Stella made her desires true-2.0

“Then we headed here,” Stella finished. “I don’t know, mom. I mean, I was so ready, it was all I could do not jump him. If he would have just touched me right, I wouldn’t have had any control. But he didn’t, like he knew I was vulnerable. Or maybe, he didn’t . . .” she swallowed hard, “want me.”

“I don’t think Jack didn’t want you,” Lisa reassured her daughter. “I think he wanted you as badly as you did him. However, Jack respects you, and not taking advantage of you doesn’t surprise me. You’ve been friends almost your whole lives. He’s not going to let hormones lead him to do something which might hurt you or your friendship. That’s part of why he’s unique, and why I’d trust him with either of our lives.”

Stella nodded slowly, thinking of the countless reasons Jack was so special to her.

“I have no doubt you’re ready,” Lisa told her, “but I think you still have one. You’re scared if it doesn’t work out, your friendship will be ruined.”

“If I lost him, I don’t know if I could live. I can’t lose him, mom. I can’t.”

Lisa placed a hand over hers. “Now, now, kitten,” she consoled, “I don’t think there’s any chance you two would lose your friendship if it didn’t work out. Jack cares about you too much, and is mature enough not to let something like that break you two up. After all, he admitted you were his soul-mate, right?”

Stella nodded.

“Besides, remember when you were sixteen, and you went out on your first date?”

Stella remembered. She and Murphy had gone to a movie, but a third of the way through, he’d tried feeling her up in the dark theater. She’d promptly put an end to that by punching him and walking out to call her mom for a ride. He had a shiner for two weeks and was the laughing stock of the school. When Jack found out, he was suspended for three days for fighting, but Murphy had two black eyes after that.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of you,” Lisa said with pride. “But do you recall after that?”

“Yeah. I thought I hated boys, including Jack. I told him I hated him because he was a boy, and wished he was dead.” She looked down at her hands, shamed from the memory.

“And . . . .”

Suddenly laughing, it took Stella a few moments to calm herself enough to talk. “That’s right. He came here the next day in his sister’s dress and high heels. He even put on make-up.” She was almost in tears laughing so hard, the memory so vivid.

“Do you remember why he did it?”

Sobering a little, she nodded. “He said if he had to become a girl to still be best friends with me, he would.”

“Exactly, baby. Over the years I’ve known many married couples, and none were as close as you and Jack are. There’s a piece of advice, and it’s especially true with everyone seeming to marry one week, then getting divorced the next. It says if you meant your marriage to last a lifetime, then you marry your best friend, not because the sex is great. It’s mutual respect and love that bind, making whole lives together possible.”

Lisa grinned. “And then the kids come along,” she joked, both of them giggling uncontrollably.

“What I’m trying to say,” Lisa said, “is that I don’t think you have to worry about losing Jack if a sexual relationship doesn’t work out. You mean too much to one another for it to happen. In fact, I’d bet he’d look at it as a wonderful experiment that happened not to work out, but enjoyed trying it.”

“You’re right, mom,” Stella agreed, suddenly feeling a whole new world of possibilities open to her. Getting up, she hugged her mother fiercely. “Thanks mom. I needed that.”

“That’s what mothers are for, kittens. However, I need you to be honest with me, not that I think you’re never not. Jack’s still a virgin, and not into drugs, is he?”

“No way mom. Like me, he doesn’t drink either. But yeah, he’s still a virgin too.”

“Okay, so I can’t see either of you worrying about diseases. What about protection?”

“I started on the pill a month ago, you know, just in case.” Stella expected her mother to go ballistic, but was relieved when she smiled, nodding in motherly understanding. Becoming pregnant with Stella at sixteen and raising her by herself, Lisa had always stressed how important birth control was.

“Glad to hear it. But what about other forms?”

“Oh. I’m not sure. I think Jack might have . . . condoms.”

“You don’t sound very enthusiastic about condoms.”

Stella bit her lip. “I know they’re one of the best protections, but . . . . Men hate them because they reduce sensations. Some of my girlfriends tell me it feels weird with them as well.”

“It does sometimes,” Lisa admitted. “It’s a small price to pay though for not getting pregnant or diseases. But there’s alternatives. Have you been fitted for a diaphragm yet?” Stella nodded. “Good. Between it, the pill, and anti-contraceptive foam, I think you’re safe without needing a condom.”

Stella sighed. “I hated the thought of, well, losing our virginity without fully feeling, ah, you know.”

“I do indeed.” Lisa held up a finger. “But don’t go thinking I’m telling you to sleep with him. I’m just trying to give you advice, for when it may happen. It’s your decision, and yours alone. But, use the foam and diaphragm, and I doubt any squiggly little Wolfs will manage to make it to the finish line.”

“Mom,” Stella exclaimed in mock-shock. “You’re making his sperm sound like they have a mind of their own.”

“Well, why not? Don’t penises already have one?”

This time it took a while for their laughter to subside.

They were beginning to debate what to do until the pot roast was ready when Jack returned. Grease and rust streaked his face and coveralls, and was wiping his hands in a rag.

“Hey there,” he greeted them, stuffing the rag in a back pocket. “Mind if I use the phone for a sec?”

“By all means,” Lisa said, gesturing at the wall phone.

Nodding in thanks, he punched in a number from memory. “Greg? It’s Jack. No, mine’s still running great, not like that hunk of junk you keep on its deathbed.”

He suddenly laughed. “Of course it ain’t running like mine. During full moons, you don’t sacrificed enough virgins to it.” He gave the women a sheepish, apologetic grin, but they were laughing at the bantering.

Jack shook his head ruefully from something said on the phone’s other end. “Yeah, right. That won’t fit on its tombstone. Anyways, I was wondering if you still have that old Blazer. The one out back. Yeah, that one. Have you stripped it yet? Sure.”

Holding the mouthpiece from his mouth, he grinned. “I’m making him freeze his arse off checking. Serves him right for knocking my truck.”

“Blazer,” Lisa asked. “Isn’t that Chevy? I thought I had a GMC Jimmy.”

Jack nodded. “You do. GM owns Chevy. Except for the nameplates, they’re exactly the same trucks.”

“Oh,” Stella said. “Then why make the same trucks but under different names?”

“Customer loyalty for one. Even if they know they’re the same truck, they still want GM if that’s what they trust, or vice-versa. I’m the same way. The other thing’s GM models tend to be a little more luxury-orientated now, where Chevy’s more the average man’s truck.”

Suddenly returning his attention to the phone, he listened for a minute. “Great. But still have the starter? An eighty-eight. You can? Great. In the driveway. As long as he learned to drive after last time,” he laughed. “Excellent. Thanks Greg. Take care.” He hung up.

Lisa looked concerned. “So you found the problem?”

“Yeah. The starter’s gone. It happens, especially being fourteen years old. Greg’s going to strip the one from the Blazer for me and send it with the kid he has working for him, seeing how he has to drive past here anyways.”

“I hope it doesn’t cost too much.”

Jack shook his head. “Won’t cost anything. I still have a line of credit with him after giving him dad’s older Buick two years ago. The way my truck’s working, I doubt I’ll ever run through the credit.”

Putting a hand on his lower back, he arched his back to get rid of a kink, grimacing. “Anyways, it’ll take me a while to rip out the old one and get the new one in. I want to also check several other things under there. It’ll be a while, so I was wondering. Why don’t you two take my truck and, I don’t know, do what girls do out on the town for a few hours if you want. I won’t be needing it.”

Stella made her desires true-2.0 will continue in the next page.