by Al Sloane
"So you're just going to write me out of the picture. Is that it?"
"No. Damn it Pete, I want you to be there and you've been great but I know you work out in the field and if the baby was coming and you were in Encino or Palmdale, there's no way you could be here. What if she started to come in the morning and you had to fight traffic? It could take you hours to get here."
"I see. And what did June have to say about this?"
"She said you might be hurt but she understood. And she said she'd never do anything to get between us."
"OK. So, when did you talk with her?"
"Last week."
"So it took you over a week to tell me about it?"
"I was scared. And then yesterday when we went to the class and you took such good care of me and you came back and gave me that bath and then you cooked breakfast for me instead of my usual bowl of cereal, I felt real strange. I wouldn't do this if we didn't live so far apart. And before you say anything, I'm not ready to move in with you."
"When's the last time you talked to June?"
"A few days ago. Why?"
"So she hasn't had a chance to tell you what she and I talked about today."
"No. What?"
"I told her I was worried about being so far away from you and I asked her to come with us to the other two classes and to be on call if I couldn't make it in time to be there for the delivery. And that I was afraid you might think I was deserting you but having someone who could definitely make it on time was more important. And she told me she would be glad to and that you'd probably be OK with it. She was acting real weird the whole time I was asking her. She probably felt like she'd been caught when I started talking about something you guys arranged over a week ago."
"You mean it? You're not hurt?"
"Why should I be hurt? It's not like I'm some macho fool who says nobody's going to help deliver my baby if I'm not there. It's important to me that you have support during the delivery. That's why we're going to the classes together. And if I can't be there, I can't think of anyone I'd feel more comfortable about taking my place than June."
"Damn, you don't know how good that makes me feel. I wish I told you sooner. June said she wasn't going to go to class with us until you agreed with it. She could have come last night."
"That's OK. I told her I'd teach her what we went over. It's going to be fun massaging her all over."
"You just want to get into her pants."
"Hey, I've been there. And I don't think I'll need to use any tricks to get back there if I want. In fact, she'll probably be begging for it soon."
"Begging for it. You wish."
"You heard me right. Begging for it. Just like you do."
"Well, I don't actually beg."
"Let's just say you make your wants well known. And if I had the inclination to ignore you, you'd probably get pretty insistent about it."
"Yeah, I guess so. It's just that you're such a good lover."
"That's just what I was trying to say. You've proved my point."
By this time we'd been in the restaurant over two hours. I was full and wouldn't need to be fed till the next day.
"Ready to go?"
"Oh, yeah. Maybe I'll do some begging."
"You won't need to beg."
We got up and made our way to the cash register. The whole meal was under $50. As I was paying, all the relatives lined up and said goodbye to Wendy and me. Momma came running up with the vase and Wendy's flowers. Wendy tried to give the vase back but was soundly told that she needed to keep the flowers in water.
Wendy had quite a pile on her lap with the bag full of leftovers and the flowers. After I'd gone through the gears and didn't need to shift, she leaned over and rested her head against my side. I bent down and kissed her on the top of the head.
"So, did you get any loot at your going away party?"
Just some gag gifts. They're in the trunk. I'll show you when we get home. You get to help carry them up."
"Oh, I do, Huh? What if I don't want to come up?"
"Then you won't get any. And I'll be cranky. And I'll never let you forget it."
"OK. I guess I can come up."
We pulled in to the parking lot and I held the food and her flowers and helped yank her out of the seat. She wasn't to the point where she'd get stuck sitting down in a chair, but she appreciated the help getting out of the bucket seat.
She took the keys and opened the trunk.
"You can carry that stuff and I'll get the stuff out of the trunk."
She pulled out a large clothing box and a good size bag from Macy's.
Once we got to her front door I put the bag down and got the keys from her. She took her goodies inside and put the bag on the coffee table.
"I'm going to change. I'll be right out."
She took the clothing box in with her.
I put the flowers on the coffee table, then went into the kitchen and tried to make room in the refrigerator for all the leftovers. There were six of those little white boxes they put Chinese take out in. It took some shuffling around but I was able to get everything in. I got back to the living room in time to see Wendy smelling her flowers. I sat in the chair.
Wendy was wearing a robe I hadn't seen before. It was made of flannel and would have fit my mother if she was alive. You could hardly tell that Wendy was pregnant because the thing was so big it didn't show any of her curves. The best way to describe it is as a "Not tonight, I've got a headache" robe.
She stood up and twirled around. The thing just hung on her, it didn't move at all. I could just barely see the tops of her feet. She reached into the Macy's bag and pulled out a box of Bon Bons.
"They told me now that I'm retired I'm supposed to sit around all day in my robe, eating Bon Bons and watching soap operas. What do you think?"
"Whatever turns you on. Just don't expect me to watch them with you."
"Oh, Pete. You're no fun."
She also had a blow-up rubber pillow for sitting on, some Preparation H and some support hose. Just in case she got hemorrhoids or varicose veins.
"So, was that your baby shower, too?"
"No. Beth told me they were going to have one closer to the date. Probably sometime in August."
She walked over to me and took my hand. I got out of the chair and she led me down the hallway to the bedroom.
"Go brush your teeth."
I went in the bathroom, took a leak and fired up the toothbrush. As soon as I got into it, Wendy came in and pushed me out of the way so she could brush her own teeth. I had to wait till she was done before I could rinse my mouth. If there was anything I'd have wanted to see in the mirror I would have been out of luck. It had been a while since she'd pulled that shit. It was good to have my Wendy back. I gave her a good swat on the rump as she was leaving the bathroom.
I walked out to see her standing outside the bathroom door, next to the bed. She looked at me and raised her hands over her head. I undid the top two buttons of her robe and just pulled it over her head.
Underneath it was all Wendy.
Chapter 4
I woke up Sunday just before 8:00, alone in my bed. It was the first holiday in memory that I didn't have company in my bed.
I went into the bathroom. As I was standing in front of the toilet, I realized I hadn't gotten up all night.
I made it into the office and checked my story page. My latest story was doing OK. The voting was up a bit. There's an interesting pattern there. I have a core of die hard readers who absolutely love each story I post. They read the first chapter as soon as it comes out and they vote 10 right away. The latest one got 9 tens in a row. Then the not-so-faithful started voting 9. It had been down to 9.27, was now up to 9.38.
I checked my email. One reader wished me a happy Father's Day. Another wrote to tell me that she knew what was going to happen before I posted the chapter. And then there were a couple of suggestions of how I could make the story better.
I decided I needed
to throw on some coffee before I wrote back. I took a couple of minutes to start the coffee, then answered my emails and checked for new stories. There was a long one that had been going on for a while. I checked the author's page to see if there was anything in his blog about the end being near. He kept mentioning an editor who used the same initials as one of my readers. I made a note to ask him if he was the same person next time he wrote.
The coffee was ready and I made myself a cup. Why is it that that first cup out of the pot is so perfect? And another cup even a minute later is just OK? I don't know. Maybe the taste buds go on overload or something.
So, it was 8:45. Wendy was going to come over at noon and then we were going over to Beth's house for our pool party and barbecue. Wendy had done a lousy job of steering me away when I asked who was going to be there so I let it slide. I knew June was going. Poor June. She couldn't lie when I asked her a direct question, even though she wanted to keep the secret. It was practically a given that Kathi would be there.
I had three and a quarter hours and nothing to do. I started up the washer and threw in a load of clothes. Went in the bathroom and took a dump. Took a shower. 9:30
I looked in the mirror. There was a lonely old man looking back at me. One who was feeling sorry for himself right now. Sure, there would be friends and lovers over at Beth's in a few hours, but there wasn't anyone to wake up to.
I'd missed it when Robin left and eventually gotten used to it. And then Wendy came into my life and I got used to being with someone again. My life turned around. There was a reason to wake up every day other than work. I enjoy my work, don't get me wrong. But there has to be more to life than work. I'd even tried writing as a way to try to communicate but for the most part it was one way - out. I needed someone I could turn around and talk to. Someone who cared about me. Who had some reality about me and knew where I was coming from. Someone who would talk back. And my readers and my employees just didn't fit that bill.
Of course, the real problem was what day it was. Father's Day. Kel and I were talking, but she was going to have to play the games with her husband's father and step-father. It would have been a lot easier on both of them if his mother wasn't in the picture. But she was and was convinced that everything had to be about her. So they had to make an appearance at both places. I'd be lucky to get a phone call sometime tonight. As he'd be lucky to spend some time alone with his kids other than the drives to and from the fathers.
My oldest stepson usually called sometime on Father's Day. He'd say we ought to get together for breakfast some day. Maybe we would, most likely we wouldn't be able to make our schedules work.
The middle boy would never make any effort to be close to me and I wouldn't accept it if he did. I wrote him off 15 years ago when I bought a new truck and he stole it for a couple of days while I took Robin away for the weekend. That was the last in a series of things he did that I disagreed with. He spent a couple of years in jail shortly after that. It was a real sore point in our marriage when Robin insisted in inviting him back into our house when he got out. I was told if I didn't like it I could leave. Six months later we were split up.
The bottom line was that if I had had really been a father to them, they would call or want to spend some time with me. They always had time for Robin on Mother's Day. But I chose to hide in a beer can instead of insisting I be allowed to be a father. With all the rights, duties and responsibilities. Which in turn would have brought the privileges and rewards.
I was starting to get worried about Wendy. I knew we'd always be close. But I could feel some tension from her every time I suggested we move in together. She took over a week to tell me she talked to June about helping out with the birth in case I was too far away because she didn't want to hurt my feelings. She avoided telling me she was quitting work until it was a done deal. I was beginning to wonder if she'd already made up her mind to go it alone and was just avoiding telling me. I'd been kidding when I asked her if she was moving back to Chicago. But it really wouldn't have been that much of a surprise is she'd said "Yes."
When we were together we got along great. Even with her six months gone we were fantastic together in bed. Every time was like a new first. She had a joy of life, and innocence that bordered on being naïve. Simple things excited her and I know she loved the time we spent together, no matter what we did. But she would get in her Miata to go home and I could see the excitement, the joy in living. I felt the loss of her leaving my life once again. I was beginning to depend on her for my happiness, and she was happy just to be alive. I was just a small part of that life. Most of the time a good part. But still, a small part.
The lack of background noise finally registered and I got up to empty the washer and put the clothes in the dryer. The washer is in the kitchen, the dryer is in the garage. Just a matter of where the water and gas are, the house was like that when we moved in. I went outside to a gorgeous Southern California day.
The Aerostar was looking kind of grungy. I have a brush attachment on a wand that goes on the end of the hose. It can be used as-is to scrub off a car or soap can be put in a bottle that's part of it. I hooked it up to the hose, got out one of my ladders and washed the Aerostar off. It looked ten times cleaner so I wiped off the windows and put the hose and brush away.
10:30. I poured myself another cup of coffee and a bowl of raisin bran. That took 15 minutes to finish. Another 15 minutes to wash the dishes from yesterday and today. I still had an hour to kill.
The clothes were dry so I put the shirts on hangers and put everything away. I sat down and read a couple of chapters of a new story by another amateur author. He was able to rivet me to the screen. I couldn't put my finger on anything in particular other than loving the characters and the way they were portrayed. The story was about a middle aged man who had been angry most of his life. He was trying to turn his life around and seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it. I wondered if I was too far gone to turn my own life around.
Damn it, Pete. Pull yourself together. There are people out there who love you. You're going to be with three or four of them this afternoon. Time to stop feeling sorry for yourself.
I bookmarked the next chapter and logged off. It was about 11:45 so I went into my bathroom and washed my face with some cold water. It woke me up a bit and brought me back to the present.
I'd just finished brushing my teeth when I heard Wendy call my name. I realized I'd been able to I brush them without having her in front of me and felt a little sad about that. I dried my face and went out to see her. She had a shirt on that said HOT MAMA and a pair of red shorts. Her red hair was done up in pigtails. She looked beautiful.
I took her in my arms and kissed her. I put all the longing I'd felt all morning into that kiss. I could have gone on forever but she pushed me away.
"Damn. What's got into you?"
"I don't know. Just feeling sorry for myself. Glad you're here. Hopelessly in love with you. Missing you being here. Probably some of each."
"Well, I haven't been kissed like that in... I don't think I've ever been kissed like that."
We kissed again but it wasn't the same. The emotions had drained off in the last one. Not that it was bad. We each put ourselves into it and it was a great kiss. The first kiss had been like a glass of water for a man in the desert. The second was good but didn't have the same effect.
I held the passenger door open of the Miata until Wendy was seated. She had the top down. I noticed she had to loosen the seat belt to make it fit. I got in the driver's seat and moved it back.
"How was your drive up?"
"Pretty good. I'm not going to be able to drive much more. It's really getting bad. I have to move back and I'm really stretching to make my feet touch the pedals. I'm not comfortable and it's just too dangerous."
"You should have had Kathi drive."
"She was... Damn it, Pete. That was supposed to be a surprise. How did you know?"
"I must be psychedelic or something. Plus, the fa
ct that a thinner person was sitting in the seat I've only seen you sit in for the past month added to my suspicions. I figured she was the only one missing with you, Beth and June."
"How did you know June was coming?"
"She told me Friday when we were talking."
"That turd."
"Hey, don't get mad at June. She didn't tell me until I asked her right out if she was going to be there. I even had to tell her exactly where 'there' was. You're piling too many secrets on that girl. You should have seen her squirm when I was talking to her about helping out when the baby comes."
"I guess. Now you've ruined the surprise."
"Don't worry about it. We'll still have fun. And if they all jump up and yell 'Surprise' I'll pretend to be. I already promised June."
By this time we were at Beth's. I saw her car in the driveway, June's Volvo wasn't anywhere to be seen. I pulled into the driveway next to Beth's car.
We got out of the car. Wendy had me get some chips and a cooler with some of her home made potato salad out of the trunk. She just opened the door and walked in the house. I followed her to the kitchen where she took the salad and put it in the refrigerator. We then went out the sliding door to the backyard. There was a picnic table with some food, paper plates, a trash can of cokes and ice. She put the chips on the table. The pool looked fresh and clean, a little movement on the top caused by the slight breeze. Wendy took my hand.
"Let's go find the girls."
Chapter 5
We went into the house. Wendy calling "Anybody Home?" occasionally as we walked from room to room. The kitchen dining room and living room were empty.
She dragged me down the hall and opened the first door on the left. Bathroom, empty. The door on the right looked like a typical girl's room. All done up in pink, a bed with a canopy on it, frilly edges hanging down. Posters from some boy band on the wall.
There on the bed were Kathi and Beth, their hands folded in their laps. Each had pigtails and school uniforms. The skirts to the uniforms were so short I should have been able to see panties if there were any. Their legs were held tightly together so I couldn't see anything between them.
