Chapter 37: Ringing in the New Year

December 29, 1992, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve, do you have a few minutes?” Samantha asked on Tuesday evening when I arrived home from karate.

“Sure. I don’t need to leave to get Jessica for about an hour. What’s up?”

She led me to my study and shut the door.

“I need your help,” she said.

“With?”

“Shelby. My dad put the moves on her. I do NOT want him to have her.”

“I didn’t see him with her,” I said. “And her mom was watching her dance card pretty closely!”

“Her parents were talking with Margaret Lundgren so they didn’t see him ask her. She said yes because she was flattered.”

“How long is she in the US?” I asked.

“Until January 8th. Her family will be at my dad’s New Year’s party.”

“Could you just talk to her? Warn her?”

“My dad is pretty persuasive. I had an idea, though.”

“No way,” I said vehemently. “She’s fifteen and part of that crowd.”

Samantha smirked, “Oh, that would work, but I know not to even suggest that. And I’m not. She should find a guy closer to her age.”

“Interesting. What brought that idea on?”

“You, you clown!” Samantha laughed. “Anyway, I thought of an idea. If you called Frank Temple and said that you were concerned because you saw Shelby dancing inappropriately close to my dad, I think that would solve the problem.”

That was possible because I’d only danced appropriately with Shelby. Had I pulled her close to me, or otherwise behaved improperly, I wouldn’t be able to make a call such as the one Samantha was suggesting I make. But there was also the issue of Noel Spurgeon and his reaction.

“And when your dad finds out I interfered?”

“I can’t imagine Frank would rat you out if you did him this favor. You mentioned how closely her mom was watching who she was with. That’s why I suggested you ask her. I knew you’d treat her properly and wouldn’t even THINK about having sex with her!”

I chuckled, “Well, she is really pretty, so the thought DID cross my mind, and was immediately stored in the ‘fantasy never to be fulfilled’ area of my brain.”

“Like having Ellie, Liz, Mary, and me all at once!” she teased.

“Yes!” I laughed. “Like that! If you have Frank’s number, I’ll call him.”

She smiled and handed me a piece of paper. I picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“May I speak with Frank Temple, please? Steve Adams calling.”

“One moment sir, I’ll see if he’ll take your call.”

About two minutes later, he came on the line.

“Steve? What can I do for you?”

“This is somewhat difficult to say, but last night, at the Gala, I saw something which really disturbed me and I wanted to let you know about it. It pains me, but I have to tell you that Noel Spurgeon was dancing VERY inappropriately with your daughter.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. I waited.

“Thank you,” came the grim reply.

“You’re welcome, sir. I’m sorry.”

“You did the right thing. If I can ever do anything for you, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Thanks,” I said.

He disconnected without another word.

Samantha smiled, “Thank you! Though I suspect it would have been more fun the other way.”

I grinned, “Maybe so, but that was the right thing to do. And it was very mature of you to handle it that way.”

“I’m learning,” she said. “And maybe I saved one of my friends from doing something incredibly stupid.”

“I hope so!” I agreed.

She came around the desk and we hugged tightly, then joined the others in the great room.

December 31, 1992, Chicago, Illinois

“When do you have to make up the four hours?” I asked Jessica as we got into the limo for the ride to Alex’s place.

“Tomorrow morning from 7:00am to 11:00am. That lets the person I traded with sleep in after tying one on tonight. I don’t drink, so it’s no big deal to take the early shift.”

“We could have just arrived late for Alex’s party,” I said.

“And listen to him bitch FOREVER? This is the one time we’re skipping our own party, and I don’t want any trouble!”

“Trouble?” Jason asked.

I laughed, “You know we always have a party at the house, so we’ve never been to Alex’s place for New Years. I needed a big favor from him, and in exchange, I promised I’d attend tonight. Jess was rightly worried he’d give us serious grief if we reneged. I hate for her to trade shifts because it usually results in a bad deal. In this case, it worked out OK.”

“But 7:00am tomorrow?” he protested.

“Jess doesn’t drink. At all. So other than being a bit short on sleep, she’ll be fine. And compared to the horrible 36-and 24-hour shifts she used to do, this is a cakewalk!”

“You’ve pulled all-nighters before races, Jas,” Abbie said. “Like that time you blew an engine in practice.”

“Don’t remind me,” he sighed. “Michigan was a nightmare. Practice wrecks are even worse; you have to get a backup car and completely set it up, AND you start at the back.”

“Steve, what about Grace?” Kara giggled.

“She’ll just have to find another guy!” I laughed.

“Grace?” Samantha asked.

“An ex-sailor that I, uhm, got together with last New Year’s Eve.”

Abbie laughed, “I remember her! She was trying to climb inside Steve’s clothes on the dance floor! She was so small, I thought he might break her in two!”

“No chance of THAT,” I grinned. “But she IS going to be upset. Hopefully she’ll take it out on some deserving sailor!”

“She was enlisted, wasn’t she?” Jessica said.

“Yes, so that might give her pause, but some of the Rap Session guys are going to be there, so maybe she’ll give one of the younger guys a chance!”

“Steve,” Jason said, “You have to let me pay you back for these tickets.”

“I have to do no such thing,” I said with a smile. “They’re part of my Christmas gift to you and Abbie!”

“Will you know anyone else at this party?” Samantha asked.

“Most likely not,” I said. “Alex offers tickets to his best customers, then allows others to buy them. I reserved five when I agreed to this, and Alex graciously provided a sixth so Samantha could tag along. But otherwise, I might recognize someone who’s there regularly at breakfast when we go, but I wouldn’t know them.”

“So what happens tonight?”

“A special five-course meal, music, dancing, and champagne at midnight.”

“Even for me?”

“Yes, even for you. Alex is cool. He’ll have sparkling grape juice for Jess and anyone else who doesn’t drink. You could have that if you prefer.”

“If one glass of champagne makes me tipsy, I’m going to be VERY embarrassed!”

We arrived at Alex’s place and he greeted us warmly.

“Finally!” he exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to get you and your wives here for YEARS! You keep sending surrogates!”

“So that’s what I am?” Abbie said, hands on her hips. “A surrogate?”

“Watch out Alex, you may be in REAL trouble,” Kara said with a smirk.

“I didn’t mean any disrespect,” Alex said soberly.

We all cracked up, with Abbie laughing the loudest. Alex showed us to our table for six, and then went back to greet other guests who were arriving. Alex did his usual bang-up job with the meal and music, and the countdown went off without a hitch. I had to do a bit of fancy footwork to kiss all three girls, Jessica first, then Kara, and finally Samantha. I got a quick, chaste kiss from Abbie, and Jason and I hugged.

We hung out until about 2:00am, when we thanked Alex, and headed for the limo for the ride home. We arrived just before 2:30am, and there were a few guests still up and about, but most had left or sacked out. I checked in with Elyse, and then we all headed to bed. My wives and I would get less than four hours of sleep because of Jessica’s traded shift.

January 1, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

“You two did NOT have to get up to walk me to work!” Jessica protested.

“Yes we did!” Kara said. “We love you!”

“What time is Ellie going to be here?”

“Samantha said she’ll be here for lunch,” I said. “Kara and I will come walk you home at 11:00am.”

After the three of us kissed and hugged, Jessica walked into the ER, and Kara and I turned for home.

“Are you planning a nap when we get home?” Kara asked.

“Maybe after we clean up. I want to have that done before lunch if at all possible.”

“Do you know what the Blocks have planned for today?”

“No idea. They head home tomorrow. It was good for the kids to see all the grandparents, but it’ll be nice for things to get back to some semblance of normal!”

“As if there is any normal around here!”

“That’s why I said ‘some semblance’!” I laughed.

When we arrived home Kara and I went up to the attic room and collected the cups, plates, and bowls that had been left there. When we took the trash downstairs, I got the wet mop and went over the floor in the attic room quickly to make sure anything that was spilled didn’t mar the hardwood floor. While I did that, Kara picked up things in the rest of the house, except for the sunroom where some of the revelers were sleeping off the effects of the party.

We finished our cleanup about 10:30am after getting into the sunroom about 10:00am. Elyse helped with the final cleanup, and was taking care of a few last things when Kara and I left for the hospital to get Jessica from her short shift. Thirty minutes later we were back home to find that Ellie had arrived. After saying ‘hello’, I went to make lunch. After lunch, Jessica, Kara, and I went upstairs to take a short nap.

We got up about 2:30pm and went downstairs. I didn’t see Samantha and Ellie, so I went to my study and wrote in my journal, then made a couple of phone calls. The first one was to Katy to wish her and Amy a ‘Happy New Year’, and the second was to Alyosha and Katya to do the same. It was Lyusya who answered the phone, and she immediately apologized for not being able to visit over Christmas. She promised to visit after graduation, and I told her about my trip to Japan.

“I graduate May 22nd,” she said. “Maybe we can work something out.”

“Let’s see what happens,” I said. “How is the job search going?”

“Your referral to your friend was very useful, but I heard you were here and didn’t come see me!”

“Sorry about that,” I said. “I had very limited time, and Bethany was with me.”

“Your girlfriend who married the sailor who was killed?”

“Yes. I was spending time with her.”

Lyusya laughed, “You are still very «некультурный»!”

“You’re using Russian? Wow!”

She laughed, “I totally knew you’d understand that word. And I hope you’re VERY «некультурный» if I come visit!”

“We’ll see what happens. Is your mom there?”

“Sure. One sec.”

She called Katya to the phone and I wished her ‘Happy New Year’ and we spoke briefly about her work and she inquired about my family. After a ten-minute conversation, we wished each other well, and hung up. I’d talked to nearly everyone else I was close to recently, except for friends overseas, and I didn’t have a direct number for Tanya in Austria. I did on the other hand, have Vanya’s number, so I called him to wish him ‘Happy New Year’ and we spoke for about five minutes. I hung up and went out to the great room. Samantha and Ellie were there.

“Hey!” Samantha said. “Finally among the living!”

“I was up at 6:00am!” I chuckled. “And cleaned the house, and walked Jess to and from work, and made lunch!”

Ellie laughed, “Samantha, you told me you slept until 10:00am! Who’s the layabout?”

“Shh!” Samantha giggled. “I do need to talk to Steve for a minute.”

We went into the ‘Indian’ room and she shut the door.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I called Shelby when you went to get Jessica. Her dad made her stay home last night. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“If you want a reward, I could call Mary and Liz!”

“What is it with you?” I sighed, exasperated. “I told you I don’t need that!”

Samantha started laughing, “Elyse said it was easy to wind you up! So did Kara! They were right!”

“I should turn you over my knee!” I chuckled.

“Hmm. I’m not sure being spanked would be much fun.”

“You never know until you try!” I chuckled. “Should we talk about Ellie?”

“What about her?”

“If we didn’t have our agreement, would you be OK with this?”

“What do you mean? We have an agreement. It’s fine.”

“Forget the agreement,” I said.

“You want to end it?” she asked quietly.

“No, nothing of the sort! With or without Ellie; with or without the ‘free pass’ you gave me; and with or without the two exceptions; I still want you.”

“You really would give up all of that for me? Really?”

“Yes, really. Why do you sell yourself short this way? I had hoped that my behavior since you moved in would have shown that.”

She nodded, “It has. I guess I’m just feeling inadequate and insecure.”

“You shouldn’t,” I said, holding out my arms.

She came to me and snuggled close. I wrapped my arms around her.

“This is just so different for me.”

“It’s only been five months or so since you moved here. It takes time. And you’re changing for the better. I couldn’t be happier. My wives and Elyse have all noticed, too. We love you, Samantha.”

She sniffed, trying to hold back her tears, “I know.”

“We don’t have to do this, you know that, right?”

“I know. Ellie wants to and I think you should. I won’t be upset. I promise.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am. Ellie is sure, too.”

“And she had her test?” I asked.

“Yes. Are you OK if she sleeps in bed with us tonight?”

“If that’s what you want and it’s OK with her.”

Samantha smiled, “She asked. She asked for something else, but I’m not sure you’ll do it.”

“What’s that?”

“She’d, uh, like a demonstration,” Samantha said quietly.

“She asked for that?”

Samantha nodded, “Yes.”

“And what do you think about that?” I asked.