It Started in the Rain Ch. 06

[Chapters 1 thru 5 can be found authored by Scorpio44. I apologize for the long delay before Chapter 6. No excuses.]

Corine and I kissed and shared pressing our warm bodies together in my bed. When the kiss ended she said, "When I arrived I was in uniform. I was sent by Captain Evans to see how our operation was progressing. Captain Evans said I could authorize extending his stay, if I thought it was worthwhile."

"Well? Is it?" I asked, knowing the answer was obvious.

"Yes! He's swimming laps and looks happy."

"Now, what about Commander Cross? How's she doing?"

"In the fifteen minutes before I crawled into bed with you I was kissed by four wonderful women, fed a Chinese food omelet, drank a little good coffee and was told I am loved. I crawled into bed with a sleeping man who folded me into his arms and held me in love without even waking up. Commander Cross is doing better than she believed was possible!"

"Good! Did you knock when you got here or did you open the door and walk in?"

"It was early. I thought everyone would be asleep so I used my key. When I put it in the lock I felt your love and acceptance. You opened to me and trusted me enough to give me the key so quickly. Lee, I'm blown away."

"Thank you. Pete's struggling a little with the new world he's in. I want him to have a few more days to process and come to grips with what's in front of him. I think he'll be fine, body and soul."

We kissed and stopped talking for a while. The first couple of kisses were tentative, then she relaxed and they became full kisses, using her entire body, mind and spirit to kiss my body, mind and spirit.

"Tell me what you want, please." I asked.

"I want to feel you inside me as we kiss again like that. I want to spend the rest of the day knowing you came inside me. I want my lips to remember your kisses and my body to remember your kisses all day long." She paused and said, "I want to express my "I love you" as strongly as I feel it."

She continued to kiss me and soon she was on top of me, straddling my hips and helping me fill her deepest need. We didn't hurry. We joined, became of one mind, one soul, one body and moved so she was on top, then under me. Time stopped or at least slowed to the point of being irrelevant.

When we stopped thrusting together it wasn't just because we had cum. We had both cum and we kept expressing our joy at being connected. We didn't need to thrust. We were joined. We continued to kiss, touch and learn each other's bodies and feelings.

I slipped off into sleep again.

When my eyes opened Megan was two inches from my face. She closed the gap and kissed me.

"Daddy, Corine is in the living room. She understands the dilemma Pete is in. She talked with Pete after you went back to sleep. He explained what he's thinking and feeling as best he could. She wrapped him in her arms and they cried together for a little while."

"And?"

"And he's back in the pool swimming laps and kissing Rina. Corine's still on the couch, staring at the wall."

"We need to eat!" I said.

"What?"

"She's stuck in her head! Helping to make lunch and eating it will shift her focus and get all of us to redirect our energy. Let's go!" I got out of bed and took Megan with me. I pulled on some shorts and Megan pulled on the wrap she'd been wearing. On our way through the living room I collected Corine and when we got to the kitchen I gave them jobs to do, preparing lunch. As we worked Corine refocused and got into the rhythm of making sandwiches. When things were made and the table loaded I called Pete, Rina and anyone else to the table. Pete pulled himself out of the pool and toweled off as he walked Rina into the house. Both were nude.

Pete stopped when he remembered Corine, Commander Cross, was in the dining room. He wrapped in a towel and blushed. When we were all at the table we prayed, "Thank you" and began to eat. Commander Cross asked how the rehab was going. Rina answered, "I'm impressed. He's getting stronger every day."

"I need to go down to the ocean." Pete said, "I need a few laps around the pier to start really developing my stamina."

"Ready for that already?" Commander Cross asked.

Rina nodded and Pete said, "Yes. Ma'am!"

"Don't forget to wear a suit." Commander Cross said. Pete blushed.

Rina said, "I'll take him down to the pier and bring him back when he's done."

When the meal was over Pete did the clean up. I went out by the pool and noticed his crutches were still where he left them when Bonnie took him inside for his first therapy session. After I was outside for a few minutes Megan came out and stood near me. She waited to speak, thinking maybe I had come out to process something and needed some quiet.

I walked the few steps to her and softly said, "Years of near solitude and now my life is full again. Thank you. Thank you for still being here. Thank you for giving me the time to heal."

She gave the hug back to me and said, "Healing isn't something I know how to rush. If tears would do it, it would have been over years ago. I shed lots of tears when you retreated, so did Rina, Bonnie, Siomara, and others."

"How do I thank each of you for hangin in there while I was gone?"

"You already have. You came back." She paused. "Are you out here thinking about Pete?"

"A little. I'm thinking about Siomara, about you, about Pam and Kat... about me, too."

"Oh. I notice you were at the end of your list. I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Can we?"

"Of course. Out here or inside?"

"Inside. And, in case it comes up, I'm Ok with anyone joining the conversation."

"Ok." I put my arm around her shoulders and her arm went around me, a little lower. Pete and Rina were gone. Corine was finishing up some extra clean up in the kitchen. Pam and Kat had gone back to the base.

I sat on the sectional couch in the family room. Megan sat on the same couch but on the other wing. Corine saw us, made a judgment call and started out of the room. Megan called to her, "Corine, I'd like it if you joined us. I value your opinion."

She came over and sat right in the middle, halfway between us.

"Dad has taken care of me since I was two months old and Brian since he was even younger. He volunteered. He took care of my Mom too, even after they divorced. Especially when she was sick and dying. He loves people. I don't know how to put this well, but I worry that he gives away so much of himself caring for others that he'll burn out... and retreat again. How can we prevent that?"

"You think Lee is in danger of being burnt out on love?"

"He loves so many people. And, he doesn't love them a little. I've watched how he loves. I've grown up hearing other people use the phrase "All or nothing." There is no "nothing" with my Dad. There's no half way, no little bit. He decides you're in and he means all the way in. How long had you known him when you got a key to the house?"

"I'd met him once on base and once here."

"I'll bet you don't know one other person in your entire life who does that. Most of the time he doesn't bother locking the damn door anyway! The key is just a symbol, another way to tell us he loves us!"

Corine looked at me and then back at Megan. "You want him to stop?"

"No! But I think it's time we took better care of him. I have a job. I live here full time. He pays the rent, the utilities, buys hundreds of dollars of food and never asks for us to participate."

I spoke up, "I don't ask and I don't turn down any contributions that come into the house. I get fully contributed to by having each of you in my life. For five years I bounced around in here alone, thinking about inviting people over. I cannot tell you how many times I picked up a phone and hung up without making the call that would have ended the solitude. I can't tell you why I stopped at the bus stop in the rain."

"We're all glad you did." Corine said.

"So am I. My home is full of love being expressed again. It feels like every time I open my arms a beautiful woman steps inside and lets me love her. Now even the U.S. Navy is letting me, us, love people back to health! Stop worrying. I am better cared for in body, mind and spirit than ninety-five percent of the people on the planet."

Corine spoke to Megan, "We're women. Worrying about the people we love is part of being a care-giver, a wife, mother, sister, nurse, we fall into caring as naturally as a dolphin falls into water. You don't need Lee's permission to care for him, neither do I. I crawled into bed with him without permission. I didn't do it just for me or just for him. I wanted to take care of him and take care of me."

She moved from the middle of the couch to my lap. She said, "I can't tell you I moved to his lap for his mental, physical and emotional health or mine. Lee said we haven't and won't fuck or make love. We join. We become one. I know I'm a better woman now than I was a month ago and sitting right here is a big part of why. Take Lee out for dinner. He'll know you are using dinner as a way of saying you love him. Bring home groceries, flowers, wash the dishes he sees all of it as saying you are expressing love."

"And, I don't need any of those things. You don't ever have to do anything for me to know you love me."

It was quiet for a long time. Corine put her head on my shoulder.

Megan sat and looked at us for a few minutes and then said, "I'm mad at grandma!"

I laughed, what she said was so surprising. "Why?" I asked.

"Cause she and grandpa only made you. The world needs more of you."

"We're making more people who love. Other parents start them, feed them, grow them and then, when they're ready, they come here to learn more about loving." I said.

Corine said, "Pete would still be lying depressed in a Navy hospital if your Dad hadn't stopped and given Kat and Pam a ride right into his heart."

"Don't lay all this on me. Kat walked out the gate and accepted a ride from a stranger. Truth is, it started in the rain. If it had been a beautiful day I probably would have driven by that bus stop at sixty and never even noticed Kat."

"Don't say that to Kat! She'd cry." Megan said.

"If she cries there will always be volunteers to dry her tears. I'm first in line."

"Ok. I feel better. Worrying about you is normal, natural and something built into my wiring. Corine says so."

I asked Corine, "When do you need to be back on base?"

"Tomorrow. But I should call and let Captain Evans know about Pete's progress. He may want to come see for himself."

Megan got her a phone and Corine called from my lap. Captain Evans asked to speak to me and Corine handed me the phone.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Is Petty Officer Alcord really down at the beach swimming around the pier?"

"Yes Sir, he is. A lady I know drove him down about an hour ago. Earlier this morning he swam two hundred laps of our pool and his crutches are right where he left them yesterday afternoon."

"That is difficult to believe. When he left he was depressed and I was worried. The Commander thinks a few more days with you would help him both physically and emotionally. Do you agree?"

"Sir, we all feel that way. We're a team and we talk a lot. Some of what we talk about is Pete. Come down and spend an hour or two here, then make up your own mind. I have a request though. As you drive down here be thinking of which Marine or sailor you want to send to us next."

"Ok, I'll come. No uniform, no rank. Petty Officer Alcord doesn't know me so it'll be an informal visit."

"This afternoon? This evening?"

"How about if I arrive at about 1730?"

"If it's an informal non-Navy visit, you need to drop the ranks and military times. And 5:30 will be fine. Bring a bathing suit unless you're comfortable skinny-dipping. Most of the folk around here prefer skinny-dipping."

"Petty... Pete seemed really bothered by his scars. Are you telling me he isn't bothered by them?"

"Pam wanted to check them yesterday afternoon. She asked him, while they were out by the pool with four other people, if she could check them. He dropped his swimsuit to the deck in front of God and everyone. I'd say the therapy is doing well."

"Then why not bring him back to the base?"

"One good meal doesn't cure malnutrition. One kiss doesn't cure loneliness. We've got his eyes open. Now we're helping him relearn how to open them himself."

"I get it. I thank you and I need to ask one more question; what can I bring?"

"We're getting a little low on beer. Pete seems to prefer Bud light. Bring that and whatever else you'd like. No decisions have been made about dinner yet. Hell, I haven't had lunch yet."

"Is Commander Cross coming back to the base in the morning?"

"She's close by. Want to talk to her again?"

"Yes, please." I passed the phone to Corine.

She sat up straighter and answered professionally. Less than a minute later she pressed the button terminating the connection. She looked at me, shook her head a few times and said, "I can't believe I just talked to Captain Evans while I was sitting nude in your lap!"

"Wait a few hours and you can sit just like this with him here in the room with us!" Megan said, laughing at the face Corine made at the thought."

"Oh my God! He's coming here! Tonight!"

"Relax," I said. "This is not an inspection tour. He'll leave his white gloves back in his office. He'll wear casual clothes. Should I call him back and warn him about Rina?"

"No! I want to watch his face when he sees her chest." Corine said. "The first time I saw her she was sitting out by the pool with her legs spread and just as she looked over at me Pete lifted out of the water and kissed her pussy! She said "One hundred sixty-four" and he went back in to swim another lap."

I said, "Let's toss on some clothes and go get some lunch."

Two minutes later we were headed down the hill towards Santa Monica. We had lunch at a place called "On the Beach", that actually has their tables setting on the sand. We watched the runners and bikers going by on the bike path while we enjoyed a good lunch.

While we enjoyed lunch some friends stopped by. The first was a dentist I have seen for a number of years. He was rollerblading by, saw me with two beautiful women and rolled off the bike path, landing face first in the sand. Corine was to him in a flash.

"Are you OK?" She asked. He looked up at her and said, "I'm great now." He introduced himself and she helped him up. They came back to the table.

Corine said, "He's not hurt."

I said, "He knows how to land so he won't get hurt. He lands face first. Ladies, this is Dr. Mike Zole, my dentist. Mike this is Corine and this is Megan."

He found another chair and joined us. The waitress brought him a big glass of iced tea and asked him if he wanted his lunch now." He thanked her and nodded.

"I eat here for lunch three days a week." He said.

He faced me and asked, "What happened? I used to see you down here at the beach once or twice a week, then in the last three or four years I only see you for your exams."

"He woke up," Megan said. I nodded.

"And, it's been five years. I'm happy and sharing life again."

"So, which of these ladies gets the credit for waking you?" He looked between the two.

Corine answered, "Neither of us. Someone I know pretty well gets the credit. She'd be here with us but she's at work."

"Wait! I remember now. Five years ago you lived up in the Palisades and your wife... something happened to your wife."

"They divorced and she died." Megan said. "Daddy retreated into his cave and a month ago Kat woke him from hibernation."

"Daddy?"

"Yes. He's my Daddy."

"Well, welcome back! You look great and... you all look great!"

His lunch arrived and we all resumed eating. When we were done Mike said, "Lunch is on me. I'll look forward to seeing you here again sometime soon."

We walked to the parking lot and Mike rolled on his way. In the parking lot a silver BMW parked and the driver, a woman about forty, jumped out of the car leaving the door wide open and ran to me. As she got close I recognized her. Last time I'd seen her she had brown hair in a long ponytail and had been dressed in black. Last time had been at my wife's funeral. Now she had curly blond hair and was wearing white running shorts and a jog-bra.

She jumped and I caught her. Her legs wrapped around me as well as her arms and her lips found mine. Pow! We were kissing with enthusiasm. I remembered the press of her breasts against my chest. When the kiss ended she jumped to the ground and said, "I thought you were gone forever!"

We heard the horn of her car. The parking guy was standing by it and she looked, turned back and said, "Don't move!" She ran to her car, parked it, shut off the engine and ran back to us.

I got another hug and she said, "I'm sorry to just barge in like this, but I thought maybe you died, too."

I said, "Corine, Megan this is Connie. Connie is a friend from long ago."

Megan said, "Didn't you hang around the house while Mom was really sick? Didn't you used to wear your hair in a ponytail? "

"Yes, and it was brown."

"You were at Mom's funeral. Pearls and a pearl bracelet." Megan said.

"Yes, that was me. Lee gave me those pearls. Her death almost killed me." She wrapped an arm around me and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't get your names."

I said, "Connie, meet Corine a friend from Point Mugu and Megan you knew, she's my daughter."

Connie's body language was frenetic. She wasn't still a moment. Corine asked, "Would you like to come up to the house? Something tells me you know the way and you probably have a key."

"Oh my God! It's in the glove box! Wait! I'm intruding. I'll give you my card. You can call me when we can get together. I don't fly again until next Wednesday."

I smiled and said, "Give me the card at the house. The reason you have a key is so you can get in. Come any time. I happen to know the hot tub is cooking. Dinner will be around five-thirty or six-thirty."

Another car with three women in it came into the lot and honked. Connie looked and waved. Megan said, "We'll let you get to your lunch. It was great seeing you again." She stepped to Connie and kissed her cheek. I kissed her mouth and Corine kissed her mouth. The look on Connie's face was shocked at first, then she looked at me and said, "You really are back. I'm so glad."

In the car Corine said, "Never in my life have I kissed another woman on the mouth like that! She doesn't know I exist. Offer her a thousand dollars to tell you my name, she can't do it." Five seconds passed and she continued, "And, I just kissed her on the mouth!"

"By nine tonight she will be nude and available for kisses anywhere. As I remember she loves kissing. I can ask Brian to be sure but I think she was a tutor for him learning how to really kiss. Lesson one was on his eighteenth birthday. I think lesson number two was given by Rina."

Corine turned to Megan and asked, "Who gave you lessons?"

"Rina, Phil, Mike, Conner, Heather..."

I said, "Ok. Let's just say she had lots of volunteers."

Corine said, "Rina was first?"

"Yup. When I turned eighteen she taught me how to kiss, suck cock and eat pussy. It was a hell of a birthday."

"I didn't know she was first." I said.

"Mom called her. She wasn't up to teaching me herself and enrolled Rina in being my surrogate Mom for a weekend. They picked a weekend you were away, teaching."

"Wow! I didn't know."

"Can I ask a question? If it's too personal, just say so and I'll back away." Corine said.

"Ask anything." I said.

"No one ever uses your wife's name. She's referred to in various ways, but not by name. What's up with that?"

Megan put her hand on my arm and said, "Mom and Dad got divorced and about a year later she got sick. Dad moved her back in and took care of her with lots of us helping. When she died he whispered to me during the funeral that every time someone said her name he died a little inside. A good friend stood up during the funeral and started singing a song by John Denver, named for his first wife. Dad had to be helped outside. While he was outside I told everyone why he collapsed. I don't think any of us have said her name since."