Forever More
Part 1 - Hope
Chapter Eight
The morning had been hectic for Rebecca. She had an obligation with Ethan's catechism class to help with a bake sale after Mass. They flew home and she instructed the boys to change into their swim suits and wait for her.
Alone in her bedroom she slipped into her new attire. The bathing suit was a one piece with a pink background with tiny white polka dots and white piping. She stood in front of a full length mirror and turned to inspect the reflection at every angle. She was rather pleased with the slight sun burn that she was able to obtain the day before while laying out in the yard disturbed several times by small boys wanting her, or worse yet, not wanting her as she wondered which was worse.
Rebecca turned again eyeing her reflection. She did not think herself unattractive but not proud enough to admit to pretty. She stood about five foot three in her bare feet, which she was at that moment. Her soft brown hair touched gently at the top of her shoulders. She was thin, by her standards and that of her acquittances, after all she had two children and odd things happen to your body after you give birth. Sure her hips were wider than before but then wasn't that expected? Why had this never even bothered her before?
She was pleased with her breasts. Jack always was. She noticed their fullness outlined under the tautness of the bathing suit. She adjusted the suit to reveal more of her pinkish flesh under the white piping that rimmed the bust line.
This is ridiculous, she nearly acknowledged aloud as she turned to slip into a pair of shorts and pull a bright yellow T-shirt over her head. Still she could not help but think that the reflection in her mirror was a far cry from the tall, very thin and dark tanned woman with whom Scott shared his home and his life.
The two boys were now beckoning her to hurry and they rushed out the door.
Rebecca pulled her car up to the fence in front of the pool. Scott waved from a lounge chair near the gate. Ethan and Kyle piled out of the car as he got up to let them in. Rebecca glanced around. She saw no one else. Scott was still holding the gate as she passed through trying not to notice his sleek hard chest as she slipped passed him.
The boys were out of their shirts and in the shallow end of the pool before she could even hand out motherly do's and don'ts.
"They CAN swim?" Scott asked as he realized that maybe now was not the time to even have thought of that.
"Yeah, well, some. They both had lessons at the Y. They do pretty good." Rebecca was already looking passed Scott to Kyle who was scaring her by running down to the deep end.
"Hey, hey ,hey!" Scott yelled across to him. "Stay down here where we can keep an eye on you!"
Rebecca mumbled something almost inaudible about not surviving the afternoon and they bothed laughed.
"They'll be just fine," Scott added now trying to convince the both of them.
Rebecca sat down on the edge of a lounge chair and Scott pulled another next to hers. They sat in the warm August sun making small talk and keeping a close eye on the two small heads bobbing up and down near the shallow end of the pool.
Rebecca asked if they were alone trying not to mention Linda specifically. Scott knew who she meant though, and offered that Linda had an appointment in Chicago the following morning and wasn't planning to be back until late the next evening.
Rebecca felt a tinge of relief but wasn't sure why.
Scott wondered if they were hungry. He could start up the gas grill and throw some hot dogs on for the boys if they were. It was then that Rebecca realized that in their haste to leave their house she hadn't even fed the them.
Getting up Scott slid one of those large glass panels open and entered the house. Rebecca stood up and walked over to where the boys were and issued a few more instructions before she followed behind him.
Sliding the door open she found him in the kitchen gathering up food from the refrigerator and arranging it on the counter; hot dogs, buns, chips, pop, ketchup, mustard. She wondered to herself if he had gone out purposely and bought all of this special for the day since none of it even appeared to be open. Rebecca retrieved a large plate out of one cupboard as per his instructions. They both would raise their eyes out the window to catch glimpses of the boys while they finished gathering up all the food.
Back out by the pool they piled everything onto a table under a large umbrella and out of the sun. Scott turned on the gas and lit the fire as Rebecca slid back into her lounge chair to watch the boys again. After he had the hot dogs all lined up on the grate he came and sat back down beside her but jumped up every few moments to turn them over.
Rebecca found herself watching him now through the corner of her eye as she tried to pretend she was studying the boys in the water. He was wearing a silky olive green colored swim suit. His chest was smooth and tan and glistening from the heat of the day. His shoulder length blond hair was bound together at the base of his neck. His shoulders were wide and strong. Although his legs were tan all the way to the leg openings of his trunks she could tell that he was much more accustomed to wearing the cut offs that she had so many times seen him dressed. Light blond hair seemed to lay softly along his legs and she found herself wanting to gently run her fingers along them.
Scott picked the hot dogs off the grill and placed them on a plate giving a howler to the boys that lunch was now ready. Still wet they stood at the table squirting mustard and ketchup on buns while Rebecca divvied up some chips and pop. They then sat on the edge of the lounge chairs to devour their food.
Scott and Rebecca fixed their plates and sat down at the table under the shade of the umbrella. The food tasted so good to Rebecca. What is it about a hot dog on a summer's day? Or was it just because he had made it for her?
Rebecca could hear the boys planning their next move as they hurried and stuffed the last of their hot dogs in their mouths. There was a moveable basketball hoop at one end of the pool and they took off to try to slide it down to the shallower end.
Voicing a motherly protest about the dangers of getting back in the pool so soon after eating Rebecca tried to get her two boys to listen to her. Motioning her off Scott said, "They're OK. It not like their swimming laps out there. They aren't even swimming."
Rebecca thought she had to trust him on this one.
Ethan tried to move the hoop but it proved to heavy and cumbersome. Scott motioned across the pool again that as soon as he was done eating he would bring it down for them and get in the pool himself and they could shoot some hoops. He did just that.
Rebecca sat at the table watching as he stood in the shallow water arcing the ball up and splashing around with her two children as they fought to catch it back in the water. Kyle seemed to be more the runner when it rolled out of the pool and onto the stones near the back fence. They were all having a good time and Rebecca caught herself laughing as he would pick first one up and then the other and hoist them onto his shoulders so they could shoot the ball into the hoop.
Every so often he would come up wiping the water from his face and glancing over to where Rebecca was sitting, flash her a wide smile. She sat there watching her children as they played and yelled with delight. She knew that it was a moment that they would never forget and found herself straining to remember every detail from the smell of the chlorine to the feel of the hot summer sun against her back. How wonderful Scott would care enough to laugh and play with her children as they had no man in their lives. She was happy for them. She felt happy for herself too.
A few moments later Scott dove under and came back up at the water's edge near where she was sitting.
"You comin' in?"
Rebecca had so wanted to slip into the warm water that looked so inviting but to do that she would have to step out of her shorts and shirt and she was feeling very self conscious right about then. How he saw here at that moment was more important to her than anything else. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the way that he looked at her or the tone in his voice. As she stood up he swam back to where the boys were.
She slid her shorts down passed her hips and stepped out of them. Taking an extra second to stall she folded them neatly and laid them on her chair. She wondered if he was watching her. She lifted her shirt over her shoulders and saw that indeed he was.
Still watching her as she walked around to the steps nearer to where he was he pretended to be more interested in the boys.
Rebecca eased into the warm bath-like pool water. It felt so inviting as it lapped up around first her legs, hips, waist and finally across her breasts. She was very much aware of her nipples as they peaked visibly under the cloth of her swim suit.
Scott continued to throw a few more hoops with the boys and then motioned that he had enough for a while. He made his way through the shallow water to where Rebecca stood bouncing up and down in the warm waves created by her children.
Moving together into the deeper water she found herself now the object of his games as he would dive under coming up behind her or swimming through her legs.
The boys had now discovered the slide that descended on the far side of the pool. Scott and Rebecca swam over to catch them as they slid into the water. It was great fun. He would grab them as they came off the end and throw them over his shoulders. They never seemed to tire of this. He did as he struggled to catch his breath at times.
While waiting for one or the other to climb out of the pool and ascend the stairs Scott would focus his attention on Rebecca as he would mock wrestle with her trying to pull her under with him. He would grab her about her waist and pull her down as she would pretend to fight him. She ended up going under more than not but didn't really mind. This game was more like flirting and they both knew it.
His arms or hands would brush across her breasts and she would grab his chest or waist. On more than one occasion did her leg slid across the front of his silky trunks to feel the beginnings of a hard mass. He was aware of her every touch and she his.
The boys were now back to the shallow end with the basketball. Scott motioned Rebecca on and they took off toward the deep end making a few laps across the width of the pool before returning to end a dispute over ball possession.
Scott took off across the pool once again and Rebecca followed part way and stood against the pool wall in water that lapped up just below her breasts.
Getting out of the pool Scott climbed onto the diving board and dove in. Coming up and sluicing the water from his face he got his bearings and then swam over to where Rebecca was leaning against the wall. He came up right in front of her and they were face to face as he grabbed the wall on either side of her. Standing together neither spoke but looked deep into the other's eyes. The corners of Scott's mouth seemed to tighten as Rebecca began to study his strong yet gentle lips and longed to feel them lie against hers.
The warm water sloshed around making gentle splashing sounds as it hit the sides of the pool. Rebecca felt his hand come off the wall and around as he ran his fingertips lightly down her neck along her shoulder and onto her breast. Her nipples hardened against his chest as the warm water flowed across them. He glanced down as she heaved slightly at his touch. Their eyes met again. She yearned desperately for the taste of his lips yet he stood looking deep beyond her soft blue eyes.
She had her arms about his waist but removed one sliding it down further into the warm water. Allowing herself to follow the curve of his inner thigh she brought her hand up slowly caressing the two soft sacs that hung loose under the silk of his shorts. She felt him hard against her arm. Moving upward slowly she traced its shape by gliding her hand up the full length of the pulsating bulge that lay beneath his suit. Only a thin layer of silk separated flesh from flesh. For a second his eyes closed as she noticed him take in a breath. Their eyes locked again. Feelings that Rebecca had not felt for so long stirred within her as her knees began to weaken when he responded to her touch.
Responding in kind he ran his fingers along the cloth of her suit between her thighs then sliding under the band they glided gently in as she opened to receive him finding their home deep within her warm softness. Rebecca could feel herself sliding slowly down into the water and against his chest as his fingers explored her most intimate sanctum.
Just then a basketball came splashing down right next to them covering them with water and bringing them back to reality. Both boys were laughing and Kyle was telling them both to "Stop that!" Rebecca experienced a brief twinge of embarrassment as she wondered just what her children had seen if anything. Just the idea of a man standing so close to her must have appeared funny to them.
Laughing, Scott started taunting them by splashing water up on the pool side where they were and they screamed and ran back to the shallow end as he took out after them. Catching them, the games began again as he pretended to be angry and throw them around in the water.
Rebecca stayed at the side of the pool watching, laughing and knowing that he would return to her.
Just then she heard a car turn onto the drive behind them. She looked across at Scott. He had heard it too. He wiped the water from his face and looked horrified as he uttered, "Oh, shit." All expression left his face as he looked to Rebecca. It was Linda.
Getting out of the car Linda slammed the door and came through the gate to the pool area. She had seen Rebecca when she had glanced up from the water to see who it was. Instantaneous rage ran through her.
"What the hell is going on here?" she demanded as she flew passed Rebecca toward Scott who was quickly pulling himself out of the pool.
For a moment Rebecca wondered if she would notice the hard protrusion under his suit but as he walked across to Linda she saw that it had completely disappeared.
Scott looked Rebecca's way one more time and then making his way toward Linda answered nastily, "Nothing's GOING ON!"
Linda snapped back, "Oh, I don't know, looks like a cozy little party to me!" She was eyeing the remains of lunch and Rebecca's clothes neatly folded on the chair. She wasn't sure why but something instinctively bothered her about this woman. Maybe it was the times that she had noticed Scott seated on the grass next to her out by the barn, maybe it was the way his voice flexed slightly when he mentioned her name.
Scott's voice changed to anger now and Rebecca became noticeably aware that she had to get her and her children away from there as soon as possible.
"You just shut the hell up!" he shot back in a rage tempered with concern for listening ears, "There are little kids here! They just wanted to play in the pool. That's all!"
Glaring at Rebecca she shot back, "She just wanted to play too?" Then turning back toward Scott she let go a string of expletives and took off toward the house. He flew right in behind her. Rebecca hurriedly exited the pool and ushered her children to the gate grabbing their clothes as she went. Tears were streaming down her face as she heard them arguing and obscenities flying about from inside. Scott was upset that she came home shouting acquisitions and swearing in front of the children. She had caused him great embarrassment.
Rebecca opened the back car doors and the boys jumped in all the while asking who that lady was and why she was so mad. Rebecca pulled away still all wet from the pool and trying to keep the car on the road as she swiped at the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.
