Babydoll Ch. 12

We had made good time. Jill had slept away the entire trip, except for the one bathroom stop I had made about halfway home. I knew she had to have been exhausted from the work and anxiety that she had put in the last month with school and her job. It was a little before 10pm when I pulled into the neighborhood.

As I pulled into the driveway thinking about being home. I thankfully saw that everything still seemed in order. I was worn out from the drive as I pulled the keys from the ignition.

Jill was asleep in the passenger's side as I spoke up, "Well we're here." She groggily awoke with her sweet emerald eyes looking up towards me with a sheepish grin, and what I interpreted as adoring look, before leaning up and tenderly kissing me. "I'll come back and get our bags in a while. Let's just go inside and relax for a few minutes." We then proceeded to get out of the car and walk to the door.

A cool chill filled the air of the winter night as we approached the door. Jill seemed to shiver with excitement and anticipation, "I'm a little nervous, but I'm also thrilled to meet your family." That was good, because it maybe helped to mask my own anxieties of the moments that laid ahead.

Quietly I pulled out my keys and opened the door. By my watch it said that it was 9:56pm and I saw there were a few lights on. I announced myself, "Hey, I'm home." I heard some clinking noises coming from the kitchen and then was shocked as Ashley came bounding to the front door.

My heart and nerves went into overdrive from the shock of Ash being there to greet me, much less being home and much less seemingly in a joyful mood. "Hey Jim, this must be Jill. It's nice to have you here. And then she gave me a most cheerful hug." And man did she look and smell good, oh man.

I was in a fog as we left the foyer and walked through the kitchen and towards the living room. When we entered the room Ash asked, "Would either of you like something to drink?"

I headed to sit on the loveseat as Jill came and sat by my side, "That would be nice." As I continued in silence.

Ash asked again, "Jim, would you like anything," to which again I didn't respond.

Jill spoke up, "Earth to Jimmy... hello... your sister is asking if you want anything to drink."

Startled I responded, "Ohh... oh...oh... yeah a coke would be great. Thanks.. sorry... long trip..." I replied.

Ashley went to the kitchen as Jill and I sat and relaxed. When she came back she had a couple of cokes that she handed us. We both seemed to give knowing glances at one another and it felt as if for some reason a veil had been lifted and there was some sort of forgiveness in her eyes. I asked, "Where is Mama?"

(Ash) - "She's gone to bed... she has to be up early in the morning to be at the office. She said she would call you. She probably wake you up when she gets up... We fixed up the guest room for Jill."

(Jimmy) - "Oh. OK. Our stuff is out in the car. I'm going to go bring it in."

(Jill) - "I'll help you."

(Jimmy) - "Nah... that's OK. You just relax. I'll be back in a few..."

It took a few trips to bring in all of our belongings. Jill had a suitcase and a carry on, since she would be flying out the day after Christmas. After the last couple of trips home, I didn't know how long I would be staying so I didn't go too crazy, but there were presents and other belongings, so it took a few minutes to put things in all their places. After stowing everything in its proper place, I headed back to the living room where Ash and Jill were chatting it up like a couple of old chums.

Ashley was laughing as I entered the room, "I like this girl Jimmy. I really like this girl. And I've just met her..."

They sat and chatted for two hours while I dozed in and out. A little after midnight, I told the gals that I was heading up. Jill said, "I'll walk up with you, but I'm not too tired. You don't mind if we girls stay up a little longer."

"Nope... that was just a long drive and I need some sleep."

Ashley smiled, "Thanks Jim, I'm glad to have you home." And then she came up and gave me a big tight hug like we hadn't seen one another in years.

Jill headed upstairs with me. I showed her the room she would be staying in. "I'd rather sleep with you, she related.

"I know, but I don't think my mother or my grandparents would care much for that idea." I gave her a deep, sensual kiss as I headed to bed.

Jill went into the guest room and changed and came back into my room and we resumed kissing for a few minutes before she headed back down to spend the evening with Ash.

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It was still dark when I felt a presence in my room. "Jimmy... Jimmy," I heard in a whispering tone, "It's me." It was my mother and looking at my clock I saw that it was 6:05am. She was standing by my bed right next to me. She leaned in and brushing my hair back she lightly kissed me on the forehead and whispered, "Jimmy, I'm glad you're home... things have changed, I just wanted to let you know that."

"OK Mom," I acknowledged.

She nodded affirmatively as if trying to give me some type of assurance, "I have to be at work at 7am. There's a big shipment coming into the warehouse for Christmas and I need to sign some papers, but I'd like you to meet me at the club for lunch. Please bring Jill, so that we can meet." I noticed that she was fully dressed in a dress suit as though she were getting ready to leave.

"OK Mom," I nodded.

She leaned in and gave me another light kiss on the forehead whispering, "OK Jim, I'll meet you around noon." She then turned and left the room and I fell back asleep.

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I still was tired when Jill came in and woke me up with a kiss at 10am, "Wow... this is a neat room," she said with a twinkle in her eye, before crawling into bed and resting her head in the crook of my shoulder. "Your sister just left.

She said she needed to go do some shopping." she kissed my cheek, "She's a sweetie. It didn't dawn on me that we are the same age... her birthday is just a months after mine. I could tell she really loves you. You two must be really close. She was telling me all about you two growing up."

This gave me a lump in the throat. It made nervous to think about Jill ever developing any premonitions. "I thought I told you about all of that."

(Jill) - "Nope.. not that much really... This is going to be a really neat Christmas."

(Jimmy) - "My Mom came in this morning and she wants us to have lunch with her at the club and meet her there at noon."

(Jill) - "Yeah Ashley told me. Would you like to go take a shower with me this morning."

(Jimmy) - "I dunno... after yesterday... I don't think we have that much time and besides we might wake up the neighborhood with the way we carried on." I chuckled.

(Jill) - "So no time for any fun this morning?" (Jimmy) - "I'll show you where everything is." I got up and walked Jill to the bathroom. Showed her where the towels were and headed back to my room to lay out my clothes.

Jill finished her shower and came in in just her towel and dropped it and we made out for a couple of minutes, which brought me to a state of arousal, but we only had a hour and a half to be at the club, so I disappointedly had to get a move on and skip the dalliance.

Jill certainly looked cute in her winter attire as we made our way to our dinner date with Mama. We arrived with perfect timing. When we entered I saw that Ashley and my mother were awaiting our arrival. "So this is your girlfriend?" My mother stood and cheerfully inquired as she walked over and gave Jill a warm hug.

As usual the food at the club was great and the atmosphere was very nice. I had a club sandwich and the girls had salads. It was a table for four with Ashley sitting to my left, Jill to the right, and my mother sat directly across the table. They made small talk for the hour that we were there like they were old friends. Eventually Mom told us she was through with work for the day and she was going to do some shopping. She invited Ashley and Jill to join her and they both agreed. The three women in my life that I had slept with were going out on the town shopping. The thought of these three together made me a little anxious, but I decided to go with the flow. What could I do about it anyway.

Ashley's presence always seemed to have a restless effect on me anymore, when we were around others, and today was no exception, I could never forget how good she smelled. As always she displayed grace. I was very nervous at the beginning of lunch, but Ash eventually made me feel at ease with the way she seemed to carry on conversations with no sign of tension. My mother on the other hand seemed to be ticking a little. I noticed her eyes darting to and fro, but soon she even seemed to ease into the moment.

Jill seemed to be oblivious to any of the dynamics of out familial relations.

Of course, I was beginning to wonder where David was. I hadn't heard Ash mention him once since we had been back, but of course we hadn't been back long.

When lunch ended, mom told the girls to go on ahead and she would catch up with them at the mall. She said she needed to talk with me about a few things. When they had gone, my mother gave me a serious look saying, "Well, I think that went well, don't you?"

(Jimmy) - "Yeah, not too bad."

(Patty) - "Well, I'm sure you were nervous and believe me so was I, but we need to put it all behind us and enjoy Christmas. Your Grandfather wants you to go by his office and see him. He said he had something for you."

(Jimmy) - "Okay."

Mom gave me another serious look, "After you left at Thanksgiving, I had a talk with Ashley. It's going to take time for things to heal, but I think we are moving forward."

(Jimmy) - "Okay and I'm sorry."

(Patty) - "Well.. OK... but let's just put it behind us. OK Honey. Please."

(Jimmy) - "OK, but I hurt you. I hurt Ashley. And I love you both deeply."

Mama gave me a pensive look with an inwardly crinkled brow before pushing away and getting up from the table, "I'll see you this evening," and she leaned over and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I have to say that she is a beautiful woman, but I did have a sense that the lust that I had for her had moved to the background of our relationship.

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When I got to my Grandfather's office, he gave me a big hug and we made some small talk about how things were at school and he said he and my grandmother were excited to meet Jill, and he was glad to see my mother had started turning her life around, "Jim, I don't know what you said to her at thanksgiving, but her attitude sure is better." We went around for a little meet and greet with everyone in the office to get reacquainted, since I hadn't seen most of them in over a year.

The main thing he wanted was for me to do some work at his office over the following week, "We won't be here but from 9am to 4pm, but I need someone here with me so that everyone else can take off. There aren't any court dates or anything. I just need someone to help answer the phone and maybe do a little paper work and run errands."

(Jimmy) - "OK Big Daddy, I just need to take Jill to the airport the day after Christmas, besides that I'm free."

Big Daddy smiled, "That'll be fine boy. That'll be fine. It's just I want to get you ready, because I want you to come here and work. I don't want to invest a bunch of money and have you go skiddaddling to New York or somewhere. I want you to come home."

(Jimmy) - "That's been my plan all along sir." Through all of the insecurities in my life, it was good to have my Grandfather to fall back on.

We spent a couple of hours together. He told me that we were going to have dinner at our house that evening. It was being catered by Alexander's, because he didn't want my mother to have to do the cooking. He asked that we help her clean up so that she could relax. He didn't want her stressing and getting depressed again.

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The following day was the eve of Christmas Eve. I still had shopping that I needed to get done for Christmas. I had bought some things, but because I had been away at school, I didn't want to lug everything back home. I also didn't want to go out and do a bunch of shopping on Christmas Eve.

I told Jill that she could hang out at the house with Ashley because I needed to my shopping done and she seemed fine with it, "If you bring me a present," she said. Once I had finished my breakfast, I headed up stairs and took a shower and got dressed.

Getting into the car, I headed out to the mall. The mall is always the fall back plan. Everything is there and the shops are basically a woman's marketplace. Women always love the stuff you buy at the mall. When a box has the name of a mall store on it, a lady's eyes will light up.

The first place I always go when I get to the mall is Dillard's. Every woman in my family loves that place. Once there, I headed over to the perfume and cosmetic's area. There were people everywhere and so I had to be patient and wait for a sales lady. I found it hilarious when the same exact lady from the year before came up to ask me if I needed any help. Once she asked me if I needed help she gave me a quizzical look, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No mam," I answered, "But I have shopped in here before and you waited on me."

"Wait... Wait... I remember you from last Christmas Eve. You were very nervous and wanted to buy something special for your sweetie," she giggled.

It made me sad, because I knew she was talking about Ashley, "Yes mam, but you can say that about most everyone that comes in here can't you?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but there was something different about you. " she responded with a smile, "So how are things working out with your sweetie."

(Jimmy) -- "There not."

She interrupted me, tilting her head and sadly responding, "Ohhh--hhh!!!"

"We're still friends though. I made some mistakes and it just didn't work out.... I would like to buy her that make-up kit I bought last year. It is Estee Lauder and can I still get that Cashmere Mist fragrance."

"Sure, give me one sec and I'll get it." She went behind the counter and gathered it all up and came back. "Here you go... what's your name?" "Jim... Jim Jameson."

"Well Jim... I don't know your circumstances, but you seem like sweet young man to me and I hope you get a second chance.... I bet you could if you wanted... Here, I wanna give you my card." I looked at it. Her name was Michelle Davis. "If there is anything you ever need. You give me a call and we will see what we can do for you."

(Jim) -- "There is one more thing Michelle, I would like a two bottles of Chanel No. 5. She was a lovely lady, maybe 30 or so. You see these women working in the mall and it is like they are anonymous. She seemed different, very nice, in a real kind of way. She went and retrieved the Chanel perfume and came back and rang me up, while throwing in a handful of various samples of other frangrances and cosmetics. We said our so longs and I was on my way.

My next stop was Victoria's Secret where I purchased several lingerie items. I've never been crazy about being in women's stores, a young lady clerk asked if she could help, but I felt really self-conscious and made a few selections and headed to purchase and get out of there before anyone I might know would stop me. Girls love this sexy pop culture stuff and it was sexually appealing; but to be honest, I've seen stuff on the internet that is a lot sexier for a lot less money, but you know as I do, it is more symbolism than substance.

I stopped at a few more shops along the way. One stop was at a shop to get my Grandfather some cigars and pipe tobacco; he enjoyed those on occasion. Every year I lament over what I should buy my grandmothers for Christmas. My paternal grandmother isn't rich, but neither is she poor, but I enjoy it when she gets some of the finer things in life. I went to the club and bought her a spa package for $150. Gramms is rich and she didn't need a spa package, because she treats herself to that sort of thing all the time and frankly anything she wants she can buy herself or Big Daddy buys it for her, so I just bought her a pendent and some charms for her charm bracelet, which I am sure would just sit in her treasure trove jewelry box, but what else is a boy to do. By the time I arrived back at the house it was close to 5pm, Ashley's car was parked in the driveway, so I knew the girls must be inside and l decided to leave the packages in the car and head in. I'd bring everything in and put it away later.

I entered the house in time to find out that we were heading out to a party. My Grandparents had been invited to a Christmas Party and we were also invited. My mother begged out and she wouldn't be going with us. It would only be Ashley, Jill, and I. The party was at a local restaurant and those in attendance would be mostly from my grandfather's law firm.

My car was packed, so I borrowed my mother's Beemer and we headed out at 6pm. As we drove up to the restaurant, I saw that cars filled the parking lot and so I dropped the girls off at the door and went searching for a parking space. I had to park a good ways away from the door entrance and when I got back I entered and told the hostess who I was and they escorted me back to my family.

As I made my way back to the family table, a waiter asked me if I wanted anything to drink. I ordered a Bourbon and Ginger and headed over to sit at my Grandfather's table located up at the front of the main dining room. Soon after approaching the table and shaking my grandfather's hand and hugging my grandmother, my drink arrived.

It wasn't a formal party. Only a dinner being thrown by one of my Grandfather's junior partners. There was a nice buffet with shrimp cocktail, Roast Beef, Salmon, Salad, Nice Vegetables, etc. Everything was great. You could see the great camaraderie of the people from the Firm. They were like a family unto itself and they readily accepted me, because of my grandfather who they all seemed to glowingly admire. The atmosphere was festive and everyone was having a great time talking and carrying on.

The evening went better than I could have expected. Jill was a hit with the people from the firm. The folks kept coming up to me and telling me how this girl was a keeper and they were surprised that she was also interested in obtaining a law degree. Big Daddy let me know that Jill was the talk of evening. All of the ladies were giving her rave reviews. He put his arm around my shoulder and said with a smile, "Make sure that you hold on to that one, because she is perfect. She would do this family proud."

I couldn't have been happier to have her accepted, but I had to set some boundaries, "You know I'm a little young for you to go marrying off and besides you don't want to scare her away."

He retorted, "Jim, I wasn't much more than your age when your grandmother and I were married... So you might want to think about it. There is nothing wrong with getting serious and settling down."

(Jimmy) -- "OK, Big Daddy, but times are different these days."

(Big Daddy) -- "Boy. Don't go wasting an opportunity. If she's the right one, then don't let her get away." The thing my grandfather didn't understand was that when I thought about the right woman , it was Ashley who occupied my heart.

The party was wrapping up by 10pm and we stayed around another 30 minutes until my Grandparents were ready to go. I had had a few drinks and felt fine, but Ashley decided that she would rather drive home, since she hadn't had any. I rode in the backseat, while the ladies sat up front. My eyes swayed back and forth and my mind wandered as I thought about the two of them. I loved them both, but to be honest, I loved Ash more...