23 Clarify That

Claire rented the wood chipper and then paid for delivery. The truck followed her and they dropped the large wood chipper at the end of her driveway that was closest to the back yard. The man gave her the same explanation that she gave Arnold about servicing equipment and to never, ever, put their hands or other appendages inside either end at any time. Arnold listened as well and the man started it up and showed them how it worked, then turned it off and left.

“I'll get the garbage bags, Arnold. You go and get the wheelbarrow.” Claire said. “We'll have to bring the debris here to mulch it.”

Arnold nodded and went to get the wheelbarrow, then took it to the backyard and started to fill it. Claire came out with a large box of garbage bags and set up a bag on the end of the machine. Arnold came back and turned on the machine, then quickly tossed in everything from the wheelbarrow. He turned it off and went back for another load.

“Mom! We're going to the mall!” Heather said loudly.

“We need to talk again when you get back!” Claire said. “Be careful!”

“Okay!” Heather said as she grabbed Kelly's hand and they walked quickly down the driveway. They walked down the street and then around the corner.

“Are we really going to do this?” Kelly asked and Heather smiled.

“The bus will be at the stop in ten minutes.” Heather said and picked up her pace. “We should get there just in time.”

“Heather... are you sure?” Kelly asked.

“I'm positive.” Heather said and smiled. “You'll help me pick out some good ones, right?”

“Yeah.” Kelly said and then she smiled, too. “Arnold won't know what to do with himself.”

After the twenty minute bus ride to the mall, the two slightly giddy young women spent over two hours looking through lingerie and even tried some on, after taking the store's recommended precautions, of course. No one wanted to try on underwear someone else tried on without being cautious about it. They eventually decided on a nice black lace push up bra with a matching pair of panties that only had lace and no other fabric. Both items barely covered her naughty bits and Heather was fine with that.

The best part was that it was on sale and they left the shop quite happy with their purchase. Heather and Kelly grabbed a box of mixed donuts and then rode the bus back to the stop. They held in their giggles until they were walking back to the house.

“I can't believe you bought them!” Kelly laughed.

“Don't say that!” Heather laughed, too. “You have to convince me to wear them!”

Kelly snorted and they both kept laughing. They calmed down as they approached Heather's house and then walked up the driveway.

“We're back!” Heather said loudly, then the sound of the wood chipper cut off.

“What did you say?” Claire asked and peered around the large machine.

“I have donuts!” Heather said and held up the big box.

“Arnold, it's time to break for lunch.” Claire said and Arnold came around from the other side. The both of them were sweating a lot and they followed Heather and Kelly inside.

“You guys get first pick.” Heather said and put the box on the counter and opened it, while Claire and Arnold washed their hands in the sink. Kelly took the opportunity and slipped by Heather and took the small bag down the hall and up the stairs.

“Ooo, I want that one.” Claire said and picked a caramel covered white doughnut with red sprinkles. “Mmm, caramel.” She said and practically kissed it as she took a huge bite.

Arnold grabbed the closest one and started to eat it without a comment.

“You're working hard on a Saturday, so I thought you needed a treat.” Heather said and took a double chocolate one, which was a chocolate doughnut with chocolate icing, and it had white sprinkles.

“I like the icing sugar coated ones.” Kelly said and moved around the box to grab one and saw that it was gone. “Hey, what...” She looked to see who took it and saw that Arnold had it partially gone. “Oh. You took it.”

Arnold stopped eating and looked at the doughnut he had in his hand. He had only taken two small bites out of it, so he walked over to the counter by the wall, grabbed a small knife, and came back to the counter. He used the box top as a cutting board and carefully and expertly sliced off the parts with his lip and teeth marks on it and left two-thirds of the doughnut untouched, then he held it out to Kelly.

“Arnold, you... you didn't have to do that.” Kelly said and took the offered doughnut.

Arnold ate the small cut off piece and then grabbed the next doughnut in the box and started to eat. Heather and her mother glanced at each other and then at Arnold. Claire had told Heather that Arnold ate mechanically and usually didn't stop unless told to, so this was a surprise for them.

Kelly hadn't noticed the difference and just appreciated the gesture. He could have kept eating it and said he was sorry, and instead he cut off the part where he bit it and gave it to me. She thought and took a bite from the cut end. That was really nice of him.

“It's a little odd to eat dessert first.” Claire said and licked some caramel off of her fingers. “Does anyone want a meatball sub for lunch?”

“I can wait for supper.” Heather said with a smile. “I think two doughnuts killed my appetite.”

Claire chuckled. “Kelly?”

“I can wait, too.” Kelly said and finished her doughnut. At that moment, she didn't want any other food in her mouth to distract her from what Arnold just gave her.

“Arnold, eat another doughnut and we'll get back to work.” Claire said and Arnold grabbed the next doughnut in the box and it was gone in a couple seconds. This surprised them, especially Kelly, since Arnold had the powdered sugar doughnut for at least a minute and had only taken two small bites. He washed his hands and put on his work gloves and was out the back door a few seconds later.

“Kelly, why don't you go upstairs and wait for Heather. I need to have a quick talk with her.” Claire said. “It's not another rant, so you don't need to worry.”

Kelly let out a sigh, nodded, and walked down the hallway and went up the stairs.

“Heather, I had an interesting talk with Arnold's mother this morning.”

Heather had a look of surprise on her face for only a moment, then gave the best blank face that her mother had seen since Arnold's.

“Before I get into specifics, the answer is yes.”

Heather took in a deep breath to yell happily and Claire reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Hush!” Claire spat and shook her a little. “This isn't a game where you just won a prize!”

Heather closed her mouth and knew she shouldn't argue about winning. “Sorry.”

“I'm allowing this only because Annie is allowing it.” Claire said. “There are also some conditions that I need to warn you about.”

“Conditions?” Heather asked, a little confused.

“Yes.” Claire let her arm go, so that she wouldn't grip it too hard to try and get her point across. “Annie knows about Arnold asking you for oral sex yesterday.”

“Wh-wh-what?!?” Heather stuttered, shocked.

“I'm pretty sure she asked Arnold about what's been going on. Since he's straightforward in everything he does, he told her.” Claire said. “She reminded me of something as well.”

“What... what's that?” Heather asked.

“Arnold almost never asks for anything.” Claire said. “When he does, it usually means he really wants it. As in, you should give it to him as soon as he asks or tell him to wait until later and then give it to him.”

“But... mom...”

“Yes, I know you weren't in the mood yesterday and told him no.” Claire said and walked around the counter to stand in front of her daughter. “You were being mature about it and knew you would be using him for your own pleasure, so you said no and I respect you for doing the right thing.”

Heather blinked her eyes for a moment, because she hadn't heard those words from her mother before.

“But, we both know Arnold isn't quite the typical male. He's full of odd quirks and he doesn't react to certain things like normal people.”

“Mom, he... he's...”

“Yes, I know.” Claire said. “I also know that the lingerie you bought won't affect him at all.”

“Wh-what?” Heather's eyes were wide.

“He doesn't notice things like that or he disregards it as not important.” Claire said. “So, when you reveal it to him tonight and he doesn't say you look beautiful or reacts at how revealing it is, do NOT get angry at him.”

Heather was going to deny getting angry if it happened, then she sighed. She had to admit to herself that she would be hurt if he didn't at least say she looked pretty when she showed off for him.

“I'm glad you understand.” Claire said. “Also, I don't want you to ask him to do anything odd or weird.”

“Mom!” Heather's face flushed red as she blushed.

“It will be his first sexual experience, Heather. What you do tonight will be what he thinks all sexual encounters are going to be like in the future.”

“But... but...” Heather felt the pressure on her build up.

“Easy, now. Everyone thinks that for their first time.” Claire said and touched her arm and rubbed it. “Plus, there's no pressure to have sex tonight. He's just going to be there in case it happens.”

Heather took a breath and let it out as her own words were used against her.

“Heather, just... just make love to him... and don't do anything funky.”

“Mom!” Heather exclaimed.

“Don't tell me that you don't know what I mean.” Claire said and pretty much dared her to say it.

Heather opened her mouth to say that she didn't know what her mother meant, then realized that she shouldn't lie to her, not after admitting that she didn't want to sneak around anymore.

“Okay. No weird positions, even though they feel way better, and...” Heather audibly swallowed. “...no butt stuff.”

Claire smiled. “I'm glad you didn't deny it.” She said and pat her arm. “You make sure you do right by him tonight. Believe me, it will pay off in the long run.” She leaned in close and whispered. “Later on, you can ask him for what you want and you know he won't say no.”

Heather didn't say anything and just nodded.

“Good.” Claire said and the buzzing of the wood chipper starting up was loud in the kitchen. “Arnold is doing another load of branches. I need to get out there, so go upstairs while I pretend that you're not telling Kelly everything I just told you.”

Heather chuckled and gave her mom a hug. “Thanks, mom.”

“You're my baby girl. I'll always try my best for you.”

“I know, mom.” Heather said. “You went to my boyfriend's mother and asked for her permission for him to have sex with me.” She took her mom's hand and squeezed it. “I don't know of any other mom that would do that.” She said and then smiled. “That's pretty ballsy.”

Claire chuckled at the term, because Annie wanted to use it to describe her daughter. “Now you know where you got it from.”

Heather laughed, nodded, and walked away down the hall and then went up the stairs.

Claire went outside and removed the full bag of mulch from the end of the machine and added another empty one while Arnold went for another wheelbarrow full of debris. They worked for another four hours and finally finished turning all of the debris into mulch. They had bags and bags of it and Claire looked at it all and laughed.

“Arnold, I can't believe we did all of this.” Claire said and waved at them, then turned to look at the young man that had done the majority of the work. “Thank you for doing all of this, Arnold.”

Arnold nodded and didn't respond, and she knew he wouldn't, since she didn't ask him a question.

Claire stared at him and knew that he was going to have sex tonight. In her house. With her daughter. “This is enough for today. Go inside and take a shower in the spare room and get changed.” She said. “We'll spread out the mulch tomorrow.”

Arnod nodded and wiped off the wheelbarrow and put it back into the shed, then came back and wiped off the wood chipper as much as he could, without putting his hands near either end of the machine. With that done, he went inside and did as Claire told him.

Claire called the number on the side of the rental machine and they sent someone over right away. She only had to wait ten minutes for the truck to arrive and the same man hooked it back up to take it away.

“No lost fingers, arms, or feet?” He asked with a laugh and Claire shook her head, so he gave her a wave and drove away.

Claire went inside and went up the stairs to see the spare room door was open and Heather's was not. She leaned against Heather's door and heard giggling and moving around, so she walked over to the spare room and went inside. To her surprise, the bathroom door was open and then a very wet Arnold stepped out.

Naked.

Claire's eyes roamed down his fairly muscular body, and since he had just done a lot of physically strenuous labour, they were popping with both strength and youthful vitality. Her gaze eventually dropped to his crotch and she stopped herself from licking her lips. Barely. She looked back up at his face and saw that he was watching her as he dried off.

“I guess now we're even.” Claire said.

“Do not talk about seeing me naked with anyone except me and only when we are alone.” Arnold repeated the words she had said to him after he saw her naked and she had to smile.

“Okay.” Claire said and walked to the room's door, then turned around to give him another look. “By the way, you're staying here tonight.”

Arnold tilted his head slightly to look at her. He never stayed away from home all night before. “Can you call my mom and tell her that I won't be home until tomorrow?”

“She already knows.” Claire said. “Get dressed and you can hang out in Heather's room until supper.”

Arnold nodded and Claire left the spare room to go to her own room to get a shower.

*

“Oh, my god!” Kelly exclaimed when Heather told her that not only did her mom agree to let Arnold stay, that his own mother had agreed, too. “Heather, you are so lucky!”

Heather was pretty happy with the whole situation, even after her mother had told her what the deal was with Arnold. She had to agree that his first time had to be as normal as possible, so he would have a good base to expand from. After that, her mom was right. She could ask for what she wanted later.

Kelly teased her a little about getting yet another guy's first time and Heather teased her back about not losing hers yet. They laughed, talked, and carried on for quite some time, then her bedroom door opened and the object of their discussion stood there. Arnold wore black basketball shorts that revealed a lot of his legs and a thin blue t-shirt that clung to him so much that it looked like his muscles were trying to escape.

“Hi, handsome.” Heather said and stood up to walk over to him. “I'd like a kiss, please.”

Arnold took her into a hug and kissed her. Kelly had to look away so that she wouldn't be reminded of him kissing her like that. After what seemed like a long time, she heard the smack of their lips parting and looked back to see Heather was looking at her.

“I'm sorry, Kelly.” Heather said.

“No, it's okay! Really!” Kelly said and waved her hands in surrender. “I just didn't want to intrude.”

Heather laughed and led Arnold over to the bed. “I had to kiss him for coming in here after the last time mom kicked him out.” She said and sat down on the bed and had Arnold sit on the floor between her legs with his back to the bed. “He's pretty brave.” She said and stroked the sides of his head.

“I came here to hang out until supper.” Arnold said as he leaned his head back and looked up at her.

“Yes, you are very brave.” Heather smiled and leaned down to kiss him.