Standard disclaimers all apply.
No Merry Men or Boy Scouts were harmed in the creation of this story. They will all be returned unharmed (mostly) at the end.
Jaime: I couldn't have done this without you and the wee-hours of the morning editing/brainstorming sessions. You rock!
Kate Manoso – thanks for your attention to my editorial lack of powers
Melody – thanks for finding the inconsistencies I have overlooked by being too close to them!!
Stephanie's Gamble
By Alfonsina
Chapter 10 ♣ May The Trip Part 1
As April became May, Ranger didn't want to disrupt the flow with Bobby and so we kept working on the camping thing. He said he was OK with his month starting a little late; May wouldn't start until the first Monday of the month.
Ok, camping it was going to be. Damn it.
Friday, Bobby and I spent the whole day getting ready for the trip. He dug out a sleeping bag and foam pad for me. He also got me a mess kit, some pots, and some utensils. Since we were going to take three Rangeman vehicles, we added everything but the kitchen sink. We added: six extra wool blankets from the army surplus place for each vehicle, a bunch of matches, fire starting stuff, a bunch of towels, candles, shovels, a couple of axes, more flashlights (complete with fresh batteries), a sewing kit, a bunch of canned food, and 25 gallons of water per vehicle.
It was early May, the weather had been nice and you'd think we were getting ready for a disaster of some sort. Hang on. I was going to go. Maybe Bobby was just being cautious. Probably he wouldn't take so much stuff if I wasn't going; anyway it didn't cost any more to take it and if it made him happy, it worked for me.
We even did a little preventative maintenance on the vehicles. All the rigs were fueled, there was air in the spare tires and the oil had recently been changed. I had a feeling Bobby would feel like a boob if we had to call AAA out in the sticks because of something I had forgotten to check.
That afternoon, I made sure I had what I needed in my bags: cute shorts, tank tops, one extra pair of old jeans, the ugly but sturdy shoes from Ranger, socks, one sports bra, a nice bra (just because), grannie panties (What? They're durable and comfy and no one was going to see them), one pair of sexy undies (just in case), the requisite lacy camisole, towel (well you never really know), soap, makeup, toothbrush and toothpaste, toilet paper, sunscreen a new romance novel and my nail file. Yep, no need to take all that extra rain stuff and possible cold weather stuff. It had been gorgeous outside for days. Why borrow trouble?
I took the bags to my apartment on four so I'd be ready to roll in the morning and wouldn't have to get up any earlier than necessary for the road trip.
Ranger and I did have the promised early evening by having dinner at a casual little Greek place. It was a small family run restaurant that had the most succulent gyros I think I had ever eaten. Ranger's food must not have been good because he kept stopping what he was doing to look up at me. His look was mostly pained and occasionally amused. If he couldn't get over a little moaning now and again, well that was just his problem. We skipped dessert, a first for me; I did get a rain check for the next time.
We went back to Ranger's apartment on seven instead of to mine on four. The place had dimmed lights and soft music playing even as he opened the door. On one of the coffee tables there was a bucket with ice and what appeared to be an expensive bottle of wine cooling in it and more of the wine glasses from the other night.
After he opened the wine and poured some for both of us, he asked if I really wanted to go camping tomorrow. In my heart of hearts, I knew the answer was 'no' but couldn't bring myself to say that.
"Ranger, you guys all wanted me to broaden my horizons right?" I asked. He nodded so I went on, "Well, I've never camped and don't do the wilderness thing much and if I don't go now I probably never will. I'm looking at this like cod liver oil, a necessary thing. I'm going to make new memories and experiences for my life. Besides, a bet was a bet and this is part of how Bobby is expanding my horizons."
"As long as you are really OK with it. Like I said before, I'd be more than willing to let you camp alone with me and no interruptions," he said.
"It's a lovely offer, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Evidently this girl's gotta camp. It's just one night and two days, right?"
Ranger and I cuddled up on the sofa and listened to some soft jazz and slowly sipped our wine. It was pleasant and pressure free. He was applying no direct pressure, but that wasn't to say that he was temptation free.
I was getting sleepy when I asked him, "So what are your plans for the weekend? Any castles to storm or damsels to rescue?"
"Planning a quiet weekend, no outside interruptions. Who knows, I might get back to nature myself, then we can compare notes next week."
There was a minor make-out session on the sofa before I looked at the clock. I knew Ranger wouldn't have minded if I stayed with him, but I didn't want anything interrupting my sleep. I eventually detangled myself and went down to four. Before I knew it, I was out like a light.
At 6:30 there was a loud pounding on my door. It was Bobby. When I opened the door, he got treated to scary hair, dog breath and a bad attitude.
"Mr. Brown, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" I snarled.
"Steph, I've got breakfast for you downstairs, it's time to get a move on. Do you have all of your gear ready?"
"No Bobby, I don't have all of my gear ready, I am wearing some of my gear so it's not packed yet. Can you give me a couple of minutes of alone time before I go downstairs?"
"You've got 15 minutes then I am sending up reinforcements and they won't be nearly as nice as I am."
Wonderful.
I marched Bobby out of my entryway and closed the door. It took me a moment to realize that what I normally do in one hour, I had 15 minutes to achieve. I did what I could with what nature gave me. It was just a couple of guys from the office, some married dads, and a bunch of kids. There was really no one I should worry too much about impressing. Even if they were impressed when they first met me, there was no way they were going to be impressed at the end of this whole thing.
I staggered to the door at 6:45, still bleary eyed. I had just pulled my door open when Hal and Cal appeared in the doorway looking like they were going to break the thing down. You'd think they would have considered the possibility of using the pass key; nope, not these two. Too bad they weren't going to be going; they'd have made some great shade.
At any rate Hal and Cal were evidently told not to trust me to get downstairs on my own because each of them took one of my bags and 'walked with me', Criminy.
Bobby had been downstairs, ready and able to greet the kids when they were dropped off. The ones who hadn't already given their permission slips had them in hand and ready to go. The kids were all bouncing around, so was Bobby. It was hard to tell who was more excited, the boys or Bobby. In fact, since all the kids and Bobby were wearing the uniform shirts the only way to tell he wasn't a kid was strictly his size.
Bobby did live up to his promises of a good breakfast complete with coffee, doughnuts and smoothies. He also told me that it was going to be the last meal like that I was going to have this weekend. Evidently the smoothie wasn't optional, but at least it was sweet tasting.
I looked around and Hector hadn't shown up yet. He finally made it down the stairs at 7:05, looking a little worse for wear, but also in the designated uniform shirt looking bleary eyed and rumpled. He looked more 'eager beaver' than I did, but that didn't take much. I got my 'regular' kiss and an overly long hug when he saw me, then he made a beeline for the coffee.
"So Bobby. I've noticed something kind of strange," I started, "there are no dads hanging around. I thought we were going to have like three dads come with us."
"Not to worry, Steph, there will be three qualified adults with us at camp. They already know where it is and are going to meet us there."
Ok then.
Since there was no one else to wait for, we divvied up the kids and we started the caravan.
Evidently iPods were going to be verboten once they hit camp. I encouraged their use that way I didn't have to listen to their school conversations and I wasn't going to be peppered with a lot of questions and I could listen to classic Def Leppard.
Since I wasn't altogether sure where we were headed and hadn't bothered to look at a map, I pretty much brought up the rear of our little wagon train. Just when I thought my bladder was going to burst, too much coffee, I saw the sign that said 'KOA Campground'. I continued in my game of follow the leader and entered the camp grounds. Evidently not a lot of people had been here so far this spring because the road was full of potholes and weeds. The road was doing nothing for either my bladder or my mood. There was no turning back now and there were no filling stations where I could tee-tee in private.
Finally the first two vehicles came to a stop and I pulled in next to them. I scrambled out of the car as fast as I could and ran over to Bobby.
"Bobby, where is the ladies' room? Please. This is an emergency!!" I exclaimed.
"Bomber, didn't you go before we left home?" he asked with a smile.
"Not funny, Mr. Brown. I need to find someplace where I won't be getting poison oak or have some kind of an audience. Please, point me either to the facilities or in a safe direction," I said.
Bobby pointed to a building way off in the distance. Terrific, I was going to have to do the crotch hop for the next four or five minutes. I was actually glad there was no one 'datable' on this trip because this was not the first impression I wanted to make on a potential suitor.
Marvin, one of the smaller kids was assigned by Bobby to walk me to the building. It seemed that Marvin had been here before and knew where everything was. Bobby had given Marvin firm instructions not to let me dawdle too long. Supposedly camp couldn't be set up until everyone was here, accounted for and assigned to work detail.
Fifteen minutes later, Marvin and I arrived back to the cars. I was looking much more relaxed and the boys were looking surprised. Evidently no one walked away from Mr. Brown when he was going to give out instructions. No one and that included me. Well if no one had ever been allowed to tee-tee before they got started setting up camp there was probably a reason that Bobby had a lot of former girlfriends.
Bobby had the boys line up and count off one through six. The matching numbers were designated to be teams and had to work together. There was a lot of work to this camping stuff. Gathering firewood, clearing a place for the fire, sorting out the food, setting up tents. Depending on the task, the boys were handed out various tools, shovels, axes and the like.
Larry, Timmy and I were supposed to put up one of the tents. Bobby made it tricky, you didn't necessarily put up your own tent, so you had to do a good job. Great. Larry and Timmy knew which end of the ax to use to put down the stakes and I felt like a fool. Bobby tried to explain to me how it all worked, that was the good news. The bad news was that right after he left, the tent we were working on fell down and I was inside it. That was when the final vehicle pulled in.
I tried to stick my head out to see who Bobby's new recruits were going to be. I had to sit down and put my head between my knees, it wasn't good and I wasn't going to be happy. Shit. It was Ranger, Lester and Tank. Bugger. Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger.
The guys reported in to Bobby like he was a drill sergeant or something, looking for what needed to be done and looking incredibly pleased with themselves. They split off to unload the SUVs and help some of the groups.
I decided to take the high road and just keep doing what I was doing. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for Larry and Timmy. We were saved from ourselves by Tank. Tank was able to get our tent up in five minutes; we had been struggling for an hour and a half. Then, hurrah hurrah, we got to start on the next tent. We had the same team with the same skills, getting the same results and ultimately got the same hero. I had a feeling I was going to owe Tank big by the end of this.
I asked Bobby if I could hang and work with Tank on whatever Tank was doing. No such luck. It seemed that Bobby saw this as something like boot camp. You know, a survival of the fittest thing and everyone following orders. Just my luck.
Ranger quietly came up behind me, put his arms around my middle and whispered into my ear, "Babe, you can think of Boy Scouts as like a prequel to boot camp. Why do you think we all fit in here so well?"
This was not the encouragement I think he planned.
"I have a quick question for you, Ranger," I said.
He said, "Go ahead, shoot."
"Why are there no volunteer dads here this weekend? I mean, there were regular Joes who probably wanted to spend the weekend with their kids. What did you do with them? You didn't hurt any of them did you?"
"I didn't do anything to any of them, Babe. I just made them a better offer. They are getting a nice evening out with their wives or girlfriends and babysitting is paid for by Rangeman."
"Pretty cheap as far as your bribes go, Batman," I said. "Any particular reason you wanted to join the Boy Scouts this weekend?"
"Just wanted to be out in nature and hear the trees talk," Ranger said as he went back to unloading one of the trucks.
The amount of work that was going into all of this made me wonder why more people just didn't go to Motel 6, it was a whole lot less work.
Larry, Timmy and I were assigned to do the firewood collection. Seemed that we were only supposed to get the dead stuff off the ground and not look for the big stuff on our own. Larry and Timmy were considered 'inexperienced' just like me. After about an hour and three full armfuls of branches and twigs Larry headed us back to the camp.
Larry was the only one who knew where we were going. Seems that Larry kept turning around to see what things looked like behind us. He told me that we all knew what things looked like in front of us, but when we left they'd look different so he kept turning around. Gee, I'd just sort of thought that he had a short attention span.
After we got back, it seemed that most of the rest of camp had been set up. Lester had been declared head cook and was going to work on it with Steve and Mark. Evidently, Ella was only allowed to provide the basic foodstuffs like canned things, meat, and bread. The guys were supposed to make the meals for themselves, over a fire no less.
At this point, Bobby took a look at the number of people in the group and tents and decided to set up tent buddies. Figuring out the kids assignments was easy; all team members shared a tent.
Figuring out the adults wasn't so easy, there were six adults and only three leftover tents. This was going to be awkward at best. Ranger didn't trust me alone with either Lester or Bobby right now, and both of them wanted to bunk with me. Tank didn't want to share with Hector. I wasn't trusting my hormones to stay in check if I was alone in a tent with Ranger. Besides, if there was any real fun to be had, I didn't want to be quiet about it. In the end, Bobby heard everyone out and put Tank with Lester, Hector was with me, leaving Ranger with Bobby. Why should I care? Hector is harmless, right? I could do this, no problem. We were all adults, right?
Most of the adult males were not entirely happy with the sleeping arrangements, least of all Ranger. It seemed that he had it in his head that we would share a tent. I sort of thought we would too. Hector was actually going to be a nice buffer in front of the kids. If there had been one more tent, I would have been alone with the noises of the night. Maybe the Boy Scouts didn't plan for every contingency? Maybe this was a test of some kind?
Tank was showing some of the boys the finer art of starting a fire while Ranger was helping schlep water in pots from the SUVs to the 'kitchen'. From what I was able to see from the contents of the coolers, it was going to be franks and beans. God, it could be a long night in those tents. Yeesh. What was Bobby thinking?
Bobby had the rest of us organizing our tents so that we were ready to 'go-go-go' for the afternoon. Hector and I got our foam pieces and sleeping bags and put them in the tents. We couldn't decide on who got which side of the tent. Normally, I liked to sleep on the side of the bed, or the side of the room, that was closer to the bathroom. Kind of difficult when it is directly between you. In the end, Hector made the executive decision that put me on the left side.
He unloaded his pack and I couldn't believe the mountain of stuff he had in it. Jeez, it looked almost like the same amount of stuff that had been on my bed at home before I left. Minus the make up. Hector smiled to himself when he saw what I did, and didn't, bring. The big makeup bag kind of threw him for a loop. I'm from Jersey, we girls have a standard of beauty to uphold and I was going to do my level best to uphold it with, or without, electricity.
Because I don't cook, or have a lot of the other skills the guys had, I wound up on clean up duty after lunch. Lunch was much better than to be expected, guess Lester was a decent choice as camp cook after all. I couldn't believe the number of dishes and pots it took to feed 18 people, and none of the plates were paper and none of the utensils were plastic. OK, doing our part for the environment but doing nothing for my manicure. I was definitely going to have to see if Bobby would let me use his surgical gloves to do the dishes the rest of this weekend.
Bobby broke the group into two, half of us were going to go on a hike and half of us were going to work on archery. I wound up in the hike group with Lester and Tank. The guys set a brisk pace for the hike and kept pointing out things the fellas might want to either see or know about. Once I finally got into it, it was pretty nifty that they could both identify all of the trees and birds, something I couldn't ever do.
The hike was considered short by Scout standards, it was less than three hours. We didn't return to camp the way we came. We hiked some kind of a circuit. Anyway, there was a really pretty stream that we walked next to. We had to cross the stream in order to get back on the path to get to camp. I brought up the rear and thought I had been watching how the boys did it. They all stepped on a couple of rocks and were across. I stepped on the 'same' rocks and promptly fell on my ass in the stream. I was cold, soaked, tired and upset with myself.
Danny asked me, "Miss Plum, weren't you aware of your surroundings? You put your foot on the wrong rock." It was all I could do not to cry in frustration.
When I made it back to camp, looking like a wet cat, Bobby and Ranger tried hard not to laugh. Hector asked what he could do, and elected himself to help me find dry clothes. Then, he walked me to the little out building so I could change in comfort and not worry too much about people watching.
No sooner did I make it to the little building than my period started.
My period had never been early before. Late yes, and that caused a major panic, but never ever early. I had not heeded my mother's advice, "Always take some protection with you when you go on vacation. God hates to see women have too much fun." I'd always thought she meant condoms, not this. My period always started on every national holiday or vacation as a matter of course. I just hadn't considered this to be vacation and so I wasn't prepared. Damn it.
It took me longer than I thought to change out because I was so cold and miserable. Thank God for Hector, he went ahead and found some branches and put my wet clothes out by the kitchen fire to see if they would get dry; yes, even my unmentionables for everyone to see. I really hoped that Lester wasn't going to critique my undies to my face, I didn't have the skills to kill him slowly and painfully. Probably my shoes needed to go in front of the fire too, they made an awful squishing sound when I walked.
By the time I got back to the campsite all Ranger could say to me was, "Babe."
Lovely, the word 'Babe' was going to make all the difference in the world right now. Right now what I needed was a heating pad, some Midol, tampons and a nap. God, this was going to be hard to explain to Bobby.
I got Bobby off by himself and tried to tell him what was going on, "Hey Bobby, I need to get back to town. I forgot some important supplies."
"Steph, you were told the rules. There is no going back for something you forgot. If you didn't bring it, we'll try to borrow it, make something, or you will just have to do without," he said in the loud drill sergeant voice.
During our little exchange, Ranger had come behind me. He said, "Steph I know you are uncomfortable right now, but it'll all be OK. Stuff happens to everyone on these trips."
I turned to look at him and I pleaded, "It's not like that. It is personal and it is important. If I don't take care of it soon I'm going to be really uncomfortable and cranky. Can we put an emphasis on the cranky?"
The little light of realization was not dawning on either man. I hadn't really wanted to say it out loud in specific terms, so I chose a girlie one. "Ranger, Aunt Flo has come to visit."
"What? I wasn't aware of anyone else arriving at camp," Ranger said.
Men can be so freaking clueless. I finally whispered in his ear, "Ranger I got my stupid period and I didn't bring anything with me. It's EARLY and I didn't think about the possibility of it."
"Bobby, I know you don't want Steph to go to town, but this really is something that has to be handled by a trip to town," Ranger said.
My hero.
Bobby said, "Nope, she knew the rules. We'll improvise something."
Ranger said quietly, but forcefully, into Bobby's ear, "She needs feminine stuff and I'm not going to explain to a bunch of young boys why we are cutting up towels for her to use. I am going to take one of the rigs and go to town. I should be back in an hour or so."
Bobby nodded mutely, not much to say to that I guess. Ranger got into the SUV he had driven and tore down the road.
"Sorry about not cluing in Steph, it just never occurred to me. It's never happened to me before. It's just not one scenarios I ever contemplated. If you'd started a forest fire, I would've been ready."
Jerk.
"It'll be OK. I'll live, it's not like it doesn't happen every month. You didn't sneak any Midol in those handy first aid kits of yours did you?"
"Sorry, I don't have any. I can get you aspirin, Tylenol or Advil. Will one of those work?" he asked.
"One of them is gonna have to work, Bobby, the cell phones are out of range here so we can't call Ranger back. It'll be fine, give me a couple of Advil and some water if you've got it," I said.
I got some water for my camp issued metal cup and took the Advil. I was getting ready to sit on a rock when Hector came up to me. Great another man, just what I wanted and needed.
"Nena ¿que tienes? What's the matter?" he asked with sincerity.
"I just hurt, it'll be fine soon," I said. I had my hand on my lower belly and had been rubbing it trying to make the cramps go away.
He left and went to talk to Lester. The two of them talked to Bobby and Tank. Bobby came back to talk to me. Great, everyone was now officially involved in the Stephanie Plum has her Period Committee. Seemed everybody was going to get a vote in how I was going to handle my monthly. Lovely, just shoot me now. Didn't they think I had handled this before? Jeez.
Bobby, who had evidently drawn the short straw, came back to where I was sitting and said to me quietly, "Steph, do you want to take a nap until the meds kick in?"
"Sure, why not? Will you wake me when Ranger comes back with the supplies?" I asked.
"Oh, you'll know when he gets here. You'll hear him at least half a mile before he arrives. Sorry about being clueless earlier," he said.
Hector volunteered to walk me back to our tent and he helped me out of the wet shoes. He tucked me into my sleeping bag and kissed my forehead. "Dulces suenos con los angelitos, nena" he said (Sweet dreams with the little angels, babe).
He left as quietly as he could and I fell into a fitful doze. I just couldn't get comfortable. If this was any indication of how a night of sleeping was going to be, I was not going to get a single wink later that night.
I had almost gotten comfortable when I felt like I was no longer alone. Ranger was crouched by my sleeping bag. He said, "Steph, I've got some supplies for you."
"Give 'em here," I said trying to keep the cranky tone out of my voice.
"It's not that easy, Babe. I didn't know what to get you. I want for you to go with me to the rig and make sure I've got what you want or need," he said sounding kind of unsure of himself.
"Ok, I'm up. Let's go," I said looking around for my shoes. They were nowhere to be found, I guess Hector took them to the fire to dry out.
Ranger offered to carry me, but I felt I had been fussed over quite enough. So I hobbled out and went to his vehicle under my own steam. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I looked in the back. It looked like Ranger bought one of everything in the feminine hygiene aisle, even the itch creams. Seemed he was afraid of making the wrong choice so he made all the choices. I had no idea how much money he spent but it must have been a fortune.
I selected the box that I normally used and kissed him gently on the lips. "Thanks for the thoughtfulness, Batman. Will we need to take the rest back when we leave?" I asked.
"Nope, I'm going to donate them to a charity and let them figure it out. I'm just glad I was able to get you what you needed. Come on. Get in," he said shyly. Clearly this was not a topic he was comfortable with. He actually moved the SUV over to the 'little girl's room' so I wouldn't have to walk there right now. He let me out and waited for me outside.
When I came out, he had his hands in his pockets looking sort of unsettled. Ranger acting shy and unsure of himself was new and different. He held me very carefully, like I had a contagious disease and he might be the next victim. After he released me, he handed me a pair of flip flops he'd picked up knowing my shoes would still be wet and the large size Hershey Bar with Almonds.
"Definitely my hero," I said to Ranger and gave him another soft kiss.
We both got back into the SUV and he moved it to rejoin the others.
Because I was busy taking care of my own little drama, I actually wound up missing the archery lesson with my group. The guys were glowing about how much fun it was and what great teachers Lester and Tank were; heck even I knew that. Tank evidently spent a lot of time on safety while Lester focused on how much fun it was, no big surprise there either.
After the archery lesson, the kids who had been helping Lester earlier got to help him make supper; the rest of them went to look for more firewood. Dinner was going to be stew and there was a lot of chopping and other prep work to do to make the meal. I did continue to do wash the knives and assorted pots that were used in the making of dinner. Just because I felt like crap didn't mean I couldn't help out, so I did.
Tank got me excused from further 'kitchen duty' so I could retire to the luxuries of my tent. I was able to self medicate in the 'comfort' until someone came and got me for whatever we were doing later. It gave me some time to read a part of the romance novel I brought with me and a little time away from all the testosterone.
Later Lester himself escorted me from my tent to the ladies' and then to join the boys for supper. Supper was like lunch, surprisingly good and very filling. All the boys and men were being very good to me. Probably this would all wear off tomorrow and I would be a regular Jane. I was looking forward to tomorrow.
After supper was declared to be over and the dishes were done, the fire was stoked. It was May but the evenings were pretty darned chilly when the sun went down. I hoped they were going to make s'mores and they did. If I had known about that earlier I might not have wolfed down the big candy bar.
Bobby got out a guitar. I never knew he played, but then again, I didn't know that much about Bobby when this all started anyway. Everyone, including Ranger, moved closer to the fire. I guessed sing-a-longs were pretty much the standard at these things. At least they weren't doing ghost stories.
I had taken some additional Advil and had just gotten back from yet another trip to the ladies' in time for the evening's festivities. Hector and I sat next to each other, touching from the shoulders down, just enough body heat to be comforting. One of the kids was seated at a short distance on the other side of me. The meds had kicked in and I had hit a nice mellow place: I didn't hurt, I was well fed and I was warm and dry. Life was good.
Bobby started the sing-a-long with 'America the Beautiful' and moved to 'Thank God I'm a Country Boy' and then he got the boys to do a few others with him. Lester looked at Ranger and Hector and they did the ESP thing because they did a song in Spanish. It was called "Con Tu Amor" (With Your Love). When it was over, Lester and Ranger started it over in English, Hector apparently didn't know the English words.
The English words the guys sang went something like this:
I was alone. Filled with sadness. Everything I did just seemed to go wrong. Then you came along and ended my madness. Filling me up, filling me up with your love. I had no one. I was a free man. Dreaming of someone like you and hoping the dream would come true. You are like the sunshine. You got rid the rain. With your love I forgot all my pain. With your love I am no longer lonely. With your love I am filled with happiness. With your love my pain disappeared.
I actually liked it better before I knew what the words meant. If any one of them were aiming that song in my direction, it was making me pretty darned uncomfortable. That I might have changed any or all of these men's lives was a little overwhelming. I decided it was just an old standard and they all knew the words and I let it go at that.
Some of the boys started to yawn and so did I. Everyone went to do their own thing in their tents to get ready for bed except for me, well Marvin and me. Marvin and I went up the hill so I could do my business, that way I could let Hector have the tent first. I went in afterwards and didn't feel at all awkward. I didn't take any of my clothes off, but I added to what I had on. I was really starting to feel the chill.
Hector turned off the lantern after I got settled in my sleeping bag and then leaned over to kiss me good night. It was much more than any of the friendly cheek kisses or even the one lingering kiss at my door. This slow and easy kiss spoke of promise, fulfillment and a desire for something more. I found myself looking for the something more the kiss was promising and so it continued. Finally Hector ended the kiss with a quiet good night and then he rolled over onto his side and went instantly to sleep.
I could have lived with Hector's snoring and was almost asleep. That was when it started to snow. God must have it out for me not making it to mass for the last couple of years, I mean really. I had blisters from the new shoes, my period had started, the monster cramps had returned, my partner (for the lack of a better word) was snoring and now it was lightly snowing. Lovely.
I must have groaned loud enough to wake up Hector. He immediately tensed and asked, "You OK?"
"I would have been except for the snow, the cold and the cramps. I'll get over it. Sorry I woke you up," I said.
"Do you want to be warmer?" he asked.
Well duh. I just nodded.
Hector unzipped his sleeping bag and got out. He indicated for me to get up and he zipped my bag to his. Before it was all the way zipped, he had me get in and then he got in with me and finished zipped it up. I didn't care if he was gay, straight or an ax murderer at that point, body heat was a good thing, and I was about to freeze to death.
He laid on his side and got me into the spooning position. He held me close keeping his hand on my belly so he could rub it, seemed he understood a little something about cramps. I was about to drift off to sleep when I felt his hand slip under my clothes still rubbing my belly. I had to force myself to breathe and to remain calm. I mean it felt good and I wasn't worried, much, but Ranger was just going to have a cow if he found out about this.
I must have tensed back up at the thought of Ranger because the next thing I knew Hector was humming the song the three of them had sung earlier that night, periodically kissing the back of my neck and my shoulder. At some point I sighed and gave up the tension. I could feel his body change as he held me even closer and we both fell asleep. That's the last thing I remember happening, I swear.
How Ranger wound up in my tent in the middle of the night was beyond me. I felt him before I heard him, as usual. I knew damned well that Ranger noticed the sleeping bags were zipped together. Things looked especially bad for me because Hector had one leg over mine, his hand was under my shirt, his face buried in my neck, my head was on his arm. We couldn't have gotten any closer without trading places.
Damn it.
A/N: The song Con Tu Amor by Juan Gabriel is 20 years old, and yes it sounds hokey, and yes it was done in a couple of different beats. I liked the words and thought they fit. It is available on You Tube – but I can't get the links to work.
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