Pursuit of Happiness

She could not help but remember that she had always wanted to see Paris, but never like this.

An excited nurse burst into the room. "Mail!" she cried. "We've got mail from back home!"

So many nurses scrambled to their feet, hoping that there would be even the smallest news from home to keep their spirits alive.

"Lauren."

Lauren lifted her head in surprise. "Yes?" she stammered.

The nurse smiled softly. "There's one for you," she said.

The others looked at Lauren in amazement. In all the time they had been away from home, the beautiful young woman had never received a letter. They had often wondered why. Lauren was so kind, so personable. It did not make sense for her not to have family, or even a special someone back home.

Lauren took the letter into her hands. They shook violently as she recognized the handwriting. She carefully opened the envelope. When she pulled out the letter, tears rose inside her eyes. It had been written on paper from her diary. She recognized the paper, but more than anything, she could clearly see her own words lingering on the page.

"Paige is in the backyard reading beneath a tree," it read. "She looks so beautiful. I wonder if she knows. I try to hide what's in my eyes, but Paige knows me better than anyone ever has or ever will. Does she know how deeply I love her? Does she know that I am madly, passionately, head-over-heels in love with her?"

Lauren blanched more by the moment. Paige must have read this and decided to send it to her as a means of telling her that she knew everything and could never forgive her.

Determined to see it through to the end, Lauren continued reading silently.

"I should tell her. I want to tell her. And yet... how do you tell your best friend that what you feel is more than friendship? For that matter, how do you tell your best friend that when she's your sister?"

The handwriting suddenly changed as a few elegant lines were fluidly scrolled along the bottom of the page.

How do you say what cannot be said? You say it with the love inside your eyes, with the emotion inside your kiss and the beating of your heart when it lives for another.

**Come home to me safely, my Love. Please.**

The sudden sound of Lauren's cries frightened the others. They flocked to her in a supportive guild. Their arms embraced her with a fierce protectiveness. They rocked her gently and smoothed her back as Lauren, their strong Lauren, cried with utter abandon.

********

**August 1945

Cries rose up amongst the masses.

Strangers embraced one another for the sheer happiness of the moment. People wept. Sailors raced through the streets, kissing every woman within sight. Confetti rained from the sky which seemed all but suspended by joyous singing and boisterous cheers. The cheers grew thunderous, as if to announce to the very heavens that it was over. It was finally over.**

********

Her heart was racing. Paige had dressed herself in an airy red dress which brought out the excited flush of her cheeks. Among the many other women looking expectantly to the train station, she was a brilliant flash of color amidst a bevy of autumn colors.

Her flowing mahogany hair was neatly pinned in victory rolls while her hair hung with satiny glory between her shoulder blades. Her eyes flashed as shimmering honey pools. Her body grew tense.

She and every other soul crowding the platform looked to the train coming proudly into the station.

Cheers flooded the air. A band began to play loudly, welcoming their men and women home.

Her trembling hands clasped together. Paige held them close to her chest. The beautiful woman felt dizzy with happiness. Her sister was home. She was home!

Paige was lost inside an eerie sort of haze. She had seen the people beginning to disembark. Their colors blurred together in a vibrant smearing of colors. But all of that changed when one person, one solitary figure, took on the clarity of the sun rising as the dawn. Even among the others dressed in uniform, Lauren was unique in all the world.

Her long red hair was parted to the side. It was sleek with smoothly styled waves. Atop its glistening satin, a garrison cap sat at a slight angle. Her pale skin was glowing inside the olive green uniform housing her hour-glass body. The warm color brought out the intensity of her catlike eyes.

Lauren had never been so happy to see the hometown she had been so eager to escape. She turned. Her eyes scoured her surroundings, doing their best to memorize how things had changed and how exactly they had stayed the same. It was during that awe-filled gaze that her eyes fell on a woman in scarlet.

Her breath caught inside her throat. "Paige," she exhaled. She wanted to launch forward, to rush into her arms, but she could not trust herself while she was that close to Paige. Not after having dreamed of being inside her arms for all this time.

Then somehow, they were standing directly before one another. They were so close that they could feel the other's breath against their tingling skin.

Paige reached out her hands. Her movements were painfully slow. She had never been timid while showing affection toward her sister before. Then again, she had never been in love before, never ached to touch another person the way that she did now.

With feathery touches her fingertips grazed Lauren's until they stood face to face, holding each others hands. Their eyes met for the first time. For a brief instant, Paige remembered all the times her sister had looked away. Would she now?

Lauren tightened her hold of the hands in hers. Her green eyes danced with tears. "Take me home," she mouthed.

Around them, the chaos had yet to subside, but within each sister, an odd sort of serenity was sweeping throughout their beings.

Paige refused to release the hand in hers as she sauntered with a slow eroticism through the masses. She felt the eyes staring after her with love, but the thing which sent her core trembling was the heat of arousal warming her back.

They walked along the sidewalk, hand in hand. The lights from the street-lamps fell over them in sporadic pools of warm yellow. Their fingers wove together tightly, connecting them.

********

When they entered the front door of their home, it was quiet.

Lauren lifted her eyes as she removed her cap. They were soft as she stared around her childhood home. "Where's dad?" she asked absently. In truth, she had hoped he would be sleeping or locked inside his study.

"He was called away," Paige answered as she took Lauren's things. "You know how much he lives for invitations to speak at prestigious colleges."

Lauren laughed quietly despite herself. Her laughter fell away as she thought of what her father's absence would mean at the practice. "That must mean that Jeffery is---"

"I wouldn't know," Paige interrupted quietly. She waited for her sister at the top of the stairs.

The red-haired nurse moved to the foot of the stairs. Her hand rested elegantly against the dark wood railing. She stared up at the vision of her beautiful sister. The hall light at her back warmed the woman's silhouette in an enchanting halo.

"He and I haven't spoken since I called off the engagement," Paige spoke softly.

Lauren felt herself slip into a state of shock. Her head lowered while she stared heavily at the imported rug centered along the stairs. She had not even realized that Paige was no longer at the head of the stairs. So many thoughts were whirling through her mind, but she pushed them back. All that mattered was the question raging throughout her mind. What did this mean, she wondered.

Lauren hurried up the stairs. She moved toward her room on the right. She stopped. A warm light flooded lovingly into the hall. It was coming from her sister's room. She felt butterflies dancing manically inside her stomach. Her heels kissed the hardwood floors with each slow step she took toward her sister's bedroom.

Lauren extended her hand. With her fingertips resting against the cool door's surface, she pushed the door open.

The room was warm with candles. Paige lit the last candle before delicately blowing out the match within her hand. She turned her head as she caught sight of her sister standing inside the doorway. Slowly, she smiled.

"Did you know that the women working the assembly would spend hours talking about what they would do the moment their GI came home?" Paige asked nonchalantly.

She strode across the room. Her fingers lightly clasped Lauren's hands. She pulled her invitingly into the room while she backed further into it. Her honey eyes reflected the flames inside the candles. She turned Lauren gracefully, as if they were dancing to the subtle sound of the wind rustling through the trees.

Lauren felt the backs of her legs touch against the edge of the bed. She swallowed hard at the lump in her throat. Her breath trembled as it slipped past full lips. She held the eyes of the woman she loved, the woman she had always loved. Her eyes never once looked away, even as Paige's nimble fingers began unbuttoning the golden buttons of her jacket.

"The one thing that each woman seemed to have in common," Paige continued in a throaty voice. "Was a desperate need to touch, a need to pamper our GI. As if to say 'thank you', to say 'I love you', to say 'I missed you' and 'I need you'."

Lauren tried not to tremble. She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of Paige moving closer.

Paige tenderly pushed the jacket from Lauren's shoulders. She allowed it to fall to the floor. Her fingers loosened the khaki tie around her sister's neck. When Lauren took her face warmly inside her hands, her hand fell limply to her side. She could feel the tie slipping out of her grasp.

"Paige," Lauren whispered. Her eyes said so much, even before her lips could utter a word. "Do you realize what you're saying?" She gave a vulnerable frown. "I was so sure I'd lost you forever when you read my dairy. I---"

Lauren's words were brought to a dramatic end by the lips seizing hers with unending love and passion. The lips moving against hers were the softest she had ever felt. They were sweet and supple. She parted her lips against them. She felt them part in response to hers. Tender flesh traced along the line of her top lip. She closed her lips around it, suckling lovingly at Paige's tongue.

Paige tilted her head. She deepened their kiss with a moaned purr which reverberated deep within her throat. Her arms wrapped around Lauren's body. She crushed her sister to her, feeling proud, shapely breasts crush against hers. Between impassioned kisses, she spoke.

"You'll never lose me," Paige promised. "I love you so much, Lauren. I always have." Her body shivered with excitement as Lauren's hand slid down from her jaw. They traveled over her shoulders, roaming down her arms until they found a home at her sides.

The slow sound of her dress being unzipped echoed in the air. It joined the sound of their heated breaths rasping in the night, their gentle purrs inspiring dull throbs.

The air came to rush against Paige's exposed skin. She felt it caress her with each pair of teeth opening. Soon her dress released its hold. It fell to the ground, haloing her body in a lustful ring. She stood inside Lauren's arms. Her breasts were housed inside a black lace bra. Her panties were of matching grace. Along the smooth length of her beautiful legs, her stockings shimmered. A delicate seam ran along the back of her as if pointing the way toward bliss.

Paige unbuttoned the khaki button-down shirt her army nurse wore. She released an appreciative groan as she glimpsed her sister's sensuous breasts for the first time. They were full, restrained inside their ivory bra with a seductive pout.

Paige lowered her head. Her lips kissed over the tops of sweet-smelling orbs. She closed her eyes, feeling her sister's fingers get lost in her dark hair. Her tongue dipped into the valley of her sister's breasts. She grazed with a slow sweep across the flesh. Her fingers reached down, unbuttoning and unzipping the skirt which separated them. With a slight whoosh, they plummeted to the ground.

Lauren shrugged out of her shirt. She took Paige into her arms, then laid her sister upon the bed. The moment her body crushed to hers, she felt her pulse quicken.

Wrapping her arms around her sister's neck, Paige claimed her lover's mouth again. She kissed her deeply, growing lost in the emotions pouring from Lauren directly into her. All the love they had ever shared was heightened in the realization of attraction.

Lauren ran her hand along her sister's body. She guided her sibling's leg to wrap around her waist. With it close, she pushed off her sister's heel then tossed it to the floor. Her fingers traced the top of Paige's stocking. She pushed it down slowly, feeling a gift unwrapped beneath her touch. As they kissed, she repeated the act once more on her sister's other leg. The feel of smooth bare skin wrapping around her waist made her dizzy.

Holding herself up with her arms, Lauren looked down at the woman with mussed mahogany hair. Her red hair hung around her face. She was flushed with wanton desires, but she wanted to savor this night. She had dreamed of it for so long.

Lauren sat up on her knees. She tossed her long hair over her shoulder absently, unaware that it sent a jolt through her lover watching below. Her arms reached behind her body. She unclasped her bra then removed it with slow eroticism.

Paige gripped tightly at the sheets. She strangled the moan inside her throat as enthralling orbs were revealed to her hungry eyes. She ravaged their flesh with her eyes. The peaks straining to new heights beneath her gaze caused her own nubs to arch painfully. She sat up on her elbows, never taking her eyes away from the woman moving to stand at the side of the bed. She followed the seductive air with which Lauren presented her leg. Then she watched as Lauren slowly removed her stockings.

The little striptease that her sister performed was somehow voyeuristic. Paige felt as though she were somehow glimpsing her sister as she readied for bed. The way Lauren confidently held her foot against the edge of the bed, the way her hands slid over her own leg. It was easy for Paige to imagine the sexy redhead smoothing lotion over her skin.

Lauren's olive eyes suddenly lifted from her own thigh. She held her lover's eyes while her thumbs hooked themselves inside her panties. She worked the fabric down, one hip at a time. At first she gave teasing glimpses of her smooth skin. The lower her panties were pushed, the slower their descent became.

Paige rolled onto her side, then commanded her body to rise. Her honey eyes never left the erotic show being put on for her eyes alone. She leaned forward. Her lips sensually covered her sister's trembling abdomen with lingering kisses.

"Paige," Lauren moaned as her head fell back. Her lashes fluttered closed.

The eldest sibling breathed deeply of the musky perfume rising in the air. Her lips trailed lower.

Lauren reached down. She grasped desperately to her sister's shoulder. She stepped out of her panties, but was sure that she would fall if Paige's lips moved even a breadth lower.

As if reading her sister's mind, Paige took possession of the hips she craved. She held her sister upright the instant her lips touched themselves to hers in their first intimate kiss.

Lauren's chest rose and fell with the passion welling inside her. She moaned aloud as a soft tongue slipped between her lips. It explored her with unhurried ease, memorizing every silken inch of her. She began to shake uncontrollably. Her lips were covered in copious dew. She felt its hot nature turn cool with each moment her lover's breath rushed to meet it.

"I love you," Lauren panted.

Paige encircled Lauren's waist in her strong embrace. She guided her baby sister to rest comfortably against the plush bed. Her hand slid to move the graceful length of Lauren's leg over her shoulder. She lowered her head. Her lips captured a swollen lip between them, suckling with a hungered need. Her fingers parted the blooming petals until she exposed the bright heart of her sister. She explored its silken depths with the tip of her tongue. Then she pushed her tongue slowly and deeply inside of her sister.

Together, both women moaned lustfully into the night.

Lauren's back bowed as her body raised off the bed. She parted her legs, offering up herself all the more to her sister's famished mouth.

Paige reached a hand beneath Lauren. She cupped the sensual swell of her lover's bottom, using her grasp to pull her lover closer. She fit her mouth to Lauren with greedy need. Her voice was muffled slightly, but Lauren felt her words tickle the throbbing parts of her.

"I love you, Lauren."

Lauren felt tears stream soundlessly down her cheeks. Her breath grew more ragged. Her abdomen clutched violently. She closed her eyes tightly as a cry of unabashed pleasure burst from her.

Paige moaned into Lauren. She drank heartily from the fount offering itself up to her. As it flooded her, dribbling down the corners of her mouth to run hotly down her chin, she felt her own juices quicken.

A sweat had broken out over Lauren's entire body. Her chest heaved mightily, but she felt alive. She reached out with shaking hands. She cupped her sister's face. Insistently, she pulled her lover upward.

Lauren slid her tongue over anointed skin. She tasted herself so clearly against her sister's face. Turning her head, she captured a pair of moistly fragrant lips. She kissed her sister deeply, caressing her tongue against the tongue that had brought such pleasure to her body.

Paige was trembling. She had never wanted anyone so much. She had never ached as much as she did in this moment. Her back arched with arousal. She relished the feel of Lauren's hands moving over her. When the erotic redhead released her from the restraints of her bra, she shivered. When Lauren began kneading skillfully at her breasts, she moaned.

Lauren sucked with a quiet purr at the chin stained by her juices. Her hands moved down to the panties she both envied and resented for being so close to Paige. She peeled them away. The perfume their absence released was driving her mad with passion.

Her hand worked between their bodies. Lauren felt her palm purposely grind an erotic slope. She worked the heel of her hand against a hardened clit. She felt her sister's heartbeat throbbing inside it. She massaged the hardened nub more diligently, spurred onward by the vocal encouragements flooding the air. She had never seen her sister so free. Paige was beautiful and untamed.

Paige rolled her hips, working to meet the hand grinding against her. When her sister's middle finger dipped into her, then delved deeper at its next attempt, her head fell back with a moan.

Together, they found a rhythm. It was growing more passionate with every wet-laced smack to toll their pace.

"I love you," Paige said. There was a sudden urgency to her voice.

Unable to take her eyes off of the vision above her, Lauren responded in a raspy voice. "I love you," she said.

Paige's juices flooded out of her in time with climax's cry. Breathless and shaking, she collapsed against her sister's body.

Lauren wrapped an arm around Paige, holding her close. She remained deeply inside the woman. Her finger felt the persistent kiss of her lover's inner walls as they involuntarily tightened and relaxed around it.

Weakly, Paige lifted her head. Her arms moved to rest on either side of Lauren's head. Tenderly, she brushed back the woman's long hair. She smoothed it gently. Its red roots were dark with sweat, making it appear more like the color of her own hair. She wanted to promise that she would never leave her. She wanted Lauren to promise that she would never leave her again, but none of that truly mattered. All that mattered was that they were together, finally truly together, as they had always secretly longed to be, but never had the courage to admit.