Love Knows No Color Pt. 15

Toward the end of February, we started getting some warm days, and on weekends, we'd take the kids for walks along the bike paths outside of the city. Most of them were former railroad grades, so they were level and followed the rivers. That meant they went into some pretty remote places where the roads cut up over the hills rather than follow the bends in the river valleys. I taught the kids about budding leaves and where to look for them, and how other plants would send shoots up from underground. Shavonda shared her love of birds with them, teaching them about the migratory species that returned each spring, starting with the robins.

The Youghiogheny River valley below McKeesport, in particular, became a favorite spot of ours. Unlike the other area rivers, the Yough was not industrialized. Once you got upstream of the Boston bridge, a couple of miles from its mouth, the river valley itself was quite uninhabited. There were a few towns scattered along its length, but there were also long stretches of wilderness as well.

We had a system that kept the baby safe on our outings. One of us would ride Shavonda's bike with the kids, while the other started walking along behind on the trail, wearing Miracle in her sling. Eventually, the person on the bike would turn back with the kids, and when the bike got to where Miracle was, we'd switch places. The other person would ride the bike, while Miracle and her sling would accompany the parent who'd just got off the bike, back to where we'd parked the car.

As spring progressed, we started going out in the evenings. On those trips, we'd leave the bikes home and just walk in to an area with a pond or other still water like a swamp. We were out to listen to the spring peepers, a small frog that peeped instead of croaked. They were everywhere in the spring, and listening to them was one of the things I'd loved since childhood. Spring was my favorite time of year, because everything was coming back to life after a long, depressing winter. To us, it represented a fresh start, a rebirth. It was only fitting that Easter was in the spring, since it also celebrated rebirth on a spiritual level.

Freed from her worries about the trial, and with seasonal depression on the wane, Shavonda was back to her playful self again. It was perfect timing, as Miracle was becoming more alert and playful herself. Sometimes I would come home from work to find Miracle in the carrier sitting on the coffee table while Shavonda sat on the couch leaning over her. They would coo and laugh at each other. Miracle would grab Shavonda's finger and try to put it in her mouth. It was heartwarming, and I took photos of the two of them bonding.

Shavonda also seemed less exhausted, and that translated into some playful times in bed as well. She had a new tactic. She liked to stimulate me while I was asleep, to see how long it would take me to wake, and what she could do to me while I was still asleep. After I awoke, she'd ask me about my dreams. Honestly, you get some weird dreams when your queen takes you into her mouth while you are still asleep. One night I dreamed my dick was being used as a joystick controller in a game. I awoke to find Shavonda straddling me, rocking her hips back and forth while I was buried balls deep inside her grasping coochie. "Hey, baby boy. How was your dream?" she asked. "I am living mine." I lost control at that point, and grabbing her by the shoulders I pulled her down on top of me and pounded into her from below. We were soon both in the throes of an orgasm that left us both a sticky quivering mess. That was the night I started to keep a dream journal, describing each one, while Shavonda added a footnote describing how she was stimulating me during that dream.

At this point, we were getting close to Easter. I'd promised my parents we'd be down to see them, and we made plans for the holiday. Kenny had come up to visit Edie in late March, and after we played In The Cage for him, he was impressed with the progress I'd made playing bass. "Honestly, I think you should bring your bass guitar and synth down with you next time you visit your parents. We can set everything up in the backyard. Calvin will probably feel left out, but I have an electric guitar we can use as well. Maybe I can get Calvin to play bongos or something."

It turned out Edie was a pretty good singer as well, with a voice just a bit higher than Von's. We had worked on some songs where they could both sing, wither as a duet, or as harmony with Kenny or me. She was riding down with us for Easter. It was going to be an interesting trip with six people in the Jeep. Somebody would have to ride in the very back where we normally stored our luggage. Since we were also taking our musical instruments and amps this time, I ended up renting a small storage trailer for the trip.

And so, on Thursday morning, April 17 we started our trek to Appalachia. We stopped at Aunt Baby's for brunch on the way down. We had fried chicken and Kool aid. The employees remembered us from our previous visits, and they made a big fuss over Miracle, who they'd never seen before. The last time we'd made the trip south was in October, when Von was about 34 or 35 weeks pregnant. Edie was impressed with both the food and the friendliness of the staff. We promised her that we'd stop again on the way back Monday afternoon.

Since the back of the Jeep was so uncomfortable, we took turns riding there. The front seat passenger got to set up the music on the iPod. I had driven from Pittsburgh to Aunt Baby's in Fairmont, with Edie in the back. Edie drove from there to the New River Bridge, with Shavonda in the back. We took our customary rest stop there, and Shavonda breastfed the baby while I showed Edie the bridge. With Miracle fed and changed, we continued on with Shavonda driving while I curled up in the back and went to sleep. I tended to get carsick riding if I couldn't see out the front windows, and sleep was the best way to prevent that from happening. Finally, I took over driving at White Sulphur Springs. That was where we left the main roads behind, and I felt it best if I drove because I knew the way. Shavonda might have been able to find her way to the farm without getting lost, but Edie had never been there and couldn't help if Shavonda got lost. Me, I would have been still curled up in the back on those winding mountain roads.

As expected, the family was out on the front porch waiting on us. The surprise was Kenny being there. Edie's eyes lit up when she saw him coming down the front steps. The hugged like they hadn't seen each other in a year. It was heartwarming to see. Kenny was good for Edie, and vice versa. We opened the trailer, and he grabbed Edie's bags and put them in his pickup truck. We took our bags and the kids upstairs, Miracle bundled against my chest. When we came down, Mom herded us all in the kitchen, including Kenny and Edie, where she had the traditional pot roast with boiled potatoes waiting. It was good to be home.