-- This is a story of Gail and Lucinda --
Gail, a recent widow, is a mature woman of seventy plus years; she has recently retired from her job at the college's library. Lucinda was Gail's student assistant when she attended college and is still working as the acquisitions librarian for the same college. They have remained in touch since Gail's retirement and have grown closer since Gail's husband's death.
Initially, it was straightforward, as Lucinda would do a weekly check in with Gail, to see how she was doing. She asked about Gail's children: Kurt, the dancer, was in his late thirties; daughter Erica, was married with a new baby and lived about a hundred miles away.
-- Gail --
Gail was spending considerable time with her daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law. All of this activity made it easier to deal with her loss. Also, her son was home from his dancing job aboard a cruise ship; but living with Mom was difficult for him as his lifelong partner, Jake was still in Syracuse.
Although he loved his mother very much, Kurt was spending more time Skyping with his partner. Gail has been at her daughter's for over two weeks, and although Erica was happy to see her, after a while her mother's presence had become a strain on her marriage. Erica's husband, John, had a falling out with Gail. The more time he spent with her, the more uncomfortable he became. Gail was able to sense that something was off, and excused herself and headed home.
She had not informed Kurt that she was on her way. It was dark by the time she pulled into her driveway in Northampton. She left her car in the driveway as Kurt's VW was in the garage. As it was late, and she did not want to disturb Kurt. She knew of his habit of late night Zoom or Skype meetings with his friends; and for the most part she respected his privacy.
Her bedroom was in a separate part of the house, so she was able to undress and get into her nightgown without disturbing her son. However, she did want to alert him that she was home so he wouldn't be startled in the morning. Barefoot, she walked down the hall to her son's room. She could hear Kurt's voice, but not any responses. She assumed he had his headphones on.
There was a sliver of light emanating from his room, that is to say that he didn't expect the need for complete privacy, so his door was not shut completely. Feeling somewhat the spy, Gail peeked into his room as she did when he was a little child. Reminding herself that he was, in fact, a young man and she didn't have to worry about him dying in his sleep.
She could see the back of his head and the screen he was looking at. He was laughing at something, but she could not hear. A young man she recognized as his partner, Jake, was dancing on the screen. He was completely naked and totally aroused.
Gail backed away from the door quietly, embarrassed of what she had seen. She was not unaware of her son's sexuality, but she had never seen such a blatant display of homo-erotic behavior. Somewhat shocked, but more tired than anything, Gail had forgotten her reason for going to Kurt's room. Exhausted, she returned to her bedroom and promptly fell asleep.
After a very deep sleep, she awoke to the sound of Kurt's voice singing in the kitchen and the smells of the breakfast he was cooking. Getting out of bed barely awake, she stumbled off to the bathroom. After finishing up in the bathroom, she threw a white robe over her nightgown, stuck her feet into her warm slippers, and shuffled off towards the kitchen.
Kirk didn't seem particularly surprised to see her. He ran up to her and took an unaffected pleasure in saying, "How are you, Mom? I didn't know you were coming home last night. It's good to see you. How's Erika? Oh, and the baby and John?" added in an embarrassed afterthought.
Gail welcomed his affectionate, enthusiastic embrace; despite, or maybe, because he was still sweaty from his early morning exercise. Kurt was wearing the same non-descriptive grey gym shorts and ragged T-shirt he always wore at home for workouts. He would go through another series later in the day so, typically, did not shower until supper time.
This was a routine his mother was familiar with, from years of watching him progress as a dancer. He insisted on creating a baseline of general fitness before he practiced dance specific moves. As a result, his body was tightly muscled and lean; yet, without any hint of scrawniness, he exuded vigor and cheerfulness. Gail loved everything about him; in her eyes he had no flaws. No vice, no physical or moral imperfections. She wished the same thing were true of herself.
-- Lucinda --
Darryl had already left the bed by the time Lucinda had been awakened by the morning light pouring through the farmhouse window; she shivered under the covers all alone. The morning wind rattled the old windows of the three hundred year old building.
The condition of the old farmhouse contrasted the automation of the milking barn. Daryl's and Lucinda's cows lived in a much more modern structure than their owners did. The automation was supposed to be labor saving and it was, but the labor saved was that of hired hands they no longer needed.
Daryl still had to work a very long day; and although he looked great, a handsome man in his mid-50s, the life of hard physical labor had taken its toll. He still stood straight and walked briskly on his artificial knees; his back was showing signs of osteoporosis, basically all his joints were worn out; in addition, he had digestive issues.
Lucinda also had health challenges. Weird headaches misdiagnosed for years until finally a brain tumor was discovered. After a delicate operation and much worry, it was discovered that the tumor was not cancerous.
Lucinda sat up in bed and surveyed the window, planning what she was going to wear to do her chores, the two hours of chores on the farm before she headed off to work at the college. She decided on an old pair of jeans and flannel shirt which she donned after she removed her flannel nightgown. No bra or panties now; she put those on when she got dressed for work. Lucinda pulled on a pair of rough, old woolen socks that overlap her jeans over, then pulled on her muck boots and was ready for her chores.
Still comparatively vigorous in her late 50s, she walked with kind of a purposeful swagger in her farm boots. Breakfast would be a large bowl oatmeal with some fruit slices. No coffee, her only beverage would be a glass of water about an hour after breakfast.
Usually, the farm contained members of her extended family. At least one daughter and her husband would be around along with their young children, but Maisie and her husband were on vacation; so, Daryl and Lucinda had the farmhouse to themselves. Their other daughter, Justina, had recently gotten a nursing job in a hospital too far away from the farm to commute. Justina now had an apartment near Boston
Lucinda missed having the extended family around, but as she told co-workers at the library, now Darryl can walk around his boxer shorts. They are both, each other's best friend, an easy familiarity borne of a long relationship.
-- Lucinda calls Gail --
Lucinda had finished her farm chores. She hosed off her boots on the concrete pad by back stairs to the farmhouse. As she entered the kitchen, she kicked them off and padded up the worn wooden stairs to the bedroom. Once inside, she left the door open. Even with family in the house, she was not overly modest. Although definitely not an exhibitionist, she regarded the human body matter of factly.
Lucinda sat on the bed to remove her wool socks. Then she stretched to peel off the flannel shirt which she tossed toward the corner of the bedroom; her dirty jeans quickly followed.
Just for an instant, she studied her nude form in the full length mirror that hung on the closet door. She thought her ass had gotten thicker, now that she spent more time sitting at her college job; but overall, she was fairly fit because of the routine work she did every day on the farm. Buckets to be carried and emptied; stalls to be mucked out. Even in the 21st century, there was a significant amount of physical labor on a modern dairy farm.
