Promises Made and Promises Kept Pt. 04

Finally, the first event was ready to start. It was the 50-yard butterfly. I explained to Virginia that the pool was 25 yards long, so the event would be down and back for 50 yards. We saw that Amy and Emily were both in this event. I told Virginia that Amy held the pool and high school record for this event, but Emily had been training hard to get better.

When the gun went off, everyone went into the water cleanly, and the race started. Amy, with Emily right on her right shoulder, immediately took the lead. By the time they took the turn, they were already 10 yards ahead of everyone else. They made the turn cleanly and came storming down to the finish line stroke-for-stroke. When Amy hit the wall with Emily following just nine-tenths of a second later, the next closest swimmer still had more than half the length of the pool to go. I watched the girls hug each other as it was announced Amy had just broken the school record she had set last year by over two seconds.

I was so excited I turned to Virginia and hugged her in happiness. Virginia was smiling as she hugged me back. The girls got out of the pool once the race was over. They waved to us before toweling off and sitting on the bench with their teammates, who all came over and hugged them.

The rest of the match went the same. Every event that Amy or Emily was in was won by them, sometimes by enormous margins. Finally, the last event, the 4x50 yard medley relay, was announced. Amy will be swimming the Butterfly (3rd) leg, and Emily will be swimming the Freestyle (4th) leg. The race started cleanly, and Mira Costa was last after the first leg. The second leg finished with Mira Costa still third, but they were all bunched up. Once Amy hit the water, the race was effectively over. By the time she finished her leg, she was half the pool ahead of the other two swimmers. Emily started cleanly and was doing the crawl. She was already more than halfway down the pool before the next girl started the last leg, and she touched with almost the whole pool length between her and the second place girl. Amy ran over and reached down and hugged her as they announced another school record had been set.

Virginia and I hugged again. Several of the other parents from Mira Costa came over to congratulate me on my girls' performances. I was so happy. When the match was finished and everyone was done hugging each other, my girls came over and hugged us. Virginia praised them for their performance. The coach called the team together, and Virginia and I left to go back to my place.

When we got back to my place, I invited Virginia in. She followed me in, and as soon as the alarm was off and the door shut, I took Virginia in my arms and kissed her. Knowing that the girls would be home shortly, we didn't do more than just kiss before going into the kitchen to get some wine. We started preparing a meal for my starving girls, who would be home soon. I have to say I really enjoyed fixing dinner with Virginia helping me. We grabbed ass every time we walked past each other and leaned in for a quick kiss every now and then. By the time we heard the girls pull into the driveway, we had a delicious meal fixed for them.

The girls squealed when they came in, knowing that Virginia was still here. They both hugged her hard, nearly squeezing her to death. We all then sat down at the table, I said Grace, and we all tucked in and ate. The girls inhaled their food and were done before Virginia and I were done eating. They went on about their performances tonight, with Virginia praising them again. I could tell Virginia was quite impressed with how they did. I sent them off to their rooms to get their homework done after another round of hugs. Virginia and I cleaned up before I walked her out to her car. Since it was dark, I pulled her in for a passionate kiss before Virginia left to go home.

February 1995

Virginia invited the girls and me over for dinner with Grace and Kathy. When I met Grace, I was struck by how she looked like an older version of the pictures I had seen of Bonnie. She was the sweetest person, and the girls just adored her. Kathy was a little shy around me initially, but I just pulled her in for a hug and told her how Virginia had told me so many good things about her. She loosened up after that and was smiling and comfortable with us by the time the evening was over. I could see how much Grace and Kathy were in love with each other, and they both gave me their approval.

Virginia attended every swim meet she could over the next few weeks, enjoying the atmosphere and watching the girls swim. They were winning every event they entered and had broken every record set last year. They even set several state high school records in the process. The newspapers were starting to take notice of them. Each swim meet was attended by college scouts, and even representatives from the USA Jr. National team occasionally visited.

Despite our best efforts to keep our relationship secret, people at work were catching on that something was going on between us. We both worked our asses off to ensure it didn't affect our work, and Sue and Cathy did their best to deflect any questions about us. We managed to have a date night with just the two of us every week. We always ended up at my place since I could have the girls stay the night with my parents.

March 1995

March 7th was a red-letter day. I couldn't wait to see Virginia when she came in to work this morning. Yesterday was the day the adoption orders for Virginia's boys were going to be approved. When she called me last night, she was in tears, so happy that Matthew and Mark were now legally recognized as her sons. I was so pleased for her, and I brought a cheesecake that Mom had made to work with me so we could celebrate.

When I saw Virginia heading for the break room, she was smiling so broadly and brightly that a blind person could have seen her smile. I grabbed my coffee mug and nearly ran to catch up to her. When Virginia saw me, she came up to me and hugged me tightly, and I wrapped my arms around her and started tearing up in happiness for her. When I told her I had brought a cheesecake made by Mom to celebrate, she tightened her hug and started tearing up herself.

We invited Sue and Cathy to join us in the break room. We all had a piece of cheesecake, along with our coffee and tea. We were having so much fun we nearly forgot our first meetings of the day. Sue and Cathy reminded us and told us they'd clean up. We hurriedly finished our cheesecake and drinks and made it to our meetings.

***

Over the next few weeks, we spent as much time together as possible. Virginia came to several swim meets with me and really enjoyed watching the girls compete. A couple of times, she brought Mark along, and he really enjoyed watching the girls swim. I think they really enjoyed it when he was there. They always found an excuse to hug him, and Virginia confided in me that Mark was really smitten by Amy.

April 1995

We had planned this get-together for a couple of weeks now. We were all going to have dinner at my parent's Friday night. Grace and Kathy were also invited, so my parents could meet Virginia's 'parents.' I spent a couple of days with Mom planning the menu. The girls were very excited about it and could barely contain themselves as the time approached.

Even Sue and Cathy were excited about it, and they weren't even attending. I'd catch them in the cafeteria, heads together, talking animatedly when Virginia and I were having lunch. I remarked to Virginia about it, and she just smiled and said they were just happy for us. I couldn't argue with that. I know I was thrilled for us, too.

Finally, Friday came, and everything was ready for the big get-together. The girls would drive themselves to my parents' place after school, so I didn't have to round them up and bring them there with me. As I left, Sue smiled at me and said, "Enjoy your dinner tonight, Judy."

I got home and met the girls there. They were just ready to head out, and I saw they were dressed up a bit. When I asked, they simply exchanged a look and said they wanted to look pretty for Mark. Not thinking anything about it, I just hugged them both and sent them on their way. I performed my toilet and wore a pink sleeveless ruffled day dress. I checked myself in the mirror before leaving, excitement about dinner tonight starting to build up in me.

I got there just as Virginia arrived with Mark, Grace, and Kathy. I greeted them all, hugging Grace, Kathy, and Mark before pulling Virginia in for a much-needed kiss. When our lips met, fireworks went off as Virginia pressed into the kiss with more vigor than usual when we were with other people. I naturally responded by pressing back. By the time we broke the kiss, we were both panting and alone in the driveway as everyone else had gone ahead and gone inside.

With broad smiles on both our faces, we went inside, arm-in-arm. Everyone but Mom was in the living room. After a round of greetings, Virginia and I headed out into the kitchen to help Mom. At the same time, Dad entertained Grace, Kathy, and the kids. Mom hugged Virginia and me when we entered the kitchen before directing us to start setting the table. Just then, I heard the doorbell ring, wondering who else could be arriving. I listened to the girls run to the door and greet someone in excited voices. Virginia smiled and said, "Oh, good, that must be Matthew," before heading out to greet him.

I hadn't realized Matthew would be here tonight since he was still attending classes at UC Irvine. I followed Virginia into the foyer and waited my turn to hug Matthew. When we did, he smiled at me and said, "I'm glad I could make it tonight, Judy. It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you, too, Matthew. I wasn't expecting you, but I'm glad you're here," I returned.

"How could I miss out on your mother's cooking?" Matthew said.

With that, Mom, Virginia, and I went back out to the kitchen to finish preparing for dinner. I helped Virginia set up the dining room table, recruiting the boys to get the extra chairs stashed in the garage. Fully expanded, the table seats twelve, so we would have enough space for everyone. Soon, the food came out of the oven and onto the table, the delicious smells permeating the house.

Finally, we were ready, and everybody trooped into the dining room and found their seats. Dad led the prayer over dinner. He crossed himself before he prayed, "Thank You, God, for the food we are about to eat, for those who are here to share these blessings. Bless those who are here and those who are in our hearts, and all those who are not as fortunate on this day. Amen." We crossed ourselves and said, "Amen," except for Grace and Kathy, who just said, "Amen."

I was taken aback for a moment. Dad had never used that prayer before, and when I looked at him questioning, he winked at me and smiled. I looked over at Virginia and saw the unshed tears in her eyes, and I realized that she must be thinking about Bonnie. I misted up too, thinking about Jon and suddenly felt his presence over me. After a beat, Mom said, "Let's eat!"

Suddenly a cacophony of sounds arose as everyone started getting food. Soon, everybody's plate was piled high with food, and several conversations started up around the table. The girls were chatting with the boys, and my parents were chatting with Grace and Kathy. Virginia and I just sat there, taking it all in, smiling at each other, our eyes doing all of the talking. I was so happy at this moment I wished it would never end.

Eventually, all of the food that could be eaten was eaten. As always, with Mom, there was still more food left than had been eaten. Mom declared dinner was over and everyone should head into the living room. Virginia and I offered to help, but she shooed Virginia off to the living room. I helped her get the food off the table and out into the kitchen. After quickly wrapping and boxing the leftovers up, we crammed them into the overburdened refrigerator before Mom shooed me off to the living room.

When I entered the living room, everyone looked up to me expectantly. I walked over to the couch and sat down next to Virginia. Suddenly, there was a hush as I saw Mom standing in the doorway. Everyone had a huge smile on their face, and Dad winked at me again when I looked around and asked, "What?"

I looked at Virginia as she stood up and turned and stood in front of me, a nervous look on her face. She then got down on one knee and pulled a ring box out from behind her. She opened it, revealing a pair of rings. My heart nearly stopped as I realized what Virginia was about to ask me. I leaned forward, a big smile on my face as Virginia said, "I love you, Judy. For the longest time, I thought that I would never find someone to take Bonnie's place, someone I could love and would love me in return. There was a time or two that I thought I had found someone, but it didn't work out. Now, I am positive that I have found that person. It is you, Judy. You have made me so happy, and I selfishly want to be this happy for the rest of my life."

Virginia pulled one ring out of the box before setting it down and took my left hand in her right hand, and asked, "Judy, will you make me the happiest woman in the world and wear my ring?"

***

Will Judy say "Yes?" Stay tuned for the fifth and final part of 'Promises Made and Promises Kept.'