Chapter 86

By the time Monday morning came around, it was anti-climactic. Prices not only had remained stable in all the metals, financials and grains, but the trading boxes I'd put together earlier in the prior week remained viable after the markets reopened. I managed to resume trading without having to do much of anything to reposition myself.

I didn't do as well that week as I'd done the week before, but I felt like I'd taken advantage of everything available to me. By the end of the week most of the best trading opportunities were gone. It had been an interesting and busy cycle of trading, not to mention a highly profitable period, but it was replaced with a new cycle that had other trading opportunities.

Trading was like that. I consistently made about half my total profits over a forty five week span, and the other half over seven other weeks, randomly interspersed among the remainder of the year.

During this period, the house was coming alive with all the new noises from the wives and children moving back into it. Before, so much noise would have bothered me, probably hampered my concentration. Now though, I kept my office door opened a crack just so I could enjoy the sounds of my family once again coming back together.

For the first two weeks that we were back together again, we were all trying to be on our best behavior. No one was convinced yet that there was going to be any more permanence to this attempted reconciliation than any of the previous attempts.

When I say we were all back together again, that doesn't include Eddie. As soon as I called Dale and started bringing her up to date about the rapid progress we'd made, she let me know that Eddie might not be ready to come back to our old way of living. Eddie had met someone.

At first, I'll admit my feelings were somewhat hurt. That only lasted for as long as it took for Dale to tell me all about Eddie's new "friend". He was the associate pastor at Mrs. Pipkin's church, the Rev. T. Temple Tyler. He was the choirmaster, and the director of youth services. According to Dale, Eddie was in the process of being 'saved' by the good reverend. She also told me that she thought the reverend was in greater danger of falling than Dee Dee was of being saved. Dale told me that Eddie pretty much considered herself to no longer be a part of our family. I felt bad about that, and I knew Joyce would feel even worse about the news.

I flew up to Chickasaw the next Saturday morning, with all the wives and children accompanying me on the trip. We rented two twelve passenger vans to drive all of us over to the Pipkin home. Dale knew I was coming for her sometime Saturday, but she had no idea that I was bringing the rest of the family to meet her mother, and to say their hello's to Eddie. I think Joyce believed Eddie might have a change of heart if she were to see all of us happy and together again.

Mrs. Pipkin appreciated the opportunity to meet everyone, but Eddie was out visiting sick parishioners with Rev. Tyler, and wasn't expected back before late that evening. I was proud of the way everyone rallied themselves and managed to celebrate Dale's return to us without bemoaning Eddie's decision to not return. Mrs. Pipkin was quite taken with all our children, and the fuss all of them were making at seeing Dale again. It was quite obvious that all the children adored Dale, and she them.

We had all been back together again for a few weeks before everyone started to relax again. You could tell right away when it began to happen. It started at the dinner table, with all the wives beginning to tease each other again. It began slowly, but soon gained momentum as the teasing comments were accepted and good natured retorts were made in response.

I had started a rotation with my wives, inviting one each night to my room, with the exception of Sunday night, where I preferred to spend that night and evening alone, planning out the new week. I had told each of the wives that they could accept or reject my invitations, and that they could trade off nights with each other too if they chose to do so.

Joyce was the first one to invite another wife in to share her night with me. All the other wives knew the next morning that I hadn't raised any objections to that. When it was Emily's turn, she brought Brenda with her. By the end of another couple of weeks, just about everyone knew that Dale, Shirley, and Brenda weren't interested in sharing on their nights with me. Dale accepted invitations from Joyce and Cindy, but never reciprocated with invitations of her own. Brenda came with Emily a few times, but never invited Emily or anyone else on her nights. Shirley only showed up in my bed on her night, even though I knew that Joyce had invited her to come to my bedroom with her on at least one of her nights.

It was the trading of nights that first started the teasing at the dinner table. Joyce wanted to trade her night with Emily. There was some recital at the kid's school that evening, and most of the children were involved in the various performances. Joyce knew it would be a hectic evening for her and was hoping to switch with Emily who would have the next night normally. Emily wasn't having any of it, knowing she would be almost as busy as Joyce because of the school activities.

"If you'll trade me, Emily, I'll invite you to join us when its my night again next week."

"Sure, you'd like that wouldn't you? We'd tire him out so bad he wouldn't be able to do anything the next night, which is my night." I think Emily was only kidding.

"Okay, trade with me this time, and I'll invite you the next night?"

"Same thing. You'll tire him out. You know Kenny's getting older. He just goes through the motions on Saturday night, knowing he can rest up on Sunday. I'll trade with Shirley for her Monday, if you can get her to trade your Friday for it."

Brenda, who had Tuesdays, offered to trade her next Tuesday to Emily for the coming Saturday. When Emily agreed, Brenda promptly traded her new Saturday for Joyce's Friday with the additional promise that Joyce would invite her on Saturday too. When Joyce accepted her offer, Emily asked Brenda if she planned on inviting her to be with me on Friday?

"No way! You already said that Kenny is going to be too tired on Saturday to do us much good. I figure if I don't get him too worn out on Friday, he'll be good to go on Saturday too. I'm cooking on Saturday, and I'll make Kenny some nice fresh oysters on the half shell for an appetizer. I figure a dozen fresh oysters and he should be good and ready for Joyce and me. Even if that doesn't work, Joyce never does get too tired, so I'm going to come out ahead either way."

We were all laughing, except for the children. They weren't sure what was being talked about. I watched Derek, Bertie, and Bunny's faces to see if they were following things, but they didn't appear to be. I think the kids were mostly paying attention to the tone of the adults voices more than to what was actually being said. As long as all of us were laughing, they didn't care too much about why we were laughing. After such a long time without our all being together, their main interest was in having us all getting along again.

Thursday night was Dale's night. She and I talked about the teasing at the dinner table. Dale thought it was getting back to how it had been when things were running well before.

"Do you ever think about Dee Dee, Kenny? Miss her I mean?"

I knew that Dale missed her sister. The two of them had been almost inseparable for many years. I knew she was always thinking about Eddie and wishing they were closer together again.

"I'm happy right now, Dale. You know that Eddie can come visit anytime, right? She doesn't have to stay away just because she went off in a different direction. No one is mad at her. She can come visit you anytime."

"She might be getting married soon. My mother told me that she thinks Temple is about to ask her to marry him. I don't think Dee Dee will be happy with being the wife of a minister. She's too wild to live the way he'd need her to live. I don't see them being happy together, not for the long term."

"I think you might be right about that, Dale, but Eddie didn't want to stay here either. Eddie is looking for something we couldn't give her here."

"She always liked to try new things. The way she is, the last thing she should be doing is getting married and trying to settle down. She knows that herself too. I don't know why she lets things go so far. She doesn't even love him. It's a game with her to see if she can get him to ask her to marry him."

"Do you want to go back to see if you can talk her out of it?" I was worried about how this was beginning to affect Dale. I didn't want her conflicted about where her loyalties lay. I knew how close Eddie was to her.

"I'd rather have her come here so I could try to talk some sense into her. Is it okay if I invite her?"

My first instinct was to tell her it was fine. I decided it wasn't just up to me to make that decision by myself.

"Why don't we ask the others? Maybe they have some ideas for you. Like I said earlier, Eddie coming to visit you is fine, but you'd need to check with all the other wives if you're planning on making it anything more than that."

"You never answered my earlier question about if you missed her?"

"I don't miss her like you do. I've given up on having her be a part of our marriage. I still like her though, and I want her to be happy. I accept though that it won't be with us. She's still welcome to come visit, and we all know she's always going to be a big part of your life."

"If she came here to visit, would it be okay with you if I brought her with me on my night?"

"No. I'm sorry. Eddie made her choice. She decided she didn't want to be part of our family anymore."

"You know Dee Dee wants to have some babies. She knows you can't give her that anymore."

This was the first time anyone had given me any plausible reason for Eddie's change of heart about remaining one of my wives. Eddie had certainly never mentioned it to me as a reason for her decision. For the first time since we'd all gotten back together again, Dale and I didn't make love on her night. I knew she was feeling bad about the stand I'd had to take. I also was pretty sure that my answer was going to cause her to start rethinking her own decision about returning to be with us. I couldn't help her with it other than by letting her know that I hoped she'd continue to stay with us.

When I talked to Joyce about my conversation with Dale, she quickly confirmed what Dale had told me. Then, she told me that Cindy had felt the same. Even though she didn't believe she could conceive, not after the physical ordeal she'd suffered when she was younger, Cindy still had a burning desire to be a mother. Joyce worried about what would happen as Cindy got older and could see her chances of having a child of her own getting increasingly dimmer.

"They can reverse those operations, Kenny. Didn't you tell me your uncle had his reversed?"

"That's what I heard, but it didn't do him any good. Brenda wasn't his daughter, we checked into it."

"I heard it was a simple procedure. The longer you wait, the less likely it is to work. Maybe you should schedule an appointment with your doctor and ask him about it? Did Dale tell you that she feels just like Eddie does? Most women want babies, Kenny. Dale and Cindy want your babies. Eddie, she just wants to have some babies."

I thought about what Dale and Joyce had told me. Part of me was pretty sure they both exaggerated Eddie's desire for children. I knew that Cindy had despaired of ever having children. She'd been convinced that her injuries were too serious to allow for a future pregnancy. It hurt me that Dale hadn't told me that she too wanted to have some children.

I already had twelve children by four different wives. Children I hadn't been able to spend as much time with as I wanted to, or even as much as they needed. Did I want more children even if it did prove possible? Moreover, did I want to have children with Eddie? I could actually see myself having children with Dale and Cindy.

My life was already too complicated. I might have felt differently if there hadn't been that long period of time during my illness. My first thought was to try to make it up to my children for what we'd all missed out on due to my illness.

That night at dinner, Joyce raised the topic at the dinner table. I was shocked when she did it so casually. For once, all of the children paid attention to what the adults were talking about.

"Kenny and I talked about him seeing a doctor to find out about reversing his vasectomy."

Everyone started talking at once. Shirley, Brenda and Emily all yelled that they wanted a baby too. Dale just stared at me, saying nothing, and Cindy got a far away dreamy expression on her face.

"I haven't decided anything. Joyce said I should make an appointment. I never said I would do it."

I saw Little Bertie explaining to some of the other kids about what a vasectomy was. I couldn't hear well enough to tell whether or not her explanation was at all accurate. The kids started getting excited too. I heard Derek say he only wanted a brother this time. No one paid any attention to what I said. Joyce started answering all the questions being asked.

"When are you going to make a decision, Kenny? I need to tell Dee Dee if you do decide to do it." Dale spoke up for the first time. What she said quieted everyone at the table. They all started looking to me to see my reply and reaction.

"If I did decide to get it done, it wouldn't be for Eddie, Dale. There has to be a lot more to it for two people to make a baby together. I don't want to make any babies with Eddie. If I did get it reversed, it would primarily be for you and Cindy. If the other wives wanted to try to get pregnant again too, before I stopped trying with you, that would be all right with me. You asked me if I ever missed Eddie last night? I don't miss having her for a wife. I wouldn't want to have babies with her."

"Eddie always loved you, Kenny. It was always this thing about not having babies. If she knew you were making babies again, she'd come back. I know she would."

"Eddie made her choice, and I accepted it. There are other reasons why I feel that way too. I'd probably like to try to have babies with you, and with Cindy, because I'm comfortable with the relationships we have together. I don't feel that way about Eddie anymore. I still haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking about it. I'll probably go see a specialist to find out more about the process. Cindy, you should see a specialist too, to find out where you stand as far as being able to get pregnant."

Cindy nodded that she would. We had to stop discussing things and finish dinner. There was a lot to get done before the recital at the school at seven o'clock.

We didn't get back to the house much before ten. All of the recital programs had been entertaining, as much for the miscues as for the skits themselves. I was seeing most of my children on stage for the very first time. it brought home to me how much I'd missed by being ill and not being a part of their lives for such a long period of time.

In bed that night, Brenda was a tigress. She must have asked me a hundred questions about vasectomy reversal. I was surprised that she seemed so anxious to go through all of that again. Before, I had been sure that she wanted my children to solidify her place in my life, knowing that I'd always take care of her if she had my children.

After Dwightee was born, Brenda had to work extra hard to regain her figure. Maybe she'd forgotten, or maybe she was just carried away with enthusiasm after seeing how the other wives were reacting to the idea of having children.

Whatever it was, it seemed to make her more responsive to me than usual. She wore me out before we went to sleep at around two o'clock, then woke me up at five and made me do her again. I didn't complain. It was nice to see her so unrestrainedly enthusiastic again.

Saturday, both Joyce and Brenda were after me to shower them with my loving. It was one of the few times when the three of us were together that it wasn't Joyce and me ganging up on Brenda. I noticed that the two girls didn't seem as active with each other as they usually were. In fact, there was minimal girl on girl action the whole night.

By Sunday, I was ready for a good day and night of rest. I spent the whole day dividing my time between the children. I took the three oldest kids to the driving range in the early morning, then Shirley and I went to the park with all five of the middle kids right after lunch.

Joyce, Cindy and I took the four youngest to a Disney movie after an early dinner. By day's end, I was beginning to think I was starting to really understand my children's personalities better again.

It amazed me how individually different each of them were. I could see myself and their mother's influences in each of them. This was true of Derek as well. More than any of the other children, Derek tried to mimic me. He would watch what I'd do and then imitate it. I decided I'd have to be more careful around him. I didn't want him imitating some of my bad habits. I was learning why I needed to modify some of my worst traits. I was training myself to curb my temper around all of them, not just the children.

I tried to keep more to myself during the following week, staying at home to work from there. I was doing some work for my father and trading. I had Cindy staying at home and helping me with the work I was doing for my father. She and I had a chance to talk about how important it would be to her that I was willing to try to have a baby with her. It almost seemed like she was nearly positive that she wouldn't be able to conceive. She was willing to take any steps a Doctor might think were necessary to help her chances for getting pregnant though.

"Just thinking that it might happen is so exciting, Kenny. Even if it didn't ever happen, knowing that it might would be enough."

"Joyce is afraid you might leave because you want to have a baby so badly."

"I wouldn't. It has to be your baby, Kenny. Who else's could it be? You're still the only man that can get me relaxed enough to even want sex with him. I might go to a fertility clinic, but never to another man."

"If you can have a baby, Cindy, I'd want it to be our baby."

I didn't get as much done working at home that day as I'd thought I would. What I did get was something worth a whole lot more to Cindy and me. I think I was mostly convinced that I'd try for a reversal after that day. The way all the other wives were treating me while I tried to decide had a big part in getting me to agree to having the process done. Every night one of the wives would be in bed with me, and all of them wanted a progress report on whether I'd decided yet or not. The potential for making babies seemed to be a heady aphrodisiac with all the wives. During the whole time I was trying to make a decision, the sex I was getting was more emotionally intense than it had been before.

One other thing started happening at this time. There were no more of my wives sharing their evenings with their sister wives. I could tell that all the wives were still sharing information about whatever progress my thoughts were heading towards as far as coming to a decision went.

It was a Friday, when I knew I'd be with Joyce later that I finally phoned my physician and discussed what I'd been thinking. He said he knew someone in Los Angeles who was a pioneer in the field of vasectomy reversals. According to him, the success rate for this doctor's patients was very high. He offered to call him for me and arrange an appointment. I told him to go ahead, but told him to only communicate any information about this directly with me.

That night, in bed with Joyce, I told her that I'd set up a consultation appointment with a Urologist in California to explore the possibilities for a reversal of my vasectomy. In the years since I'd had my vasectomy, statistically there was a ninety percent chance I could produce live sperm after the reversal. For a complex series of reasons, it was estimated that there was about an even 50% chance that I'd be able to impregnate anyone after the procedure. The doctor I'd been referred to had said I'd need to refrain from ejaculating for about a month after the procedure.

When we'd spoken on the phone, he'd recommended several good people much closer to me than he was. I told him that my own physician had recommended him to me highly. It was going to cost ten thousand dollars for the procedure and the follow up care, in addition to the time and expense of traveling to California. I told him that wasn't a problem. He cautioned me that most insurance plans didn't cover vasectomy reversals. I assured him that mine did. The grain trading company only had two employees and it was self insured. One of Frank Clooney's jobs was to decide what was included and not included under the plan. I was confident that the company plan would reimburse me for all expenses associated with having the procedure done.

The next morning I was greeted at breakfast by six happy females. Later that morning, Mama called, and she and Gerta both told me I was doing the right thing. Mama was certain that the world would be improved whenever my genetic material was used to procreate. That it was also part of her DNA wasn't lost on her. Mama also loved babies. She was already upset that all of our children were growing up so quickly. I told her I'd be out in California for more than a month.

"Take the family, Kenny. You know the children would love a month out there at the beach, and all the amusement parks. You don't need to be right here to do your work. Neither do the girls. Gerta and I will come out there too and help with making all the arrangements. It will be fun."

In the end, we pulled the kids out of school and the whole gang went off to California, including Billy Ray and his wife and kids. Right at the end, just before we left, we even managed to convince my father and Hans to come out there with us. We ended up staying at this big dude ranch right outside of Riverside. Mama had found the place for us and had made all of the arrangements for our stay there. The kids learned to ride horses when they weren't going off on adventures to the amusement parks, or visits to the beach or the mountains. It was a big family vacation for all of us.

I didn't ride any horses, or go on any rides at the amusement parks. The procedure took less than an hour, although I spent all day at the doctor's office. I was sore for a few days, and then I was horny for the better part of a month. I wasn't having any sex, but, because they were so excited about the possibility of maybe getting pregnant soon, all the wives were more active with each other than usual. It was frustrating for me, especially when my mind let me think about what was happening all around me.

After a month, I was back at the doctor's office producing some little swimmer's for his petri dish. I produced quite a bit for him. It felt so good getting off like that, that I offered to provide a back up source if he thought it might be needed. The doctor and his nurse laughed. That was when he told me that very few men really waited for the whole thirty day waiting period.

"Usually, they come in after about ten days and want to find out if they can take the test early. I think you're the first one who ever lasted the whole thirty days."

"I didn't know there was an option for starting earlier."

"This way is better. Today, we'll know for certain if everything is working again. I'm sure it will be. You weren't anywhere near the pessimistic end of the time limitations for good reversal success. After reading your medical history, there's no doubt that you were extremely capable of providing healthy and active live sperm before you had your vasectomy. I told you there was a fifty percent chance, but I'm thinking yours will end up being much higher than that. You pretty much convinced me of that by having four women pregnant at the same time."