Mother Road Ch. 08 - Lost Highway

Dotty tried to interrupt, "Really Connie, you don't have to," but Connie cut her off and kept going.

"On top of that, in between sessions he kept telling me over and over how beautiful I was. I've never had a boyfriend who treated me like he does. I definitely think he loves me." Letting out a quiet happy sigh, she sipped at her coffee.

This bothered me. Not the fact Del had really railed Connie - they were both adults now, after all - but there was no way I could allow both David and Del to blow off Harvard. I had to say something. "Del's leaving for Cambridge soon to attend Harvard, so don't get any ideas about him not going!"

"Of course not," Connie assured me, "I wouldn't keep him from that. I'm sure he'll want me to come with him, especially if I'm pregnant!"

That statement certainly got my attention. If they weren't using protection, the Terhune family fertility in Connie's DNA would pretty much guarantee her getting pregnant. I'd quickly learned that lesson the first time I got Laura pregnant. Del had plenty of money to afford it, of course, but having a newborn while going to college without family support would make it rough on them.

"Whoa whoa whoa, Connie," I said, holding up my hand, "are you trying to baby-trap Del? He's just a kid himself! You're 8 years older than he is, and so far out of his league you're playing different sports!"

Connie put her coffee cup down, her face clouded by anger. "You got no room to talk, Tom," she snapped. "You had no reservations about knocking up my perfect sister, did you? Like seven kids wasn't enough, you used her like a brood mare and got her pregnant three more times!"

"Now Connie," Dotty interjected, but her sister cut her off again.

"Shut up, Dotty," she barked, "I'm not a little kid anymore. It's my life, and you ain't got no say in it! I've had one shitty boyfriend after another, now, finally I got me a good one! I don't care what you say, the two of you are not taking him away from me!"

Just then, a yawning Del shuffled into the kitchen, bare-chested, wearing just his jeans. Being 18 and whip-thin, his chest had a well-defined musculature to it. Mine had looked like that 20 years ago, but being a father and businessman I'd been too busy to go to a gym and stay in shape. Although her tastes ran to bigger men these days (at least one in particular), I was sure Dotty was enjoying the view; admittedly, I felt a little jealous.

"Who's taking who where?" Del sleepily asked as he scratched his blonde head. He bent down and kissed Connie, not a quick peck but a longer kiss, obviously residual from their night of passion. What's more, the lump in his jeans indicated his readiness for yet another round. (I couldn't really blame the boy; Terhune voodoo will do that to a man. Just when you think your pecker's done for the night, a little Terhune sister magic will prove you wrong.)

"My sister and brother-in-law are trying to tell me how to live," Connie blurted out, "they think I'm taking advantage of you, and don't want me to interfere with your going to college."

Del sat down next to her, took a sip from her coffee cup, and gave a quick laugh. "That's bullshit," he declared to the room, and kissed her again. "Taking advantage of you? You just gave me the best night of my life! No way I'm letting go of you, little mermaid."

I thought to myself, 'aw, geeeez' because the pet-name thing was nauseating. My facial expression must have made my disgust obvious because Connie snapped at me. "What, Tom, you don't have a pet name for your wife? I guess your romance is gone after banging her cellulite ass all those years. Sex with her must be getting old, just like she is!"

Dotty gasped in shock, and shouted, "CONNIE!" Angry now, I held my hand up to silence Dotty.

Narrowing my eyes as I spoke, I growled at my youngest sister-in-law, "I'll have you know even after 20 years, your big sister can still get me hard with no problem. We got plenty of romance going on. And if you really want to know, my pet name for her is 'trophy wife', because she is! You got that?"

Connie didn't respond, just glared at me. Then, I turned to Del. "As for you, Mister Bartolo, are you using protection in your nocturnal fun with Connie here, or are you playing Russian roulette? She's a Terhune woman, which means she's extremely fertile. She's the youngest of fourteen kids, did she tell you that? Do you want to live with her and a newborn or two while you're in college?"

Del's eyes got wide for a second, but a big grin broke out on his face. "That would be SO cool," he replied. "She's already hot, I think she'd be even hotter pregnant. Plus, it's not like I can't afford to rent a house at Cambridge big enough for all of us!"

Arguing with David about Pearl had been hard enough, and I'd ultimately lost that debate. Del was as smart or smarter than his brother, so trying to argue with him was even worse. I tried a different approach.

"Look, Del, there's more to being together than pregnancy. You have to develop a relationship, learn to live with each other's idiosyncrasies, all that! It's a huge commitment, along with going to school. Add being parents on top of that won't be easy."

The little bastard just smiled and shrugged. "Hey, I'm not worried. I mean, look at Walter. He spent 30 years beating guys up for my dad, but since I been here, he's doing great as a father. If he can be a good dad, I can too!" Damn, this kid was fearless, not batting an eye as he explained himself. Walter's usually stoic face alternated between shocked and pleased with himself from Del's unsolicited testimonial.

Del moved to stand behind Connie, protectively putting his hands on her shoulders. "Look, grades are nothing to me and David. Both of us were top students all our lives, it's all we knew. Because of the business Dad was in, we never dated, never had friends, it was just studying during the school year and going to stupid summer camps where you lose whatever friends you made after it's over. Now here we are, parents are gone and we're living in a strange place because our brother is hunting for us. It fucking sucks!"

I didn't really know David and Del when they'd come to stay with us, but I had to admit as I'd gotten to know them, I'd grown to care for them. My interactions with them today had taught me plenty about who they were, and I continued to be impressed.

Del went on, "I'm 18 and want to live my own life, and I want Connie to live it with me. I mean, look at her! She's sweet and kind and she's hot as hell! I'm not leaving her behind, she's coming with me!" He paused, took a breath, then added, "Plus, judging by how good Laura and Dotty look, Connie's gonna stay hot for a long time. Can you blame me?"

Walter didn't say anything, just scowled. I knew damned well that Walter would have punched any other man in the mouth for talking about Dotty like that, but this was Quiet Sal's son. Plus, Del was right; Terhune women did age quite well. Del turned to Dotty, "No offense, Mrs. Connor."

Flattered, Dotty smiled and replied, "None taken."

I held my hands up in surrender. "OK, Del, I get it. You win. Go online today and start looking for townhouses and condos in the Cambridge area. Student housing rents are exorbitant, it's better if you buy a place to live in since you can afford it. Now please go put your damned shirt on."

~~~~~~~~~~

It had been an emotionally taxing day, to say the least. As I drove back home, I began to question my reply to Connie about still being romantic with Laura. Between building the new unit and taking care of the kids, how often did I really do anything romantic?

Aside from diminished availability, sex wasn't a problem; her body's changes over the years hadn't affected my desire for her, a quick caress or two from her was all it took to get me on board. Then I remembered something that Minister Barksdale had counseled me on the morning before Laura and I had renewed our vows -- men need sex to feel loved, but women need to feel loved to want sex.

When was the last time I'd reminded Laura how much she meant to me? When we first connected, I constantly reminded her of how desirable she was. When I was travelling as a consultant, I dreamed about her constantly and told her about it during our morning calls before starting work. But what had I done lately? We loved each other and were great parental partners, but in that familiarity, had I taken her for granted?

Angry at the answers I already knew, I turned into a shopping center and stopped to buy a dozen roses before racing home. I found Laura was in the kitchen with TJ and Ruthie, a fresh batch of cookies cooling. Pearl and David, meanwhile, were giggling and kissing between bouts of tossing flour at each other.

Laying the roses on the table, I took Laura in my arms. "What's all this?" she asked, laughing.

"This is your loving husband doing something he should have been doing all along," I told her. I gave her a passionate kiss; a real barn-burner, not some affectionate peck.

She pulled back a bit and softly scolded, "Tom, the children are right here!"

"Ah, good point!" I said. I turned and addressed the kids.

"Let me tell you kids a story. This happened years ago, when TJ and Ruthie weren't even thought of; Pearl was in Mommy's tummy but we didn't even know it yet. It was so long ago your big brother Lucas was still a baby, just starting to eat solid food."

Four sets of young eyes were on me. Good. "I'd just met your Mom and already knew I loved her, but wasn't sure if she loved me. We loaded everybody into the motorhome to go mall shopping, and had a great day as a family. I was super happy, and the only thing that would have made it better was knowing for sure your Momma loved me back."

I looked at Laura. "Do you remember that day, Momma?"

Smiling, she nodded. "I do, and you were in trouble. I was really mad at you for stuffing the kids full of corn dogs and candy, and told you if they got sick tummies that night and barfed, you'd be the one cleaning it up."

I laughed at the memory. "Yeah, you were mad enough that I was worried you'd kick me off the farm."

I turned back to the kids. "But Mommy didn't kick me off the farm. Instead, after she finished buckling everybody in their car seats she leaned over and gave me a kiss. The fact she kissed me in front your brothers and sisters let me know she loved me too. I'd never ever been so happy!"

I stopped talking for a moment; TJ and Ruthie were hanging on every word like they were hearing a fairy tale, while Pearl and David were certainly listening with interest.

"Here's the thing," I said in a quiet voice, "It's been almost 20 years, and Mommy still makes me feel that same way every single day."

Then I looked into Laura's eyes, "Every word of that story is true, you make me happy every single day and I'm a lousy husband because I haven't told you that enough. I'm so sorry!"

Laura was smiling, her eyes brimming with tears. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pulled my face down to hers. "Tom McFarland, you are a wonderful husband, and I forgive you," she whispered, and then kissed me like she used to when I'd come home from my work trips, a real can't-wait-to-get-you-naked kiss.

Before my dick could even respond, the romantic moment was broken up by the beeping of the oven timer. Laura whispered in my ear, "We'll finish this discussion later," kissed me quickly, and turned to take the cookies out.

I sighed, announcing, "I'm going to go install the towel racks in the new unit," and headed for the door.

David piped up, "Mr. McFarland, can I help you with that?"

"Yeah sure, David. Given that fact you've decided to marry Pearl, if you want to, you can call Laura and I 'Mom and Dad' now." I figured if the kid so brazenly sleeping with my daughter was at least trying to bond, why not?

I grabbed the new towel racks from the back of the Ford, and had David get my drill, stud-finder, and ruler. Having zero experience at manual labor, David mostly watched as I started the installation. I was again reminded how much David's personality matched our son James; I got the impression he wanted to open up about something on his mind, but was struggling with it. I decided to prime the pump.

"I built this unit anticipating one of our adult children would live here," I began, "and I was thinking it might be Amelia when she comes back from college. If you and Pearl are going to get married, I guess now that's going to be you two. Unless the two of you want to move somewhere else."

I looked at David, and saw he was a little bewildered. "I, uh, hadn't given it much thought. I'll have to ask Pearl." The ice broken, he seemed to gain a little momentum. "Hey, listen, Tom, er, I mean Dad, I wanted you to know something."

Here it comes, I thought. "What's that, David?"

"The story you told about how you loved Laura since you met her? That's how I feel about Pearl. It's not just physical, right? She was so caring and sweet that I fell in love with her hard. Like, super hard. If she broke up with me, I'd curl up and die. That's how you feel about Laura, right?"

I'd never thought about it in those terms exactly, but David was right. I thought back to the day Ruthie was born, and Laura had almost died from hemorrhaging. If she hadn't survived, I would have been completely and totally lost. That's what my wife meant to me: damn near everything.

"Yes, David, that's exactly how I feel," I told him, "I'm glad you're that way with my daughter. As long as the two of you feel that way, you can always make things work."

~~~~~~~~~~

After dinner, Laura asked TJ to get Ruthie's teeth brushed and put her to bed. I felt bad for TJ, he didn't mind taking care of Ruthie at all, but at 12 years old he should have been playing Fortnight with his friends online, or doing something equally mindless. This was the same kid who'd declared his devotion to Natty when she was feeling unloved. He was almost too perfect; it like he emotionally leap-frogged from childhood straight into adulthood. As his father, I definitely needed to get him to un-adult, maybe get into a little trouble.

My thinking was cut short by the feel of Laura's body coming up behind me, pressing her chest into the small of my back as she wrapped her arms around my waist. "Hey there, lover," she whispered, "we were interrupted this afternoon. Take me upstairs and tell me again how I make you happy every single day."

One of her hands dropped down from my waist to the crotch of my khakis, and caressed the material over my cock. "You better be careful," I warned her, "you're playing with a match and about to light my fuse."

She kissed me on the shirt between the shoulder blades chuckled, "I happen to know what you have in your pants is way bigger than a match. Follow me!"

She took my hand and led me upstairs into our bedroom, then locked the door. I moved to take her in my arms, but she surprised me with a strong push that landed me face-up on our bed. Before I could recover, she straddled my chest and began unbuttoning my shirt. The pale skin of her face was flushed, a sure sign of lust in my trophy wife.

I reached up and began unbuttoning her sleeveless blouse. I loved how it looked on her, especially the bare arms, but what lay behind the buttons is what held my interest now. Once the last button was released, I reached up and cupped the freckled fleshy globes that filled her bra. Over the years of our marriage (and three babies) they'd grown so now my hands could barely contain them. Not that I was complaining.

Grinding her crotch into mine, she leaned over and kissed me passionately. "Do you really want these tits, Tom McFarland?" she teased. My erection now in full bloom, I thrust my hips upward slightly.

"You know I do, you damned temptress," I growled. "There hasn't been a night in the last 19 years I haven't wanted them and you know it!"

This was no lie. Our first night together after sharing shots of Jack Daniels, Laura challenged me to make sure I really wanted her body - one of a 34-year-old woman who'd given birth to 7 babies, with all its bulges, stretch marks and a full ass. I assured her I very much wanted it, and proceeded to demonstrate that by keeping her up nights fucking her with every ounce of 28-year-old passion in my body; Pearl's conception was the result. (I regret nothing!)

Satisfied with my answer, Laura took the rest of her clothes off and began to unbuckle my belt and undo my pants. Unleashed, my erection sprang out. She seductively whispered, "Good husbands get their cock sucked, you know. It's the rules." Music to my ears, I tell you. Even after all this time, my wife could still pleasure me beyond words.

Replying, "I don't know who wrote those rules, but whoever it is, I'm extremely grateful!" I was really looking forward to Laura's mouth being wrapped around my stiffness.

Just as Laura opened her mouth to wrap her lips around the tip, we both heard the sound of Ruthie's little hands knocking on the locked bedroom door, followed by her little voice calling out, "Mommy! Where Mommy?"

Guessing this romantic moment had just been cancelled by our little co-sleeper, I let out a quiet groan; it was cut off by Laura's lips pressing against mine.

"I'll handle this, lover, just give me a minute," she whispered. Pulling on her robe, she opened the door and I heard her voice soothing Ruthie. A second later, the sound of their footsteps resonated down the stairs. I took this as a good sign, because ordinarily Laura would let Ruthie in, she'd crawl up between us and that would be the end of our sexytime.

Anxious to see what happened next, I laid back and began to doze only to be awakened by the feeling of Laura's weight on the bed again and the feeling of kisses on my testicles!

"Have I ever told you how much I love these balls?" she asked me in between kisses.

"Not specifically, no, but I've always gotten the impression you were satisfied with their output."

"Well, I love them. And I love the man they're attached to. You apologized for not reminding me enough that you loved me. Now it's my turn to apologize to you for not being a good wife."

Of course my first inclination was to deny it, but Laura knew it. Gently squeezing my balls, she growled, "Don't you dare argue, Tom. I've been so preoccupied keeping Ruthie a baby as long as possible, I got lazy about your needs."

My balls firmly in Laura's grasp, I dared not argue. She continued, "I'm ashamed to admit it's all my fault for letting Ruthie sleep in our bed far past the point she should have been sleeping in her own. I'm lucky you didn't go find yourself a younger goomah on the side like Quiet Sal did."

Resisting the urge to tell Laura I'd never even thought about doing that, I just kept silent to keep my balls safe.

"I just love sucking your cock. I love the feel of it when it's soft at first, then gets harder in my mouth as I suck on it. I love feeling it against my tongue. I love it when you explode into my throat. I love slurping up the last drops after it pulses its last spurt. In short, I love everything about it."

Slipping her lips over the head, Laura paused to twirl her tongue around and over my sensitive frenum. Shivering with pleasure, I involuntarily groaned. Laura hadn't gone down on me like this in a long time.

Pausing for a moment, she whispered, "Of all my husbands, you've got the best cock. You make me come with it every time, you know." Any other time I might have felt a twinge of jealousy at the mention of her former husbands, but at the moment my cock was in Laura's mouth and it felt insanely good, so thinking about anything else was basically impossible.

Then she slowly and repeatedly slid her mouth down my shaft, pausing half way down and then oh so slowly back up again. I reached down to caress the back of her head. "I've really missed doing this in our own bed," I told her, "you're so good at it."