Stormwatch - The Love Boat

"Wow! Love at first sight," Nicoletta gushed. "Yi? When did you know Kenny was the one?"

"Pretty early on," said the Korean beauty. "I gave him so much crap, but he put up with it."

"Same for me," said Kenny, "It was just a matter of finding that peaceful middle ground I guess."

"You're lying only by omission, I want to hear the whole story but don't think you're ready to tell us," said Nicoletta, "we'll let it go for now. Andi, when did you realize that Paul was the one for you?"

"I don't remember if it was day two or day three but when I saw how wonderful he was to me and my girls I just knew he was the one."

"I suppose that this yacht didn't hurt," kidded Kim-ly.

"I didn't know! I didn't know any of it!" gushed Andi. "He didn't even have the yacht. All I knew was that he was a doctor and had a house in town and a cabin that we were trapped in. Oh, and a cool tractor. He had a cool tractor he taught me to drive.

"The Kubota? He let you drive the Kubota on day one. Dude, that's love!" said Josh obviously shocked. The Kubota was Paul's prized possession and he's never let anyone except Andi touch it.

"Wish I knew a farmer that would buy me a Kubota," pouted Lanh as she nudged Don.

"Paul? What about you?"

"The minute I dug her out of a snowbank, not a doubt in my mind then, now, or tomorrow."

"Another love at first sight? Really?" asked Nikki.

"It wasn't first sight; we had met years ago before the twins were born."

"Interesting, Lanh when did you know Don was your man?"

"When we were sophomores and I was tutoring him, and I realized that this was what I wanted to do forever, not tutor Don, but work with him toward a common goal," said Lanh as she held his arm tight.

"Don? What about you, when did you know?"

"The next autumn," Don started, "I was in computer class waiting for the bell to ring so I could see Lanh and I heard her scream, so I ran out into the hall and there was some guy ripping Lanh's blouse open and I thought, "She's MINE! No one else's," And I charged at the guy."

"And?" asked Nikki.

"And he beat the living crap out of me, but she was safe, she got away, that's all that has mattered to me since that day.

Nikki then asked Kim-ly, "and you?"

"When? I don't know, I really don't. What I do know is that they let me in and I'm not going anywhere."

"Ok, last question, Veronica, how did he ask you to marry him?"

Ronnie grinned a huge grin, this was her favorite memory. "In the pageants my talent was ball room dancing, and at work we have a big Winter Holiday party. At the party I will do an exhibition dance with my dancing coach who is in the National Guard, so he wears his dress uniform. Josh and I thought it would be cool if Josh cut in on my traditional dance to let the company know that the rumors are true, we're a thing. I practiced with him and my coach, and we got it down perfectly. At the party Josh was wearing a regular suit but he brought his dress blues with him, and he never told me and he changed while I was dancing.

"Normally there's a lot of background party noise as we're dancing but I noticed the whole room go silent and when he cut in, I saw him in that uniform, holy crap! Ribbons and medals and wings! He was a war hero and was just covered with ribbons. We finished the dance and he wouldn't let me go sit down. The band started playing Can I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life and we dance to that but halfway through the dance we stopped, and he dropped to his knee and proposed in front of the whole company and our top clients."

There was a collective "Aww" from Yi, Kim-ly, Lanh and Nicoletta. "We were there," said Andi, "I was laughing and crying my eyes out at the same time."

Yi and Kenny were next, and Yi said, "He proposed to me at the beach, we were all alone having lunch and he asked, and it was sweet." She didn't mention that the beach was on an island in the South China Sea and that a huge golden dragon was watching them the whole time.

Andi said, "Paul and I actually proposed to each other, we knew each other just a matter of hours and we proposed to each other behind his cabin on a beautiful snowy night."

Lanh said, "it was on Christmas Eve and both of our families were gathered on Don's farm, we were seniors in high school, and everybody was at the table, we just finished a big dinner, even Grandma Tri was there, and we had just kissed in front of everyone to see if we could shock them. Don told me "I'm going to ask him," and he went and asked my dad for his blessing, and dad said I will give you my blessing, if you ask her here in front of me. So, Don pulled out a ring and he asked me."

"He asked your father for your hand in marriage at a family dinner?" Nicoletta asked Lanh with a laugh.

"Sort of," started Lanh.

"No, he asked for dad's blessing," said Kim-ly. "And later ba asked, "what would you have done if I didn't give you my blessing?" and Don said, "So what? You ain't the pope."

"Really?" Nicoletta whooped with laughter and clapped her hands.

"In front of the whole damn family," grinned Kim-ly. Lanh buried her face in Don's arm hiding her laughter.

"Don't blame me, he asked, I just told him the truth," said Don.

"You proposed in front of her whole family?" asked Andi. "Not very romantic."

"Believe me, we had a romantic re-asking later," said Lanh.

"Fire in the old fireplace where great grandma used to cook dinner, mantle covered in holly and evergreen boughs, red candles, stockings, silver garland. Then just over there the natural Christmas tree with the antique glass ornaments, the big Noma lights and real tinsel..." said Don

"And the train under the tree!" added Lanh.

And two horny teenagers in front of the fireplace..."

"I get the idea," said Nikki, "sounds romantic and festive. Did the family like the proposal?"

"Our grandmother loved it!" said Kim-ly. "If Grandma Tri loves it, everybody loves it."

Don nodded; he missed Grandma Tri; she was always very sweet to him. "It's actually a Vietnamese custom to propose in front of her entire family after getting permission from her father. I didn't know it at the time, I found out later it was an Americanized version of the traditional Vietnamese engagement ceremony. It just worked out that way unintentionally." Don hugged Lanh close and said, "maybe that's why your dad demanded I ask you in front of him."

Lanh stretched up and kissed Don. "We were all so scared of what Daddy would do, but he set the date for us."

"Six months later they were married, and they were gone," said Kim-ly who looked like she was going to cry. Don pulled her close and whispered in her ear something that brought a smile to Kim-ly's face.

"Does anyone want to go ashore?" said Nicoleta. Getting an enthusiastic response she said, "let's clean up our mess so Yi and Kenny can join us, we have a luau planned for dinner. Oh, Josh and Veronica, pack your things up, we have a nice little hut for your honeymoon."

Josh and Veronica looked at each other in surprise then dashed to their cabin to pack their bags. Everyone else got up and some followed Yi to the galley to clean up and some remained to clean up the foredeck and in a few minutes the foredeck was clean, the canopy lowered, couches folded, all the dishes and wine glasses were cleaned up and put away.

"Welcome to Nisi Arcadia, our little getaway from the entire world," said Nicoletta as she led the travelers onto the pier. "Donald and I have four people employed and they will be able to answer any questions so feel free to ask. The island is ringed with beaches, there are a few small beaches that are secluded, very well hidden, there's two cabanas with small beaches, please keep those beaches private for the cabana dwellers and here's the main house."

The house was a massive, rambling building with wide open rooms giving much of the house a feeling of no walls. One of the young men that Justice Atherton mentioned came up to Josh and Veronica and said, "Welcome, I was told you are on your honeymoon?"

"Yes," said Josh, "We're from Andalon Data Systems and Mrs. Atherton expressed interest in our company."

"Perfect, follow me, I'll take your bag." The fellow led them down a path through the jungle until they came to a thatch roof hut built out over the ocean that they accessed via a bridge. "This is the honeymoon suite, there's a refrigerator filled with soda and snacks, a wine cooler over there, TV is closed circuit with a specialized playlist or you can use the Roku. The shower is freshwater of course. These cords lower the storm shutters but otherwise the cabin is open to the jungle and the ocean."

The only solid wall was the front wall with a Dutch door and a window box under the sash window which made the hut look like a sweet little country cottage from the outside. Once inside both the left and right walls were half walls with heavy venetian blind style storm shutters that were raised, the far wall opened to a deck that was covered, and four steps down was another deck that was inches above the surface of the water of the perfectly transparent ocean. The hut was simply furnished, King size bed in the main room with a small table and two chairs to the side, the upper deck had several deck chairs and small tables.

"This is beautiful!" gushed Veronica.

"How did you land a job like this?" asked Josh as he reached for his wallet.

"No tips!" the young man was adamant. "If I took a tip and grandma found out I'd be back in Albany before the next snowflake hit the ground."

"Ah, Justice Atherton is more than an employer," said Josh with a knowing smile.

"If I work here, she helps me with my Contract Law classes. You can dine with us at the main house or dial 0 on the phone, give us a call and we'll bring you your meals." And with that the fellow was gone and Josh realized he never got the kid's name.

Turning back to Veronica he discovered that she was gone. Her bikini top was on the bed, her sarong and bikini bottom were on the table on the deck, and Veronica was laying on a beach towel on the lower deck which floated on the surface of the warm Caribbean, her beautiful body glistening in the sunlight. It was all a beautiful dream, the perfect love nest with the perfect lover who wants to have his baby...

For years he thought that when things were going well that it was a dream, that he had lost his grip on the safety strap and was falling to his death in a barren desert he never should have been flying over and his final reward would be a fleeting glance at what might have been. He closed his eyes and listened for the wind rushing past, the way it rushed past that day when it all came to a crashing end. Did he hear a hint of the roaring sound? Then a voice broke into his trapped mind.

"Hey Bounce!" called a familiar voice using his call sign. "Open your eyes, what do you see?" He opened his eyes and saw Veronica lying on the deck looking up at him. "What do you see?" she asked again hoping that he would realize that she was real, and it was ok to feel happy.

"I see the mother of my children." He tried to smile but Josh was pale and sweating, his hands were trembling. It wasn't as bad as the previous attacks.

Recognizing the signs of "Too Good-itis" as Josh's psychologist Helen Lennox put it, Josh called it "Being attacked by gremlins." Veronica sat up and asked, "do you need to call Ellie?"

Josh took a deep breath then stepped down to the lower deck and said, "No, I'm beginning to realize that it's only going to get better... I need to stop fighting it... I need to fight the gremlins." Back in the early days of aviation there were imaginary gremlins that would wreak havoc on an aircraft, anything that went wrong was blamed on gremlins. They don't hate airplanes they liked to kill airmen and once the flying is over they can keep attacking.

"Smart man, come here and let's make it better..." She pulled off his t-shirt revealing the scars where his side was ripped open when he was bounced around in the rough landing. She kissed each scar whispering "Thank you for coming home," as the terror receded.

"What are we going to tell our children when this happens?" He always felt so stupid whenever Veronica pulled him out of the depths of his PTSD inspired waking nightmares.

"We're going to say, daddy was in a war and got hurt and sometimes the memories scare him. We're a family, we help each other." Veronica got Josh out of his bathing trunks, and they lay back in the sun. "Don has PTSD issues too, ask him if children help or hurt."

"Children? He said Lanh couldn't have a child."

"Kim-ly had his baby," said Veronica as she eased Don down onto his back.

Josh rolled on to his side and said, "Seriously? How... what... I thought he and Lanh were..."

Veronica stifled him with a finger, "it was in vitro fertilization, the three of them have a son."

"Oh wow. How do you know this?"

"Women talk about more than beer, cigars, and fishing you know."

"That's not my fault."

Veronica ran her finger up and down Josh's cock and whispered, "it has come to my attention that I haven't been paying enough attention to you."

"I wouldn't say that."

"Sush! I wasn't talking to you," said Veronica as she started to kiss her way down Josh's upper body. "You are a handsome, hardworking technical genius who is the center of my universe," she said as she covered his chest with kisses, "But I've missed a spot."

Her kisses trailed lower and lower intermingled with playful nips of her pearly white teeth, and all the while her hand tenderly caressed his balls. "Oh Nica," crooned Josh as Veronica's tongue traced a line from his balls to the crown of his throbbing cock. She took the head of his cock in her mouth and began to suckle on it, her tongue tracing circles around and around while her expressive brown eyes locked on his. He gasped at the overwhelming sensations she was creating in him.

Now her left had begun to gently stroke his cock while her right hand continued to caress his balls. The sensations were overwhelming, and he could barely gasp, "I'm not going to last very long."

She smiled and popped the head of his cock out of her mouth and said, "You're going to last exactly as long as I want you to." Then she slowly swallowed half of his cock, her tongue slithering on the underside stirring up sensations that had him groaning. Now her mouth moved up and down, her tongue never letting up, sometimes sucking, other times not. Josh was reduced to a shuddering wreck and Veronica took pity on him. With her tongue flickering on the sensitive underside of his cock he came in her mouth with a strangled cry.

He collapsed on the dock, waves of passion aftershocks coursed through his body as Veronica drew up next to him. "Dear god that was incredible," he gasped.

"We've been too busy, we need more downtime," sighed Veronica as she rested her cheek on his shoulder.

They were interrupted by the phone ringing in the hut. It was Nikki's grandson asking if they wanted their meal delivered.

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The luau was in full swing when Veronica and Josh arrived and by now only Lanh and Veronica were wearing their bikini tops. Kim-ly was telling the story of The Romance of Don and Lanh, the Early Years to the laughter of everyone except Lanh and Don whose faces clearly said that they heard it all before.

"Glad you two could join us," said a man in his early 70's.

"Donald, this is Josh and Veronica Gravely, our honeymooners," said Nicoletta. "They are going to make our network issues go away. Josh, Veronica, this is my husband, Donald. Are you hungry?"

"I just ate, but I'm still a bit peckish," said Veronica with an innocent look on her face while Josh bit the inside of his cheek to keep from bursting out laughing. They were given a luau plate with roast pork, huli huli chicken, tuna poke (bits of sashimi grade yellow fin tuna marinated in lime juice), sticky white rice, and coleslaw with pineapple and mango. They sat at the long table eating their "Poke Plates" and drinking Mai Tais while listening to Kim-ly's hilarious rendition of the Life of Don and Lanh. Soon tiki torches lit the party as the couples laughed and applauded Kim-ly.

"Are you a performer or comedian or anything like that?" Andi asked Kim-ly. "You're really good at your delivery.

"Uh, yes, in a manner. I'm an accountant, you should hear me in an IRS audit."

"Really?"

"Really," said Don. "She and her twin brother Bao are CPAs. She works out of our basement, and he works out of the family restaurant, and they do incredible work."

"You and your lawsuits keep me in business," Kim-ly said as she sat next to Veronica.

"I would like to propose a toast to out host and hostess," called out Paul. "Nikki, Donald, thank you SO much for rescuing us from winter and putting the joy of summer back in our hearts."

"Hear hear!" called Don, as all raised their glasses to the Athertons.

"We know how much it means to you," said Nicoletta. "I'm from Plattsburgh NY up by Montreal, Donald is from Burlington Vermont... Josh, just be glad you didn't have to grow up with the cold."

"Y' ain't wrong about that. When I went to technical school in Buffalo, I figured it couldn't be all that bad. A little snow, a bit chilly, I was in North Dakota, I could handle anything! I knew it couldn't be that bad. I ain't never been that wrong about something in my life!"

"You can come up to Minnesota if you want to appreciate summer," said Don. "Grant Valley Minnesota is North Dakota cold mixed with Buffalo snow."

"Noooo thank you!" said Paul with a shudder. "Andi and I took the twins up to Bismark to meet their great grandma... I thought my eyeballs were going to freeze closed."

"Welcome to summer," said Nikki with a smile. "We have several days to do whatever you want; we'll have meals here at the house, then there's swimming, sailing, fishing, snorkeling, horseshoes, walking trails, a putting green, tons of things to do. A few things we ask is that you respect the north beach being women only until our final night when we'll have a beach party, and please don't abuse the staff, that's my job. I'm their grandma."

After dinner Josh went into the bar with the guys while Veronica and Kim-ly sat by the fire and talked softly, long into the darkening evening. It was a rollicking conversation that went in a multitude of directions - business, school, other women, other men, sex. Veronica finally said, "I hope you don't think I'm being nosey... it's just... I know pain. Everyone here knows pain, Josh and I are very intimate with it, and I can tell you truly are also. There are two things you need to know. One is that I am always available for you, if you want to call and vent, or if you just want to brag about your cows, I am here for you."

"Why?" asked Kim-ly. "Why do you care?"

"Because I don't want you to think that you're all alone, that there's no one else out there to talk to. I know what it is to be so lonely that you want to die while standing in a room full of people. Family is great but you can't always talk to family. Sometimes having someone that's not involved to talk to helps. Josh did that for me when my world was falling apart... My sister, my maid of honor, ran off with my fiancé the day before our wedding, and she loved to call and tell me how great their kids are doing. How sick is that? I really like you Kim-ly, and I don't ever want you to reach the depths I've been in... and sometimes it's fun to have a girlfriend to talk to about girly things."

Kim-ly began to smile, really smile. This wasn't Kim-ly putting on a happy face, this is Kim-ly actually being happy. "It would be nice to have a friend I can talk with... but I can get pretty whiny, what do you get out of it?"