A Chance Encounter

by Charlie Conwell

  She picks a squealing Ray up and starts spinning him around in circles. Daniel and Maeve are grinning. “Hey Charlie, how was the drive?”

  “Hey Daniel, hi Maeve, good to see you again. The drive was good, noisy with the hyper Em, but it was nice.”

  Daniel laughs as Maeve gives me a hug. “Pretty much like ours. Ray is super hyper right now, I hope you are ready for a noisy weekend.”

  “Always. It will be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

  Em has stopped spinning Ray. He spots me, practically jumps out of Em’s arms and comes running at me.

  “Charlie, I am going in your car and we are going to have lots of fun and ice cream and you remember I like pancakes for breakfast?”

  “Hey little man, I do remember, and I have been practising to make sure they will be the best pancakes ever.”

  I see his eyes widen and the smile come on his face. “I’m hungry now.”

  I laugh as just on cue, I hear Em’s stomach rumble. “Looks like you are not the only one hungry buddy. Shall we go inside and get something delicious to eat?”

  Ray looks at his parents and they nod in agreement. “Yes please, Charlie. I want to sit beside you.”

  “Sounds good to me, let’s go get some food for our tummies.”

  He gets down out of my arms, takes my hand and we start walking into the hotel. Em comes beside me and takes my other hand. “Not even five minutes and he is gone, that’s quicker than I thought he would.”

  I look over at her, she grins at me and leans her head on my shoulder. I quickly kiss her and squeeze her hand. “He will be with us both for the next couple of days. You will have lots of time with him.”

  She kisses my cheek. “I know and it will be fun.”

  The lunch goes well. I have my little shadow beside me occupying the time with questions and excited chatter. Em is left talking with Danny and Maeve. Every so often, she tries to get Ray’s attention, but he doesn’t give her much and zones her out. I squeeze her thigh under the table and she interlinks our fingers.

  “Am I staying at your house, Charlie?”

  “You are, my roommate is going away for the weekend and she is giving you her bedroom. Isn’t that pretty cool of her?”

  “What is her name? Will I see her?”

  “Her name is Stacey and she might still be there when we get back, so you might see her for a few minutes.”

  “Does she have a big bed or a small bed?”

  I laugh at him. “It’s a big bed, you will be able to move all over and not fall out.”

  “My bed is only small, will there be room for my teddy?”

  “Definitely, you won’t be without teddy.”

  The time has come for us to go home with Ray and Danny and Maeve to go off on their weekend break. I am wondering how Ray will feel about leaving his parents. It’s all fun when they are still in eyeshot but when they aren’t I’m hoping he will be ok.

  “Ray, you be a good boy for Em and Charlie and daddy and I will call you tonight before you go to sleep.”

  Maeve hugs him and Ray kisses her. “I’m a big boy mommy and this will be fun, right Charlie?”

  I am not listening since I am checking the car. Ray frowns and shouts my name. My head snaps up and I bang it off the car door. Maeve, Danny and Em start to laugh. I rub my head, look at Ray and smile. “What was that buddy?”

  “Fun, we will be having fun, right?”

  “Sure, buddy we will have lots of fun. Tonight, we will get a movie and popcorn and some ice-cream and then tomorrow we will have a full day of surprises and fun.”

  “Popcorn and ice-cream. Yay! Bye mom, bye dad.”

  He runs over beside me and takes my hand. Maeve and Danny weren’t expecting it to be so easy and it takes a minute or two for them to move. Danny laughs and gets Ray’s car seat from their car and fits it into mine. We buckle Ray in and he waves to Maeve with the biggest smile on his face. She leans in and kisses him again, and Danny does the same. “See you on Monday night buddy, be good and have fun.”

  Ray waves out the window as we drive off and the journey home is full of Ray’s stories until he falls asleep. Em rests her head back and closes her eyes grinning. “That boy can talk. I thought he was going to keep going the whole way home.”

  I chuckle and look in the rear-view mirror at the sleeping boy. “He has the best imagination though. He has the best stories even if they are a little long. How are you doing babe?”

  She moves her head to the side looking at me. I glance away from the road and see her smile at me. “I’m doing great and I have the best girlfriend and we are going to have our hands full with that dynamic little dude back there.”

  “Right back at you babe, I wouldn’t change you for the world.”

  We get back home, and Ray runs around my house checking out every room. We missed Stacey, but she had left a colouring book and crayons for Ray on the double bed in what would be his room. He went for a jump on it and then placed his teddy under the cover to wait for him while we settled down to watch the movie. Ray chose ‘Wreck it Ralph’ and as Em loaded it up, she was shaking her head. “Ray, you could have chosen another movie, you have seen this one so many times already.”

  “It’s my favourite and I want to watch it with Charlie.”

  Em turns around, sees Ray snuggled into my side and the bowl of popcorn on my lap that he is munching on. She looks at the space to my other side and sees that it is quite narrow. I try and move a little so that she can have more room, but Ray is not moving at all. She slumps down on the chair, I wink at her and she gives me a smile.

  Ray talks along with the characters in the movie which I laugh at. He has learned most of the words from having watched it so much. The only time he is quiet is when he is eating popcorn.

  “Charlie, isn’t this the best movie? Ralph is a bad guy, but he isn’t really. Isn’t he Charlie?”

  “No, he is a good guy helping Vanelope and he only wants to have friends. Do you have a lot of friends?”

  “I have a girlfriend.”

  Em chokes on her drink as she looks at Ray. “You have a girlfriend?”

  “Leah is my girlfriend, she lives down the street from me and we play together. We hold hands and I will marry her.”

  Em is like a goldfish on the chair and I snicker. “Does your mom and dad know that you have a girlfriend?”

  I see him shy away and he shakes his head. “No, but Leah is getting me a present for Christmas and I want to get her one too.”

  “You are four years old, you can’t have a girlfriend.”

  Ray folds his arms and frowns. “I have a girlfriend, I like holding Leah’s hand and we sit beside each other all the time. I kissed her cheek too.”

  “Wow buddy, this is big news. You must be nice to this girl. How about when we go to the shops tomorrow Em and I can help you get her a present?”

  I see the biggest smile and his eyes sparkle with excitement. “I will always be nice to her Charlie. Could we get her a doll? I know she likes dolls a lot.”

  “I’m sure we could do that, and she will love it, isn’t that right Em?”

  I look over at Em who has recovered from the shock a little. “Yes, we could definitely do that, we will make it the prettiest doll.”

  Ray jumps down, runs over and hugs Em. “Thank you, Em.”

  “You’re welcome, it will be fun.”

  “You should move over here, so we can all snuggle together.”

  He holds out his hand for Em to take. She stands up, moves over to the sofa, and sits beside me. Ray squeezes into the middle of us, looks up at Em and grins. Em looks at me and I laugh. We settle down and watch the rest of the movie.

  Em puts Ray in the shower and gets him ready for bed while I tidy up. I hear Ray call for me from the bedroom. I walk to the door and he is lying in the bed with a huge grin.

  “I want a story before I go to sleep please.”

  Em has the book in her hand and is pouting. I can tell that he did
n’t want her to read it to him. I kick off my runners, sit up on the bed and take the book. I start to read the book and before I get to the middle Ray is out for the count.

  We gently get off the bed and make our way out of the bedroom. Em takes my hand, we go to our room, strip out of our clothes, pull on loose t-shirts and shorts before snuggling under the covers. Em kisses me and rests her head on my chest. Her hand is under my tee and stroking my stomach.

  “He is four years old and has a girlfriend, what a player.”

  I chuckle. “He has charm oozing from every pore, he is your nephew after all. I look forward to you telling Maeve and Danny about Leah.”

  Her head snaps up from off my chest. “I have to tell them?”

  I laugh. “Well yeah, it would explain the reason behind us buying a doll that he will be bringing it home with him.”

  “Damn, I forgot that.”

  I put her head back on my chest. “It will be fine, and I will be with you, so you won’t have to do it on your own.”

  I feel her kiss my chest. “I know you will, you weren’t going to have a choice in that.”

  She lifts her head, gives me a cheeky grin, leans in, and kisses me before she lays her head down. I hear a sigh of contentment from her and she snuggles impossibly closer to me. I smile as I run my fingers through her hair and before long we have drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 12

  We are both awoken by the bedroom door being banged open and a happy Ray jumping up onto the bed.

  “It’s morning time, time for pancakes and chocolate spread.”

  I hear Em groan as I look at my alarm clock and it is 5.30am. I normally get up at 6.30 to go for a run but today it is all about the little boy full of energy already. Em is hiding her head under her pillow and her voice is muffled. “Too early Ray.”

  Ray starts to play the drums on Em’s pillow while I watch on laughing.

  “Em, its morning up, up.”

  Em peaks her head out while Ray looks at me. She takes him by surprise making him squeal with laughter as she starts to tickle him.

  “Em, no, no tickles, please. Charlie help me.”

  I am powerless to do anything as the child lays in a ball on top of me. Em takes mercy on him and stops, allowing him to get his breath back. I thought that he will drag us out of bed, but he gets in between us. “I like this bed too.”

  He shuffles down and starts playing with his hot, rod car driving it across the cover. Em looks over the top of him and I shrug. She settles back down probably thinking that she will get some more sleep, but Ray has other ideas. When Em closes her eyes, he runs the car over her head. This continues for thirty minutes and then Em gives up on sleep. She sits up and throws me a look that halts my laugh. I clear my throat and look at Ray. “How about we go make pancakes and then we will bring them back here and have breakfast in bed and then we can start our adventure day?”

  He stops what he is doing, nods in agreement eagerly, jumps over Em and runs out of the bedroom shouting. “Pancakes.”

  Em smiles at me sheepishly making me lean in and kiss her. “Sleep for a little longer. I will occupy him with breakfast.”

  She kisses me again. “I hate mornings and this to me is still night time.”

  “I know you do, it’s all good, you will get a few minutes before he comes back in and jumps on you again.”

  Breakfast in bed goes well and Ray loved the fact that he is in between Em and I. He devours four pancakes, fruit, and his orange juice. We all get up and get ready for the day ahead. The morning activity is to take Ray to Adventureland and he runs around for a good couple of hours. I have never seen a kid with as much energy. He tries swimming through the ball pit, nearly giving Em a stroke when he disappears under the balls and she cannot see him. She eventually calms down when she sees him waving and laughing. A few of the parents give her a few funny looks when she was trying to make her way through a maze of padded blocks to see if she could find him. She runs off before I even have time to tell her what he has done. Ray thinks it is a form of hide and seek. He finds it hilarious seeing Em go into the play area to find him.

  We break for lunch and Ray is his usual chatty self. Em is sitting beside me with her head on my shoulder. Our food arrives, and Ray stops talking enough to eat his food. He is so excited by everything that he has done and what we are going to do after lunch.

  “Em, are you helping me with bowling?”

  Em stops with the food halfway to her mouth and looks at Ray. I grin because she looks as if she was resigned to the fact that Ray would stick to me and the surprise etched on her face is wonderful. The biggest grin comes on her face. “Sure buddy, I will help you, it will be lots of fun and then after that, we will go and find the doll for Leah.”

  Ray grins, starts eating again and I laugh as so much tomato sauce is covering his face, but he is enjoying his food. After Ray has finished his lunch and we have cleaned him up, we go to the bowling alley. He enjoys himself so much dancing when the pins fall. To see Em helping him and the two of them having a great time brings me more happiness than I could ever imagine. She turns to look at me with the biggest grin on her face and I am left speechless once again she is just beauty personified. I have to hold myself back from taking her in my arms and kissing her. She can see the heat and desire in my eyes so comes beside me.

  “Later I will give you all the attention you can handle.”

  I look at her, shake my head and she frowns. “Why not?”

  I point at Ray and she laughs. “He will be asleep, you can be quiet right?”

  “Em, it’s too risky.”

  “It makes it hotter and I know you want me.”

  She doesn’t give me a chance to say anything but gives me a wink and goes over to Ray who is calling her. I am frozen in shock for a few seconds as I see images of Em in my mind and realise where we are. I shake myself, rub my face and stand up. I hear Ray celebrating. He comes over and high fives me. Ray has enjoyed the bowling and we are on our way to town to go into the toy store to look for the doll he wants to get.

  His eyes widen as the door opens to the toy store and he runs off. Em yelps and quickly dashes after him. He is shocked at how big the store is and is overwhelmed with all the toys in here. He walks up and down the aisle with the dolls in it. Em would hold up a doll and he would critique it. After the tenth doll, I can see that Em is losing patience and wants to get out of here. Ray looks at the dolls one more time. “It has to be beautiful Em because Leah is beautiful.”

  She shakes her head smiling. “Ok buddy, let’s have another look.”

  I look at the row of dolls and pick one up. “Hey Ray, how about this one?”

  He looks over to me, looks at the doll and nods his head. “You found the prettiest one Charlie.”

  Em looks so relieved and to see Ray so excited is brilliant. We pick up a toy for Ray too and then go to the checkout to pay. We head home, and Ray chooses another movie to watch with Em while I make dinner.

  I make lasagne with salad and garlic bread. Ray loves garlic bread which surprises me. The evening is nice and relaxed, and Ray falls asleep almost immediately before we even begin to read the story. We tidy up in the living room before going to our room and Em makes good on what she had said earlier. Em teases me as she ate me, and I have to pull the pillow over my face to swallow the sound as she makes me cum so hard. I repay the favour as I tease and torment her before she orgasms for me. I rejoice in her sweet honey sliding down my throat. We throw on shorts and t-shirts to go to sleep as we know Ray would be coming into the room in the morning. Em curls up in my arms and we fall asleep contented.

  Our wakeup call is Ray again but Em is happier this morning and does not groan as much. We have breakfast and then drive to the zoo to spend the day. Ray loves every minute of it. We take lots of pictures of his favourite animals to show his mom and dad. We have a picnic by the lake there and he never stops talking excitedly about what he has seen. When we tell him that we have only se
en half of the animals and we are going to see the elephants, snakes, and monkeys next, I think his eyes are going to pop out of his head.

  We walk around the rest of the zoo and take more pictures. Ray is a little frightened with the snakes and we reassure him that they couldn’t get out. He loves watching the monkeys and how they jump from tree to tree, plus seeing them swinging on the tyre swings.

  We stop by the gift store and buy him a souvenir to take home with him. On the way home, we stop at a restaurant for dinner. Ray is a charmer with the waitress and he even gets free ice cream for dessert which he is so pleased about. We get him home, he goes in for a shower, changes into his pyjamas and we settle down to watch cartoons before Ray goes to bed. He gives each of us a hug and a kiss before he settles down to sleep.

  Em and I tidy up the living room and collapse on the sofa with the TV showing something other than kids cartoons.

  “I’m going to miss him when he goes home tomorrow. Thank you for making this weekend so special. He had a fun time and so did I.”

  “I loved having him here and it will be very quiet around here when he goes. At least it’s not too long before you will see him again at Christmas. Have you prepared what you are going to say to Danny and Maeve about Ray’s girlfriend?”

  She lifts her head and frowns. “No. I had completely forgotten about that. Maybe you could tell them.”

  I laugh and shake my head. “I don’t think either of us will have to say anything. Ray will want to show the doll to them and then they will know.”

  “That’s true but I should say something first as a pre-warning.”

  “They will be fine, and I think it’s cute. Look at how he got free ice cream at the restaurant, that boy is a heartbreaker and such a charmer.”

  “Yes, he is, let’s see how they handle this.”

  “They will be fine, and it will be funny to see their reaction.”