Chapter 17: The Families Story 01 – We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

October - Year 3

“What?”

“I said it is your wife.”

“My wives’ names are Lynn and Erin O’Dell.” Another sob in the dark.

“Sir, this lady says she is your wife.”

“What lady, I can’t see anything.”

“I’m sorry. We are keeping the lights low because of your head injury. Sometimes light can cause a lot of pain.”

“How can I see her if the lights are low?”

“Are you sure you want to see her?”

“Yes, of course.”

‘Ok. Mrs. Smith, would you come over here please?”

I heard the sounds of movement and out of the dimness of the room came a small, beautiful Hispanic woman.

FLASH!

“Blossom?”

“Yes, Terry. This is me.”

I close my eyes and before I passed out I softly said, “I love you forever, Blossom Smith.”

I woke up to a slightly brighter room and a beautiful woman looking at me. The love in her eyes was palpable.

“Terry?”

“Hi Blossom. I love you.”

“I love you.”

“Forever?”

“Forever.”

“Who are Lynn and Erin?”

I took a deep breath and looked at her. My brain was running at a million miles an hour catching up and melding memories together.

“Baby, those women are my wives. We have a lot to talk about. I hope that you can handle it all. I want you to know that I love you and that will never change. Ok? Do you believe me?”

“I believe Terry Smith. I don’t know Paul O’Dell.”

“Well that is a start. This is going to be the craziest story you are ever going to hear, and you ARE deeply involved in it. First, what time is it?”

“It is about 5am.”

“Perfect! I need a phone. I need to make a call.”

Erin had just come home and checked on the babies, she then went to the bedroom to see her beautiful, nude wife in bed. Erin quietly went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She dried her hair and then her body and made her way in the dark to her marital bed. She was starting to think that this was going to be her life going forward. Her and Lynn and the babies, growing to girls and then young women.

It had been a rough night at the bar. Several men had hit on her and she was pissed at herself for thinking of going with one of them. She had actually thought about cheating on Lynn with some bastard at the bar. Then she got pissed because she thought about cheating on Lynn and had not included Paul in the equation. She was feeling just about as ashamed of herself as she had ever felt when there was a chirping sound.

Erin sprang to answer Lynn’s phone before it woke her wife. It was the least she could do after her thoughts earlier that night. She grabbed it and tapped the answer button, just as Lynn woke up screaming, “Paul!”

“Hello?”

“Oh god. Hello lover!”

“Paul? PAUL!! Lynn it’s Paul!”

“I know. Put it on speaker.”

Click.

“Paul!”

“Hello sweetie!”

“Where are you?”

“I am in a hospital in Pasadena, Tx.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I am still getting everything back in my head. We need to have a long talk. How long before you and Erin can come down here?”

“We can be on the first flight out. I need to have Dara come over and take care of the older girls, but we will need to bring the babies with us.” Lynn said as she got up and went to pull out a clean bra and panty.

“The babies?” Paul sounded shocked.

“Yes, Paul. Penelope Erin and Paula Erin. They are too young to leave home, we are still nursing them.” Lynn explained.

“Penelope Erin and Paula Erin?” His voice cracking as he spoke their names for the first time.

“Yeah that last night before your trip, you knocked me up real good, again.” Erin was laughing through her tears.

“Before we say anything else, I have someone you need to talk to. Lynn, Erin the next voice you hear will be my wife Blossom Smith.”

Cricket.

Cricket.

Cricket.

“Your wife?” Lynn said softly.

“Yes, his very scared and shocked wife. Hi, I’m Blossom Smith, although I guess it should be O’Dell, right?”

“Oh my. Hello Blossom, this is Lynn. I am the mother of Genevieve Lynn and Erin Lynn.”

Lynn sounded warm and friendly to Blossom. Shouldn’t she sound angry or pissed?

“Hi?”

“Hi Blossom, this is Erin and I am the mother of Taylor Erin and Margaret Erin and Penelope Erin and Paula Erin. It is nice to talk to you.”

To Blossom, this woman sounded warm and friendly and damn near joyful.

“Hi. I am Blossom Smith um, soon to be mother of either Gwen or James Smith or O’Dell.”

“You are pregnant!? How far along? You haven’t had a sonogram yet have you?”

“No, I haven’t, it has only been a month and a half.”

“Did you pee on Paul’s hand?” Erin laughed out loud.

“Blossom, I hate to break it to you, but you are going to have twins!” Lynn sounded authoritative.

“What? I don’t think so. I mean there have never been any twins in my family.”

“Kiss of death!” Lynn said and then she and Erin and Paul broke out in loud laughter.

“Listen everybody, I am really tired and I’m feeling a little sleepy. Let me hang up and talk to Blossom and take care of some things here at the hospital. You four get here as soon as you can. I’m not sure if they will let me fly with this concussion.”

“Another one?” Lynn exclaimed.

“Yeah. I have so much to tell you. Lynn O’Dell, I love you forever. Erin O’Dell, I love you forever. Blossom Smith, I love you forever.”

“Paul O’Dell, we love you and Blossom Smith forever. We will get Dara and her boyfriend to watch the girls and get down there ASAP.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah, they are really good together. Cute, too. Right Erin?”

“Yup, it won’t be long before we have a son-in-law.” Erin giggled.

“Wow.” Blossom was stunned.

“Blossom, welcome to the family! This is going to be wonderful! Bye.” Lynn said before she broke the connection.

“Blossom, we need to talk.”

“Oh shit. I am gonna die.”

“No, but first please get the nurse or doctor back in here, would you please my wife, my love?”

Blossom nodded, still in shock a bit. She left the room and, in a few minutes, returned with a nurse.

“Hi, I need to talk to someone about my records. You have me down with an incorrect name. We need to fix that, then I need to talk to someone in your administration about an incident that happened here about two years ago. Then I really need to pee.”

“Go ahead.” The nurse looked at me funny.

I started to get up and she nearly had a fit.

“Where are you going?”

“To the bathroom.”

“Uh-uh! You have been unconscious for three days. You have a catheter. Just relax and let it out.”

“Oh shit! Erin is never going to let me hear the end of this if she finds out. Blossom not a word about this to Erin, ok?”

“Umm ... sure?”

“Ok, I will get the doctor and the MOD. Go ahead and go to the bathroom.” The nurse said as she walked out.

I relaxed and could feel the pressure reduce.

“It feels weird to pee and then not shake it afterwards. Hey lover, wanna shake it for me?” I waggled my eyebrows.

“No. Not until I know where I stand with you.” She started to sound mad.

“Where you stand is right here in front of your husband. Your loving husband and the father of your children.”

“Child.”

“Babies.” I smiled really big.

“Oh shit. I’m gonna die.” I laughed at my tiny wife.

“Nope. You are going to be my love right to the end.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. Let me start at the beginning...” I told Blossom about my first and second marriages and how I had sworn off women. I told her about meeting Lynn and Dara and how I fell in love with Lynn and then how Erin had come into our lives and how we had developed a marital civil union contract. I told her all about the twins I had with Erin and Lynn and then I told her that I apparently also had another pair of twins with Erin.

I walked her through the whole story and finished it off with something very important.

“Blossom, I love Lynn and Erin with my whole soul, just like I love you.”

“But how can you love more than one person like that?”

“I never knew that love was a limited commodity. I thought it was endless and bottomless and eternal. Isn’t that how you love me?”

She answered after taking the time to think about it.

“Yes.”

“Well, the last thing you should know is that Lynn and Erin are married to each other as much as they are married to me. They are wife and wife and they share a wonderful love. I know how you fit into MY part of this marriage, you and my wives are going to have to talk out where you fit into their part of it. I don’t know if you want to be married to them as well, but you are, for sure, married to me. I think.”

“You think?”

“Well I did marry you with a false name. That might throw the whole thing out. I will have to have our lawyer look into that.”

“What happens if we are not married?”

“Well then, as far as I am concerned, we will have to go through the whole thing again. If you want to. I love you, I want you in my life. I am going to be very selfish about that. You need to marry me to make ME happy. This whole world IS about me, the rock star, you know.” I gave her my best shit-eating grin, so she would know that I was serious.

“Terry or Paul, I don’t know anything right now. I am scared and shocked and worried. Shit, what are my parents going to say?”

“I hadn’t thought of that. All I can say is that we will cross each of those bridges one at a time as they come up. But you must believe one very, very important thing. I love you with all of my bottomless heart.”