Balance & Equilibrium

"Pee?"

"Yeah, that's how the test works. You pee into a cup, use a dropper, and…you know, put a few drops onto the stick thing. It's supposed to show a positive or a minus after five or ten minutes."

"Okay…" he said, looking confused.

She bent over and delivered a wet kiss to his lips. "I'll be back in a jiff, sweetie."

"And I'll be waiting for you right here."

They shared another tantalizing kiss, but whatever romance they tried to inject was killed by their apprehension concerning the yet-to-be-taken pregnancy test's results.

Penny discovered the test where she had left it that morning: hidden behind an extra large package of tampons kept inside the cupboard underneath the bathroom sink. She removed the contents from the box and carefully arranged them on the edge of the porcelain bathtub in the order they would be used. The instructions on the back of the package were clear and precise, and Penny followed them to the letter.

Urinating into a cup the size of shot glass definitely wasn't the highlight of her day, nor was using an eyedropper to extract a small portion of the pale yellow liquid to release it onto the appropriate part of the slim, white plastic stick provided.

"'Wait ten minutes for either the positive or negative sign to appear,'" she muttered, reading the final step aloud. "Ten minutes is gonna feel like ten years!"

She placed the tester on the sink and tossed the rest of the materials into the rubbish bin.

What had effectively taken five minutes to perform may very well become the template that would map the rest of her life. One itsy-bitsy piece of plastic held her future in its flimsy grasp, and she was unable to do anything but stand by idly like a plaintiff waiting for a jury's verdict.

She was startled out of her reverie by the gentle rapping of knuckles against wood. "You okay in there, Pen?" Jake's muffled voice asked.

"You can come in if you like."

There was a squeak of the metallic handle followed by the door creaking open. Jake slipped into the room, moments later embracing her from behind and letting his body collide with hers. His chin fell into the crook of her shoulder and they locked eyes in the mirror's reflection; focusing on his lovely face instantly calmed her jittery nerves.

A moan fell from her lips when his hands negotiated their way underneath her silky pyjama top and caressed her abdomen in lazy circles. They drifted every which way, covering the vast territory between the generous swells of her breasts and a few inches below the elastic waistband of her pyjama bottoms.

"How much time do we have until we know for sure?" he whispered.

"A little less than ten minutes."

"That should be enough time."

"For what?" she sighed.

Every time his hands dipped inside her silky pyjama bottoms his fingers would glide through her trimmed thatch of pubic hair, terminating their descent achingly close to her meowing kitty cat.

At a time when she should be chewing her nails down to the wick, all she could think about was submitting to her handsome boyfriend's sexual advances.

"Enough time for what?" she demanded, shoving her rump backwards in an effort to grind it against Jake's bulging crotch.

"Why don't we go into the bedroom and I'll show you."

He took her by the hand and led her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. When she was positioned next to the bed, he dropped slowly to his knees while simultaneously pealing her pyjama bottoms inside out down her thighs. Cool air rushed in and attacked her slick outer lips, presenting a stark contrast to the delicious warmth spreading through the interior of that region. The silky material, having to obey the fundamental laws of physics, went into a freefall when Jake released the waistband, collapsing into a rumpled pile around her ankles.

"I don't think this is an appropriate time, Jakey," she said, despite the fact she was primed for stimulation.

He licked his lips and smiled up at her. "I'm hungry, Pen."

A slight whimper escaped her throat and, adding insult to injury, her pussy tingled with anticipation. "No," she squeaked. "You don't have clearance."

"Starving," he insisted, ignoring her protestations. "So hungry, in fact, that I could eat anything. Do you have something for me to eat, Pen?"

The volatile combination of being completely exposed from the waist down while being bombarded with Jake's blatant innuendo left her weak at the knees, forcing her to park her butt on the mattress. No sooner had her bare ass cheeks made contact than did Jake spring in to action, initially throwing her legs apart as if they were made of Papier Mache and then manoeuvring his body between them to prohibit closure.

Normally as masterful at foreplay as he was with crafting a fine piece of furniture, Jake skipped his torturous teasing and dove straight in, giving Penny exactly zero seconds to prepare for the onslaught of pleasure he lavished upon her pussy.

Already nicely lubricated with her juices, his fingers met no resistance when they slid knuckle-deep into her, joining his lips and tongue as they worked industriously towards their shared goal – to get her off.

"Oh, God!" she gasped, lying down before she fainted dead away at the sight of Jake's face buried between her legs.

Lewd slurps and sticky licks drifted up from her groin, which, after clenching her thighs around his head, started to hump against his hand and mouth in an effort to extract more satisfaction. The stubble peppered on his cheeks tickled her inner thighs with every flex of her hips, giving way to a host of strained, throaty giggles as she continued to rock back and forth.

The origins of his oral talents were as mysterious to her as a magician's ability to pull a rabbit from a hat. At some point there had been a girl who had patiently tutored him on the fine art of eating her out, for the finesse and expertise with which he worked left no other explanation.

His fingers repeatedly nudged her g-spot, that sensitive area inside her that was basically an orgasm machine. That, coupled with some well-aimed flicks of the tongue against her hardened clit, sent shockwaves through her body that measured an eleven on the orgasmic scale.

"Yes, yes, yes," she chanted, rocketing towards the dreamiest climax ever coaxed from her body by another human being. "I can't…I can't believe you're going to make me cum so fast," she panted. Stars glittered behind her eyes and she started to convulse. "It's so good. So damn good!" Jake's fingers jerked in and out of her slippery opening like they were on a never-ending loop. His tongue, which must have been tiring from its strenuous but short-lived workout, continued to lap at her with lightning strokes. "Oh, baby, I'm going to cum. I'm going to cum!"

A squeal of ecstasy filled the room.

All of her toes curled inwards and her hands clawed at the sheets, grabbing two giant fistfuls of the soft fabric as her body experienced wave upon wave of violent tremors.

It was as if a small nuclear device had suddenly been detonated between her legs, the fallout of pleasure laying devastation to the far reaches of her body. Pure contentment ebbed through every artery, her blood delivering the blissful sensations to her brain like a powerful narcotic.

If Jake wasn't careful he was apt to turn her into a sex junky, unable to go a single day without receiving a fix. Yet for some reason this didn't faze her in the slightest.

Eventually, after grinding her quivering pussy against his face for an unknown period of time, Penny unclenched her thighs from around his head and flopped to the mattress like a rag doll.

Much to her disbelief he was already on the prowl, giving her glistening outer lips a couple of goodbye licks before packing his bags and moving north. Chaste kisses marked his pathway up her body, and upon arriving at the hemline of her mauve pyjama top, he hooked both sets of fingers on either side of her hips and eased the silky material up her body until it was rucked underneath her armpits, leaving her breasts exposed.

Jake embarked upon a lethargic journey, kissing and licking his way across the barren terrain of her curvy tummy.

He was the most seductive man she'd ever met. On the odd occasion that she was disinterested in having sex – or receiving sexual gratification in some form or another – Jake's success rate at coaxing her body into submission was at one hundred percent. It was impossible for her to reject him.

She released her wadded up handfuls of bed sheet and combed her newly freed fingers through his hair. "You're obsessed, cowboy" she sighed.

"You wouldn't be complaining now, would you?" he teased, coming to a halt at the base of her left breast.

"Nope."

"I don't know, it sounded like a complaint to me."

"If there's only one complaint I have, it's that you don't fuck me enough," she purred, offering him a warm smile. Although still a little uncomfortable with using curse words, she always made a valid effort to do so in Jake's presence because she was aware of how much it turned him on.

He grinned lasciviously. "Is that a fact, Miss Baker?"

"Yup. You rarely give me the attention I deserve."

"And what the hell would you call what I just did!" he laughed.

"Too little too late?"

"Oh, you're gonna get it now."

Penny grabbed his right hand and crammed it between her legs. "Bring it on," she demanded. "Get me off as fast as you can."

The next three minutes were a blur.

Jake force-fed her hungry pussy two of his fingers, jamming them completely into her with uncommonly rough strokes. When filled to the knuckles, his fingers would jerk inside her and nudge her g-spot, while his thumb would simultaneously grind against the hard nub of her clit. This alone would have made her climax in record time, but Jake upped the ante by groping one of her breasts with his free hand as he attended to the other with his mouth. He sucked on her erect nipple, switching between biting softly at the areola and massaging it tenderly with his tongue.

Before long her toes were performing their trademark curl and her fingers were raking through the sheets. The onslaught of pleasure was so swift and intense that her throat closed up, giving voice not to squeals of delight but a raspy moan that fell from her trembling lips in periodic bursts.

"Are you cumming?" Jake asked.

"Y-yes," she stammered.

Like with the orgasm he'd induced not five minutes prior, every muscle in Penny's body went taut and she subsequently experienced a full-scale meltdown. Husky, foul mouthed cries of delight flowed forth from her throat like a roaring river, and a sticky resonance drifted up from between her legs as his glistening digits repeatedly burrowed their way into her saturated opening.

The pleasure was unparallel.

Love and lust had become so intricately intertwined that one couldn't be distinguished from the other.

Her twitching pussy became volcanic and spewed out a molten heat which flooded her entire being. A feverish flush raged its own external war, blanketing her skin with such a dizzying degree of warmth that she expected to see steam rise from her sweaty form.

It was a rarity for her to revel in being manhandled. Like the launch of a NASA space shuttle, the conditions had to be perfect in order for her to let her fella use her like she was his own private sex toy. Jake never abused her trust when she submitted so completely – he was a genuine sweetheart, albeit one who couldn't resist the daily task of turning the innocent daughter of Henry and Pauline Baker into a dirty, sexually depraved young woman.

His fingers were still moving around inside her pussy, and she was so sensitive down there that his touch became intolerable to bear. "Stop, Jake. Please, it's too much," she cried, lacking the energy to lift her arms and slap his hand away.

The hand disappeared from between her thighs as soon as her trembling words fell from her lips. Likewise, his mouth ceased stimulating her breasts, and when she pivoted her head to the side she found Jake's sombre face inches from her own.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"No, baby, it was just too much pleasure for me to handle."

Jake's expression, almost emulating that of when he imparted the news of Brian's death to her, morphed from a bleak countenance to one of pure joy.

He stroked the side of her face and kissed her wetly on the lips. His index and middle fingers left a trail of her juices on her cheek, but she didn't care, not while receiving a kiss filled with so much love and affection that it could lighten the darkest of hearts.

They made out for an eternity. Soft lips, warm breath, and wet tongues were shared alongside the tender massaging of each other's faces and necks. Occasionally their passionate necking was punctuated with Jake pushing a finger into her pussy, extracting it, and then delivering the glistening digit to her lips so she could suck on her juices. The taste was inoffensive but undesirable; she happily submitted to the task because she was aware of how much it turned him on.

Penny was a firm believer in unselfish sex. There may be instances where your partner has a particular kink that you don't share, and, so long as its level of extremity doesn't borderline on being unreasonable, it is your duty as a significant other to offer any assistance to bring this fetish to fruition. If you don't give as often as you get, you'll never experience the true delights that making love has to offer.

"Will you marry me?" he murmured.

She gazed at him with disbelieving eyes. "What?"

"I love you, Pen. Always have and always will. Baby or no baby, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

The initial shock of his proposal evaporated faster than boiling water, and in mere seconds she was all over him like a playful puppy dog, showering his face with dozens of randomly placed kisses as her hands combed feverishly through his hair.

Her heart thundered in her chest, each resounding beat imitating the pounding footfalls of a tyrannosaurus rex hungrily pursuing its prey. The thought of treading down the aisle towards Jake made her giddy.

"Is that a yes?" he laughed.

"Baby, you knew I was going to say yes."

"I certainly hoped you would."

Penny pressed her nose to his and kissed him gnome-style. "Any man who can give me two orgasms within as many minutes of each other is a definite keeper."

Their lips brushed, and they tantalised each other by flicking their tongues gently against each other's mouths. "I knew you were just using me for sex," he whispered.

She gave him one last wet kiss, rolled away from him, and sat up. "Oh, and the fact that I love you also plays a key role," she confessed with a smile.

"I love you so much, Pen," he said, taking her hand. "I have some money set aside that you don't know about, and tomorrow I think we should go shopping for an engagement ring."

"I think I'd like that."

It wasn't unusual nowadays for a woman to forgo changing her maiden name when getting married. To Penny, it was more about romance and respect rather than tradition, and becoming Penelope McCloud excited her almost as much as seeking out a ring to seal their union.

Before she procrastinated a single minute longer, Penny rose from the mattress and trotted into the bathroom. The vanity mirror revealed a ruddy-cheeked young girl with nervous eyes and messy hair. She lowered her gaze to the spotless sink, experiencing a conflicting cocktail of apprehension and anticipation as she zeroed in on the home pregnancy test.

If she had been wearing socks, the results shown on the plastic strip would have knocked them right off.

Back in the bedroom, Penny discovered that Jake had positioned himself on the edge of the mattress. He looked so cute with his hands in his lap and his feet swinging back and forth, looking very much like an excited kid trying to stay up to catch sight of that jolly, red-suited fat man on Christmas Eve.

She arrived in front of him, stark naked and trembling. "You're going to be a daddy," she told him, cupping his beautiful face with her hands.

"You mean you're…?"

"Up the duff, with child, totally and utterly preggers? It appears so." She climbed onto the bed and straddled his hips, using his thighs as a makeshift seat for her rump. "I mean, I'll have to go see the doctor of course, but I'm fairly sure the tests are pretty accurate these days."

Jake lowered his eyes, and at first she assumed that he was staring at her drenched pussy, only to have him prove her wrong when he pressed his left hand to her stomach and proceeded to massage the general area in lazy circles. "My baby is growing in there," he whispered. "A little boy or girl is growing inside my fiancé."

"It could be both," she quipped.

"Wouldn't that be something?"

Penny laid a hand over his, copying its counter-clockwise movement as it made its lethargic revolutions. She slipped her free hand underneath his chin and coaxed his head into a position where she could gaze into his lovely green eyes.

"Will you still want me when I'm as large as an elephant?"

"I guess that depends on the type of elephant."

"Just your regular ol' elephant."

"Regular ol' elephant is just fine," he grinned. "Now, if you had've mentioned the woolly mammoth, we would've been singing a different tune."

"Is that right, Jakey?"

"Yup."

"But an ordinary elephant is totally okay?"

"You're beautiful, Pen, nothing is ever going to change that."

"Even in eight months' time when I'm the size of a small planet?"

He delivered a brief, tender kiss to her lips and said, "I'm going to want you as much then as I do right now."

Penny slipped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his throat. "Actions speak louder than words, cowboy," she purred.

They spent the next hour exploring each other, leaving no stone unturned. True to his word, Jake displayed such an overwhelming desire for her that it would eclipse any of the physical downsides to carrying a baby to term. His attraction soared beyond the physical, which lay to rest the unsettling insecurities that had been in their early stages of fermentation. They worshipped each other with a measure of diligence only found when two people commit with not only their bodies but also their minds, hearts and souls; it was abundantly clear that they were madly in love with one other.

Sometime during the night, long after Penny had repaid her debt to Jake by eagerly swallowing his tasty load of sperm, conversation made its way back to their dearly departed friend. It had been a mere five weeks since he passed, and, if it were possible at all, Penny suspected it would take at least as many years for the wounds to heal.

She snuggled closer to Jake and tightened her grip around his waist. "Do you think Brian would be happy for us?" she said.

"I know he would be as jealous as hell, but I'd also like to think that he'd bear no hard feelings."

"It's not fair that he's gone, not when there's so much he missed out on."

"He should've been my best man."

"And the godfather to our baby," she added.

A contemplative silence enveloped them. Without being in constant physical and emotional contact with each other, surviving Brian's death would have been nigh on impossible. But they struggled through it together, uniting as one. Some days were easier to coast through than others. Laughter and joy hadn't been sidelined to the bleachers while melancholy took to the field, because they both knew that any time they had together was as precious as a rare gem.

"If we have a boy, do you think it would be in poor taste to name him Brian?" Jake asked.

When you think about it, there's a perfect balance to everything in the universe. Light and dark, order and chaos, good and evil; and when Brian's life was taken so swiftly, it took a few days for the equilibrium to be restored. There was no doubt in Penny's mind that the child growing inside her had been conceived the first time they made love, thus reasserting the imbalance.