Felicity Ch. 56

Mike went up to an older black man and hugged him. He brought him to the others and Velma kissed his cheek.

"These are our son and daughter. This is Mr. Anderson." Mike said. "After we stuff ourselves with fried fish I am going to his shop and we are going to see how he is doing. I am sure he is doing fine and I will join you at home shortly." he said to them.

"Actually Mr. Trout, I would prefer to meet you at your office in the morning. I need to pay on my account."

Mike was astonished for a second then grinned as he gave Mr. Anderson a bear hug.

"Carl! You made a profit! I am so happy for you. But don't use it for loan payment yet. Let's save it until you have three months of expenses covered then start paying the note."

"Whatever you say sir, whatever you say."

Mister Anderson left them and the family sat to eat.

"Dad, what was Mr. Anderson's problem?"

"His biggest problem was that his wife died. He was devastated by her death and drank too much.

He owns a car repair shop and that suffered from inattention. The bank foreclosed on it but I talked them into not selling it.

I talked to him, told our story. He listened. He became sober, went back to work. His clients slowly came back. He is again a successful businessman."

"You just talked him out of paying back the bank," Fred said.

"Yes, I want him to have some money put away. I want him to feel he has his life back."

Fred looked at him then patted his shoulder.

Daphne kissed her father's lips.

The preacher's wife came over and kissed Mike on the lips then kissed Velma on the lips."I can't believe it took you so fucking long to grab him you coward," she said then kissed her again. She walked away with tears in her eyes.

Several other teary eyed women came over to kiss them.Apparently Carl Anderson had told several people Mike was going to put his profits in savings before using it on loan re-payment.

They did manage to finish eating their fish before going home.

Daphne and Fred had every intention of leaving that afternoon but decided to spend another night at their parent's home and leave in the morning. They spent the evening on the patio drinking sangria and talking.

Both kissed their parent on the lips then Daphne kissed Velma on the lips as Fred hugged Mike before they said good night.

All left the home at the same time the next morning, the parents to work and youngsters to the city.

Fred followed Daphne out of town but lost her at the light to the highway. It was then that it occurred to him that they had never exchanged phone numbers.

"Well she is coming back in two weeks and I could too." He thought.It did not occur to him to ask himself why he wanted to see the daughter of his enemy again.

Of course her father was now more of a hero and no enemy so that line of logic had already been abandoned.

Two weeks later he visited with his mother and did a lot of kissing.

Saturday came and went and still no Daphne.

As he got up to start the drive back on Sunday he asked his Mom why Daphne had not come over. He had heard her promise her Dad.

"You don't know? She is sick. She has had the three-day flu for five days. We thought she had told you."

"No, we don't have each others phone numbers."

"Well damn. Mike, he does not have her phone number. Call her and tell her he is on the way to check on her.

Do you have her address?"

"No."

"I will write it down for you. Take her Alka-Seltzer cold medicine. Apparently none of the Quills work on her. Take her some juice too. Call her before you get there and ask what she needs."

Mike had taken his phone and put her number into its contacts.

Fred had a sense of urgency and it took him just under an hour to get to her neighborhood.

He called her and she said she did not want him to come over, that he would get sick too.

"If I don't go over I will be murderized twice. What do you need?"

He got her what she needed and more then on the way out he stopped and got her flowers.

She looked awful and knew it. She was embarrassed that he saw her like that. But she didn't need to be embarrassed.

He only saw a beautiful young lady with a great body and an even better smile who obviously didn't feel well.

He stayed with her and got her apartment cleaned up and took the trash out. He stripped her bed and washed the linens then put them in the drier as she enjoyed a long hot bath.

He warmed a can of premium chicken noodle soup and encouraged her to eat all of it.It stayed in her stomach less than ten minutes.

He went out and came back with Fritos and Gatorade. Both of those stayed in her digestive system.

He stayed and watched TV with her until she fell asleep then carried her to the bed and covered her up. She did not wake up.

He called his mother and told her everything he had done and asked her if he had forgotten anything.

"Did you kiss her goodnight?"

"No."

"How could you forget the most important thing? Her father wants to talk to you."

"Fred, describe how she looks in detail please."

Fred did and Mike said, "If you don't see a marked improvement in her tomorrow tell me and I will go get her."

"Actually sir I had decided to take her there myself even if she looks a little better. She shouldn't be alone. We will be there by noon, Mom can get us into the house."

"Good, bring her. And Fred, thanks for being there for her."

"Not a problem. See you tomorrow."

Fred went home, unpacked and then packed for a week's stay then drove back to Daphne's place. He packed a bag for her and tried not to be distracted by her undergarments.

He did pack her bikini swimsuit; she could probably use time on the beach.

He got into her couch and went to sleep.

He heard her get up and go through dry heaves. He took her some Gatorade and scared her half to death, she thought she was alone.

She drank the sport drink then staggered back to bed.

She did not realize an entire breast was out.

After he pulled her cover back up he said good night and kissed her forehead.

She had a fever.

He had forgotten about her glorious breast before he had input her symptoms into Med Web. The suggested treatments ranged from do not worry to emergency room.

Fred looked for a happy medium and found he had already done all of that. Essentially it said take two aspirins and drink a lot of fluids. It also said to take them to medical care if the symptoms persisted for more than three days.

That was her fifth day.

How he managed to get to sleep on the couch he would never know but the next morning he woke up to the sound of the toilet flushing.

She jumped again when she saw him but got back in bed

."Any better?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know."

"Your Dad wants you home with him, we are leaving now."

"OK," she said as her head hit the pillow.

He got her bag, her pillow and her blanket to the car then coaxed her into lying down in the back seat. He then got her purse and his bag, locked her apartment door and began the drive. Daphne was already asleep.

His Mom was waiting for them when they got there, got in his car and led him to the clinic. Daphne was vaguely aware she was not home but was not that interested in knowing why.

The doctor put her in a hospital bed and ordered two IV's for her and a series of blood tests.

Daphne had the West Nile Virus.

Fred had gotten her there in time and she would be OK but it might be another three weeks before she felt normal the doctor said.

They still had eight weeks of vacation left so that would not be a problem.

She stayed in the hospital for three days. On the second day she managed to drink an entire mug of chicken soup a friend of Velma had brought for her.

She felt well on the third day and was released the morning of the fourth.

Fred picked her up when she was released. He took her to his Mom's house and set her up in the spare bedroom but Daphne was tired of being in bed so he escorted her out to the patio.

He fixed her a bowl of oatmeal, which she ate.

He got her a glass of orange juice and she drank it without comment.

She asked him if her iPod was with them and he got it for her.As he leaned over to put it on her lap she put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him to her for a long soft kiss.

"Thanks," she said.

He hurried back into the house and masturbated.

He went out to check on her every thirty minutes or so. She ate her remaining chicken soup; he had added stew vegetables to it.

They talked and she napped on the lounger for a while then he took her milk and Oreos for a snack.

When he returned to check on her a bit after five in the afternoon he thought she was again asleep but as he reached for her iPod she said, "I'm awake. Kiss me please."

Fred hesitated but he was soon kissing her lips.

"Very nice, another one please."

He sat on the recliner with her and gave her a long tender kiss.

"More." She said.

He kissed her again and slid his tongue along her lips.

She slid hers between his lips.

The kiss was soon becoming intense.

"Uh hum. Son, don't you think you might wait until she is better before you start mashing on her. And didn't' the two of you hate each other for almost a year."

Before Fred could answer Daphne pulled his mother to her and gave her a long deep kiss.

"I love you," she said to Velma and kissed her again.

"Wow, I think they gave you a love potion rather than antibiotics. I am not under the influence but I don't mind telling you I love you too. But I came out to ask what you want for dinner."

"Shrimp linguini."

"Me too," Fred said.

Verna called Mike and said, "It's unanimous shrimp linguini all around here. I love you, be careful.

OK, you two can go back to whatever foul deed you were sharing in," Fred's mom said and walked back into the house.

"Like the last one," Daphne said.

They continued their kiss for about twenty minutes before they heard her father come in.

"Tell him to come kiss me please," Daphne asked Fred.

Fred and his Mom watched as Daphne kissed her father with all the love she had until he helped her up and escorted her inside.

Velma and Fred set the table and Fred put three pills by Daphne's chair.

"Pills first then food," Fred said.

Daphne ate a shrimp with her fingers then swallowed the pills all at once.

"How can she do that?" Fred asked.

"Genetic. Her mother could do that too," her father answered.

They ate and talked and noticed how quickly Daphne's plate was empty.

"What? I was hungry. I had not eaten anything in over a week."

"You ate one of my lunch empanadillas yesterday." Fred said.

"You were not supposed to eat solid food yesterday," her father said.

"I did not have any problems and I confessed to the doctor that afternoon, tell them."

"True but only after I threatened to tell her myself," Fred said.

"Were you at the hospital all day yesterday too?"

"Yes he was. We played chess but he cheated and won."

"How did he cheat?"

"Don't know but he would not have won otherwise.

Is anyone going to have linguini left over?"

All shook their head no but pushed their plates to her anyway. She slid the linguini onto her plate and Velma took the dishes away.

She motioned Mike to follow her to the patio and told him what she saw when she came home.

"She asked him to kiss her?"

Velma nodded yes and added, "Several times."

"And he kissed her each time?"

Velma nodded yes.

"What did she do when you interrupted them?"

"She kissed me, told me she loved me, and then kissed me again."

Mike kissed his wife. It started as a congratulatory kiss but it soon degenerated into a passionate kiss.

"The kids are watching us." She said.

"Good, maybe they will get it right the next time," he said and kissed her again.

They went inside and as they headed to their bedroom they told their children they needed a nap; it had been a long hard day.

Daphne and Fred said, "Right."

They went to the living room and sat together on the couch. Fred covered her with a small blanket and turned the TV on and they watched a cooking show.

Daphne curled up to him so Fred wrapped her up in his arms.

"When you were out of it three days ago you were talking to someone I could not see. Your mother?"

"Yes, I know she was just in my brain but at the time I knew she was real and knew I was going to die.

Mom laughed and told me I wasn't going to die.

She also told me that you and your mother loved me.

I told her you hated me and she laughed again.

"Ask him to kiss you, you will know," she said.

"Now I know."

She kissed him.

Now he knew.

"I love being here; I am going to apply for a job with the school district tomorrow, you are too. No one will ever love either of us more than the people in this house do.

Your Mom will find us a place to live.

We will get married in Vegas."

Fred listened to her and realized she was speaking what his mind had already figured out he wanted.

He nodded and resumed their kiss.

"I think I can manage if I'm on top," Daphne said as she pulled him to her bedroom.