Chapter 20: 20 Listen to Claire

Unaware of all of the changes going on with the people in his life, Arnold woke up in the arms of his mother. He wasn't sure how he had gone from cuddling her from behind to having his head snuggled to her chest. She had an arm around him and stroked his hair.

“Mom?” Arnold started to sit up and saw that she was propped up on her pillow and sat against the headboard.

“Good morning.” Annie said and let him go.

“Good morning.” Arnold said and kissed her. He only did a quick kiss like when he told her he loved her, because he remembered Claire's advice about not kissing his mom like he kissed Heather.

Annie had been worried that he might have taken staying in her room as permission to kiss her like he had kissed her the other morning when saying goodbye, so she felt relief that all he did was a quick peck.

“What do you want for breakfast?” Annie asked and stood up. Her boy shorts and t-shirt were a little dishevelled from moving around in the bed and she straightened them out.

Arnold shrugged and she chuckled.

“Eggs and toast it is.” Annie said and waved for him to follow.

Arnold got up and followed her and didn't bother straightening his clothing, since he would be taking them off soon. His mother gave him breakfast and told him to go upstairs and get changed, then she prepped his bag for work. She saw that his water bottles hadn't been touched and assumed that Claire had kept him hydrated, then she went up the stairs to his room to add a change of clothes for him.

She left the shorts and added jeans, a shirt, and clean underwear and socks that matched.

“Here you go.” Annie said and handed him the refreshed bag and Arnold took it and his backpack.

A horn blew and they both went downstairs and Annie opened the front door. She wasn't as anxious today to see her son leaving the house without her, mainly because she had convinced herself that he was going to learn and had put the situation into the 'going to school by himself is fine' category.

“Goodbye, Arnold.” Annie said before she could stop herself. She opened her mouth to try and correct her mistake, then Arnold put a hand behind her head and she clamped her mouth shut instead.

Arnold leaned in and only gave her a quick kiss on the lips, just like he had when they woke up. “Goodbye.” He said and walked to the car.

I guess I don't have to talk with him about appropriate kisses. Annie thought in surprise, mainly because she had completely forgotten that she was supposed to. With everything that had been going on lately, it had slipped from her mind. She bent over slightly and looked into the car and Claire waved to her. Claire must have talked to him about it, especially if he kissed Heather like that in front of her. She thought as she waved back. I have to remember to thank her.

The car drove away and Claire took Heather to school. They sat in the parking lot and waited for Kelly to show up, then Claire put Kelly's suitcase into the trunk. Heather kissed Arnold goodbye and got out.

“I can't wait for tonight!” Kelly said excitedly. “It's always fun when I get to stay over and now I'll be there all weekend!”

Heather laughed softly and gave her friend a one arm hug, then the both of them went into the school.

Claire waited until they were out of sight and drove back to her house. “There's not much else to do except finish the hedges and trim the bushes.” She said as she and Arnold got out of the car and she took Kelly's bag from the trunk. “I'll go change while you get the wheelbarrow and the tools we need.”

Arnold went to the shed to get the equipment and when he had everything ready, Claire came out of the house in a different outfit than what she wore yesterday. The jeans were so faded that they were almost white and her t-shirt was barely down to her stomach and was so baggy that it flopped and fluttered in the light breeze.

They went over to the side of the property and for the next few hours, Arnold finished squaring off the hedge on one side of the property. The pile of twigs, branches, and leaves Arnold gathered grew pretty big, and he still had the entire other side of the property to do.

Claire told him to make another pile beside it and then took it upon herself to trim the bushes that were spread out across the property and made them look presentable, rather than try to get Arnold to do it. She didn't want to take the chance that she would give him another conundrum that he couldn't figure out if she asked him to make them 'look good' and didn't tell him specifically what to do to make them that way.

No wonder Annie had such a hard time with him growing up. Claire thought. I've only been around him for two days and I'm already a little stressed out about taking care of him. She paused in her work and watched Arnold as he paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then he kept working. Look at him go. She thought. He's like a machine.

It was then that it clicked for her and her eyes widened at the realization.

Oh, my god. Claire stared at the young man in amazement. He's a machine. He needs constant input and directions, or he'll just sit there and idle while he waits for the next direction.

Claire's guess was pretty close to the truth. Arnold could function on his own without someone telling him what to do, mainly because he kept to himself and his own interests. He could figure some things out and make the next logical step in most cases as well. It was just so much easier for him when someone told him what to do and he didn't have to try and guess what to do next. Having detailed instructions let his mind take him to the right answer without much guesswork.

“Let's take a break for lunch.” Claire said.

Arnold finished a cut on the hedge, cleared the branches and tossed them into the wheelbarrow, then took off his work gloves and walked over to her. She led him in through the back door of the house and into the kitchen again. She gave him the two sandwiches left over from yesterday and a bottle of water, and she ate a bowl of rice that was left over from supper the night before.

“Arnold.” Claire said as she put her empty bowl in the sink, then she turned to him and leaned on the counter when he turned to look at her. Her baggy top fell open and completely revealed her chest. She had even worn her push up bra to make her breasts really stand out. “We need to have a talk about you seeing me naked.”

Arnold kept eating and maintained eye contact.

Claire shifted her weight subtly from one arm to the other, which gave her breasts a gentle swaying motion. Wow. Absolutely no reaction. She thought, slightly surprised. Now I have to decide if it was him that passed this test, or if it was me that failed. She almost chuckled at the thought, then smiled as she thought of another test. “What did you think of my body? Did you enjoy seeing me naked?”

Arnold almost instinctively knew that he was in trouble when she asked him if he enjoyed it. Since he was normally mentally stimulated by dissecting specimens and the intricate work it entailed, if he told her that he would enjoy seeing her, it would mean that he wanted to dissect her and look at her insides.

Despite that being both interesting and intriguing, Arnold was pretty sure Heather's mother wouldn't like that at all, especially since his biology teacher was right. Most people looked at their work like it was disgusting and avoided it as much as possible. If she ever thought that he considered taking her insides apart and labelling them, it would be very bad for him.

“No, Mrs. Bradshaw. I didn't look at you like that.” Arnold said and saw Claire frown.

“Why not?” Claire asked and tried not to get angry. She had been embarrassed when she stripped in front of him and now he told her that he didn't even like seeing it and it kind of pissed her off.

“I can't enjoy seeing you like that, because I'm sure you don't want me to.” Arnold said and looked down at the counter. “I don't want to get in trouble.”

Claire was a bit taken aback at the admission. “Arnold... I...”

“If you thought I did see you like that, you would hate me for it.” Arnold said and looked back at her and right into her eyes. “I know you would.”

Claire let out a long and low sigh as her irrational anger faded away at Arnold's honesty. “I... I think I would. If I knew you only came here to look at me like that, I would be upset about it.” She said. “I'm sure Heather wouldn't like it, either.”

“I know.” Arnold said.

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“Then we should never speak of this again.” Claire said and leaned forward to put her arms around his head and hugged him to her chest, even though her top was still hanging down off her shoulders. “Are you okay? I hope I didn't upset you.”

Arnold's face was surrounded by warm softness and when he tried to say he was okay, it was muffled by her breasts.

Claire looked down at the muffled words and blushed at Arnold's face that was firmly nestled between her breasts. “Oh, I didn't realize... I mean, I felt your face, but...” She smiled and let him go. “What did you say?”

“I'm okay.” Arnold said.

Claire nodded and the smile didn't leave her face. “You know, if you had tried to shove your face into my breasts on your own, I would probably be upset about it.”

Arnold looked down at her still exposed breasts and back at her face.

Now he looks. Claire thought in amusement as she pulled her top back up onto her shoulders. “If I do it to you, it's okay.” She said and thought of a way to get at least some of her dignity back after that embarrassing conversation. “What did you think of being hugged by my breasts?”

“They are soft and very warm.” Arnold said and saw her face go a little red again. “Are you okay?” He asked and stood. “Your face keeps turning red.”

“I'm fine.” Claire said and her face went a little redder. He's calling me out on my embarrassment!

“It's not sore, is it?” Arnold asked and caressed her cheek and felt the heat there. “Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?”

“Wh-what?” Claire asked, then before she knew it, Arnold had given her several soft and tender kisses on both of her cheeks.

“It's still a little red.” Arnold said and repeated the kisses, this time he did twice as many and completely covered her face. “Is that better?”

“Y-yes, Arnold.” Claire said and remembered what he had done to Heather's sore fingers the day before and knew what to say in response. “It feels much better. Thank you.”

Arnold gave her a smile and his handsomeness just seemed to pop into her perception.

Claire just couldn't help herself after that little display. “I think my lips are a little sore, too.” She said and wasn't surprised when he gave her several soft and tender kisses all over her lips. “That's great, thank you again.” She said. “We should get back out there and try to get the hedges done before I have to leave to get Heather and Kelly.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and left the kitchen through the back door to get back to work.

Claire stood there and watched him put on the gloves and pick up the large hand shears. I think I need to be very careful about what I say, even more than I normally am. She thought, then she wondered if she should discuss the same thing with her daughter. If Heather's not careful... She stopped that thought. No, she wouldn't say... things like... She looked at Arnold's arms flex and cut inch thick branches without pausing. Okay, I think I will have to caution her the next time I can get her alone.

Arnold worked for three more hours and managed to just get the last of the hedges squared off when it was time for Claire to leave.

“I'll be back in a little while.” Claire said. She had already taken a shower and changed, so she didn't have to worry about asking Arnold to come into the house with her. “When you finish cleaning that up and put it in the pile, put everything away and go inside to shower in the spare room like you did yesterday.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and kept working while Claire left him alone and went to pick up Heather and Kelly. He took several wheelbarrows full of branches, twigs, and leaves to dump them into the double pile of debris at the back of the property. He finished fairly quickly, since he had a lot of practice doing the same thing for nearly two days straight. He took the things he used and wiped them off and put them back in the little shed, then went inside to get a shower.

The car pulled in just as Arnold went up the stairs with his bag. Heather and Kelly were pretty loud as they talked animatedly and pretty much stormed into the house. Claire came in behind them and pointed to Kelly's suitcase.

“Go ahead and take that upstairs.” Claire said and both girls grabbed the bag at the same time, laughed, then lifted it together. “For god's sake, don't trip on the stairs.”

Heather and Kelly kept laughing and ran up the stairs, despite the warning, and rushed into the spare room... then stopped dead as Arnold stood there completely naked in front of them.

“A-A-Arnold!” Heather and Kelly said at the same time.

Heather was surprised at how good Arnold looked completely naked. She normally didn't appreciate things like that; but this time, his slightly engorged muscles from working so hard were glistening with beads of sweat and her eyes followed several beads as they flowed over his skin. His arms were especially noticeable as the veins were popped a little and showed that he had strained them.

Heather's primitive mind leapt to the forefront of her thoughts and all she could think about was staring up at him as he made love to her. Kelly on the other hand, was completely shocked and only saw one thing.

Arnold's penis.

Either fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Arnold was a shower and not a grower. Everything Kelly currently saw was almost exactly what she would see if he was excited, except for where the tip currently pointed and its lack of firmness.

“I was just going to get a shower.” Arnold said and started to turn away.

“Kiss me!” Heather exclaimed and he turned back and leaned in to give her a kiss. Her hands moved on their own as they rubbed his chest and then moved to his arms as they made out, then one of her hands slid down his abdomen and touched him. His body reacted as she gently stroked him and he became erect for her. She broke the kiss and her eyes were a little wild as she thought about going down on him again.

“Heather!” Kelly exclaimed and that was enough to bring her back to her senses.

Heather looked at her friend and then back at Arnold, while her hand kept slowly stroking him. “I think Kelly is starting to see why I like having you as a boyfriend, Arnold.” She said and gave him a quick kiss. “Kelly's my best friend and I'm very tempted to show her what we did the other day.”

“If you want to.” Arnold said and his hand reached for her crotch to rub it.

“You need to shower first.” Heather said and reluctantly let him go. “We'll be in my room.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and walked into the bathroom in the spare room.

Heather watched him get in the shower, then she took Kelly's hand and led her from the spare room, shut the door, then went to her room across the hall.

“Heather...” Kelly started to say that she had taken her hand with the hand she had stroked Arnold with.

Heather let her hand go and sat down on the bed. “I want him, Kelly. I want him so bad!”

Kelly knew the proper response for that statement. “Really? I couldn't tell.”

Heather had wide eyes for a moment, then she laughed and fell backwards onto the bed. She held onto her belly and kept laughing.

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