[Author's note: I'm starting this at 4:30 in the morning the day after my son's wedding. I expect there to be five of these stories that start with the same line. One is true, the others are fiction. I leave that to you, Gentle Reader, to determine which is which.]
What Is It About A Wedding?
So here I was. A two-day slog over 800 miles, my days of straight through driving those distances about a quarter century behind me, but I was in time. I called my daughter from the outskirts of town.
"Franny," I said when she answered with her cheerful, "Hi, Dad," "I made it. Now, can I follow you to this shindig?"
"Sure," she said, "we're at the Holiday Inn downtown."
I punched
Holiday Inn near me
on Doctor Google's map program and got one within seven miles and the next nearest 112 miles away. I figured the one at seven was the right one so I glanced at the screen and said, "Be there in nine minutes."
She giggled, said, "We're in room 418," yelled, "Jason, STOP THAT," said a quick, "I love you, Dad," and was gone.
I chuckled.
My daughter is a bright girl, she really is. But she has her mother's love of dick and if she gets within 50 yards of an erection she gets knocked up. I started running through my grandchildren's names, hoping I could keep them straight. She was up to four, each with a different man, never married, and I hoped I wouldn't find her belly sticking out.
I found the Holiday Inn, one of those new-wave hotels that were repurposing old buildings. This one was in the historic district of the small town where my kids had grown up, never mind where, in which refrigerators had once been produced if I remembered my local history correctly. It was an imposing brick building built, as so many industrial buildings used to be built in the 1800s, near the river, the highway of commerce in those days.
I followed the paved lane and found the parking lot in the back of the building, parked my 4Runner, and went to the wayback to get my travel duffel and hanging bag. I would be wearing a suit for my son's wedding, something I had done only twice since I retired.
As I turned, loaded, and started toward the entrance I heard a little beep, looked up, and saw my ex pulling in. I waved back and she stopped in front of me, her window going down.
"Where's Paula?" she asked, referring to my current wife, number three if you care.
"Home with the dogs, the garden, and her arthritis," I said, "and where's Walter."
She rolled her eyes at that.
"William got called in on some sort of emergency," she said.
She looked at me for a moment, and I could see the speculation in her eyes. You don't stay married to someone for 22 years and not know their looks.
"Come on," she said, "help me."
So I stood back as she pulled her little pickup truck next to the 4Runner, got out, and turned to me.
And DAMN, she looked good.
Rene' was never what you'd call petite. At 5'6" she was a bit taller than average for a woman, after our daughter was born, at 38EE she was much bustier than most. She's cute rather than pretty, with a round face, button nose, generous mouth, and tiny ears. She always had a great mane of hair, and I saw that in the intervening decade since I saw her last it had gone grey, and the good grey at that.
As I was looking her up and down she was returning my look, just as openly.
She took the step to close the distance between us, met my eyes, and said, "Share a room?"
"Is that a good idea?" I asked, even as I felt a stirring low in my belly.
She laughed then, that good laugh from the belly, full of mirth.
"Fuck no," she said, the laughter down to chuckles, "but it should be fun."
So I kissed her, an easy kiss, we knew where the noses went, we had plenty of practice, and said, "It should at that."
She said, "Be a lamb," and that made me laugh, it was one of those code phrases married couples develop over time. Between us, "Be a lamb," meant, "If you don't do exactly what I tell you to do I'll have you over my knee the first time we're alone."
"And get a cart," she finished.
I hooked my hanging bag over my shoulder, walked through the front entrance, found one of those roll-around carts hotels provide, hung my bag, set my duffel on it, and trundled it back to the truck.
Rene' was never one to travel light, and this trip was no exception. She had three stairstep-size suitcases, a hanging bag, and a pillow that I dutifully loaded onto the cart.
The reservation was in her name so she checked us in.
As I followed I saw for the first time how long that mane was now. She wore it in a thick braid that ran well down her back.
I also noticed that age was starting to show. Her gait was off when she walked and she was clearly favoring one leg. Since Paula's arthritis became one of the centerpieces of my life I recognized it when I saw it.
In the room she said nothing, just turned, put her arms around my neck, and kissed me.
And I remembered just HOW good we were together. Her lips were soft with just that perfect amount of pressure while her tongue was a darting thing, touching and then daring mine to chase it. It was a VERY good kiss.
We held it, both enjoying the sensations of love remembered.
Finally, she broke the kiss and whispered, "Time for a quickie?"
I laughed and said, "When did I ever say no to you?"
"Call Franny," she said, so I did.
"I'm checked in," I said by way of greeting, "But I stink. About a half hour and we head up?"
"Sure," she said, and then, "DAMMIT BETH! QUIT THAT!"
And she was gone.
Rene' sat on the edge of the bed and I knew what she wanted. So I got to my knees and held her foot in my lap as I untied and took her shoe off and then the white gym sock she wore. I did the other foot and she stood then.
She always did like having her man on his knees, and as I started on the belt and button and zipper of the jeans she wore she called our daughter and delivered the same message I had. They chatted for a minute or so, long enough for me to get the jeans down and off, the panties down and off, and lean back and admire her hips and thighs, heavier than when we were married but still the waist-down body of a mature woman who has given birth and keeps herself well maintained.