Mandy and Me Ch. 08

"He didn't say much more than I've told you," Grandma said. "We'll have to wait till he calls, again, to know more about his plans. He did ask that if Kathy called, we tell her that we don't know anything."

"That'll be easy enough to do," I said. "She and those girls said some things, when they were here that, to be blunt, really pissed me off, especially since they were directed at Mandy. I'd've said somethin' then, but I didn't wanna cause trouble."

"What did they say, Honey?" Mandy asked. "I was so excited about becomin' your wife, I wasn't listenin' to anyone but you."

I stood up, leaned over, and gave her a big kiss on the lips. Hearin' her say those words made my heart smile.

"It don't matter now, 'cause it's all in the past," I told her, "but when we got back from watchin' the sunset that night, I heard a couple of 'em comment that you looked like some poor dirt farmer that couldn't do any better than a go-nowhere do-nothin'. That was an insult aimed at both of us. I didn't like the way all of 'em acted too high and mighty to do anything to help with breakfast, the next mornin', and acted offended about what we had to eat."

"They weren't happy about the lunch that day either," Mom added. "I heard one of the daughters complainin' that we shoulda had steaks, for 'em, 'stead o' hot dogs and hamburgers."

"Well, they ain't never eatin' here, again," I said. "I'm tellin' y'all now, unless somethin' changes, those four are not welcome on this farm, let alone in my house. If any one of 'em ever shows up, point 'em toward the road and say 'Git'!"

"I'd better get back to cleanin' up the kitchen," Mom said as she stood.

"No, Mom," I said, "you sit here with Grandma. Mandy and I'll do the clean up tonight. Is there anything we can do, to get a head start on breakfast, since Charles and Maggie'll be here?"

"I was gonna do sausage and scrambled eggs," she said, "and I think we're in good shape. There's plenty o' both, in the fridge."

Mandy and I returned to the kitchen and began cleaning up from dinner. We had an enjoyable time working together, doing the washing and drying before putting everything away. I was putting the last of the plates in a stack in the cabinet, when I saw Mandy dragging out one of the big mixing bowls.

"What're you up to, Sugar?" I asked her.

"Well, if we're gonna have sausage an' scrambled eggs, we oughta have some biscuits an' gravy, to go along with them," she answered. "I thought I'd go ahead an' mix the dry ingredients for both of 'em, tonight, and set a plate on top of each bowl. That way, come mornin', al I have to do is add the milk an' other ingredients."

"Good idea, Baby," I nodded, smiling. "What can I do, to lend a hand?"

"You can grab a couple o' those plates you just put away," she suggested, as she pulled out the flour can.

Working together, it didn't take us long to get the dry ingredients assembled and ready. I spent a few moments making room for the bowls in the fridge, and then we were done. We headed back to the living room, and sat on the couch, looking across at Grandma. She still looked pretty depressed about Junior's phone call.

"Mama, you need to stop worryin' about Junior," Mom was saying, as we came into the room. "You know that's not gonna do you any good. The best thing you can do now is let me give you half of one of those sleepin' pills the doctor gave you, and then you can get a good night's sleep. I'm sure Junior will call you again, in a day or two, and he may have some better news."

"Patsy, I've been thinkin' real hard, ever since he called. Him gettin' rid of that evil bitch is about the best news I could've heard," Grandma said gladly. "For the life o' me, I don't know why he married her. She's always looked down her nose at everyone around here. It'll be so good to have him home, again, even if it's just for a while. Maybe we can talk him into stayin' here, where he belongs."

"Then why are you lookin' so worried, Grandma?" I asked her.

"I'm worried that he's hurtin', and maybe he'll do somethin' stupid," she sighed. "I'm also worried about how much he'll lose in the divorce."

"If he's got proof that she's been cheatin' on him," Mom told her, "then it ain't likely that he's gonna lose much, Mama. Texas City may be a big place, compared to Gilmer, but I bet the judges down there won't take any more kindly to cheatin' women than the courts around here would."

"There's support for them three greedy daughters," Grandma countered. "A judge might take a lot out of his pay, for that."

"An' that all depends, too, Mama," Mom shook her head. "The oldest girl may be Junior's – mind you, I said 'may be' – but I don't see one whit o' his genes in them two younger ones. I bet you they belong to whatever guy Kathy was seein', on the side!"

"Well, I guess it ain't no use borrowin' worry from tomorrow," Grandma brightened a little. Now, if y'all'll help me, I'll take that pill and go to bed."

Getting Grandma into bed, and a sleeping pill into her, took us a few minutes, and then the three of us – Mom, Mandy, and I – returned to the kitchen. Mom filled a kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil so that we could brew some tea. About five or six minutes later, cups in hand, we filed out onto the porch. Surprisingly, for December, the temperature was still hovering in the fifties, so we were comfortable enough in shirtsleeves. We pulled chairs around the little round table, and I pulled out my smokes.

"So, ladies, " I began, once the three of us had lit up, "what are we gonna do about a place for Junior to sleep while he's here? We've got all the bedrooms occupied."

"We've still got those beds out, down in the office room at the shop," Mandy suggested. "He was okay with sleepin' there, over Thanksgivin', and I can keep on workin' in that temporary space for a good while, yet, if I need to."

"What if he decides he wants to stay, and get a job around here?" Mom asked. "He might feel that, as big as Texas City is, no matter where he finds a place to live, there, it'd still be too close to Kathy and the girls, and all the bitter memories."

"That's very true," I mused. "An' we can't expect him to be content with livin' in the shop, forever."

"How long would it take to add the new bedroom you were talkin' about?" Mandy asked.

"Adding the kind of room that I've got in mind would probably take me between three and four months, or so, to get it livable, Sugar," I answered, "since I was also plannin' on addin' a built-in bathroom – maybe better than the one we have, right now – as part of it, too. That's with me doin' most of the work myself, to save money. I haven't really started figurin' anythin' out, yet, other'n just throwin' out the idea."

"How would you do it?" Mom asked. "You're gonna have to provide access through the house and that would take space out of one of the other bedrooms. Too bad we can't add it on here at the back, but we'd loose a lot of the porch."

"Mom, that's the only answer," I told her. "It's the best way, out of everything I've considered, but I wasn't sure anyone else would go for it. We add on to the back, here, behind the master bedroom, and turn the porch into an L shape along the new room. It'd let us keep a porch about the same overall size as what we've got, now. That's about the only way to do it without tearin' up the inside of the house. The roof'll be easier too because we've got a straight gable end and won't have to deal with hips or valleys on the existin' roof."

"I'm confused," Mandy said. "What're y'all talkin' about?"

"Let me draw it out for you tomorrow, Baby," I said. "I'll have to do some measurin', to check a few things, but we can get a master bedroom bigger'n the one we've got now, with a really nice private bath, and have more closet space, too. We've already got close to half the roof already in place, right now. I think we could even get some storage closets, too."

The shape and details of the new addition were coming into clearer focus in my mind, as I turned to my wife to explain some of it, to her.

"Babe, we could add a larger bedroom, bath, walk in closet, and a storage closet," I told her excitedly. "Our current bedroom is a little tight, now, with that big bed and the two chests. The new room would let us have space for all of that, without feelin' cramped, and I think we can even have a small sittin' area with enough room for a television."

"That'd be nice," Mandy chuckled. "I know how much Mama loves watchin' Star Trek with us, on Thursday nights!"

"Yeah," I laughed. "She loves the show so much that she nods off to sleep ten minutes into the episode, like clockwork. It'd be nice to have two sets,

so we could each watch what we enjoy."

"You won't hear any complainin' from me, on that count, Mike," Mom chimed in.

"The only real question is, how do we do it? The crew I have in the shop is gonna get real busy, after the first of the year. I'm sure I can carve out the time for them to build the cabinets for the bathroom, and we might as well go ahead and re-do your kitchen, at the same time, since we'll have things torn up. But it'll take me a long time, if I'm workin' basically by myself. Even if I can get Junior to lend a hand, it'll still take more time than I want it to take."

"I can't wait to see what it's gonna look like, Mike," Mandy was getting enthused about the project, and it showed on her face.

"Well, I need to draw a scale plan, and then figure out the list of all the materials, and call the lumberyard and get prices. I'll do up at least a rough drawin', tomorrow, and show you when I get back from installin' your mom's new cabinets."

We'd long since finished our tea, by this time, and the night was beginning to cool off. We finished our cigarettes and then went back inside, spending a couple moments to clean our cups and put them away. Since Mandy had school, the next day, and it was a workday for Mom, we decided to call it a night.

Mandy and I did our showering together, which led to our normal playing around. I shaved her legs and washed her thoroughly, some parts getting a lot more attention than others. Of course, she returned the favor. After we'd dried each other, with more play, it was time for bed. We sat, propped on pillows, for long enough to share one last cigarette, and then snuggled together in the middle of the bed.

"Thank you," I said, kissing her deeply.

"Why are you thankin' me?" she asked.

"I'm thankin' you for the 'piece on earth' earlier today," I said with another sensual kiss. "That was a lot o' fun. We may have to do that every Christmas season, weather permittin'. Now, though, I think it's time for me to get real fast."

"Whadda ya mean?" she asked.

"If you'll turn around, I'll go lickity split," I told her, with a chuckle.

She flashed me an elated smile, reversed her position and slid on top of me, thrusting her pussy into my face.

"Get after it, Big Boy!" she commanded.

While she was sucking me, I was licking her for all I was worth. Of course, that led to us making love, again, followed by yet another shower.

"I've got to get you to make me a sign, to hang in here, Honey," she giggled as we strolled back out to the bedroom for the second time that night.

"Sayin' what?" I asked her.

" 'Sex BEFORE Showerin', what else?" she laughed. "If we'd remember to just sponge off the parts that really matter, we'd have a lot more time for these monkeyshines we love so much!"

"Makes sense to me, Darlin'," I nodded.

5 Dec

I was awakened, the next morning, by the feel of Mandy's wonderful, warm, wet mouth on me, again. I luxuriated in the feel of her skilled lips and tongue, playing me like a fine instrument, until I neared my point of no return. I cautioned her of that fact, and she paid it her usual blatant disregard, taking my discharge into her mouth and making satisfied sounds as she swallowed.

"That's all you're gonna get this week, Honey," she informed me as she scraped a tiny 'overflow' rivulet of cum from her chin and into her mouth. "My monthly visitor's comin', again, 'cause I can feel the cramps settin' in."

"Well, shit," I said despondently, "still, I guess a blowjob's better'n no pussy."

"Yeah, but it don't do much for me," she groused, at first, and then her expression brightened and her voice took on a giggle. "Maybe I ought to make you save it for me, so you can make the deposit in the proper place."

"You're really tryin' yourself, this mornin', aren't you?" I asked. "How about if I take the situation in hand, and make the deposit ON the proper place?"

"You're just tryin' to make a messy situation even messier," she shook her head, sliding out of bed.

I followed her into the bathroom, and our good-natured banter continued as she washed her face and added a light touch of makeup, while I washed my face, shaved, and combed my hair. We dressed, quickly, in the bedroom, and then headed for the kitchen.

"Good mornin'," we said, practically in unison.

"Oh, heavens," Grandma chuckled. "They're definitely married. They're speakin' in unison, now. Next thing you know, they'll be finishin' each other's sentences!"

"You're the one who told us they were meant for each other, Mama," Mom laughed. She was at the stove, cooking sausage, clad in her robe, though I thought I saw flashes of her standard bra and panties underneath, when she moved a certain way and the robe gapped in front.

I poured cups of coffee for both Mandy and me, and then I got out of the way of the cooking area. Mandy, meanwhile, grabbed a couple quick sips of her coffee and started in on the biscuits. Thanks to her preparations, the night before, she made short work of getting them into the oven.

"Let me take over, for you, Mama Patsy," she suggested, tapping Mom on the shoulder, "while you go finish gettin' ready for work."

"Thanks, Dear," Mom smiled, giving her daughter-in-law a quick peck on the cheek and then scurrying off down the hall.

I took a seat at the table and, despite Grandma's earlier attempt at humor; I could see that she looked a bit depressed. I figured it was due to the situation with her son, and I wasn't surprised when her next words were in regard to Junior.

"I'm sure y'all talked about what's happenin' with Junior, after I went to bed, last night. Did y'all get anything figured out?" she asked me.

"Well, we've still got the beds set up, in the shop office," I began. "They can stay, or one of 'em can, for the time bein'. We can probably even pull one of our old dressers out of the storage room, easily enough, to give him somewhere to put some of his clothes. If he's not comfortable, there, then Mandy and I can move down there, temporarily, and he can have our bedroom.

"I mentioned the idea of adding another bedroom to the house, to Mom and Mandy, a couple o' weeks ago. Seems like now might be the time to do it, but I'm thinkin' we should wait 'til we know what his plans are. Is he gonna be stayin' here for good, or just 'til the dust settles, back in Texas City?"

"Where would you add a room, without havin' to tear up the rooms you've got now?" she asked, leaning forward to better hear my thoughts.

"Well, Grandma, we talked about it, last night, and decided the best way is to build on to the back of the house, behind the master bedroom," I replied. "It'd mean losin' about half the back porch, but it'd be the best way to do it, without tearin' up the rest of the house."

"You don't know this, but Daddy and I talked about doin' that very thing, years ago," Grandma chuckled. "We'd have probably done it, if we'd had another child. What would keep you from doin' it?"

"The main thing, right now, would be havin' to borrow some of the money," I told her. "Pretty much everything I've got is tied up, right now, either in the business or in payin' for the truck I just bought, Saturday. I've got some stuck back, but figure I need to hang onto it, in case somethin' bad happens."

"Baby, I've got my part of what came from sellin' our house in town," Mom said, from behind me. She'd finished dressing, and come back to the kitchen just in time to hear all about my financial problems. "If you remember, we talked about usin' that money to do some paintin' and upgrades on this house."

"But that's your money, Mom," I said. "Why should you have to spend your money on my house?"

"First of all, Mike, you seem to be forgettin' that I'm livin' rent free, at the moment, in YOUR house. So, if you want, you can call this a whole mess o' rent, paid in advance. Either that, or you can remember that it IS my money, and because it's my money, I can damned well do whatever I please, with it, and it pleases me to use it to help you outta this current situation, that ain't entirely o' your makin'. You just figure out what you want to build, and what the materials and labor are gonna cost. I'll pay for it. If you really want to be that uppity, about it, you can call it a long-term loan, and pay me back over time."

I was about to say something, in objection to her argument, but just then I heard the sound of tires crunching gavel near the back porch, and figured that Charles and Maggie had arrived for breakfast. Further discussion of the addition project was tabled until later. Mandy went to the door and opened it, greeting both her parents with hugs and kisses.

"Food's on the counter, y'all," Mom smiled, pointing at the platter of sausage, the big bowl full of scrambled eggs, and the cloth-lined basket full of biscuits. "Gravy's on the stove, keepin' warm, an' the coffee pot's full. Help yourselves, or go hungry!"

Everyone laughed at that, and we let Maggie and Charles go first in line. In a matter of only a few minutes, we all had full plates and were busily eating.

"What time do you think y'all will be ready for those cabinets?" I asked my father-in-law, as we ate.

"I'm thinkin' between ten and ten-thirty would work, if you can handle that time-frame," Charles answered.

'That's not a problem," I nodded. "We had them all loaded and ready, as of quittin' time, Friday."

Larry and Karen arrived not long after we'd finished breakfast, and she began shooing us out of the kitchen so she could clean up. Mom headed off to work, Charles and Maggie headed back home to finish getting things ready for the installation, and Larry and I ambled down the lane to the shop.

John, Jim and George were ready to go to work and waiting for us when we got there, and I glanced at my watch. To my surprise, I was a whole five minutes late. Blushing a bit, I opened the shop and turned on the lights.

"How about getting' a pot o' coffee goin'?" I asked Larry, while I got ready to go over the cut list for our next job with the other guys. I had the list broken down into plywood and solid stock lists, detailing each piece that was to be cut for the cabinets. The material for this job was ash with routed, lumber core plywood doors. I also had cutting layouts for the plywood sheets, detailing how the sheets were to be cut for the maximum yield. When I finished, I let John take over.

"Go ahead and get Jim and George started," I told him.

"What am I doin', boss?" Larry asked.

"You'll be workin' on a special project, with me, in just a few minutes," I informed him. "Just be patient."

I went into the office area and phoned the lumberyard, giving one of the men there my list of materials for Tim Johnson's cabinets. They were all pretty busy, at the moment, with the usual early morning flurry of contractors all lookin' to get their materials paid for and loaded, for their day's work, so the fellow agreed to call me back, in a couple hours, with the prices.

"That'll work out just perfect," I told him. "I've got a couple o' things to do, in the meanwhile."

I ended the call and waved to Larry, who was just pouring cups of coffee for him and me.