Chapter 84: Because I Can

June 22, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

“Please don’t push things this afternoon,” I said to Kara as we walked home from dropping Jessica at the hospital on Sunday morning.

“They need to be pushed!”

“But gently. Last time worked out OK, but it could easily have backfired if some of the kids had left. I think your desire to see a bunch of naked teenagers is as bad as my desire to have sex with them!”

“Maybe,” Kara smirked.

“You also get off on the idea of me having sex with virgins. Your only regret is you can’t watch!”

“Perhaps,” she said primly.

“Some of these kids are freaked out about the idea of sex, let alone someone watching them! Even Krissy wanted her first time to be just her and me.”

“I never asked; were you surprised she was a virgin?”

“No more than I was Molly. With Krissy, even she couldn’t articulate why sex with me would be losing her virginity, but with Deborah it wasn’t. Well, it was, but you know what I mean. I think social norms are what caused Krissy’s confusion much the same way they caused Jennifer’s and Katy’s. Josie and Amy just didn’t care. Deborah’s first true sexual encounter was with a guy.”

“You know, we haven’t seen Liz this Summer.”

“She was in Florida, but now she’s in Saint Martin. She has a friend in Florida and they hit the beaches, nightclubs, and parties in Miami Beach. She’ll come back from Saint Martin in time for the Fourth of July party.”

“And?”

“And we’ll see. She has her head screwed on straight.”

“And wants her brains screwed out!” Kara teased.

“Never. It’s always been gentle and very erotic.”

“Typical Snuggle Bear!”

“That’s what Jacqui wanted, too. Of course, she’s a member of the dojo now, so that’s done.”

“Did you hear from Will?”

“He sent a postcard to Sensei Jim saying things were going well, and he was happy I’d clued him in on what it would be like. He’s gone to see Yoshiro already, and Sakurako is taking good care of him.”

“Not the way she took care of you!”

“No, of course not! She’d never do it, and Marcia would kill Will!”

“She told him to stay away from the pretty Japanese girls!” Kara said. “He told her it was all men except for Sakurako’s grandmother, Sakurako, and her baby!”

“He’s there for very different purposes,” I replied. “I needed to get my head screwed on straight. He needs to become a true student of Dojo Hisakawa Hiro, and develop a relationship with Hideki.”

“So how far will you let me push things?” Kara asked.

“Let things develop naturally,” I replied. “We need these kids to develop the correct mindset about life. Just work with me, please.”

“Are you upset?”

“No, but you do tend to move too quickly at times.”

“Sorry.”

“It wasn’t a reprimand, Honey. It was simply advice.”

We arrived home and Birgit got her cuddles while Kara made breakfast. Winter joined the four of us, but everyone else slept in, and in the Summer, we allowed later bedtimes and didn’t insist the kids get up early.

“How is your Summer going so far, Winter?” I asked.

“Great!”

“Are you still seeing Kendall?”

“Yes. He’ll be here for the Fourth of July. He’s been busy with work and some personal stuff so he hasn’t been able to make it to the house in a few weeks.”

“How are things back home?”

“Not much changes. My sisters, Vickie, and Brooke are still the same, though Vickie is engaged. She’ll be here on Friday, remember?”

“I remember. Just her or is she bringing her fiancé?”

“Just her. We’re going to paint the town red!”

“She’s engaged!” I chuckled.

“We can still have lots of fun. The only downside is not being twenty-one, so there are clubs we can’t go to. But she’s never been to Chicago, so I’m sure she’ll have fun.”

“Let me know if you need anything at all.”

“You can’t really do more for me than you’re doing! Offering me this job changed my life!”

“No plans to move back home?” I asked.

“No chance of that! I love my job, I love all of you, and I love Chicago.”

“What plans do you have while we’re in Iron Mountain?” I asked.

“I figure a wild party that turns into an orgy,” she said, struggling to keep a straight face.

“So long as the house is clean by the time we get home, and everyone is of age, enjoy!” I replied, struggling to contain a smirk.

“And movies!” Kara eagerly requested.

That caused both Winter and me to break up laughing. Of course, what came next, had me laughing even more.

“Mom?” Birgit asked. “What’s an orgy?”

I nearly fell out of my chair laughing, and did my best to stop so I could actually hear how Kara answered.

“It’s when a bunch of people get together to have sex with each other,” Kara said.

“Just another day at the Adams’ house!” my precocious nine-year-old daughter declared.

I couldn’t finish breakfast after that comment because I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. Kara and Winter were both laughing as well.

“We do not have orgies here!” Kara protested when she stopped laughing enough to talk. “Your dad and moms make love together, but that’s not an orgy. An orgy would be lots of people, boys and girls, all at the same time.”

“How?” Birgit asked.

Kara looked at me pleading for help.

“Don’t look at me, Honey,” I replied. “You got yourself into this one!”

“Let’s go have a private talk,” Kara said, taking Birgit’s hand.

They left the kitchen, leaving Winter and me sitting at the table.

“Did I really just hear that?” Winter asked. “She’s nine!”

“And you know her well enough to know that her brain works more like a college student than a nine-year-old!”

“I don’t think I even heard that word before I was a Senior in High School!”

“Sadly, the first time I remember hearing it was from my baby sister around my eighteenth birthday!”

“No way! Stephanie would have been what, fourteen?”

“Yes.”

“How did THAT even come up?”

“She, Bethany, and Kara were discussing my birthday party. She suggested that. Kara objected.”

“Kara? This Kara? I don’t believe THAT!”

“She was a bit more reserved then. We’d only been seriously seeing each other for about five months at that point. She didn’t turn into a sex fiend until later!”

“I heard that!” Kara said, coming back into the kitchen. “And whose fault is THAT?”

“Yours! You told me how you felt when I sat down next to you!”

“Mom likes sex,” Birgit said. “A lot.”

“Me, too!” Winter declared.

“It is enjoyable, but I prefer cuddling,” I said.

“Yes!” Birgit declared.

“Oh, please!” Kara said, laughing softly.

“What’s your pet name for me, Honey? Hmm?”

“Never mind!”

The girls finished their breakfasts, and I eventually managed to eat the rest of mine. Winter offered to clean up and Birgit offered to help her, so Kara and I went to the ‘Indian’ room.

“Good move on the orgy,” I grinned.

“And you? You do NOT like cuddles more than you like sex!”

“Says you!” I grinned.

“You were just earning more ‘dad points’ from your daughter!”

“I have all the ‘dad points’ I need,” I replied. “In fact, I have them in spades! Now, you probably could use some ‘mom points’.”

“As if THAT is going to happen!”

“I’ll sell you some ‘dad points’,” I said evilly.

“If THAT is the price, I’ll buy all I can get!”

“That didn’t quite work out the way I wanted,” I replied.

“Do you really prefer cuddles to sex?” Kara asked, sounding serious.

“I think I’m on another intimacy kick,” I replied. “You know I have those phases.”

“A bad reaction to Jacqui?”

“No, not at all! And it’s not about Cindi, either. It’s just one of my usual phases. I think part of it might be the diet, and the fact that my mood is totally even. You know that when I’m depressed or in a manic phase, I use sex either as medication or an outlet for energy.”

“You know, I didn’t really think about it, but we haven’t made love quite as often in the past couple of months.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, it was just something that dawned on me when I thought about it. It hasn’t bothered me, obviously. And Jess hasn’t said anything.”

“Maybe we’re just getting old,” I teased.

“Right!” Kara laughed. “You’re ancient at thirty-four!”

“Jess is thirty-six,” I replied with a smirk.

“I dare you to say that to her!”

“Pass,” I replied with a grin.

Stephie and Ashley came into the room just then, followed by Albert.

“Morning, kids!” I said as Kara hugged the girls. “Want breakfast now?”

“Yes!” they all exclaimed.

I got my ‘good morning’ hugs from the girls, but just a nod from Albert, who was now mimicking his older brothers in their ‘too grown up to hug’ mode. We all left the ‘Indian’ room for the kitchen where I made breakfast for the three kids.

After we fed the kids and cleaned up, we spent the rest of the morning playing games, and all my daughters took turns cuddling or sitting in my lap. Just before lunch, Dave stopped by to pick up Albert for an afternoon with the Cubs in his den so they could work on the achievements necessary for advancement to the next rank. I had lunch with Kara and the girls, and just before the Rap Session, the girls went next door to Penny’s to spend the afternoon with Amber, Tiffany, Rachel, and several girls from school.

Kara behaved during the Rap Session and we had a very good talk about freedom and security, though nothing truly earthshattering was said. All in all, it was a good conversation. After everyone had left, Maria Cristina arrived home from her ten-day trip to Florida with her mom.

“Did you have a good time?” I asked, greeting her with a hug and a soft kiss.

“Yes! But I missed being here with all of you!”

“And we missed having you. The girls asked about you several times.”

“Where are they?”

“Next door with a bunch of their friends from school.”

“Think they’ll accept a college girl into their gang?”

“I’m positive!”

“Then I’ll put my things away and go see them. Will you come to me tonight?”

“Absolutely,” I said.

June 25, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

“I still say we turn him down,” I said. “Do you disagree, Cindi?”

“No. I just don’t see the advantage of licensing our software to Nathan Edwards at this point. Deborah, is there ANY claim he can make?”

“Not that Jamie or I can see,” she replied. “We exercised our rights under the contract with proper notice. The indictments against both DCP and Lone Star, as well as key employees, gave us the right to cancel. Edwards didn’t own any part of the company when we canceled. And that was before the bankruptcy. Of course, as you well know, anyone can sue for anything.”

“Then we stick to our original plan,” I said. “DCP did call me to ask if I was going to exercise my rights, and they used the ‘but they were in bankruptcy’ defense as to Edwards’ offer to buy. Based on Deborah’s advice, I let that go and agreed they could complete the sale to Edwards. Cindi, tell him ‘no’, and my ‘no’ is final. Tell him I congratulate him on his new business and say I’m sure he’ll do very well and good luck to him.”

“But his interests conflict with ours!” Elyse objected. “That’s the next thing Don Corleone says!”

“Yeah, well, you know, it makes no difference to me what software Nathan Edwards sells. I have Cindi, and she’s worth any ten of Edwards’ people!”

“There has to be some comment about going to the mattresses, right?” Kimmy teased.

“I’d sleep with Dante before I’d sleep with Nathan Edwards!” Cindi declared.

“Ewwww!” came the chorus from Elyse, Deborah, Kimmy, Eve, and Julia.

“Hey,” Cindi smirked, “he has a yacht and a couple of million in cash, so, te salute!”

Everyone laughed.

“You’re not THAT easy!” Julia objected. “Dave said he had to ask you out four times before you agreed to go out with him!”

“I just wanted to make sure he was really interested!” Cindi replied. “And besides, he didn’t have a couple of million in cash!”

“You’re a mercenary bitch, Tits!” Elyse said, shaking her head.

“So is Miss August!” I replied. “Though I think she’ll get her walking papers if she gets the movie gig Dante mentioned. He’ll find some another playmate, either upper-case or lower-case ‘p’.”

“Which just goes to show you, size matters!” Eve smirked. “Of his WALLET!”

“Trust me,” Cindi said. “Size isn’t everything.”

“There’s a story there,” Elyse said, clearly wanting to hear it.

“You’ll just have to wait for the novel,” Cindi grinned.

“Boooooo!” several of the women said.

“I think this meeting was over five minutes ago,” I declared. “I’m going back to my office.”

Later that afternoon, Ben van Hoek called to let me know that he had worked out an exit strategy with Volstead and Braun.

“Who’s going with you?” I asked.

“Jocelyn Mills and two associates,” Ben replied. “Jocelyn and I are taking most of our clients, so we have a good foundation to work from.”

“Excellent. Did Joyce get in touch with you?”

“Yes. Thank you very much for that. I also heard from your dad’s friends, the Comisars. But how in the heck does your dad know Carl Lindner?”

“He met him at some point in the early 1970s, along with Bob Howsam.”

“Well, he called me and said your dad recommended me as the best lawyer in Cincinnati and that he told him to move some business to our new firm.”

“I’m happy I could help.”

“Can we get you to do the complete setup for our office? Computers, phones, your software? I’m looking to just be able to walk in and sit down.”

“Sure. And if Volstead and Braun will allow it, we can extract just your client files from the Volstead and Braun system so you’ll have all your history.”

“I wasn’t aware that was possible. I’ll talk with Volstead about it. I’m sure you’re aware they are going to replace your software as soon as they’re able.”

“What is the name of Nathan Edwards’ new company?”

“You know?”

“I do now,” I replied flatly.

“I couldn’t tell you, Steve; it was considered company confidential. And keeping that confidentiality was one of the requirements for negotiating a deal.”

“Then I don’t know anything officially.”

“EB Systems. The software is being renamed to ‘Strictly Legal’.”

“Thank you. What number should I give to Cindi?”

“My personal cell.”

“Will do. And thanks, Ben.”

“Thank you.”

I disconnected the call and went to Cindi’s office.

“It is Braun’s kid and Nathan Edwards,” I said. “Well, I assume they are the ‘E’ and ‘B’ in EB Systems. They’re calling their offering Strictly Legal.”

“How did you find out?”

“From Ben van Hoek. Would you call him, please? He’d like us to provide him a turn-key solution for computers, phones, and our software. I didn’t ask, but I’m guessing he needs to move very quickly. His credit is good, in any amount. We’ll also most likely need to extract a subset of client records from the system at Volstead and Braun for him and his new team. And, as we suspected, we’re going to lose Volstead and Braun as a client. They’re going with Strictly Legal.”

“I should have found and castrated that little bastard when he stole our software nine years ago!”

“You know I don’t EVER interfere in your operations, but when Volstead and Braun ask for a pro-rated refund on their support contract, give it to them, no questions asked.”

“Because those motherfuckers would sue us. Fine. I’ll give them their money back. And help the assholes export their data per our contract. And then, I’m never going to take their calls ever again. Fuck ‘em.”

“That’s your call and I don’t disagree.”

“OK. Let me get Sam or Brenda and one of the support engineers and give Ben a call.”

“We’ll need to send at least one person to Cincinnati to set it up.”

“No shit, Sherlock! Who are you talking to?”

“Never mind,” I replied with a grin.

“I’ll take good care of him, Steve. I promise.”

“I know you will. Thanks.”

June 28, 1997, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve, do you have a moment?” Monica asked on Saturday afternoon when the self-defense class ended.

“Sure. Do you want to go to the office?”

She nodded so we went to the office. As per policy, I didn’t shut the door because I was alone with a female student, but we had sufficient privacy based on the layout of the dojo.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Is there a way to prevent a plea bargain which would let my husband out of jail?”

“That’s a question for my friend Melanie, who is a criminal defense attorney. Did the prosecutors talk to you about it?”

“Yes, and I told them I didn’t agree, but they seem to be pressing forward.”

“Let me give you Melanie’s number. You can call her on Monday morning. Let her know who you are and how you know me. The other thing you want to do is call Gwen Meyer and get a restraining order. That should be a slam-dunk, and she can probably have it on Monday. Where are you in the divorce?”

“He refused to sign any papers on religious grounds, so it’s taking a bit more time. Gwen says I’ll have a final decree by the end of July at the latest.”

“You don’t have to answer, but what about the house?”