Chapter 52

Monday, Jan 15, 2029

The next two weeks? Argh! I’ve never been so lonely. Addie and I talked nearly every night, most of it with the kids. They missed their mom probably more than I did, which was a LOT. We did get a little while alone after they went to bed, but Addie was tired. She said she never imagined modeling being such long, hard work. Plus, her pregnancy, it was raising havoc with her both emotionally and physically with her schedule.

We’d both enjoyed that Sunday night but decided to forego anything more like it, anticipating those nights the weekend the kids and I were going to visit. And it was just right around the corner. Big, damned corner, though, it seemed!

One thing the kids and I did to help pass the weeks was tape two more of those ads with them acting as the store owners, running the whole business. Our ad agency was incredible, putting together the cute, humorous skits, paring one to thirty-seconds and the other to a minute. Seemed as if we’d hit on an advertising gold mine, the kids having so much fun and getting that experience as a huge bonus. I emailed Addie copies of the ad files, and she loved them as well. She should, it was her idea while I was out of town in Richland.

Plus, Kayla, Nicki, and our new Ontario manager, Sheila, and Carolyn in Nyssa, I think all conspired to keep me busy. Seems there was one thing after another, things that I know for damned sure they’d all handled before, that suddenly they needed my help with. Or maybe I was just now realizing how damned much Addie has always had to do.

All that besides restocking after Christmas. Our managers did much of it, but it still seemed a monumental task. Seems that adding the new store in Richland made a big difference. Or, maybe the fact that Addie wasn’t here.

Mom and Dad had me and the kids over for dinner Friday the 19th. Laura and Travis, Addie’s parents, were there, too. That took the kids’ minds away from missing their mom for a few hours, anyway. They do love their grandparents. Katie and Kevin love board games, and they’ve moved beyond Chutes and Ladders to a little more advanced games, like Monopoly. They played with their grandmas while we guys coached.

Travis and Laura didn’t leave when we did, I kind of suspected they most likely weren’t leaving at all – at least not that night. It still amazed me. You just don’t think of ‘old’ people changing that much, not that early fifties is exactly over the hill. They sure all act like they’re enjoying life, though. I did wonder who got the master bedroom and who was relegated to the guest room.

It was a fun evening, but on our way back to Boise, Katie announced, “I miss Mommy!” and Kev agreed.

“Just seven days, guys, we’ll be with Mom and then off to Disneyland.” I tried to sound optimistic, but damn, seven days seemed like a long time, even to me. And I know how much slower time seems to pass by when you’re a kid waiting for something you really, really want.

The twenty-sixth did finally come, though. Addie and I were more than anxious to see each other, and the kids were off the wall excited. I wasn’t sure if they were more excited to see their mom or the trip to Disneyland. Pretty sure, though, that if one had to win out over the other, Mom would win the battle. Especially, on the flight to LA, seeing Mom was all they chattered about the whole way.

I had to hold their hands tightly when we got off the plane to keep them from running ahead, but when they saw Mom, there was no holding back, from either kids or Mom. I had to wait my turn to hold my wife for the first time in the last month. Even then, Katie had her arms around one leg and Kevin the other. Addie’s cheeks were soaking wet with her tears.

Once we were in Addie’s rental car, her in the back seat between the kids, she suggested, “I know a cool McDonald’s, still has a play place, anyone want to go there?”

That perked them up, we’d told them how all the McDonald’s used to be, with the play areas, but they’ve never seen one. Shame how they’ve taken them all out. I guess, maybe, all except one, and Addie found it.

And it was huge, a giant indoor playground; inflated bouncy buildings, cages filled with balls, climbing castles, even a little trapeze area with balls several feet deep below for when the kids fell. The kids played, hamburgers untouched. Addie and I held hands tightly, just enjoying each other’s touch, anxiously anticipating what the night was going to bring.

Except, it didn’t exactly turn out the way we’d been planning for the last weeks. Tanya’s apartment where Addie was staying had three bedrooms, queen beds. Tanya had taken the weekend back home so there were just the four of us, a room for us and each of the kids. However, when we asked Katie which of the two rooms she wanted, she announced, “I want to sleep with Mommy!”

My heart sunk, no way in hell I was going to tell her no. We should have known. Naturally, Kevin followed with his, “Me too.”

Addie and I looked at each other with ‘that look’ on both our faces. What we’d been looking forward to the last month just wasn’t gonna happen.

We got our suitcases, jammies for the kids, and they got ready for bed. Addie wore a thin flannel nightgown, because, well, because it was kids sleeping with her, not her more than a little horny husband.

My night was restless. Sleeping by myself in the spare bedroom was NOT what I’d been envisioning the last month. Ah well, our time will come. Just, most likely, not on this trip. I’d pretty much accepted that the kids needed their mom more than we needed each other ... for now, at least.

Saturday, we were up early. I’d checked and Disneyland opened at nine. To say that the kids were excited would be one of the most gross understatements I may have made in this whole series. They were bouncing off the walls and it was a struggle to get them to sit and eat a little breakfast.

Well, hell, Addie and I were pretty excited, too. We’d both always wanted to go to Disneyland and being together as a family after nearly a month was a pretty damned big deal!

I won’t go into specifics of the day, but we had a blast. It was wonderful! The kids’ favorite was, naturally, ‘It’s a Small World’ and I doubt I’ll ever be able to get the tune out of my head. My favorite was Space Mountain, and Addie never said.

We went back again Sunday; no way to experience Disneyland in one day. Besides, I’d planned for two days from the beginning. The second day was just as good, and I think all of our favorite that day was the haunted mansion. That and the Tiki room, all of those oh-so-real mechanical parrots.

All too soon our two days of Disneyland were over. Tanya was back Sunday night, and the five of us went to a place Tanya had seen and was curious about called Giggles N Hugs. God, she was gorgeous! I hadn’t seen Tanya for several months and had almost forgotten how beautiful she was. No friggin’ wonder she was Playmate of the Year; of the decade is more like it. Of course, the fact I hadn’t been with my wife or any other woman for the last month or the memories of those times we were ‘together’ didn’t hurt, either.

I got sidetracked, was just starting to talk about Giggles N Hugs. It was most definitely a kids’ restaurant, but much more high class than anything we’ve seen in Idaho or Oregon. Katie and Kevin were tired that evening, but still loved it – much cooler play area than McDonald’s. Food was a pretty much upgrade, too, not that they noticed.

It was the third night of kids and Addie sleeping together. They weren’t about to relinquish a moment of their time with their mommy. I wasn’t about to take it away from them, either, badly as Addie and I wanted some alone time together.

Our flight left LA International at eleven-fifteen. Addie was supposed to be back in the studio early Monday morning for the beginning of Victoria’s Secret TV special rehearsals, but she wrangled a couple extra hours to take us to the airport before reporting for duty. She complained about it a little; she’s used to being her own boss and setting her own time, but still said she was loving what she was doing and it wouldn’t be much longer.

We all kissed, cried a little, and the kids and I had to go through security. Addie watched us until we were shepherded off to our departure gate. Kevin was crying that he already missed Mommy, so I started asking them about what they liked in Disneyland and distracted their minds.

Addie’s plans were that they were flying back to LA from Hawaii the day after the big show, on the fifteenth, then one night in LA, home on Friday, February 16th, eighteen days, but who’s counting.

The next two weeks were long and miserable, but we Skyped every night. Addie was excited about going to Hawaii and the modeling she’d be doing. “Some of them are really skimpy and sexy,” she said. Just the thought of my Adriana on national television wearing what I envisioned she’d be wearing was making my heart go pitter-patter quite rapidly.

My dad called on Monday, the twelfth, two days before the big night. He told me that they were going to Laura and Travis’ house (Addie’s parents) and wondered if I’d want to come over, too. It made me smile, our parents spend a lot of time at each other’s house, and it’s not just innocent ‘socializing’.

They have bedrooms for the kids and me, so I thought it’d be an excellent idea. Besides, it seemed fitting to go there since Addie’s their daughter. She’d told me it was being taped that evening near sunset at six (eight here) and would be televised at eleven (live on the east coast). It’s going to be a two-hour special so would be a little late for us to drive home from Boise.

The morning of the big show I dropped the kids off at school, then went to Kayla’s store to help pass the day. No way was I going to get anything accomplished that day; I was a nervous wreck, couldn’t imagine how Addie must be feeling in Hawaii. She’d sent me pictures of her and Tanya’s hotel room looking out over the beach, the Royal Hawaiian Resort, Waikiki. I have to applaud Victoria’s Secret, they take care of their girls. Addie and Tanya had the option of separate rooms but preferred to share.

Kayla and her two store employees were excited as well; customers, too. It seemed as if everyone coming in that day, and there were a lot, wanted to talk about Addie’s big adventure. Hard to believe how many of Addie’s customers consider our store as almost family, exactly as Addie had envisioned so long ago when she opened that first store in Ontario.

Kayla set up big coffee makers for coffee and hot water for tea and chocolate and gave out free samples of candy all day. We even sold some things. Actually, it was a very prosperous day, even with all the giveaways.

I bought three Pizza Hut pizzas at lunchtime, and it took no time for them to all be gone. It was one big party.

The kids were out of school at three, so we ran home and packed overnight bags and were off to Boise. Before going to Laura and Travis’ house, we stopped at the Mountain Home store a few minutes, then that first store in Ontario. It will always hold a special place in our hearts. Susan, our first store manager, is gone to Richland, but Sheila is doing a wonderful job as her replacement, even though she’s only been there a few months. Addie seems to have an uncanny ability to find the right people.

Sheila said she’d had a lot of people coming in to talk about Addie, too. I’d called all our store managers earlier in the day and told them to be generous with the free candy samples. The candy sales had turned out to be another gold mine, totally an afterthought, from Addie’s pregnant sweet tooth.

I even bought Kevin a toy wooden log truck and Katie a handmade doll and bassinet. Those dolls have the most realistic faces and eyes I’ve ever seen. We don’t sell a lot of them because they’re expensive, almost three-hundred dollars with the bassinet, but people love them.

What none of them knew, that I’d admittedly kind of forgotten in the excitement and leadup to Addie’s big show is that February 14th, Valentine’s Day, 2029 is our tenth wedding anniversary. This wasn’t exactly how we’d planned on spending it, but ah-well. We can celebrate it after Addie gets home.

Anyway, I digress. We got to Travis and Laura’s at six-thirty, shortly before they said they’d have dinner ready, Laura’s homemade lasagna and dinner rolls. She knows how much I love lasagna.

After dinner, we all played Monopoly with the kids. It amazed me how fast they picked up the little nuances, like trading properties. Kevin was still a little hazy on banking, but for the most part, he and Katie did very well. Except when sent to jail, Katie didn’t like jail very well. Plus, they were both excited (actually, we all were) that Addie was going to be home in just a couple days.

I let them stay up a little later than normal, until nine-thirty and then their grandparents tucked them into bed and read a chapter of The Boxcar Children. They can read it themselves, but there’s nothing quite like grandparents reading at bedtime.

Travis found the channel, then set the DVR to record the show so Addie could watch it after she got home. Actually, it was set to record at our house, too, but Travis and Laura wanted her to watch it there, with them.

When the kids were still up, our parents were very circumspect in their interactions with each other, but once to bed, that all changed. My dad snuggled up to Laura and Travis to Mom, and we watched a Blu-Ray of Newhart, the old show about Bob Newhart and Mary Framm in the Vermont Inn, Tom Poston as George, the bumbling maintenance man.

Anything to pass the next hour, and Newhart was better than most. I wasn’t even born yet when it was original, but our parents were young teenagers and it always brings back a lot of memories for them. And we all sure as hell needed a distraction.

Finally, at eleven, the show I’d been waiting for the last month-and-a-half came on. Our parents switched back to their own spouses (after the obligatory kiss), and we all watched. The setting was beautiful with the rolling ocean and semi-cloudy, brightly colored sunset in the background of the beautiful Waikiki beach.

The announcer, a very pretty young woman with a sexy, seductive voice, Katrina, introduced each model and described what she was wearing. This was, after all, basically a big advertisement for their products. Tanya was the third girl to make the walk up the beach wearing a long, flowing negligee that looked almost more like a cloud enveloping her than material. The outfits started beautiful and sexy, but still fairly modest. Still, there was no doubt that Tanya’s body underneath it was the epitome of sexy perfection. Her Playboy pictorials weren’t mentioned. I don’t think they wanted people abandoning the TV to rush to Playboy’s website or magazine.

There were several more and we all were getting nervous wondering when Addie would make her appearance. Then Katrina began her announcement, “And now, to show you ladies that you’re still pretty and sexy when pregnant, here’s Adriana...” I didn’t hear the rest of what she said, maybe when we watch the recording later, but for now, I only had one thought...

My heart pounded when the camera scanned to my wife, wearing a long, semi-sheer, silky gown that was contoured to her body perfectly. I don’t even remember for sure the color, think it was a pale yellow. God, she looked beautiful! If they wanted to show that pregnancy is beautiful, they couldn’t have hit that jackpot any closer!

I glanced over at Travis and Laura, beaming with pride at their daughter, a little tear down Laura’s cheek. They had a LOT to be proud of with that woman! Some things, too, that they still didn’t know about, like that glass cage in Sacramento.

I counted ten models. Each time a girl made another appearance, it was a little more risqué – and I’ll admit that my dick was quite hard pretty shortly into the show. Of course, after the last six weeks, it didn’t take much. That said, there was ample reason here.

Tanya made her third appearance, wearing a short, totally sheer nightie, and my phone buzzed in my pocket. What the hell? Who would be calling me at twelve-thirty in the morning?

It was Tanya, hours after the show in Hawaii, “Don’t be scared, she’s okay, but ... I think it’s time. Addie’s in the hospital, having contractions. The doctor says she hasn’t started dilating yet, but it’s been an hour and they’re not letting up.”

Oh shit! I didn’t’ know what to say – in Hawaii! I. Want. To. Be. There!

She put Addie on the phone and we talked a few minutes. Addie was pretty upset, she wanted her family there when the baby was born. “I’ll try,” I thought a minute... “Ginger, I’ll call Ginger – she’s a travel agent, maybe she’ll know...” My heart was pounding.

She put Tanya back on the phone and she gave me all the hospital’s information; the Leahi Hospital Center, and Addie’s room number.

I got off the phone and realized both our sets of parents were intently watching me, eyes wide, “Baby wants to be born ... I guess doesn’t want to wait to get home,” I said.

They all started talking, offering to keep the kids if I wanted to fly to Hawaii. “Want them with us, if we can,” I explained, having no idea how it might happen.

I didn’t even think about what the hell time it was in the morning, calling Ginger’s number in my near panic. I was nervous about calling her, hadn’t talked to her since that Sunday afternoon, two months earlier, the day we’d kissed one last time and stepped out of each other’s lives. When she answered with that groggy voice I remembered from waking her up making love with her in the middle of the night, bringing back those oh-so-sweet memories, “I’m sorry...” starting to explain, “Adriana ... she’s in Hawaii ... modeling show ... in the hospital about to have our baby,” blubbering, trying to make sense.

Ginger was awake by then and understanding, “You need to go to Hawaii.” I nodded, dumb. Sure, she heard my nod.

“Uhuh ... can you ... maybe... ?” Hell, I knew I wasn’t making much sense.

“Give me a couple hours, I’ll try ... Kids?”

“Uhuh, if we can ... don’t care about the cost ... just ... need to be there...” I was trying hard to not cry, realizing the odds weren’t on my side, not at all.

We hung up, and I tried to smile, “Don’t know what else to do, going to go home tonight, though, and pack some suitcases, just in case.”

I thought of one more thing I felt I should do, call Kayla; she’ll want to know and can tell the others.

A few minutes later, I’d woken the kids and we were on our way back home at one in the morning. Never saw that last outfit Addie had worn. We were about three-quarters of the way to Boise when the Bluetooth in the Honda buzzed that I had a call from Nicki. What the hell?

It wasn’t Nicki, “Hey, Bud,” it was Samuel’s voice, “need to get your number on my phone ... but ... I’ve got your travel arrangements made. Can you be ready by four? I’ll pick you up, take you to the airport.”

What the hell? How? Not the time for long questions, though, “Uh, sure, kids, too?” I had no idea what the hell was happening.

“Your call, but yeah, kids, too, see you at four, then...”

It was quarter till two, about fifteen minutes from home. What the fuck? Samuel – travel arrangements? How?? Don’t look a damned gift horse in the mouth!

We got home and I started throwing things in suitcases, then realized I needed to call Ginger back, let her know that – somehow, I didn’t need her help. I still didn’t understand, not even remotely. By then, the kids were wide awake too and beginning to understand what was happening. They were just as excited as I was, realizing they were going to see Mom very shortly ... and have a baby brother or sister at the same time. They just didn’t realize how damned far away she was right then.

It only took fifteen minutes for me to throw things in a couple suitcases, and then we had to wait. I quickly showered, then had the kids in the bathtub. More to pass the time than anything.

This seemed so damned weird, Samuel somehow getting us tickets to Hawaii. Leaving in the fricking middle of the night! I’d checked before, there aren’t any flights to Portland or Seattle at that time in the morning, not that I’d specifically looked for four in the morning, but I’d noticed the departure times ... and the earliest is at seven-something. So how??

Headlights pulled into our driveway at three-forty-eight. I grabbed our suitcases, checked the lights, and locked the doors on the way out. Dad was going to come by early in the morning to pick up our two dogs.

Samuel helped me transfer the booster seats into his Toyota, and a moment later we were heading down the street. I looked over at him, intently paying attention to his driving, pulling onto the main street leading out of our subdivision. “Okay,” I began, “How?”

He chuckled, glancing my way with a smile on his face, “Bit mystifying, huh?” He hesitated, I waited. ‘mystifying’ isn’t even the word for it! “Actually, it’s Jonah ... remembered something he told me once, quite a while ago,” he quit talking while pulling onto the freeway, then once safely merged onto the nearly empty freeway, “told me that if I ever had an emergency pop up, no matter what, to call him ... didn’t explain then, but later he explained ... seems that he used to be a badass in a pretty rough Sacramento area. Some dude apparently made a wrong turn and ended up driving down his street, and a bunch of Jonah’s ‘friends’ had his car trapped and were just about to pull him out of it when Jonah intervened. Made his buddies back off and let the guy go. In all likelihood, saved the guy’s life. Turned out he was some rich bigwig and gave Jonah his card, telling him to call.