Chapter 17: Nancy and Paul

June 15, 1986, Chicago, Illinois

"What did Bethany have to say?" I asked Jessica as we showered together on Sunday morning.

"We talked a lot about you, and about her, and how things had come to where they are now. I guess I helped make a mess of her life, so I feel a bit of an obligation to help put it back together."

"No way, Babe! Bethany did what she did because of things that happened long before I met you. I assume that she told you that we'd pretty much agreed to get married and that I proposed to her and she turned me down."

"She has a slightly different take on things, but yes, she told me those things. She says you agreed to work on it, not that you agreed to marry."

I sighed, "It was complicated. But it was also the case that I wasn't going to give you an answer until Bethany and I sorted things out one way or the other. In the end, we couldn't overcome the gap."

"Because of Becky? That just seems like a convenient excuse," Jessica said as I gently lathered her hair.

"Oh no, it's not," Kara interjected, coming into the bathroom. "I honestly think that's the root cause of the problems Steve and Bethany had."

"Then how can the two of them having sex fix that?" Jessica asked.

Kara leaned against the vanity and watched as I helped Jessica rinse the shampoo from her hair.

"Closure," Kara said. "And consummation. They need to put their friendship back on a proper footing, and Bethany has to trust both herself and Steve enough to make love with him. When they do that, she'll be able to be his best friend again, even if they never make love in the future."

"Even if?" Jessica asked.

"Sorry," Kara said. "Even though they won't. I'm fairly certain that Bethany will take up with Nick once she puts her house in order."

"I wonder if she's really ready to do that," I said.

"Was I really ready at Christmas?" Kara asked. "Was Jennifer really ready in the Spring when she came here? Was she really ready to get pregnant last Summer?"

"I didn't think so, in any of those cases," I said. "But I guess it's not up to me to make that decision, is it?"

"Only if you truly think a terrible mistake is being made," Kara said. "Then you should put on the brakes."

I thought about it as I lathered Jessica with her rose-scented soap. She sighed as I touched her more sensitive areas.

"Enjoying yourself, Jess?" Kara asked.

"Absolutely. There's nothing better than having him wash me like this."

"Nothing?" I asked.

She laughed, "You know what I mean! You can have your turn when I'm done, Kara."

"I guess I'm just worried about how Bethany will feel about herself afterwards," I said. "I don't want to make things worse."

"I don't think you will," Kara said. "You both love each other and care for each other. I think you're doing the right thing."

"What do you think, Jess?" I asked, as she rinsed off.

"I think that you're on a good path, Tiger. You're developing some close male friendships, which I think are really good for you, and important for the long-term. Your friendships with the girls are changing, partly out of necessity, but partly because you're growing and changing. That said, I think Bethany is too important in your life to restrict what you do to fix your friendship. She's helped make you the man you are today, and I think she'll help you for the rest of your life."

"Just so we're clear," I said as she stepped out of the shower, "I have explicit permission to make love with Bethany?"

"Yes, you do. Kara, do you agree?"

"I do," she said, stepping into the shower.

Jessica took a towel and starting drying herself while I began lathering shampoo into Kara's hair.

"I was thinking that you should take her someplace," Jessica said. "Away from here, away from everything."

"That's a good idea," Kara agreed. "Lake Geneva is a perfect spot, except that's where everything went badly with Andrew."

"There's a town in Wisconsin that Doctor Barton and Belinda go to for their getaway weekends. It's near Sheboygan. I think it's called Kohler. It's a first-class place, and very romantic."

"Are you sure romantic is a good idea?" I asked.

"Absolutely," Jessica said, putting on her robe. "If you're going to do this, it needs to be you and your Sweetheart. I know that sounds strange, but I think that's what it has to be. I wouldn't countenance anything like this with any other girl, or ever again with Bethany, but this is different."

"How so?" I asked, helping Kara wash the shampoo from her hair.

"I cut in line," Jessica said. "I took her rightful place."

"I don't agree," I said. "It wasn't anyone's 'rightful place'."

"I think it was," Jessica said. "Look, I'm not saying I regret the outcome, far from it! But it really hurt Bethany and I'm sorry that it did."

"Me too, but ultimately, it was her decision. Yes, I might have done things differently, and I probably made enough mistakes for a whole lifetime, but she chose the way forward."

"She told me that she had once told you that if it came down to it, she'd choose to have you as her best friend, rather than her husband, if that gap couldn't be overcome. She thought it might eventually tear the two of you apart."

I nodded as I started lathering Kara's gorgeous body with her lavender-scented soap.

"We had that conversation quite a few times. And we almost destroyed everything because of my cheating incident with Becky all those years ago. That really was the root cause, and it means that you had nothing to do with the problems that Bethany and I had."

"And it's the thing that gives Kara pause about you and your commitments," Jessica said.

"As it should," I confirmed. "Trust, once broken, is nearly impossible to regain fully. That's what happened with Bethany. And why Kara has her concerns. And it's why I will never, ever break my commitment to you, Jess. Ever."

And, I wondered, could that be why Kara ultimately refused to marry me exclusively?

"And that's why you talked to me about 'dalliances' before we got engaged, and why Kara and I had that long, long talk before I asked you to marry me."

"Yes," I replied. "We had to be on the exact same page, or it would all go wrong. I hate the idea of divorce, and I don't even want to think about that possibility. That's why we had to talk about all of that in advance."

She nodded, "We did. And we have our agreement. Make your plans with Bethany when she's ready."

"I love you, Jess," I said.

"I know you do. I love you, too. That's why I can agree to this. Just don't make a habit of it!"

"I have no intention of doing that, even though you agreed to quite a bit of freedom until you're out of Residency. I think that kind of changed once you were no longer going to be in Indianapolis long-term."

"That's up to you, Tiger. I'll keep my word to you."

I smiled and nodded and finished washing Kara. She got out of the shower and I quickly washed myself, then got out and dried off. The three of us then went down to breakfast.

Later that afternoon, Katya Sergeyevna called to ask if it was OK for Lyudmila to stop in Chicago on her way to California at the end of July, as Kara had offered. I suppressed a laugh and said that yes, she was welcome to visit.

"Can you come to New York before then?" she asked. "Aleksey will be here from July 19th to July 22nd. We would love to have you visit. Then Lyudmila could fly back with you on her way to Stanford."

"I could probably come on the 20th and then fly back on the 23rd. When does Lyudmila need to be in California?"

"No later than July 28th. There is an orientation for foreign students that begins the next day, and she must take an English test to show her proficiency."

I chuckled, "So long as they don't mind her dropping her articles, she'll do fine!"

"Yes, she will do just fine. We look forward to seeing you. I will make hotel reservations for you. Our apartment is not big enough for you to stay with us, unfortunately."

Unless I slept with Lyudmila, something to which I couldn't imagine her parents agreeing!

"Thanks. I'll see you then," I said.

We hung up, and I went back to my wives in the Indian room and told them about the conversation.

"So she's going to make a last-ditch attempt to get you to 'love' with her," Jessica laughed. "Just as Kara expected!"

"I'm sure she will. That's right before Kara and I go to Georgia. Lyudmila will be here from the 23rd to the 25th. That's the end of the week before you move to Chicago for two months."

"It's fine, Tiger. Your little friend can visit! But she's not allowed into our bed. Nobody but you and Kara are allowed there."

"I agree with that," I said. "Completely. Our bed is for us. And there's a very, very good chance that Miss Lyudmila Anisimova will be disappointed again!"

"Speaking of the race, how is Stephie?" Jessica asked.

"I talked to her about two weeks ago to confirm our plans, and she says that everything is fine. I guess we'll know better when we see her."

"Don't be surprised if she doesn't look like her old self, Tiger. Chemo takes a lot out of you."

"I know. I'm just happy that she's cured."

"In remission," Jessica corrected. "When she's cancer-free for a long period of time, maybe you can talk about being cured. Maybe."

"Way to rain on my parade," I sighed. "How long?"

"It depends, but if she's cancer free for at least five years, you can feel more comfortable about it. Everything depends on whether any cancer cells migrated from her ovaries. That's what chemo is supposed to help with. But you can't know for sure that it worked."

"Fucking hell," I exclaimed.

"Yeah. That's what cancer generally is," Jessica said. "Sorry to change the subject, but we need to confirm our plans for next weekend."

"Steve and I will drive down on Friday morning," Kara said. "My mom and Paul are going to the Clermont County Courthouse at 3:00pm. It'll just be Paul's boys and us with them. Dinner is at 6:30pm in a private dining room at the Last National Bank in downtown Cincinnati."

"That's a cool restaurant," I said. "Did they reserve one of the vaults?"

"Yes!" Kara said. "After dinner, we're heading to Milford. Mom and Paul are going to French Lick, Indiana for a long weekend for their honeymoon."

"That's a short honeymoon," Jessica said.

Kara giggled, "They got an early start!"

Jessica and I both laughed.

"We'll drive back on Sunday afternoon if that works for you, Jess."

"It does. We can have dinner in Indianapolis, if that's OK with the two of you."

"Of course," I said.

June 20, 1986, Batavia, Ohio

"Who would have thought that of all the weddings since last Fall, Cindi's would be the most traditional?" I chuckled as Kara and I walked into the Clermont County Courthouse.

"True!" Kara agreed. "You would expect her to be crazy! But Jackie's was that way because her mom became a total control freak and crazy woman!"

"Promise me that you won't act like that when our kids get married!" I said.

"No way! I hope they have weddings like ours, but whatever they want to do is up to them," she answered. "There are Mom and Paul."

We walked over to the place where Paul and Nancy were standing, along with two teenagers that I assumed were his kids.

"Hi, Steve! Hi, Kara!" Nancy gushed happily, greeting us with quick hugs.

I shook Paul's hand.

"You know Paul, of course. These are his boys, Ryan and Doug."

"Hi," I said to them, shaking their hands.

"The judge is ready for us," Paul said.

We walked into the courtroom where the judge was waiting. Five minutes later, Paul and Nancy were married, and we walked out of the courtroom.

"That was fast!" Kara said.

"No kidding!" I said. "Basically, 'Do you want to get married? OK. Then say I do! And that was it!"

"Not nearly as complicated as yours was," Paul said.

"True," I said, "But Jessica and I had a private legal ceremony just like the one you had."

"You're really married to two girls?" Doug, the younger of Paul's kids, asked.

"Yes, I really am."

"Cool!" he said. "I like that idea!"

I laughed, "I'm sure. The problem is finding two girls who will agree to it!"

"You got the most beautiful girl I've ever seen to agree!" he said.

I laughed again, "Yes, I did."

"Are you meeting us at the restaurant?" Paul asked.

"Yes," I replied. "Kara and I are going to head to the Spencers'. We'll meet you at the Last National Bank at 6:30pm. Jessica will meet us there. She's coming straight from Indianapolis."

"Your other wife?" Doug asked.

"Yes!" Kara said. "Our wife!"

"Cool!" Doug said.

I shook hands with Paul and congratulated him, then gave Nancy a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Kara hugged both her new stepdad and her mom, and then we headed back to the car. We got in and I headed north, taking the road that followed East Fork of the Little Miami River to Milford.

"We weren't there for ten minutes!" I chuckled. "That's efficient!"

"Mom says that they usually only do these twice a month, and it's a group ceremony. Paul has a friend who works in the Clerk's office who arranged this for them."

About thirty minutes later, we pulled into the driveway at the Spencers' house. Frank was at work, but Trudy was waiting for us. She hugged us both and Kara sat down in the kitchen while I took our bags up to the guest room. I went back down and got a Dr Pepper from the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table with Kara and Trudy. We spent an hour filling her in on everything that had happened over the last few months. Not much had changed for them, either. They were content with their empty nest, and Pete and Melanie visited often enough to make them happy.

"How's your son?" Trudy asked.

"Great!" I said. "You and Frank really should come to Chicago at some point. I'm sure Pete and Melanie would love to see you. And you're welcome to stay at our house any time!"

"Thanks! What time will you kids be back tonight?" she asked.

"Probably around 10:00pm, I would guess," I answered. "We're eating dinner, then going for ice cream. Paul and Nancy are heading to French Lick right after we have our ice cream."

"We'll probably still be up when you get home. Are you staying until Sunday?"

"Yes. There's more room here than in Jessica's apartment, plus you have a sauna!"

Trudy laughed, "You're welcome to use it tomorrow. And we'd love if you would have dinner with us."