Cross Country Chaos

by Lesli Richardson

  * * * *

  Christmas morning, Kelly awoke to find Mart staring at her, a silly grin on his face.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “What’s with you?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t help it. I didn’t think life could get any more perfect, and you proved me wrong.”

  She was about to respond when they were startled by pounding on their door. Paulie yelled, “Mom, Dad, we’re up.”

  “So was I,” Mart whispered.

  “All right, tiger. We can have more fun tonight. Time to open your other presents.”

  Before she could move, he grabbed her, pulling her to him. “I have the only present I want right here.” He kissed her, leaving her breathless and ready to stay in bed when Denny yelled from the living room, “Mom, Dad, are you coming?”

  They looked at each other and laughed. “I won’t say it,” he promised, but his grin belied his thoughts.

  “I guess we should get out there,” she said, throwing back the covers.

  He caught her hand and pulled her to him, kissed her one last time. “This is what you want, right? Not just because of me?”

  “I wouldn’t have said so if I didn’t mean it.”

  He searched her eyes, then nodded and released her. “You’re okay with it?”

  “For the last time, yes.” She felt a twinge of apprehension, thinking of the past. “But don’t say anything to anyone. Not right now.”

  “I understand.”

  “Whatever happens, happens.”

  “Do we need to talk about—”

  She put a finger to his lips, knowing where he wanted to go with the conversation. “Here’s the cart, and the horse is waaaay back there. That’s a discussion we don’t need to have right now. Might be a month, might be a year. Who knows? Once we get to that point, we’ll handle anything that gets thrown at us. Together. Right?”

  He nodded. “Right.”

  They joined their boys in the living room.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  May

  Kelly left Mart unloading the van and went to check them into the hotel. There were quite a few wheelers already there, some gathered in the lobby. She spotted Bill and waved to him. He rolled over as she laid her jacket on the counter.

  “Congratulations,” he said, giving her a hug and patting her. “You look great. How are you?” Mart frequently saw Bill at races, but she hadn’t seen him in three months, even though he and Mart talked nearly every week on the phone.

  She smiled. “Wonderful. Everything’s great.”

  “Where’s big daddy?” The paperwork finalizing Mart’s adoption of the boys came through a few weeks earlier. He hadn’t wasted any time spreading the good news.

  “He’s unloading. Wouldn’t let me help.”

  “Such a gentleman.” Bill laughed. “Hey, we’re all set for the rehab center demonstration on Monday. I have the directions, it’s not far from here. I really appreciate you guys doing this.” He looked hesitant and motioned her close. She leaned in. “Brenda’s here.”

  Kelly thought that might make her nervous, but it didn’t. “Good. Living well is the best revenge, they say.”

  “I will never, ever forget how you slammed her last year. That was so freaking awesome how you put her in her place. You really took her down a few pegs. I thought my wife was going to wet her pants laughing when I told her.”

  “I didn’t like doing it. But she deserved it after what she tried.”

  The clerk finished the check-in and handed Kelly the room keys. Kelly grabbed her jacket from the counter and folded it over her arm. “Is Brenda around?”

  Bill pointed. Kelly saw her holding court in a far corner of the lobby with a couple of younger men and women in wheelchairs gathered around her.

  “I think I’ll say hello.” Kelly heard through the racing grapevine that Brenda still made noises about Mart, was still convinced she could win him back and had plans to try again this weekend.

  Apparently, Brenda hadn’t received the latest memo.

  “This’ll be good.” Bill trailed Kelly, not wanting to miss the action.

  Brenda didn’t see Kelly at first, but then her eyes narrowed. Kelly smiled sweetly. “Well hello, Brenda. How are you?”

  Brenda hesitated. “I’m fine. How are you?”

  “Doing great. Mart’s unloading the gear.” Bill hung around, anxious for more blood, as did a few other racers.

  Brenda looked like she was going to say something else when Kelly lowered her arm so her jacket no longer concealed her front.

  Brenda’s eyes popped. Kelly put a hand on her belly and smiled. “Yes, I’ve gained a few pounds since last we met. But that’s what happens when you’re four months pregnant.” Her Christmas present to Mart was the news she was off the Pill.

  He wasted no time.

  Mart chose that moment to wheel up. He put one arm around Kelly’s waist, his other hand on her belly. “Hi, Brenda. I guess Kelly told you the good news—we’re having a baby.”

  Brenda’s lips pressed into tight, narrow lines. “Congratulations.”

  Mart looked up at Kelly. “We’re due in October. Isn’t that great?”

  Brenda nodded, looking considerably paler. “Yes. That’s wonderful.”

  “Sweetheart, I have our stuff. Are we checked in?” Mart asked.

  Kelly nodded and handed him a room key. “Well, Brenda,” Kelly purred in a honey-sweet voice, “we’ll see you around.” She turned and followed Mart. As she passed Bill, he held up his hand, and Kelly low-fived him in passing.

  By the time the evening was over, Kelly had been pulled aside by four people and told of Brenda’s plans.

  Of course, Brenda’s plans were made before she knew Kelly was pregnant.

  The next morning, Brenda wasn’t on the shuttle to the staging tent. Mart sat next to Kelly, one arm around her shoulder, his other hand on her belly. He was still waiting to feel the baby kick for the first time. She’d already felt her, but Mart kept missing it. He leaned over to kiss her before he got off the shuttle when she grabbed his hand, pressed it to her abdomen under her shirt.

  He froze, his eyes wide.

  “Feel that?” she asked, and he nodded, an ear-to-ear grin spreading across his face.

  “That’s her?”

  She nodded. He kissed her again. When he sat back, she noticed he wiped his eyes, but he couldn’t erase his grin. He didn’t want to move his hand, but he was the last racer on the shuttle and had to get off.

  He came in first in his race. Brenda dropped out. They didn’t see her the rest of the weekend.

  Later, they lay in bed resting after lunch, Mart’s head on her chest, one hand on her belly. She’d enjoyed being pregnant with the boys, but it was a lone celebration. David’s interest in her pregnancies ended at conception, and he was minimally involved from delivery on.

  Mart, on the other hand, overhauled his entire schedule around doctor appointments and Lamaze sessions, insisting on being there for everything. Including sitting with her in the doctor’s office, clutching her hand, anxiously awaiting test results.

  There was nothing to worry about. The baby was fine, perfectly healthy.

  Normal.

  Normal was subjective, Kelly thought, considering her parents. And the boys were excited to have a little sister on the way.

  Mart kissed her belly. “I think Bill was disappointed he didn’t see fur fly.”

  “I have to admit I loved the look on her face.”

  He grinned. “I swore Bill to secrecy. I didn’t want it getting back to her before we got here. I didn’t think you’d track her down that soon. I almost missed it.”

  “You stinker!”

  “Hey, she deserved it, the way she acted last year. Putting you through that.” He pulled Kelly back to him and kissed her belly. “Our little girl will have her mom’s spirit, for sure.”

  “And her dad’s sense of humor.”

  “I know what we won’t name her.” />
  They laughed.

  * * * *

  Monday morning, they drove to the rehab center. Bill met them at the front desk and led them to the gym where the first demonstration would take place.

  By the time they started, there were over fifty patients gathered, plus family and rehab center staff. The patients—all men—ranged from amputees to full tetraplegics, as well as traumatic brain injuries. Kelly once again said a silent prayer of thanks, similar to all the ones she’d breathed over Denny when he was born, that Mart was “only” an L-5.

  It could always be worse. And better than anyone, she damn well knew it.

  Bill introduced them and gave a brief talk. Then he turned the floor over to Mart, who showed his PowerPoint presentation. Kelly watched the patients. She noted some of them gained a lot of interest while Mart talked, especially when he showed pictures of him in his race chair and playing sled hockey with his team and practices with Denny.

  When they took a break, a young woman walked up to Kelly and asked if she could speak to her privately. They stepped off to the side, and the woman blushed.

  “Can I ask you a personal question, Mrs. Rawlings?”

  “Kelly. And yes.”

  “Jennifer.” The woman looked at one of the patients, now watching Mart demonstrate how his racer worked. “My husband and I wanted to have children before he was injured.”

  “Yes?”

  The woman turned a deeper shade of crimson. “The doctors said he shouldn’t have any problems with it physically, but I don’t even know where to begin talking to him about it.”

  Kelly sat down, motioned for her to sit. “You haven’t talked with your husband about this?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what to say. And I saw…” She pointed to Kelly’s stomach.

  Kelly didn’t know a person could maintain that level of redness and not be sunburned. “You’re going to have to talk to him. To answer your question,” she patted her belly, “yes, I got her the old-fashioned way. My husband’s ‘plumbing works,’ as he likes to say.”

  The girl leaned in closer. “So, how do I talk to him?”

  “Tell him you want to sleep with him. You might not be able to do the same exact things you did before, but if you love each other, you’ll figure out the logistics.”

  The girl watched her husband. “I love him so much. I was afraid to talk to him, that he’d be embarrassed.”

  Kelly shook her head. “Trust me. The worst thing you can do is not talk about it. Just suck it up—sorry, bad choice of words. I mean, if you can ask me about it, and I’m a stranger, you can talk to your husband.”

  The girl smiled. “Thank you. It’s one thing to talk to the doctors, but to talk to someone who’s been there…”

  Kelly nodded, smiled, recalling her first conversation with Mart on the topic. “I was lucky Mart was injured young. He’d figured out that end of things long before I met him.”

  Bill, Kelly, and Mart were eating lunch in the cafeteria when one of the doctors walked up.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings, I’m Dr. Browne. Would you mind if I talk with you for a moment?”

  “Sure,” Mart said. “What’s up? And you can call us Mart and Kelly.”

  “Thanks. Kelly, you had a talk with Jennifer Parson this morning.”

  Kelly’s gut clenched. Maybe she’d overstepped her boundaries. “Yes?”

  He smiled. “Thank you for that. Bless her heart, she was so happy, she pulled me aside and talked to me a few minutes ago. I’ve been working with her and her husband. She said that after they left the demonstration this morning they had a talk and it really helped them.”

  Kelly let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. I was afraid I was going to get chewed out.”

  He laughed again. “No, no. But I did want to ask you if you wouldn’t mind hosting an impromptu question and answer session for some of the other women this afternoon?”

  Kelly looked at Mart. He shrugged. No help there. “I’m not a shrink,” she said.

  “Which is even better,” the doctor said. “They need to hear from someone who’s dealing with these issues in real life, not just me spouting theory at them.”

  “Why not, Kel?” Mart said.

  “I won’t be much help to the ones dealing with a lot more than we are.”

  “I was hoping you could help them get over the fear of talking about it with their partners. And you too, Mart. They might want to ask for the man’s point of view.”

  “Looking up from on bottom always works for me.”

  Kelly nearly choked on her cottage cheese. Bill roared with laughter, and the doctor joined him while Mart innocently smiled.

  “He’s a smart-ass, I’ll warn you now,” Kelly said when she recovered.

  “All the better. Some of these couples are lacking humor in this department.”

  “You guys should do it—uh, talk to them,” Bill suggested, and Mart snickered. “We already know you ‘did it.’”

  Kelly shook her head and looked at the doctor. “See what I have to put up with?”

  He nodded. “And that’s the kind of humor I’m hoping will help them.”

  Kelly looked at Mart again. He nodded, and she turned to the doctor. “Okay, sure. Why not?”

  * * * *

  There were ten women already gathered in the conference room. Kelly fought her nerves as she walked to the front of the room and sat next to Mart. Dr. Browne introduced them.

  Kelly tried to relax. She wasn’t used to speaking in front of a group of people, unlike Mart. “Feel free to fire away. We don’t bite.”

  “Usually,” Mart quipped. Kelly gently backhanded his arm. Most of the women laughed.

  “He has a very peculiar sense of humor,” she explained.

  He pointed at Kelly. “Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, this is Pot.” The women laughed again, a little louder.

  She looked at Mart. He smiled, took her hand, and addressed the women. “I’ll go first,” he said. “Yes, Kelly and I have a pretty active personal life, as you can see.” This time, it was a round of nervous giggles. “She had it easy—”

  “Easy?” Kelly said, arching an eyebrow at him. He grinned.

  “I didn’t say you were easy, dear.”

  “Ah. Okay.”

  And the women laughed again. Their timing was perfect. Kelly felt lucky to have this level of rapport with him.

  “As I was saying,” Mart continued, “she had it easy because I was injured when I was young, so I had everything figured out and had been in relationships by the time we met.”

  “I didn’t have to break him in.”

  He laughed as loud as the women did.

  “And she gives it back as good as she takes it.” They talked with the women, asked for questions, and Kelly noted Dr. Browne smiling from the back of the room. Kelly and Mart took turns fielding questions, offering advice, sometimes turning to Dr. Browne for answers. The women eventually opened up. Kelly was surprised at the frankness of the conversation.

  And again gave silent thanks for her good fortune.

  It could always be worse.

  By the time they finished an hour later, Kelly felt they’d made a positive impact on the attendees. Dr. Browne waited until everyone filed out to come up and shake their hands. “Thank you. I think you should take that act on the road.”

  “We’re here all week, try the veal,” Kelly quipped, and Dr. Browne laughed.

  “I’m serious. You should write a book or do tours or something. You could do a lot of good talking about this, breaking the ice.”

  “Breaking my balls is more like it.” Mart smiled, and Kelly gently elbowed him.

  “Quiet, you.”

  “Would you be interested in putting together a program, to come back and give regular seminars?”

  Kelly looked at Mart, realizing for the first time this was a serious offer. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

  Mart pulled her into his lap. “You mean go around with my wife talk
ing about our sex life?” He grinned. “Hmm. Might make career day at the kids’ school interesting.”

  “That’s the last time you get a triple shot espresso for breakfast, Rawlings.”

  Dr. Browne handed Mart his card. “Seriously. This is exactly the kind of thing I’d love to offer on a regular basis. And one for the men, too.”

  Finally getting serious, Mart looked at Kelly. “We’ll talk about it and get back to you.”

  At dinner, they asked Bill’s opinion.

  “I think it’s a darn good idea,” Bill said. “I remember how I felt after my accident. There’s a lot of people who think sex and wheelchairs are mutually exclusive.”

  “As opposed to sex in wheelchairs?” Kelly chimed in.

  Mart looked at her. “Okay, now who’s being a smartass?”

  “Hey, I’m not the one all hot to trot to make para porn about our sex life,” she said with a wicked smile.

  Mart and Bill’s jaws dropped, then they roared with laughter.

  Mart caught Kelly’s hand and pulled her to him. “I think I’ve been a bad influence on you, sweetheart.”

  “No, I was always this twisted. You just bring out the beast in me.”

  Bill groaned. “You two are too much. Nothing like a couple of horny newlyweds.”

  Later that night, Mart held Kelly, his hand lightly resting on her belly. “Can you believe he called us horny newlyweds?”

  “I think a baby before our first anniversary puts us in that category, dear.”

  “You think?”

  She traced the vine on his bicep. “Maybe you should get another tattoo.”

  “What?”

  “Property of Kelly Rawlings.”

  He laughed, rolled her over and kissed her. “Maybe you should get one.”

  “What?”

  “Marty’s Missus.” He looked at his arm. “I’ll admit, I was a little on the tipsy side when I got this.”

  “You regret it?”

  He shook his head. “No, but I don’t think I’ll be adding to the collection.” He kissed her belly, talked to it. “If this little girl comes home with one before she’s eighteen, I’ll chain her in her room, you hear me in there?”

  “Way to go, Rawlings. Give her a complex before she’s even born.”

  He curled up next to her. “She has two great big brothers, you know that?”