Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 23:40:45 -0700 From: fritz@nehalemtel.net Subject: I Love Corey, Chapter Fifty-five What do you know? It is once again time for another disclaimer. My God, will they never cease? After all, don't those who are too young to be here know that they should leave? Are they just trying to show they know how to sneak in and read something that some adults, in their infinite wisdom, have deemed improper for them to read? The philosophical questions arising from this whole thing are too much for me so I'll just say that all you youngsters get out of here or don't let anyone find out you stayed. Then there are those who find the descriptions of gay sex, or even the thought of it, offensive. If you fall into that group I suggest that you leave now before you happen upon such things. If you follow my advice you will save yourself from being offended. Sadly, some people have decided that they feel it necessary to restrict free speech and have deemed stories like this to be prohibited from being read. If you happen to live in an area with such prohibitions, leave before you get in trouble. You have been warned. Failure to heed this warning may result in your getting in trouble. The word fiction means that it is not true. Fiction accurately describes this story. If you think otherwise, you are mistaken. On the bright side, no trees or animals were harmed in the writing of this story. About the reading of it, I'm not sure I can make the same claim. One would need to consider two things and make a decision about them. One, that people are not animals, and two, that reading a poor story is not harmful. Both of those might be open to debate. If you do anything with this story other than read it, please give me credit for it. That means asking for and receiving permission from me before posting it on another site and attributing any quotes from the story to me. Sharing of the millions of dollars you acquire from the use of this story would be nice, especially if you shared them with me. With that said, you are free to read and I hope enjoy the story. My thanks once again go to Ernie for his help in editing the story. His help improves it greatly. It's a shame he has so little to work with. If you have seen something in the story that you like or dislike, or even have a question about, feel free to email about it. I'm more than happy to answer questions, explain things, and of course, accept praise. I pay particular attention to those letters critical of the story because I find I learn many things from them. If you have any thoughts about the story jot them in an email and send it to fritz@nehalemtel.net With all that said, I hope you enjoy the following chapter. Fritz ******************************************************************************** I Love Corey, Chapter Fifty-five I couldn't figure out what was going on. There were these little voices making noise and some strange sounds coming from somewhere. I eventually managed to pry an eye open and survey the scene. Dog was on his back and Kristen and Kevin were talking to him and scratching his belly. Of course Dog was groaning. The only light was coming from a street light and it was really hard to see but I finally figured out it was only 3:20 a.m. and that seemed a little early to get up. It only took a minute to find out that Kristen had needed to use the bathroom and that woke Kevin and Dog up. I suppose the rest of what happened was pretty predictable. Dog had convinced them that he really needed a belly scratch and of course they had obliged him. They considered the fact that I was unable to sleep through all of that to be my problem. It looked like Dog agreed with them. I just wrapped my arms around Kristen, who happened to be closer to me, and settled back to sleep. Dog made a couple of trips around his place and did the same. He only stepped on my foot twice before he flopped down. Kristen wiggled around a couple of times and that's all I remember. The next time I pried my eyes open it was just starting to get light. That was a little later than I normally slept so I now felt almost fit to face the day. I stumbled off to the bathroom and got started. Only having one bathroom for six people soon proved to be a problem. I was brushing my teeth and there were voices complaining about needing the bathroom. I ended up using the kitchen sink while there was a steady stream of kids of various ages lined up and taking their turns at the bathroom. Some were doing the cross-legged dance while waiting. I even had to open the door for Dog and he might have looked a little cross-legged. He didn't do his usual sniffing around and just used the first shrub he came to. After that he stretched and then pawed the ground almost like those cartoon bulls getting ready to charge. The giggle boxes wanted breakfast and for that matter, so did the boys. I started trying to find sufficient implements to cook. It didn't take me long to figure out I needed to rearrange things. The boys' ideas of where to put things were a little strange. The pots and pans were in the overhead cabinets and the dishes were in the lower ones. I finally found enough to get started and that was when I discovered there were no turners. I remembered telling the boys we didn't need to buy any because I had plenty at home. They were still at home. And yes, I still had plenty of them. Oh well, I always used a fork for the bacon and I could either flip the eggs or baste them. Then there was the problem of toast. Of course I had not remembered to get any butter out so it could soften and naturally there was no toaster. I chipped some butter off and tore the bread making it stick but after a little time in another frying pan, the kids ate it. It didn't really taste like toast but it wasn't bad. I could see I needed to go to some kind of store that catered to the travel trailer crowd and see what I could find. I was just about done feeding the kids when Uncle Matt and Aunt Sandy showed up. I went ahead and fixed them breakfast and was complaining about needing some kind of toaster that worked without electricity when they pointed out I had a generator. I felt a little stupid over that because last night I had been bragging about the generator but even so, I still didn't have a toaster. However I could at least get a regular one. Aunt Sandy had brought clean clothes for the giggle boxes so they got dressed while I fixed breakfast for Aunt Sandy and Uncle Matt. The boys complained bitterly about the lack of a dishwasher. I heard several "This sucks," type comments. I ignored them. They got everything washed and dried except the plates and utensils being used by Aunt Sandy, Uncle Matt, and myself and the boys were hovering around us like vultures, waiting for us to finish so they could wash our dishes. I was beginning to feel like I needed to guard my plate or the boys would run off with it and wash it, no matter if I was finished eating or not. I finished eating and the boys grabbed my dishes and rushed to the sink with them. I was drinking some coffee when it dawned on me that if I would put the stabilizer jacks down, the trailer would stop shaking so much. I wondered what else I was overlooking. This was all new and I could see I needed to get better organized. I was still stuck in the past, trying to figure out how I had managed to buy the trailer rather than what I should be doing now that I had it. The whole thing had taken place so quickly I still hadn't accepted it. I really needed to take a few minutes and think about it. We had all been so busy trying to get enough supplies and ourselves ready to use the trailer that there had been no time to appreciate the fact that I now had one. Uncle Matt suggested that I park beside the garage. That way it would be easy to plug into his electricity. The only problem was that I would have to back in. Fortunately he had a wide driveway. It was also a good thing no one was in a hurry. I probably only drove forty miles or so trying to back in. I'd back up a little bit and then pull forward. Then I would try again. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. When you added in that I had two adults and three boys, all giving me different directions, I was surprised I ever got the trailer where I wanted it. About all I can say is it is a good thing that Dog didn't offer any directions. I don't know if I could have survived that. Something tells me that it would have been easier if they had all been using the same set of hand signals. I got all the stabilizing jacks adjusted and was surprised to see that it had only taken a half hour. I guess it just seemed longer. We even had the pickup unhooked. Corey had called and talked with Carl a couple of days before we left so he wanted to go to Carl's gallery. I needed to pick up a few things like a toaster and hotcake turners so I took him and left JJ and LT to entertain the giggle boxes. Carl greeted me but that was about all. Corey was a different matter. He and Corey were soon so busy talking about art that I gave up and went shopping for those things I needed. I even looked for a bicycle to replace the one I had given Lee. The toaster and turners were easy but the bike was a problem. The store I had bought the others at had decided to go with a cheaper line of bikes. That required that I go to a couple of other stores before I found one that would be acceptable. Then I decided on a few upgrades. The end result was that I paid a lot more and couldn't pick it up until closing time. I hadn't realized that I had gotten such a good deal on the first ones. JJ was reading one of the Harry Potter books to the giggle boxes when I got back. They all looked happy so I visited with Uncle Matt. This was really the reason I had made the trip. We spent most of the afternoon talking about what to invest the money in and setting up the trusts for the boys. Uncle Matt had a couple of ideas for some venture investments but they would only take a couple of million. The rest he suggested be invested in things similar to what the rest of my portfolio was already in. While a lot of that portfolio couldn't be called conservative, it was still what might be called solid. The fact that it had stayed almost flat, when the market plunged after 9-11, told me Uncle Matt really knew what he was doing when he recommended those investments. Sure some had gone down but not much and others had gained a little offsetting most of that drop. For someone who worked primarily in the computer field, he was better than most when it came to picking stocks. He was even giving advice to the actual broker who was handling the account. When I commented that he was doing a lot better than most of the professionals in the field, his comment was that they did far too much group think. He said that Peter Lynch had it right, that if you couldn't explain why you should buy the stock with a piece of paper and a crayon, you probably shouldn't buy it, that too many professionals spent far too much time applying their own little expertise to a stock and not looking at the whole picture. One should pay attention to what stores were popular and what products were selling. If you started there, you could find which companies were good buys. I didn't really understand it but Uncle Matt's success spoke for itself. By the time we finished discussing all that, it was time to pick Corey up. I took JJ and LT along as they looked like the giggle boxes had worn them out. I had thought that switching from the Ranger and the minivan to the Gator had been a big step but the pickup was even bigger. It was long, so long that I worried about parking it. Fortunately I found a place that had two places open and managed to get parked. Corey was just picking up his gear when we walked in. He was grinning from ear to ear and so was Carl. Carl was taking tomorrow off to attend a family dinner so the gallery would be closed. That meant that it took a little longer for them to say goodbye. When we had all Corey's stuff gathered up we headed for Uncle Matt's place. Aunt Sandy was fixing dinner. I did take time to stop and pick up my new bicycle and of course the boys had to look the store over but it went pretty quickly. They only found a few things they had to have. Dinner was chicken and dumplings. I was surprised that none of the boys had ever had dumplings but after a couple of bites, they proved that didn't slow them down in the least. Aunt Sandy had seen them eat before so she had fixed two complete chickens and the biggest bowl of dumplings I'd ever seen but by the time the boys finished, most of the chicken was gone and there were only two dumplings left. When she offered them some ice cream for dessert, there were only groans. There would have been four dumplings left except that Dog scarfed up a couple of them and licked his chops. So far Dog was a big success with Kristen and Kevin. They were the ones that insisted he needed some dumplings. I wonder if those pitiful brown eyes had anything to do with it. We were kicking around what to do on Sunday when Uncle Matt suggested skiing. The boys jumped on the idea so fast I about got blown over. Then we had to go buy some heavy clothes. Uncle Matt had gear for his family but none of the rest of us even had long underwear. Uncle Matt said we could rent a lot of the gear but some things we would just have to buy. We managed to find everything we needed before the stores closed. I really appreciated having the pickup because things fit in the back quite nicely. We left early for Mt. Ashland. Uncle Matt said we needed to get there early so we could sign up for beginners classes. He warned us that they might even be full but thought that we might be able to get in one. As it turned out he was right about needing to be there early. We just barely got into a class before they quit taking people. Then we had to kill time for an hour and a half until the lesson. Dog couldn't make up his mind about the snow. He liked it but wasn't sure about the balls of it that collected on his feet. He really like biting at snowballs the boys tossed at him. By the time the lesson was about to start he was happy to stay in the pickup. Fortunately I had remembered to bring his blanket and he seemed happy with it on the seat so he could see out. We left him chewing the balls of snow off his feet and legs. I had no idea it was that tricky to learn to ski. Everything seemed backwards. You had to step on the wrong foot to turn and getting up after falling was a problem. By the time the lesson was over, at least I could get up but staying up, while going down the bunny slope, was a little difficult. I do wish that Kristen and Kevin hadn't giggled quite so much when I fell. They thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. Uncle Matt had been taking them skiing for a couple of years and they were skiing all around me, never falling. Somehow they seemed to forget that they had probably fallen when learning. I really wish they would put brakes on those skis. Even when I managed to stay upright, stopping was a real problem. A couple of times I was headed at some people and the only thing I could do to keep from hitting them was to fall. However, most of my falls were for different reasons. Take for instance, stopping. I was told to form a vee with my skis. They called it a snowplow. That was supposed to stop me. What they didn't tell me was how to keep the tips of the skis from crossing each other. When they got about so far across each other, down I would go. Then I had to struggle and get up. When I tried to turn, I kept forgetting what they had said and put my weight on the wrong foot. Of course I would skid or turn the wrong way and down I would go again. Every time I went down, I had to struggle and get up. Another problem was that by the time I remembered what it was that I was supposed to do in a given situation, the time to do it had long passed. Down again and another struggle to get back on top of the skis. Still, it was lots of fun. I was sure glad when lunch time rolled around though. My ass was dragging. Not only was my ass dragging, my ankles were sore and my knees were killing me. We spent a little time after lunch letting Dog run. However he soon was happy to be back in the pickup on his blanket. I had let the engine run while he was out and the heater had really warmed up the pickup. Lunch had revived me to some extent, but by the time the afternoon was over, I was beat. I had muscles aching that I didn't know existed to go along with those sore ankles and knees. The boys seemed to pick it up skiing faster than I did. Even so, they looked like they were done in by the time Uncle Matt suggested we leave. Even the giggle boxes looked worn down. I'm not sure if it was from laughing at us or from their own skiing. Dog just found a place to relieve himself and hopped right back in the pickup. Apparently he'd had enough snow for one day. Uncle Matt led off in his Bronco and I followed. I figured we were going back to his house but instead he led us to a restaurant. They had an all you can eat buffet and the boys attacked that like a shark feeding frenzy. Until I got started I hadn't realized how hungry I was. The day's activities had left me with a huge appetite. The food was good and we ate plenty of it. By the time we were finished eating, Kristen and Kevin were about out of it. They were still awake but just barely. By the time we got home though, they were doing pretty good. Some food had really helped them. Not so with the rest of us. Corey was limping so we found some Advil in the medicine cabinet and he took three of them. That sounded like a good idea to me so I did the same. Maybe I wouldn't ache so much in the morning. After all of us were cleaned up, we ended up watching a movie and resting. It didn't take long for the giggle boxes' energy boost from eating to wear off. They were out of it about ten minutes into the movie. I even had to wake Corey and JJ up to get them out to the trailer. They were stumbling because they were sleepy and I was doing the same from aches and pains. They tell me skiing is supposed to be fun. The way I felt I wasn't sure people were right about that. At home I would have fired up the hot tub and spent an hour or so enjoying it but here there was no hot tub. All I could do was crash in bed. I really need to get back into some kind of exercise routine. With the advent of boys I just couldn't seem to find the time. I should have locked the trailer door. Either that or tied the giggle boxes to their beds. I was really enjoying being cuddled up to Corey when the whole world seemed to erupt. The bed was bouncing and there were lots of high pitched sounds interrupting my sleep. Steel hard elbows and knees forced me to wake up much faster than I wanted to. Somehow they managed to hit every place I ached, several times. Then there was the problem of getting them off of me so I could visit the bathroom. It took some real negotiation to get them to let me up. I finally convinced them it was either let me up or take swimming lessons. I could hardly move. Either the Advil had done no good or I needed a lot more of them. While I was pulling some clothes on Kristen finally remembered to tell us that Aunt Sandy was cooking breakfast. With that piece of information, I sent them out to wake JJ and LT. Off they dashed and I soon could hear giggles and groans. It didn't take rocket science to figure out which ones were giggling and which were groaning. As we hobbled towards the house, Dog was the only one that seemed to move normally. It seemed like it took forever to cover the forty feet or so from the trailer to the door. Once the door was open the smell of coffee kept me going in the right direction. I was sure thankful we didn't have time to go skiing today. By the time everyone was filled up I was beginning to move a little better. I still hurt but could walk without almost falling down. I felt like I'd sprained both ankles and what had happened to my knees I couldn't even begin to describe. After another cup of coffee I gathered up all the rental gear and returned it. I would have killed the clerk when he said he hoped to see us again soon except that would have required movement on my part. However, the boys seemed to think it was a great idea. Still, they weren't moving as well as they normally did. By lunchtime I had the trailer packed up and hooked up. We would have to find a place to empty the holding tanks but things were starting to go better. It no longer about killed me to step up into the trailer. Now I just was experiencing major pain from moving. It was no longer the mind shattering kind. After we ate lunch we visited a while more. Uncle Matt and Aunt Sandy said they might take me up on the offer of the use of the trailer. I assured them I would have it better stocked when they wanted to use it. So far we had discovered several more things that we needed. A can opener would be nice and so would a broom. Some pot holders would have been handy when I cooked breakfast. There were a few other things on the list but they shouldn't be hard to find. Finally it was time to leave. I shooed the boys out and we all climbed into the pickup. Dog couldn't seem to make up his mind where he wanted to be. He looked at the back seat with the boys and then the front. I was about ready to just grab him and throw him in when he finally hopped into the front seat. Anyhow, after I buckled Dog into his seatbelt, we headed on down the road. Mentally I felt pretty good. The few days off had refreshed me. Now if I could just get my body to quit aching. Once we cleared Ashland the traffic wasn't bad. It wasn't raining and there was no snow on the highway over the Siskiyou's. I just leaned back and drifted along with the traffic. I released Dog from the seat belt at the bug station and he flopped on the seat and promptly went to sleep. As soon as I was rolling down the highway again, the boys did the same. The DVD they had been watching apparently couldn't hold their interest. I couldn't help but marvel at how well the trailer pulled. Once in a while a gust of wind would shake things enough to where I realized it was back there but most of the time it was almost like it wasn't there. I had been forced to step down on the throttle to go up the hills but the Power Stroke diesel pulled the trailer without seeming to work that hard. The easy way the pickup drove and the fact that everyone was asleep gave me time to relax and think. That thinking covered Cody. I was so thankful that Larry Morris had brought him up during the morning meeting and that I had managed to pull him out of his shell enough to find out what his problem was. It now looked like he would manage to get through his problems about being gay. As I drifted down the road the thought went through my mind that there were probably other young people like Cody. They attended a church at which the minister kept yammering on and on about how bad gay people were. No wonder there were so many suicides among young gay people. What a heavy burden to have placed on you. All the horror stories about how some parents treat you when they find out you are gay and to have your minister keep telling you that you will go to hell for something you can't help must look overpowering. I suppose that it is surprising that more young people don't kill themselves. It is a shame that there is no way to make those ministers see the crime they are committing by preaching such things. Add to that the fact that they won't even follow all of the things that the Old Testament says they should and you have to wonder why they seem to fasten on the subject of homosexuals. I could respect them if they tried to follow all the laws laid down in the Old Testament. That would be a sincere belief that it is the word of God and must be obeyed. The fact that they feel they can selectively take only a few of the laws and obey them makes them either stupid or hypocrites, or perhaps both. That got me to thinking about how much some of them really know about the Bible. Had they just listened to someone talk about a specific verse or had they read the whole chapter? When I read the whole book of Leviticus I came to a different conclusion than that which some religions come to. When they talked about it they all sounded like those talking heads for the political parties. It was almost like they couldn't think for themselves and had to have their talking points memo so they would know what to say. They rattled off those few passages that they used to claim their position was right and wouldn't even listen to any argument against their position. It was almost like they didn't hear what you said. As I drove along I came to the conclusion that there are none so blind as those who will not see or in this case, listen and think. Such a sad commentary on many of those who are supposed to be the guides for our spiritual development. If they refuse to see, how can they teach others to see and understand? I was almost to Redding when the boys started waking up. It wasn't long until we were looking for a restaurant. We decided on Red Robin which is an upscale hamburger place. Some onion rings and deep fried cheese sticks started us and the boys went for the Royal Red Robin burger. It even had a fried egg on it. I opted for the Guacamole Bacon burger. They ate almost all of the appetizer and even finished off my fries. Where they put it all I don't know. However, they did turn down dessert. After that we headed on home. Poor Dog didn't get any leftovers. There weren't any. When we got home I was faced with a problem. It was dark and backing the trailer in where I wanted to park it was a little more difficult than I had planned. However it did go a little better than it had at Uncle Matt's place. I only had to make about twenty attempts before I got it right. I don't know if I was getting better at backing up or the boys were learning to give better directions. Dog acted happy to be home. He bounced in and out through his door and just generally acted frisky. The rest of us could not be described in the same manner. While my aches and pains were pretty well gone, I was still a little stiff and sore. We managed to get our things out of the trailer and even got a couple of loads of laundry done before it was bedtime. I'm not sure how well the boys did on their homework because by the time they finished it I didn't have time to check it. I felt great when the alarm started its assault. A good night's sleep had gotten rid of the last of the aches and pains. I was still slightly stiff but by the time I left for school, even that seemed to be gone. Getting away from everything for a few days had improved my outlook and things just generally looked good. I guess you could say I was a happy camper. (Pun intended) The extra day off seemed to have helped my colleagues. We were all in a pretty good mood at the morning meeting. Several of the teachers commented on the change in Cody. When they asked me what I had done with him I just told them he was growing up and I had answered some questions he had. They seemed to think there was more to it than that but I just told them that he hadn't felt comfortable discussing it with his parents. I managed to get the subject changed to why children couldn't seem to understand that their parents were once young and why parents were so uncomfortable talking about some subjects with their children. That ended up in a discussion of the Victorian principles that our society seems to have adopted and were such principles a good or bad thing. Of course we didn't settle anything but we kicked it around. There was nothing else new to talk about so the meeting ended with the usual announcements. Even the students seemed to have benefited from the extra day off. Most of them were bright and alert and willing to study. I was thrilled when I saw Cody in the hall and he was talking with some other students. He had a little grin on his face and gave me a wave and a smile when he noticed me. When I thought about it, I had never seen him interact with any students before. Of course I had never really noticed him before either. That thought got me to wondering if there was a way I could pay attention to more students. Somehow I just couldn't think of any way to do that. I tried to keep track of all the ones I had in my classes or on the teams and even included some I had met for whatever reason but there were just too many students for me to keep track of all of them. I wished I could but there just wasn't enough time. I did vow to bring up, in our morning meeting, that we needed to pay attention to those students that didn't seem to have friends and acted depressed or withdrawn. Just thinking about what Cody had said when he told us about how scared and depressed he was and the fact that he was contemplating suicide scared the hell out of me. Maybe if we all worked together we could spot troubled students and help them before they did something that put them beyond help. When we got home I was finally convinced that I'd unleashed a monster when I talked with the boys about compounding. It was raining so they couldn't play basketball and that meant that their friends stayed home. With no one else to bother, they selected me. I heard all kinds of bitching about how unfair it was that most mutual fund companies were unwilling to allow very small investments. The boys had combed through the ones offering service to small investors and found them to be limited. There were some that would let you get started with five hundred dollars but most of them wanted a lot more. Twenty-five hundred dollars was a lot more popular amount to start an account and there were many that wanted even more than that. I was surprised to learn that there were funds that required fifty thousand dollars and some funds required even more. There was nothing left to do but call the firm that handled those parts of my account not directly handled by Uncle Matt. As far as that went, I needed to talk to them myself. Uncle Matt had suggested I put most of the money I had just received in a series of funds and actual stocks. He was going to keep a couple million for the venture capital group he worked with. If only all my money did as well as that group had done. I was also left thinking about what to do with that much money anyway. I had just enough time to call and make an appointment before they closed. My advisor told me to bring the boys and he would see us on Friday. That worked out well for me because Thursday was another tutoring session for Gail. She had begged off on the one today because of a shopping trip. I hadn't complained much about that as I still needed to get organized after our weekend. Still, I wondered if boys were starting to get in the way of her studying. She seemed to spend quite a bit of time on her clothes. After dinner and homework I made the boys help me rearrange the supplies in the trailer. They didn't have much homework so we had a couple of hours to work on that project. As we moved the dishes to a more reasonable arrangement we talked about the weekend and how they liked skiing. I even managed to go in and get some more turners for the trailer. We had things pretty well organized by the time it was bedtime. The list had a few items I still needed to get but it was surprisingly short. A can opener, some pot holders or mitts, and a tool kit. The reason for the tool kit was that I discovered a loose screw on one of the door handles and had no way to tighten it. I also needed some long extension cords because we had used about every one Uncle Matt had to get hooked up at his house. While we were talking about skiing I asked them if they wanted to go skiing during spring vacation or if they wanted to do something else. That really set them off. They couldn't decide what to do. We had six weeks to make up our minds so I was sure they would figure it out eventually. However the level of chatter went up considerably. I was beginning to wonder if they were going to suggest towing the trailer to Europe. That didn't seem anymore far fetched than some of their other suggestions. I somehow couldn't see driving to Orlando and back in one week. That wouldn't leave much time for Disney World or the Epcot Center, not to mention Universal Studios. There was still a few minutes before bedtime when we finished the trailer. The boys headed for their computers and started looking. The place sounded like a hen house with a fox in it. The boys were all surfing the web and chattering away like there was no tomorrow. Thank God for the cable modem. I finally managed to shut them up long enough to remind them that the less we had to drive, the more time they would have to enjoy the destination. Dog and I finally retired to the family room where I gave him a good belly rub. His groans drowned out the chatter of the boys. I considered that an improvement. I wasn't sure that going to bed was such a good idea. The boys were still cranked up over planning for spring vacation but I sent them off for their showers. By the time I had the house closed up, Corey had the water warmed up and was waiting for me. There was a lot of action in the shower and some of it even involved getting clean. The shower would have probably lasted longer but we both had other things on our minds. To say we were ready by the time we finished the shower and were in bed would about cover it. The only thing that statement might leave out is how ready we really were. One look at us would have answered that question. Corey pranced from the bathroom to his side of the bed. He stopped there and waved his ass at me. What was I to think? I'll tell you what I thought. I reached across the bed and grabbed him and pulled him into the bed on top of me. I also jabbed him in the ribs a few times, telling him he should never start something he couldn't finish. Between giggles he informed me he was perfectly willing to finish what he had started. The next thing I knew he had wiggled loose and the next few minutes were spent chasing each other around the bed playing grab ass and dick tag. I don't know who won but neither of us seemed to care. We were having way too much fun to keep track of things like that. I gave up and let myself be caught. When Corey pounced on me I just wrapped my arms around him and started kissing him. He started pulling away and then stopped. We were looking right into each other's eyes. It was like the whole world stopped. There was no more struggling to get loose and we just gazed into the other person's eyes. His eyes started to get closer and suddenly I could feel his lips against mine. My arms clamped down and pulled him tighter to me. This was what I wanted all along. From his lack of resistance I think Corey wanted it also. A few long kisses, interspersed with some sighs, got things going. His lips were so soft and inviting and his tongue so insistent. I could smell him and taste him. I could even feel his warm body in my arms. Nothing else was important. Only Corey. Having him in my arms washed away any other thoughts. The kissing soon gave way to a little nibbling. We took turns, each happy to nibble a little bit and then let the other do the same. His teeth excited me when he nibbled on my earlobe. It seemed to go directly to my inner self. Until I met Corey I never realized that my earlobes could send such feelings through me. It had always been something that was on the side of my head. Something that showed me when I needed a haircut and helped me hear. Once I met him I learned it was something that was a part of the inner me. The feel of his teeth scraping over it sent shivers through me. Somehow I'd missed so much before I met him. We nibbled and kissed for quite a while. Both of us were enjoying it so much that we did not yet feel the need to go further. Instead we just took turns nibbling. He felt so warm and alive in my arms and the shivers that went through him when it was my turn to nibble made me feel so good. Like a lot of other things, our needs finally took over. We squirmed around in the bed and suddenly our feet were at opposite ends. A little downward wiggling and I found a belly button. I enjoyed teasing it with my tongue. I could hear little Corey sounds when I did that. I don't know were the odd sounds were coming from when he did the same to me. I was all caught up in a warm little world in which there was only Corey and me. He wiggled a little more and my prize was within my reach. I was lost in another world, just enjoying the taste and feel of Corey in my mouth. He was hard yet silky soft. He was also warm. I just let my tongue do what it wanted to do. Sometimes I would pause, waiting for him to relax a little and other times I would attack, sucking and tonguing. Suddenly I could feel his nose against my pubic hair. His throat muscles were working and exciting me. It was time. It didn't take long. About the time I could feel him tense and his cock become even harder, I lost all control. I was thrusting and gasping and trying to swallow. He tasted so good. A few minutes later we managed to get the bed straightened out a little and assume our usual places. A couple of gentle kisses and he curled up as usual with his head on my chest. It didn't take long for his breathing to slow and steady. After that it didn't take long for me to join him in a contented sleep. To be continued... California has agricultural inspection stations commonly referred to as bug stations. They are located on highways leading into the state.