Chapter 63: The New Normal

August, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

On Monday morning, Kara and I showered together and then went down for breakfast. Sofia and Bethany came in a few minutes later, so I prepared enough food for them as well.

"George and Charlie will be here at some point today," I said. "We'll need to have Jorge move his stuff to a guest room until the dorms open."

"I'll take care of it," Kara said. "Bethany, did you talk to Andrew last night?"

"Yes, I did. We have a date for tonight. I wasn't going to tell him over the phone."

"Did you and Stephanie talk last night?" I asked.

"Yes, after you and Kara went up to bed. She was surprisingly calm. She reamed me good, but she wasn't screaming as it was with Kara."

"How did you leave it?"

"We agreed to disagree. She told me that I was being a stupid, selfish bitch, but by the end, she had calmed down a bit."

"She's just being protective," Kara said. "She's really worried about Steve and that's why she's acting like a mama bear with a cub that's in danger."

"I know," Bethany said. "I sort of expected it, just not being cast as evil incarnate."

"What would Steve do if he thought someone was going to hurt YOU? Or worse, had hurt YOU?" Kara asked.

"Kill them," Bethany said, meaning it.

"Yes," Kara said. "That's why you made him lock his gun in the safe deposit box. And why you took it from him when Joyce upset me so much."

"Uhm, have I missed something?" Sofia said.

I chuckled, "A LOT. Kara, you can tell Sofia anything she wants to know. Well, you know what I mean."

Kara nodded, "OK. Sofia, let's have coffee when Steve goes to work."

We finished breakfast, and the girls offered to clean up so that I could go to the NIKA office and start working. I didn't say anything to Cindi, Mario, Dany, or Penny, as there really wasn't anything to say. At some point, Cindi would find out, or she or Penny would see a ring on Bethany's finger and ask questions. But for now, I just wanted to work.

"Short staff meeting this morning because Dave and Julia aren't here," I said. "Cindi?"

"We're starting on the first Novell installation today. I've been working to get Mario up to speed. Jorge gave me some rough drafts of user documentation for the estimation software. We're going to need someone to create the manuals on the Macintosh and print them on the laser printer."

"Stephanie can type pretty well, and she's been around my computers enough that she should be able to do it. I'd ask Jorge, but he works during the day."

"OK. I'll ask her. She has two weeks before school starts, which should be plenty. I have some more demos scheduled, so Mario and I will have to split time between the law firm and the demos, but that's a good problem to have. I have some things that normally would go to Julia to sign-off on. How do you want to handle that?"

"Give them to me," I sighed. "I hate paperwork, but I'll look them over."

"That's all I have."

"OK. Then let's get to work. Penny, Dany, you have the feature list and module list from Dave, keep doing what he told you to do before he left. I'm sure he's on a beach in Hawaiߴi right about now!"

Cindi laughed, "More like on Julia right about now!"

"Go get some work done!" I smirked. "Your ex-boyfriend can manage his honeymoon on his own!"

Everyone laughed, and we got to work. I reviewed the paperwork that Cindi handed me, signed off on the proposals, and then gave them to Elyse for her review. I went back and sat with Dany for a bit so I could get a good idea of how she worked and thought, and then sat down next to Penny and lost myself in the depths of my code. Other than breaking for lunch, I stayed in the zone until dinnertime. Penny and Dany stayed to put in some extra time, and once dinner was over, I went to karate with Stephanie and Kara, while Dany and Penny went back to the NIKA office.

Penny had to leave after about an hour, per Alice's rule, so she was just leaving as I arrived home. She gave me her usual kiss on the cheek, then Dany and I worked together until nearly 10:00pm when she smirked, kissed me on the cheek and headed home. I left the office and poured myself some bourbon, grabbed my pipe, and went to the backyard. I'd been out there about fifteen minutes when Bethany came and sat in a deck chair next to me.

"So?" I asked.

Bethany held out her left hand to display a small diamond ring.

"Congratulations," I said flatly.

"You don't sound happy."

"What do you want? Balloons, a band, and a fucking parade? You came to the wrong place for that."

She was silent for a minute, "I guess I deserved that."

I puffed my pipe and willed myself to calm down, "No, you didn't. I'm sorry. I'm happy if you're happy."

"But something's changed between us," she said dejectedly.

"Of course it has. You had to expect that."

"I thought we'd be best friends. It doesn't look like we will."

"Why? I'm still your best friend! All I said is that I have to work out the Jessica situation with Kara. Doesn't that make sense if Kara is going to be my wife, she should have some say about my other wives?"

"I suppose. But I was surprised that you would exclude me completely. You really shut me down hard."

"On this issue, yes, but nothing else. In the same way I told Stephanie to keep her nose out of it, and told her that she could never, ever interpose herself between me and any of my wives. Would YOU have accepted Stephanie interfering in our marriage?"

"No," she said.

"Then you understand. Is there a reason you're not wearing your pendant? I've never seen you without it since I gave it to you."

She looked down, "Andrew doesn't want me to wear it."

That set off some warning bells, but it wasn't my place to say anything about it.

"Are you happy, Bethany? Truly happy?"

"I'd be happier if I hadn't hurt you so badly."

"Me too. But what's done is done. When do you plan to get married?"

"Next year, after he graduates and gets a job. With an MBA from UofC, he won't have any trouble. I'll still have a couple of years before I finish my PhD."

"I was a bit surprised when you came home. I expected you two to be together tonight."

"Not yet. We're talking about taking a three-day vacation over Labor Day. He has a roommate and so do I. So it's a bit of an issue. Even if Kara spends the night with you, it's just awkward bringing him here. At least for now."

More alarm bells. Her entire approach concerned me for a few reasons. First, I'd have advised her to be sure they were sexually compatible before they married, though if I were going to marry Jessica, I probably wouldn't be with her until we married, and Bethany, knowing that, would certainly throw it back in my face. On the other hand, her discomfort with bringing him to the house was a red flag that I could respond to.

"It's a bit late for me to say this, but if you can't bring him here, I'm not sure what you think you're doing."

She sighed, "I'm just not sure I'm ready for him to meet you."

Now it wasn't just alarm bells, but flashing strobe lights, klaxons, and sirens.

"Now I'm extremely concerned," I said, having almost used the word 'Sweetheart' but stopping just in time.

"I don't want a repeat of the situation with Gene."

"I'm going to be on my best behavior. Last time, you and Gene had broken up. This is different! How could I ever do something that would upset my best friend or her fiancé?"

"I want to spend more time with Andrew and explain our situation to him before I bring him here. You are a lot to take for people who don't know you. And we have a lot of history I need to cover with him."

"I would think you might have wanted to do that before you got engaged," I observed.

"Steve, he's a quiet, introspective, conservative guy from Michigan. You're a lot to take for even the most liberal of our friends. He's more like Pete than Kurt."

And if that was the case, it confirmed my fears. The one thing that frustrated Melanie to no end with Pete was that he was very conservative sexually and had serious issues with my lifestyle. Fortunately for me, and for Melanie, Pete was tolerant and kept his opinions to himself. In that way, he was much like my grandfather. Pete wasn't thrilled with Jennifer's situation either, but he'd never make an issue of it, even though it certainly bothered him. I gave him a lot of credit for being a good friend, despite the very different world views that he and I held.

"Then you are likely going to have to live in two worlds, and that, I'm afraid, is going to be a challenge. Pete manages, but just barely. But you know what happened with Anala when she married Prajesh."

It was clear to me that Bethany had not thought her decision all the way through and had not thought about the ramifications of her choice. That was exactly why I was up front with anyone I thought might be someone that I'd want to bring into my circle, whether it was a friend, a lover, or a potential mate. She was going to have to try to straddle two worlds. What was interesting was that after eight years in my world, she was deciding to step out. Or rather, put one foot outside while trying to keep the other one inside. That seemed to me to be a fool's errand.

Comparing Andrew to Pete was interesting. Pete was decidedly uncomfortable with my world, though Melanie was right at home in it. In fact, she'd been one of the people who had helped me create my world. Pete tolerated some of the craziness, but for the most part, he stayed away from it. And when he was around, I kept it toned down, at least as much as I could.

"I just want to ease him into it," Bethany said.

"I'm sure you know best," I said, but I didn't mean it.

I couldn't separate my selfish motives from my good advice, so I had to keep quiet. Even if I could, it would sound like sour grapes or an attempt to turn her away from her decision. I'd said my piece about the two worlds, and that would have to do.

"Bethany, have you talked to Kathy about Andrew?" I asked.

"No," she said.

My level of concern increased even further. The fact that she hadn't talked to her best female friend about Andrew set off even louder alarms and raised significantly more red flags. But again, all I could do was encourage her to talk, not tell her that she was making a mistake.

"It might be a good idea," I suggested. "She successfully integrated Kurt into our little clan. Maybe she can help."

"That makes sense. I'll talk to her."

"Good," I said.

When I finished my bourbon and my pipe, I said goodnight to Bethany and went inside. Elyse was watching the news and called me over.

"Another plane crash," she said. "A Japanese 747 crashed into a mountain, carrying 524 passengers and crew."

"Seriously? 524?"

"A full 747," Elyse replied.

"This year has been horrible," I said, shaking my head. "I don't remember this many crashes and hijackings."

"No word about what caused it yet. There was some kind of report of a problem from the crew before it crashed."

"Another bomb?" I asked.

"They aren't saying, but given the bombings in Canada and Japan, who knows?"

I shook my head and went up to my room. A few minutes later, Sofia came to the door and asked if she could spend the night. I invited her in, but told her that it was just to sleep. She smiled and undressed and climbed into bed with me. We cuddled together and slept.

"What's with the newfound celibacy?" Sofia asked when we showered together in the morning.

"It's just a bit of a time out. Give me a couple of days to work through my emotions about what happened with Bethany. I've done foolish things in the past in these kinds of circumstances and I'm being very careful."

"That makes sense," Sofia said. "You certainly used to act a bit crazy when you were emotional."

"A bit?" I chuckled.

We went down to breakfast and once we'd finished eating, I went to work. Cindi told me that everything had gone well on the first day at the law firm with the network install, and that Mario was going to finish the project while she called on some potential new customers. Dany, Penny, and I got to work on coding. Everything went along fine until late in the morning when Penny came back into the NIKA office from using the bathroom.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Penny said accusingly, her hands on her hips.

"Tell you what?" I asked.

"That you and Bethany got engaged! I saw the ring on her finger!"

I sighed, "That's not my ring."

"What?!" Penny gasped in shock.

"Come talk to me in private, Penny," I said.

I saw Dany's eyebrow rise, but she didn't say anything. I took Penny to my private office, and we sat down in the wingback chairs.

"Bethany met someone, and he asked her to marry him," I said.

"She can't!" Penny protested. "She's supposed to marry you!"

"That's what I thought, too. She decided not to."

"Did you ask her?"

"I told her that's what I wanted, and she told me not to ask because she wasn't ready. I did ask her on Saturday and she said 'no'. Then she told Andrew that she'd marry him."

"That's wrong!" Penny protested, on the verge of tears. "You love her so much! How can she do that to you? I hate her for treating you this way! I would never do that!"

"I know you wouldn't, Pretty Penny. But this is what Bethany wants. I love her so much that I have to accept that she thinks this is what's best for her."

"But she made you sad!" Penny declared, now on the verge of anger.

"Yes, Penny, she did. But it doesn't matter. I've made you sad before, and we're still friends. And now you even work for me."

"But this is different! I don't want you to be sad!"

"I know. It's OK. I'll be fine. I have lots of friends and I have you."

She got up from her chair and plopped in my lap and put her arms around my neck and cuddled close.

"I still love you, Steve," she said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's OK," I said, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight.

We sat that way for five minutes, Penny and I just holding each other, and then she sat up. She looked me in the eyes and kissed me softly on the lips.

"Penny, no," I said. "You work for me."

"Then I quit! You need me to love you! You do! You were like this last year and I helped you! Let me help you!"

"You can't quit, Penny. That's not what you want. It's not what I want."

"But I want to show you how much I love you; to make you not be sad! You were always happy when we made love! Always!"

"And I'll be happy again. As much as I want to take you upstairs, we can't. I love you too much to let that happen now."

"That makes no sense! If you love me and I love you, and you need me to help you, then we should!"