Lotto Dreams

Chapter 5


Nick awoke a few hours later and turned toward the woman lying alongside 
him. He lightly kissed the bare skin of her shoulder and heard her 
mumble happily in her sleep. Then he glanced at the clock by his bed, 
and reached over her to turn off the alarm before it went off. Kissing 
her again, he carefully slipped out of bed and into the bath to take 
care of business. Knowing if he went back to bed now, he'd disturb her 
slumber, he put on a robe and made his way to the kitchen to make a pot 
of coffee. As it brewed, he went to the bath farthest from his own room 
and showered. Then he heated another pot of water for tea, in case that 
was Lydia's preference. 

He was on his second cup when he heard her softly call for him. "Coming, 
sweet Lydia," he called back softly, pouring her a cup of java and 
setting it on the serving tray beside the pot of water and paraphernalia 
for tea. He carried it to the bedroom and set it on the table he'd 
placed beside the bed for this purpose. "Tea, or coffee, my Lady?"

"Umm, breakfast in bed?" She teased. "Coffee please, light and sweet."

"I actually thought about it, but didn't know what you liked, or if you 
were a breakfast eater." He spooned some sugar into her mug and topped 
it with cream till she nodded in satisfaction at the color.

She sat up, and he placed her pillow between the headboard and her naked 
back. He'd expected her to cover herself modestly with the sheet, but 
she seemed content to let it pool around her waist as she drank deeply 
of the warm rejuvenating liquid. She quickly finished the coffee and set 
the mug on the tray. "That was good, but now I want my sweet Nicolas, 
and afterwards, you can feed me breakfast." With that, she tossed the 
sheet aside and sprawled back on the bed, looking deliciously wanton.

He untied his robe and she laughed out loud. "After breakfast, we're 
going shopping and buy you something other than tighty-whities! But 
right now, just get those things off and get over here!"

He smiled and shook his head, then stripped obediently and lay down 
beside her. "Now," she breathed softly, "make love to me again."

He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her sweetly, lingeringly, then 
began to caress her delightful body. His fingers raised goose bumps as 
they trailed against her exposed skin, and she shivered with 
anticipation. He brought her nipples to rigid points with his tongue and 
lips, then used his fingers to keep them that way as his lips sought a 
more exotic playground. Lydia was quickly breathing shallowly as her 
climax relentlessly washed over her. 

"Oh god, enough, Nick! Slide that perfect cock into me again!" He kissed 
his way back up her body, then kissed her sweet lips lovingly as he slid 
inside her. She writhed under him, delighting in the sensations he 
offered her, then wrapped her legs around his thighs and nibbled his 
lips as he stroked her to another, mutual climax. 

"Umm, what a wonderful way to start the day!" Lydia stretched 
languorously. "But I believe you also said something about breakfast?"

"I did." He got off the bed, and somewhat self-consciously dressed, 
starting with the reviled briefs, socks, a pair of jeans and a tee 
shirt. He left the shoes alone. Then he offered her his robe. "If you 
come back like I hope, I'll have a robe for you. Not that there is 
anything wrong with nudity..." He gave her a wicked grin. 

She slugged him in the arm then tied the sash around her waist. "Feed 
me, Seymour!"

He laughed and took her hand, leading her to the kitchen. This room had 
been one of the deciding factors when he'd been looking for a house 
right after his windfall. It had a spacious work area for him to spread 
out in, two very large ovens, a restaurant style gas cook top, and pair 
of restaurant-sized refrigerators. There was also an upright freezer in 
the pantry. He poured her another cup of coffee, then had her sit at the 
breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the dining area. 

He opened one of the fridges and peered inside. "Ok, I have eggs and 
egg-beaters, bacon, sausage, ham. Or a steak, but they're frozen, and 
will take a while to cook. Or I can make up some pancakes or waffles."

"How about an omelet? And some of those muffins I see on the counter?" 
She replied. 

"Sure," he said with a smile at her as he pulled his head out of cooler. 
"What do you want in it?"

"Ham and cheese? Maybe some mushrooms?" One thing she'd noticed in her 
time with him was that he avoided anything with pieces of peppers or 
large chunks of onion, although he did enjoy the onion blossoms or rings 
that were battered and deep-fried. 

He pulled out the ham and a couple of bags of pre-shredded cheeses, then 
a cup of fresh mushrooms. When he reached in again, he stopped and 
looked at her. "Real eggs, or the other stuff?"

"Real eggs, please, and if you feel that way, why do you buy the other 
stuff?"

"It works fine for French toast or something like that, or scrambled 
eggs with lots of sharp cheddar. Plus, it makes Mom happy when she 
snoops and sees it in the fridge. Makes her think I'm eating better." He 
grinned at her again.

"Ahh, I understand." As she sat and watched him chop the mushrooms, she 
realized why he'd sat her where he did. It gave her a perfect viewpoint 
of him working, and made it very easy for him to converse with her as he 
did so. She also noted although he wasn't a skilled cook, he took pride 
in his efforts. The method he used sautéing the mushrooms she realized 
she'd seen the week before on a re-run of "Good Eats", but the omelet he 
split between them was delicious, and the blueberry muffins were nice 
and fresh. She thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

"You know," she said as she sipped her third cup of coffee, "you're 
welcome to cook for me anytime."

"Why thank you, M'Lady, 'twould be my pleasure!" He stood and gave her a 
bow that was only half-teasing. "Now, if you'd like to shower, I'll 
clean up here. There are extra towels in the linen closet, as well as 
most anything else you need."

She went to his bedroom and opened her handbag. "Thank goodness Momma 
always told me to have clean underwear handy." Then she went into his 
bath and looked around. Obviously a man's bath. Shaving cream can on the 
vanity, although his razor was put away. Comb and brush, anti-
perspirant. Bottle of aftershave, but not the stuff he'd worn last 
night. She opened the linen closet. Four or five sets of towels, a 
couple of bath blankets. Oh! A new toothbrush. She decided to confiscate 
that, since she'd left hers home. At least she wouldn't need to borrow 
his razor this morning, she thought with a smile.

Twenty minutes and one orgasm later, she was dressed and kissably fresh. 
The only thing she regretted was that he didn't have a curling iron for 
her ringlets. She did find a bottle of good hair gel, though, so she'd 
done the spiky look again. Next time, and there were going to be next 
times, she was going to be better prepared, though. 

When she came out he was reading the Sunday paper, eyeglasses perched on 
his nose. He looked up as she entered the room and gave her a dazzling 
smile. "I didn't know you wore glasses," she said. "You look good in 
them, though."

"Before I won, I had to wear them all the time. Then I had lasik done 
shortly after I had the money. That took care of my nearsightedness and 
astigmatism, but I still need reading glasses. Cyan helped me pick out 
this pair, though." 

"Very nice. So, what are your plans for the rest of the day? Besides 
going with me to buy you new underwear" She said with a grin

"Well, after I reluctantly take you home," he grinned back and kissed 
the tip of her nose. "Do you know, I've wanted to do that since you 
opened the door that first night. It's every bit as fun as I thought it 
would be."

"I liked it," she admitted. "So, after reluctantly taking me home?"

"After reluctantly taking you home, I'll go to the gym and let Connie 
wear this poor old body out, then probably home and a good book. You?"

She was about to answer when her cell jingled. "Hello?"

"Lydia, I'm in a bind!" It was her roommate AnnaBeth. "Dr. Morris 
called, Rick had an accident at home and twisted up his knee, and can't 
pull his shift. Dan asked if I could come in and work six hours, then 
Andrea would relieve me. But Dierdra has left and won't answer her 
phone, and I can't find anyone to watch the girls! I know you're out 
with Nick, but could I beg you to come home? Please!!" she pleaded.

Lydia silently cursed Dierdra, not for the first time. "Ok, Anna, I'll 
have Nick bring me home now. Anything else I need to know?" The girls, 
Alicia and Dina, were sweet and generally well behaved. But they were 
also both born to addict mothers, and did have their occasional bad 
days. AnnaBeth did her best to warn her friends on those days.

"No, they are both doing fine this morning. Try to get them to nap this 
afternoon, and feed them some dinner. I'll be home to do baths and 
bed." Lydia voiced her agreement and broke the connection.

Turning to Nick, she explained what had happened. "Sorry, sweet Nicolas, 
we'll have to go shopping another time. Can you run me home?"

"Absolutely, and I'll take a rain check on the shopping." Doing his 
gentleman thing, he took her to the car then climbed behind the wheel. 
Fifteen minutes later, they were about to open the door when AnnaBeth 
beat them to it. "Lydia, you're a life-saver! Thank you!" She emphasized 
this with a solid kiss to her roommate's lips that raised Nick's 
eyebrows slightly and stirred his loins more than slightly. "And thank 
you for bringing her home so fast!" He was rewarded with a kiss that did 
nothing to quiet his loins. Then Dr. Lucen was running for her car.

Lydia had thoroughly enjoyed the last sixteen hours with Nick, and 
didn't really want to end the day. "Do you want to come in? Maybe meet 
Alicia and Dina?" What was she thinking? Alicia and Dina were not 
inclined to meet strangers well even with their foster-mother, let alone 
just Miss Lydia. But he was saying "Sure," and she was stuck.

They entered the house, and she led him down another hallway than the 
one leading to the living room. She knocked on the open door and waited 
for the girls to acknowledge her. That they did so quickly was another 
indication they were in a good mood.

"Alicia, Dina, this is my friend Nick. He brought me home so your Momma 
could go to work. Can you say hi?" She wasn't prepared for what happened 
next. The girls swarmed him, greeting him enthusiastically as they 
dragged him into the room. Both of them were the same age, about four 
years old. Dina had hair like pale straw down to her shoulder and a 
peaches and cream complexion. Alicia was a little Latin beauty with dark 
natural curls.

Then they spent the next two hours showing him their toys, involving 
both him and Lydia in their games and generally being on the best 
behavior Lydia had ever seen them display. They even went down for the 
hated nap without much more than token resistance.

"Ok, that was weird and unexpected. The girls don't like strangers. Not 
ever. AnnaBeth has to introduce her friends in very small doses, and 
they avoid people Dierdra and I bring over like mad dogs. They treat you 
like a favorite uncle or Santa Claus!" Lydia snuggled against him on the 
family room couch. "And I'm sorry, but I certainly don't expect 46 year 
old single men to get along with four year olds he's never met. So what 
gives?"

"I've always liked kids. I like them best when they're small and don't 
talk back, but I like them. When I was working, I always tried to scope 
out the little ones, try to make them smile at me. I did well mostly, 
with only the occasional crier. I still get along with kids mostly. 
Alicia and Dina seem like good kids and were fun to be around."

Lydia was going to say more when the phone rang. "Hello, Lydia. How was 
your evening? Was it as nice as you hoped?" 

Lydia rolled her eyes in amusement. "Cyan, it was marvelous. Then he 
brought me coffee in bed and fed me breakfast. And unless you want to 
know what kind of omelet we had, those are all the details you're going 
to get!"

"Dear Lydia, I'd never probe. But I was wondering, do you have any idea 
where he might have gone after bringing you home? I tried to call him 
about lunch this week, and he didn't answer or call back. Connie said 
she hasn't seen him yet, either."

"He's right here." 

"Oh?" She could hear the frown in Cyan's voice, and knew, if Cyan's 
assumptions had been correct, she'd get a deserved reprimand. 

"Ummhmm." She turned to Nick. "Nick, where is your cell?"

He only had to think for a second. "Kitchen counter, on top of the sugar 
canister. Picked it up when I was wiping the cupboard. Nuts, I need to 
call Connie! She's gonna give me hell for not showing up!"

Cyan heard this over the phone and chuckled softly. "So what was so 
important that it made Courteous Nick forget Connie?"

"We were playing chutes and ladders with the girls."

Cyan absorbed this. "You were playing games with the girls."

"Yeah, AnnaBeth had to go in for a few hours."

"Nick was helping you baby-sit AnnaBeth's girls." Cyan was disbelieving. 
"Alicia and Dina, AnnaBeth's girls who don't like anyone in the universe 
for the first six months?"

Lydia was about to answer in the affirmative when the aforementioned 
girls came racing into the family room, and loudly demanded that Nick 
get them drinks of water. She followed behind and watched in amusement 
as they noisily showed him where their cups were kept, how to work the 
ice and water dispenser, then sat quietly at the kitchen table as they 
quenched their thirst.

Lydia turned back to the phone. "You heard all that?"

"I did, and I find it unbelievable. If I had the time, I'd come over to 
see it for myself. But let me talk to Nick, anyway."

Lydia handed him the phone, and mouthed 'Cyan' to him.

"Hello Cyan, what can I do for you?"

"Hello Nick, I was calling to see if Tuesday would be good for lunch?"

"Sure, that will work. Where and what time?"

"I have an appointment with my banker at the Walker Building at 11:00. 
Pick me up out front about 12:30? We'll decide where to go when you get 
there, ok?"

"Ok, 12:30 Tuesday in front of the Walker Building."

"Thank you, Nick, and don't forget to call Connie. She'll worry if she 
doesn't hear something."

Nick hung up, then called the gym and had a short talk with Connie, 
apologizing profusely for not coming in, and promising to work twice as 
hard tomorrow. Then Connie asked to talk to Lydia, and he handed her the 
phone. The two women chatted for a while, and Nick would have sworn 
Lydia's eyes started to gleam with mischief if she hadn't left the 
kitchen at that moment.

Nick turned to his other charges. "What shall we have for dinner?" The 
girls shrugged, they didn't know. Nick looked around the kitchen and 
fridge, coming up with a plan. "Where does your Mom keep cans of soup?" 
The girls shrugged again.

Lydia came in a moment later to hang up the phone. Nick asked her the 
same question. "We don't use much soup, what you looking for?" He told 
her what he'd thought about for dinner, and she grinned. "Oh yeah! 
Comfort food! Haven't had that in ages! I can go to Smith's and get a 
couple of cans. Hmm, need crackers too, don't we?"

"Unless you like to drink it out of a mug, yep." He dug out his keys and 
gave them to her along with a ten-spot. 

"I can take my car, it's in the garage." She said, trying to give him 
back his keys. 

"And mine is sitting out front. Don't even have to open the garage 
door." She relented, and was back in fifteen minutes.

They were just finishing their supper of tomato soup and grilled cheese 
sandwiches when AnnaBeth came in the kitchen door. She'd been very 
unhappy to see Nick's Jag still parked in front of the house, suspecting 
that Lydia had been neglecting her daughters for other interests. She 
was shocked to see the four of them finishing supper at the kitchen 
table.

"Momma!" The girls slid out of their boosters to hug their foster-parent 
welcome and to try to tell her all about their day at the same time. 
When they'd slowed down, she heard Dina say, "And Nick let us butter the 
bread, then he cut it just like he said his Momma cut it when he was 
little, into triangles."

"You cooked dinner, Nick?" She asked. 

"Just grilled cheese and tomato soup. Actually, soup is still warm, and 
it would only take a minute to make you a sandwich, if you're hungry."

"Actually, I'm starving. It was a madhouse today, and I barely had time 
to empty my bladder, let alone grab a bite. Let me go take off my 
shoes." She wondered about the look Lydia shared with Nick at her words, 
then shrugged and made her way to her bedroom.

When she got back, a bowl of rich red soup sat steaming on the table, 
along with a glass of milk and a sleeve of saltine crackers. When she 
sat down, Nick set a sandwich toasted golden brown and oozing cheese out 
the edges before her. She smiled when she saw he'd cut it diagonally for 
her.

She was crushing crackers into her soup when she realized Nick was 
nonchalantly cleaning up what little mess he'd made in her kitchen. 
"Nick, stop! I'll do that after I finish!"

He looked at her, afraid he'd offended her. But when he looked back at 
Lydia, she just shrugged and went on helping him. "It's not a big deal, 
Dr. Lucen. Just gonna wash the pans and wipe up the crumbs."

True to his word, that was all he did; but it was all that was needed to 
make the kitchen neat as a pin. AnnaBeth was just finishing her milk 
when Dierdra came in. "Umm smells good, what we having?"

AnnaBeth answered in a slightly chill voice. "Nick fixed us all grilled 
cheese and tomato soup. I'm sorry you weren't home to join us."

Dierdra was about to make a smart-ass comment about no one telling her 
when dinnertime was when what Anna had said registered. Nick cooked. The 
dude with the tux and the Jag cooked dinner. And what the hell was he 
doing here to cook dinner anyway? 

Then she noticed AnnaBeth was wearing her hospital ID and bedroom 
slippers, her end-of-the-day uniform. Uh oh. That meant that Lydia had 
been baby-sitting. But that still didn't explain what Mr. 'I-spend-my-
good-fortune' was doing here, unless....No way! And then the girls were 
taking him by the hands and dragging him toward their bedroom; loudly 
discussing what story he should read to them.

"That is fucking impossible. I was here when you brought them home, 
those little monsters hardly smile at me. And don't give me any "If you 
were nicer" shit. You know I treat them like gold."

"Language, please, Dierdra. I have no idea how Nick did it. I wasn't 
home to see it. However, I don't plan to argue about something that 
seems to work. Maybe Lydia can explain." AnnaBeth looked at Lydia.

"I have no clue. I took him to their room and knocked at the door like 
we always do. They responded promptly, which I took as a good sign." The 
other women nodded agreement. If the girls were having one of their bad 
days, it sometimes took hours to coax a positive response from them. "I 
introduced Nick like you want us too, and waited for them to withdraw.

They literally pulled him into the room! They had him down on the floor 
and playing within five minutes, and he never made a discouraging sound 
in two hours and when I hinted it was nap time, the girl didn't argue, 
they just insisted Nick put their blankets on them."

Dina came out then. "Nick wants to know if we have any "Winnie the 
Pooh" books. Who's Winnie the pooh?" 

Anna answered, "Winnie is the bear in your Piglet video." 

"That's not Winnie! That's Pooh!" Dina stated emphatically.

"But his name really is Winnie the Pooh." Anna responded patiently.

"And there are stories about Pooh?"

Anne nodded. "About Pooh, and Piglet, and Rabbit, and even Tigger and 
Roo."

Dina considered this amazing fact. "And do we have any?"

Anna looked at Lydia and Dierdra, who both shook their heads no. "No, we 
don't tonight, but I'll look for some tomorrow at the book store. Will 
that be ok?"

Dina looked terribly disappointed. "I guess. Do you think Nick will read 
us something else instead?"

Lydia smiled at the little blond angel. "I'm sure if you ask him nicely, 
he'll be happy to."

Dina turned to go, then ran to Lydia and kissed her cheek. "Thank you 
for bringing Nick home with you. Me and Alicia have had a whole bunch of 
fun with him, and you too." Then she ran back to the girls' bedroom.

Perhaps thirty minutes later Nick came back to the kitchen. "The girls 
said their prayers, but said they had to take baths before bed, so I 
wouldn't be able to tuck them in."

"Umm, Nick," Anna started, "the girls don't say prayers. I've been 
agnostic for so long, I never think about it."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I asked them if they needed to say their prayers before 
bed, and they answered yes. Then we said them together. I admit it took 
me a while to remember the one from when I was a kid."

"Well, it's not like it's a problem. I may need you to write it down, 
though. I don't know if I'd remember any of mine from way back then, 
either."

He wrote the little prayer he'd remembered on a sheet of notepaper. 
"Pardon my handwriting."

Now I lay me, down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the lord my soul to take
Bless Momma and Lydia and Dierdra
And Alicia and Dina, and all the policemen and firemen
And soldiers. 
Amen

Anna, Lydia and Dierdra looked it over. "I think you forgot someone 
here. But I bet the girls didn't." Anna observed. 

Nick just shrugged. "I better get going. Tell the girls it was nice to 
meet them."

Lydia hooked her arm in his and walked him to his car. "Nick, thank you 
for a wonderful date last night, a spectacular morning, and a very nice 
day. And thank you for being so amazing with the girls." Then she gave 
him a scorching kiss that left him dazed as he climbed into his car.