Flower Girl Ch. 09

* * * * *

Tracy woke up in the afternoon and her first thought was, I'm not pregnant. William was on his side reading and she spoke what she was thinking.

"I'm not pregnant anymore."

William looked up from his book and saw that she looked more surprised than sad.

"How are you feeling?"

"Physically? Fine. It feels weird not to be at work. I think I'll call and make sure everything is okay, and then I need to eat. Are you hungry?"

"Starving, but I didn't want to leave in case you woke up. Your kitchen is pretty bare."

"I need to get out."

"You need to take it easy."

"I just meant somewhere around here. There is a Thai restaurant on the corner."

"That sounds good."

Tracy suddenly clamped her hands on the side of her face and said, "Oh my god, William! What about your game!"

William shrugged and answered, "I already let them know I wouldn't be playing."

"But -"

"I wouldn't be able to play, Tracy. There's no way I could get my head in to the game."

Tracy's face fell at the awareness of William's loss. She had been thinking of herself, mostly, and the realization made her cringe. "I'm so sorry William."

"Oh, no need. There's another game next week."

"I meant about the baby."

"Oh," William answered and looked away.

Tracy scooted next to him and hugged him, taking her turn at consoling.

* * * * *

The bar was unusually crowded, so William was surprised and pleased to find that John was already seated and even had a beer waiting for him.

"Ah, thank you! How are you, my friend? This was a long stretch,"

John nodded in agreement, "Yes, and a busy time for both of us too. I'm really sorry about what happened. How is Tracy doing?" John asked, having been kept informed of the situation in spite of being out of the country.

"Physically she is doing fine. Emotionally, she is mostly up."

"How about you?"

"Disappointed," William answered. "I try to be positive in front of Tracy and I do feel very good about the future, but the truth is I am very disappointed. Sad, actually." William took a drink of his beer and stared off in the distance.

John nodded, paused and asked, "What now?"

"So now, we just get back to dating I suppose. This has been a very strange beginning. The pregnancy forced us to have some very serious conversations early on. I would not have asked for this situation, but the outcome is that I now have a very clear idea of what I want."

John nodded, expecting William to go on.

"I suggested we skip birth control, but no, Tracy was adamant about not being an unwed mother. "

"Oh no! Are you actually considering -"

"Well, not immediately," William assured him, "But I want to spend my life with Tracy, there is no doubt about that."

"She is quite an amazing woman. Smart, funny, sexy, independent, beautiful..."

"Too bad her twin is married."

"She has a twin! Holy-hell William, how did you neglect to tell me that?"

"Well, her twin sister is married. But don't worry, Tracy is getting pretty chummy with the lovely redhead from her writer's group and a double date is in our near future. And from what Tracy has learned about her, this could be interesting."

"Ah yes, the naughty-teacher-runner-girl. Let me know when I can meet her."

"Of course, John. I certainly will," and William lifted his bottle to toast his friend.

* * * * *

Tracy looked up from laptop and asked William, "How come you don't write?"

"I do."

"Really?" Tracy sat up and joined him on the couch. "You said in your first email that you don't write. Why did you say that?"

"I said I don't write fiction. I wish that I had an imagination like yours, but when I overhear a conversation my mind does not take off in creating a story. Instead, I want to ask questions about the story that already exists. I want to research facts. I would really like to write a biography."

"Why don't you?"

"I did. Well, it wasn't a biography, actually, but I spent an extensive amount of time working on a book about 'The Bartman Play' but someone beat me to it and published a book a few years ago."

"The Bartman Play? What's that?"

William laughed and said, "I can't believe you are completely unaware of an event that I spent years researching in meticulous detail."

Tracy put a hand on her hip and said in a Southern Drawl, "I may be ignorant, but I ain't stupid!"

William looked at her in surprise.

"That was a quote from 'Coal Miner's Daughter', the story of Loretta Lynn, the country singer?"

William shook his head.

"See, I know plenty of things you don't. Now tell me about 'The Bartman Play'. I assume it has something to do with baseball?"

"Yes, it happened in 2003, during the sixth game of a playoff series between the Cubs and the Marlins. The play involved a foul ball and an innocent spectator named Steve Bartman. He tried to catch the ball and it touched his fingers tips but fell to the ground and was a very serious game changer. The Cubs lost the out and the game and consequently did not make it to the World Series. It has been one of the most talked about moments in the history of the game, but what I wanted to do was write about the fan, Steve Bartman and how his life was altered by this incident."

"The fans must've hated him!"

"Yes, Cub fans of course. Marlin fans tried to send him gifts, but he had them all donated to charity. He had to go into hiding, making it difficult for me to do my research, but there has been too much coverage of the incident anyway."

"Wow, that must of have been such a disappointment for you, to do all that work and have someone else publish first?"

"I don't regret it. It was good practice and I enjoyed the process, but I continue to keep an eye out for an interesting biography; some unfamiliar person with a story to tell."

Tracy pensively suggested, "What about my Nana?"

William laughed and said, "I do find your Nana fascinating, but why would the rest of the world want to read about Beverly Wilcox?"

"Because she was a Rockette."

William eyebrows shot up, "Your grandmother was a Rockette?"

"Yes. I didn't mention it? Back in the early sixties. She has lived a very interesting life. Raised on a farm, came to New York to dance..."

"I love the idea of doing a historical piece. Do you think she'd be willing to talk to me?"

Tracy laughed and answered, "William, I can't imagine any woman in the world not wanting to talk to you, including my Nana. She happens to adore you, so just...take her to lunch or something. Feel her out."

"My word, a Rockette. The legs are genetic."

Tracy laughed. "Hey, I finished the Vera and Andy part of the story."

"May I?"

"Of course."

Andy walked out the door into the bright sunshine and could see Vera standing on the curb next to a parked van. The guard let Andy out of the gate and he walked into Vera's open arms.

"Finally," Vera sighed, and began kissing him.

"Not here, okay? I want to get as away from this place as quick as I can. I hate being watched all the time."

"Sure thing, sweetie. You want to drive?"

"Nah...it's been a while and I am a bundle of nerves. I'll let you drive."

Vera laughed and said, "Okay mister, get in," and she walked around to the driver side of the van and unlocked the passenger door from the inside. She drove a few miles without speaking, allowing Andy to take the lead, but he was busy looking around at all the people on the freeway. Finally Vera spoke, "Does it feel weird to be out?"

"It feels great!" Andy sighed and finally smiled. "Thank you for picking me up, Vera. I really owe you a lot."

"You don't owe me anything, Andy, I told you. Quit saying that," Vera insisted as she slowed for the exit to get off of the freeway and pull into a parking lot of a shopping area. Andy assumed she needed to run an errand, but she parked the van at the far end of the lot where it was empty. Then she unbuckled her seat belt and told Andy to do the same.

"Why? What are we doing?"

"We need to have a little talk," Vera answered as she leaned into him and started stroking the front of his pants.

"Here?"

"Yes. Here." She started kissing Andy and moved her hand to his belt buckle.

"Vera! I'm on parole! Don't get me busted for indecent exposure."

"Oh Andy, don't be ridiculous. There is no one around and I know you want this."

Andy did not put up a fight as Vera freed his very hard cock from his trousers and began vigorously working him with her hand. Sure he wanted her and had been dreaming about it for months, but not like this, not in a parked car. But he had no control, having been locked up for months. "Vera," he moaned in her mouth, "Slow..."

But Vera didn't listen, she did what she wanted, which was to bring Andy to a hard fast orgasm with her hand, and then giggled at the mess he made. "Jeez, Andy! You got it on the ceiling!" She laughed and reached for a roll of paper towels behind his seat. She had planned this, Andy thought to himself, But why?

Vera began to speak as if she read his mind, while Andy put away his still semi-hard cock. "Well, I wanted to get that out of the way for several reasons! First of all, I figured you needed it. Second, I need you to last more than thirty seconds when I get you home, sweetie," Vera winked at him and Andy's cock twitched at the promise of more sex. "But most importantly, I need to have a serious talk with you and I need you to think with this," she pointed to his head, "not with this," and pointed to his dick. "I want it to make it official. I want you to be Victor's live-in caretaker, and not just for now."

Andy immediately started shaking his head, not wanting to be a charity case to Vera.

"Hear me out Andy. You need a job, and no one is going to hire a convicted felon with your skill set. But you are perfectly capable of helping me with Victor and I have been paying other people to do that anyway. You'd be good at it, Andy. I can trust you."

"Yeah, but..."

"I want you to live with us." Her smiling face full of freckles beamed with sincerity, but he still worried about how it would change things, then as if reading his mind she spoke, "Look Andy, I'm not being charitable. I've really missed you. It killed me that you were having that much financial difficulty and not saying anything, allowing me to keep taking your money like that. Besides, I need a caretaker for Victor and you need a job. You need a place to live and...well...I want you around, Andy. You are probably the only guy that could accept my line of work, although you may be happy to know I don't have any 'hands on' customers any longer. I want you to be my hands on guy, Andy. I just have one request."

Here it goes, Andy thought. The stipulation.

"Well...the only thing I am very concerned about it, well...I really like what we had Andy. I am kind of reluctant to give that up."

Andy was still not quite sure what she meant, so he kept his mouth shut.

"I don't think you realized, hell, I don't think I realized how much I enjoyed our time together. The sex and the conversation. Just to talk to a normal guy about what was going on with Victor or about your work, or anything. Plus...you are the only real nice guy I've ever known that wasn't too nice in bed and I really like that mix, Andy. And you are kind and easy to talk to. I guess I am admitting that I have always thought of you as more than a friend or a customer, I just didn't want to allow myself to feel that because it would interfere with my work, you know? It would hurt too much to admit."

"Why would it hurt, Vera? You don't believe I just thought of you as...a..." Andy couldn't bring himself to say it so Vera did.

"Aging hooker?"

Andy laughed and said, "We are both aging, but yeah."

"Well, yeah, what do think about my offer? Do you think you'd want to be with me every day Andy?"

"Yes, Vera. Being with you every day would be my dream come true. And I say that without even hearing your stipulation."

"Oh that?" Vera got a wicked smile, "The stipulation is that I still want to have our Tuesdays. Every Tuesday evening I want you to leave the house and return a while later, and I want to answer the door in one of your favorite nighties and I want to see that hungry look in your eyes. I am not willing to give that up, Andy! I want you to ravish me, then have pillow talk for a while, then make sweet love to me like we used to. Can we still do that Andy?"

"As long as I can pay you with monopoly money. I love you Vera, but I'm not willing to go back to jail."

Vera laughed and leaned over for a long hug and admitted, "I love you too, Andy. I think I have for years."

Andy squeezed her tightly for a long while, overcome with emotion. It was worth it. Six months away just to learn that Vera felt the same way.

"Okay Andy, loosen that vice grip and let's go home. I want you to drive and get used to this van, because after you satisfy me at home, we are going to put Victor in his wheelchair and take him to the park, okay?"

"Sure, that sounds good Vera," Andy answered as he slid off his chair and let Vera sit in his seat. Andy started the van , put it in drive and headed to their home.

The end.

William looked up from his iPad and smiled.

"Do you like the ending?" she asked.

"I do. You gave them a happy ending. I am a bit surprised."

"Really? Well of course I did, silly. It's a romance! Did you think I'd be cynical?"

"I wasn't so sure up until the very end," William admitted. "So you are deeply romantic and optimistic. What about us, Kitten? Does the 'William and Tracy story' have a happy ending?"

"Oh, hell no." Tracy frowned at him. "No way!"

William raised an eyebrow at her wondering if she was being deliberately sassy, but Tracy went on. "Our story doesn't end. There is no way for us to have an ending that is happy. Our story has to keep going."

"You are one clever writer, my love," William took Tracy in his arms and she laughed.

"And you are one brilliant reader," Tracy replied and brought her mouth to his.

*****

Thank you for reading this story and I would really appreciate if you take the time to vote, comment, or email. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Michael, my mentor. I am so very excited for what we have ahead of us! I would also like to thank the awesome writer IanSaulWhitcomb, who also happens to be my friend. Check my bio if you want to know what's next!