Hesitation

*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

Disclaimers: This story has been edited by myself, using Microsoft Spell-check. You have been forewarned.

*.*

"Tick treat!" the girl squealed excitedly.

"Trick or treat," the boy next to her said.

Edward Deubler smiled at the two 'zombies' that stood on his sidewalk. Their little faces were dusted in a white powder, their little eyes smudged in dark circles. Behind them, a blonde teenaged girl stood, likewise dusted in white. Edward guessed that the girl was their older sister, or possibly their mother; it was hard to estimate her age behind the heavy makeup.

"Oh my! The walking dead has invaded my neighborhood!" Edward said and dropped a few pieces of candy into their plastic grocery bags.

"Thank you!" the two children said in unison.

"Oh, you're welcome," Edward smiled, then straightened up.

He then held out a few pieces of candy to the older girl. The girl smiled and accepted the candy.

"Thanks," she said.

"Uh huh. I mean, I know, soon as y'all get home, you're going raid their bags, but..." Edward smiled.

"Not going raid them," the girl said, her voice holding an amused note. "I'm charging them, one piece for every five they get."

"Highway robbery!" Edward declared.

And then the boy's grocery bag ripped.

"Oh no!" the boy cried out.

"Shit!" the girl said, bending to assist the boy.

"Y'all hang on," Edward ordered. "I'll get them another bag."

He put the bowl of candy onto the lawn chair on his porch and opened the front door of his home. Edward quickly walked to the laundry room. At the bottom of the pile of clean, folded clothing, he knew he had four pillow cases. Not one of the four pillow cases matched any of the other pillow cases. They did not match any of the sheets on any of the beds in the five bedrooms of his house. Edward strongly suspected that Roberta had left the pillow cases just to drive Edward crazy.

"Mister, you sure?" the girl asked, unsure when Edward reappeared with the pillow cases.

"They'll hold up a lot better than them bags," Edward smiled. "I mean, you want get them five pieces for every one they get, right?"

"It's one for every five," the girl laughed.

Standing close, helping the girl gather up the spilled candies, Edward could see that the girl was either pregnant, or had a beer gut going. Given her approximate age of mid to late teens, Edward would guess that she was pregnant, probably around four to five months along.

"Your kids?" Edward asked, standing again.

"Baby brother and sister," the girl said. "Mindy and Randy."

"And you?" Edward asked, looking into her ice blue eyes.

"Hmm? Oh! I'm Terri," the girl said.

"Well, Happy Halloween, Terri and Mindy and Randy," Edward smiled and walked back to his chair.

"Thanks again, Mister," Terri said, herding her two zombies down the sidewalk.

"Thank you," Mindy and Randy intoned.

Edward bit back the groan. Terri was wearing a white leotard top and a pair of white yoga pants. The scoop neck of her top had revealed two very nice sized breasts; it was apparent that Terri was not wearing a bra underneath the stretchy material. When she turned, the porch light shone through the thin material of her yoga pants; the leotard bottom was a thong style. Her buttocks were faintly visible through the thin material of her pants.

Edward wondered where Terri, and Mindy and Randy had come from. Roberts Drive in Oakleaf, Texas was an affluent neighborhood. Most of the trick or treaters that would approach his porch that night did not live in the neighborhood. Most were from the trailer parks of Sweet Oak, and Great Oak, Texas.

As he sat, handing out candy to hosts of monsters and ghosts and super heroes, Edward did keep an eye on the neighborhood. He did keep an eye on Mindy and Randy and Terri. The twilight was too dark for him to see her cute buttocks, or her hard little nipples but he did see Terri smile and wave to him as they continued their journey.

He lived at 1214 Roberts Drive. If they managed to get all the way to 2019 Roberts Drive, the three of them would have quite a haul. But it did look like Mindy was beginning to tire; Terri squatted down and pointed to the end of the block.

"Running out of gas?" Edward called out as Terri held up three fingers.

Terri turned and gave him a broad smile. She nodded her head in agreement and then four little super heroes were demanding 'trick or treat.' Edward did not see his zombies again.

Two evenings later, Edward pulled the chicken breasts from the broiler and nodded in satisfaction. The feta cheese and spinach was oozing from the four breasts onto the aluminum foil. The flesh was a delicious golden brown. Just as he placed the baking dish onto the trivet, his doorbell chimed.

Roberta had hated his doorbell. She said it sounded 'old,' like the sort of doorbell old people would have. Edward had challenged his wife to find a better sounding one, but she never had.

Edward did wonder who was ringing his doorbell; it was seven thirty at night. He rarely had visitors, especially on a week night. He rarely had visitors on weekends either, for that matter.

"Coming, coming," he called out.

"Hi," a pretty blonde girl chirped.

"Uh, hi," Edward said.

She held two scraps of cloth in front of her midsection; Edward wondered if they were something the pretty blonde was selling. He had a sign on his door that clearly stated 'No Soliciting' in English and in Spanish.

Then she held the two scraps out and Edward saw the paunch.

"Brought these back," Terri said, holding out the two pillowcases. "Thanks so much; wouldn't believe how much they held."

"More than a busted up grocery bag, I'll bet," Edward said. "But you didn't, I mean, I really didn't expect them back."

"Oh. Well, I uh, I mean, I would have brought them back last night, but needed to wash them," Terri said.

She then pointed to his front yard. Edward tried to see what she was pointing at.

"Drove by here about three times," Terri smiled. "Other night? Had them big old pumpkins out here."

"Uh, yeah, but Halloween's over," Edward said. "Took them down."

They looked at each other for a long moment, neither one quite sure what to say next. She turned to leave.

"I uh, I'm about have some dinner. You eat yet?" Edward asked.

"I uh," Terri said, suddenly losing her smile.

"Sorry. God, that must have sounded so creepy and stuff," Edward said. "I mean, I'm forty one and you're what? How old?"

"Eighteen," Terri said, relaxing slightly. "Know what? She didn't say when I needed be back. Yeah. What you eating?"

"Stuffed chicken breast over linguini with a cream sauce," Edward said, stepping back.

"Stuffed, you a cook or something?" Terri asked, entering the house.

In the light of the foyer, Edward could see that Terri was again going braless. Her nipples and half-dollar sized areolae were clearly visible, poking against the tight material of her pink leotard top. She had on another pair of yoga pants, black this evening.

Yesterday evening, her long blonde hair had been done into a ponytail that had reached to the small of her back. Tonight, her blonde hair hung loose, reaching to just below her round buttocks. He could see that the blonde had several strands of red strewn throughout. In the twilight last night, he had assumed that the girl was a dirty blonde. In the lighted foyer, he saw that she was actually a strawberry blonde.

"Mm! Smells good," Terri enthused. "You make that, Mister, uh, mister..."

"Deubler. Edward Deubler," Edward said, pulling out a chair for the girl.

"Like Deubler's Furniture?" Terri asked brightly as Edward quickly prepared a dish for her.

"Precisely like Deubler Furniture and Appliances," Edward agreed, putting the plate in front of the girl.

It irked Edward, that most people added an apostrophe S to the name of his three stores. Theresa White, his lawyer and he had kicked around the idea of names. It had been Theresa that had suggested 'Deubler Furniture & Appliances,' pointing out that Deubler made it sound like a brand name. An apostrophe S would make it sound possessive and not like an established, trustworthy name.

"What you want to drink?" Edward asked, already getting a glass out.

The girl asked for beer. Edward had four different selections of bottled beers, including a dark that he was particularly fond of. But Terri was eighteen, and would be driving home after the meal. If the girl somehow had a fender bender or worse, Edward stood to lose a great deal of money in the ensuing law suit.

"Uh huh, iced tea, milk, water, or, hmm, got apple juice or grape juice," Edward said.

"Iced tea. Um, it sweet?" Terri asked, already chewing a mouthful of her chicken breast.

He poured a glass of iced tea then took his own seat. Looking at the girl, her attire, her cheap costume jewelry and shoddy flip flops, Edward deduced that he probably owned every stick of furniture the girl's family had in their home, or apartment, or trailer. He made his fortune from leasing furniture and appliances to people that couldn't afford to purchase outright those basic items. On average, a four hundred dollar couch would net him twelve to fourteen hundred dollars. A three hundred dollar washing machine would earn him seven hundred to nine hundred dollars. By the time a customer had paid off the furniture and appliances, it was usually time to replace that furniture with new couches and chairs, new mattresses.

Repossessing furniture was an unfortunate side effect of his business. An appliance could often times be cleaned up, repainted, and resold. A couch liberally stained with juice, beer and coffee could not be resold. A recliner that was infested with roaches could not be resold.

"Know I'm not supposed ask, but how far along are you?" Edward asked as Terri chewed.

"Hmm," Terri thought, Uh, almost six months. Due in February. This is good; I like these noodles."

"Daddy's happy about it?" Edward asked.

"You kidding? Wants kick me out," Terri exclaimed. "Says Mindy and Randy don't need be seeing that kind of shit."

"Hmm, oh. No, no, meant the baby daddy," Edward corrected.

"You kidding, right? 'Ain't mine, know what I'm saying? Shit, like I know how many mother fuckers you been fucking? Just 'cause you say it's mine don't mean it's mine, know what I'm saying?'" Terri said, affecting a deep voice, even assuming the slack jawed expression to go with the statement.

"Guess he ain't never heard of DNA?" Edward said.

"Uh huh, but clinic on Banks Street don't do them," Terri said, swallowing her mouthful of food.

"So, the baby daddy? He's black?" Edward asked, washing down his mouthful with a sip of iced tea.

"No!" Terri snapped, pretty face screwed up in displeasure. "I look like I'm all into that?"

"No, no, just you, the way you were talking, made it sound like he is," Edward said.

"No, he just think he all the shits," Terri said. "Why you not supposed ask when I'm due?"

"Supposed you weren't pregnant and I asked that. Be kind of awkward," Edward explained.

"You got a bathroom?" Terri suddenly asked, jumping to her feet.

"No. Funniest thing about this house? Not a single bathrooms anywhere," Edward said, getting to his feet. "I mean, I asked my real estate agent about that, but..."

"Ha ha," Terri smirked as Edward opened the door to a half-bath.

"Shit! Aw no, huh?" Edward heard coming from inside the bathroom.

"You are cleaning that up," Edward muttered to himself.

He did ask himself why he'd invited the girl into his home. He did not know her. She was eighteen, more than half his age. And she was poor white trash, judging from her clothing, judging from her language.

"Because you got a thing for preggies," he answered his own question. "And she has got a nice ass and you got a thing for asses."

"And she's got a hoo-hoo and you got you a thing for a hoo-hoo," Roberta would have laughed. "White, black, brown, fat, skinny, old, young, don't matter; you ain't nothing but a dog wanting you some of that sweet hoo-hoo."

It had been more than four months since Roberta had announced that she was leaving him. According to Roberta, she needed to make the announcement; else Edward would never even noticed that she was gone.

"When we got married, didn't know you was already married," Roberta had snarled.

"What? I'm not married," Edward had sputtered.

"Uh huh, to that fucking job you got," Roberta had screamed.

With a few more screams and insults, Edward watched the beautiful woman leave his home. Her father smiled a satisfied smile as he helped his daughter pack her belongings into the trunk and back seat of her Mercedes-Benz. Edward wasn't surprised; Robert Jacks was one of the most prejudiced people he'd ever met. It had truly galled Robert that his baby girl would date a white man, much less marry one.

"Knew this thing was about pop on me," Terri said, coming out of the bathroom.

Her leotard was bunched up, revealing a beautiful belly. Edward could see the snaps of the garment's crotch were torn away.

The girl sat down at the table again and tried to pull the stretchy material down. It just sprung up again, to right underneath her braless breasts.

"Wait here," Edward smiled.

Edward sprinted up the stairs and found a Deubler Furniture & Appliances tee shirt in Adult Men's' Medium. He knew a Large would be more comfortable, but, truth be told, he liked the looks of Terri's nipples pressed against her tops, the swell and outline of her breasts and belly.

"Here you go," Edward said, returning to the kitchen table.

"You just want me have bring this back again," Terri playfully accused, accepting the tee shirt.

"Uh huh, lasagna tomorrow night," Edward joked and sat to finish his own dinner.

"Oh! Randy LOVES lasagna!" Terri enthused.

"Well, bring him and uh, Mindy along," Edward invited.

"You serious?" Terri asked, wiggling around and finally pulling the pink leotard out from underneath the snug tee shirt.

Edward felt his cock stiffen almost painfully as she wiggled, causing her breasts to jiggle, rub against the material of the tee shirt. They'd been bumps against the top of her leotard, but thanks to the friction, were now two hard, crinkled bumps against the white tee shirt.

"Yeah, sure; dinner's at six, okay?" Edward said.

Terri looked at the crotch of the leotard then sighed. She dropped the scrap into her lap.

"Ziggler's got some of the cheapest shit, I swear," Terri commented.

Ziggler's was a bargain clothing store. Most of the items they sold were factory seconds with one defect or another. Edward had never set foot inside the building but nodded his head in agreement with Terri's statement.

"Mr. Deubler, you serious about I can bring Randy and Mindy?" Terri asked as Edward finished eating.

"Of course; they're cute," Edward said, getting to his feet.

"Uh huh, not too cute last night. Took forever get them go to bed," Terri said, following Edward with her own plate and glass.

"But uh, don't call me Mr. Deubler, huh? Makes me feel all old and stuff," Edward said, taking the plate and glass from Terri's hands.

"Then what I call you?" Terri asked.

"I like Edward. I've had it for a while, kind of gotten used to it," Edward said.

"And we can stop by at six?" Terri affirmed as they stood in the kitchen.

"Mm-hmm," Edward said, testing that the baking dish was cool enough to touch.

"Okay, I uh, I guess I better get going. I uh, thanks, thanks for dinner; that was good," Terri said as Edward quickly put the two remaining chicken breasts into storage containers.

"God damn, Edward, what are you doing?" Edward thought as he watched Terri's ass swing and sway as the young girl walked in front of him.

"I uh, okay, uh, um, good night," Terri said at the doorway.

"Uh huh," Edward smiled.

He was startled when she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. She suddenly stepped back from him, an odd expression on her pretty face.

Terri's eyes glanced down and looked at the tent in Edward's slacks. Her eyes darted up to his face. Both Edward and Terri blushed hotly.

Terri stepped up again, gave Edward another quick hug and sprinted out the front door of the home. Edward watched Terri's juicy ass as she dashed toward a nondescript sedan parked on the street.

He then went into the same half-bath she'd used. Freeing his aching cock from his slacks, Edward gave the member a few good strokes before spewing a torrent of semen into the toilet bowl.

"Damn, man, she's half, more than half your age, huh?" Edward chastised himself as he washed his hands.

Edward looked into the mirror. He wasn't a bad looking man. His short cropped brown hair was showing more than a few splotches of gray throughout, his golden brown eyes had the beginnings of crow's feet in the corners. His forehead had a few wrinkles stretching across.

But at six feet three, he was in pretty good shape. He kept his weight as close to one ninety as possible with trips to the gym next door to his Oakleaf store. He also went on the occasional deliveries and repossessions with his crew. His skin still bore the tan of his many years working construction.

The next day, Edward went to his Great Oak store. It had been the first one he had opened; it was his largest store. Sixteen thousand square feet of furniture and appliances ready for delivery.

"Cheryl, come see a minute," Edward called out to one of his employees.

He regretted his tone of voice; the twenty three year old woman looked fearful as she approached. Edward pasted a smile to his face.

"You, how your twins doing?" Edward asked.

"Hmm? Oh they good, Mr. Deubler, they real good," Cheryl said.

"They're four, right?" Edward asked.

"Uh, yes sir," Cheryl agreed.

"So, I uh, damn, I don't know how old they are," Edward said. "But, you were trying impress, get on their good side, what would you get them?"

"We went trick or treating other night? Grayson? Got all kind of candy, but all she wanted was this stupid little stuffed animal got from one of them houses," Cheryl said.

"Perfect," Edward smiled.

He patrolled the store's floor for a few minutes, made sure that his customers were being greeted and herded toward the big ticket items, then went on to the Sweet Oak store.

Around the corner from his Sweet Oak store was a Wal-Mart. Edward loathed the megastore, but this was not the time to be selective. He found a couple of stuffed animals and happened past the games section on his way out. He picked up a deck of Uno cards, figuring that if either Mindy or Randy could not read, he or Terri could assist them.

"Y'all sell groceries here too?" Edward asked, surprised when he saw a cooler near the check-out.

"Uh, yeah," the employee said, tone of voice letting Edward know how stupid she thought his question was.

Edward decided that Burns & Burns Supermarket deserved his money a lot more than Wal-Mart and this snotty Wal-Mart employee did. He gathered all the ingredients for his lasagna, then stopped by the bakery section and bought a chocolate cake, along with a loaf of Italian bread.

At five forty one, his doorbell rang. Edward was glad Roberta had not managed to change the chimes; he liked them.

"Hi, Mr. Dwood!" Mindy called out when Edward opened the door.

"Edward. Ed Ward," Terri corrected.

Edward again felt that momentary hesitation when he saw Terri. She'd obviously dressed up, and had layered makeup on her pretty face. The clothing looked cheap, and uncomfortable on her pregnant body and the makeup looked almost clownish.

"Hi, Mr. Ed Dwood," Randy said.

"You look beautiful," Edward complimented Terri, even though he didn't mean it.

Again, his conscience felt a hesitation when she smiled and kissed him on his lips. But his cock felt no hesitation at all.