Another Springtime Ch. 10

With such initiative, I paused to allow her a break to respond, and waited for her to gather her thoughts for me as she wished. That sweet, shy smile of hers curled the corners of her mouth and she fidgeted a bit, trying to pull the words she wanted into a form that would covey her wishes.

"This maiden hath," she began hesitantly, sitting up now to kneel facing me on the couch, "over these last months had the benefit of a gallant knight's companionship, who has been wise counselor, cheerful companion, and valiant protector. He has given his all and asked nothing in return; and so, Sir Knight, I do now with tummy bare for him alone…" there was a saucy little smirk in those pretty eyes, "wish to drive him wild, to make him chase me and catch me, forever."

She held my hand tightly in hers, and then, before continuing, reached with one hand behind her neck and pulled the tie loose, wiggling lightly and letting the gossamer fall forward off her shoulders and away from her and over our hands, baring her breasts prettily. "With breasts bared to his eyes alone I wish him to know he awakens buzzy bees inside me and brings me the greatest joy any maid has ever known…."

I noticed that her voice began to quaver slightly with emotion.

"With eyes dark and sensual for him alone I wish him to know…."

Her voice was fragile and delicate as she hesitated a moment, an exquisite tenderness in her beautiful eyes.

"I wish him to know… that I love him, and…" her long hair falling all about us, she leaned her forehead against mine, the very sweetest of her smiles gracing her pretty mouth, "I am his, body and soul, to love and cherish forever."

My heart was full to overflowing with love for her, and I just held her close to me for a while, and felt her snuggle closer still.

"Well, now, M'Lady. That's a powerful message for a single knight. Is he perceptive enough, do you think, to understand all that you have bestowed upon him."

After a moment, she pulled away, as were it impossible for her to speak her mind in my embrace.

"Of a truth, Sir Knight, it is but the fullness of one maid's tender heart, this day and forever. Still," she was speaking slowly, taking some strength to go on by using the third person, "I have no doubt; for you see, Sir, it is his exalted and wise self who taught me in gentleness and patience, and by his own example, the value of these very things.I give him willingly but that which he has shown me is most valuable to him above all else save his God alone… all the love my heart can give is… his. and only his, forever."

What could I say? She was my heart's delight like I had never imagined.

"Thank you, Darling. I am, because of your gift, the richest and happiest knight in all the realm. As I said once before, you will always be my pretty little vixen!" My heart was really quite moved by her declaration, and I didn't know what else to say.

She giggled sweetly and smiled, opened my fingers with hers, and pulled my hand to her once again to hold it tenderly to her soft breast.

]

Later, still laying cozy in my embrace, she asked if perhaps we might invite theBergungskommando over to our place for dinner instead of going out, adding that she would like to fix something special, and would I help her a little in the kitchen. The idea caught on immediately and we planned a menu of her choosing, decided we would need a brief shopping excursion for a few things the next morning, and decided together we would make a fun day of it in "Foggy San Francisco."

In the midst of thinking and planning she became excited at the prospect of such a party and sat up next to me, eyes all alight and dancing. Plans essentially complete, she turned back to me and thanked me for being such a helpful companion to her in the kitchen. At the same moment, she must have seen the warmth in my eyes for her. She sat there, confident and secure in my company, knowing that I loved her dearly, and planning a delightful party with close friends and just brimming with anticipation, and then stopped short.

She had forgotten that she was all bare and in the daintiest reaction to her own surprise, feeling my eyes on her, she covered her little nipples lightly with just her fingertips and dropped her eyes shyly. Her blush was soft and added to the roses in her cheeks.

"You make me, Darling…" her voice was still that of a young girl surprised at the wonder and delight of intimacy with her husband. "You make me… feel little buzzy bees inside when you look at me."

"All the better to let you know I love you, Darling girl," I returned in my best big-bad-wolf imitation, and she giggled at the game and when I opened my arms to her she lay herself and her beautiful breasts across my chest for a hug.

Incredible!

Shortly we experienced and enjoyed again what had happened before. She had become quite at ease with our physical intimacy and enjoyed our closeness. At such times, relaxed, unhurried, and our passions sated for the moment after our lovemaking, we could talk about all kinds of things and explore most any subject. She ventured a question as to whether I thought Allan was a good match for Jenny, since they were getting rather serious, she thought.

I knew the two of them talked about such things and that Christine would be privy to thoughts my daughter would be unlikely to share with me, so I took aboard that information with interest. The party would be another chance for me to get to know Allan and the fellows he called his pals.

Then, after a little pause, she opened herself up yet further to me. Did I think she could begin to take some classes at the university? Would I not need to take the next classes in my study plan towards my graduation, and would it be possible for her to go to classes with me or with Jenny and the other girls? She was hoping to expand her world. My daughter and her girl friends were a year or two older and farther along, but Christine wanted not to be left behind. We discussed that for a bit, and I said I thought that would work out quite well and would be a good thing. We added some more plans and details, and the matter flourished.

At length, the conversation ebbed and silence reigned. She was brushing her hair calmly, enjoying being with me and pleased with herself that she pleased me. Then she leaned over to me sweetly and whispered in my ear, "Make me, Darling… I want to glow for you." She was already glowing very sweetly, and just for me! "Make me, again,please."

There is for his lady fair very little a loving knight can not manage and with gusto and élan!

]

Preparing dinner during the day had been a lot of fun for the two of us… a rich, savoryLinzensuppe (Lentil soup for the unfortunate non-German speakers) with pieces of potato and ham in it, fresh French bread and cold cuts of Swiss and Bavarian cured meats, a selection of fine cheeses – DutchGouda, GermanTilsiter, SwissEhementhaler – and two kinds of salad, all traditional Swiss recipes done with considerable talent and flair. Jenny and Allan, and theBergungskommando arrived at our place in time for a refreshing dip in the pool before dinner and the entire group was soon quite at ease. They brought Christine's dress and her knife set and a box full of her clothes that Jenny had rescued, and a couple of other odds and ends. She was ecstatic at their success and thanked them over and over again.

Setting aside the white box with her now safely recovered wedding dress, she stopped me with two big serving platters in my hands and kissed me on the cheek, telling me that her clever knight knew how to slay dragons better than any other in the entire world… an award quite superior, in my estimation, to any other accolade on earth; wonderful.

It deserves a note here, too, as to how she transitioned with me into another social strata. As we worked together in the kitchen she was bright and cheerful and organized and efficient, even if she was wearing her flimsy little peasant girl top, which just barely covered her breasts, and she welcomed my fondling her. As the time drew near where we could expect arrival of company she changed, and presented first her husband, of course, and then our guests with a delightfully pleasant but very modest image of a pretty girl in a light linen skirt and an oversized university sweatshirt over a simple cotton blouse. She was barefoot, as usual at home, and invited the others to take their shoes off at the door and leave them on the little mat provided, and as I watched her early on I saw a socially very polished and skillful young lady in action, feeling safe and secure in the home environment we had created together, open and friendly in a very lady-like way.

While not pompous and prissy, neither was she ‘sexy' or suggestive in any way. She was a charming hostess, full of smiles and good humor, and when she looked at me the twinkle in her eye seemed to suggest that all she did and accomplished was for me and in my honor. I don't know how she managed that. It was very subtle and low key, but she made my heart glow within me that evening.

It was obviously a delight to her also not only that the three girls and their boyfriends had managed the job so well, and that her dress was safe, but that the three young men, each a rather impressive and handsome fellow and several years her senior, were openly very impressed with her cooking and the delicious soup and all that she had prepared so nicely. It was more than just cozying up to a pretty girl; they zoomed through bowls of the thick, tasty soup like starving men and they steered the conversation repeatedly back to the food, asking her about details and Switzerland, and trying to pick up the many German names for things. It pleased her immensely to feel their appreciation and interest. The largeApfelstreussel she had baked from scratch that afternoon was desert – something like a moist sheet cake with spiced apple slices and fruits on top, which any experienced traveler in Central Europe will recognize as a regional treasure. She had baked these before, smaller, just for me, and they were superb. This one was larger, and the interest that welcomed it and the jubilation that prevailed during its total consumption touched her heart.

So, the socializing in our home was a welcome excitement. The four girls were already close, almost like sisters, and jabbering continually about all kinds of things. It was a vent for Jenny and a serious assist to Christine as well. The fellows were sort of an after thought in some ways but the composite was a wonderful event, and instructive for me. She was trying hard to open up to a world that had been very scary… and this was an avenue for her into an exciting and promising future. She handled it quite well.

The story of our various experiences then sort of spilled out in the course of the fast paced conversation, and all of them were flabbergasted when Christine told them about the first day in the hotel and then, in her delightfully shy way – and with the others urging her onward – our first night together, and then other escapades.

"And you never told me before, Dad!"

My daughter was ready to roast me alive, and there was fire in her eyes in a boisterous, yet still half serious way as she punched me playfully. She turned to Christine in an apologetic tone. "I was very surprised when I found you two living together last fall. Christine, my dad hasnever been that kind of a man with women. I was just shocked."

Christine was wearing a grin a wide as the Golden Gate because my daughter was having a field day with me. Still, especially in the presence of the other girls and the fellows, she could not bring herself to do other than come to my rescue.

"You should know, Jenny," she explained carefully, "that in all that time before we were married…" she was very earnest and sincere in her declaration, and each of the other girls responded to that, "he never once did anything to take advantage of me or embarrass me or be at all rude like that."

She seemed suddenly at a loss for words and hesitated. I was pleased at her words. I did not want my daughter and her friends to think other than well of me, and not being intimate with a woman before marriage was a principle for me that I wanted to be clear. I noticed, in that moment, the one fellow staring at his plate, obviously deep in his own thoughts.

"Actually," she ventured meekly – and she masked her playfulness from me very well on this occasion – "I can't say what really happened or he'll beat me!" She and Jenny were far too closely acquainted at this point for my daughter not to see immediately her game and join in, and the two of them dissolved in laughter together, and the other two soon joined them.

There was no defense left for me. To have said anything would have been a mistake, so I just enjoyed their uninhibited girlish pranks and their delight in teasing me. One of the other girls looked at me, probably wondering how I was faring under the jesting, and I just shrugged my shoulders, as if such were to be expected from these silly women. They were the same two girls that had been with us at Christmas, so they were not unfamiliar with such shenanigans and even contributed in their own way.

Christine did take great delight in relating the story of the two fellows she had met in Longview, and the ‘predatory beast' story about the day at the fountain after class had them all just howling with glee. It was a fun evening.

The occasion was very instructive for me. I witnessed a marvelous dichotomy in this girl of mine. With others she showed herself to be as adept and creative and worthy of respect and honor as any of them, and thereby did me a great honor as my wife and companion. Where we were alone together, she was ever as sweet and loveable and alluring – and very much "mine" – as any man could possibly desire.

I was, indeed, a fortunate man.