Emily stood in front of her closet and dresser and just looked at her clothes. What seemed good yesterday was now horrible. Most of them were scrubs or clothes that just hung off of her. She decided that she would have Kat help her with a new wardrobe since it always seemed that she was dressed well. With that thought she just threw on a shirt and shorts and left to go pick up Kat, then her new clothes.
During the 20-minute trip from her apartment to Kat’s place, Emily tried to think of what kind of clothes she should get, what kind of relationship she wanted to have with Mark, did she even want a relationship with Mark or the even more important question for her, did Mark want one with her. She knew enough about his past from talking with Emily to know that Mark wasn’t the kind of man to rush into things and that he cared deeply about his daughter. Finally, she pulled to Mark’s home and got out of her car. From one of the barns, she could hear the crackle of a welder working and could see its light dancing on a far wall. Since see hadn’t seen Kat yet, Emily decided to head to the barn. Now Emily had never been around any kind of metal working but she did know enough to know not to look at directly at the welding torch without shielding. So, she waited be the door until she heard the welder stop. When she looked in, she was shocked to find that not only was Mark welding but Kat was too. Almost as soon as Emily saw them, they saw her and both came over to her.
“What, surprised to see a girl welding or just someone as smart and well-dressed as I am?” demanded Kat “It shouldn’t surprise you; I am a farm girl after all.”
“No, it’s not that.” Blurted Emily. Not even convincing herself.
“Then WHAT, Emily?” demanded Kat.
All through this Mark wasn’t even trying to stop himself from grinning. He had seen Kat do this before and he got a kick out of it every time. He was wondering how long Kat would keep up the act.
This question from Kat shocked Emily completely and suddenly she deeply regretted even knowing Kat. Emily’s emotions were going in every which direction: regret, fear, even disappointment with herself. She was a big supporter of women’s rights after all and yet here she was surprised at a woman welding.
Then just as Emily was about to turn and run, Kat’s expression suddenly shifted from stern disgust to a very warm and cheerful smile. This confused Emily even more and Mark’s comment deepened that feeling.
“So, you and Kat going shopping eh? You know Kat I’m surprised that you gave up in such a short time. This might be a new record for you.”
“It probably is Dad, but Emily looked as if she was about to start crying and I can’t stand seeing one of my friends cry because of me.”
“Your entire outburst was an act?” Emily asked weakly.
“The anger of course, the actual words, sort of. Sorry bout that but it’s a reflex from dealing with idiotic high school boys and “too good for you” girls. I’m truly sorry Emily. I can only ask that you forgive my outburst for it wasn’t directed in any way toward you.”
Emily just stood there for a second still in a bit of shock and trying to understand what Kat was telling her. It didn’t take for then a couple of seconds for her to fully understand Kat, after all Emily had the same types of reactions during her high school days.
“You know I use to do the same thing as you back when I was in high school, Damn, saying that makes me feel really old. I still have those reactions once in a while when someone really questions me being a trauma surgeon.”
Mark just let out a quiet chuckle. He viewed everyone as an equal no matter who they were, unless they proved themself to be an idiot. He just didn’t care about gender, or race, or any of the other superficial markers that society uses to separate people into groups.
“I’ve a question for you ladies, are you going to eat out or are you wanting to eat here before we going fishing?”
“I don’t know. What do you think Kat?”
“I think we should eat here. Not only is daddy’s cooking the best but it will be cheaper and healthier then eating out. Plus depending on what we decide to eat we can spend more time shopping.”
Mark blushed a bit at Kat’s de***********ion of his cooking.
“Well, I’m guessing that Kat wants a chicken salad. What would you like Emily? And don’t say nothing. That’s NOT an option.”
“AH…I’ll just have whatever Kat is having.”
“You have any food allergies?”
“No, but thank you for asking.”
“Come on Emily let’s go SHOPPING!”
“See you ladies later.” Laughed Mark. “Food at 3.”
“Ok Dad. Love you.” Called Kat over her shoulder as she was pulling Emily back to her car.
“What’s your rush?”
“I’ll explain in the car but I think you already know.”
“You know I’m looking for a new wardrobe?”
“I suspected as much.”
“I keep forgetting how damn smart you are.”
“That’s ok everyone else does too. In fact even Dad forgets once in a while.”
Back in the car, and on the way to town, Kat grilled Emily on not only her sizes but also her taste in clothes, music, food, and almost everything else, including guys.
“Why all the questions, Kat?”
“How can I help you pick out clothes without first knowing you?”
“That’s not the only reason for the questions was it?”
“Of course not. I was curious if you and my dad have similar taste.”
“Well, do we?”
“That’s for you and my dad to decide, but I’ve got the answer I wanted.”
They rode the last few minutes in complete silence. Emily wondering if Mark did indeed have similar taste to her, and Kat was just relaxing confident in the knowledge that as long as neither one of them screwed up that her dad and Emily would likely get together. She hoped that they would for she really liked Emily and thought that Emily liked her too. Emily was almost like the big sister that Kat never had and she longed for the day that she could call Emily mom.
Pulling into the mall’s parking lot Emily asked,
“Where to first? It’s been years since I’ve done any serious clothes shopping.”
“That depends: how much do you want to spend, do you just clothes for fishing this evening or a completely new wardrobe, even though we won’t have time for that today we can at least get started?”
“Money isn’t a problem and I do need a new wardrobe.”
“Well let’s start at Macy’s, get you sized and go from there.”
The next three hours was a whirlwind for Emily. Kat would hand her things to try on. Everything from shoes to hats, shirts, shorts, dresses both formal and sun, swimwear, skirts, and even to Emily’s complete embarrassment; underwear. Emily was told to put on whatever Kat gave her and don’t argue. By the end Emily was tired but pleased and Kat was giddy because she got to basically play dress-up with a real-life barbie doll. The girls finally walked out of Macy’s with Emily’s complete sizes and a couple of bags of things. Kat and Emily went from store to store looking at everything and occasionally buying something. Finally, the ladies ended up in front of Victoria’s Secret and Emily hesitated. She hated the way that women were objectified and felt that if a man didn’t like her comfortable underwear then too bad for him.
“We don’t have to buy anything, hell we don’t even have to go in Emily for I share your opinions, but in your case, it might actually help you to go in.”
“And why pray tell is that?”
“For one it might actually be fun for you. Two, you might actually be surprised what the proper underwear can do for your self-confidence. And three it might just be that little bit of extra help you need to finally break out of your shell.”
“You mean help me seduce your dad?”
“I would be lying if I said that wasn’t a perk.” Said Kat smiling. “But I highly doubt that you of all people would actually need extra help for that. Dad values intelligence over beauty and since you’re very intelligent you shouldn’t have a problem. But why refuse a little extra help.”
“Fine, ten minutes.” Huffed Emily.
Although she didn’t buy anything the trip inside did have one positive thing. Emily started to get serious ideas on making sure that Mark was interested in her. Looking at the time Kat said:
“We’ve got time for one more store and that store isn’t in the mall.”
“What store is that?” said a curious Emily.
“Rural King of course.” Said Kat
“Ah… why??”
Kat just gave Emily the look that said that was the dumbest question on Earth, figure it out for yourself.
“Because you and your Dad live on a farm, I should be dressed like a farmgirl?”
“NO, because Dad and I live on a farm you should get some sturdy work clothes. That is unless you’re not serious about my Dad. Besides I just happen to know that he likes the real country girl look.”
“The real country girl look?”
“Yep. The girl that isn’t afraid to wrestle the pigs, the girl that’s not afraid to get covered in grease while working on a tractor, the girl that can drive a tractor, the girl who looks forward to running through a hay field in the rain. You nail that look and the only problem you’ll most likely have with my dad will be his eyes will probably pop out of his head.”
Hearing this Emily fell to the floor for she was laughing so hard. She would have peed herself if they didn’t happen to be in front of the bathrooms, during the conversation. After she finally recovered all she said was:
“On to Rural King!”
Earning a goofy smile from Kat.
Stepping into a farm store was one hell of a culture shock for Emily. She had grown up in the suburb and had gone to a private high school. She only joined the Navy to get away from her parents for a few years. All this meant that she had done her clothes shopping at the mall, with her friends who had similar taste, where comfort and durability came second and third to style. Yet here was a store where comfort and durability reigned supreme. Kat immediately took her to the women’s clothes and within three minutes had an arm full of things for Emily to try on. After shopping with Kat for the last three hours Emily knew better than not to trust this teen’s judgement of clothes. Trying the clothes on Emily was shocked at just how comfortable the clothes were but at the same time just how damn good she looked in them. Finally showing Kat how they looked, Kat’s eyes almost popped out of her head and even she was rendered speechless for a few seconds.
“Well how do I look?” teased Emily.
“Damn Emily. You’re giving me thoughts of going lesbian so that I can try to seduce you!”
“Sorry Kat, but I’m strictly dickly.”
“You know Dad’s probably going to cum in his pants the second he sees you in those clothes.”
At this both girls burst out laughing.
Thing was what Emily had on was just a red plaid shirt that just happened to make her eyes and hair pop and a pair of Dickies jeans that hugged her legs and tight ass but flared at the bottom because they were boot cut. After this the girls went over and got Emily a pair of Ariat cowgirl boots, ones that were meant more for work than show and a pair of lace up work boots that were waterproof and steel toed.
“Why the work boots Kat? I feel more like a guy in them.” Whined Emily.
“Few reasons: one they will last you years, two it’s better to wear those when you’re doing serious farm work then to get your feet soaked or your toes crushed, and three they are far better to use when you have to kick people’s asses, four they’re work boots not something for a party.”
“Ah”
Chapter 2
After they started heading home Emily asked:
“Should we let your dad know we are one our way back?”
“Naw, he’s just making chicken salads and we should be home right on time. Dad knows that I would never miss a chance to go fishing. Especially where we are taking you. And before you ask it’s a surprise.”
“Oh…ok”
“Don’t worry Emily, everything will be fine.”
“Well, what should I wear fishing?”
“You swim right?”
Emily nodded.
“I would recommend you wear that green bikini that you got and put over it a light-colored T-shirt and a pair of shorts. Grab your flip flops as well. It hurts like hell to get a hook in the bottom of your foot. And yes, I’m speaking from personal experience. Also don’t worry, we have plenty of sunscreen.”
“Ok. Thank you for inviting me.”
The girls the just smiled at each other. Nothing more needed said.
Getting back to Kat’s, Emily could see that Mark already had his truck hooked up to the boat and was ready to go. The boat was an 18-foot aluminum boat with a full V hull, two outboards and a trolling motor on the bow. The girls grabbed Emily’s bags and took them into the house, putting them in the guest room. Coming into the house, Emily could smell the chicken that Mark had made for the salads and she instantly got very, very hungry and she had made herself a big breakfast that was usually good enough to last her until supper. Which for her was about 8 PM. The girls went into the kitchen to find Mark setting the table.
“Food will be ready in a minute.”
Emily looked at the food on the counter and was stunned. First the salads were huge, second, they looked and smelled like they belonged in a five-star restaurant.
“Foods ready” said Mark as he finished setting the table and setting out everyone’s salads and the choices of toppings.
“Sorry Emily. I don’t know what you like.”
“Everything is excellent Mark. I’m just wondering how I’m going to eat all this.”
“So, you have salad leftover. That’s what glad wrap and the fridge are for after all.”
Emily just looked at Mark and gave him the warmest most loving smile she could manage. This made Mark blush deeply. It was so bad that he tried to hide his face but Emily wasn’t having it. She reached over and gently took Mark’s chin and turned it back toward her. Looking straight into Mark’s baby blue eyes she was stuck by his mix of emotions, obviously embarrassment for blushing but also a look of caring. Mixed in and buried under the more obvious emotions was love. Love for his daughter and Emily hoped love for her too.
“Thank you, Mark, for everything.” Emily said still staring into Mark’s eyes. Yes, it was love she had seen. But it was much more than that Emily realized. It was love that Mark’s eyes showed but also there was lust. The kind of lust that only couples who are deeply and completely in love with each other show. Emily blushed and hoped that Mark saw the same look in her eyes.
Kat cleared her throat loudly. This snapped Mark and Emily out of their trances. Emily realized that she and Mark had just been looking into each other’s eyes for five minutes!
“So, we going fishing? Or do you two have something better to do?” Kat said smirking.
Mark and Emily looked at each other then as one they looked at Kat and stuck their tongues out blowing her raspberries.
“Ya real mature you two. Let’s get ready and get going.”
“I’m ready. Just waiting on the women. Just as men have done for centuries.” Teased Mark.
“I’m ready. How bout you Emily?”
“I just need to change really quick. Be out in two minutes.” And in two minutes Emily was ready. Walking to the truck, Emily could almost feel Mark’s eyes following her every curve and move. Normally she hating this feeling but with Mark she was quickly finding that she absolutely relished the attention that he was giving her body. Getting to the truck Kat took the back seat before Emily could say anytime and pointed to the front seat for Emily. Emily climbed in as Mark did a final walk around to make sure that he hadn’t forgotten anything. Climbing in Emily asked;
“So, what kind of fish are we after?”
“Whatever is biting.” Stated Mark
“Well what kind of fish are in the lake we are going to?”
“The main species are: bluegill, crappie, largemouth bass, channel catfish, rainbow and brown trout are. Trout are usually our main targets here, especially during the evening.”
“So why are we leaving so early since it doesn’t get dark till about nine.”
“Kat and I like to get there early to get some swimming in and Kat likes to do some tanning before the fishing really heats up. Plus, it takes about an hour to get there”
On the way, Mark and Emily talked about almost everything from music to politics, and everything in between. The entire time Kat sat back and smiled to herself. For Emily, who was quickly becoming Kat’s best friend, was really getting along with her Dad. Kat did cringe when the conversation turned to religion, knowing her dad’s feelings on this subject. Her Dad hated religion. Not only did he feel abandoned by God but Mark also understood that most of the world’s wars were the result of religious disputes. Sure, it was bound to come up some time, she just hoped it would be later. But she quickly found that she didn’t need to worry. Emily and Mark were both mature enough to respect each other’s opposite opinions without arguing. This trend continued through discussions on economics, politics, climate change, child care, and every other subject that could and usually did piss people off. While on most subjects Mark tended to be more conservative than Emily, after all with everything that had gone wrong in his life, he was of the firm notion that if things aren’t fucked up to the point of being intolerable it’s better not to try and fix them. Where Emily tended to go more liberal and fix things that while weren’t broken could be made better. On some subjects they both found to their surprise that they were on the same page. Medicare was one of them. Emily hated the government being in healthcare because they would just dictate the prices and there were no negotiations, plus politics tended to get mixed in with medicine and that almost always had a negative impact on the patient and one that the doctor usually ended up getting blamed for. Not to mention the government paperwork. Sure, private insurance could be just as bad but at least with them the healthcare people could actually earn some money. While they lost money with Medicare. Mark didn’t like it because of how he was treated by it when he was in foster care plus he was smart enough to look at how it worked in other countries and the pattern was easy to see. It almost never worked without very high taxes on everyone and that really sucked for young people who were healthy. At least with private insurance these people could usually get a break on the prices.
Finally, they arrived at the lake. Emily was a bit surprised when Mark climbed up in the boat and Kat climbed in the truck’s driver seat but she said nothing. After all, it was plain to see that they had done this many times before. They launched the boat quickly and while Kat went to part the truck, Mark picked up Emily. While waiting for Kat to walk back down, she had stopped to use the restroom, Mark made sure to get Emily fitted to one of the spare life jackets and then started to show her around the boat while explaining that he and Kat had completely stripped the boat down to the hull, as a winter project, and rebuilt it. By the time Mark finished, Kat had got to the boat and they casted off. As soon as Mark was away from shore far enough not to risk running aground, he opened up the boat’s 150 hp outboard putting the boat quickly on a plane. This made the girls yell with glee as they got up to about 35 MPH which was as fast as Mark was comfortable on this lake. Yes, the boat could go much faster but people tend to be idiots and the lake wasn’t that big so Mark always went a bit slower and watched the other boaters carefully. The lake they were one was actually one of a chain of lakes that were all glacial lakes. The second lake in the chain was surrounded completely by trees and was a tightly enforced no wake zone; this is where Mark naturally liked to fish and swim. Sliding through the channel between the lakes Emily could see why Mark and Kat liked this lake so much. It was beautiful, fairly quiet, and really clear. Not only that, looking at the depth finder in front of Mark she could see that the lake was over 60 feet deep. Mark headed to a spot that was behind some islands, cut the engine, and anchored in about ten feet of water.
Kat was out of her life jacket, shorts, and T-shirt before the boat even stopped and as the anchors were going down, she was diving off the boat. Emily looked with some concern toward Mark but he just chuckled;
“Don’t worry, she swims like a fish.”
At this Emily smiled and started stripping off her T-shirt and shorts. Looking at Mark, she thought that he might pass out. His eyes were as large as saucers and the erection in his shorts looked so big Emily wondered how the poor guy still had any blood in his brain. So of course, she had to continue to tease him.
“Well Mark how do I look? It’s been so long since I have been swimming never mind actually wore a bikini outside that I’m actually afraid that I’ll burn to a crisp. Would you mind putting some sunscreen on me, pleeease?”
Not hearing a coherent response from Mark, she decided just for fun to kick it up a notch. She gave him her best sad puppy dog eyes which she was really good at. By this time the world could have ended and Mark wouldn’t have noticed. It had been such a long time since he had seen an actual woman, up this close, wearing so little that he literally couldn’t speak, hell he couldn’t even process what he was seeing. While Emily was busy turning Mark into a mindless zombie, Kat had not been swimming idly. She had climbed carefully back on the boat so as not to disturb her Dad. She grabbed one of the buckets that they kept on board and filled it with lake water. Just after Emily got done with her puppy eyes, Kat dumped the water on her dad’s head. This woke him up. He not only jumped out of his chair but he also screamed like a little girl which of course made the girls start laughing so hard that they had to sit down. As soon as Mark was able to calm down, he picked up Kat and threw her off the boat. He then turned to Emily.
“Oh no you don’t. I’m not the one who dumped the water on you.”
“No, you didn’t. What you did was worse. You completely detracted me by showing off a body which rightly should only found on a goddess. In this case a strawberry-blond goddess who is about to go for a swim.”
At this he rushed toward her before she could react and scooped her up in his arms. Emily half heartly flailed her arms and legs but Mark had a tight grip on her. He stepped up to the highest part of the boat with Emily giggling the whole way. Mark then swung her and she flew out away from the boat and into the water. She came up gasping, not because of being thrown in the water but where she landed was right over a spring and it was bloody cold. Mark of course knew this. He fished this lake through the ice and had once fallen through in that spot due to the spring’s effect on the strength of the ice.
“Mark, you fucking bastard, it’s fucking bloody cold here!”
Mark just smiled and said while stripping off his shirt.
“Well then I guess I should help you warm back up.”
With that he dove off the boat and stayed underwater. Emily didn’t even know where he was at but Kat had a pretty good idea and was quickly proven right as Emily started shrieking, laughing, and kicking violently for Mark had swam under her and was now grabbing at her ankles. The three of them continued to play like this for over an hour. Climb up on the boat, dive off, attack one of the others in the water and repeat. By the time they were done, all three were exhausted but very happy.
Again, Emily asked, “Mark can you help put sunscreen on me please?”
This time Mark didn’t freeze up, he just gave the duh honey that was a stupid question look and took out the sunscreen. Emily laid down on her stomach as Mark started at her feet. As he worked his way up Emily slowly spread her legs. This in turn made Mark not only horny but nervous as hell too. He had only really started to get to know her and didn’t want to fuck anything up by taking liberties.
“Your just putting sunscreen on me Mark and I really don’t want my thighs to burn. OK?”
Mark just swallowed hard and nodded. As he got to the bottom of her bikini, he could smell that Emily’s arousal. So, he hurried up and got up to her back. He hoped that this would be safe, but it wasn’t to be. When he got to where the strings should be, they were gone!
“I hate tan lines.” Was her only response.
Meanwhile Mark was so nervous that he almost pissed himself. He knew what would happen when she rolled over. All the while since Kat and Emily could see each other’s faces just smiled at each other. While the girls worked on their tans, Mark figured that the best way to take his mind off the goddess that was gracing his boat was to get some fishing done. So, he raised the anchors and started drifting and vertical jigging.
With his depth finder he quickly zeroed in on the fish and within five minutes of raising anchors he already had a fish hooked. As he calmly fought it, the girls started to show some interest, especially Kat for she was really competitive with her Dad when it came to fishing. Mark knew from the way it was fighting that he had hooked a decent trout and wasn’t surprised to see it rocket out of the water. As soon as he had it landed Kat started working her favorite trout lure at this lake, a deep diving crankbait. This also brought her a fish before long, and the race was on to see who would limit out first and therefore who would be cleaning fish. All this time Emily was stretched out in the bottom of the boat enjoying the sun and the sounds of Kat and Mark having a blast. After letting them fish about forty minutes, Emily caught Kat’s eye and mouthed to her:
“Is there anyone else around?”
Quickly looking around Kat shook her head and smiled. It wasn’t hard to figure out what Emily was about to do. Emily stood up and stretched making a show of it. In the front of the boat, Mark seen movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at what moved. He then dropped his fishing rod, stumbled and fell off the boat. For the movement he seen was Emily thrusting her perky breast skyward capped by very pink and very hard nipples. She was laughing as she went to the bow to give Mark a hand getting back in the boat. Instead, as their hands gripped, he pulled her off the boat!
“Damn it Mark, now I’m going to need more sunscreen and this time you will be putting it on my front side! I know you bout pissed yourself when you did my back.”
Mark just shrugged and pulled himself then Emily back on the boat. After her wrung some of the water out of her hair she went back to where she had been tanning and laid down on her back.
“Well do I need to send out an engraved invitation?” She asked trying to make herself sound pissed. Mark just looked at her and smiled. He grabbed the tube of sunscreen and started on Emily’s feet, just like he had the first time. As he worked his way up, he seemed to put extra effort into not only applying the sunscreen but also giving Emily a massage. With this Emily was humming in total bliss for she had never had a massage and with Mark’s strong hands he could work each muscle with ease. Tension that had been in Emily’s legs for years melted away. He worked his way up her legs and to her stomach, but when he got to her breast, he went around them and continued up to her face.
Clearing her throat, “Um you missed a spot, Mark, and I think you would really hate if I burrrrnnt aaahh.” Mark was now gently nibbling on her breast and working around them in a figure eight pattern as he worked his way toward her hard nipples. Now it was Emily’s turn to be unable to put together words. She ended up just babbling as she was gasping for breath. She had never felt anything like this before, even the couple of times she had let her fiancé nibble on her didn’t feel even a tenth as good as what Mark was doing to her. He kept working her like an artist works their masterpiece. He would tighten the figure eight then loosen it all the time avoiding her nipples. After what seemed like hours of torture to Emily, Mark finally took one of her nipples in his mouth and gently twisted the other one with his fingers. That was all it took. Emily didn’t just have an orgasm, she felt like she exploded. Her bikini bottoms were leaking her slick fluids, she screamed at the top of her lungs forgetting or not caring where she was at and she hung on the very edge of passing out. All through this Mark didn’t even break stride. He kept up gently sucking on her nipples and Emily just keep cumming. It actually felt like she had never stopped. Eventually she just couldn’t take anymore and had to shove Mark to get him to let up on her. He just looked at her and gave her the same smile a kid would give their parents when the kid had done their chores without being told. Emily latched on to Mark’s head and pulled him in for what turned out to be a kiss that was absolutely loaded with passion. Their tongues started dancing in their mouths and they both gave low moans. Kat let them know when she had had enough by throwing a bucket of water over them.
“Seriously, you two are sooo embarrassing! You should have seen the looks of some of the people in the other boats!”
At this Emily turned bright red and Mark just shrugged and smiled earning him a punch in the shoulder from Emily.
“Why don’t you throw your top on and let’s see if we can get you hooked up with some fish Emily?” Said Mark still wearing the same smug smile that he had when Kat bereted them. So, Emily put her top back on and still a little disoriented she stood up with Mark’s help. On the advice of both Mark and Kat, Emily started with Kat’s favorite lure. By this time Kat had switched her target species to panfish since the sun was getting lower and she had a hunger for some crappie and bluegill. Emily casted around the boat for about ten minutes. She was starting to get discouraged when at Kat’s urging, she casted one more time. About half way back to the boat something slammed into the lure so hard that it almost ripped the rod out of Emily’s hands and hooked itself in the process.
“Oh my god! What do I do know?!” Emily screamed earning laughs from Kat, Mark, and some nearby boaters.
“Keep the rod tip up Emily.” Instructed Mark calmly “Let the fish wear itself out against the reel’s drag and the flex of the rod. There’s nothing out here to get snagged on, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
As soon as Emily would gain some line on the fish, it would take it back again. Soon Kat and Mark started to wonder what the hell did Emily hook into. The fight continued. The drag had to be set loose because Emily’s rod was spooled with ten-pound braid with a six-pound leader, the fish in this lake are line shy so Mark and Kat always used the absolutely lightest line possible. As the fight passed the 15-minute mark the fish was starting to give ground. It was everything Mark and Kat could do to keep Emily calm, which was hard for them because they were excited too. Finally, they caught a glimpse of the fish, it was a monster catfish! Mark got the net ready as he instructed Emily on bringing this monster to the boat. Finally, the fish was netted and in the boat. Emily was jumping up and down, giving Mark a show, and squealing with joy. Mark unhooked the fish and weighed it and was stunned, he didn’t know that there was any that big in this lake.
“How big is it Dad?” asked Kat.
“Thirty-nine and a half pounds.
Kat’s eyes almost jumped out of her head hearing this. She knew that Emily had just caught a state record Channel cat, and her first fish to boot! They started taking the necessary pictures and measurements to verify the record, putting the fish back in the net and back in the water periodically to help keep it healthy. After all the last thing any of them wanted to do was to kill this fish. As Kat was taking the pictures, Mark moved the boat up into shallow water so he could jump off and easily move the fish back and forth to make sure that the fish would survive. As Mark was about to take the fish a thought occurred to him.
“Emily, this is your fish, would you like the honor of releasing it?”
Without saying a word, she jumped into the water and told the fish from Kat, holding it and moving it as Mark instructed her. After just a minute moving the fish, it thrashed and was gone. Mark came up behind he and put his arms around her shoulders. For her part Emily just closed her eyes and leaned back into Mark’s strong chest. By this time, it was after dark and the stars were shining bright for it was a new moon. Mark lifted Emily so she could easily get back on the boat and then pulled himself back on. The three of them fish for a bit longer but the bugs started to get to them. Before they went in though Emily stripped down and jumped in!
“What? I’ve always wanted to go skinny dipping under the stars!”
Kat giggled and Mark got hard in a microsecond even though he couldn’t see much, even with the running lights on. After swimming around for 15 minutes, Emily climbed back on board and Mark turned his back to give her privacy to put some clothes on. After the three put their life jackets on they started the much slower trek back to the launch. The whole way back the girls were talking non-stop about Emily’s fish and fishing in general. It was quickly obvious that even through Emily had only caught one fish on this trip, she was hooked.
Chapter 3
On the trip back home the girls both fell asleep. After all it had been a very long day for the both of them. Mark had a faint smile all the way home as with the girls sleeping, he had some time for serious thinking. He realized that he was head over heels in love with Emily and he knew that he didn’t want to live the rest of his life without her. The thing he worried about was how she would react to his biggest secret. He figured that Kat had given her the same story about his past as he had given her. Problem was that this story wasn’t completely true. He had edited out one very important detail because he still hadn’t come to terms with the true himself.
Arriving home, he carried both ladies into the house, putting Kat in her bed and Emily in the guest bedroom. He took a shower and went to bed as well; the boat and fish could wait till morning. The next morning Mark was up at his usual time of 5:30 and he started the coffee. By six neither of the girls were up yet so Mark put on one of his favorite pieces of music and started breakfast. As the song neared the end, he cranked up the speaker system to full blast and the whole house vibrated to the sounds of the 1812 overture. This woke the girls up as he knew it would. Both were blurry eyed walking into the kitchen and Mark greeted them both with a mug of coffee, a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast and a shit eating grin.
“Grins like that should be illegal this early in the morning, Dad.”
“I agree.” Said Emily
“Early in the morning! Ha! Half the day is gone already!”
“Shut-up” both girls said in unison
Upon drinking her coffee Emily sputtered:
“What is this poison?”
“Coffee”
Emily wasn’t sure of that. She had drunk some strong stuff while in Afghanistan but this stuff was lethal.
“Milk is on the bottom shelf of the fridge and the sugar is in the cupboard above the coffee maker.” Said Mark.
“Thank you.”
When Kat tried it, her response was:
“What the hell Dad. Why is the coffee so weak? Instant coffee is stronger than this stuff.”
Emily just looked at both of them.
“So, Dad, why did you wake us up at the ass crack of dawn?”
“Well, we have a lot to do today. Not only the regular farm chores, but the fish and boat need to be cleaned. I figure all that will take till noon. This afternoon I have something that I want you and Emily to see and no I’m not telling so don’t ask. I will tell you that comfortable clothes and shoes will be needed.”
Following breakfast and the girls throwing some clothes on, Kat went to do her chores while Emily went with Mark to clean the boat and fish. Mark had made this suggestion so he could talk to Emily without interruption. As they started to clean, Emily could sense something was wrong but couldn’t make sense of it. Finally, as they were almost done, she asked:
“Mark, what’s wrong? I can see that you’re as happy as I am but you also seem nervous.”
“What’s wrong is that I’m falling head over heels in love with you but I’m terrified that once you learn about my past you will leave me. I know that Kat told you about most of my past.”
“Most of your past?” Emily had learned long ago not to question Mark or Kat’s assumptions about people. Neither one was ever wrong, it seemed.
“Yes, there was a key fact I left out of the story I told Kat. Mostly because I couldn’t face it at the time and to this day, I still have a lot trouble with it.”
“What is it Mark? I love you and nothing can change that.”
“Save that thought until after our trip this afternoon.”
Now Emily was deeply concerned. What secret did Mark hide from everyone? How could it be worse than killing two people even though they deserved it?
After the chores were done, lunch ate, and everyone showered they climbed back into Mark’s truck. Nobody said a word as the tension was so thick that it would take a torch to cut through and the look on Mark’s face said that he didn’t want to talk anyway. They traveled for hours, finally arriving at a cemetery. After helping Kat and Emily out, all he said was:
“Follow me please.”
The trio walked past row after row of graves finally coming to a stop in front of a stone with two names on it: Charles and Martha Schneider. Mark didn’t say anything to the girls, instead all of his attention was focused on the stone.
“Hi, sorry I haven’t been able to visit you two for a while. I was burned bad and lost a leg in an industrial accident. But I’m glad that happened even though I lost a number of friends from work. Because if I hadn’t gotten burned pulling guys out then I would have never met the goddess standing behind me. Yep, her name is Dr. Emily O’Neal, she’s a trauma surgeon, and yes, I’m head over heels in love with her. Kat is doing well in school as always and much to my terror she’s about to start driving legally. Ya I know, God help me. Right? I love you two and I miss you more. I really wish that you could have met Kat and Emily. They are both very special people and they mean more to me than anybody else in the world. I would gladly kill or be killed to protect them. I’m sorry I can’t stay longer but I need to stop and say hi to the other special person and then I need to get home so I can get some sleep. I get to go back to work tomorrow. I promise that I’ll be able stop by and see you two more often now.”
At this Mark kissed his fingertips, ran them across the names that were carved in the stone and quietly walked off.
“Yes ladies, they’re my real parents.” He said without turning around.
Emily and Kat were both stunned. Neither had even seen this side of Mark. Kat started after Mark but Emily kneeled down next to the stone and whispered:
“Don’t worry, I’ll take the best care of him I can because I feel the same way about him.”
Emily stood up and feeling at peace with the world turned to follow Mark and Kat. Mark walked and walked, finally coming to a stop in front of a simple stone with a single name on it. He didn’t say a word but fell to his knees and started crying hard. For the second time during this visit Emily and Kat were stunned. Then they read the stone and they understood:
Susan C. Schneider
Born 6, January 1987
Died 20, October 2005
It took the girls a minute to figure out was going on and when they did, they gasped. This was Mark’s big sister and the girl that he was forced to rape and impregnate. Moving as one Emily and Kat kneeled down on either side of Mark. Emily put an arm around him, hugged him, and started to cry as well while Kat rubbed his back. It was no wonder he hid this from her for so long. For one of the few times in her life Kat was at a total loss of words. Nothing she could think of sounded right or even good. Finally, Mark quietly stood up, helped the girls up and started back toward the truck. As they were walking back a very cold wind blew through the cemetery causing both girls to shiver. It was late July after all. Mark gave a sad smile and said so quietly that Emily could just barely make it out: “Yep they’re great ain’t they.” Again, Emily didn’t know who Mark was talking to but she knew better then to ask. The trip there was like a party when compared to the trip back. Emily and Kat didn’t know what if anything to say and Mark wasn’t talking. Getting back to the house, Mark shut the truck off and just sat there.
“Do you hate me, Emily?”
Emily just got out of the truck, walked around, opened Mark’s door, grabbed his head, and pulled his face to where it was right in front of hers. By this time Mark was in tears, and Emily was pissed off more than she had even been in her life.
“Don’t you dare even think that again Mark Schneider!” Emily hissed “I love you with ALL my heart and mind. Nothing can change that. Hell, I started falling in love with you that first time I walking in your room at the hospital. You are the best man I have ever met and for the first time I understand why my fiancé was ripped away from me. It was so I could meet and fall in love with you. You are the best man I have ever met. Your strong both physically and mentally, although I just realized just how strong you are mentally. Not many people could keep going after the hell you have been through. You do and say the right things out of habit, not out of trying to impress people. I truly hope that we can grow old together while watching our kids and grandkids grow up. You are truly the best of the best and you’re mine. I mean if you still want me.”
Chapter 4
Mark didn’t say a thing. He did give Emily a small smile as he gently picked her up and carried her toward the house. The couple were so involved with each other that they didn’t notice the tears of joy in Kat’s face. Not only had her Dad finally open up to her, but Emily and Mark had finally confessed their true feelings for each other. Kat finally had a whole family again. Sure, it wasn’t official but still they had just become a family and that was what Kat had always wanted, a complete family. Kat did the evening chores and went inside. There was no sign of Emily or her dad, but his door was closed and she thought that she could hear talking and giggling. At this she smiled, ate, took a shower, and went to bed. It had been another long and draining day.
Mark carried Emily into the house and to his bedroom without saying anything. This was fine with Emily; no words were needed. He put her back on her feet once they were in his room. Looking around she seen a picture mounted in a simple frame on his dresser. This picture was different from all the other pictures which featured Kat almost exclusively. This picture was one that featured four people laughing. One of them was obviously a young Mark.
“This was them isn’t? Your parents and sister?”
“Yes, Kat has never seen that picture before because it has been carefully hidden until right before we left.”
“I’m glad you finally opened up to us. I’m especially glad that you decided to fully trust me. I think that means more to me than anything else. Everything I’ve learned about you up to this morning makes so much more sense now. All the odd angles of your personality that I couldn’t make heads or tails of before, match up perfectly.”
“Well enough of the past Emily, how bout we get a shower.”
“Together?”
“I hope so.”
What followed was Emily’s first time showering with a man and she absolutely loved it. Mark started by gently rinsing down her entire body making sure to hit every spot with water and both hands. Not really focusing on any one spot but exploring and taking everything in. After all there was no need to hurry. Not to be outdone, Emily started doing the same thing. But while Mark explored Emily’s entire body almost equally, Emily was focused mostly on Mark’s cock and balls. After all this was the first time Emily had felt bare cock and balls. Sure, she had felt her fiancé’s cock through his pants, she had never seen it. After all it was hard to be alone never mind intendent in a warzone. She was thrilled to feel Mark grow in her hand to the point where his blood vessels started showing and she could feel his heart beat in his cock. At this point a lust she had never known kicked in.
“Forget the soap Mark. Getting clean can wait till later, I can’t!”
Chuckling, Mark turned off the water and quicky dried the two of them off, sort of. At this point all he wanted to do was get this goddess in bed, damn the damp hair and skin. They ran to the bed. Before Emily could jump in bed, Mark caught her and turned her toward him quickly taking her breath away. Before she could recover, he put one of his hands at the base of her skull running his fingers through her hair. Just before he was going to kiss her, she stopped him.
“Mark what we about to do I have never done. Please be gentle and patient with me, please.”
“I would never dream of doing it any other way sweetheart. In fact, we don’t have to do it at all if you’re not comfortable.”
“Just put that thought out of your mind Mark.”
They just smiled at each other and started kissing. This quickly evolved into a tongue wrestling match. Their hands started to explore each other with Mark focusing on Emily’s peaky breast and reddish blonde covered pussy and Emily focusing on Mark’s cock and balls with detours to run her hands over Mark’s muscular ass. The couple gently laid down on the bed and worked their way up to where they were both laying in the middle of the bed, facing each other. Mark laid on his back, pulling Emily up as he rolled so that she was on top of him. She moved down so that she could suck on his manhood. Another first for her. As she started sucking, Mark coughed. When she looked up, he twilled his fingers around signaling to her that he wanted her to spin around which she did. He then started to slowly eat at her soaking wet pussy as she tried to take him deep down her throat. Before long they were matching each other’s rhythms and speed. Emily erupted first when Mark sucked her clit between his teeth. Cumming so hard that she pasted out. This was fine as far as Mark was concerned. He was really close and the last thing he wanted to do was for Emily’s first load of jizz to go down her throat. He carefully turned Emily around and she settled down where her head was on Mark’s chest and her leg was draped over Mark’s one real leg.
Twenty minutes later Emily looked up at Mark with a goofy grin and glazed eyes.
“What happened? What did you do to me? My stomach feels like I just did a hundred sit-ups.”
Mark just smiled and kissed her forehead. Emily then realized that Mark hadn’t cum yet. So, she started to move back down to suck some more, but Mark stopped her. She just looked in his eyes. Seeing what her really wanted she moved up instead, moving to kiss him while laying on top of him. She then sat up, took a grip on Mark’s seven inches of man meat and started to impale herself on it. Mark gripped her sides to slow her down.
“What’s the rush honey. I know the first time for women can be painfully and I know that you’ve never had anything up there. I seen your hymen while I was eating you. Take it slow and adjust to my size before you start going wild.”
“Darling when you finally cum, don’t tell me. I want it inside me and I don’t want to chicken out at the last moment. I want the full sexual experience.”
So, Mark held Emily as she slowly sank down on him. When she reached her cherry, she stopped for a second, took and deep breath and forced herself the rest of the way down. As Mark bottomed out inside Emily, she sat still and cried. She was now a real woman. There was no longer a need to fake things during those sometimes awkward conversations with her co-workers or her few friends. Mark reached up and brushed her tears away. As he did this, she covered his hands with hers and looked deep into his eyes. Maintaining eye-contact she started to move up and down. Forward and back and side to side trying different speeds and angles. Basically, learning what felt ok, what felt good, and what felt amazing. Mark then suggested that she lean back and put her hands on his knees for support, then move up and down on his cock. When she did this her eyes bulged. Not only was Mark’s cock rubbing her G-spot but Mark moved his fingers to where he could tease one of her nipples and her clit at the same time. At this she lost control and became a woman possessed. She started thrashing around and only Marks’s strong hands kept her on him. Mark could feel the muscles in her vagina flexing, and this pushed him over the edge. Mark felt like his entire life force was running out the end of his cock. The force of him cumming not only made his eyes roll up into his head but sent Emily over the edge as well. While Mark had just grunted some, Emily sang like an opera singer. If there had been a wine glass nearby, she would have probably broken it. She collapsed on top of Mark with his cock still inside her, kissed him and pasted out again. When they woke up, they could smell food being cooked. This meant that Kat was done with her chores and was making herself dinner. They both looked down to where they were stuck together and giggled.
“Well Emi, I think we might need another shower.”
“Emi?” questioned Emily.
“Oh, you don’t like it, sorry Emily. I won’t call you that again.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that nobody has ever called me that before and it caught me be surprise it all. Please call me Emi if you want, but only you can call me that. I actually kind of like it, my own pet name.”
“Ok Emi, let’s get a shower and see if we can find a snack.”
As they tried to get up their skin stuck together and they started laughing.
“Looks like our skins disagree with us.”
“And our stomachs are saying get up said Mark as Emi’s stomach growled.
Giggling as they finally got up, they went and got a quick shower. After all Mark had to work the next day. Throwing some light clothes on they went out to the kitchen to find to their surprise that Kat had left them dinner in the microwave. They ate and Emi wasn’t surprised that Kat was as good of a cook as her Dad. After eating, they retired back to Mark’s bedroom where they remade the bed and then curled up together, naked, under the covers. They both said love you to each other and quickly passed out.
Chapter 5
When Emily woke up the morning, she was alone in bed and light was streaming through the windows. She knew that Mark had to be up early to go to work so she knew that he had already left. She got up and throwing back on the same light shirt and shorts that she had worn after their shower last night, went bathroom and then out to the kitchen. She wasn’t surprised to see Kat there, already dressed and already dirty.
“Good morning Emily. I trust that you slept well.”
“Good morning Kat. You know it. I must say through I’m kind of surprised being that was the first night that I’ve ever slept with a man.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. Here’s some breakfast for you. Sorry it’s not much. Just leftover biscuits and gravy that Dad made this morning. You must have done a good job because this morning he was happier than I have ever seen him. And no, I don’t want the details. The last thing I want to hear is details about my Dad’s sex life. Yuck!”
Emily just smiled at her. After eating Emily asked Kat:
“What’s on the agenda today?”
“Not much. All the chores are done. I do suppose that we should think about what to make for dinner. Also, we need to contact the state DNR about your fish.”
“We?”
“Ya we. I’m not going to do all the cooking around here, and it was your fish.”
“But I’m terrible at cooking. Before if I wasn’t working, I was sleeping.”
“Don’t worry Emily. I’ll teach you.”
During the day Kat taught Emily some of the finer points of cooking and Emily absorbed it as quickly as Kat could teach her. Emily also got ahold of the DNR and they set a meet in the afternoon so that all the evidence could be turned over.
“What time is your dad due home?”
“He said this morning that her would try for about six pm. Seems like he was expecting a mountain of work.”
About one pm that day Emily’s phone rang. Answering it she could see that it was the hospital calling. She was told that a hearing on her malpractice suits would be heard on Wednesday at 11 am and that she had to be there. This hearing would determine if she would be able to return to work or be let go. Hanging up Emily told Kat:
“I have to be at the hospital Wednesday at 11 for a hearing. Then I’ll learn if I still have a job or not.”
“Don’t worry about it, Emily. I know that you’ll do fine.”
“That’s just it, Katlynn, I’m not worried. Before meeting and getting to know you and your Dad I would have been sweating bullets. Now, I just don’t feel like it’s a big deal. I know the cases are bogus so unless I seriously fuck up at the hearing, my job is safe. And if I do get fired so what. I’ve got enough money saved to last a couple of years.”
“Would it help if I went with you?”
“No, I don’t think so. And with your temper, it might hurt me some.”
The rest of the day went by smoothly. The DNR came by and were truly impressed by the fish and the fact that it was Emily’s first ever fish. They got all the details and told the girls that an article would be published in the Sunday paper and on the DNR website as soon as the catch was verified. By the time Mark got home at a little past six the girls had a wonderful meal on the table. When Mark drug himself in, Emily instantly became concerned. Seeing her concern Mark smiled at her.
“Just a long day sweetheart. What smells divine?”
“Kat helped me make a pot roast.”
“Yum.” Mark said licking his lips and then Emily’s neck.
Emily giggled and pushed him off.
“No offence but you need a shower.”
“Ya dad you really stink. What happened?”
“Just a lot of really hard work kiddo.”
At this Mark went, took his shower, and came back into the kitchen wearing a pair of shorts. Emily smiled at him and Kat rolled her eyes. As they were eating Emily told Mark all about her upcoming hearing, the DNR reviewing her catch, Kat told him about helping Emily in the kitchen, Mark told them about all the comical errors the mountains of paperwork and emails during his day. After dinner the three of them sat down and watched a movie. The girls each had a glass of wine and Mark had a beer. He didn’t care if Kat had some alcohol once in a while as long as it was at home and in moderation. Emily won the right to choose so she decided to choose a movie that would surprise both Mark and Kat. She chose Apocalypse Now.
“What it’s always been my favorite movie.”
Mark just smiled at her, put his arm around her ad drew her close. Kat spread a cover across all of them:
“Now, no hanky panty over there.”
Mark and Emily smiled like the cat who just ate the bird. After the movie Mark said that her was going to bed. He was exhausted after being back to work for the first time in seven months and the fact that he was missing a leg didn’t help matters any. Emily and Kat stayed on the coach and watched a rom-com. After they both decided that it was time to go to bed.
“Hey Kat, be sure to wake me up in the morning and I’ll help with the chores.”
“OK. Afterwards I’ll take you out back to the creek and we can cool down.”
Chapter 6
The next morning Emily was again woke up by music blaring through the house. This time the piece was In the Hall of the Mountain King although she didn’t know that until she went out into the kitchen to find Mark and Kat cooking breakfast.
“Do neither of you believe in sleeping in at all. I mean it’s 5 am.”
“This is a farm, Emily. Dad and I have chores to due and they can’t be put off.”
“If you want to go back to sleep Emily, go ahead.”
“No that’s ok. Besides I asked Kat to wake me up so I can help her with her chores.”
“Well then, why don’t you go get dressed for the day and by that time breakfast will be done.”
So that’s what Emily did. She put her new farm work clothes on. The ones that Mark hadn’t seen yet. When Mark seen her, his eyes almost popped out of his head and his jaw hit the floor. Emily giggled as she could swear, she felt Mark’s eyes tracing her every curve which were all on display in her snug checkered shirt and boot cut jeans.
“Mark honey if you don’t’ close your mouth soon, bugs will get in. Honey? Earth to Mark? Hello?”
Mark finally was snaped out of his trance when Emily put her hand on his check and kissed him lightly. The entire time they ate, Mark’s eyes never once left Emily’s. After breakfast Emily started putting her boots on and was startled when Mark startled tracing her tight ass with his hand.
“Easy there you naughty boy, remember you’ve still got a long day at work.”
“Yep, which with you on my mind I’ll be lucky to get through.”
“Blah” was Kat’s contribution as she faked gagging.
“Love you too kiddo.”
“Dad don’t forget to pick up the stuff for Even’s birthday party Friday evening.”
“You know it’s kind of insulting that you would even think I would forget about his party.”
“Well, I figured that you would be in such a rush to get home to Emily.”
Everyone laughed at that. After Mark left Emily asked who Even was.
“Even is an absolutely adorable kid who’s dad was one of my Dad’s closest friends.”
“Was?”
“Ya, Even’s dad was killed in the refinery fire.”
“Oh. Ya Mark wouldn’t want to miss his party would he.” Said Emily kind of depressed. She was looking forward to Friday because she had secretly made some plans for her and Mark. But she knew that she couldn’t get mad after all she hadn’t asked if he had other plans that day and she also knew that Mark sympathized with Even.
For once Kat misread Emily.
“Don’t worry. As Dad’s girlfriend you’re invited too. I highly doubt Even’s mom would object since I know Dad is planning on cooking everyone a massive steak dinner and I’m making Even’s favorite cake for dessert.”
“For once Kat you actually misread me. I’m kind of bummed, but the reason is that I made some plans for just Mark and me for Friday night. But I think if I hurry, I can get them rescheduled and I can’t think of a better reason then giving a birthday party for a kid that has lost his Dad.”
Both girls were silent for a minute. Finally, Kat said:
“Ok, come on girl we got critters to feed and clean up after.”
What followed was the hardest Emily had ever physically worked in her life. Hell, bootcamp didn’t compare to the farm work that she was doing now.
“Ok seriously Kat this can’t be a normal day for you. I mean come on. I’m in good shape and I’m exhausted.” Panted Emily as she put down another hay bale.
“No, it’s not a normal day.”
“Ha thought so! Just making me do extra work eh?”
“Well, no, it’s not a normal day because on a normal day, I would be doing this myself. Today I actually have someone to share the work with. And don’t worry we’re almost done. And then we can go back to the creek.”
True to her words, the girls finished about twenty minutes later and Kat got out her 4-wheeler.
“Hop on Emily! And hold on!”
What followed over the next few hours was some of the best bonding that Emily ever had. After Kat ripped over trails that cut through the woods, they came to a crystal-clear stream. While telling Emily to keep up, Kat stripped and dove off a log and into a deep pool.
“Hurry up Emily! The water’s great!”
Emily stripped still kind of nervous although she didn’t know why. She finally got naked and waded into the creek. After she got over the initial shock, she was surprised at how good the cool water felt on her hot, sweaty, skin. The girls proceeded to slash each other with water and swim for hours. A couple of times Emily screamed when a small fish would come up and nibble on her, but Kat only offered riotous laughter and said that she would get use to that. Finally, about noon the girls climbed out of the water and stretched out in the sun while laying on a small grassy patch next to the stream.
“You know Kat, I truly wish that I had a friend like you growing up. Looking back all my so-called friends were stuck up snotty bitches who only cared about themselves. I was like that too. That and the stress of trying to please my overbearing parents was way too much at times. You are really lucky to have someone how loves you like your Dad does. Because trust me. Many kids don’t.”
“I know that I’m lucky Emily. I’m reminded of that fact every day I go to school and I see other kids whose parents are going through a messy divorce or their parents are together but they don’t know where their kids are half the time and honestly don’t care. I thank God every night that I was given a parent that’s as loving as my Dad.”
Emily looked over and Kat had tears in her eyes. The girls smiled and said love you at the same time. After they were done giggling Kat asked the one question that she was so nervous about that she was almost tongue tried.
“Emily” she continued when Emily looked at her “Would it be Ok if I called you Mom?”
Emily couldn’t answer for she was crying too bad. She just got up, pulled Kat to her feet and hugged her tightly. Once they had both cried themselves out. They put their clothes back on and headed back to the house for lunch and a movie before it would be time to make dinner.
Chapter 7
When Mark came in the door with the stuff for Friday’s dinner, Kat was setting the table.
“Emily’s taking a shower.” When she finished with the table she called back “Mom dinners ready.” Looking at her dad she just said, “what?”
It really warmed Mark’s heart to see his two favorite people finally bond completely and he knew what he had to do. He’d been kicking that question around in his head ever since Emily had gone fishing with him and Kat. He figured that he would get it sometime this week while on lunch and hopefully give it to Emily during the weekend sometime. Emily came out wearing one of Mark’s old t-shirts and a pair of really short shorts.
“You know Emi that t-shirt looks much better on you then it ever did on me.”
Dinner was chicken parmesan and it was delicious as always. The talk of the table was Emily’s hearing tomorrow and Even’s birthday party Friday. Mark said that he would be able to get off be noon that day so that he could come home shower and they could get to Even’s by twoish. This would give them hours to celebrate Even’s birthday. Hell, they might even go minigolfing or ride go-karts or something. After the dishes were done, Mark suddenly picked up Emily who started giggling. Before Mark she almost never giggled. Now she couldn’t stop and she loved every minute of it. He carried her off to the bedroom. Once in the bedroom he said:
“Now Miss O’Neal since you got that big hearing tomorrow, I figure that I could help you relax so you can sleep your best tonight so tomorrow you can kick ass. You wouldn’t have any ideas on what might help you relax in such a way. Would you?”
Emily just smiled at him:
“You already know what to do to relax me. I just ask that you get a shower first. You smell like diesel fuel.”
“Ya sorry bout that. Today, I was helping work on a fractionating tower.”
Mark then scampered off to get a shower while Emily lit some candles in the room and put on music. She set it to where it would play not only soft romantic music but also mix in some classical and some Irish music from her childhood. After all her parents were immigrants from Ireland. When she seen Mark she gasped, he was now clean shaven down below and he looked huge. Being a doctor, she knew that it was the same size as the other night but right now any logical thought was being ran over by feeling of lust. Mark must have seen the fire in her eyes because he picked her up and threw her on the bed. He then went down and looking like a predator ready to pounce, he started working his way up her legs. Lick, nibble, rub he went all the way up her legs. Be the time he reached her pussy, she was speaking gibberish and leaking profusely. To her aggravation Mark detoured around her pussy as he continued his way up her body. Up her flat stomach, making sure to visit her navel and spend some time there. This got her laughing because the fuzz on Mark’s face was tickling her to no end. She tried to push him away but all he did was to grab her hands and pin them to the bed. She was now defenseless against Mark and they both knew it. He finally left her stomach and going around and between her breast worked his way up to her neck. This had the same effect as pouring gasoline on an already ragging fire. He kept nibbling on her neck and she kept moaning. Mark kept this up for a minute or so, because he didn’t want her to pass out…. yet. After he left her neck, he worked his way back down to her breast. Again, he employed his figure eight pattern on her delicious breast. Only this time he made it to where the crossing point of the figure eight was over one or the other nipple. This made Emily start singing like an opera singer again. But Mark wasn’t going fast enough to make her cum. He kept her just below the threshold and this drove her wild.
“Damn it Mark! If you ever want to do this again, you’d better make me cum before too long!” she screamed. Mark just smiled at this
“I’m serious Mark” Emily tried her best to sound serious but the feelings that Mark was giving her made that impossible.
“Just tell me what you want Emi. What do you want me to do?” he whispered in her ear causing her to chill.
“I want to cum” she whispered back
“What was that honey? I couldn’t hear you.”
“I WANT TO CUM MARK! FUCK ME HARD AND MAKE ME YOURS!” Yelled Emily at the top of her lungs
“Well, if you insist” purred Mark as he slipped into her velvet vise which by this point was more like a water slide. As he bottomed out Emily started to moan. She was so close to a mammoth orgasm that she could almost taste it but Mark wouldn’t fuck her hard enough to push her over the edge and every time she would try and speed things up, Mark would slow down. By this point Emily wasn’t capable of any thought at all, hell she didn’t even feel like she was even still in her body. Because of this she didn’t notice the changes in Mark’s thrusting. He was starting to speed up and making sure that his thrust went all the way in and bottomed out every time. This was driving Emily to new heights which she had never seen before, hell she didn’t even know that they were there and yet here she was. She was back to singing like an opera singer which was appropriate being that the Tannhäuser Overture was playing. Granted she hated Wagner but at this time the piece captured her singing perfectly. Mark quickly caught on to this and as the song hit its crescendo, he did too, bringing Emily along with him. As Emily cam, she passed out like a light being turned off.
Mark was barely able to roll off of Emily and onto his back. A sleeping Emily crawled up and put her head on his chest and a leg over his good leg. He found the covers and covered themselves up and was out like a light himself.
Chapter 8
The next thing he knew was that Kat was shaking him awake. Dad you got to get up or you’ll be late to work.
“What time is it?” Mark asked still not wanting to wake up
“It’s 6:30 dad.”
“Oh shit.” Now he was fully awake “Thanks Kat. Can you fix me something I can eat on the drive while I get dressed?”
“It’s already on the counter by the door along with the rest of your work stuff.”
“Oh, bless you Kat. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Mark rushed around putting clothes on. This of course woke Emily up.
“What time is it?”
“It’s just after 6:30 and if I don’t rush, I’m going to be late for work and I want to get off early on Friday.”
Mark gave Emily a quick kiss and said:
“Love you sweetheart. Good luck today.” And he was out of the room and a minute later out of the house. Emily staggered up and went to take a shower. She was sweaty and sticky. After her shower, she threw on a pair of short and a shirt and got herself a good breakfast. By this time, she knew where everything was at and quickly made herself food and ate. She went back to the guest room which was where her clothes were still at and ***********ed more formal attire for her hearing. She then realized that she would need to stop by her apartment to pick up the paperwork she would need. Plus, she also wanted to get some of her better clothes and bring them over to Mark’s. She didn’t want to move in without being invited, she just wanted to have some of her scrubs and shoes there so that she wouldn’t need to return to her apartment before work. She was amazed through that during her time with Mark she had not had one nightmare and the flashbacks that she suffered were easily displaced by thinking about Mark. She had to be careful about this because thinking about Mark also caused other things to happen that could be embarrassing.
Arriving at the hospital fifteen minutes early, she bumped into Cindy on the way in.
“My god Emily!” Cindy shouted and then rubbed her eyes “Is that really you? You look … different”
“Hi Cindy. Yes, it’s really me. Different how?”
“You look happy, confident, and you’re glowing a bit. You found someone didn’t you?”
“Yes, I’ve spent the last four days with a man and I’m very happy. Happier than I’ve been in many years. As far as looking confident, his daughter is a clothing guru and helped me pick this outfit out. She’s also the one that braided my hair and encouraged me to wear my emerald necklace and earrings. I didn’t overdo it did I?”
“Overdo it? Are you kidding? You look like you’re ready to take on the world and kick it’s ass.”
“Say, after my hearing would you like to grab a cup of coffee?”
“I normally would love to but I’m exhausted. I’ve been working for 16 hours straight and right now I just want to go to bed.”
“Ok well drive safe and see you later.”
“Good luck Emily. Not that you’ll need it.”
With that the ladies went their separate ways. Emily arrived at the hearing and after hearing the charges, presented her case along with all the pertaining paperwork and eyewitness statements. After deliberations it was declared that Emily could return to a limited workload pending the cases working through the legal system which could take months. Then her supervisor apologized Emily asked “Why”
“Well, everyone here knows how devoted you are to your work and we can imagine that being forced to work only part time is going to drive you crazy but that’s the best we can do at this time.”
“Do I seem ticked off?” Emily asked while cocking her head to one side.
“No, you seem happy almost.”
“Well, I am. I’ve started seeing a wonderful man that I fell head over heels for. And best thing is that he has for me as well. Plus, he has a wonderful daughter who is extremely smart and very caring who asked me yesterday if she could start calling me mom.”
“Oh well good luck to you. Your new schedule will be posted starting next Monday.”
“Ok thank you all.” Emily left the hearing happy.
About the same time Emily was going into her hearing, Mark was walking into an old friend’s jewelry store to look for an engagement ring for Emily. He had made sure to hide his truck so on the odd change Emily drove by this way she wouldn’t see where he was at.
“Mark, what the hell you doing here old man!” said his friend Tim from behind the counter. He came out and gave Mark a hug.
“Hey who you callin’ old? I bet even with only one real leg I can still whip your ass.”
They both laughed at that. While Mark was 6’2”, Tim was only 5’6” and extremely nerdy.
“Seriously through, what brings you in today Mark?”
“Well, I need to look at an engagement ring.”
“Oh, which friend you buying it for because I know that it isn’t you?”
“Actually, it is for me.” Mark then showed Tim a picture of Emily and Tim’s jaw hit the floor.
“Holey fucking shit Mark. How the hell you land her?”
“She’s a trauma surgeon and she’s the one who everyone tells me saved my life.”
Tim shook his head. “Well how much you lookin’ at spendin’?”
“Just show me some rings which would look good on her finger. Platinum please. And skip the stones that suck if you would please.”
“Damn your serious about her ain’t you? And I don’t carry stones that “suck”.”
“Fuck yes. She’s amazing! And that’s probably the understatement of the millennium.”
After looking Mark settled on a blue-white diamond that weighted in at two carets. The ring he chose was platinum with six prongs to hold the main diamond in place and had smaller diamonds coming off both sides. Even after the 20% off that Tim gave him, the ring still cost Mark almost five grand. But Mark didn’t care at all. Since things were slow for Tim at the time, he got the stone set right away and Mark was able to walk out of the store with the ring and get back to work within his hour lunchtime. When Mark got home that evening, he was exhausted. It had been a very stressful afternoon with corporate bigwigs crawling all over the place and making changes that made no since to anyone but had to be done right now. He came in the house said hello and went back to get a shower. He also had a ring to hide so Emi or Kat wouldn’t find it. By the time he was done, the girls had dinner ready. Tonight, it was spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. Everyone had a good dinner and could see just how tired Mark was. After all he fell asleep at the table. When Mark was done eating, Emily helped him to bed and tucked him in, gave him a kiss, told him that she loved him. When she was done Mark had already fallen into a deep sleep. Emily went back out and sat and talked with Kat until bedtime.
Chapter 9
Thursday was pretty much a repeat of Tuesday except Kat started the steak marinating for Even’s party. The after dinner entertainment for Mark and Emi was more mind blowing love making that was even better than before. They were really starting to figure out what each other liked and wanted. By 9 pm they were both exhausted and had pasted out. Kat was stretched out on her bed smiling. She loved listening to her Dad and Emily. It was just another reminder for her of just how lucky she was. She now had a complete family that loved each other and weren’t afraid to show it.
Friday started off with Mark waking everyone up with the William Tell Overture. This time Emi went straight for the milk and sugar which caused Kat to tease her relentlessly about how someone attached to a marine unit still couldn’t drink her coffee black. Mark just smiled at Kat’s ribbing of Emily. They really got along well together.
“So, what day do you go back to work again Emi?” Mark asked.
“Not this Monday but the following Monday, and I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday.”
“OK, so you have one more week of freedom?”
“Yep, and I’m hoping that you’ll let me spend it here.”
“Well in that case you might need these.” Mark tossed Emi some keys that were attached to an index card.
“What’s this?”
Kat gasped at what her dad had tossed Emily but clamped her mouth shut when Mark looked at her.
“That’s keys to the house and barns. The key fob is for my truck and the index card is the code for the house alarm. Yes, I’m asking you to move in with us, that is if you want to. And I’ve moved stuff around in our closet so you can get your things into it.”
Emily was speechless. She knew that Mark loved her but she didn’t realize just how much.
“Well mom … What’s you say?”
Emily stood up, walked over to Mark, yanked him to his feet, jumped into his arms and started smothering him in kisses.
Kat laughed “I take that as a yes mom?”
Looking back from Mark all Emily said was “you think?”
“Well. that answers what all of us will be doing this weekend.” Mark laughed
“Ah shit. What are we going to do with my stuff?”
“Don’t worry mom. We’ll figure it out. Today through we have a party to get ready for and Dad has to get to work.”
Mark left after giving Emi a kiss and Kat a bear hug. Emily could see Mark whisper something into Kat’s ear which caused her to smile. After Mark left Emi and Kat started on the chores. This time around Emily knew what to expect and was more prepared for it. While she was tired afterwards, she wasn’t exhausted. They returned inside, showered and started baking. Kat was making Even a banana nut cake with multiple layers and lots of buttercream frosting. They had it done and decorated by the time Mark got home at 1:30.
“Sorry about being late” he said as he ran to the shower, “but by staying the little bit extra I have all weekend off”.
Kat could tell by the subtle shift in her Dad’s attitude that he had something big cooking and that he wasn’t about to tell her and it was driving her nuts because she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what her dad was up to. Mark came back out from the shower in kakis shorts, sandals, and a collared shirt. Kat and Emily were already ready to go wearing shorts and nice t-shirts. Both girls had their hair put up and in their own ways were both stunning. The girls already had everything in the truck and were ready to go. Mark made sure that he had everything and they were off.
Upon arriving at Evan’s, he and his sister Tekkla ran out screaming “Uncle Mark!” Mark reached down and scooped the kids up, giving them both kisses.
“Look how big you two are getting! I almost can’t pick you two up anymore.” The kids smiled. Their mom walked out:
“Hi Mark. Long time no see.”
“Hey Cindy, how you doin’”
“Doing pretty good all things considered.”
At this moment Emily walked around the corner of the truck having helped Kat with the party stuff.
“Cindy!”
“Emily! What are you doing here?”
“Ummm?”
Mark came to her rescue “She’s my girlfriend. You two know each other?”
“Yes honey, Cindy and I work together at the hospital and she’s my best friend. Now how do you know her?”
“Her husband and I worked together at the refinery. He helped me get into the position that I work in today and kept me in line and covered for me until I figured everything out.”
“Well come on in.” Cindy said “Emily we really need to talk.”
“That’s never good “mumbled Mark.
Mark turned to help Kat get the stuff out of the truck while Emily and Cindy went into the house talking.
“Dad you’re in sooo much trouble.” Said Kat barely able to suppress her giggle
“No shit Sherlock.” Kat couldn’t hold it in anymore and broke down laughing at her Dad’s obvious discomfort.
“Well come on Kat let’s get on with this.”
Meanwhile inside Cindy was pounding Emily with one question right after another.
“How long you two been dating?”
“Not long but we’re already head over heels for each other. He did invite me to move in with him and Kat yesterday.”
“Emily are you insane!? I mean ya he’s hot as hell but do you know his history. I mean the guy’s one accident away from going medieval on everyone around him.”
“Yes, I know his entire history. Mark shared everything about him with Kat and I, Sunday afternoon. Including things that I bet that even you don’t know about him.”
“Like what?” Cindy said crossly
“I think it’s better if Mark tells you that himself.” Emily responded calmly.
“Well at least tell me that you haven’t slept with him yet.”
Emily just looked at her and gave Cindy a serene smile.
“Seriously Emily!?! Well tell me it was at least ok”
“Cindy, it’s mind-blowing. He makes me cum so hard that I pass out every time.”
“Really? Oh my God Emily are you serious?”
“Of course, I’m serious.”
“Hey ladies.” Mark said walking in with Kat
“Dad I think your ears should be on fire.”
“Yaa. Now not to change subjects... Hey Evan, it’s your party, you want to eat first or open your presents that we brought you?”
Evan looked back at his mother then back at Mark. “How long will it take to make dinner?”
“Maybe an hour.”
“Can I open my presents then, please?”
“Well, it’s your party man. Just let me get the baked potatoes going first. OK?”
Since Mark and Kat had coordinated with Cindy, Evan got most of the things that he wanted. While Even was busy with his unwrapping Mark pulled Cindy to the side and gave her a folder.
“What’s this Mark?”
“They are the documents for Evan’s trust fund that Kat and I set up for him. We just ask that you don’t tell Evan until after he graduates high school. We want to make sure that he does a good job in school and doesn’t slack off thinking that he won’t have to work. By the time he graduates he should be able to get about five grand a month.”
Cindy just broke down and started crying harder than she had every cried before. Emily was at her side in an instant berating Mark for making Cindy cry. Cindy pulled Emily’s head toward her so that she could whisper in Emily’s ear without anyone else hearing:
“Emily, I was wrong before. I’m sorry. Mark is prefect and I wish you all the happiness in the world. Hold on to him sweetie for he is truly worthy of you.”
Emily was now thoroughly confused, What on Earth did Mark give her? Cindy wouldn’t tell her.
“Mark, honey. What did you give her?”
“It’s what Kat and I gave her and I promise to tell you after we leave. Now let’s get back to the party.”
Mark and Emily walked back to where Evan had been opening up his gifts to find Him, Kat, and Tekkla playing hard as only children can. Evan and Tekkla had always been close and since their father had been killed, they held onto each ferociously. Mark excused himself so that he could start cooking dinner and went out to set up the grill and get the steaks and veggies on. Cindy came out after him and stood beside him.
“You know I have no way to ever thank you for everything that you’ve done for me, right?”
“Raise those kids to be even half as good as their father and you and that will be thanks enough.”
Cindy teared up again, “Damn it Mark, you keep this up and I’ll get dehydrated from all this crying.”
Mark just gave her a sad smile, “I’m sorry for everything Cindy.”
“What the hell are you sorry for?”
“That I couldn’t get to Ben faster. If I had gotten to him faster than he wouldn’t have died and you wouldn’t be struggling.”
Cindy hauled back and smacked him hard across the face: “Don’t you ever fucking think that again! You gave me and the kids a chance to say goodbye to him. If you hadn’t pulled him out when you did that would have never happened plus, I was able to talk to the surgeon that worked on Ben. He told me that the only thing that could have saved Ben was not being there in the first place. He was going to die as soon as that beam landed on him. Nothing was going to save him. But because of you he didn’t die alone.” She then gave Mark a hug and went to go back inside. At the door she stopped and turned toward Mark, “One more thing, if you hurt Emily, I will kill you. She’s one of my best friends and she’s one hell of a doctor that’s responsible for many people living when they would have ordinary died.” After Mark brought the food in, he found Cindy with an exhausted look on her face.
“What’s wrong Cindy?”
“What’s wrong is that I’m getting too old for this shit. How on Earth do those kids still have so much energy?”
Mark just smiled and put the food on the table.
As everyone was digging in, Kat came up next to her dad:
“What’s up dad, you’re grinning like the Cheshire Cat and it’s making me a bit nervous?”
“I just made the final decision in a long line of them.”
“And what does that mean?”
“You’ll see.”
Kat knew better than to pry anymore. It was still driving her nuts through. What was her dad planning? She watched as he pulled Even to the side whisper something to him and Evan nodded with a huge smile on his face. Evan ran off, whispered something to Tekkla and whatever it was, she agreed too. Her dad now wore a very nervous look. What the hell was he up to? Turns out Kat didn’t have long to wait.
After everyone was done eating and had retired to the living room, Kat could see both Evan and Tekkla urging her dad to do something. He got up off the chair that he was on and walked over to Emily who had her back turned, talking to Cindy. He had something small in his hand.
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