Misery Breeds Company

"I like it when you stare at me like that," Jess said softly.

"Hmm?" I snapped to attention.

Jess giggled, "it makes me feel wanted, sexy."

I nodded quickly, "very much so."

Jess bit her lip and bent to get into her underwear drawer. By the time she'd selected a pair of red lace boy legs, I was standing behind her. I knew how much Jess struggled to bend low enough to dress herself sometimes. I liked to help with the smaller things that made it easy for her. As she turned, I took her underwear and crouched down. She lifted her feet allowing me to slide the fabric over her feet and start pulling them up. And as I watched the fabric move over her skin, I paused when I spotted dew on her nether lips.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Jess asked.

Leaning forward, I pressed my lips to her clitoral hood and slid my tongue between her folds. Her sharp intake of breath made me smile. Dragging my tongue back into my mouth, I swallowed down her natural flavors. Jess took a moment to lean back on the dresser and open her legs wider. This allowed me to lean in closer and trace every nook and cranny with the tip of my tongue. As I worked around her opening, I gently stroked her clit with my thumb. Then I alternated, licking her clit, while stroking my digits over her g-spot.

"Fuck, Tim. Please!"

I gently sucked her clit into my mouth, making her hands clench into my hair, holding me steady. The whole time I rolled my tongue over her clit, while slowly fucking her with my fingers. This helped me feel when her tunnel clenched and gave me a moment to slide back. Without releasing her clit, I used the space between us, to move my other hand into position, to redirect the small gush of fluid that would have soaked my shirt. Jess's only reaction apart from that, was a tightening of her hands and the quivering of her legs as I continued to pleasure her through her orgasm.

"No more," she gasped.

I grinned and released her immediately, before kissing the inside of her thigh. Staring up at her, she huffed and puffed with a small smile on her face.

"I needed that, so bad," she mumbled.

I just grinned, "I'm glad I could help."

Standing, I kissed her and she surprised me by licking her juices off my face. "Mmm, I seem to have developed a liking for the taste," she purred.

I just grinned and wondered when or if Holly would visit again. With Jess temporarily sated, I used a few tissues to dry her off before continuing to help her dress. All I needed to do was wash my hands and wipe off my face before we got back in the car. Jess reminded me as I pulled out to head to the store, so I drove in the opposite direction. This time I followed Jess inside while she made a selection. But the chocolate was at the rear of the store and we had to pass by the beer, which made me pause for a moment.

"Tim?" Jess said.

Feeling guilty, I tried to keep moving, but Jess stopped me. "Tim, you don't drink around me."

I sighed, "I never drank regularly. But I figured you wouldn't want it in the house after everything with Mike. Not having alcohol isn't a big deal, really."

Jess smiled before kissing me softly. "Tim, you aren't Mike. Grab some beers or something." I nodded, before looking over the selection. I settled quickly on single apple cider and a cheap pack of beer before I followed Jess to the chocolate aisle. "Only the one?" she asked, nodding to the single drink

"Yep," I nodded. "I have to drive tonight. Besides, I really didn't mind abstaining from alcohol. It was never a large part of my life, even in college. The rest is for Mr. Harrison."

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Tim, good to see you again!' Mr. Harrison shook my hand. "And Jess, welcome to our home," he kissed her cheek softly.

"Let them in Martin," Martha called from behind. "You'll burn the steak if you stand there too long."

"Oh! Right, thank you, dear," he called and ushered us inside. Martha intercepted in the lounge and Mr Harrison headed out the back.

"Hello, dears," the kindly older woman said with a smile. "Tim, if you want to go take care of whatever business you called for earlier. I could use a hand in the kitchen."

In other words, go talk to my husband, while I gossip with Jess. With a grin, I just nodded and followed the smell of slightly burned meat into the back yard.

"Tim, how have you been?" Mr Harrison asked as I appeared.

I smiled, "good, I've been good."

"So I've heard," he shot me a smile. "I think you shocked the hell out of the entire town when she showed up at work with that ring." I chuckled, "You certainly shocked the hell out of the town when you put Milli in her place." That... That didn't make me chuckle. But Mr. Harrison shook his head. "It was high time someone stood up to her. She's a lovely lady, really. But being queen of the gossip brigade made her head a little too big."

"We seem to be alright," I shrugged. "She's asked for a computer system to play the game Sandra and I did."

Mr. Harrison just nodded, "each to their own I suppose. If man were supposed to fly, he'd be born with wings." I laughed at that. "Now, you said you wanted to speak to me about something?"

And like that, my smile dropped. "Mr Harrison-"

"Martin, Tim. You're not the whippersnapper that showed up here after college with a checkbook. You're a businessman now. A member of the town, and one we've all come to respect as the one person in town Mike couldn't chase off."

I stared a moment, before smiling awkwardly. "She deserved someone special. I'm as surprised as anyone that she chose me."

Martin laughed, a big throaty laugh, "Tim, my boy. You were the ONLY one she would have chosen. None of the younger folk here would look at her twice, pregnant with another man's child, her only options would have been to leave or raise the child alone. But you... You're cut from different cloth. No," he shook his head, "the child she will bring into this world, will be loved. And that's more than could have been expected. Sure, Jess would have loved the kid. But Mike would have stopped her from bonding as a mother should." The old man sighed and turned over a steak. "We as a town should have done better." Turning to face me, he offered his hand and I shook it firmly. "Now, about what you wanted from me?"

"Yes," I said, grateful at the change of subject. "Everyone probably knows by now that Sandra left me her home." Martin nodded, going back to the meat. "Jess wants to buy the stall beside the diner and make a dedicated bakery. For that, we need funds. I thought about selling my place and using the funds to fix up the damage from hers, while at the same time, helping her start up."

Martin nodded along, "it's a shame."

"Oh?" I asked.

"Sandra used to run the stall, just like Jess wants too. She shut it down after her husband passed away. Didn't have the heart to do it anymore. Not while raising three kids. If only she kept her old recipe book."

Now it was my time to laugh. "Martin, we've got the book," I giggled softly. "She kept it in a safe for years alongside some heirlooms that went to Holly. But she specifically wanted to give her recipe book to Jess."

The old man grinned, "if she brings back even half of Sandra's old recipes, she'll have no problem paying the bills in this town."

I smiled back, "so, about the house."

Martin nodded, "I've actually got an idea about that. The Patricks, over yonder," he gestured out into the darkness. "They've got their eldest. When he's not playing on his computer," Martin shot me a knowing look, "he's apparently wanting to take over the farm. Even has a girl from school sweet on him, so it looks like there might be a young couple or two sticking around town. They offered to buy this place, so they could expand and give their boy a place to start. But I didn't want to move away."

I nodded along, "I'm willing to sell you back the home you sold me. At cost, furnished as it is, minus a few things like my office contents and my bed. I'm not looking to make a profit, I just want to make Jess happy."

The old man turned and called, "Martha!"

A moment later, his wife appeared. "This better be good, Jess was just getting to the juicy bits," she winked at me, making me blush.

"Martha, Tim has just offered his home back to us at cost, minus a couple things of non-importance."

"Oh," she smiled, "we could sell to the Patricks then!"

"There you have it, Tim," Martin smiled. "I'll get Doug to do up the transfer paperwork and we'll get it sorted."

I chucked as Martha flashed me another wink and headed back inside. "I'll be honest, I wasn't sure how that conversation was going to go."

Martin shrugged, "doesn't matter now. We all got what we wanted."

With that, he started pulling the meat off the barbeque and onto a tray. I carried said tray into the dining room. We were quickly joined by Martha and Jess as they carried in plates and a few other dishes. I quickly darted in and relieved Jess of her load, before directing her to a chair with a kiss. I didn't spot Martha's smile as she watched us interact.

The meal was slow but in good company. We ate, we chatted about our future plans. Martin and Martha promised to keep the bakery idea to themselves for now. But we also know, the moment we moved to buy it, word would get out regardless. At the end of the meal, we had a cup of tea each, with one of the chocolates Jess bought. When the night was getting on and we headed home, Jess waited until we'd driven around the corner before asking me to pull over. When I did, she quickly got out and made her way to the boot. She came back with a seat cover and pulled it over the passenger seat. She climbed in, put on her seat belt, and slid down her underwear. The drive back was equally fraught with danger as I meticulously drove home. Sticking to five under the speed limit, I made sure to brake early, accelerate late, and indicate well before I needed to turn. The whole while, ignoring the wet sounds coming from Jess's fingers and the soft moans escaping her lips. This evening was the first time I'd ever fucked a woman on the hood of a car. I'll give it a solid eight out of ten. Would try again, but need to be in the mood, or desperate, as Jess was in this case.

The rest of the weekend was spent busy moving. The townsfolk that I paid to give us a hand showed up early. We moved a few things around, taking Sandra's old bed to my place, where we swapped it for my own bed. While that was going on, Jess was packing her kitchen and I was packing my office. By late Saturday afternoon, those same townsfolk refused the money I offered them. That was, until I handed one of them a few hundred with instructions to bring me a barbeque in the morning so I could cook for them all as thanks on Sunday afternoon.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Life settled down after that. Holly kept in regular touch. We exchanged messages, the occasional call, and even sent her a box of her mother's biscuits when she had a bad week. The sale of my home took a month to finalize. But the Harrisons moved into the place a few days after we left it. Then we made an old man happy, by asking one of the locals to do the repairs on Jess's old place. He was happy because he was having to teach his son, who was his apprentice, to do certain jobs on scrap timber. This full house repair was going to be a hell of a learning curve for the young man.

The weirdest change for me, however, was how the townsfolk treated me. Before, everyone knew who I was and I was respected and liked for my profession. But now... Now I have random visitors several times a week, pop in for a chat. Most did so either before heading to the diner, or on the way back, and sometimes with a treat or two to share.

Jess's bakery, however. Jess decided to wind it back a little. She was in her final month of pregnancy now and couldn't stand for long. Doctor Franklin had been keeping an eye on her but wasn't concerned. Jess was just told to relax where she could. More often than not, that meant coming with me to work and helping mind the store. It was... Odd... Having someone else in there all the time. She tried to keep busy, answering the phone, tidying up after me... Or convincing me to hang the temporary closed sign out the front while I took her into the back room to dick her into submission for the next few hours. Either way, her constant companionship was something I quickly got used to. Her being here, also meant the same family that fixed her house, had her at arm's reach as they carried out a refit to the new bakery. Every time they had a question, she was right here and available... Unless I was in the back with my dick inside her...

"Heard from your parents?" I asked randomly one day as Jess dusted a shelf.

She paused, before shaking her head, "no... Should I have?"

I just shrugged, "thought maybe you'd have gotten in contact with them, that's all."

I heard that sniff and spun on the spot. A moment later, she was curled into my arms as her shoulders shook. "I don't know where they are," she said softly. "Their number is disconnected. I tried back when you first said something. But... I don't know what to do!"

Fuck... "Hey, it's okay," I said, kissing her head. "We'll find them. They probably had to change details because Mike was harassing them or something."

Jess just hugged me tighter. I was still holding her against me when the front door opened.

"Oh, sorry, should I come back?" Greg asked, stepping back.

"No, no," Jess said, wiping her face. "What did you need?"

Greg just smiled, "Just got word from my son. Your place is done. Once I go over and sign off on the work, you can move back in."

Jess shook her head, "thanks. But we won't be. I'm going to sell it and use the money to pay for our wedding."

I just gulped, thinking about the prospect. Maybe I should have initiated actual wedding plans sooner... I'd kinda hoped to have found her parents first...

"Oh, no problem then. If you like, you can come with me and check it out."

Jess looked at me and I nodded, "sure. We'll meet you there."

Greg smiled, "right. I'll lock up the bakery and head on over."

We watched as Greg left and crossed the road before I pulled Jess back into my arms. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked.

"Not marrying you sooner," I replied, kissing her softly.

Jess sighed into the kiss and flashed me a smile. "It's okay. We'll put it off till after the wedding. I'd like to wear the dress more than once."

"Oh?" I gave her a nervous smile.

"Yeah," Jess giggled. "Every anniversary, I want you to fuck me in it!"

That made me laugh. Together, we packed up the shop, locked the front door, and headed out the back. I'd learned my lesson by now and I always drove. We both jumped in my car and I took us over to Jess's old place. As we arrived, there was Greg, talking to a younger version of himself, Chris.

"There you are. Head on inside. I'll just be pottering around as I go," Greg said with a grin as we got out.

Jess took my hand and I led her inside. All the furniture was gone. What Jess didn't take to the new house, we got rid of. Honestly, most of it went to landfill. Even the furniture didn't escape abuse if you actually looked at it properly. But none of that mattered when we came inside. It looked like a showroom. The old damaged floors were long gone. New hardwood floors had been installed. The walls had been patched and repainted. You couldn't tell where any of the damage had ever been. All the lights had been replaced and the windows had been expanded. All in all, the house felt bigger and was brighter inside.

"Oh wow," Jess said. "It was almost this nice when we moved in. I'm almost sad to sell it." She saw the look on my face and shook her head. "We're selling it, Tim. I like living with you in town."

I nodded and walked her through the property. It really was a nice home. I just hoped we could find a decent buyer. The town wasn't unfriendly towards outsiders as I'd come to learn. But it would be far easier if a local snatched it up for their kids or something. So, with nothing else to do, I pulled out my phone and took some photos. There wasn't any real estate out here. Doug took care of the legal side of homeownership, but the advertisement was on us. Of course, there was a real estate in the next town, but that meant travel. I made sure to get photos inside and out of the property. The last photo I took was the signed form stating the property was in good repair. So with a final thanks, I handed over the last cheque, and Jess and I went home for the evening.

We made slow love that evening. Jess's contractions had been getting bad, but she always felt far better after a good orgasm... Or four... Or... Well, you get the point... The following morning, I drove Jess into work. We crossed the street into the diner for breakfast as per usual and we picked through a hearty, but not quite on par, scrambled eggs with toast and bacon. Jess would usually have made us breakfast, but she'd been feeling a little off. She even grumbled at the food as we ate, which wasn't like her.

After breakfast, we headed back to the shop. Immediately, Jess started cleaning. She tidied up the shelves, before wiping down anything horizontal. I was halfway through repairing a screen on a tablet when she fired up the vacuum.

"Jess?!" I called.

She looked up and switched off the loud machine, "yes?"

"Jess, what are you doing? You shouldn't be working so hard."

"But it's dirty," Jess said blandly.

I looked around at my store, knowing full well it was the cleanest I'd ever seen it. "Jess, please take it easy. I'll help in a moment."

Jess shook her head slightly and fired up the vacuum again. That turned into our week. Jess would go from putting her swollen feet up, to scrubbing something. I knew she kept a clean home and workspace, but it was getting ridiculous. I had to confiscate the ladder when I caught her scrubbing the ceiling trim by hand. That had earned me a full hour of silent treatment while she pouted, followed by a world-class blow job and sex when she'd calmed down enough to listen when I reminded her that she had balance issues. It got so bad, I ended up googling it and found an article on nesting. It explained a fair bit. It also told me the baby was coming sooner, rather than later.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jess had finally worked through her nesting phase. Now she was too tired and grumpy to do much more than answer my phone and demand sex. At least she wasn't grumpy during sex. She was still a wild little minx when I had her naked. Even if she pouted afterward about being fat. That originally started as reverse psychology that got her a second round of sex. But now I think it was born out of frustration at her situation. She couldn't get comfortable anywhere. Sitting puts pressure on her hips. Standing puts pressure on her knees and ankles. Even lying down puts pressure on her spine.

On top of that, she'd been quiet and moody for the last couple of hours. "Jess, you want something to eat?" I asked as it rolled over for lunch. She just shook her head without replying. "Alright, I'll be back in a minute."

Darting across the road, I just asked for a tuna sandwich. With Jess acting funny, I didn't want to be long and I knew a sandwich could be thrown together quickly. And in less than five minutes, I was back in the store. Only, the moment I came in, her nose crinkled.

"Take that away," she said firmly.

I stopped in my tracks, "What?"

"It smells gross."

Nodding, I turned and headed outside to eat my sandwich. But Jess wasn't paying much attention. I pulled out my phone and called the doctor.

"Doctor Franklin's office," Diane said.

"Diane, it's Tim, I need some advice about Jess."

"Oh, I'll put you through."

"Thanks." I waited a moment as Diane made the transfer and heard a soft click.