Captured: Dreaming of home

© Copyright 2008 – 2009

Written by Banzai Ben

ben@banzaiben.com

 

Chapter 5 – Sniper School Tuesday 04 September 2007

 

Khudabah, Pakistan – Morning of day seven

 

It's finally starting to get light, and the damned rats are finally crawling back into their holes and dragging some of their dead buddies with them. The fucking towelheads will be back with the sunrise, bringing a new torture.

 

Those sick fuck bastards. They spent all yesterday raping some young woman, a white American aid worker they caught. They tied her down on a nasty bed in my room and took turns on her all day long. I think every man in this whole bumfuck town showed up. The worst of it was, last night, they left her tied up and the rats – well, it's not a pretty sight; they ate quite a bit of her.

 

 I’m glad that she had passed out by then and was spared the pain. Most of all, I’m glad that my Jens wasn't with me; I would die if she had gotten caught. If I ever get free (Now that's a joke; like that will ever happen) I’m going to kill every one of the bastards in this town.

 

Maybe I can bolster my mind against them with some good memories. Anything before they got their hands on me is a good memory.

 

Kaneohe Bay Hawaii – Tuesday Day Three

 

Jens and I had a wonderful evening. When I woke up in the morning, her back was pressed tightly against my front and as usual, I had a morning wood. It was sandwiched between my belly and her back.

 

She was already awake, and rolled to wink at me. “Good morning, my love. Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

 

I smiled. “Good morning, beautiful. That isn’t a pistol in my pocket, and I’m most definitely happy to see you. How’d you sleep, my love, and how do you feel?”

 

She yawned and stretched. “I feel wonderful. I can't believe last night. You took such good care of me, and then you even slept with me. You do know this is the first time I’ve ever slept with a man,” she winked at me.

 

I pulled her into a tight embrace. “It won't be the last time.”

 

Then I swatted her on the butt. “Time to get moving, lazy bones. I'm pretty much ready to go, so I’ll get breakfast this morning.”

 

“Can't you hold me just a little longer?” She asked, batting her violet eyes.

 

“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. You've already pulled this one on me, and if it was the evening, I might agree. But we have things to do today,” I answered.

 

She pouted. “You're such a slave driver!” Then she jumped up, letting the sheet fall to the floor. She was still nude underneath, and my eyes about popped out of my head.

 

“Like the view, big boy?” she teased, and ran off to her bedroom. I was glad that she left, because once again I had to adjust things.

 

I jumped up and went to take care of my quick morning duties and put the house back together. Breakfast wasn't going to be oatmeal today. Instead, I made vanilla-almond granola covered with yogurt; it's very tasty, and much faster to make.

 

Jens came skipping into the kitchen. “Good morning, darling. Thanks so much for making breakfast. Oh, this looks almost as yummy as you.” she hugged me and kissed my cheek. Then she swatted my butt. “Let's eat. I'm starving.”

 

During breakfast, she looked a little apprehensive and wasn't her normal talkative self.

 

I gave her a no-nonsense look. “Okay Jens, I can tell you have something on your mind, come on and spill it.”

 

She got this real worried look on her face, and wrinkled up her forehead. “Ben, my darling, my honey,” she began.

 

Uh-oh. I think this is going to be bad

 

“I didn't tell you everything about Daddy coming last night because I was worried you would be upset, and I didn't want to ruin the evening.” She took a deep breath. “Mom is also coming with him. They’re planning on us going dining and dancing with them tonight. They’ve already made the reservations at the Honolulu Star Sunset Dinner Cruise. I'm sorry, my love, but Mom wanted to meet you because I’ve told her all about you and my love for you.”

 

I let this information sink in for about three minutes. Jens grew more and more worried. Finally I opened my mouth. “My love, I have to say this is a big surprise. At first I was shocked and of course concerned, then I thought about it, and I’m looking forward to it. I think I need to tell both the General and your mother about my love for you and to get everything out in the open for at least them.

 

“This will not change the state of our current relationship; I still consider us 'married without all the benefits.' I promise you that by the end of the night, I’ll have convinced the General that our relationship is the right thing, and I will also have swept your mother off her feet. Semper Fidelis, my Jens.”

 

I must have said something right. She came over to me and sat in my lap, hugged me tight, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, my love. I was so worried that you would be upset and just take off.”

 

I gave her a stern look, “My love, I would never do that to you. However, I’m a little upset at you.”

 

Her eyes widened, and the tears started forming in the corners of them.

 

“Now don't go crying about this until you hear what I say.” I stroked her hair with one hand and gave her waist a squeeze with the other. “I promise you that I’ll be totally open and honest with you about everything, and I also expect the same from you. This is the only way that our ”marriage” will work. I’ll tell you anything and everything and I expect the same from you.

 

“You should have told me this last night and not held it in and worried about it. It hurts me to think that you didn’t trust me enough to know that I’d be able to deal with this.”

 

Well, I guess I said too much that time. Jens started crying. “I’m so, so, so, sorry. I didn't want to hurt you; I’ll never hurt you again. I promise I’ll tell you everything.”

 

I held her close and kissed away the tears. “Hey, it's okay. Come on, now, stop the tears. I have something to ask you, my love. It’s important, and I can't do it while you are crying.” Her tears stopped, and she sniffled a little. I stood up with her in my arms and sat her setting on it. Then, I got down on one knee in front of her and looked up into her eyes.

 

“Jens, I am formally asking you to go on a date with me tonight, to go dining and dancing with your parents.”

 

She jumped of the chair and grabbed me around the neck, hugging me tight and knocking us both back onto the kitchen floor. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I’d love to go dining and dancing with you tonight –,” She stopped, a bit abashed, and asked, “Oh, do you know how to dance?”

“Can pigs fly?” I replied. Mama loved to dance and made sure that I was an excellent dancer.  “Sergeant Donaldson, we need to get moving and do our PT this morning. Ten hut!”

 

Her jaw dropped a little, but her military training kicked in, and she jumped up and stood at attention.

 

I felt a little bad about doing that, but dammit, we needed to get going for the day. “Fall out and be ready to leave for the gym in five minutes.”

 

She saluted and skipped off to her room. But on her way out of the kitchen she called over her shoulder, “I can't wait to tell mom that we slept together last night,” and laughed.

 

Oh, no, she wouldn't really do that would she???

 

We ran over to the gym. I’d designated Tuesday for the back, biceps, and forearms. One thing I forgot to mention, when I am doing PT I usually wear some adhesive tape on both index fingers, being a sniper, I need to make sure that I can feel the trigger, so I can't afford to get calluses on them.

 

All my workouts consist of five one-minute sets (I don't keep track of the number of reps) with one minute of aerobics between sets.

 

The first exercise was bent-knee dead lifts, with an added move at the end. You bend from the waist, keeping your knees slightly bent slowly lowering the dumbbells to the floor, and then you slowly raise back up, making sure to keep your abdominal muscles tight so you don't hurt your back. When we reached the standing position, then we did a shoulder shrug trying to touch our ears with our shoulders. In between were jumping jacks.

 

Next, we did standing dumbbell upright rows. Standing with the dumbbells at our waist, we would slowly bring them up almost to our chins. The added move for this one is that once the dumbbell was at the chin, we pushed it out in front of us until our arms were straight, brought the weights back in, and slowly lowered them back to our waists to finish one rep. For our aerobics, we did cross knee raises – right knee to left elbow, and left knee to right elbow.

 

Bent-over dumbbell flies made the third exercise. First, we put our heads on a table or bench so our waists formed a ninety degree angle to our legs. Then, with the dumbbells hanging down towards the floor, slowly moved our arms outward until our arms were parallel to the floor, held that for one second, and tried to pinch our shoulder blades together. Then slowly back down for one rep. We did squat thrusts in between.

 

The last back exercise using weights was weighted back twists. We grabbed a weighted bar (a barbell would also work), stood with our feet slightly more than shoulder width apart, and rotated to the right and to the left. This is a good workout for the lower and mid back. We did lunges in between.

 

Then we switched to the functional exercises. The push up is the best functional exercise for the chest and triceps. Its counterpoint is the pull up for the back and biceps. I love doing pull ups.

 

First, we did normal grip pull ups, and I’m proud to say  I kicked butt on them. Normally, women don't have enough strength to do a decent pull up, but Jens did really well.

 

In between, we ran in place.

 

Then, we did hammer pull ups, where our hands faced ninety degrees from a normal pull up. This really isolates the bicep.

 

Then we kept the aerobics up by running in place again.

 

The last functional exercise I like to do is a climbing wall, but they didn't have one here. They did have a peg board, so we did that, and then more running in place in between.

 

Then, we moved back to the weights to finish off the biceps, starting with seated bicep curls using a blaster. In between, we beat the shit out of the heavy bag.

 

Next came standing hammer curls with more bag work in between.

 

All that was left then were the abdominals and the forearms. We did hanging leg lifts for the abs: hanging from a pull up bar, we slowly raised our legs to a ninety-degree angle to our body, then slowly lowered our legs back down for one rep. In between, we did windmills.

 

Last came the forearms. I am not sure what it’s called, and I think I saw it on a Raquel Welch western movie where she was raped and became a gunfighter to kill her rapists, but I have a piece of broom handle about one foot long. It has a hole in the middle with a rope running through it, and at the other end of the rope is a small piece of dowel. We put weight plates on the end with the dowel and then rotated the broom handle, cranking up the weights, then lowered it back down and cranked it up in the opposite direction. We just talked in between. I was lazy that day.

 

To finish off the hour, we did balance exercises on wobble boards. Jens was pretty bored on the wobble boards, so I started pushing her off.

 

“So, you think you're a big, tough Marine, do you,” she challenged. “Do this.” She grabbed a fitness ball, put one foot in the middle of it, and proceeded to stand on the ball, “Come on, big boy, and give it a try.”

 

I did, and really couldn't get the hang of it. She was laughing the whole time and egging me on. At least I didn't fall and break my butt.

 

“What's next, dear,” she asked.

 

“Oh, I was thinking that I don't want to get your muscles so sore that you can't dance tonight, so we’ll take a little swim over to Kahaluu point and back. I know the General and your mother are coming in this afternoon, and I figured you would want to meet them,” I said.

 

She smiled. “You’re so thoughtful. Thank you. I’ll call for our escort and tell them to meet us with a zodiac.”

 

Oh damn. I forgot about the fricken escort. I wonder if they will be with us tonight.

 

We met the escort ten minutes later and handed them our sidearms. They gave us each a pair of goggles, we jumped in Kaneohe Bay, and started swimming for the point. We swam freestyle for awhile, and then I started swimming a modified butterfly stroke that I like. The water was a little choppy, so it took us an hour and forty-five minutes to swim to the point and another hour and forty to swim back. The zodiac came up and gave us our sidearms, and took off.

 

Jens looked at her watch and said, “Oh, I have to hurry and get changed to meet Dad and Mom. I'll race you to the house. Last one there is a rotten egg.”

 

We beat feet to the house. Jens is a fast runner, but I’m just a bit faster. I slowed up right at the end so we finished together. We passed DI Anderson's platoon again, but we were going so fast that we didn't hear the insults this time.

 

As we unlocked the door, I remarked, “I guess I will do some reading this afternoon.”

 

Jens piped up, “Oh, no way, Mister. You’re coming with me to meet Dad and Mom. So get your ass moving and get into your dress blues.”

 

Oh crap, I thought I was going to have at least until tonight to get ready.

 

I went into my bathroom and gave myself a quick haircut – just a cheap pair of clippers set on an eighth of an inch and I am fine – and jumped into the shower. I touched up my shave from that morning and put on my dress blues. I figured that I would wear the evening dress uniform tonight. I arrived in the living room at the same time as Jens. I have never known a woman to get ready that fast. It has to be the USMC training.

 

I looked at her and said, “Damn, you sure clean up well, for a Marine,” and laughed.

 

She looked at me and replied, “Oh, damn. I forgot my underwear. Would you like to see?” She batted her eyelashes.

 

I thought about calling her bluff, but figured I’d have to rearrange something in my pants if I did. Luckily, the Humvee pulled up and saved my ass.

 

It's a big deal when the USMC General comes to any base. They usually have several weeks notice to prepare things. However, this was sort of a surprise visit. I’d heard that the BCO (Base Commanding Officer) had been chewing ass to get things ready, and the base looked great.

 

The Humvee dropped us at the heliport, and we took out place in the receiving line. The chopper was right on time, and as the door opened, the band started playing the Marine Hymn, and we all stood up a little straighter and a lot more proud. I’d never seen the General’s wife, and as he helped her off the chopper, I could tell where Jens got her good looks from; it certainly wasn't from the old man.

 

Because we were just lowly Non-Commissioned Officers, we were at the end of the line, and even though I outranked Jens, I put her ahead of me in the line as a sign of respect. The General came up, looked at me, and shook my hand. I gave him my best Recon shake.

 

He said, “Sergeant Major Blaine, it's good to meet you again. You are rapidly becoming a legend in the Corps. I look forward to talking with you later.”

 

His wife Evelyn was right behind him, she walked up to me and didn't hold her hand out right away. Instead, she looked me up and down her eyes noticing my two Silver Stars. She finally held out her hand for a shake. I took it gently, and then she squeezed the hell out of my hand while looking in my eyes with a friendly smile.

 

“What sort of half-assed handshake is that? I thought you were a Marine, but perhaps you’re a just another poser! ,” then laughed. “The General and I look forward to getting to know you better later tonight.”

 

I replied,“Thank you, Ma'am. I look forward to conversing and dancing with you,” and gave her one of my biggest smiles.

 

Finally, all the pomp and ceremony was over, and Jens asked me to wait a couple of minutes while she talked with her mother and the General.

 

She came back with a huge smile on her face. “Well, Marine, I don't know what you said to my mom, but she’s really impressed by you.”

 

We headed back to the house to change for the night. The General and his wife were going to stop by for cocktails, and then a limo would take us over for our Honolulu Star Sunset Dinner Cruise. Neither Jens nor I were very messy, so we tidied up the house a bit and dusted some, and I went in and changed into my evening dress uniform. As I came into the living room, Jens called from her bedroom, “Honey, can you come here a minute?”

 

I walked in and all she had on were a pair of thong panties. “Like what you see?” She laughed and winked at me.

 

“I don't think those are regulation USMC underwear,” I quipped as my face heated. The woman was going to put me in an asylum if she kept this up.

 

“Ah,” she replied, still standing there, all proud in her thong. “The General told me that I didn't need to wear my uniform tonight, so I am going civilian.”

 

“At least you're not going commando tonight,” I replied, reflecting that I really was getting better with the bantering. “Did you just bring me in here to torture me, my love, or did you need me to do something for you?”

 

“Oh, I almost forgot. Since I am a civilian tonight, I’m going to be a little late. Would you mind meeting Dad and Mom at the door and making them comfortable?”

 

I could smell that this had been planned, and probably for a good reason, so instead of being my usual hard-headed self, I said, “No problem. I’d love to do this for you,” and excused myself.

 

Once I got back to the living room, I wiped my brow and readjusted my pants. Damn, she had a fine body. I needed to simmer down before the General and his wife showed up, so I made sure that the ice bucket in the bar was full and that everything else was fine, and sat down to wait.

 

The general and his wife were right on time. I answered the door and made the apology for Jens telling them that she would be late, and asked them to please take a seat.

 

“Mrs. Donaldson, would you like a cocktail?” I asked in my most polite tone of voice.

 

“Please call me Evelyn. I would love a cosmopolitan if you know how to make one.”

 

I smiled. “Sorry, Ma'am, but I was raised to be respectful, and I wouldn't feel comfortable at this juncture calling you Evelyn. One cosmopolitan, coming right up. General, Sir, what may I offer you?”

 

“Do you have any bourbon, son?” he replied.

 

“We have a bottle of Knob Creek; it's very nice full-bodied hundred-proof bourbon without much sweetness” I replied.

 

“Sounds good. Please give me two fingers, straight, no ice,” the general requested.

 

I mixed Mrs. Donaldson's cosmopolitan and also one for Jens, then poured them into martini glasses and garnished each of them with a lime slice, a fresh strawberry, and a blackberry. I handed her both of the drinks and asked, “If you wouldn't mind, could you please take this to Jens? She’s in her bedroom.”

 

“Thank you, Ben. It was most thoughtful of you to make one for Jens. I’ll take it to her now,” Mrs. Donaldson said with a smile. I noticed that she had violet eyes, too.

 

I sat two highball glasses on the bar and poured two fingers into each.

 

The general came over and picked his up. “Thanks Ben. Semper Fi.” He gulped it down.

 

“Orraaahhh!” I replied.

 

“That's damn fine bourbon, Ben. How about a refill,” he suggested.

 

I filled both of the glasses.

 

“Let's go out on the patio, Ben,” said the general.

 

We walked out on the patio and stood looking at the bay for a few minutes in silence before the General broke the ice.

 

“Ben, how do you like the house that we had the BCO assign you?”

 

“Sir, it's the best housing I’ve had on any base. I feel guilty because I’m sure that an officer and his family should be living here. I really wouldn't mind staying in the barracks,” I said respectfully.

 

“Jens told me you would say that,” he said. “And how’s my daughter working out as your new spotter?”

 

“Sir, at first I was concerned about having her as my spotter, but after shooting yesterday, I have to say that she’s best spotter I’ve ever worked with.”

 

“Ben, I am going to level with you because you deserve it. She’s been on my ass for ten years to be your spotter. She started when she was twelve years old, and not a single damned day has gone by when we’ve been home together that she hasn't asked me to be your spotter. She’s stubborn and hard headed and is used to getting her way.

 

“Shit, I guess she was always Daddy's girl, and I’ve spoiled her. And now I see her, and she’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her, and it has only been four days. Evelyn and her talk on the phone all the time, and Evelyn demanded that we come here and meet you.

 

“We thought that she was infatuated with you and that after she met you it would change – shit, after reading your service record, I would have bet money on that – but apparently we were both wrong. Jens is now totally in love with you. So Ben, I’m asking you now not as your General, but as a father: what are your intentions with my little girl?” the general waited for my answer.

 

“Sir, may I address you as Jens's father and not the General?” I asked. He looked at me through his glass, obviously impressed.

 

“Go ahead, Ben. I started this.”

 

“I find this hard to believe myself, because other than the Leadville race, I’ve only known Jens four days. But during those four days, I’ve grown to respect Jens for the incredible person that she is. I’ve been amazed at how she faces life and any obstacle that might be in her way. She’s more determined than any person I’ve ever met.

 

“She had a plan to meet me and to sweep me off my feet and make me love her. Remember I’ve only ever loved my parents. But amazingly enough, she has done exactly that. She’s made me love her. I love her like no person I’ve ever loved before, and when the time is right, and with yours and your wife's blessing, I plan on marrying her.” I straightened my spine. “Now I feel as if I need to address you as my general. Might I continue?” I asked.

 

“Please do, Ben. I think this should be interesting,” The General smiled.

 

“General, Sir, the first thing I want you to know is that there hasn’t been and will not be any inappropriate behavior between us. We do both have desires, but we are Marines first, Sir, and we will uphold the honor of the Corps. The best way we have found to describe our relationship is that we are a 'married couple without benefits.'

 

”We know that if we were to give into our carnal desires, it would ruin us as a team, and as a team we’re much more valuable to the Corps.

 

“However, Sir, I have one major concern that I’d like to address: because Jens is your daughter, I’m worried that you will try to modify our assignments to keep her safe. I’d like to say that life, itself, is not safe, and I feel that when it’s a person's time to die, they will die. I will add that if Jens thinks that you’re shielding her, she will raise some hell. You have my word as a Marine that I’ll do everything in my power to keep her safe on any missions that we’re assigned to. I’d gladly give up my life for hers,” I looked at the General to see his response.

 

He took his last drink of bourbon and started laughing. “Son, you’ve made me a happy man. Not only have you finally tamed my daughter, I also just won certain privileges from my wife. She bet that you two had done the deed by now, and she was wrong. I can only imagine that Jens is driving you crazy, and to be truthful, you would have my blessing if you did.”

 

I looked the General in the eyes I said, “Sir, she’s worth waiting for. I want our first time together to be our wedding night.”

 

“Damn. You’re one fine, upstanding young man – a real tribute to the Marines, and very much worthy of marrying my little girl,” the general said as he hugged me, leaving me a bit flabbergasted. “Welcome to the family, Son.”

 

The General put his arm around my shoulder, and we walked back in the house. Jens and her mother were sitting on the couch talking. As we came in Jens looked up and saw her dad with his arm around my shoulder.

 

She jumped up and ran over to me and gave me a big hug, and then she hugged her dad, squealing, “I love both of you.”

 

I hugged her and then stood back to look at her. “You look stunning tonight, my love.” Her little black dress that was tight in all the right places, and she had added a nice string of pearls, sexy high-heel shoes, and the fishnet stockings that I had given her.

 

She twirled and said, “You really like it? I wore it just for you. These are the fishnet stockings that you bought me.”

 

I got The Look from Mrs. Donaldson until Jens told them the story about having to run to the NCO club without shoes and ruining her hose. By the end, we were all laughing.

 

The limo came for our ride to the dinner and dancing. While we were driving over Jens whispered in my ear, “Don't worry about Mom. She really likes you. I want to know all about what you and dad talked about; it looks like it went really well.” she was beaming.

 

“I'm sorry; you’re not cleared to know what we talked about. If I told you, I would have to kill you,” I smiled. She elbowed me in the side for that.

 

Dinner was incredible, but I don't remember anything about the food. All during the meal Jens was as animated as I’d ever seen her. I didn't think that she could talk that much or that fast, and it was all about me. Ben did this for me, Ben said this . . .

 

She even told them all about the night before, including the massage, and how I was a perfect gentleman and slept beside her on the floor in my clothes. It went on all during the meal and by the end of the meal, I felt naked.

 

When the meal was over, it was time to dance. I looked over at Jens. “My one and true love, will you dance with me?”

 

Next thing I knew we were on the floor, holding each other close and swaying in time to the music. Jen’s head was on my shoulder and she whispered in my ear, “Wow, you're a really good dancer. You must have danced with a lot of women to get this good.”

 

I whispered back, “My mother loved to dance and she started teaching me as soon as I could walk.”

 

“My love, dance with mom next. It's your turn to convince her,” Jens asked.

 

The dance ended and we headed back to the table. Jens said, “Daddy, will you dance with me?”, and she took off with the general in tow.

 

I held out my hand. “Mrs. Donaldson, might I have this dance with you?”

 

We walked out to the dance floor, and the band started playing a waltz. “We can skip this waltz if you want, Ben,” she said. “They’re hard to dance to. Glen (the General's first name) will never dance waltzes with me.”

 

“Then I would be honored to waltz with you.” I took her into my arms.

 

She was an even better dancer than Jens, and I could tell she was impressed with my dancing. “Where did you learn to dance like this?” she asked. “Most young men have no idea what to do on the dance floor.”

 

I repeated the story about my mother teaching me to dance at an early age. The waltz ended and she said, “Oh, a slower one. Shall we dance one more together?”

 

This dance didn't require as much attention and was much better for talking.

 

Mrs. Donaldson started the conversion. “Well, young man, you certainly have my daughter in love with you.”

 

“I know. It has been very fast, but I can assure you that the feeling is mutual,” I replied.

 

“Glen was very impressed by the conversation that you had with him. I never thought I would see the day come when he would feel comfortable with Jens being in a relationship. She has always been a daddy's girl. I thought that he would have much more trouble giving her up.” She spoke seriously to me.

 

“I told him honestly that I love Jens more than anyone in the world. That when the time is right and with yours and his blessing, I plan on marrying her. And most importantly, I assured him that nothing inappropriate has happened or will happen between us. I told him the first time that we will make love will be our wedding night because she is worth waiting for,” I answered.

 

“I’m very impressed with you, and I’m going to tell you a little something about Jens. Do you know she has been in love with you for ten years?” I looked at her, dumbfounded, and shook my head. She continued. “You’ll have to see her room at home; it is a tribute to you. She has your picture everywhere, she has every article in the newspaper there has ever been about you, and she even carries your picture in her wallet.”

 

I grew more and more astonished as she continued. “Every night after she prayed before bed, she would kiss your picture on her nightstand and say, 'Goodnight, my husband.' She never went on a date until tonight. You’re her first, and you will be her first in many ways.

 

“However, I do want to give you a warning: she is my little girl, and I love her with all my heart. I don't think that you would ever hurt her, but if you ever do, know that I’ll cut off your balls and make you eat them.” Evelyn was deadly serious. She needed to know that I was, too.

 

I looked into her eyes and replied, “If I ever hurt her, I’ll give you my Kabar so that you can do exactly that.”

 

The dance ended and she gave me a huge hug, “Son, you’re an exceptional young man. I can't wait for you to be my son-in-law and give us some grandchildren.”

 

I kissed her on the cheek and said, “You’ll make a wonderful and lovely grandmother. I can see where Jens gets her beauty.”

 

We walked back to the table and spent some time talking until the band played a fast Lambada¹, and I looked at Jens and said, “Dance with this Devil Dog in the pale moonlight.”

 

The whole table chuckled at that one, and we burnt up the dance floor.

 

On the last dance of the night, Jens clung to me with her head on my shoulder. “Tonight has been so wonderful I wish that it never had to end,” Jens said with tears in her eyes.

 

The music ended, and I held her close to me, looking deeply into those violet eyes. Then I bent forward and kissed her on the lips – our first real kiss at the end of our first real date.

 

We got home from the Honolulu Sunset Dinner Cruise after midnight, so technically it was Wednesday. After we got in the house I held Jens and kissed her again and said, “Goodnight, my love. Thank you for the wonderful night.”

 

“Ben, this was the best night of my life.” She nuzzled my neck. “Both of my parents love you.”

 

“Do you know that they both called me 'Son'?” I was still a bit amazed.

 

She jumped up on me wrapping her legs around me holding me tight and gave me a smoldering kiss. “Ben, I don't want to sleep alone tonight. I don't want to ever sleep alone again. Please sleep with me tonight and every night. I promise I’ll be good and not tease you – well, not very much. I’ll even wear my flannel PJ's.”

 

How can you say no when a beautiful woman wants you to sleep with her? I guess we really are a married couple without benefits. Instead of sleeping, we spent the wee hours of the morning engaged in pillow talk. I told her everything that I said to her parents, earning me multiple kisses, and she told me what her parents had said about me.

 

We fell asleep holding each other close.