Quaranteam - Dave In Dallas: Part 2

Lupie and Becca return from the Dallas Vax Center.

Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.

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Let’s review the List of characters:

David Belsus (50)- adjunct professor at Eastfield College, DCCCD with a side hustle in data analysis.

GuadaLupie Gutierrez (32); investment advisor, David's neighbor

Esmeralda Gutierrez (9); Lupie's daughter

Rebecca Sampson (18); Esme's babysitter

Janice Hoppler (33); librarian, arrived to partner with Dave the same day Lupie and Becca left to get vaccinated.

Shawna Cooper (36); senior meteorologist at WFAA, second woman sent to Dave outside a direct request.

Olivia Barnes (21); Dave's goddaughter, horticulture major at Tarleton State University in Stephenville

Melanie Ustanich (22); Livy's roommate, cybersecurity major at Tarleton.

Dave smiled, a pair of events immediately coming to mind. He launched into a description of when Esme had called him up. Becca had been moping all day and Esme finally got her to admit that it was her birthday, but she hadn't heard from any family. Esme knew Becca loved meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but that was a bit out of her culinary reach. She asked Dave to help out.

Well, first off, it was already after 5:30 pm by the time Esme figured things out and got a hold of Dave. A meat loaf can take nearly an hour to cook, after all the ingredients are prepped and combined. But, if he made smaller portions, mini-meatloaves, it would cook faster. Oh, then He could Zoom with them and the three of them could eat together.

"Wait, three?"

"Yeah, in the beginning of lockdown, Lupie was stuck in New York. She's an investment manager and very good at it. She was giving a week-long training seminar when it happened."

"But the lockdowns weren't big surprises. We all had some heads up to prepare, maybe unofficial, but it wasn't like they came out of the blue."

"Yep, and her company choose to make sure the New York office had gotten the training Lupie had been going around doing, before they lock them away in their homes. They thought they could beat the clock. Lupie was practically climbing the walls by the third day. But that's a different discussion. We can come back to that."

"Yeah, we definitely need to come back to that. I can't imagine being cut off from my kid, half a continent away from her with a major pandemic racing around."

"It was rough." Dave returned to the original narrative, starting back with the moment he remembered some trick he'd seen making meatloaf cupcakes and piping mashed potatoes on top like it was icing.

"You didn't. You can do that?"

"I'd only seen it done before, but I managed to get it right enough."

"For a teen girl mostly alone on her birthday, the attempt was probably 99% alone. Execution would be bonus points."

"She was crying happy on the Zoom call. Esme is young but she's sneaky when she's planning something nice. She took delivery at the door and convinced Becca to sit at the table, not knowing what Esme was bringing over. Becca kissed the camera for the first minute after they brought up Zoom."

Janice giggled. "I don't blame her." Janice made a 'lightbulb' face. "Oh, is that why she made you cupcakes for your birthday?"

"Well, she might have done it anyway, but it was probably why she insisted she do it herself." In thinking along those lines, Dave remembered the letter he'd gotten yesterday. That would explain why Lupie had seemed a bit miffed that day. She'd wanted to do something special for his birthday, but had bowed to Becca's exuberant need to express her gratitude.

His musing turned nearer to the moment. Janice was listening to him talk about two other women in affectionate, familiar terms, knowing full well those women would be here soon and share the bed with him as well, and she showed no signs of jealousy. Yeah, they mentioned something about it in the videos, but it was odd to see.

"Okay, your turn. Tell me something about you, Janice."

She winced. "Okay, first off, I'd prefer Jan in normal conversation. Janice is fine at some function outside the house, some formal setting, but when it's just family and associates."

"Associates? Why not just say - "

"Please don't use the same word as the title of that show."

Dave was puzzled for a bit, then chortled. "Oh - "

"Do. Not. Finish. That. Phrase." Janice glared. Dave nearly fell out of his chair laughing. Janice was thoroughly unamused. He forcefully collected himself.

"Damn, I like that show, but I can get why you would not be happy. That character is annoying as hell."

Jan stared, nonplussed.

"I'll be good. Promise." He picked up her hand from the table and kissed it. Jan continued to give him half-squinty eyes. "So you were about to tell me something about you. Other than your death-ray eye superpower."

"It's a good thing you're cute buster." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. The squint was still there, but a bemused smile dangled below it. Janice proceeded to tell about the time the library put on a summer hands-on science series. One week the guide brought frogs and first red a book about frogs and their habitats. They let the kids reach in and touch some of the frogs - after rinsing their hands with deionized water first. Then they red a chapter from Frog & Toad. During the reading, one little boy wanted to touch the frogs again. He had earlier asked to hold one, but had been told the frogs had to stay inside the tub. The budding naturalist snuck behind the speaker, opened the lid, and took out a small frog.

The frog of course took the chance to leap away. The startled and dismayed boy jumped back, knocking over the tub which he had not put the lid back on. Sixteen small to medium sized frogs dumped out on the floor. Startled as they were, they began hopping away, some heading through the equally startled mass of kids. Some of the children had declined to touch the frogs earlier and were now shrieking as the second Egyptian plague of Exodus blitzed outward from the tub, directly at them.

Dave was holding his sides laughing as Jan continued. Obviously, story time was over. It took an hour and a half to calm the kids down, locate parents, ask a few of them to bring a change of garments for their little one - explaining the need for that took repetition of the same story to each parent, accompanied by laughter and sympathy and one angry Karen. Collecting the frog diaspora took the rest of the day, and three hours after closing.

Dave was chortling and wiping tears from his eyes for a full minute after Jan finished. Jan settled into his lap, her arms draped around his neck. They kissed softly, languidly.

David jarred backward. "Oh crap, I forgot to put in the order."

"What order?"

"I was going to order more groceries, especially snacks, and a couple of stuffed critters for Esme."

"Lupie's little girl?"

"Yep, she's mad about these things called Squish mallows. I could probably randomly pick one and she'd squeal happily to receive it. I held off ordering because I wanted to get your input, you know, anything special you wanted." Dave started leading her upstairs, which had Jan happy, but a bit less so when Dave made the turn for his office instead of heading straight to the bedroom. Gamely, she played along. Truth be told, she was glad to ask for a few things. She'd only been able to bring one rolling suitcase. They made the contactless pickup order for tomorrow morning and decided Dave would pick it up, with Jan remaining at the house in case Lupie, Becca, and Esme arrived while he was gone.

As the order progressed though, Jan started laying soft kisses on Dave's cheek and forehead. Then she breathed soft and hot into his ear. Only a steely self-control kept him on task to finish, and Jan could see the battle warring in him. "You are so hot like this. I've never been around a guy that didn't jump me the moment I expressed the slightest interest. Sometimes before."

Dave looked at her side-eyed as she wiggled her ass on his lap. His hands trembled. "Almost done. I'm just setting the pickup parameters. And I've had responsible reasons to hold back." He clicked submit on the last page, logged out of the site, and out of his computer. "I want you so bad." He turned his full attention to her, grasping her mid-torso, standing and pressing her to the nearest wal