Chapter 26: Terms and Conditions

March, 1985, Milford, Ohio

"Hi, Squirt!" I exclaimed as I climbed into my sister's car.

"Who's the cute girl waving at you?" she asked.

"The pilot's daughter, Aimee. She goes to Ursuline."

"A Catholic girl, huh? You know how they go?" she teased.

"When did you become a Frank Zappa fan?" I asked.

"Hey, that album is awesome. I should play it for Mom!"

"She'd have a stroke! Especially that song!"

She put the car in gear and pulled away from the tarmac.

"It seems to me Aimee is interested," Stephanie observed.

I held out my hand to show the ink. My sister laughed.

"I guess that answers THAT question. Should we swing by the house and pick up the Lincoln?"

"I suppose, on the off chance I call her," I said.

Stephanie laughed hard, "Sure. A cute High School girl comes on to you and there's an 'off chance' that you'll call her? Riiiiight!"

"I'll only call her if Bethany is OK with it. I'm here for Bethany, and I'm already having lunch tomorrow with you. Should I give you your present now or tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," she replied, then smiled and asked, "Is it safe for public view?"

"Yes. Where are we going?"

"You'll find out tomorrow!"

When we arrived at my parents' house, I went inside to say 'hello' to my dad, got the keys for the Lincoln, then headed to Bethany's house. She hugged me and we went to the basement to hang out.

"You seem to be doing a LOT better," I said.

"I am. Stairs are OK, obviously. I'm pretty much done with the rehab for my chest. It's just my arm now. I have to do some stretching each day, and I'm walking for exercise. Once my arm heals, I'll do strength exercises. But that's after the final surgery."

"When is that scheduled?" I asked.

"April 2nd as of right now. They're really happy with the progress I'm making."

"What about riding in a car?"

"I'm cleared, but it was still super uncomfortable when I rode with my dad yesterday just to go to the store. I'd prefer not to go out anywhere unless you really want to."

"No. I'm taking Stephanie to lunch for her birthday tomorrow. I hear she and Ed are still dating."

"They are. He's pretty happy, though he's going to miss her when she moves to Chicago in two months."

"Are your parents still thinking about the double wedding?" I chuckled.

"They'd love it!" she laughed. "Do you want to take a walk?"

"Sure! I have very fond memories of walks with you."

We went upstairs, and I helped Bethany put on her coat and we walked around the neighborhood, following the same path that we had years ago. Holding Bethany's good hand was comforting in an odd way. I felt I should be the one comforting her, but holding my best friend's hand just made me feel like everything in the universe was right.

"Why the big smile?" Bethany asked.

"I was just thinking about how good it is to be holding your hand. I could have lost you!"

"I know. It's good to be here. I mean that. I promised Birgit I'd come back and take care of you."

"You really believe that happened?"

"I do. She told me you needed me. I think that you do."

"I know I do. You're my best friend, confidante, and lover."

"Two out of three at the moment!" she exclaimed. "But when I come to Chicago, we'll make up for the missing months!"

I chuckled, "I assume that you'll bring the notarized release from your doctor?"

"Jerk!" Bethany laughed. "But at least the first time has to be gentle so we can see how I do."

"Whatever you need, Bethany," I said. "AS I promised — anything within my power."

"Oh, I remember," she smiled.

"Can I ask about the ink on your hand?" she asked, holding up my hand.

"It just magically appeared!" I laughed.

"It did NOT!" she replied with a soft laugh and squeezed my hand.

"Do you know Patrick Shaughnessy's daughter, Aimee?"

"Sure. How did you meet her?"

"She's working on some kind of pilot certification. She flew up to Chicago and back with her dad sitting in the co-pilot seat. She took a few minutes to talk to me and started flirting. She gave me her number and asked me to call her."

"You and High School girls!" Bethany declared mirthfully. "I suppose this is the way it's going to be?" she sighed theatrically.

"Don't you think at some point I become a creepy old man?"

"No. You'll always be the safe guy girls come to for the best possible fuck of their lives. Hell, you'll be sixty and some sixteen-year-old will be there asking you to show her what it's all about!"

"Even I think that's creepy. I can't believe you'd think it's OK!"

"I never said it was OK. I said it was going to happen. You do realize that you can say 'no' if you feel like it's 'creepy'!"

"Of course I know that!"

"Did you want to take your new friend to dinner?" Bethany asked.

"I'm here to see you, Sweetheart. She's just somebody I first met today. I'll do whatever makes you happy."

"Well, I can't fool around with you, and I don't think that you'll fool around with your sister, which is probably a good thing at this point, so call your friend. Maybe you'll get lucky!"

"You don't have to do this; you know that, right?"

"This is the past, present, and future with you. I accepted that over a year ago when I told you that I'd accept your terms. All I ask is that you're selective, careful, and talk to me about it."

"But what are your terms?"

"No girls under fifteen. No girls I don't know and haven't talked to beforehand. No unprotected sex — I don't want any repeats of the 'Becky Incident', and honestly, you've been damned lucky about VD. And I really do expect it to taper off as we get older."

"I don't see how I could object. And you're really OK with Elyse and Kara?"

"In the long run, Elyse just wants your babies, not your body!" Bethany declared mirthfully. "Kara is going to have to accept some terms as well, but I'll discuss those with her directly."

"I don't have a say?" I asked.

"No. If you want heaven on earth, I dictate the terms; you don't. I'll speak with Kara and Elyse in Chicago. I won't object to whatever it is Jennifer wants because I'm pretty sure it's only going to be whatever it takes for her to get pregnant. If you want a free hand, then you'll have to marry Elyse. But don't expect me to be anything other than your best friend in that case."

"Karin's coming to visit at the end of June," I said.

"Fuck her silly and send her on her way. That's been over for a long time. It's about time you admitted that."

"You figured out that she's coming to say goodbye?"

"If it was anything else, you would have said something. It's pretty obvious."

"What about Penny?" I asked. "You didn't mention her."

"My competition? If you decide to marry me, she'll go find a suitable guy and be your best employee. The only way you have her after you're married is if you marry her. And she's not going to tolerate any shenanigans. Oh, maybe she'll let Elyse and Jennifer have their kids, but Kara will be a non-starter. So would I."

"Interesting," I said. "What about Sofia?"

"Have your fun with your Greek-Swedish girl while you can. She's going to eventually have enough of the three-ring circus that is Steve Adams' life. She wasn't cut out for it, no matter how much she's tried."

"You're crazier than I am, Bethany!" I laughed.

"To be your wife, I'd have to be! But think about it. How is the future any different from the past? Elyse, Jennifer, and Kara all shared you with me and each other. Sofia's the 'odd man out', so to speak. She doesn't do sharing very well. You basically told me that when you told me she felt neglected. I guarantee that neither Elyse nor Kara ever said that, nor even felt it. I've missed you, but I've never, ever felt neglected.

"I completely understand our past, just as you do. You let me go so I could figure out that I wanted you and needed you, and you could understand how much you needed me. Gene and Bob just could not compare to you. Oh, Gene could make me cum, but I was never even remotely as close to him as I was to you. And Bob, well, that was about as boring as anything I can think of. I'd compare it to kissing your sister, but that comparison doesn't work for you!"

I chuckled, "Uh, no, I guess it doesn't. Are you sure it's OK for me to call Aimee?"

"Call her, have a good time, send her home happy, and then come home and sleep with me."

"I do have a couple of things I want to talk to you about," I said.

"You know I'm always here to talk. What's bothering you?"

We were just about to Bethany's house at that point. I stopped and took her in my arms and hugged her gently.

"Are you up for two minutes in the car so we can go to the Spencers' and use the sauna? I still have my key. I'll call first, but Trudy will say 'yes' for sure."

"Yes! A sauna would be perfect. Let's go tell my parents, and then we can go. You should call Aimee, too."

We went inside and Bethany let her dad know that we were going to the Spencers' to use the sauna while I called Trudy to let her know that we wanted to come over. She said that she'd be glad to see us and that she'd have tea ready. I thanked her and then dialed the number that I'd copied from my hand to my school notebook. Aimee answered on the second ring.

"Hi!" she said when I'd identified myself. "I hoped you would call!"

"I'm free this evening if you wanted to grab a bite to eat."

"Sure. There's a mom-and-pop burger joint on Glendale-Milford Road in Blue Ash. Do you know it?"

"I do! I've been there with my friend Pete."

"Cool!" she exclaimed happily. "Is 5:30pm OK?"

"It is," I agreed. "See you then."

After I hung up, Bethany and I walked back outside to my dad's Lincoln, and I helped Bethany into the passenger seat. She carefully buckled in while I walked around to the driver's side. I started the car, and backed slowly out of the driveway, then drove slowly the short distance from Bethany's house to the Spencers'.

"Hi, Bethany!" Trudy said as we walked in. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty well, actually. I have my last surgery in a couple of weeks, and then I'm heading to Chicago."

"What about Madison?"

"I'm staying with Steve at his house. I'll go up to Madison the first week in May to present my paper. I was accepted to graduate school at Loyola for my PhD."

"Congratulations! Come have some tea and we'll catch up. You can use the sauna afterwards. Frank and I are headed out in about twenty minutes."

We sat at the kitchen table and drank tea and I filled Trudy in on everything that was going on in Chicago, and Bethany told her about her rehab and recovery. Trudy remarked about the similarities with Melanie's injuries when she'd had her accident. Frank came into the room about fifteen minutes later and let Trudy know he was ready to go. I shook hands with him, hugged Trudy, and then Bethany and I went up to the sauna.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" she asked when the steam began hissing from the rocks.

"Two things. First, my friend Katy approached me. She's confused about her sexuality. I talked to her a bit, but then had her talk to Josie, Jennifer's girlfriend."

"Sorry to change the subject, but I meant to ask — how are they doing?"

"OK, I think. There's a bit of tension because Jennifer isn't ready for any kind of intimacy, but from what I can tell, Josie's patient. I'll know more when I can look Jen in the eyes in Chicago in a couple of weeks."

"So, what's your concern? It sounds to me that you did the right thing."

"Katy's not sure that she's going to say anything to Kenneth at this point. The problem is that it sounds like he's going to propose."

"Yikes!" Bethany exclaimed. "That's a recipe for all kinds of trouble down the road. Do you know if she's done any exploration?"

"Not that I can tell. She says that she's not emotionally fulfilled by guys and wonders if she might be attracted to girls."

"But she enjoys sex with guys? It's not just her trying to force herself into a mold?"

"It's both, I think. I'd guess she's bisexual, though I wonder if she'll end up with a preference for girls over guys. She kind of reminds me of Josie in that sense. Josie likes guys, but she likes girls better."

"Katy needs to deal with the issue before it goes any further with Kenneth."

"That's what I told her," I said.

"Then all you can do going forward is be there for her. What's the other issue?"

"Do you remember Jessica Wilton, the medical student?"

"Sure," Bethany said with a knowing laugh. "She talked to me quite a bit. She's sweet. Don't tell me you had her, too!"

"No. It's far more complicated than that. I've been on three dates with her. Ones that she planned and asked me to go on. Actually, she didn't ask, she ordered."

I saw a look of concern on Bethany's face.

"Dates as in pursuing a relationship? Or just pursuing the best sex on the planet?"

"The former, I'd say. With the latter, she made clear, without me even making any moves, that it's something for further down the road."

"Well, that sure came out of left field! I know Kara thought there might be some other girl who swooped in and scooped you up, but this isn't the direction from which I thought the threat would come."

"Threat?" I inquired.

"How else should I see it? You went on dates with her three times with no prospect of sex anytime soon. Not because of your choice, but hers. Believe it or not, that's what set off the alarms."

"I have to ask — where DID you think the threat would come from?"

"Somebody like Anna or Debbie V or one of the other girls you got along really, really well with and had something substantial to build on. I could honestly see something between you and Debbie V. One of those things where you meet the person years later and all of a sudden, something just clicks into place."

"Not one of the Swedish girls?" I asked.

"If you were going back there before the end of the year, maybe, but you aren't. I suppose you could reconnect with Suzanne or Tina, but I didn't think that was any more likely than you and Karin getting together. I suppose you should start at the beginning."

"I met her when you were having surgery for your diaphragm. We started talking, and she complained about the male medical students and how they treated women in general, and female medical students specifically. It developed from there. She saw me with Kara, Jennifer, Tatyana, and Kathy and was intrigued that I could have so many beautiful girls, including you, after she saw the picture I shared with Doctor Barton. She discovered the subterfuge about us being engaged and asked about my relationships. We exchanged numbers, and she called me and asked me out."

"And what happened on these dates?"

"Dinner. One movie. A couple of kisses on the cheek. And a lot of verbal sparring," I grinned. "She's pushed me pretty hard to articulate what I want out of life."

"And she knows about your lifestyle?"

"You mean what she calls my harem?" I chuckled.

"If she's OK with that, then I probably SHOULD be concerned."

"I don't know if OK is the right word, but it didn't scare her away. She's talked about an unconventional relationship and negotiating terms."

Bethany nodded, "Because if she wants to be a trauma surgeon, her life is going to be flat out insane and she knows what it would do to a traditional, conventional marriage."

"Like it did to her mentor's first two marriages."

"Shit!" Bethany breathed. "You like her, don't you?"

"I do. But I didn't agree to anything other than being her friend. Just as I agreed to be Doctor Barton's friend, and I surely don't think that HE is trying to marry me!"

Bethany laughed, "Touché." But then she became serious, "I think you're sugar-coating what you're telling me. There's more to this than just friendship, isn't there?"