Love and Memories

Author's Note: This story originated from a roleplay idea from TearsoftheWorld on the forums, that never matured into its own thread. Much appreciation to her for the spark.

With a grunt and a forceful tug, David managed to jam the last of his clothes into his roller board bag and pull the heavy duty zipper shut. The zip closure gave a moderate protest, pulling together with a noise that more resembled a groan than a "zip."

"Oof," David said to himself, leaning against the edge of his bed and giving the over-packed roller bag a triumphant pat. "I need to get some bigger luggage."

The old suitcase had worked well enough for a week at science camp, but that had been years ago when he was in sixth grade. Now that he was 18, he needed just a little more space than the well-worn bag could comfortably provide.

"Thank god we didn't choose the two-week trip," he grumbled.

Under most circumstances, he would've been the first in line for a week-long cruise on a lavish, modern luxury liner. He'd just graduated high school, and a tropical cruise ship was a perfect place for him to live up the good life for part of the summer before it came time to worry about college. But, of course, there was a hang-up: he was going on the cruise with his mother. His ability to do anything fun or debaucherous pretty much went out the nearest window with her anywhere on board, much less sharing a cabin with him.

The cruise was a plan he had originally devised. He and his grandparents had pooled the money to send his mother, Madison, and one of her friends on the week-long Caribbean adventure, primarily as a thank you gift to his mother for putting up with him for eighteen years. Madison had gotten pregnant when she was 15, and from what David had managed to piece together from fragments of overheard conversation and slips of the tongue, she had been strongly encouraged by many to have an abortion, but she remained adamant about keeping him. His father, then a senior in high school, had promptly skipped town and was never heard from again. His mother raised him alone, with help from her parents, who, despite their initial urgings to have the pregnancy terminated, quickly became Madison and David's most heartfelt supporters. Beyond barely making it out of high school, giving up college, and working two jobs to make ends meet, David could only guess at what his mother had been forced to sacrifice to raise him. Now that he was finally on the verge of setting out on his own, a week-long cruise seemed like the least he could do for her. It also meant that he would have their small apartment to himself for a week, which was a very powerful incentive for a red-blooded eighteen year old.

But then Madison's friend who was supposed to accompany her had canceled due to a family emergency, and Madison unexpectedly asked David if he would accompany her instead. David tried to suggest other friends that could go with her, but she twisted his arm with puppy dog eyes and an explanation that she simply wanted to enjoy one last getaway with her son before he left for college. Like any teenager, David had suffered through his share of disagreements with his mother, but in his heart he loved her dearly and couldn't bear to turn her down.

Besides, he told himself, it was just a week. He'd be back home and partying with his friends before he knew it. And it wasn't as if his mother was overbearing or boring. Quite the opposite, she was vibrant and full of energy, sometimes even slipping back into the same youthful indiscretions that had probably landed her as a teen mother to begin with. Still, the fact that she was his mother did have a wet-blanket effect on David's expectations for the trip.

But there would be time to worry about that later. For now, David's top priority was hauling his and his mother's luggage down to his car and getting to the airport, where he would meet his mother for their flight to Fort Lauderdale, where they would board the massive luxury liner that would be their home for the next week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Madison very nearly ran to the PIN pad in the back office of the sporting goods store to clock herself out when her shift ended. She'd been working at the store since David started high school, and over four years had worked her way up from a cashier to an assistant manager trainee. The job was grueling at times, keeping her on her feet day in and day out, but the pay was better than what she'd been getting before and Joey, the store manager, seemed to appreciate that Madison was a hard worker and went out of his way to give her opportunities to prove herself to the bigwigs in corporate.

Joey was in the office filling out forms to send back to corporate as Madison hurriedly collected her things and clocked herself out of the system.

"You look like a kid running downstairs on Christmas morning," Joey joked. "Not that you don't deserve it. This trip has been a long time coming for you."

"It's okay to admit that this place is going to fall apart without me, you know," Madison teased, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

Madison knew, of course, that nothing could be farther from the truth. Joey was a former Marine and would have the store running like a well-oiled machine.

"We'll manage to limp along," he replied. "Just have fun for all of us. We'll still be here waiting for you next week."

"Don't remind me!"

With a wave over her shoulder, Madison was out the door and into the parking lot, glancing at her watch. She was running a few minutes later than she'd hoped, which she knew David wouldn't mind, but still, she didn't want to keep him waiting. She knew it was somewhat of an imposition for him to be going on the cruise with her at all. David never would have admitted it, of course, but Madison was under no delusions that her son hadn't already cooked up plans for a party (or two, or three) when she asked him to join her on the cruise. She had convinced him to go by telling him that she wanted to take one big trip with him before he headed off to college, which was true, but what she hadn't told him was that after her best friend Jasmine canceled on her due to a death in the family, Madison didn't really have any friends to invite on the trip. Being a single, working mother had taken a toll on her social life, and after David had come into her life, Madison didn't really have time to make new friends. And she didn't even want to think about the vacuum that was her love life. She hoped that the cruise would provide at least some temporary reprieve from her social isolation, but just in case that didn't go as planned, it gave her some comfort to know that David would be there with her.

When Madison arrived at the airport terminal, David was already there waiting for her, with luggage for both of them in tow as planned.

"Hi, baby, I'm so sorry I'm late," Madison said, giving her son a quick peck on the cheek as she took her bag and boarding pass from him.

"It's okay, Mom," David replied. "I know you had to work. Oh, speaking of which."

Madison jumped a little bit as David reached forward and snatched the plastic name tag that was still clipped to the pocket of her shirt above her left breast.

"There we go," he said, tucking the badge into the pocket of his jeans. "Now people won't think you're here to sell them a set of golf clubs."

"Thanks," she said sheepishly. "How do I look?"

"Like you just spent the whole day running a Sports Factory," he teased, rolling his bag toward the security line. "We can fix that once we're on the ship."

"That bad, huh?" she sighed, following her son into the airport.

The flight to Fort Lauderdale was fairly uneventful, aside from the crying baby a few rows behind David and Madison. Madison fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the backrest of her seat, having been up since 6am to open the store. David tried to watch a few TV shows he had loaded onto his phone, but the process became a little more difficult when his sleeping mother's head slipped onto his shoulder, yanking one of his earbuds out and weighing down his arm that he was using to hold his phone up. He tried a few times to shift positions without waking his mother, but was unable to find a comfortable setup, so he simply settled in and rested his head against his mother's for the duration of the flight.

After landing, it was a short taxi ride for David and Madison to reach the pier where their ship would be waiting. David had read up on the luxury liner before booking the trip, but still found himself staring in awe of the massive vessel when he climbed out of the taxi. The ship was the newest and biggest in the cruise company's fleet, more or less a floating city. From where he stood on the pier, David couldn't even see the uppermost decks, but he could make out a few prominent features here and there, like the top of a rock climbing wall or a waterslide. While he quietly took in the sight of it all, his mother was a bit more perky, perhaps re-energized from her nap on the flight.

"Oh my god, this is going to be so much fun!" Madison gushed, as she claimed their bags from the taxi driver and wheeled David's luggage up to him. "Aren't you excited, sweetie?"

"Mmmhmm, yeah," he replied half-attentively, still distracted by all the ship had to offer and the steady stream of people filing on board.

"Baby, I promise, you're going to have such a great time," his mother insisted, mistaking his awe-struck demeanor for lack of enthusiasm. "You won't even know I'm here. You can go meet girls, explore, anything."

As Madison mentioned girls, David let his eyes wander to a trio of young women in shorts, bikini tops, and flip-flop sandals passing by and boarding the ship, feeling his blood start to stir a little bit. He looked back up at the massive city-ship in the water in front of him and smiled inwardly. On a ship big enough to have its own zip code, there were bound to be plenty of places he could get himself into trouble without having to worry about being caught by his mother.

"We'll both have a great time, Mom," he responded, more emphatically this time. "Now let's go. The sooner we get on board, the sooner we can get you out of those clothes."

"David!" Madison pretended to be offended by her son's comment, crossing one arm across her breasts as if to conceal herself from him. "At least buy me dinner first."

"You know what I mean, Mom!" David laughed, before taking off in the direction of the ship, with Madison just a few steps behind.

Once they were checked in aboard the ship, mother and son explored their way through the interior passageways looking for their cabin. Even with help from his grandparents, David hadn't been able to splurge to get his mother a truly fancy room, though he had managed to find a good price on a room with a window overlooking the main promenade at the heart of the ship. If the room had been a hotel room, it would have been considered very cozy (or flat-out small) by any standards other than New York City standards. Immediately to the side of the entryway door was a bathroom, and beyond that, what appeared to be either a double size or small queen size bed. Past the bed was a desk and wall-mounted flat-screen television, with a couch along the opposite wall. Finally there was the bay window overlooking the promenade, with a twin-sized bed beneath the window. The walking spaces in the room were fairly narrow, and David and Madison had some difficulty squeezing by one another as they unpacked their bags to settle in.

"Mmmph, we're going to be a little short on privacy, aren't we?" Madison said, as she sucked in her stomach to allow David past her. Even with her stomach pulled in tight, she felt herself pressed against the wall behind her as her son carefully squeezed by so that he could set his bags nearer the twin bed by the window, where he would be sleeping.

"I remember a time when I could have just parted my feet and let you walk right on by," Madison giggled, after her son had passed and she could let out her breath.

"That was a long time ago, Mom," David said with a grin. "I'm sorry about the privacy thing, I didn't think it was as a problem when I thought you were taking the trip with Aunt Jas."

"Hey, it wasn't that long ago!" his mother complained. "You just grew up so darn fast. And don't apologize about the room, who would've guessed that poor Aunt Jas would have to go to a funeral? You'll just have to get used to seeing your mom get dressed in front of you."

"Oh god, Mom, please!" David pleaded, turning his back to his mother as she began to unbutton the first few buttons of her blouse. "We do have a bathroom in here."

"And it's even more cramped in there than in here!" Madison retorted in a false whine, suppressing giggles at the way her son reacted to her torment. "It's not like you haven't seen my breasts before. I'm pretty sure they were one of the first things you saw after you were born, you know."

"It's totally not the same!" her son protested, peeking over his shoulder. "Wait, are you seriously stripping down in here right now?"

"Maaaybe," she continued in a sing-song voice, unzipping the fly of her slacks and shimmying them off. "What's the matter, David? Your old mom isn't that hideous, is she?"

"It doesn't matter, you're my mom!"

"I didn't hear a yes or a no in there..."

"It's not like I've been checking you out or something."

"Davey, you're an eighteen year old boy. You check out everything with a pair of tits. Be honest, how do I look to you?"

With a dejected sigh, David turned and sat on the edge of the bed facing his mother. She had stepped out of her slacks and stood in front of him with her blouse fully unbuttoned, revealing a matching bra and panty set in baby blue.

"You look... do I really have to do this?"

"I just need to know, David," Madison insisted, her tone more serious. "I've been out of the social world for a long time, and I just want to know how I look to men. And there's no man in my life that I trust more than you."

"Well, I... you look good, I guess," he admitted with little certainty.

"Just good, you guess?"

"I mean, I don't know. It's weird, having to rate my mom. Yeah, good. Really good. Your tits... um, I mean breasts, are, you know, firm and stuff. And they're nice. Not too small. And your butt is pretty round and tight. Geez, Mom, you're making me blush."

Madison could feel her cheeks flushing hot as well, listening to her son stumble over himself to compliment her body. She knew he couldn't possibly fathom, much less provide, a fully honest evaluation of her as an object of sexual desire, but it still reassured her in some strange way that her features met with his approval.

"If it helps, some of my friends think you're really hot," David added, suddenly very interested in some miniscule feature of his shoes. "Scott thinks you're a MILF."

Madison was glad her son was looking down at his feet, so he didn't see her beaming with pride at being considered a MILF. She glided over to David and placed a kiss on the top of his head.

"Thank you for being honest, sweetie," she said with a smile. "Now, this MILF is going to finish getting dressed in the bathroom, before she traumatizes her little boy for life."

Once the ship got underway, David and Madison settled in for a mostly quiet night. He busied himself making sure that he could use the wireless network provided on board the ship to access his email, in case he received anything from his college that he needed to respond to, while she lounged about on her bed in shorts and a tank top, flipping through the activities guide for their destinations and familiarizing herself with a map of the ship. While he was on his laptop, David also took the opportunity to make sure that some of his favorite porn sites weren't blocked by the on-board network, though he doubted he would have much time to himself in the stateroom to access them. Once he was done, and had suitably covered his tracks, he offered the laptop to his mother, who declined.

"Maybe a little later, thank you sweetie. Hey, are there any particular things you want to sign up for? Scuba diving, hikes, anything like that?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," David shrugged, reaching over to grab the activities guide from his mother. "I kinda just pictured laying on beaches and sipping drinks."

Madison laughed softly, tousling his hair. "Oh, you're my son all right, no doubt about it. I was thinking exactly the same thing."

Before David had a chance to look through the entire listing of activities, his stomach broke the silence in the room with a loud growl.

"Oh my, sounds like somebody's hungry," his mother teased. "I could use a bite myself. I haven't had anything since my lunch, which I took a little early in my shift so one of the cashier girls could run out later for an errand."

There were no formal dining activities scheduled for the first night on board, but all of the dining rooms on board the ship were open with food laid out buffet-style for passengers, so David and Madison enjoyed a filling meal together, people watching and chatting with a few of the other guests as the sun slowly set on the horizon. Afterward they watched some television in their stateroom, until the exertion of the day started to catch up with Madison and she felt her eyelids growing heavy.

"Baby, I don't think I'm going to last much longer tonight," she said with a weary yawn. "Feel free to stay up if you're not sleepy yet... but I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn in soon."

"I was actually thinking of exploring the ship a little," David told her. "That way you can sleep in a quiet room. I promise I won't make too much noise when I come in."

"Sounds good, sweetie," Madison replied, giving her son a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Don't stay out 'til all hours, I want to explore together tomorrow, after all."

"I won't, promise."

After David had left, Madison stripped out of her clothes, enjoying a few rare moments of complete privacy that allowed her to lie completely naked on the bed, feeling the air on her bare skin. She contemplated jumping in the shower, but the steady hum of the ship's engine was quickly lulling her to sleep, so she resolved to put off a shower until the next morning, and instead slipped into a matching cami and boxer pajama set and pulled out her toiletry bag to brush her teeth. As she opened the bag, a glint of silver metal caught her eye and with a sleepy smile, she reached in and pulled out her favorite vibrator, a long, sleek "bullet" style vibe that she had hidden underneath her emergency feminine hygiene products (where she figured David would never look). She flicked on the switch and ran the smooth, cool metal across the palm of her hand, feeling a chill of excitement run up her spine at the thought of the same cool metal penetrating her, the steady vibration rubbing against her clitoris. But then she switched the toy off again, tucking it back into its hiding place. She was truly exhausted, and while a good hard orgasm often helped her get to sleep, tonight she feared it would simply leave her wanting for more, and she would wear herself out staying up for the extra release. Though she wasn't sure if she would get another opportunity to use the vibrator on the trip, she was hopeful that she would have the real thing filling her up soon enough, and the toy would just be forgotten underneath a pile of extra tampons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Madison woke again, the faint light of the sunrise was just beginning to peek in through the window at the end of the room. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and glanced at the clock on the nightstand, and was unsurprised at the time that she saw: 6:00am. Years of rising early to get ready for work and get David to school had forced her body into a daily schedule, one that couldn't be broken even though she was now miles away from work, floating in the middle of the ocean. Looking to the window, she could see her son's form under the sheets of the twin bed, completely unmoving save for the steady rise and fall of his chest with each breath. Madison hadn't been awake to see when he came in, but if she knew David, he would likely be out until nearly lunchtime.