Chapter 61: A Dream Revived

The flight home was comfortable, and the best part was when I saw Jenny waiting for us. Her smile lit up the airport lobby and she ran to us, kissing Maureen and then turning to me, falling into my arms. “I missed you, darling, I missed you so much. Just wait until I get you home and I´ll show you!”

She did and when we made love, it was joyful and intense. The next day we told her about the disappointing visit to Elk, but Jenny was more pragmatic. “Maureen, this is important for James and if the opportunity came back, we would not reject it. That’s a problem we´ll resolve when it appears. But tell me, my love - how was the horse riding? And did you enjoy it? Before, during and especially afterwards?” Obviously, Maureen had told her already about my discomfort and her sly remarks!

We went back to our life, working, planning, helping, growing, and enjoying each other.

It was the middle of the year when Maureen called a meeting. The subject was serious, she said.

She was dressed almost formally (at least for our standards) in a dark green polo shirt and white tennis shorts and sat us in front of her. “Do you remember when we talked about children, and that once we had our business life organized, I wanted to have children?”

I nodded.

“We’ve done very well, better than we expected. Our people work without too much supervision, and I believe that I’m not necessary anymore to continue in an executive position in NT. James, I want to move to the Board and have the time to get pregnant and have our child - and be prepared that will not be the only one, my love.”

She extended her hand to me with the aluminum foil that contained the birth control pills.

“Will you do this for me - and us, James?”

There was silence for a moment and then I got up and hugged her. “There is nothing that I want more than to be the proud father of our children.” I took the pills and with a flourish, threw them away. We kissed until there was a discreet cough behind us.

“James, you know what the agreement was! Maureen has her child and when she’s five months pregnant, I want the same treatment. Are we still in agreement?”

We turned to Jenny and opened our arms to include her in our hug and thus our lives were decided.

At night, Jenny gave us a kiss. “I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight, so that you have your time together, alone and just for the two of you, but I’ll be back in our bed in the morning!”

When we were alone, Maureen looked at me with a different expression - full of love, but also full of dedication and aiming for something more than the union of two people who loved each other.

“My love, whatever will happen, you’ll always be the love of my life, the center of my heart and the protector of my soul. But I want children, too; I want to care for them, to guide them when they will grow up and to see them successful; and I want to see them looking up to you, their proud father. I want to give myself to you as I gave myself the first time, when we were given our blessing, so that they will be conceived in love and trust.”

She opened the knot of her white nightgown and it slid down slowly, gliding over her slender body. She was beautiful as always, but her eyes shone with a deeper feeling, with an absolute commitment to our future. She opened her arms and I stepped forward to embrace her. A small smile appeared on her face.

“Darling, we’re not in a temple to make a sacrifice. We’re here to enjoy life and us. So, if you see something you want, take it.”

Her voice was low and husky, and she drew me to our bed. I was turned around and she pushed me on my back. “I want to give myself to you, to give and to receive, and to prove that I am yours!”

She looked at me with desire in her eyes. Bending over, she kissed me deeply, with her tongue battling mine; she had a slight minty taste to her, fresh and enduring. Then she offered me her breasts.

“I remember when I first let you kiss them, and I know how much you enjoy playing with them, darling.” and I did. She started to moan and slowly lifted herself up, throwing a leg over my body and straddling my hips. She grasped my shaft and ran it up and down her labia before opening her lips and guiding me into her. She settled gently down on it, and I could see on her face how she sank deeper and deeper. When she hit bottom, her face became tight and her lips pressed together; after a few moments she relaxed, however, and smiled again.

“This is where I want you, my love.” She pulled my hands back up and placed them on her breasts. “Play with them, darling.”

She closed her eyes again and started to move; slowly at first, then faster with more urgent need. She held herself up with her hands on my hips and her movements became more aggressive, up and down, and then a bit sideways. I followed her rhythm and then she opened her eyes again, looked upwards and pushed herself down as hard as possible, exploding with her climax. I came with her, filling her with my seeds.

She fell on my chest with me still deeply embedded in her. She trembled and only after a while she came back and smiled at me.

“Not bad for a first try, but could we try once more? This time I want you to take me.”

She moved away and my penis dropped out with a little plop, followed by a mess of combined fluids. She did not hesitate at all, turning around and pulled me over her. I bent and kissed her, trying to convey my love for her. My shaft was still hard, and she opened her legs and guided me to her entrance. She was easy to enter, as our fluids had lubricated her well; she adjusted herself quickly and her legs went around me, with her hips starting to rock. Obviously, she wanted more, and I didn’t want to disappoint her. I started to thrust into her in long deep strokes, but I did not forget her lips. She kissed back with love, gently pulling my tongue into her mouth, and letting me go again. She pulled my head down while her hips tried to engulf my penis.

Moaning, she started to shudder; our passion started to grow, and I began stroking longer, and pushing deeper, her legs urging me on, her tongue tracing down my ear as she whispered encouragement. I kissed her neck, taking her shoulders in my hands, holding her in place as the pace of my strokes became more insistent. She started to whimper, her lips parting and she began moaning, spurring me on. She gasped and cried out arching her hips offering herself even wider to me and began shaking. The end was near for me as I too groaned and drove forward, pulling on her shoulders, pressing into her as hard as I could. She cried my name and I pushed even deeper into her, and she arched her hips up. “Yes, my love, NOW!” and we both exploded, I erupted deep inside her, she arching her hips, I pushing back.

To my surprise, I suddenly felt a warm sentiment embrace us. The grey smoke that had surrounded us when we made love the first time and had given us our blessing, was back and warmed our souls.

“Children, you have done well. You love each other and protect each other. You don’t lie to each other and the feelings and love you have for each other will only further the strength of your union. Your children will be healthy and loving, and your life will be happy. I am proud of you, but it is your responsibility to continue to love each other!”

There was a moment of extreme happiness and then slowly is vanished. I looked at Maureen and she smiled. “My love, we have been blessed again. We must do something right after all!”

Maureen looked up at me. “You better eat a lot of oysters, my love. I know that my body needs three weeks to flush out the pill, but we will practice every night. So don’t go running, don’t go to martial arts sessions, and sleep well. I request repeat performances.”

She laughed. “I assume that Jenny will sleep on her own only for one night, so we will have an audience tomorrow.” She hugged me “James, I love you so much ... you’ll never know how much...” and she started to cry.

I wiped her tears away. “James, I’m not sad. These are tears of happiness because we’ll grow into an even bigger family, and we’ll never be alone.” I started to move away, but she protested. “Stay a little while on me - I adore feeling your body on mine, holding me, protecting me.”

I knew that I could not stay like this for a long time, but for me it was also wonderful to feel her warm body beneath me. More kisses and finally I felt that it was time to move away. I admired her body - long, elegant lines, curves where they had to be, pert breast with her puffy nipples still standing up, and her red and swollen labia. I tried to get up to get a cloth to clean her, because she was dripping very visibly, but she stopped me.

“Let me do my wifely duty!” and she slowly moved down and cleaned me very thoroughly with her mouth. “George, thank you. I knew I could count on you.”

She came back up again and nestled into my arms. “We better start to lay down a basic cellar for our first son and then later for the other two, a son and a daughter, and Jenny will want to do the same thing. Mom and I will teach them to enjoy wines and it’s so nice to open a bottle of good wine from the year you were conceived!”

I did not know where this came from, but I knew that soon there would be additional bottles in our cellar, as birthdays also had to be considered.

“How do you know that it will be a son, darling?”

She looked up indignantly. “First of all, he is not an ‘it’. And second, I know - remember that I have a special line to my forebears, and I was told that we would have at least three children, and the first will always be a son!”

I wondered about the ‘at least’ bit but decided to shut up. She closed her eyes, smiled without telling me why, and said goodnight. I waited and she grinned.

“I wondered whether even tonight you would remember...” and I responded “ ... especially tonight I want everything you’ve ever given me.” She pulled my head to her breasts, and I kissed them gently; they were still sensitive from our lovemaking. “May I sleep now, husband?”

I nodded and kissed her lips. “Sleep well, my love. I’ll always be here for you.” She touched my cheek and a tear appeared. “James, I’m so happy...” and was asleep.

During the night I felt Jenny slipping under the covers; she put her arms around me, whispered “Goodnight, my love...” and we were together again. The next morning Jenny looked at us. “What happened last night? Suddenly I felt grey smoke around me, caressing and loving me, and telling me that our family would always be together as long as we all loved each other. It was wonderful!”

Maureen reminded her about the blessing we had received when she and I first had made love together, and since her heart and soul was intertwined with ours forever, she had been included in the confirmation and repetition of the blessing.

She started to sniffle, happy with that confirmation of our union. I hugged her, she pulled Maureen into our embrace, and we were content.

Maureen fulfilled her promise and during the next weeks, oysters and other aphrodisiacs heavily fortified my diet. At night we made certain that Maureen received my seeds in copious amounts; it was fun, and Jenny participated happily.

We never knew exactly but after three weeks, Maureen was glowing. She was pregnant!

There was, however, a moment that scared us all. We had been living a sweet life, with occasional mishaps, but no major problem. A harrowing event changed that picture.

Maureen was driving us to see an exhibition at a local art gallery and when she turned into another avenue, I saw a big truck out of control racing towards us. All I could do was yell, but I saw us squashed under that huge beast. I don’t know how Maureen did it, but she accelerated the BMW with all that powerful engine had, away from the disaster and unto the pedestrian way. The car jumped and was damaged, but we were alive. When I turned to Maureen, she had fainted. There was a big crash behind us, and the truck had hit first a light post and then had barreled into a supermarket window.

We were lucky. Gentle Maureen had from nowhere called the force to do something she had not been trained for - take a split-second decision and do it right.

The police arrived and when the officer looked at us, the truck and our car, all he could say was - “Sir, you do have a guardian angel looking over you. One second more and you would have been dead.”

I took Maureen home and after a while, we all calmed down.

There was another reaction, however, when Allan heard about this. He called a family meeting. We explained what had happened and he regarded us. “James, Maureen, Jenny - Eileen and I have discussed this accident and we have a question for you. What will happen if one of you - or both - would have been killed? Have you thought about this? Accidents do happen, you know, and you cannot always be lucky!”

He was right and this caused a long and painful discussion - what could we do?

It was Eileen, the decisive executive, who forced us to think very seriously about our future.

“James, I lost my husband and was not prepared for this. It was pure stubbornness that led me to continue, and I paid dearly for this!” and looking at Maureen - “Daughter, you suffered from this problem.” Maureen nodded, remembering those dreary years.

“Children, and that includes you, Jenny! So, what can you do? We’re all executives trained to be rational, even when emotions are involved. You have many scenarios, but for me, these are the main ones - first, something happens to James; second, something happens to Maureen; third, something happens to Jenny; and last, something happens to two or all of you. What will you do?”

This caused more painful discussion, but in the end, we agreed that planning was urgent. We had children, a multi-billion enterprise, and we were emotionally so strongly connected, that anything would cause an emotional or financial meltdown.

It took us some time (and we were driving more carefully!) to come up not with a solution, but with a plan (and we knew also that plans normally don’t survive the first contact with reality!). First was the need to start a succession plan, selecting and training young promising candidates for all our positions. The Board had also to be strengthened with outstanding retired businesswomen or men, and Allan knew a lot of them.

Our private life was more difficult, but we seemed to acknowledge the idea that we did not live in a perfect world. If something happened to me, Maureen would take over and might even marry Jenny, a possibility that had opened after long negotiations between parties, the church, and the government. Maureen would adopt Jenny’s children and they would become legally family. If something happened to Maureen, I would marry Jenny and adopt the children. If this happened to Jenny, we would adopt her children. And if we all vanished? Allan and Eileen had to come back, advance the secession training, and adopt Jenny’s children.

The longest discussion was what should be done if only Jenny survived. The family would close around her, giving her support for the pain she would be feeling for many years. The financial situation caused long discussion, occasionally very heated. Jenny now had 9% of the company and she insisted that she didn’t want one penny more. The remainder should go to Eileen, but she rejected this vehemently - she was Lady Moise now, not the business executive anymore. How to maintain Jenny as the CEO and the company as a family enterprise? Jenny wanted a check on her actions because she still was not convinced that she could handle NT on her own (despite her success up to that date and our affirmation that she could do this).

At the end, we came up with a direction (not a final decision) that under these circumstances, the company would be reorganized with Jenny remaining as the CEO, shares would be split in 41% voting and 59% non-voting shares, with Jenny having 20%, Eileen 19%, and Allan 2%. This meant that any major decision would need 21 voting shares, and Jenny would need the support of either Eileen or Allan. Jenny would also get more non-voting shares to get her overall position to 30% of total assets. The remaining non-voting shares would be used to establish trusts for the children, with a small portion liberated when they passed eighteen, and the major part when they graduated from university. Under special circumstances, a family meeting could allow concessions for exceptional cases, e.g., an artistically gifted child could receive a special dispensation. No racing car driver, however!

Jenny did not want an increase in her shares, but I put my foot down.

“Jenny, if anything happens and you are alone, you need not only the support of family, but you also need the weight of being a major shareholder. Accept it!”

She regarded me for a long time and finally nodded. “You are right, James. But promise me - You’ll never leave me alone!”

We were not happy these days and we decided that we needed professional drivers for each car; not only for comfort, but principally for protection. It also helped us to concentrate on business during the hours you were in stopped traffic! A perfect solution could not be found immediately, but we had decided which way we would go, and we had enough access to good lawyers that an acceptable solution would be found. Nevertheless, as Eileen had said, we were executives, and these people decide rationally. We gave us, however, a solemn promise that we wouldn’t do anything that might cause this scenario!

Five months later Jenny called a family meeting, and it was a repetition of the one that Maureen had called - she wanted our child now. Apparently, I had no choice and a few weeks later she announced proudly that she also was pregnant. We decided to purchase a house in one of the Sydney suburbs, big enough to house a big family, with a large garden and a wonderful view over the Sydney harbor. It was close to a good school, and it cost a fortune, but all I had to do was to sign the documents and the cheque. We also finished the second house in Brisbane and all that was missing now was to fill it with children.

One afternoon shortly after, Allan called me and asked us to come over for dinner. I advised Maureen and as requested, arrived at seven o’clock. Allan received us at the door and led us to their sitting room where Eileen was sitting prettily. A bottle of champagne was waiting for us, and we looked at Allan - what was the occasion? He opened the bottle, filled our glasses and with a solemn face said, “Please toast to the newest addition of the Moise family.”

I stared at him, but Jenny, our clever Jenny, was the first to realize what had happened.

“Eileen, you are pregnant!” Eileen nodded; a bit self-conscious. “I received a present that I did not expect, but we’re very happy as you can see.”

There were hugs and kisses and I saw in Eileen’s eyes something new - content happiness and a new priority in her life. She had changed. When I kissed her, she whispered, “James, I’ll never forget you and the life you gave me, but now I have another life to care for.”

She kissed me back, but it was a gentle kiss, no sexual intention anymore.

The Schloss de Winter project (or better a dream) did not end here. About two years later, I received a Polish Newspaper cutting with a translation into German, informing that the mayor of the city of Elk had been jailed for corruption and extortion. There was a note from Mr. Bronislaw in the envelope. ‘Count de Winter, things have changed; please come back.’

We discussed this for a long time and even involved Allan and Eileen. Maureen was outvoted and we decided that I would go back to see what could be done. Maureen was pregnant again and Jenny would accompany me this time. We discussed this for a long time and even involved Allan and Eileen. We decided that I would go back to see what could be done. Maureen was pregnant again and Jenny would accompany me this time.

Jenny managed to book Business class flights from Sydney to Berlin (with the customary upgrade to First Class!), and then to a small airport close to Elk. We managed to rent a medium-sized BMW at the airport (no Lada this time!), and Jenny was happy to drive it to Elk.

When we arrived in the city, she went directly to the hotel; the owner was already waiting for us. Jenny was surprised when she saw that I had booked two rooms. Still, I explained to her that Poland is a deeply Catholic country. It would not be appropriate to rub their faces into our very special relationship. She ensured, however, that we had adjoining rooms and that there was a connecting door between the two rooms. She also said quite clearly that only one bed would be used, whatever the Poles might think!

I was told that there would be a meeting at the mayor´s office in the evening and that Mr. Bronislaw and his friends would participate. He smiled when he said, “Count de Winter, everything has changed since you left. Whatever will happen tonight, we are already thankful that you caused this change.”

Jenny arranged our luggage, checked the bed, found it satisfactory, and promised to evaluate its comfort more thoroughly at night. We had a brief lunch and left for the city. This time of the year the sun was still shining, no clouds in the sky (quite a difference when we left last time when it was raining torrentially) and when we arrived at city hall, a crowd was waiting already, smiling and waving. It was strange, to say the least. Somebody took us to the big city hall auditorium, where a group of young men and women were waiting for us. Mr. Bronislaw was standing beside them, with five or six elderly gentlemen close to him. He stepped forward and shook my hand.

“Count de Winter, I’d like to welcome you back to Elk. Your previous visit was short, but brought big changes in the city. The corruption has stopped, and we see a future again for this city. For this alone, I’d like to thank you, and I hope that even bigger changes can be made once we sit down and discuss your dreams, which you had for you and us. May I introduce Mr. Anton Smirsky, the new mayor of Elk.”

A younger man, perhaps in his early forties, stepped forward and shook my hand.

“Welcome, Count de Winter. You had a bad experience the last time; I promise that this will not be repeated. We have a city new management - these are my principal advisors.” Smiling, he turned to Mr. Bronislaw. “I’ll make certain that we listen to our wiser citizens.”

His English was excellent, and when he looked at Jenny, there was a moment of admiration for a beautiful woman in his eyes.

I introduced Jenny. “Mr. Mayor, this is Mary Ann Parker, my Senior Executive Vice President for Operations of NT, our global holding company. If we came to an agreement, she would probably handle most of the business. Unfortunately, Maureen couldn’t come this time because she’s pregnant!”

There were congratulations from everyone, and the Mayor smiled politely. “Miss Parker, you just have to smile at us; we’ll give you whatever you want.”

Jenny´s eyes became cold. “Mr. Mayor, we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars for this project. I hope that it’ll take more than a smile to come to an agreement that’s profitable for all of us.”

Mr. Smirsky took a step back; he had looked at a beautiful young woman, not the experienced business executive she had become. He recovered rapidly, however.

¨Miss Parker, I expressed myself incorrectly. We know that our negotiations will not be easy; not because we want it, but because we’ll have to get the federal government involved. There are rules about selling land to foreigners and other limitations about local participation in big projects. We had our first contact with Warsaw, and I believe that we’ll be successful. What I heard from Mr. Bronislaw about your proposal makes me believe that you’ll get what you want, fulfilling your moral sense of obligation to this area where your family lived for a long time. We also know our history - there were never any foul deeds attached to that name, but I also believe that we could get much more out of it - a future for a dying city. We assume that you want to start early, as your time is valuable, and you cannot stay here forever. However, I’d like to invite you for dinner tonight, and I would appreciate it if you could give us a brief summary of your ideas. You may speak in German or English; we’ll have translators available.”

It was a pretty little speech; Jenny relaxed and nodded. ¨Mr. Mayor, we can stay for four days starting tomorrow, and we accept your invitation for dinner gratefully.”

Peace had been re-established. We mingled with the people present; I more with the Bronislaw crowd, Jenny with the younger people. For a moment, I thought it strange that I considered them the younger crowd (after all, they were all older than we were) but experience counts, and we had much more than they had at this moment.

Finally, we could leave to drive back to the hotel to relax for a moment and change. We called Maureen, and there was a duplication of last visit’s phone call from Jenny - complaints about being alone, that she was crying every night and woke up crying, and when would we come back? And she had already selected a hotel in Bali to be compensated for her sacrifices ... Jenny took the phone out of my hand.

“Maureen, we love you, but please settle down and shut up. At least we are not later gallivanting on holidays with the German nobility - upper half! This is all business.”

We had a shower together, as I had been told that saving water was essential in Poland, too! There was a temptation to fool around a bit, but Jenny was adamant - we had to be at City Hall on time. She dressed in her usual business outfit - white blouse, dark blue skirt reaching her knees, dark blue sandals with high heels, and a little Chanel bolero. Her diamond earrings contrasted with her jet-black hair, her pendant was between her breasts and her diamond ring, the confirmation of our union, on her finger. She was beautiful, as always.

I used my dark blue suit, the light blue shirt, and the Hermès tie. She looked at me. “James, you know that you are quite handsome, but remember that you are mine - and Maureen’s!”

She never forgot that we were three.

We arrived on time and were seated at the main table, Jenny on the mayor´s right, I on his left. There were the usual introductions and a welcome toast to the distinguished guests - us. The food was heavy and the wine almost bearable. Most preferred vodka, which was a habit we had them to get away from. Then I was asked to make my speech, which I had decided to do in German.

¨Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for inviting us to tell you once more about the proposal I had offered on my last visit. I apologize for speaking in German, but I was born there, not here, and you know why. I’m a de Winter, and my family has lived here for centuries. I’m proud of my name and my family’s history; your mayor confirmed today that there was never any dishonor or shame connected to us. We respected your rights, and you honored us with your trust. We’ve been separated for decades, but for me, our responsibility and obligations never vanished.”

I took a sip of water, and continued.

“This is why I’m here - I want to see whether the association we had for such a long time could be found again. This needs not only my effort, but it also needs yours much more. I can give you ideas and money, but you have to work hard to make these dreams come true. It’ll be easy to derail this project - a German Count coming back to his family´s grounds, foreign ideas and supervision of the execution of those ideas, and foreign money. I’m not buying you - I will be giving the starting money for a long and complex project. You might remember the Marshall Plan, when the US gave the European countries, even Germany, the conquered country, money and ideas to restart their economy. It worked brilliantly, as you can see when you look at Europe today. I want to do the same for the city of Elk.”

Then I went into my presentation - I would found a holding company, ´Schloss de Winter´, to purchase the castle’s ruins. It would also purchase a large tract of land surrounding the castle, grounds for a stadium to prepare for sports and shows, or any other events that needed a large area. We would also require additional land for hunting and supporting an agricultural college that we would fund. The price would be negotiated between us, but city management had to push everyone to avoid long delays.

The City of Elk would establish a specific construction company, which ´Schloss de Winter` would contract to rebuild the castle and specific infrastructure projects within the area purchased. The architectural and engineering projects would be developed by a German engineering company and needed City of Elk approval; actual work would be done using as much local work as possible. The City would use this new money on infrastructure, for example, on new roads, improvements of hospitals and schools, and the establishment of technical institutes for training the young Elk adolescents in engineering (here, the German engineering company would offer support by allocating professionals to certain teaching positions) and the tourist industry (again we would contract outside help). I was confident that we would receive grants from Brussels and Berlin.