Variation on a Theme, Book 6 - Cover

Variation on a Theme, Book 6

Copyright© 2024 by Grey Wolf

Chapter 79: We Should Have Seen It Coming

Friday, January 10, 1986

 

All good things must come to an end, and today was that end for our ski trip. We made the most of the day, flying down the slopes and spending a lot of time talking and hugging, too.

Dinner, which came a bit early (and after we’d returned all of our rented gear) was both fun and just the tiniest bit bittersweet. We had no idea when we would all be together again. Summer was mentioned, and we all hoped that would happen. Spring break? That could happen. A cruise? Well ... why not? Cruises departed from Los Angeles, after all.

None of us wanted it to go all that long. This week had cemented what we already knew: Jess was part of ‘us.’ That rectangle now had lines (if, perhaps, dashed ones, representing the physical distance we usually had) coming out from each corner and meeting at Jess.

Technically, I suppose that made it a pyramid. Maybe that was right. Who knows? Shapes would get more abstract as more people ‘stuck,’ and I could see that happening from time to time. It would take someone very special to ‘stick’ as thoroughly as Jess had, but there were some very special people out there.


We took quite a while to separate when we finally went to our cars after dinner. There were hugs (and still more hugs), conversations that wouldn’t quite stop, and generally an attempt to stick together as long as possible.

In the end, though, we hugged and kissed, climbed into our cars, and headed down the mountain. We would be back together before too long.

This was probably our life going forward. Periods of reconnecting with Jess, followed by periods of absence. She still — and forever, most likely — wasn’t entirely right for any of the four of us. The ones we were engaged to were ‘the one’ for each of us. But Jess was right for our family, and close to right for each of us in one way or another.

Absence would indeed make the heart grow fonder. We were certain of that.


We checked in to a Holiday Inn close to LAX and quickly settled into our rooms. By popular agreement, tonight was, again, the couples. We would almost certainly stick with that for a few days, not shuffling rooms until we got back to College Station.

Once we did, a one-on-one night with Paige was a priority. We had assumed one would happen during the ski trip. It hadn’t — for the best of reasons — but it mattered.

So was talking to the potentially engaged Cammie and Mel. We all hoped they were engaged, anyway! Cammie had made it clear they had some other interesting topics, ones that might well involve the three of us having some alone time together as well.

Life was certainly not slowing down. If anything, it was speeding up, and that wasn’t even counting my hope that Michael was finally going to find his pick for the job of President and need me to meet and interview whoever the lucky person was.

Darla was, probably, on the downhill phase of the roller coaster, with perhaps another hill or two along the way, but the big one past us. That might be wrong, but it seemed likely. We had more to do — if she wanted — but the biggest part was accomplished.

Amy? A totally different story. Unless she changed her mind, I was nearly certain that her roller coaster was still going up that first big hill. I wasn’t even sure if that was the only big hill with her, or if it might be a succession of them.

After all, first Jas, then Jess, and — in a way, at least — now Paige had proven that roller coasters don’t have to end. Sometimes you get on and the ride just continues indefinitely.


Saturday, January 11, 1986

 

We were up and out of our hotel rooms fairly early in the morning. Even with a ten o’clock flight, we weren’t getting back to Houston until nearly five with the time zone change.

LAX was busier than it had been on New Year’s Eve, but it wasn’t crazy or anything, and we were at our gate well before flight time.

We again lucked into a two-thirds full flight and had empty seats in our rows. While boarding, Angie made the point that this was our first flight as engaged people. It wasn’t until we’d gotten settled that Paige added that it wasn’t my first flight with that status. Since I didn’t say it, I didn’t get whapped, and Paige was too cute to whap. That was Angie’s excuse for not doing it, anyway.

The flight was quiet and we were all a bit tired. After the lunch, which was pretty good, we settled in to nap for a bit.

When the flight attendants offered cocktails, Jas made the point that we were all back to being ‘underage,’ and would be until next year. Texas hadn’t grandfathered anyone in, so we couldn’t legally buy alcohol until we were twenty-one.

The house had a pretty solid assortment of beer and wine, so there was no immediate worry, and I had still only been carded a couple of times in my life. Ironically, those had been when I was over twenty-one. As long as I was buying a reasonable quantity — and especially if it was part of a large grocery order — my odds of being carded were low.

Amusingly, I had bought alcohol along with groceries and paid using a check quite a few times in my first life at nineteen and twenty. Grocery stores routinely required ID for checks. Not one of them had ever rejected the purchase because of my age. I’m sure the poor clerk didn’t want to put away all of those groceries!


As expected, all of the parents were there to meet us at the gate. They went with us to baggage claim, then off to the parking lot. Everyone got into their cars, with Tony and Jean driving Camille and Francis to our destination, the same restaurant near the airport where we’d eaten before.

We went over a carefully edited version of our ski trip, omitting many details of Jess’s visit. It was easier to say that we’d gotten a three-bedroom cabin and that Jess had joined us for skiing and had a great time at it, possibly surpassing our abilities within her first week of trying.

That was certainly true, as far as it went. We just didn’t mention that we hadn’t so much as opened the door of that third bedroom. Nor that we hadn’t taken any of our suitcases into our rooms and had changed in the living room the whole time.

Who knows? Camille and Francis would have supported it, anyway.

It sounded like the Knott’s Berry Farm trip had been everything the parents wanted it to be, and each couple was happy with their alone-together time in Los Angeles as well. If only a little, we might have jump-started the parental traveling plan.

Tonight’s plan was for all four of us to stay at Mom and Dad’s. Tomorrow the couples would move to the other parents’ houses. We would go back to College Station on Monday, making this a short trip, but we had classes starting in a week and things to get ready.


When we got home, Mom pulled Angie and me aside while Dad talked to Jas and Paige about skiing.

“Not that I think ... um. Well. Let’s leave that,” she said.

“Mom?” Angie said.

“We ... talked. Sam and I. Engagements ... we think that changes the rules. Which means ... we don’t have any. You are adults and ... you know what I mean.”

Angie hugged her.

“Thank you, Mom,” she said. “Not ... I mean. It’s not ... it’s ... it means a lot, no matter what we do or don’t do.”

“The same for us, Mom. It’s not about what happens. We appreciate you and Dad saying that,” I said.

“It’s been ... quite a journey,” she said, sighing and smiling. “You two have handled it amazingly well. We’re very proud of you and we just could not be happier with your wonderful brides-to-be. And ... if we’re proud of you, and pleased as punch about welcoming them into our family ... we can’t see how anything else would be right.”

“It means a lot,” I said.

“And we’re very thankful. And ... I mean, for years of welcoming them and treating them as if they were already your daughters-in-law,” Angie said. “I can’t find the words to express how much that means to me — to us! — but I can tell you we talk about it — all four of us — and it means so much.”

“We love you very much,” I said. “All four of us.”

She sniffled and smiled.

“Enough! We love you, too. All four of you!”

We headed in. That answered one long-standing question. I totally didn’t expect our behavior to change tonight, and it might never change. As Angie said, it wasn’t about what we did nearly as much as it was about having their approval to do as we felt appropriate.


Mom and Dad went right to bed, and the four of us just followed them. Sure, it was two hours earlier in the time zone we’d awoken in, but we were tired and wanted to get back on a schedule.

Once Jas and I were snuggled up, she said, “Your mom had something?”

“She did. Big, and not big, maybe?”

“Guessing ... we have a green light if we want it.”

“That’s it,” I said, nodding.

“And we don’t. Not tonight. Maybe not anytime soon.”

“That’s where I am.”

“Pretty sure you’re thinking what I’m thinking. Her offering matters. She would be fine if we did something, but she doesn’t care that we’re not jumping to take advantage,” she said.

“Yeah, I think that’s exactly right.”

“I love sleeping here, and I’ve almost never truly missed doing more. Long-term ... maybe it matters, maybe it doesn’t. She’s thinking we’ll be house guests for a long time. I’m not at all sure that’s true.”

“Once the money happens, I feel like hotels are much more likely most of the time. It’s really nice having time with them, but we can hang out right until they’re ready for bed. They might miss breakfasts, but we’ll adjust,” I said.

“The money and graduation are probably close to the same time. Weddings are first, and that ... I’m sure we’re staying in a hotel for that.”

“Oh, me, too!” I said. “Superstition says we stay in separate rooms, too.”

“I am totally unsure about that. Silly superstitions are fun, and I want ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.’ Not seeing your intended until the ceremony? I ... don’t know. We’ll discuss it with Angie and Paige.”

“You know that’s ‘I’ll discuss it with Paige.’ Angie and I will do whatever suits the two of you.”

She giggled and nodded.

“Okay, that’s totally fair. Angie’s nominally ‘the guy’ in all of this.”

“Very cute, for a guy.”

“As a guy, she’s hideous. As a girl, she’s very cute.”

“Toe-may-toe, toh-mah-tow.”

She giggled and nodded.

“Fine. Fair enough!”

“Sleep?”

“We could...” she started. Then she grinned and added, “But we won’t, and really shouldn’t, so ... sleep.”

“I love you!”

“I love you, too!”


Sunday, January 12, 1986

 

I should have expected this.

Honestly, we all should have.

Luckily, things went better than they could have, but that was due to some fortuitous timing. Even so, it was ... not good.

One of the Elders (lay people who were church officers, had roles in the service, or both) happened to be near the door when we came in. He greeted us. In the course of answering, ‘How have things been?’ either he spotted the rings or someone said something. I’m not sure which, but it doesn’t matter.

He quickly pulled Dad aside and said something. Dad frowned, but nodded. They talked quickly, after which the Elder (I think his name was Watson, or maybe Winston) headed off.

“Trouble,” Mom said, and I could nearly see the storm clouds lurking in that simple word.

“Maybe,” Dad said. Then, seemingly reluctantly, he added, “Probably.”

Angie and Paige nodded. Paige, surprisingly or not, was the one to say, “We maybe should have seen this coming.”

Angie sighed, nodded, and said, “Yeah. We should have.”

The Elder (Wilson?) came back with Dr. Ott in tow. At this point before a service, Dr. Ott had important things to do, so this was clearly serious.

After a very brief conversation with Dad, Dr. Ott faced everyone and sighed.

“I am not sure how to ... address this.”

“We think we know,” Angie said.

“I am ... in an awkward position,” he said, sighing again. “As the spiritual leader of this congregation, I cannot support your choices. But I also teach, and strongly believe, one must always love the sinner while regretting the sin. I am ... I am not saying I expect, or ask, you to think of yourselves as sinners, merely that I believe you will understand I must.”

Angie and Paige both nodded, rather solemnly.

“This is ... somewhat different. There are those who believe sin must be met with condemnation. That sinners must repent or be cast out of fellowship forthwith. Some of those are members of this congregation. They ... were already ... unhappy. Rings will...”

Again, Paige was the one to speak first. She said, “We appreciate the position you’re in, Dr. Ott. Please understand, I have nothing but respect for you, and I say that as an outsider who was not raised here or even knew you before you did a wonderful thing for friends of mine.”

He nodded, giving her a slight smile.

“It ... might we sit in a pew toward the back and leave quickly? Perhaps? The two of us, at least, leaving right away? This is...”

Paige sighed, then said, “As a matter of principle, I don’t think I can take my ring off for this, but I don’t want to make my future father-in-law and mother-in-law miss seeing their friends and attending the service.”

Mom was clearly a bit restless, and Dad only a bit less, but Paige caught it and tried to wave them off.

Dr. Ott nodded a bit, clearly thinking it over, then nodded again.

“Elder Winstead knows, but he will be discreet. That would be fine. I wish this was not such an awkward situation. You are both wonderful people, please know that, and I — and God — wish you every good thing in your lives. This is ... not about that. Not at all.”

“We understand,” Paige said. “It’s about splitting your congregation, and you must minister to all of them, not just some.”

“Thank you for being so understanding,” he said. “Sam, Helen?”

They stepped aside. Whatever he said seemed to mollify them, if only a little. After speaking to them, he bowed to us slightly, then went off to do whatever he needed to do.

“We’ll talk after the service,” was all Mom could make herself say. She didn’t seem angry, but ... something. Very likely, the right word was ‘sad,’ and it might be close to ‘heartbroken.’ I was pretty sure I understood. If so, it might mean I wouldn’t be in this building many more times. Perhaps never again.


The service itself was fine. As far as I could tell, we received no strange looks except one from an usher who was startled (rightly so) when Mom and Dad and the rest of us took the back pew on the side, instead of sitting in the third row, which had been their preference for literally all of my life (both of them, even).

Besides the different location, though, nothing odd happened. It was not a communion service, so no difficult choices needed to be made. They would have been difficult, though. Angie had technically been ‘out of communion’ for years, but that had been overlooked. I didn’t think it could have been overlooked today, though.

 
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