There's not that much sex in this chapter. So, if that's what you're looking for, you've come to the wrong place. There will be one final chapter following this one. It may take me a while to post it, since I am trying to balance work and vacation right now. Thanks for hanging in there with the story.
In Chapter 2, Candice began her last two years of college at N.A.U. in pursuit of her Chemistry degree. She managed to put her past life as a sex-worker behind her. Shortly after starting school, Candice met Nicholas Faggioli, and married him after graduation. This chapter tells of Candice's married life with Nicholas and her problems that resurfaced from her past. Candice will now quickly flip through the pages of time, as she did with the photo album in that cold lonely hotel room on the eve of her daughter's wedding.
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Candice
After our brief honeymoon at the lake, we fell into a very comfortable marital routine of work and school. We were busy, but always made time for each other. By the end of the spring of 1993, I had my Master's Degree in Chemistry and began working full-time at the chemical R&D company that had originally hired me as a part-timer. Once I received my graduate degree, I got a fairly sizable increase in pay plus benefits. Nicky continued to work at the local high school teaching and coaching varsity baseball. Since I was doing so well, he started going to grad school at night, getting his M.B.A. Within two years, Nicky was done with his schooling, and we were ready to buy a house. It was bittersweet, as we didn't want to leave Momma and Papa. But we were really only several blocks away from them.
Our son, Mickey Mackay Faggioli was born in late 1993, and our daughter Faith O'Keefe Faggioli made her entrance in 1995. We had such fun raising our kids. And with Momma and Papa, we had a built-in and loving day-care service. Nicky and I decided that we should both work to pursue our professional passions and to maintain a lifestyle to which we aspired. Mickey followed his father into baseball. He's now playing professionally for the AA affiliate of the New Amsterdam Federals, our local major league team. Faith is away at medical school. She took after me in that department.
You might find this trite and hokey, but Nicky and I really did have a fairy tale life. He worshiped the ground on which I walked and absolutely lived for our children. An amazing father in every way, Nicky, despite his busy schedule, always made time for the kids, and it wasn't just at the important events, like Little League games and dance recitals. He made sure that as a family we consistently did things together; things like camping, fishing, going to ball games, or even just to the movies. I was never a golf or football widow, as Saturdays and Sundays were always spent together as a family, unless, of course, Nicky or Mickey had baseball games or practice.
Nicky and I kept ourselves in really good shape. He and I would workout nearly every day. At 46, he was still rock-solid and turning into quite the middle-aged hunk. Whenever we went to parties or social events, the gals really looked Nicky over. But he was always all mine. He never gave me any cause for jealousy. The only woman who ever gave me cause for concern was a woman by the name of Beatrice Ocean. She was the sole owner of the New Amsterdam Federals. Yes, that's the organization that our son Mickey is playing for. We'll talk more about Ms. Ocean later on.
Although a virgin before we got engaged, Nicky was a dynamo in bed. The man had these sexual talents that fulfilled me in every way. Lovemaking was never mechanical, never plain-vanilla, but always exciting,even after all this time. Did we make love seven days a week, every week? No. Like every other married couple, things did slow down a bit. But it came down to a normal pace. I never counted how many times a week it happened. Some weeks it was a lot, some a little. Whatever the frequency, we were both very sated lovers, and after twenty-three years of marriage, still very much in love with each other.
Every few weeks we went up to Lake Ostego and had some alone time. Those weekends were so special. Nicky would light a fire to get the cabin all nice and cozy. He would slowly undress me and carry me over to the fire, putting me face down on the rug. These sessions always started the same way.
He would start off teasing my mouth, my neck, and behind my ears with his tongue. After settling me down on the rug on my tummy, he would pour warm baby oil on my back, butt, and legs. And then slowly, and softly, he would massage the oil into my skin, paying special attention to my feet, inner thighs, and ass. He had this way of massaging my butt with two hands that would drive me to orgasm every time. After getting my butt good and oiled up, he played with my ass, running his fingers rhythmically from my clit up to my butt hole and back down again. This would take me near the brink but never actually over the edge. Nicky knew it, and would tease me this way for quite some time until I begged him to give me release. When he knew I was at my boiling point, he placed his palms on both my butt cheeks. And then he repeatedly pulled my cheeks apart and rubbed them together, moving slowly, then faster and faster. With each rub of my ass, his two thumbs would linger right over my asshole. I could feel the pressure building from my labia opening and closing. There was just something about the way he did that. My orgasms would be so strong, and yet he didn't even need to penetrate me. God, he could make my body sing. Afterward he would mount me in the missionary position and slow-fuck me by the fire until we both cried out with pleasure.
Nicky used to tell me that I was his miracle; that ours was a true love story. He insisted that he always felt he got the better end of the bargain, and that he was never really good enough for me. He thought that one day I would leave him and trade him in for a "better model," as he put it. This was something that, for some reason, he feared deeply, even though I never gave him any reason whatsoever to doubt my fidelity or my love for him.
Although I never did share my past with Nicky as Momma had suggested, I always felt that he rescued me, contrary to what he believed. Only God knows where I would have ended up if Nicky hadn't come into my life. I always felt, and still do feel, that I was a stray that he found on the street, and that he wanted to take care of me. How many times, when Nicky was feeling insecure about me, had I wanted to tell him my own story. I only wish that I had. It could have avoided a lot of pain and heartache later on.
Now, don't go getting the idea that we didn't have the problems that normal couples experience. We were regular people. We had illness, financial ups and downs, disagreements about things like money, and issues that affected the children. But these are all the normal vicissitudes of life. The thing you should take from this is that through all those problems and challenges, Nicky never raised his voice, never picked a fight with me, and never walked out on me in anger. And he had a firm rule: never go to bed angry at each other. It worked for us. I never desired any other kind of life or any other man. After nearly twenty-four years, I was just as in love with him as the day I met him in college at the library.
Our finances prospered. In 2002, Nicky got a job as a head baseball coach at a nearby Division 1 college. Year after year Nicky would coach a winning baseball team. He began to get a national reputation. And he had a special way with pitchers. He had several that were early round draft picks, who ended up making it into the major leagues. The big clubs all recognized that Nicky had a talent for coaching pitchers. Over the years since 2002, he had been offered minor league coaching jobs. But he turned them down because he didn't want to be on the road without me and the kids. During that time, he made some very important connections with Beatrice Ocean and the management of the New Amsterdam Federals. They constantly courted him for a minor league job. The lure was great, but in the end, he decided he couldn't be that far from us for so long during the baseball season.
I began to teach some chemistry classes in the evenings at a local college. In 2010, I received my Ph. D. in Chemistry, another dream of mine fulfilled. (Yeah, I know what your thinking...The whore with a Ph. D. How weird is that?) Our income increased significantly, and we were able to invest our money. Eventually we purchased two gyms at the height of the physical fitness craze. And the income from them, plus our salaries, guaranteed a very comfortable life.
