Misery Breeds Company

"Murder?" The woman went pale.

"Oh, you didn't know that one?" I snapped. "Get out of my store and don't come back without an apology."

Turning on the spot, the woman quickly left. I was fuming. The audacity of these people. First, it was Sue, now this other bat. Shaking my head in anger, I went into the back room. Frowning at the empty place where my gaming rig was, I sighed. Either I needed to build another one, or go get it from Sandra's. With a quick look through my store, I decided it wasn't worth building a new one. I was heading for the front door, to lock it, when I spotted the old Jeep pull around the building. Flicking the lock, I hurried to the back door and waved Holly over.

"Come in this way, I just locked the front," I said as she approached.

"You going somewhere?" She asked.

I nodded, "yeah, was about to go get my old gaming rig from your mother's when I spotted you pulling in."

Holly nodded, "thanks. The sooner I get it, the better. You probably don't know, but the funeral is Thursday at noon. Graham probably won't be there, Grace... I dunno about Grace," she shrugged.

"Thank you," I said. "Is... Is there anything else from the house you wanted?"

Holly just shook her head. "Nah, I got all my stuff out years ago. Graham might have some junk lying around, but he won't be back for it. Grace, if it's her's she'd never admit to owning something so old or tacky. Nah..." She sighed. "Mum was actually pretty good with her finances. She saved a lot after dad died and she got a payout. I... Actually think I got the better deal, between you and me."

"Oh?"

Holly smiled, "yeah. If I was interested at all in coming back to this town, I'd offer to buy the place at retail, and I'd still have enough to live comfortably for a while."

"Well, I suppose it all works out in the end," I smiled sadly.

"Look," Holly started. "I was a little weird with you the other day. I didn't know you and I was worried you were trying to get in on mum's inheritance."

I shook my head, "don't worry about it. I'd have thought the same thing if my parents were still alive and I was in your position."

Holly smiled, "still. Thank you for looking out for mum. She was alone in the end, and you were there for her when I and the others weren't. Thank you."

I smiled, "Tell you what. Come visit one day, I'll tell you about how we met."

Holly smiled, "I think I'd like that."

Chapter Eighteen.

"I asked for tomorrow off," Jess said softly.

I paused in my packing and nodded, "you want to make a day of it?" I asked.

Jess nodded. "I... I may want to take up your offer," she said softly.

I flashed a quick smile, "a new beginning then."

Jess nodded along, before leaning over and kissing me. I smiled at the touch of her lips. She really was perfect. I was damn lucky to have her in my life.

"Tim, do you really want to have this baby with me?" She asked.

I frowned, "Jess. If I hated everything Mike left behind, that would include you. This child is part of you. It's being grown inside you. It's going to be loved by you. And whether or not it's genetically part of me, I'm going to be the one holding your hand through it all. I promise. It's not like Mike is going to be hanging around making things difficult for us anyway."

Jess smiled slightly at that, "I always figured he'd die in a crash. Drowning wasn't the way I imagined things going."

I nodded, then shrugged. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer person."

Jess smirked, "that's awful. We're terrible people for making jokes like that."

"No," I shook my head. "Mike was a terrible person, which is the REASON we joke like this."

Jess sighed softly, before pulling herself closer to my side under the covers of her bed. "He wasn't always bad. We had some good times when we were young. His parent's deaths really shook him up."

"Don't make excuses for him," I said, leaning over to kiss her softly.

"My parents died while I was studying at college. I didn't start beating women to deal with my grief."

Jess nodded, "I know... Well... I didn't know about your parents, but I get what you're saying."

"Where are your parents, anyway?" I asked.

Jess shrugged, "I don't know really. When Mike went bad, he took it out on them as well. They decided to leave and told me I should go with them. I told them I couldn't leave Mike, so they left me behind. Mike forced me to stop speaking to them. Now I don't know if they even want to."

"Why wouldn't they want to?" I asked. Jess shrugged. "You should call them."

"What would I say?"

I grinned, "tell them, they're going to be grandparents. If that doesn't work, mention Mike's gone."

Jess nodded slowly. "We'll see." I just kissed her and held her tightly as we drifted off to sleep together.

Morning came, with... Well, it came with coming. Out little funk, we'd had the evening before killed the mood. But Jess's libido was in full swing by sunrise. Bare moments after I woke to the sensation of my cock in her mouth, she swung her leg over my hip and rode me into her first orgasm of the day. By the time I finally emptied myself inside her, we were going four to one. Though she did make it four to two after sucking me in the shower after we'd calmed down. Once we'd cleaned and dried one another, we descended on the kitchen. I made us a coffee each, decaf for Jess, and Jess made us some beautiful omelettes. I stretched my considerable skill in the kitchen and only slightly burned some toast to go with it. Jess just shook her head as she kissed me as thanks, even as she scraped off some of the black bits with a knife. Apparently, I wasn't trusted to butter it.

After breakfast, we started doing the rounds of Jess's home. We picked out all the 'keeps' and decided about ninety percent of the contents of her home could go to landfill. Just about the only thing she'd be keeping would be some of her clothes and most of her kitchen equipment. Everything else we would either keep of Sandra's, take from my house, or buy new. So we loaded up enough clothing and supplies to last a few days and headed over to my house. Here we did the same. In the end, we decided other than the bed, we'd probably just keep most of Sandra's furniture. It was a little old, but was in perfect condition and suited the house perfectly. With some of my belongings packed, we made the trip over to Sandra's house... I really needed to start calling it OUR house.

The drive was quick and comfortable. We talked about what we wanted to do to the house. It basically came down to maybe a repaint in a couple places and moving Jess's rose bushes over. Neither of these would be difficult and we could pay a local for the work in the case of the painting. Unfortunately, as we pulled up out the front of our home. We didn't realise there was an old pickup parked in the garage.

"You just grab that bag. I've got your suitcase," I chided Jess softly as she half lifted the heavy item.

"I'm not broken," Jess sighed.

"Nope, just getting more pregnant every day and therefore shouldn't be carrying heavy things."

"I carry heavier trays at the diner," Jess huffed.

"And that's not helping your case. Harry really needs to give you a hand," I sighed.

Lugging the suitcase up the stairs, I fished out the key and slid it into the lock. The door clicked open and I pushed inside. Face to face with Graham.

"Fuck are you doing in my mother's house!" He snapped.

I just looked around. There was stuff everywhere. All of Sandra's silverware was bundled up on the floor. Her crystal serving platters were on the couch. Her fine china was stacked on the table.

"Jess, get out of here and call the cops," I said quickly.

"What!? Fuck you, cmere slut!" Graham lurched toward us.

The moment I heard Jess frightened squeak, my heart stopped. Throwing my arms out I tried to stop Graham. He paused in front of me before punching me in the stomach. With the wind knocked out of me, I went down hard. But Jess's scream had me lunge at his legs as he stepped beyond me. Catching him around the ankles I grabbed hold. Graham, without any way to balance his forward momentum, fell to the floor with a thump.

"Fuck!" He snapped. "Let go, I won't hurt the bitch! I just want what's rightfully mine!"

The moment his legs thrashed, he got one free and brought it down on my face. I could see stars and could faintly see Jess climb into my car. Graham went after her, banging on her window, before suddenly straightening. His hands went up and he got on his knees. I managed to crawl out the front door and saw a strange sight. The rude lady from my store, holding Graham at the end of a silver revolver. In her offhand was a mobile phone, pressed to her ear.

"I've got the bastard!" She snapped, before glancing my way. "TIM? You okay?"

I nodded and started to haul myself into a sitting position. My head hurt a fair bit where he kicked me. But I was pretty sure I was okay. So I just gave her a thumbs up. With the situation under control, Jess got back out of the car and rushed to my side.

"I'm sorry, I panicked and ran!" She blubbered.

"Stop!" I held up my hand, before gently stroking her cheek. "You did exactly what I wanted you too. If something had happened to you or the baby, it would have killed me."

"It's not even your baby!" She hissed, grabbing my hand, and sobbing.

"It's as good as," I said softly, pulling her closer for a kiss.

The moment our lips met, she clung to me for dear life. We were still holding one another as Sheriff Roche showed up. After a quick chat with the woman, he put Graham in cuffs before asking our versions. Then after a quick prod to get my face looked at by the doctor, he took a struggling Graham away in cuffs. That left the woman, staring at us with an odd expression.

"I... Ummm..." She mumbled, unloading the revolver and putting it in her pocket.

"Spose that'll make some good gossip," I grinned.

She winced slightly, but saw my expression and relaxed. "Tim, I'd like to apologize."

"Let's do it over a cup of tea then," I hauled myself upright. "I'll go put the kettle on."

Turns out, the woman's name was Millicent or Milli for short. She admitted rather sheepishly, that she was the 'head gossip' in town. If something happened, Milli knew about it. It also happened, she was going to be our new neighbor. I got the feeling she turned to gossip after her children moved away and her husband died. It was a bit of a recurring theme it seemed. Unless the kids took up farming, they moved away. She and Sandra had been casual acquaintances but had never been really close. But they had been close enough that Milli had already called the police before we got there. She'd spotted Graham moving through the house just before we arrived. So when he stormed outside to confront Jess, Milli had already collected and loaded her weapon. Then, it was a simple matter of waiting for the sheriff.

It was only as Milli was finally deciding to head home to make dinner, there was a knock on the front door. I moved past Jess and Milli and pulled it open, to see Holly standing there.

"I..."

"It's okay," I said softly. "Would you like to come in?"

Holly nodded slightly and stepped inside, before taking a step to the side as Milli stepped out. "Come round tomorrow evening. I'll make a lovely roast."

"I'll bring some dessert," Jess smiled. I just smiled, realising we'd oddly made a friend out of all this.

Holly waited just long enough for the door to close before she slumped. "I'm sorry."

"What on earth are you sorry for?" I asked.

Holly looked up at me and grimaced, "my brother-"

"Isn't you. He's a grown-ass man, who made his own decisions. But if you have the keys to his heap of shit truck, I'm sure Jess can make up an extra helping of whatever we're eating tonight."

"Checked the sun visor?" She asked.

I just cocked an eyebrow. Turning, I headed for the garage. Pulling open the drivers door, I flicked down the sun visor and a large silver key fell out. "Success!" I cried. Jamming the key in the ignition, the truck lurched to a start. It took me a moment to remember how to drive stick, but I managed to get it parked on the curb behind my car. I also managed it after only stalling twice. Backing my own car into the spot, I headed back inside to see Jess and Holly working together in the kitchen. It seemed we'd made two friends today.

It was several hours later when I was putting the last of the silverware in the drawer Graham had taken it from. Holly had opted to stay in the guest room for the evening. Apparently, it was her old bedroom when she was a child. So she was taking a shower while Jess and I finished straightening the house.

"She's kinda cute, huh?" Jess said suddenly.

"What?" I gaped, looking at her.

Jess just shrugged, "I'm just saying. She's kinda cute."

I thought about it a moment and decided to push. "What, you thinking of experimenting or something?" I asked, giving her a cheeky grin.

Jess smiled at me, "I'm pregnant and horny. Besides, trying anything once is the reason I love it when you come in my ass."

I just gulped, my mind going from Jess and Holly going at each other. To me fucking Jess, then Holly in their asses. With a snarl, I grabbed Jess's hand and dragged her upstairs. We didn't have lube here, so anal wasn't on the table. But when I got to the master bedroom, I pushed Jess onto the bed. She simply giggled at me, which enraged me slightly. Bending down, she opened her legs for me and I took hold of her underwear. She was wearing some soft lace thing that did nothing to prevent me from seeing her soft, pregnant pussy, leaking through the gaps. It also did nothing, as I took hold and literally ripped the crotch open.

"HEY!" Jess snapped.

I just growled and took her clit in my mouth. Her complaint died on her lips as I sucked on the sensitive little nub.

"Oh, fuck..." She gasped.

Releasing her flesh with a pop, I quickly stood and impaled her on my cock with a single thrust. Pulling myself out to the head, I drove it back inside with a wet slap.

"Yes! Fuck me!" Jess cried.

"Oh? You want this? You don't want to try experimenting with another woman?" I growled, thrusting my length inside her, ensuring my pubic bone bounced off her clit with each thrust.

Jess groaned, before shaking her head. "I'm sorry! I'm just so horny all the time!"

Pinching her clit firmly between my fingers I shook my head. "Maybe I just need to fuck you more often then!"

"Yesss! Please!" Jess moaned.

As this went on, neither of us noticed the shadow of Holly as she stood, leaning against the wall outside our door. We'd forgotten to close it when we came into the room. Holly had come out of the shower to the sound of what she thought was an argument. But when she heard the comment about "experimenting with a woman" she froze. On one side of things, she barely knew the two people fucking in the other room. On the other hand, the thought of Tim's cock ploughing into her, while she licked Jess's pregnant pussy... Holly turned and headed for the guest room. Closing the door behind her, she grabbed her bag. After rummaging around, she found what she was looking for. Cranking the dial in the base, the bullet vibrator buzzed softly. Laying down on the bed, Holly wasted no time, imagining herself being the meat in the couple's sandwich.

Chapter Nineteen

This morning was more subdued than the last. Jess and I made slow love, the way we did it the first time. I held her from behind, while Jess rocked her hips against my own. I could feel a wet sensation on my hands as she let down before her climax. I'll admit it was pretty fucking hot. When we were done, we climbed out of the bed and headed for our new en-suite. It was large and far nicer than my own. It had also been modified with handrails for Sandra. But those would be perfect for Jess as her pregnancy advanced. We scrubbed one another down, only spending a little time getting into mischief. It really seemed that Jess was just about insatiable. I wasn't sure if that was due to her pregnancy, or if she naturally had a high sex drive. But I wasn't complaining. She was beautiful and if she wanted sex, I didn't have it in me to deny her.

But, today wasn't the day for games. We showered, dried, dressed, and headed downstairs, to the smell of eggs and bacon.

"Good morning," Holly called as we came into the kitchen.

"You didn't have to make breakfast," Jess smiled, moving to help.

Holly nodded in agreement, "I know. But I was hungry and didn't want to be rude and only cook for myself."

"Thank you," I said. "Are you okay?"

Holly sighed, "ask me that later. For now, I'll manage. Graham is in lockup, so he definitely won't be making it today. Grace, I don't know. If she does, it'll probably be to take another crack at mum's jewelry."

"I'm sorry," I said as Jess gave her a small hug.

Holly returned the hug but shrugged off the apology. "Don't apologise for them. You're not responsible. I honestly don't know what happened to them, if I'm being completely honest. Mum loved us all equally as kids. But Graham got into a bad crowd when he left for college and Grace has been married three times. I'm the only one who kept their head on straight."

"Well, consider us family then," Jess said with a smile.

"You're welcome here as long as you want," I Chimed in.

Holly smiled, "thank you. That means a lot. It'll be nice to come back and visit this house."

A few minutes later, we had our breakfast plated up. The meal was eaten in comfortable silence. The eggs were almost as good as Jess's but that wasn't a complaint. Eating MY eggs would have been a complaint. When we finished up our meal, Holly went up for a shower, while Jess and myself did the dishes.

"Aren't you meant to be at work?" I suddenly asked.

Jess giggled, "no, the diner isn't open today. It's catering for the funeral so I wasn't asked to come in. But I was asked to bake a cake."

"Oh," I said softly. "Do you have everything you need, or do I need to take you home?"

"I think I've got everything I need here. Sandra was quite the baker herself."

I nodded in agreement, "she made the best cookies."

With the dishes done, I retreated to the lounge and took a seat in front of my old gaming rig. Starting it up, practically nothing had been changed. Not even the wallpaper. But there was an icon on the desktop. It had my name on it. DDoub I opened it and started reading.

Tim,

If you're reading this, you managed to wrestle your rig away from my oaf of a son Graham. He was a good boy growing up but fell into the wrong crowd. Don't take any offer for help or even invite him inside. He'll scalp you for everything he can get his hands on. Graham, if you're reading this, I hope Karma bites you on the ass!

Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I left you the house. The simple answer is that I wanted to. Grace would have demolished it and developed the land into something she could profit from. Graham would have destroyed the property, simply by living in it and Holly would have let it go to ruin. She won't come back to this town for anything more than a visit. She may one day wish to retire here, but her life and career are elsewhere. Please, if you get the opportunity, tell her I love her. She's the apple of my eye and she knows it. I left her my monetary assets, to help pay her education debts. There should also be enough for her to buy a house where she can settle down and work on whatever project she wishes.

Now, as for the house. The taxes are up to date. There's a safe in the ceiling, the code is written on a tag hidden inside the crawlspace. There's a vent at the top of the stairs, open it, you'll see the tag. Inside the safe are some family heirlooms and a notebook. Along with my wedding rings, please give them to Holly. I'd have listed them in the will, but I didn't want Graham or Grace knowing I still had them. Graham would undoubtedly steal them and Grace would probably challenge the will in court to get them.