Felicity

Chapter 12. Marina

Marina and I began our last college semester as a committed couple. We lived together.

Early that spring semester I had an important swim meet at a college just forty miles away so most of us drove to the site. With very few exceptions college swim meets do not attract much of a crowd so it was easy for me to spot Marina in the stands of the away venue.

I picked that day to beat the conference record in the thousand meters free, which was what it took for us to win the meet. My nemesis Rusty came in second and was only half a finger away. His time tied the old record.

When I saw Marina flying down the stand steps clapping and yelling I started to walk towards her. I was suddenly surrounded by my teammates and I accepted congratulations from them and from a disappointed Rusty. He and I had become friends during a summer clinic before our freshman years.

I felt a hands caress my shoulders. They stayed there throughout the post-meet visits. Eventually it was time to go to the locker room and go home. The voice that belonged to the hands asked, "What did Rusty say?

"That he was OK that our rivalry had ended in a tie, four for me and four for him. We had every one of our best times when racing each other. The girl kissing him is Teresa. She is on the girl's team but they did not make the finals. We have been invited to their wedding this spring break. He told me to tell you that you are a very good cook."

"I am glad I got to know him after the last meet at home. I hated him for beating you that day and I was shocked when you told me you had invited him over for supper. I expected you to hate him too. I am glad he did come over, he is a good guy."

After we got back home Marina confessed that she made a fool of herself during my race. She screamed, she jumped up and down and froze as I caught Rusty with just two meters to go. She cried when I won and cried when they posted that it was a new record.

"I have never been so excited at any event as I was at your race today," She gushed.

I looked at her curiously. she was after all our schools very first All American in any sport and had been invited to the volleyball olympic trial games.

She apparently guessed my look as she suddenly wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hard kiss on the lips. Apparently she had not.

As she pulled away from her kiss she looked at me somewhat misty eyed and said, "I am so glad I have you. Right now you are anchoring my sanity. No pressure there. Huh?"

"Why, what happened?"

"During the meet my parents called, which was what put me at the top of the stands and almost made me break my neck.

Dad filed for divorce.

Mom called him an idiot and claimed to be glad to be rid of him on one phone call then was in tears during the next pleading for me to talk him into giving her another chance."

"What did you tell her?"

"I asked her to let him go. She hung up."

"Oooh, you had agreed that we were Switzerland."

"Yeah, I know. But I have officially picked a side."

"Well, I guess it's time. I have been secretly on your Dad's side since I met him."

"Not so secretly. I knew as soon as he showed us that he approved of you for me. He is taking us out to dinner tonight. He would have been here for your meet but could not get out of the city in time."

"Does he know we have moved in together?"

"Yes. He is glad we are saving money on motel rooms."

We had a mild surprise when we got to the restaurant that evening, Marina's Coach Sara was with him.

We had a much bigger surprise when after I commiserated with Albert's unsettled life Coach Sara commented, "Well at least he is no longer homeless."

Her comment almost got past us until we saw them blushing. Marina squealed, ran around the table planting big kisses on her coach and Dad then sat demurely in her seat. She looked at me and nodded before saying to them, "We approve," then burst into giggles as she pounded the table. I patted her father's shoulder and blew a kiss to Sara.

I looked at Marina and asked, "Why did we not see this coming?"

She kissed me softly and said, "I think we were distracted elsewhere."

Sara and her Dad nodded as they burst into laughter. We had a great evening and repeated our "dinners for four" once a week for the duration of the school year.

Her Dad and her coach had been in constant contact for four years as he followed his six foot tall baby girl's sport exploits. He was not the hovering Dad but more of a fan of the team and their coach. And his baby. He and Sara had gotten along well, in fact better than we thought.

My athletic career ended just short of the championship as Marina's did and we concentrated on graduation and jobs after that. Surprisingly neither of us had much interest in coaching.

Marina said that she would not have a chance of coping with the drama and politics and I confessed that I had never been a fan of swimming per se; I was in it because I was good at it and therefore it was expected of me.

"Coaching Little League will be good enough for me," I said.

Marina gave me a big grin and said, "You will need to wait a few years and it may end up being a girls softball team."

Until she said that I had not connected the coaching idea to my own children. My grin soon matched hers and I said, "Let's get started on that," and carried her to our bed.

"Beast," she said as her arms and legs encircled my body.

After a long and very loving fuck we held each other and had our first definitive talk about our future together.

That Marina and I would be married was a given since our first motel stay, probably long before that.

When and where our wedding would be had only been discussed in the general terms, such as "after we have jobs."

Her parent's split and the rift between Marina and her Mom had made the event problematic.

The jobs part was resolved just before spring break when a horde of recruiters arrived at our campus. We had discussed many possibilities for our careers but we both knew we were going to be teachers. Our main worry was that both of us would not be able to find jobs in the same school district and whether she would get an offer where she was not required to coach.

At first the finding jobs together part proved to be as difficult as we had feared. Marina and I had talked to five school district recruiters and were disappointed to find that none could promise jobs for both of us although they had said the probabilities were good.

Marina and I did not like the sound of "probabilities" and she did not like that one of the first words out of each recruiter's mouth was "coach." She really was put off when the sport one of them mentioned was basketball.

We were outside the meeting room doors sort of leaning against each other as we normally did when a small redheaded woman in her mid fifties approached us.

She asked us if we came as a package and Marina answered, "We sincerely hope so."

The woman said, "Come join me for coffee and lets find out if we are a match."

Marina and I had just decided to pause for coffee anyway so we followed her to a lounge area that had been set up for the recruiters. She introduced herself as Martha and asked if we had heard of the town of Felicity.

Marina answered, "Yes, I am from Angleton and he is from Bay City."

"Oh, good. Neighborhood kids."

After we got settled she asked for our ID cards then took out her laptop and accessed our school records and resumes on-line. I was very much surprised when her first question to me was, "Why do you hate Rusty so much?"

After I got over that shock I answered, "Because he is as good as I am."

Marina added, "We will be at his wedding this Saturday although I don't think Teresa likes us very much."

The woman said, "Teresa loves him so much she tends to take his disappointments badly. The family approves of her and you will find that she will be a good friend."

Our conversation with Martha continued for over thirty minutes but not once did we feel we were in a job interview. Martha's only comment related to our search for jobs was to say, "I see neither of you wants to coach," and left it at that, never asking for an explanation.

Martha congratulated Marina on her All-American selection and asked her if she would be attending any of the Olympic team try-outs.

Marina answered, "No, I am done with volleyball and I have a better offer anyway," then kissed me.

Martha made a few comments about how sickening it was to see young people madly in love with each other and how her family was in the midst of that epidemic and how we were not helping any. We gave her a big smile then kissed again.

She groaned in disgust.

Marina and I were already in love with the lady whether she had a job for us or not. She clinched it when she returned from the printer that had been set up for the recruiters and slid completed contracts in front of us, ready to sign.

She said, "Our pay scale is good you will note thanks to an otherwise inconvenient resident of our county. You will both be working at our high school. As opposed to some districts we prefer our teacher couples to work together if they choose to do so.

Jay, you will have four Biology One classes and a Geography class. Marina, all your classes will be Junior English. When your are bugged about coaching just tell them you are still working on the certificate."

I had already signed the contract when I asked, "Why Geography?"

"Our district just added it as a graduation requirement, at my insistence by the way. Our science and government people volunteered to cover it this first year because they are the ones that pay attention to the planet as a whole.

Next year's school budget will include funding for a Geography teacher so this is just a one year assignment. Each of you volunteers will have one class section and will wait with bated breath as I write the curriculum this summer."

"So you are a Geography teacher?"

"No, science teacher, retired but I don't seem to be making much headway in convincing people of that.

I have drafted you into the curriculum committee. You have more Geology than any of us so will be writing most of that part of the curriculum. There is a nice stipend that comes with that so it will help your finances over the summer. You will be going to work June 15th. We will stop July 2nd and if we have not finished we have the first week of August to complete it."

Marina and I visited with Martha for another hour. She had us program her cell number on our phones and told us that help in housing, moving and wedding was available if we needed it. She advised us to start an account with the local teachers credit union as soon as possible even if it was just five dollars. As soon as our contracts were filed we would be eligible for loans from them.

At about noon she stood and said, "I guess I better go home. I am done anyway. This week I came up for four good people and after just two stops got much better than that."

"Do we know the other two? Marina asked.

"I would hope so. You are going to their wedding on Saturday. Call me anytime. You can pick up your classroom keys on the first week in June if you wish.

Be happy, the best friends you will ever have in your life will be available for you this summer."

I will admit that by the time we walked Martha to her car and kissed her goodbye Marina and I were giddy. We were convinced that we had just totally lucked out.

As we walked out of Rusty and Teresa's wedding that Saturday afternoon Marina asked, "If we are going to get married how come I do not have an engagement ring?"

The real answer was that it had never crossed my mind.

The answer I gave her was, "Because you have not picked one out yet."

By the end of that day she was flashing her ring to every passerby.

I did promise my Dad I would pay him back.

He said, "It will cost you your first born son."

I guessed he was ready to be a grandfather.

Dad assured me he would be happy to see Mom and Norma again when the day came.

I made him give the phone to his fiancee and I made sure she understood that her attendance at my wedding was mandatory.

"Son? She is crying. What did you say to her?"

"That when the day came she absolutely had to come with you."

"I love you son. Count on us."

Mom and Norma had been expecting the announcement and promised to be there "with bells on."

During that evening at Sara's house Marina called her mother with the news. Her mother responded with a string of vindictive curses that quickly had Marina in tears. Her father reached over and took the phone out of his daughter's hand and told his now ex-wife, "Have a good life without us," and hung up.

I was holding one of Marina's hands and her father the other as Sara stood behind her caressing her shoulders. Her anguish dissipated into soft sobs. She looked at us as if to make sure we did not agree with her mother. I could not help but laugh a bit at her concern.

I kissed her; her father kissed her and said, "Baby, no one in this room could possibly love you more. We know who you are. Your mother has just simply forgotten."

Marina stood and hugged each of us tightly. She kissed Sara's lips softly, lovingly and said,

"I guess you are now the mother of the bride."

That came as a great surprise to Sara and she burst into tears and kissed Marina with overflowing emotion. Albert and I could see that if the kiss continued un-checked it would lead to passion.

We interrupted their kiss with our own and Albert said, "Jay and I are going out for a beer now. We will be back in a couple of hours."

He apparently knew what I knew.

"We are both very lucky men," Albert said as we stepped out of the house.

"Yes sir, indeed we are," I replied.

We returned almost two hours later and went to the kitchen and disposed of leftovers as we had our third beer of the night. We were cleaning up when two mostly nude women suddenly appeared, grabbed our hands and led us to separate bedrooms.

I was simply ravaged by Marina and I suspected Sara had ravished Albert too.

As we drank our coffee the next morning each of us would suddenly shiver then smile.

Our ladies were extra amorous for days on end no doubt in gratitude to what they felt was a magnificent gift from us.

Our life became set in a very comfortable routine. Marina and I went to our classes and met each other at the student union when we had free hours.

After school we cooked simple meals together at home then we spent time studying until she began to play with my cock or I slid a finger into her pussy, whichever came first.

We did not have any classes after ten on Friday's so we got a late breakfast takeout and went to our favorite lake. We did very little of anything while there.

Friday nights we met Albert and Sara at a restaurant then went home. We watched TV until Marina started playing with my cock or I slid a finger into Marina's pussy, whichever came first.

Saturdays we played on an intramural softball league. Marina led our team in home runs, and strikeouts, a typical slugger.

I was second to her in both categories. I probably would not have ever heard the end of that if it had not been for my batting average, it was double hers.

Saturday evenings we would try to cook a dinner that Emeril or Rachel Ray had convinced us was easy to prepare. Some of the time they were right.

Sundays we spent naked and fucked often, a suggestion for us from her cousin Edie.

Graduation came. Mom, Norma, Dad, and his fiancee Miko sat together like a big happy family.

Albert and Sara sat with the four of them and all appeared to get along great.

If Marina's mother was there none of us saw her.

Marina mentioned that it looked like Sara and Mom's partner Norma were flirting with each other and told me I needed to keep Norma in check.

I replied that we did not have to worry; Mom and Albert would keep them in check, or join them.

I got an elbow in the ribs for that comment which elicited a "Get a Room," comment from her teammate and best friend Leslie behind us.

We both turned and stuck our tongues out at her.

We had just a few minutes of childhood left. We had to make the most of them.

That same thought must have gone through Leslie's head as she immediately pinched our respective butts. Our laughs brought the attention of our mutual friend Miki who hissed, Guys, behave!"

Naturally the three of us stuck our tongues out at her and her partner Jessie. Our play spread among the group until the senior faculty sponsor appeared and gave us a stern look. We all immediately pointed at each other as the culprit, which made her throw her arms up in mock despair.

We all saw her smile as she left.

We were soon filing into the auditorium alphabetically, Marina Chapman separated from Jay Gilliam by four letters.

The rule as usual was for no applause until all the graduates had received their diplomas. It was first broken when Marina's name was called and a loud cheer erupted from the crowd that was followed by thunderous applause. The assistant athletic director jumped up from her seat of honor on the stage and hugged Marina before she allowed her to descend the stairs. As she returned to her seat several girls jumped out into the aisle and hugged her.

I got a nice cheer from the ladies volleyball team and my swim team. It was not nearly as good as Marina's but I had expected polite silence.

I became emotional when Marina told me that my cheer from her teammates was not engineered by her or coach Sara. It had been spontaneous.

I had treated all of her teammates as if they were Marina's bratty little sisters and that had apparently been the right approach. Most of them had trooped through our apartment on a regular basis, particularly Leslie. She and Marina shared a class and studied for it together often. She was the only other senior on the team.

Albert and Dad treated all of us to dinner that afternoon after the ceremony. I saw that Dad had accepted Mom as a friend.

I never detected a sign of regret or animosity from him.

His fiancee Miko seemed to be ready to defend him if she detected any animosity from Mom. Half way through dinner she had apparently decided none was coming and accepted Mom for who she was.

All of the ladies liked Albert and all openly flirted with him. Norma did flirt with Sara but thankfully not Miko.

For Marina and me it was the best-case scenario come true.

Marina and I did not get a chance to visit with Dad and Miko for long. They had an early morning plane to catch and were spending the night at a hotel near the airport two hours away. Miko blushed when I kissed her cheek and Dad blushed when Marina kissed his cheek.

Mom and Norma drove back home that night as they only had a bit over an hour drive.

Sara did not make any defensive moves when Norma kissed her lips in farewell. She was obviously expecting it and so did the rest of us.

What none of us expected was a similar kiss from Mom to Sara. Theirs was a softer, somewhat longer kiss. There did not seem to be any lust behind it.

Sara later characterized it as a kiss to announce that they were now sisters. She was very pleased by it.

So was I.

After dinner Marina and I skipped the graduation parties and opted to go home and shower our love on each other.

We needed it. We had ceased to be students. We were now mostly penniless working stiffs. Adults in an adult world.

Not that we were terrified or anything.

On the Monday after our graduation Marina and I traveled to Felicity and checked into a Super 8 motel. We drove around the town and noted that Felicity was a smaller version of our own hometowns.

The following day we called Martha who told us she was at the high school and to come over and get our classroom keys. It was still just the 8th of June so that bit of information surprised us. Our call was social; we were calling to ask her to join us for lunch.