All Characters In This Story Are 18+ Years Old
Friday 12/21/1962
In Westport, Connecticut, in his neighbor's foyer, with her husband out of town, young Barney Barnes leaned dreamily against the wall-to-ceiling ripple glass window by her front door, as he robotically pulled on his rubber boots and zipped up his parka. He still could not believe he had just lost his virginity to Roberta Maxon, who he thought looked just like Maureen O'Hara, only prettier. She had blown him, then fucked him, then taken him into her marital bed and come wildly, over and over, while he fucked her again and got off himself a miraculous third time. All of that after he had simply asked her if he could shovel the snow from her walks and driveway for a buck.
Barefoot on the waxed parquet floor, thirty-seven-year-old Roberta Maxon stood quietly in her pink chiffon negligee. In her own state of wonder, she watched as the eighteen-year-old boy-next-door got dressed after their romp and nap. Exhilarated, and deeply sexually satisfied, she thought, "This was wrong. This was bad. I should feel guilty for cheating on Phil. Why don't I?" But, no matter how many self-recriminations she tried to conjure, she could not dismiss how good the teenage man-child's cock felt as it scrubbed her G-spot.
When Barney was battened down and booted up, Roberta stepped close and said, "It's going on midnight. You need to scoot home before you turn into a pumpkin!" She kissed him sweetly on his left cheek, then added, "But, before you go, I want you to know I might need more help in the future. Maybe, even tomorrow, before Mr. Maxon and Trixie get back from The City. Would you like to help me? Do you think you could, umm, come again? In the morning?"
Barney blushed and shook his head. "Gee, Mrs. M.," he said, lowering his eyes to avoid looking at her luscious body and inviting lips. "I'd, uh, like to, sure. But there's my mom, and hockey practice, and I, uh, don't know..." His voice trailed wistfully off and he edged closer to the front door.
Unflappably understanding, Roberta replied, "Okay, BeeBee. Well, you think on it. I'd love it if you came. I'll have cocoa and marshmallows ready by eight, just in case." Putting her warm soft hand over his on the doorknob, she turned it while kissing him again, this time on his mouth, with an extra ounce of pressure; leaving her Revlon Fifth Avenue Red lipstick imprinted there.
Barney slipped through the front door into the cold night air as soon as the crack was large enough for his six-foot-two, hundred-and-ninety pound, athletic frame. The storm had passed, leaving a clear starry sky and an ice-glazed walkway with treacherous footing. He moved carefully, grateful for the sparkling snow's magnification of the waning crescent moon's light. At his house, following his mother's instruction, he let himself into the kitchen through the back door as quietly as possible.
Meanwhile, Roberta, alone in her entry hall, suddenly felt chilly. Shivering, she briskly rubbed her bare arms and muttered aloud, "I wonder if there's any fire left?" If front of the family room's flagstone hearth, she held out her hands toward the glowing charred birch logs on its andiron. As she appreciated the immediate warmth the embers provided, she closed her eyes and blanked her mind.
With free rein to drift, Roberta's wandering thoughts returned her to Ayer, Massachusetts and paused happily. It was Friday, February 12, 1944 and most of the rest of the Commonwealth was celebrating Lincoln's Birthday, or anticipating planned St. Valentine's Day activities. She, however, anxiously awaited her betrothed, Paul Maxon. In training at Fort Devens since the previous May, he had gotten a three-day pass before the Army was to send him overseas to fight; they would marry this weekend.
Roberta was eighteen-and-a-half years old and Paul a month shy of turning twenty. She knew, as she sat in the diner, dunking her teabag and nervously fidgeting with her fork with her free hand, that her parents would be upset when they read the note she left them on the kitchen table before she sneaked out from the O'Connor home in Westport for the early morning train north. "They'll think were too young," she thought for the umpteenth time. Then, as she had already done so often, she rebutted, "But, Paul is right: This is wartime. It'll be hard to explain eloping, but Mom and Pop will just have to understand."
Roberta was startled by brakes screeching outside on Park Street. Looking through the diner's plate glass front window she watched two G.I.s in Class A uniform jump out. One yelled at the driver, "Thanks, Sarge! Don't worry, we'll be back for reveille!"
The Staff Sergeant behind the wheel growled, "You better be, Maxon! I don't care if y'are gettin' married. Desertion in time of war is a hangin' offense."
The second soldier out of the jeep squawked, "Aw, c'mon, Sarge! You know I'll get him back! For gosh sakes!"
The crusty sergeant cracked a grin and said, "Yeah, yeah, Maxon. Two peas in a pod and never in trouble! I know." Turning his head to the first soldier, he waved his ham hand at him and laughed, "Give 'er a kiss for me, Maxon!" Then, grinding into first, he popped the clutch and lurched down the avenue.
It was only when the two G.I.s picked their small cardboard suitcases up from the sidewalk and about-faced, that Roberta realized one was Paul and the other Phil Maxon. The brothers were perfectly identical twins to begin with, but now, after nine months' absence, snappily outfitted in the same pressed olive drab barracks caps and wool greatcoats, she absolutely could not tell who was who. Leaving a dime on the table for her tea, she hurried from the café.
Outside, Roberta's awful dilemma was resolved when Paul Maxon dropped his suitcase, stretched his arms out wide and hollered, "Baby! Have I missed you!"
Rushing to him, Roberta crushed up against her fiancé and kissed him hard enough to smear her lipstick. Breathless, she sighed, "Oh, Paul, I'm so glad to see you... to hug you... to kiss you!" Proving her point, she landed another flurry on, or near, his mouth and chin.
Phil picked up his twin's dropped suitcase and said, "Let's get inside before someone calls a cop on you guys for causing a disturbance!" With a laugh, he left the entwined couple wrapped in their rapt reunion and stepped into the diner. As he moved to a booth along a wall, he called to the counterman, "Hey, Mac! Can you set us up with a couple of javas and a refill of whatever the girl out there kissing my brother was having before?"
Meanwhile, Paul finally freed himself from Roberta's onslaught. Keeping her snugged up close beside him, he followed Phil's path while he said, "Gosh, Bobbie, it's great to see you and to know you're still my girl. I was worried you wouldn't show, or you'd send some friend to 'Dear John' me, or something." He kissed the Irish-red wavy hair roll below her blue beret as he held the door for her and added, "I love you so much. You ready to get hitched?"
Roberta beamed at him and answered, "I'm here, aren't I?" Sliding into the booth next to the wall and opposite Phil, she greeted him belatedly, "Hi, Phil. So, you're going to be best man and witness for us?"
Phil chuckled, "That's right Bobbie, but of course, 'best man' is just a title. You're getting my little brother. He's really the best man!"
Roberta playfully slapped Phil's wrist with her left hand above the table as she rejoined, "You're so funny, Phil. You two are so much the same, that if you aren't dressed differently, even I can't tell you apart. I feel sorry for your sergeant. He must really have a time of it! " Sliding closer to Paul, she hooked her right arm around his back and squeezed him hard while she continued, "And he may be two minutes younger than you, but he's sure not 'little'!" Then, giving Paul another wet smooch on his left cheek, she declared, "But you're right: He is the best man!"
Paul blushed at the attention and compliment, but twisted his torso a quarter-turn in, then fake-grumped, "You missed, Baby!" Correcting Roberta's targeting error, he kissed her fully on the lips. Phil grinned at the approaching counterman and said to him, as he slid their cups and saucers onto the table, "Thanks. Don't mind them, it's been a while since they saw each other and they're getting married tomorrow!"
The older man smiled knowingly, but said nothing except, "Be right back with the teapot."
By the time the trio had finished their catch-up gabfest and drunk their fill of caffeine, they had also delegated assorted imperatives amongst themselves. Phil had agreed to arrange the official ceremony with a Justice of the Peace for the next day. He also would secure hotel rooms for them and use the fifty dollars Paul had saved for the occasion to get a wedding band set; maybe even one with a diamond, if he could swing it. Meanwhile, Paul and Roberta would get their license at the courthouse and just be moony over each other until they all rendezvoused back at the diner for supper at six o'clock. Phil decided his first task should be getting lodgings, so he could dump their three bags and move around town unencumbered.
With their various missions accomplished, Paul, Roberta and Phil enjoyed the café's meatloaf special with apple pie for dessert. Afterward, as they walked toward the Excelsior Hotel, under a sky obscured by threatening clouds, the midwinter evening was cold, with a slight wind, but the snow on the curbing was old and posed no hazard. In the lobby, Phil got the keys and handed Number 212 to Roberta while he dangled Number 214 obviously and said, "Tomorrow, after everything is official, legal and proper, Paul can move in with you. But, tonight, he's bunking with me next door. The engaged couple looked at each other and shrugged their acquiescence as if any other arrangement would never have entered their mind.