Pink Dragonfly

Takes a while before the sexy stuff happens, so if that annoys you, then you probably ought to move along. But if it doesn't, then please enjoy!

*

Van McCracken sat on the bench swing of his front porch, awaiting the arrival of his younger sister. It was a beautifully stereotypical suburban day. The sound of laughter could be heard from a distance as some children splashed around, unseen to Van, in one of those awesome above ground pools. The smell of smoke from a charcoal grill permeated the crisp air of the early spring day. Van wondered what they were cooking...hot dogs maybe? Yeah, that'd be it, he thought. So simple, yet so wonderfully American.

Van's feet were angled so that they hung perpendicular to the porch, his toes barely touching the flooring as he gently swung himself back and forth. He loved to sit on his porch this particular time of day whenever he could. It allowed him a beautiful view of the sunlight as it peaked through the thick flowers of his plum tree in his front yard. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, holding it in for a few seconds before slowing releasing it.

He opened his eyes and looked around, intensely content with his surroundings as he continued to rock himself on his porch swing, wrist deep down the front of his pants, hand firmly cupping his giblets.

Fortunately for Van, the railings of their front porch were thick with some kind of leafy vine, and it perfectly obscured the view of any potential onlookers who might accidentally get a look at his self-fondling. He knew this, of course, which was why he was okay with doing that outside. Besides, it's not like he was jacking off or anything, just one of those things that men do sometimes. A warm hand firmly supporting your junk is undeniably an incredible comfort.

Hell, as it stood, his own hand was the only warmth he ever felt down there these days. Although happily married, he and his wife had been through an unspoken lull over the past few months, one that had slowly gotten worse and worse as they both continued to not really bring it up. He had been hoping that his birthday, which was that weekend, would be a good excuse to heat things up again, as so many birthdays in the past had resulted in him getting the "good sex". Unfortunately though, as luck would have it, one of Mack's closest friends was getting married in Chicago on Sunday, and wanted all of her bridesmaids there with her all weekend.

Van forced his brain to stray away from those stressful thoughts, preferring to keep his tranquil state of mind at the moment. Then, as he took his pointer and thumb started doing that thing where you make the opening of your urethra open and shut as if it's a toothless mouth that's trying to speak, he saw the familiar green Honda belonging to his sister Tara pull into the cul-de-sac and head towards his house.

As she drove down the short driveway of his home, Van reluctantly, but necessarily of course, took his hand out of his trousers, stood up, and made his way into his front yard to greet her.

"Hey old man!" Tara said jovially as she got out of her car and walked over to her brother.

"Hi Tara," Van said, rolling his eyes at her comment.

"Don't be so sour, Van! You know, statistics show that those who have the most birthdays live the longest."

Van stared at his sister, expressionless, blinking his eyes slowly and purposefully.

"Hey!" Tara continued, "maybe we can go to an antique auction later! Although, we'll have to be careful, or people may just start bidding on you."

More expressionless blinking.

"You got a fire extinguisher on hand? What, with all the candles we'll need for your birthday cake, it may come in handy!"

Not even a molecule of emotion showed on Van's face.

"Did you hear the one about the old man who-"

"Hey Tara?" Van interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Shut your goddamn cake-hole."

Tara smiled and leaned in to give him a hug.

"Seriously though, happy birthday!" she said as their hug ended. "Twenty-eight years old...how does it feel?"

"Peachy," Van said sardonically.

"Jeez, you're a bit crabby today."

"Sorry...thanks for coming out to spend the weekend with me Tara, it really means a lot."

"Of course! I've never missed a birthday of yours in all my years. Wish I could say the same about you, though."

"Oh, come on! When are you going to stop bringing that up? It was your fifth birthday, and I had explosive diarrhea!"

"Lies!" Tara screamed jokingly as they shared a laugh.

"Oh, by the way, I clearly saw you tugging on your penis when I pulled into your driveway," Tara said nonchalantly.

"Uhh...n-no I wasn't," Van said, taken completely off guard.

"Uhh...yeah you were, there's a huge gap in your little vine wall on your porch, might want to get that patched up or whatever. Or, you know, stop diddling yourself in public."

"But I wasn't even...yeah, alright."

"Eh, no worries, I'm not judging or anything. Just, you know...be careful if there are kids around."

"Noted."

Van took a step back and looked his sister up and down.

"Excuse me," Tara said with a raised eyebrow, "are you checking out your sister right now?"

"Of course not," Van replied, "don't flatter yourself. I'm just surveying you for any changes you've made to yourself since I last saw you."

"Ah. Well, did'ya find anything?"

"Hmm...new watch?"

"I'm not wearing a watch, dumb ass."

"Right, of course. Uhh...did you get a tan?"

"Not that I know of. Unless you can get a tan from a computer screen."

"Nose piercing?"

"Same one since middle school."

Van placed his finger on his chin and pretended to think really hard.

"Well, I give up. Something's different, but I just can't...oh wait! Bubblegum pink hair!"

"There it is!" Tara said as she applauded.

"Ha! Knew I'd get it eventually."

"Regular old Encyclopedia Brown, you are."

A few seconds of silence passed, and finally Tara raised her hands up by her face and looked at Van expectantly.

"So?" she said with slight annoyance.

"So...what?"

"What do you think?"

"'Bout what?"

Tara glowered, then snapped her head swiftly to one side, causing one of her pigtails to slap him in the face.

"About my hair, attentive one!"

"Oh," Van replied, lightly rubbing his cheek. "Honestly...I kinda like your natural color better."

"Really?" Tara replied.

"Yeah. Honestly, to me, your natural color is more, I don't know, uniquely you than this."

"Uniquely me? But my natural hair color is brown."

"Yeah, but, you know, it's your own personal shade of brown. Not sure what to call it..."

"Regular-ass."

"Huh?"

"My 'personal' and 'unique' shade of brown is called 'regular-ass brown', and it's the same shade of brown that half a billion other jack-asses in this world have. But this?" she said, gesturing at her head. "This is uniquely me."

"Okay, okay, just wanted to give you an honest answer to your question."

"Well don't do that, just tell me what I want to hear."

"But wouldn't that be sexist of me?"

"I'm a girl, I'll tell you what's sexist."

Van considered this for a moment and decided to just give in.

"Well, in that case, your hair looks amazing Tara!"

"Oh my god, thank you! You're so sweet."

"You're welcome. So anyway, how 'bout we go in and-oh!" Van said, cutting his sentence short as he looked toward Tara's car.

"Oh what?"

"You brought your little one!"

Tara looked back at her car to find Jeffrey just where she left him: sitting upright in the backseat, staring deadpan at the head rest in front of him.

"Oh, yeah. I hope that's alright "

"Well of course it's alright, we always have room for my nephew. Hi Jeffrey!"

As Van smiled and waved towards the car, Jeffrey slowly craned his neck around to look at Van. After a short moment, he rotated his head back around to continue looking at the head rest.

"Jeez, Tara, he alright?"

"Eh, I guess so. No offense, but he didn't really want to come here. Had to literally drag him into the car."

"Man, well sorry he doesn't like it here."

"Don't take it personally. Ever since he turned six...I dunno, he's just different."

Van looked at Jeffrey again briefly, then back at Tara.

"Kinda ugly, too."

"Hey, stop! That's too far Van."

"Sorry. Did you ever figure out anything about his father?"

"No, but I've at least narrowed it down to three possibilities."

"Well that's better than the six you started with. Be honest, they're all ugly too, right?"

"Stop!"

"I just wanna know where he gets it from!"

"Come on, let's go inside jerk."

As they walked towards the house, Van looked back at the car.

"Wait, what about-"

"He'll come in when he's ready. Trust me, if we force him to come in, it'll be a disaster. Come on, the window's cracked and the weather is nice, he'll be fine."

"Well, alright then. You're the mother."

They made their way into the kitchen. Tara sat down on a stool as Van fixed himself a mixed drink.

"Want one?" he asked.

"No, just water for me. Kinda early for that, don't ya' think?"

"Psh, this is my third one this afternoon. It's my birthday, let me indulge."

"Fair enough. So where's the lovely Mack?"

"Probably on her way home, should be here in about ten minutes or so."

"Huh."

Van looked at Tara, knowing her too well to let that one little word slide.

"Huh, what?"

"Oh nothing."

"Just say it, Tara."

"It's just that...it's kinda shitty, is all."

"What is?"

"This whole wedding thing. I mean, it's your birthday, but she's giving priority to her friend."

"Yeah, but she was always going to be in this wedding, it's one of her best friends. She didn't choose the date. It's just dumb luck that it landed on the weekend of my birthday."

"But your birthday is today, the wedding is Sunday. Chicago is only two hours away from here. Why can't she celebrate your birthday with you tonight and leave first thing in the morning?"

"I don't know, I think she has 'bridesmaid duties' this weekend, as she put it."

"Sounds like a crock of shit to me."

"Come on Tara, be nice. Give her the benefit of the doubt."

"That might be easier to do if she didn't hate me so much."

"What!? Mack doesn't hate you, she loves you!"

"That bitch hates my fucking guts, and you know it! Ever since you guys started dating in high school up to now, she has never liked me."

"What makes you say that, Tara? She's always been super nice to you."

"Exactly! Super nice...over-the-top super nice. No one is that nice to someone they like. She's just being fake. I think she's jealous of how close you and I are, always has been."

"So, she's incredibly nice to you, and you use this as evidence that she hates your guts? That makes absolutely no sense to me."

"Well, clearly you don't understand women, then."

"Certainly can't argue with that."

From outside, the sound of a car door shutting could be heard. Tara ran over to the window and looked out at the driveway.

"Okay, this is her," Tara said. "I want you to watch our interaction closely. Read between the lines, Van. If you look close enough, you'll be able to see the hatred ooze out of her every pore."

"Hmm...okay, I'll try and see it," Van said while rolling his eyes.

A few moments later, a large mass of bushy blonde hair, supported by a petite figure, entered the kitchen.

"Oh. My. Gawd! Tara McCracken! Get over here girl and give me a hug!"

Van watched as Tara put on what was to him an obvious fake smile, walked over to Mack, and let herself be embraced.

"Hey Mack, good to see you," she said.

"I am so glad you could come out this weekend and spend time with Van. I hate that I have to miss his birthday, but plans are plans, you know."

"Yep, gotta keep those priorities in order," Tara said.

Mack walked over to Van, either not hearing or not thinking too hard about the subtle shot Tara just took at her.

"Hey sweetie," Mack said to Van, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I am so sorry that I forgot to tell you happy birthday this morning."

"Oh, hey, I know how stressful your mornings are, what with your workout, shower, hair, and so on. I'm not worried about it."

"I have the greatest husband in the world, don't you think Tara?" Mack asked.

Tara just smiled sweetly back at Mack, choosing not to respond verbally.

"Listen," Mack continued, "I have to hustle up and finish packing, then I'm going to head on out. Why don't you come on back with me and tell me about your day while I get myself ready, okay?"

"Okay," Van replied.

"Happy birthday, sweetie," Mack said one more time, pinching his cheek lightly before heading back to the bedroom.

"What a cunt," Tara said softly after hearing the bedroom door close.

"Tara!"

"So did you see it?"

"See what?"

"The way she interacted with me! The 'oh. my. gawd.' The way she hugged me just a little too long...who does she think she's fooling?"

Van decided not to say anything else on the subject at the moment.

"Well," Van began, "guess I'll go back to the-oh shit!"

Van stopped mid-sentence, startled as he looked behind Tara and noticed Jeffrey had appeared, as if out of thin air, just sitting quietly on the floor right at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Hey buddy!" Van said, making his best attempt to sound inviting. 'How ya' doin'? Come here and see me!"

Jeffrey remained on the floor for a few moments. Then, after staring at Van briefly, he stood up, trotted over to the cabinet under the kitchen sink, grabbed the box of dog biscuits in between his teeth that was left there from the last time they visited, and trotted out of the kitchen towards the living room, wagging his tail once as if to let them know he was finally comfortable being there.

"He's got your jowls, you know," Van said to Tara.

"Oh shut up and go say goodbye to your loving wife."

*

"So did you invite Tara to come here for the weekend, or was it her idea?" Mack asked as she moved around their bedroom getting ready to leave.

Van was in a bit of a daze as he sat on their bed, mostly due to the fact that Mack was walking around in her sports bra and underwear. Van watched her lithe body as she glided through the room. She had always had a natural grace about her, and lately she had really been focusing on her body and diet, so newly toned muscles were starting to make themselves apparent in places where they weren't before. Mainly Van got caught up staring at her legs, which had always been his favorite physical feature of hers. He felt himself getting pretty turned on as he remembered what it was like to run his palm along the inside of her thighs, which was something he hadn't been able to do in some time.

"Van? Did you hear me?"

"Wha...huh? Oh yeah, um...I like the black ones."

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"Uh, shoes?"

"Ugh, no. Pay attention please. I asked about Tara coming this weekend. Was it your idea or hers?"

"Oh. Um, I don't really remember. Maybe both of ours? Why?"

Mack shrugged and continued to busy herself with packing.

"Eh, no reason. It's just a little weird to me, I guess."

"How so?"

"I mean, she's twenty-one years old, you're twenty-eight. It's not like you guys are that close in age. Doesn't she have friends of her own back where she lives? Or heck, a boyfriend?"

"No boyfriend that I know of. And Tara has never really been the 'friend' type of person. I think she just likes to surround herself with one or two people that she's really close with and pretty much just shut out the rest of the world."

"So by 'one or two people', you mean you and her dog?"

Van was surprised by the condescending tone Mack seemed to be taking all of a sudden.

"I...I don't really know, Mack. You'd have to ask her."

Mack smiled and quickly changed her demeanor back to one of super chipper.

"It's cool. Heck, I think it's so sweet of you to spend as much time with your little sister as you do."

"She only lives an hour away. It's not like it's that much of a chore for her to come out here."

"Right, but she lives an hour away from Chicago, too. Precisely halfway between here and there. Yet she chooses to come to Madison more often than she chooses to go to Chicago. I'd think someone her age would prefer all the things that a big city could offer, but I guess she just enjoys your presence that much. Honestly though, I think it's sweet. I'm really glad you and your sister are so close."

Van was pretty sure Mack was being sincere, but not a hundred percent convinced.

"Are you really glad?" he asked, looking for confirmation.

"Mm-hmm," Mack replied lazily as she continued to get herself ready.

Van felt that the conversation probably needed to go ahead and end for both of their sake.

"So how was work today, sweetie?" Mack asked.

"Oh, it was fine. Same old stuff. I had to fuss at Vernon a little for driving the forklift in the store without using a spotter while we had customers. Otherwise though, pretty uneventful."

"Did you do your push-ups today?"

"Uhh...some of them."

"Van...you said you were really going to make an effort to get in better shape."

"I am making an effort! I run twice a week, I usually do my push-ups, and I'm eating everything you tell me to. I just get busy at work sometimes and it's hard to make time for it every day. Besides, I feel like I'm in pretty good shape as it is, don't you think?"

Mack stopped and turned to look at Van, moving her eyes up and down his body.

"You are in fine shape, Van, and you know I love you no matter what. But I feel like I've made huge strides with working on my health over the past year, and I just want you to meet me on my level with it. It's just because I care. I want the two of us to live a long, healthy life together, that's all."

"I know, dear," Van said, nodding understandingly.

Mack smiled sweetly at him, then continued getting ready. Van just sat and watched her for a while longer, returning to his blissful state of mind where he once again was allowed to ravish her body. She slipped herself into a tight little red dress. Then, when he watched as she put her hands up her dress and delicately removed her underwear, he decided that he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey, Mack?"

"Yes?"

"So...you know how it's my birthday and everything, right?"

"Of course."

"And you know how I insisted on you not getting me a present this year, since we're trying to save money for our vacation this summer?"

"Yes..."

"Well, there is one present that I really, REALLY would love to have."

Van tried to make himself as clear as he could, without saying the actual words, and stared lustfully at her in her little red dress.

Mack understood what he meant, and smiled sadly at him.

"Sweetie, I know it's been a rough few months for us in that department, and a lot of that has to do with me. But we've talked about this already. Work has been crazy for me, and with my change in diet and my twice-a-day exercise routine, I've just been exhausted."

"Yeah, I understand," Van said with just a hint of a purposeful sad tone.

"Besides, I don't have time for it right now anyway. I'm already running late as it is."

"Of course. Not even...not even a blowjob then? A birthday blowjob?"

Mack checked the time and let out a deep, frustrated breath. Then she followed it up with a smile.

"Come here, then."

"Really!?"

"Yeah, but you've gotta be quick. I really do need to go."

"Ha!" Van shouted as he shot up off the bed, removing his pants as he stumbled towards his wife. "As if that's gonna be a problem!"

Van stood in front of Mack, placing his hands on her shoulders. He leaned down to kiss her, but a second after their mouths touched, she buried her face in his chest and got to work giving him a hand job.

"Oh yes, Mack!" Van whispered. "I've missed your touch so much."