As Time Goes By

Chapter 21

A golden glow softly frames the Hillwood skyline as the sun lazily begins to mark off the start of yet another day. Off in the distance a lone Song Sparrow calls out to any prospective mate within earshot. The cloudless sky fades from black to what will end up being a brilliant blue come the height of the morning, signifying that spring is not too far off.

The streets below begin to come alive as graveyard shift commuters cross paths with their morning replacements. The first scents of cinnamon and brown sugar waft their way through the downtown area as the bakeries fire up their ovens in preparation of the morning rush.

A lone paperboy rides down Vine Street, flinging the morning's Hillwood Examiner deftly onto the top step of the boarding house stoop. It hits the door with a soft thud that goes unnoticed by the building's inhabitants.

From upstairs the shrill blare of an alarm clock beckons those that lay slumbering to wake up and join the others that have already started their day.

With a grumble, Helga nudges her husband in his ribs, hoping that he will get the message and stop the infernal racket that is the clock's alarm. When her efforts prove ineffective, she reaches over his still body, unceremoniously putting an end to the noise herself.

She gives her sleeping husband another nudge while calling out his name. "Arnoldo, it's time to wake up."

He buries his face deeper into his pillow, causing his words to come out muffled. "Idunwantto."

She rolls to face him, and pokes at him again. "Come on, Arnoldo, you're going to be late."

Resigning himself to the inevitable, he lifts his head and whines. "I don't want to get up."

He reminds her of the childhood boy that she fell in love with, and she smiles at him while running her fingers through his hair. "I know you don't, Arnoldo, but you've run out of paternity leave and you're due back at work this morning. Besides, you don't want to let your fan club down, do you? I'm sure they've been anxiously awaiting your return."

He lets out a huff and grabs her around her waist, pulling her close. He nuzzles just under her ear while replying. "Heh, I doubt I've been missed that much. Like they say, out of sight, out of mind."

She continues to run her fingers through his hair while leaning into his nuzzles. "Well, regardless, the alarm's gone off and if you don't get into the shower soon you're going to be late. Plus, I doubt very highly that you want Dunn coming down on your case on your very first day back, right?"

His hand moves from her waist to her breast as he rubs his groin across the silkiness of her nightgown, causing his breath to become heavy with lust. "Not to change the subject, but how much longer until you see your doctor again? This waiting is killing me."

She reaches down and begins stroking him, the feel of his hardened member in her hand stirs up an arousal of her own which intensifies when he moves his hand from her breast and slips it between her legs. Parting her legs, she swallows a lump that has formed in her throat and croaks out a breathless "Just two more weeks and then I should get the all clear."

He covers her mouth with his, whatever reply he had for her getting lost in their kiss. All worries about being late for work are now tossed aside as they match each other stroke for stroke. She reaches her climax first, her grip tightening on him as her orgasm builds. He knows her body like the back of his hand, and knows exactly where to rub to send her over the edge and it isn't long before she's calling out his name, begging him not to stop.

With her urges properly satisfied, she is now free to concentrate just on him. Pushing him onto his back, she spreads his legs apart and positions herself between them. Not wanting to waste any time, she takes him into her mouth where, unlike the last time, she is able to pleasure him uninterrupted. He tangles his fingers into her hair and thrusts his hips upwards so her mouth can fully engulf him. They fall into a rhythm of her bobbing her head up and down while he thrusts deeper into her mouth.

He throws his head back while tightening his grip on her hair and she can tell that he is close to losing it. After a few more thrusts he lets out a long "Ohhhh Gooood!" And she knows that it's time. With perfect timing, she lifts her head, removing him from her mouth. She still holds on tightly to him and begins to stroke him faster until he can't hold out any longer. With one last thrust, he lets go, filling her hand with his warm seed that now acts as a lubricant, allowing her hand to smoothly slide up and down him.

When he's done he continues to lay on his back, his chest heaving from the exertion of giving in to their morning lust for each other. After taking a moment to regain her wits, she sits up and reaches for the box of tissues she keeps on her night table. She hands him a few before grabbing some for herself, and begins drying off her hand.

Once she's relatively cleaned up, she looks down at him and smiles. "Well, if you weren't late before, you definitely are now."

He chuckles up at her and smiles. "Oh, well, it wouldn't be a normal day at work if Dunn wasn't after me for one thing or another."

She reaches out and ruffles his hair while bending down to drop a kiss to his forehead. "Well, you can lay there if you want, but it will be Phillip's turn to get up next, and if I know him he'll be hungry for breakfast. So, unlike you, I don't have the liberty to wallow in bed."

Figuring that he really shouldn't put things off too much longer, he pushes himself out of bed. Slipping on a robe, he follows her out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. She gives her hands a good scrubbing before brushing her hair out and putting it into a ponytail.

He adjusts the shower water to just the right temperature and narrows his eyes at her. "You know, there's room for two in here. If you're interested that is."

She shakes her head at his offer, marveling at his stamina. "Sorry, Mr. Libido, but I have breakfast to make."

He gives her a fake pout and climbs into the shower. "Suit yourself, but don't say I never offer."

She leaves him to finish his shower and gives a quick peek into the nursery. With Joy still fast asleep, she silently closes the door and heads up to Phillip's room. Opening the door she gives Mr. Cheezy's cage a wide berth as she walks past it to get to her son's bed. He pokes his head out of the opening to the hanging pineapple house and gives his whiskers a twitch. She gives the rodent a side glare, keeping her eye on him as she passes.

After safely reaching Phillip's bed, she sits down next to the boy and gently strokes his cheek as she quietly calls his name. "Hey, Phillip, it's time to wake up."

In the morning light the boy is the spitting image of his father at this age, and it warms Helga's heart to look at him. With her first attempt falling on deaf ears, she gives him a small nudge now and tries again. "Hey, Sleepyhead, it's time to wake up. Come on Phillip, we don't want to be late for school."

Just like his dad, Phillip buries his face in his pillow. "Just a few more minutes, Mommee, okays?"

Knowing better than to trust the boy to only take a FEW minutes, she tries a third time. "Not this time, Phillip, you've lingered long enough. Besides, isn't today Show and Tell Day?"

Remembering that today is the day he can finally bring his Galaxycruiser in for all his friends to see, he quickly sits up. "Oh yeah, I forgots! Gerry's going to bring in his Transformer, it's almost three feet tall! And Otto said he's going to bring in a real live metal detector from when his daddee was overseas. We're going to take it out to the playground at recess and see if we can find any buried treasures!"

Helga thinks back to the old playground at Urban Tots and thinks it would be quite a hoot if Phillip were to find any trinkets from when she and Arnold attended there. Getting up from the bed, she walks over to Phillip's dresser and pulls out a pair of clean underwear. She tosses them onto the bed. "Here, be sure that you put on clean underpants this time before getting dressed. When you're finished, come down to the kitchen for breakfast. Okay?"

Phillip rips off his pajama bottoms and quickly slips into the pair of clean underpants. "Okays, Mommee, I will."

Satisfied, she gives Mr. Cheezy one last glare before leaving the room. The rat has come out of his pineapple now and sits on a shelf, where he can get a good view of the grumpy human as she leaves the room.

Once back in the hallway, Helga smiles when she passes the bathroom. The sound of Arnold's voice mixes with the rush of the shower as he belts out the tune of an old Dino Spumoni song. She remembers when Arnold and Gerald preformed the song back when they were in the 4th grade, and how handsome he looked up on stage. As she watched him she'd pretended that he was singing that song directly to her, even though she knew that it was most likely Ruth McDougal that he really had in mind. Pushing the memory aside, she concentrates now on getting breakfast on the table before Joy decides to wake up.

Xxxxx

Arnold uses the last of his toast to sop up the remaining bit of egg yolk that sits on his plate. Looking at the clock he sees that if he leaves right now he should make it to work in just enough time to grab a quick mug of coffee before heading to his office. Throwing his napkin onto the table, he gets up and grabs his brief case. He drops a quick kiss onto the top of Phillip's head, reminding him to be good at school before walking up to his wife.

Helga leans her cheek out for him to kiss and is unable to refrain from getting in a quick dig. "I told you that you shouldn't have wasted so much time lounging in bed."

He narrows his eyes at her, giving her a dig of his own. "I'd hardly call what we did lounging."

A flush rises in her cheeks as she glances towards Phillip, who picks up on his father's words. "What did you and Mommee do, Daddee?"

Arnold gives Helga a mischievous smile as he heads for the door. "I'm late for work, Philly, why don't you ask your mother. I'll see you guys this afternoon. Love you."

Helga glares at the door as Arnold disappears through it. A curious Phillip asks his question once again. "What did you and Daddee do that mades him late, Mommee?"

Helga struggles to come up with an answer and lets out a sigh of relief when Joy's voice comes over the baby monitor. She quickly seizes the opportunity for a quick escape and yells over her shoulder as she leaves the room. "Sorry, Phillip, but I need to go get Joy. Bring your dishes to the sink when you're through, and then go get ready for preschool."

With his question already gone from his mind, Phillip takes his last bite of egg and leaves the kitchen, forgetting all about taking his plate to the sink.

xxxxx

Arnold slows the Packard down as he rounds the turn into the high school parking lot. He takes in the familiar surroundings, noticing a small group of girls that stand next to an old Honda Civic. Recognizing their favorite teacher's car, the girls are quick to call out with shouts of welcome back, as they enthusiastically wave. He gives a nod of his head, acknowledging to the girls that he sees them, and continues on to the section of the lot that is reserved for teachers and other staff members.

He spies the ornate design of what he like to refer to as Jackie's old 70's hippie van, and watches as its owner gets out of it. With no place else to park, he pulls up alongside the van and grabs his briefcase and thermos. He cringes slightly at Jackie's greeting. "Marco! Welcome back, how was your leave?"

He's long since given up on trying to get Jackie to stop calling him by the nickname she's given him, and is glad that at least no one else has picked up on the habit too. The two talk as they make their way towards the school. "Hi, Jackie. My leave was good, but too short. I could have used another month."

There's a peppy little skip to Jackie's walk that matches the enthusiasm of her speech. "Aw, I bet it must be hard to leave that precious little girl so soon. I have to tell you, I don't know when I've seen two cuter kids then those rascals of yours. And how is Phillip? Has he taken to the role of big brother?"

Arnold thinks about the way Phillip dotes over his little sister and nods his head. "You know, he really has. He's really been a big help to Helga."

Reaching the steps to the school, Jackie stops when they've reached the top and turns to face Arnold. "Well, this is where we part ways, I have a couple of tests that I haven't finished grading yet and I think if I hurry to my classroom I should have just enough time to finish them. You have a good day, Marco, and I'll see ya around."

She's gone before Arnold even has a chance to say good-bye which is okay by him. Turning to the right, he makes his way to the teacher's lounge, happy to find it empty. Filling his thermos with hot coffee, he sits down on the old, worn couch and lets his mind drift. He thinks about the last time he returned from maternity leave, and the new teacher that had started while he was away. He hopes and prays that nothing like that has happened this time while he was away.

From there his mind wanders to earlier in the morning, and his breathing picks up a bit as he thinks about how good Helga's mouth felt on him. He gets so lost in thought that he doesn't notice that someone has joined him in the room. He gives a little jump at Gerald's voice. "Hey, Earth to Arnold. Are you in there?"

Gerald waves a hand in front of Arnold's face, breaking his train of thought. Arnold blinks a few times to clear his head before looking at his friend. "Oh, hi Gerald. Sorry, I guess I got a little lost in thought there."

Gerald sits down next to his friend and shakes his head. "Heh, that's putting it mildly. So what had you so enthralled that you didn't even hear me come in?"

A blush rises on Arnold's cheeks, giving himself away. "Oh, uh, it was nothing. I was just thinking about something that happened this morning."

Gerald gives him a knowing smirk. "Oh yeah? Are you and Helga finally back at it?"

Arnold is quick to shake his head. "No, not like what you're thinking. We were, uh, doing other stuff."

Gerald raises one eyebrow. "Other stuff? Well it must have been good with the way you were staring off into space."

Arnold furrows his brow. "Yeah, it was okay, I guess. Not as good as the real thing of course, but still good."

"Well, it's already been a month, how much longer do you have to wait?"

"Helga goes back to the doctor in two weeks and should get the all clear by then."

"Uh oh." Gerald says while giving his friend a worried look.

Confused by his friend's reaction Arnold furrows his brow at him. "What's with the look?"

"Arnold, my man, don't you know what's coming up in two weeks?"

Arnold thinks ahead but can't come up with anything. "No, what's in two weeks?"

Gerald slowly shakes his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, I'm not surprised that you wouldn't know what holiday is coming up. I mean, not everyone can be as suave and romantic as me."

Still in the dark, Arnold tries again to get an answer out of Gerald. "Well then, Rico Suave, do you mind filling me in?"

"Oh, it's nothing big, just a little thing called Valentine's Day is all. Man, Arnold, Helga is probably going to expect you to make some grand gesture what with Valentine's Day being the day you two can finally get back to knocking boots together."

Arnold thinks about it for a moment, wondering if what Gerald says is true. "Nah, I don't think so, Gerald. Helga doesn't get caught up in things like Valentine's Day. At least she never really has in the past."

"Yeah, but Valentine's Day has never fallen after a long hiatus from sex. Man, Arnold, I'm telling ya, she's going to be expecting something big out of you." Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of the first warning bell. Gerald gets up and heads for the door. "Anyway, you'd better think of something big so you don't disappoint her. I'll see ya at lunch."

Arnold watches the door close behind Gerald and he runs his friend's words through his mind. Is Helga really going to be expecting something big this Valentine's Day? He decides that he knows his wife better than Gerald does, and brushes off his words of warning.

Gathering up his stuff, he heads to his office, putting his conversation with Gerald behind him.

xxxxx

Helga leans back against the headboard of their bed as she nurses Joy to sleep. She hums a quiet lullaby while she smooths down her daughter's baby fine hair. The act annoys Joy and she kicks her feet while letting out a small grunt of displeasure. Helga softly chuckles at her daughter's display. "Alright, criminy, I won't play with your hair anymore. Sheesh."

Arnold rolls to his side to look at the two. "What's wrong, you do something she disapproves of?"

"Heh, apparently she doesn't like to be messed with while she nurses. Anyway, how was your first day back to work?"

He runs the day through his mind, not coming up with anything major to report on. "To tell you the truth, it was as if I'd never left. Just life as usual."

"Does that mean Dunn was his same old grumpy self?"

Arnold lets out a small laugh. "Ha, actually he wasn't that bad. He welcomed me back when we passed in the hall and that was it."

"And I'll assume that no new teachers showed up while you were gone?"

Arnold knows exactly who Helga is referring to and puts on a relieved expression. "No, thank God. Oh, but there is one bit of news. You know my co-worker Travis?"

"The drama teacher? Yeah, what about him?"

"He got married over the Christmas break."

Helga acts as if she's a little put out. "And he didn't invite us to the wedding?"

Arnold gives his head a shake. "No, they didn't invite anyone. It was a spur of the moment thing, they ended up eloping the day after Christmas to everyone's surprise."

"Who's the girl?"

Arnold shrugs. "I dunno, someone he met online on one of those dating sites. Apparently they hit it off and that was that."

Arnold reaches out and touches Joy's foot, causing her to let out another grunt. Helga slaps his hand away then gives him her opinion on the matter. "That's a bit impulsive don't you think?"

"Not for Travis, you know how quickly he falls for people. I just hope this time she's really the one. Anyway, what about you, how was your day? How did Joy's appointment go?"

Helga removes Joy from her breast and holds her against her chest. She gently pats her daughter's back in hopes of getting a burp out of her. Once the mission is successful, she switches the girl to her other breast. "She passed with flying colors. She's right where she should be, the doctor was very happy."

They are quiet for a while before Helga continues talking. "There was one weird thing that happened today though."

With his interest piqued, Arnold rolls to his side and props his head up with his hand. "Oh? And what was that?"

"Well, Olga had accompanied Joy and me to Joy's appointment and afterwards we decided to drive down to the docks to have lunch at a new little bistro that she heard about."

"That's not so strange, Olga's always hearing about new little shops and restaurants."

"That's not the weird part. What was weird was as we were driving through this semi-rundown part of town I swear I saw Eugene just wandering down the street. Now what do you suppose it is that would bring Eugene to that part of town in the middle of the day like that?"

"Who knows?" Arnold says as he rolls onto his back. "He's been cooped up in Sheena's small apartment for almost a month now. Maybe he got bored and decided to go for a walk."

"All the way down by the docks? No, something had to have drawn him there."

Tired and having to get up early in the morning, Arnold isn't too interested in trying to figure out what kind of thoughts run through Eugene's mind, so he rolls over to turn off his bedside lamp. "Well, whatever it was that drew him there, I'm sure it's none of our business." He rolls back to give his wife a good night kiss. "Anyway, I'm beat, good night, Helga."

She returns his kiss and, too tired herself to bring Joy back to her crib, she places their baby into the bassinette that still sits by their bedside and turns out the lamp on her night table. "Good night, Arnoldo." She says as she climbs back into bed, the image of Eugene haunting her as she drifts off to sleep.