Ann: A Love Story Ch. 38

"You know...I don't think so. I think that's being a little too cautious. Don't you?" I said as I put the car back in gear.

Ann smirked at me. "You're going to make me do this, aren't you?"

"Do what?" I said with a grin.

"You're going to make me...be me."

"It's Sunday, Anna. I'm supposed to make you do whatever I want. And really, that's what you wanted all along anyway."

Ann looked at the floor; her cute, sheepish grin was evidence that I was right. She took a deep breath as the car moved forward, and I drove it the short distance toward her home.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a very nice house. A stylish white stucco ranch surrounded by some amazing landscaping. Bushes and trees, surrounded with light-colored tan pea gravel dominated the front yard. The house itself was much bigger than it looked from the front. The attached garage to the left and the fence that draped around the right side and the back of the house succeeded in deceptively hiding the sprawling expanse to the rear. I guessed it was 1,500 square feet when I pulled into the driveway, but it was actually close to 2,000, which was huge for a three-bedroom home.

I was going to unload the car and take in our luggage, but I never got the chance. As soon as we were in the driveway, we were attacked. Well, not attacked really...we were swarmed by the welcoming committee that was waiting for us, and from the looks of it, they were obviously impatient.

The first to Ann's door was a tall little 8-year-old with long curly blond hair and wire rim glasses. In her footsteps was a 5-year-old with long silky brown hair and a killer set of dimples. Behind them both stood their mom, beaming as she reached for Ann's car door.

Dana was extremely attractive. She was tall, and she was curvy. She was all woman; standing at least 5'8" in her bare feet. Her large breasts that I guessed were at least 36 double D's jutted out, held up by a dark colored push up bra that was plainly visibly under her white v-neck T-shirt. She had wide hips, a proud reminder of her bearing the two beautiful girls that were jumping up and down in excitement. But Dana had a flat stomach and a wonderful round ass that set off her long, slender legs, which were evident in her medium length pink shorts.

I could see the resemblance in her daughters. Dana shared the deep blue eyes, and curly blond hair of her oldest, although Dana's hair was shorter at shoulder length. And she had the same adorable dimples and bubbly persona as her youngest girl. As she leaned down to open the door for Ann, Dana peered inside the car and looked over at me. Our eyes met, and I was surprised by the warm motherly smile she gave me. It was something I would have expected from someone much older. At 27, Dana was younger than both Ann and I. Yet, she seemed to take to motherhood like it was her sole purpose in life.

Ann leaned over quickly and said, "Don't let her appearance fool you. She's wild. In fact, she's my role model for how to act as a parent, and still be a slut for her husband. I'll introduce you when we get out."

I went to open my door, and found it being opened for me. I big meaty hand swung down, and I looked up to see the big burly man standing next to me. He stood about 6'3" and weighed a good 240, most of it in his chest and arms. Chad's wirey brown hair was already thinning out...his hairline receding more rapidly than it should have for a man our age.

"Hi Neil, Chad Stevens. Welcome to California."

I shook Chad's hand, and he helped me out of the car. "Nice to meet you, Chad. Thanks for letting me stay a couple of days."

"Why not? This is Ann's house too," he said matter of factly. I turned to look at Ann, who gave me another sheepish smile just while the girls and Dana squeezed her in a massive group hug. I flashed her the obligatory 'I told you so' smile, and turned back to Chad, who was strangely sizing me up.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"I just don't see it," he said; his stare stoic and unflinching.

"See...what?" I asked.

"Ann kept going on and on about how big you are to Dana. But you don't seem to be so big to me. I wonder what she could have been talking about?" he said with a smirk.

I'd remembered that Ann had said that Chad was good-natured and liked to kid around. And she also had said that she thought he and I would get along great. I didn't miss a beat, and said, "Well, you know, sometimes you can't see the real man for the clothes. Take you for instance."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, Ann had said that you had a lot of hair. But I can see now that she must have meant on your back. I never would have known that with your shirt on," I said, shifting my eyes towards the top of his head.

"Ouch!" Dana said, before she let out a laugh. Ann was hiding her mouth with her hand, holding back her own laughter.

Chad stood in front of me, his chest expanding as he drew in a big breath. He was trying to intimidate me, and I just offered a wide, stupid grin, playing innocent. But Chad couldn't hold in his true feelings, and he finally exhaled, bursting out in a deep, reverberating laugh that almost scared the girls. Patting me on the back, he said, "She said you were funny too. That was a good comeback."

Ann brought the girls over. First she properly introduced me to Dana, who gave me a huge hug. And that was followed by introductions to the girls. Allison, the oldest, was sharp. She was as smart as she was cute, and it had nothing to do with her wearing the glasses, which can make any child seem smarter. She really was a bright young girl. Mindy, the youngest, was simply precocious. It wasn't that she wasn't as smart as her sister...she just wasn't as preoccupied by showing it. She was too busy being adorable.

"Hi Uncle Neil," she said as she lifted her arms. The next thing I knew, I was carrying her into the house, piggyback. Dana started to say something, but she could see in my eyes that I not only didn't care, but I was enjoying it...so she let it go.

Dana and the girls gave me the full tour of their house, except for Ann's room, which they felt she should show me. Chad brought in our things, taking them to Ann's room while the women, all four of them, showed me around. Once we got to the girl's room, they wanted me to show it to me without any interference from their mother, so Dana and Ann walked away leaving me with them.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"What are you doing, baby?" Ann said as she stood it the doorway.

"Playing," I said as I put Malibu Barbie into her pink Corvette convertible for Mindy.

"God I love you," Ann said, her smile so wide it kept her from being able to enter the room.

"Me too!" Dana said as she stood next to Ann, amazed that I was sitting on the floor playing Barbie with her two daughters.

"Yeah...well...what's not to love?" I said with a grin.

Dana looked at her watch and said, "Girls, Uncle Neil's been in here with you over a half hour. I think it's time we got ready for dinner, and let him visit with Chad for a while. Okay?"

"Awe, mom!" they said in unison, but I put my hand up.

"It's okay girls. I promise we can play a game together after dinner before you go to bed. Okay?"

"What game?" Allison asked.

"I'll let you pick it, it Allison."

"Awe," Mindy whined.

I put my arm around Mindy, hugging her against me. "Mindy, Allison let you pick what we'd do first, and you chose to play this. So it's her turn now to pick something. Okay?"

"Okay," Mindy said, her little voice pouting a little.

"What game can we play?" Allison asked.

"You choose it...but make sure it's one your sister likes to play. Okay?" I said, getting up off the floor.

"Okay," she said, starting to head for her closet.

"Pick one out after dinner, sweetie...your mom said to get ready for dinner," I said as I walked towards the door.

Walking past Dana, she said, "We actually have some time. Chad's still grilling. I just figured I'd save you from the girls."

"Why...I was having fun."

"I'm sure you're just humoring them. And I love you for it," Dana said with a motherly grin.

Ann touched Dana's arm, reassuring her. "He WAS having fun, Dana. He wouldn't lie to you. He's just great with kids."

Dana looked at Ann, and then at me. "You're serious."

Ann kissed me, and said, "See...I told you. He's amazing."

I shook my head, not understanding what the big deal was. But that didn't stop me from kissing Ann back. "So are you, babe," I said, the sparkle in her eyes lighting me up inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"You were really playing Barbie's with them?" Chad asked as he flipped over the steaks one more time before putting on some more of his 'secret' recipe marinade he'd been bragging about.

"Yep," I said before I sipped on my Budweiser longneck as I sat on the lounge chair on their expansive deck.

"You're kidding me. How do you do it?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Selective substitution," I said with a grin.

"And that's?"

"It's just mind over matter, really. I change the items that they want to play with in my mind to something more...suitable to my liking."

"Oh...so it's all about pretending Barbie's about to go on a hot date and she's going to have sex with the Ken doll," Dana said as she brought out a relish tray for us to snack on.

"I never said that. Just because I'm overly sexed doesn't mean that I have to use that as a way to subjugate my need to make it more appealing to me. All I did was change things to something more...masculine."

"Did you just say 'subjugate'?" Chad asked, looking through the smoke like it had affected his hearing instead of his sight.

"Yeah...do you need me to define it for you? I have a dictionary someone I love gave me," I laughed.

Ann almost did a spit take as I said that, thinking about her comment earlier in the day.

Chad laughed and said, "No...but I don't think I've ever heard anybody use it in a sentence before. So tell me, what did you do to change things in your mind?" Chad asked.

"Well, for one...the purse was a knapsack."

"What?"

"...and the hairbrush was a walkie-talkie," I added.

Ann laughed and said, "You were playing GI Joe, weren't you?"

I nodded and took another drink. Dana, giggled and asked, "So, what about the compact?"

"The what?" I asked.

"You know, the compact...the little make up compact?"

"Oh that? Hand grenade."

Chad snickered, and I said, "Yuck it up all you want, pal. But I played with GI Joe's as a kid...and there's that not much difference. It really wasn't all that hard to remember the official footlocker I had growing up and all the stuff I had in it. Besides, the girls didn't know, and we were having fun together. Isn't that the point?"

"Yes it is," Ann said. "Did you have a GI Joe when you were a kid, Chad?"

"Me...of course. They were mandatory, standard issue equipment for boys when I was a kid."

"Great. That means you won't have any trouble playing Barbie with the girls, then...will it?" she kidded.

Chad's head snapped toward me; his eyes widening when what just happened finally sank in. I tilted the head of my beer bottle toward him in a mock toast. "Happy to help," I said, taking another drink.

Chad took his beer and tilted the head toward me, more in disbelief. Then he took a long swig, downing the rest of the bottle in a couple of gulps. Setting the empty bottle down, he shook his head, a resigned grin on his face as he accepted his fate.

Dana continued to giggle at him, but said, "Don't worry honey. If you look as sexy as Neil did playing with the girls like that, I know I'm going to find it hard not to find a way to make it up to you."

"You see, big guy...there's ALWAYS a hidden benefit for doing the right thing," I said.

Chad took the hot dogs he was cooking for the girls off the grill and said, "Still...the things a guy has to do just to get laid."

"Neil was going to get laid anyway," Ann said with a smile. "That's what makes it so sexy...he does that kind of thing all the time, just because."

"What thing?" Chad asked.

"He just...makes me melt," Ann said as she watched me from across the deck.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Dinner was wonderful. The steaks Chad had grilled were amazing. I'm not sure what was in his secret marinade, but the flavor stayed on my tongue forever. And Dana had outdone herself. In addition to the fresh garden salad she'd put together, she made three different vegetables. I was enjoying my meal, and the company of the two young ladies that were sitting on either side of me as they ate their hot dogs.

Dana tried to get them to sit in their normal seats at the table, but I didn't mind. I was able to answer their million questions and still talk to the adults at the table as well. Chad and I started an extended discussion about Bond films. We touched all of the things we loved, and loathed about them. He truly was as big a fan as I was, and inevitably, the conversation touched on the help he'd given Ann to create the letters and find the props she'd sent for my weekend with Tina. We even talked about Tina and the weekend, although there was some creative editing because of the girls. That only made the conversation more sexually charged, and frankly, it added a certain excitement to sharing some of the details.

"I still can't believe you did all of that," Chad said. "That's always been kind of a fantasy of mine, but I was never able to get Dana to do it before."

"Before?" I said, glancing over at Dana, who turned red and sank in her seat.

Chad said, "Yeah. I've tried to get her to...you know...role play, but she always said it was stupid."

"I never said it was 'stupid'. I said I didn't think it was necessary."

Chad looked at Dana, his eyes smoldering as he looked up and down her body. I swear I could see the steam come out of his mouth...his desire for her that obvious. Still, he continued his conversation like she wasn't in the room, saying, "Yeah. Anyway, she couldn't believe the lengths that Ann was going to just to set up the Bond thing for you...not to mention that she was doing it to set it up for you and your...'friend'. I'm still shaking my head about that part. And I guess that got Dana to think about it differently somehow. Although I'm still not sure what happened to change her mind about being more...adventurous."

Ann let out a little chuckle, and said, "I know", under her breath.

"ANN!" Dana yelled, and then she started to giggle uncontrollably, which only made Ann laugh out loud too. They were like two schoolgirls, sharing an unspoken secret.

"What?" Chad said, wondering why they were laughing so hard.

"Yeah...what's so funny?" Allison asked innocently.

"Nothing sweetie...we're just having a good time," Dana said, shooting a knowing glance at Chad, who knew enough to wait until later to ask any more questions.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The girls were both giggling uncontrollably. Not Dana and Ann this time...it was Allison and Mindy. They were laughing at my mock anger, as I pretended to be frustrated by losing. The truth was, they were teaming up together to beat me, and I found that cute. They didn't care between them who won...the just didn't want me to.

We were playing 'Trouble', complete with the patented 'Pop-o-Matic' push down bubble that made the die underneath it jump to another number. I kept threatened to open the bubble to get the die out, telling them that I would be much better if I could roll it with my hand. But the more I carried on, the more they laughed. Sure, I made a couple of questionable moves in the game to 'help' them along, but they really were working well together, and they really were kicking my ass.

I was en route to my eighth straight loss without coming close to a win, when Dana announced that it was going to be the last game. The girls whined a little, but she said, "It's almost bedtime. Chad and I both have to work tomorrow...so you need to get to sleep so you'll get up in the morning."

"Uncle Neil...will you read us a story," Mindy asked in her cute little voice.

"Mindy, Neil doesn't want..."

"I'd love to," I said, cutting off Dana, who sat back in her chair, surprised.

"I told you...melt city," Ann said proudly, rocking back and forth in Chad's Lay-Z-Boy.

The girls beat me again, with Allison winning for the fourth time, to give each of them 4 wins, to my zip. I grumbled and said, "Go get dressed for bed...I'm tired of getting beat!" They giggled, grabbed the game and ran off, but not before I said, "Brush your teeth, you two...or no story."

"Who is this guy?" Dana said with a laugh.

"What?" I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Listen...you can already hear the water running. You wouldn't believe what I have to do to get them off to bed. Not to mention brushing their teeth!"

Chad laughed and said, "He's James Bond, dear. Didn't you know that?"

I smiled as I got up off the floor and headed back toward the girl's bedroom. "I'll be back in a little bit."

"I'll be waiting," Ann said sexily, making my head snap in her direction. She licked her lips and giggled as my body shook from the reaction to seeing her act so sexy in front of Chad and Dana. In reality, it was innocent...but I could tell she was in the mood to be very playful.

My patience was being tested big time. I wanted to stay in the room with Ann, but I'd already promised the girls that I would read them a story. Yet once I walked into their room and saw them tucked under their covers, ready for me...they had my total attention. Not only did I read them one story...I read them three. Mindy was out by the second one, and Allison fell asleep in the middle of the third. I continued to read, just in case she was a light sleeper, but once I finished, I knew they were both out for the night. I tuned off the light and slipped quietly out of their room, closing the door. I tiptoed down the hall, and turned into the living room, which was now empty.

Surprised, I looked in the kitchen, and still didn't find anyone. I was beginning to wonder just how long I'd been gone, and I looked at my watch. I'd been reading to the girls for a half-hour. "It didn't seem that long," I said to myself as I turned to head back to Ann's bedroom, if I could find it. I knew where it was, but she'd never bothered to show it to me yet. As I took my first quiet step to retreat down the hallway back towards the girl's room, I thought I heard heard a mumbled laugh. I knew it was Ann's, but I didn;t know where it was coming from.

I turned again and headed towards that laugh, realizing as I walked through the kitched that it was coming from outside. As I approached the sliding glass door, I saw Chad, Dana and Ann sitting around the glass patio table in the center of the dark hardwood deck. I was amazed at just how well insulated the house was, because I knew she was laughing hard, but I could barely hear it standing right next to the door. Opening it, I stepped outside.

"Wow, you sure took you sweet time," Ann said as I slid the door shut.

"Yeah, I guess I did. It didn't seem like I was in there that long."

"Did you get them to calm down?" Dana asked.

"Sure. They're really amazing girls, Dana. You've done a terrific job...I know it can't be easy," I said, not saying any more since I really didn't want to delve into her divorce for fear of having to talk about my own.

Dana knew what I meant though, and she smiled. "I owe a lot of that to Chad, Neil. He's been a real stable influence in their life. They love him. And he makes me happy, so they see the difference in how I am...that's huge," she said as she stood up.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To say goodnight to the girls."

"They're asleep," I said, as I noticed a glass of wine in front of me. I looked at Ann, who smiled as she sipped her own glass. I picked it up and joined her...and Chad. I turned to look at Dana, who was carrying hers.