Chapter 27: Thanksgiving Break, Part IV

November, 1981, Milford, Ohio

Kara came out quickly when she saw me pull into the driveway. I barely had time to stop and go around to open the door for her, for which I was rewarded with a quick peck and a sultry look of promise for later. We headed to Skyline, where Kathy wanted to meet. Kathy and Kurt were already there when Kara and I walked in. I introduced Kurt and Kara to each other, then all four of us ordered, with Kathy insisting that Kurt get 5-way. We had a nice lunch and a good chat. Afterwards, as we were walking back to the car, Kara reminded me that she had a list of things from Joyce that we needed to get at the grocery store.

We headed over to Fazio’s and picked up the requested items. I paid for the groceries, then we headed to the apartment to drop them off. Because we had a few hours before Joyce arrived, we decided to take a walk around Milford.

“Do you know why Stephanie wants to get together on Friday?”

“She told me that because you two were going to be sisters, she thought you two should get to know each other better. I think she’s looking for an older friend, too. She told me she misses talking to me, but I also suspect she wants an older female view of things.”

“That makes sense. Maybe I’ll try to set up something regular with her.”

“I think she’d like that. My mom won’t, but I guarantee my dad will make sure it happens. I’ll talk to him about it.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Well, Tracey asked me to come to a party at her house, but I told her I’d rather not.”

“Why not? I’m sure you would have a good time.”

That was an understatement!

I chuckled, “Well, true. But I don’t think I’ll go.”

“You should go! Seriously.”

I laughed, “I don’t think you want me to. You have to keep this to yourself, Kara. It’s a sex party!”

“Oh!” she said, her hand covering her mouth.

“Yeah.” I grinned. “She invited other kids from Milford High. I figured you wouldn’t want to go and you wouldn’t want me to go.”

“You figured right! That’s way over the line even for the ‘New Kara’ and I don’t want you doing something like that.”

“That’s what I thought.”

She giggled, “Though I am sure you would have a lot of fun.”

“Actually, if you think about it, it’s a bad idea, anyway. Why would I want to keep the reputation going? It doesn’t make sense. It’s better to just let it fade away. And besides,” I said, putting my arm around her waist, “I prefer sex with you by far!”

She gave me a quick peck on the lips with a smile.

“And I love creating my reputation with YOU!” I added, stealing a quick kiss from her.

She laughed, and we kept walking, hand-in-hand. We walked along the river and then finally back to the apartment to wait for Joyce, who arrived about ten minutes later. Joyce immediately checked everything that we’d purchased as well as what she’d brought with her and realized she was missing something.

“I need four tomatoes,” she said. “I should have put them on the list for you and Kara to get, but I forgot. Would you run out and get them?”

“Sure. Did you plan dessert?”

“You could get some ice cream from United Dairy Farmers.”

“Will do,” I said, grabbing my keys and heading out.

I was back in fifteen minutes with the tomatoes and the UDF hand-packed ice cream. I put the ice cream in the freezer, then went to sit on the couch and relax while the girls cooked dinner. They chatted quietly while they cooked, as they usually did. Kara made some hot chocolate and gave me a mug. The girls finished their prep work and left everything to cook, and came and sat with me.

“Steve, would you have gone to a party like that in the past?” Kara asked.

“Probably, though none of my girlfriends would have gone. Tracey would have had to find someone to pair with me.”

“What kind of party?” Joyce asked.

“A naughty one,” I grinned. “Basically ‘Truth or Dare’ and ‘Spin the Bottle’ but apparently with no limits, if you catch my drift.”

Joyce nodded. “Before he went to Sweden, that would have been something Steve would have gone for in a heartbeat,” she said, “But since then? It’s not his style anymore. Although it might be amusing to see the reaction of those Sophomores to Steve in a game of Truth or Dare! And to his, uhm, skills.”

I chuckled, “That would be amusing. But I’d never do that without Kara’s permission. And even if she gave it, I’d be concerned about getting a reputation with another set of kids at Milford. Forget it. And that said, if these kids are Tracey’s friends, and she invites them, you might be shocked at their, uhm, skills!”

Joyce got up to check on the meal, then came back and sat with us. When dinner had about ten minutes left to cook, Kara set the table while Joyce finished up with the cooking. As usual, dinner was fantastic. Joyce and Kara had made a simple meat sauce, penne pasta, squash, and a tossed salad. Joyce also had brought a bottle of wine. Despite the simple nature of the food, it was awesome. When we finished, I served the strawberry ice cream that I’d picked up at UDF.

I helped Kara clean up while Joyce made coffee. The girls sat on the couch and I sat in the easy chair. Joyce told us about her classes at UC and said she was hoping to teach in the Loveland school district when she graduated. I found it fascinating that she’d want to stay in the same place she’d grown up, given both Kara and I wanted to be pretty much anywhere but Milford.

Joyce offered us refills of coffee and we accepted. She brought the pot over and filled our cups, then sat back down.

“Hey, Joyce,” Kara said with an impish smile. “Do you want to do what you suggested back in June?”

“In June?” Joyce asked with a puzzled look on her face.

I knew exactly what Kara was getting at, and I simply didn’t believe she was serious. I had teased her about her wanting it, but I hadn’t been sure she’d ever quite be able to take that step. I knew she might be teasing, and I also knew that if she wasn’t that she might back out part-way through.

“When Steve was upset after Jennifer told him she wasn’t going to move to Chicago. You remember?”

Joyce smiled invitingly, then glanced my way before saying, “Oh, that!”

I gave a small shrug.

“How much wine did you have tonight, Kara?” Joyce asked.

“Just one glass, I promise. Would you want to?”

“Well, I said we’d ‘fuck him until he forgot Jennifer’, but I don’t think he needs that anymore,” Joyce said neutrally.

“True,” Kara said.

The way Kara said that, it kind of sounded like she might be taking that way out. But I knew Joyce well enough that she’d make at least one more comment.

“Of course,” Joyce said with a sly smile, “we could fuck him until he forgot about Tracey’s party!”

Kara smiled at me, “I’m game if you are, Joyce!”

I kept quiet. Kara had made it clear that she didn’t want me to try to talk her out of things like this. I was still suspicious. I also wasn’t sure if Joyce would actually go through with it. She’d once said she’d do anything I wanted, but what the girls were talking about might be the line that she wouldn’t cross. And I was sure that she would also be concerned about Kara.

“I told Steve I’d do pretty much anything he wanted,” Joyce said. “If he wants it, then I’m game. Of course, the real question is, are you serious or teasing?”

That answered one question. I had started to wonder if Joyce and Kara had discussed this beforehand, perhaps when I went out for the missing groceries, but it appeared that wasn’t the case. From Kara’s own admission, I knew that Kara had discussed such things in at least a round-about way with Joyce, but I also knew that when it came right down to it, it might be a line Kara couldn’t cross.

Kara sat quietly for a minute, which told me more about the situation. She’d said it in a way that sounded like teasing and would let her gracefully avoid doing something she didn’t really want to do. Now Joyce had called her on it and Kara’s pause made it clear to me that she had at least thought about doing it, though she still wasn’t sure.

“Steve, do me a favor,” Joyce requested, “Go take a walk. Stay out for fifteen minutes or so.”

I nodded, grabbed my jacket, walked out of the apartment, then walked out of the building into the overcast evening. The temperature was in the low 30s, but I didn’t find it cold. I walked a route around the neighborhood that I thought would take twenty minutes and then walked back into the apartment. I found the girls sitting exactly where they had been when I had left. I took off my coat and sat back down.

Joyce caught my eye and almost imperceptibly shook her head to let me know that it wasn’t going to happen. I had a strong suspicion that Joyce had talked Kara out of it for some reason, or that just a question or two had caused Kara to back away from it. I was sure that I would find out later what had happened. It didn’t upset me, because it hadn’t been something I was expecting.

My guess was that Joyce was concerned about how it would affect Kara to see me have sex with someone else. I knew Joyce wasn’t bothered by the notion of a threesome. The more I thought about that, the more I was sure that was likely what had happened. Of course, there could be other reasons as well. I knew that Kara would tell me honestly if I asked her.

“Let’s go see a movie,” Joyce suggested. “Ragtime is playing in Mariemont. It has James Cagney, so I suspect it has to be pretty good, and it received good reviews in the paper.”

“Kara? What do you think?” I asked.

“Sure. Let’s go,” Kara replied. “Joyce, is it OK if I talk to Steve for a minute, alone?”

Joyce nodded and grabbed her coat and the cooler, and walked out of the apartment.

“I’m sorry,” Kara said, stepping into my arms.

I hugged her tight, “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I love you, Kara. Don’t worry about it.”

“But I wanted to do it for you,” she said, sniffling.

“Kara Anne Blanchard, it’s not about doing it for me, it’s about doing it for you! Would you go to Tracey’s party for me, just because I wanted to?”

“No, I wouldn’t want to, though if you insisted, you know I would. But you would never ask me to do that because of how much you love me and how you think a husband should treat his wife.”

I smiled at the husband/wife comment. It was, indeed, how she was thinking and what she said did reflect how I thought. Despite my reluctance to get engaged early next Summer, I did think she was right about the relationship, in the long term.

“Precisely,” I replied. “And did I ask you for a threesome with Joyce? Or anyone, for that matter?”

“No, I guess you didn’t,” Kara admitted. “You’ve made comments about liking the idea, but it’s true, you never asked.”

“Joyce asked you why, didn’t she?”

“Yes. And I told her. And that’s when she told me that we shouldn’t do it.”

“And she’s right, Honey. If you want to do this for you, because you want to, then ask. But don’t do it because you think I’ll like it.”

She hugged me tight and kissed me several times on the cheek, “Thank you,” she whispered.

I helped her into her coat, shut off the lights, locked the door and we joined Joyce by the cars. We’d take both cars so that she could head home straight from the theater. The three of us thoroughly enjoyed the movie, which was a period piece set in the first decade of the twentieth century. Cagney did a great job, despite being over eighty! I did notice he was sitting for most of the film, and despite top billing, he wasn’t the main character.

I managed to get a minute to talk to Joyce when Kara used the ladies’ room.

“I don’t think she’s ready for that and I told her so,” Joyce said, in response to my question.

“Thank you for looking out for her,” I replied. “I don’t want her to do something that might make a mess of things.”

“I was also worried about how she’d react to seeing you have sex with me. It’s one thing to know about it, it’s a very different thing to actually see it.”

“I suspected you might have been concerned about that. I appreciate it, Joyce. I do.”

“Even though you missed out of fucking two gorgeous women, who would do anything you asked?” she smirked.

“Yes. The last thing I want is to hurt either of you,” I said.

“You’ll hurt one of us in the end. There’s no avoiding it.”

“I know,” I said softly, seeing Kara coming out of the restrooms.

I hugged and kissed Joyce goodbye, and said I’d see her on Saturday at the party. She and Kara hugged and kissed each other on the cheek, and then Kara and I got into my Trans Am and headed back towards Milford.

“Can we go make love?” Kara asked.

“Do we have time? It’s going to be well after 10:00pm before we get back to Milford. You have to be home at 11:00pm.”

Kara sighed, “Probably not. And tomorrow you’ll be at my house, and Friday we’ll be at your grandmother’s. We’re running out of opportunities. Will you pick me up early on Saturday and make love before we have to go shopping?”

“I think we can do that! And we’re making love Saturday evening after the party. Remember, it ends at 8:00pm on purpose!”

“Yes!” she smiled. “Thanks for being so understanding. I’m glad you worry about me, though you have to watch out for being overprotective. Thanks for letting me work through it without trying to stop me. And thanks for making so much time for me.”

“You’re welcome. You know, after a few months in Chicago, you might get tired of being with me all the time!” I teased.

“Never, Steve Adams. You know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ll never, ever get tired of being with you!”

“Nor I you, Honey.”

I dropped her at her house and then headed back to Melanie’s. She and Pete were sitting cuddled on the couch, watching TV. Melanie reached for the remote and turned off the TV when I came in and motioned for me to sit with them.

“We went out to dinner with Bethany and Larry tonight,” Pete said. “Both of them seem to be doing well. Bethany seems really happy, too.”

“She is. She struggles a bit with our relationship, but I think that she’s accepted the situation. I like Gene, and he is really good for her.”

“It was extremely loving of you to give your approval, Steve. Not many guys would let a sexy cheerleader out of their grasp like that!” Melanie declared.

“I have Kara,” I said. “Bethany and I were so close to making things work, but something always pushed us apart. Neither of us understand what it was that was missing, but we both acknowledge it. It’s really strange. I think that the way things have worked out is probably how they were meant to work out. I helped her with her recovery, but then we took a detour from the path she needed to be on. She’s back on it now. In the end, it’s worked out well; at least so far.”