Chapter 77: No!

November, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

On Monday evening, Joyce called me to let me know that Don Joseph's will had been read, and, as I had hoped and expected, he had left her, and her alone, the shares in NIKA. He'd also set up a trust for his legitimate businesses, which would go to Joyce on her grandmother's death, but which provided each of them a healthy income until that happened. Joyce seemed pleased, and she said that Connie was quite happy because she and Anthony now had complete control of the under-the-table businesses, subject to Don Antonio's veto, should he choose to exercise it.

"Steve, my grandfather left you a couple of sentimental items," Joyce said.

"Oh?" I said.

"Yes. The crystal glasses that you always used to toast your friendship, a box of Cuban cigars with the cutter and lighter that he always used, and his leather-bound Bible. He also left you an annuity."

"Annuity? What's that?" I asked.

"It's an investment that pays a guaranteed income until it expires. This one expires in 20 years."

She told me the monthly sum, and I just shook my head. It wasn't an outrageous amount, but it was enough that it ensured that I would be able to let Kara stay at home to care for the children, even if I couldn't increase my salary from NIKA.

"Grandfather wanted to be sure that you didn't need to take money from the business before it could truly afford it."

"It's a nice gesture, but you know what? The other items are more important," I said.

"He knew that would be the case. I have a letter for you from him as well. I'll send it to you."

"Thanks," I said. "See you at the wedding!"

"I'll be there!"

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

The night of Thursday, the 14th of November, Kara and I made love for the last time before we would be married. At her request, it had been simple, slow, and sweet. I was surprised by her getting out of bed when we finished. She kissed me and put on her robe.

"You can't wake up with me, Snuggle Bear; tomorrow is the 15th."

"Following the letter of the law?" I grinned, despite feeling more than a bit sad that she was leaving.

"Absolutely," she said. "I talked to Jess and from now on, it's just chaste kisses. With anyone. Got that?"

She smiled and her eyes twinkled, knowing what would be coming a month hence.

"Did someone tell Melanie?" I chuckled.

Kara laughed, "Even I'm not THAT brave! She's the one exception! But I suspect you won't see much of her between now and the wedding. She and Pete are going to Ohio for Thanksgiving. So are Kurt and Kathy. Jamie and Jackie are going to Rockford, and Cindi and Chris are going to Madison. Last I heard, Katy and Kenneth were headed to Boston."

"That matches with what I've heard," I said. "Good night, Honey!"

"Good night, Snuggle Bear!"

I pulled the duvet over me and pulled the pillow that Kara normally used against me, and breathed in her scent. It was just comforting enough to allow me to fall asleep, despite the empty feeling caused by her absence.

Friday passed quickly at work — I was in 'the zone' all day, churning out code for the medical office software. Cindi was champing at the bit for something that she could demonstrate. Dany and I were getting close, though I was splitting time between working with her and Tom. The Purina project was on track, but we wanted to make sure we finished ahead of schedule, if at all possible.

Jessica arrived at 7:00pm and she, Kara, and I had a quiet dinner together. When we finished, we went to find Jorge, who had come over to show us the dance that he had choreographed. He was sitting in the great room with Cindi and Stephanie, and asked us to come up to the attic with them. Sofia and Elyse, who were in the room, followed us up as well.

"I've thought a lot about this," Jorge said. "And I have an idea for your dance that I've been testing with Stephanie and Cindi."

"You guys are going to love this!" Elyse gushed.

Cindi, Jorge, and Stephanie took their places, and then Jorge nodded to Elyse, who turned on the turntable.

Instead of our chosen song, we were immediately hit by the hard beat of an oldie ... Stephanie and Cindi marched around, pushing Jorge around between them as we stood, first in surprise, and then doubled over in laughter as we heard They're coming to take me away, Ha HA!!!

Elyse shut off the turntable and when we recovered from our gut-busting laughter, Jorge deadpanned, "No?"

"Uh, no," I managed to stammer, before starting to laugh again.

He grinned, "Well, given how your life has gone, I figured that might be a more appropriate song!"

"Come on, Sofia, let's let them practice!" Elyse said. "They have enough chaperones!"

We waited until they left, and then Stephanie cued our chosen song. As I watched Jorge put them through their paces, I was enthralled, and felt that it was something we three could pick up relatively quickly.

Jorge took Kara and Jessica to one side of the attic, while Cindi and Stephanie took me to the other half, walking us through the paces. At one point, as Stephanie leaned back against me, I felt her sigh. I looked up at Jorge, who smiled and nodded as if he knew something; but what? I could only hope that it was he was making headway through Stephanie's feelings about him, and not something that, if it was revealed to Jessica, could derail everything.

It was a short practice, and Jorge gave us sheets of paper with the routine blocked in. It was easy enough that we could practice alone, if need be, but we would be able to ask him or Stephanie or Cindi for help.

"I'd say that's about perfect!" Jessica said.

"Thank you!" Jorge said.

"Now, if you're done with him," Stephanie announced, "I want to take him to the movies!"

"Go on, Squirt," I said. "Have fun!"

She took Jorge's hand and led him away. He had a silly grin on his face, and I wondered if she was using 'movie' as a euphemism. If she was, Jorge was a very lucky man. If not, he was still lucky, just not as lucky as he might eventually be.

"We could go to a movie if you wanted," Jessica said.

"Really, the only thing playing that I'd want to see would be Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger."

"I'm up for that!" Kara said.

Jessica laughed, "You two just love your action movies, don't you? Sure, that's fine. But you guys owe me a love story!"

"Deal!" I said.

Kara and I both loved the movie, and Jessica enjoyed it well enough. It was a good mix of action and humor, with just enough of a plot to hold it together. Some of the lines were funny enough that I thought that they might be destined to be classics. My favorite was John Matrix, played by Schwarzenegger, looking at a pop music magazine and saying, 'Why don't they just call him Girl George? It would cut down on the confusion.'

When we left the theatre, we stopped at an Oberweis shop for some excellent ice cream that matched Graeter's in quality. I ordered a turtle sundae and savored every single spoonful. The ice cream was rich and creamy, the caramel and fudge exactly right, and the pecans deliciously crisp.

"Well, that only took five years to find!" I said as we left. "I'm glad we came out to Downers Grove for the movie. Now I know where to get good ice cream!"

"Steve's been missing Graeter's from back in Cincinnati. Looks like he's found what he's been looking for."

"Us!" Jessica said.

"Well, yes, of course!" Kara giggled. "But I was thinking ice cream. Of course, we could always get the fixings and he could make a Jessica or Kara sundae!"

"Now you're just not playing fair!" I faux-whined. "It's only the second day of celibacy and you're already teasing!"

"I don't remember any rule against teasing you, Tiger!" Jessica said, running her finger down my chest, and then toying with one of the buttons on my shirt.

"I could fight fire with fire, but I am going to take the high road," I said haughtily.

"And a lot of cold showers!" Jessica teased.

We got into the car for the drive home, and Jessica and Kara discussed how we'd handle things after January. She told us about her surgery Clerkship, as well as the others that she'd do before her Fourth Year started in August.

"Wait!" I said. "You don't get a Summer break next year?"

"Just two weeks at the end of May. Clinical work is year round starting during Third Year. I'm able to count my time in Ethiopia as one of my Clerkship modules. We're actually lucky — we get the entire week off for Thanksgiving and three weeks at Christmas. A lot of schools only get two days for Thanksgiving and a week at Christmas, if even that."

"Damn!" I said. "Well, no wonder you said you weren't going to have much time, and you were going to be cranky. I just figured that was from classwork."

"I believe I said I was going to be a bitch," Jessica laughed. "But cranky is a nicer word. I did tell you that I would start actually working in the hospital instead of just hanging around. That's what the Clerkships are. My surgical Clerkships are going to be fine, even if they run me ragged. That's what I want to do, so I can deal better with it. It's pediatrics, geriatrics, and family medicine that are going to drive me to distraction. Just like the OB/GYN Clerkship I'm doing now. The anesthesia Clerkship should be fine; it's related to surgery. Well, usually. If I'm assigned to the OB service, then it's lumbar blocks and stuff like that, which I don't really want to do. Hopefully, I'll be assigned to a surgery service. It's tough to know with Doctor Barton not being there."

"I wondered about that," I said. "I know you're happy he's going to be in Chicago, but your last three semesters you won't have him as your mentor."

"True. But I get along reasonably well with Doctor Hicks, and Doctor Barton had me assigned to him."

"Cool!" I said. "Kara, Doctor Hicks did Bethany's surgery to fix her torn diaphragm. And he helped with the chest tubes, and stuff for her broken ribs."

"Sounds like you're in good hands, Jess," Kara said.

"Now I just have to make sure that I Match with the University of Chicago, but there's also Cook County, Northwestern, and Loyola, so I'll end up in Chicago for sure. I just hope it works out the way Doctor Barton wants it to."

"Me, too!" I said. "I gave Doctor Barton's name and number to my real estate agent, and they're working to find a house for him."

"I'm still offended that he told you before he told me!" Jessica grumped, though it was clear she wasn't really angry.

"He wasn't going to see me again before he spoke with the hospital administrator and he wanted the administrator to hear it directly from him, not via the rumor mill."

"Like I would have told?"

"No, of course not, but I think he was right to tell his boss first."

"I suppose," Jessica reluctantly agreed.

At home, for the first time since our engagement, Jessica, Kara, and I were in the same house, but in separate beds. I knew what Jessica was aiming for, and I'd done it with Jennifer, but it was a bit frustrating to not be able to have the two girls I was engaged to sleeping on either side of me. But then I remembered what would happen the next time we WERE in bed together, and decided it would be worth the wait!

On Saturday, the girls did homework and studied and I worked with Dany and Penny. With the three of us putting in nearly eight hours each, we made significant progress on the medical software, as well as fixed a number of bugs in the case management software. I had skipped karate, though I'd go on Tuesday to make up for it.

"I can work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week," Dany said as we finished up.

"Me, too," Penny added.

"Perfect. We're closed on Thanksgiving and the Friday after, of course."

"What about that Saturday?" Dany asked.

"That's up to you. Come in to work if you like, otherwise, make it a four-day weekend."

"Thanks," she said.

They both kissed me on the cheek and left the office. I went to find Kara and Jessica, who were in the Indian room reading textbooks.

"I think I know more than I ever wanted to know about having a baby!" Jessica said, closing her book.

"Changing your mind?" I asked.

She laughed, "No. Complications are rare, but I have to be able to answer pretty much any question they throw at me. The hard part of these Clerkships is that grades are pretty much completely subjective. So you have to get the doctors to notice you and like you, and you have to be able to answer any question that they throw at you."

"Do you have to get all A's?" I asked.

"In all my surgical Clerkships, yes. In the others, I want to, but sometimes it's just not possible. I got a B in psychiatry, and I might get a B in OB/GYN, but I'm trying my best for an A. These aren't as critical as my surgery units. I did get an A for the work in Ethiopia, so I'm in decent shape."

"I'm hungry! Put your books away and let's go to Connie's for pizza," I suggested.

"Sold!" both girls said at the same time.

We had a nice dinner and because there wasn't anything playing at the movies that any of us wanted to see, we went to the video store and rented Doctor Zhivago. That met Jessica's criteria for a love story and appealed to my Russophile nature. Neither Kara nor Jessica had seen it, and though I'd seen it three years before, I was happy to see it again.

"Wow," Jessica said when the movie ended. "That was brilliantly told, and the film was breathtaking. I wish I could have seen that in the theatre on a big screen!"

"Me too," I said. "Especially those scenes where they were supposed to be in the Urals."

"Supposed to be?"

"Most of the film was shot in Spain and Finland. I think you can imagine why."

"Yes."

I rewound the second tape and put it back in its plastic case, then each of us hugged the other, and then we had a three-way hug. We exchanged quick, chaste kisses and each of us went to our own beds, which for Jessica was one of the guest rooms.

On Sunday, the three of us had breakfast with my sister and then took a teapot and tea and went to the Indian room to go over the wedding plans. Kara's exacting details in her notebook made it easy, and we were slowly checking off all the items. I had the tickets in my possession, as well as a confirmation letter from the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. Kara had signed the contracts with the DJ company and the string quartet, and I had signed the contract with the country club. We still needed to sign the contract with the photographer, but the flower order had been placed.