Monogamy

by Susan X Meagher

  "Probably 35 or 40 years. I’d say the building is a little over 90 years old, and as the neighborhood changed from single family to apartment buildings, they converted tons of these Victorians into three-flats, or even smaller units. We’re going to knock out both of the upstairs kitchens and make a huge one on the first floor."

  When they went back downstairs, Conor spread out the blueprints for the place. He was very impressed with how quickly Catherine oriented herself, and with her perceptive understanding of the issues involved in making a single home out of three apartments. "I’m very taken with these drawings," she said. "I’d love to speak with this fellow. Can you give me his number, Conor?"

  "Sure. I think I have some of his business cards at home. I’ll get one for you."

  As they drove back, Catherine was deep in thought. She asked, "What was the total square footage before renovation?"

  "Around 3500 square feet. But, because of all the hallways, and choppy little rooms the actual living space was pretty meager."

  "What will the actual living space of the new layout be?"

  "It should be close to 4000 square feet. The rooms will be much bigger, with very few hallways. The first floor will be a kitchen and a formal dining room and parlor. The second floor will hold a library/media room, an office and a guest suite, and the third floor will have two master bedrooms and two huge baths with dressing rooms."

  Catherine nodded and resumed her pensive musings all the way home. When they arrived, Jamie slid an arm around her waist and said, "You look like something’s perking in your head. Wanna share?"

  "No, not yet. I’ve got the germ of an idea, but I don’t want to reveal it if it’s not possible. I can assure you two of one thing, though. One way or another, you’ll get the house you need – and I’ll have a fabulous time helping you get it!"

  As soon as they returned to the party, Caitlin toddled up to Ryan and asked to be picked up. When Ryan lifted her, the brunette made a face and asked, "When’s the last time you had your nappy changed, sweet pea?"

  "Gosh, does she need changing?" Annie asked, handing Ryan the diaper bag while trying to suppress a smile. "I didn’t notice."

  Blinking her eyes, Ryan reached up and held her nose with her free hand. "The wallpaper’s gonna peel off the walls, Annie. If you didn’t smell her, you should see an ear, nose and throat doctor at the hospital."

  "Oh! I thought the neighbors were tarring their roof," Annie said, the picture of innocence.

  "Your momma’s full of the same stuff that’s in your nappy, Caitie," Ryan said, chuckling as she took the baby downstairs.

  When Ryan and Caitlin returned, she saw Jamie standing in front of her mother and Maeve. Both of the older women looked a little stunned, and Ryan looked to Jamie. "What did you do to these two?"

  "I just made a proposal," Jamie said. "They’re both a little surprised, but they agreed to it."

  "What’s the proposal?" Ryan asked.

  "Meet your fellow walkers for the Avon Three-Day Walk," Jamie proudly proclaimed.

  Ryan nearly fell into a providentially placed chair. "Are you serious?"

  "I don’t know how she does it," Maeve said dully. "She seems like she’s just chatting, and all of a sudden I find myself agreeing to walk 60 miles in three days." She turned to Ryan and said, "How did that happen?"

  "As soon as I learn how to say no to her, I’ll let you know, Aunt Maeve. But as of now, I don’t have a clue!"

  Jamie was in the living room chatting with Mia, Sara and Ally. Jim walked up and gave Mia a hug, and said hello to the other two women, cocking his head slightly as he looked at Sara.

  "I work for Morris and Foster," she said, seeing the vague recognition in his eyes.

  "Oh, right," he nodded. "You’re in the Litigation Department, aren’t you?"

  "Yes," she said, brightening slightly. "I am."

  "Well, I hope you’re keeping an eye on things for me," the attorney said.

  "I’ll make a point of it," Sara said, feeling a little like he was checking her out. "More water, Ally?" she asked, turning her attention to her friend.

  "Love one," the tall woman replied, having gotten exactly the same vibe.

  The pair walked away as Jim asked his daughter, "Have you seen Kayla?"

  "Not for a while," Jamie replied. "She might still be outside."

  The day had grown colder, and Jim doubted that his easily chilled lover would fare well outdoors. "I’ll check, but she gets cold easily." Setting off to search for the young woman, Jim stopped abruptly when he reached the landing outside of the kitchen. Kayla was indeed in the yard, sitting at a picnic table, surrounded by an entire flock of eligible O’Flaherty men. Every seat at the table was taken, and several more of the testosterone-laden titans stood around those seated, all of them seemingly intent on catching every word that came out of the beautiful young woman’s mouth.

  Kayla was wearing a barn jacket, obviously belonging to one of the men, since the sleeves were rolled up so much that the bright red plaid flannel lining showed.

  As Jim looked at the tableaux, he wondered to himself, Where are all of the women? Jamie should have some of her straight friends here – if she has any! Why aren’t Mia and … Sara out here? The big woman was obviously a lesbian, but I know Mia isn’t, and Sara sure doesn’t look like one. Hell, why can’t these behemoths get girls on their own? God knows they’re good looking enough!

  Ryan wandered outside and caught sight of the look Jim was giving her cousins and Kayla. "Hi," she said quietly, flinching a little when he shot her a fiery glance.

  "Oh … hello, Ryan, uhm … I didn’t hear you open the door."

  "We didn’t know where you had gone off to," she advised. "I asked a couple of my cousins to entertain Kayla while you were gone."

  "Ahh … I see. Well, that was thoughtful of you, Ryan. I uhm … was wondering … why don’t your cousins or your brothers bring women to these events?"

  "Oh, they do," she said, "but only if they’re seriously dating someone. Only Brendan is hooked up right now."

  "Why on earth is that so?" he asked, not understanding why a young man wouldn’t want to have a good-looking woman on his arm.

  "Once they bring a woman over, everyone assumes it’s a big deal, and all of my aunts start bugging them about whether they’re going to get engaged and all that stuff," she said. "They’ve all learned their lessons the hard way."

  "So not one of those young men is seeing anyone seriously?" he asked, his mouth gaping open.

  "Nope. just Brendan, and he’s inside with his girlfriend."

  "Thanks, Ryan," he said as he scampered down the stairs to retrieve his lover before one of the O’Flaherty men changed her allegiances.

  "Bad news," Ryan whispered to her partner when she came back inside. "Kayla was outside with the cousins and your dad saw them flirting with her. He looked like he was going to roll up his sleeves and take ‘em all on."

  "Hmm … he’d last about three seconds against them," Jamie said. "But, when you date a callipygous girl, ya gotta expect to have to fight for her."

  Ryan looked at her for a few moments, then gave her a half-smile and nodded. "Can’t argue with you there. I’m gonna go get ready, okay?"

  "Sure. See you in a few."

  Jamie went downstairs a moment later and found her partner nose-deep in her dictionary, idly flipping through pages. Ryan shot a glance at her and colored slightly when Jamie said, "c-a-l-l-i-p-y-g-o-u-s."

  Grumbling softly to herself, Ryan found the word and spent a moment committing it to memory. "How do you always know?" she asked plaintively as she sharply snapped the cover closed.

  Coming up to wrap an arm around her, Jamie said, "You always wait a beat – like you think I’m going to explain the word that I just used."

  "Well, if you know I don’t know it, why not tell me what it means?"

  "That would be rude," Jamie insisted. "I figure that if you want me to explain something, you’ll ask me. Besides, that w
as the one inflexible rule in my house. If someone used a word I didn’t know, I had to go look it up. Both of my parents made it a point to never hand it to me."

  "I think that’s a pretty good rule," Ryan said. "We didn’t do that, but I’d be willing to institute it for our brood."

  Her one-armed hug turned into a deuce as Jamie looked up into clear blue eyes and asked, "Now we’re having a brood? What happened to one or two?"

  Ryan sighed and gave her partner her most lovesick look. "I look at you and can’t help but wish for a whole house full of cute little Jamie-copies. None of them could ever approach your perfection, of course, but it’s sure going to be fun to see how close they get."

  "Oh, so now I’m having them all, too, huh?" Her green eyes were glittering with amusement, and Ryan spent a moment regretting that they had a house full of people, and that she had to leave for her game soon.

  "You’re gonna be so cute and sexy and luscious looking when you’re pregnant," she insisted, patting Jamie’s perfectly flat belly. "I don’t know if I’ll be able to resist the urge to pop a little bun in your oven all the time."

  Jamie laced her hands around Ryan’s neck and stood on her tiptoes for a kiss. "I’m so totally grateful that you don’t have a penis," she sighed. "You’d be sneaking up on me constantly, trying to get into my oven."

  "Oh, I love your oven." Ryan leered as her hand slipped down between their bodies and found a warm place that she wished she had time to explore. "I just can’t help make the buns."

  "Thank God for small favors," Jamie giggled as Ryan’s fingers hit a very sensitive spot. "At least I’ve got a fighting chance if I see you sneaking up on me with a turkey-baster."

  Ryan came up the stairs from her bedroom at 1:30, dressed in her warm-ups, with a pair of Reebok shower sandals on her feet. "You look a little casual to play softball," Catherine teased when she caught sight of her.

  "Yeah, I do, don’t I?" she said. "I like to wear these so I have less to carry. I don’t know why, but I can’t stand to have regular shoes on after I play softball. My toesies have to breathe," she said. Ryan smiled at her approaching partner, and said, "I’ve got to run, or I’ll be late. Will I see you both later?"

  "Of course," Catherine said. "I’ll stay here a while longer, but I’ll be there."

  "I would tell you that you don’t need to come, since it’s just the alumni game and it doesn’t count, but I already know your answer, so I’ll save us both the trouble."

  "That’s the spirit, Ryan. Now, go play well."

  "I’ll be there for the end of the game," Jamie revealed. "I don’t want to leave until the party winds down a little. I’ll probably come over with Mom, and we’ll bring Jennie, since she wants to go."

  Jennie heard her name mentioned and popped her smiling face into the crowd. "Could I go with you, Ryan? I love to watch you guys warm up."

  "Now that’s a fan," Ryan said. "Sure. Come on, sport." She reached into her gym bag and pulled out a T-shirt identical to the one she wore. Handing it to her young friend, she advised, "Since you’ve become our biggest fan, I thought you should have your own shirt."

  "Cool! This is great, Ryan! Thanks!" Her face was beaming with pleasure, reminding Ryan once again how the smallest things had such an impact on her young friend.

  Part 7

  Jamie and Catherine were the only family members to make it to the game – the rest of the crowd promising to keep Jamie in their thoughts as they continued the celebration. They arrived as the teams were changing sides at the top of the fifth inning, and immediately spotted Jennie, speaking non-stop to a sweetly indulgent Ashley. "Hi!" she called out loudly when she spotted the latecomers. "We saved you seats!"

  Jamie and Catherine both smiled at the enthusiasm the young woman conveyed for the smallest of acts, and gingerly climbed the stairs. Jamie had changed into jeans and a sweater, but Catherine had not and was now the clear winner in the best-dressed attendee of a softball game in the history of the sport. Mother and daughter split up, with Jamie taking the seat on Ashley’s left, Catherine settling down on Jennie’s right.

  The youngster had been in school for about a month, and Catherine was anxious to hear a full report on her progress. "So, Jennie," she began, "tell me how things are going at Sacred Heart?"

  "Good, Mrs. Evans. Very good."

  Catherine patted her knee and asked, "Tell me all about it. Have you made any friends?"

  "Yeah," she said thoughtfully. "I have two friends so far – and a bunch of girls I talk to."

  "Tell me about your friends."

  Her face grew more animated as she expounded. "Dani lives in an apartment pretty close to school. She’s originally from France, though. She’s been here since she was five, I think, so she hardly has any accent, or anything. Her dad works for some French company here. And Latisha is a scholarship student, who lives near Union Square. We all get along really well – which is kinda funny, ‘cause we’re all so different." Her high-wattage grin was beaming up at Catherine, and the older woman couldn’t help but return a smile with the same intensity.

  "Have you considered taking on any extra-curricular sports or clubs yet?"

  "No." She furrowed her brow as she revealed, "It’s hard for me to keep up. I have to get home as soon as possible to get to my tutoring sessions."

  "How is the tutoring going? I see that you and Ashley have bonded nicely."

  "Yeah," she said, raising her eyebrows unevenly, in a gesture that was a poor, but adorable attempt at imitating Ryan. "Ashley and Heather are the best. They took me out for pizza last night, and we didn’t even talk about school!"

  "That’s wonderful," Catherine enthused, sparing a look at Ashley, who was chatting companionably with Jamie. "Ashley is a lovely young woman."

  "Hey!" Jennie jumped to her feet, turning from the field to her companions repeatedly. "Heather’s gonna pitch!"

  All eyes turned to the dugout, watching the tall brunette leave the warm-up area and head out to the mound. As she crossed in front of the dugout, every player slapped some part of her anatomy for good luck, with Ryan getting in a good swat to her seat with her enormous first-baseman’s mitt. "This is her first time in a game!" Jennie cried, her enthusiasm attracting the attention of all of the other spectators near them.

  Heather looked rather fierce as she took her warm-up pitches. Everyone on the bench was calling out supportive messages, and Jennie was soon joining in with them. "COME ON, HEATHER! YOU CAN DO IT!"

  Catherine tried to ignore the ringing in her ear as the determined-looking freshman stood on the mound, a look of complete concentration on her face. She went into her wind-up and fired the first pitch in for a called strike, which Jennie celebrated with a scream.

  Being a quick study, Catherine stood, reasoning that her hearing would survive better if her ear was slightly higher than Jennie’s mouth. The batter popped the ball up high above Heather’s head, and the tall woman grasped it firmly in her glove for the first out. The yelling continued unabated, and to Catherine’s gratitude, the next two players grounded out after only two pitches each, bringing a blessed moment of peace.

  Jennie reached across Jamie to slap at Ashley’s thigh. "Wasn’t she great?"

  "Awesome, Jennie," the blonde said. "She was awesome – just like we told her she’d be."

  Jennie quieted down a bit after the first rush of enthusiasm. Heather continued her mastery of the plate, mowing down all three batters in the sixth and seventh innings as well. The game was still tied at one to one, but since it was only an exhibition, it would end after the bottom of the seventh, no matter the score.

  "LOOK!" Jennie cried once again. All three women, turned in the direction she was pointing to watch Ryan snug on a pair of batting gloves. "Ryan’s gonna get to bat!"

  The foursome watched the imposingly tall woman grab an aluminum bat and perform an intricate series of stretches to warm up her muscles – now cold after seven innings on the bench. She looked calm, focused and confident, as s
he squatted a few times, trying to stretch her legs out. As she bent over, her hands splayed along either end of the bat, Jamie watched with interest as she let her torso hang, again just trying to limber up. Good thing she wears her underwear with that uniform, the blonde chuckled to herself. You can see right through those pants when she does that.

  "Who the hell is that?" an older man behind Jennie asked. "She’s playing the wrong sport! How’s the weather up there, stretch? Haas Pavilion is behind you."

  Jennie whirled and froze him with a glower from her intense blue eyes. "That’s my friend, Ryan O’Flaherty. just ‘cause she’s tall doesn’t mean she can’t play softball, too!"

  Not looking embarrassed in the least, the man said, "I didn’t mean anything by that, kid. I just think she ought to be playing basketball." His expression grew puzzled, and he asked, "Did you say Ryan O’Flaherty?"

  "Yeah," she growled.

  "Hey! Did hanging off that car make you that tall?"

  "Jerk," Jennie mumbled under her breath.

  "It’s okay, Jen," Jamie soothed. "Ryan’s had a lifetime of tall jokes. It doesn’t bother her a bit."

  "Bothers me," she grumbled, as she once again focused on her friend. Ryan stepped to the plate, calmly knocking the dirt from her cleats with the end of the bat. She stood at the plate, one foot out of the batter’s box, while she spent a moment adjusting her gloves, then her helmet, then once again tapping her shoes with the bat. Now ready, she took her stance, and watched patiently as the first ball zinged right by her for a called strike.

  The man called out once more, "C’mon, Kareem! Take the bat off your shoulder!"

  Jamie was sure that Jennie didn’t know that the loudmouth was referring to a well-known basketball player who stood about 7 foot 4, but she was also sure that the young woman was going to snap off another retort to him. Trying to forestall her, Jamie tapped her on the leg and said, "Ryan likes to concentrate on a pitch or two to get a good feel for the pitcher."

  Jennie nodded, letting that information sink it. Turning her face only halfway towards the man, she said loudly, "Some people think before they act!"