I.

Lucy looked around the living room of the apartment. It was starting to come along, but she still had boxes of things that needed to be unpacked, especially in the kitchen.

Ricky had helped her as much as he could, but he was in and out, running to rehearsals and then back again for his performances at night. Married only a week, Lucy was very happy, but also had moments of loneliness when he was out of the house.

She picked up a vase that was sitting in tissue paper just inside one of the boxes. She placed it on top of the mantle and looked at it, head tilted. As she stared at it, she heard a knock on the door.

Hopping over a bit of debris near her on the floor, she made her way to the door and opened it. She smiled when she saw Mrs. Mertz, the landlady, in the hall. "Good morning, Mrs. Mertz, won't you come in?"

"Good morning, but I told you to call me Ethel!" Ethel wandered into the living room and looked around.

"Of course, I'm sorry," Lucy was suddenly embarrassed of the way the room looked. "Please excuse the mess, we're still unpacking…"

Ethel waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. My husband couldn't care less as long as the rent's on time." She smiled. "Actually, I came up to see if I could help you with anything. I noticed that your husband isn't here too much. What does he do again?"

Lucy smirked, immediately recognizing Ethel's nosy nature. The cost of accepting the help was that her landlady would learn more her marriage. But Lucy appreciated the company and besides, there wasn't much to tell yet; she was still learning about her marriage, herself.

"Thank you, I could use the help." Lucy withdrew a few folded tablecloths from one of the open boxes. "Ricky is a bandleader…at the Tropicana Club. Have you heard of it?"

Ethel picked up a bowl that had been sitting on the desk and turned it over in her hands. "A bandleader! Well! No, I never heard of the Tropicana Club, but he never mentioned to us that he was in show business!"

Lucy bit her lower lip. She knew that Ricky had been intentionally vague about his career when he rented the apartment. The landlords that he'd encountered were not crazy about show people and their reputation for being loud and messy. "Oh…well…yes, but we promise, we're just normal people…"

Ethel laughed. "Oh, you don't understand! My husband and I used to be in show business ourselves! We were in Vaudeville, we toured all over the country!"

Lucy relaxed. "Oh! My, that must've been exciting. How did you come to be landlords of a building?"

Ethel lifted a large pot out of one of the boxes and started for the kitchen. "Well, you know, Vaudeville started going out of fashion and we weren't getting any younger. So Fred invested in the building and thought that renting out the apartments would be a good way to make money."

Lucy followed her into the kitchen, carrying the tablecloths. She giggled quietly. "Maybe someday Ricky will be able to be around the house more. It must be nice to have your husband home with you all the time…"

Ethel laughed heartily. "Oh, you're on your honeymoon!"

"What do you mean?"

Ethel put a hand on her hip and smiled at her young tenant. "Wait'll you're married for a few years! You want him around now. When they retire, you wish there was a way to get rid of them!"

"Why?" Lucy leaned against the counter, feeling as though she'd been punched in the gut.

Ethel crossed her arms. "Oh, Fred's always hanging around takin' a nap or wondering where his lunch or his dinner is. When he's awake, he's a grouch and when he's asleep, he snores. And for all I do, you'd think I could buy a new dress once in a while, but he pinches a penny until it cries!"

Lucy scowled. "Well, Ricky's not like that. He's wonderful!"

"He's wonderful now! He had to hook you somehow. Just wait."

Lucy turned to tuck the tablecloths into a drawer, troubled. She turned suddenly when a loud knock came upon the back door.

"Oh, it's Fred," Ethel declared, sounding disgusted. She opened the door and he stuck his head in.

"Hello, Mrs. Ricardo," he greeted Lucy before turning to Ethel. "Are you up here gabbin' and bothering this poor girl?"

"I'm not botherin' her, I'm helpin' her!"

"No you're not, you're pumpin' her for information. It's almost time for lunch, I'm hungry!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'."

"Bah!" Fred turned and walked back out.

Ethel turned to Lucy, who had watched their interaction with wide eyes. "See? I told you! I'll see you later, honey. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

Lucy watched her exit the back door. "Thank you, Mrs….Ethel," she called after her.

She was thoughtful for a few moments, wondering if Ricky really would become like Fred after a few years. She was shaken out of her thoughts by Ricky's voice as he entered the front door, calling her.

Lucy walked out to the living room, still a bit troubled by Ethel's words.

Ricky smiled broadly when he saw her and drew her into his arms. "How's my beautiful bride?"

Lucy forced a smile. "Fine!"

He looked at her skeptically, not fooled by the tone of her voice and the false smile. "What's wrong?"

She looked at him and exhaled slowly as she ran her hands along his arms. Right at that second, she didn't care if he demanded that she put lunch on the table, as long as she could go on touching him and looking at him. But she shook herself out of her reverie long enough to answer him. "Oh, Ethel Mertz came up for a visit."

Ricky shrugged. "So? She seems nice enough…isn't she?"

"Yes! A little nosy, maybe, but very pleasant. Well…to me, anyway. It seems like her and Mr. Mertz don't get along so well."

He laughed. "Well, honey, Fred Mertz seems like a rough guy, but I'm sure they get along fine in their own way."

Lucy looked down at the floor. "Maybe. But Ethel seemed to think that after a few years, you and I wouldn't be so happily married. That maybe you'd be like Fred."

Ricky perched on the arm of the couch. "What do you think?"

She smiled at him. "I told her that you weren't like that. I told her you're wonderful."

"Dun't you believe it?"

Lucy thought about his question for a moment and she suddenly felt silly for being so troubled because yes, she did believe it. She nodded.

He motioned for her to come closer to him again and she obliged slowly. She closed her eyes as he leaned over to kiss her neck and she started to feel the now familiar, warm sensation between her thighs.

Ricky's voice was soft as he spoke to her between kisses. "Honey…I dun't know what it's like to be married, either…" He laughed softly against her neck, the soft vibration of the act nearly sending her to her knees. "I was never married before…so I guess we'll learn how to do it together…but I dun't think I'm like Fred Mertz…do you?"

"No," Lucy managed to respond. "I didn't realize what time it was, though, so I didn't make lunch yet."

Ricky smiled as he nipped her ear with his teeth. "Tengo hambre, pero no para la comida."

She giggled. "Huh?"

He responded by nimbly undoing the small buttons down the front of her shirt.

"Oh," she said quietly.

Ricky moved suddenly and picked her up, carrying her over his shoulder. Lucy laughed and hit his back playfully. "Where are you taking me? Ricky!"

"Not to the kitchen."

She continued to laugh as he carried her to their bedroom, where he lowered her to the bed and hovered over her.

"Ricky, this place is a mess, I need to finish un-" Lucy couldn't remember her words as Ricky left impassioned kisses on her breasts, tugging the lacey bra away. "I need…I…"

She whimpered softly as he continued to leave kisses and brush the tip of his tongue against her stomach. He pulled the little capri slacks down from her hips and moved his kisses to the inside of her thigh. "I had a lot of…things to do today…Ricky…"

Ricky again hovered on top of her, dipping his hand into her lace panties and rubbing his fingers over her moist, throbbing center. "So do I." He pulled the panties away and she quickly allowed him between her thighs.

Lucy hurriedly pulled his shirt over his head and immediately lost control of her hands, flying around his chest and down his smooth back before returning to his stomach and tugging open the pants that separated her from receiving the long length of him.

He groaned happily as she took him into her hands, lowering his lips to gently tug on one of her raspberry nipples. Trying to guide his thickness into her, Lucy raised her knees around him.

Ricky smiled, still kissing her breasts. "I'm sorry, you have thin's to do, dun't you? I could stop if you want."

She gasped as he felt his tip quivering dangerously close to her. "Oh, Ricky, please!"

His smile grew broader, his young wife's pleas heightening his excitement. Very deliberately, he brushed her ready entrance with his stiffened erection just enough to cause every nerve in her body to scream with pleasure. His hot breath again came against her neck as he whispered to her. "What happened to my nervous, blushin' bride? She isn't nervous anymore…now she begs me."

Lucy gasped helplessly, her hands running down the ripples of his back. Ricky felt the electricity of her touch on his skin and could no longer hold himself back from her.

He penetrated her fully, the sweet, wet walls of her womanhood surrounding him and accepting him, yet still tight from having recently surrendered her virginity to him.

She cried out with the release of desperation to feel him inside of her, pulling him closer to her as his persistent strokes continued.

Not allowing his erection to leave her for a moment, Ricky rolled underneath her and positioned her on top of him, allowing her to control his movements. His eyes watched her movements as she lowered herself into him rhythmically, feeling herself climbing toward her peak as the length and breadth of him struck her very core of ecstasy. His hands caressed the skin over her stomach and climbed to cup her breasts. "Ven por mi, mi belleza…"

With that, he thrust upward into Lucy, drawing from her a cry of unrestrained orgasm. It was followed shortly after with the impassioned release of the fruit of Ricky's desire into her. He lingered inside her as she lowered herself to settle against his chest, his heart pounding recklessly against her cheek.

As his body slowed to a calm, Ricky wrapped his arms around her and lowered her beside him, kissing her forehead as she landed gently on the pillow.

Lucy gazed into his soft, golden brown eyes and smiled. "I'm sorry I took what Ethel said so seriously. I can't imagine spending one day out of the rest of my life without you."

Ricky's hand brushed the side of her face and his fingers disappeared into the sea of red curls flowing over the pillow beneath them. "Lucy, sweetheart, I dun't think anyone's gonna ever understand our marriage except for us…"