Coming Home

I smiled. That was the Veronica I wanted. Not the coy thing that subordinated herself to me because she thought she had to. Yes, she had romanced me, yes, she had asked to sleep in my bed but she hadn't come for me. She had timidly asked for my attention.

"Oh damned."

I heard a knocking noise which could only come from Veronica's forehead hitting the table and I could physically feel how something inside of Veronica clicked in place.

"What?" my sister asked, not understanding what had caused Veronica to act so dramatically.

"I finally comprehend what your brother tried to tell me yesterday and why he..."

At this point, I decided that I had heard enough and shouldn't really be eavesdropping, anyhow. But I had learned something very important and for some reason, this time, I believed her. She hadn't cheated on me. I retreated upstairs and made enough noises to make sure they heard me coming down the stairs. They were still sitting at the kitchen table but their discussion had moved on to celebrity gossip.

"Good morning."

I gave Carla a short hug around her shoulders and a quick kiss on her head, a display of affection she clearly felt embarrassed about with Veronica present. Before I had the chance to see if there was coffee prepared for me Veronica intervened.

"And what about me? I'll take one of these as well."

I looked over at her. The change in her appearance was immense. Her whole personality had made a one hundred and eighty degree turn and it showed. It showed in her eyes that glittered with mischief, it showed in her posture and it showed in the way she spoke. The evening before she had given the impression of a bunny cowering in front of a poisonous Cobra, now she had become an eagle circling above, waiting for the Cobra to leave its cover. From the moment I entered the kitchen, the change was palpable. I suddenly wasn't the hunter anymore, I had become the hunted. It took me about two seconds to realise that and it took Veronica another two to learn that I had understood.

I strolled over to her to give her the same hug and kiss I had given to Carla and only ten minutes ago that would have been it. But this new Veronica, or maybe it was the old Veronica that had resurfaced, spoiled my plan. When I bowed to kiss the top of her head she tilted her head and presented her delectable lips, demanding a kiss on her mouth. Simultaneously, I knew that she wouldn't act lewdly as long as Carla was present, so I gave in. Not that I had much of a choice. The sparkle of victory illuminated her eyes and we both knew that the slow approach had just been scrapped. Maybe it had been doomed from the beginning. It was right, logically speaking but logic didn't apply to us. If we hadn't found that old connection or not been able to revive it, any kind of intimate relationship was bound to fail as it would always have been compared to what we had when we were younger and fallen short. And now that this connection was so unquestionably re-established, taking it slow would be ridiculous. The next time we had some time alone, we would consume our relationship. Whether that would happen today, in a week or in a month was irrelevant.

And there was more communicated with that short, chaste touch of our lips. A final apology, a definite forgiving, the common understanding that we belonged together, the reconnecting of two cohesive pieces, the retying of the bond, the joining of soul mates.

With it being a nice day in late June, we discussed during breakfast what we wanted to do. We decided on going for a walk and having a picnic and to the surprise of Veronica and myself, Carla asked if she could join us. While we hadn't expected her to come with us we were happy to take her along. It wasn't as if we had expected to make love while picnicking. We spent an hour preparing everything and soon were on the way. We never discussed where to go but soon found ourselves on the route to the pond of which Veronica had sent me a picture not even a week ago.

It took us another hour and half of leisurely strolling to get there. It fitted the occasion that our spot was unoccupied. Carla stood a couple of steps away from us while Veronica and I spread the rug and started to arrange the items we had brought along, working seamlessly together as if we had done this hundreds of times already.

"Can I ask you two a question?"

Both Veronica and I looked over to her and replied at the same time.

"Sure."

Carla was barely able to contain her laughter.

"How long will it take until you admit that you belong together?"

It was Veronica who replied but only because I consciously bit my tongue to not speak simultaneously.

"We cleared that in the kitchen before breakfast. The only remaining question is when we will marry."

"But... I was there. You never discussed anything but what to do today."

It was my turn to speak.

"We didn't discuss it with words. It was the kiss and the fact that we didn't need words to discuss it. It's difficult to explain."

"So when will Veronica move in?"

"Yesterday," was the simultaneous answer that made all three of us burst out laughing.

We left the pond in the late afternoon and I took us home where I sent Carla to take a shower.

"Why? I shower in the mornings."

"Because we're going to Veronica's parents for dinner."

"And when did you decide that? I was there the entire afternoon. I can't remember that we ever talked about dinner."

I just looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"You have to stop that. How shall I be able to play you off against each other if you always know what the other is thinking?"

She shook her head in seeming despair but couldn't contain a large grin. She gave me a quick hug before disappearing upstairs to shower. Just as she was out of sight, Veronica came in a bit belatedly.

"I just thought I'd make sure. I invited the three of us for dinner at my parents' place. Is that ok?"

"Sure thing. I already sent Carla to clean up. We can take the opportunity to move some of your clothes here."

The love with which she looked at me was almost scary. Only twenty-four hours ago, we had started to rekindle our relationship and now the fire was burning bright and hot again. Would we ever understand how we could live without each other for six years? Or had they even been necessary to let us understand how much we needed each other?

"My thinking. But there are two things I need to talk to you about that you won't like but I won't relent either."

I had an idea what she wanted to say but for once I needed her to spell it out.

"Go ahead."

"I want my salary to go into a joint household account."

I had expected that and to be honest, there was no way that I could support all three of us with my salary. Also, once she started her new job, she would earn more than I did currently. It would be ridiculous to reject that offer. But I had some reservations.

"No. You can pay one third of the expenses but it's not your obligation to pay for Carla or me."

"I'll pay two thirds at the very least. That's not negotiable. You can reject that and throw a tantrum as much as you want. The money will either go into our household account or directly to Carla. Your choice."

She grinned widely because she knew as well as I did that I only put up a token resistance in order to have a better bargaining position when it came to the next topic.

"Ok. But if we find out that there is always money left at the end of a month, you'll reduce your contribution."

She blew me a raspberry and gave me a 'yeah, sure' which made it clear that she had absolutely no intention to do so.

"You said there were two things?"

She fixated my eyes because she knew that I knew what she wanted and understood that by forcing her to say it, I put her in the position of the petitioner.

"When will you return to University?"

Damn. I hadn't expected her to circumvent the discussion by pre-empting the result and focussing on a sideshow.

"There are far too many open questions to decide on that right now, the finances being one of the most obvious. I've transferred my college fund into Carla's and my scholarship has certainly expired. Also, we'd have to move closer to University and that would mean uprooting Carla in the middle of her High School and you'd have to find another job. These are more sacrifices than I'm willing to accept."

She looked at me sternly for a moment before dryly replying.

"Did I say I was willing to negotiate? If necessary, I'm supporting us while you finish your studies. That shouldn't be too much of a problem. And after seeing you two today I'm sure that Carla would happily change schools every other day if you asked her to. She idolises you!"

Silently, I agreed that the financial side should be solvable. Fortunately, education in this country was almost free so we would only have to worry about living costs. If we managed to save up a little over the next few years we should be able to make it work. But whether I was willing to let Veronica pay for my education was only one of the questions and definitely not the most difficult one. I had learned to swallow my pride over the last two years. The other question concerned my sister.

"I can't ask Carla to change School at this critical time in her development. Yes, she would do it if I asked her but I won't do it. There are two sayings. One is that power corrupts and the other is that with power comes responsibility. Which path do you want me to follow? Corrupt and abusive or moral and responsible?"

"It's not abuse if you ask for a favour."

I sighed. Somehow, I had failed to bring my point across.

"It is if she can't say no."

She looked at me thoughtfully.

"At least you didn't object to me supporting you financially."

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. First and foremost, Carla needs to finish her High School and then we'll plan further ahead."

Veronica had by now reached me and was standing next to me. She softly laid her right hand on my left cheek.

"Why do the worst things always happen to those who least deserve it?"

"Please stop that melancholy right now. How about sharing a shower before we depart for your parents?"

"Gladly. But if we share a shower, we'll never be able to leave for my parents. You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to making love to you but not when we're on a schedule."

+

We returned home at a very reasonable hour. Carla had school the next day and I would have to go to work. Veronica's first day at her new job was still a week away so she had some time to get settled in our house. Shortly after my sister had gone to bed, we started making out on the couch in front of the TV. Of course, we remained alert that my baby sister might reappear downstairs for any reason so while we groped and stroked each other freely, the clothes remained on. It didn't take us long to come to the conclusion that we needed to take this to the bedroom.

As it had always been for us, there was no need for words. We rose at the same time and walked hand in hand towards the stairs. When we reached the upper landing we quickly checked on Carla who was already sleeping soundly before we continued to the bedroom. While Veronica proceeded directly to the bed, I stopped at the door to turn the key before I followed her. My love was already awaiting me, her arms wide open. I crawled up next to her, one hand supporting my upper body, the other quickly unbuttoning her blouse, our lips exchanging needy caresses, our tongues moving in a slow dance of seduction and promise. A simple flick of the front clasp of her bra gave me quick access to her breasts. I softly cupped them, squeezed them lightly while keeping my main focus on our kiss.

It was wonderful to be kissing her again. The spark I had so sorely missed when kissing my previous girlfriends sent jolts from the tip of my tongue through every fibre of my neural system until they reached my toes and made them curl in an attempt to let the energy pass through them. Despite being rock-hard from anticipation I was in no hurry. Just basking in the emotions the kiss reawakened was enough for the moment. Veronica seemed to feel the same as she slowly unbuttoned my shirt.

Soon her hands were softly caressing my chest while we kept on the sweet torture of our kiss. Eventually, she pushed the shirt over my shoulders and I had to stop fondling her breasts so I could pull my arm out of the sleeve. She pushed me on my back at the same time as I pulled her up on me and a heartbeat later my shirt was sent flying. With her straddling me, I could finally get rid of her blouse and bra which had been opened but not yet discarded. A sit-up brought my face to her breasts and I resumed with my lips what my fingers had been doing a few moments ago. She stretched and pushed her bosom forward, trying to maximise the surface I could worship, and drew her fingernails through my scalp, sending shivers of excitement down my spine.

Just as my pants were becoming painfully tight she slipped downwards, unbuttoned them and pulled them downwards, taking my boxers with them. When she had them past my knees she let them be and started to remove her own, her eyes fixated on my raging hard-on. I finished undressing myself by kicking my pants off completely as I didn't want them to impede my mobility. Just as I pushed them off the bed Veronica slid back upwards. She planted a light kiss on my cock but didn't stop to stimulate me orally and I didn't want her to. There would be time for that later tonight or tomorrow or next week or whenever. Right now, I wanted her around me and I knew that she wanted me to be inside of her.

In one fluid motion, she straddled me again, raised her upper body, placed my glans at her entrance and sunk down on me, groaning contently. For the first time in six years, I felt complete, really complete. The itch that had always been there, temporarily overlaid by the events of my life, was finally being scratched.

"I love you, Veronica."

For the first time since we had kissed that morning, she surprised me: she started crying. Big heavy tears were running down her cheeks as she sat on top of me, my quickly wilting hard-on still in her pussy.

"Don't you dare go soft just because I can't handle all the happy emotions I'm feeling right now."

She did something with her hips and moved one hand to caress my balls which quickly reversed the blood flow back to my cock.

"Don't worry, my Love, these tears are just the way my body tries to cope with the abundance of happiness I'm feeling at having you back and being back where I belong."

I made another sit-up and with a quick swing of my body and the perfectly timed assisting movement of Veronica I turned us around so that she was lying on her back and me between her legs. I started to make love to her, kissing her tears away, her lips, pulling my member out of her and pushing back in with a slow rhythm.

"Hmmm. Oh, yesss. Just like that. Hmmm. Wonderful."

She whispered sweet endearments into my ear and slowly I started to increase the pace of my movements, focussed on her reactions, adapting to her needs. A harder thrust in between, a couple of long and slow strokes, some quick short hints with the glands just inside her tight velvety channel before pushing all the way in until I couldn't go any deeper.

I could feel her excitement build, her whispered words getting more irregular. My brainstem took over, bypassing all my conscious thinking, synchronising our arousal until I couldn't hold back any longer. The pressure in my balls had built up slowly but steadily and with the unstoppable force of a Tsunami demanded to be released. The moment I let go of the muscles in my shaft, my love beneath me started shaking and moaning loudly into my shoulder and I released a torrent of cum into her quivering folds.

It took us forever to separate our brain functions from each other, to recover from the intense climax we had jointly experienced.

"I love you, William."

+++

It was quite an interesting family situation we found ourselves in. Carla and myself were more or less adopted by the Masterson's. For me, they became regular in-laws but for Carla, who regarded me at the very least partially to be her Dad, they became something in between parents and grandparents. She settled for calling them Aunt and Uncle. The relief I experienced by being able to share a little bit of the responsibility with Veronica was immense and the support we received from Gillian and Nathan in all areas was invaluable. They didn't need to help us financially - Veronica's salary solved most of our monetary problems - but Nathan helped to keep the house in good condition by showing me how to repair things and they occasionally had Carla staying over so that Veronica and I could enjoy a quiet evening to ourselves without having to worry about a minor witnessing things she shouldn't.

Two years later, during my sister's summer break between Junior and Senior High, the three of us moved to an apartment close to my University. We hired the house out to a company who used it as a transitory accommodation for new employees until they could find something on their own. The rent we received more than just covered the rent we had to pay.

I had to repeat a couple of courses because my ECTS-points had expired and it took me two years instead of one to finish my studies. My sister's and my graduation ceremonies were just a week apart. My sister planned to take a sabbatical and then go to College to study mathematics. I already had a job agreement to work for a pharmaceutical company in product development. Part of the contract was that they would pay for and allow time for me to complete doctoral studies.

But before I could start working I had a couple of bothersome obligations to fulfil. First, I had to get Veronica and myself to the registry in time for the three o'clock appointment to marry her. Then I was coerced into eating all kinds of delicious dishes at the subsequent wedding dinner during which the wedding guests forced us to accept dozens of gifts of all kinds. And last but not least, I had to suffer through a honeymoon trip to the Seychelles.

Almost everything was simply perfect. The only thing I had real difficulties with was leaving my sister behind but everybody, and that includes me, knew that it was for the best. Even though Carla was full aged by now she opted to stay with Veronica's parents while we were gone on our honeymoon. They could barely contain their laughter when I tried to give them last-minute-instructions for Carla at the airport.

Of course, Carla usually stayed with Veronica and me until it was time for her to go to College and she found herself a student apartment close to campus. I couldn't contain a grin when I went with her to check it out. It was the same apartment I had stayed in during my first stint at the University before our parents had died.

+++

Another year later, on a rainy November day, Veronica wanted to go window shopping. That in itself was nothing special, she enjoyed window shopping as much as any woman, but what was irritating me was that she insisted that I accompany her.

I set out from our driveway and wanted to turn left towards the city centre where her shopping trips usually took place but she suggested we go to check out the large mall that had recently opened on the outskirts of our town.

We aimlessly wandered through the halls of the mall, looking at clothes, electronics, watches, and jewellery until we walked past a furniture store. Insistently, Veronica pulled me inside. I was utterly confused. It rarely happened that one didn't know what the other intended but today, I had absolutely no idea. We walked through the aisles until she stopped in front of a baby room.