Card with a Heart

Later Vicki asked me, "What on earth did you say to my father? He seems to think that you walk on water or something."

I said earnestly, "I only told him the truth, babe."

She looked at me. "My father has not really trusted a single guy that I've ever dated. You've been working your magic again."

"What magic?" I protested.

Vicki looked at me with those laser-like blue eyes. "The same magic you used on me, Mike."

********

The next year Vicki moved into an apartment with two other girls. The other girls were pretty cool about giving us some privacy, and even about the few times I stayed over. They had boyfriends too, so it just wasn't that big a deal. I was now sharing an apartment with three guys, Doug being one of them. He and Julie were still together, but fortunately neither of them teased me much about my relationship with Vicki.

Anyway, it was much more comfortable for me to hang out at the girls' place than to have Vicki come over to the testosterone palace where I had to share a bedroom. The other girls really liked me and we had a lot of fun playing cards or watching movies on TV. Every week we had a little popcorn and beer party when Monty Python came on. Sometimes one of the boyfriends joined us, and sometimes not. Matt and Nora also had us over at least once a month.

Vicki and I talked near the end of the school year about getting our own place. We found a decent one bedroom apartment that actually had a nice kitchen. By this time I'd had my fill of the hamburger helper type food that the other guys craved, and was more than ready to try some real cooking. Vicki was on the pill now so that relieved one potential stressor. But we were both a bit nervous the first couple of days after moving in, exhausted from packing and unpacking, and feeling slightly awkward with each other in a new space. I finally told her, "We need to break the ice again, Vicki. This isn't like us."

"Mike, I'm sorry. It just seems like a bigger step than I thought, now that we're actually here together."

"You know what might help? A back rub."

"Well if that's on the table... " She flashed her smile at me and stretched out on the bed.

Vicki was pretty tense. I thought that I would have to be extra attentive until she relaxed into us living together. I took my time. The back rub turned into an arm and leg rub as well. Then a foot rub. Vicki kept making little coos and whimpers of pleasure. I had been at it for well over an hour when I heard her softly snoring. I tiptoed out of the bedroom.

I was relaxing with a book on the sofa later when she slunk up to me silently and slid into my lap. Her eyes were sparkling. "I woke up and you weren't there, so I thought I would come find you."

"You succeed..." I couldn't complete my thought due to the lips pressed urgently against mine.

Vicki kissed me passionately, her breasts pressing against me. I responded in kind, thrusting my tongue deep into her mouth, holding her tightly. Her need was quickly fueling my own. I nuzzled her neck and breathed into her ear. Then I pulled her sweater off. She wasn't wearing a bra. I licked and sucked on her hard nipples. Moaning, she shifted off my lap to undo my belt and worked my zipper down as far as she could.

I moved to pull her pants down. I discovered she had no panties on either. Apparently some preparation had gone into her sofa advance. I struggled to get my jeans off as she pouted at me. Then I was between her legs and she pulled me into her.

The sofa was a cheap vinyl one and our bodies squeaked along the surface. It didn't matter. Vicki was gasping and moaning with every stroke, her legs wrapped around mine. Our slippery union drove urgently to its apex. Vicky must have been really horny because her climax hit well before mine. "Mike! Mike! Oh God!!" Her pussy clenched me over and over. I kept thrusting. "Please Mike, I need to feel it!" She put her lips to my ear. "Shoot your man stuff in me, Mike! Give me all of it! Fill my pussy!" My balls strained and cut loose. Vicki squeezed me with her thighs at each pulse as I cried out. Then I collapsed on her, panting, my heart racing.

Finally I was on my back, with Vicki's head against my chest. I ran my fingers through her hair. She said softly, "Mike, maybe I've been too stressed out about this whole living together thing. But now I think maybe I'm gonna really like it."

"That's good," I said. "'Cause I know for sure that I will."

Vicki was silent for a bit. Then she said, "Do you remember the first time we kissed?"

"Yeah, I sure do. It was right after I asked you to be my girlfriend. You know, I've wondered sometimes if maybe I didn't get those steps bass-ackwards."

Vicki giggled. "I think things have turned out pretty well. And for sure you've become a really hot kisser."

I smiled and rubbed her back. "All it takes is practice." I whispered in her ear, "You know, we've still got some work to do here."

"Can't we let the rest of the unpacking go 'til tomorrow?"

I looked into those blue eyes. "Of course, babe. But that wasn't the work I meant. We've only christened one room so far."

Her eyebrows raised naughtily and she beamed at me. "Well don't just lie there, order a pizza and meet me in the bedroom!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And don't 'ma'am' me!"

"Yes, your highness."

I ducked away from the sofa pillow she threw at my head. Now, I thought, it felt like home.

*******

My parents were pretty conservative and weren't too thrilled that I was now living with my girlfriend. Vicki came over to Peoria one day during the holiday break and my parents finally got to spend some time getting to know her. Of course she just charmed the pants off of them. I knew that us sleeping in the same bedroom would be a huge hot button for my parents, so Vicki politely declined their offer to spend the night and drove back to Champaign. I left well before the end of winter break to get back to Vicki, and to our own place. Maybe that sent my parents a little message in case they still doubted our seriousness.

I decided to change my major from engineering in order to secure a promising career in computer science. It was a relatively new field and I had the feeling it would take off. I had already taken a couple of computer courses and found that I could handle coding. I figured there wouldn't be as much competition for jobs since the field was still developing.

Vicki graduated and promptly got a job as a junior accountant at a firm in town. My brother married Penny soon after that, and Vicki and I of course went to the wedding. I snubbed my shithead old roommate just to piss him off. I didn't give a damn. Why was he even there if he thought Tom and Penny already had a one-way ticket to hell, I thought. Vicki and I were at a table with Julie and Doug, and enjoyed ourselves greatly reliving our various college antics. This time Vicki and I just booked a hotel room rather than stress out my parents.

I still had to go to summer school to make up two courses I needed because of the change in major, but I would have enough credits to graduate after the summer. I was very concerned that I might not secure a job anywhere near Vicki's home town when I graduated. She waved my concerns away. "You know, Mike, I'll absolutely come with you wherever we need to go." I did several interviews on campus and obtained a couple of offers to think over. Both companies understood my situation and were willing to wait for me.

Matt invited me to his office for lunch one day. He had a senior management position in a local manufacturing firm. I arrived and was shown in by the secretary. Matt was glowering on the phone. "They can't come until Thursday? This will impact production! Call around and see if we can get someone else." He hung up and looked at me. "Sorry, Mike, it's a bit of a crisis right now. Our system crashed again and we can't get the support people out right away." He motioned to his secretary. "Can someone run over to Martinelli's for a couple of pastrami sandwiches?" He looked at me.

"That would be great, Matt." I had the feeling he had planned to have our lunch already waiting, but his system crisis had screwed up his morning.

His secretary said, "I'll take care of it," and left, closing the door behind her. Matt looked at me glumly.

I asked him, "Do you outsource all of your tech support?"

"Yeah, that's what the MBA fancy pants recommended."

"Matt -- that may not be the best answer for your firm. Does every outage impact production?" He nodded. "How much customization does your system have?"

"Quite a bit. None of the off-the-shelf products met our needs."

I thought a moment and asked another question. "Do you have any way of determining precisely how much the system has been down?"

"Let me get Carl in here."

Carl entered the office and looked at me. "I don't believe we've met."

"Mike, Mike Klinger. Nice to meet you, Carl." We shook hands.

Matt got down to business. "Can we get an idea how much system outages have impacted production over the last...year? Two years?" He looked at me and I nodded.

Carl pondered. "I can write the query in maybe twenty minutes, give me until 1:30 to get a full report. I'll have to run it on the skeleton back-up, but the data should all be there." He nodded at me and left the office.

Matt turned to me. "Ok Mike, I know that you're a smart guy. What are you thinking here?"

"I'm thinking that if outages are impacting your production significantly, that in-house staff may be the better way to go. They wouldn't be some generic hired gun troubleshooters, they would know your customized system inside and out. They could save you money in the long run."

Matt's eyes narrowed. "That's not what the MBAs have been telling me."

"Matt, you're more than smart enough to know that one size definitely does not fit all."

He considered what I was saying. After a minute he said, "Let's have lunch and wait for that report."

The pastrami sandwich came with a pile of potato chips and a big pickle. It was delicious. Carl brought the reports and stayed for the ensuing discussion. I did some rough calculations. "Matt, with this amount of system downtime you could easily justify an in-house computer lead and one or two techs under him. They could have the system up and running again within hours, not days. They could likely also find ways to streamline some of your administrative reporting. You just need to find the right people."

Matt looked at me closely. "We'll talk again next week, ok?" I nodded and dug into my neglected pastrami.

*******

I was typing away on my last paper a week later when Matt called. He sounded upbeat. After the usual pleasantries he said, "Mike, tell me again about your job offers."

"Well, I've decided against the Dallas position. I think Vicki would be miserable being that far from family and friends. The Chicago position is entry-level, but it's much closer."

Mat spoke very clearly. "What would you think about being my lead tech? I'll match the Chicago offer, and you know the cost of living is lower here."

"The lead position should go to Carl!"

Matt chuckled. "Carl will be the group supervisor, but he's probably going to retire within three years. You'll be the heir apparent. You and Carl can work together to find a junior tech."

"Have you talked to him about this?" I didn't want any part of back-stabbing office politics.

"Mike, it was his idea."

"I see. In that case, I accept!"

Vicki was ecstatic. With my job situation settled, we could stay in the apartment and begin house-hunting. We found a vintage three bedroom bungalow. It had typical solid 1920s craftsmanship. It could use some updating, especially in the kitchen, but it was essentially in move-in condition. It had been on the market for a while so the priced had dropped significantly. The problem would be the down payment.

My parents promptly offered us $1000. That was more than I expected; my parents lived quite modestly in their ranch house in Peoria. I guess they now understood that Vicki and I were really serious.

Matt and Nora asked us over for dinner. I knew that Nora had really been warming up to me, especially after I gave Vicki an antique gold ring with a small stone. She surprised me with a hug and kiss on the cheek at the door. "Come on in. You both look wonderful." She had made lasagna, which smelled mouth-watering. We chatted easily at dinner. Vicki mentioned that we were looking at a house. Matt and Nora immediately said that they wanted to see it. We arranged a visit for the weekend.

Matt and Nora loved the house. Matt declared, "This is perfect for you two! What do you need to seal the deal?"

I slumped my shoulders. "It would be another six grand beyond what we have saved for the down payment."

Matt looked at me. "That would probably be the best investment I've ever made."

I gaped at him.

"Come on, Mike. I know with what you're making, you can manage the mortgage payments. Please let me just make my daughter, make you, and make us, happy."

Vicki exclaimed, "You guys are the best parents ever!" We all hugged.

We moved into the bungalow nine weeks later.

*******

Matt and Nora hadn't pushed us about marriage. They seemed quite comfortable with our relationship, and just expected that we would tie the knot when we were ready. I knew that Matt was bought into the big traditional wedding, and that Vicki strongly resisted that idea. She thought that big weddings were extravagant and kind of stupid. Vicki and I felt Nora out on the subject.

"You know how Matt feels," she said.

I spoke first. "Yes, we do. But that would be a huge expense, and the money would be better set aside for your retirement. You've already done more than enough for us."

Nora sighed. "You're right, as usual, Mike. As far as I'm concerned, you and Vicki would be just as happy if you went to the courthouse. But I don't know how to sway Matt."

I thought. "What if we did just that, got married at the courthouse and you and Matt gave a party? Not a huge catered reception at the country club with a DJ and all that, just a party, a celebration? For family and close friends only."

Vicki chimed in. "I'd love that! It just takes so much pressure off, it would save you guys thousands, and we would be with the people that we really want to see and spend time with."

Nora looked at us. "You kids are so practical. I'll have another talk with Matt."

Matt dropped by my desk the next day with a hangdog look on his face. "Mike, you're all ganging up on me."

I chuckled. "Come on, Matt. We're just trying to find a reasonable compromise."

He sighed. "I know you will both be very happy. I don't want you to get off on the wrong foot because of me. How about this idea. The country club has an outdoor patio with a gazebo. We can hold a party just for family and close friends like you suggested. Just finger food and drinks, not a fancy sit-down dinner. Probably 50 people max. But please, no courthouse wedding. Can we at least have a justice of the peace in your living room? Nora and I want to be there."

I held out my hand and we shook on it. "I'll call Vicki and let her know. And Matt? Just for the record, you're one helluva father-in-law." Matt grinned. I think he blushed a little.

The wedding and party came off perfectly. I was pleased that my parents drove over from Peoria for the affair because my Dad had been having some high blood pressure issues. They told us how happy they were for us, with no judge-y references to our prior cohabitation.

Vicki and I got to spend some time with all of the attendees. She was positively glowing. Since the party was informal no one was constrained by fancy suits or endless speeches. We just all had a good time. Somehow Matt found a string quartet from the university music school, and they played for two hours. I knew Matt had already paid them but I still slipped a $50 tip to the first violinist.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Nora looking absolutely radiant. "I've been waiting for my dance, Mike." Vicki was beaming and nodding encouragement at me.

How could I resist? I had already danced briefly with my Mom. Nora and I swayed around the patio. "We're so happy, Nora. Thank you for all you and Matt have done."

"Mike, I know that I was pretty cool to you at first. That's just my motherly caution. But it's obvious that you and Vicki are a great match. Please just take good care of my baby, will you?"

"You better believe that I will, Nora." She kissed my cheek.

*******

Two years after our marriage we decided it was time to try for a family. Vicki went off the pill. Our sex life became more regimented as we carefully tracked her cycle on the calendar. We cut way back on wine. We each had tests done but they indicated no conditions that could impact conception. We were both taking supplements and going to bed on a strict schedule.

The only problem was that none of it worked. It was Nora who turned everything around.

I was in their kitchen, waiting for Matt. We were going to play golf and he had overslept. Matt wasn't very good but he always enjoyed a game when we could find the time. He loved the good-natured banter between us.

Nora and I were sipping coffee. She looked at me over her cup, just like her daughter did. "Mike, I'm going to give you some unsolicited advice. I'm your mother-in-law, so that privilege comes with the title." She smiled, and I smiled too.

Nora leaned forward. "You and Vicki are in the prime of life. This will happen. Remove all of the stress and just let it happen. Stop marking days on the calendar. Have candlelight dinners. Give her random foot rubs. Sneak up on her, fondle her ass and tell her how much you love her. Slip into the shower with her. Make it all fun again."

I stared at Nora. This wasn't at all the advice I expected. But maybe, just maybe, she had the right idea. I told her so.

"You're damn right." We heard Matt finally clattering down the stairs. "Now go out on the course and beat the pants off my husband."

"I heard that!"

*******

I don't recall whether Vicki or I coined the term "ambush sex." We probably did that together. It really ramped up the fun of our married life. Essentially, either of us was considered fair game to be jumped, anytime, anywhere in the house.

Vicki started it, so maybe Nora had talked to her as well. I had mowed the lawn one hot Saturday morning and could hardly wait to peel off my sweaty clothes and shower. I didn't even hear the door open as I stood under the warm spray. Then a naked Vicki slipped in behind the curtain and goosed me. As I yelped and turned around she was suddenly in my arms and pulling me down for a kiss. She reached down to stroke me and my dick responded nearly instantly. "Boost me up!" She panted. It wasn't a request.

I helped her clamber up my slippery body as she wrapped her legs around me. Somehow she maneuvered me into her as I moved to brace her against the wall. "This is so hot!" she gasped. I pumped away for all I was worth as she moaned into my ear. "Mike!! Fuck me!! Fuuck me!!" She clamped on me and I exploded deep in her pussy.

Later we were toweling each other off, giggling like teenagers. "What the fuck was that?" I panted.

"You didn't like it?" Her eyes teased me.

"I didn't say that. But you are so going down next time, missy, so you'd better watch your back!" She just laughed.

The next week we had just completed some major system upgrades. Matt told me I had been working too many hours, and to slip out at 3:00 more often. As it happened Vicki's office was in their annual vacation season lull. I came home early to find her car already in the driveway. She was in the kitchen making a sandwich at the counter when I snuck up and deftly de-pantsed her. "Mike!" Her laughter pealed. "What are you doing?!!"