Chapter 15: Invitation

IT WOULD BE two weeks before I got the staple out of my stomach and I was ordered to rest and not to travel. Right. I got home on Friday after Anna picked me up at the hospital.

“Do you think maybe you’ve been working too hard and stressing too much?” she asked.

“I don’t really think appendicitis is stress related,” I sighed. “And the work isn’t difficult. It’s all the travel and time away from the family. And it’s not like I’ve been shipped out for twelve months in a war zone. Can you imagine what those guys and their families go through?”

“I think we know firsthand,” Anna said.

“Yeah. At least Ronda and I are fairly safe. Getting sick is a hazard no matter what your job is.”

“I wish there was a way we could talk to you every day. It would go a long way toward smoothing things out—especially with Patricia and Toni. Nate, you can’t possibly imagine how she misses you when you are gone.”

“Patricia or Toni?”

“Yes. I really didn’t think I was going to be the daddy-substitute when I became your girlfriend. Don’t get me wrong. I love both of them and would do anything needed to love and protect them. Just like you. I just didn’t know what that would mean in the long run.”

“Are you going to be okay when the baby gets here?” I asked.

“Mmm. Yeah. I’m not emotionally unstable. Poor Patricia is going through so many hormonal cycles, it’s really hard on her. When she’s calm and reasonable, she admits she had the same thing happening when she was pregnant with Toni. Only in Tenbrook, she had her parents, your parents, Tony’s parents, the three of us girlfriends who went to school with her, Judy and Janice, and the routine of school to hold her together. This time, when you and Ronda are gone, she only has me.”

“Do you think she should go back to Tenbrook for the duration?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“I think she would be devastated to think you or any of us want her to go away. We all chose this pregnancy. We talked about it and we promised to support her. We just need to remember to support each other, too.”

We pulled up at the train station in Antioch and shortly, Ronda’s train arrived from downtown. We got home to celebrate the weekend. I was supposed to rest, but it really looked like I should shovel some snow.

Of course, Anna put an immediate end to that idea, with a threat of more hospitalization if I attempted anything so strenuous. Possibly not as a result of the shoveling.

Patricia had dinner ready for us and Toni rushed to me to dance.

“Honey, Daddy can’t dance right now. When I sit down, I can hold you in my lap, but I can’t pick you up.”

“Why?” That had become a favorite question ever since she learned the word. I credit the Head Start Program.

“Daddy has an owie on his tummy and can’t pick up a big girl.”

Of course, Toni wanted to see the owie and kiss it all better. I showed her that it was covered with a bandage but would take a few days to heal. We finally managed to all get settled for dinner and I was surprised that Patricia led us in the prayer.

“Lord, thank you for bringing our family back together after Nate’s surgery. Thank you for seeing us safely through our family trip. Please forgive us—me—for not being nice to my loving wives and husband and daughter. I love them all so much. Please don’t take them away from me.”

It was not a usual prayer before a meal. I reached over to put an arm around Patricia and pull her to me. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tightly. I winced just a little as I stretched the incision.

“Mommy, careful. Daddy has an owie.”

“Oh, I know, sweetie. Mommy’s going to take care of Daddy and try to make it all better.” Then she looked up at me. “Everything,” she whispered.

We ate dinner, catching up on what had happened since we got home from the Caribbean. Mostly, that fell to Ronda as Anna hadn’t returned to work yet and Toni hadn’t returned to school.

“I cancelled our trips for the next two weeks and I’m getting them rescheduled for the end of the tour instead of the beginning. Mr. Martin and I talked and we decided that would be much better than rescheduling everyone so the trip was just pushed out,” Ronda said. “He was very sympathetic.”

“I should be able to go back to work next week,” I said. “Just not to travel.”

“He wants you to take a few days off before you return.”

“Did you have to go to Washington this week?” I asked.

“No. I handed my pouch off to a courier and it arrived on the Assistant Deputy Secretary’s desk this morning. I don’t think we were handling anything that was particularly time sensitive, but he called this morning to thank me for picking everything up and for delivering the film. We may be traveling with other State Department employees on our trips to South America, but we won’t be going into the office at all until after our baby is born.”

“How will we handle the uncertainty of that date?” I asked.

“All the staff are being informed that their training could be delayed by the birth of our little one,” Ronda said. “It will be the same as the interruption for your unexpected surgery.”

“We can do that?” I asked.

“It seems that we have a lot more power over our schedule than I originally thought,” Ronda said. “There may be times when we are asked to go somewhere specific at a specific time, and there will certainly be times when we are advised regarding routing to make sure we are not flying into conflict. It appears, however, that when we are given the order of priority by region, it is then our business to schedule and conduct the installations. By the way, Josie has been permanently assigned as our secretary, which I gather is a promotion and she is delighted.”

“I wonder how she’ll handle our time off in the summer,” I mused. Ronda just shrugged.

After dinner, I settled into a chair and Toni crawled into my lap, careful to sit on the left side so she wouldn’t hurt me. We read and then Anna picked her up to get ready for bed. Both Patricia and I went with her, but neither of us could pick Toni up now. The little girl weighed more than forty pounds. We finally got her into bed and everyone came by for nighttime kisses, including Toni kissing baby sister in Patricia’s tummy.

“We should pick a name for the unborn,” Ronda laughed as we all gathered on our bed. “Have you thought about what to call her and what happens if she happens to be a he?”

“I’ve been toying with some names,” Patricia said. “I called Miss Ludwig and she recommended a book of baby names that I was able to request from the library up here. I’ve been looking at names that could be either boy or girl.”

“Oh, what do we have?” I asked. “This is exciting.”

Patricia got a pad of paper from the bedside table and began reading the names she’d written down.

“There’s Jessie. It can be spelled differently for boy or girl. And since the Beatles hit, Jude has become popular. Taylor is pretty good and so is Sidney. Drew. Cameron. Alex, for either Alexander or Alexandra. Robin is another possibility. What do you guys think?”

“Some great choices,” Ronda said. “How about Ronnie for either Ronda or Ronald?”

“No fair,” Anna said. “There’s no male equivalent for Anna.”

“Honey, you’re still going to be baby’s Mom Anna. There’s nothing better than being Mom,” Patricia said.

“Speaking of which, there’s Pat for either Patrick or Patricia,” I said.

“No. Let’s not saddle the poor kid with a parent’s name,” Patricia said. “I considered Adrian or Adrienne, too, but our pet might consider that too much pressure.”

“She’s made that pretty clear, and I feel the same way about Nat for Natalie or Nate. No parental names,” I said.

We cuddled together on the bed. I was being pretty careful about how I was moving. I’d taken one of the mild pain pills that we discovered was really just a big dose of Tylenol. Patricia cuddled up on one side of me and Anna on the other, with Ronda holding Anna. I hadn’t done a thing all day, but I was still exhausted. I guess the stress of the past couple of days was catching up with all of us and I could feel the breathing of my lovers even out into sleep patterns. I was tired, but sleep didn’t seem to be on the horizon for me. I kept thinking of all the names we’d brainstormed.

“I’m so sorry, Nate,” Patricia whispered into the darkness. I wasn’t sure she knew I was awake, so I kissed the top of her head. “I was a terrible snark in Nassau. You were sick and I told you to just get on the plane and you’d feel better by the time we got home. But it was serious. If your appendix had ruptured on the plane, you could have died. I was treating you like you’d said to Toni. She was sick and didn’t want to fly and you insisted we go anyway. It all worked out, but I was thinking, ‘Have a taste of your own medicine.’ It was stupid and I’m sorry.”

“Hey now,” I whispered back. “You were right. And we should have waited a day before we took off. Nothing would have been a problem and Toni would have enjoyed the flight as much as she did on the way home. If anyone was being stupid, it was me. My thoughts were of a ruined vacation and not of our sweet little girl. I’ll never respond that way again.”

“I have so much to learn about being a good mother and a good wife,” Patricia said. “My own mother would have reacted the same way. She’d have felt my head and said, ‘You’ll feel better once we’re on our way.’ But we should have known the hotel doctor was full of bull. You were running a fever. I could feel it, just sitting beside you.”

“If it’s any comfort, if I’d been in Nassau alone when it came time to leave and I was feeling crappy, I would have done the same thing. I’d have gone to the airport and gotten on the plane. I’d feel like if anything was really wrong with me, at least I’d be home. Let’s not talk about that anymore.”

“I love you, Nate. I love you as your lover and as the mother of your children. I just love you so much.”

Her hand had found its way to my cock and I was definitely responding to the pregnant beauty beside me.

“I can’t really roll over on you,” I said. “I’d love to make love to you, but you’ll have to do all the work.”

“Believe me, lover, it isn’t work,” she said.

She threw a leg over me and began sliding her vulva up and down the erection she’d just induced. I was soon slippery with her juices. She moved forward and caught the tip of my cock at her entrance and slowly engulfed me. I played with her breasts and petted her rounded tummy. Our baby. There was nothing I could do to help. Thrusting up to meet her meant engaging abdominal muscles that had recently been severed or something. All I could do was lie back and enjoy and pet my children’s mommy.

“I love you so much, Nate. I had a hole in my heart and you were there to fill it. I lost everything and then I discovered new life was there to care for. You were there to give me strength to carry my little girl,” Patricia said as she continued to rub and thrust against me. “I didn’t need to learn to love you. I simply discovered that I did. When you and Anna stood with me at Toni’s baptism, you became her mommy and daddy as much as I was. You became my husband and wife that day and I will never ever forget how much I love you. And before long, I discovered I loved Ronda, too. We were and are a family and I would do anything for my husband and wives.”

Her movements became erratic and I could feel her internal muscles clenching and releasing on my cock as she built to her orgasm. Held motionless by my surgery, all I could do was ride the wave with her and let my semen crash on the shores of her vagina as she clamped down and moaned her pleasure loudly enough to wake Ronda and Anna beside us.

She couldn’t stay upright on me and couldn’t lie on her stomach, so she slid off to the side and gripped me tightly.

“I know I’m a burden here. I’ll go back to Tenbrook until the baby is born so I don’t create problems,” she whispered. I could feel Ronda and Anna vigorously shaking their heads as they gripped my arm.

“Patricia, my love, if you want to return home to your parents and mine for a while, we won’t stop you,” I said. “But you need to know that none of us want you to go. We want you right here where we can share the growth and birth of our baby. Patricia, you are our wife. We love you and want you with us. Please, lover. Please don’t go.”

“I don’t want to go!” she cried. “I don’t want to be away from any of you! Anna and Ronda, please forgive me for being difficult. I feel like I’ve been on a hormonal rollercoaster and I can’t control where it’s going.”

“You know what we do for that?” Ronda asked, crawling over Anna and me to lie next to Patricia and hold her.

“What?” Patricia asked.

“We just throw our hands up in the air and yell ‘Whee!’ and then we catch our breath as the car climbs to the top of the next hill. You are carrying our child. Not just yours and Nate’s. Anna’s and mine, too. We’re here for the duration of the ride.”

“What would I do without you? I’d be so lost,” Patricia said.

“Then don’t run away from us,” Anna said. “We’ll be part of everything with you. Everything, my little love.”

I stayed home for the next week, gradually moving more and more freely. By Friday, I was able to pick up Toni, and more importantly, to take an active part in our lovemaking—though all three girls had enjoyed a ride while I was unable to contribute.

Monday, I was back at work with Ronda. Of course, that meant the first thing Josie put on my desk was a meeting notice with our boss. Ronda and I carried coffee cups to his office at ten.

“Come in and sit down,” Martin said. We settled ourselves and he looked straight at me. “I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I hired you.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I really didn’t plan on being out with my appendix. Do you want to see the stitch?” Okay, maybe that was a little snarky, but not what I expected from my boss on my first day back.

“Oh, everyone gets sick. That’s a normal part of being employed. I’m glad you got back before it turned serious. No, I really thought this was a simple job and I was kind of doing a favor for a couple of recent grads and then you got drafted and I was really pleased I could help. But all this other stuff has been added to your schedules. You’re functioning as couriers. You’re asked to do portraits of all our ambassadors and consul generals. You get roped into a breakfast meeting to help establish relations with an emerging nation. And now ... I guess you are going to be an official State Department photographer on loan to the British monarch.”

My mouth dropped open and I looked at Ronda, who was equally surprised.

“What does ... To the Queen?” I gasped.

“Well, yes and no. Oh, I should have started with this, I guess.”

He handed me an envelope with my name and the names of all my wives and Toni elegantly written on the front. I looked at the wax seal and thought it looked familiar, but couldn’t place it. When I broke it open, I found a beautifully engraved invitation.

Lady Madeline Monroe, Countess of Plympford, is pleased to invite you to the wedding of her daughter, Lady Jane Monroe of Plympford to Lord Peter Winkle of North Heddington. 12 May 1973. 11:30 a.m. Coventry Cathedral.

“Jane and Peter are getting married!” I said, handing the invitation to Ronda.

“You see? It’s that you know a Lord and Lady well enough to call them by their first names when you receive an invitation to their wedding that makes your situation so unique. The invitation came along with a request from the Ambassador that you come prepared to take photographs by request of the Queen.”

“So, we won’t just be attending a wedding,” I said. “I can’t believe they’re holding the wedding in Coventry Cathedral. I suppose there will be hundreds of people attending. And the Queen?”

“I doubt Her Majesty will attend herself, but it is likely that one of her sons, near the same age as the couple, will be there.”

“I’m just surprised that Jane wants me to be her wedding photographer,” I said.

“Not exactly. I understand a Sir Andrew Scott will be the official photographer of the event.”

“But...”

“This story has come to me via the circuitous route of the ambassador, the deputy chief of mission, the secretary of state, the undersecretary of management, and the assistant secretary of the consular bureau. It’s likely to have been enhanced, and it has brought you to the attention of several people in our department,” Martin said. “It seems Lord Winkle...”

“Lord Peter,” I corrected him automatically. “Lord Winkle is his older brother.”

“Yes. It seems Lord Peter has the ear of the Queen for some reason. When they were discussing the wedding, he mentioned that he would like to surprise his bride by having you come to do portraits of them, individually and together. The Ambassador talks with the Queen at least once a month, though it’s seen as being for appearance’s sake, but I understand they are actually good friends. The Queen wondered aloud how she might make contact with you to get you to take the photographs.”

“Um ... Lord Peter is a very slight and effeminate gentleman,” I offered. “The Queen happened upon him when he was being beaten by bullies and sent her guards to the rescue. They have been very close since then, I’m told.”

“That explains that part of the mystery,” Martin said. “Well, the Ambassadorship in London is a largely ceremonial position and is a political appointee. But he took the hint from the Queen to the Deputy Chief of Mission. The Deputy Chief is a career diplomat and understands implications. He also monitors all activity in the embassy. He recognized your name from an announcement we made regarding the roll-out of the new ID stations. He called the Secretary of State and asked if something could be done to get you to London at the time of the wedding, as a personal favor to the Queen.”

“Wow!” Ronda said, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Understand, the primary diplomatic relations in London are between the Prime Minister or his Foreign Affairs Minister and the Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy. The Queen is a figurehead, as is the notion of most nobility and royalty. But she still wields a great deal of weight when the US is trying to hold together the coalition of nations voting with it in the UN and trying to prosecute the war. That began the trickle-down of the Queen’s request, along with the official invitation to the wedding in your hand.”

“May 12. That’s before our proposed break for the summer. Is there a way to trade out some time so my family and I can be there for Jane’s wedding?”

“You don’t get it, Nate. You don’t need to trade out time. You are being sent as an official representative of the State Department. Prepare your family for two weeks in Great Britain. You will, by the way, need to train the staff at the embassy in London, and at the Consulates in Edinburgh and Belfast. Most of your time, however, will be at the disposal of your friends at Plympford and wherever they want to travel with you.”

“We’ll do our best, sir.”

“I’ve no doubt of that. Considering the expanded scope of your responsibilities, we are re-evaluating the grade level of your position. Private planes are not usually at the disposal of anyone below a GS12. Now, let’s talk about your trips to the southern continent.”

As big as the news was regarding the wedding, the expanded details of our South American stint were even more mind-blowing.

“Our own plane?” I asked Ronda when we finally got back to the office. We’d been with Mr. Martin all morning.