With Life Cums Experience
Little did I know when we met, he would turn out to be my protector, mentor, confidant, and lover.
******************************************
I was seventeen when Cooper Reynolds moved into our neighborhood.
Though working here in Cottonwood, Coop had actually lived three towns away, where his family's construction business was located. After his wife died, Coop sold his house and moved into a lovely old house down the street from us. I remember the day he came over to introduce himself after Mom and Dad were in the driveway washing the car, and I was seated in my wheelchair on the front porch.
Introductions were made, and I think the friendship between him and my Dad started that day. As for me, I had been in a depressed funk for the last several weeks and was a little standoffish, definitely in no mood for introductions or the sharing of friendly pleasantries.
The winter before, I had been involved in a skiing accident in which I had experienced a devastating fall that injured my spine, leaving me unable to walk. Though my doctor was cautiously optimistic, he reassured me that I would regain the use of my legs with time and hard work. I couldn't face returning to school, so my folks arranged for me to be homeschooled my senior year. Confined to a wheelchair, I spent most of my day sitting on the front porch, watching other people live their lives.
Though Coop and I had only spoken a few times, sitting out on the porch or watching people from my bedroom window, I would see him a couple of times each day, walking his dog, working in his garage, mowing his lawn, just regular homeowner activities. Occasionally I would see a red sports car pull into the driveway, and a pretty blonde lady would get out and go into the house. She would usually stay the night and leave the following day. I figured she must be his girlfriend and thought, "lucky girl." Coop was a handsome man in his early forties, tall, hard bodied, with dark hair, brown eyes, rugged facial features, and full sensual lips. What girl wouldn't consider herself lucky to have a man like Coop in bed next to her, inside her at night? I chuckled to myself; after all, what would I know? I'd barely had a boyfriend before my accident, let alone had sex.
*****
For my eighteenth birthday, my parents sent me to visit my older brother Jack, who was stationed at the Pearl Harbor-Hickam Naval Base in Hawaii. I think the main reason my folks wanted me to go was to see a well-known orthopedic specialist who had his offices in Honolulu. I didn't want to go at first, but after talking with my brother Jack and thinking about the quiet and tranquility of just sitting out on the beach every day, I changed my mind and actually looked forward to the trip.
During my trip, one day, while stretched out on the beach sunning myself, a young man approached me and said Hello.
"Hi, sorry, I don't mean to intrude, but I saw you here and thought how pretty you were. So gathering my nerves, I decided to come over and introduce myself."
With a bit of a struggle, I pulled myself into a sitting position and stared at him as if he had horns.
"Go away," I said in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Oh, Okay..." he said. And as he was about to turn and walk away, he added, "I didn't mean to bother you. I just had this urge to come over and speak."
"Wait... I said I'm sorry. I must have sounded so rude."
"Yeah, you did sound a little rude," he said, breaking into a pleasant, throaty masculine laugh.
"My name is Michael, Michael Carnari. I'm in the Navy and stationed here at the Naval Base."
"My name is Bethany Phillips. I'm here visiting my brother for the summer. He's in the Navy too."
And that's how innocently our relationship began. Michael was twenty-five, handsome, smart, funny, and thoughtful. We were surprisingly open with each other from the beginning when Michael shared that he was engaged and planned to marry later in the year. I have no doubt he loved his fiancΓ©e, who was still on the mainland, but I could feel there was something between us. I told him about my sometimes depression, loneliness, and, most importantly, my disability. Happily, I realized it drew us closer together instead of repulsing him.
The physical side of our relationship progressed quickly, going from light fondling to kissing to oral sex and, inevitably, sexual intercourse in just a couple of weeks. Michael was my first, and though I was frightened and apprehensive, he was gentle and thoughtful when he showed me the kind of pleasure my young, broken body could experience.
*****
While staying with my brother, I offered to babysit for them so they could have a little special time once or twice a week. My brother Jack and his wife Linda had a two-year-old toddler named Marky, whom I loved dearly and would have babysat anytime if they needed me to. The fact that I was still, for the most part, confined to my wheelchair was not a major issue. The baby would usually play on the floor or in his playpen for an hour or so and then stretch out and be asleep by seven. I would read or watch TV until his parents got home and carried him off to bed.
I liked babysitting, particularly in the late summer afternoon. Little Marky would waddle over to me, and I'd pick him up, settle him in my lap, and wheel him out onto the rear deck. He'd snuggle into my lap, sometimes rooting for a nipple (I must admit, on more than one occasion, I gave him a milk-less nipple to comfort him). Marky would fall asleep, and we'd sit there rocking and dozing until I laid him on the sofa, waiting for Jack and Linda to get home.
Michael began to drop by on those evenings when I babysat. I would feed the baby his bottle, and Michael would take him upstairs for me and put him in his crib. We would go into the living room to watch a movie or listen to music while the baby slept. He enjoyed my sitting next to him and would lift me out of my chair and onto the sofa. While we watched our movie, he'd put his arms around me, and I, feeling safe and trusting, would often fall asleep halfway into the movie with Michael's hand cupping and fondling one of my breasts or rubbing me between my legs.