The Morning After

"So? Was I especially bad? Do I get my Ice cream, now?"

"You certainly deserve your ice cream, but it's for being especially good."

"In fact..." Sam started to say, "I'll buy you ice cream the rest of your life," but he caught himself. His heart had to learn not to make promises he had not yet cleared with his brain.

But Mary was alert and ready for any signal from him, however small, "In fact, what?"
"Nothing."

"Nothing is nothing,"Mary said, turning the water off, "what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say how marvelous it was to shower with you first thing in the morning." Sam said but he didn't trust himself to say more. "Today might be a good day to try the buffet. Are you up for that?"

"That sounds great."

Sam kissed her when she stepped out of the bath room. They were holding each other, nude and neither completely dry when they heard, "Room service," and the main door to the suite opened to let in a carbon copy of Carmen carrying a tray of pastries and a carafe of something hot. She went straight to the kitchen area without seeing, or at least without acknowledging the naked lovers.

"Mmm, I could stand a cup of coffee," Sam said, "but that means having to let go of you."

"Why? There's probably enough for two cups. We could each have a cup."

"But who is going to pour. My hands are busy and I don't want you to stop what you are doing, either."

"You're funny."

"You're gorgeous." He said and kissed her deeply.

Mary felt complete, and more alive than she ever remembered feeling. Who was this wonderful man? She felt his cock twitch against her belly. Was he getting horny again?

"Mary?" Sam said at he end of the kiss, and then was quiet for a long time.

Mary waited patiently for whatever Sam was going to say. But Sam straightened up, and went into the bed room. She followed without saying a word and watched him put on a fresh pair of boxers then khakis and a black polo shirt. Might as well dress, too, Mary thought as she bent at the waist to reach into her duffel on the floor, unaware that she was presenting her ass and pussy completely open to Sam.

Sam had a perfect view of Mary's gorgeous ass and couldn't restrain himself. Her pussy lips glistening beneath her little purple asterisk were too much to resist. He knelt and grabbing Mary by the hips, brought that shining pussy to his mouth. On the way he licked her asshole and stiffening his tongue as much as possible pushed firmly against her sphincter.

It was so nasty, Mary thought but so wonderfully delicious. She was so wet she was literally draining. She opened ler legs wider to let him lick the streams of her juices running down her thighs. Then she felt a delicious pain - a pain that Mary was beginning to crave - as Sam pushed his purple plum into her waiting cunt and began a steady thrusting and pistoning in and out.

Sucking his cock had gotten Mary hornier than she had realized and she felt the now familiar knotting and unravelling in her pussy as she neared yet another wonderful climax. "Oh God, Sam, don't stop. I'm coming. Oh my God, SAMMM." Her legs couldn't hold her and she collapsed backward into her lover. Sam pulled her with him and they wound up, still joined at the hip lying sideways on the bed.

Finally, Mary caught her breath enough to speak, "you were going to say something, darling. Do you remember what it was?"

"Probably not important," he said and then remembered. "oh, yes. Are you on the pill? We've made love four times and each time I've filled you with my seed. Do we need to worry about your becoming pregnant?"

Mary sat up on the edge of the bed and her eyes filled with tears. Was this the pin to burst her bubble? Why had she not listened when her mother recommended that Mary get started on the pill? All her friends took their pill religiously once a day. But Mary thought she could provide enough contraception with her willpower and her thigh muscles. She had not planned to let anyone get this far with her. But she had not known what she was missing. And she had not planned on falling in love. Wait, What was she thinking. Was she falling in love? How naïve and ridiculous. Did she think Sam could fall for her?

"I'm not on the pill."

"That's okay. We'll get you a prescription for the morning-after pill and you can take it with your ice cream."

"Let me think about it."

"What is there to think about?"

"There's a lot to think about."

"Can we talk about it? Or is this something you want to decide on your own?"

"What do you mean by, 'talk about it?'"

"I mean we each say our point of view, and then we both dis cuss what we like or dislike about that option. But I realize it's your body and you are entitled to make up your mind without my overbearing pressure."

"Speaking of pressure," Mary said, "I've got to go pee."

Sam felt cold and suddenly alone when Mary left the room. He got up and straightened out the sheets just to have something to do. Then he remembered the coffee and went to the kitchen and poured two cups. He should have asked Mary that question last night before he allowed her to get to his heart. If he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he had been totally stupid. He fell for the oldest trick in the book and put himself, not to mention his fortune, at the mercy of a beautiful woman with the power to cast a spell on him. To alarge degree he was screwed no matter what Mary decided to do. Millions of tiny little Foster swimmers were this very minute scurrying in a hot womb looking for an egg to mate with to create an heir or an heiress to a major fortune.

Mary's dream world crumpled around her as she sat in the bath room trying to pee. What were her chances of coming out of this with her sanity? In her heart she knew she was well on the way to motherhood. Al the Shannon women were fertile as Eve. Her great grandma Lilly was born premature as were all the other first born children in the Shannon line. Of course that was before the pill, but it was also before any kind of women's rights and relations before the wedding day were seriously frowned upon. So what's the big deal? Take the pill. No harm, no foul. She would do well to drop the subject with as little discussion as possible. It was sweet of Sam to ask if she wanted to discuss the issue with him.

Mary knew he could accuse her of entrapment if she refused to take pill. Refusing the pill would almost certainly result in her pregnancy. And in the wildest dream scenario, Sam would accede to marrying her. And that, instead of becoming the life of her dreams, would become the nightmare of her life.

Oh well, she might as well face it. As if to emphasize her predicament, a glob of semen plopped noisily into the bowl beneath her. She shuddered, wrapped a bath towel around herself and went to find Sam.

Mary was braced for a smart remark. What she got instead was a warm, wide grin, "How can anyone look as beautiful as you in the morning?"

Mary felt her cheeks redden at the compliment, "How's the coffee?"

"Excellent, tastes like Kona, far as I can tell." Sam grabbed her cup and met her as she was about to enter the kitchen. He put his arms around her bare shoulders and drew her into a deep passionate kiss. "You keep doing that, I'm not going to get breakfast today," Mary said. She couldn't believe he was starting to get hard again.

"You're right. Let's do the buffet before we run out of time."

The buffet was everything they had expected and more. "Have you ever been on a cruise ship, Mary?"

"I worked a summer on The Viking Explorer between my sophomore and junior years at Temple. It took me two ears to lose the pounds I gained. I can see why you ask. This is over the top."

Sam had eggs Benedict and a truffle soufflé. "I like to pick things I'm not likely to get at home," he explained.

A warning bell rang in the back of Mary's mind. That's what this trip is really about. And you are what he isn't likely to get at home. And you are not likely to get back home with him.

Mary had lox and bagels. Like everything else they were done to perfection and magnificently presented.

"About the pill," Mary started, but Sam put up his hand. "Let's talk in the suite."

They sat on the veranda in the shade of the wisteria. Mary spoke first. "If we can discuss my decision without acrimony or finger pointing, I'd appreciate your insight. But in the end it's my decision.

"I hope you know me a little better than to think I'm blaming you for anything," Sam said. "This shouldn't be about looking back; it should be about looking forward."

"Sounds pretty," Mary said, "let's hope we can both remember."

"What do you want, Mary?"

"What do you mean?"

"you are young, extremely beautiful and sharp as a tack. What do you see for yourself in the future. Barring some disaster -impossible to predict at this time - two thirds or maybe as much as three fourths of your life lies ahead of you. What kind of life do you see for yourself?"

Mary didn't answer right away.

"It's okay," Sam continued, "not all of us have personal strategic plans in our back pocket."

"I went to Temple to prepare for a career in business. I signed on with Long & Foster to see how the real Estate business works and how I might like that as a career."

"Any conclusions so far?" Sam studied Mary with genuine interest.

"My experience confirms what I suspected at the start, the people who work the hardest are the ones who look like they're barely working and those that look like they're barely working are the ones who are working the hardest. Also, like everything in real estate, the three most important things are location, location and location. But the bigger conclusion is that I could see myself owning or running a realty firm sometime down the road."

Well, Sam thought, she's put a lot of thought into this. I'd better be on my toes.

"Mary, do you know about MBTI?"

"I've been 'typed' several times and I am consistently ISFJ," Mary responded wondering where this was going. "Why do you ask?"

"I think it could help us ask the right questions as we discuss your alternatives." Sam poured some more coffee and sat back in his chair. "You've told me a little about Mary. Do you want to know a little about Sam?"

"Yes, please."

"my parents both died in an airplane crash when I was12 years old. My father was an engineer; my mother, a computer systems analyst. Both were working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the time. My mother's sister, Elizabeth, was remotely connected to the staff administrator at Exeter Academy and was able to get me admitted there as a full-time live-in student. I was deeply hurt at first and very bitter that my only living relative would farm me out to a boy's boarding school instead of taking me in with her. Later I would learn just what a great service she had done for me. I got a degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in three years. I went to work on the communications portion of the GALILEO SPACE PROBE at JPL. I was let go from JPL during a government-wide reduction in force. We called it getting 'riffed.' Three other folks and I started a company in our garage and fifteen years later we became an overnight sensation selling computer communications services for a new phenomenon called the world wide net. My partners found meaningful employment and sold off their shares until I was the last man standing - not least because nobody offered me a job in all that time."

"When did you meet Angela?"

Angela came to work for us during the company's infancy. She was dating one of the other partners when we needed some help keeping our accounts in order. She and the partner broke up after we had already hired her as Chief of Finance and Administration. The company filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 a year after she came on board. Angela and I stayed on with neither of us drawing a salary for a whole year. We brought the company back from bankruptcy the year after that. During that troubled time we fell in love and got married the same day we re-opened for business."

"Wow," Mary said, "that's a heck of a story."

"That's the Readers Digest condensed version. I've left off the bad parts that show what a bastard I can be."

"Okay," Mary said, "about the morning-after pill. I've thought about it and I agree there are two of us involved."

"Actually there are potentially three of us involved," Sam said.

"Oh yes, the baby," Mary said.

"Right," Sam said, "Let's say you decide not to take the pill and you become pregnant."

"That's not 100 per cent certain. Angela didn't get pregnant in 15 years living with you."

"True, but Angela was on the pill long before we started having sex."

"Okay let's say I become pregnant."

"Nine excruciating months later, the baby is born and you file a paternity suit, which I will not contest."

"Your lawyers will allege all sorts of falsehoods to get as much for you as possible and then they will want punitive damages to teach me not to mess with young innocent women. My lawyers will fight back hard and eat up a lot of time. Perhaps two years later your lawyers will start hurting for their share of your award and we will reach a settlement. In all that time you will be a single mom with diminishing chances to find the real Mr. Right and the baby will be under the constant loving care of a Carmen-type lady and spend mostly weekends and evenings with you. Of course your lawyers will insist on zero contact with the father. How else can I be the monster they need to sue?"

"That takes it from my perspective and the baby's. What about you?"

"I'm only moderately involved. If you don't take the pill, or even if you do, I will go to Walgreens and buy a box of condoms and we'll have protected sex as we probably should have done from the start. I will try to stay in close contact with you during the next nine months to be sure you don't want for anything and naturally I will want to be with you when the baby comes. I will try to get visitation privileges and get as involved as I can with baby from day one. As a minimum I will set up a trust for him or her to give him or her a good chance at life."

"You've got it all figured out. Haven't you?"

"I gave you my opinion, as we agreed I would."

"What if I take pill?"

"You tell me. What do you think will happen if you take the pill?"

"I won't get pregnant, If we have sex again, it will be fucking, not making love, we will use a condom. No use going through this again. You will grow tired of me and send me back to DC, I'll try to find you a house in Great Falls or McLean and send you a Christmas card each year." Sam didn't say anything and Mary's eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Sam said, "I know this is hard for yoy. I'm not trying to trivialize it, or oversimplify it."

"You really don't get it. Do you?"

"Gef what?"
"Oh, never mind. Can you leave me alone for a little while? I'll take the Goddamn pill."

"I'll go call a friend who happens to practice medicine in Fairfax. I'll ask her to call in a prescription for us."

"Whatever," Mary said between sobs.

Mary stood and Sam saw that the bodice of her sundress was wet with her tears. The worst fears of the past couple of days were coming true, By his careless comments and endearments, innocent and sincere though they had been at the time, he had led Mary to feel that he was offering a foothold into his life. And it might be that Mary fits exactly in the void created by the departure of Angela from his side, but it was far too early for Sam to be making such a commitment. He needed to go to her, tell everything will be all right. But even that would open questions he wasn't ready to address.

Mary watched Sam leave with a sense of loss that deepened with every step he took. If he would just turn around, she would run into his arms and tell him she was his. It was a mistake to tell him she was even considering not taking the pill. She had no chance of trapping him into marrying her with a pregnancy. It had never been her intention even to try and apparently the possibility of marrying her had not even occurred to Sam. If they had a baby, he was ready for a paternity suit - he said he wouldn't contest it - but not once did he suggest they might want to bring up the baby together. She had known all that going in, so what good did it do to throw a tantrum? Sam's assessment of the consequences of not taking the pill was complete and accurate. At least. it agreed with her assessment. The only thing she might have added, is that Mary might not file a paternity suit. She didn't want his money. It would be enough for Sam to acknowledge his son or daughter and to be there for him or her on special occasions. Beloved bastard, but bastard nonetheless. But all that was moot now and Mary knew it.

Sam went to his truck to retrieve his cell phone, scrolled down to Monica Jennings and dialed the number. After a short wait, they were connected, exchanged greetings and each brought the other up to date on things of mutual interest. He put her on blue tooth and drove dow the street to Walgreens.

"To what do I owe the honor, Sam?"

"I'm a little embarrassed to ask, but I need a prescription for the morning after pill. I am currently in Washington, Virginia if you can, would you call it in to pharmacy in this area. I am parked in the parking loy of a Walgreens on Main Street.

"Sam, you sly dog, are you staying at The Inn at Little Washington?"

"Sure am."

"Is it worth all the hoopla?"

"And then some."

"Well, I'm happy you thought of me, Sam, you are so sweet. But you don't need a prescription for the morning after pill. It's available at all major drugstores. No questions and no minimum age."

"Sorry to have bothered you."

"No bother at all. If you are circulating again, don't forget my phone number. Tell your lucky friend the pill is called PLAN B. But it really only works one time. Tell her to come see me and I'll give her a prescription for a better and more reliable contraceptive."

"I'll tell her and thank you very much for the information.

Sam found the pill in the same general area of Walgreens where he found the condoms. He was relieved that the lady at the cashier made no comment about either purchase.

Mary was still on the veranda, almost exactly where she was when Sam left.

"You're back," she said, unable to hide her excitement.

"You didn't really doubt that I would return. Did you?"

"I was so scared I didn't know what to think. I missed you so much. I'm just so glad to see you." Mary was sobbing and trying to talk at the same time and she wasn't making much sense. Why would she think he had left her abandoned in their suite? Sam went to her, helped her to stand and kissed her gently, but he didn't get the warm passionate response he had been expecting. She had changed into jeans and a pink t-shirt with a Temple University banner across the front. When he wrapped his arms around her, Sam could feel the straps of her bra. Had their relationship slipped backwards a notch or two? Mary stiffened and Sam released her.

"You get it?"

"Yeah."

"Your doctor friend came through for you."

"I had a nice chat with her."

"Her?"

"Monica Jennings. She said to remind you the Morning After only works once and you should come by her office and let her prescribe the regular birth control pills. They are safer and much more reliable."

"I'll take that under advisement."

"By the way, the morning after - which is called PLAN B - is available without prescription.

"Is it safe to take? Is it the same as the abortion pill?"

" No. The abortion pill, called RU486 is something totally different and unrelated. Apparently PLAN B is perfectly safe and passed all the FDA hoops. The active ingredient is a drug called levonorgestrel, the same ingredient used in the regular birth control pills. It works in the same way as the regular birth control pill. Of course it doesn't work if you are already pregnant and it doesn't hurt the embryo or fetus if you are."