Chapter 80: Michelle York

May 23, 1992, Chicago, Illinois

“Thanks for bringing Ed this morning, Dave!” I said.

“You’re welcome. I heard you’re visiting a friend in Glencoe.”

“Most Fridays, yes.”

“After you left early yesterday, Ally told me that her husband got the job with the Sheriff’s department. He’ll be moving here next week. They found a place to live as well. I let Kimmy know.”

“Perfect!”

“So what’s up with possibly moving to the West Loop area?”

“I don’t know yet,” I said. “I’ll hear back from the legal beagles and Bruce sometime next week to know if the deal is reasonable. The tax implications are WAY beyond my understanding. But even assuming it checks out, I’m concerned about moving from Hyde Park. So many of us live around Hyde Park and Kenwood, and I need to take that into account.”

“Julia and I would be fine with it. Our house is only a few blocks from the Metra line, and the walk from the station to where I understand the new office would be isn’t much different from our walk right now. And we could take the bus if we wanted.”

“There are eight parking spots, and a nearby lot is very inexpensive. If we do this, I’ll assign the parking spots to the senior staff and then pay for parking for anyone else. I’m sure we can cut a deal with the lot. The problem is that so much of what I do revolves around Hyde Park. But real estate prices and available space are more or less forcing my hand. And because the ‘burbs are out of the question, we’re pretty much forced to the West Loop area for now.”

“Enough business talk!” Pete said.

“I agree!” Jorge said.

I laughed and Dave and I quit talking just to each other and enjoyed our time with the guys.

When we finished breakfast, I headed home and my wives and I dressed in our karate uniforms and headed to the dojo. Just before class started, I saw Abbie in the viewing area with Birgit, Stephie, Albert, and Ashley. Happily, Kara didn’t see them. Sensei Jim took his place at the front of the dojo and called everyone to attention.

“Mrs. Adams! Step forward!” he said.

Kara smiled and moved from her spot in the second row to stand before Sensei Jim. She bowed and waited.

“Today, I am pleased to award 1st Dan to Kara Adams!”

Kara removed her brown belt and then replaced it with the black belt with a single white stripe that Sensei Jim handed her. She bowed again once it was properly tied in place.

“Mrs. Adams, please lead the exercises!”

She smiled broadly when she turned and saw the kids in the viewing area. I felt a sense of pride when she didn’t break dojo decorum and simply started to lead the exercises. Once finished, Sensei had her work with the lower belts while I worked with the senior belts. When class ended and we were dismissed, the kids hugged Kara.

“Thanks for bringing them, Abbie!” Kara said.

“Mommy has a black belt like Daddy now!” Albert said.

“Daddy’s belt has three stripes!” Birgit declared. “Mommy just has one!”

Everyone in earshot laughed. No matter what happened, Birgit would find some way to promote me against all competition, including her mom!

“Pumpkin,” I said. “This is Mommy’s special day! Let’s be happy for her and not worry about Daddy.”

“But I love Daddy mostest!” she declared.

Everyone laughed at the ‘Birgitism’ that she’d come up with to trump Jesse when he’d said he loved me most.

“It’s not a competition, honey,” Kara said. “We all love each other lots and lots!”

This was an area where Birgit would never yield, but she was learning when to stop pushing her point. She didn’t respond to Kara, which I felt was wise, as it would only lead to further reprimands. My daughter loved me, and no matter how much I knew it, she was bound and determined to show it over and over. And I couldn’t really fault her.

We headed home for showers, and then I left to meet Jodie and her mother at Medici for lunch. Jodie was just as pretty as I’d remembered, and we hit it off just as we had in Michigan. She was strongly considering UofC and IIT, as well as Michigan and Purdue.

“So you’ve decided on computers?” I asked.

“Yes. Dad is convinced it’s the best career for the future and it sounds interesting.”

“Have you done anything with them?”

“A bit in math class in High School. If I were to come to Chicago could you help me if I needed it? You know, something like a tutor?”

“I’ve done that before,” I said. “But decide on the best school for you!”

“I’m pretty sure I want to be in Chicago!” she said with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

I’d seen that look before, though at this point I wasn’t interested in pursuing it. I had made my commitments and I was going to stick to them. That didn’t mean I couldn’t be nice, it just meant I had to be careful not to imply anything to Jodie. I wasn’t surprised by her look given everything that had happened in Iron Mountain the previous year.

“Are you taking a vacation in the UP again?” her mom asked.

“We are. We’ll be there from June 23rd to the 29th.”

“We’ll have to have you and your extended family the the farm for a barbecue!”

“That would be fun!” Jodie said. “Your kids were so cool!”

“We’ll call you when we arrive,” I promised. “We don’t really have any plans except to relax.”

“If you ride, we could probably arrange for that.”

“I do, and so does Jessica. We’ll talk about it when we get there!”

“So which of these schools would you recommend?”

“Academically, they’re close. IIT is in kind of a rough neighborhood, but it’s improving. UofC is just down the street from here, and my office is only a few blocks away. I live fairly close, too, but it’s not that far to IIT. I lived in Hyde Park the entire time I was at IIT. And we’ve hired graduates from both schools.”

“Would you hire me?” Jodie asked.

“I think you need to finish your degree, first, honey!” her mom said.

“Dad said it didn’t hurt to ask!”

I chuckled, “It never hurts to ask! But your mom is right. Get your degree and then we can talk about it.”

“I’ll hold you to that!” she said, flashing her engaging smile.

We finished our lunch, spending most of the time talking about Chicago, though I did get a bit more information about Jodie, her family, and Iron Mountain.

“Call when you arrive!” Jodie reminded me as we parted.

“I will,” I promised.

We all shook hands and I headed back to the house.

“How was Jodie?” Elyse smirked when I walked into the house.

“A year later and you’re STILL on that?” I protested.

“You described her as smoking hot in your journal and said she was the perfect kind of girl to take to the hayloft at the barn!”

“I knew I should have changed the damned password and NOT told you!” I chuckled.

“In fact, you wrote that you wanted to...”

“Stop!” I commanded. “I KNOW what I wrote about her. But there is no chance because of Samantha.”

“You’re serious? You’d turn down a fresh, young, probably virginal girl you deemed as smoking hot because of Samantha?”

“I promised. In fact, Ms. Clarke, you agreed this was a good change for me! Of course, I also remember you leaving welts on my butt the night after I told you about her!”

“You didn’t object to what happened afterwards!” Elyse grinned.

“I didn’t object to the flogger, either! It was just the sore butt the next three days!”

“So this girl is special enough that you would pass up an arguably fantastic fuck with a very willing girl?”

“We don’t know that Jodie is willing, or a virgin, or that she’d be a fantastic fuck, but even allowing for that to be true, the answer is yes. I gave my word. And I’m happy.”

“Are you?”

“Very! I have you, my wives, and Samantha. I also have Gina and Michelle. And that’s not even taking into account my other friends and my kids! And work! Speaking of wives, where are they?”

“They took the kids to the park. Nobody is home but you and me right now.”

“Care for a sauna?” I asked.

“As long as we can play!” she smirked. “They’ll be gone for another two hours!”

“Race you!” I chuckled.

May 24, 1992, Chicago, Illinois

“This is going to be one hell of a series!” I said at breakfast on Sunday.

We’d watched the Penguins beat the Bruins 5-1 to finish their sweep. The Hawks had swept the Oilers, winning their game on Friday by the same 5-1 score. The Hawks had won eleven in a row to get to the Stanley Cup finals, and the Penguins had won seven in a row.

“When is the first game?” Jessica asked.

“Tuesday night in Pittsburgh,” I said.

“You’re not going?”

“No. I’ll get to see the games they play here. I’d made arrangements to see a game in Pittsburgh if the Hawks didn’t make it, but it’s silly to spend the money to go to Pittsburgh.”

“Especially without your special friend,” Kara teased.

“She has a boyfriend. She sent word through Marie and Mario. So even without Samantha, that wouldn’t have happened.”

“When is the first game in Chicago?”

“Saturday night. I’ll miss Guys’ Night, but Dave, Jorge, Ed, and Karl will run the show. The next game is on Monday night. Then they go back to Pittsburgh for one before they come back to Chicago for one. Game seven would be in Pittsburgh.”

“What’s the plan for today?” Kara asked.

“Michelle will be by at 1:00pm for our chat, and Samantha will be here for dinner. Gina and Bo should be here as well.”

“How was their date on Tuesday?”

“Fine, according to Gina. They went out again last night. I’m just afraid of the details I’m going to hear!”

The girls laughed.

“Don’t you boys talk about how amazing a pussy is or how great boobs are?” Jessica smirked. “The doctors sure do!”

“Doctors are jackasses!” I said. “That’s hardly news! The only person I even come remotely close to doing that with is Kurt, and even then it’s a wink and a nod, and usually only a reference to pubic hair! So no, we don’t. At least not our group.”

“That’s because Steve already KNOWS!” Elyse laughed. “With only a couple of exceptions like Ginny Schumacher!”

“Enough, girls!” I ordered. “Do you want your kids to hear this? And start talking about stuff like this? I don’t! It’s just not polite!”

“You and Jesse aren’t going to trade stories?” Jessica teased.

“No!”

“More likely Birgit will talk to him the way Gina does!” Kara laughed.

“And I’ll tell her to keep it to herself, thank you very much! Some things a dad just doesn’t need to know! That’s a lesson I learned from Håkan Sundström! No stories about who curls her toes or what they do with each other! I do NOT need to hear that!”

“That’s for sure!” Bethany said coming into the kitchen to join us.

“Do you work tomorrow?” I asked.

“No,” Bethany said. “I took the holiday. I’m on call, though. Jessica is working, right?”

“Memorial Day is second only to Fourth of July in terms of burn injuries,” Jessica said. “Somebody always manages to barbecue themselves instead of the steaks.”

“You’re a surgeon,” Elyse said. “What do you do for burn victims?”

“Ugh! Not at breakfast, please,” I protested. “She’s told me.”

“Take your coffee in the other room and play with your kids,” Jessica requested.

I refilled my cup and left the kitchen. I knew exactly what Jessica was going to talk about. For serious third degree burns they would often cut the charred skin in a procedure called an escharotomy. I’d nearly lost my lunch the first time she’d described it.

I played with the kids until lunch, and after lunch Michelle arrived for our Sunday chat. We sat in the ‘Indian’ room instead of the sauna. She told me she’d gone to lunch with her new friend on Thursday.

“I’m not sure if I want to see him again,” Michelle said.

“Why?”

“When we finished lunch I needed to go back to the dorms to get my books for my next class. He walked back with me, which wasn’t strange because he’s in the same building, but on a different floor. But he came to my door and tried to kiss me. I did what you said, and shook my head and said ‘no’. He made a face, but he stopped. I just felt uncomfortable.”

“Then don’t see him again,” I said.

“He saw me on the Quad yesterday and asked me out and I told him ‘no’. He didn’t seem happy when he walked away.”

“That’s not your fault. He’ll get over it. Don’t worry about it. Are you ready for finals?”

“Pretty much. I have all my reading done, all my homework done, and all my projects completed. I have to study, obviously, but I’m ready.”

“When do you go back to Lansing?”

“On the 13th. My mom is coming to get me.”

“So after next Sunday I won’t see you until the Fall?”

“I’ll be back in August for the fall quarter. I’ll call you as soon as I come back!”

“Good,” I said.

“Are you still planning to take your vacation in the UP?”

“Yes; everything is set for that. Me, my wives, Elyse, and eight kids! Nicholas is coming with us. We’ll be there starting on the 23rd of June.”

“That sounds crazy!”

“It’ll be fun. I love being with my kids. The only problems arise when Jesse and Birgit get into it. They did a bit last year. Hopefully they won’t, but we can never predict when they will! Did you have anything you wanted to talk about today? Or is this just hanging out with a friend?”

“How do you know if you’re in love?”

I shook my head, “I am the WRONG guy to ask. First of all, I’m a guy. Second, I don’t do ‘in love’. We talked about «agape» and «eros» and «phileo» before. I guess for me, I actually put «eros» closer to the original idea of erotic love. More what we’d call ‘lust’ than ‘love’, I guess. Why?”

“Well, I know I DIDN’T like the guy I was with. That was easy. But how do I know the opposite?”

“I’m not sure you do, really. I suppose if you meet that one guy and after spending time with him, you can’t imagine your life without him, then THAT’s the guy. Assuming he feels the same way about you.”

“Is that how it is with your wives?”

“As I said, I’m the WRONG guy to ask on that topic. I was never, ever ‘in love’ with my wives. Well, that’s not quite true for Kara. It’s complicated, but by the time we got close to actually getting married, I was not ‘in love’ with her. I choose to love them. And that’s an irrevocable decision. If you want to point to a girl I was ‘in love’ with, it’s probably Jennifer, or maybe Bethany. But really, truly, you’d have to go back to the original Birgit or Becky.”

“But you got married!”

I nodded, “I did. But I’m not you! And you’re not me! Jessica, Kara, and I all had our criteria for who we’d marry and being ‘in love’ with them wasn’t at the top of my or Jessica’s list. It was close to Kara’s, but other things were more important. I once heard it said that if you rely on being ‘in love’ to make your marriage work, you’ll run into trouble when the feelings fade, and they will, at some point. If, on the other hand, you decide to love someone, and commit to doing it every single day, then your marriage will survive even the types of disasters mine has experienced.”