Chapter 25: NOT a Shotgun Wedding

January 7, 1994, Chicago, Illinois

“Are we all set for the bridal shower tonight?” I asked at breakfast on Friday.

“I think so,” Kara answered. “Jess, Elyse, Michelle, and I have it under control. You guys have the run of the basement, and we’ll be in the attic room. The first floor is neutral territory!”

I chuckled, “Our very own demilitarized zone?”

“We decided we should all have champagne and hors d’oeuvres together at 7:00pm, then split up for the parties. Oh, and you have the sunroom for when you smoke your cigars.”

“Thanks. I do prefer to keep it in that one room. Opening those small upper windows lets the smoke out without letting in too much cold air. It’s supposed to be below zero tonight!”

“And not your Celsius zero!” Elyse said. “Brr!”

“We won’t crack 10°F tomorrow,” I said. “No outdoor wedding!”

“Make sure you build a nice fire, Tiger,” Jessica added.

“I will.”

“Don’t forget my car is being delivered today,” she said. “I won’t need a ride home.”

We’d decided to lease her a BMW which was identical to my current car, which was itself going to be replaced in July. The timing was off, so with Elyse’s help, we’d done a thirty-month lease. Once my new car came off lease, we’d buy it and it would be hers.

“Do you plan to drive in or ride with us?” I asked.

She smiled, “The old Jessica would have taken her own car. I’ll ride with you and Elyse.”

Kara smiled broadly. Jessica was trying. And that was the most important thing. Elyse noticed something else, but she didn’t mention it until we’d dropped Jessica at the hospital.

“I was shocked when Jessica didn’t give you grief about smoking cigars,” Elyse said.

“She’s trying. And I’m OK with her reminding me about it occasionally. It was the fight she tried to start every time that was really grating on me.”

“You know I still think this is a bad idea, right?”

“I know you don’t think this will end any better than the last two times, but I have to try. Kara’s wary, but she’s trying for the same reason I am - we love Jess. And we love our kids. Remember, Jess isn’t in control; I am. That’s a big difference.”

“True,” Elyse said. “The last two times you pretty much let her dictate things.”

“I may be slow, but I do eventually learn my lessons. I take it we’re leaving early?”

“Yes. Michelle is coming home straight from church. She and Kara will start preparing things, and Bethany’s part-timer will come in at noon so Bethany can escape early as well.”

“Sounds like you have everything under control, as usual.”

“What’s that line you quote from The Firm? What do you think I am around here, a fucking night watchman?”

I chuckled, “You do like to fuck at night!”

“And during the day!” she laughed. “You know, it’s funny. I thought that’s what I would miss now that we aren’t together as much, but it’s the closeness afterwards. That’s when we had some of our best talks.”

“You’re in control of that, Ms. Clarke. Well, now that I’m relatively healthy.”

“Speaking of which, are you going to karate tomorrow?”

“No. I’ll start up again next Saturday. With the party tonight and the wedding tomorrow I want to pace myself.”

Not to mention that Michelle and I had scheduled a ‘play date’ for Saturday afternoon which was now moving to Saturday before lunch.

“Any night next week is good,” she said. “December was bad, and I understand.”

“And when you move?” I asked, as I pulled into my parking space.

We got out of the car and walked quickly in the bitter cold, not resuming the conversation until we were safely inside. We both said ‘good morning’ to Lucas, took off our coats, and moved into the inner office and went upstairs.

“I don’t know,” she sighed when we stopped at the door to her office. “Eduardo will be living with me then, so that complicates things.”

“You have talked this through with him, right? All of it?”

“Yes, of course! But that doesn’t mean easy solutions present themselves. You of all people should know that!”

“Nothing is simple around Cirque du Steve,” I chuckled. “3:00pm?”

“Sounds good!”

I went on to my office, prepared to cram eight hours of work into six. I got most everything I needed to done by working thorough lunch and ignoring everything except the tasks I absolutely had to complete. Elyse and I left at 3:05pm and headed home to prepare for the joint parties.

“I ordered the pizza for dinner,” Kara said when Elyse and I walked in. “It’ll be here at 5:30pm. Kayla and Shanita will be here at 6:45pm to watch the kids.”

“Thanks, Kara!”

“Your eldest daughter is dusting and your two eldest boys are assembling the plastic champagne glasses.”

“I noticed you assigned them separate tasks!” I chuckled.

“None of us have time to referee Jesse and Birgit arguing over the right way to put the glasses together!”

“The stems go into the bases!” Michelle laughed. “What’s to argue about?”

“You do know the children we’re talking about, right?” I laughed. “If Birgit said it was dark out, Jesse would marshal facts and figures to prove, indisputably, that it was broad daylight!”

“True,” she agreed. “What do you need me to do?”

“Ask Kara or Elyse; they’re running the girls’ side of this, plus the joint party beforehand. The men are easy. I’ll set up a couple of card tables in the basement and put out the cigars and brandy snifters in the sunroom and be all set.”

“Men ARE simple,” Kara laughed. “Some booze, a cigar, and a blowjob and they’ll be happy!”

Michelle blushed, but she laughed along with Elyse and Kara. I got MY laugh next.

“Mommy?” Birgit asked, coming into the kitchen, “What’s a blowjob?”

I thought I was going to tear a muscle I laughed so hard. I quickly left the room to the call of ‘Coward!’ from Kara as I made my escape. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was explain oral sex to my nearly six-year-old daughter! I made sure I spent long enough in the basement so that it would be safe to return to the kitchen.

“I can’t believe how fast you ran from the room, Mr. Adams!” Elyse laughed. “Seriously?”

“Somehow I don’t think a dad is the right person to explain THAT particular aspect of sex to a daughter!”

“You missed the reaction, though!” Kara giggled. “She said, ‘Oh!’ and then asked the question she had intended when she came in.”

“Only YOUR daughter, at five years and eight months, would simply shrug off that information!” I laughed.

“If you think about it, it makes sense that she didn’t freak out. We’re open and honest about sex. I just told her what the word meant and that it was a way to make a boy feel good. She said ‘Oh!’ and that was it.”

“God help us all when that kid is thirteen or fourteen!” I chuckled.

“This should come as NO surprise!” Elyse laughed. “She’s Kara’s daughter! And yours!”

“And Jesse is my son with Jen! I guess it’s not the same combination with you - Matthew was singularly uninterested in Chelsea’s offer of marriage!”

“Offer?” Elyse smirked. “I do believe she stated it as an uncontested fact!”

“He was having none of it! I think having three little sisters and five moms has him sworn off girls for the near term!”

The phone rang and I walked over to answer it. I listened, expressed my congratulations, and hung up.

“That was Tasha. Svetlana had her baby just before lunch. A boy, «Евгений Андреевич».” (Evgeni Andreievich)

“Oh, cool!” Michelle said. “She was VERY uncomfortable at church last Sunday!”

“Being nine months’ pregnant was horrid,” Elyse said. “Well, except for Kara here, who loved being pregnant so much it never bothered her!”

“I was born to be a mom,” Kara said with a smile. “Isn’t today Tanya’s birthday?”

“Yes. And Nativity for the Old Calendar folks! Michelle was in church this morning. I called Tatyana to wish her ‘Happy Birthday’ this morning right before I left to run with Gina.”

We finished getting everything ready just before Jessica, Jennifer, and Josie arrived home. We had our pizza dinner with the kids, and had just cleared away the plates from the table when the babysitters arrived. The guests began to arrive a few minutes after that, and just after 7:00pm about sixty people were gathered in the great room.

“Abbie threatened me with severe bodily harm if I spoke too long or told any jokes,” I grinned. “So I’ll simply say this - a toast to our friends who will tie the knot tomorrow!”

“Cheers!” rang out from the assembled throng, and we all drank our champagne.

Everyone helped themselves to snacks or hors d’oeuvres and we spent about twenty minutes talking, drinking, and eating until Kara, Elyse, and Michelle invited the women upstairs. I invited everyone to the sunroom for a cigar and about half the men took me up on the offer, with the rest heading to the basement.

“I see your mentor went downstairs after giving you a dirty look,” Dave laughed.

I chuckled, “Al Barton will never be happy with me smoking even a single cigar, but in this instance, screw it! How often do we celebrate like this?”

“Not too often,” he grinned. “Jessica has kept you on a short leash with regard to stogies!”

“I totally get their point, but they don’t agree with my theory that it’s better to die at 65 having enjoyed life than die at 85 having hated it!”

“Amen, brother!” Jamie said. “I think we’re all pretty safe in that regard!”

“Assuming we make it that long,” Howard said with a sigh. “Shall we drink a toast to fallen comrades and absent friends? Nick and Jorge?”

“Pour the bourbon, Commander,” I said.

He did, and the men all set their brandy snifters aside and picked up shot glasses full of bourbon.

“To Nick Evans, husband, father, friend, and comrade - fair winds and following seas,” Karl said.

“Nick!” all the men said, and drank their shots.

While Howard and Dave refilled the glasses, I pulled out the ‘Lucy nickel’ I kept in my pocket and held it up.

“To Lucy; I love you man, wherever you are!”

“Lucy!” the guys all repeated and then we all drank our bourbon.

Thinking of them made me think of Stephie and Birgit as well. And Don Joseph, though his situation was different. I had a sobering thought looking around the room. Some of the men were approaching forty, and although he’d gone to the basement, Al Barton was 54. My dad was going to turn 77 in August. I pushed those thoughts from my mind and walked over to Jason.

“Are we going to see LeAnn and her family tomorrow?”

He nodded, “Yep. My parents, too. They’ll all be here around noon. They’re driving halfway this afternoon, and the rest of the way tomorrow. Abbie’s parents aren’t coming.”

“She told me,” I said. “She seemed OK with that.”

“She hasn’t seen them in nearly five years,” he said. “She’s happy with your family and her friends here. She keeps telling me you made her a new person!”

I shook my head, “That person was always inside, waiting to be set free. It just took teaching her about love.”

Jason nodded, “Stephie always said you knew how to bring out the best in people.”

“And she brought out the best in me,” I said. “It was my great privilege to know her.”

He smiled, “She loved you until the day she died.”

“And if there’s ANY justice in the universe, any justice at all, we’ll both see her again.”

Jason nodded and we smoked our cigars in silence. A couple of other guys came over and started talking to him, so I moved back to where Dave, Jamie, Karl, Howard, and Brian were standing.

“Where’s the Marshal?” Karl asked.

“Albuquerque, of all places,” I said. “He had to escort a federal prisoner to a funeral. He’ll be back tomorrow in time for the wedding. Melanie is upstairs with the girls.”

We finished our cigars and everyone headed down to the basement to drink, eat, talk, play pool, and play poker.

“Shouldn’t we have strippers or something?” Brian asked.

I chuckled, “Walk up the stairs, take the elevator to the attic and ask Samantha’s opinion on that.”

I definitely would NOT tell him to ask Kara that question! If I did, the GIRLS would have strippers faster than I could say ‘Jack Robinson’!

“Maybe he wants US to strip?” Jamie laughed. “He IS in the Navy after all!”

There were loud guffaws from most of the guys.

“That’s EXACTLY the kind of thing Jorge would have said,” I chuckled.

“Or my wife,” Terry laughed.

“Your wife is impossible!” Dave said. “She has been since the first day she peeked over the fence and saw our host!”

“Impossible she may be, but she’s the best programmer you have!” Terry grinned. “Well, at least until the Boss decides to step out of the big chair and be a programmer again!”

“That cannot happen soon enough,” I said firmly.

“As your lawyer, I’d advise you to keep running the place,” Jamie said. “You’re doing an excellent job.”

“And as your friend, I’d advise you NOT to,” Kurt laughed, “because your sister will kill you!”

“She’s a pussycat!” Ed said, trying to keep a straight face, and not managing to.

“Are we going to play cards or talk like a bunch of women?” Karl asked.

“Is that an order, Commander?” I grinned.

“Yes! Now, stand to and let’s play some cards!”

January 8, 1994, Chicago, Illinois

“Time for Show and Tell,” I said with a huge grin as I walked into Michelle’s room after breakfast.

She blushed deep red and giggled nervously. I locked the door behind me and put my toy bag on the bed. I extended my hand to Michelle and she came to me and we kissed softly. I led her to the bed were we sat cross-legged, facing each other, with the bag between us.

“You’re sure?” I asked.

Michelle bit her lower lip and nodded, “Yes.”

I felt I should start simply, so I unzipped the bag and reached in and pulled out the coiled soft ropes.

“These would be used to tie up your partner. Usually to the bed frame.”

“And that’s something you like?”

“It’s something some of my partners have liked, so I’ve done it with them. Both tying them up and having them tie me up.”

“Why?”

“You’d have to talk to them to get a real answer, but some girls have fantasies of being dominated and helpless.”

“And you’ll tell me who these girls are?” Michelle smirked.

“That’s probably not the best idea,” I grinned.

“No, it probably isn’t.”

I took out the blindfolds.

“I like to see you!” she giggled. “Why blindfolds? You could just turn off the lights!”

“If I were to tie you up and blindfold you, I could leave the lights on!”

“True. So it’s exciting to not be able to see?”

“I think part of it is the mystery that comes with it. You don’t know from watching your partner what they might do next.”