Roxanne was laughing so hard, she was almost crying at Archie’s hysterically funny performance. She managed a loud wolf-whistle at his bare backside and clapped loudly. He walked into the pool and disappeared just as she had. Bud was just as worried as he’d been when Roxanne dove under the surface and stood whining at the water’s edge until Archie popped back to the surface, his hair plastered down and streaming water.
“Hey baby,” he said in a ridiculous attempted sexy Barry White voice. “I TRIPLE-dog dare you to doff your gear and come in here with me.”
Roxanne managed to control her laughter, peeling off her clothes, running down the bank, and diving noisily into the pool. She swam to Archie without trying to recreate any more of that day; she just took him in an immense bear hug, kissing him with all her might, while they both treaded water and made their way back to the bank. Less than a minute later they were stretched out of the blanket, the picnic temporarily forgotten, Roxanne on her back with her legs in the air and Archie on top, pounding himself into her, both of them grunting and wailing from the pleasure of it.
Ten minutes later as they caught their breath, laying on their backs side by side, Roxanne’s hand wandered across his belly, fondling his now flaccid member.
“I think we’ve got our lives back, baby,” she said. “And thank you for that marvelous recreation… I think you did the whole strip-tease seduction routine, better than I did.”
“Not a chance,” he said. “Your performance was so perfect, I’ll never forget it as long as I live. This one was fun, though,” he said laughing. “We might have to work on some variations as the years go by.”
“I’ll accept that challenge,” she said.
And she did. Many, many times.
____________________________________________________________
May 2022
It was a glorious, warm sunny late afternoon. There had been progress with the pandemic and nearly 80% of Hickoryvale’s citizens were now vaccinated. As a result, there were nearly a hundred people in Archie and Roxanne’s backyard, celebrating their long interrupted wedding. Charlie White would be Archie’s best man; Roxanne’s best friend from Toronto had driven down to serve as her bride’s maid.
Neither of them had thought much about a honeymoon. Air travel was still dicy — every night on the TV national news, there were horror stories of people refusing to wear masks on airliners and returning home with Covid they’d contracted in other countries. The cruise industry was attempting a comeback but each cruise ship that departed soon reported outbreaks of Covid among passengers and crew. They wanted no part of that.
Roxanne finally made a suggestion. “Baby, how would you feel about driving up to my hometown in Ontario? I need to do something about my old house; it’s rented now, but I think I’d like to sell it, so we could take care of that. Then we could go to our family lake cottage. I’d kinda like to keep that for you and me — it is a very special place. The cabin is only twenty years old and quite modern. There’s a boathouse with a canoe, a speed boat for water skiing, and a twelve-foot runabout for lake fishing, which is awesome there. It is quite secluded so we can swim naked every day. And baby, it’s where I want to spread the rest of my parents’ ashes.”
“That sounds great, Roxy. I can’t think of a better way to spend our honeymoon. We can take a month or more; we have lots of friends here who will keep an eye on our property and bees. Bud can come with us; sounds like he’d enjoy the lake, too. Count me in.”
Roxanne was delighted with his enthusiasm. If Archie enjoyed it as much as she suspected he was going to, they could make it an annual thing. Get away from Georgia’s insane summer heat at a beautiful mountain lake in Canada, and have a nice break from their crazy busy lives. And fall in love again every summer. Not such a bad life.
Their wedding ceremony was short, sweet, and heartfelt. They’d both written vows which they read out loud to each other in front of all their guests, each struggling to hold back tears as they read them. The Justice of the Peace declared them man and wife and afterward had them sign some papers. It was done.
For dinner, Archie and Roxanne had arranged for a local company to cater a big barbeque. The company brought in a trailer with a monstrous grill that used wood rather than gas. They cooked a wide range of beefsteak, burgers, ribs, chicken, and sausages. To go with it were tables loaded with salads, veggies, pastries, and desserts. Several servers with an apparently never-ending supply of excellent white and red wine, circulated through the tables, making sure all glasses were continuously full.
After the meal, there was a half-hour of speech-making — first up were Archie and Roxanne to their guests, thanking them all for being there. Then the best man and matron of honor made longer speeches, telling stories about Archie and Roxanne. Charlie in particular could have been a professional comedian if he hadn’t gone into medicine. He told of how Archie had originally found Hickoryvale, believing he was actually in Mayberry. Charlie continued his speech, doing credible imitations of Barney Fife, Gomer Pyle, and Floyd the Barber. Many guests were mopping their eyes with napkins, they were laughing so hard. Then he described how the couple met in the ICU ward and how Archie had mooned over her, during her recovery. There was long applause after he sat down.
Roxanne’s bridesmaid was pretty good too, telling stories about the shenanigans she and their fellow students got into in medical school–many of them highly embarrassing for Roxanne who glowed pink at the laughter at her expense. The bridesmaid too received much applause. Many toasts were made to the bride and the groom, and to the newly married couple.