Reunion

"How was lunch?" I asked while picking some tomato out of the salad.

"Great! I'll tell you all about it after dinner. You go and have a shower, but don't be too long. Dinner will be in fifteen minutes."

I had a hot shower, and was back just as the plates hit the table. We talked to the girls about their day at school, and I gave the rundown on another boring day at work. Sally wouldn't let on about her lunch.

"We can talk about it when the girls go to bed." She said, as she put another beer in front of me.

Now I was suspicious. Normally, Sally would limit me to one beer after work, and she was pushing me to stop that, as well. I asked again about her lunch, but she took my hand and told me I'd have to wait. While Sally cleaned up, I checked the girls' homework, then read them a story before tucking them into bed. Back out in the lounge room, I found Sally on the sofa with a glass of wine and a third beer for me.

"Alright, what gives?" I asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Sally replied innocently.

"Favorite dinner, three beers on a Monday night, you didn't get cranky that I was late home." I ticked the three points off on my fingers.

"Can't I just show how much I love my husband?" She asked, holding out the beer.

I took it and sat next to her. "So, how was the lunch?"

"Great. I had prawns in an Asian salad for appetizer, and crispy-skin duck for main."

"Yeah, and I had a ham sandwich. What about dessert?" I asked jealously.

"I was feeling full, but when they brought out the menu..."

"Let me guess, " I interrupted, "creme brûlée?"

"You know me well!" Sally giggled.

"How was Melissa?"

"Wonderful. We chatted like we had only just left school."

I was reaching for the television remote control when Sally stopped me. "There is something else we have to talk about..." She said, grabbing it first.

There was an apprehensive look on her face. I wasn't looking forward to this.

"After lunch, we went to St. Catherine's."

"What?" I screeched. "We've already talked about this!"

"Calm down, Tony. Melissa has offered to help us out."

"So, we're a charity case now?" I spat, standing up and walking to the window.

"Sit down and shut up for a minute. It's not charity. She wants something we have." Sally raised her voice. Realizing that she had been loud, she shifted her gaze to the door to see if the girls were going to come in.

I went back and sat down next to her, trying to keep myself calm. "What do we have that Melissa and Dave couldn't get somewhere else?"

Sally looked flustered and she was silent for a moment. I think she was trying to find the words to say. Eventually, she blurted it out.

"A child." she said softly.

"So, which one are we selling?" I asked sarcastically.

"Not ours, you dickhead. David had a vasectomy after his first wife had two children."

"Can't they be reversed?" I had been thinking about getting the snip myself, but hadn't yet.

"He had that done, but in more than half the cases, it doesn't work. His body has developed antibodies to his sperm, so as fast as he makes them, his body kills them. They have been looking into sperm donors."

I sat back, thinking. I suppose jacking off into a jar would be a small price to pay to give our daughter a better education.

"So, they want me to supply the sperm?"

"Well...um...Melissa does. David doesn't know about this, yet."

"I somehow think he might not be keen to have a kid fathered by a hick from the sticks." I mused. It was a delicious thought, though.

"He wouldn't have to know. Melissa's fertile time is at the end of the week. When she goes back, she is due to be inseminated."

"So, I wank into a jar, she gets the turkey baster and fires it in, and we get a year at St Catherine's for Rebecca."

"Well, not quite...umm...she hasn't got the...uh...equipment, so you would have to do it the way God intended, and..."

"Now hang on a minute. I'm going from a sperm donor, to a man whore?" I found myself standing again.

"Just wait, it's not just a year. Melissa will pay for both girls to go through primary school there."

"But, I'm still a prostitute? What the fuck, Sally! How could you even contemplate this shit? Can't you see she is just messing with you? She can't bear to think that you have something better than her."

"Better than her? A welder/mechanic, making just above minimum wage, better than her husband?" Sally was standing as well.

"You know what I mean. Jesus, woman! She tried to come on to me at the reunion in the bathroom. She's a sick bitch who likes to play games!"

"And your a selfish fuckwit who doesn't care about his daughters!"

We were both yelling, standing toe to toe. Then, the inevitable happened.

"Mummy! Daddy! What are you yelling for?" Two sleepy-eyed children stood in the doorway.

Sally was the first to react. "It's nothing for you to worry about darling." she said, walking towards them and ushering them back to their room. Once they were through the door, Sally looked back at me. "The spare blankets are in the linen cupboard." she snarled, then she closed the door very firmly.

I had an uncomfortable night's sleep on the sofa bed, but it wouldn't have been any better in with Sally. Both of us would have been clinging to either edge of the double bed, fighting over the covers. The girls came out and woke me. Sally was in the kitchen getting their breakfast. I went to our room to get ready for work, then came out to have my breakfast. When I entered, Sally left. "Looks like its going to be a long week." I said to myself. I walked the girls to the bus, then came back to get my truck. Sally was standing at the front door, and she motioned for me to come inside. I thought about jumping in my truck and leaving anyway, but I didn't want to escalate things further.

Inside, Sally was waiting, fidgeting with her coat. "Have you thought about it?" she asked quietly.

"There's not much to think about, honey. I don't want to do it."

"Tony, please..."

I held up my hand. "If I came home and said the boss would give us the money for the school if he got to fuck you, what would you say?"

"That's ridiculous, Tony!"

"Why is it any more ridiculous than what you and Melissa are proposing?"

"Because...because its different for boys. You guys always want to do it."

"Have you ever seen me look at another woman that way?"

"No...no I haven't, but please... please think about it." she was crying.

"What do we do when the girls finish primary school. We still can't afford it. Are you going to put an advertisement in the paper?" 'Man whore available. Knocking up desperate bitches a specialty.' "Or, will you just turn me out onto the street?"

"Don't be stupid! We spoke to the principal, and if they get through primary school at St Catherine's and continue to achieve high marks, then there are full scholarships available for high school." Sally looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Is it really worth all this heartache? Can that school make that much difference?"

"Just think about it, okay?" she put her hand on my arm.

"I will, if you think about what you're asking. Do you really want your husband making love to another woman?"

"It's not making love. It's just fucking." She protested.

"That's exactly what it is. You think about me touching another woman; sticking my dick inside her, feeling her breasts, thrusting out of control as I get closer and closer to orgasm, groaning as I release my seed deep inside her. You think about that." I steeled myself. I felt like bolting out the door, but I stood my ground. Sally gave me a kiss on the cheek and then we both left.

I was preoccupied all day. What should I do? Was it no big deal? Given the option, I think most of the guys in town would crawl over broken glass to get to sleep with Melissa. It would be an unbelievable opportunity for my Rebecca. Surely, I could sacrifice a little bit of pride to help out my daughter.

As the day wore on, I realized what I was worried about. What if I enjoyed it? I mean, obviously there would be some enjoyment, but what if I wanted more? Once I had opened that door, could I close it? What would I say to Sally? She wouldn't ask at first, but eventually she would want to know. 'How was it? What did you do?' And most important of all, 'Do you want to do it again?'

Could I answer these things truthfully? Would she believe me anyway? All these questions jumped in and out of my head all day. By the end of it, I was no closer to a resolution, and more pissed off than ever for being put in this position. I stopped at the pub on the way home and had a couple of beers, just to piss Sally off.

In the end, the decision was made for me by Cindy Walker and Esmerelda Smith. They were two students in the higher class Rebecca did spelling and math with. There had been a spelling test, and Rebecca came top of the class. Cindy and Esmerelda resented it. They had been the best students in the class before Rebecca had moved up. They waited for her in the toilets at lunchtime and attacked her, trying to put her head in the toilet while they flushed it. While holding Rebecca upside down, they dropped her on the tiled floor and she split her scalp open. It had taken twelve stitches to close the wound.

The school had been most apologetic, and had suspended the little bitches for two days. Two fucking days! What a joke. Rebecca wasn't going back there. That night, I lay in bed with the same questions going around in my head. Sally came to bed. She stood beside it, looking at me for a time, but we didn't speak. When she got in, she slid across and put her arm across me, and her head on my chest.

"Your doing the right thing, baby. I love you, you love me, and we both love the girls. Nothing can come between us."

I rested my hand on her shoulder and prayed she was right.

"Have you told Melissa?" I inquired.

"I sent her a text, but I haven't heard back. Mum is going to look after the girls for the next couple of days. It won't hurt them to rest up before they go to a new school next week."

"How is this going to work? Do I go and see her? Does she come here? Do I just do it once? Do I have to keep trying until she gets pregnant?" There were so many issues that hadn't been sorted out.

"With your history, once should be enough." Sally answered nervously.

"That was nearly ten years ago, Sal. What if I can't do it anymore? Do we give her money back?"

"Don't worry, babe. We will work it out. Melissa and I are going to St Catherine's tomorrow to enroll the girls. I can sort out the details then. In the meantime..." she murmured, sliding her hand down my chest and under the waistband of my boxers.

"Sorry, Sal," I replied, pulling her hand away from my cock. "I'm not in the mood tonight." I rolled over and tried to get some sleep. The next morning I was up with the sparrows, getting dressed. I checked on the girls and they were both sound asleep. While I was having breakfast, Sally came out.

"Any word from Melissa?" I asked, looking up from my coffee.

"Not yet. I'll ring her in my lunch break. I'll take the kids to mums on the way to work. Can you pick them up? I don't know how long the enrollment process will take." Sally was a lot happier about the situation than I was.

"Yes, I should be able to." I replied flatly. Getting up, I put my plate and cup in the sink, gave Sally a kiss on the cheek and made my way to the door.

"Tony," Sally called after me and I turned around. "We're going to be alright, okay?"

"I hope so. I truly hope so." I walked away to my truck.