Chapter 15: Homecoming

Making love to Carina was always an adventure. Sometimes it was slow and soothing like a gentle brook flowing through a meadow. And other times it was fast and furious like a West Texas tornado. Tonight, it was a combination. It was as if we were desperate and at the same time so happy. The one thing about tonight was that I didn’t have to get up at 3:30am for watch duty. That part of my journey was over. And I knew that when I left her arms in the morning, I might not ever be in them again like this. So our lovemaking went on for hours.

Finally, we got up and showered and change the sheets. When she was lying in my arms again, we talked. Mostly about my upcoming golf tournament and what options I might have afterward. I happened to mention Captain Alfred’s invitation to sail with them again in the spring.

“I know. Roland and I have been invited as well. I think that it will be wonderful and can’t wait to see you again,” she said. Later our conversation wandered around to what she was going to do.

“Well, Roland has asked me to step down at the clinic and do something that is less time consuming, so I have decided that when I get back to Cannes, I’m going to start working out and get myself in the best shape that I can. Then, a month before our spring cruise, I’m going to stop all my birth control. That way, when we’re together, you can get me pregnant!”

“Pregnant?” I asked, not sure I heard her correctly.

“Yes. I’ve decided I want to have your baby. With the medical care available today, it’s perfectly acceptable for a thirty-eight-year-old healthy woman to give birth. Roland wanted me to find somewhere else to use my talents, and this is what I have chosen. I’m going to have your baby!”

“Are you sure?” I asked her. The thought of being a daddy scared me as I didn’t have a way to support them. And I told her that.

“Alex, my darling, money is the least of our worries. Besides, I was in med school when I had Mischa and Phillipe and didn’t get to be a real mommy. Will you still want me when my belly is sticking out?”

“Of course. I’d love you no matter what you look like. But what about Roland?” I asked.

“We’ll discuss it, of course. But I believe he will see my reasoning. Will you like me when my boobies become big and swollen with milk?”

“You can’t know how erotically exciting that sounds,” I told her.

“Then let’s practice making a baby one more time before you go,” she purred.

When I got out of the shower Monday morning, Carina had laid out a pair of shorts and a collared pullover that she had bought me on a trip to a neighboring village last fall.

“Just leave your bags and we’ll take care of getting them to the house,” she said as she sat on the edge of the bed in a bikini and a short, flowery robe. “I think it’s going to be hard to get used to wearing clothes, this time. But there are boats anchored all around us and we will be in view of many homes when we’re on deck.”

I dressed and just stood there looking like a little lost boy, not knowing what to say or do.

“You have a special gift, Alex. Never be ashamed of it. There is a future out there for you and hopefully, Roland and I helped to prepare you for it. You’ve come a long way since last April, but you have so much further to go on your adventure. Thank you for letting me be a small part of it.”

Then she rose and kissed my cheek and headed up the stairs to the salon. I stood there a moment and then, for the first time, I thanked my lucky stars for that lightning bolt that hit me.

The Serendipity was tied to a private pier and chaos reigned as everybody ran in every direction, borrowing clothes in the case of the pilots and the Hudson’s, to gathering up the things to pack and get ready to go.

The plans were for the Serendipity to leave tomorrow and head to Ft Lauderdale where she would be pulled from the water, inspected and repaired as necessary for the upcoming spring trip. The Hudsons were renting a car and heading for home in Tampa, and the Fourreau’s along with Vivienne, Mischa, and Phillipe were renting a car and headed for Disney World.

The two pilots, Leigh Ann and Samantha were headed for the airport and the short flight to Norfolk Naval Air Station. Roland and Carina had elected to remain with me through the weekend and would fly to Orlando next Monday to fly home with the rest of the crew.

I was sitting on the bridge drinking a cup of coffee and trying to stay out of the way when Isabella came up.

“You ready to get off of here and go shopping?” she asked excitedly.

“Truthfully, I’d like to just raise anchor and sail away,” I told her without enthusiasm.

“Well, you are about to start on a brand new adventure and just think, you may love it as well!”

Our shopping trip was a whirlwind. Isabella had a taxi waiting that took us to downtown Nassau where we visited a couple of clothing stores. She seemed to know what she wanted which didn’t allow me much time for browsing.

“Here,” she said handing me four hangers with pants on them. “Take these in there and try them on. Unless they don’t fit, I want to see what they look like on you.”

I felt like a little boy whose mommy had to inspect every purchase, but at the same time, I was grateful for Isabella’s guidance because I had no idea what kind of ‘look’ they were going for. Turns out they were looking for clothing that made me look older and more chic. It wasn’t what I usually wore, but then, I didn’t usually play golf on the Korn Ferry Tour, or do interviews on camera.

After three stores, we took another taxi to the Pro Shop at the Paradise Island Golf and Country Club. There I was fitted with four golf shirts and matching slacks for the four days of the tournament. I thought she was being a little presumptuous that I would even qualify for the third and fourth days.

“Better to have them and not use them than to need them and not have them,” she told me. She also picked out accessories such as belts, a couple of caps, six gloves, six towels, as well as two pairs of golf shoes, some tees, an umbrella, a sweater, and a light rain jacket.

“What about golf balls?” I asked.

“Your dad is taking care of those, along with your bag and clubs,” she replied. “Speaking of your dad, we need to get back to the house. They should be there by now.”

Isabella paid for the stuff with a credit card and I shuddered when I saw the total. Between that and the clothes, someone had spent over five thousand dollars on me. I didn’t know how I would ever repay it.

When we returned to the rental house, I spent some time hugging and kissing my mom and sisters and then hugged my dad. That’s when I saw Archara and Carina and their families coming in the patio door from the pier and went to hug them as well.

Then the introductions began.

“Everyone, this is my dad, Darrel Masters and my mom, Laura. And these are my sisters, Kelly Ann and Jenna. Jenna’s also my twin,” I explained.

“Family,” I said. “These are my adoptive families. This is Captain Alfred Fourreau of the Marine Nationale, and his wife, Princess Archara, and their daughters Anna and Charlotte, and their son, Henri. The girl next to Henri is Vivienne, a close family friend.

“The young lady beside me is Marie Consuelo Lucia Isabella de la Vega. She is my protection detail and clothes hound. She mostly goes by Isabella and she’s also Dr. Roland’s half-sister.

“And this is Phillipe and Mischa Rappeneau, my adopted brother and sister. And this ... is their parents and my caretakers for the last nine months, Dr. Roland Rappeneau and Dr. Carina Rappeneau.”

I went over and hugged Roland and Carina, then keeping my hand on Carina’s shoulder, I steered her towards my mother.

“I understand that you two have talked before, but never face-to-face. Remember, Carina, what happened on the Serendipity, stays on the Serendipity. And mom, don’t be pulling up my baby pictures and stuff to embarrass me!”

Then taking my dad’s elbow, I steered him over to Roland and Captain Alfred.

“All three of you, don’t embarrass me either,” I said.

Then I went to where the girls were standing and motioned for Kelly Ann and Jenna to come over. When they did, I went through first names again for all six girls, and just left. I knew that a warning not to embarrass me would cause all of them to do it faster. I had no illusions that my family would find out about our clothing optional lifestyle on the boat, I just hoped that they didn’t go into too much detail.

Then I headed for the bathroom, but before I could make it those twenty feet or so, I heard my mother exclaim, “NAKED! He did not! Did he really?”

Of course, that just could not be ignored, and soon ALL the women were in a huddle in the living room. Fortunately, the five guys had stepped out on the back deck and were looking at the massive catamaran that was overshadowing the pier.

When I returned from the bathroom, Cynthiana was overseeing the caterers as they spread out a lunch buffet on the counters.

“It looks like I now owe you for a shopping spree and a briefcase,” I told her as I began filling my plate.

“We’ll see. Let’s get you through the week and then we’ll discuss the money,” she told me. I know she meant well, but her response just made me worry more.

I was sitting alone at the dining table, chowing down on my overfilled plate when Carina and Mom sat down beside me. They had drinks, but no food and Carina quickly snatched a wing off my plate.

“Alex, do you want to tell me about your cruise?” she asked.

I wasn’t falling for that one!

“No,” I told her.

“Alex? Did you tell me no?” she asked sternly. “I asked you a question, young man.”

“Mrs. Rappeneau!” I called across the room. “Help!”

Everyone watched as she crossed the open kitchen and dining room to where we sat.

“Yes, Mr. Masters,” she replied.

“As my attorney of record,” I said, trying to sound official. “Since I am eighteen-years-old, am I required to answer questions about our cruise?”

She thought for a minute and then said, “No. Not unless you want to go home!”

All the adults laughed at that.

“But Mommm!” I whined. Suddenly the lights began to flicker and several cell phones began to make a strange noise. Carina, who was sitting next to me jumped into my lap and started kissing me. After about thirty seconds, she backed off and with an embarrassed grin she said, “Well that’s the way we learned to keep him from losing his temper and destroying the boat. Usually, whoever was closest to him.”

“Well, if you lose your temper at my home, don’t expect me to do that!” she said as she left the table.

“Don’t worry, Alex. She’ll come around the first time the lights start flickering!” Archara quipped.

I noticed my twin sister giving me a weird look.

That was just the first of many revelations for my family. I didn’t realize that I had changed so much in just nine months. But for the rest of the afternoon, it seemed that something was always coming up that shocked or even scared my original family somewhat.

After lunch, my dad wanted to know about the navy ship and planes. When he called Mrs. Rappeneau over for some questions, all the women followed and I had to go through my story again.

Fortunately, my mom asked, “What were you doing running that big boat in the middle of the night by yourself?” Thankfully, her question diverted most of the follow-up questions about crippling a navy ship single-handedly.

Captain Alfred took that one and ran with it for a few minutes, telling my parent all about how gifted I was as a natural seaman. I saw my dad swelling up a little with pride. But my mom still looked doubtful. It was Princess Archara who saved me this time.

“Laura,” Archara said. “Carina and I both know how difficult it can be to let go of them sometimes. But you were forced to let Alex go nine months ago, and just because he was not under your watchful eye all that time, does not mean Alex stopped growing. In fact, if I understand Roland and Carina correctly, Alex has grown more in the last nine months than he did in most of the seventeen years before that.”

“But when he left here, he was still my baby,” she cried.

“And I would venture to say that he’ll always be your little boy. But just because he’s back doesn’t mean he’s the same Alex who left nine months ago. And there’s nothing you can do to make him back into the son that he was then. No more than you could make him be the little first level (first grade) boy he was many years ago,” Archara told her.

About 2:30, a black SUV with dark tinted windows pulled to the curb. After a long pause, a single man stepped from the rear, removed his suit coat and threw it back in the car and then walked up the short driveway. By this time, I was on the porch with Dad and Captain Alfred behind me.

“Hello, my name is Lloyd Bickerstaff and I am the Counsel General for the US Consulate here in the Bahamas. Are you Mr. Alexander Masters?” he asked.

I looked him up and down as Mrs. Rappeneau came forward.

“I’m Mr. Masters’ attorney. Why do you ask?”

“I came to invite him to the Consulate for a talk with some United States Government officials who would like to speak with him.

“No,” I said and turned to walk back inside.

“Mr. Masters, the US Government can make your life very difficult if you refuse to cooperate,” he said with just a touch of menace in his voice.

I stopped and turned towards him. Carina quickly grabbed my arm in warning. But I had this covered.

“Mr. Bickerstaff, do you have your cellphone on you?” I asked.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a smartphone.

“I suppose that you have the capability of reaching someone who is awake and on duty on the bridge of the USS Eisenhower at this moment. They’re in the Mediterranean, I believe. I would suggest you call them right now.”

I was surprised he did it without arguing, then realized he had called the ambassador who told him to call the Navy. It took him almost three minutes before he finally reached the USS Eisenhower and another minute for the radio operator to get the captain.

“When the Captain comes, tell him that his ship is about to lose all power except to the reactors, in approximately sixty seconds.”

“What?” he asked.

“You heard me. Fifty-five seconds.

When the captain came on, Bickerstaff hurriedly explained about losing power in thirty seconds. Instead of arguing, the captain turned and immediately began issuing orders. While he was doing that, I counted it down for him. “... 6,... 5,... 4,... 3,... 2,... 1.”

Since I had learned of the complex firing system on the corvette, I decided to leave behind my mark and completely destroyed the launch computer before letting things return to normal.

“I’d suggest you call the Captain back and explain how that little demonstration was compliments of your superiors. Now, unless you want to lose every ship in the fleet in less than ten seconds, I suggest that the US Government stay far away from Alex Masters! Do you understand?”

There was no response as he was already hightailing it to his car. For good measure, I blew the air conditioner controls in their car as they pulled away.

After the incident with the Consulate, everyone wanted to come with me. But I explained how I desperately needed practice time to myself, so I hopped in dad’s rental car and we drove the three hundred meters to the clubhouse.

When we got out of the car at the Paradise Island Golf Club, dad showed me two different sets of new fairway clubs he had brought with him. I took the Callaway driver and hefted it my hands and it felt good. Then I tried the Ping driver. There was something oddly familiar about that driver so I told dad I’d practice with the Ping’s today and the Calloway’s tomorrow.

Then he pulled out a set of Taylor Made irons and a set of Titleist irons. I tried both and finally settled on the Taylor Made mostly because my dad loved his Taylor Made’s. I also took both of the putters he brought. Then slipping an entire box of Titleist Pro-V 1’s in my new bag, we made our way to the clubhouse.

Never having done this before, we simply went to the guy behind the counter and told him who I was and how I had no idea what to do next in order to use the practice range.

“He smiled at us and told me, “Relax, man. We have your back. Andy will be here in a minute to show you where to go. Got everything you’ll need?”

“Oh, yes,” I told him. “We spent a small fortune in here this morning already.”

“Well, you just bear in mind that every single one of them golfers out there has done been exactly where you are today. And I dare say that a good many of them will be more than happy to help out the new guy. So go tear ‘em up kid!” he told me.

Dad and I looked at each other. This might just be fun. I could feel my old excitement about playing golf beginning to come out again.

“Ahh, here’s Andy now,” he said a few moments later as an older gentleman pulled up in a golf cart that had a Pro Shop advertisement on the side.

He quickly whisked us and my clubs around to the Player’s entrance to the clubhouse. I had to go through the paperwork gauntlet to get registered and was then assigned a locker. After a quick look at my locker, we headed out to the practice range.

I only made it a few steps when it hit me! I was doing it! I was walking up to my first professional tour practice range. Then I got scared as I remembered that I hadn’t picked up a club in over nine months. But my dad hefted my bag to his shoulder, just like a professional caddy and said, “Let’s check over there.”

He was right. To the side was a table with a couple of guys in shorts and golf shirts with the Paradise Island Golf Club logo on them. One of them checked me in and the other handed us two knit bags of balls. “Leave the empties on the range and come on back if you need some more, man,” he said.

There were more than two dozen guys hitting balls and we had to walk all the way to the end of the range to find an empty slot. I felt bad as I didn’t recognize a single one of them. But you could tell who the more popular ones were as they had several reporters and social media bloggers surrounding them. Quite a few had coaches who were filming their swings with their iPads and then reviewing them with the golfer. Others just had someone watching their swings and making an occasional suggestion.