A War Remembered Ch. 03

Frankie sat there, chewing a forkful of pot roast as he considered his response. Before he could speak, Maria reached over and grabbed his hand. "You don't have to say a thing, brother. We have started writing our own book. Let's just leave it at that for now."

***

St. Patrick's Day dawned unseasonably warm with a forecasted high in the mid-70s. But it was foggy; an intermittent drizzle was falling. Because the holiday fell on a Saturday and Frankie didn't have to go to the plant, he and Maria had talked about taking the train to Manhattan to watch some of the parade. However, neither was excited about standing in the rain for several hours, especially since they were nothing more than "eye-Tal-yin heathens." Instead, they went to look at several locations for their office, one of which looked quite promising for FAMA. Then, they stopped at their parents' house for a quick visit, promising to return the next day for Sunday dinner. Before they knew it, it was time to head back to their apartment to get dressed for the St. Patrick's Day celebration at the Hibernian Hall.

"Frankie, what do you have that's green to wear tonight?", Maria called out from the bedroom.

"Do Army Air Corps olive drab skivvees count?"

"No."

"Well, nothing then."

"You can't go to a St. Paddy's party and not wear something that's green. Those shanty Irish that Archie hangs out with will horsewhip you."

"Well, what are you wearing, Maria?"

She came out of the bedroom carrying an emerald green blouse and matching skirt. "Whaddya think of these?"

He eyed her outfit. "Damn, Maria" he said, "you're really getting decked out for this. I'm gonna look like a palooka next to you."

"Oh, come on, Frankie. I bet you haven't gone out since Amy died and I certainly haven't since hearing the news about Chet. It's fun for me to get all dolled up. I'll tell you what, wear your brown suit and I'll give you a green handkerchief you can use as a pocket square. No one will know it's a woman's. I can help you tie your tie if you want. Let's show those Massapequa Micks how a couple of sharp Italian dressers do it."

***

They arrived at the Hibernian Hall shortly after 7pm. Archie and Dottie were already seated at a table for eight. There were vacant seats on either side of them and Archie motioned Frankie and Maria to sit down. While Frankie wanted to sit next to Maria, it was probably safer that he didn't; they should appear like they were merely siblings who lost their respective spouses. Archie introduced them to his friends seated at the table, Irishmen all. Most had mugs of green beer in front of them, served from several pitchers that were on the table; a few were drinking Guinness stout, including Archie. As one of the men filled the mugs sitting in front of Frankie and Maria with the green concoction, a waitress dressed as a leprechaun came to the table. "Happy St. Paddy's Day. I'm here to take your order. You can have anything you want that's on the menu, as long as it's corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and soda bread." Everyone laughed and Archie said "Well, if there are no hot dogs, I guess it will be corned beef for everyone, lass! And bring a bottle of your finest Irish whisky to the table with eight glasses. Frankie, Maria and I have some good news we wanna share, and there's no better way to do it than to lift a glass of Jameson's to celebrate."

Frankie leaned over to Archie and said softly "Arch, I thought we were gonna keep this under wraps until the plant closed. I don't want to give the big bosses any reason to fire us. We need our salaries for as long as we can get paid. And don't forget the stay-on bonuses!" Archie smiled "Don't sweat it. These are my good buddies. They won't say a thing, I promise. Besides, who knows, the plant could shut down any day." Frankie still wasn't convinced, but he didn't know what he could do to stop Archie. He leaned back and looked behind Archie and Dottie towards Maria. He saw she was involved in a conversation with a pretty woman sitting next to her, whose red hair was set off by the bright green sweater she was wearing. And it looked like she filled out her sweater quite nicely. "Oh, well, let Archie have his moment in the sun," Frankie thought.

The waitress returned to the table in less than five minutes with the bottle of whisky, an ice bucket and eight highball glasses, all perched on a tray which she set down on the table next to Archie. "Anyone want ice or are we all gonna drink our poison like true Irishmen?" he asked. There were no takers and Archie poured a liberal amount of booze in each glass before passing them to everyone at the table. He looked around the table and got everyone's attention before starting.

"Before I tell you the good news, I'm gonna invoke an old St. Paddy's Day tradition and ask you all to promise that you will not repeat what I'm about to say. Frankie here reminded me that my announcement may be a wee premature, but I assured him that you are a fine bunch of lads and lasses and you would never violate an oath, especially one made on this glorious Irish Feast Day. Am I correct?" Everyone at the table roared their assent. Glancing quickly at Frankie, who nodded his head, Archie continued. "Thank you, my friends. Tonight, I want to announce the formation of FAMA, Incorporated. What is FAMA? Well it stands for Frankie Archie Maria Aviation. We are starting a company to design and build airplanes to be used by corporate executives as an alternative to flying commercially. Some will be sold to corporations and some we will operate on a lease basis." Raising his whisky glass, Archie continued. "So whaddyall think of that my fine Irish friends? Slainte!" With that, he put the glass to his lips, quickly drained the glass of the amber liquid, and slammed it down on the table. "And I'll have another!" he shouted.

Applause broke out and handshakes made their way around the table. Dottie grabbed Archie by the cheeks, and brought his head down for a lengthy kiss, which appeared to deepen with every passing second. When they finally came up for air, one of the woman shouted "Archie and Dottie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" to tumultuous laughter. Just as things started to settle down, the waitress started bringing their meals to the table. Once everyone was served and began eating, tablemates began conversing in groups of two or three.

Maria turned back to Bridget, the red head seated next to her. Before Archie's announcement, the two of them had been talking about how they couldn't wait for the war to be finally over, if for no other reason than the return of silk stockings. Maria was struck by the deepness of Brigit's brown eyes and her complexion, which was the color and texture of sweet cream. Like her brother, Maria had also noticed the fullness of Bridget's bosom as it stretched the green sweater, seemingly to its limit. A memory of her cupping Amy's heavy breasts while she feasted on her sister-in-law's pussy caused her to shiver suddenly. Brigit noticed the shiver and asked "Is everything okay?" Maria laughed softly and replied "Oh sure, thanks. I think it's the combination of the enormity of the new business plus that damned Jameson's. How can you stomach that stuff?" It was Bridget's turn to laugh. But she noticed that Maria's eyes darted momentarily to the front of her sweater when Maria said "enormity." Bridget sensed that she was in the company of something more than just a grieving war widow and decided to test her intuition. Saying "I can't believe it, but this corned beef needs something," she leaned across Maria's plate to grab the salt shaker and, in doing so, pressed her left breast against Maria's elbow. "Oops, I'm sorry, Maria, the shaker was farther away than I thought."

For a second, Maria was silent. Then, her elbow gently pushing back against the firmness of Bridget's bosom, Maria replied "Oh, don't worry about it. I was thinking that something needed spicing up myself." Slowly dragging her breast up Maria's arm, Bridget answered "Did you have anything in mind?" "Well, at the moment, I think I need to go to the ladies' room and pee out some of this horrid green beer." Bridget snickered and said "So you don't like Jameson's and find that green beer is horrid. Now the food needs spicing up. For goodness sake, is there anything Irish that you think is worthy of swallowing?" Maria looked at Bridget with arched eyebrows and said deliberately "Oh, I'm sure that, given the right circumstances, I could think of some Irish delicacies I would be happy to enjoy. But, like I said, I need to go to the bathroom. Care to join me?"

Brigit turned and told her husband, Kevin, that she and Maria were going to the ladies' room. Replying "Well, I hope everything comes out alright," he returned to his conversation about the Irish Darby with his friend Sean. Groaning at her husband's time-worn attempt at bathroom humor, Bridget looked at Maria, shrugged her shoulders and nodded in the direction of the bathroom. Getting up, Maria looked over at Frankie, who was animatedly discussing something with the man to his left, hands soaring back and forth in the age-old manner of pilots demonstrating some aeronautical maneuver.

Entering the ladies' room, Maria noticed that there was no stall, only a single toilet with a chain hanging down from the elevated tank. The toilet faced an ancient sink, over which hung a cracked mirror. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that it was a single. Why don't you go first and I'll wait outside until you're done?" Bridget shook her head and, turning the lock on the door, said, "I'm okay if it doesn't bother you. I hope you don't think that I'm being too forward." With that, she stepped in front of the toilet and pulled up her skirt, exposing her plain, white panties. She hooked her thumbs over both sides, and began to draw them down her legs, over her garter belt and stockings. Maria noticed that Bridget's thighs were the same sweet cream texture as her complexion and wondered how they tasted.

Bridget sat down and Maria stepped in front of her to face the mirror, ostensibly to fix her hair and reapply her lipstick. She heard Bridget's stream hit the bowl. Then, she felt Bridget's hands touch the hem of her skirt. "Maria, I just love the fabric of your skirt. What is it?" Maria's pussy twitched, knowing how close her new friend's fingers were. "Oh, it's linen. I got this when I was living in San Diego, where it's always 78 degrees. I thought it would be perfect for today. But there's one problem with it." "What's that?" "You really gotta wear a slip because if you don't, you can see the outline of your garter belt."

Moving her hands up and over Maria's skirt and caressing her ass, Bridget said "Hmm, it looks like you didn't follow your own advice today." And with that, Bridget ripped off a few squares of toilet paper, wiped herself, and pulled her panties up. Flushing the toilet, she started to scoot around Maria, saying "It's all yours." Bridget's full breasts again pressed against Maria's side, who leaned into them as before. Then turning to Bridget, Maria asked "Are these all mine?" as she placed both palms over the front of Bridget's sweater. She was amazed at just how firm breasts that big could be. But she waited for a response before making any further moves. A low groan emerged from Bridget's throat, followed by "Oh, I'm sure that, given the right circumstances, I think they could be all yours."

"And what are the right circumstances?"

"Before I answer, you have to answer my questions. Remember what Archie said about not violating an oath made on St. Patrick's Day?" Maria nodded. "So, do you swear not to tell anyone about anything we do? If Kevin ever found out he would kill me."

Maria thought for a second and said "You mean I can't even tell my brother Frankie?" and laughed. Bridget laughed and said "Well he's pretty dreamy. But I wouldn't go telling him just quite yet. Let's see how this works. In fact, let's see if this works. Give me your number before we leave tonight and I'll be calling you."

Maria grinned as Bridget continued "So, are you going to pee or not? We better be heading back to the table or they're gonna think that we're up to no good. And we don't want that to happen." She winked dramatically and walked out the bathroom door.

Heading back to the table, Maria saw that Frankie was still in the thick of his conversation with his seatmate. She stopped by his side and asked "Hey there, brother, are you doing your best to bore your new friend?" Frankie stopped and said "Oh, hi sis. Jimmy, this is my sister Maria. Maria, Jimmy flew 35 missions in a B-17 over Germany and was just discharged. He made Captain! We were talking about the flight characteristics of multi-engine planes. He has some pretty interesting design ideas that would improve performance, decrease fuel usage, and increase the range of the executive planes we're gonna build. Anyway, he hasn't found a job yet but still wants something to do with aviation. I told him that we should schedule a meeting with you, me and Arch to talk about some options that might make sense for all of us. Right, Jimmy?"

"Nice to meet you, Maria. Yeah, it sounds like FAMA could be a great opportunity. Of course, I have to discuss it with my better half," pointing and the brunette seated next to him who was busy talking to the blonde next to her. "Betty really wants to start a family soon and I'm not so sure she would want me to get involved in a job that doesn't come with a steady salary."

"Nice to meet you, too, Jimmy. I perfectly understand why Betty would think that way. But as our dad always taught us, it don't cost nothing to talk, right? Why don't you tell Betty that you're just gonna swing by our apartment one night next week to have a friendly chat? In fact, why don't both of you come? We can have a cuppa and a cannoli and lay everything out for you. This way, Betty hears it first-hand. Then you can take your time to figure out if there is something that might work for you and your soon-to-be growing family. How does that sound?"

"Gee, that sounds swell. But I have a question. What's a can oily?"

Frankie and Maria both began to laugh hysterically. "Not a can oily, Jimmy, a cannoli, Frankie managed. "It's an Italian dessert that is full of sweet cream that you and Betty will absolutely love, I promise."

***

As he had predicted the previous week, Archie and Dottie left early. Based on the way Dottie was hanging on Archie's arm, Frankie and Maria assumed that Dottie's ardor was inflamed by Archie's announcement about FAMA. Dottie had had no idea that Archie, who appeared to be more of a bumbling clerk than an aviation entrepreneur, had such potential. They predicted that Archie would be full of diddies' descriptions when they saw him next.

They had Jimmy introduce them to his wife and make the invitation to join them for coffee and dessert the following week. As they made the rounds saying their goodbyes, Maria saw Bridget nervously glancing at her. When they got to Bridget and Kevin's seats at the table, Maria thanked them both for helping make it a wonderful evening. As she leaned down to kiss Bridget on the cheek, Maria slipped a note with her phone number into Bridget's hand, which squeezed hers back confidently.

Little was said on the ride home. Maria assumed that Frankie was going over the details of his conversation with Jimmy. As they continued their way to the apartment, she began to relive the joys of holding Bridget's wonderful breasts, no matter how briefly. She hoped that Bridget would call soon.

Then a sudden pang of guilt came over her. Should she tell Frankie what had happened with Bridget tonight? And if she and Bridget actually got together -- and she was pretty confident that it would happen -- didn't that constitute cheating on Frankie? It was funny, because never, ever had she thought that Amy was cheating on her husband when Maria and Amy were enjoying each other's bodies. Is it technically cheating when the other person is also a woman? Hmm, she didn't think that Chet was cheating on her because, well, Chet was only following his forbidden desires. And can a sister cheat on her brother? After all, a brother and sister having sex was a crime! Geeze, life in 1945 could be extremely confusing.

After crawling into bed and turning off the lights, Maria said "Hey brother, did you catch a look at Bridget's boobs? They are big and beautiful, aren't they? They sorta reminded me of Amy."

Frankie hesitated for a moment before responding "Okay, Maria, I gotta ask. Do you miss being with Amy? Do you miss being with a woman?"

"Yes. And yes."

"Well, I caught a look at Bridget's boobs and, yes, they do seem big and beautiful. And, yes, they did remind me a little of Amy."

"Frankie, there was nothing little about them."

Laughing, Frankie said "I need to get some rest. Going to Sunday dinner at Pop and Mom's always takes a lot out of me. Let's talk about Bridget's bountiful boobs and how to possibly enjoy them tomorrow morning. G'nite sister. I love you."

Maria put her arms around his body and hugged him close. "I love you, too, brother. G'nite."

To be continued.