Chapter 35: They Got Him!

November 15, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

I introduced Winter to Kara and Jessica when they arrived home just after 5:00pm. I hadn’t done more than introduce her to the kids, because I didn’t want Summer to worry about the situation until I had a clear picture of how to handle it. Summer headed home and Winter waited downstairs while my wives and I went up to our room so they could change.

“How were your days?” I asked.

“Teaching and grading papers this afternoon,” Jessica said.

“Same!” Kara replied. “Plus office hours.”

“I was a bit surprised,” Jessica continued as she took off her blouse.

“By?” I asked.

“Winter. I expected a perfect ‘Steve type’ like Summer! But Winter is what I’d call a typical Midwestern girl - pretty like the ‘girl next door’ and a bit curvy.”

“MaryAnn,” I grinned.

“And Vickie?”

“More my ‘type’ physically, but to be honest I preferred Winter.”

“Did anything more come of that issue?” Kara asked as she pulled on a sweatshirt.

“I asked Winter about it and I guess the ‘Reverend’, and I use that term advisedly, acted true to form and kicked his ‘harlot daughter’ out of the house. She moved in with Winter’s sisters and their housemate. She has a full-time job at Kroger as a receiving clerk, so I’m sure she’s OK in that regard.”

“He probably had to kick her out,” Jessica added. “She’s eighteen and if word got around she was ‘playing the harlot’ he’d be fired from his church if she was living in his house.”

“That fundamentalist bullshit is unbelievable!” I growled. “You don’t see Lutherans or Methodists acting that way. Heck, most Roman Catholics don’t act that way! And the Orthodox sure don’t!”

“From what you said, Becka seems to have recovered nicely,” Kara said.

I nodded, “Absolutely.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“With Winter? She hangs out with us until she leaves on Tuesday. We’ll have her spend some time on Sunday with Birgit and Jesse, and get their input. I figure you two plus Elyse, Jennifer, and Josie will all talk to her at some point before Tuesday. She plans to explore the city a bit on Monday, and I’ll have lunch with her. But we do have an issue I need your help with.”

“What’s that?” Jessica asked.

“Summer. It’s more than a bit crass to have slept with her and then fire her.”

“Oops! We didn’t consider that, and we should have.”

“Exactly.”

“I have an idea. Do you think she might be interested in candy-striping?”

“She plans to be a nurse, so I think she might. Why?”

“Gina told me someone quit with no notice today. The position hasn’t even been posted. If I call Doctor Nussbaum right now, she could have an interview tomorrow and start Monday if she’s qualified. She’s seventeen, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good grades?”

“Yes.”

“Would you say she’s mature and mentally stable?”

I chuckled, “Yes, she’s mature. She’s a teenager, a musician, and she wanted to have sex with me, so I don’t know about ‘mentally stable’!”

“You have that wrong, Snuggle Bear,” Kara said impishly, “we sensible girls have the good sense to have you fuck us senseless!”

“Speaking of which, Tiger, you and Winter?”

I shook my head, “I made no promises in that regard, and prefer that she just get to know everyone. I feel as if going to bed with her would imply something we’re not ready to do.”

“A good point. Let me call Summer and see if she’s interested. It’s a minimum wage job, so I’m not sure she will be. It would be five hours a day starting just after school lets out.”

“OK. We’ll see you downstairs.”

Kara and I left the bedroom and went downstairs to where Winter was waiting. Elyse arrived home a few minutes later, and Maria Cristina walked in just after her. I went into the kitchen to work on dinner and Winter followed me, offering to help. I accepted, and she and I began working on the meal. Matthew and Michael came to ask about how many places to set, and I asked them to add one additional for Winter.

Winter and I worked well together, though nothing compared to Stephanie and me when we were in perfect sync. That only happened now for Thanksgiving and Christmas, as we were still a bit careful about being alone together too much. That was more for Ed and Jessica’s peace of mind, than for any risk we would return to our earlier behavior.

We had a nice dinner with my wives, Elyse, Maria Cristina, Winter, six kids, and myself, then hung out for the rest of the evening until bedtime, with everyone getting to know Winter better. A new concern arose, and that was Maria Cristina, who had just a hint of jealousy in her eyes the entire evening. If that was an issue, it would have to be for a different day.

November 16, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

On Saturday, after walking Jessica to work, cuddling with Birgit, having breakfast with the guys, and teaching karate, I picked up Sensei Jim at home, and drove to Lou Malnati’s restaurant on Wells for the ISKC meeting. We had a great pizza lunch, and then the actual meeting started. We discussed the upcoming Thanksgiving tournament, and the dues and entry fees we’d put in place for 1997, neither of which created any controversy.

“I have a special item for today’s meeting,” Sensei Jim said when Sensei Ichirou asked if there was any new business.

“Please, proceed, Jim-san.”

“I request to convene, immediately, a special black-belt board consisting of myself, Steve-san, Molly-san, Sharon-san, Jay-san, and Michael-san.”

“For what purpose?” Sensei Ichirou asked.

“To discuss the award of a meritorious promotion.”

“I believe that is permitted so long as there is no objection.”

Nobody objected.

“Proceed, Jim-san.”

“I have already spoken to all the sensei I named. We are all in agreement on this matter. Sensei Ichirou Suzuki, you are hereby awarded the rank of 6th Dan, and the title Kyōshi, effective immediately.”

“No!” he protested. “I am not worthy of this honor!”

“Oh yes you are!” Sharon countered quickly.

“Do I hear any objections from any of you other sensei?” Jim asked.

None of the dozen sensei objected.

“I am humbled by this,” Sensei Ichirou said quietly.

Everyone stood and bowed to Sensei Ichirou, who stood and returned the bow. There was no further business, so we ended the official meeting and spent some time socializing before Sensei Jim and I headed back to Hyde Park. I dropped him at his house, then headed home.

“How do you think it’s going so far?” I asked Winter when I called her into my study after greeting Kara, Ashley, and Stephie.

“I love your kids! I guess they spend a lot of time with friends?”

“They do,” Kara said. “Today Matthew, Michael, and Albert are out with Jesse, their friend Nicholas, the Kallas boys, Steve’s sister’s eldest, and some boys from school. I believe the little terrorists are playing soccer in the park. Birgit is with Tiffany and Rachel and they are certainly up to no good! And in a few minutes, April is going to pick up Ashley and Stephie for a tea party with her triplets!”

“May, June, and Juli?” she asked.

“Good memory,” I chuckled.

The doorbell rang and Ashley and Stephie scurried to the front door.

“Dad!” Ashley called, “It’s them! Bye!”

“Bye, girls!” I called back.

“Wow,” Kara smirked. “No hug, no kiss!”

“They got one about two minutes ago when I walked in!”

“Elyse is out with Eduardo this afternoon, and Maria Cristina is at the library, so it’s just the three of us until about dinner time.”

“Should I make some tea?” I asked. “We could just chill in the ‘Indian’ room and talk.”

“Or in the sauna,” Kara said.

“I’ve never been in a sauna,” Winter replied.

“I think Kara needs to tell you EXACTLY what she means,” I grinned.

“Every chance we get, we use the sauna naked,” Kara said. “Our family, and often close friends. And with a few exceptions, it’s mostly naked.”

“Mixed sexes? And adults and kids?”

“Steve didn’t tell you about our opinion of nudity?”

“He must have missed that somewhere along the way,” Winter smirked.

“Basically, what Steve taught us, the adults before the kids were born, was that nudity and sex don’t necessarily go together. And that there is nothing inherently bad about the human body. Our kids have a very healthy view of their bodies, excellent self-images, and a healthy view of sex, at an age-appropriate level.”

“I knew about the sex education; he mentioned that.”

“There really wasn’t a reason to talk about nudity and saunas. And not all of our friends agree; it’s mostly the cousins who participate. That’s the word we use for the kids of our closest friends. And as was mentioned, there are exceptions - when my sister and her husband are here, we all wear towels or bathing suits.”

“Hang on a sec - if you let YOUR kids be naked together, and I’m assuming that will continue as they grow up, what’s the issue there? Her?”

I shook my head, “Her husband. And he’s no prude, he just feels uncomfortable with that specific idea. The same is true for my friend Doctor Gina and her husband - they’re not comfortable with any kids being in there, or with mixed-sex nudity except in VERY limited circumstances. Then there’s Kara.”

“Oh?”

Kara smirked, “I might have, with two of our friends, gone to the door naked to meet the pizza guy!”

“No way!” Winter laughed. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” I replied. “And our daughter Birgit used to be in the habit of ‘naked breakfasts’, though she seems to have grown out of that phase. But there’s one important point - nobody is required to be naked, ever. And we always err on the side of caution. The other thing I’ll point out is that at puberty, the girls are most likely going to start wearing bathing suits, and when they turn eighteen or so, stop. That follows the pattern I saw in Europe where girls under thirteen often sunbathed topless, but teenagers usually wore their tops. That changed again around age eighteen.”

“You’ve been to Europe a lot?”

“Yes, but I also lived in Sweden for a year as an exchange student and still speak fluent Swedish. At some point you’ll probably meet my friend Sofia. She’s a doctor now, but I met her when she was fifteen back in Sweden when I was there. She moved here for college and medical school.”

“She moved here to marry you!” Kara corrected.

“For the CHANCE that we might marry,” I countered. “She was going to come here, anyway. She’s WAY too much of a capitalist to be a doctor in Sweden!”

“I think there is WAY more to your history than you let on when we were together in Rutherford!” Winter said.

“I gave you many of the ‘high points’.”

“Let’s take a sauna and I’ll tell you the GOOD stuff!” Kara smirked.

“Troublemaker!” I chuckled.

“Always!”

November 17, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

On Sunday, just before the family dinner, I took Jesse and Birgit into my study.

“What do you two think?” I asked.

“She’s nice,” Jesse said.

Birgit smirked, but she saw my look, and said, “I think so, too.”

“What did you guys talk about?”

“Lots of stuff,” Jesse said. “She likes ice hockey but doesn’t like NASCAR. She likes Clue and Sorry, but not Risk, Stratego, or Monopoly. She knows how to play poker. And she drives a Ford.”

“Pumpkin?”

“She has sisters named Autumn and Summer, like the seasons! She works as a waitress in an Italian restaurant, her mom works for the Sheriff, and she got good grades in High School.”

“So what do you think?”

“I think she likes you,” Birgit tittered. “She said you flirted when you ate at the restaurant the first night you were away.”

“I meant about her coming to live here and be our ‘domestic manager’ - to cook, clean, do laundry, and that kind of thing?”

“My moms said I have to do my OWN laundry and cleaning!” Jesse groused.

“Take it up with your moms,” I chuckled. “I offered; they said ‘no’.”

“Of COURSE they did!” he complained.

“So I have less chores to do?” Birgit smirked.

“It’s ‘fewer chores’, but you’ll still have to help,” I replied.

“But less than Jesse!”

“You know,” I sighed, “you would both be happier if everything wasn’t a contest! It’s not like we live in the jungle and you have to fight each other for scraps of food! Can we please, please just be a happy family and not have these little spats all the time?”

“Does it make you sad?” Birgit asked.

I nodded, “Sometimes, yes.”

“Oh,” she replied quietly.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Jesse said. “I’ll try.”

“Me, too,” Birgit agreed.

“You know how much I love you both?”

“Yes!” they both exclaimed.

“So, about Winter?” I asked.

Birgit smirked, “I think it’s OK if you fuck her!”

“Me, too!” Jesse smirked.

“GET OUT OF HERE, YOU TURKEYS!” I exclaimed, but I was laughing.

The little turkeys had the gall to ‘high five’ each other before leaving my study. I got up and went to find Kara. She was in the ‘Indian’ room with Maria Cristina going over Maria Cristina’s chemistry homework, so I went to find Winter, who was hanging out with the kids in the sunroom.

“Did I get approved?” she asked.

I chuckled, “You received the highest possible rating.”

“Oh?”

“I’ll tell you later. I still need to confirm with the moms. In fact, I’m going to go check with Jennifer and Josie now.”

“I’ll stay with the kids.”

“Thanks.”

I went to the coach house and saw Jesse plopped down in front of his Nintendo 64. That let me talk with Jennifer and Josie who expressed no reservations, but insisted they would contribute to the cost even if they weren’t going to have her clean for them. I’d learned very early on that it did no good to argue with them about things like that, so I thanked them and went back to the main house.

I hung out with Winter and the kids until it was time to make dinner. Winter, Jesse, and Birgit all pitched in, and my sister joined us when she and Ed arrived. We had everything almost ready when Jessica walked in. I got a quick kiss and then she hurried up to shower before dinner, while we put the finishing touches on the meal.

After dinner, we had our usual social time, and after my sister and her family and Samantha and her family had left, we got the kids to bed, and then Kara, Jessica, and I went up to our room, undressed, and got into bed.

“Opinions on Winter and the whole idea of a ‘domestic manager’?”

“I think we need someone like that,” Jessica said. “The main issue is dinners, which really have become too simple and unvaried since Amanda left. And we order out way too often. Also, if I never, ever scrub a toilet again in my life, I will be VERY happy!”

“Three little boys in the house, plus several who visit regularly got you seeing yellow?” I chuckled.

“I swear you boys are like dogs, marking your territory!”

“Excuse me, but do you see that problem in OUR bathroom?”

“Well, no, and we have you trained to put the seat down!”

“It’s a matter of efficiency,” I chuckled. “Two of you always need it down, and I need it down part of the time. Leaving it up is inefficient.”

“Seriously, Snuggle Bear? THAT is how you decide?”

“How else? Why do girls get to dictate? And I do have to ask you how many times you’ve noticed yellow spots on the kids’ toilet seats!”

“Ugh!” Kara said, making a face. “I always wipe the seat automatically if I’m not using ours!”

“So, cleaning and cooking! Jess, what happened with Summer?”

“Doctor Nussbaum called her today and offered her the position starting immediately. Summer’s little sister, Violet, will fill in until Winter starts, assuming we hire her.”

“I think we will. Jesse and Birgit gave her their seal of approval.”

“Good,” she replied.

“You don’t want to know what they said?” I asked. “The thing that had them ‘high five’ each other after I told them to get out of my study?”

Kara smirked, “That means it had to do with ‘kissing’!”

“It’s way beyond that! YOUR daughter said she thought it was OK for me to fuck Winter, and Jesse agreed!”

Both of my wives laughed hard.

“Those two are getting REALLY bold!” Jessica said.

“Getting?” I asked.

“Good point. And speaking of good points, do YOU have a ‘good point’?”

“Not at the moment, but I’m sure two lovely women such as yourselves could assist me in obtaining one!”

They pounced on me and it turned out they could.

November 18, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

My cell phone rang as Elyse and I were walking out to the car to head to work on Monday morning.

“They got him!” Samantha exclaimed as soon as I answered.

“As in arrested?”

“Who?” Elyse asked quietly.

“Noel,” I mouthed silently.

“Sorry, no,” Samantha said. “They know where he is and where the rest of the money is.”

“So now what?”

“That’s up to the government.”

“Who found the money?”

“The guy I told you about. I paid him a very nice bonus in addition to the fee we negotiated. According to my contacts, someone from a three-letter agency figured out where my dad is hiding out.”

“Where?”

“At an Arab friend’s compound in Saudi Arabia. Matheson is there, too. Foulkes and Monroe are in Bahrain.”

“I suppose that makes it complicated - they need to coordinate with a couple of different governments. Do you know if the Saudis know he’s there?”

“Apparently not. They traced a plane which landed at a private airstrip near the compound. You know who can do that.”

“CIA, NSA, DIA, NRO - basically the ones with real-time satellite access.”

“I’m not sure which one, but one of them. The money is in Bahrain in a couple of different banks.”

“So they need to coordinate that as well - hit all the banks at the same time to ensure they get the full $200 mil.”

“Yes,” Samantha said. “I’m guessing he’ll be back in prison, a federal one this time. He was officially charged with a number of federal crimes including money laundering this morning.”

“That’ll get him extradited from most places,” I said. “But a lot depends on the Gulf States cooperating.”