Chapter 54: Quiet Time

June 19, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"Dada?" Jesse said when Elyse and I arrived home late in the afternoon with Michael.

"Yes?" I replied as Elyse went to sit on the couch and was immediately surrounded by the girls.

"Aunt Elyse had a boy?" Jesse asked.

"Yes. His name is Michael."

"Aunt Chess will have a boy?"

He still called her that, and I wondered if that would be her nickname forever.

"Yes, and his name will be Albert."

"Good! No more sisters!"

"Birgit is a nice girl, Jesse," I said.

"Yes. But no more sisters!"

"Dada," Matthew said.

"Yes, Matthew?"

"I'm a big boy now! Michael is a baby!"

"Yes, you're a big boy now. You need to be a good brother to Michael."

"Yes! No sisters!"

All the girls giggled, and I laughed. Jesse had worked overtime on that one. But he was batting 1.000 since Birgit was born.

"He really is big, Son," my dad said.

"He's a bruiser for sure. He kind of looks like the baby picture I've seen of Uncle Donald. If he has that set of genes from Mom's side, he'll be at least six feet!"

"I think that will take a while," he chuckled.

"Baby!" I heard Birgit squeal when Veronica brought her into the room.

Kara took our daughter and walked over to Elyse.

"This is your brother, Michael," Kara said.

"My-kull," Birgit said, sounding out the word. "And Ma-foo!"

I chuckled. Birgit called Matthew 'Ma-foo' and sometimes just 'Foo' as a nickname. Others picked up that nickname for him, and I hoped he didn't mind because it seemed like it was going to stick.

"What took so long to be discharged?" Jessica asked.

"I haven't got a clue," I replied. "Doctor Robertson signed the discharge order when she came in on her rounds this morning around 11:00am. It took five hours before they said we could go. And then another thirty minutes before the orderly showed up. I was ready to just walk Elyse out."

"They must have been really busy or really short-staffed today," Jessica said. "It usually doesn't take nearly that long."

"It sure didn't with the first three!" I said.

"Tiger, if Elyse wants you to stay with her for the rest of the week, it's OK."

"You're sure?" I asked.

"Yes. I'll get my time when Albert is born."

"Yes, you will. Kara, is it OK?"

"Yes," Kara agreed. "It was my idea. I'm not missing much, given my period started today!"

I chuckled, "NOW I get it."

"Oh stop, Snuggle Bear. Elyse needs you to cuddle her."

"Thanks, Jessica. Thanks, Kara," Elyse said.

June 20, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"Congratulations!" Jacquelyn said on Tuesday morning.

"Thanks. Sorry about yesterday."

"It's fine. Kara and Jessica were sweet to walk over here to let me know. I guess you couldn't very well leave Elyse and your new baby. They didn't know what it was."

"A big baby boy named Michael Stephen Clarke."

"Wow. And Jessica is having a boy? You'll have four sons and a daughter? And you're only twenty-six?"

"It is pretty crazy around my house. How did your final grades turn out?"

"Straight A's! My parents are super happy. They want you and Jessica to come to dinner, but I told them she's having her baby in a couple of weeks, so we should wait until at least August."

"Do they know about my other kids?"

"No, I've sort of kept it all quiet. I didn't want them trying to stop me from running with you or coming to the dojo while Sensei Jim is away."

"That probably makes sense," I said. "You haven't said anything about Joey in the last few weeks. Is everything OK?"

"I'm bored with him. I'm going on a date on Friday with a guy who just graduated. He was new last year because his dad was transferred here from Seattle."

"I hope you told Joey about it," I said.

"We broke up before I accepted the date. I have listened to you and Kara, you know?"

"Good. Shall we run?"

"Yes!"

June 23, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"Elyse, do you mind if we steal Steve and take him to the movies?" Jessica asked.

"No, that's fine. He's been with me pretty much non-stop all week when he's been home. I really appreciate you letting us bond as a family."

"You ARE a family," Kara said.

Elyse smiled.

"What are we going to see?" I asked.

"Well, Road House or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," Jessica replied. "You pick this time."

"Let's see Indiana Jones," I suggested.

"OK. Before I forget, I made sure everyone knew that tomorrow was off and that we'd do Guys' and Girls' night next week."

"Thanks," I said. "It's been totally crazy these last three weeks. I'm just lucky we finished the Windows release at the end of May."

"Tiger, I know Jason invited you, but maybe you should skip the Talladega race this year. You could still go to Michigan. You said you didn't plan to go see Stephie's grave, so it's not as if you have a compelling reason to visit."

"Except telling Jason that I would," I said.

"But that was before everything happened last Fall and Winter, and before the kids, and karate, and everything else. I think he'll understand, especially given you'll see him at Michigan."

"I suppose you have a point," I sighed. "I'll call Jason at the race shop on Wednesday, and then I'll call LeAnn and let her know."

We headed to Water Tower Place for the movie, and this time we agreed the movie was a smash hit. None of us had been thrilled with Temple of Doom, though it wasn't a bad movie, per se, it just wasn't as good as the first one. This one certainly rivaled the first one, and having Sean Connery play Indy's father certainly helped in my book, given that he was my favorite actor.

"Ice cream?" Jessica asked.

"And pickles?" Kara teased.

"Yuck!" Jessica spat. "I crave ice cream and chocolate!"

We headed to the Oberweis shop, and Jessica ordered a chocolate fudge sundae with chocolate ice cream and extra chocolate sprinkles.

"You weren't kidding on the chocolate part!" I teased.

"Do NOT upset a pregnant woman, Tiger. You might not survive."

"Elyse made that quite clear to me. She was in quite a foul mood until Sunday morning. A bit of cuddling seems to have gotten me off the hook."

"I gave you the nickname 'Snuggle Bear' for a reason!" Kara declared. "Remember how quickly Jess agreed?"

"You girls do like your cuddles!"

"I think you secretly like them, too," Kara said. "And they certainly ensure a girl will come back for more and be very receptive to anything you might want to do!"

I chuckled, "Perhaps. But I don't recall that we cuddled before the first time we made love. In fact, we only kissed a few times."

"And whose fault is THAT? Hmm?" she demanded.

"Mine, of course. I've almost always put it off. The times I didn't usually led to either heartache or potential trouble."

"Are you going to keep putting off Katy?"

"At a minimum, until Katy decides what she REALLY wants. And Lauren, too, for that matter."

"So Katy isn't a Kinsey 6 like Jennifer is?" Jessica asked.

"No, probably a 5, if I had to guess. She's hinted that she's only interested in a girl for a long-term partner, but having a guy from time to time excites her. But with a guy, it's just a physical thing."

"Except for you," Jessica said. "I don't know all the history, but that girl is in love with you."

"That's not news, Babe. It's been true for years. But I don't meet her needs, and I could probably never meet her needs. It's a lot like Jennifer in that way. She and I were deeply in love, but we couldn't make it work. Even after we figured out that true love is deeper than that, and is a decision, it couldn't work. I needed you and Kara. The two women who, ultimately, could handle my very unconventional approach to life."

"Kimmy could," Kara suggested.

"No, I don't think so," Jessica said. "I think Kimmy ultimately wants a normal relationship with one guy for the rest of her life. Steve provides her something she wants right now in a very risk-free way. She's like Leila in that way. A married man is a safe option for good sex and companionship. At some point she'll meet someone and talk to Steve about ending things, if he hasn't already ended them at that point."

I nodded, "I agree. There are very few women who can handle the path I've chosen to walk. Quite a few tried and bailed over the years, Bethany being the most recent. But Karin, Sofia, Anna, Aimee, and, although we never dated, Katy, couldn't handle it."

"You know, of those, Aimee was the best match for you, if she hadn't had her heart set on a Naval career."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Attitude. Personality. Ability to handle the complexities of your life, even if she wasn't sexually permissive."

"She certainly thought so," I said. "Then there was Anala, but that was a very different situation altogether. If I could have converted to Hinduism and accepted her submissiveness, it might have worked. But those were bridges too far."

"Are you and Abbie through?"

"That's up to Abbie and Henry," I said. "She starts working at the record store on Monday, and they're spending a lot of time together. Neither of them is particularly into monogamy at the moment, so who knows?"

"And her friend Trish?"

"That's completely up to Trish. If she's interested, she'll call me, I guess. She laid down some pretty firm ground rules, one of which was I can't ask her."

Jessica and Kara both laughed.

"We talked with Elyse about that one and the three of us thought it was amusing that you more or less met yourself in female form, though you are a bit more fluid with your personas than she is."

"We adapt to our surroundings," I said. "The three of us do our best to be totally up front about it, but sometimes, like with Jacqui's parents, we have to fudge things to protect our friends. We'll have some real challenges when the kids go to school."

We finished our ice cream and headed home. For the first time in a week, I slept with my wives instead of Elyse.

June 24, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

We'd been delayed because of the availability of Sharon and Ichirō, but finally, I could award Therese her black belt, promoting her to 1st Dan. After awarding the belt, I took my place amongst the students and allowed her to lead the class as she saw fit. When class finished, we went to the office to talk.

"Welcome to the club!" I said.

She smiled, "Thanks!"

"Jolene and I were wondering if you would like to teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I still have the daytime classes, as well as Saturday. It would be a big load off if I knew that I could occasionally skip on Tuesday or Thursday. My schedule is hell at the moment, especially with having to be here at lunch and when school gets out. I'll come most Tuesdays and Thursdays, but you'll run the class."

"Thank you for trusting me, Sensei!" she replied happily. Yes, of course!"

"Good. See you on Monday!"

She bowed and left, closing the door behind her.

"Are you OK?" I asked Jolene, who'd seemed a bit depressed about things.

"Do I have a choice?" she asked. "You can't promote me, and Sensei Jim is gone for another couple of months. May I ask the question?"

"I'm not Sensei Jim," I chuckled.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think it's up to Sensei, not me. That said, I think you've improved your attitude, your skills, and shown dedication to the dojo. And from my perspective, you're discovering things about yourself at our Sunday Rap Sessions. I think Sensei will notice the difference when he returns."

"An interesting way to avoid answering directly."

"I almost always give you direct answers to questions you ask. This one, I really can't because I'm not the one who decides. I'm not even sure he'll ask my opinion. I do expect him to ask how you did, and I'll give a positive response to that."

"Thanks. I do have some news for you."

"Oh?"

"I've been dating a guy for about a month now. He's a radiology tech who works in the same building I do."

"Good," I said. "I'm happy for you!"

"Thanks. Hope likes him, too. And she has a boyfriend. Not too serious, but she's seeing him on weekends. He's sixteen, so a bit more age appropriate."

"A bit," I chuckled. "I'm glad to hear that, too. Things are working out about as well as could be expected. I do need to get going now. See you Tuesday night."

She stood up and bowed and left the office. I locked up and then went home with Stephanie and Kara. I took a shower, checked on Elyse, Matthew, and Michael, and then went to have lunch with Jessica and Kara. We'd canceled the Guys' Night and Girls' Night Out, so we had a nice day to relax at home, which, after the chaos of the previous weeks, was a good thing.

After lunch, my sister asked to talk to me, so we went to my study.

"What's up, Squirt?"

"What did you say to Becka?"

"Her again? Can we just forget her, please?"

"Sorry, it's just that Len called me yesterday and said she's basically not talking to anyone right now."

"I just told her to go read her Bible and really read it this time. Maybe she did. I really don't give a damn. And seriously, unless she has a 'Road to Damascus' revelation, she's not welcome here. And that's all I'm saying about her. How were things with Mom and Dad?"

"OK, I guess. I still don't like Mom being around, but she has sort of toned it down."

"She had to. Jessica, Kara, Elyse, and Jennifer were all pretty clear that if Mom ever wanted to set foot in the house again, she had to back off. You did notice that Mom and Dad don't bring Jeff with them, right?"

"Not after the girls took her to task on that one," Stephanie said. "You chose pretty well for a 'dumb boy'!"

"I chose? I'd say all four of them — Jennifer, Elyse, Kara, and Jessica — chose me. And so did you, for that matter."

"And I'm glad I did, Big Brother. But that seems like such ancient history these days."

"Because it is. We're very different people. You have your undergrad degree in business and start on your MBA in the Fall. I have my degree and I own my own company, I'm married, and have five kids. We don't need each other in the same way that we did before."

"I suppose not, but I miss how close we were. I know I've said that before, but it's true."

"Because you have to be close to Jorge, and I have to be close to my wives, and Elyse, and to a lesser extent, Jennifer. It's just how things are. Running away together was the only option, and I think that would have been a terrible idea in the long run."

"You're right," she sighed. "But nobody can make me feel the way you did. Nobody, ever."

"Same here, Squirt. Same here."

We hugged and left my study. Elyse was finally recovered from what had been the most exhausting pregnancy we'd seen so far. I could tell she was happy that she'd had her second kid, and discussed having her tubes tied so that she could stop taking the Pill. I let Jessica and Kara talk with her about that, because the real question was whether or not she'd ever want kids with another guy, and anything I said in that regard could be problematic.