Mary awoke the next morning even more confused than she'd been when she went to bed. Matt Williams was still on her mind and that bothered her. She vaguely remembered having some kind of dream about him and, try as she would, she didn't seem to be able to dislodge thoughts of him from her consciousness.
But, on the brighter side, having experienced an orgasm, even if it was self-induced, she was a little less tense than she had been. She stretched and her leg bumped something hard. She reached under the covers and found the dildo. "Best purchase I ever made," she thought. For a second, she had an urge to use it again, but fought it off, got out of bed and put the dildo in a safe place in her lingerie drawer.
A half-hour later, showered and dressed, she walked downstairs. Ricky was already up, lying on the sofa watching Saturday morning cartoons.
"Morning, sleepyhead," he said.
"Morning, Ricky," Mary said. "Want breakfast?"
"Silly question," Ricky replied. He didn't take his eyes from the TV.
"I'll yell when I have it ready," Mary said as she walked into the kitchen. She leaned down to get a frying pan out of the cabinet, and felt her breasts swing free under the sweatshirt she wore. She had decided not to wear a bra and felt a bit naughty about her decision.
Matt got up about the same time Mary did, took a shower, dressed, and went downstairs to find his parents sitting at the breakfast table.
"Good morning," he said.
"Good morning, Matt," they replied. His mother got up and poured him a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice.
"Uncle Ezra called early this morning," his father said. "Your grandmother is worse. It looks as if she might not live. Your mother and I have to fly to Seattle today."
"You want me to come along?" Matt asked. His grandmother, who had cancer, had been ill for a long time, but recently, things had been getting worse. He knew it wouldn't be long before she died.
His mother shook her head. "Until we know for sure how bad it is," she said, "it's probably better you don't go. If it turns out this is something serious and we have to stay a while, you could miss a lot of school."
"Yeah, and with the basketball playoffs coming up, the school will need their ace photog to record that for posterity," his father added.
"You sure?" Matt asked as he poured some cereal into a bowl and put milk and sugar on it.
"If Grandma gets worse, we'll arrange for you to fly out later," his mother said. "There's nothing you could do out there, anyhow."
"When are you leaving?" Matt asked.
"Our flight leaves at one," his father replied.
"You want me to drive you to the airport?" Matt asked.
"We'll take the Mercedes and leave it in the long-term lot," his dad said. "That way, you won't have to worry about meeting us at the airport when we get back."
"OK," Matt said.
After breakfast, Matt helped his mother with the dishes, then went up to his darkroom and spent the rest of the morning working on a photo series on the athletic and cheerleading squads. He began a collection of pictures of Dianna Hillman similar to the one he had of Mary Forrester.
Matt suddenly realized what he was doing. "This is silly," he thought. "She doesn't give a darn about me. She's interested in Ricky."
About eleven, his mother knocked on the darkroom door and told him they were packed and ready to go. "Don't forget to eat," she told him. "There's plenty of food in the freezer and you know how to cook."
"Yes, ma'am," Matt replied. "Don't mothers ever realize their offspring can take care of themselves?" he wondered.
"And make sure you're careful with the truck," his father added.
"And don't stay up all night working in your lab, either," his mother said. "You have homework and you need your sleep."
He got a kiss and hug from his mother, and a hug from his father, who slipped some money in Matt'ss hand as he was going out the door. "Just in case you need a little extra," his father said.
Matt didn't need the money. He did quite well selling photos and had a nice-sized nest egg in the bank. He could live on his savings for several months.
After his parents left, Matt went back to his darkroom and worked on the photo series a little longer. Then, screwing up his courage, he walked to the phone in his bedroom.
"I ought to call Dianna," he thought. "I really should call her. I mean, I wouldn't want her to think I forgot our date."
He took a deep breath, picked up the phone, and dialed Dianna's number.
"Hello?" Dianna said. Her voice sounded nice.
"Hi, ah, this is Matt," he said. Why was his voice cracking?
"Hi," Dianna replied.
"What do you want to do tonight?" he asked.
"I dunno, what were you thinking about?" she asked.
"Maybe we could get some pizza, then see a movie?" Matt suggested.
"OK," Dianna said.
"What are you doing now?" Matt asked.
"Ah, nothing, really," she said.
"Want to come over here?" Matt suggested hopefully.
