A Case of Self Defense

The old Judge shuffled some papers in front of him.

"What a mess." He said finally.

Jerry was told to stand.

"Son, you can't just go around shooting people, no matter how mad you are." Then he shook his head.

Carrie had explained to him that this Judge had a tendency to talk a lot when giving his sentence, so he just stood there waiting.

"At least you didn't kill anybody, that's a good thing."

"I think." He added, looking around at the courtroom. That got a titter from the room.

"Quiet!" The Judge banged his gavel, then he grinned, but quickly covered that.

"Sex, lies. Cheating. Violence. Dirty little schemes for revenge, good lord, the things some people do." Then he looked down at Jerry.

"Five years." He said.

Jerry's heart sank.

"Suspended, probation. Time served. Now get out of here!" The Judge got up and walked out, not looking back.

Jerry stood up, hugged Carrie. Then he turned to look at Molly, sitting there in the audience. She was smiling and crying at the same time.

The Sun was shining when Jerry walked out of the courtroom, holding Molly's hand.

+++

There was almost no argument when the last meeting on his divorce was held just a few days later. Her lawyer was there, she wasn't.

The demand for separate maintenance was dropped, since the math showed that Shelly now made more than Jerry did.

It's hard to make much money while in a jail cell.

The Sun was shining when he walked out of that office, also.

+++

The big Dodge diesel was purring as they drove down the nearly empty highway towards Idaho. Molly was leaned back in her seat, her blouse off, her breasts bared to the morning Sun.

"We are coming up on a truck." Jerry warned her.

"I don't care, let him have his jollies. You don't mind, do you? The Sun feels good."

Jerry just laughed, flipped on his signal and pulled out around the big rig. It was laboring up a long grade so the driver would need to look quickly, if he even noticed at all.

"Say, what do you think about us getting married, Honey?" She asked, as soon as he was settled back in the right lane.

"Fine with me, do you want to?"

"Yep, sure do. Besides, you have to."

"I have to? Why?"

"We didn't use a condom." She grinned.

"We never did, what's that got to....OH!"

"Remember at the house that night, I told you I was ready?"

"Oh. That's what you meant, I thought you meant we were ready to be together?"

"I was. So?"

"So what?" He teased her.

"My Dad has a gun!" She broke out laughing.

"He won't need it." Jerry grinned.

The Sun was still shining when they pulled into the big ranch house. Far up on the crest of the hill above the house, a huge Bull was mounting one of the Cows.

Somehow that seemed perfectly fitting.

"I want to go down by the creek." Molly told him.

"Why?" Jerry asked.

"So I can welcome you home properly." She grinned.

Sam and Dotty came out of the house as they got out of the truck. Molly waved at them, then reached for Jerry's hand.

He glanced back as she tugged him down the hill towards the creek, Sam and Dotty were laughing as they went back inside the house, also holding hands.

On the soft grassy bank, she stripped naked.

"Hurry up!" She told him, then she was helping him, her fingers urgent. He started to reach for her but she knelt down, pulling Jerry to a kneeling position facing her.

Naked, facing each other, he somehow knew what to do. He reached out and took both of her hands in his. They looked into each others eyes for a very long time.

Then she slid into his arms. Their joining was slow paced, surrounded by birds singing and the soft sounds of the little creek.

As they lay in each others arms, basking in the delightful setting, in the distance the powerful Bull let loose with his bellow.

Jerry threw his head back, doing his best to duplicate the sound. Molly went into hysterics at that.

"You need to work on that part." She giggled.

"What about the other part?" He smiled.

"You mount just fine, honey!"

Laughing, they got dressed and walked back up to the house.

Jerry knew that for the first time in his life, he was really home.