Chapter 42: Christmas Break

December 1982, Milford, Ohio

When I arrived at the Blanchards’ at about 10:20pm, Kara was waiting for me. She quickly came out to the car, and we headed to the Spencers’. I opened the front door of the house with my key and we entered the mostly darkened house and went up to my room. I brought in only the things I would need for the night, deciding that I could bring the rest of my things into the house in the morning.

Kara and I made love, then cuddled afterwards.

“I never asked you what days you have off work for Christmas,” I said.

“We have off the 24th and 31st, but they close at noon on the 23rd and the 30th,” Kara answered.

“How are we going to handle the next couple of weeks?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but I suppose we could do what we did at Thanksgiving. The only difference is that I want to go to the Young Adult Bible Study and the Social, too. The Bible studies are on Wednesday night. The Social is on the 19th. You can come if you want to. Would you take me to the social?”

“Sure, Honey,” I said. “I’d really rather not go to Bible Study, but I will if you want me to.”

“No, you can drop me off after dinner and pick me up. You’re going to church, and that’s good enough for me.”

“How is church?”

“OK, I guess. They teach a lot of the same stuff that Grace Church did, but they’re not so, in your face, I guess is the way to say it. Obviously they don’t approve of what we’re doing any more than Pastor Kent did.”

“Obviously. Speaking of him, have you heard of any fallout?”

“No. He’s telling everyone that he thinks you did it as payback and that when the baby is born, he’s going to demand a paternity test. Sandy refused to say who the father is.”

“I’ll take any test he wants. I can prove I was in Chicago, too. Do you have any theories about who the father is?”

“No, but Susie seems to think that Sandy doesn’t know for sure.”

“What?!” I gasped. “You’re kidding!”

“No. I guess Ruth talked to Susie about Sandy pretty much letting anyone who asked do it with her. And the rumor at school, according to Josh, is that a lot of guys asked.”

“Holy crap! What about Ruth?” I asked.

Kara smirked, “She has a steady boyfriend who doesn’t go to Grace Church. According to Josh, they stand as close as Tracey and Marty, if you get what I mean.”

I chuckled, “I do.”

“You were with her, too,” Kara said — a statement, not a question.

“Yes,” I said. “She and I talked at length about birth control and stuff, and she even went to see Doctor Gustafson at the clinic. Sandy, on the other hand, pushed me to do it without a condom. I refused. I think it’s possible she got pregnant on purpose.”

“I think so,” Kara said. “And I think she was with lots of different guys so she could get back at her dad.”

“What a mess!” I sighed.

Kara snuggled close and was quiet. We fell asleep soon after and slept until the alarm woke us on Sunday morning.

We went to my parents’ house so I could swim with Stephanie, and then the three of us ate breakfast with my dad. Afterwards, Kara and I went to church and stayed for coffee. She introduced me to a few more people in her young adult group and, as before, they all seemed far more normal than the kids I’d met from Grace Church. They were also welcoming and didn’t seem offended by my agnosticism as some of the people at Grace. The pastor introduced himself and encouraged me to keep coming to church. I told him that when I was in town, I’d be there with Kara. He smiled and went on his way.

Kara and I took her mom to Friendly’s for lunch, and after we dropped her mom at home, Kara and I went back to the Spencers’ for a sauna. We hung out with Pete and Melanie afterwards and went out to dinner with them. We stopped by Kara’s house so she could get her clothes for the morning, then headed back to the Spencers’ for the evening.

On Monday morning we established the pattern for the week — swimming, breakfast, and me taking Kara to work. Each day of the week, I did something different while waiting for Kara to get off work.

Monday was the most important — I went with my dad to a jewelry store to pick out a diamond engagement ring for Kara. My dad helped me navigate the whole cut, color, and clarity system, as well as point out which prices were out of line for the stone being considered. I eventually settled on a ‘round brilliant’ stone, just under 1 carat, VVS1 in clarity, and G in color.

I went with the slightly smaller stone than I had planned after my dad pointed out the serious discrepancy in price between a 1.02 carat stone and a 0.98 carat stone, despite the tiny size difference. Crossing the 1 carat boundary incurred a major price jump. After looking at the options, I selected a white gold band, and then wrote a check for the deposit. The ring would be ready for me to pick up on Friday.

That evening, after I picked up Kara from work, we went to her house and I cooked dinner for the two of us and her mom. We spent the evening with her mom and then went back to the Spencers’ to make love and sleep, which we did every night of the week, except Wednesday, when Kara went to her Bible Study.

Tuesday I hung out with Larry. On Wednesday, I spent the day with Stephanie, and told her what I’d decided. She told me that she wasn’t at all surprised, though I asked her to keep it quiet. On Thursday, I got together with Jenny and Kent Sanders and their son, who was now nearly two years old. She reprimanded me for not keeping in better touch and I once again promised that I would, and that this time I meant it.

On Friday, I did the most difficult thing I had to do before Christmas Eve — I went to see Anna. We had a good lunch, I enjoyed my time with Kyle, but I also told her that I wasn’t able to make love with her because I was basically going steady with Kara. I didn’t want to tell her about the engagement quite yet, because I didn’t want too many people to know. I was sure that neither Elyse, nor Stephie, nor Stephanie, nor my dad would say a word, but I didn’t want to take the risk. Anna took it well and asked me to keep in touch and come visit when I could. I promised to do so.

Before I went to pick up Kara, I stopped at the jewelry store to get the ring. I verified it was what I had asked for, then paid the remaining balance due and walked out with Kara’s engagement ring in my pocket. I’d just made the largest purchase of my life, though in sheer dollars, the Trans Am had cost more. But dollars weren’t the proper measure of the enormity of the purchase. Buying the ring was life-changing in a way that buying a car could never be. I took the ring back to my parents’ house and had my dad lock it in his safe.

On Friday evening, Kara and I went to dinner at Cork ‘N Cleaver with Marty and Tracey. I hadn’t seen them in a few months and it was good to catch up. They were doing well, and they were both accepted to Ohio State, so that’s where they were going to go to school. They were looking into getting an apartment together and hoped they didn’t have to live in the dorms. We had a wonderful dinner and afterwards went to Farrell’s in Springdale for ice cream, then went to see The Verdict, starring Paul Newman, at the Showcase Cinemas.

The weekend was quiet, with Kara and me splitting our time between her house and the Spencers’. On Sunday I went with Kara to church, and that evening we went to the Social for the young adults. It didn’t surprise me that there was no dancing at the party, but Kara did tell me that the church wasn’t opposed to dancing like Grace Church was. There were, instead, board games and a ping-pong table. I actually enjoyed talking to the other kids our age and found a few Reds fans to commiserate with of the total loss of glory since the ‘76 World Series. Kara seemed very happy and comfortable with this group of kids, and I saw her laugh and smile more than I had since the incident with Joyce.

Christmas week went by quickly. Stephanie was out of school, so she and I did our Christmas shopping on Monday. With Stephanie’s input, I bought Kara a couple of sweaters and a small clutch purse. I’d give her those when we exchanged gifts and save the ring for after we made love by the tree. Stephanie thought that was quite romantic.

Stephanie and I did split up for twenty minutes so I could buy a gift for her, and she for me. Of course, she had made the suggestion that we give each other multiple orgasms for Christmas before I popped the question, but I told her, as I always had, that I couldn’t do that to Kara.

Stephanie had let out a disappointed sigh, but it was just something I couldn’t do for multiple reasons. The main one being that having bought the ring that was in the safe was, for me, the same thing as having already put it on Kara’s finger. It just wouldn’t be right.

“Then, just one last thing, Big Brother.”

I steeled myself, but nodded, “If I can, Stephanie.”

“Before you ask Kara to marry you, can I have one last kiss, as if you were proposing to me?”

I took a deep breath, then another one. If circumstances were different, if society didn’t say it was taboo, my whole life would have been different, and I’d be placing that ring on Stephanie’s finger. I looked into her eyes, eyes that had shown me so much love through the years, even when I didn’t know the depths of her love for me. My little sister, my former lover, asking me for what I knew would never happen. Yes, I could give her that last kiss.

“We’ll share a last kiss before I meet Kara at the Spencers’ on Christmas Eve,” I said.

“Thanks,” she said softly.

We headed back to my parents’ house, where we wrapped all the gifts that we’d purchased. I put Stephanie’s gift under the tree and put Kara’s gifts into my car. When I left, I swung by the Spencers’ to put Kara’s gifts in my room, then went to pick up Kara at work. We went to dinner at Frisch’s, then drove to Mariemont to go to Graeter’s for ice cream. After we had our sundaes, we went back to the Spencers’ for the night.

On Tuesday, I hung out with Larry again and that evening, Kara and I went to dinner at David’s for a pre-Christmas party that Tracey had organized. A bunch of our friends were there — Kathy, Bethany, Ed, Stephanie, Melanie, Pete, Larry, Debbie V, Elyse, Susie, Johnny, Josh, and Mary. The nice thing about the buffet was that we could basically eat and drink all evening for a fixed price, and we took full advantage of it. Everyone had plenty to eat, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

I realized that I hadn’t planned a party for Christmas break, but I sure was going to have a great reason to have one. I’d have to get it planned without Kara knowing about it. It was a bit late, but I’d ask Stephanie to arrange a Boxing Day party where Kara and I would let all of our friends know about our engagement. When Kara and I got back to the Spencers’, I excused myself to call Stephanie and asked her to set it up, then Kara and I went to bed.

On Wednesday, after I dropped Kara at work, I drove to the Kenwood Mall to get an additional gift for Stephanie, one that I’d give her in private, after our family celebration. Because I was sure it was something she would treasure, I took my time to select exactly the right thing. It finally hit me exactly what it had to be, so I bought it, and then headed back to the Spencers’. When I got there, I talked to Melanie about setting up the tree for Kara and me, and she agreed to do it on Christmas Eve while I was at my parents’ house.

While we were going over the plans, the doorbell rang and Melanie got up to answer it. When she opened the door, I cringed, as Kent van der Meer asked to see me. I got up and walked to the door. I didn’t want to have an argument with him in public, but I also didn’t want to be alone with him. I decided that the best course of action would be to invite him in and head to the basement, bringing Melanie along to prevent any later misunderstandings. That said, I couldn’t help but twist the knife a bit.

“Good morning, Pastor,” I said. “Oh, excuse me, MISTER van der Meer, as I heard you aren’t a pastor anymore.”

“You still have no respect for anyone or anything, young man. And that includes my daughter.”

“Sir, I’m going to invite you in because I don’t want to stand here and let the cold air in. We’ll go to the basement and my friend Melanie, who lives here, will come with us just so there aren’t any misunderstandings later.”

“This is quite private, Steve!” he insisted.

“The only way I’m talking with you is with someone else in the room as a witness. You can leave or you can talk with me in front of Melanie. She knows as much about me as almost anyone, and I have nothing to hide.”

He grimaced, “Fine.”

Melanie grabbed the pot of tea that she’d made earlier and three cups and followed Kent van der Meer and me to the basement. I directed him to an easy chair and Melanie and I sat on the couch.

“What is it that I can do for you?” I asked.

“My daughter is pregnant. I believe you’re responsible.”

“I don’t see how that could possibly be the case. According to her friend, she missed her period at the end of September. While you may keep kids in your church ignorant of the facts of life, I’m well aware of them. If she missed a period at the end of September, then she had one at the end of August or the beginning of September. I was in Chicago from August 7th until October 1st. I can easily prove that, by the way. So no matter what you think, it’s not possible for me to be the father of her baby.”

“You don’t deny you were with her?” he said, his face red.

“What, if anything, happened, or didn’t happen, between me and Sandy, is between me and Sandy. I’m confirming nothing. I’m denying nothing. I only will confirm that I am NOT the father of her baby. Have you asked her?”

He ignored the question, turning even redder in the face as his anger grew.

“If you were with her, I’m going to have you arrested! She’s underage and you’re over eighteen. I think you were, and I’m going to report it to the police!” he fumed.

“Excuse me, Sir,” Melanie said, with a twinkle in her eye, “but the age of consent in Ohio is sixteen. I believe your daughter is a Junior now, so I’m sure she was over sixteen when she got pregnant. I don’t think you can have him arrested.”

“You stay out of this, young lady!” he growled.

“She’s right, MISTER van der Meer,” I said, once again forcefully emphasizing the word ‘Mister’. “I think you’ll only embarrass yourself and further upset your daughter if you do something foolish like involve the police. Just how will it look when you file a complaint and it turns out to be false?”

“You little bastard!” he snapped. “You’re all smug and self-righteous. Well, we’ll see when the baby is born. I’ll get a paternity test and show you to be the liar that I know you are! You follow Satan, the father of lies!”

Melanie and I both laughed out loud, which made Kent van der Meer visibly angrier. I was beginning to fear that he’d have a stroke or something, but I sure as heck wasn’t going to back off.