This is a work of fiction. All characters are old enough to know better. If this is like some other story, it's just co-inky-dink. I split this last chapter in two for pacing. Sorry to all you wankers, all the sex is after the party. Let your other hand rest for a few minutes. If you have followed these characters, there is a good pay-off for you. Thank you.
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Summer Heat Ch.12
Katherine's Birthday Part Two
The heat of summer has faded. The heat of passion still burns in the hearts of Katherine and the young people. Focus has shifted to Katherine's fiftieth birthday party. The kids have their secrets and Katherine has secrets of her own.
At Donna's apartment. "Thanks for coming over. Where's Shelby?" Donna asked as she greeted Jason at the door. "You smell like work. Hit the showers, big boy."
"She's coming over in the morning. She was whipped. We had a record night. Daryl came in to close, or I'd still be there. Shell is going to bring breakfast sandwiches and some lists and plans she has written for the party" Jason explained as he undressed.
"So, you just assume that you are spending the night?! Well, aren't you the confidant one?" Donna teased.
"Yes, I do. I love you and I'm not going anywhere." Jason grabbed Donna up in his arms and kissed her. Both were giggling.
After his shower, Jason collapsed in bed in his boxers. Donna kissed and petted him as he dozed. She fished his cock out and played with it. They both giggled and played but Jason's eyes kept closing. Donna took his dick into her mouth and it stiffened for a minute. Then Jason snored. Donna laughed and thought about how she could tease him about this tomorrow. She covered him and snuggled next to him until she fell asleep.
...
Jason awoke to Donna's hair in his face and her soft smooth tushy nestled against his belly. He slipped out of bed and visited the bathroom. Returning, Donna had rolled onto her back. Her perfect C-cup tits were uncovered. He smiled at her beauty. When he slipped back into bed, she stirred.
"Good morning, baby." Donna said stretching and yawning. "I've never seen you so tired. I thought the felatio was good foreplay. Then you started snoring. How romantic of you. I'm losing my touch already." She chuckled and hugged him.
"I owe you one, baby. I was whipped. You should have seen Shelby when she left. She was on her last ounce of energy. She'll sleep all day if we don't call her"
Donna and Jason were settling into the sofa with cups of coffee. Jason called Shelby. "Hey, sis. Are you up yet?" He laughed and put his phone down along with his coffee.
"What are you doing." Donna asked.
"She's here. Can you believe that shit? Shelby, up and out at eight o'clock on a Sunday." Jason opened the door. A cold gust of air and Shelby came blowing in. He hugged her. "You are up early."
"I thought I'd get on over. When I woke up, I remembered the tips I scored last night. I counted nearly five hundred-fifty dollars. One fucking night. I didn't do that in a month at my old job, it's more like the strip clubs" Shelby crossed the room and kissed Donna. "It's turning cold."
The group enjoyed the sandwiches that Shelby brought in and steaming coffee. Shelby had some things written in a notebook. Shelby ran down a list of things and the people to bring them. Jason's friends were bringing beer of course. Aunt Susie was bringing a cake. The cooks at work were making cupcakes. Several were each bringing a bottle of liquor. The list trailed off from there. "Who is Mack and Cindy? They offered to have some food catered."
"Wow, that's huge. I've been sweating that." Jason said. "I don't know who they are."
"That must be some of Kathy's special friends that we don't know." Donna said with a wink.
"Maybe that's where she was last night. She didn't come home." Shelby added.
...
The first few days of the next week passed quickly. Details for the party fell into place. Donna and Jason spent a couple of nights together. For the most part, Shelby and Jason stuck as close to home and Katherine as they could.
Thursday night Donna slept over. She wanted to be there on the morning of Katherine's birthday. To Jason's mock protest, she slept with Shelby. Shelby had a bigger bed and Jason's room still smelled a little like a locker room.
...
Katherine found herself standing in a campground on a cloudy day. It was a nice, old fashioned place with large camp sights and old wooden picnic tables at each one. Tall old pine trees towered over the place. They provided shade and a mat of soft pine straw on the ground. The place seemed familiar but then again not. It was like places her family had gone to when she was a child. There was no one there. There were no cars or campers. Just the big old tables scattered within the southern pines.
She took off her sandals and placed them on a table. She sat on the bench and looked down at her feet. Sandy soil shown through the pine needles. There were three pine cones and two broken sticks near her feet. Sand had gotten on her toes and she could see every grain. She looked around. It was calm and peaceful. It was dead silent. The shoreline of a calm lake was just a few steps away. Katherine knew she was dreaming. She thought to test the dream by looking back at her feet. The sand was still on her toes. The three pine cones and the sticks were still in their places and unchanged. She looked up again and nothing had moved or changed like things do in dreams. 'What is this place' she thought.
She was no longer alone. Her late husband stood across the table from her. He looked like he did the last time she saw him alive. He gave a sad smile. "Hello, my sweet Kitty-Kat."
"Oh, God, Danny, I miss you so." Katherine teared up. "What is this place? How can it be that you are here?"
Dan did not answer her first question. "I am here because I love you, Kat" He said.
"This is my dream. You are here because I love you." Katherine snapped with a jolt of anger. "We were supposed to be together."
"I know, baby. If I could be, we would be." Dan said.
Katherine wiped the tears from her eyes. When she looked up, Dan had moved closer to the shore. She followed him.
"Happy birthday, Kat. I'm very proud of you. You have become very strong. Sometimes I see you through Jason's eyes and his heart. Sometimes I see him through your eyes. I'm proud of him too. I can't see Shelby, but I feel she's OK." Dan moved closer to the shore. Katherine could not get closer to him, but she followed. "You are still young and beautiful, Kat. I want you to find some happiness for yourself. Does Jason fish? I wish I could fish with him now as a man. I took him as a boy. I wish I had taken him more." Dan said and looked toward the lake.
"Yes, he goes fishing. He uses some of your old stuff. I think he's pretty good at it." Katherine longed for his gaze to fall back on her.
"Fishing teaches patience. A fisherman must be patient and strong. A good fisherman follows the rules. Jason must be strong and patient. You must be too. Strength and patience is what it takes to have a good life. I want you to be happy, Katherine. Find the strength and patience to be happy. I love you." Dan stepped up onto the foredeck of a small fishing boat. It drifted away from the shore.
"Danny, wait. I want to go with you." Katherine pleaded. "Please take me with you."
"I'm sorry Katherine, you cannot go." Dan looked sad again as he drifted farther and farther away.
...
Jason, Shelby and Donna all scampered up the stairs. It was Friday morning and Katherine's birthday. They intended to make breakfast and surprise her. Instead, they found Katherine in the floor, weeping and clutching a portrait of Dan to her chest. "Oh, my Danny, my Danny." She strained as she rocked and wept as she did when he was killed.
Shelby burst into tears. "Mommy, oh God, Mommy!" She went to her knees beside Katherine and hugged her.
Jason went to one knee and helped get Katherine off the floor and onto the sofa. Donna was paralyzed with the uncertainty that comes with being the outsider. Then Katherine reached for her and Donna began to cry with everyone else. The ladies all hugged on the sofa. Jason went a found tissues and a cold cloth for Katherine. In a few minutes, she settled down.
"I'm so glad all of you are here. I need you with me right now." Katherine sadly smiled at each of them. "What are all of you doing here?" Laughing through the tears.
"We planned on cooking breakfast like we were supposed to do Mother's Day. Happy birthday, old woman." Shelby said laughing and crying.
"Mom, what's wrong? I haven't seen you this upset in a long time." Jason asked.
"Danny came to me in a dream. Or I went to him. Anyway, it was as real as this is right now in this room. He told me he wanted me to be happy." She clutched Donna's hand in one hand and Shelby's in the other. "You kids have made me very happy. I'd be lost without you."
"Shelby is going to stay with you for a while. Donna and I have to go in to work and get ready for tomorrow night. We have a surprise for you anyway." Jason tried to put order to the morning.
"Yeah, Kitty-Kat, we didn't have any money Mother's Day, but we really wanted to get one of these. They are old fashioned, but I like them." Shelby handed her the mother's ring. It had an amber citrine in the center for Katherine's November birthstone. It was flanked by an ice blue topaz for Shelby's December and an aquamarine for Jason's March birthstone.
Katherine giggled. "It's beautiful. I always liked these. They were popular when I was young. I love it. And I love you."
"I have a little something for you, Kathy." Donna said and handed her a gift bag.
Katherine pulled out a night shirt that looked like a baseball jersey. On the back was Kitty-Kat for the name and the number was fifty. Katherine laughed. "This is great and so funny. I love you, baby."
Donna hugged her. "I love you too."
Katherine took off her wedding and engagement rings and placed them on the coffee table. She slipped on the mother's ring in their place. "The best thing I ever did was have you wonderful kids."
Jason picked up his mom's engagement ring. "Mom, can I borrow this for a while?"
Katherine's mouth fell open. "Yes, I guess you can. What..."
Jason had been holding Donna's hand the whole time. He slipped the ring onto Donna's third finger. "Well, what do you say, Angel? Do you think we could do it?"
Donna grabbed his neck and sobbed into his shirt. A faint "Yes" is all she could get out.