This is my first story. It originally included interesting facts or "pop ups" sprinkled throughout. Following mixed reviews, I decided to move them. Now they appear after the end of the story.
I hope you enjoy it.
This is a work of fiction and all characters are eighteen or older.
1
The Cleaver family had seemed ideal. It consisted of Ward who was a physician and his wife June who was a registered nurse. She had become a full time homemaker when they had their son Theodore. They had been very close and spent a lot time together when Theodore was young. June was quite the cook and the family enjoyed sitting down each evening for dinner. Not only was the food good, it also gave them time to share the events of the day and discuss them.
When Theodore got older his mother returned to nursing. The family tradition of sitting down to dinner was so special for them that they hired a housekeeper, not only to free up June to work, but so she could continue to prepare home cooked meals. They were active in the community and scouting. June had been a den mother and Theodore had earned the rank of Eagle, just like his dad.
Theodore had been an excellent student until he seemed to have just given up on life. Each day he went up to his room immediately after school and closed the door. When he was asked to join the family for dinner, he would load up his plate and eat in his room. He stayed up to all hours on the computer doing heavens knows what. He didn't even date.
Besides school and food, the only things Theodore came out of his room for were taking their dog Buddy for a run and swimming in their pool. The whole family enjoyed swimming to the point where they invested in an in-ground lap pool thinking it would be great exercise. Theodore swam like a fish and enjoyed it. Before his life went to crap, he had been on his high school swim team and was a Swimming and Water Rescue Instructor at summer camp.
The most challenging task of the day for June was to drag Theodore out of bed and get him to school. No matter how early she started, he missed his bus more often than not and she would have to drive him. Once he got to school he would lay his head down on his desk and sleep. His parents arranged for his teachers to move him to the front of the class and it worked for a while. Then he started up again and his teachers gave up, just allowing him to sleep.
It seemed that Theodore lacked all motivation. His parents told him that he had to get an education or he would never get a job. His answer was that there are no jobs anyway, so why try. He knew older kids that made all the right moves. In the end, all they accomplished was to amass student loans and ultimately not get a job anyway. "They're living with their parents doing nothing, so I'm just getting a head start and think of all the money I'm saving," he would say.
His parents racked their brains trying to figure something out. June asked her husband, "You were a top student, what motivated you?"
Ward replied, "I didn't open a book in middle school and was able to pass, just like Theodore. That changed when my father told me that my ass was out of the house at 18 unless I went to college and did well. I was scared shitless and understood that I needed to have a skill someone would pay me for. We could do the same, but I don't like to bluff. Are we prepared to toss him out into such a bad economy?"
"Did anything else motivate you?" June asked.
"Well, once I made the honor roll I was hooked. I liked the prestige and the perks. Everyone is proud of you and you get sex," Ward explained.
"Holy crap Ward, how in the world did you get sex for good grades?"
"I was a nerd in high school and didn't do well with girls. After I straightened up, I took every math and science class the school offered and still maintained straight A's. Once that became common knowledge, I became a 'catch' and got some dates and sex. Sometimes I think the girl's parents liked me more than the girl did. Think about it. I was a clean cut Eagle Scout with straight A's and a bright future. Who would you want for your daughter?"
"That's terrible Ward."
"If we had a daughter wouldn't you like it if she married someone like Tim Tebow or Jeremy Lin?"
"Yes, but..."
"Look, you play the hand you're dealt and I did the best I could with what I had. I never lied to them. That was taken care of by the feminist movement. Before my time you had to say you loved them and would marry them to get into their pants. It was even called 'premarital sex.' The radical feminists changed all that. According to them marriage was a trap for women to keep them from having a career and fulfillment. 'Keeping them barefoot and pregnant' was the expression they used. I never even had to say that I liked them."
June was horrified and said, "You told me that you loved me and took my virginity."
"None of them were virgins. I wasn't that bad. I told you I loved you because I did and you took my virginity too."
"How in the world do you figure that I deflowered you Ward?"
"I lived in a small town and those girls wanted to get married. If I knocked up one of them, it would have been over. I would have had to marry them. Since I couldn't trust them, I used a condom each and every time. The first time I didn't use a condom was on our honeymoon and that's when you deflowered me."
"So you didn't trust me until after we were married?" June asked.
Ward smiled and said, "I didn't trust you even then. It just wouldn't have been a calamity if you got pregnant because I do love you. I wanted to have kids and share my life with you. Using a condom all the time had a benefit other than 'safe sex' too. It kept things fresh for me. Going bareback for the first time ever on our honeymoon got me so excited, I was a sex machine."
"I noticed. I was there," June grinned. "Don't be so pleased with yourself, your trip down memory lane doesn't help us with the problem at hand."
"The point I was making is that sex is a powerful motivator for young men. Testosterone is a terrible burden," Ward laughed.
"I'm sure it is, but what are we going to do about our son?"
"Hey, you're an attractive woman," her husband announced abruptly.
"I'm glad you think so."
"No, I mean yes. What I'm trying to say is that maybe you could motivate him," Ward explained.
"That's ridiculous," June said matter-of-factIy. "I can't even motivate him to get out of bed when I'm screaming at him."
"Maybe you could if you showed him some cleavage," Ward suggested. "You never show any. You don't even own a two piece swimsuit."
June had a couple of reasons for dressing conservatively.
