Chapter 15

Tim's turn:

I'd be a janitor for 3Sigma after seeing how Vicki and Kim fit in here. I'm THAT happy. That whole 'divorced dad' thing is horrible. I mean, you talk with your daughter on the phone once or twice a week, trying to stay up with what's going on in her life, and then you get a week or so for Thanksgiving or Christmas and you get a few weeks in the summer.

A week was BAD. I don't know little girls. Until this past year, I didn't have my own place, so we cribbed up at Mom and Dad's and I took time off between jobs and basically let my schedule be whatever Vicki wanted to do.

Then I got Kim. Kim, sixteen, who one might think didn't sign on to be a step-mom, but Kim understood from early in our relationship that not only did I HAVE a daughter but I wanted that daughter to be a part of OUR life.

Kim picked up and did the kind of charming and completely competent thing that defines Kim, and introduced herself to Vicki over the phone. Over a matter of a few weeks they built a relationship that parlayed into more when Vicki showed up for our wedding and stayed.

Now she's here for the summer. I've asked Vicki a few questions about her mom and the life in California. She openly talked about school and friends, but about her mom, she just said, "I can't talk about it. Mom will tell you..."

Naturally, I asked Kim her version of the story. Kim smiled. "I love my daughter."

"You'd've had to give birth when you were eight," I laughed.

"Oh, yeah ... then that means you'd've been doing me when I was seven. Ewwwww!" She giggled. "But on the original question ... Something's going on, but Vicki won't tell me anything but that her mom will talk to you. And me."

Two weeks into Vicki's visit, she'd talked to her mom every other day, more or less. I listened in on one of the calls, Vicki laughing and smiling as she related the adventures she was having, running around with Terri and Rachel, the travels with Beck and Kim and Tina, our adventures as a little family.

In retrospect, I should've seen it coming. I hadn't talked to Karen much, and certainly had limited my conversation to Vicki and her interactions with me and Kim and the community. So I get a phone call. Karen.

"Hey, Karen. Vicki's out on a trip to a museum with Terri and Rachel and Tina. Tina's..."

"Terri's stepmom. I know. You can't imagine how much I've heard about all those people, Tim."

"She fits in like the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle," I said.

"I worried, you know..." Karen said.

"So did I. But if she hadn't hit it off with Terri and Rachel, Kim and I were going to make it work between the three of us."

"She adores Kimberly," Karen said. "That makes this a lot easier."

I felt impending ... something.

"What's easier?"

"Timothy," she said. When Karen said 'Timothy', it meant something momentous was going to happen. I remember 'Timothy, I'm pregnant' and 'Timothy, let's get married' and 'Timothy, I want a divorce.' She took an audible breath. "I want you guys to think about keeping Vicki over there."

"W-What?"

"Please don't make this hard on me. There's this guy..." I knew that Karen was on her second or third since we'd parted ways, but I honestly thought that her 'mommy genes' were stronger than the other hormones that controlled her.

"A guy..." I said.

"Yeah. It's very difficult to get a good one ... It's a lot harder if you have a kid..."

"What's Vicki say?"

"We talked. She knows that I love her, Tim. We have not had an easy time of it, you know..."

"I didn't know."

"Your child support helped keep us afloat, but it ain't been easy. I met this guy at work. He's..." she paused, "he's a good one. But me and a kid, that's a hard sell."

"So you want us to keep Vicki."

"Can you get Kim in on this? I need to ask her."

Kim was sitting right there beside me, reading my face.

"I'm putting you on speaker," I said. I punched the button and set my iPhone down.

"Hi, Mizz Karen," Kim said.

"Hello, Kimberly. How much of this conversation have you heard?"

"Only Tim's side," Kim said. "He looks stunned. Is something wrong?"

"I just asked Tim if he'd let Vicki live with you two."

"Are you okay?" Kim blurted. She knew the story about Terri's mom.

"Depends on what you mean by okay, Kimberly."

"You're not sick, are you?"

"No, I'm healthy. I just have some relationship issues. It would be better if Vicki wasn't here to deal with them." She paused. "Be exposed to them."

"I probably understand more of that than a lot of people," Kim said. "I was around when Mom tried doing the relationship thing. I think I was in the way..."

"It's not that she's in the way, Kim," Karen said. "Just that it would be better..."

Kim looked at me. "Mizz Karen, Vicki has taken to this place like a duck to water. She's welcome to stay forever..."

"Good. Thank you, Kim. Tim? Do you agree?"

I looked at my Kimmy. She's got this little satisfied smile on her face. I took that as "This is pretty good!"

"Yes, I agree, Karen. Paperwork?"

"The attorney I work for can do it. It won't be expensive, but can you..."

"We can," Kim interrupted.

"They'll send you the custody documents. You'll have to sign them and have them notarized."

Beck is a notary public. "We can do that." Then a thought crossed my mind. "How much of this does Vicki know?"

"She sort of knows all of it. We talked, as much as you can talk with an eight year old about these things. I told her that the decision depended on if she REALLY liked it there ... Did she say something?"

"Not a thing," I said. "This is a surprise."

"I thought it might be. But I get the feeling from talking with Vicki that you guys actually wanted..."

"Mizz Karen," Kim stated, "You're her mom. We would never do anything to undermine her relationship with you. Tim and I have talked about it, but it's always been 'what if' and 'it would be nice'. We didn't encourage Vicki."

"If you haven't found out by now, Vicki seldom needs encouragement. She's shockingly capable of her own excursions of thought."

"We found that out," Kim said. "Although, she's met her match with Terri and Rachel."

"So she tells me." Karen sighed. "This isn't as easy as I thought it would be. Have Vicki call me when she gets home."

I caught 'home'. I also caught Kim's eyes when she heard the word.

"We will, Mizz Karen."

"And Kimberly?"

"Yes, Mizz Karen?"

"Love my daughter, okay?"

"Too late," Kim said. "I already adore her."

"Okay, you two. We'll stay in touch." And the phone connection broke.

I looked at Kim. "What just happened?"

"You just became a full-time dad and I became a full-time mom and now Tina's gonna have to give me all her pointers about raising young Einstein."

I flopped back against the back of the sofa. "Kim? What just happened?"

"Timothy," she giggled. "You just asked me that. One of my wishes came true, Tim. That simple."

"YOUR dream?"

"Yes, MY dream, silly!" she said, kissing me. From her position beside me, she did a hop and roll and ended up astride my lap. Kissed me again. "Tim, you're just sooo easy to read, you know..."

"What did you read?"

"I know three levels of Timothy," she said. "Level One. I only saw it for a day or two, because YOU fell in love with me just as fast as I fell in love with you. Two days, tops." She giggled, kissed my nose. "Level Two. Timothy, love of my life. Ever since we decided that we belonged together." Another little kiss. "And that brings us to Level Three. That would be Tim 'n' Kim 'n' Vicki." Another little kiss. "And you know that horrible part? The HORRIBLE part is that if you were REALLY perceptive, you would have seen the Kimberly equivalent."

"Kim, you're still sixteen..."

"The same month as Cindy, I turn seventeen. So does Cindy. That's why I'm pushing the flying lessons. We're gonna get our private licenses the same day! But back to YOUR assessment of the import of my age..."

"You're a horrible beast," I said, kissing her.

"Careful, sir. Horrible beasts must be fed raw meat." Giggle.

"Serious for a minute, then we can ravish each other until our daughter gets back..."

"Okay. Serious." She composed her face.

"Kim, motherhood..."

"Oh, Timmy," she popped. "I'm not going to be a MOM mom. Like Tina. Big sister. Responsible role model, above my chronological age in insight and maturity. Facilitator of our child's precocious excursions into life."

"You've thought about this a lot?"

"I daydream. You're a constant presence. Too much daydreaming about YOU, though, and I have gooshy panties. I also daydream about Vicki and how she fits into our life."

"Not 'lives'?"

"I very specifically said 'life'. Singular. Because you and me, we exist within each other. Now we have added Vicki."

"So you're good with it?"

"I am good with it." She smiled. "No, this beast you've created. The beast requires meat." A wiggle. "And she has found it."

"Before you have your way with me, young lady, you must tell me that you love me."

Those blue eyes twinkled. "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou. There. Three times. So I can have my way with you three times."

"We can try. Before YOUR daughter gets home."

"Get out of those clothes," she commanded.

I obeyed. We managed TWO before the phone rang.

Vicki. "Tee-hee! Terri says it's always a very good idea to let my parents know before I come barging in."

"You just barge right on in," Kim laughed. "But Terri's got a good idea."

"And you REALLY need to use the Community Calendar app, you know..."

"Are you giving me instructions?"

"Suggestions," Vicki said. "It's a good idea." Click.

"And we signed on for this full time?" I laughed.

"You know it." Kim fixed me in a look. "So when do we talk with her about this?"

"Putting it off won't make it better," I said. "But Karen says they've talked."

"Yeah, but it might still be a shock..."

So I had some trepidation. Vicki comes bouncing in the door, hugs me and Kim.

Excitedly, she recounts the highlights of her day. She waves her iPhone. "Got pictures."

"Sit down and we'll look at 'em in a minute. We talked with your mom today."

Vicki doesn't miss much. Her eyes darted back and forth between me and Kim. "Did she ... about me staying here?"

"Yes," I said.

Vicki slid over next to Kim. "Kim, I'll be a very good kid, you know."

Kim shook her head, causing Vicki's eyes to widen. "No, you passed up 'very good' a long time ago. You're a great kid."

"So I can stay?"

"Yes," I said.

She squealed and jumped into my lap, extending her hand to grab Kim's hand.

"Dad, I was going to ask you to try and do something this summer anyway. It's not as good at home as it is here. But I still love Mom."

"I know that, baby. So does she. This is not easy for her, but she is thinking of you."

"I know she is, Daddy. We talked. She said to make sure that I thought I could live with the conditions here."

"But we all hate you," Kim said.

Vicki laughed. "I know. I am treated horribly."

"Okay, horrible child," Kim said. "Food. Have you eaten?"

"No. Had snacks in the late afternoon. I don't smell any cooking going on and nobody's posted a 'dinner at my house' message on the bulletin board." She smiled. "I'm up for anything."