veronica were so hot for each other by this time, they were ready to throw each other down and make wild, unrestrained love on the frigid wood floor. However, they're both extremely competitive, viciously so. Josh has even started running again because Veronica challenged him to "try to keep up," there was no way they would leave this match undecided, especially now that they were tied two to two.

Veronica figured out a way to cool off Josh as she lined up her next shot. "Were you as crazy about her tits as you are about mine?"

Josh knew that by saying "her" with that tone of voice, Veronica was referring to Yesenia, his ex-wife. Josh rarely spoke about Yesenia, all Veronica really knew about her was that Josh was madly in love with her, but after returning from a nine-month deployment he found her six months pregnant and had moved her "baby daddy" into base housing with her. "Yesenia didn't have tits, she didn't have breasts, she had moobs."

Veronica was laughing so hard she missed her shot. "Moobs... man boobs?"

"Massive boobs," said Josh as he lined up a shot. "Your breasts are works of art. They're perfect in every way. perfect size, perfect shape, just enough drop to shout to the world how perfect and natural they are. And your nipples, I wish I were a musician so I could write an aria to your nipples. With Yesenia... every time she ate a twinkie, it went right to her tits." His shot rocketed off the side rail and shot across the table where it slammed the fifteen ball into the corner pocket. However, the cue ball followed the fifteen into the pocket.

"It was terrifying," said Josh as he handed Veronica the cue ball. "I'd roll over in the night and there they were, threatening to suffocate me. And the nipples... her areola were as big around as a dinner plate and you couldn't tell were areola ended and nipple began. Why do you think I signed up for every mission where I could possibly die in some shit-hole on the other side of the earth?"

"My breasts don't threaten you?"

"No, your breasts love me, they're always so happy to see me." Josh ran a finger over an erect nipple and Veronica shuddered as he stirred up a thrill from that light touch that coursed through her body. "Are you ok?" he asked.

With a trembling hand, she lifted her beer and finished her Genesee Cream Ale. Somehow, she played him down to the eight ball. He continued to use the high-powered shooting that he started the match with, and BANG! He slammed the eight-ball home. "Pay up my dear," he said smugly.

No, not yet. She knew how much he loved her breasts, but not yet, and she handed him her panties.

That was a huge mistake. For everything he said about her magnificent breasts, he loved her pussy even more. As she racked the balls, he crouched behind her and licked her beautiful ass cheeks, getting closer and closer to her dripping wet pussy. She fought to control her whimpers. "Your break," she said in a wavering voice when she finished racking the balls.

He spread the round cheeks of her ass wide open, and his tongue danced lightly on her sensitive anus. She didn't move away; she didn't try. In fact, she placed her hands on the side rails and sighed. She knew better than to start this against Josh, but it felt so good! "Are you going to shoot?" she asked. She knew that was a mistake the moment she said it.

He stood up, his erection protruding through his shorts. He hugged her from behind, his cock oozing pre-cum slid between her legs. "I'll be shooting pretty soon," he said as he cupped her breasts and gnawed on her long, white neck.

"Bastard," she muttered, and she leaned back on him. The palms of his hands rubbed her nipples in circles, driving her crazy. At this rate, he's going to make her cum before this game is decided.

"W-would you like to call this game a draw and we can..."

"Heavens to Betsy no!" he said, and she wondered where that came from. "Let's finish, I think you're going to beat me." He walked to the 'kitchen' end of the table and, as he lined up his shot, she found her fingers drawn to her sopping pussy. With a BANG! Josh broke and sank three balls on the break, two stripe and one solid. He walked around the table and, as he passed Veronica, he spun her around and kissed her. Deep, possessive kisses that left her panting when he released her. Her nipples were rock hard, her clit tingling, and her pussy felt so horribly empty.

Josh took loud, powerful shots that ended with a ball dropping into the pocket he pointed to. Every time he slammed a ball home she could imaging his cock slamming home in her weeping pussy. Between each shot, he kissed Veronica, hot passionate kisses that reminded her of his desire for her. When his turn was done, he had just the bright yellow one ball and the black eight ball. "Your turn darling," he said as he swept her into his arms.

Veronica couldn't believe how good it felt to be in his arms, her man, the man she loved more than any other man on earth, and right now she was ready to kill him. Her hands were trembling, her head was spinning, and her juices were running down the inside of her thighs. He left her alone as she lined up for her shot on the eleven. Then she noticed he was standing next to the table in her line of sight. He was stroking his long, hard, thick cock. Her mind was filled with the memories of what that could do to her as it pounded away in her pussy. Veronica tried to clear her mind, but all she could think about was shoving him to the floor and lowering her pussy on that thick... hot...

Damn it, girl! Concentrate! She leaned over and concentrated on the cue ball, then noticed he had moved. Veronica took a deep shuddering breath and just as she was about to shoot she heard Josh whisper, "God how I missed the way you smell!"

Tap...

Veronica didn't hit the cue ball half as hard as she needed to. The cue ball rolled anemically for a foot where it encountered her target, the eleven ball, and died. Her target ball has to encounter something after being struck by the cue ball... another ball, a rail, a pocket, something. No, the eleven ball just lay there exhausted and confused. "Ooo, ball in hand!" said Josh. "That's got to hurt!"

She looked at the table in shock. She still had seven balls on the table, and he had the one ball and the eight ball. BANG! Now he only has the eight ball. He came up behind her and pulled her tight against his chest. "I love you," he whispered. As his tongue danced in her ear, his finger gently danced on her clit.

She rubbed her ass back on his cock and sighed, "God I missed you."

"One more shot," he whispered. "Eight ball, corner pocket." She didn't even try to distract him as he lined up his shot. She didn't watch as the cue ball rocketed from his stick, flew diagonally across the table and BANG! The eight ball dropped into the corner pocket and the cue ball rocketed back into Josh's hand like a trained puppy.

He turned to his beautiful wife and smiled. She took a deep shuddering breath and held out her tank-top t-shirt, which he took with surprising grace and humility and dropped it at his feet. The implication was clear. She dropped to her knees and there was his cock. God, how she missed it. He should have woken her up in the morning with a good, hard fuck. Josh clasped her head firmly, and Veronica opened her mouth wide. He eased the head of his cock into her mouth and gently started fucking. With a moan, she reveled in the taste and scent of her man as his big cock plundered her mouth. There was something undeniably hot about being used this way by the man she loved, and she was sure that if he was firmer with her, she could cum from being dominated like this.

Her tongue was incredible. It slipped and slithered over the sensitive underside of his cock while her hand caressed his balls. It was heaven; he was always surprised at the intensity of the thrills she could draw out of him. "Oh my god," he groaned. "So good!"

Suddenly, Josh pulled Veronica up to her feet and bent her over the pool table. He kicked her feet apart like a cop searching an arrested criminal that was bent over the car hood and he stepped between her legs. Josh spit in his hand and slickened his cock and leaned forward. Veronica felt the head of his cock searching. Josh pressed against her ass for a moment and in her super turned on condition she would have taken that too. He found the entrance to her pussy and, with a powerful thrust; he was suddenly sliding into her full length. "Uhhh," she groaned as she was spread open and stuffed so full. The game they played had her so hot that she was starting to cum as he fucked her as hard as he could.

"Yes!" she cried as he began slamming into her, over and over. He gripped her hips hard and hammered his cock into her, over and over. They were both crying out with each resounding thrust into her cunt. "Fuck me!" she demanded and tried thrusting back at him, urging his cock into her harder, deeper. The sound of their flesh slapping against each other filled the house. The scent of her cunt filled his head and urged him on.

Suddenly she was shrieking as her orgasm crashed over her. Her screams and cries drove Josh on to fuck harder. He was brutal, trying to bruise her pussy with his cock, and she loved every potent thrust. "I'm cumming!" he growled and with a roar, he spurted into her pussy, filling her with his semen.

He collapsed on her back, and they lay panting, sprawled out on the pool table. He gently kissed the sweat away from the back of her neck. "Oh god that was great," he moaned.

"It was amazing," she murmured is post coital delight.

"Hey, check this out," said Josh. He placed the cue ball on the table and gave it a push. She watched it roll, then it wobbled and curved off to the side. "It's off balance. Cool, huh? I brought it back from Minnesota."

"You... you used an off balance ball to beat me?" demanded Veronica.

"April Fools! That was a pretty good one, wasn't it?" said Josh happily.

"You know I'm going to have to kill you, don't you."

"Yeah," said Josh as he kissed the back of his struggling wife's neck. "But you're going to have to get up first."