Knockout Ch. 19-23

KNOCKOUT

Ch. 19: On the Road -- Friday

Friday morning, Tim woke to the smell of brewing coffee. And bacon and eggs, the second sniff told him. He lifted his head from the pillow and worked on bringing the face of the alarm clock into focus. 8:15, it read. He dropped his head back to his pillow and moaned.

"8:15 is not sleeping-in," he groused loudly, knowing his wife was nearby, trying to 'accidentally' wake him up.

He was right, her answering voice was only feet away, standing in the open doorway of their bedroom.

"Good morning, sweetie," she purred. "There's a lovely Western Omelet waiting for you. But you need to hurry before the eggs get dry and tough."

"Sneaky bitch," he grumbled into his pillow.

"What did you say?" she asked with a bit of spice.

He turned his head to the side. "Need to piss," he 'repeated'.

"Mm, uh huh," she responded doubtfully. "Well, you have time for that, but that's all. Get that fine, lazy ass moving!" He heard her move back down the hall toward the kitchen.

Tim really would have liked to drop back to sleep, but he had to smile, enjoying the tizzy Janice was in. He knew she was desperate to get on the road and finally uncover his big anniversary surprise. He rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom for a pee.

After flushing and washing, he took a short slug of mouthwash and rinsed it around while pulling on a pair of pajama bottoms and t-shirt, then stepping into his house slippers. He went back into the bathroom to spit and rinse, then headed toward the kitchen himself.

Tim poured himself a cup of coffee from the machine, then sat in front of a plate that already held a large, delicious-looking omelet. Janice dropped two slices of toast alongside the eggs and Tim gave her a hearty smile and thank you.

He took his time and enjoyed his breakfast, but was careful not to dawdle.

"That was delicious, baby, thank you," Tim said. "You're obviously already dressed to go," he continued. "I'm going to shower, shave and dress myself, then we can hit the road. Like I said, our schedule is very easy, but I guess if we head out now, we'll be able to take even more time enjoying our first stops if we like."

He gave her a light kiss; said, "I'll be quick," and headed back to their bedroom.

True to his word, Tim had himself cleaned and dressed and back in the kitchen with Janice by 9:30.

"Want a coffee for the road?" asked his wife.

"Sounds good," he answered. "How about you put together our road coffee and I'll take the bags out to the car?"

She kissed him on his freshly shaved cheek. "Sounds very good," she said.

Soon they were on their way. Tim headed over to the interstate bypass and headed south. The bypass looped around the city and would take them from their home on the northern edge of town, down to the airport that lay south of the city. They'd missed the worst of the morning rush hour of suburban commuters making their way into the city, so the traffic was busy, but not slow.

Before long, Tim was in the right lane, signaling his exit.

"The airport?" Janice said. "Why didn't you tell me we were flying? I would have worn something different."

"You're wearing comfortable clothes, with good walking shoes; seems like a very good choice for crossing a big airport."

"But a nicer pair of slacks or blouse..." she whined. "I feel like a schlub."

"Baby, you clearly haven't been on a flight in a long time. Yoga pants and loose sweatshirts are the order of the day for lots of women travelers these days. Long gone is the idea of dressing up to look sharp on a flight. And you don't look like a schlub, anyway," he added, with an amused glance over at Janice.

"You still should have told me," she grumped. Then, "Hey, you missed the exit for the terminal. We're not going to park in one of those remote lots where you have to spend another half hour coming back to the airport on a bus, are we?"

"Wow, you certainly are in a happy travel adventure mood, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I guess I have let myself get a bit worked up." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm just going to relax and let my mysterious husband show me a good time."

He patted her thigh. "That's my girl. Showing you a good time is what I'm all about."

Her eye caught sight of the exit sign for airport remote parking and her head involuntarily turned away from him as she stared at it. When he drove on by without slowing, she brought her head back facing forward and didn't say a word.

He put his hand on her thigh again, but higher up, and this time he squeezed instead of patting. "That's my girl," he said again.

A quarter mile further down the airport highway he did finally exit. Only now the sign didn't say anything about the airport, it said, "County Arboretum".

"The Arboretum? We're not flying anywhere?"

"Comfortable walking shoes, sightseeing and nature walking; remember me saying that? Or did you just hear dinner and dancing?" he asked with a laugh.

"I guess it is a bit early in the day to hit a nightclub, isn't it?" she responded a bit sheepishly, but with a smile of her own. "God, I don't think I've been to the arboretum since I was a kid; maybe on a school field trip."

"I know, me neither," said Tim. "But I've read that they've done some incredible things over the years. It seems that in exchange for giving up a little of the arboretum's original land on the north side for the airport expansion, they added six times as much to the south and turned it into a preserve of the native grasslands."

They pulled into the parking lot and Janice saw the large frame house that had served as the entrance and gift shop for the arboretum ever since it was established a hundred years before.

Ch. 20: In the Gardens -- Friday

As Janice and Tim walked toward the entrance, they were pleasantly surprised to find it was in better shape than when either of them had last seen it, at least 12 years earlier. The house had been the home of the arboretum's founding family until they donated it along with 110 acres of land early in the last century. It was a large, white traditional farmhouse, but with all the extras a wealthy family of the time would have wanted. Janice remembered it as being pretty run down during that long ago school trip, but the county had obviously restored the house to near-original condition and it looked lovely.

The inside of the house was also a joy, with one part serving as a museum of the city's founding era, with period furniture and decorations. The larger portion served as museum, gift shop, and research center for the arboretum and its amazing collection of plants.

After a surprisingly interesting 45 minutes spent exploring the displays inside the house, the young couple made their way out the "back door" and into a wonderland of nature. Tim had their video camera in his small backpack and brought it out to capture the sights. Meandering paths led them from one garden to another. Lush plants thrived along the small stream that ran through the property, while more desert-like flora survived beyond the stream's reach.

Tim and Jan wandered for hours, enjoying the beauty around them and each other's company. They smiled at the groups of schoolchildren clearly out on field trips of their own and wished they could encourage the kids not to wait 15 years before coming back and exploring this incredible place again.

"Right in our own backyard," Tim said with wonder as they strolled through a grove of eucalyptus. He stayed busy capturing all the wonders on their digi-cam.

"You think Jerome would be up for helping replace some of our water-hungry lawn with a garden with some of the dry-climate plants we've seen here?" asked Janice.

"I don't know," said Tim. "The kid's been working on getting the yard just the way you want it for years now. Don't know what he'd think of digging it up after all that effort."

"You know," she said, "I think he'd actually be up for the change and the challenge. He really takes pride in his work, which is why you can easily tell which yards he works on in our neighborhood. But they're still all the same: traditional, plain green lawns with a few bushes and flowers along the edges.

"I wonder if he's ever been out here?" she continued. "I think he'd love it just the way we are and it would inspire him. Hey! How about we bring him out here and see what he thinks about making a change to our yard then?"

Tim looked around, thinking a moment. "Actually, I think you're right. I think he would dig this place. Plus, you two would probably want to spend some time inside learning more about the best plants for our native environment and how to get your new garden started."

"He really is a good kid, isn't he?" said Janice. Then suddenly, "No, we have to stop calling him a kid; he's 18 and nearly full grown," she said, echoing Tim's thoughts from a couple of weeks earlier. "But 'good man' seems pretentious," Jan continued. "I guess he's just a good guy. Heck, he was even willing to take the time to help me with my rusty dance moves."

"Somehow, I don't think that was much of an imposition. He looked like he was enjoying your garage dance just as much as you were," Tim said as he turned the video camera on his wife.

"Wait a minute; you saw us dancing? How? We stopped when we heard you pull into the driveway and the garage door was closed. How could you have seen us?" asked Janice.

Tim hid behind the viewfinder and thought for a moment about saying that it had just sounded that way when Jerome had praised Janice's dancing. But in the end, he decided to go with the truth. He told her about his first arrival and hearing the music from the garage and watching their dance practice through the kitchen door.

"And how long were you spying on us?" Janice asked with a bit of strain in her voice.

"Long enough," answered Tim. "Fortunately," he added after a moment.

Jan raised an eyebrow in question.

Tim continued. "If I'd seen any less; if I'd interrupted any sooner, I might have been left with the feeling there could have been more going on than just dancing. The moves you two were putting on were pretty steamy."

"But seeing us dance more made you less jealous?" She tilted her head, trying to see around the camera.

"Jealous? Well, yeah," Tim admitted. "When you started dancing full-out, there were a couple of times when I thought he was going to pull you in for a kiss or slide his hand down from your waist to your ass. I know I would have done it."

"Maybe Jerome's just more of a gentleman than you?" she said archly. Her stink eye made it clear she was tired of him recording this conversation.

Tim turned off the camera and let it drop to his side. He responded to her comment. "Well, I could tell he really wanted to, but he held himself back. So, yeah, I guess that makes him a gentleman. More of a gentleman than me." There was a self-deprecating tone in Tim's voice as he spoke, helping to lighten the mood.

"You could tell he really wanted to, eh?" Janice responded teasingly. "I think you're just projecting some unfounded insecurity. Remember, our Jerome has turned into quite the football stud. I'm sure he's got all the cheerleader attention a young jock could want."

Tim slipped the video camera into the small bag strapped across his chest and swung it around to his back. Then he stepped in toward his wife and pulled her into a dancing position.

"I'm sure you're right about that," he said. "But I'm also sure he's had a crush on you since he was fourteen and that hasn't changed."

"A crush?" Janice said dismissively as she molded her body against his.

"A crush," Tim repeated. "Just like the paper boy, just like our car mechanic, just like every man on our block, and just like me." He used pressure from his hands to guide her through two swift turns, then pulled her tight again and kissed her firmly.

She felt dizzy and giddy and stayed leaned into him when he finally broke the kiss. "My, you have been practicing your dance moves, haven't you?"

He took her through two more turns, more sedately this time, then spun her out to the end of his outstretched arm, where he paused a beat before spinning her back into his arms.

"I've had a very good teacher," he said. "One who inspires full effort from her students." He pressed his groin into her so she could feel the swelling in his crotch.

Janice pressed back against his bulge and spoke with her lips brushing against his. "I don't think this is your 'full' effort at all. Perhaps you need still more inspiration?" She kissed him just as hard as he had kissed her and felt a throb where the crotches touched. "Now we're getting somewhere," she said.

Looking over her shoulder when the kiss broke, Tim saw a group of small kids, probably 1^st- or 2^nd-graders, walking toward them, but still 50 yards away at least. They were being herded by three women, probably their teacher and two mothers, and it appeared the group hadn't registered the kissing couple out ahead of them.

"Smile for the crowd," Tim whispered into Janice's ear before he spun her out again, and then pulled her back in after she'd seen the school crowd coming up on them. Keeping his right hand decidedly above her ass, he took her through a simple box waltz with a left turn. He put a little diagonal lead into their moves so they spun all the way around through three turns before he stopped them just as the group of kids arrived.

He released Janice's left hand and swung her alongside him as they came to a halt so they ended up facing the school group. The little kiddies were amazed and giggling and the women were gazing at them dreamily.

When Tim said, "Hi, I hope you don't mind, but it's our anniversary and I just had to have another wedding dance with my wonderful wife," the women all broke into smiles.

Janice had been a little scared the kids might have seen them making out, but now it was clear they hadn't and on top of that, Tim had found a way to make the whole thing happy and harmless.

She noticed that all three women were looking at her handsome husband. Two of them had a look that seemed to say they wished their husbands would do something so romantic, while the third looked more like she wanted to cut in on Janice. When that woman's gaze dropped to Tim's crotch, Jan had to suppress a laugh.

After a round of anniversary congratulations from the pupils and their minders, Janice and Tim began heading for the exit.

"Well, it looks like I'm not the only one of us with young people's crushes on them," said Jan.

"What?" asked Tim.

"All those little girls are going to be dreaming of being princesses and dancing with their tall, handsome Prince Timothy in the magical castle," Jan said dreamily.

Tim chuckled.

"And all three of those women are going to be dreaming the same thing," Jan continued. "Although I expect the dancing in their dreams ends in the bedroom instead of at the altar," she said in a much more sultry voice.

"What?!" Tim said again, turning to look at her with wide, innocent eyes.

"You said you 'could tell' that Jerome wanted to do more than dance with me? Well, baby, I could tell that those three women were ready to eat you up. And the way one of them was checking out your package made me think she would have happily eaten you right then if she could."

Tim didn't know what to say, so he said nothing; just stood there dumbfounded.

Janice molded her hand over that same package the MILF had admired and gave it a gentle squeeze. "And I'm suddenly feeling exactly the same way. Get me back to the car. Now." She squeezed harder, then took his hand in hers and began walking purposefully out of the arboretum.

Ch. 21: In the Lot -- Friday

As they crossed the parking lot towards their car, Janice said, "I've seen other women give you the eye since we married, but the way that woman was looking at you brought me back to college."

Her words just made Tim more confused, he really didn't know what to think. Jan's voice and the way she was pulling him forward made him think she was suddenly hot to trot. But talking about other women checking him out made him nervous. Was he in trouble, as if he had been flirting? But he hadn't even seen the lascivious looks that Jan said the three school escorts had given him. He'd been more focused on seeing the smiles and giggles among the little kids, on being sure they didn't see anything inappropriate, just fun and romantic. It wasn't his fault if the grown up ladies with them had imaginations that saw more than a few simple dance steps.

He unlocked the car with the remote as they approached the passenger side. Tim opened the door for Jan and as she got in he said, "College? What are you talking about?"

She slid in without saying anything and Tim closed her door and walked around to the driver's side. He got in and slipped the key straight into the ignition. Then he turned left to pull the door closed and grab his seatbelt. He hadn't completed even the first task before he felt her hands in his crotch.

He turned back toward her, pulling the car door shut with a thud. She was leaning over the center console, one hand on his belt buckle, the other on his zipper tab. She pulled her hands apart, opening the fly of his cargo pants. Her right hand fished in, trying to determine what kind of briefs he was wearing. She was hoping for boxers, because she'd be able to go straight on through that fly as well.

"Damn!" she cursed when she realized he was wearing jockey shorts. She pulled her hand out of his fly and it moved up to join her left hand in getting his belt unbuckled.

"Holy shit," he murmured in amazement. Then he lifted his head and looked out her window back toward the arboretum's entrance. "Holy shit!" he said again, but now with concern.

A group of kids was exiting the stately farm house. Not the same kids they'd run into inside, but older, maybe junior high schoolers. Swinging his head the other way he realized all the school buses were parked beyond them, which meant the kids would be walking right by their car.

"Hold on, baby," he urged, trying to stop Janice's efforts to pants him. "Some people are coming, you have to wait."

"Don't want to wait," she answered with single-minded determination; her fingers finally getting the belt pulled open and moving to the top button of his pants.

'Shit!' thought Tim. He turned the key in the ignition and fired the car to life. He had to reach over Janice's body to reach the gear lever and pulled it into her side to get the car into Drive. He fought to keep his foot from flooring the accelerator and somehow managed to ease the car sedately into the traffic lane, turning away before the approaching kids could see anything.

He saw that the buses were all gathered in the right corner of the parking lot, while the left corner, farthest from the entry gate, was empty. As he headed over that way he felt Janice tugging at his waistbands, trying to get both his pants and his briefs over his hips. He lifted his ass up off the seat to help her, while trying to keep his speed reasonable and his line straight.

Her hands felt very cool when she finally got hold of his Johnson and he gasped. As she worked his penis and balls loose from the clothing, he swung the car around at the back edge of the lot. He wanted to be able to see if anyone was coming up on them, so he backed into a parking spot, leaving the windscreen facing the arboretum. He'd put them under a large oak tree and hoped the shade would make it hard for anyone to see into the car. Hell, the nearest other car was parked a good thirty yards away, so they should be fine, he thought.