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Chapters 4, 5, & 6: Ah, young love; or should I say lust. Amy has her heart set on Joe, and Joe is really fond of Amy. The trouble is they are just kids verging on puberty. Like breaking the sound barrier, once you pass that point, there is a whole new world in front of you. Amy is very adventurous and she has her mind set on making love with Joe as soon as they are able. Amy takes precautions as best she can. Her mother won’t let her take the ‘pill’. They make love as often as is possible. Of course they get caught, not by their parents but by Joe’s sisters. That turns out to not be a problem; however, Amy fails to rotate her stock and the inevitable happens. Now they have to tell their parents.

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Introduction:

Chapters 4, 5, & 6: Ah, young love; or should I say lust. Amy has her heart set on Joe, and Joe is really fond of Amy. The trouble is they are just kids verging on puberty. Like breaking the sound barrier, once you pass that point, there is a whole new world in front of you. Amy is very adventurous and she has her mind set on making love with Joe as soon as they are able. Amy takes precautions as best she can. Her mother won’t let her take the ‘pill’. They make love as often as is possible. Of course they get caught, not by their parents but by Joe’s sisters. That turns out to not be a problem; however, Amy fails to rotate her stock and the inevitable happens. Now they have to tell their parents.

Author's Note:There are references to characters in previous novels, and I would strongly recommend that you read them if you haven’t already done so. Musetta Gigliotti O’Donnell is mentioned and referred to several times. Although she has been deceased for many years before this story begins, her influence is very strong. ‘Musetta’s Waltz’ is not very long and will give some important background. Musetta is a wonderful transgendered woman who overcomes extreme adversity.

This story is the fifth in the series and to date, the entire series covers nearly 100 years and five generations. The first story is “The Heart of the Beholder” and deals with the early life of Mike and Jo O’Donnell. “The Narragansett Fork” is about Fanny, the O’Donnell’s adopted daughter and a rather remarkable individual. It is in this book that we first meet Musetta. “Musetta’s Waltz” is her autobiography and the third book in the series. “Who Is Sylvia” is the story about Sylvia O’Donnell and how Phil Esterházy wins her. That brings us to the current story, which takes place 37 years or so after the end of the previous story.

Being transgendered or intersexed is not the main theme of this story. This is a story about a rather large family where two people happened to be intersexed and another, now deceased, was transgendered. This is a story about how people find love, over and above everything else.

There is a little mystery that shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. The clues are there. There are 34 chapters plus a prologue and epilogue. The story is complete. I am not sure how it will be posted. Regardless of the voting and comments, or lack there of, I will post it until completion. I’ll try not to let hurt feelings get in the way.

My thanks must go to Holly H. Hart for taking time from her harried life to correct the multitude of errors made while creating this story.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

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Chapter 4 – Amy and Joe, the Early Years

“Hey, Joey,” Amy whispered, “Do you want to go skinny dipping? I know this neat place. We can ride our bikes up there. It’s not too far. We can tell our parents we’re going snake hunting.”

“Shit, Amy, I’m not too sure that’s a good idea. Not after what we did the other day.” It seems that a few days earlier they had been exploring along one of the local creek beds that was destined to dry up. There were still some pools that held some frogs and tadpoles. Joe at first thought it was a branch lying perpendicular to the side of the pool. Then, he and Amy realized at the same time that it was a rather large rattlesnake getting a drink.

They walked quietly up to it and stood a few feet away at a distance beyond what they were sure was its striking distance. They could see the snake’s ribs go in and out as it swallowed the cool water. Amy grabbed a stick, a real one, and poked at the snake.

“Amy, don’t do that. You’ll piss it off.” Joe wasn’t afraid of snakes, and they had seen many rattlers at The Ranch over the years. His parents had instilled a healthy respect for rattlers in him early on. He was told to avoid them, how to be careful when walking through snake country, but above all respect their right to live. All the children were taught about the importance of snakes and not to harm them. There was another reason that the Esterházys respected rattlesnakes; however, their children wouldn’t find out for a while what that reason was.

After several minutes, Amy began to get bolder. The snake was intent on drinking and refused to get upset. “Watch, I’ll bet I can catch it.”

“Don’t do it, Amy. It will bite you and you will have to go to the hospital. Snake bite can do really bad things to you.”

“Naw, this will be easy. Look.”

She pinned it to the ground with the forked end of the stick she was wielding. Strangely, the snake continued to drink. Amy worked around and reached down grabbing the snake right behind its jaws. She lifted it triumphantly. Now the snake was pissed and started to writhe and rattle a bit. Amy suddenly realized something. She had a tiger by the tail. The snake was not happy about supporting its entire weight by its neck so it coiled up, and the next thing they knew it was wrapped around her forearm.

“Shit, Joe, what do I do now? I was going to throw it into the water, and if I let it go now, it will bite me for sure.”

“Let me take it. If it wraps around my arm, we’ll just take it back to the house and let dad take care of it. We’ve had to take care of some around The Ranch. We catch them and take them down the way and turn them loose. They’re real good at taking care of the rats and rabbits. The rats always seem to be attracted to the chicken house because of the feed.”

That was what they did. Amy’s little brother, Oscar, was first to spot them as they walked up the drive to the house.

“Oh, Joe and Amy’s got a snake! Can I play with it? I like snakes.”

“Oscar, go get my dad and your dad. This is a rattlesnake and you can’t play with it.”

Tom Barrett was the first to approach and realize what was going on. “Jesus Christ, what the hell are you doing with that? You tryin’ to get killed?”

“No. Amy caught it, but she couldn’t let it go because it wrapped around her arm. So, I took it and now it’s wrapped around mine. Dad‘n I’ve had to get rid of them before, so I figured he could help with this one.”

“I’ll tell you what,” said Tom. “I’ll get my gun and kill it.”

“Daddy!” said an exasperated Amy, “You can’t shoot it. It’s on Joe’s arm.”

Phil had been mixing margaritas and had just joined the group. He looked at Joe and shook his head. “Tom, see if Trish has a heavy pillow case. We’ll need a couple feet of clothes line, too.”

The pillow case and rope were easy. Phil carefully took the snake from Joe and had Tom pull the case open. The snake was relatively calm at the moment. Phil held it over the open mouth of the case and partially lowered it. When it was most of the way in, he tossed it downward and quickly closed the bag and secured it part way down with a slip knot.

Fifteen minutes later they were at the end of a dirt road. The children from both families watched as the released snake slowly made its way into the shrubbery, rattling all the way. Amy and Joe received a severe scolding, and a promise was exacted from each that they would not do anything like that again.

“Well, do you want to go or not? Are you chicken?”

Joe was snapped out of his brief reverie about their snake adventure. “No, tell your mom we’re going for a bike ride. Where do you want to go?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Phil and Sylvia were on a special project in the recently drained Hetch Hetchy Valley with several of their graduate students. Although they would take their children on most of their adventures, the environment in the recently uncovered valley was not family friendly. There was a huge amount of surveying going on in the now barren landscape.

Trish and Tom Barrett had volunteered to keep the four Esterházy children while their parents were in the valley working. Trish loved children, and now that she had two of her own she regretted not having children earlier in her adult life. She was well past 50 now and her child bearing years were long past. The last ten plus years with Tom had been wonderful. He was a gentle and loving husband, and loved his second family deeply. Tom thanked the fortunes every day that Trish’s long deceased husband had failed in his insane attempt to kill them. He had been something else, and had died on a blood soaked mattress in his cell after cutting his throat.

All the children got along famously, which made taking care of them a bit easier. Persephone and Demeter had their projects, and Helen would join in, as young as she was. Oscar had his own circle of friends in the area, and they were involved in Little League and other activities. Just how famously Joe and Amy got along wouldn’t be discovered for several years.

Joe was thirteen and had started to sprout. He had always been tall for his age, and by the time he was three he was half a head taller than Amy. Now he towered over her, relatively speaking, although it never seemed to be an issue with them. Amy took charge sometimes just because she was older; however, more times than not, they operated on an equal basis. There was never a domination thing going on between them.

This time Amy led the way as they traveled along the paved shoulder of the highway. It was several miles out of town when she turned up a tarred surface road that eventually became dirt and gravel. The road ended at a turnaround. It was a typically hot summer day in the Sierra foothills and both of them had worked up a sweat.

“Come on. We can hide the bikes back here.”

Joe followed Amy through the brush to a chain link fence. They obviously were not the first people to be back here, and the fence promised something beyond, as did the ‘No Trespassing’ signs posted every few feet on the fence. They chained the bikes to the fence, and Amy led the way to a small gulley that left enough room for them to get under the bottom wire. She worked her way under and Joe followed. He could see exposed rock and what appeared to be a cliff across an opening ahead of them.

The reason for the opening became apparent in a few more feet. There was an old abandoned quarry open below them. Amy had obviously been there before as she quickly found a place to descend to the water’s edge.

“This is a neat place, but Mom and Dad would have a stroke if they knew we were here. The owners put up the fence a long time ago. See that spot over there? That’s where my father pushed Mom and me over the cliff. The car stopped over by those rocks, and some kids found us before the car sank. Mom was hurt real bad. He thought he killed her, and I was just in the way. Then he went after your mom and dad. He was a real wacko.

“The water’s real deep over there, but it’s shallower over on this end, and we can wade out a ways before it drops off.

“Last one in is a rotten egg!”

Joe stared for a moment as Amy started taking her clothes off. They had been unclothed together many times as they grew up. She was different now, and it definitely got his attention. She was getting a figure. Her hips were definitely broader and her waist was narrower. There were two swollen spots on her chest and her nipples and the areas around them were getting darker and were much larger. There was one other thing. There was a little patch of hair above her slit.

“What are you staring at? You’ve seen me this way before.”

“Yeah, but you’re different.”

“I know. Isn’t that neat? I’m going to be a woman soon. I should be starting my periods, and as soon as you start changing, there’re some other things that we can do together.

“You are already changing, too, Joe. You’re starting to get a lot more muscles and your thing is a lot bigger than it used to be. Does it get hard sometimes?”

“Er, sometimes.”

“Oh, goody, I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

They didn’t do anything that day other than splash around and dunk each other. That is, until after the end of their swim. They had spread their clothes on the sand and were basking in the sun. Amy reached over and took Joe’s hand.

“Joe, I’m not ready to do anything right now and I don’t think you are either. I think I love you, Joe. Do you love me?”

Joe started to retreat and tried to pull his hand away from Amy’s grasp. She wouldn’t let him, and instead used his weight and strength to allow her to pull herself on top of him. She looked into his wide open eyes and kissed him. She could feel her hard little breasts to be dig into his chest. It took a few seconds before he began to respond. His arms wrapped around her and their tongues seemed to naturally explore each other. She broke the kiss as she reached down and grasped his growing erection.

“Oooo, I think you like me, too.” She sat, then stood picking up her clothes and shaking them out.

“We’re not ready to do anything more. But next year I think we will. I think you will be ready by then, and I can make sure I won’t get pregnant. What do you think?”

“Jeez, Amy!”

“Do you love me, Joe? I’m going to wait for you. Will you wait for me?”

“Shit. I don’t know.”

“Don’t know what? You’re not going to wait for me?”

“Er, no. No, no, I mean yes, I’ll wait for you. Will you wait for me?”

“I will, if you love me.”

“I guess I do love you Amy. At least I think I do. We’re kinda young aren’t we?”

“Maybe a little bit, but not next year.”

They helped each other up the hill to their bikes and took the mostly downhill ride back to the Barrett’s home.

They saw each other at Thanksgiving. The Barretts came to Willits to celebrate with Trish’s parents who were getting along in years. The Esterházys made the relatively easy drive on Friday and planned on spending two nights.

The physical changes in Joe and Amy were obvious. Joe had grown at least three inches since that summer. Amy on the other hand had grown only an inch vertically; however, her figure was definitely that of a young woman.

The weather was typical for northern California in late November and that was rain and more rain. There wasn’t much they could do to get out of the way of their parent’s vigilance. That was until Amy remembered there was a theater in town. She checked the newspaper add and found there was an acceptable movie showing.

“Mom, there’s a cool movie downtown and it’s so boring around here. Could you take us down there? Then, maybe you old folks could play some bridge or something while it’s quiet.”

Amy wasn’t too subtle, and never would be. All the adults got the message and thought that it might be a good idea if the children got out of the house for a while.

After getting popcorn and soft drinks, they headed down the hall of the theater. Persephone looked back at Amy and winked. She, Demeter, Helen and Oscar headed into the theater showing the latest Disney animated feature. Amy held back, and then pulled Joe into an adjacent theater.

“Amy, I thought we were going to see that Disney flick.”

“It’s not very good. Besides, I want to be alone with you.”

“But, the ushers will find out.”

“They never check. There’s no reason to. Besides, this movie is so bad no one will be in here. Let’s go up to the back beside the booth.”

She was right. The movie was very bad; however, neither of them would ever be able to say what it was. Why there was a seat where Amy sat was strange. The side of the projection booth blocked a third of the screen. Amy pulled Joe’s arm around her shoulder and snuggled up against him.

“Well, what do you think of ‘em?”

“Uh, think of what?” Joe replied, knowing full well what she was talking about. He was trying not to stare, but she had already caught him looking intently, and she smiled at his embarrassment when he knew she caught him.

“My boobs, you idiot! Here, just a second.” She leaned forward a bit and pulled her blouse out of the waistband of her jeans. She reached up inside her blouse and did something. The next thing Joe knew was she had her bra off and put it in her handbag.

“There, that’s a lot better. It’s getting too small anyway.” She pulled his hand down and then up under her blouse. His hand needed no further encouragement. It found its way upward, taking in her breast’s fullness. His thumb and forefinger found her nipple which had rapidly hardened in anticipation. He marveled at softness of her skin and the resiliency of her flesh.

Amy gave a very happy sigh, turned and pulled Joe’s head to hers. As unpracticed as they were, they quickly found what was pleasurable for each of them. Joe had not touched a woman’s breast since his mother had stopped nursing him. Touching Amy’s little nubs the previous summer hardly counted.

“There’s a bunch of guys at school who want to feel me up. They’re out of luck. These are for you and our babies only. Speaking of babies, I want you to try something else.” She opened her blouse, and there were her breasts only inches away. “They’re waiting for you to kiss them.”

He needed no further encouragement. His lips quickly found the nipple of her left breast. Somewhat tentatively at first, he pulled her nipple in.

“God, that feels good.” She started fumbling with the fastener at her waist. She then pulled his hand downward and under the waistband of her panties. He found she had substantially more hair than before. “Go ahead and do what ever you want. Just be gentle.”

He was gentle because this was figuratively and literally new territory for him. She was hot and moist. He could feel the gentle folds at the juncture of her thighs. There were all sorts of little anomalies that he didn’t understand at that point in his life. He would later on.

The further down he explored, the warmer and moister the area became. He finally became aware of the fact that there was an opening. He knew what it was. He was just having problems believing he was there. He could tell something was going on and all the myths and instructions he had experienced over the last few years didn’t prepare him for what was happening. Amy seemed to be getting restless. Her breathing was coming faster and faster. Suddenly her hand grasped his and pulled him up an inch or two. “Right there, play with that, but be gentle. I’m almost there.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant, but he could feel a little juncture of her flesh and a little protuberance. He decided that was where she wanted him to be so he moved his finger around that area. He must have been doing something right because suddenly she started gasping and moving around. “Oh, my God! Jesus, I never knew it could be like this.” She grabbed him around the neck and furiously kissed him. She wouldn’t let him go for a long time. She kept kissing and kissing him, and he was enjoying it very much.

Her hands had been wandering a bit and had found a rather pronounced erection. She gently freed it and studied it closely. “You’ve grown too, I see. Let’s see if I can return the favor. If this does what I think it’s supposed to I think I’m going to need some of these napkins.” For not having done anything like this before, she was very, very good, and the main reason was that she truly loved Joe in a youthful sort of way. He always treated her with respect. He never said anything about the fact that she was short or a bit plump. She wasn’t so plump any more. The neatest thing was if he wanted to do something she was usually in accord. The same could be said if she wanted to do something. He usually went along with her. They liked the same things. However, it went deeper than that. They didn’t like being apart, and thoroughly enjoyed their times together. Now they were taking another step.

She tenderly administered to his erection, acting mostly on instinct and the discussions with her girl friends. She had picked up the correct information and was quite successful in bring about the correct results.

They held each other closely, and after a while they realized his hand was gently holding her breast. Youth being what it was, they were able to bring each other off once more before it was time for them to sneak into the theater where her brother and his sisters were.

Their bonding continued over the Christmas holiday and spring break. They were able to get together at Willits over the Christmas break and at Mariposa during the spring break.
Sylvia, Phil and a group of group of graduate students were going to meet in Hetch Hetchy and collect some data during the spring runoff. This enabled Joe and Amy to continue their bonding; however, because of the late spring weather being wetter than usual, they weren’t able to do much more than some hand holding and stealing a few kisses when they didn’t think anyone was looking.

The sex thing was pretty omnipresent; however, they continued to grow in other ways. Their educations did not suffer, maybe because they lived so far apart, though that latter part was about to end. They were at the top of their respective classes. Joe loved the natural and physical sciences, and the fact he had a very good concept of mathematics didn’t hurt. Amy was very strong in the social sciences; however, she was no slouch in any of the subjects she took.

Amy had a couple of problems, though. She had just about reached her maximum height of five feet four inches. She had lost most of her baby fat, and her figure was becoming very womanly. She was wearing a 32B bra the previous fall. Her breasts had basically grown over night, and they continued to grow. Her hips were a bit wide, but her waist nipped nicely in. Her mother somewhat jokingly rued the fact that her daughter’s figure was much better than hers had ever been. Amy’s breasts would never reach the truly outsized condition her mother’s had reached. However, by the time she was a junior in high school, she would never look back at a D-cup again.

Needless to say, every hormonal boy in school wanted to get a piece of her action. She couldn’t be totally celibate, and she enjoyed doing girl things, and dating was one of them; however, she had made a silent commitment that there was only one person she would ever have sex with. She never thought much about the fact he was a year younger than she. They had been essentially bound by fate to be together. When she had to physically look up to him, any age difference issues faded away. So she dated off and on and went to the school dances. She was too young to drive, and consequently it was either one of her parents or one of the boy’s parents who provided the transportation.

Amy was highly sexed. Let there be no doubt about it. She found the best defense was a good offence. Besides, she liked getting off and enjoyed the power she had over the boys. In the dark confines of the movie theater, she would allow her dates to explore her curves. If they approached her the right way she would allow gentle exploration under her bra. If her date were particularly attentive, she might even allow his fingers to reach her nether regions. She found that claiming she was having her period would usually put a stop to further exploration if she wanted it to stop. She had a couple of self imposed rules that she never violated. She never gave head. Her hands were soft and talented. She carried a small bottle of hand lotion for lubrication. The second rule was that none of her dates could ever kiss or suck on her breasts. Some boys had been very persistent; however, she never gave in. Being in a semi-public place like a theater, made it fairly easy to cool the boys’ ardor. All she had to do was threaten to scream.

Joe was also having similar problems in having to fend off an increasingly attentive group of female admirers. By ninth grade he was well over six feet tall and the star athlete of his school. His exceptional good looks were a catalyst. He was the star pitcher of his baseball team and maintained a .500 batting average. He could play any position on the football team; however, his speed and height made him a natural for wide receiver and defensive back. It was in track and field where he really excelled. He was very fast and excelled in the sprints, long jump, hurdles and pole vault. The javelin was not part of junior and senior high track and field events, but he would pick it up in college.

In eighth grade Joe started becoming the subject of much discussion among the girls at his school. He never asked anyone out. He would come to the dances, mostly at his mother’s insistence. This was a bit odd because his mother hated school dances when she was his age. This was primarily due to a sexual assault incidence when she was in seventh grade. She never did go to a school dance after that. He would dance, mostly the fast ones where he didn’t have to hold the girl. Sometimes he would get caught in a slow dance, and many of the girls would claim that he was too stiff – wooden. Sometimes his mind would wander a bit and he would imagine he was dancing with Amy. It was only then that he would loosen up. The girls appreciated it, but he would get embarrassed because he would often get an erection. Many of the girls thought he might be gay.

Several events precipitated significant changes in Joe and Amy’s life that summer. Trish’s mother and father were having some medical issues that required closer attention than they could provide for themselves at their home. Trish felt, and rightly so, that her parents might be better off if they moved to a very nice retirement village located in Ukiah. She had trouble convincing them; however, Tom came up with an excellent solution. They, the Barretts, would move to Willits.

Tom was sixty-five and ready to retire. He and Trish no longer had any strong connections in the Mariposa area. His oldest children had married and moved many years before. His daughter was married and lived in Geyserville. She and Trish were very close and Amy considered Heather to be her older sister even though they were eighteen years apart.

Heather had shared considerably in Amy and Oscar’s upbringing for several years. She married before graduating from college, although she would eventually return and get her degree. Her husband was a mining engineer. She had met him at the local Sonic where she worked during the summer. He was divorced and on the rebound. She was pretty, friendly, over her last boyfriend, and realized she wanted a more secure lifestyle. Her mother had run away when she was only eight years old and her step mother, as sweet as she was, had not yet learned to be a mother figure for a teenage girl, especially a rather independent one.

She thought he was handsome, even if he was quite bald for being only 28 years old. His name was David Blatcher. He told her he was going bald before he was twenty. He had been working for a local mining company for five years, and when he came home one morning to pick up some papers, as trite as it seems, found his wife in bed with the gardener.

They, Heather and David, hit it off right away and within a week were sleeping together. Since the divorce, David was living in a motel that had kitchenettes. The motel was not located far from the Barrett’s home, which might have led to some awkward circumstances except that David was really a nice guy who had been rather deeply hurt. Tom, having gone through a similar circumstance many years before, sympathized with David.

Trish had not really been wronged by her first two husbands. In fact she and Tom were still friends with her second husband. At that point in her life, she hadn’t really gotten along with anyone. Her relationship with Arnie Hearst was a different matter. He had gotten her pregnant, and her biological clock was running down. She was very good in the sack, and Arnie was convinced to marry her so that their daughter would have a father. It was a horrid mistake. Arnie was quite insane.

There was a quiet wedding with Trish’s parents and the Esterházys attending. Her two brothers and their families were also there. So, Heather Blatcher, nee Barrett, became a bride just short of her 21st birthday.

It’s strange how things work out. A few months after the wedding, the mine closed down. That was one of the main reasons David was in Mariposa in the first place. His company was into several geologic enterprises elsewhere, and geothermal power was one. There was a position available for David at Geyserville where geothermal power was rapidly expanding. The Blatcher’s moved off to the wine country to start their new family.

Now, the Barretts had several friends and families to visit on the U.S. 101 corridor. It made the decision to move there too easy. Amy was fifteen and soon to be a sophomore in high school. She would have three years at Willits High School before she went off to college. She missed her junior high school classmates in Mariposa; however, she was 300 miles and five hours closer to Joe than she was before. He was only 165 miles and three and one half away hours from Willits.

There were a number of logistical problems involved in moving to Willits. Trish’s parents had to move out of their house to the retirement home in Ukiah. The Barretts would move into the Bridgewater’s old home. Things had to be shipped to Ukiah (not that far away), and household goods would have to be moved from Mariposa to Willits, and a lot of things would have to be put in storage. The older generations determined that it might be best if the children, Amy and Oscar, were out of the way for a week or two, and the Esterházys happily volunteered for the duty.

There was a newborn in the Esterházy household, Patrick; however, things were going very well, and for at least a few weeks Sylvia and Phil would be staying at The Ranch rather than attending to the projects in Hetch Hetchy. The students didn’t need that much supervision, and there were several advanced degree candidates tending to what was going on.

Amy was overjoyed. She had been trying to figure out how to see more of Joe, and this would work out perfectly. Unknown to anyone else, she had been acquiring a supply of condoms from the local service stations, and she intended to use as many of them as possible with Joe.

Phil and Joe arrived fairly early in the morning, and after extracting a promise from Amy and Oscar to be on their best behavior, Trish bid her children goodbye for two weeks. There was a lot of work to be done to get the house ready.

Of course Oscar was in the front seat, and Amy and Joe were in the second seat. Amy’s smile was very wide, and Joe thought he could detect a small tear in the corner of one eye. She slid up against him and dropped her hand between his legs and gave him a gentle squeeze. She wasn’t sure that giving him a big kiss would be a good idea. He would get the message, regardless.

They stopped for lunch in Garberville, and then continued north along the South Fork of the Eel River. It was near Pepperwood where Joe pointed out a sign that was fastened to a giant Redwood tree. The sign was at least 20 feet above the road and it said, “High Water Level, December 1964”. Amy had trouble with the concept of the water being that deep, especially with the river bed being so far below them to the north.

The weather was typical for early summer. Not too far from the coast the fog had things pretty well socked in. The Eureka – McKinleyville corridor is one of the foggiest places in the U.S. In fact, during WW II there had been a lot of fog studies done in the area. Things rapidly changed as they headed east out of Arcata and the fog thinned by the time they reached Blue Lake. When they reached The Ranch, the weather was pleasantly warm.

Amy moved into Persephone’s room and Oscar moved into Demi’s room. Persephone was closest to Amy in age and was a bit more serious than her two-year younger sister. Persephone was usually called ‘Persi’ and Demeter was called ‘Demi’. Their baby sister was Helen. Sylvia enjoyed Greek and Roman history and Mythology. Phil didn’t have any problems with the names she picked out for their girls, although people not familiar with their Greek names would frequently mispronounce the two older girls’ names when they first came across them in writing.

More than one teacher would stumble over Persephone’s name when calling the role the first time. There would be the stumble, “Er, ‘Purse-a-phone Ester-hazy’.” They would generally pronounce her last name as in a hazy day. It would take some time before she could get them to say, “Purr-seph’-un-ee.” Getting them to say “Ester hahzee” was a bit easier. Her English and music teachers had no problem with the pronunciation.

Demeter didn’t experience as much of a problem. Her name was pronounced “Dem-eat’-er”. Some would try to say “Dem-it-er” with no stress on any of the syllables. There had been a major league baseball player with a last name pronounced that way; however, he had played in Los Angeles more than 100 years before, and only a student of baseball trivia would be familiar with the name.

Sylvia did mess things up a little with their names as in Greek mythology Demeter was the mother of Persephone; so the names were out of order. There wasn’t any problem with Helen as far as names were concerned. As a little girl her beauty was exceptional, and her beauty never decreased as she got older. She would not grow to be as tall as her mother and two older sisters, but she would pass six feet. Her figure would be quite feminine but never reach the robust, athletic bodies her older sisters had. She would attract many boyfriends over the years. She was probably the most domestic and least outgoing of the three sisters. She had a large collection of dolls and some of them were quite valuable. She was an exceptional pianist; much like her grandmother who loved to tutor and nurture her.

Amy surveyed the large home where she would be spending the next two weeks. Phil and Sylvia had added a large game room - guestroom several years before. This was the area the children would retreat to when their parents had guests or were entertaining faculty members. This kept the children’s noise away from the adults, and vice versa.

Phil was an acceptable musician and played the piano by ear. He never had a lesson. Sylvia could have been a virtuoso guitarist; however, she had too many academic endeavors going on to seriously concentrate on it. She had inherited her father’s classical guitar and would bring it out on many occasions. They had purchased a very good used Steinway grand piano on the advice of Sylvia’s mother. She insisted they take serious care of it and they did; however, getting a professional piano tuner back to The Ranch did get expensive.

Amy looked at the giant instrument with some awe. She had seen a few uprights and baby grands over the years but never had any desire to play any instrument. She tentatively poked at a few keys just to hear the notes.

Helen watched Amy for a moment or two, and then pushed her aside. “I’ll show you how to do it. It’s easy.”

Amy stood in awe as Helen’s chubby little five-year-old hands danced over the keys. “She thinks she’s good,” Persephone said. “We don’t tell her that. We don’t want her to get a big head. Gramma Jo and Aunt Fanny say she is going to be very good when she gets bigger. She gets lessons a couple of times a week. Sometimes the teacher comes out here and sometimes Mom takes her down to Arcata for lessons.”

The new arrival in the Esterházy household piqued Amy’s curiosity. She had been too small to get very involved in child rearing when her half brother, Oscar, had been born. She barely remembered his birth, but did remember that he would be noisy when he wanted to be fed and would quiet down quickly when her mother nursed him. Patrick Esterházy was just two weeks old when Amy and Oscar arrived. Amy had been admonished by her mother to be as helpful as she could with the new baby in the house. She explained that ‘Aunt’ Sylvia was going to be very busy with feeding and that she would also need her rest.

Amy may have been very pleased that she was with Joe; however, she was very happy to happy to be with the Esterházys in general. They were cool people and really down to earth. They weren’t simple people; far from it. They just made everything so interesting. Her mother had not been academically oriented, having graduated only from a two-year college, and her stepfather had moved up through the ranks of law enforcement to become Sheriff of Mariposa County. He had enlisted in the U.S. Air Force out of high school and worked in law enforcement. He met his first wife while in the service and left at her request. Then she left him.

The Esterházys served as an academic catalyst for Amy. They were always talking about interesting things. There were many mysteries in the world and the Esterházys helped make so many things more understandable for her. She realized early on that a good education was important if she wanted to get ahead. Then she realized that a good education would help her be more attractive to Joe. There was something about him that was special and she realized it early on. He was intelligent, very good looking, tall and getting taller, and finally, seemed to genuinely like Amy – a lot.

One of the reasons Phil Esterházy, and Sylvia after him, fell in love with The Ranch was its location and the opportunity to live a green life there. There was a perpetual supply of pollution free water whose source was a spring located on the property. The spring resulted in an all year creek that had a small population of Pacific Cutthroat Trout that were there mostly for interest rather than food or sport. There were plenty more fish available in the Mad River at the bottom edge of the property. The original 80 acres was now 240 acres, and the Esterházys had options on several hundred more acres that were contiguous to their land.

Electricity was now being supplied by a modern wind turbine and solar cells. They did have a back-up generator; however, it seldom had to be called on. Most of the time, they were contributing to the grid and received a nice check for it. There were still some convenience issues with using gas for cooking and heating. They were also able to use scrap from several of the lumber mills that were still in operation for heating. It had been shown through several scientific studies that wood smoke from domestic fireplaces did little to contribute to the overall CO2 load. Besides, the wood scrap was to be burned, anyway.

Amy found out one other thing about being green. The Esterházys did not use disposable diapers. In the summertime there was enough sun, as they were beyond the fog belt on many days, to dry the diapers using sun power, i.e. use a clothes line. The washing machine seemed to run almost every day, and diapers were a major portion of the load. Persephone and Demeter were the laundry queens, and Amy was recruited as an assistant. Laundering the smelly diapers and other clothing wasn’t that much work and Amy felt she was making a valuable contribution while Sylvia was recovering from recently having given birth.

Patrick was getting a midday feeding, and Amy stopped to observe. She did remember her brother being breast fed; however, the fact she was a young woman who could have children, the process had a different affect.

Sylvia could see Amy’s interest. “Amy, this is one of the true joys of motherhood. It’s difficult to explain; however, I don’t think it needs to be explained. This is the way it should be. My children and I have been so fortunate. When Phil and I married I wanted to have children right away, and I wanted to be a good mother like my mother was. Motherhood has been the blessing I had always hoped it would be. Phil has been a great husband and father.

“Someday, hopefully, you will want to have a family. I hope you don’t have to wait as long as I did to find the right person. You know, that’s kinda funny. I found Phil and didn’t realize he was the right person. He knew right away. Phil was very patient with me, and I was such an idiot. It took nearly six years before he straightened me out.

“I hope you find someone and know it right away. When you find him, don’t let him get away. Life is too short. I am so lucky that Phil waited for me and had the perseverance to let me clear up the issues I had.”

Amy watched intently as little Patrick eagerly suckled on his mother’s breast. “Aunt Sylvia, is having babies hard? Does it hurt?”

“Amy, it’s tough. Your back hurts and your feet swell. So do your boobs for that matter. Giving birth is a long tiring process and it hurts. I won’t deny it; however, it takes about two or three days to get over it, to forget how much it really hurts. I’m lucky. My body was made to give birth. How old are you? Fifteen, right? You have a very mature body for being only fifteen. I’m not a medical doctor, my sister and mother are, but I don’t think you will have any trouble bearing children. You may be a lot shorter than I am, but you definitely have a womanly spread.

“My goodness, you have certainly grown in the bust department over the last year. I used to be ashamed of my breasts, and then I found out how nice mine were. What are you; about a 34C?”

“I can wear a 34C, but a 32D is more comfortable. They just came out of nowhere. My mother wears some giganormous size. I hope I don’t get as big as she is. She has to special order her bras. I know Daddy likes her that way.” Amy giggled a bit at that last statement.

“Some men are like that, they like the superficial things like big tits. Believe me; your Daddy isn’t like that at all. He loves your mother very much. You have been very lucky to have a daddy who is as good as he is, and your mother is very fortunate to have found him.

Sylvia thought back over the last fifteen years or so. “I think Phil was very attracted to me because of how I looked. When he was a junior in college, he told a friend of his that I was the woman he was going to marry. Then I taught a class he was a student in. He looked through all the superficialities: the big tits, blond hair, blue eyes, legs that went on forever. I think even then I saw something special about him. He was an undergraduate student who had all the hormonal characteristics of any boy his age. He asked me out. Of course I rejected him.

“It was four years later, when Joe Evans told him I was working in Yosemite, that Phil finally broke through and I found out what love was all about. Phil won my parents over easily. It was because he was so honest, the real thing. I think he knew me better than I did.”

Sylvia paused for a few moments, thinking about the first time she and Phil had made love, and how wonderful it had been. “Don’t ever sell yourself short, Amy. You are very intelligent and have the potential for a great future. Don’t throw it away.

“So, what do you and the others kids have planned?”

“I don’t know. I think Persi and Demi want to do some things. Joe said he wanted to take me fishing down on the Mad River. He said there were some big fish down there. He wanted to take me on a tour of Humboldt. I haven’t been there before. I would like to see where you and Uncle Phil teach.”

“Amy, I know you aren’t in high school yet, but have you thought about what you want to do?”

“I want to be a teacher. I don’t think I am smart enough to be able to do what you and Uncle Phil do, but I want to make a difference.”

“Amy, I mean it when I say don’t sell yourself short. What do you want to teach?”

“I want to work with young children, maybe 1st through 6th grades. I had friends in school in Mariposa who didn’t know how to read or do simple math. I don’t understand why they can’t do it. I would like to be able to help so that they might be able to go to a school like where you and Uncle Phil teach. I think some of my teachers just gave up on the bad students.”

“Amy, I don’t doubt one bit that you can do it. Teaching is very enjoyable, especially when you can see your students do well. I know you are a good student. Just keep working hard like you are now.

“How’s your brother doing?”

“Oh, he’s a lot smarter than I am. He says he’s going to go to the Air Force Academy and be an astronaut. He says he is going to be the first man on Mars. I don’t think he’s going to make that, though. I think they will get there before he’s old enough to be an astronaut. He’s real good at science and math. He skipped a grade last year. I think Joe’s smarter than Oscar. He’s going to be a world champion some day.”

Sylvia was amused, “World Champion what?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but I do know this. He will be the champion of whatever he wants to be.”

“You like Joe, don’t you?”

Amy suddenly realized that she might have been a bit too open with Sylvia. She realized she might have to back off a bit.

“Joe’s cool for a kid. I like him a lot. I think we can be good friends.”

“I know Joe likes you a lot, too. He’s grown a lot over the last year. He tried not to show it, but he was very happy when he found out you and Oscar were coming here for a while. I know you will have a lot of fun; however, please leave the rattlesnakes alone.”

The conversation turned back to raising babies and all the complications. “Ah, the joys of motherhood, if I even hear a baby cry, I ‘let down’. I have to wear these pads to keep from soaking my clothes. Fortunately, Patrick is a hungry baby and he keeps me under control. They have a very nice day care center on campus, and he will be old enough that we can leave him there. It’s just a short walk from my office to get there. It’s very convenient.

“Phil and I had a long talk about it, I’m in my early forties now, and we decided I should get my tubes tied. I had it done immediately after the delivery. There is an increased chance of having babies with problems at my age, and not being able to conceive takes a lot of the worry away. I don’t mind having children, but I don’t want to bring an exceptional child into the world. I could never terminate a pregnancy regardless of whether or not the child was handicapped. This just removes that problem.”

“Mom told me that she had me and Oscar tested. I think her main reason with me was to prove who my father was. He was such a bad man. I’m so glad that Mom and Daddy got together. He’s been a great father and he loves us all so much.”

“Mom, Amy and I are going fishing. Amy’s making a picnic lunch. We’ll take the old logging road down to the river where that bridge was washed out. There’s some big steelhead in a couple of those pools.”

“Joe, remember what your dad said about the steelhead. Don’t take them out of the water if you can help it. The summer run is starting to recover after all these years.”

“I don’t think we will keep any fish, Mom. They would probably spoil before we could bring them back. It’s too warm. We’re wearing our suits, and I think we’ll go swimming in that big pool.”

“What about Amy? Is she a good swimmer?”

“Like a fish. The river’s down a bit, so there won’t be any problems with currents.”

Their path took them about two miles up Maple Creek Road to a spot where the abandoned logging road headed down to a washed out bridge. After another mile and a half, they came to the river. Much of the river’s water was taken out at Ruth Lake, many miles upstream. The river could hardly be called a river. Still it was big enough that there was no point where one could cross it jumping from rock to rock. If you wanted to cross, you had to wade through the current, and they had to cross immediately because a cliff made it impossible to go down the right-hand bank.

Joe led the way as they waded across. The bottom was covered with cobble sized rocks; so the going wasn’t too difficult, although the water just about came up to Amy’s crotch at the deepest point. They proceeded down the left bank to a large pool. The water was crystal clear, but it was so deep that the bottom could not be seen.

“Let’s get out on that large flat boulder. You can cast that lure way down toward the outflow area.”

“Don’t you want to fish first, Joe?”

“Naw, I can fish here any time I want. I think it would be neat if you could catch a big trout or steelhead. I know you can cast. Throw that spoon as far as you can toward the bottom end of the pool. Let it sink for a while, then bring it back slowly.”

Amy did exactly as Joe said she should. The lure arched through the air and splashed into the middle of the lower end of the pool. She cranked in the slack, and then slowly reeled the out-of-sight lure back toward them. It was about two thirds of the way back when they could see it glitter maybe fifteen or twenty feet below the surface.

“That’s perfect speed,” Joe commented. “Look, there’s a nice trout following it. He must be close to fifteen inches.”

“Joe, look to the left and about ten feet further back.”

“Holy shit, that’s huge!”

Amy may have slowed her retrieval speed just a bit. The smaller trout must have sensed the larger fish as it suddenly fled to the depths. The larger fish kept closing the distance between it and the lure, and then just opened its mouth and engulfed it.

Amy set the hook and the battle was on. The line screamed off the reel as the fish headed downstream. She played it expertly and Joe kept his mouth shut. Summer steelhead were quite a trophy, and he wanted Amy to have the pleasure of making the catch on her own. She carefully brought it back to within about forty or fifty feet and then it took off again. This time it retreated to the depths under a huge outcropping of rock on the left side of the pool. The line briefly caught on the edge of the rock. Amy took the chance that the fish was firmly hooked and lowered the pole tip for a second. The fish sensing the loss of pressure headed back to the middle of the pool away from the rock. The battle was on again and then it was over.

Joe reached into the water and gently hooked a finger into a gill slit and released the lure. “Amy, I want to get a picture of you with this fish. She has to be more than ten pounds. What a beautiful fish!

“Wet your hands and I’ll get a picture of you holding it in the water.” He took the picture of Amy and her fish and did a quick measure along his rod before they released it. Joe gently moved it back and forth in the water and suddenly the giant trout took off to the depths. “Amy, there’re steelhead fishermen who fish all their lives and never catch one as big as that one. You did that perfectly. I’m proud of you.” He looked at her smiling face and could see the reflection of her pleasure in what she had done. He leaned over a bit and kissed her. The kiss went on for quite a while and Joe was becoming very aroused. So was Amy.

They broke the kiss and Joe could sense that fishing that day was over. “Let’s go swimming.”

He led the way over the large outcrop and then down the river. About a half a mile further on they came to a very large pool. Most of the river was plunging over about a ten foot waterfall at the head of the pool.

“How do the Salmon and steelhead get over that waterfall? I know they can jump, but I don’t think they can get over that.”

“You’re right. They can’t. But when the river’s up, this dry bed over here turns into a series of cascades and the fish go up through here.

“Dad told me once that he and Mom used to go swimming down here. He winked at me when he told me. I think I know what he meant.”

They worked their way down through the boulders to a secluded beach that couldn’t have been more than fifteen or twenty feet wide. The temperature had climbed into the upper seventies in the late morning sunshine. There would be time for lunch after a while.

“How did we do this before? Oh yeah, last one in is a rotten egg.” Amy slipped her shoes and socks off. They needed to dry anyway. Then she took off her shorts and shirt. She had a very nice two piece suit on. Her figure was becoming very voluptuous, and Joe took it in. Amy smiled at Joe’s obvious attention. “I don’t think I need this. There’s no one around.” She reached behind and unhooked her top, and then without hesitation, slid her bottoms off.

Joe was frozen in place. As far as he was concerned she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She turned slowly in front of him, basking in his gaze. Her breasts, not yet affected by maturity and childbirth stood proudly on her adolescent frame. They almost defied gravity. Her waist tucked nicely and her broadened hips balanced her bust. Her areolae were dark pink and wide. The cool breeze and her arousal caused her nipples to stand out. Joe didn’t realize it, but her arousal was causing her labia to swell a bit. She had shaved a bit around her mons and labia because of the swim suit, and there was a beautiful little delta of dark hair that pointed to the place of her arousal.

“So, what do you think?”

Joe was speechless for a moment. There was somethin in the back of his mind that told him if he didn’t say the right thing he could be in big trouble.

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I dream about you all the time and I have to tell you they are very good dreams. The only trouble is that every time I wake up you aren’t there. You look better than my imagination could ever envision.

“I know one other thing.”

“What’s that?” she said with her eyes sparkling.

“I think I am over dressed.”

He pulled his trunks down and kicked them aside. He stood proudly in front of her and it was her turn to look in awe. Joe was not hung like some porn stars; however, he was over six feet tall, very well muscled, and well endowed.

“You dream about me?”

“Yeah, all the time. We’re doing things and we’re always holding each other very close. It feels so good because I tell you I love you, and then you tell me you love me. Then we’re doing it. At least I think we are. You are laughing and crying, and then I come in my shorts and wake up. I am so sad that you aren’t there, and I want to go back to sleep so that you will be there.”

“Well, I don’t think that you’ll have to rely on dreams any more.” She walked to her pack and pulled out a sheet she had placed there along with the lunch and some other things. Joe marveled at how her body shifted and flowed while it was not restricted by clothing. As far as he was concerned she was beautiful, and he would never think any way else about her. She spread the sheet out on the sand, lay down and beckoned to him. He didn’t need any encouragement.

He joined her and they molded their bodies together. He couldn’t get enough of her lips and breasts. They were much larger than the previous fall. Her areolae were more than three inches across and her nipples were very prominent. She caressed his erection, but had been warned by a girl friend to be careful because if she made him come too soon, it might take him a while to get ready again.

“Joe, I need to tell you a couple of things. First of all, I love you very much and I want to do this with you a whole lot. We have to be careful because I don’t want to get pregnant, at least not yet. I brought a lot of rubbers with me and I intend to use a lot of them if we can. I promised I would wait for you, but I am not cherry. I haven’t done it with anyone else and I never will. I broke my hymen so that the first time we do it, it will be good for both of us. I’m glad I did because it hurt a lot and I bled a lot. I hope you aren’t disappointed.”

“Amy, the last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you. I don’t think boys think about that very much. All they want to do is get a piece of ass.”

For a while there were no further words. They exchanged caresses and kisses, and he continued to worship her breasts. She felt she was ready and reached into her knapsack and removed one of several condoms she had placed there. She tore the foil cover and then had him shift so she could roll it onto his erection. She was getting very eager as was he; however, it was still a mystery to them. She lay back and opened her arms to him. He got into what he thought was the right position and tried to enter her. He didn’t have it quite right and she wasn’t as ready as she thought she was.

“Some of my friends say I have to be real wet before you can get it into me. Would you kiss me down there? Remember that spot you played with when we were in the theater? Kiss me there.”

He didn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t and started kissing her breasts before he slid down to her navel. It was a cute little navel and he spent a little while paying attention to the area. Finally he moved down to her little wiry triangle and beyond. Her aroma was a mixture of clean sweat and something else he hadn’t come across before. He found her little nubbin at the juncture of her labia and teased her with his tongue and lips.

Soon she was writhing and moaning, and he knew he was doing something right. He could see her labia glistening with moisture, and he thought he would try again. He missed at first. He was too high; however, she shifted her hips and suddenly he was in an area he had explored with his fingers the fall before.

“Oh, yes, that’s the spot. Just go slow. You are a lot bigger than I expected, but it will work.”

He slowly worked in and out and gradually her walls relaxed to accommodate him. It took maybe ten minutes when she realized that he had somehow managed to get his entire length into her. She could look down and see their hairs meshed together.

“Now, I think we just do what feels good.”

From that point on, that was what they did. The rubber sheath probably desensitized him a bit and that was a good thing. Amy wrapped her short legs around his thighs and met him thrust for thrust. She came twice before he finally erupted in the most mind shattering orgasm he had ever experienced in his short life.

He didn’t want to leave her but his tumescence receded and he rolled to her side. There wasn’t much they could say for a few minutes. “My God, that was better than any dream.”

“It certainly wasn’t a dream, Joe. I think I want to do that again, a lot. What are we going to do? We’ve sort of reached the point of no return. Things can never be the same between us again. Do you still love me now that you’ve had your way with me?”

“Amy, you and I are going to get married some day and we’re going to have a family. I still have four years before college and you have three years. If I said I didn’t want to do this again with you, I would be lying.

“Mom and Dad are pretty cool about things; however, if they find out about what we’re doing I have a feeling we would be in deep shit.”

“In that case, I think we need to do it again. Let’s get that thing off of you and get another one ready.” Amy had been well prepared. There had been no doubt in her mind that they would do exactly what they did. She had brought tissues and towelettes so they could clean up. She removed the used condom and put it in a plastic bag. Her attention to him caused an immediate response.

Amy would eventually tell Joe about the fact she had played with several of her dates primarily to cool their ardor. There was another reason for doing what she did. She allowed them to get her off if they behaved themselves; however, she was learning about male responses. Maybe she and Joe could learn together, but she wanted it to be so good for him that he wouldn’t look elsewhere. She realized after a few months that she never had to worry.

Her attention was now centered on Joe’s growing erection. She had gotten him off the previous fall through her oral ministrations and she tended to him again. She could get only the head of his penis into her mouth, but even that was more than enough to cause an immediate response. She treated him like a giant lollypop.

“Uh, Amy, if you keep that up, I’m going to come again.”

She paused, and looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. “Good.”

“I’d rather we came together. I want to be inside you like before. I think we need to be together.”

Not wanting to pass up a good thing, Amy retrieved another condom and rolled it on. She realized that she was far more ready than before. As she straddled Joe’s reclining form she reached back, grabbed his expectant erection and positioned it at her entrance. He propped himself on his elbows to watch as his erection was gradually worked into the place it belonged.

She was close enough to him that he could reach her breasts. He marveled at how they quivered and bounced around as she worked herself up and down, sinking further and further down. He practically inhaled her nipples and areolae. He would suck each one in as far as it would go and then gradually release it while applying as much tactile pressure he could with his lips and tongue. Amy reached her maximum depth and could feel her inner walls tight around him. He was in her warm tight place and she loved it more than she ever imagined she would. Again she came twice, the second more powerful than any previous to that point.

She was soaked in perspiration, and the breeze had picked up a bit cooling their skin. “I think we’ve worked up an appetite, but weren’t we going swimming? Let’s wash up before we eat lunch.” They waded into the shallows of the cool river while holding hands. Maybe a few years ago there would have been thoughts of splashing and dunking each other. Those thoughts were somehow lost in the moment.

They stayed unclothed while they ate their sandwiches and snacks. There was always the chance that some other fisherman would show up, but because it was a weekday and the river wasn’t that popular a place for fishing, they felt they wouldn’t be bothered.

They made love once more and it was as pleasurable as before, maybe even more so. They spent more time afterwards bathing and swimming in the large pool. Then they returned to the blanket and shared the towel they had brought. Joe worshipped Amy’s breasts once more before she slipped her swimsuit on.

They worked their way back up the river on pleasantly tired legs to the old logging road. The old road, really just a trail now, was not too steep. They held hands as much as they could and would keep sneaking glances at each other and giggle.

They grew up a lot that day, but still had to suffer the paranoia, the fear that someone would find out what they had done and would continue to do as long as they could. Their first encounter with that was when they walked into the kitchen where Sylvia was nursing Patrick.

“So what are you two carrying on about?”

Joe was able to divert any suspicion when he showed his mother the pictures of the giant trout Amy had caught.

“That is a fabulous catch, Amy. I need to pass on the information on to the guys in the Department of Fisheries. They’ll be very interested. Several didn’t think the summer steelhead got up that far. You released it right away didn’t you?”

“We hardly took it out of the water other than to take those pictures. We kept our hands wet, and it seemed strong when we let it go.”

“Did you catch anything else?”

“Just a few rainbows and cutthroat: we turned them loose too,” Joe prevaricated.

“We went swimming in that big pool below that jumble of boulders where the waterfall is. That pool has to be more than twenty feet deep. I’ll bet some steelhead are resting in there, too, but we didn’t see any.”

Sylvia got sort of a far away look in her eyes as she shifted Pat to her other breast. “Yes, that is a rather nice spot. Your dad and I used to swim down there.”

Joe and Amy managed to make love several times over the next ten days. There was one day when they had several joyous hours alone at the house while Helen had piano lessons and Sylvia took Persi and Demi shopping. Amy volunteered to sit with Pat, and Sylvia had saved some breast milk so that Amy could feed him. Sylvia was very happy to have several hours free.

Amy was curious about something, and when she was feeding Pat, she took off her blouse and bra. She put a few drops of milk on her nipple, and positioned Pat as she had seen Sylvia do. Pat immediately latched on and a thrill shot through Amy. Pat expressed his displeasure in not getting anything, and Amy quickly replaced her breast with the bottle.

Pat had walked in during the middle of the experiment. He had been doing chores in the chicken coop, and watched what was going on. “I didn’t know you could nurse a baby.”

“I can’t, at least not yet. I wanted to see what it felt like.”

“Did it feel good?”

“Oh, yeah, and do you know what else? It made me very horny. I am going to put Pat down for his nap. Wait for me in your bedroom.”

They managed to make love twice before Pat started fussing.

Over the next two years they made love as often as they could, which wasn’t nearly often enough as far as they were concerned. By the summer before Amy’s senior year, she had convinced her parents that she could make the drive on her own. By then it was very obvious that Joe and Amy were very serious about each other. Both sets of parents were concerned that they were seeing too much of each other and that their grades would suffer for it. Those fears were put to rest when both of them came through with 4.0 grade point averages.

Joe had continued to grow and was now six foot four and the best athlete in the history of McKinleyville High School. There were several very prestigious colleges trying to recruit him; however, he had no desire to leave the area. The best opportunity for Amy and him to be together in college was to go to Humboldt State. There was no doubt he could get a full scholarship based both on his grades and his athletic prowess.

Amy was also just about guaranteed entry into most of the schools in the country, and getting into Humboldt State would certainly be no problem. She was visiting Humboldt on the pretense of checking the school out as a possible place of education. It was easy to stay with the Esterházys and Amy did make an honest visit at the campus. Staying over the weekend was almost expected.

Sylvia and Phil had some school duties that required them to spend much of Saturday at the school. Helen was with them and was getting a piano lesson. Demi and Persi were on a shopping trip to the mall with friends who lived in Butler Valley. That left Joe to do his chores, and Amy would watch the three year old Patrick.

There were a number of tasks to be done including some repairs on the water system. Joe finished those and returned to the house for lunch. Amy had fed Pat and put him down for a nap. Neither Joe nor Amy had to say anything to each other. Joe grabbed a sandwich and headed for the shower. Amy joined him. Afterwards, they returned to Joe’s bed and reconfirmed their love for each other. It was always good and this time was particularly nice. Afterwards, they snuggled up to each other while enjoying the afterglow. Of course they fell asleep.

Amy wakened and realized she and Joe were still entangled. She thought she heard a noise and then realized after the cobwebs of her afternoon nap started to clear up that Joe’s sisters and parents would be home soon. She turned to get up and looked to see Persi and Demi peering through the partially open door. They were smiling. There was nothing malicious about the smiles. Persi, who was already close to six feet tall, blew Amy a kiss and gave her a ‘thumbs up’ sign. Both girls turned and walked to their rooms.

“Joe, wake up.”

“Huh, wha…?”

“Persi and Demi know what we’re doing. They were just looking through the door and know that we’re naked and in bed together. We better get up, and I need to talk to them. We could be in deep shit.”

The two lovers scrambled to clean up a bit and get dressed.

Amy, very nervously, went down the hall to Persi’s room. She could hear the girls’ subdued chatter and giggling through the closed door. She lightly tapped on the door and the chatter stopped.

“Come in,” it had to be Persi.

Amy stood inside the doorway and looked at the two girls. Persi and Demi had their mother’s good looks. Persi was fourteen and well on her way to womanhood, and Demi was not far behind.

“So, how long have you two been doing it?” said Persi who was the bolder of the two.

“Er, doing what?” Amy said trying to put on a bold front. It was difficult to be bold with two girls who, although were several years younger, already towered over her.

“You know, fucking. We know you’ve been doing it. We found your rubbers.

“Demi and I decided we’re not going to tell. We think it’s kinda cool, and Joe’s real lucky to have someone as nice as you, not some bimbo high school cheer leader. They’re always trying to get in his pants, and he won’t have anything to do with them. I guess you’re kinda old for him, but mamma’s two years older’n Dad and they don’t care.”

“You need to know something,” said Amy while trying to figure out some way to explain things. “First of all, Joe and I are not fucking. We’re making love. I love your brother very much, and some day we’re going to get married and have a family. Gosh, how do I say this? Joe and I have been making love for more than two years, ever since that time Oscar and I stayed here. It wasn’t an accident. He didn’t rape me or anything like that. We knew it was going to happen and we did it and it has been wonderful.

“Yes, we’re young, and Joe is younger than I am, but he is more of a man than any of those boys I go to school with. He is considerate and kind. It’s not about him. It’s about us. We have to get through school first of all. It’s going to be a long wait, but if we can get together like we have been, it will be a lot easier.”

They never did get caught by either of their parents. Sylvia would say later on that she was pretty sure something was going on when Amy was a senior and driving. She was around frequently, and there was that obvious chemistry about them. Perhaps they fooled their parents by their somewhat restrained behavior. They didn’t moon at each other, any PDA’s were mild, and when they were separated they didn’t spend long hours on the phone. Even their texting back and forth was limited. They didn’t need that constant reassurance from each other. Their relationship was firmly cemented.

The Esterházys made the relatively short trip to Willits on the morning after Thanksgiving. They enjoyed seeing the Barretts and the two families got along well. It had been more than a month since Amy and Joe had been able to get together and Amy didn’t think there would be any way they could sleep together. She did have a plan though, and it was a rather daring and exciting one as far as she was concerned.

It was now three years since their passionate explorations in the theater and Amy thought she would try it again. She drove the children to the local theater and they split up to go to three different shows. Joe and Amy found their way into the same room they had been in three years before. This was the theater usually reserved for the more ‘arty’ films, and because it was an afternoon show there were only a handful of elderly attendees and they were sitting in the rows close to the screen.

They quietly climbed to the back row to the same seats. It was probably the same chewing gum that was stuck to the seat bottoms that had been there before. There was just more of it now. It wasn’t too long after the opening credits that the two lovers were locked in a passionate embrace. Neither needed any encouragement. They knew each others hot buttons very well and it wasn’t long before they were oblivious to anything but their passion for each other. There was the excitement of being in a public place, the danger of possibly being caught, and just the fact they were horny teenagers who happened to be very in love.

Amy had long ago removed her bra and panties. She was wearing a short skirt this time. “Look at what I have,” she whispered as she waved the little foil pack in front of him. “I know right where this belongs.”

The subject would come up later as to why Amy wasn’t on the pill. Her mother rather naively felt that if she was on the pill it would encourage her to have sex: little did she know. Anyway, she wouldn’t give permission for Amy to get on the pill and Amy wasn’t yet eighteen.

At his point, any concern about getting caught was the farthest thing from their minds. Amy rolled the condom down his straining erection, and then lowered herself slowly on him. They stayed impaled for most of the next hour. Now that they were together, there was no rush because they probably wouldn’t be able to see each other for another month, and they wanted the moment to last as long as possible. Amy slowly rocked back and forth and up and down. They had to be careful because the reclining theater seat would strike the wall behind them if they got too vigorous. Joe’s treatment of Amy’s breasts was very vigorous, though.

They were hitting all the right spots, and after about 15 minutes Amy came rather hard. She had been having mini-orgasms every few minutes, and then the tension got to her. For about ten seconds she bounced rapidly on him and then exploded. The noise they created got the attention of a couple of the patrons; however, they couldn’t see anything when they looked back, and since the noise stopped, they returned to the movie.

Joe came rather strongly, too. It might have been the way they were positioned as he did not retract from her. The endorphins were flowing through Amy’s bloodstream, and she was pressing little kisses of gratitude all over Joe’s upper body and face. She could feel he was still inside her and she started massaging him with her vaginal muscles. It didn’t take long before Joe was rampant again. They repeated their dance and the results were as before – very, very satisfying.

There was a little problem. No, it was a big one. Amy wasn’t too careful about her condom inventory system. When she could get them, she hid them in a shoe box in her closet. She would grab a handful when she knew she and Joe would be together. The one she had placed on him that day was over three years old, and she didn’t notice when she opened the package in the dark theater that the foil had already been torn. The rubber was old and dried out.

The movie was reaching its conclusion when the two lovers separated. Amy removed the used condom and saw the problem immediately. A chill ran through her. It was in shreds and some of the shreds were probably still inside her. That wasn’t all that was inside her. Joe had fired several powerful salvos of semen into her very receptive womb. She was at the peak of her cycle and that was probably one of the reasons she had been so horny. She didn’t say anything and Joe hadn’t noticed. They would have to talk; however, this was not the place to do it.

She wrapped the failed article up and put it in her purse. Her mind was whirling. They left the room and Amy ducked into the adjacent restroom. Once inside a stall, she put her bra and panties back on. She found a couple of shreds of rubber caught in the pubic hair around her labia. She thought about her relationship with Joe and how he would react. She thought she knew. Suddenly, she felt a sense of relief. Whatever happened, she would always have Joe. She was sure of it.

The other kids were waiting when the came out to the main lobby. Amy was feeling a little sense of elation, and she wasn’t sure why. They drove the kids to the house, and turned them loose. “Tell Mom and Dad that Joe and I are going to take a little drive. We’ll be back before dinner.”

Amy headed to the highway going to Fort Bragg. Joe could sense something was bothering her and wasn’t sure what it could be. After all, they had just had some rather fabulous and risky sex, and he knew Amy had enjoyed it very much. After a few miles, she turned off the main road and stopped at an overlook above the Noyo River Canyon.

“Amy, what’s wrong. I didn’t do something stupid, did I?”

“No, you didn’t do anything stupid; however, we may have a problem. The damn rubber broke and I am probably on my way to being pregnant. This is a lot sooner than I had planned.

“I know we talked about having a family someday, and….” Amy started crying and Joe couldn’t think of anything to say at the moment, so he just held her tightly. He loved her so much and couldn’t stand it that she was upset.

She regained some composure and grasped Joe’s large hands in her tiny ones. “I could get a morning after pill and stop things, but I realized something earlier. I don’t want to stop things. If I get pregnant, I am having your baby. Would you marry me now if I got pregnant? Your parents would have to approve of it because you won’t be eighteen for more than a year.”

“Amy, I would marry you right now, if need be. This could cause some serious problems as far as school is concerned. How long will it take before we know for sure whether or not you’re pregnant?”

“Probably a week to ten days, ten days is really the first time for a reliable test. So, what do we do?”

“If you’re pregnant, we fess up. When would the baby be due?”

Amy did some quick calculations. “Probably around the end of August; I could finish school and we could move in together somewhere. I could put off going to college for a while to take care of our little girl or boy. Maybe your parents or my parents would put us up until you got out of high school. I’ll work while you are going to college. You are going to get an athletic scholarship wherever you go, so tuition won’t be a problem.

“I agree. We need to tell them as soon as we know for sure. There’s no use hiding things. That way, if I did get pregnant we can make plans.

“Okay, fix your makeup. There’s no reason to let them know that anything is wrong at this point. I love you, Amy. I’m glad you won’t do anything to stop things, either.”

The somewhat subdued couple returned to the house in time for a very nice dinner of Thanksgiving leftovers. After dinner, Persi cornered Amy as she was taking the trash out to the container in the garage. “Amy, is something wrong? Did Joe do something wrong?”

Amy thought for a minute. “There’s nothing wrong Persi. Things might just be different than we expected.”

Persi raised her eyebrows in reply. Amy said nothing and returned to the warm interior of the house.

Joe received a text message two weeks later. “It’s blue and I love you!”

~*~
Author's Note: Well, it was probably inevitable, and now they have to deal with it. There are frequently problems with this sort of thing, and many times they are not with the immediate family. How are Joe and Amy’s folks going to react? What’s going to happen when Joe and Amy’s classmates find out about her pregnancy? Are the two lovers really ready to become a married couple? What about college? Their lives are going to change drastically and there is no looking back. We know a lot from Amy’s discussion with Karen earlier; however, was it really that easy? We shall see. There are no more snakes.

Thanks again to Holly H. Hart for her very professional assistance.

Portia Bennett

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