Chapter 40: A Good Team

April 1, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“I have enough Seniority to change my shifts to weekdays,” Jessica said. “I could select a 4:00am to 2:00pm or 11:00am to 9:00pm shift, Mondays through Fridays. I’d have to be on call on the weekends, though.”

“Does that work with your teaching schedule?” I asked.

“Yes. If I took the early shift, which I think makes the most sense, I’d teach the afternoon ‘Practice of Medicine’ course. If I took the other one, then morning physiology. And I’ll have a group of sub-interns to supervise as well as the usual Residents.”

“Which do you prefer?” I asked.

“The morning shift. The only thing that really interferes with, if you will, is how late I stay up on Sunday nights, but the family dinner usually ends by 8:00pm because your sister and Samantha want to get their kids to bed.”

“This would basically be your first guaranteed set of weekends off in nearly a decade!” Kara exclaimed.

“Will that cause problems for either of you?” Jessica asked.

I shook my head, “Not for me.”

“Me, either!” Kara declared. “When would that start?”

“When the new Residents begin on July 1st.”

“It’ll be weird not walking you to and from work,” I replied.

“Things are very different now, Tiger! And I’ll be able to attend the Rap Sessions, which I’ve wanted to do for ages.”

“So long as you’re happy, Babe.”

“Before I forget, is Suzanne moving upstairs once MC moves out?”

“I think so,” I replied. “I talked to Stephie and Ashley and they like sharing a room. That actually works out well because then we have the nanny room for guests who need more than just one of the basement guest rooms.”

“Your friend from Argentina when she comes to Chicago?”

I shook my head, “Both Alejandra and I are encouraging her to live in the dorms. I don’t want her to get the wrong impression. I’m happy to mentor her, but I don’t want her thinking we’re going to have a long-term affair.”

We reached the hospital and both Kara and I hugged and kissed Jessica.

“I’ll put in my request for the 4:00am shift today. It’s basically a lock given the shifts the more senior Attendings want.”

“Sounds good! See you around 6:00pm!”

She went into the ER and Kara and I turned to walk home, hand-in-hand.

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

“I need to have Albert at Meigs at 9:00am to meet Aimee. They’re flying to Grand Rapids and back, and she’ll stay tonight. Tomorrow they’ll fly to East Troy and back, and then she’ll fly home.”

“It’s so nice of her to involve him while she’s building flight hours.”

“She wants to ensure he has the best possible chance of being assigned to pilot training when he finishes at the Academy. He’ll easily be ready for his private pilot’s license by his seventeenth birthday. That’s no guarantee, but it’s a big advantage.”

When we arrived home we fed the kids breakfast, then spent time together until Albert and I had to leave for Meigs Field. Aimee was supervising the plane being fueled when we arrived. She greeted me with a hug and a soft kiss, which caused Albert to smirk and roll his eyes.

“I saw that!” Aimee said with a soft laugh.

“So did I!” Albert declared. “It’s just Dad being Dad!”

“How’s your girlfriend?”

“Fine. I’m going to see her in June!”

“You go to England every Summer, right?”

“Yes. Did I tell you I fly from Chicago to London on my flight simulator?”

“Yes! That’s a long way to fly!”

“But it’s fun! And with the internet connection, I can talk to other pilots and guys who do air traffic control. That lets me practice.”

“You can run the radio today.”

“Cool!”

“I’ll leave you two air scouts to your fun,” I said.

“Do NOT insult me that way!” Aimee exclaimed.

I winked, hugged her, confirmed they’d be back in time for dinner, then walked back to my BMW to drive home. On the radio, I heard a report about an incident near Hainan Island involving a US Navy EP-3E and a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy fighter. The reports were sketchy, but the Chinese were claiming that the US plane had rammed the Chinese plane, causing it to crash. The US plane had made an emergency landing and it and the crew were being detained.

After that report, WBBM announced that Slobodan Milošević had agreed to surrender, and that he would be tried on charges of war crimes in The Hague. While I suspected he was guilty as sin, I also suspected it would be nigh on impossible for him to get anything resembling a fair trial. In fact, I was sure that it would be a show trial with a pre-determined outcome. That didn’t make him any less guilty, but it did go against the most basic principle of innocent until proven guilty.

Just before I arrived home, I heard a report on something Jennifer and Josie had told me about at the end of the Summer - the Dutch ‘Act on the Opening up of Marriage’ had gone into force, allowing same-sex couples to legally marry. The marriages were only valid in the Netherlands and parts of Dutch territory outside Europe, but it was an important step towards what I hoped would be a global recognition of Jennifer’s and Josie’s relationship. The story concluded by saying that four same-sex couples had been married by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen.

“You can use my room today, if you want,” Suzanne said when I joined her and Kara in the ‘Indian’ room.

“Thanks. Did Kara talk to you about moving upstairs?”

“You mean when MC leaves?”

“Yes.”

“The girls told me yesterday, after you talked to them.”

I chuckled, “Of course they did!”

“And Kara was just telling me about Jessica’s schedule change.”

“Then you’re up to speed! Did you want to join me in Los Angeles at the end of June?”

“Sure, if it’s OK with Kara and Jess.”

“It is. We’d leave on the 28th and come home on July 1st. There’s a formal dinner for Ben on the 29th and then a day at a country club in Yorba Linda on Saturday. In one of those weird coincidences, I lived in a house adjacent to the golf course from October of 1963 to May of 1968. We’ll also have dinner with Ben on the 28th.”

“He knows?”

I nodded, “Ben is fully aware of my situation and nobody will say a word if I introduce you as my girlfriend.”

“Not your «cortigiana onesta»?” she asked with a silly smile.

“Can you imagine the explanation THAT would require?”

“How many of the partners know about your lifestyle?”

“Only the named partners - Ford and Finch - plus Megan,” I replied.

“She’s the one from first grade, right?”

“Yes.”

“Kara, why aren’t you going?”

“I have way too much work to do once the quarter ends before I head to Stanford in July. Our trip to Hawaii is inconvenient, but there’s no way I’d skip that! And between LA and Honolulu, which would YOU pick?”

“Honolulu in a heartbeat!” Suzanne declared. “What about Jessica?”

“She’d already scheduled her vacation and arranging to swap two full weeks of shifts isn’t simple, not to mention her class. Is there some problem?”

“No, of course not!” she declared emphatically. “But one of my most important roles is to support your relationship with your wives!”

“And here I thought it was being a member of Birgit’s Girl Gang!” I chuckled.

“That goes without saying! And guess what HER agenda is?”

“Besides having me deflower every single one of her friends?”

Suzanne and Kara both laughed.

“Yes, besides that!” Suzanne replied.

“Getting her full dose of Dad cuddles.”

“That, too. And?”

“Making sure her moms and dad are happy together.”

“Exactly. Then there’s the whole confidante role and the subversive cadre.”

“As long as you’re happy, too,” I replied.

Suzanne smiled, “I’m living with the man I love, and who I want to be with for the rest of my life, am part of a loving family, have a wonderful house to live in, am going to be a successful attorney, and as an added benefit, have fantastic sex with a great guy. What more could I ask for? You know I don’t want kids, and marriage holds no attraction for me. And besides, I have all the cousins who treat me like an Aunt!”

“Just like me, plus the kids,” Kara said. “The paper was never important to me; living with Steve and having his kids was what mattered. Steve, what’s up with you and Natalie?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that you seem to have gone back to how things were after Russia.”

“You mean sex? That’s temporary. In fact, she was on a date on Friday night. I suspect we’ll be back to the mentoring relationship we had while she was dating Jack. That’s how it is with Nicole now that she and Mikey are dating.”

My cell phone rang and I pulled it from my pocket.

“Trudy Spencer,” I said to the girls, then flipped the phone open.

“Hi, Trudy!” I said.

“Hi, Steve. I’m coming up this week to look at a few condos in Logan Square and Bucktown. Your friend Mr. Wyatt found four places for me to look at which are in my price range.”

“Cool.”

“I’m wondering if you might know of any job openings.”

“Paralegal, secretary, or receptionist?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll make some calls tomorrow,” I said. “What days will you be here?”

“Thursday and Friday. The house here is listed and I already have an interested buyer - a teacher at the High School.”

“Nothing like being able to walk across the street to work! I’ll call you tomorrow with whatever I find. Maybe we can set up an interview or two for you.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. If you’d like to come for dinner, I can invite Pete, Melanie, and Jonathan as well. Friday night would work.”

“That’s fine with me if it’s fine with the kids. Talk to you tomorrow.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and I hung up.

“She’s coming to look at condos at the end of the week. I’m going to call Mel and invite them for dinner Friday.”

“Trudy’s looking for a job?” Kara asked.

“Yes. I’ll make some calls tomorrow. I’m sure between Melanie and me we can find her something.”

“What about finances?” Kara asked.

“According to my dad, Frank had a very good term life insurance policy. I know he also invested and had a 401K at work, and there was another life insurance policy through his work. Not to mention they owned their house free and clear.”

“She’s moving awfully fast, don’t you think?”

“There’s nothing tying her to Milford at this point, and her only grandchild is here. Given her parents disowned her at fourteen, other than Pete and Melanie, Jennifer and I are the closest thing she has to family. And honestly, that three-bedroom house is really too big for just a widow. The only reason Donna Grossi stayed in Don Joseph’s house was that Joyce moved in.”

“Is it hers now?”

“It was before. Don Joseph left it to Joyce, with the obvious stipulation that Donna Grossi lives out her life there.”

“He bypassed his kids?” Suzanne asked.

“I don’t know all the details, but Joyce was his heir apparent and there was a trust set up for Donna Grossi. But his kids were all successful, too, and not interested in his businesses.”

“None of your kids seem to be interested in computers or business the way you are,” Suzanne observed.

“That’s true, and if it comes to that, I’ll sell NIKA. But that’s a LONG time in the future and who knows what might happen! Let me call Melanie, please.”

I opened the phone and pressed the speed dial button for Melanie’s mobile phone and she answered on the second ring.

“Mom called, right?”

“Yes. You’re all invited for dinner on Friday.”

“We were planning to take Mom out, so that works. 6:00pm?”

“Yes. She asked for help finding a job.”

“I suggested you were better positioned to help.”

“No problem there. I’ll talk to Samantha and some law firms and see what I can find.”

“Sounds good. Let me know.”

“Will do.”

We said ‘goodbye’, I hung up, and slipped the phone into my pocket.

“Dinner is set for Friday.”

“OK,” Kara said.

“Steve,” Suzanne said, “I’m going to go start making lunch. Do you want me to serve you and Viv in here?”

“Yes, please.”

She got up and left the ‘Indian’ room.

“What are you doing this afternoon?” I asked.

“The girls and I are going shopping. We’ll leave right after lunch. Tiff and Rachel are joining us, along with Tiff’s mom.”

“Did you invite Carla?” I asked.

“Yes, but she had a wedding gig today. That made Rachel happy because there hasn’t been a thaw in the Cold War at their house.”

“At least Julie is sane,” I replied. “Tiffany seems to have a reasonable amount of freedom.”

“Yes, she does. The one line Julie draws is the sauna.”

“OK, but that’s normal for most of the parents of the kids’ friends. The cousins are different.”

“Stephie told me she’s going to start wearing her bikini in the sauna.”

“That really doesn’t surprise me given she’s started developing. Birgit is a special case! The Jaeger girls started doing the same thing when Kristin turned twelve. Katherine just copied her older sister even though she was only nine. We expected that development. The only one besides Birgit who hasn’t done that is Amber.”

I chuckled, “Your eldest daughter and Penny’s eldest daughter. Go figure! I’m curious what Stephie said to Nicholas.”

“She told him he had to wear his bathing suit, and I’m quoting, ‘until we decide to make love’.”

“And Nicholas gets his next lesson in who’s actually in charge!”

“It makes sense, though.”

“Of course it does! But I was thinking back to the ‘jewelry incident’!”

Kara laughed softly, “She treasures that friendship ring you helped him buy. It may as well be an engagement ring as far as she’s concerned. She’ll end up wearing it on a necklace because it’s so small.”

“Is MC joining you?”

“No. She and Mike were spending the day with his parents and her mom. His parents came to Chicago specifically to meet MC’s mom.”

“They’re counting down the days,” I replied. “Less than four months now.”

“Another bride for you to give away!”

“This one won’t get me into the kind of trouble the first one did!”

Kara laughed, “Not a chance! Of course, your mom gave you the evil eye the entire time you were escorting Trudy.”

“Tell me something I could possibly care less about?”

“I’m curious why Trudy buried Frank in Milford.”

“She hadn’t decided to move when she had to make those decisions. It’s like Bethany with Nick - had she known, she’d have buried him in this area rather than Milford. But she goes to Milford to see her parents around the date of Nick’s death.”

“Has anything changed with the sailor who shot Nick?”

“No. He’s eligible for release at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense as of last year, but you know that won’t happen with a life sentence without parole. And the chance that he’d receive a pardon or commutation from President Bush is near zero.”

“How can the Secretary of Defense release him?”

“From what I understand, the ‘Convening Authority’ can reevaluate the sentence. But I can’t imagine any grounds Seaman Jefferson could cite. On the plus side, if there’s a consideration, we’ll get to weigh in. You can be sure Jesse and I will insist he remains in prison.”

“For how long?”

“Until Nick’s resurrection,” I replied.

“So life?”

“That was the penalty imposed, and I can’t argue with it.”

“What about rehabilitation?”

“I’d have to be convinced he WAS rehabilitated. But what kind of man shoots his commanding officer and then shoots another officer who comes to help? And that after dereliction of duty by sleeping on his watch! The man has no integrity, no honor, and no sense of duty, and violated his oath. And he showed no remorse.”

Just as I finished speaking, my mobile phone rang and I fished it from my pocket. It had no specific caller ID but simply displayed ‘Sweden’.

“«Hej, det är Steve.»” (“Hi, this is Steve.”)

“«Hejsan, Steve! Det är Tina!»” (“Hi, Steve! This is Tina!”)

“To what do I owe the honor of the call?” I asked, continuing in Swedish.

“Your last letter was pretty depressing. I called to make sure you’re OK.”

“I probably should have waited a few days to write that,” I replied.

“No, you shouldn’t have! In fact, you should have called!”

“You’re right, of course,” I replied.

“Always! But you sound better now.”

“Which is why I said I should have waited,” I chuckled. “Three deaths and three funerals were pretty depressing. But I started back at the office this week and I’m in a much better mood. How are things in Sweden? How are Nils and Anna?”

“Everything is good here; no real change from my last letter about two weeks ago. We’re still planning to see you in Chicago next year.”

“We’re looking forward to it!”

“Any big news in the last ten days?”

“No. We’re all healthy and happy. Oh, well, there is one change - Jess is changing her shifts and will have weekends off.”

“That’s good. Anyway, if we talk too long, there won’t be anything to write! Let’s exchange pictures of the kids!”

I chuckled, “I send seven; you send one!”

“Because I’m normal!”

I laughed, “Nobody has ever said that about me!”

“No kidding! I’ll write in the next few days. I love you!”

“I love you, too!”

We said ‘goodbye’ and hung up.

“I really should have learned Swedish when Sofia offered to teach me!” Kara said.

“Just wait until Birgit goes to Sweden!”

“That’s all I need,” Kara said, shaking her head. “You two with a secret language!”

The doorbell rang and Kara quickly stood up and said she’d answer it. She was back a minute later with Viv, and with Suzanne following right behind with a tray with our lunches. I stood and greeted Viv, Suzanne set out our lunches on the low table, and then she and Kara left, closing the door behind them.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi, yourself!”

We hugged and then I motioned for her to sit so we could eat.

“You want to know why, right?” she asked after eating a bite of her sandwich.

“Yes.”

“Well, what I said was true, and a shorthand for a deeper understanding of philosophy and logic, and how to apply them.”

“That tells me why you want to be at the Rap Sessions.”

“Proving the theory of existence isn’t a good enough reason?”

“It could be, but I sense there’s more to it. You don’t strike me as a young woman who simply wants to have a casual fling just because she thinks she can.”

“Thinks?”

“Nobody can commit irrevocably to sex. And if you’re a careful observer, you’ll know that I never actually agreed.”