Chapter 31

Late next afternoon, as he was driving home at the end of a fairly boring working day, Trevor was thinking frantically. His memory was bothering him somewhat. He knew he had forgotten something. It was to do with people's names, he was fairly sure, but what exactly it was, eluded him. He was a bit young to have a "senior moment", but by God that was what it seemed like, at this moment.

Had he forgotten someone's name? had he got a name wrong, or misspelled as he wrote it? Did someone ask him to do something, and he had forgotten whom it was for? It was annoying to have your memory say you had forgotten something, but not tell you what it was. The so-called clever human mind was not so clever, sometimes, he decided.

He mentioned this conundrum to Amelia once he was home, while he was giving her baby a cuddle before the evening meal. He explained the silly concern that had bothered him on his way from the office. "I know there was a particular name in my memory, or something of that nature, but it has remained hidden, Amelia, love. You wouldn't happen to know what it is, would you, my darling wife?"

She laughed at him. "You don't know how daft that sounds, Trevor. Your mind tells you that you have forgotten something, but you don't know what it is! How am I supposed to retrieve that memory for you?"

"I have no idea, my dear. I only know it has something to do with a name, or names; but I can't think of who I might have forgotten. I feel so stupid."

"Well, you would not be stupid if you forgot our babies names, because with five of them to remember..." She gave a gasp. "Oh, dammit. I think I know what it is, what it must be. Before our wedding, you and I were talking about babies' names, and we had ideas for how to name our children. Now we have gone and named our babies without any reference to that discussion. That's what you forgot, and I did, too. It was your failure to follow through from that discussion that clearly bothered your mind, for you are a stickler for getting things done right. I think you should stop worrying about it, you darling man. It is not worth fretting about."

Trevor slapped his forehead with the palm of his right hand. He remembered now.

"Oh. Yes. Now I recall us talking about that. Very well. You are quite right, dear. I shall cease concerning myself with a faulty memory. Oh, talking of a faulty memory, did I tell you that someone from your music publishers was on to me yesterday?"

"Stupid man! How careless of you. I hope you don't run the business in that way! Anyway, no, you didn't mention it. Why the heck would they contact you? They have all the contact details for us girls, to get to us direct!"

"But, darling, It wasn't you they wanted to speak to: it was me. " He stopped and corrected himself, "Sorry, it was I. It seems that they have me down in the contract as the agent for "The Montford Sisters", and wanted to know if I was supposed to get paid direct by the company, or did you girls pay me out of your cut."

"But surely that was detailed in the contract?"

"Not really, or at least, not clearly enough. There was a space on the contract for the agent's details, apparently. You or one of the others must have been asked who was acting for the group, and my name must have got mentioned; probably when you were still trying to hide that you were married to me. So, as my surname is NOT Montford, whoever was filling out the form took that to mean I was your agent. Thus, I ended up in the contract as agent for The Montford Sisters, a fact quite unknown to me. Having to go by my name, without an address, they looked in the online directory. I was the only Trevor Defreitas on Rehome, so they phoned me at my business number, having assumed that I conducted my agent's business there."

Amelia was still puzzled. "So what happened when they contacted you?"

"It seems that normally the agent gets paid separately, but the contract did not actually specify that point, so finally a clerk in the company queried this dubiety. He must have been told to ask me if I had received any payment so far.

I was confused by all this, so I said, "Look, I am a very busy man, sir, and cannot be aware of all the details of every contract I am involved in, including the one for The Montford Sisters from months back. Just do what you normally do, and have done with it, and cease bothering me. I have people queuing up to see me, and this is just a damn nuisance!", so I put my phone down on him, and forgot about it until now."

Amelia's mind was clearing. "So, you are down as our agent, but don't know if we are supposed to pay you or not?"

"I suppose so, but I am not actually looking for payment. I am not really your agent, just your loving husband."

"Right. Now that that's settled, my love, get yourself back to work tomorrow, and do a little constructive thinking, instead of fretting about ancient history."

"Yes, dear. I shall leave now. Give my love to the others, and apologise for me not cuddling the rest of the babies. I'll make up for it when I get home." He left. His car was outside, and he didn't like to set a bad example by arriving late from his lunch break.

He made it in time, just. He was coming through the door as his secretary put down her phone. "Oh, there you are, sir. I told the bank you would be here shortly, but the man just said to phone him back when you have time. I have the number handy, when you are ready for him."

"Thanks, Janice. Do I have anything urgent since this morning? No? Then put me through to the bank gentleman. They may want to argue with me about interest rates."

He went through to his office and sat down. In moments his secretary called him. "Sir, he is on your phone now."

Trevor picked up his office phone and announced, "Trevor Defreitas. What can I do for you, sir?"

"Mr Defreitas, I was instructed to inform you that a deposit has just come in from Earth, to the amount of 73,500 dollars. I just wanted to confirm that this was in order, sir. It appears to have arrived from a music publisher on Earth, which seemed a bit unusual, as you will appreciate."

Trevor sighed. "Actually, I am less surprised than I ought to be. Was there any attached description to explain the amount?"

"Yes sir. It says: "as per Montford Sisters contract". Does that make sense, sir?"

"Indeed it does. It is certainly in order. Thank you for informing me of its arrival. I was not expecting such a large sum so quickly, is all." He concluded the call, and sat down, suddenly overwhelmed. He was being paid as the agent for his wives' singing contract. He sat back, giggling to himself, and then laughed uproariously, causing his secretary to rush through. "Was there something wrong, Mr Defreitas, sir?"

He settled his mind, and ceased his laughter. "No, it is fine, Janice. Ignore my antics: It was a bit of a shock, was all. I was just laughing at an unexpected windfall. I must phone Amelia and tell her."

He did so, surprising his eldest wife. "Trevor? Why are you phoning so soon after getting to your office?"

He explained the arrival of a fee from the music publisher, in his capacity as agent for The Montford Sisters. "It knocked me for six, Amelia. I didn't expect payment action as swift as this. Such efficiency is unheard of, normally."

"At least they sent you something for your looking after our group, darling. Be thankful for small mercies."

"Yes, you are right. The small mercies, however amounted to 73,500 dollars, Amelia. If that is based on a percentage of your royalty earnings, you girls are going to be well off in future."

Peggy broached the subject of a visit, when she found all four mothers in the lounge relaxing after having put the babies to their cots for a snooze. "Girls, can I ask you for a favour?"

Receiving positive looks and nods, she continued, "I was telling my friend Susan how much you, as a family, have welcomed me to your home, and encouraged me to make myself a better person, both socially and educationally. I said how marvellous you were, and I could see that she still could not understand the changes in me, so I thought," here, Peggy hesitated, still unsure about asking for this. Seeing nothing but encouragement, she went on, speeding up as she came to the conclusion of her sentence, "I thought that she would understand better if she could come on a visit and meet you all!"

Tracy smiled at her, and asked, "Just her, and not for a party, Peggy?"

Peggy unexpectedly felt offended, and blurted out, "Of course not, Tracy. It is just Susan, so I can show her what a nice family you are. I would not take advantage of my temporarily being part of the family!"

Dinah calmed her down. "Tracy is teasing you, Peggy. She knows we will say yes, if this means a lot to you. Tracy forgets the life you lived, before. She is so grown-up now, with motherhood, that she forgets that you and I are still 15-year-old schoolgirls; well, I am nearly 16, now; and we have to deal with school friend inquisitiveness. Susan wants to know what makes us so special to Peggy, so needs to meet us and make up her own mind. It may be that Peggy is a special case, and Susan may feel we are terribly ordinary – which we actually are."

Tracy apologised, "Sorry, Peggy. I am so used now to being a married woman, and now a mother, that I have become detached from school and all the social interactions there. Naturally, you must bring Susan to meet us in a family setting. That party was more a fun thing for us schoolgirls, to let our hair down. This is a "meet the family" occasion, when Susan can ask us questions about how we treat each other. I am easy with that. Annabel, Amelia, what do you girls think?"

The two older wives were amused at the concern over a simple visit. "Sure, bring her along some day, Peggy. Just warn us beforehand, so we can lay on a few things to eat while we talk," Amelia declared. Annabel simply said, "O.K. with me, if you others deal with the catering; I am a busy Mum at present, with my twins."