Our house renovations were finished the following February. Mike now had her own suite upstairs with us. The twins each had their own bedroom. The kitchen had been completely renovated and the wall between the kitchen and the dining room removed. The downstairs bedrooms had been made into a suite for Paulette with its own bath, a separate entrance, and ready access to the family sections of the house.
Research was now my only academic responsibility. The Pentagon, though not entirely happy with me personally, didn't hesitate to provide funding as my research progressed and had pressured the school to reduce my other responsibilities. My teaching load was eliminated. After I attended the last of my required lectures and seminars, I only had to write reports for the military and keep my advisor informed.
Over the next year, the number of students in attendance grew rapidly as veterans took advantage of the G.I. Bill. Tech began a program of expansion. Undeveloped land immediately adjacent campus was purchased for new classroom buildings, research labs, and dormitories. Additional faculty was recruited and hired.
The school needed housing for that faculty. It looked first to nearby neighborhoods. Mike, now well-known locally by her given name, Michelle Dickens, got very busy. TaiBay Housing Trust had agreements with numerous distressed families near Tech. The school learned about the trust. Michelle was contacted and she provided access to families that might be interested in selling. Purchase offers were generous, providing strong incentives to sell. At one point, more than thirty families were negotiating with Tech.
Over the next couple of years, demand for housing grew rapidly. And as time passed, the need to help deceased soldiers' families evaporated. Eventually, the TaiBay Housing Trust became a land trust, purchasing and managing land to provide recreational opportunities and, in later years, protect dwindling wildlife habitat, periodically returning to its original purpose.
Gwen was admitted to her doctoral program and returned to school full time for the 1948-49 school year. It would take a little more than two years to complete her program.
The twins loved Paulette and she seemed to enjoy them. She agreed to remain with us until Gwen finished her PhD. No one could blame her for not wanting to return to Europe and still difficult post-war conditions.
I submitted my thesis in December 1948 and was scheduled to defend it the following April. But the Pentagon changed its mind. In March, a week after moving back into the house and a few weeks before defending my thesis, the military decided my experimental results and thesis were a potential threat to national security if they published. Military police seized everything from my office and lab. They took all the copies that had been given to the examination committee. Military police searched my home office and took all my notebooks, none of which had anything to do with my research. Paulette later told me she had been frightened when they arrived, but they were polite and had limited their search to my home office.
I went home at lunch time, angry and thoroughly dejected. Paulette and the twins were at the house. Gwen was in her lab, Mike was still at work. I played with twins until it was time for their nap. I called my father and told him what happened. He didn't sound surprised. He told me things might not be as bleak as they seemed. He didn't sound like he believed his own words. And I wasn't convinced.
Gwen came home just before dinner. She hadn't heard about the seizures. I told her what had happened. She was sympathetic, and almost as angry as I was.
The next day, I slept until mid-morning and moped around the house. There was nothing to do at the lab or my office. Paulette and the twins were on the patio when I came downstairs and poured a cup of coffee. I went outside to join Paulette and the twins.
Seth and Sarah sat together and played. When Sarah waddled over to the sandbox, Seth followed. I marveled at how much they had changed. Seth's red hair had all fallen out in the first couple of months. When it grew back, it was still curly but darker, mimicking my father's hair color. Sarah had also lost all her hair. When it grew back, it had remained straight but came in strawberry blonde, the color somewhere between mine and Gwen's. At twenty months, they now had distinct personalities.
I nodded at Paulette, who was sewing a button on one of Sarah's jumpers. I sat down to watch the twins play as I nursed my coffee.
'Not hungry this morning, Jean-Paul DeMonde?' Paulette asked in French.
I stiffened and turned to face her. How the hell did she know my Swiss identity?
She returned to English. 'I wasn't sure, but I thought I recognized you when I first started working for Mrs. Taylor. It seemed unlikely, though. I thought you just looked like Jean-Paul. But I can tell by look on your face that I was right all along.' She finished the button and set the jumper on the table next to her chair.
'Why do you think I'm Jean-Paul DeMonde?' I asked defensively.
'Annika was my roommate at Elyse Fiore. I saw you with Annika at the dances and socials. I was there the night Mrs. Bustamonte caught you and Annika in the bushes outside the ballroom.'
Now I understood why she had looked vaguely familiar when she first came to work for us. Paulette had been introduced when I first met Annika. She was a rail-thin, flat-chested, plain-looking wallflower that hadn't done more than mumble a few words when introduced. She always stayed around the periphery of social events, rarely interacting with anyone other than a few classmates and the chaperones. She still resembled that girl but had matured into an attractive woman. She hid it at work. Her hair was always tied back in a bun. She dressed like a spinster and never wore make-up.
This was an unbelievable coincidence.
'I remember it well. My ears still burn.'
Paulette laughed. 'Annika told me Mrs. Bustamonte nearly tore them off.'
'She also gave me a fat lip and a bloody nose.' I said matter-of-factly.
'Well, what is your name? Does your wife know your real name?' she asked. She looked at me suspiciously.
'Jonas Taylor is my name. My parents were with the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland when the war began in 1939. They were given assignments that took them into the hostilities. I was given a Swiss identity to protect me from the Nazis. I was put in boarding school to hide me.'
Paulette didn't say anything. She just sat quietly and watched the twins. After a few minutes, she got up and gathered her sewing. 'Would you mind watching Sarah and Seth while I put this away and make lunch for the children? Would you like some lunch?' she asked.
'No lunch for me, thanks.'
She turned and went inside. I picked Sarah up and gave her a hug. She tried to wriggle away but I tickled her. She shrieked and laughed, twisting in my arms. Seth came running. He didn't want to be left out. He grabbed my leg and held on. I sat on the ground with them and tickled them both. They writhed, shrieked, and laughed while trying to push my hands away. But the minute I stopped, they would try to tickle me, goading me to tickle them again.
When Paulette called out that lunch was ready, they went running to the kitchen. Playing with Dad was one thing, lunch was something else. I opened the door and followed them in. After the twins ate, I read to them while Paulette cleaned up. The twins fell asleep while I read to them. I helped Paulette put them in their cribs then walked to campus.
I wandered aimlessly until I found myself outside Gwen's office. Her office was at the end of a little-used corridor in the basement. I knocked and was told to come in. Gwen was sitting at her desk, reading a chemistry journal. She smiled and jumped up to kiss me. Just seeing her brightened my spirits. I sat quietly while she continued her reading, occasionally mentioning something that might be of interest to me.
Gwen shared office space with another PhD candidate. The room was adequate as an office for one. It was cramped with two small desks. There was barely enough room for the extra chair, which wobbled precariously if I moved. I sat in it but couldn't get comfortable. Each time I moved, I feared it might collapse under me.
Gwen kept her desk clear except for an inbox/outbox stack and a writing pad. Her office mate's desk was cluttered with a teetering stack of papers, journals, and other academic detritus that might collapse at any moment. The top of the desk was hidden but for a small area about the size of a sheet of paper. One drawer was open and overflowing.
Gwen put her journal in a drawer then stood and stretched. She walked past me and locked her office door.
'My office hours are over. Ted will be in his lab until late this afternoon then has a class,' she smiled. She turned back to face me and lifted the front of her dress. She wasn't wearing panties. 'Want to take advantage of the solitude?'
I stood and moved toward her. 'Do you think this is a good idea?' I asked as I pulled her to me and gently caressed her naked behind. 'We could get caught. We'd get kicked out of school.'
Gwen reached for my belt, anxiously unbuckling it. "Oh, stop worrying and fuck me. No one's going to catch us,' she said huskily.
My cock was hard before my pants pooled at my feet. Gwen dropped her skirt, then spread it across her desk. She laid back on the desk pulling me along. I followed clumsily, my pants impeding my progress. Gwen held my cock and guided me in. She wasn't wet, yet. My cock slid in with difficulty. Gwen grimaced as my cock entered her.
We started slowly. Each in and out stroke raised her heat, increasing the moisture inside her. While I gently worked my cock in and out of her, Gwen unbuttoned her blouse and pulled her bra up off her breasts, exposing nipples that were already hard and erect. She pinched and rolled her nipples while I held her hips.