Chapter 25

Still Kara's turn:

"Come to my room." Kara Sevinsky, what in the world are you thinking?

Actually, I guess I'm not. Bert and I, we've stayed at hotels together on various trips, but NEVER have I invited him to my room nor has he invited me to his.

I've never been engaged to him before. I have no idea what I'm doing, why I wanted him here in my room, whatever. I almost jump when I hear the knock on the door.

I let him in.

"Future husband," I say. "Kissing is permitted."

"Good. I find that I like kissing you." He's trying very hard not to sound too rustic. I think it's charming, both his rustic speech as well as when he tries NOT to speak that way.

"As it should be, Bert, baby," I say. "You haven't changed your mind, have you? About marrying me?"

"Heck, no, punkin," he says. "I'm thinkin' I might wake up an' find it's all a dream, though."

"Kiss." We're standing there, kissing. I push him back against the closed door. Okay. This is kissing PLUS. We break apart with a mutual sigh. "Now, was that a dream?"

"Not with the bedsheets still dry," he said, eyes twinkling.

"BERT!" I squealed. Yes, I know about boys and what wet dreams are. Just never had MY name revealed in that context.

"Well, Kara ... You get me. Lotsa ways. Some of 'em wasn't good, not the way I was raised. Now, we're engaged, I sorta see that there's a place this ends up. So those feelings, well, I'm allowed, I think."

"You thought that about me?"

"Gosh, yeah," he grinned. He kissed me. Bert is getting a bit more assertive about me, not that it's a BAD thing. "If I'm goin' to hell, you're a good reason."

I smiled. "You're not going to hell. You and I are going to be married and we will be a loving and happy couple just like all our friends are, or I will beat you senseless and leave your body in a corner at a hipster joint."

"Yes, mistress."

"Oh," I giggled. "That's a 'Tina' thing. Come. Sit. We need to talk."

At least the room had a sofa. Of course, the sofa's right there where you're staring at this HUGE bed, and I do believe I am having impure thoughts. We sit down, and I'll be darned if he doesn't sit a waaaay too respectable distance from me.

"You get over here, Albert Cain!" I spit.

"Uh, Sweetie, I'm afraid that..."

"That what?!? That we'll lose our heads and end up in the middle of that bed performing unspeakable acts of debauchery?!?"

"Wellll..."

"And your thoughts on that?"

"Kara Sue," he says, knowing quite well that my middle name is NOT Sue, "I sort of, you know, REALLY want to, but no. When we're married."

I squealed and threw my arms around him. "You ARE my Bert. Honorable to the end."

"And you're NOT?!?"

"I am. Two weeks, Bert. We get married in no more than TWO weeks. I think I can wait that long."

He actually slumped back, relieved. "Kara, I love you and I will love you forever and you make me crazy. I do really really want you. But if we can wait..."

"You are so wonderfully old-fashioned and moral. Soooo different. Unique."

"You're not mad?" he asked.

I pushed him back further into the sofa, touched my forehead against his. "Bert, do you really think I'm some hormone-addled bimbo?"

"Nope. Didn't want none a'those."

"You don't have one. You have me, and as much as, well ... I talked to Susan. Honeymoon night."

He kissed me. "Thank you, princess. So, two weeks?"

"From today. I can get Cindy to talk to their preacher. I don't know if he'll do a Jew and hillbilly, though..."

"Somebody will. Or we'll get ever'body in a big room an' jump a broom and let it go at that."

"Nuh-uh," I said. "Kara Sevinsky's gonna have an official document changing her to Kara Williams."

He gave me that lopsided grin. "That's my girl. We'll do it completely right. So get your phone out and see who we're goin' to breakfast with in the morning."

"Uh ... I'm betting that everybody else is..."

"Nope. Tina and Alan have Terri and Vicki. Kim and Tim had 'em last night. Call Tina."

We giggled together making the breakfast arrangements. Afterward, I said, "You know, she KNOWS you're in my room. There's no way she'll believe we haven't done it yet."

"Yeah, she will. You know her and she knows you and if you say 'no', she'll know it's the truth. But know this, my baby," he said. "It's only that I can still suborn some very strong feelings."

I kissed him. "Me, too, guy. And know this – wedding day, we may not make it out of the parking lot."

Another night alone in a hotel room. Bert left me tingly. He does that, you know, and I have it on good authority that it bodes well for my future. Tonight, though ... shower. And to bed. And roll over, all alone in that kingsized bed and I almost pick up the phone.

I did pick up the phone when I woke up in the morning. Called Bert. Then called Tina. Bert and I and Alan and Tina and two munchkins went to breakfast. When we got there, we got waved over to Dan and Cindy's table.

"Not even a comment, Cindy?"

"About what? You 'n' Bert, you two have been a foregone conclusion for a long time. Inevitable."

"Gee," Bert said. "I thought we were being all subtle."

Cindy smirked. "Bert, Bert, Bert," she said, shaking her head. "Worst part about it is that Kara probably knew about it 'way before YOU did."

I looked at Terri. She grinned. "Y'all are so cute together." Vicki nodded vigorously.

"Okay," Bert said. "So we're transparent. Okay, I can live with that. Anyway. Two weeks. Wedding. Me 'n' Kara. Everybody's invited. Munchkin Mafia's the flower squad, Terri. Bot-bot's ring-bearer."

"Dad will be here to give me away," I said.

Tina smiled. "Super-dad?"

"Darnedest thing I can imagine. He's ten times the dad since I've gone off to college." It was true. I try to imagine how it would have been for me if he'd been like that all my life, but like Cindy says, where would that put me today? Probably not sitting here next to this adorable hillbilly, maybe not an accomplished musician...

I giggle. "It's almost like the transformation..."

"Your dad and my mom," Cindy tittered.

Yeah. It's like that.

And Kara's getting married.

Cindy's turn:

I only wish that Stoney and Jo could've seen our concert. Seattle. They were in SEATTLE! Word gets around. They're a fun act to listen to, and I strongly suspect that if Kara wasn't so wrapped up in Bert, she'd be there, too.

But it's officially Bert 'n' Kara, or, if you REALLY want the truth, Kara 'n' Bert. She's the lead and he's the happy follower. Of course, that brown-haired little thing looks at ME and says, "Yeah, sure! Like you're not leading Dan around by the nose."

So I have to have a heart to heart talk. Starts out with us naked.

"Heart to heart talk, baby," I said.

"Sure ... you do this when I'm naked and vulnerable."

"Baby," I reply happily, "with me, you're vulnerable with your cold-weather gear on."

"So what's the subject, then?"

"I think I just answered my own question."

"What question?"

"Whether I'm the dominant one in our relationship."

"Who started that one?"

"Kara," I said. "I said something about her and Bert."

"And they're happy." He propped up on an elbow. I was lying on my back. His fingers traced my cheekbone. "And we're happy. And if you're so cotton-pickin' dominant, how come I tossed you over my shoulder and hauled you into the apartment last week?"

"Because you know you're expected to do so," I giggled.

He kissed me on the nose. "I do want to live up to expectations," he said.

"Seriously, do I manipulate you?"

"I don't think so. We love each other. We have the same ideas most of the time. You're faster on the draw, that's all. And I don't want to change a thing."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely sure. There has not been a day since I took you into my arms that I have regretted that choice. I've watched you blossom and grow and I'm the luckiest man alive."

"I love you, Daniel."

"I love you too, my amazing Cynthia."

I giggled. "SO adorably serious. And by the way, that 'toss Cindy over your shoulder and haul 'er off and have your way with 'er' thing? I love it."

"You're the sexiest engineer ever."

"Others might argue," I said.

"Sometimes you have to leave others with their delusions."

"Who's deluded here?" I asked. "You took me out of the box, baby. Thirteen. I was in your bed. Fourteen. Married, graduated high school. Sixteen, Masters in Electrical Engineering and three bachelors. Seventeen. Licensed pilot, and if things stay on track, next May I will stand on the dais and receive my doctorate in physics. That's a bad dream to some people. I'd think it was a fairy tale except that I'm in it and I am surrounded by my sisters who are equally amazing. Now, tell me, did I coerce you?"

"In the most horrible manner, little redhead," he said. "You are so utterly disarmingly delightful that I can't see straight. You float my boat. Blow my skirt up. Whatever."

"That's a good thing," I giggled, "in view of how often we sleep together."

"And sometimes we actually sleep," he said, wiggling.

"I feel THAT!" I squeaked. Yes, I do feel it and I know exactly what we're capable of doing with it.

"You're laying on top of me naked. Exactly what did you have in mind?"

"Everything. My morose mood? In a couple of days..." Yes, I suffer from a little bit of PMS. I'm more sensitive in a lot of ways, including my interpretations of conversation. That accounts for me getting all sensitive about that 'manipulation' comment.

There's another angle, too, and one of these days I'm going to pursue that line of questioning. I find that academically speaking, my mind takes on an extra edge. Some of my best work, the really good stuff, looking back, comes from the three or four days ahead and including the first day of my period.

And something else gets sensitive, too, and by the time I finish my stream of thought I'm on my back and this naked beast is ravaging my naked body and I end up being transported through multiple dimensions.

That was the subject of an interesting conversation when Nikki and I were working on dissertation materials. You know, you NEED a break, so... "Nikki ... a thought."

"Ooooo-kay," Nikki says. She knows that I usually start us on an excursion when I say 'A thought'. "Whatcha got?"

"I, uh, orgasms. Don't you feel transported through multiple dimensions?"