Sunday, January 31, 2010

FATHERHOOD... Learning to cope (Part51 f)

The one thing I do remember was that the first couple of panties I got my hands on had me with a bulge, big time. I think what excited me was that the crotches had a fair amount of staining in them and yet they were clean. The panties were all white nylon and didn’t have anything to make them special like lace or appliques. It was just the color of the crotch that intrigued me. Usually the first thing I’d do when looking at panties was to see who the maker was. I think I was so excited about the staining that I went looking for more before looking at the labels. That was when I heard the tires on the gravel. I stuffed the panties into the middle of the basket and put the whole thing up on the sorting table. I grabbed a seat and then pretended I was asleep. Sneaking a peek I saw a woman who appeared to be in her 30’s at the table. I didn’t recognize her but she had auburn hair down to her shoulder blades. As she walked out the back door I wanted to know more about those panties. I waited until I heard the gravel under the tires before I went to the back door to look at the car. I couldn’t tell the color but I knew it was a new 59 Chevy Impala from the tail lights.

The track provided a lot of amenities for the horsemen that lived on the track. We didn’t have to pay rent or for water and electricity. Behind the trailers they had put up 4 line T-pole clothes lines; one for every four trailers. The one that we used was directly behind our trailer. I could look out our bedroom window and see it. When the lady next door hung out her wash she very carefully hid her bras and panties so that I never saw them. Jackson, on the other side of us, never had any wash on the line and the next trailer down was a single man so there really wasn’t any ”action“ for me that way. Because of the lights from the race track I was able to hang our wash out before going to bed. There was an advantage because there was seldom any other wash on the lines at that time. On that night I was upset with myself for not getting the information on the panties that I’d actually had in my hands. As I was hanging up the last of the wash the track lights went out. Being somewhat horny because of thinking about the panties that I’d seen earlier I got the idea to take a quick walk down behind the trailers to see if there was anything "interesting".

The field behind the trailers was owned by the track and had common rye grass planted. They mowed about a 20 foot wide area closest to them and around the wash lines about every 10 days. It made a nice area for the residents to spend time and many had rigged small awnings off the back of their trailers. Some had even set up picnic tables. All of that was done in the space between the trailers and the wash lines. So as not to walk into anything unexpected in the dark, I took a path on the field side of the wash lines. My memory is very clear about what I found.

As I mentioned, there wasn’t much to see on our own line nor on the next one down. But on the third one I could clearly see panties and bras on the line facing the field. I remember standing there, my heart beating so hard and fast that I could feel it. What I remember the most was that in the ambient light the white color of the items made them look somewhat blue. As I got up close to them I remember trying to decide what to do... take a pair or to just look. As I said I was quite horny and also upset with myself for not looking closely at the panties back at the laundromat. There were six pair and they all looked about the same size. As I reached up to touch one of them I heard a sound. I stood there frozen in place. I listened for I don’t remember how long and when I didn’t hear anything else I quickly grabbed the pair closest to me and turned and headed back. At the steps into the trailer I was finally able to take a deep breath. The damp panties were balled up in my hand and the clothes pins were in my pocket. I didn’t have the keys to the trunk of the car (where I continued to hide my ”stash“) and didn’t know what to do with them. Finally I decided to go hang them on the wash line along with our clothes thinking that I’d be up and outside long before Elle was up. With that done I headed inside. I was still awake when Elle woke up to feed the baby. I remember being still somewhat horny and tried to persuade Elle to come over and to straddle me but she deferred.

I went right to the wash line as soon as I walked out of the trailer in the morning. The panties were still damp as we usually had heavy dew overnight. I had them balled up in my hand as I walked over to the barn. I really didn’t have anywhere to go to inspect them and ended up stuffing them, still damp, into my pants pocket. Even though I went through my early morning duties I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Finally I ducked into the stall of a horse that was out on the track. As I flipped them open the first thing I saw was discoloration in the crotch. I immediately thought of the panties that I’d seen the night before at the laundromat but dismissed it. The label was next and I saw a name that I didn’t recognize... Grenco Maid. They were size 6, a size larger than Elle wore. I then stuffed them back into my pocket wondering just how to get them dry and into the ”stash“.

To be continued...

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

FATHERHOOD... Learning to cope (Part 51e)

Once my parents left everything seemed to calm down and our life was able to get into somewhat of a routine. A second visit to the doctor told us that the baby was doing well. At the same time he addressed Elle’s ”problem“. He suggested that Elle had ”given up“ trying to hold her pee during the later stages of her pregnancy and got ”comfortable“ wearing ”protection“. Even though the condition had improved since the baby’s birth he felt that she could do much better and told her some things she could do to help it. One of the things he specifically told her was to go without ”protection“ whenever possible. His reasoning was that she would be more conscious of using the toilet and not the ”protection“. He made me promise to work with Elle on this and I said I would.

Elle seemed to be comfortable in her role as a mother and a housewife. However, her fear of wetting had kept her in and around the trailer. Being Summer, wearing plastic panties was very uncomfortable since they didn’t ”breath“. After the last visit to the doctor she’d started wearing just panties around the trailer feeling that if she did ”leak“ she could make it to the toilet without making a big mess. Usually it was a couple of her heavy cotton ones. I loved seeing her that way but I also wanted to see her in the fancy panties. She compromised by wearing a pair of them over the cotton ones. As I had mentioned she had it in her mind that there would be no sex until after she had her first period. So, on nights where I was home before she went to bed I would persuade her to straddle me and then pee a little through her panties. She would then lay on top of me and let me ”plug in“. That way I could satisfy my "need" while still holding her. It wasn’t great but at it was better than nothing.

Money was tight and whenever I was able to put a few dollars aside it seemed that we needed to buy something new for the baby. The first thing was a collapsible baby carriage. Once we got it I convinced Elle that she’d be able to go visit her new friends and have an easy way to take the baby. The trouble was that she was reluctant to do it without her ”protection“. I, like the doctor, had the idea it had become more in her mind than physical. I was finally able to get her to do a few trial runs where she wasn’t wearing ”protection“ and it went well. She hadn’t seen much of Jane, Clyde’s wife, whose trailer was down at the fairgrounds part of the track where Clyde’s and Harry’s horses were stabled. It was about a mile away and after a few days where she hadn’t had a problem when out walking with the baby in the carriage I convinced Elle to go visit her. It went well until she got back and when trying to get into the trailer couldn’t find the key. I saw her headed my way and was glad to see her as it was the first time she’d actually been over to the barn. She told me what was wrong and as I went to get my keys from the car I heard her cry out an ”Oh no!“. I looked back and saw her trying to hide behind the carriage with her hands in front of her crotch. On the one hand it excited me but on the other it upset me. As much as I enjoyed some parts of her wetting I didn’t like seeing her be embarrassed. When I got back to her I could see the puddle beneath her feet. I remember asking her how long it had been since she’d used a toilet and her answer was ”too long“.

I’d mentioned that my parents had given us three months of diaper service since we didn’t have a washing machine. That fact hadn’t been a problem when we lived at the trailer park where there was a washing machine within just a few steps. But at the track we had to go into town and then, usually, had to wait to get a free machine. Elle had been reluctant to do it because of the baby and also her ”problem“ so it became one of my chores. It was difficult for me to find the time but after few trips I decided that the best time was after 9pm. There didn’t seem to be much business then but even that was difficult for me. There was usually one night a week that my work at the races would be done by that time. It meant missing watching some of the races but it had to be done. I’m pretty sure it was still in July when I thought I’d hit the jackpot. I remember not being too happy about having to miss the last races of the night. Elle had separated the white clothes from the colored and I needed to put them into two separate machines. There were six machines and two had ”out of order“ signs on them. I only found one empty machine. Two were running but no one was there watching them. The other machine wasn’t running but there were clothes in it. There was an empty wash basket there and I started taking the clothes out. I’d only taken a few handfuls out when I realized there were panties mixed in. I wanted to stop to take a close look but knew that the owner of the clothes could walk in at any moment so kept unloading the machine. After I got my clothes in and the machine started I kept looking around trying to figure a way to get a look at those damp clothes without being seen. Because it was Summer and hot, both the front and rear doors were open. Even though it was possible to park on the street most people parked in the back. The lot was gravel and when someone pulled into the lot I could hear the sound of the wheels on the gravel. With that knowledge I took a deep breath and dug into that wash basket with a purpose.

To be continued...

Sunday, January 24, 2010

FATHERHOOD... Learning to cope (Part 51d)

The fancy panties (Gotham Gold Stripe... see avatar for the blog) that I’d bought way back in the Winter and had hidden away were still there. I’d wanted Elle to get back to the weight (and shape) that she was in the previous Summer before giving them to her. I decided that a good time would be on the anniversary of the baby’s first month. Elle’s daily routine was to wait to get showered and dressed until after the baby had been fed and bathed. I tried to time a visit back to the trailer to catch her before she did. When I walked in she had just stepped out of the shower. When she saw me she thought something was wrong. I assured her that it was OK. I had retrieved the panties from their hiding place and had a pair balled up in my hand as I walked towards her naked body. It was hard for me to believe how big she’d been just a month earlier. Talking about “big”, I sure was and as soon as I put my arms around her she knew it. She immediately pushed me back but it was something I expected. I then unballed the panties and held them up to show her. I won’t try to embellish the moment and say she jumped for joy but she was surprised. She certainly knew of my love of nice panties and over the past six or seven months had been forced to wear very unglamorous maternity panties along with padding and plastic panties. She’d started wearing just a couple of pairs of heavy cotton panties around the trailer and seeing the fancy panties it was like some sort of liberation from them. I bent down so she could step into them and then I stepped back and loved what I saw. They were prettier on than just by themselves. I took her by the hand and showed her the other four pair I’d bought. It wasn’t much of a gift but she took it in a positive way.

As far as work was going I was bit disappointed. Over the month I’d only driven in one more race with only a slight improvement. I wasn't in position to “push” for more action so I just went about my day with a positive attitude. AJ had taken on a few more horses so we had both sides of the barn full. A couple of the owners had decided that they wanted to get licenses to drive in races which did not really please either AJ or me. For AJ it meant less money as he was entitled to a percentage of whatever the horses he drove earned. It annoyed me in that the owners, armed with their license, strutted about like banty roosters. They knew nothing about how to train a horse or what went into it and it showed in their poor performance on the track. Not that mine had been much better but at least I looked like I knew what I was doing. I actually caught a couple of other drivers laughing at them as they went by on the track.

My parents decided to deliver my new car over the fourth of July weekend. They planned to visit friends both on the way up as well as on the way home. The plan was for them to drive my old car home and to sell it privately rather than trade it in. My father felt he could get more money for it that way. I was really excited about getting the car although, at that time, I would’ve much rather had the money that it cost. We didn’t have to worry about putting my parents up while they were there. One of the friends they were planning on visiting were the “B’s”, the people who had the clothing store in my college town and who I would visit on many nights after I’d gotten done warming horses up for the races. Knowing that we didn’t have to entertain them made it a LOT easier. The big question was how would my mother treat Elle based on how she was treated the last time she saw her.

One thing became apparent almost as soon as my MIL left and that was that the lady next door was really friendly. Her name was Gert and she called on Elle and brought over a homemade chicken pot pie. She told Elle that she’d wanted to do it earlier but didn’t want to “interfere”. Elle was impressed with how easy to talk to she was and how “warm” she seemed to be. I guess I’d taken her husbands standoffishness and applied it to her without meeting her. She took it upon herself to introduce Elle to some other women whose husbands were also horsemen and who had children. I could see Elle starting to relax a bit and it was a good sign.

Our neighbor on the other side, Jackson, had not been the problem that I’d expected. No loud parties or other distractions. I’m not sure when Elle noticed a woman going into his trailer on a fairly regular basis. Knowing Jackson, it wasn’t unexpected but when I finally saw who it was it surprised me. Her name was Janelle and she was the manager of the clubhouse dining room. I’d never formally met her but had seen her in the clubhouse for the last two years. I didn’t think she was particularly pretty but I had noticed that she had a fairly nice looking body. Once I knew who she was I started paying more attention to Jackson’s trailer.

I was supposed to drive in a race while my parents were there but the horse turned up lame and was scratched. That disappointment along with the apprehension of how my mother would treat Elle dimmed the anticipation of the new car. In summary, when they arrived my mother treated Elle a bit on the “cool” side but her disdain for our living in “one of those things” was worse. The night they arrived they had arranged to have dinner in the clubhouse with their friends, the “B’s“ and I was to come over when I was finished with my work and to join them. I was upset enough that I didn’t join them. I had the keys to the car and my father had my old car so I wasn’t at risk for ignoring them. Elle thought I was wrong but I didn’t care.

To be continued...

Thursday, January 21, 2010

FATHERHOOD... Learning to cope (Part 51c)

Mrs AJ and Elle got along better than I would’ve expected since they were basically strangers to each other. Mrs AJ’s daughter had a baby about 15 months earlier and she was well versed in being a ”nana“. Elle was quite comfortable there and when the subject of her mother visiting came up it got a bit complicated. We’d promised her that as soon as the trailer was ready she could come. The boxes that Vi had packed still needed to be put away and the inside needed a good cleaning. In the latter stages of her pregnancy Elle had let a lot of things slip and I sure wasn’t into that sort of thing. We all decided that Friday would be a good day as it would give us a few days to get ready. I’d told Elle about the new bassinet from Harry and Vi but it wasn’t until Wednesday that she saw it. Mrs AJ wanted to see the trailer so she and Elle came out that afternoon. Mrs AJ basically took over and came up with a ”game plan“ as to getting everything ready for both Elle and the baby as well as for her mother. To put it mildly, she was a life saver!

I was a bit concerned about our neighbors on both sides. On the side where our door was located it was an older couple. He was a trainer/driver who had been somewhat successful and had a stable about as large as AJ’s. He’d pretty much given up driving in races turning the chore over to his son. He and his wife were probably in their late 50’s. It was hard to tell because he looked so ”weathered“. I honestly don’t remember ever speaking to him in the previous seasons. The wife looked younger and seemed a lot more friendly than the man. On the other side was a young trainer/driver whose first name was Jackson and that’s what he wanted to be called. He and I had talked many times over the course of the two seasons I’d spent at the track and he was someone who had encouraged me to ”chase my dream“ of racing harness horses. The problem was that he was unmarried and quite a ”free spirit“. I was concerned that his life style would be a problem for Elle and I.

I went to fetch Elle’s mother (she was now my MIL... mother-in-law) from the train station in the nearest city mid afternoon on Friday. Elle and Mrs AJ had done a nice job in having everything ready for both the baby and Elle’s mother. I remember wondering how long she would stay. I had enjoyed getting some time to be with Elle while with the AJ’s and I knew it would be different with my MIL there. She was born in Germany and had a definite stubborn streak. When she got an idea in her head it was totally impossible to get her to change her mind. She’d always been ”in charge“ and I was dreading the time we’d all be living together. At least I had an ”out“ in my work. Poor Elle was stuck with keeping her happy for who knew how long. I should, but I don’t, remember how long she was there. What I do remember was that any attempt that I made to get ”close“ to Elle she would push away reminding me that her mother was ”right outside“.

My parents had stepped up and given us diaper service for three months. I couldn’t believe it when the guy showed up with a the first delivery. Since we didn’t have a washing machine and would have to go into town to do the diapers it was a really appreciated gift. The car that my grandfather had promised for graduation was delivered (at home) and my father (and mother) were going to deliver it once my mother-in-law left. That was another reason I couldn’t wait fro her to leave.

It was impossible for Elle to go back to the doctor who delivered the baby so we ended up with an old GP (general practitioner). Elle was comfortable with him right from the start. Both the baby and Elle were doing very well. He was a bit concerned about Elle’s wetting problem but it had improved to the point that, at home, she no longer had to wear a ”package”. At their first meeting he told her he wanted to see her again to go over it with her.

I remember it being somewhere near the end of June when she left. The first night we were finally alone I wanted to make up for lost time. However, even though my MIL was no longer physically there she was there in spirit. We “snuggled” but, because Elle was breast feeding the baby I wasn’t allowed to touch her breasts. Even though the doctor had said we could resume having sex Elle’s mother had warned her not to do it until after she was “regular”. The best I could get was to go back to what we were doing in the late stages of her pregnancy and that was I would “plug in” to her wet panties. The big difference was that I would be facing her rather than coming in from the rear. I was frustrated but at least we were alone and it was better than nothing.

To be continued...

Monday, January 18, 2010

FATHERHOOD... Learning to cope (Part 51b)

As if my list didn’t have enough on it, Elle was feeling so good that she created her own list. At least hers was filled with things I could do on my own. The main thing was to find her some clothes that would fit. Since we’d be going right to the track after she was released she also needed ”protection“. The ladies from the trailer park had decided to visit on Sunday so I took off for the track to touch base with AJ. I’d been so occupied with just about any and everything on Saturday I’d forgotten to call him. I figured it would be better to show up and talk to him in person rather than a phone call. I was right as I could see he was a bit upset that I hadn’t kept him up to date. After I explained he was very sympathetic and told me to stick around for a while. I watched him drive off wondering what was up. About a half hour later he came back. It was around noon time and being Sunday, there was nothing going on around the barn area. He grabbed a couple of folding chairs and we sat down under the awning. At that point I was a bit concerned. I don’t think I’d ever talked with AJ when I wasn’t standing.

I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear what he was saying. Simply put, he’d gone home and spoken with Mrs AJ and they had decided to invite Elle, the baby and I to stay with them until the trailer was in place and the electricity and water was hooked up. In the time that I’d worked for AJ I think I’d spoken to Mrs AJ maybe three times. AJ said that he remembered how it was when his daughter was born and how hard it was on Mrs AJ. He said that they had a spare room and Mrs AJ ”needed“ to have something to keep her busy. All I remember was that it took a tremendous load off my mind. With all that Harry had done for me (us) I didn’t want to bug him about moving the trailer and the not knowing about when it would be moved was driving me to distraction. This offer would solve that.

Elle wasn’t as excited as I was about it though. She’d only met AJ a few times and had never met Mrs AJ. She wasn’t happy but I put my foot down and told he that it was the way it was going to be. I also didn’t make her happy when I told her that I was going to work on Monday. It felt good to get back on the track. I had to concentrate on what I was doing instead of worrying about things I couldn’t control. When we finished up the morning’s work, AJ told me take off and to tie up all the ”loose ends“ and he’d see me in time for my race the next night. That was the first mention of that and I’d suppressed my nervousness about it until then. But, on the trip back that’s all I could think about.

I’d put off calling Harry not wanting to be a PITA (pain in the ass), but had to know when he was coming. Back in those days we didn’t have answering machines or cell phones and if someone wasn’t home when a call came in it went unanswered. Harry had been trying to reach me all day. He or someone was going to be there first thing in the morning.

Before I left to see Elle I picked out the clothes she’d asked for as well as some things for the baby. That was one thing we had plenty of. When her sorority sisters had a baby shower for her they had provided (thankfully) enough stuff that we had very little to buy. She was in a much better mood that night and was actually glad that she was going to have some help (with the baby) for a few days. I promised that as soon as the trailer was completely set up that I’d make arrangements for her mother to come up and visit. That put me back in her ”good graces“.

I was up and waiting for Harry when he arrived. I helped load all the cement blocks and other ”stuff“ and he was on his way by 10am. I had a chance to say my goodbyes to our friends in the trailer park before going to the hospital to pick Elle up. Since classes were over and graduation ceremonies were scheduled for the afternoon almost everybody was around. Elle had told me that Vince had driven her to the hospital but I’d not been able to catch up with him to say ”Thank you.“ When I got to the trailer he and Trish were just leaving. Trish was due that week and she thought she was starting contractions. I helped get her in the car and yelled my thanks as they drove away. Josh had passed everything and was graduating that afternoon. Beth, who was also due that week, wasn’t feeling all that well so I didn’t stay long. Of them all I was going to miss them the most.

The three of us left the hospital in the early afternoon. It was the first time I’d seen Elle on her feet since the baby was born and she really looked good. She’d only gained around 20 pounds. One thing I do remember was that I was famished. I’d not had anything to eat as I’d emptied the last of the things in the refrigerator the night before and hadn’t taken the time to find something to eat. Elle wanted to know why I was so quiet. My mind was now on my first race that was coming up that night. I was really getting nervous. (2)

When we got to AJ’s house it was Elle who was nervous. Mrs AJ was very gracious and showed us the room we’d be sleeping in. Their landlord’s daughter had had a baby about a year earlier and had loaned Mrs AJ their bassinet for the baby so we were just about set... except for letting Mrs AJ know about Elle’s wetting. I’d packed up the rubberized sheet and some of our towels and the first thing we did after Mrs AJ left was to remake the bed. I told Elle that she had to be the one to tell her and she wasn’t very happy about it. The baby was asleep and Elle was tired as this was the longest period of time she’d been awake since the baby was born. When she lay down I headed for the track. Even though I didn’t have to get ready for the race until around 5pm I was anxious to check on the trailer.

I’d requested a space where I could see the trailer from the barn. Since I wasn’t there to observe when it arrived I was somewhat concerned although I knew there was little I could do about it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw where it was. Harry had blocked it and hooked up the water, sewer and electric (I hadn't known that the track paid for the power) so there was nothing major I really had to do. I went inside to open the windows since it was about 85 degrees out and there, right in the middle of the living room was a brand new white wicker bassinet. There was a big pink bow on it and I knew right away that it had come from Harry and Vi.

Mrs AJ had told me that she’d have something for AJ and I to eat before we left for the track so I went back to the house. There was a patio with an awning in the back of the house and when I pulled into the driveway it seemed like a small party was going on. Elle had brought the baby down and AJ and his wife, the landlords and one of their kids were there. Of course, the baby was getting all the attention. I didn’t say anything about the new bassinet so as not to hurt the feeling of the landlord who had retrieved their daughter’s for us to use. Mrs AJ brought down some sandwiches and iced tea for AJ and I and we did make it into somewhat of a party.

From the time we left for the track until the race was over is just a blur in my mind. Unlike an O. Henry story, I did not win the race. I finished a poor sixth. AJ told me that I’d allowed myself to get ”boxed in“ at the rail and really had no chance. All I knew was that I was glad that it was over.

To be continued...

Friday, January 15, 2010

FATHERHOOD... Learning to cope (Part 51a)

Truthfully, I have no memory of driving from the track to the hospital. Once there I got a big shock. I had expected to get to see Elle right away and wasn’t prepared to wait. But, at that period in time some hospitals had very strict rules on visiting hours with no exceptions for new fathers. I was told I had to wait until 2pm. There was nothing I could do to change it.

I would guess that I had to wait over an hour. It was during this time that some sort of reality about what the birth of the baby, at that time, meant. It almost overwhelmed me. I suddenly realized that I would have to get the trailer moved to the track a whole week earlier than planned. I’d pretty much taken the delivery date as a given (I had a LOT to learn!) and had Harry all set to move it to the track on the Monday after the upcoming one. Elle had told me that it had to be in place when she was released from the hospital and that day had been the due date. Moving it while she was in the hospital was a must. In a panic I called Harry but got (thankfully) his wife. She was really excited and happy for Elle and I and after she calmed me down told me that she’d “work on Harry” and not to go on worrying. After hanging up I started thinking of all the things that moving the trailer would entail. I remember writing things on the back page of a magazine in the waiting room and as I watched the list get longer and longer was when I started to feel overwhelmed.

I never gave a thought to calling our parents or to my grandparents. I just kept adding things to the list. Finally, visiting hours began and Elle was asleep when I walked in. I found a nurse to show me where the nursery was and when I got there I couldn’t really see much. The sides of the bins the babies were in were too high to see inside them. I waited until I saw a nurse in the back of the room and when I got her attention got her to hold the baby up for me to see. I’d not really paid much, if any, attention to babies, especially newborns, up to that time. All I saw was a chubby cheeked, red faced baby with a shock of dark hair. The nurse held up one of her arms that had a bracelet that identified it as ours. As excited as I should’ve been at that moment I’m ashamed to say I really don’t remember any of my inner feelings.

I had to leave at 4pm and it was just about that time when Elle woke up and this part I do remember. The first words out of her mouth were to tell me that she had missed her last final exam because of the birth and she was scared that she wouldn’t graduate. To me that was just another thing to add to my “list“ of things that had to be addressed... and soon. I won’t go so far as to say Elle was in a panic but it wasn’t far from it. I didn’t have any idea where to start on my list so when I left I headed for the Administration building. Thankfully, it was still open. I explained the situation about the baby and Elle’s concern about her status. Even though the lady at the desk couldn’t tell me exactly what would happen, after checking Elle’s records she did assure me that there was no doubt that she would graduate. That was all I needed to hear.

I did call home and talked with Elle’s and my mother as well as my grandfather. Of all of them it was my grandfather that sounded the most excited. The baby meant that he and my grandmother were now great grandparents. Elle’s mother was ready to get on a train and to come right up. I had a hard time explaining that until I got the trailer moved there was no place for any of us to stay. On top of everything else I didn't need her under my feet until the trailer was situated. My mother was sort of ”ho-hum“ although she was concerned about how Elle had come through the birthing process.

By the time I got to see Elle that night I had ”the wheels in motion“ for some of the items on my list. As soon as I told Elle about what the lady at the Ad building said I could see her relax. It was just about that time that a nurse brought the baby in for Elle to feed her. Even though I was the husband I was asked to leave while she did and I did as I was told. All in all, I actually got to talk with Elle less than an hour that day. I’m sure that I never even got to tell her that I was going to be in my first race the following Tuesday.

I was also able to talk with Harry and he said that, one way or another, he’d get the trailer to the track by the time Elle was released from the hospital. One thing that Harry wanted me to do was to get the trailer ready to be moved. That meant removing the cement blocks that were used to make it level and stable. I’d done it any number of times while working for him so, other than my time, it wasn’t a problem. I also had to pack up everything in the cabinets and refrigerator. I didn’t go to work on Saturday, using most of the time to address the items on my ”list“. One of them was to get my deposit back from the trailer park owner. That gave me some much needed cash.

Late Saturday morning I was surprised to have Harry’s wife, Vi and her sister show up. They told me they had come down to help me pack everything up for the move. But it didn’t take long to find out that what they really wanted was to see Elle and especially, the baby. Vi had brought boxes and knew exactly how to pack things. I watched closely as I knew that I’d have to do it again at the end of the Summer. The ladies took me out for lunch and then we went to the hospital. Only two people at a time were allowed in the room and when we got there the lobby had at least six of Elle’s sorority sisters there. I ended up getting to see her for about 10 minutes just before visiting hours were up. That night it was more of the same but this time I was there first and wouldn’t give up my space making the girls come up one at a time. Elle was exhausted by the time we all left and I had a good idea why they had limited visiting hours.

On Sunday it was projected that Elle would be released around mid day on Tuesday. I couldn’t believe it. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Not that it was important to me (or Elle) at that time but Tuesday was the day for both our graduation ceremonies... and also my first race. At the time I found out about Elle’s release date Harry hadn’t told me when he was going to move the trailer. All of these things just seemed to be piling up on me. I’d thought that once I got word that I’d graduated all the pressure would be off. WRONG!

To be continued...

Sunday, January 03, 2010

MARRIED... Spring(ing) into he future (Part 50h)

I’d forgotten about the clothes until the next morning when I left for Harry’s. I reminded Elle where they were and headed for work. When I got home they were hanging on our clothes line. That was the first time I thought about the panties but I couldn’t miss them, blowing in the breeze. Inside the trailer I asked Elle if she wanted me to get them off the line and, of course, she said yes. As i looked at the pants I could see that the wine stain had not come out. It was the same for the blouse. The panties were a very pale pink on the front but still mostly white on the back. When I saw the back I knew I’d never seen panties like this before. I’d bought Elle panties that were somewhat like them in that the crotch wasn’t rounded but had a diamond shape to them Mary Elizabeth’s had a diamond shape in the back that went all the way to the waistband. It was double material all the way up. I was really excited to see something so different. I didn’t want Elle to see me looking at the panties so ducked behind the trailer so i could see the maker. The label read “Be Free”. They were a size six, a size larger than what Elle wore before the pregnancy. I immediately started thinking of some way to be able to hold onto these panties.

After we ate Elle called Mary Elizabeth to find out how she made out getting into the sorority and to tell her we had her clothes. She told Elle that Mrs M, the housemother, knew something was up but hadn’t said anything yet. As far as the clothes she told Elle to just throw them away; that she didn’t want to explain how they got stained to her mother when she got home. Elle proceeded to put them into the trash and I made a special note to myself to remove them when I put the trash outside. I was smiling with that decision. The panties made it into my “stash” the next day.

There was just a little over two weeks of classes left and only a week until some of AJ’s horses shipped into the racetrack. I wanted to see just what the caliber of the horses in the stable was even though I wouldn’t be able to really work with them until classes were over. I was also anxious to get started on my career with them.

I managed to finish my paper for my seminar early and turned it in. The professor was so impressed that he decided to grade it right away. That was when I got one of the biggest surprises of my college career. I got an A+ on it and was told I didn’t need to attend the last two classes or take the final exam... and that I had an A for the course. That news took some of the pressure off me as far as my GPA in both my major as well as the overall average was concerned. At that point I was almost positive that I had a B in the “Hook’s” contemporary literature course due to my “discovery” of the plagiarism in An American Tragedy. I also felt confident that I would achieve a B with Dr F more because of my help with the educable program than my classwork or test scores. I had a solid C in one of the other Economics courses I was taking but it was the other one that was the key to me graduating or not.

Due to the efforts of the guy who really was the best student in the whole Economics program the head of the department convened a meeting with the whole class and the instructor. Our biggest complaint was that we really couldn’t understand what our Chinese instructor was saying in class and when he created tests using that material we were at a big disadvantage. He was quite upset, especially when the head of the department told him that the final exam had to only come from material in the text book. It gave me some “breathing room” but nothing was mentioned about the class averages we were all carrying. All I could do was hope.

Elle’s and my exam schedule covered the same days but my last exam, the dreaded one, was on Wednesday, May 27th and hers was on that Friday. With my schedule I had been able to “steal” some time at the track. Elle didn’t really like it other than the fact that I was making some money. I had to leave earlier in the morning and, depending on what races AJ’s horses were in, getting home later at night. Even though the baby wasn’t due until the end of the first week in June and she wasn’t having any problems she just wanted me to be around.

The promise had been that once I graduated I could drive in a race. AJ was holding to it and wouldn’t put my name down until it was known that I would. The pressure was on me from all sides. I walked out of that exam feeling less than confident. AJ had horses racing that night so I headed for the track. He asked how I did and I told him I really didn’t know. He reminded me that my driving career wouldn’t start until I had my diploma. We had all been told that the results would be posted that Friday morning so I was really sweating it by then!

Since the baby was due the weekend after exams were over our plan had been to not move the trailer to the track until after the birth. We’d prepaid the doctor through the birth so it made sense. The move was going to be rough no matter what but I felt we had no choice but to wait even though it made it rough on me commuting about one hour and a half each way. On that fateful Friday morning I left the trailer around 7am. Elle was studying for her last exam when I left. I got to school around 8am and saw the Chinese instructor posting something on his office door. I ran up to it, literally holding my breath. I scanned down to my name and saw “Exam score 72. Class grade D. Even though the office was on the second floor people on the first floor could’ve heard my scream. I was going to graduate!

By the time I got to a pay phone to call Elle it was 8:30am. Her exam was at 9am so when she didn’t answer I figured she’d already left. I headed straight for the track to tell AJ and caught him just as he was headed up to the track office with Tuesday’s entries. As soon as I told him he took one of the entry forms and inserted my name in as the driver. As excited as I was about knowing that I would get my diploma I was actually more excited about that... my first race.

I then took one of the horses out on the track to go a training trip with him and while on the track I could hear the loudspeaker call my name for a phone call. It was about 20 or so minutes before I could get to the office. I seldom got phone calls and had no idea who it might be. I didn’t recognize the number when I dialed it and was even more confused when I didn’t recognize the voice on the other end of the line. ”Congratulations Daddy!“ was what I heard. My immediate thought was that it was a mistake since it was over a week to go to Elle’s due date. But it wasn’t. At 10:05am Elle gave birth to an 8lb 8oz baby girl. and both mother and daughter were doing well.

To be continued...