The Greatest of These Is Love

Continuing to follow Dawn's and John's paths ahead. For those who are familiar with my other tales, it is set in the same universe and has common characters. Reading all the other stories is not crucial to enjoying this one, but you should read Parts 1 and 2 of this arc first. All people having intercourse are over the age of 18.

= [] = [] =

Saturday, November 21, 2020, continued

Once Aunt Margie finally let go of all four of them, John, Dawn, Jenny, and Ginny left her shop and simply wandered around downtown Phelps Bluff. The girls knew that as soon as they returned home, Field Marshal Emily Taggart would quickly have them assigned to one task or another. So, they dawdled intentionally in the late autumn sunshine, enjoying their relative freedom despite the slight chill in the air.

The local ice cream shop was still open. John's eyes widened with delight. Stopping the group's progress, he motioned with his head for them to enter. At their puzzled looks, he explained.

"It's never, ever too cold to have ice cream."

Dawn looked at him out of the corner of her eye and simply filed his perspective in her mental 'John' folder. Jenny and Ginny gave little exclamations of delight as he held the door open for them all to enter.

"What flavors do you girls like?" John inquired.

"Strawberry Cheesecake!", Jenny declared.

"Blue Moon!", Ginny answered.

"Blue Moon?" John was puzzled. He'd never heard of it.

"Yeah! It's great! I only had it once, back when we took a family vacation up north."

"Oh, I remember," Dawn supplied. "That was three years ago. We took a week-long trip all around Lake Michigan. We took the big van and towed the popup camper."

"Right!" Ginny confirmed then continued. "I think it was near the Sleeping Bear Dunes where we stopped one day. Mamma wanted to look in that Cherry Republic store and Daddy took us across the street to the ice cream place. They even had Superman ice cream, but I didn't try it."

Dawn smiled broadly as she remembered fragments from that day. What she recalled most vividly was the blue residue around her sister's mouth once the cone was gone.

"Well, then, let's see if they have it here," John stated. Turning to the pimple-faced young man behind the counter, John asked, "Do you have Blue Moon flavor ice cream?"

"No, never heard of that flavor before. 'Bout the weirdest flavor we carry is 'Moose Trax'. Would you like a sample of that?" The young man was staring at Dawn with something near reverence in his eyes.

"Sure, I'll give it a try," John answered. "Do you have Strawberry Cheesecake for the young miss?" He accepted the tiny cup with the small partial scoop from the young man.

"Sure do. It's the flavor of the day, by the way."

Jenny gave a soft squeal of delight as John ordered her a double scoop in a cup.

"Ginny, they don't have Blue Moon here. Why don't you look on the board and let me know what flavor you'd like," John suggested. "Dawn, what's your poison today?"

"Fudge Ripple for me, please, John," she answered, then guided Jenny over to a table with four chairs.

"One double scoop Fudge Ripple for the lady. Was that a tiny peanut butter cup in the sample?" John asked. The boy nodded, a little nervously but still watching Dawn's behind as she walked away. "Cool! I'd like a double scoop of the Moose Trax, then, please. Gin, anything appeal?"

"I think I'd like the orange sherbet, please." Ginny looked into his face and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"You heard the lady. Shall I repeat the whole order?"

"Y-yes, please, sir."

"All are double scoops in cups. Strawberry Cheesecake, Fudge Ripple, Orange Sherbet, and Moose Trax."

"They-they'll be right up, sir," the high schooler stammered slightly, then turned to fulfill the orders.

"C'mon, Ginny. Let's go sit with the others while this young man earns his pay." John directed Ginny to sit next to Jenny so he could sit next to Dawn.

A few minutes later, their ice cream cups were delivered by the young man. Once again, he stared at Dawn as he handed out the orders. He swapped Jenny's order with Ginny's, and the girls giggled as they exchanged their cups. Flushing slightly with embarrassment, he stood there until Dawn looked up.

"Do I know you?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"Probably not, Dawn. I was just a lowly freshman when you were a senior," he answered, softly.

"What's your name?"

"M-m-me-mel-Melvin. Melvin Gale," he stammered.

"Well, thank you, Mel, for delivering our treats. I'm sure we'll all appreciate the effort you put forth to fix them." Dawn smiled her appreciation, and Mel's knees nearly buckled.

"Thanks, Mel!" Ginny and Jenny said in unison, each giving him a big smile as well.

With all that, he spun and scurried back behind the counter, flushing red with embarrassment once again. Then he just stood there, absentmindedly wiping the counter and staring at the group. John gave a wry grin as he could practically see the cartoon hearts floating out of Mel's eyes. John was under no disillusionment that his girlfriend was the prettiest around. Dawn squeezed his hand under the table and gave him a knowing wink.

"Later," she mouthed.

The four returned to the Taggart homestead mid‑afternoon with two gallons of Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. Not only was it slightly discounted for being the daily special, but because the store would be closing for the winter soon, they wanted to eliminate excess stock. As John had paid for their bowls, Dawn paid for the take‑home ice cream. Emily directed the Tetris‑like shuffling of the freezer's contents, but everything was finally properly stored. Emily declared that it would be dessert on Sunday.

Dawn took John by the hand and quietly led him away to their room. She had enjoyed the day out with her sisters, but now she needed some one‑on‑one time with her man. Lying on her bed, face to face, John brought up Mel's infatuation with Dawn.

"Yeah, I remember him as being much shorter. The facial acne hasn't gotten any better, though," Dawn related. "He's harmless. Phelps Bluff High School is so small that you can know almost everybody. My graduating class was only 125."

"Oh, I know he is no danger. You and the twins were kind to be so nice to him. That's another reason I'm so enraptured with you." John gently kissed Dawn, then pulled back to look her in the eyes. He tried to pour all of the love he felt for her into his gaze. "Are you disappointed that I'm not joining your father and brothers out hunting?"

"Oh, hell no! You have to understand, John. While I don't begrudge them their time together, doing their 'male bonding' stuff, I'm so happy you're not with them. They've been hunting together for years and they know what they're doing. You are not familiar with them and would likely be a hindrance, and possibly in danger. You are so unlike anyone around here I know. If anything happened to you, I'd be devastated!

"My father and brothers love me, partly because we're family and they have to. You, on the other hand, choose to love me, and that makes all the difference in my world. I think that is really one key element that you bring to my life.

"Another key element in our relationship is our sexual chemistry. We click together so very well.

"I'm mentioning all of this because I think you're a little worried about my history catching up with me, with us." Dawn kissed him very tenderly, trying to put everything she felt about him into that kiss. "Please try to put that behind us. Like you said before, that was me before we became a couple. Happily, all those experiences have led me to be this Dawn in your arms. I don't know any other way to reassure you." Tears began to well in her eyes as she envisioned him walking away from her.

"Why the tears, my love?" he asked. John did not like to see any tears in her eyes, not even tears of joy or love, but especially not tears of sadness or pain.

"I was just envisioning how empty my life would be without you."

"Hush, my love, don't go there," John gently admonished, kissing her tears away as best he could. "Besides, what could make me walk away from you unless you somehow drove me away?"

"Your family, maybe?"

"Never! My family issues are about my relationship with my parents, and they will wait until I go home at the end of the semester. Please borrow tomorrow's troubles today. I'm here with you now. Be happy and contented, because I surely am. There is no other place on earth that I would rather be than here in your arms."

Dawn gave a huge sigh of both relief and contentment and nestled into John's embrace. She was soon asleep.

John lay there, holding her close and wondering how on earth she could imagine him or anybody walking away from her. She was so beautiful, both inside and out. 'I guess even the beautiful people have hidden fears,' he conjectured, and soon he, too, was dozing.

A couple of hours later, a knocking at their door roused Dawn.

"Dawn? John? Mamma says wash up, it's time for supper."

Dawn opened her eyes to find herself looking into John's open eyes.

"Feel better, my love?" John inquired, kissing her on the nose.

"Yes, much, Big John. Let's get moving before Mamma sends Gypsy down here to find out why Timmy fell into the well," Dawn joked.

They arrived at the doorway to the dining room, holding hands, and saw everyone else seated and looking expectantly at the last two to take their places. Dawn's face flushed slightly as she realized doing the dishes would be their responsibility.

Two distinct conversations occurred at the dining table. At Josh's end, the three Taggart menfolk were all about mentally gearing up for the morning hunt. At Emily's end, the twins were monopolizing the conversation, describing their time with Dawn and John, visiting Aunt Margie, having ice cream so late in November, and other topics of importance to pre‑teens. Emily was nodding, encouragingly, as Jenny and Ginny flitted from topic to topic. Dawn and John were mostly silent and eating one‑handed, as their hands under the table were otherwise preoccupied.

When the meal was finished, Josh thanked Emily for the delicious food and told Junior and Danny to come with him and do one final inspection of their hunting gear. On their way out, Josh gave Dawn and John a silent glance, almost a glare, reaffirming his expectations of her. The twins offered to help Dawn and John in thanks for the outing. Emily sat back and observed silently as she mulled things over.

On their way down to their bedroom after cleaning up the kitchen, Dawn and John were stopped by Emily. She requested, "Would you two please go to church with the girls and me in the morning?"

"I only brought the one decent shirt," John temporized as he looked at Dawn. Seeing her nod, he replied, "But, sure, we'd be happy to go with you. It might be a tight squeeze in the car, though."

"Oh, I've got my own family hauler, John. No worries on that score. Breakfast will be at 7:30 and we'll leave by 8:30. I'm glad you're here with us this week, John." Emily looked like she might have more to say, but held her tongue and wished them pleasant dreams.

Dawn and John entered the bedroom and Dawn closed and locked the door. John looked at her quizzically and asked, "Why did you lock the door?"

"I'm just preventing any accidental exposure or inadvertent viewing opportunities. Your little 'just being you' thing today has gotten Ginny thinking beyond her years," Dawn answered cryptically. Faced with John's stare of incomprehension, she elaborated.

"I know you were just being who you are. When you bought us the ice cream today, you just seemed to inspire some feelings in my baby sister. You walked around town with us and even held hands with her at times. They're both being flooded with new hormones, and just by being yourself, you've fanned some flames in her. Jenny will probably soon be reacting that way as well. I'm not the only female in this house who finds you attractive. Ginny even whispered in my ear about you while you were drying the dishes.

"Just what did Miss Ginny whisper in your ear?"

"I'm going to keep that a secret just between us sisters. But I need to let Mamma know; she should know what her babies are getting up to. I wouldn't be too concerned, John. They're over eight years younger than us."

John swallowed hard and Dawn wrapped him up in a big, comforting hug.

"You are mine, John, just as I am yours," she reassured him.

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Dawn had set an alarm for 6:30 that morning. She wanted her delicious manshake before breakfast, and she was not going to be denied. She quickly canceled the alarm before it could rouse John, and she proceeded to avail herself of his burgeoning morning wood.

'It's so nice that Nature causes these things to be nice and hard first thing in the morning,' she thought as she licked, nibbled, sucked, and slurped to her enjoyment, as well as his as he roused from slumber. She was an accomplished fellatrix and delighted in giving John these sorts of pleasures. Soon she was rewarded with a powerful ejaculation whitewashing her tonsils.

She rose with a very satisfied grin. "Got another one of those left in there?" she inquired, trying for a coquettish look.

"After twice last night and once already this morning?" John sighed. "The things I must do to keep my girlfriend happy," he wryly commented, then nodded with a grin of his own.

"Oh, goody!" she softly exclaimed and she mounted his cock which regained some of its tumescence when inserted into her warm, welcoming pussy. It was a more relaxed session of making love, not simply fucking, and both of them basked in their feelings. They rolled from cowgirl to spooning to missionary throughout their coital time with Dawn having multiple orgasms. John had just delivered the goods when his alarm sounded at 7:20.

"Just in time," she declared. With a hand covering her loved privates, she quietly opened her bedroom door and ducked into the bathroom. John was left in the bed, panting but with a smile of satisfaction on his face.

John and Dawn emerged from the lower level as the grandfather clock tolled the half hour and they quickly moved to their 'assigned' seats. Emily, Jenny, and Ginny emerged from the kitchen bearing a bowl of scrambled eggs, a platter of biscuits, and a plate of sausage patties. Dawn jumped up and soon returned with a pitcher of orange juice as everyone took their places. Conspicuously absent were the Taggart menfolk. Then John remembered they had gone out hunting at daybreak.

As everyone dug in, John chose to split open a biscuit and placed a sausage patty between the biscuit halves, and took a good bite. Everyone stopped to watch John chewing his bite. He slowed down, casting curious glances at everyone watching him. He wanted to ask something, but his mouth was full, so he politely chewed it all up and swallowed before asking, "What?"

"How do you like that sausage, John?" Emily inquired.

"It's pretty tasty. Not quite like the sausage we have back home or even at school, but still quite good." He paused, considering his next words. "I didn't just eat Gypsy's predecessor, did I?"

The twins responded with an exaggerated, "Ewww!" while Emily snorted. Dawn minutely shook her head at John's teasing.

"No, John. That's venison breakfast sausage we make every fall from the deer that Daddy and my brothers bring home," she relayed. She wasn't sure what reaction she had expected him to have to that news, but she definitely did not expect the one she got.

"Hmmm." He smacked his lips then split open another biscuit to place his remaining venison sausage patty in between. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to enjoy the rest of his breakfast.

"You really don't mind that you're eating deer meat?" Dawn asked, a bit surprised.

"As I said, it's pretty tasty. Slightly different than pork, I'll grant you, but not off‑putting." Emily beamed at his acceptance.

"Okay, people, let's be ready to roll out at 8:30, please," Emily called out once the breakfast dishes had been taken to the kitchen. She opted to leave the dishes and pans soaking in water for the morning while they went to church. They'd address the clean‑up when they got back.

The church service was unremarkable for John that day, unlike when he had attended with the family on All Saints' Day. The group was greeted by an older couple, not the pastor and his wife, and John's presence was not recognized by anyone else as well. The men and women home from college were explicitly welcomed during the service but were not asked to stand and be recognized. In short, it was a rather bland experience for John, although Emily, Jenny, and Ginny seemed to be satisfied. They did not stick around after the service to talk with others, and soon they were rolling back home.

"John, I really appreciate you comin' with us this mornin'," Emily said as they drove away from the church. "I do worry some about Josh and the boys, but huntin' is a way of life down here. I've seen how you don't take too kindly to some of Josh's ideas. But the thing to remember is while the man, Josh, may be the head of the house, I, the woman, am the neck and I can turn the head any way I wish to."

Both John and Dawn snorted at that.

"You got that out of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', didn't you?" John asked.

"Yessiree, I surely did. Those women were strong and excellent role models, I think. Anyway, a lot of the time it's just best to let Josh have his way. Sorta like breakin' a horse. Sometimes you gotta let him have his head until he gets tuckered out. You don't need to win or even fight all the battles to win the war. Some things simply aren't worth the pain and effort to fight about."

John nodded, filing these little tidbits away. His week here with Dawn was showing him examples of how a good family life could be in comparison with his own. He may have not been at school, but he was receiving a first‑rate education from Emily and Josh; and Dawn as well.

The guys weren't home yet when the churchgoers returned, and Dawn immediately stepped into the kitchen to help Emily clean up from breakfast and to begin preparing lunch. John stepped up to help her, but she placed her hand on his chest, gently pushed him backward, and suggested that he use that time instead to check in with Owen.

"You know, sometimes you have some really good ideas, Dawn," John stated as he kissed the end of her nose. "I'll step outside on the back patio so as not to disturb anyone." He put his jacket on as the weather had begun to turn too cool to go without one.

John texted, "Owen, do you have time to talk?"

Owen's response was John's phone ringing.

"I take this as a 'yes'," John answered. "How bad are things?" John and Owen had long ago agreed to keep their discussions succinct, occasionally skipping over the understood.

"Mom's raving still. You do NOT want to hear the specific words she's been using."

"Sorry, O. I had to do this for myself, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I can't tell you how much I want out of this place," Owen repeated. This had become a frequent topic in their conversations since September. "It's bad enough that you're away at school. Now she's starting to realize that you may never come back home, and that's freaking her out. Very Pink Floyd."

"Ah, 'Mother'. Yeah." John sighed. "About college for you next fall, I suggest that you make good use of the opportunity this week to get on the good sides of our grandparents. Maybe they can help you pay for your college expenses. When I get back to school, I'll send you some links for scholarships to apply for. Most require a two‑ to three‑page essay on a specific topic."