Cupidity

by Lucinda Lamont

  Martha realised that he deserved to have his own child. He had done so much for her and Willy. She should give him the one thing that he couldn’t make on his own.

  She knew it would make him the happiest version of himself there had ever been. Perhaps not tonight she thought to herself, but very soon, she would see if they could make it happen. There had been so much change in that house already; a new baby would be too much. She knew David wouldn’t hesitate right now, but whether he realised it or not, she felt that he needed to get used to his parents not being there, before throwing the responsibility of parenthood into his lap. You can’t fix change with more change she believed. You had to come to terms with change first so that when the next change came, the right version of you was there and ready to deal with it.

  Present change with an emotionally unstable person and the results could be very different than what the outcome could’ve been.

  They don’t say time is a great healer for nothing.

  When David and Martha arrived home that night, she got Willy ready for bed, but David insisted on reading him his bedtime story. So, with that, the three of them curled up on Willy’s bed and they all sat together while David read. He was very good at it. He pulled silly faces and he put on different voices for each of the characters. Willy gasped and giggled in all the right places and Martha felt so glad that she had all of this.

  She never thought she would find another Johnny. He was so rare and although David was not replacing him, she thanked her lucky stars that she had found someone who was so kind, not only to her but to her son too. David treated Willy as if he was his own. He had more patience than anyone she had ever known, and that trait alone was a big part of the attraction for her. A

  fter they had tucked Willy into bed, and both kissed him goodnight, they got up and left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar as a defence system to keep monsters at bay. The light melted monsters, according to Willy.

  Out on the landing David walked ahead of Martha and took her hand to guide her down the stairs behind him, but she held back. He stopped on the step and looked behind him, and she stood there staring right back at him. She bit her bottom lip and he was instantly aroused.

  All the blood began to flow to inside his trousers immediately. That signal told him everything he needed to know, and he was not about to say no. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She could be dressed in rags with her hair in a mess, and he would still want to make love to her over and over again. Even if she did only have rags for clothes, there was no chance her hair would be a mess. One of the things he liked about her so much was how much effort she consistently made, not only with her appearance but with everything she did. She continuously gave so much without ever asking for anything back.

  David walked back up the two steps he had managed to get down and put his hands on Martha’s hips. She loved his big hands. His physique was different to Johnny’s and although she hadn’t planned her next love to be that way, she was glad he was. It made it easier for her to be with him, knowing that his shape was so different. His hands were like shovels and his fingers were big and thick. He had the hands of a workman. Small cuts and scars everywhere told a story of his hard graft since childhood. His whole build was stocky, and he was built mainly of muscle due to his labour-intensive lifestyle.

  With both of his hands on her hips, he was almost able to hold her whole waist. He kissed her hard and she kissed back.

  There wasn’t a lot to David. He wasn’t a deep soul, but he was kind, and while Martha considered that thought, she found herself becoming extremely aroused, and had this overwhelming desire to be with him.

  She kissed him back heavily, and almost allowed herself to sink into his hands. He must’ve felt it because at that moment he picked her up and carried her into their room, kissing her the whole time. He placed her on the bed as if she was a delicate patient who needed gentle care. Martha allowed him to take the lead.

  She completely surrendered herself to him, and her burning desire to make love to him. As she lay on the bed, David slowly traced his fingers over her face.

  He traced the outline of her lips and then down to her chest.

  He traced the line of her collarbone and then began to kiss her neck.

  She began to breathe heavier as goose pimples rose all over her body. He slowly began to unbutton her blouse. With each button he undid, he would kiss his way down her body. Once he was at her navel she sat up and took his head in her hands. They both sat together on the bed staring into each other’s eyes.

  Martha leaned in and began to kiss David passionately. She kissed him as though she hadn’t seen him for five years, or as if this was the last time she was going to kiss him. They began to undress each other quickly, David holding Martha’s head in his hands, and kissing her with force and meaning.

  Once naked, David pushed Martha up the bed, she held onto his arms and again, she appreciated how strong he was as she wrapped her fingers around his biceps. David pulled away from kissing her so that he was hovering just slightly above her mouth. They could feel the breath of each other on their faces. He held her stare and entered her. He moaned with pleasure and she gasped with passion.

  He slowly began to make love to her, and she rocked her body in time with his. She had one hand on the bottom of his back holding him close to her and one hand on the back of his head.

  It wasn’t the most furious love making the two had shared, but it was loving, sensual and extremely intense for them both.

  With gentle motion, they both came together and they stayed in their embrace for quite some time after, saying nothing, just lying there, in pure ecstasy.

  Chapter 20

  The days flew by into weeks which quickly passed as months, and Martha was settling in well with David and his brother.

  Peter and Mae would visit regularly and likewise they would visit them. Willy remained good friends with Charlie, and the two of them became more like brothers than friends. Little baby Anna was a few months old now and was already growing into a strong woman just like her mother. She had both her parents wrapped around her little finger and her big brother.

  Peter seemed more distant as the time went on and Martha believed that he was jealous of the baby. He loved her without a doubt, she was the apple of his eye and would be his little princess that would never go without, but she could see that he resented the lack of interest Mae had for him and the abundance of interest she had for her new baby.

  Whenever they all met for dinner or lunch, he wouldn’t even put on his usual alpha male display for David. David misinterpreted this as Peter accepting him and liking him, but Martha didn’t think that was the case. She wouldn’t tell David as he was too sensitive to handle that kind of revelation, plus Martha knew one of the greatest things about David was his innocent mind.

  Christmas was fast approaching and it had been decided that they would all celebrate together at Peter and Mae’s. David was slightly put out by this, as his house was bigger, but Martha reassured him that they were offering to host as they were more comfortable financially, and wanted to be able to share what they could put on the table.

  ‘We are not a charity, Martha. I can provide for us just as much as Peter can. In fact, I could probably put on a better spread than them. I know this year is still tight for food, but I could get us a pretty good murkey. I heard someone talking about them the other day. It’s like a turkey, but it’s made of something else. Sausage meat I think. It’s got breadcrumbs and stuff on it. I don’t know. Ask one of the local lasses, they’ll be able to tell you and then next Christmas we’ll have a real turkey.’

  She loved his enthusiasm, but her mind was made up. She wanted to get out of the house. It was a nice break for her in a way. She liked being there, but she often felt alone, despite David being there most of the time. She thought it would be good to have different company. He was aggrieved that she wouldn’t let him look after her.

  He wanted to be th
e alpha male from time to time, despite his apparent soft demeanour.

  ‘I know, darling, but look at it this way, it will be their house, their mess, their chaos. All we will have to do is help lay it all out, and help clear up. We are getting off lightly if you think about it. The boys can play together and then we can have a family boxing day here, together.’

  She cuddled him and he responded limply. It was their first Christmas together and he couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t want to spend it on their own with Michael and Willy, a proper little family unit. Instead, they would be there, and he would have to listen to Mae patronise Martha all afternoon, and he’d have to pretend to be on Peter’s level.

  He didn’t care for either of them much, but he dares’t tell Martha that. He just thought she was a much better person than the pair of them put together, and that she deserved more respect than they ever showed her, but she liked them and he didn’t want to upset the apple cart.

  David had long been confused about the relationship between the three of them. He thought that it seemed complicated and unpredictable. He couldn’t understand how they all did it. He was a calm man with little or no complications in his life. He was a quiet man, but he knew more than he said. He was very observant and he analysed most situations.

  He noticed that one minute, Peter acted like Martha was his little sister. He would defend her and protect her with his life. The next minute he would be cold and rude and treat her like a passer-by in a shop that had knocked his cut loaf out of his arm. She never seemed to object to his hot and cold behaviour.

  Then there was Mae.

  One minute she would act like she idolised Martha. She would act like she was her hero, and as if she wanted to be her. The next she would seem jealous of Martha and put her down in front of people.

  It was odd to David. Something else he had noticed was that the two of them were out of sync.

  If Peter were cold with Martha, then Mae would be nicer. If Mae was being a bitch to Martha, then Peter would be in his protective mode.

  David just couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he wished that Martha would take off her rose-tinted spectacles and see them for who they really were.

  She deserved the moon in his opinion when all they gave her was the night sky.

  Chapter 21

  It was December 21st, 1945, and Martha and David were preparing for Christmas.

  Willy was sitting up at the kitchen table and he was making home-made paper chain decorations. Earlier that day he and Martha had painted some old paper, as the new paper was still hard to come by. She thought that making their decorations made them unique and said that they should do it every year despite rations and availability.

  David had sourced one of those ‘murkeys’ that were all the rage this year. He said it would do for Boxing Day, but secretly he was hoping that Martha would change her mind, and they would all spend their first Christmas together alone as the family unit that he had craved for so long. He looked at Martha and Willy making their paper chains and he was glad that he had them.

  He might not get the Christmas he wanted this year, he thought, but he had more this year than he did last year. Despite the loss of his parents, which upset him greatly, he had the love of a good woman, and he did love Willy as if he were his own. Maybe next Christmas there would be an additional family member. He would love that, but Martha hadn’t expressed much of an interest yet, and he didn’t want to push her. One step at a time he told himself. All will come good in the end.

  ‘I’m going to head out to the barn and get some kindling for the fire. I wonder how long your paper chain will be by the time I get back.’ David nodded at Willy as if to suggest

  he was against the clock and might win a prize for his efforts. Willy’s eyes boggled and he got back to business frantically, desperate to please his new father figure.

  David and Martha had made the house look as best as they could with what they had. Rationing was still in force and everyone was trying to muster up whatever Christmas they could manage.

  Homemade decorations, ‘murkey’ instead of turkey, homemade presents or hand me downs. Resources were low, but spirits were high. Martha sat with Willy by candlelight in the kitchen. She enjoyed special moments like these, and she loved to light a Christmas advent candle. She always found that most children didn’t need to have fancy toys. She felt that they needed stimulation and interaction. She loved teaching Willy new things and seeing how thrilled he was when he accomplished something.

  The two of them were giggling away when the front door burst open and David was standing there, out of breath, barely able to hold himself up and ashen looking, as if he had seen a ghost.

  Martha panicked.

  ‘Willy darling, stay here. Mummy will just be a moment.’ She got up from the table and left the kitchen, closing the door behind her. ‘David, what’s wrong?' You’re scaring me.’

  David could hardly speak. He was pale and shivering and couldn’t compose himself. He turned and pointed to the barn.

  ‘In there. Oh, God, Martha. In there.’ She went to leave the house and he stopped her by pushing her against the wall. ‘No. You can’t go in there. Please. Do as I say. I just, I just need a minute to get my breath. Find Michael and tell him I need his help without disturbing Willy.’

  He was beginning to get himself together. He stood up and rubbed his face with his hands.

  ‘Ok, darling, I will, but I need to know what is happening? What are we dealing with?’

  David looked up to meet her eyes.

  ‘There’s a body. A woman. In our barn. It happened not long ago. We need to get the police out here.’

  Martha gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. She looked scared and then confused.

  ‘A body? What? Who? How?’

  David became flustered.

  ‘Martha for God’s sake, will you just get Michael. We don’t have time for this now. The killer could still be nearby.’

  The colour drained from Martha’s face. She rushed upstairs to get Michael. David heard her gentle tap of his bedroom door, and seconds later his brother came bounding down the stairs.

  ‘What…’ Michael began to speak loudly.

  ‘Shhhh.’ demanded David. ‘Willy is sitting in there. He can’t know about this. Michael, I am going to have to drive into the village and get the police out here. Martha, you need to get Willy to his bedroom and do not tell him about this. Michael, I need you to guard the house and protect all three of you. Whatever happened out there… this madman, this psychopath… it looks like it was within the last hour.’

  Martha gasped again.

  ‘I will be as quick as I can.’ He grabbed Martha and kissed her hard on the lips. Then he took Michael by his upper arms. ‘You can manage, can’t you? I will be straight back. No more than twenty minutes. Lock the door, close all the curtains, turn the lights out if you think that’s best. I won’t be long. Do not go out there and do not look in that barn.’

  He looked at them with fear in his eyes and made his way out to the car. Martha and Michael were left speechless in the hallway. Michael turned to Martha and offered her a cuddle. He wasn’t normally an affectionate man, and would normally wince at having to touch anyone, but he knew he had to step up to the plate for his brother tonight.

  Deep down he was petrified. He was a quiet boy. David was the man of the house, but Michael wasn’t going to let his brother down. Martha was speechless and was looking at Michael for answers.

  ‘Ok well like David said, I think you need to get Willy up to bed, and I will keep a lookout down here. Do you think you can manage that? Will you be ok?’

  Martha nodded, and he could see she was shaking. He wanted to reassure her, but firstly he didn’t know exactly what he was reassuring her about, and secondly, that would be pushing him out of his comfort zone. He felt pathetic as he watched her walk into the kitchen, while he stood there gormlessly. He wished human behaviour came to him as easily as it did for
his brother. Michael struggled socially. He never knew the right words to say, his head was always scrambled when it came to knowing what the right thing to say was, but give him a puzzle and he could fix it.

  Martha walked into the kitchen and saw Willy at the table innocently playing with his paper chains. He looked up at his mum and beamed with pride, while showcasing his mountain of work. She smiled back at him. She glanced over at the window and froze. She wanted to close the curtains but was terrified that the killer might still be out there. If it was a murder, and if it was the same killer from earlier in the year, he had only gone for women.

  She was the only woman in the property.

  She was feeling sick but trying not to show it. She was scared for Willy, and for David and Michael. She heard Michael clear his throat and she realised she had been standing there frozen to the spot. She nervously went to the window and unhooked the curtains and drew them quickly, closing out any ghastly scene that might be out there.

  ‘Willy let’s clear this up and get ready for bed. We can do some more in your pyjamas upstairs if you like. I will do some with you.’

  Willy was happy with this deal and hadn’t seemed to notice that anything was going on, which she was relieved about. She wished that deal about making paper chains was enough to make her happy right now, but she had a feeling they were all in for a long night.

  Everything that followed passed in a blur.

  David arrived back with Officer Pembrooke, along with a handful of other police officers. They had arrived quietly, as David had explained that there was a child in the house, and they didn’t want to alert him. The police had been good and said that they understood and so they were discreet when they arrived. They also said they didn’t want to cause too much of a commotion in case the killer was nearby, that’s if they were looking for a killer. This was indeed confirmed as soon as they saw the body.