Phantom Scars (19 page)

Chapter 38 – Warning Shot

I made my way to the dairy and pulled up next to the delivery truck. The creepy driver was sitting there, looking over his orders. His head was shaved, and so was the rest of his facial hair. He'd even shaved off his eyebrows, and that just looked freaking bizarre. I figured that was why he gave me the creeps. He should have had some body hair somewhere. I stifled a snicker at the thought of him having lice, thus the bad shave job.

"Devin, baby, what brings you out to the dairy?" Vivien said squishing her boobs forward.

"We're short a case of whipping cream."

"Really? That can't be right," she said walking out to the truck. She climbed into the back, looking around. "Are you sure you didn't misplace it?"

"Yes, I'm sure. That's why I'm here."

"That's odd. I double checked your order before we loaded the truck." She walked around the back to the loading dock. It was empty.

"Well, either way, we still need the case of whipping cream."

"That's so weird," she said and walked me back to the cooler and handed me another case. "Here you go. Let me know if you find the other one. I'd really like to know what happened to it."

"Sure, Ms. Vivien, thanks for this," I nodded at the case.

When I got back, I looked around our cooler a little, wondering if we actually had just misplaced it. The dairy had never messed up our order before. It had been the same for as long as I could remember, only changing if something major was added to the menu, but I didn't remember that happening for a while now.

Dr. Greyson was just coming out of my apartment, when I looked up to see my girl fidgeting in the doorway. I hurried up to her side, kissing her head. "Tough session?" I worried.

She shrugged, and we went inside.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

She bit her lip.

"Does Dr. Greyson think we should talk about it?"

She nodded yes.

"Okay. How about we get ready for bed, and we can talk while I hold you. Will that help?"

She nodded yes, and I took her hand and led her to the bedroom. Our bed was still in disarray, and my sleep pants were hanging unfolded off my shelf. My mind flashed to my girl's hands on me, and I quickly thought about chopping carrots and slicing bananas. I heard the bedding being ruffled and knew she was waiting. I changed quickly and climbed up next to her, pulling her against me.

She let out a sigh and looked up at me worried.

"What is it, baby? You know you can tell me anything."

She was quiet for a moment, but she looked like she was trying to work up the courage to speak. "Do you want kids?" she finally blurted out.

I looked at her shocked, as my mind processed the question. Sure, I wanted kids, but I was not sure when that would happen for us. Emma was still really young.

"Um, sure, someday, when you're ready,"

She let out a breath and nodded her head okay.

"Why, do you want kids?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe, someday, I'm just finishing school and I…"

"Hey, I get it. I didn't think you were ready for them yet, either," I said kissing her forehead. "I figured, you know, you could work from home if you wanted, and I'll be home half the year, so we could spend plenty of time with our little ones."

"Little ones, how many do you want?" she asked nervously.

I shrugged. "I don't know. My momma had two. That worked for her. How many do you want?"

"Um, I guess two is okay."

"Okay, then it's decided, two," I said with an eyebrow wiggle. "You just let me know when you're ready, and then we'll work on moving forward so we can make them."

She blushed. "Devin?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Could we have sex before then? I mean, it could take more than once to get pregnant, couldn't it?"

I mentally slapped my balls, so I wouldn't pitch a tent under our blanket. He was all for making babies right now, and I knew my girl wasn't ready for that yet. "I suppose, I don't really know a lot about getting pregnant. I've never done it before," I said clearing my throat. "But we'll figure it out when it's time."

She pouted. "So, you don't want to have sex with me otherwise?"

DOWN, BOY! We didn't need a tent big enough for the circus, but that was what I was looking to pitch if she kept talking like that. "I, ah, sure, yeah, can we not talk about this, though?" I asked.

She suddenly looked really upset. Her eyes started to water.

"Emma, honey, what's wrong?" I begged.

"You don't want me!" she wailed at me.

"Oh, honey, I do. I want you so bad, but talking just makes things..." How did I put this? "Hard."

She jumped into my lap, landing right on my problem, sobbing into my shoulder. "Really?"

I bucked up against her a little, and her eyes popped open. "Oh."

I smiled tightly at her. "Yeah, so I should probably go take a cold shower."

"I thought you weren't supposed to put cold stuff on it? I thought it hurt."

I laughed a little. "Yeah, it does, but I don't think I can think this one down."

"Think it down?"

"Yeah, picture things that’d make it retreat."

"Oh, do you ever think of me to make it retreat?" she asked.

I laughed. "No, silly girl, you definitely have the opposite effect on it. No, I do my best to keep you out of my mind when I'm trying to get rid of…you know…"

"Can I?"

"Can you what?"

"Get rid of it for you?"

My eyes widened, and I was pretty sure she felt me throb against her. I cleared my throat, trying to gain some sanity. I didn't want her to feel obligated. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"But I do, so can I?"

I let out a groan and bucked up against her. I nodded okay, because I was beyond words. She started rubbing against me, and she let out a little moan, which just seemed to egg me on more. At least this time, I was safely tucked inside my sleep pants. I gripped her sides, holding her steady, wishing I could touch her more, but I didn't want to spook her. I didn't want to do anything that would make her stop doing what she was doing right now.

She threw her head back and called out my name, as she stiffened in my arms. I kissed her neck softly, telling her she was beautiful and that I loved her. When she came down from her high, she noticed I was still hard. "You didn't..." she said timidly.

"Yeah, I think he's protesting a little, since he got iced this morning."

She blushed, and it made me smile.

"Don't worry, honey. I'll just hit the shower."

"No, no, I can do it, just let me…"

"Hey, honey, it's alright. I don't want you pushing yourself and ending up being set back."

"No, I can do it, just…just lay back and close your eyes."

"Okay, are you sure?"

"Yeah, oh, and take off your pants."

I took off my pants, and then she motioned for my boxers as well. I watched her carefully, as I pulled them down. My cock was pointing right at her like a divining rod. She looked at it nervously.

"Look, honey, I'm fine. It isn't the first, and it won't be the last," I tried to comfort her, but she suddenly reached out and grabbed it. Her grip was tight, but in a painfully good way. I was breathing hard, trying to control myself.

She started running her fingers up and down it, like she was examining it, and I did my best not to buck at her touch. She touched the tip and rubbed the leaking juices around it. "So, is it supposed to leak?" she asked.

"I guess. I've never really asked about it," I said, not really wanting to discuss my leaking. Was I supposed to leak? Should I ask a doctor about it? Maybe I could look it up tomorrow.

"What if it's pus from an infection?"

"Ew, that's nasty," I said. My cock eased up a little. This was not a getting-me-off topic.

She shrugged and grabbed a damp rag that was left over from this morning's ice pack debacle. She wiped me off and then started rubbing me up and down with her hands. Now I was wondering if I was going to leak more, and whether it was supposed to do that or not. I closed my eyes, trying to put that out of my head, when I felt something warm on my skin. My eyes popped open, and I shot off at the sight before me. Emma had touched me with her tongue. HOLY COW!

She jumped back a little, as I covered my stomach in cum. "Sorry," I grunted, but she just smiled.

She leaned over and looked at the mess I'd made. "I think that's the same stuff. Do you only leak when you're hard?"

I groaned a little, but nodded yes.

"Well, that must be it then." She grabbed the washcloth and wiped me up, and then she snuggled down in bed, as if nothing had happened.

I looked at Emma, who was curled up in a ball with her back to me. I reached over and pulled her against me, kissing her head. "Thank you. Are you okay?"

She looked up at me, and I could see she wasn't. "It kind of startled me."

I let out a chuckle. "You and me both, you should give a guy some warning if you're going to put your mouth anywhere near…things."

She smiled at me. "So, it was okay, though?"

I kissed her lips softly. "It was perfect, thank you, baby. I'm sorry I startled you."

She smiled widely, as if she was proud of herself, and really, she should have been. She had come a long way from the scared little girl in my quarters. My girl was growing up.

Chapter 39 - Questions Popping Up

After Emma's questions about my leaking, I decided to get some answers. I was happy to find that my leaking was completely normal. I mean, who would I discuss this with, anyway? I had never worried about this before, and besides, what would I have said?
“Hey, Bro, my dick leaks when it's hard, does yours?”
Definitely not something I wanted to discuss, ever, and I had really never considered it a problem, until Emma brought it up and had me all kinds of worried that I wasn't supposed to leak. It wasn't as if I was some kind of medical student or something and an expert on anatomy. Leakage had never even been an issue until I was around Emma!

Fortunately, the internet was very helpful with that. Unfortunately, the pop-up ads that came up while researching this topic were a little more than scary! Apparently, dick leakage was somehow related to gay porn. I just hoped I had cleaned it all off the computer. Otherwise, my momma was going to get an eyeful, when she signed in to do the books. That was something I didn't want to have to explain in this lifetime.

I made my way out to the kitchen and got to work, until my momma sent me off to the post office with a handful of letters to mail. Jessup was looking around nervously when I walked in.

"Hey, Jessup, I came to mail my letters like you said I should," I said holding them up. I didn't want to set off the crazy guy.

"Devin, did you see him?" he asked excitedly.

"Who?" I wasn't sure if I was looking for a real or imaginary person at this point.

"The guy you got rid of yesterday! He was here and all mad! He wanted stamps, but I told him no! WE DON'T HAVE STAMPS!" he yelled at me. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I just played along.

"I know, I know, Jessup, tracking devices. That's why I came to you." I tried to get him to see I was on his side.

He looked at my letters in my hand. "Right, right," he said a little lost and took my letters. He started weighing them and putting the postage on them, but he looked up startled, when he saw one that was paying our dairy bill. "What is this?" he screeched at me.

I looked down at it. "It's the bill for the dairy farm. We buy milk and stuff for the restaurant," I explained, wondering what his issue was.

He looked around. "Is that how you know him? Is he a friend or foe, Devin? You need to tell me now," he said sternly. I had no idea who or what he was talking about.

"Heck, Jessup, I don't even know. I deal with Vivien at the dairy."

His face lit up in a cheeky grin. "You like Ms. Vivien?" he asked with an eyebrow wiggle. "She sure is pretty. Hey, you think she’d go on a date with me?" he asked excitedly.

"You know, Jessup, it’d never hurt to ask, right? I think she’d really miss out if she turned down a guy like you," I said with a smile.

"Ya think?" he asked, and I couldn't help but hope Vivien would run out of stamps soon.

"I really do," I encouraged and quickly left, before he could get suspicious.

When I came back, I noticed Emma wasn't in the kitchen. Momma said she had gone to look at some grants online in the office, and I decided to pop in and let her know I was back.

She had just wiggled the mouse, so the screen would come to life, and I freaked at what I saw. "CRAP!" I screamed charging at her. I scared her, though, so she jumped from the chair, still holding the mouse in her hand, and she hit me over the head with it.

My momma came running in to see what was going on and stopped in her tracks. She was followed quickly by Warren and Clayton.

"Really, Devin, you're into
that
stuff?" Clayton said incredulously.

Emma was looking at all of us, still shocked, but once she settled down, she looked at the screen and suddenly started laughing. It was an animated cartoon of a man giving another man a blowjob, and his cheeks would pop out like a squirrel at the end of it. I had turned the speakers down when the first pop-up ad had come up, and thankfully, they were still down, so we didn't get the full effect.

My momma was looking around for the mouse, not realizing Emma still had it in her hand clasped to her chest, as she bent over in laughter. I was completely lost when it came to my wife right now. She thought this was hysterical.

Clayton just looked uncomfortable. It was no surprise he was a homophobe, but to see it was funny. He kept trying to look everywhere but the screen, as if seeing it would turn him gay.

"Dude, man, turn it off already!"

Warren stepped forward and hit the power button on the machine, and then he looked to me and Emma curiously. Then he looked at Emma and said, "I told you to experiment, but I'm not sure this qualifies."

Her laughing stopped, I looked at him worried, and then he burst out laughing. "Come on, Abby. Let's leave them to talk," he said and winked at Emma, letting her know he was just kidding.

Once they cleared out and the door was shut, we both started talking at the same time.

"It's not what you think," I said, as she said, "I didn't pull that up."

"I know; it came up when I was looking up the leaking thing," I said nervously. "I thought I got all those pop-ups closed, but I guess another one snuck in."

"They do that. So, is it alright?" she asked pointing to my pants.

"Yeah, yeah, perfectly normal, it even has a name and everything."

"Yeah, what do they call it?"

"Um," I shifted nervously. I should have been able to say this out loud, right? "Pre-cum," I whispered.

"Pre, like before?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess it's the start or whatever. Can we not discuss this here? My momma is just in the other room, and she thinks I look at gay porn now."

Emma started giggling again.

"What's so funny?" I asked smiling. It was hard not to smile when I saw her giggle.

She just shook her head. "I thought they’d think I was looking at it, and then they couldn't get it off. I mean really, what would I get from looking at that? I'm not a guy."

"Right, um, well, I don't get anything from it, either, so mind if we drop it, before my brother comes in here and disinfects everything, so he doesn't catch gay cooties?"

"I know, what was with Clayton? Mister Macho was freaking out. I would’ve thought he was well-versed with porn."

"Uh, no, we're not. My momma and daddy raised us to believe it was bad stuff to look at, that it’d destroy any chance of us having good relationships." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "Not like we ever had time, and well, Clayton only moved out from Momma's house two years ago. She still pops in at his place."

"So that's why the magazine was at your place?"

My eyes widened in realization. Clayton had stashed his magazine at my place. "Holy smokes! That jerk would’ve gotten me whipped good if momma had found that! Oh, that boy is going down!" I said storming for the door.

She grabbed my arm, but I continued my rant. "I swear, since the day he was born, he's been getting me in trouble! That little creep is always playing momma's little angel who can do no wrong…"

"Devin…"

"Well, I've had it!"

"Devin!" she snapped at me. I looked down at my beautiful wife and saw the look of concern on her face. "Baby, listen to me. You need to let it go. You didn't get in trouble; your momma didn't find it."

"No, but you did, and that's just as bad if not worse, honey," I complained. I really wanted to get my brother back.

She let out a sigh. "Listen to me; you need to let it go. We have more important things to worry about right now."

"We do?" I asked confused.

"Yes, like how am I going to handle you going to work in a few months?"

"I already told you, honey. I'm fine with staying home."

"I know, but I'm not okay with you staying home. Devin, this is your job, I looked it up. First officer is not an easy position to get, you need to keep it."

She was right, but I didn't care if I lost my title and was knocked down a few pay grades as a ship hand, as long as she was happy.

"Hey, just don't worry about it. I got this money thing figured out," I said, hoping I truly did. We were really going to need that student loan.

She let out a sigh and sat back in her chair. "Fine, if you don't talk to me about it, then I'm going to have to do something about it myself."

"What are you talking about?"

"Devin, we need to be open. We're struggling as it is."

"We're struggling?" I asked panicked. Had I messed up?

"I'm a wreck, Devin, that can't be denied. I have to know I can trust you. You need to tell me your plan, so I can feel comfortable. If you do, then I'll help you get even with Clayton."

I raised an eyebrow at her in interest. "Really?"

"Yes, so what's the plan?"

"I was just going to get a student loan. We won't have to pay it while you're in school, and then hopefully, you'll be doing better in a few years, and I can take on a few ship runs and pay it off. I think if we live tight, we can live off of our savings and restaurant pay. Not to mention we don't know yet if you'll qualify for some grants as well. I'm not worried about the money, honey, so you shouldn't be, either," I said pulling her into my arms. I kissed her head, and she let out a sigh.

"Okay, that's all I wanted to know. I feel a lot better about it now. Thank you for talking to me," she said smiling at me. "Now, let's get even with Clayton."