Chapter 20: A Reunion, of Sorts, Part I

April, 1983, Cincinnati, Ohio

The rest of the week flew by and very early on Friday morning, I kissed Stephie goodbye and set out for Ohio. By leaving at 5:00am, I'd make it to Milford by lunch time. I'd let Trudy know that I'd be in town and she'd planned Easter dinner for 2:00pm on Sunday so that she could accommodate me heading back to Chicago. Pete and Melanie would be joining us, and Trudy had said that I could invite someone if I wished.

I arrived as planned, dropped my overnight bag at the Spencers', spoke with Trudy for a few minutes, then headed to my parents' house. I knew that I had to get lunch out of the way because Stephanie would be going to church for Good Friday services around 3:00pm, as would Trudy Spencer. Before I left the Spencers', I called Donna W to see if she was home, but there was no answer. I let Trudy know that I'd see her late that evening and headed out.

Stephanie had lunch ready when I arrived just before noon. She greeted me with a hug and we went to the kitchen to eat. I wondered what her plan was to spend time alone, because I doubted that Shelly's house was available and it was highly unlikely that Ed would lend her the key to the apartment. My dad joined us as we sat down to eat, having just come home from work. He laid a sheet of paper in front of me with a simple drawing of the planned improvements for the basement.

"I explained to my architect friend what you wanted and how many people you expect to have around. He designed the sauna for twenty-four people on three benches, and added a tub because he saw that when he was in Finland. The tub is big enough for two," Dad added with a grin.

"He needs a bigger one!" Stephanie giggled.

"Shush, Squirt!" I grinned. "Ignore her, Dad."

"She's decided that she's sixteen and can be a Smart Aleck!" Dad said, shaking his head. "Anyway, this area is where you put the pool table and you can see he sketched in an entertainment center if you wanted to put a TV and stereo down there, which I suspect you will. There are some storage closets, the laundry room, and a couple of built-in bookshelves, and a wet bar. The rest of the house has hardwood floors, so that's what he's drawn for the basement. It'll be expensive, but it seems silly to not match the rest of the house. And lastly, you can see that there was room for two small guest bedrooms, rather than one. He also drew it with one larger one that would be bigger than the ones upstairs, except for the master. And completion of the roughed-in full bath in the basement."

"Well, if I start from the assumption that Stephanie comes to college in Chicago," I said, before being interrupted.

"She is NOT!" my mom declared loudly, walking in to the kitchen.

"As I was saying before, we were rudely interrupted, making the assumption that Stephanie will be there until '91, I have to assume that leaves only three bedrooms upstairs."

"You'll assume NO such thing!" my mom screeched. "Your sister is going to school in Cincinnati, or somewhere as far away from you as possible."

"Guess what, Mom?" I asked. "That's not up to you. It's up to her. Now, if you don't mind, I'm talking to Dad about plans for the house."

"Your den of iniquity? And you think I'll EVER allow your sister to live there? I forbid it!"

"Mom, she's going to be eighteen before she graduates from High School. It's up to her what she does, not you."

"Then she will have NOTHING from us. NOTHING!"

I chuckled, "Well, first of all, Dad's already promised to pay for her education, so you can't rescind that. And secondly, I make enough money now, that even paying Dad the equivalent of a mortgage for my half of the investment in the house, AND paying for two more years of school, I'll be able to afford to help Stephanie pay for school myself. So, now, please, leave us alone," I said firmly.

"This is not the end of the discussion! Stephanie, come with me. Now!"

"Judy, she's eating. We'll discuss this later. You and me. Not in front of the kids."

My mom turned on her heels and stormed off. I just shook my head. She hadn't changed a bit.

"Sorry, Dad," I said.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Son. She still can't get past the fact that you're successful when she predicted failure. At first she blamed me for helping you, but I showed her how little I'd actually given you and she's not sure what to make of it."

"I just don't get it," I said, shaking my head. "But back to the house. If we assume that I get married in '86 or '87, and we assume Stephanie goes to grad school because she's thinking business as a major, then that leaves three bedrooms. I plan on having at least two kids, and while she's out of the picture, Kara wanted four, I have to think we'll want the extra bedroom in the basement in the long run. That would also mean we could have an exchange student stay with us some day and not worry about the room."

"That sounds practical, Steve, but who's the lucky girl?" Dad said with a smile.

"I have no idea. As for right now, Stephie is living with me and I have no plans to change that. Jennifer and I are talking and we'll see each other again this Summer, but if anything comes of that, it would have to qualify as an honest-to-goodness miracle. I'm not counting it out; I'm not just counting it in, either. Also, at some point Tatyana will come this Summer and she wants to meet all of you. And I'm seeing Karin when I go to Sweden. So who knows? But I figure three years from now, I'll be in a good place to start making decisions like that — I'll have the house, a degree, a job, and my consulting work. All that said, if you want to play the odds, bet on Stephie, because, as I said, I have no intention of changing anything with her."

"OK. Then I'll have Dick send the plans to his firm's office in Chicago overnight on Monday. He reminded me that we need an Illinois-licensed architect to sign-off on the plans. You'll be able to pick up five copies of the plans no later than Wednesday. Once you have them, arrange for the bids as I said when we discussed it, and we'll discuss them. You also need to put a bid sheet together. Here's a list of things that go on it."

He pushed a sheet of paper over to me.

"OK. That all sounds great!" I said. "Thanks for everything, Dad. And thanks for taking care of Stephanie and helping us keep our relationship solid."

"You're welcome. I'll actually feel much better with her under your watchful eye than off at some college far away from here the way your mother wants."

"What about a car?" I asked.

"She didn't tell you?" Dad grinned.

"No. She didn't."

"I got a birthday present," she smirked.

"Well, show me, Squirt!" I said.

We quickly finished our lunch, and she took me out to the side driveway to see her new car. I stood flabbergasted at the car before me — a pristine 1968 wine colored Chevy Nova SS 396!

"Close your mouth, Big Brother," she smirked. "Dad bought it for me last week. It's used, obviously, but one of the guys from the auto shop at Live Oaks went over it front to back and it's perfect! He said that this will smoke your puny Trans Am!"

"What the hell, Dad?" I chuckled.

"She found it and it was in the price range I gave her. The guy who's selling it joined the Marines and can't take it overseas with him. It cost me less than you spent on your 'Bandit' car."

I shook my head and said, "Just be smart, Squirt. Don't do anything that will get you in trouble."

"You know me, Big Brother!" she exclaimed wantonly.

"Yes, I do. That's why I'm telling you to be smart about it."

We went back inside and walked to my old room and sat in my old beanbag chairs.

"So, did the guy from Live Oaks go over YOU from front to back, too?" I teased.

"Oh, he offered to 'test out' the back seat, but I told him I had a steady boyfriend!"

"You meant me, didn't you?"

"Of course I did!" she said.

"So what's the plan, Squirt?" I asked.

"I have to go to church with Mom. I was hoping we could go to dinner tonight."

"Did you have a plan?" I asked.

"Not really. I guess the Spencers will be home tonight?"

"They will," I said.

"Well, it's going to suck if you came home and we can't make love, Big Brother," she said quietly.

"We'll find a way, Squirt. We always do. But I have something to tell you."

"What?" she asked, suddenly nervous.

"Kara called me on Monday night."

"What?!" she gasped. "And?"

"I'm having lunch with her tomorrow."

"Whoa! And?"

"And nothing. I just want to get closure on this. I don't think there's much chance of anything else. You heard what I said to Dad about Stephie."

She was quiet for a bit, then changed the subject. We chatted about school, friends and the new house until Stephanie had to leave for church. I tried Donna W's number, but there was no answer, so I headed back to the Spencers' house. I thought of anyone else I could call to visit for a few hours, but Larry would be in church, and most of the rest of my friends were away at school.

I went to my room and pulled out my books to work on my homework. I sat down at the desk in my room and started with some statistics problems, then read my American History and International Relations texts. I was just putting the books away when I heard the door to the house shut.

"Steve?" Trudy called out.

"In my room," I called back and walked out into the hall.

"I saw your car outside. Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, I was at home. I assume you saw my sister in church?"

"I did. And Larry was there, too. I guess your friends were in church or at school."

"Yep. I'm going to take Stephanie to dinner in a bit."

"Want to take a sauna? I didn't get one earlier."

I smirked and nodded, then turned and walked back to my room to undress. I didn't bother with my robe and walked to the master bathroom and turned on the sauna, then laid two towels on the bench. Trudy came in a minute later and we sat down, waiting for the rocks to heat up enough to add the water.

"Where's Frank?" I asked.

"Playing golf. The same thing he does on every day off. I told you before, golf is his only religion."

I chuckled and nodded. A few minutes later, the rocks were warm enough to add the water, and I ladled my usual copious amount. The rocks hissed and gave off large amounts of steam, which quickly filled the room. It didn't take long before we both were dripping with perspiration.

"How are things going for you?" Trudy asked.

"OK," I replied. "I'm actually having lunch with Kara tomorrow. She called me on Monday."

"Are you two getting back together?" Trudy asked.

"You're the only woman for me, Trudy Spencer!" I teased. "How could you ask such a thing?!"

"You wouldn't believe the wicked dreams I've had!" she whispered, just barely audible above the steam hissing from the rocks.

"Oh sure I would!" I chuckled. "Your mind is just as much in the gutter as mine is, and we both have great imaginations!"

"What would you do to me?" she husked, slipping her hand between her legs.

This was a very dangerous game and could easily end up ruining both our lives if we didn't maintain control. I wanted to play in the worst possible way. After all, it was just words. Her body language, her dreamy look telegraphed that I could just lean over, start kissing her and have my way with her, as I'd dreamed about many times before. Of course, thinking like that, even talking out loud this 'what if' was a slippery-slope that could easily land me in a place I didn't want to be.

"Trudy," I warned. "This is getting too close to something we can't do. And I'm afraid that neither of us has the self-control to stop if we start."

She sighed deeply, "I'm the one who should be saying things like that to you! It's not the young stud who's supposed to keep the relationship on the correct side of the line! He's supposed to just go for it! I suppose it shouldn't surprise me, given you've had lots of practice with Melanie."

I chuckled, "She's pushed the limits right to the breaking point, and there were times I was tempted. As I am now. But I can't do that to Frank any more than I could do it to Pete."

"No, I suppose you can't," Trudy acknowledged.

"Should I leave?" I asked.

"No, please don't. I'm sorry. I'm just having a small crisis. I told you before that I'd never been with anyone but Frank, and I guess I'm curious. I know enough about your skills from Melanie that I'm very tempted. But it would ruin everything, wouldn't it?"

"It would. The most important thing I've learned in the last six months is how vital it is to set limits and stick to them. Without limits, it's far too easy to get yourself into a situation where there is no good way out of and it ends up ruining your life."

"You're talking about Kara and you?"

"I am. She asked me how to set limits and I mistakenly told her to go with what felt right. That was, in the end, what did us in. She'd been in an environment where the limits were all imposed from the outside, so she knew what they were. I gave her freedom, and she didn't have the experience to deal with it. I've had some hard lessons in setting limits myself, and I should have remembered that."

"I won't ask for details, but what you're talking about is something a lot of kids back in the 60s learned the hard way. I was lucky because Frank understood how to set limits and kept us from getting too crazy before Melanie was born, and even after."

I chuckled, "So Melanie is Alex P. Keaton?"

Trudy laughed, "She is a Republican and Frank and I are pretty liberal, and she was born in a commune!"

"I guess it comes down to keeping my integrity. Do you realize how difficult it is to sit here with a woman as sexy, and available, as you?"

"Oh, I have an idea," she said with a smile. "Though the object of my lust isn't available. And Steve, that's a good thing. Stay that way. Keep your rules and limits. They're good and they'll help you be the man we all know you can be."

Trudy held her hand out, and I took it. We sat quietly for another fifteen minutes before we left the sauna. We showered individually, then dried off, and I went to my room to dress. Trudy came to my door in her robe.

"Thanks. And I'm sorry."

"It's OK. If there is one thing in this world I want that I can't have, it's you, so I totally understand how you feel."

"Then the feeling is mutual, Steve," Trudy said. "I promise not to do it again."

"Don't make that promise, Trudy. Just understand that it's never going to happen."

"I do. Now, go take your sister to dinner!" she said.

"I'm guessing that Frank is going to get an extra-special fucking tonight from his horny wife?"

She laughed, "You are so right!"

"Then I'm sleeping at my parents so you can have the house to yourself!" I grinned.