A Montauk Nightmare

I looked up and then away when Finn mentioned his doctorate. I thought it was some sort of gimmick thing to bring in the tourists. 'Dr. Voodoo, here to speak to the Loa and answer your questions.' I hoped I hadn't insulted him by calling him Mr. Prudenovis.

The man smiled at Finn, a mischievous smile at being found out.

"Uh huh. So, what you want to know?"

Finn looked at me. "Jen?"

"Yes, Doctor, thank you. Let's say that there were weak spots on Earth where the barriers between dimensions were the weakest. Where would they be?"

"Oh, any nexus of ley lines I suppose. Any place of extreme veneration or repeated religious rituals. You know, Mecca, the Vatican, some old Mayan temples. Word is, the last major incursion took place near a ziggurat in Eridu six thousand years ago. Places like that."

My husband jumped back in. "Wait, you're talking ancient Sumer? Epic of Gilgamesh and all that?"

The Dr. leaned back in his chair and seemed to reevaluate Finn. "Yes, indeed. People in some circles speculate that they had help pushing back some sort of life killers and that jumpstarted Sumer's civilization. But any location like that would be a soft spot between realities."

He had my interest. "And how would someone get there?"

"To one of the locations? I don't know, a plane? Depends on which one, I guess."

"No, I'm sorry, I meant once you are at the location where the barrier is the weakest, how would you get to the other dimension?"

Our consultant paused and looked at me for a moment. "You mean how would they get here, right? Thought your movie's about extra-dimensional creatures getting here?"

"Humor me. What if the good guys wanted to go there to stop them from coming here?"

"Well, that's interesting. Hmm. I suppose that would depend on which location they went to."

"Which, hypothetically, would be the easiest to transverse?"

"You mean without help? There are... beings who are get called to help move from one reality to another or get asked for specific aid. Without these intercessors, I'd say the easiest I know about is Ayers Rock in Australia. It's swamped with all kinds of tourists now, but all of Uluru is weak and porous. Travel to the dreamtime is much easier there for any adept."

"Adept?"

"Somebody who studies the esoteric arts and puts them into practice. Had all kinds of frauds in the '70s. Ramtha, pyramid power, channeling and all that stuff. Now that doesn't mean that everyone involved is a charlatan. But most of that stuff just grew out of the death of the flower power and exploration of the '60s."

Finn piped in again. "Ewige blumenkraft."

Dr. Prudenovis smiled. "And ewige schlangenkraft, Mr. Corrigan?"

"No, Doctor, I'm not really a believer in kundalini. I'm sort of a skeptic."

I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Prudenovis turned to address me. "Apparently Mr. Corrigan's an educated man. Now I really hate him."

"Finn's your huckleberry."

Both Finn and the doctor laughed, and I was pleased to see that we were with someone else who seemed to quote movies as often as Finn did.

"So, this Uluru place...?"

"Yes, sorry. You familiar with the Aboriginal concept of dreamtime?"

"Not at all."

"Okay, I'll get you some books to take back with you. Let's just say it's a realm outside of time and any specific geography. If I was there today and you went tomorrow, a month from now or a century from now, we could still meet up. Time just works different there. It's where the creation myths of the original Australian's take place and where, they say, some travel today. I agree with them. It's a place of pure will where legends walk and humans, if they are wise, travel with care."

"And you can get there at this Ayer's place?"

"Ayer's Rock. And yes, that would be the easiest conduit. You'd need a little bit of help, but I'm sure it happens."

"Help from who? Aborigines?"

"Yes. Their Elders and experts."

"Do you know any? Can you make some introductions?"

"Not trying to be rude here, but you have to realize these beliefs? They're almost sacred to them and you better treat the beliefs and people with respect they deserve. Do that, I'd be happy to reach out to them."

"Thank you. We'd never treat anyone with disrespect. You mentioned something about asking for aid? Are you talking about some sort of spiritual aid? How would that be done?"

We sat and talked until it became obvious that they were keeping the restaurant open for us and were waiting to close-up and go home. We settled the bill, tipped well, walked back to the bookstore and thanked our new friend for his help.

Finding a hotel that had a sauna for Finn's back, we stayed overnight. The headaches were a minor annoyance at this point, but I was terrified by their return. I was in bed when Finn entered the room, still wet from the sauna. He was naked, and I couldn't help staring. I didn't see the newly buff torso, I didn't see his too thin legs. I saw the man that dove into the water off his boat the first time he took me out clamming. The man I flirted with as we swam. The man who made love to me that night.

The handful of blood speckled tissues in my purse stood witness to the fact that I'd be in Australia within the week, with Finn's blessing or without. So far, he had been all in. I knew he was harboring strong doubts, but he loved me and believed in me more than he believed in his doubts. That was enough.

Tonight, I needed my husband, the man that I loved with everything I had. I pulled back the blanket on his side of the bed.

As he lay next to me I gently ran my fingers through the sparse, tawny hair on his chest, fingernails purposefully grazing his nipples. He looked over at me, grinning. We talked about nothing, just idle chatter where the words were meaningless, but the communication was in the process, in the form, not the function. Our words were sounds floating through the room, light as air. The love beneath them was deep, strong and demanding.

Finn turned to his side, his left hand mirroring what my own had been doing moments before. He gently, slowly moved his hand over my negligee and across my breast, back and forth, occasionally teasing the nipple. I grew hungry for his strength and pushed myself forward into his hand. He grew more aggressive, squeezing the breast, pulling the nipple as it stiffened and grew taut.

"Finn, I need you, I love you."

I desperately needed his physical affirmation of our love. We'd normally play for quite a while before we got to the main event, but tonight I couldn't wait. Pushing on his shoulder until he laid back, I slowly slid down and took his growing cock in my mouth. When I had him as hard as he was going to get, I shimmied up and mounted Finn, forcing his hard member down and then in.

After all the walking today, I wanted to do all the work. If I was being honest, I also wanted to be in control. Finn was a patient man with great endurance. Normally that was wonderful. Today I wanted hot, hard and fast.

Leaning backwards as I sat on my haunches, his manhood fully in me, I lifted and came down at an angle, rubbing his cock against my clit. Back up and then down again at a slightly different angle. Again.

His large hands reached up and took my breasts. "Harder, Finn. Harder."

Slipping to my nipples, his fingers tugged, pulled and twisted, gently and then with more force. My hands covering his, I rose up again and down, varying my angle, but always coming back to where he pushed along where I was most sensitive. Faster, faster, up, down slamming into him.

His hand dropped from my breast and came to rest on my cheek. Turning my head, I took three of his fingers in my mouth and sucked. They fell out as I leaned back again and shook, reaching my climax.

"Uhhnnn. Ahhhhh! Finn, Finn, Finn..." I fell on him, his hard cock still ensconced in my hot, moist, velvety glove.

Rolling me over, he took control. Kissing my ear, sucking my earlobe, moving to my lips, he was pumping the entire time. It took me a minute to recover before I was lifting my hips to receive him. Continuing, he finally tucked his head into where my neck and shoulder met and released into me.

We stayed together, Finn not pulling out, for another few minutes. He whispered his love and I took as much of his emotions in as possible. Finn was my man and we were forever, however long that lasted.

He finally pulled free, rolled to his side and held me as we fell asleep.

FINN

We were sitting on the plane, returning to Long Island, and she was looking at her phone again when I reached over and gently took her hand.

"You can stop checking. They'll call you if there's a problem. William is fine."

"I know. You're right. It's just difficult. You don't know what it's like..."

Taking a short, involuntary breath, I let some of my anger out. "You mean I don't know what it's like when a madman snaps your neck while you're trying to protect your son? I think I have an idea."

"Oh, God, Finn. I didn't mean that. It's just, I can't explain it. You know what I mean. I just, when I'm away from him I start to panic a little. It's me, I know. I have to get a grip."

"It's okay. I know what you meant. You were alone with him when Shiv and I were in the hospital and Dink was with the vet. It must've been terrifying. Don't worry about it."

I did know and it likely was terrifying, but she wasn't the only person impacted. It took some effort to always remain on an even keel when she smothered our son or acted like she was the only person looking out for him.

She took a shower when we got home, and I played Uno with Shiv, Tommy, Marisol and William. He loves any game with numbers. When Jen joined us, I gave her my cards and went downstairs to check on the deliveries. After packing everything in the freezers, I hit the rowing machine for an hour and rejoined my family.

Shiv and Tommy had left, and Jen was talking to William as he worked on an erector set.

"So, sweetie, Mom is leaving on Thursday. I have to go to Australia to help some people and I'll be back in about a week, but we'll talk all the time and Facetime whenever you want."

"Is Australia near Hawaii?"

"It's on the way. We'll have to stop to refuel the jet."

"Can we see Lilo and Stitch while we're there? They live in Hawaii."

"William, honey, you'll be staying here with Daddy."

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, we can see them next time."

"Sure. Maybe after Thanksgiving. We'll take Gramma and Grandpa. You think they'd like to go?"

"I think so. They like the movie. Can we make Mickey pancakes Saturday?"

She looked at me and then back at William. "Honey... I, we were just talking about how I'm leaving Thursday and I'll be gone for a week. I won't be here Saturday."

"Okay, we'll make them Friday."

Jennifer looked at me again. I shrugged and spoke up, knowing he could hear me. "He's four. If he refuses to admit it, then it won't happen." I looked at my son and used the Dad Voice. "William. Put down the erectors and come over here." He knew what was going on and put down the toys with an exasperated sigh. Marching over, he refused to look at me directly. "Mom is going away for a while. She'll be back around next weekend. It's going to be me and you for a while. Don't give Mommy a hard time, okay?"

He leaned way over to the right, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

"Answer me, William."

"Okay. No pancakes."

"Thank you. Go brush your teeth and get washed up."

After he trudged upstairs I turned to Jen. "Explain to me again why I'm not going with my wife?"

"Finn, we can't take William. If those cultists appear again, he can't be in the middle of things. One of us needs to be with him. With me in Australia, that leaves you. If you insist on Siobhan and Tommy coming with me and playing babysitter, you need to keep Dink here with you and William."

"All because you're going to have a dream about some creatures with some Aboriginal wisemen?"

"I know that this is hard for you to grasp, my literal-minded husband, but sort of, yeah."

"All right. I'm going to check on William and hit the bed. I'm exhausted."

FINN

We spent the next day with family, Jen soaking up their love. Everyone talked, laughed and ate. We wrapped everything up before 8:00 PM. Shiv, of course, took home pounds of leftovers.

When William was asleep, we headed to our room. I stripped down to my boxers while Jen was in the bathroom. She exited in a sheer negligee and a thong. She never wore a thong for more than five minutes. Its entire purpose was built into its removal. I pulled back the blanket from her side of the bed, but she held up a finger, indicating I should wait.

Jen put something extra into her hips as she walked to the middle of the room, crooked her finger at me in a 'come hither' gesture and spoke. "Alexa, play "I Feel Love". She was in her disco phase and loved to dance, but I doubted we would make it all the way through the song.

My pride forced me to walk to her as steadily as possible. I was her husband, her man, and I wasn't going to limp. I pulled her to me, and she molded her body to mine and we danced to a song that was popular a decade after she left 1968. Jen edged us closer to the bed as the song progressed, eventually falling onto her back amidst the white sheets.

Her butt was close to the edge of the bed and when she lay back I leaned over and kissed her, eventually moving down to her breasts, sternum and then belly. Looking up at her face, I stared into Jen's eyes as I pulled the thong down. Lifting her hips, it slipped down to her knees and then to the ground.

Back twinging, I slipped my arms under her and helped her scoot back. I didn't let her see me grimace as I crawled up onto the bed and between her legs. Kissing my way up her left thigh, I heard her start to moan. I felt her heat and inhaled her scent as I grew closer to paradise.

Jennifer was dripping as my tongue approached her opening. Slowly, teasingly I licked and kissed from the hood of her clit around to her perineum, not actually touching her pink folds. Taking in her juices, I repeated the process as she grabbed my hair and pulled me in to herself. Taking the hint, I moved to center on target, flicking my tongue across the little man in the boat.

I slipped two fingers inside her and moved up to her g-spot as I continued my oral ministrations. Jennifer came twice, calling my name and I had to worry about William hearing us three rooms away. Climbing up further, I kissed her neck, her jaw, her earlobe and then my mouth met hers. She didn't push back from her own taste and instead shifted her hips, trying to place my cock where my tongue had been.

When the angle was right, I plunged into her. My elbows on either side of her shoulders, I looked into my wife's eyes as I moved back and forth inside her, in and out, angles shifting. Thought was replaced, and I was running strictly on lust and love. No back pain, no exhaustion, no worries, just Jennifer and Finn being as close as two people could come to becoming one.

Sweat was pouring from me as I finally felt the tensing and pulling at the bottom of my abs. My head and shoulders went back but Jen pulled my head down again and stared into my eyes as I torrented my seed into her. There were tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I love you. I love you."

I collapsed onto my side and lay next to her. We both started laughing as two neighbor cats began to reenact our performance. Their screeching likely woke half the neighborhood.

We rested and then started again.

The call woke me from a deep, sound sleep. Jennifer and I had been saying our goodbyes for the past few hours and I was drained, sated and exhausted. Picking up the phone, I looked over at the clock. 2:15 am.

"Mr. Corrigan? Jim DeCoss, from the front gate. Sir, your son is out on your front porch, curled up on the swing."

"He's what? Okay, Jim. Please keep an eye on him. I'll be right down."

Jen's voice was as sleepy as I felt. "Wassa mattr?"

"Nothing, Babe. I'm just gonna check on William." I leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Go back to sleep."

Grabbing the cane, I made it downstairs as quickly as possible. My lingering lack of mobility was insanely frustrating. Once I made it to the door, I saw the alarm was off and my heart started pounding. Wishing I had taken the gun, I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. Jim looked at me from the grass, waved and headed back to the guard house. Dink looked up at me with a 'took you long enough' expression, but his tail was thumping heavily on the deck.

My little boy was dressed in his PJ's and curled up on the porch-swing, gently snoring away. His Spider-Man rolling kids-luggage sat beside him. I plopped down on the other end of the swing and watched him for a while, marveling at this little miracle that Jennifer brought into our lives. I guess I played my part, but I always see bits of her when I look at our son, the fierceness that she was growing into and he showed signs of. Her boundless love for her family. Her incredible courage.

I reached over and lightly shook his foot. It took a few times, but he roused and looked up at me. "Hey, little man, heading out on a trip?" He nodded his head in the affirmative and rubbed his eyes. Too sleepy still to talk.

"How'd you open the door?"

"Turned the lock off. I saw Mommy do it."

"How'd you turn off the alarm?"

He yawned before answering. "I 'membered the numbers."

This kid was too damned smart. "Looks like you did some packing. Can I take a look?" He nodded his head again, so I lifted the little suitcase and put it on my lap. Opening it, I went through his supplies. "Hmmm. A jar of peanut butter. Good choice. Lots of protein. A jar of jelly. Well, can't have one without the other. Most of a loaf of bread. Makes sense. Two pairs of underpants. Always good to have extras. A can of corn and a can of green beans. Ya gotta eat, right? What's this?" I shook the luggage and it rattled. "About thirty dog biscuits. And a bag for Dink's poop. You're gonna need a scooper."

"Daddy, a scooper won't fit in there." He looked at me as if I were an idiot.

"Good point, William. So, Parisians love pb&j. Going to France?"

"No, I'm going with Mommy."

"Oh, well that's not good."

"I'm big. I can go."

"Sure you are. I meant it's not good for me. Mommy said you'd stay here with me so I didn't get sad and lonely."

"Well, Uncle Tommy can stay with you. Me and Aunt Daisy are going to help Mommy."

"You're an excellent helper, William. Unfortunately, I made plans for us that Uncle Tommy couldn't handle, so he was going to go with Mommy and Aunt Daisy. You and I were going to do manly stuff and Uncle Tommy's not manly enough. Just me, you and Dink."

"Like what?"

"Well, we were gonna go to a real, live baseball game and watch the Mets. We were gonna eat all the hotdogs we want. We were gonna sit around in our underwear all day and watch cartoons and sing really loud and eat breakfast for dinner. Maybe Gramma would let Granpa come over. He's pretty manly. I was even thinking of feeding Dink scraps off the table. Can I tell you a secret?"

Tired, he nodded his head again.

"When I was just about your age, Granpa taught me how to burp whenever I wanted. I thought that the two of us could show you."

It's a good thing four-year-olds don't play poker. His conflict was visible on his perfect little face. "Maybe I can stay. Can I talk to Dink 'bout it?"

"Of course you can talk to Dink about it. Let's do it inside though, okay?"

FINN

The bags were packed and in the back of the Escalade. Pete was waiting next to the car. Tommy had said goodbye to William and me and was waiting with Pete. My sister and I were with Jen as she tried to find the courage to leave her son.