Chapter 48: Developments

May 30, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"Did you see what happened in Argentina?" Alejandra asked as she came into the kitchen on Tuesday morning.

"Yes, I did. Riots and looting. But it kind of got pushed off the front page of the paper by everything that's going on in China."

"That statue they put up in Tiananmen Square is a real provocation," Jessica observed.

"It is," I agreed. "And at some point, something bad is going to happen. The protestors are flouting martial law, and either the government is going to fall or there's going to be a bloody crackdown. And I'm betting on the latter. But if it goes the other way, and the government falls, we could see a civil war. It'll be ugly either way. Alejandra, I'm sorry, is your family safe?"

"Yes, but I'm not going home for the Summer. I'm going to stay in Chicago and be with Trent. My dad doesn't want me to come home."

"I'm not surprised," I said. "I guess if this continues, you'll join Sofia in doing her Residency here."

"It's a real possibility. The financial situation at home is a mess. We're fortunate that my father keeps most of his money in dollar accounts outside of Argentina. If it was in the local currency, we'd have a real problem."

"Do you still plan to move out?" Kara asked.

"Yes. As much as I like living here, I feel like we're getting in the way of a family. I know Steve doesn't think that, but honestly, and please don't take this the wrong way, I want to be able to entertain how I want, without worrying about little kids or even kids under 21."

"That actually makes perfect sense," Elyse said. "We do have to take all of that into account here, and I could see how it might cramp your style. Not to mention that there are almost no secrets in this house!"

"Tell me about it!" Katy laughed as she came into the kitchen. "I learned that lesson YEARS ago!"

"Well, I'm off to work!" I said. "See you all at dinner time!"

"Steve, will you have time to talk after karate tonight?" Katy asked.

"Sure. I'll come find you."

I headed to the office and got to work on fixing a couple of bugs that Shauna had found in our Windows version of the legal software. We had to finish everything by the end of the day so that we could have a final QA on Wednesday and send diskettes to California by Federal Express on Thursday. None of the outstanding bugs were bad enough to prevent general use of the software, but a few of them were glaring enough that we wanted to fix them before we officially shipped the beta.

We'd sent a couple of earlier versions, along with some very preliminary documentation, to Cynthia's team in Los Angeles so that they would be fully prepared for Monday's install at Ford, Jackson, and Finch. Now it was just a matter of getting the final beta to them, and then waiting for feedback from actual usage. We'd scheduled three months between the beta and final release, which gave us plenty of time to address any issues that arose.

When Jeri came in, she walked straight into my office and shut the door.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I need some advice. Personal, not business."

"I'll do my best. What's up?"

"I'm supposed to go to another one of those dumb gala balls for the Foundation. My mom is fixing me up with a date, as she always does, but there's someone I'd rather go with."

"So ask him," I chuckled. "And tell your mom you can make your own dates in the future."

"He's not exactly the kind of person who my mom would approve of."

"Ah," I said, nodding my head. "It turns out that the dutiful daughter has a mind of her own and that's going to cause conflict."

"Yes," she said.

"And you aren't ready for the conflict just yet, are you?"

"No."

"Then, as much as it pains me to say this, take the arranged date. Well, with one caveat. This young man you want to go with, are you concerned that you might lose him if you don't go out with him?"

"Lose him? Like as husband material?" she said, shaking her head. "He's a nice guy and a friend, but not someone I'd ever want to have 'delve deeper and deeper into me with each rhythmic thrust', if that's what you mean!"

I laughed, "I still can't believe people actually write that crap. And worse, that you actually read it!"

"You certainly didn't mind when I was squirming beneath you, responding to your manhood plunging into me!"

"Stop," I said, laughing harder. "Anyway, if it's not someone with whom you were looking for a relationship, then I'd simply do what your mom asked until you're ready to confront her."

"You're probably right. That means another boring date where I have to fend off lame attempts to get me into bed."

"You can refuse to answer if you want, but do you have some kind of timetable?" I asked.

"It kind of depends on what I want to do. I don't get complete control of my trust fund until I'm twenty-five. That's in October of next year."

"I have no idea how those things work," I said. "My family never had that kind of money."

"Right now, I receive an allowance from it. Then I'll have access to all the money."

"Would you lose it if you break with your parents?"

"No. It was always mine, it's the ability to access it that is restricted. I can't touch the principal or make any investment decisions until I'm twenty-five. There's a trustee who runs it for me right now and a broker I trust makes all the investment decisions."

"I know what we're paying you, and if your allowance is anywhere near what I suspect it is, then I don't think money is your concern."

"No. And, honestly, I don't care about money. It's the living on my own, taking care of myself, doing everything for myself part that's scary. And really, except for you and Zo, I can't talk like this to anyone. And even with him, it's pretty much only about work. I'm still pretty shy and quiet."

"This is going to sound really crass, but I have to ask — do you know how to cook? Do laundry? Change a light bulb?"

"No. No. And no. We have 'people'," she made air quotes, "who do those things for me."

"That does complicate things. Perhaps a roommate would be a good idea. Someone to show you the ropes, so to speak."

"Are you applying for the job?" she smirked.

"You know better than that! I can help you with lots of practical stuff, but you know my limits in that regard!"

"I was TEASING," she laughed. "You know, making a joke?"

"I don't see this side of you very often," I said. "So sometimes I'm not sure."

"Nobody sees it except for you. I'm totally comfortable around you. It probably had to do with what happened in Los Angeles. You know, when my womanly treasure was soaked in anticipation of feeling your throbbing manhood!"

I laughed again, "You are going to be a very fun person when you decide to permanently get rid of the Diana Prince disguise!"

"You have no idea," she said with a wink. "But not yet. Thanks for talking to me and confirming what I thought."

"You're welcome. Are you done with your changes for today?"

"I have one screen that needs to be updated. Shauna pointed out that the screen flow bounces around too much and makes it confusing for the person doing the data entry. It's an easy fix."

"I have one bug left, and it's really a minor one. I think we're in pretty good shape."

"So does Zo, but he's a worrywart, so he won't say so until we're done."

She got up, walked to the door, winked, and went back to her desk. She was blossoming into a very wonderful young woman. I just hoped she survived the coming conflict with her family. I didn't think it was going to be pretty at all. Kimmy came to the door a couple of minutes later.

"Do you need lunch brought in today?" she asked.

"No, I'm going to finish this bug fix before lunch, and I think I'll go for a walk."

She glanced around furtively, "If you want company, let me know."

"Too risky," I said. "But I promise I'll make some time for you soon."

"Good," she smiled. "Do you remember my fantasy?"

I did. She wanted me to throw her on my desk and bang her until she couldn't see straight. I nodded. She winked and left to go back to her desk. Fulfilling that fantasy was even riskier than having lunch with her, or, more accurately, having her for lunch. I wondered if a compromise of my desk in my study at home might do, but even that created its own set of risks. Sometimes fantasies had to stay fantasies.

At lunchtime, I walked home and ate with Veronica, Jesse, Matthew, and Birgit. I was just about to leave when Carol dropped Francesca at the house and Jesse gave her a big hug, a kiss, and then they went off to play. I talked with Carol for a few minutes to catch up and was glad to hear that things were going well with her and Stan.

The afternoon at work was relatively calm. Everyone on Alonzo's team pitched in to help Shauna run through a complete set of QA tests that Jack had developed over the past year, with input from the phone support team. It was boring, tedious work, but it had to be done. By the end of the day, we were relatively satisfied that the system would be ready to ship. Shauna had some further testing to do on Wednesday, but the rest of us would begin working on the changes to the DOS-based system.

That evening, after karate, I went to find Katy, who was in her room.

"Hey," I said. "What can I do for you?"

"Anything you want!" she giggled. "Talk, for now. Come on in."

"For now?" I smirked with an arched eyebrow.

I went into her room and she motioned for me to shut the door, which I did.

"I just wanted to make sure that you're OK with me staying here for at least a few months, if not longer."

"Of course! You'll even have your own room upstairs starting this weekend. Hopefully, you won't feel like a guest at that point. We want you to be part of the family."

"I just feel like I'm intruding at times."

"Because of something I've done or said? Or someone else? You lived here for a couple of years before and didn't feel that way."

"It's different now that you're married and have all these kids here. You've changed, too."

"Having kids will do that to you. We want you to stay as long as you need to. All of us. The kids love you. Jessica and Kara are happy to have you here. You know Elyse likes you."

"It would be easier to stay," she agreed. "At least until I figure out what I want to do. I just don't think I could stand to live alone. And you know Lauren's situation."

I nodded, "She's in a tough position. Does she plan to come out to them once she graduates and has a job?"

"Yes. And as we discussed, that's not going to be pretty. She's going to need a lot of support. And lots of friends."

"We all like her," I said. "She's really sweet."

"I think so!" Katy said with a smile. "I've tried to get her to stay the night, but because she's living at home, she's concerned about it."

"I saw the mess in which Jennifer ended up," I said. "And she had parents who were fairly supportive, though I know her dad had a bit of an issue at first."

"They weren't religious fanatics, though. Lauren's parents are like what you described Kara's dad and pastor were. They'll likely come completely unglued and disown her."

"The entire world needs to get its collective head out of its collective ass and just let people love who they want and mind their own damned business. I've seen all the shit that Jennifer and Josie get, and it has to be even worse for my friend Larry and his boyfriend Drew. Gays have it harder than lesbians, because people don't automatically assume two girls who are really close are lesbians."

"She'll probably lose all her friends, too," Katy said. "I've lost quite a few."

"Any friend who can't accept your sexuality is not a true friend," I said. "Period. Even my religious friends, like Dave and Julia, accept Jennifer and Josie for who and what they are. If they didn't, they couldn't be my friends. You weren't here when Nick Evans first came around and started dating Bethany. He made a few remarks that could be taken as disapproval, and Bethany shut him down quickly. I know my Navy friends aren't as open-minded as the rest of us in that regard, but not a single one of them has ever stepped out of line. Even Nick wasn't out of line, he just reacted badly to a revelation."

"Why do people hate us so much?" Katy asked.

"That's really a question for Bethany," I said. "But if I was forced to answer, I'd say fear. They're afraid of things that are different or make them uncomfortable. It's funny, too, because I'm uncomfortable with gay sex, but not lesbian sex. Bethany has some interesting insights into why that is. But that discomfort doesn't make me want to hate someone or want to prevent them from being with the person they love.

"It's not a perfect analogy, but free speech means that you have to hear a lot of things you don't like and don't agree with. Well, the same is true for all of our other freedoms. It means that somewhere, someday, somebody is going to do something that offends your sensibilities. That's fine. Be offended. It's OK. What's not OK is when you say that nobody can do or say anything that offends you. That's totalitarianism. And we need to fight it tooth and nail. You don't have a right to not be offended. Period."

"I just wish more people understood that and were willing to leave everyone else alone."

"Stay with us, Katy. Nobody here is going to treat you badly. Heck, Jesse thinks NORMAL kids have two moms!"

Katy laughed, "And that it's normal for your dad to have kids with a gaggle of girls. He's going to be a holy terror, that one."

"Yes, he is!" I chuckled. "Like father, like son."

"I want to ask you something, but I don't want you to get upset," she said.

"When have I EVER been upset with you?" I asked.

"Never, but you can be a bit touchy about certain topics. Are you ever going to make love to me?"

"What about Lauren?" I asked.

"She's not into guys," Katy giggled. "Though she is curious about it!"

"I'm glad you're laughing. But I was serious about that. What about Lauren?"

"What makes you think I wasn't being serious?" she asked.

"Besides the silly giggle? How about the fact that you said Lauren is a lesbian?"

"Well, there is that, isn't there? I talked to her about it and she wouldn't be angry with me if we did."

"Wouldn't be angry is not the same as being OK with it," I said.