Chapter 31

Cindy's turn:

Yes, my turn, because Susan's all wrapped up in the new baby. That's okay. He's cute, all pink and wiggly and her mom is there with her and Jason's hovering around like he doesn't know what to do next.

And Tina and Alan just took off for the hospital, so there goes Tina. The doctor told her that if she wasn't into labor by this date, he's gonna do something. They don't play around these days. I paid some attention to a few of Mom's pregnant friends in days past, and I know about overdue and premature and that was a decade ago and now they don't mess around. I mean like Susan. She went from contractions to a C-section in nothing flat, and I strongly suspect that Tina's on the cusp of that.

I'm at the office. Nikki's here, too, and we're actually engineering today instead of studying advanced physics.

And we're about ten days from completely abandoning the apartments.

New houses out by the airfield. The airfield itself has been extended to 3500 feet. Wally's crop service is going to stay there, but he's added a mechanic and another plane and a pilot, and that's neat. He still gives me an eyeball every time I see him and I make a point of keeping him abreast of my progress towards a doctorate.

Of course, as my official flight instructor, he knows where I'm at on my acquisition of a commercial pilot's license.

But the new houses, that's exciting. I've never lived in a house. It's always been a trailer, or for the last two years, our apartment. These are REAL houses with roofs and yards and driveways and since it's OUR community, we have our community center – sort of like the pavilion at Mizz Helen's RV park but with a KITCHEN worthy of the name. Mizz Desai got us a deal on some professional grade kitchen equipment – a stove and a couple of ovens and a salamander and a huge refrigerator and food prep tables.

I'm thinking that our community feasts are stepping up a level. So are our musicfests. The pavilion has an actual stage and you just know that with the raft of engineers and musicians we're wired for sound.

In a week and a half, we move. I'm almost sad about it. I stretched my wings at our apartment. I got used to walking out my door and into Tina's, and Susan and Jason and Nikki and Dan 2.0 were a short jaunt up the sidewalk and there was Kara and Maddie and whoever ... And across the parking lot was Grandma Desai's restaurant. That was HOME. Not to mention that 'going to work' was a walk across the street. That used to be 'across the parking lot', too, until we outgrew the old office.

Nobody knew how fast we'd grow, not even Mister Analytical Businessman, Alan.

So, new office building, and now, new houses. It wasn't much of a sell. We wives were adamant about wanting to stay together. Our new neighborhood is four houses on traditional lots and a couple of co-joined townhouses. That's what Beck and Sim wanted.

It'll be a bicycle and tricycle and rollerblade community, too. NO through traffic at all. We KNOW who's living there.

And that brings me to another quandary. Nikki and I are supposed to be flying back to Louisiana to pick up a prospective new sister.

This time it's a Dana. Nikki discovered her. We've talked. Facetime is a wonderful thing. Dana was very interested in what Mister Charlie did for me and Dan.

"You had a place to go, though," she said. "Nikki didn't. And your granddad still signed?"

"Dana, Dan and I were in love. ARE in love. Forever will BE in love. I think Mizz Helen and Mister Charlie recognized that."

We talked about school, what it felt like for me to be sitting in classes with the general student population. "I paid attention to the assignment. I paid attention when the teacher gave out homework. Whatever it took to keep Mom from getting called because her Cindy was a bad student."

"I'm actually TRYING to be perfect," Dana said.

"And it's NOT that hard, is it?" I laughed.

"No ... Makes you wonder what they're thinking..."

"And your Gramma and your Ed, they see all this, right? And they're interested in seeing you soar, right?"

"They see it. I think that's sort of one of the things that got me off the ground with Ed. I like learning things and I'm good at it. He's so very smart himself."

"Like my Dan," I said. "Smart. Funny. Darned blue eyes..." I giggled. "Just thinking about him makes me tingle. Poor guy. He's gonna get raped when he gets home."

Dana laughed. "I can't wait until we can be spontaneous."

"What keeps you from ... right now?"

"I just started on the Pill after my last period. I have to ... we have to use condoms until after the next one."

"Oh ... Dan and I ... we never had that problem. He's been fixed."

"Vasectomy?"

"Yeah," I said. "We're gonna have it reversed in a couple of months. I want OUR baby, Dana. Susan's got one. Tina's got one. MOM has one coming. Johanna has one on the way."

"And you really want one?"

"You ever watch the movie Idiocracy?"

"No. Don't think so."

"Get it. Watch the first ten minutes. The rest of it's kinda funny, but the first ten minutes, that's what we're fighting against. No, that's silly. The REAL reason is that I love Dan and he loves me and we should have children."

"I honestly haven't thought about that, Cindy."

"You shouldn't. You're fourteen."

"I'm serious about marrying Ed, though."

"I know how that feels. It's like you just KNOW."

We talked a bit more. She's an animated little thing. Of course, that was said about me and now I feel like a dowager talking about it with Dana. Said so to her.

"Don't be silly. You can be one of the big sisters I've always needed. Cindy, I don't have anyone I can talk to about this. I love Gramma but she's seventy-something. I can't talk to Ed because sometimes it's ABOUT him. And because we're, you know, fourteen and..."

"I know. Tina was the first one I could really talk with about it. Even our friend Ann, she has a daughter a year younger than me ... I just couldn't see myself talking about it."

"But you ... Nikki ... I've talked with you. Sometimes I just want to TELL somebody how much I love him."

"I know. I know exactly," I said.

"So you're flying down, you and Nikki?"

"Yeah," I said. "It's the first long trip I've taken without Dan, but I'm qualified. If I was eighteen, I'd be a commercial pilot. My instructor says I could pass the flight test any time I wanted to do it, and I passed the written already." And poor ol' Wally is shaking in his boots, too. But I kept that thought to myself.

"Let me ask you something from out in left field, Cindy," Dana said.

"Sure!"

"If I were to talk with your Mister Charlie and Gramma was to talk with him, do you think..."

Now there's a thought. I mentally kicked myself for not considering that angle. "You know ... I could talk to him. He trusts me a whole lot. Let me see what I can do."

"I would appreciate it. Seriously."

"I know. I know I would if I were in your shoes."

"Cindy, I really do love him. It's not a silly teen crush and it's not about sex and it's not because I need to get out of a bad situation. Ed is just ... I can't explain it..."

"Neither could I, little sister."

"I am, I think. Your little sister."

I giggled. "For an only child, I sure do have a lot of sisters."

"And in what, a month or two, you won't be an only child, either, right?"

"Yeah ... Amazing. Let me tell you about MY mom." So okay, in a lot of ways we're a sisterhood of shared miseries, at least me and Nikki and Tina and now, Dana.

Dan came in, showed his face to the camera.

"Hi, Dan," Dana said. "I'm borrowing your wife, you know. I need a sister. She's a good match."

"Dan," I said, "I need to talk to Mister Charlie about Ed and Dana."

"Cindy..." he sighed.

"Oh, don't worry. It'll work out for the best, right, Dana?"

"Right, Sis," she said. "I'll let you go be with your husband. Thank you for talking to me."

"Friday. Noon. At the airport. Both of you," I said.

"'Kay! Can't wait. Bye!" And the screen closed.

"Cindy, you can't rescue 'em all."

"I can try. We did okay with Bert 'n' Kara, right? And Susan and Jason."

"Yes, but those were all legal. Dana's..."

"Fourteen," I said. "Too young to be serious about some older guy." I shouldn't've giggled.

"Oh, sure," he laughed. "Make a joke. All I'm saying is that you need to be careful who knows about them, especially when they get here. We're party to a felony."

I kissed him. "That's good that you worry, my love. You and I were a party of felonies for months, every chance we got."

"I suppose that the guy fell as hard for her as I did for you."

"Never knew what hit 'im," I laughed. "Just like you."

"Come on, you. We need to get to the hospital. See little KathyGen."

"Yeah. Rhymes with 'pathogen' according to the pTerri-dactyl."

"I hope that baby's up for the race," Dan said. "Terri's going to be teaching her calculus in six weeks. Come on."

We went to the hospital, ran into most of the community there. Pregnant Mom under the ever-watchful eye of Mister Bill. Nikki and Dan 2.0. Kara and Bert.

"See, Bert?" Kara told him. "This is the logical result..."

The creature in the nursery was pink and placid and I can't see a feature on her that points to either Alan OR Tina but Terri points out, "Her nose. Tina's nose. Little flatter, huh? And the way she keeps her mouth. Dad does that when he's thinking about something serious. I wonder what Kathy's thinking?" She paused. "I know. She's like, 'Gosh! It was so warm and cozy and now there's all these lights and noise. I need to get control of this situation.'"

I stroked Terri's head. "Like you took control?"

She tossed me a look, those blue eyes flashing. "I am not in control. I am tossed about by the errant tides of fortune."

"And that's why my Auburn English professor talks about you, you little beast."

She grinned. "She's FUN! Did you talk to our new sister?"

"Yes, I did," I said. "We're flying her back on Friday. Try not to frighten her."

"Bot-bot will bring her a bouquet."

I giggled. "That will be perfect."

"It will be," Terri said. "Can't wait to meet 'er."

That brings up another quandary. Our biggest airplane is a Cessna 180 or 182. Four seats. Yeah, Tina and Alan have the kiddie seat that they can install, but when they use it, there goes the baggage space.

"We need a bigger plane," I told Dan.

"I've thought about that. I don't want to sell this one, though."