My Number

"Just before we met, I filled out an application for an Army ROTC scholarship. It's not often that you can get one to start your junior year, but I just found out: I've been accepted. If I take it, I'd have four weeks of training at Fort Knox, really right after we got married. It would make finding a job for the summer tougher, but I could probably at least find a laborer job when I got back. That means I wouldn't make as much money to save for the coming semester, but I'd have full tuition and books, plus a $450 a month stipend as a junior, and $500 a month as a senior. And, once I'm on active duty, I can use the GI Bill to pay off my student loans."

I was still stunned. "And what does that mean when you are graduated? You'll have to serve in the Army?"

"It would mean an eight-year commitment, with at least the first four on active duty. But while I have the scholarship in hand, I haven't formally accepted it yet. It is a guaranteed job after graduation, but who knows where it would be."

"Like in fucking Afghanistan?" Dave could see that I wasn't happy.

"Possibly, but I will not take the scholarship if you don't approve."

I sat there, kind of stunned at this turn of events. Looking at it practically, it made a whole lot of sense: Dave's tuition and books paid for, plus a monthly stipend which would pay for our food. But from a marital standpoint, it sucked. Our first month of marriage, we'd be apart. Then, after he was graduated, Dave would have four years of active duty, and no telling where it would be. Anyplace in the US, and I could be with him, but that didn't mean it would be anyplace where I could find a decent job. My career might be put on hold, at least for those four years. And there were some duty assignments which were "unaccompanied," meaning that wives couldn't go along.

Then again, with me being a year ahead of Dave, the possibility existed that my first career-level job, if I was lucky enough to get a decent offer upon graduation, might lead to us being separated during his senior year. We had talked about that, briefly, and knew it could happen, and basically decided that we'd wait and see what the future brought. If my career might mean separation, there wasn't much I could say if Dave's could mean the same thing.

And all of this didn't include the possibility that my future husband could be sent someplace at war! We were still in Afghanistan, Syria was still a mess, ISIS was still fighting in Iraq, and that could mean Dave could get wounded or killed. Dave wouldn't be graduated until May of 2019, and couldn't really be sent to any fighting until 2020, so maybe the bad stuff would be over by then, but nobody knows.

I was still sitting there, trying to figure out what to say. Our civilian prospects looked pretty good, right now, but Hell, we could be in another recession by the time we were graduated. Looking at it practically, this was a bird-in-the-hand-versus-two-in-the-bush decision. "Dave, do you want to do this?"

"Marcy, with the GI Bill, my old student loans will be paid off, and I'll have a guaranteed good job upon graduation. It really does make good sense."

"I know it makes good sense, but that wasn't what I asked you: do you want to do this?"

"Yeah, Marcy, I think I do."

"Dave, I know that you'd never stand in my way if I had a career goal, and I won't stand in yours. If this is what you want to do, then you should go ahead and do it; you know I'll always support you!"

How the heck could I answer this? This was a good deal, a really good deal, a hard-to-pass-up deal. The only bad part is that he might come back in a body bag! "David, is this your dream?"

"

You're

my dream, Marcy." Well, that put it right back on me, didn't it? Dave had found a way to finish paying for college, to keep the financial burden off of us as a couple, and off of me. It would pay for our health care, and if junior officers didn't make a fortune, they were at least paid decently. He was going to have to sacrifice to do it.

It was all up to me now: if I said yes, Dave would take the scholarship, and if I said no, he wouldn't. That's one Hell of a box to put his damned fiancée in! I wanted to say no, I couldn't stand the thought of being separated from him, not for the month of summer camp he'd have, not for the summer he'd miss with me next year, and certainly not for the time he'd be on active duty after graduation. But he was trying to man up, to take care of his debts, to take care of himself, and to take care of me as well.

"Dave," I began, trying to get the words out, "I think you should do it." I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, but then Dave came to me, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me as sweetly as he ever has before.

His touch was electric! I was so afraid of losing him, not to another girl, but to another life, and he knew it. Still, that could have happened anyway; who knows where we'd get decent job offers after we were both graduated, it could be in different cities. This was just another part of being an adult, and Dave was taking an adult decision; I had to do the same.

What I also had to do was make love with my fiancée! He was just so wonderful, with his strong hands and his insistent mouth and those wonderful blue eyes of his. There had been so many times his eyes, both of our eyes, had been closed when we were making love, but not this time. This time, I had to see them, I had to look deeply into those pools of his eyes, to look for his soul, the way he would look for mine.

This was slow, and languorous, both relaxing and tense at the same time, my expectations growing, our needs being met ever-so-slowly. It seemed to be taking forever, and I noticed the light changing in the apartment as the sun went down. Finally, we got off the couch, where we'd been kissing and holding each other, to head for the bedroom. David quickly closed the venetian blinds; I guess that this was entirely for us, and not for Mary's benefit!

I stretched out like a long cat, waiting for David to join me in bed, when he came to me. His kisses covered my body, his arms wrapped around me to hold me tightly, his hands caressing my body, and his eyes always seeking mine. The living room light was still on, so there was enough light coming through the doorway, and through that ridiculous ransom window, that I could still see him, and I wanted so desperately to see him as much as feel him.

Dave was not usually a noisy lover, but tonight, oh Lord, he was whispering to me, telling me how much he loved me, and how much he always wanted to be with me. When he finally entered me, it was so wonderful, so satisfyingly warm.

Dave took me in good, old-fashioned, laughed-at missionary style, with his elbows on the bed supporting himself, and his hands on the side of my head, playing with my hair, touching my cheeks, his lips giving me soft kisses. His eyes were still open, looking at me, charming me, and that wonderful smile of his was wide on his face.

Me? My hands were on his neck, on his face, touching him, wordlessly telling him that I loved him so much. I reached up with my legs, and wrapped them around his waist, his hips, pulling him deeper inside me, wanting to hold him there forever.

This was just wonderful. So many times my climax would hit me fast, sometimes in less than a minute, but tonight, it was building in me so very slowly, like the heat of the morning, slowly rising as the sun came up.

Dave knew what he was doing to me. In our seven months together, he'd gone from a virgin to a really experienced lover, and I was like an open book to him. He could tell when to speed up, and when to slow down, and when to just hold himself deeply within me, to bring me to an absolutely shattering climax. He could tell when I needed it hard and fast, and he just knew when to bring things to a boil slowly, and tonight was so very, very slow.

A lot of times we'd change positions during sex, but not tonight; there was just no way I'd want to take my eyes off of his. Finally, as Dave's need grew within him, he speeded up his thrusts, not much, but still harder, pressing more deeply within me, as he could see me approaching my own orgasm. He just knew me so well! Then, finally, it erupted inside of me, as my whole body tensed up and I cried out, and Dave emptied his soul into me at the same time.

Dawn came, the morning light creeping into our apartment. The living room light had been on all night, but the light of the sun is different, warmer, and it brought the new day. I was happy this morning, now that the decision had been taken, just as happy as I could be to wake up next to this wonderful man, his left arm around me as we had fallen asleep spooned together. It wasn't quite a business-as-usual morning as, for one of the very few times, we went to a kitchen full of dirty dishes. Dave jumped in to wash them quickly, while I scrounged together a couple of bowls of Rice Chex for us. The semester was coming to a rapid end, and we both had a ton of work to get done, not only studying, but, between us, six term papers! Both of us were decent at doing term papers, but mine were always more of an effort, while Dave could bang one out in an evening, his first draft being pretty much his final copy, while mine always took more editing. Thank God, or at least Bill Gates, for Microsoft Office and the automatic spellcheck function!

Earth Day, the 22nd of April, was coming this Saturday, and Dave and I both wanted to spend it in the Gorge. We hadn't gone camping since last fall, when the girls with the rifle had seen us, and we were both in the mood for it. The trees in Kentucky had all flowered, and the dead, dried brown of winter was gone. Dave had introduced me to the Gorge last fall, when the leaves were turning, mostly yellow, but just enough red to make the whole forest a warm, red-golden dreamland. Now, everything was a verdant green, and I longed to leave the noise of Lexington behind, to hear nothing but the birds and the water and the wind, and Dave's voice in the stillness of the woods.

We left not long after sunrise on Saturday morning. There were supposed to be all sorts of Earth Day celebrations in Lexington, but the real celebration, to me, was to be out in real nature, rather than just in a city park.

Once we got into the Gorge, Dave had this kind of off-the-beaten-track parking spot off Nada Tunnel Road. We hiked up to Rock Bridge, a natural arch over Swift Camp Creek, briefly stopping at this small, nameless water fall with the best tasting water in the world. This was the first place in the Gorge Dave had taken me, and I loved it. We got off the beaten path a couple hundred yards, well beyond where we could be seen, and set up a campsite. I don't think that the rangers like for people to just set up camp wherever, but Dave knew what he was doing, and what we could get away with. He figured that, as long as we didn't leave any trash, we weren't hurting the environment in any way.

The biggest concern would normally have been starting a forest fire, but even though it was sunny and warm, Kentucky had gotten a lot of rain recently, and the fire danger was low. Still, we were very careful, clearing a good space around of everything, all of the dead leaves, until we were down to bare dirt, before setting up for the campfire. Dave found the driest wood he could, and got everything ready, but we weren't going to actually light a fire until this evening.

This was just so much fun! With the warmth of spring, I had finally been able to get out of heavy sweaters and sweatshirts and show off a bit for my sweetie. All through the cold months I'd abandoned the tank tops and showing much skin. My whole attitude had changed since I met Dave, and I'd quit wearing makeup, which Dave seemed to like anyway. My jeans were all nicely cut for me, and I was tall and skinny enough that I was still a girlfriend Dave was more than proud to be seen with, but about my only concessions to femininity were that I still favored nice earrings, and I'd let my hair grow out; Dave really liked my hair, and I took good care of it, keeping it well brushed. I hadn't had to really style it - other than to wear it in a ponytail occasionally - but it fell in glossy brunette waves to below my shoulder blades now. I did have it in a pony for the camping trip, to keep it out of the sticks and branches.

This morning? I'd brought an old sleeveless shirt, the same one I'd worn the first time we'd been here, one which flashed a lot of sideboob, and one I knew that Dave liked. It had been put away for the winter, but now, well, I might as well keep my fiancée happy!

And happy he was! He kept me happy, too, making love to me out on a rock outcropping in the sunlight late morning, and I knew we'd be doing it again in our zipped-together sleeping bags this evening. Heck, Dave was just barely twenty, and was just as ready to go as a twenty-year-old man should be. Me? I was always ready for him, and I'd realized, months ago, that I was getting laid a lot more often, and a lot better, with just one guy than I ever had been when I'd been slutting around before.

Our fire was already burning itself out, and we were letting it do so. We'd cooked our dinner, just some hot dogs, and didn't want it burning overnight while we weren't awake to tend it, despite the precautions Dave had taken. We made sure that there was no exposed food left at all, and that everything that had a scent was sealed in baggies. The bears had been out of hibernation for over a month now, and while they weren't as hungry as when they woke up, bears still have the best senses of smell of any animals. Still, we hung the food, in the baggies, outside the tent, just in case it attracted a bear anyway; the last thing we needed was a black bear to try to get in the tent! It had been a long time since I had teased Dave about wanting to turn me into Purina Bear Chow, but he was still being skilled and smart about things. Maybe it would have made more sense to bring a rifle, but Dave's was at his parents' home, and we didn't stop there.

We were just about to smother the fire for the night when it started to rain. It wasn't a heavy rain, at least not at first, but enough to drive us into the tent. We had a small flashlight, so that we could find everything, but once that was turned out, it became the blackest night I had ever imagined. The moon was already a waning crescent, and even that was being hidden by the clouds. That, and being under the forest canopy, and it was, quite literally, being unable to see your hand in front of your face.

In a way, that could have been scary, but once I slipped naked into our sleeping bag, cuddled up next to Dave, it wasn't frightening at all. His arms around me, his soft kisses on my mouth and my cheeks, and I felt nothing but warmth and security and love. I could have fallen asleep like that without making love, but then the rain became heavier, and we could hear it drumming on the roof of the tent, and it was just totally sexy. A few strokes of my hand to get Dave ready, and then I got on top, and set myself down on his hard cock.

This was another go-slow lovemaking. I missed being able to see his eyes, but everything we needed could be guided by touch. I thought that this would be another slow build-up for me, but it wasn't; I was feeling the heat building inside me really quickly, and was climaxing in seconds.

Not Dave. He'd already ravished me around noon, and that meant he was going to last and last tonight. I rode him hard, sometimes literally slamming down on him, and he was still lasting. I must have come a dozen times, some of them pretty strong ones, before Dave finally had his climax.

"What's that?" I whispered to Dave? The light of dawn was showing through the fabric of the tent, and we could see now, when I heard something outside. I guess that the clouds had pushed out of the area, and that it was sunny outside, because it was lighter than I expected. Then I saw the shadow: there were deer right outside the tent. Because of the rain, we had the tent windows closed, so I couldn't see the deer themselves, only their shadows.

"Oh, gosh, I wonder if they have any cute fawns with them, do you think we can open the windows quietly enough to see?" I had my lips half an inch from Dave's ear.

"It's too early; does don't normally foal until mid-May."

Still, I got out of the sleeping bag as quietly as I could, to try to unzip the tent flap. That went achingly slowly, as I tried to do it silently, and was finally rewarded by seeing two does - I guess that they were does, since they didn't have antlers - picking at food just past the area we'd cleared for the fire. There was still a bit of morning mist outside, but not much. Finally, they wandered off, which was a good thing, I guess, because my bladder was about to burst. I pulled on my hiking boots, grabbed the roll of TP, and took off out of the tent behind some bushes to do what had to be done.

"I like your outfit," Dave said to me as I got back, and well he should have: other than the hiking boots, I was completely naked.

"You do, huh?" I said, as I gave him a little show-off twirl.

"Yeah, I do," he said, as he approached me and took my naked body into his arms.

"You know what this spot would be perfect for?" I asked.

"No, what?"

"Our honeymoon."

"Really? I hadn't thought of that."

"Yeah, really. I mean, we'll get a whole one-night honeymoon, what with me starting work" - Central Bank had called, and I'd been accepted for that summer job, starting on May 22nd - "and I guess that's about when you'll have to go to Fort Knox, and for a one-nighter, wouldn't this place be perfect? It's so quiet and peaceful, and I just love it here."

"OK, then, here it shall be!"

Dave and I breakfasted on granola bars, washed down with cold water from the waterfall. We broke down the tent, since we had only the one night there, and took the camping gear back down to the car early, before heading back into the woods to hike. There hadn't been any opportunity to take a shower, but we washed our hands and faces in the creek. If the water had been warmer, we could have bathed in it, but in mid-April, it was still icy cold.

We talked and laughed, sometimes seriously and sometimes not, for most of the day. We passed an occasional hiker or two, smiling and waving, with everybody seeming to take seriously not leaving any trash in the woods. We had sandwiches wrapped in baggies, and after we ate them, stuffed the empty baggies into the pockets of Dave's cargo shorts. I was wearing the same sideboob shirt I had on yesterday, even though it had a big dirt stain on it now, which certainly kept Dave's interest. I kept to myself the thought I'd had of wearing Dave's bib overalls with no shirt, which always set him off, and kind of wish that I had done it, but I didn't think of grabbing them before we left Lexington. Maybe the morning after our wedding night?

We wound up talking about Dave leaving for Fort Knox, which, once the decision had been taken, I had gotten used to and quit worrying about. I mean, I didn't want to not see him for a month, certainly not right after we got married, but once it was settled, I accepted it. I'd have my own new job starting, and that was going to take up a lot of my time. I guess that a lot of newlyweds have to start out life like this, but we were actually marrying younger than a lot of people, and that meant we'd have more years together!

Around four, we got back to the car, and Dave called his mom to see if it was OK if we stopped by for dinner. Well, of course it was, and Dave knew that before he called, but it was still polite to give them a head's up.

It turned out that both of Dave's sisters, Marie and Betty, were there for dinner as well, and after dinner, they wanted to talk about the wedding and stuff. Both were older, and Marie had been living with her boyfriend for a few years now, and he hadn't uttered the first word about getting married. She was OK with that, sort of, but I could tell: if he asked her, she'd have been as happy as I am now.