The next chapter of my story happened a few months before I was married. I met Sue around six months after Ronnie first joined my ski team. Ronnie had continued skiing with us but because I was now taking Linda out, Ronnie started driving herself rather than travelling with me.

It was during one of these weekends out skiing that Ronnie took me aside and told me that Ron had proposed to her. I congratulated her and told her that I would come around to see Ron the next day to have a couple of celebratory drinks with him. Her response surprised me. She asked me to not let on that she had told me but to let Ron break the news. Although surprised, I agreed.

The next afternoon I dropped in to see them. Ron met me at the door and while shaking my hand gave me his traditional, “G’day old mate, it’s good to see you.”

We opened a couple of beers and when Ronnie left us to go to the kitchen Ron told me that he had asked Ronnie to marry him. I jumped up, walked over to him, and while shaking his hand congratulated him. He didn’t smile at all but come back with, “She hasn’t accepted yet. I think she will but she is making me wait for her answer.”

“Of course she will accept, Ron. It’s just one of those female things. She wants to see you sweat a little, that’s all.”

“Oh, I know she will accept. Her baby needs a father.”

“Fuck, you cunning old bastard, you’ve done the deed. Congratulations twice in one day. You were always one for big surprises.”

“Well, maybe. Perhaps you should be congratulating Ronnie over the baby. Keep your congratulations to me for after she accepts my offer.”

I had a distinct feeling that I was missing something. It was such a strange thing for a potential dad to say. Being a person who respects other's privacy, I didn’t think again about it. When Ronnie came back in, Ron told her that he had told me that she was expecting. I got up and took Ronnie into my arms and gave her a big hug. “My beautiful friends are going to have a beautiful baby. How special is that.”

I saw her look at Ron before she answered, which once more made me wonder if there was something I was missing. “Yes, I’ve always wanted children. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“When the morning sickness kicks in you might think differently.”

“Yea, I’ve had a little of that already. I thought you might guess when I decided not to ski the last few weeks. You are getting a bit slow, Goyse. A couple of months ago you wouldn’t have missed something like that.”

“Now you mention it, I was a little surprised. So when is the big day?”

“He’s not due for seven months yet.”

“I was thinking of something else actually.”

Her eyes switched to Ron and then back to me. “Ron and I have a couple of details to work out before we set the date but I’d expect that it will happen fairly quickly. Ron, have you asked Goyse to join the wedding party?”

“I thought it was better to wait until you accepted first, Ronnie.”

“Was there ever any doubt. Of course, I accept. I haven’t put up with you all these years to then turn round and kick you to the curb. Goyse is our best friend. We both love him besides he knows too much about us for us to not invite him to such a special event. If we did that he might blab about our secrets to everyone.”

I knew that I had forced the issue a little bit but then they were my best friends, especially Ron, and I was concerned that Ronnie had left him hanging like that. It just went to show that even when you think you know people there is usually something about them that can take you by surprise.

“Can I kiss the expectant bride, mate?”

“Might as well, pal. It seems to be becoming standard practice these days.”

“Sorry Ron, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Don’t worry mate, I’m just a little shitty that you had to force her to give an answer to me.”

“Come here Ronnie, mum. Give me a hug and a wet sloppy kiss.”

“Not too much of that mum business. You’ll make me feel old.” She took me into her arms. The kiss was exactly as I said, wet and sloppy with a lot of tongue. It lasted a lot longer than I felt comfortable with as well.

When we broke, Ron was looking at the floor. “Come here, Ron it’s your turn for a hug.”

I took Ron into a huge bear hug. I could detect there was something worrying him. At a time when he should be happy he appeared to be unusually sad.

“Do you mind if I take your new hubby across the road for a few tonight, Ronnie?”

“It might be a good idea. I think he needs someone he can trust to talk to. I’ll cook dinner for two hours time. Don’t be late.”

“Have we ever been late, Ronnie? You know us. You can call us always on time, Goyse and Ron.”

“Yea, well I was late last month so I guess nothing is ever certain in this world.”

We all laughed and Ron and I left for the pub. I selected a spot that was secluded where we would be unlikely to be heard.

Initially, we talked about football, water skiing and work then out of the blue Ron simply said, “It’s not mine, you know.”

“What’s not yours?”

“The baby is not mine.”

“Shit, how can you know that, Ron?”

“We didn’t have sex last month.”

“What, the most beautiful woman in the world and you didn’t have sex with her.”

“You heard me.” He looked up at me and then asked, “Is it yours?”

“Ron, you must know that I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Yea, I know. She told me that you turned her down. I was hoping it was, that’s all. If it was yours I wouldn’t be so concerned. Since that evening with you, she just seems to have gone crazy. I know it sounds fucked up but I wish you had given her what she wanted. I know I can trust you, but now I don’t know who she’s been with.”

“Don’t you talk?”

“We used to but for some reason, she thinks I want her to cheat on me. I’ve never asked her to but she thinks I get excited when she comes home after cheating. It’s fucked up, Goyse, really fucked up.”

“You are going to marry her aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course, I am. I’ve never been with any other woman and I have never wanted to be. She’s my world.”

“Why didn’t you marry her before this? Everyone thought you would.”

“I would have married her in a moment but she kept saying she hadn’t lived yet. She kept saying that she didn’t want to get married and then said that she wondered what it was like to be with another man or even a woman. I told her to go out and experiment but promise to come home to me. She promised. One night she came home and told me that she had made love to another man. I was so excited for some reason that I made love to her for hours. At the end of the night, she simply said, ‘You liked that, didn’t you?’”

 He continued, “I didn’t answer. How could I? I just didn’t understand why it turned me on. Maybe it was trying to beat him or something weird like that. She got the idea that when she had sex with others it turned me on. The fact is from that time onwards I didn’t feel like making love to her at all so we had less sex not more.”

“It was then that she caught up to you and she told me that you resisted her approaches. She told me that she fooled you so that she masturbated you onto her pussy and then came home to me. I was really turned on, not because of what she had done but because I then knew that she could be with you and I could trust you to resist her. I encouraged her to spend time with you but you pulled away from her.”

“I was worried because I was too attracted to her, Ron. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Yes, I know but you were not to know where this would lead. She is now carrying someone else’s child and I don’t want to lose her so I have to accept another man’s baby as my own. It’s not an easy decision to make.”

“Don’t think of it that way, Ron. Remember it is her child. It’s the child of the woman that you love. It’s now part of her.”

“I just wish it was yours. There would never be any hesitation if that was the case.”

“If that works then think of it as mine. If I hadn’t pulled away from her it could have been mine. Whatever works, Ron, whatever works, mate. Don’t let her go after all these years.”

“I won’t, don’t worry. Dinner must be served by now.”

When we arrived home dinner was ready. Ron and I didn’t broach the subject again. But when Ron went to the toilet I asked Ronnie to meet me the next day at the local coffee shop. She smiled, kissed me and said, “Thanks, I was hoping you would ask me to meet you.”

I met Ronnie at around ten o’clock. After we kissed, we entered into some small talk until our coffees were delivered, I looked at her and asked, “What the fuck have you been up to? Are you trying to destroy him?”

“Thanks for your vote of confidence, Goyse. You know I love Ron. I wouldn’t intentionally try to hurt him.”

“Intentional or not he is suffering very bad right now. Why, for fuck's sake, why? It’s not hard to protect yourself from pregnancy.”

“You know why I was flirting. It just got out of hand, that’s all.”

“I don’t know at all. I simply don’t understand. Explain it to me, please.”

“It’s quite simple. After our evening together, I was constantly horny. I needed love and Ron wasn’t supplying it. Each night he kissed me, turned over and went to sleep. I challenged him a number of times over it and told him I needed satisfaction. His response was to tell me to go see you. I tried to explain to him that you had pushed me away and had taken up with Linda but he was insistent. Go see Goyse then come home to me, he kept saying.” The tears welled up in her eyes. She looked at the coffee cup for some time regaining control before she continued.

“Eventually, I said Okay and left. I drove over to your house but Linda’s car was parked outside and the lights were out. I stood outside for quite a while. As I went to leave, Gary drove past. He saw me, turned around and came back. He asked me to join him for a drink and I agreed. One thing led to another and I ended up at his unit. I told him that I was a few days before the fertile stage of my cycle so I was safe and he could finish in me. Afterwards, I put my panties back on and went home expecting Ron would make love to me but he didn’t.” She stopped again before she continued as if trying to work out the order of things.

“That weekend I travelled out to skiing with Gary. On the way home he took a back road and pulled up in some bushes. He started to try to have sex with me but I said no way.  I explained to him I was right on my peak of ovulation so I couldn’t. This seemed to make him want me more. I was so horny. The only sex for the previous month had been with Gary that one time. I guess I weakened and agreed as long as he pulled out. Well, the rest is history. He didn't pull out. He got what he wanted and I got what I deserved. I hoped against hope that my period would come but it didn’t. Ron despises Gary so I can’t even discuss it with him and I certainly can’t tell him who the father is.”

"Did you get too excited and allowed him to finish in you?"

"No, it wasn't like that. He agreed but when the time came he didn't. Once I realised that he was close, I told him not to finish in me but it was too late."

“Fuck Gary. I’ll stitch the fucker up. He won’t trouble you again. Look, Ronnie, have you thought of telling Ron that the baby is mine.”

“I’d be lying to him. I don’t mind not telling him but telling a deliberate lie is another matter.”

“All you have to do is tell him that I don’t know. Tell him that you did exactly what we did last time but I came over the outside of your vagina and somehow some of my sperm must have got inside. Tell him not to discuss it with me because you think that I would feel responsible and that it wasn’t really my fault.”

“Do you think it would work?”

“I’m certain it would. He wants the baby to be mine, he told me so.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

“Good, now I have an appointment with an arsehole called Gary.”

“Don’t hurt him too badly. Except for this occasion he has been fairly good to me.”

“Okay, I’ll just break both legs and leave his arms alone.”

She knew that I was joking and gave a rather restrained laugh.    

I caught up with Gary as he was walking home from work. I pulled my car up beside him and told him to get in. He hesitated and said that he liked to walk home. I knew straight away that he knew why I had come looking for him.

“I didn’t ask, Gary. I am telling you. Now, get into the fucking car.”

He climbed in and put his seatbelt on. I headed out of town towards a bush track where we often did some testing of our cars.

“Do you know what is happening, Gary?”

“No, I thought you were giving me a lift home.”

“You live out this way, do you, Gary?”

“No, I live in town.”

“So if you don’t know what this is about why didn’t you ask me where we are going? Now I’ll ask you again. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS ABOUT, GARY?” I lowered my voice and added, “I don’t want any lies from you, Gary. I want the truth. Do you understand me?”

“I guess it’s about Ronnie.”

“What about Ronnie, Gary? What is it you think I might want to talk to you about that has to do with Ronnie?”

“I did the wrong thing to Ronnie. I got carried away and didn’t do what she asked me to.”

“Are you telling me that you did the wrong thing by my special friend, Ronnie? Is that what you are telling me, Gary?”

“I guess so. I didn’t mean to do it. I just got too excited and couldn’t stop.”

“Do you know what happens to men who mistreat my special friends, Gary?”

“They get mistreated as well I guess.”

“The problem here is that Ronnie regrets letting her guard down with a low-life like you, Gary. She believed that she could trust you but it's obvious that you can't be trusted. Do you understand what is going to happen to you if my friend Ron hears about this? Now I’ll ask you again. What do we do to low-life men like you, Gary who mistreat women? Better still, what do you think we should do to them?”

“I guess they should take a beating.”

“So you think that you should take a beating? Is that what you are asking me to do to you, Gary?”

“I suppose so.”

“You don’t sound convincing, Gary. I don’t want to hear lies from you so if you’re not sure then you shouldn’t tell me. Now take a little time to think about it before you answer this time because I want you to tell me how we should handle this. I don’t want to do anything that you don’t agree with because I think that you deserve much worse than you just told me and if you can’t make a decision then I’ll have to make it for you. Do you know what that means Gary?”

“It probably means that I’ll get hurt.”

“Maybe, let me explain. You see I believe in an eye for an eye. If someone steals my car I go around and steal theirs. If someone hits my mate I go around and hit him. Do you understand what that means for you, Gary?” I placed my hand on my cock and lifted my bulge as if to show it too him.

“Oh fuck, No, not that.”

“Oh yes, Gary. But then it’s up to you, isn’t it? If you give me an option that you prefer and we can agree on then maybe not. Perhaps I need to tell Ron what you have done and if he comes looking for you then you'll really be in the shit. Have you seen him playing football and how he handles some of those players?” I grabbed my crotch again to emphasize my thoughts.

“Look, I’ll stand and let you hit me twice and not retaliate. Is that Okay?”

“Nope. You hurt Ronnie and my mate, Ron, a fucking hell more than that. Do you know that they may break up because of your low-life fucking actions? Two hits don’t come anywhere near enough. Try again, Gary.”

“I don’t know if I could take more than four of your hits. You’re fucking strong. I’ve seen what you do to the boxing bag in the gym. One hit of yours could knock me out.”

“I promise that I won’t knock you out, Gary. That would cancel out any pain that I wanted to inflict on you. I will make damn sure that I don’t knock you out. Whatever we agree on, Gary, you will be conscious all the way through it.”

“Okay, six hits then.”

“Look, I’ll settle for four. You deserve more but I’m not sure you will survive more, Gary, and I don’t want to have to explain to a jury what happened to you. We don’t want that do we?”

“No, I guess not.”

“If you’re not sure, it could be arranged though, Gary.”

“Fuck no. Four hits it is, then.”

“Okay, Gary. Now I need you to tell me what you want me to do.”

“I want you to punch me four times.”

“That’s not good enough, Gary. I need you to tell me specifically what you are asking me to do and why you want me to do it.”

“Okay. I mistreated Ronnie. I didn't do what she asked me to do. I ignored the fact that she could get pregnant and I deserve to be punished for that. I want you to punish me by punching me in the face four times.”

I stopped the car and got out. Gary got out the other side and walked around to the front. Before he had time to realize it, I punched him in the right side of the face. He went down like a bundle of crap which is actually what I thought he was.

He lay there for a while and I wondered if I had knocked him out. After half a minute he raised himself up on his hands, shook his head and regained his feet.

“Three more,” he said.

I shook my head and said, “Get back in the car you rotten prick. I’ll run you home but you just remember that you still have three of those coming to you and if you ever tell anyone about what you did to Ronnie or what has happened here tonight, I’ll come looking for you, you fucking slimeball.”

“Okay. I’m sorry.”

“You’re not sorry. People like you don’t know what the word means. You are just sorry that you didn’t get away with it. I’ll make you a promise. If I ever hear of you mistreating another woman, I’ll come looking for you and I can hit a lot harder than I just did.”

We drove back in silence. I let him out at his house and drove over to Ron’s place. Ron had not returned from work. Ronnie answered the door and I handed her the recording I had made.

“This is for your ears and your ears only, Ronnie. Don’t ever let Ron find it.” I turned to leave. She called after me.

“Goyse.”

“Yes, Ronnie.”

“I wish that I had met you before I met Ron.”

“Yes, I know, so do I but you can’t change the past. Ron is a good man. You’re lucky to have him. Try to look after him, please.” I turned to leave again but stopped and turned, “And look after our baby. None of this is his fault.” She smiled and nodded.

“I will. I hope I see you before the wedding.”

“Maybe, we’ll see. Remember what I said.”

I turned and walked away. I had no intention of going back until I had to. I hurt too bad inside. She had told me what I didn’t want to hear. She felt the same way that I did and knowing that I had to keep my distance. After all, I was just flesh and blood and that made me weak. Perhaps I had more in common with Gary than I was willing to admit.