Chapter 33: The Big Goodbye, Part I

August, 1981, Milford, Ohio

Tuesday evening, after our three-way lovemaking session, Jennifer and I dropped Stephanie at home. We’d pick her up in the morning on the way to the airport. Jennifer and I went back to Melanie’s house and sat with Pete and Melanie for a couple of hours. I could tell that Melanie was itching to ask questions, but for once, she controlled herself. That was good because I didn’t think she needed to know anything about what had happened today. When it was time for bed, Jennifer and I went up to our room and shut the door.

“I have to thank you again for today. I can’t believe how much you and your sister love me.”

“I’m glad you realize that, Jen. No matter what happens in the future, we’ll always love you and you’ll always be special to me.”

“I’m still trying to get my head around it. You know how scared and hesitant I was with Melanie, but with your sister, it just felt right and natural and good. I guess, finally, I can admit something to myself.”

“And what’s that?” I asked.

“That I might be better off with a girlfriend than a boyfriend, at least in the short term.”

“You do what you think you need to do that’s best for you. I’ll always be here for you.”

“And you promise that you’ll see me after your trip to Sweden?”

“Yes, Jennifer. I promise. And as I said, you’re welcome to visit me anytime. I know Elyse won’t object. And if you want to bring a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, then by all means, they’ll be welcome as well.”

“I love you so much, Steve! Would you make love to me tonight? Please?”

“I will,” I said with a smile. “You two didn’t wear me out today.”

“No, but that’s the second time you’ve fucked me almost unconscious!”

“I had some help today! Can I ask something?”

“Do I want to make love with your sister in the future? Yes. Will I try to arrange it? Yes.”

“You can still read my mind,” I chuckled.

“Then all hope isn’t lost for us. I know you need to be with Kara and you should be. But all hope isn’t lost. Now, get my clothes off and ravish me! I want it!”

I chuckled, “That’s what you said years ago at your house!”

“Shut up, Steve,” she giggled. “You talk way too much at times!”

I quickly got us both naked, and we made passionate love, ending in glorious orgasms for both of us. It was a fitting end for the day.

We fell asleep in each other’s arms and when we woke up, we kissed softly. We got out of bed, each took a shower, and then got dressed. We packed our things and went down to breakfast. We ate quickly and Jennifer said her goodbyes to Pete, Melanie, and her parents. We both thanked them profusely and then headed over to my house. I was surprised to see Larry there, leaning against his car.

“I couldn’t let Jennifer leave without saying goodbye,” he said.

“Come to the airport with us!” I offered, and he quickly agreed.

My sister came out of the house and we all got into the car and we headed towards Kentucky.

“Mom is on a rampage, Steve. She apparently completely lost it after we left yesterday. I talked to Dad, and he’s going to make sure that they’re out tomorrow during the party, but Mom was refusing to go, saying that she was going to put a stop to the party. Dad told me he’d handle it, but I just wanted to warn you.”

“Thanks, Squirt. She can go straight to hell. Do not pass ‘Go’. Do not collect $200.”

“Jeez, Steve,” Larry said. “That’s harsh.”

“Larry, you missed it,” Stephanie said. “My mom really went over the line the past few weeks. She told Kara’s dad that Kara was a slut; she called Jennifer a slut to her face. It’s just gotten worse and worse. Steve was right to tell her off.”

“Wow! That’s just so sad,” Larry said.

“Let’s just change the subject,” I sighed.

Jennifer and Larry talked about school. I was happy that Jennifer prodded him about electrical engineering, but he was bound and determined to follow his mom’s path of going pre-med. I felt it was a mistake, but I’d made my case with Larry and in the end, I’d leave it to him to decide how to live his life.

At the airport, we looked at the status board to find the correct gate and the four of us went through security. Jennifer’s first leg was to Chicago, where she’d have a short layover and then fly on to Seattle. We waited at the gate for her flight to board, with Stephanie and me each holding one of Jennifer’s hands. When her flight was called, the three of us got up and Jennifer hugged us each in turn. We each got a soft kiss on the lips.

“Call me when you get home, and make sure you do everything we’ve spoken about,” I said.

“I promise!” she said brightly.

I was very happy to see that she wasn’t crying and was in a far better mood. I had no doubts that she’d have ups and downs; I just hoped that the downs wouldn’t be enough to send her into a spiral. All I could do at this point was to be her friend. She had the hard work to do. She walked to the door, turned, waved, blew us a last kiss, then walked down the Jetway.

We waited until the plane was pushed back from the gate, then headed back to my house. Larry got into his car right away and headed home. I grabbed my bag and took it to my room, changed clothes and got out of the house without seeing my mom. I was at Kara’s house by 10:30am.

We sat in the den in our separate chairs. Kara’s mom went upstairs not long after I got there and Kara moved to sit in my lap. She snuggled close and kissed me softly.

“So she’s gone home?” Kara asked.

“Yes. And we parted as very good friends. She has a lot of work to do on her issues, much like I had over the past few years. My concern is that she doesn’t have a support group there like I did here, and she certainly doesn’t have someone like you.”

“Like me?”

“Yes, like you. My little sister and Jennifer both think you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Stephanie even said I should be with you.”

“But she was always pro-Jennifer! What happened?”

“She realized that you had helped me turn into a much better person than I ever was. I’m not even close to perfect, but my friends think you’ve worked miracles.”

“Me? But what have I done?”

“You’ve held me to a standard. Kept me in line. Made me responsible for my own actions. Bethany was amazed, by the way, at your solution to my past promiscuity.”

“Which solution? Telling you to behave?” she grinned.

“Yes. That simple phrase has made me think more about what I do and who I do it with than anything else. I don’t want to disappoint you, Kara, and that makes ‘behaving’ so important. And it put the onus on me to figure out what that meant and how to meet your standards. Bethany and I have talked a lot about what that means. So have Stephanie and I. It was the perfect thing to do, because it makes me really think about everything.”

“And have you behaved? To my standards?”

“I think so. Stephanie and Bethany certainly do. Do you want details?”

“No. I don’t. You know what I really want, but I know that’s not possible right now.”

“Next Summer. I did promise to see Jennifer when I come back from Sweden. As a friend, mind you, nothing more. In fact, if you want, I’ll take you with me to Seattle if that’s where Jennifer and I meet. We can worry about it in the Spring when I purchase my tickets for Sweden.”

“That makes me feel better. If you’re inviting me to go along, then you and Jennifer really are just friends. I’d love to go with you to Seattle. Heck, I’d love to go with you to Sweden, but I don’t know if that’s even remotely possible.”

“In a sense, Jennifer and I started over from scratch. Everything she and I had in the past was based on deceit, on both our parts, I’m sad to say. I am very, very glad she came here for these few days because it let us get everything on the table and clear the air. I’m at total peace with my relationship with her. My only concern is that she gets the help she really needs.”

Kara sighed, “Thanks be to God!”

I held her tight until we heard her mom coming down the stairs. Kara quickly moved back to her chair, and we continued talking until lunch. We ate lunch, and I was glad that Mrs. Blanchard didn’t press me on Jennifer or Karin. Kara knew what she needed to know, and everything was on track.

“Steve, would you like to stay for dinner?” Mrs. Blanchard asked.

“Yes, that’s fine. Just let me call home and let them know.”

She nodded, and I got up and dialed my own number. Stephanie answered, and I told her I was staying for dinner. She said Mom was still ranting about how I had spoken to her but that Dad had told Stephanie that everything was OK for the party on Friday. I thanked her, told her I loved her, and put the receiver back in the cradle.

“Is everything OK at home?” Mrs. Blanchard asked.

I chuckled, “No, it’s pretty darn far from OK. My mom and I had it out because she called Jennifer a slut.”

“She likes to throw that word around,” Mrs. Blanchard replied, shaking her head. “That was her mistake with my husband. When she called Kara a slut, he became very angry. I suppose Kara told you what I said?”

“Yes. But that’s really not relevant to my situation with Kara.”

“It is from your mom’s point of view,” Mrs. Blanchard said gently.

“True. But in your case, I don’t believe that your husband is being hypocritical. I believe, if pressed, he’d say that what the two of you did was wrong. My mom would never say that. In other words, what she did was fine, but what I did was wrong. That’s pure hypocrisy. If my mom had even once said that what she had done was wrong, that would be a different story.”

“You’re pretty perceptive, Steve. I take it there’s a lot more to your mom’s story than Kara has told me.”

“Yes. I don’t think I’ve told Kara everything. At this point, I can’t remember for sure. But suffice it to say, the problem is hypocrisy. I don’t think your husband is a hypocrite. I actually like him. Sure, we disagree on quite a few things, but I think he’s been a good father to Kara. Now, she’s at a point where she has to make a lot of her own decisions and he struggles with that. I get it. I don’t hold anything against him.

“When he told me Kara couldn’t go to the dance, I didn’t argue with him and I wasn’t angry with him. It was a difference of opinion. Kara wanted to go, and I felt she should be free to decide, but he didn’t. From the beginning, I’ve let Kara set the pace and decide what we do. She’s told you that I delayed giving her what she wanted for as long as I could because I didn’t want to hurt her and I didn’t want her to regret it.

“I know you think we got things out of order in a very serious way. But I don’t. And Kara doesn’t. You seem to accept that we made our decision and now we have to live with it and any consequences. You didn’t do it in a judgmental way, but you made it clear that you disapprove. I respect your opinion, even if I obviously don’t agree with it. What I hope is that someday your husband will see his way clear to accept me. That’s incredibly important because Kara wants me to be his son-in-law.”

“As I said, you’re very perceptive,” she replied. “I think you understand. My husband has some very clear ideas about how the world is supposed to work. You’ve thrown a real monkey wrench into things, and he’s having a difficult time accepting it. He’s afraid you’re going to lead his little girl on a path into hell.”

“That is a great divide between your family and me, one that Kara and I will have to come to grips with if we’re going to marry. I’m an agnostic and don’t have much use for organized religion at this point.”

“Both my husband and I find it amazing how well you know the Scriptures and yet you have such serious doubts. I mentioned to the pastor that you were well versed and that shocked him even more. I think he wants to meet you, though I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“I’m not afraid of meeting him, but I agree it’s probably not a good idea.”

Mrs. Blanchard told us to go back into the den while she cleaned up. Kara and I sat and talked for a bit when her mom came in.

“Because Steve’s staying for dinner, I’ll need to go shopping,” Kara’s mom said with a smile. “I’ll be back in about two hours. I expect to find you in those chairs when I get back!”

She turned and left the room, picked up her keys, and went out the front door. As soon as the door shut behind her mom, Kara jumped into my lap.

“Did you plan this with her,” I chuckled.

“No! She asked you to stay, knowing that she’d have to go out shopping if you said ‘yes’.”

“Your mom is the best! She’s letting us say goodbye properly.”

“You think I’m that easy, Steve Adams? That’ll I just go to bed with you at the drop of a hat?”

“Yes! Any hat, in fact!” I chuckled, pushing my fedora off the table next to us and onto the floor.

We went upstairs, laughing, and went to Kara’s room and made love passionately and urgently. We cuddled for a bit, she checked the clock, then pushed me on my back, sucked me until I got hard and rode me until we both came. When we finished, she dragged me to the shower where we washed each other. After we dried ourselves, Kara pulled out a blow dryer, and we both dried our hair.

We made the bed and were back in our chairs ten minutes before her mom came in with two bags of groceries.

“I trust you two were good while I was gone?” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

“Thanks, Mrs. Blanchard. I know the risk you took for us. I really appreciate it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” she said with a straight face.

She went off to the kitchen to put the groceries away and came back to sit with us.

“In all honesty,” Mrs. Blanchard said, “what’s done is done and can’t be undone. I believe Kara has to make her own choices, and she’s made it clear what she wants. You’ve never hurt her and you’ve always treated her with respect and love. I just hope things work out the way you both want them to.”

She took a deep breath and let it out. Clearly, she had something to ask or say.

“Do you plan to get engaged before Kara moves in with you next Fall?” she asked.

“Mother!” Kara shrieked.

“Kara, honey, your mom knows you better than you know yourself sometimes,” I said. “Yes, Mrs. Blanchard, that’s our plan. When I come back from Sweden, we’ll get engaged. Kara may or may not go to Seattle with me. I promised to see my friend Jennifer, but whether Kara accompanies me or not, after that, she’s going to move in with Elyse and me.”

“That will send my husband right off the edge of the cliff. I only hope you two know what you’re doing and that you make this work. If you get married, I’ll be able to pull him back. If you don’t, well, he’ll disown Kara for sure.”