Chapter 34: Moving to the Ranch

Lil and I closed up the house for a month after Lexi graduated and we helped her move to Bloomington. Casa del Fuego was in their new home which meant the upper level of the barn was occupied by dormitories and the sewing room. They had to do some schedule shifting because they couldn’t have sewing machines running at the same time they were filming in the studio below.

We left them to figure out their systems and went to Italy. Liliana’s mother was still alive, though her father had passed on a couple of years earlier. We visited but did not stay in her home. We could afford decent hotels and no one complained about the noise we made as we reconnected our bodies with our spirits.

“I told you the night I became your American girlfriend that when I swore my vows, no other man would have touched me and none ever would. I have kept my vow, Sly. But I also promised my partner would find everything he needs and everything he desires in my arms. I fear I’ve failed you in that, my beloved. I have been too caught up in being a mother to be a good wife.”

“Lily, you have not failed. I still find everything I need and desire in your arms. And I am faithful to you. Being a mother was the most important thing you could have done for the past twenty years. I love you even more for the way you love our daughters.”

“But I have not been as available to you as you desire. That changes right now, Sly. Your slightest touch will be the only signal I need to make love to you. I ... I guess I have missed it, too.”

“This touch?” I asked as I playfully traced her lips with my finger.

“Any touch, my husband,” she answered pressing her lips toward me until I relented and welcomed them to my own.

The touches we shared that night rekindled all our passion. Mmm. Not that we were going to make love three times a day as we did when we were first married, but often. And that night ... only twice. And twice more in the morning.

“It’s so quiet,” she sighed. Not only quiet, but stuffy. We went around opening the windows to the August air. Lily returned from the basement with two box fans that I set in the windows to get air circulating through the house. We’d visited Spain as well as Italy, finding my mother’s and father’s homes. Of course, there were no relatives there but we found several nice hotels where we could make love as we visited the sights in Barcelona and Catalonia. Spain was now a constitutional monarchy under King Juan Carlos but it still seemed they were attempting to screw our region at every opportunity.

“Let’s go outside and have a drink. There’s ice.”

“I’ll meet you out there. I need to get out of these travel clothes,” she said. I had kicked off my shoes when I entered the house and dropped my jacket in the study. I pulled off my dress shirt and tossed it into the laundry room so I had only my undershirt on. On second thought, I pulled off my socks and tossed them in the laundry as well. I fixed us tall gin and tonics and went to the deck. It took a minute to get the deck furniture wiped off but before long I was stretched out looking up into the cloudless night sky.

The light on the deck went out a second before the door slid open. That would decrease the number of bugs flitting around, I supposed.

“Is this seat taken?” Lil asked as she settled into my lap on the lounger. Naked.

“Lil? You are ... Oh, my baby...” I knew my wife’s body intimately and had renewed my acquaintance with every inch of it while we vacationed, but having her unexpectedly settle on my lap and wrap her arms around my neck to kiss me while I caressed every part of her my hands could reach brought me to instant attention. And we were outside! This felt deliciously sinful.

“I thought I’d get in practice for the ranch,” she whispered as her lips brushed mine again. “I’m sure none of those kids are wearing a stitch of clothing right now.”

“They’re good kids, Lil.”

“I didn’t say they were having an orgy. Or even making love under the stars as we are about to do.” Her hands were busy unfastening my belt.

“Is that what we are about to do?” I asked, stripping off my undershirt.

“Yes. Out here under the stars. And then we are going to figure out what we need to do to be nearer to our daughters without making them feel that we are spying on them or hovering.”

Oh, yes. I made love to Lil in the darkness of our deck under the stars that decorated the sky. And though I was certain the neighbors couldn’t see us, I was equally certain they could hear us.

“Papa Sly! Mama Lil! How wonderful you could come for a visit. You’re here mid-week, so no one is competing for the master suite tonight. We’ll take your bags upstairs.”

“It’s lovely to see you, Brian, but I came to visit your cónyuge,” Lil laughed.

“She’s working at the moment. There will be a break in about half an hour when we change audiences. I had a bad cold and couldn’t talk, so I’m picking up most of my shows starting tomorrow.”

“We could go over to visit Lexi,” Sly said.

“It’s better if no one uses the doors during taping,” Brian answered. “How about if I show you what’s new since you were here a couple of months ago. You’ll love it!”

He was as excited as a little boy as he led us back outside and across the studio parking area. On the other side of what had been a property boundary, graders were moving earth around to level roadways and crews were marking out sewer, water, and electric routes.

“You knew we acquired the farm next door last spring, right? Now we’re laying the foundations for the Village of Corazón. Of course, as far as the government is concerned, it’s just a planned unit development. But Papa John and Papa Rex say that we should be able to get a charter as a community if we have enough residents. With all the younger kids taking up residence this summer and the several we’ve added since we got here, we’re really overcrowded on the ranch.”

“How many units do you think you’ll put on this piece? Fifty?” I asked.

“Oh, no! We don’t want to look like a bunch of row houses. We plan to develop fifteen residential lots and a business center around the village square. Maribelle Swanson will run a produce market to get that started. But the kids are already outgrowing the barn loft for Designed by Leonard. They’ve crowded the dormitories so they have room to cut and sew. I think Elaine’s wardrobe almost fills the space up there anyway. Mama Bear has been working with Rhiannon and Papa Rex to design an office and manufacturing facility on one side of the square. Eventually, we’ll put a small apartment building on one corner so people who don’t want to continue living in dorms after graduation can have a reasonable place to live if they want to stay with us here in the Village.”

“You’re so enthused!” Lily laughed.

“Mama Lil and Papa Sly, I hope we’ll be able to convince you to buy one of the lots and move down here with us. Papa John and Mama Bea have already reserved one and Rhiannon is working with them on the design. Marshall and Martha are moving out of the farmhouse up the road to a retirement cottage here in the village and Del and Maribelle will move in there. I want you to know that we’d love it if you decided you could move down here as well.”

“We?”

“Me, for one. But I’ve talked to Samantha and Hannah. A lot. They’ve felt awfully cut-off from family since they moved down here and if it weren’t for the productions going on all the time, I think they’d feel downright lonely. And Lexi ... I don’t want to speak out of turn, but a few days ago I held her in my arms by the fire while she cried because she missed you. We. We’d all love it if you moved here.”

“We’ll think about it. I should talk to John and Rex and Hayden. Are your folks planning to move here?” I asked.

“They’ve reserved a lot but Grandpa put some rigid stipulations in his will. If they don’t stay on the property in Mishawaka until he dies, the whole farm and all his assets go to charity. I’d be happy if they just left the old grouch and came here to live, but ... Well, it’s not just the will that keeps them there. Dad really loves his father and wouldn’t abandon him. I guess I get that side of me from him.”

“You do a good job, Brian. I couldn’t have asked for a better son-in-law.”

“John, this is huge! Isn’t it a bit much for a retirement home?” I asked when he showed me the plans and renderings for his house in the Village. It was slated for delivery soon after the first of the year. Lil and I had reserved a lot just up the street but I’d been thinking a little two-bedroom bungalow that we could retire in and just be near the kids.

“Sly, did it ever occur to you how unusual the family relationships are in this group?” he asked.

“As if I could miss it,” I laughed.

“Brian entered into a three-way relationship with Samantha and Hannah. Sometimes it’s five-way, but that is because of the closely tied three-way between Brian, Jennifer, and Courtney. Last Christmas, I held Cassandra in an embrace with Brian, Mary, and Josh and gave them my blessing as Rose tied a thread around their combined wrists. Brian has that same relationship with individuals as well as multiples. He’s tied the thread with Whitney, Rose, and Liz who have no other ties. What’s the common thread, if you will?”

“Obviously, Brian,” Lily said. “We knew that when we consented three years ago.”

“Exactly. Brian is the clan leader, but he is in six very distinct family relationships. I guess seven, since I didn’t even count the one with Doreen and his son. Bea and I got to thinking that it must be very difficult for any one family to get time that doesn’t include all the others. So we decided to design our home so that when they needed a place just for them, Brian, Cassie, Mary, and Josh would have a place. Kind of an auxiliary home.”

“And the grandchildren,” Bea added. “We’ve got plans to finish out the basement if they need a place for children’s rooms. Can you imagine what the big house where they all live now will look like when there are half a dozen children living there, too? Or a dozen?”

“Oh, my,” Lily gasped as she realized the implications. “We need room for Brian, Sam, and Hannah in our home. And for Lexi when she decides if or with whom she’s going to settle down. At the moment, I can’t imagine anything but a foursome in that relationship. Sly, we should talk to Rhiannon about getting a house similar to the Clintons’.”