Chapter 50: New Friends

June 5, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"How was your day exploring?" I asked Abbie when everyone sat down to dinner.

"Chicago is not New York, that's for sure."

"Did you find anyone to hang out with?"

"I talked to a couple of people and I'm going to a dance club tonight to check it out."

"Take a cab home, please," I said. "I'll cover the cost."

"Why?"

"The L runs through some very rough neighborhoods between the Loop and Hyde Park and it's a longish walk from the L here. Buses don't run late at night."

"That's good advice," Katy said.

Katy and Abbie had met at breakfast and seemed to have hit it off, according to Veronica. Abbie had gone into the city with Katy and then met her after work to come home.

"Is your dad not joining us?" Elyse asked.

"He took Stephanie and Jorge out to dinner tonight," I said. "He told me that he was going to do that right before he left the office. Stephanie didn't want to go, but Jorge talked her into it. I think that was a very good thing. He'll be here for dinner tomorrow."

"Dada?" Matthew said from his high chair.

"Yes, Matthew?"

"Abbie has black lips!"

"Yes, she does. It's just lipstick, like Aunt Kara wears when she dresses up. Aunt Kara just uses pink or sometimes red."

"Mama has pink lips!"

"Your mom and Aunt Jessica don't usually wear makeup. Aunt Kara has pink lips right now."

"Can I have makeup?"

The entire table erupted into laughter.

"Day two and you already have a convert!" Veronica laughed.

"That's up to your mom," I said, chuckling.

Elyse shot me a look that was a mix of mirth and daggers.

"Matthew, if your mom says 'yes', I could help you," Abbie said.

"I can see I'm being ganged-up on!" Elyse said. "Matthew, you can try it on, but you have to wash your face before bed."

"Goody!" he said happily.

"We do have to get pictures!" I said.

"Blackmail?" Jessica asked, sotto voce.

"What else?" I chuckled.

After dinner, Abbie took Matthew down to her room. Fifteen minutes later, they were back, and the great room erupted into gales of laughter. Abbie had turned Matthew into a mini-goth, using one of her black camisoles as a makeshift dress. He had black lipstick, black eyeliner, black eyeshadow, and mascara. The only thing 'off' was that his hair was still blonde, but that couldn't be helped unless Abbie had theatrical dye.

"Get your camera, Steve," Elyse said, holding her stomach as she laughed.

I went up to my room and got both cameras — the Polaroid and my regular Nikon SLR. I wasn't a professional photographer by any means, but photos of the kids were very important to me and the girls, so I'd invested a bit in photographic equipment, with some input from Zeke.

I took pictures of Matthew with Abbie and with his mom, and some of him alone. He loved the attention and was really hamming it up. Just as we were finishing, Jennifer, Josie, and Jesse came into the house.

"Matthew!" Jesse shrieked. "You look like her!"

"Abbie did makeup on me!" he said proudly.

"And now Abbie needs to go!" Abbie said.

I walked her to the front door, confirmed that she knew where she was going, and reminded her to take a cab home. I gave her $20 from my wallet for the cab and told her to have a good time. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and headed down the steps. I turned and went back inside.

"So what do you think, Elyse? Ready for our son to go 'goth'?" I chuckled.

"No!" she smirked. "But he sure is enjoying himself. He and Jesse went upstairs to look in the full-length mirror on the back of my door."

"Not the one on the ceiling?" Kara giggled.

"What?" Katy gasped.

"She's KIDDING," Elyse said. "Kara, I'll get you for that one! Perhaps we should discuss a certain videotape?"

"You're joking!" Katy gasped.

"Wouldn't YOU like to know," Jessica smirked.

"I should never have moved out," Katy laughed. "I forgot just how much fun it was to live here!"

"It's never dull, that's for sure!" Josie agreed.

Matthew got to wear his makeup and pretend dress for about an hour before it was bedtime. He protested having to wash his face, but I reminded him that was the deal his mom had made. He made a sour face, but let Elyse remove all the makeup, give him a bath, and put him to bed.

June 6, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"Holy shit!" Elyse gasped. "Do you believe this?"

"I'm seeing it and I sure as hell don't. The Chinese government is screwed if their tank commanders stop for a single civilian in the middle of the road! I expected to see him flattened by that tank."

Eventually, two men in blue hustled the protestor off the street and the column of tanks continued.

"You think that's the end?" Jessica asked.

"I think it's the beginning of the end. Can you imagine what would have happened ten years ago? That guy would be a red smear on the pavement. If we even saw a video. The government may manage to contain it this time, but unless they loosen up the reins, it's all over."

"Like Gorbachev?"

"Something like that, yes. It's amazing how quickly this is happening."

"Where's Abbie?" Jessica asked.

"Still exploring, I guess. I'm not going to try to be her dad, so it's not really my business what she's doing or who she's with. She's eighteen, so it really is her decision."

"You aren't concerned about her?"

"I am, but she's an adult. And yes, I'll give my kids this kind of freedom, though I'll expect them to tell us where they are and when they'll be home. But asking Abbie to do that would be like asking Leila or Katy."

"Even when they're adults?"

"If they're living here, yes. But it should be second nature by the time they're eighteen."

"You might want to ask her to do the same thing," Jessica said. "Just for her own safety."

"It's not unreasonable, Son," my dad said. "She's in a new city and doesn't really know anyone except for you."

"I guess I was just allowing her the freedom I thought she needed. But I'll talk to her at breakfast if she doesn't come home before we head to bed. Are you still planning on leaving after lunch tomorrow?"

"Yes. I finished with Julia today, and obviously, I'll keep in touch with her and decide when to come up to run things while she's on her maternity leave."

"Now THAT's hilarious!" Elyse interrupted. "They almost dumped that asshole Khomeini's body onto the ground!"

The report on CNN showed people trying to grasp at the shroud that wrapped the Ayatollah's body and nearly dragging him to the ground. It would have been fitting given the trouble he'd caused for the US, especially during the hostage crisis.

"There's a special spot in Hell for that man," my dad said. "The Shah was a pretty bad guy, but nothing compared to that religious fanatic who wanted to take the country back to the 7th century. And it doesn't look like things are going to get any better, either."

"What's your take on China?" I asked.

"Chaos. At least in the short term. If they're smart, they'll loosen the reins a bit economically, like Gorbachev is doing. If they don't, it'll collapse into a chaotic mess that will suck the entire world in."

"And Russia?"

"You have better contacts there than I do!" he chuckled. "What's your friend Ivan saying?"

"Not much, really. Just that he's pleased with the economic changes. Tanya is very happy with the improving democracy. And I suspect that Dmitry never really relished the idea of an assault on NATO."

"Soldiers never do," my dad said. "Only politicians. Well, with the odd exception of Patton!"

"Which is what got him into trouble. But I think you could say the same thing about him that Lincoln said about US Grant — 'He fights'."

"They should have given Patton the damned gasoline and let him advance, instead of trying that foolish gambit that Monty dreamt up. The war would have been shorter, and the Soviets would have had less territory."

"Do you have a few minutes to talk privately?" I asked.

"Sure, Son."

We went to my study, and I shut the door.

"How did things go with Stephanie and Jorge?" I asked.

"Fine. Your sister still has a serious attitude problem, but Jorge is a nice moderating force. I'm not sure she'll ever marry him, but he's good for her. Of course, if I tell HER that, you know what'll happen."

"Yes," I sighed. "She'll dump him. I'm not totally happy with how my relationship with her has changed."

"You got married, and she was no longer first in your life. Then you had kids and made it worse. Before your wedding, even when you were serious with Jennifer, Tanya, and Bethany, Stephanie came first. It was unavoidable, because it's been a foregone conclusion that you would marry from the time you met Becky and Jennifer. It was really just a question of who it would be. I see Jessica seems to be doing OK."

"She is. She's receiving counseling, and the three of us are seeing a marriage counselor. And we're talking a lot."

"Marry in haste and repent at leisure," my dad said.

"Where'd you hear that one?"

"From my dad, when I was fifteen or so. Part of his conversation with me about not getting too serious about girls too soon."

"Probably good advice, though I sure didn't take it! And Jesse has me beat. He had his first kiss when he was three months old!"

"You had a girlfriend when you were around two or three. A little girl who lived next door to us in Yorba Linda."

I chuckled, "Jannelle Green. We were going to have ten kids and six cats. I had this odd flashback to her about ten years ago when I was holding hands with Bethany when we were walking."

"You were quite upset when we moved out to Bermuda Dunes, because you couldn't see her regularly. Speaking of girls, how did you meet the young lady from New York?"

"Her parents ran the bed-and-breakfast that our travel agent booked me into when I went to get Jessica. We had a really in-depth talk about all kinds of stuff, and I invited her to come visit and check out Chicago. She's a sweet girl who's searching for meaning for her life. At some point, she's going to move to New York City to be with her friends. Well, that was her plan, anyway. We'll see what happens. Did you see the Polaroids of Matthew?"

My dad laughed, "I did! He showed me this morning before I left the house. He's quite proud of that picture."

"I thought Jesse was going to have a heart attack when he saw Matthew. And Matthew tried to weasel his way out of having to wash his face before going to bed. Before I forget, are you and mom planning to come up in August?"

"Once the babies are born, we'll settle on which days to come up. I have to say I didn't expect to have five grandchildren in such a short time!"

"I love kids," I said. "I always have. And each of the girls wants their own."

"And you suffer to help them," he chuckled.

"It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!"

My dad laughed hard. We talked for another twenty minutes before rejoining the others for the rest of the evening.

June 7, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"Tell me more about that conversation, please," Doctor Green said after we'd given him an outline of our sauna conversation.

"I think the bottom line is trust," Jessica said. "None of us have enough of it for each other. Except maybe Kara for Steve, but even there, he's done some things to her over the years that seriously violated that trust. Just as I did recently."

"The conversation started about trying to decide on ground rules," I said. "And what we discovered is that all three of us are broken in some way and need to heal. But we want to heal together. And we need help to do that. Help from you, help from our closest friends, and help from each other."

"I am concerned about the additional stress that a baby is going to bring to the relationship. And Jessica's eventual return to the ER. We'll need to work out strategies for dealing with the stress, with the understanding that Jessica can't just walk away from it if she's overstressed."

"That's what I'm working on with my private counselor," Jessica said. "And when I start in the ER, I'll be starting with a month of eight-hour shifts with close supervision. Then I'll go to twelve-hour shifts, assuming I'm cleared by the Senior Attending. That would last for another month or so, and then I'll be back on a regular rotation."

"Would you give consent to let me discuss all of this with your psychologist at the hospital?"

"Yes, of course. I tell her pretty much everything we say here."

"You mentioned that there've been some changes at home. Has that been stressful in any way?"

"No," Jessica answered. "Katy is an old friend of Steve's who's getting divorced. She used to live in the house before she got married, so it's kind of like coming home. Leila and Alejandra moved out, but that really didn't affect me one way or the other, though I think Steve was a bit sad about it. And we have a new friend, Abbie, who's staying with us, probably for the Summer."

"Why were you sad, Steve?" Doctor Green asked.

"They're good friends and they had lived in the house for several years. But once Sofia moved out, and the other girls got pregnant, those two decided they wanted to get their own place. It makes sense, even if it's sad that they left. That said, I was much more upset when Sofia moved out, because I've known her for ten years, and we were very, very close."

"She was his best friend in Sweden and filled that spot when things between Steve and Bethany went sour."

"You've mentioned lots of girls. I'm wondering just how many of these were truly serious. How many were real candidates for a long-term relationship or marriage?"

I chuckled, "Quite a few. Not in any particular order — Birgit, Jennifer, Becky, Karin, Sofia, Katt, Stephie, Elyse, Kara, Bethany, Jessica, Anala, and Tanya."

"You're joking?!"

"No. And that's not a complete list. There were other girls, too. But in the end, most of them needed something that I couldn't provide."

"Monogamy?"

"Yes, except in Jennifer's case, I had the wrong genitals."

"Something she discovered while in college, if I recall correctly."

"Yes. It was a long and tortuous journey. My friend Katy is treading some of the same ground."

"And that's the cause of her divorce?"

"Yes. But back to stress, she's not causing any for me, and everyone likes having her around. Her girlfriend is really sweet as well."

"How about work? Is that causing you any stress?"

"No more than usual, and it's not bad. I think my biggest stress is lack of time. It's nearly four months before my karate instructor comes back, and those responsibilities, added to work and home, really limit what I can do."