Chapter 72: Jorge González

September, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

That evening, after karate, more work, and my usual call with Kara to Jessica, my sister asked to talk to me. The temperature was in the high 60s, so we decided to take a walk together.

"What's up, Squirt?" I asked as we walked north on Woodlawn.

"Jorge. I've been out with him five or six times now and nothing. It's like he's going through the motions, but something is holding him back from even trying to hold my hand. He'll do it if I initiate it, but otherwise, nothing."

I nodded, "I think you toyed with him a bit too much, and he may also be reacting badly to your night with Bengt. Think about that — Jorge clearly likes you, but you decided on a night of fun with a good-looking Swedish guy you had just met."

"Don't get all moralizing on me now, Big Brother! You fucked Bengt's sister!"

"Whoa, Squirt! That wasn't moralizing. That was telling you how it looked to Jorge! I'm not saying that you need to drag him into bed and attack him the way you did Ed, but you need to show him that you like him and that you aren't playing games."

"I don't want a steady boyfriend at this point," she said.

"So don't have one! But tell him up front and don't play games. The only time I really got into any trouble with girls was when I wasn't honest with them or tried to play games. Or, like Annie and Becky, when we weren't on the same page. You're a beautiful, intelligent young woman. He obviously likes you. But as I said before, this isn't High School anymore."

"It was so much easier that last year when you were home. Well, except for Mom and your inability to stay away from Becky. I thought when I moved here we'd be together more, but I guess that really can't happen with school and work and now with your fiancées. Can we make some time, please?"

"Sure. Why don't you let me make breakfast for you in the mornings? I'm always up before you need to go to class. We can't swim, but we can at least have breakfast."

"I'd like that. Is everything going OK with your girls?"

"It is."

"I can't believe you're waiting until you get married to be with Jessica!"

"Remember what Jennifer and I did when we got back together after Birgit died?" I asked.

"You and Kara are going to stop having sex, too?" she laughed. "The two of you are going to need all the water in Lake Michigan for cold showers! Kara likes sex more than anyone I know, including me!"

"She's always liked sex, from that very first night. In the end, it was the fact that she liked it so much that led to her meltdown."

I paused, grinning, and waited for Stephanie to catch what I had just told her.

"Wait!" she gasped. "She liked having sex with Joyce? Really?"

"Yep," I chuckled. "And she felt so guilty about that because of her dad and former pastor that it sent her off the deep end. You know she and Jessica are planning to share my room with me once we marry. And share me. And each other."

"Big Brother, if there is a luckier dumb boy on this planet, I can't imagine who it is!"

I put my arm around her and pulled her close to me, so that our hips touched as we walked.

"I'm lucky to have a sister like you who helped me become the man I wanted to be."

"And I'm lucky to have a brother like you who loved me so much that he could overcome his fears and make love with me. I will never, ever regret doing that. My only regret is that I can't be your wife. I'm jealous of Kara and Jessica, really, but I know it's not possible. The world can't handle it. Heck, it can't handle what you're doing."

"I couldn't possibly care less what the world thinks, and neither do the girls. It's funny, even Dad was a bit skittish about the whole thing. When we told him that night at Nancy Blanchard's house, he pushed back a bit, but you know Dad. In the end, he wants us all to be happy."

"How did Mom take things?"

"I'm sure you can imagine," I said. "But you should have heard Jessica put Mom in her place! You know how Kara was with you? That's how Jessica was with Mom! She basically told Mom to butt out, or she'd never, ever see her grandkids."

"Whoa! Do you think Mom will come to the wedding?"

"I don't know for sure," I said. "If she does, she won't cross swords with Jessica, that's for sure!"

"Grandma will come and have a laugh!" Stephanie said. "But Grandpa will be scandalized."

"Those two are so funny. He's a devout Catholic who goes to church every morning before he does his volunteer work at the hospital and she calls Roman Catholicism 'mumbo jumbo'. She's pretty tolerant of most things, whereas Grandpa is super conservative. The difference between him and Mom is that he keeps quiet and lets people live their lives. And that's totally cool."

"I wish Mom was more like Grandma. Life would have been a LOT better."

"Maybe. But then again, we might never have come to the point where we are," I said.

"True," Stephanie agreed. "Anyway, back to Jorge. I'm going to have a long talk with him this weekend and see if I can fix things. He's a super-nice guy."

"He is. And you're a wonderful young woman."

"Thanks," she said.

"See you for breakfast in the morning?" I asked.

"Yes!" she exclaimed happily.

We walked back to the house arm-in-arm, and she headed back to the coach house while I poured some bourbon and went to the back yard to relax before bed. Sofia and Kara both came to sit with me, each with a mug of tea. It was nice just sitting quietly together, enjoying the cool late-Summer evening.

The rest of the days of the week flowed together, with breakfast with my sister, work, karate, and more work in the evenings, plus daily calls to Jessica. On Thursday, Dave had given Cindi diskettes with our case and client management software to demonstrate, with the caveats, that there were still some features and functions that weren't complete, and on Friday they had done a controlled, but successful, demo. The only major issue was a networking issue with dBase III, but Dany and I were close to solving it.

By the time Jessica arrived on Friday evening, I was beat from the long hours that I'd put in during the week and didn't feel like cooking, so she, Kara, and I agreed to break our tradition, and walked to Medici for dinner. I could tell that Jessica was equally tired, because in addition to classes, homework, and studying, she was doing clinical work at the hospital. It was a good thing we'd decided to delay sex, because neither of us had very much energy.

"Are you sure December 15th is a good date, Jess? It's two days after final exams end, after all." Kara asked.

"It'll be fine," Jessica said. "I actually get lots of sleep during exam week. I've found that's better than trying to cram. Being totally alert when I sit down without having to resort to caffeine, or other pick-me-ups like most students do, works much better for me. But I think the weekend before exams we'll have to spend apart. You and I are going to be studying, and it's silly to spend eight hours driving."

"Then we need to make sure that we have everything nailed down by December 1st," I said. "We're getting closer. I think we have confirmation on everything except the music, and that's only because Kara needs to go listen to the ones we're interested in."

"What did you pick, Kara?" Jessica asked. "Classical?"

"Believe it or not, I thought about that, with a DJ to play contemporary music. That way, we have a string quartet to play during the ceremony, party, drinks and dinner, then the DJ for dancing. I already picked the DJ company — Stacks O' Wax. I met a guy named Jim and I like him. Do you approve of the plan?"

"It's perfect," Jessica said. "When are you listening to the quartets?"

"One is next Friday — they're playing for a reception of some kind at the Art Museum. The other one is in a couple of weeks, and they're giving a recital at UofC."

"My dad said he worked things out with your mom, and they agreed how much she'd contribute."

"And you've run all this stuff by him?" Kara asked. "It's not going to be cheap!"

"I know," Jessica said. "I think we'll just pay for some things with Steve's money like he offered and not tell my dad."

"Good idea," I agreed. "Especially given Doctor Barton is covering our honeymoon. All we'll need then is money for meals and entertainment, and for anything we need to buy."

"Entertainment?" Kara giggled. "You're paying us?"

"Now there's an idea!" Jessica smirked. "I could do with borrowing less money for school, that's for sure."

"Jess, then let me pay for some of it," I said. "Between the rent people pay, the small salary I have, and the money I've saved, I can do that without any trouble. I'd much rather you have less debt to pay off when you start your practice. I'm pretty debt-averse. The only thing I've ever borrowed money for was my first car, and the house, and that was only theoretical because it's a deal I made with my dad."

"What about the investments in your company?" she asked.

"They basically bought shares of stock, so there's nothing to repay. Once we're profitable, they each get a share of the after-tax profits. Both my dad and Mr. Grossi expect to easily make their money back."

"Then yes," Jessica replied, "I'd be happy if you paid some of my tuition. What about Kara?"

"I have money from my grandparents that covers my tuition," Kara replied. "Enough even through grad school, and it also covers my living expenses. I'm contributing the money I would have spent on the dorms to the household budget."

"That brings up another topic," I said. "The attorney suggested that the three of us keep our basic finances separate, though we each put money into the household account that has all three of our names on it. She also suggested that we set up a joint investment account and a retirement account for each of us individually."

"Why is that?"

"Mainly to protect the kids if something were to happen. Your will, Jess, would name your kids, with me as guardian. Kara's would name her kids, with me as guardian. If something happens to me, each of you would split whatever I had with my kids by the other girls, though my dad and Mr. Grossi would have the rights to buy my shares in the company. You all would split the cash from that."

"That seems a bit complicated," Jessica said. "But I guess it does make sense. You know I'm going to make a lot more than Kara, most likely."

"Yes, and I'm going to make more than you, at least in the short-term. But it's not like any of us are going to make a big deal about it. If something comes up that one of us wants to do but can't afford, we'll worry about it then. But I can't even begin to imagine what that might be. My plan is to pay all the household bills from my income."

"Money causes lots of conflicts, but you're right," Jessica said. "Between the three of us, we'll have enough that it's just not going to matter."

When we finished our meal, we walked back to the house in the light rain that had started, and decided on a sauna before bed. I put up the 'Weekend Rules' sign, and we went in to sit on the benches and let the steam and heat work out the tensions of the week.

"I have a question about the wedding," Jessica said. "How are we going to do the first dance?"

"All three of us; it has to be," Kara said. "But I have no clue how that would work."

"Let me talk to Jorge," I said. "He's actually taken dance lessons and can really cut a rug. Maybe he has some ideas, or knows who we can talk to. This can't be the first time three people have needed to dance together!"

"What song?" Jessica asked.

"How about You're the Inspiration, by Chicago?" Kara suggested.

"Oooh! I like it!" Jessica exclaimed. "It's perfect. Steve?"

"That's fine with me. Whatever you two want."

"He learns fast, doesn't he?" Jessica laughed.

"He's always been like that with his girls. He's become a bit less submissive, but in the end, he'll mostly let us have our way."

Jessica laughed harder, "With as much action as he seems to have had, why would he do anything else?"

"You have no idea, Jess." Kara said. "Do you want to know the number?"

Jessica was quiet for a moment, then nodded, "Sure, why not."

"About seventy different girls, probably a few more than that."

"Sheesh!" Jessica gaped. "Really, Steve? That's a little excessive, wouldn't you say?"

"I'm not sure I'd say that," I replied, "but I can see why you would think it was."

Jessica shook her head, "That's almost unbelievable, but then again, I've seen doctors go through the entire nursing staff, so I guess it's not too crazy compared to them! And Kara, we're kind of opposite of him. You've only ever been with Steve."

"Like you, he's the only man I've ever kissed and the only one I ever want to be with."

"Did you guys get your tests?" Jessica asked.

"Yes," I said. "Negative. And that includes Elyse. She hasn't been with anyone besides me since Eduardo left, so there isn't any concern there. And I'm sticking to your rule, so there isn't a risk from anyone outside."

"You might want to suggest that Bethany get tested after what happened with Andrew," Jessica said.

"That's a bit delicate," I said. "I'll mention it to Kathy on Sunday and let her deal with it."

"Good idea."

Elyse came into the sauna with a towel wrapped around her.

"You are going to get with the program AFTER the wedding, right?" she smirked.

"Yes, Elyse," I chuckled. "You'll be able to get your jollies seeing Jessica naked once we come back from our honeymoon!"

"Right! Because I'm not the most heterosexual person here next to you! Well, maybe Sofia, but you get the point! Anyway, I just had a very strange phone conversation."

"With whom?" I asked.

"Jorge called and asked if he could bring a date for tomorrow night. You know, for the usual after-studying get-together?"

"A date?" I asked.

"Well, he phrased it as 'could he bring a friend', but I got the impression that the friend is female!"

I chuckled, "He's playing with fire, that's what I think! You know who this is all about. I assume you told him it was OK?"

She nodded and smiled, "Of course I did. Shall I warn Miss Fireball? Or shall we let her find out when he shows up?"

"I'd stay as far away from THAT firing line as I possibly could," I chuckled. "In fact, I think that tonight I'm going to build a bomb shelter in the furnace room where we can all hide!"