“I was younger than you, but no way was I as athletic as you are. I can tell by the tone in your arms and shoulders that you’re very, very fit. And yes, you are athletic, not were athletic. Now, of course, I don’t run in these,” she said, knocking on her metallic shins. “I had a pair of custom runners made. It took me almost ten years to condition for the 2016 marathon. Hell. I’d never ran further than around the block before the accident, so that ten years wasn’t learning how to use new legs, it was all about the endurance and stamina I never had to begin with.
“Give it some time, and work closely with your doctor and prosthetist. It may take a year or two for your body to acclimate to wearing different ones before you find the right fit and that balance I was talking about earlier. Next year, you might even be ready to run a 5 or 10K.”
Miss Waters was silent for a number of moments.
“What do you do for a living?” she then asked.
“I’m an elementary school teacher,” she smiled. “It wasn’t what I’d planned. I was studying computer science. That was a fairly new field at that time. But my accident happened during the winter break of my freshman year in college. I had fifteen credit hours under my belt, and all the sudden, I was basically a drop-out because I couldn’t manage school and my recovery simultaneously.
“I went back to school the following fall. That’s when I changed majors to Education. I don’t know why, but I think it had to do with the number of amputee kiddos I saw at physical therapy. I saw how fearless they were, you know? They were absolutely fearless,” she laughed.
“Anyway, I’m glad I changed programs, because that’s where I met the man that became my husband. We got married the weekend after I graduated with my degree and he graduated with his masters.”
“So, um… it wasn’t a problem, you know–”
“Obviously not,” she said, smiling across Candace toward her son. “I’ve been married to my husband for right at twenty eight years now. Even at fifty, that part of our relationship is still quite fulfilling.”
“Jeez, Mom. TMI,” Kelley said, ramming his hands over his ears and deeply blushing. It made me smile.
“How about you? What do you do?”
“I’m a commercial interior designer, but I’ve been on leave of absence since the shooting. I’m expecting to go back after New Years.”
“Oh, that sounds fascinating!”
“The company she works for was contracted by the architects that designed these offices,” Peter interjected. “All of this was her doing.”
I noticed Kelley looking around and through the door. It appeared he appreciated the appearance of his surroundings because he nodded subtly while taking it in.
“Mari, thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time,” Candace said.
“You are quite welcome. I hope what I’ve told you helps you find your own courage,” Mari answered. “And you should also thank Miss Marquette. She reached out to me on social media and more or less begged me to talk it out with you.”
“Can I friend you on Facebook?” Candy asked.
Mari rose from her seat. “I’ll be offended if you don’t!” she laughed, opening her arms.
Candace used the table to aid her stand, and returned the offered hug of compassion and understanding.
I was surprised when Candace then walked over to me, standing before me, offering me a hug, too. I stood and returned it.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me,” she whispered in my ear. “And… thank you.”
“Please. I’d prefer you call me River,” I whispered back, hugging her more firmly.
I needed a tissue.
CANDACE
“Mari, thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it,” my brother said to the generous woman, shaking her hand.
“It was truly my pleasure,” she responded.
“Nice to meet you, Kelley. Anxious to watch your career unfold,” Peter said to him.
“I appreciate your time, Mister Waters, Mister Reid. And maybe your firms can expect my CV soon.”
His poise and professional posture visibly slackened as he took a few steps in my direction. “Um… Candace, I’d like to know if you would like to… um, maybe you’d like to go to dinner? With me? And not Mom?”
I couldn’t decide whether to laugh out loud or pass out. That handsome lawyer-to-be was suddenly off kilter.
“Please tell me you’re not serious,” I said. “Why would you—” I stopped speaking the instant the remaining words formed in my head. My self-consciousness instantly evaporated when I realized the man had grown up under the care of a woman who was far more severely injured than I was. I realized in that instant that my appearance wouldn’t be at all unusual to him. The sudden silence struck me and I had to recover my aborted defense.
“Why would you exclude your mother?” I said, hoping that’d work.
“Well— because I— I would rather—”
His innocent stammering almost stopped my heart.
“I’d enjoy that. Thank you for asking. And please. My friends call me Candy,” I said.
“Kelley, you keep the car. I’ll catch a cab home,” Mari told him.
My brother, who was standing behind everyone else, looked quite surprised. When he saw me looking at him, his hands shot up showing me a double thumbs-up. I rolled my eyes at him.
“That’s not necessary, Mari. I have a car outside,” I advised.
“I’ll show everyone out,” Peter advised.
As I followed the group, I noticed Kelley occasionally “accidentally” brush my shoulder with his own. I couldn’t help but smile at the subtle first-touch flirts. If I weren’t holding my crutch, I might have even brushed his hand with mine.
RIVER
7:08pm
What’s it called when people preen each other? Whatever the word is, those two were definitely demonstrating that non-verbal flirtatious nature, like when he removed a stray hair from the shoulder of Candace’s overcoat.
The emotion of the day certainly had changed quite a bit thanks to Mari, and probably more-so, Kelley. He helped her into the driver’s seat of her car, then ducked around it to climb in the passenger seat. She drove them away.
“Well. I never would have expected that,” Mari said. “But why not? She’s a beautiful, sweet young woman. He deserves someone like her.”
“I’m floored,” Peter said. “I’m absolutely floored. I don’t know if she told you while we were out of the room, but she was jilted by her fiancé in September. The bastard couldn’t deal with it or something. They’d been engaged for months.”
“Is that so?” Mari gasped. “How cruel. No. She didn’t mention that. But good for her! She didn’t deserve that, and shouldn’t have been married to someone like that.”
“You have a lot to be proud of in your son, you know,” I offered.
“Thank you, River. I’m more proud of him than you can imagine. Hopefully they have a pleasant dinner and conversation.”
The four of us bid our farewells to each other, and I departed.
Donny was on duty. I drove by the firehouse on the way to my apartment. Since I saw their apparatus was in the bays, I dashed over to a Sonic and ordered Donny and I some greasy, delicious grub. I parked my car in the small visitors’ lot in the front of the firehouse when I drove back.
Holding the bags of food, I pressed the button on the door. Whoever was manning the desk recognized me on the closed circuit display because the buzzer sounded without any questions being asked through the intercom. I’d been there a few times, and I was a familiar face.
I stopped at the window just inside the door to sign the visitor’s log.
“Hey, River! How are you tonight?” the man at the desk asked.
“Fan-damn-tastic,” I grinned.
“Sweet. I think Donny’s in the kitchen.”
Sure enough, he was sitting at the dining table with an empty plate and salad bowl in front of him, as were two others.
“Oh, I’m so sorry River! I wish you’d’ve called. I just ate dinner,” he pouted.
“Jerk,” I playfully teased, giving him a quick smooch on the lips.
“I’ll eat it!” Tony Mills said, just walking in. “Jeez, River. You look different! Did you just power-broker a corporate merger or something?”
“Hey, Tony,” I laughed. “Nah, just got done with a meeting with the attorneys. Aside from everything getting filed and the judge closing the trial, it’s all but officially over.”
“Congratulations! I’ll bet that’s a huge relief,” he said.
Tony Mills was, I would say, Donny’s best friend. We’d even double-dated a couple of times with him and his girlfriend, Shelly. She had a bit of an odd sense of humor which took me a while to tune into, but she was a rather likable woman. I handed Tony the bag of food I’d bought for Donny, and he gave me a smooch on the cheek in return.
I waggled my jealousy-provoking eyebrows playfully at Donny during the completely platonic and friendly peck, and he laughed.
I knew he wouldn’t be jealous. After a few months of involvement, we’d begun to learn each other’s eccentricities, hot buttons, and modes of wit. He liked when I teased him if it got good results, which it usually did. In that case, it earned him a tongue-kiss before I left the station after I’d eaten. The chat was welcome and fulfilling, but I did decide it probably would be better to call ahead.
CHAPTER 11
RIVER
Tuesday, April 14, 2020, 8:00pm
Donny and I had settled into a very comfortable pattern. His schedule of 24 hours on and 48 hours off (with occasional variations to swap with someone or earn some overtime) seemed to work pretty well for us. And, since my own business isn’t driven by any particular work schedules, we managed well.
It was, indeed, very comfortable.
He enjoyed my occasional visits to the station. There were even times that I’d hang out there with him all day. Not only were visits by loved ones at the station permitted, they were strongly encouraged. Especially with those firefighters that had families of their own. So there were occasional times where Donny and I could sit closely together on one of the couches in the lounge and watch TV. Of course, no way was any form of overt intimacy permitted, so our PDA was usually limited to simple appropriate-in-front-of-kids smooches and hugs.
It also was not unusual, of course, being a firehouse, for whatever was going on to be interrupted by a call-out. It was just par for the course, and anyone who happened to be visiting at the time would be hustled out through the front bay doors, told to stand well clear of the apparatus, and then leave the premises. None of that really mattered. That was part of the comfortable routine.
Didn’t stop the worry, though. The worry was always that ever-present veil. That, too, was part of the routine.
The routine fit. It was normalcy. And it was comforting.
I managed to close a number of cases, some to a sort of morbid delight of the client, and some to absolute grief and anger. If Peter Waters had waited ’til that point, my settlement would have earned his sister treble.
A massive shock stunned me, though, when I was called by ADA Cunningham on the day after Christmas. When he announced himself, I assumed he was calling to tell me to expect a summons to appear for the trial or some other procedural matter.
But, no. The subject couldn’t have been more wildly different.
He called to inform me that Dennis Swanson had been found dead in his cell by apparent self-asphyxiation. He told me he wanted to let me know personally before the media started plastering print and airwaves with what would likely be a CPD PR disaster or fodder for conspiracy nuts.
At first, I was shocked. Then, I was relieved. Then, I grieved. Not because I loved the man, which I never had, but because I allowed myself to believe that the whole situation leading to his death was my fault, and that I should have handled it differently.
“Dennis, I paid the ticket. It’s going to be okay. But you have to promise me you’ll stop running this scam. You’re supposed to be one of Chicago’s Finest. Truly act like that instead of puffing yourself up with statistics and good things might follow.”
Those where the sorts of dreams I dreamt.
I visited the station one Tuesday evening. That time, I called ahead, so I didn’t bring him anything for dinner because the whole battalion had already eaten.
“Hey, Baby. Busy day?” I asked as soon as I found him.
“Always busy, Riv,” he smiled and gave me a sweetie-smooch. “A medical assist call earlier this morning is all we’ve had, knock on wood, but we had some maintenance to do on unit 7 and then did a couple of public interaction visits at schools. We’ve got some cub scouts coming here any minute for a tour, and after that, we’re headed to the training center to do some night sims.”
“Oh, boy,” I said sarcastically. “Sounds like fun.”
“I love you,” he said, giving me a soft more-than-smooch because no one was in the hallway at that moment.
“I love you, too.”
We went to the lounge to chill.
“Hey, River! We still on for this weekend?” asked Tony Mills.
“We are if you and Shelly are,” I answered.
“Awesome,” he nodded. “Donny, a bunch of soccer moms just pulled up outside. I sent some of the cars to the back driveway because there’s not enough room for them all in the front spaces.”
“Good idea. Time to herd the cats, Baby,” I said. “See you tomorrow morning?”
“Huh-uh. I ain’t leaving. I’m going to stick around to watch this show,” I laughed.
Seven or eight uniformed boys and no small number of siblings of both genders filed into the bay.
I stood well out of the way as the men performed what seemed like a rather well-rehearsed routine. The children, and sometimes even parents, peppered all the men with questions. Some of the questions were rather silly, but the men were patient, especially as the kids began clambering all over the equipment shouting “What’s this do?” when pointing at many unusual objects. All of them wore the same “rank” insignia which indicated they were Wolves. I asked one of the parents about that, and the lady said that meant they were all in the second grade.
Once the cats— rather, wolves, had been re-packed, each of the children was given an opportunity to don a clean turnout coat and helmet. Parents, of course, took photos of them in the gear that swallowed them whole. One of the other guys in the station told me that particular coat was retired from service and was given a new life as the photo-op prop.
A few moms wanted the same treatment, and the men had no problems attending to their requests. I noticed that none of those particular ladies had a ring on their left fourth finger.
“Want to try on mine?” Donny asked, holding his own coat up and open.
I smiled and turned my back. I didn’t put my arms in its sleeves, but he wrapped it over my shoulders. It was heavier than I expected, but oh, god, it smelled so good. It smelled just like Donny.
I turned my back to the assembled masses and looked my love squarely in the eyes. I leaned close to him and directly into his ear I whispered, “I am so turned on by your scent and your testosterone that I’m telling you, right now, I’m going to have my way with you the instant you come through the door. So be ready.”
The look in his eyes the moment I pulled away made me certain he’d received my message quite clearly. What broke his reverie was the sound of the den leader yelling, “Peace, Pack! And… salute!”
The kids immediately quieted and held two fingers to their foreheads or caps’ bills displaying the century-old cub scout salute. They were such cute kiddos.
The man then said, “On the count of three, I want everyone to give these brave firemen a round of applause. One, two, three!”
The kids and even most of the adults began clapping their hands in circles in front of them. Oh! A round of applause! Donny caught the pun, too, and laughed, patting a few of the kids standing near him on their shoulders and thanking them for their visit.
He’ll make a great father, I found myself thinking.
After everyone else had left the bay on their way back home, Donny withdrew his coat from me and returned it to its hook on the side rail. He and two other men quickly checked everything to make sure the visitors hadn’t done any lasting harm to the equipment. Once the few smudges and hand prints had been polished away, the other two men left.
“See ya later, River!” Tony shouted over his shoulder.
“Not if I see you first!” I yelled back.
“Hardy freaking har har!” his diminishing voice guffawed humorously.
Donny gently took me into his arms and kissed me tenderly. He softly stroked my butt with his strong but gentle fireman hands.
“Remember. Don’t even say a word. I want you to think about all the things I want to do to you tomorrow morning when you get home,” I said, tapping the tip of my tongue with a finger.
“Oh, shite,” he groaned before biting the middle knuckle of his forefinger. “Does that mean you’re staying the night at my place?”
“Yeah. Yours is closer to here than mine. That means I don’t have to wait as long. See ya!” I said after I firmly swatted a cheek of his rump.
I did go back to my apartment first to fetch a few things, including some dainty delicates to surprise him with the next morning.
Donny had given me his extra security fob and key which allowed me access to his unit. I’d brought a few extra things with me to set a certain mood when he would return home, including ingredients for his favorite breakfast. I tried to tidy up the place, but couldn’t find much that needed help. Even his laundry hamper was empty and the dishes were all clean.
I gave up trying to find something to do to help him out, so I turned on his Roku TV to watch the first episode of a new Star Wars series that supposedly featured some sort of adorable alien baby. I did some work on my laptop while I listened. I finally had to shut down my computer and restart the premiere because I found myself totally engrossed.
I went to bed without a stitch on my body because I hoped my scent was as much a comfort to him as his was to me.
RIVER
Wednesday, April 15, 2019, 7:30am
I climbed out of Donny’s bed at half past seven and took a hot shower during which I shaved my legs and other bits. After I was thoroughly dry, I slipped on the lingerie I’d brought. I was hungry, but not for food, so I didn’t eat breakfast.
When 9:30 passed and Donny still hadn’t arrived, I opened the Find My app on my iPhone. He’d kept an AirTag in his pocket and shared its location with me because he wanted me to know where he was if I was worried. He didn’t like to take his phone with him on calls, so it was showing at the station. It was a gesture of trust I accepted. The tag’s location hadn’t updated in almost an hour, so yeah, I was worried.
Find My indicated he wasn’t anywhere near his apartment or the firehouse. He was seven miles the other direction, well-outside the normal boundaries of his battalion’s area. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I fumbled with the remote to turn on the news.
“If you’re just now joining us, this is the view from Sky 5 of what was a four-alarm fire at Midway airport. Several jurisdictions assisted, and the fire now appears to be contained.
“The second and seventh Chicago Fire battalions were on scene as well as units from Naperville and Bolingbrook. At this time, I am told one Battalion Two firefighter was injured in the blaze when part of the hangar collapsed. He was transported to the trauma center in serious condition.
“Neither the timing nor the cause of the fire is known, but witnesses report seeing dense smoke before sunrise. A number of arriving flights were diverted to O’Hare due to reduced visibility here at Midway due to smoke, but we’re hearing now that normal operations have resumed. Back to you, Sylvia.”
I didn’t even feel my thumb twitch to shut off the TV. My blood was running cold when I grabbed my phone and texted Donny even though I knew he wouldn’t see it until he got to his phone.
Please tell me you’re okay?!?
I heard a key in the door’s lock not two seconds after I sent the text. The man that walked through the door looked haggard and whipped. The man that grasped me stank of kerosene. He didn’t even notice what I was wearing, and I didn’t care.
“Oh, Donny, thank god you’re okay. I was worried sick it was you that was hurt.”
“Tony’s in a hospital somewhere. I don’t know if Shelly knows or not and I don’t have my phone.”
“Use mine,” I said.
I went to Donny’s bedroom to change clothes. When I returned, he was already talking.
“I’m not sure. It happened so fast. He was right next to me. Has anyone told you where they took him?”
“Okay. I have to take a shower and change, then we’ll head that way. Do you need a ride? River and I can pick you up.
“Okay. We’ll meet you there.”
DONAGH
2:02pm
I jumped into the shower and scrubbed furiously to get the residual soot off my skin.
River had the presence of mind to take my clothes and put them on the small porch so they wouldn’t make the place reek of jet fuel smoke.
“Jeez, Shell,” Tony groaned. “I’m nut as think as you drugged I am.”
“You’re still completely stoned, Tony,” Shelly cried before kissing his lips.
“What happened?” he asked blearily for probably the third time.
Shelly tried to patiently explain again through her tears. “Your leg was broken in four places and you have a fractured pelvis. You just got out of surgery. Donny said part of the building almost sliced you in half. It would have if not for your air tank—”
“I’m done,” I whispered to River in the middle of Shelly’s answer to my friend. “I can’t do this anymore.”
River grasped my arm and pulled me into the corridor outside the recovery room.
“He’s your friend, Donny. Don’t treat him that way,” she admonished.
“No. Not that, Riv. I’m done. I’m done with this. I don’t ever want to put you through anything like this. If Tony and I were two seconds later in, that’d be me in there instead of him, or worse. Shelly is like totally beside herself, and I don’t ever want you to be—”
“No, Donny, this is what you do!”
“Not any more, Riv. I don’t love what I do. It’s just a job.”
She began to cry.
“Donny— I’ll never forgive myself if you give up your job for me. You and I would never have met if not for what you do!”
“I know, Riv, and that’s why I have to give this up. My wife should never have to worry about my safety or—”
“Donagh?” she whimpered after I silenced myself.
Crap. I screwed that up.
“The ring I wanted to give you is in my locker at the firehouse, but, Riv, will you marry me?”
“Can I call my parents so they can hear me scream ‘yes’?”
“Maybe we should Skype them all at once,” I sniffled, embracing my love.
We left the hospital when Tony had been sent to a regular room. Once the residual anesthesia wore off in recovery, he was cracking jokes left and right and putting Shelly into stitches of her own. One of the nurses had to warn him when his humor began to get a wee bit bawdy.
We stopped at the firehouse on the way so I could get my phone. I called all the A Shift firemen into the bay then dropped to my knees to formally propose to River. Hoots, hollers, and even sirens and air horns alerted the entire community and almost deafened us. We loved every minute of it. If the trucks had been in the front drive, I think I’d have been forced to endure a wet-down.
Neither of us had eaten all day, but that didn’t stop us from vigorously enjoying each other’s bodies the minute we returned to my apartment. As soon as I locked the door, I grabbed River off her feet, carried her to my bed, and laid her on it. I took her knees and opened her legs, burying my face in the crotch of her jeans so I could smell her. Her feminine odor made my mouth water. I felt myself become erect immediately as I inhaled her redolent scent through the denim while she fiddled with the fasteners at her waist.
She slid her jeans over her hips. She wore no panties underneath them, a glorious surprise.
“I wasn’t expecting to be wearing panties this morning when you got home,” she confessed, almost looking ashamed of her behavior.
“Oh, fuck, that’s so sexy,” my voice quaked. I helped pull her pants the rest of the way off her legs, then pushed my tongue into her vagina as far as I could to taste her intoxicating liquor.
She climaxed within minutes, grasping at her own clothed breasts. I traced the tip of my nose from her perineum, through the succulent folds of her vulva, and through the the ringlets of black hair at her manicured mons, savoring every scent of her. As her breathing returned to baseline, I softly and slowly kissed her labia and her bottom.
“Donny, get naked, please?” she whispered.
She removed the rest of her clothes, then once I complied, she shifted positions on my bed, laying sort of on her side, and hooked one leg up. She wryly and wordlessly pointed at my bobbing shaft, then to her mouth. Then she pointed at my face, then to the wide gap between her thighs and wriggled her tongue at me.
I settled into the bed next to her and used my tongue to tease her clitoris. I felt exquisite pleasure when she took my glans into her mouth and suckled it.
With my free hand, I stroked and squeezed her beautiful butt. I knew she was climbing the hill of climax when she stopped sucking me and her breathing began to shallow.
“A little harder, baby,” she mewled, so a increased the pressure between my tongue and her button. She groaned in what I hoped was pleasure when I stroked her little butthole with my fingers. Testing the theory, I did it again, and she twisted her hip slightly, giving my fingers a little more room to pleasure her. She soon fell into the orgasmic abyss.
“Oh, god, Donagh,” she panted. “I need my fiancé’s cock inside me,” she mewled vulgarly, rolling to her tummy and raising her hips off the bed.
“That’s me, right?” I said with a lascivious grin.
“Stop teasing me and give me!”
I stood at the foot of the bed and was inside her in an instant from behind. Our thighs slapped in our rut. Her adorable anus flexed and winked. The scents of her sex were rich and heady. I emptied myself into her depths when I smelled them in the air. I removed myself, observing the rich froth of our energetic romp emerge from her opening. I quickly fetched the box of tissues and carefully cleansed my lover’s underside.
I collapsed into the bed and pulled my future bride close to be, skin on skin, breath mixing with breath, and simply held her quietly, watching her dreamy eyes and soothed smile. The way her eyes moved told me she was doing the same.
EPILOGUE
DONAGH & RIVER McHUGH
Sunday, March 14, 2021, 8:19am
Donny noticed his wife fidgeting in their bed, apparently trying to find a comfortable position. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I am. He or she is punching or kicking up a storm. We’re both fantastically well,” River answered, bringing her husband’s hand to her rounded belly so he could feel the movements she was sensing.
He laughed delightedly at the subtle movements.
“I still can’t believe you ran twenty-six miles with that inside of you,” he said.
“I didn’t even know I was pregnant yet,” she chuckled, adoring his affection, attention, and fatherly devotion to his as-yet unseen baby.
“Riv—” she heard him sniffle.
“What is it, Baby?”
“I wish I could tell you more coherently just how much I love and adore you.”
“You just keep doing what you do and saying what you say and I’ll never have a doubt,” his bride of seven months said. “You have a busy day tomorrow?”
“I do. Both Peter and Alex sent a stack of things I downloaded and printed.”
“So, you’re liking your new job?”
“Yeah. I am. I mean, every now and then some hothead will get all up in my grill, but all I have to do is show off these guns,” he said, flexing his biceps and bobbling his pecs.
She laughed hard at his humorous posturing.
“That’s my man,” River whispered as she turned off the light on the nightstand.
“I love you,” Donny whispered in the darkness.
“I love you more,” she whispered back.
“Don’t even,” her husband chuckled, not falling into the game.
River’s phone blipped. She removed it from the Qi charger to look at its display.
“Oh, that’s outstanding!” she yelped gleefully.
“What’s up?” Donny asked.
“I just got a DM from Mari Jamil!” she said energetically as she turned the light back on.
“Oh? What’s she up to?”
“Her son, Kelley, just popped the question to Candace Waters! They’re engaged!”
“That’s great! I’m happy for them.”
“Yeah,” River smiled, looking at the attached photo of Kelley and Candy, both wearing beaming smiles.
“Wanna celebrate for them?” Donny asked, caressing his wife between her legs.
“Hell, yeah,” she whispered.
Thanks for reading. Remember to “favorite” us if you want to be informed of updates.
Will and I both appreciate comments or direct feedback on our stories!