MARRIED... Spring(ing) into the future (Part 50e)

When I arrived back at the trailer on Friday afternoon I found it empty. There was a note on the table telling me that Dr John’s wife, Babs, had picked Elle up in the early afternoon and for me to go over to their house. Dr John had been asked to fill in for a colleague at an equine disease conference on very short notice. In spite of that she had been able to have almost everything in order for us (read that as Elle) to make it as easy for us as possible. She had enough food in the refrigerator, with cooking instructions, to take us through to Sunday afternoon when they would be back. The only thing that didn’t get done before they left was to take the laundry out of the washing machine and to put most of it in the dryer. Elle had waited for me to do that as their laundry facilities were in the basement. Elle didn’t like going down a flight of stairs since she really couldn’t see the steps because of her protruding tummy. So, I was assigned the duty.

I’d say that by that time we’d been there to baby sit at least five times. On one of the first times there I’d given some thought to going “exploring”. The problem with that was the house was a ranch type with the master bedroom just off the living room. That, and their bathroom, were the only rooms at that end of the house. There was never a reason for me to go in that area and with the feeling that Elle was watching me every time I got up from a chair, decided it was best not to pursue any thought of “exploring”.

Babs was a tall, trim woman with somewhat wide hips. I didn’t find her particularly attractive but really liked her as a person. When I headed down into the cellar Elle told me that Babs had left a list of the things that shouldn’t go into the dryer. As I read the list I saw a word that made my heart start to pound... underwear. I reached into the machine and pulled out a wad of white cloth. It was a mix of sheets, pillow cases and underwear. I quickly rooted through it looking for the “prize” and it didn’t take long to find what I was looking for. I felt the soft nylon and guessed that it was a pair of panties. When I did I gently separated it from the rest of the pile of cloth. I spread them out on the top of the dryer and the first thing I noticed was how much larger they were than Elle’s. They were plain white with no embellishments. The next step was to look at the label. It read Munsingwear. The name was not foreign to me as I had, at one time, had some T shirts made by them. But this was the first time I’d ever seen the name in lingerie. What really had my attention though was the feel of the wet material. I knew that I’d felt something very similar to it but couldn’t come up with what or where it had been.

I knew I couldn’t take too much time as Elle would be calling down to me before long. As I finished sorting it all out and distributing it between the dryer and a drying rack that stood right next to it I found one other pair. It was exactly the same as the first. I did take the time to look at the size and found it was a 7. As a trudged back upstairs I was trying to remember where I was when I’d felt that almost sensuous material. I couldn’t.

I spent the rest of the weekend trying to figure a way to slip into the master bedroom but the only time I felt I had a chance was when Elle was taking a shower on Sunday morning. I made it out to the living room and was trying to summon the courage to make my foray into the bedroom when the kids came flying out of their room. It seemed like an omen that it just wasn’t going to happen.

For some reason Elle got along with the boys better than I did. Even though she wanted to spend time studying she did give attention to the kids. I had a ton of reading to do for my literature class and, surprisingly, found myself engrossed in the tale. I was reading when Babs walked into the house and, to make conversation, asked what I was reading. I told her it was Dreiser’s An American Tragedy. The look on her face was worth a picture. With her coat still on she rushed over to the chair I was in and sat on the ottoman in front of me. She was all excited. Of course I had no idea why. She started to talk, rapidly, and since I had no idea of where she was coming from, sat there and stared at her. She calmed down when Dr John walked in and when she started talking to him I got the drift of why she was so excited.

The “Hook” had told the class very little of the background on the book other than to say it was loosely based upon something that had actually happened. That was it. In class our discussions had focused on Dreiser’s writing style as compared to the other authors that we’d previously read. Listening to Babs was truly a fascinating experience. Not only had the story actually happened but a good bit of it had taken place in the town we were in. That excited me and I started asking questions. Initially, she answered them. But then she realized that it wasn’t a good idea to get ahead of where I was in the book. When that happened she made me promise to come over and to visit with her as I progressed through the book. I willingly said I would. That discovery gave me even more impetus to read the book.

To be continued...