Junior Year Box Set

“Define ‘serious.’ I don’t know. Besides Pam and Tracy, I would say I like Mona the best as a friend. I would think that would be a good start. She’s fun, and we converse fairly well. I’ve been told I only date cheerleaders, so she has that going for her,” I said with a smile.

“Do Mona and I need to talk?”

I understood what my mom was really asking me. If a girl might someday be more than just someone to date, Mom was famous for what Greg and I called, ‘putting her to the question.’ I think we were more nervous when she got up close and personal with one of our dates than they ever were. Somehow, we took the brunt of the interrogations. I would bet with my extended family here and my new family, it could be quite painful.

I just smiled and shook my head. I figured I had a fifty-fifty chance of surviving tonight.

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The afternoon practice was geared toward fundamentals. Preseason practice had been shortened by the HSAA starting this year, due to concerns for player safety. Hence, we only had two weeks to get ready for the first game. Of course, Coach Hope had run our butts off. I felt rather sorry for the players who hadn’t participated in our summer workouts because they struggled.

Before practice, I talked to Phil and filled him in on the plans for dinner tonight. I didn’t want to freak him out too much by not being prepared to meet the whole Dawson clan. Phil called his mom and confirmed the three of them would be happy to attend. I was curious who the third was, and he told me his dad. I don’t know why I would expect his mom to be single, but I had. I admitted to myself I would expect the mother of my child to not be with other men. It was my good fortune that neither my mom nor Tami was around to read my mind on that one.

After practice, I went straight home, following Mom’s orders, to help get ready. I found Peggy in my apartment, cleaning. She had just been here on Friday, her regular day. She was five or six months into her pregnancy and looked exhausted when I walked in.

“What did Mom do to you?” I asked.

“Nothing, I’m having a bad day is all. I ache all over, and my feet are killing me.”

“Stop what you’re doing and go take a hot shower. When you come out, I’ll give you a massage,” I ordered her. “Do you prefer the vanilla or lilac massage oil?”

I could tell Peggy wanted to, but something was holding her back. Finally, she seemed to relax and went to take her shower. While she did that, I terrorized my hound with the vacuum cleaner (i.e., I turned it on). Duke ran into his crate in a flash. I just shook my head at what a baby he was sometimes. I had to remember he wasn’t yet a year old, even if he looked like a small pony. His daddy was a big boy at nearly 90 pounds. Duke already tilted the scales at 62 pounds and was growing like a weed.

When I finished with the vacuuming, I found a big fluffy beach towel to put on my bed. I didn’t want to get massage oil on my comforter. Peggy came out, and I was surprised when she acted bashfully. Then it hit me: she was worried about me seeing her baby bump and expanded hips. I gave her a leer and waggled my eyebrows.

“You have never been more beautiful to me. May I kiss you?” I asked.

I must have said something wrong because Peggy burst into tears. Angie had done some crazy things like this when she had both Kyle and Nate. I had watched how Greg handled this. He didn’t say a word, just took Angie into his arms and let her cry it out. I put my arms out, and Peggy rushed into them.

Talk about horrible timing. When Peggy finally stopped crying, I turned and saw Mona leaning against my bedroom door with a neutral expression on her face. I guess if you just started dating someone and found a naked pregnant gal that your new guy had a history with crying in his arms, you might have an issue or two. I winked at Mona and rubbed Peggy’s butt. Either Mona accepted it, or we were done before we started.

“Hey, Peggy, how’ve you been?” Mona asked.

Peggy jerked her head off my chest and gave her a sheepish look.

“You want next? I’m giving out massages,” I offered.

“Sure, why not,” Mona said, which caused me to smile.

By the time Mona came out of her long hot shower, Peggy was putty in my hands and moaning. If you had only heard her, you would make some inappropriate assumptions.

“I hope David makes me feel as good as you sound,” Mona teased Peggy.

“Just wait, someday you’ll be pregnant and ache all over. You’ll be lucky if Magic Hands is around to make you feel better. Uh, yes, right there,” Peggy groaned.

When I finished with Peggy, Mona lay down next to her, because my first victim was sound asleep. Mona’s massage was a little more sexual. I think it might have gotten out of hand if my mom hadn’t called us to dinner over the intercom. Of course, I insisted that Peggy join us because Uncle John must have brought half a cow for us to eat tonight, so we had plenty of food.

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