A Place To Stay

Things were tough. For one, there was no money, since they had invested it all in the mayonnaise maker, expanded chicken coop, and field of pineapples, all of which were destroyed by the hurricane. Secondly, since all those things that were supposed to bring in money were destroyed, they sort of had a catch-22 situation. All of the money used on money makers, then the money makers were gone, so no new money.

What they did have was each other, and the livestock in the barn. Unfortunately, the storm had scared some of the cows so badly that they didn’t produce milk for over a week, and one of the sheep got sick. Cliff and Claire dealt with these things as they came, keeping their heads held high. Claire had cried a lot about their losses, but she was done with feeling sorry for herself, and was committed to getting everything right again.

Since there weren’t as many farm chores to do, they had just a little bit of free time. Of course they used that trying to improve the farm in any way they could, but Cliff had also taken up fishing. Kai had given him an old rod he found in the shed behind the snack shack, and Cliff fished in every spare moment he had. Luckily, a small stream ran right past the farmhouse, so he was able to do a lot of the fishing without being too far away from Claire. He did like to try out other spots every now and then, like the Goddess Pond and the ocean. Cliff refused to fish in Kappa Lake though. He sheepishly admitted that he was a little afraid of catching the Kappa.

Cliff became very skilled at fishing, and brought in increasingly larger strings of fish every day. At first, it was just enough for dinner, but soon he had enough to sell. Zack, for some reason, refused to buy fish and actually got enraged one day when Cliff put some in the shipping bin.

“Are you crazy? You’ll stink up everything!!” he had bellowed, his big square face getting red.

“Cool it, man! I won’t do it again,” Cliff had said, waving his hands frantically.

But Won down at the pier loved fish. Cliff sold him a good string every day, bringing in enough money to keep things going.

The mood of the cows improved after a while, and the sick sheep got better as well. The fruit trees Claire had planted in the spring had survived the storm, but of course were too young to produce fruit, except for the peach tree, that seemed to be trying to be helpful. It made one tiny little peach, which Claire and Cliff ate together in the field.

One day, there was a happy surprise. Claire was in the barn brushing a sheep when she heard Cliff’s voice calling out for her. She put down the brush and walked out of the barn, looking for him. She was shocked to see him holding a chicken.

“Chichi!” Claire cried out happily, rushing forward. She looked at Cliff. “Is it really Chichi?”

Cliff grinned, holding out the chicken. “It’s got to be. How many chickens look like that?”

It was true, Chichi was always an unusual looking hen. She had black feathers spotting through her white feathers.

Claire took the bird from Cliff, marveling at it. “Where did you find her?”

Cliff laughed. “Heh heh. Silly girl was clucking around by the Goddess Pond. I guess she got blown all the way over there, and she’s been eating crickets to get by all this time.”

Claire stroked the hen, then frowned. “But the chicken coop is gone…where can we put her?”

Cliff thought for a little bit. “Well, I can make a pen out of logs to keep her in outside. She seems like she’s been thriving out in the sunshine, any how. If there’s bad weather, we can stick her in the barn for the night. It’s not the best arrangement, but the cows and sheep shouldn’t mind too much.

Claire agreed that this was a good idea. Cliff set to work making a barrier of logs, and when it was done, Claire placed Chichi down in the pen. The hen set to work immediately digging worms and bugs out of the ground.

Claire smiled happily. “She likes it!”

Claire was in a good mood, so she went to visit Elli. She had avoided everybody since the hurricane, too upset to see anyone. Elli greeted her cheerfully. “Well, thank the Harvest Goddess! You’re still alive!”

Claire smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that. We’ve been pretty busy,” She refrained from telling Elli the whole story of the aftermath of the hurricane. She really didn’t want to relive all that.

Elli waved her hands. “I’VE been busy as well.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “My little plan worked.”

Claire shrieked. “You guys did it?!”

Elli rolled her head back and sighed. “Did we EVER! On the couch in the lobby, on the desk in the study, on that counter (Elli gestured to the counter Claire was leaning on, and Claire edged away carefully, earning a scowl from Elli - “I’ve cleaned it since!”), on the patient beds - all six of them, in my bed, in his bed, on the floor…”

“Okay, okay!” Claire laughed. “I get it! You did it a lot! So how did it all go down?”

“Well,” Elli leaned in breathlessly. “So I was faking that migraine business, and you pulled that ‘Check out her chest’ stunt. Thanks for that, by the way. So, he came in and after a bit of stammering and blushing, he unbuttoned my blouse to examine me. I just sighed and breathed heavily, all that, and he was gone. Ripped off the rest of my clothes and we made love right there. And every where else. Hoo boy! It was something else.”

Claire tilted her head. “So, are you guys, like, together?”

Elli nodded. “Oh yeah. He’s fallen head over heels. It’s awesome. That’s what 4 long years of working at something earns you. Total devotion!”

Claire giggled with Elli. “Well, good for you.”

Elli looked serious all the sudden. “That hurricane… did it do any damage to the farm?”

Claire averted her eyes. “A little…” she fibbed.

Elli leaned forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Look at me. You’re lying to me! I can’t believe it! Why? What’s going on?”

Claire squirmed. “Nothing…” Then she sighed, shuddered, and broke down into tears.

“Oh no, Claire, I’m sorry!” Elli pleaded.

Claire wiped her tears away, but more kept coming. “No, I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to talk about it at all.” She recounted the devastation to Elli. Before long, Elli was crying along with her.

“That’s terrible, Claire! But you should have told me, I’m your best friend!” Elli clasped Claire’s hand. “What can I do to help you?”

“Nothing, but thank you.” Claire said. “We’ve got it all cleaned up. We’ve been fixing up things and making up the money in other ways, like Cliff has been fishing a lot.”

Elli looked at her sympathetically. “I’m so sorry, Claire, you having to go through all that right at the beginning of your marriage.”

Claire shook her head. “No, actually it’s made us stronger. I’m realizing more than ever what a wonderful partner he is, in every way.”

Elli smiled and nodded, then got a serious look on her face. “But the most important question, Claire, is…has it affected your sex life?”

Claire rolled her eyes and laughed hard. “Oh, Elli, you’re the same as ever. No, it hasn’t. It’s still amazing and frequent.”

“Well, that’s good then,” Elli patted Claire on the head. “Mama-chan worries about little Claire getting enough loving.”

Claire stuck her tongue out at Elli. “I thought you didn’t want to be called that!”

Elli sniffed. “Well, I let Doctor call me that…in bed.”

Claire wrinkled her nose. “Ewww…I’ve heard enough.”

They laughed and talked together for another hour. Claire realized it was getting late and hurried home. Cliff was getting home at just the same time, with a couple of large ocean fish. He had already sold the others he had caught to Won, and he showed her the money he had gotten.

Claire kissed him. “You’re the best husband ever.”

Cliff cleaned the fish, and Claire cooked them up for supper, along with some of the corn and onions that had survived the storm. They ate, talking and laughing.

That night, Claire climbed into bed, and Cliff smiled at her, reaching over. “Let me give you a back rub,” he said.

Claire couldn’t refuse that, so she lay face down on the bed. Cliff worked his hands over her neck and shoulders, kneading softly. He stroked across her back, pressing out the tension. Claire sighed happily and melted into the bed. Cliff continued to rub Claire’s back for several minutes, then he leaned down and kissed her neck. Claire moaned a little, and Cliff kissed her neck again, and again. His hands slid down her back to her inner thighs, and he squeezed there a moment before slipping his hand into the warm apex of her thighs.

“Mmmm…ohhhh….” Claire breathed heavily. Cliff massaged her gently at first, then pressed more strongly. Claire arched her back at him, and he suddenly took a hand to each of her hips, and moving off of her, flipped her onto her back. He pressed himself on top of her, their bodies grinding together in a steady rhythm. Cliff pulled away and eased Claire’s pajamas off, and quickly shed his own. Claire wrapped her thighs around his waist and he carefully entered her.

Claire tilted her head back and sighed as Cliff moved deeper inside of her. They rocked together for sometime, kissing and sliding their hands over each other’s bodies. Before too long, Claire tightened herself on Cliff and her breath came in sharp hisses as he satisfied her. He lay with her for a moment while she relished the afterglow, then began thrusting again, finding release himself shortly after. They snuggled under the covers together, totally relaxed and happy, and drifted off to sleep.