A Pair of Lost Socks

"Oh," Yvonne whispered, her hands in Max's hair, her thighs squeezing against his head, and he ate her to the end, her blissful waves of sweet wonderful joy coming suddenly, gasps from her mouth, pleasure given by him to her, his heart and soul beating and existing for her.

She was still now, laying there, her legs slowly relaxing their grip on his head, and he rested his tongue flat upon her clit, then soon released her, kissing her thigh, the ridge of her pelvic bone, skin moist with sweat, his mouth wet with her, her taste intoxicatingly sexy.

Yvonne said nothing, but pulled at him, so he pushed himself up to her, across the back seat, his eyes on hers, her pupils dilated in a sea of gorgeous green, her mouth open, his cock hard and large pushing against her slit, parting her, sliding into her, and she thrust up to meet him, gasping, him pushing down, feeling her surrounding him, their eyes still locked, then their lips too.

Yvonne embraced him, body, heart and soul, her hands over his back, thighs wrapping around his waist, where he loved her and she loved him, their bodies joined, passion taking hold, shared feelings of wonder and love building their rhythm, the Torana starting to rock, bouncing, the springs inside the seat complaining, Max and Yvonne mashed together, the smell of sex and sweat mixing and filling the space, gasps and panting and moaning and grunting, pushing, their love pressure growing, eyes staring into eyes, an uncontrollable groan from Yvonne before she locked her lips to his again, and he gripped her, pinned her, thrusting his length deep inside her as far and hard as possible, but he wanted more of her, like she wanted more of him, each of them thrusting and trying their best to melt together...

The pressure mounted and Max came, then Yvonne came, gasps and moans and explosions of orgasm and love, giving his everything to her, giving her his love, and she gave him her everything in return.

~0~

March, 2021

She purred like you wouldn't believe, Her V8 rumbling and roaring, growling like sweet, sweet music to Max's ears. He was proud of Her, like he'd once been so very proud of Her, his old love restored close to Her prime, bumpers and mag rims shiny chrome, some men and women in other cars or walking by turning their heads to check Her out.

Yvonne, the other love of his life, was at the wheel, her sunglasses on, and Max smiled, checking her out too, beautiful, not looking too dissimilar to the young woman who'd become the first and only girlfriend he'd allowed to drive the Torana, and the first and only woman he'd remained monogamous for, knowing she was the one he'd marry, even back in the early days of their courtship. She must've caught him watching her in the corner of her eye, because she momentarily turned her head to him and smiled.

Resting his arm on the open window sill, he smiled back at Yvonne, and when she returned her attention to the road, he looked to his left at the fishing trawlers moored at Hobart's waterfront, then across the murky water of Constitution Dock to the old timber boats, brilliant blue-sky reflecting off the Derwent River beyond.

On the dock between the little harbour and river was the old steam crane from yesteryear where he still liked to sit sometimes to look across the river, trying to spot Heather's house, or gazing up at the mountain beyond the town where he used to run like a mountain goat, back in the days when he was training for football. And he liked to sit there and remember the time he'd first met Yvonne.

Paul Kelly's To Her Door came on the on the stereo, an old mixed-tape Max found in the glove box, and he looked ahead now, up the mostly empty road through town, noting the traffic lights ahead turn from green to orange. Yvonne smoothly down-shifted, letting the engine do the braking, then pulled to a stop at the red light. Glancing at the rear-view mirror with a grin, she said, "Uh, oh, here comes trouble."

A silver Subaru Impreza hatch pulled alongside, on their right, the front and rear windows down, a woman in the front passenger seat with blond hair tied in a short ponytail and heavily tattooed upper arms pumped her fist, yelling, "Whooooooooooo, Yeah!"

At the same time a man in the rear on the far side of the car with dark curly blond hair leant across the passenger in the middle-rear, a woman with long black hair who was laughing, and the man called out, "Yeah, what a weapon!"

Max laughed at his daughter and son's antics, and Yvonne turned to her right and said, "You two will wake Alyssa."

Heather smiled and called across the gap between the two vehicles. "She's out like a light back there, Mum. She had a massive feed before we left."

"Give it a rev, Mum!" Ryan called again from the back seat of the Impreza. As if on cue, Tim, who was driving the Subaru, revved its two litre, four cylinder.

Max smiled and said, "Go on, love, give it a little rev."

With a smirk, Yvonne tapped the accelerator, and the Torana's eight cylinder's gave a glorious throaty growl, once, then twice, a few pedestrian's heads turning, then the light turned green, Yvonne pressing the clutch in, neutral to first, then slowly and sensibly took off from the lights, the V8 burbling. As did the Impreza, matching their pace.

"Lucky you're driving," Max said with a twinkle in his eye and grin on his lips. "I'd've dropped the clutch and done a burnout half the way up the street."

"I have no doubt you would've and sometimes I look back and wondered how you've never had an accident or were arrested," Yvonne said, shaking her head. "Heather should know better too, because her cop mates will take one look at this car and pull us over."

Max laughed. "I'm surprised she isn't pulled over by her colleagues every single day, the way she drives. Sensible to let Tim take the wheel today."

"She takes after you in more ways than one. It doesn't surprise me in the least she wants to arrive at her future wedding in this old Girl. Maybe even Ryan will want it for when he gets married too?"

"Which is the incentive to keep Her even if I can't drive Her," Max said, patting the window sill. "However, She'd probably fetch at least a hundred grand. Maybe I'll offer it to my brother, he has that kind of money...?"

"Shhh," Yvonne said, her tone mocking him. "She's priceless and won't be spoken about in terms of dollar value! And from what you've told me, your brother would have no respect for Her. Shame on you."

Max laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it. She's our Sunday drive, like She became after we bought the Commodore. I was thinkin' though, maybe I should offer Her to Heather and Tim?"

"Ryan might dispute such an offer. This car is part of his history too."

"Maybe let them sort it out?"

Yvonne laughed. "You're asking for trouble."

The two cars drove south, the sky blue except for a few clouds here and there still, mostly sitting over the hills and mountains, the road winding, a long line of touring motorcycles flying past, leaning into the turns.

A nine-axle B-double semi-trailer, twenty-five metres long with a national supermarket brand splashed big and green across its twin trailer's taut white curtain-sides sped into a downhill straight, over one-hundred kilometres an hour, gathering momentum for the long uphill, hammering up the other side where the Torana comfortably overtook the beast midway up, Max checking out the rig as they sped by, a big white Volvo.

A thrill coursed through his soul, white lines rushing by on black bitumen surrounded by eucalypt forest, the grunty growl of the powerful prime mover briefly mixing with the roar of the Torana's V8 as Yvonne kept her foot planted, the wind between the two vehicles rushing, all while Jimmy Barnes' Driving Wheels belted from the stereo.

"Wahoooooo!" Max howled, his grin uncontrollable, and he felt alive, really alive, and Yvonne briefly looked across to him, sunglasses dark, and she grinned too, shifting down to third and planting her foot again, the motor roaring, flying up the hill, pulling away from their family following in the Impreza, also leaving the big truck in their wake as it lumbered towards the crest behind them.

They laughed and grinned more, the road winding again, through hills covered in forests and farms and orchards, mountains on the near horizon, clouds over their peaks burning off like wisps of smoke, then the long winding descent to the Huon Valley, where they crossed the dark tannin-stained waters of the Huon, the river one of Max's childhood playgrounds where he used to muck about in dinghy's and piner's punts with mates, and black swans still swam.

They followed the river, the Torana handling like a dream through the twists and turns, the road eventually leaving the river, passing between the two giant tree-stumps marking the outskirts of Geeveston, the sun still in the east, behind them, another Jimmy Barnes song playing on the stereo, Working Class Man.

"I haven't travelled down this way in yonks," Yvonne said, slowing. "You'll have to guide me through if I get lost."

"Still not many roads around here, love. And they almost all lead to Mum's in some way or another."

Soon they arrived, the Torana coming to a halt on the gravel by the old oak tree, Tim and Heather's car parking behind them. Annie's Pajero was parked in the driveway, close to the house and looking as unwashed as ever. The cottage, however, looked clean with a new lease of life from a fresh coat of paint, more white than creamy. Today no smoke rose from the chimney flue because the sun was shining bright and warming this little patch of the world, one of the most southern towns in Australia, surrounded by heavily forested hills and mountains.

Climbing out, Yvonne and Max both greeted Heather, who was lifting Alyssa in her capsule from the rear seat. Tim came around to help, and then Ryan and Georgina joined them.

"How's She go?" Ryan asked.

"Purrs like a V-eight kitten," Max said with a smile.

"I was talking about Mum," Ryan said with a cheeky grin.

"So was I," Max said with a wink. When Max looked at Ryan he could be looking at himself at thirty, and Ryan was every bit equally as cheeky as Max was in his pre-accident life.

Yvonne smiled but shook her head in mock disgust. She looked to Georgina, who stood next to Ryan, their hand's already clasped together, and said, "Poor you squashed between Alyssa's capsule and my son, and finding you're marrying into the most bogan family in Australia."

Georgina, tallish and slim and of Chinese ancestry, smiled and spoke in a broad Australian accent, "I picked Ry as a Bevan from the moment I met him. Um, a Bevan's what we Queenslander's used to call bogans, like, young blokes with goatees who like hotted up cars."

Ryan laughed, squeezing Georgina's hand. "Yep, Georgie, we Coughlan's are bogans or Bevans or Chiggas, as we used to say, from near Chigwell, with petrol running through our veins, pumped by our V-eight hearts. And yet you still fell for all my charms and into my arms."

"Pfft," Georgina said, smirking. "Sure, we'll say it was your charms."

"Yeah, it was totally my charms," Ryan said with a grin, bumping his hip into Georgina's, and she did actually smile. "Can't tell the folks it was actually my giant..."

"Uh!" Yvonne said, cutting her son off. "Too much information!"

"What?" The expression on Ryan's face was the picture of innocence. "I was going to say my giant Star Wars Collection! Georgie's a fan too, from way back."

Georgina laughed and Yvonne smirked, saying, "Sure..." in a sarcastic tone. Max laughed, his son always trying to get a laugh at every opportunity, exactly like he used to.

"Anyway," Ryan said to Georgina, "Like I told ya, Mum somehow missed out on the bogan gene in our family, because she drives the Torana like an old woman!"

"Who do you think you are, calling me an old woman?" Yvonne said, raising her eyebrows. Then she laughed and addressed Georgina again. "I'm a Bell, so we provide the sensible gene's to the family. I'm sure you've seen a sensible side to my son somewhere, you must have, because otherwise I can't imagine why you'd say yes to him."

"What's this sensible side you speak of?" Georgina said, putting on a confused expression. "I'm only with Ryan for his massive...rock he recently gave me."

She held out her left hand, flashing her diamond engagement ring, and Max laughed, seeing Georgina and Ryan's sense of humour were an excellent match, and Yvonne laughed too. Heather, who also recently sported a diamond ring, and Tim, finally sorted themselves with seven-month old Alyssa strapped to Tim's chest in her baby wrap, trying to look at them, grumbling. Max and Yvonne both looked to Alyssa with the loving eyes of new grandparents, marvelling at her little head, upon which a tuft of fair orange hair grew, a similar colour to Tim's mother's natural hair, but her eyes turning greener every time they saw her; green like her Mother's were green, and her Grandmother's.

"I'm a grandmother," Yvonne whispered to Max for the millionth time, her eyes and heart brimming with infinite love for Heather and Tim's child. "I never thought I'd see the day."

Max smiled, feeling the same love for his granddaughter, and for his daughter and wife too. He kissed her head and whispered, "Come on, love. Let's go meet the family."

She took his hand as they walked up the gravel driveway where dandelions grew thick with their yellow flowers at the sides, and she whispered, "I'm so nervous..."

Max squeezed Yvonne's hand. "I know you are. But they all know we're together again."

"I haven't seen any of them in over fifteen years."

"They'll be happy to see you, trust me."

The yard looked neater than the previous year, grass cut and vegie patch currently full of broccoli, silverbeet, peas, and some rogue pumpkins taking over sections. The shed looked the same, though, still falling apart, the painted cricket stumps seemingly further faded on the right-hand door. There were two more horses over the fence, the brown mare with splotches of white and its growing foal were joined by a black and a dappled grey. Cattle still grazed, too, but they now occupied the adjoining paddock.

"Vonnie!" Annie said as they entered the house, hugging her sister-in-law like a best friend or sisters might after not seeing one another for many, many years. Yvonne hugged her back with equal delight, and the two women separated, both speaking at once, telling each other how wonderful the other looked, tears in their eyes.

Max greeted his sister, then his Mother, who sat in her favourite chair in the lounge room window. "Happy birthday, Mum."

"Look at you, Maxie," she said, still tough and formidable at eighty-two. "You have your old Holden and your beautiful wife back, and Heather's given you a grandchild, and Ryan's here too with his beautiful fiancé. I can see a spring in your step which I haven't seen in a very long time."

He smiled, because it was all true. He looked out the window and saw Greggory and Bev's Land Rover pull up, parking up the road, and he watched as Greggory ambled towards the house, stopping by the Torana, walking around Her, nodding, perhaps with appreciation, running his hands over Her. Max whispered, barely under his breath, "Here come's trouble."

"I want you two to get along," Norma said. "You two used to be best of friends and poor Greggory's suffered this past year."

"We were mates over thirty years ago, perhaps. And how'd he suffer this past year?"

"He'll tell you if he feels like it," she whispered. "But get along with him, for my sake."

Max nodded. "I'll try, Mum. But if he pulls any rubbish like last year..."

"No, Max, he won't." Norma gave Max a little smile. "Trust me."

"Yvonne!" Bev shrieked with joy when she came through the back door. "Oh, my, it's so great to see you!"

"Lovely to see you too," Yvonne said, reservedly. "You're looking well."

Bev smiled and shook her head. "Come on now, we both can see I'm no longer pretty and young and slim these days. But look at you, gorgeous as ever!"

"Maxie," Greggory said, coming forward with hand outstretched, then he grinned. "Good to see the old girl back on the road."

Max took his hand, both men trying to crush one another's bones in the process. With a grin of his own, he said, "Watch yourself, Vonnie's not that old, cobber."

"Right you are, Maxie, you got me there."

Everyone arrived and those who knew Yvonne greeted her excitedly, for she'd once visited the Coughlan family regularly, becoming part of the clan. More of Max's relatives buzzed and cooed with happiness over baby Alyssa, the newest member of the family, and some were chatting with Ryan, who they hadn't spoken to in years.

Max watched as his son introduced the family to Georgina, noting everyone appeared to accept her, something he'd secretly worried about, for both Ryan and Georgina's sake. However, she was a natural and made people laugh, and other males in the family clearly found her attractive, checking her out, because she was undeniably gorgeous.

Max smiled, happy for his son, recalling how Ryan once told him, "Tim and Georgina have been best mates for years, he's an absolute flog not to have dated her because she's amazing."

Max looked across the room to where Heather sat, chatting happily with Greggory and Bev's daughter Jolene, who cuddled Alyssa to her chest, and Heather made a joke about Jolene having another baby. Tim was in conversation with Rodney, and they laughed, and Heather looked across to Max, catching his eye and she smiled and he smiled back, happy seeing his family playing nicely this year.

Greggory asked both his Grandson and twin Granddaughters to help set the dining tables, and soon Annie and her daughter Karen, plus Yvonne, who'd chatted with them in the kitchen, brought out the roasts and baked vegetables. There was feasting and drinking and chatting around the old Tasmanian oak table, and the cheap trestle tables laid out the same way every year, filling the small room, great grandchildren in the lounge room.

Some discussed their experience over the year since they'd last spoken, speaking of Covid and the ensuing restrictions, but mostly it was happy talk, about state borders opening so family like Ryan could travel back to see them. Others mentioned how complacent the general public appeared, and Greggory and Bev mentioned friends of theirs were visiting from Melbourne, who'd experienced a major Covid outbreak and hard lockdown the previous winter, and they'd said they'd still be reluctant to go among larger gatherings, even family events like this one, wary about getting thrown into sudden lockdown at the first sniff of an outbreak.

But mostly people relaxed and spoke of other things; Max and Yvonne getting back together, and of course the rebuild of their beloved Torana. There was more talk of baby Alyssa, and Heather and Tim's engagement, and also Ryan and Georgina's engagement too. And talk of football; lots and lots of talk about football, mainly the coming season, especially recent changes to the code. And events surrounding the Collingwood football club where allegations of racism arose, leading to the stepping down of their controversial club president, for whom Greggory put up a staunch defence. The conversation could have become heated, but it ended in a good ribbing, and died down, the topic soon changing.

This is a happy time, Max thought, and he looked to his mother at the head of the table, and she was smiling at everyone while picking gingerly at her food. She caught his eye and Max gave her a smile, and she smiled back, giving a little nod.