“Baby girl, I know a thing or two about taking care of little kids. Especially ones I’ve been feeding and putting diapers on for... what? His whole life, I think? It’ll be fine, I promise.”
Daddy took me by the hand and led me to the door whereupon he handed me a backpack, a fancy new pen, and a little paper sack.
“What’s this?”
“Pickle loaf. You like that, right? I also put pimento cheese on there. Just like you like it. Oh and some horseradish.”
Instinctually, I wrinkled my nose.
“You’re... serious, aren’t you?” I had to giggle a little.
“You’ll find out, won’t you? Hurry up, bus will be at the stop in a couple minutes and you have a block to run.”
With that, he gave me a playful swat on the behind and pushed me out the door. I trotted down to the end of the sidewalk, looked back, and almost started crying when I saw him looking out the window after me.
I waved.
“What did I ever do to deserve this?” I asked a hubcap on my way to the bus stop. “What did I ever do?” The hubcap didn’t answer, but if it did, I think the answer would have been ‘don’t worry, just go with it.’
That, I decided, was good advice.
Chapter Three
School was school. That first day where you go around to all your classes – in my case, Medieval History, Organic Chemistry, Physics II and Calculus II back-to-back – and the professor reads the syllabus, tells you he doesn’t care much whether you attend class as long as you don’t distract the other students, and then off you go. I knew it was going to be a fairly brutal schedule, but I wanted to be home as much as possible with Davis and my daddy, so I arranged all my classes for two days a week. Long days, but it was for the best.
Everything just sort of chugged along until Physics, which was early afternoon. Right before class, I ate the sandwich Peter packed for me, which was a very sensible turkey breast and cheese, rather than the pimento cheese nightmare he concocted. All I could think about was him.
Sitting outside the sciences building and nibbling at my lunch, I remembered the way his tongue slipped between my folds, how he shoved his fingers inside my sloppy little pussy and dragged them along that spot that made me shiver. I imagined his cock driving deep inside...
“Liz? Hey, Liz is that you?”
A voice which I could not immediately place broke my little fantasy. I was kind of irritated. Looking around, I still didn’t notice anyone.
“Liz! Over here!”
I turned in the direction of the voice, and my eyes settled on the front door of the building where I had class in a few minutes. Who the hell is yelling at me? Who even knows me here?
Trying to recall any males with a similar voice drew a blank. I had kept mostly to myself during my year at the university, and couldn’t remember anyone with a voice like the one that kept calling my name. I briefly considered insanity as an option, but realized that couldn’t be it when I finally saw him – Nathan.
Memories came quick. Nathan was
my lab partner in Chemistry during my first attempt at college. As he came into view, hopping off the building’s raised porch, I was surprised. I remembered him being a lot heavier. I was a little ashamed to admit that his unkempt appearance was the first thing I recalled. In the past, he had messy hair and one of those beards that grew too far down his neck.
“Liz!” he shouted again, as he drew closer.
Time had been good. He wasn’t big, but I could see the lines of curved muscles under his shirt. He was only a tiny bit taller than me, and his youthful face was shaved clean. Close cropped dark hair framed his now-chiseled features. Bemusedly, I realized that he looked a little bit like Peter, albeit a lot younger and less striking.
“Hey! Where have you been? Long time, no see!” he said.
“Whoa, hold on – first, look at you, Nathan,” I paused and looked him up and down. He didn’t seem to mind, until I spoke. “You look great.” I had to giggle inwardly a little when he blushed.
“Uh, thanks,” he stammered, “you… uh, you do too. But what’s different about that. You always... er... Ah, God, I feel like a jackass.”
“Oh, no, no, no I’m sorry. Don’t feel stupid. It was sweet.” I bit my lip and looked at the ground. I felt anxious. He might as well have been a different person – a really good looking one. He remembers me, has no idea about the baby and still thinks I’m pretty. He even looks like Peter, and gives me the same butterflies.
Peter treated me like royalty, and told me how gorgeous I was about fifteen times a day. Somehow though, hearing that from someone else made it seem more real. Before Davis I always felt sexy, but everything had changed since the pregnancy. I still religiously hit the gym, still ate really well and all that, but for the past year, I felt isolated. As good as my daddy and the baby were it just seemed like we were living on an island. Hearing the same things that Peter had been telling me, from someone else, it felt really good.
“Anyway, call me Nate,” he said, “I quit going by Nathan when I took up boxing. I dunno, one of those psychological hitches, you know? I felt like when I was still Nathan, I had a lot more connections to the old me than I wanted. So, it’s Nate. New man, new name, right?” He winked and grinned.