Copyright 2024 Lemon Knight and Joy Standing. All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Vallandinghams
By
Lemon Knight and Joy Standing
Part 01
Monday, 6:00 AM
Home of James and Emma Vallandingham
Emma's phone woke her with the annoying wake-up alarm. It was time to start the day. One minute later, James's cell phone alarm went off (James likes sleeping in). James hit snooze and asks, "Is it 6:01 already?"
Emma, a dedicated high school teacher and loving mother of two, rolls over and gently patted her husband's chest. She toyed with his chest hair. "Afraid so."
James rolls into his wife and snuggles. "Lock the bedroom door. We can have some morning sex."
"We have children. We have to go to work. We are responsible people."
"But I have a problem." James pulled back the sheet, showing his pajama pants were tented.
"We do not have time to... answer the call of the wild. Take a cold shower," and Emma heads to the bathroom to freshen up.
James starts looking at his cellphone: emails, texts, calendar; and he doesn't need a cold shower after all. The tent was gone.
As Emma begins getting dressed, she starts with her boudoir chest, selecting silk high-cut panties and a bra. Meanwhile, James enjoys watching his wife dress and undress, a pleasure he never tires of. He slips on socks, jeans, and a blue oxford shirt. He slips his feet into running shoes, and hugs his wife from behind. "I like this pink lacy bra and the French panties." James slides his fingers along the lace.
"Not pink, rosa and not French, high-cut with lace trim. And, you say you like my underwear all the time but given the chance, you remove my bra and panties so fast my head spins. I wear intimate apparel to stimulate and titillate."
"And, do I love your tits." James squeezed the right bra covered tit and kissed her on the neck.
"Go. Go. Rouse the children. I have to finish dressing." James leaves to wake the kids. Emma continues dressing. Emma slipped into a dark blue blouse with a relaxed fit, V-neckline, and cap sleeves. She pulled on a pair of dark grey tailored trousers that fell just above her ankles. Emma put on her flat black Clark shoes. She went to her vanity and completed her look adding a simple gold necklace with a small pendant, a classic leather belt to cinch her trousers, strapped her TAG Heuer sports watch on her left wrist, brushed her hair and quickly did her make up. She added a pair of elegant gold earrings, which she picked up on her last visit to Florence, Italy.
Emma likes the professional look, so she checks the mirror one last time; the dark blue blouse highlights her own long, curly auburn hair. James loves her hair and the splash of freckles across her nose. Thinking of James brought her back to reality and she headed for the kitchen.
Emma is eating breakfast as James is checking backpacks and eating. Lilly and Max are eating. Rocky is under the table hoping for a snack. Emma puts a lunch in each backpack. James zips them shut. At 7:15 everyone leaves the house. Emma is taking Max (7) and Lilly (10) to school. They all pile into the Honda CR-V. James is taking Rocky for his morning walk. Emma will head to her high school after she drops off the kids at elementary school. James will head to his home office after walking Rocky.
Monday 8:00 AM
James' Home Office
James codes. With no meetings scheduled, James has a rare four-hour block of free time to focus on coding. As he works, Rocky settles into his oval-shaped dog bed across the room, a constant companion. James' iPhone rings. ""How's tricks?" James asked, after touching his speaker button to answer the call from Trixi, his boss's administrative assistant."
"Trixi is just fine, thank you. The boss is looking for the code you are working on."
"It is scheduled to be completed by noon today. I'll make the deadline."
"OK, he was just anxious."
"Tell Jack, He will have it within the hour."
"Always ahead of schedule. Thank you, James. Bye."
"You're welcomed. Bye."
Monday 8:01 AM
Harris High School
"Quiet," Emma said, giving her students a stern teacher look. "I'm sure you all had wonderful weekends, but you can catch up at lunch." Everyone went silent. Emma decided to shake up her class. "According to the syllabus you are to be prepared to discuss the great depression. Everyone, write a page on what they read. You have 20 minutes, begin." She heard groans but the class started to work.
Monday 2:45 PM
James' Home Office
"Rocky. Let's go pick up your favorite little people." Rocky didn't have to be told twice. Since the high school was still in session, James picked up the kids from the elementary school. He left a bit early to trade vehicles with Emma. His old pickup truck didn't allow for two children to be seat belted. He pulled up, waited in the line and Lilly and Max were seat belted in and taken home. Upon arrival everyone piled out and went to change out of school clothes into play clothes. Rocky went with the kids because they snuck him pizza crust on pizza day.
James goes to the library and lays out the Monopoly game, which is the National Parks edition. He and Emma were having some "us" time after the kids go to bed.
Monday 9:00 PM
Kitchen
As the evening winds down, James loads the dishwasher and starts it, the hum of the machine a soothing background noise. Just then, Emma returns from tucking in Lilly and Max, a look of exhaustion and relief on her face. She had a brown tote bag with small chickens around the top edge. It was filled with school papers. Emma emptied the stacks of papers onto the dining room table.
James, familiar with Emma's dedication to her students, noticed the stacks of papers and raised an eyebrow. 'That seems like a lot of work,' he said, concern etched in his voice. Emma sighed, 'I know, I'm really behind in grading papers.'