Chapter 53: A Surprise Announcement

May 20, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“I’m glad you called,” I said. “How are you doing?”

“Good,” Michelle replied.

“And the baby?”

“He’s fine. Wonderful, actually.”

“I heard from Melissa that Andrei’s mom was with you.”

“She was! She was with Svetlana for all four of her babies, so she’s an expert!”

“Do you plan to have a churching ceremony?”

“At Vespers, once he’s forty days old. He’ll be baptized the next morning.”

I looked at my calendar and did a quick calculation.

“June 15th for the churching?”

“Yes.”

“Do you plan to stay away until then?”

She laughed, “Svetlana told me it’s a grave sin for me to enter the church before then. Mrs. Zhukov wasn’t quite so adamant. And you know Father Basil’s opinion.”

“That it’s traditional, but not theologically supported. So?”

“I think I’ll honor the old tradition. There are enough ‘Old Country’ people in church that I don’t want to give offense.”

“I’d like to be there, if that’s OK with you.”

“Actually, that’s why I’m calling. I’d like you to be Nathaniel’s godfather.”

“I’m not Orthodox,” I protested.

“I asked Svetlana to be his godmother, and then asked Father Basil about you standing as godfather to Nathaniel and he asked the Bishop. Bishop ALYPY granted «ekonomia» for you to be godfather. If you will.”

“I will,” I said. “But I think we need to discuss the future.”

“Can you just do this for me, please? And worry about the future later?”

I could, and whatever small steps Melissa needed to take, I could support.

“Sure,” I replied. “I’ll plan to be at the church. I’ll speak to Father Basil for the details.”

“Thank you.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and I hung up. I wasn’t sure what to make of Michelle’s actions or her state of mind, but the only thing I could come up with was that she remained confused and was trying to navigate a way forward which left all her options open.

May 24, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“One week to go!” Jessica said excitedly when I arrived home on Friday evening. “One week from tomorrow, I change shifts!”

“I never asked, but how do you plan to shift your sleep schedule?”

“I think when I come home on Friday morning next week, I’ll just plan to stay awake for the day. I’ll spend as much time outside as I can, and then go to bed around 10:00pm. That gets me seven hours of sleep or so. It’s not nearly so bad as my PGY1. In a week, I’ll be adjusted. I can get naps on Tuesday or Thursday the first week if I need more sleep.”

“You will!” Kara giggled.

“Is that ALL you think about, you hussy?!” Jessica laughed.

“Me?” Kara asked, trying, and failing, to sound innocent.

“Yes, you!”

“I just want to spend time together, Jess. We haven’t done that often enough.”

“True. But we can’t exclude the big lug over there, either.”

“You aren’t,” I said. “You aren’t taking any time away from me by being together during the day. And remember what we agreed - I’ll spend time alone with each of you, too. And in August we’ll begin to integrate Maria Cristina formally into the mix.”

“Tiger, sorry to change the subject, but did you decide what to do about your running once Gina moves at the end of the month?”

“To start with, I’ll just run on the treadmill. There really isn’t anyone at the dojo who is a runner. I asked Maria Cristina and she’s not interested in running, at least at this point. And I know you two much prefer your exercise videos to running.”

“Maybe there’s another out-of-shape doctor who needs to start exercising.”

“Or a cute candy striper!” Kara teased.

“No!” I laughed. “Let’s please not try to introduce drama where there currently isn’t any!”

“Speaking of drama, did you get a chance to talk to Jolene?”

“She’s avoiding me. I’d try to confront her at lunch tomorrow, but I don’t want her to be able to point any fingers at me when she doesn’t make it past the third or fourth round.”

“You don’t think she has a chance?”

“She doesn’t have the mental discipline. She’ll lose to the first person who has equal technique but better discipline. Remember why Marcia lost the last time I coached her.”

“She became undisciplined because her mom was a stupid bitch! And still is, from what I hear.”

I nodded, “Yes. I talked to Robert Ingles, and his ex-wife is like a broken record on the ‘Marcia is fucking her karate instructor’ notion.”

Kara smirked, “She’s not, but I do know who she IS fucking!”

“Which is none of my business in any way, shape, or form,” I said firmly. “We need to get dinner, so we can meet the Quinns and Jaegers at the theater.”

We went downstairs, and I made a salad while Kara and Jessica set the table. Once I finished, we called Elyse and the kids, and I carried the stew I’d prepared that morning to the dining room. When we finished dinner, Jessica and I cleaned up while Kara walked down the street to get the babysitter. Fifteen minutes later, we were on our way into the city.

“Who’s the babysitter?” I asked.

“She’s the daughter of a professor in the Biology Department. She has three younger siblings! And she came by yesterday after school to meet the kids. Is there an issue?”

“No, not all. I was just curious.”

“Babysitter fantasies?” Jessica teased. “Kara and I could pretend!”

“Been there, done that,” I said, yawning theatrically to feign boredom.

“Do you HAVE any fantasies, Tiger?”

“To have a calm, peaceful life. One I do not expect to be fulfilled!”

My wives laughed.

“I meant sexual fantasies!”

“That WAS a sexual fantasy!” I replied.

“MEN!” both wives exclaimed in outrage.

“I was serious,” I said. “That’s the whole point of our relationship with Maria Cristina.”

“Kara, what fantasies COULD he possibly have left at this point?” Jessica laughed.

“Oh, I’m sure he has some!” Kara said.

“In all seriousness,” I said. “Not really. I actually never did have outrageous fantasies. It was more about unobtainable girls, if I did have them. Or about being married and having kids. It really wasn’t about sex.”

“You sure got enough of it!”

“True,” I agreed, “but seriously, no real fantasies.”

“And yet, you’ve lived a life that would be fantasy to most men,” Jessica said.

“And some have lived theirs vicariously through him as well,” Kara said.

“Jorge,” Jessica breathed.

“He got to fulfill some of those fantasies himself,” I said quietly.

“He really did appreciate you encouraging him. You took a relatively naïve young man from a relatively sheltered environment, and showed him the world.”

I smiled, “I think THAT was Cindi!”

Kara and Jessica both laughed.

“It’s so funny that you two never got together,” Jessica said.

“Not really,” I countered, “Back when Elyse and I lived in the apartment, and I was dating Stephie, Cindi and I teased a lot, but she pretty much summed up her feelings for me by saying she was attracted to me, but we weren’t compatible because she was into strict monogamy. Stephie told her to go for it, but she said no, just her ‘last fling’, but by then, my rules had tightened up.”

“And you weren’t attracted to her?”

I shrugged, “Cindi is beautiful and sexy, but not my type.”

“His ‘type’ was fixed the minute he saw Jennifer naked!” Kara laughed. “Though he has a strong preference for ‘A’ and Jennifer says she was a ‘B’ back then. Having Jesse put her closer to a ‘C’. Look at the girls he truly prefers, Jess, starting with you.”

“And you?”

Kara smirked, “The exception to prove the rule! He wanted to get into the evangelical girl’s panties badly enough he overlooked the ‘problem’!”

I chuckled, “Says the girl who told me she, an innocent virgin, got wet the minute I sat down next to her in Mrs. Brewer’s chemistry class!”

“I have NO idea what you are talking about!” Kara said primly, but then started laughing.

“He does have that effect!” Jessica laughed. “I told you both I had the urge just to jump him in the locker room that first day!”

We arrived at Water Tower Place, parked, then met the Jaegers and Quinns at the box office to buy our tickets for Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise. By the time the movie was over, I was not only disappointed, but angry.

“What the fuck?” I growled when we walked out of the theater. “Jim Phelps COULD NEVER BE A FUCKING TRAITOR!”

“I watched the series when it was on TV,” Tom said. “And I find it really hard to believe.”

“Not to mention it wasn’t Mission: Impossible!” I protested. “It was just another action movie whereas the TV series was mostly about mind games.”

“So that’s a ‘thumbs down’?” Kurt laughed.

“If it had been called ANYTHING else, and not made Mr. Phelps into a traitor, I’d have liked it. But if you call something Mission: Impossible it better fucking BE Mission: Impossible, complete with self-destructing tapes, rubber masks, undetected infiltration, and mind games!”

“With the caveat that I never watched the TV show, I thought it was pretty good,” Kurt replied. “But I guess it does make a difference if you go in expecting one thing and get something else.”

“That pretty much GUARANTEES a negative reaction,” Bethany said. “Once they named it, and put Mr. Phelps in the movie, it set Steve’s and Tom’s expectations and then proceeded to give them pretty much the opposite of what they thought they were going to see. That’s a recipe for disaster. One of the doctors at work told me that none of the original cast agreed to be in the movie.”

“Well, I think we can see why!” I declared vehemently.

“I prescribe ice cream as a palliative!” Jessica said.

“I concur, Doctor Adams!” Bethany said quickly.

There were no objections, so we walked to Oberweis for ice cream, and then everyone headed home.

“Nice way to get the kids to quit whining, Babe,” I chuckled as we got into bed.

“It was a bit obvious, wasn’t it?” she laughed. “You and Tom were acting like spoiled little boys.”

“Because we thought the ‘reimagining’ of a fantastic TV series was a complete piece of shit?” I asked.

“Now see what you did, Jess!” Kara sighed. “You got him all riled up again!”

“I’m sure we can find a way to keep him quiet and take his mind off the movie!” Jessica laughed.

They pounced on me and it turned out Jessica was right.

May 25, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“Just keep your focus, Marcia,” I said. “You can do this. What did you learn from that round?”

She’d just lost the first round of a match 3-0. She’d never not scored at least one point except for one time - when her mom had caused her to completely lose focus.

“I can’t tell when he’s going to strike. Did YOU see anything?”

“He’s very good at not telegraphing anything, and his hips only give him away at the very instant he moves. And he’s quick. Your style is a bit slower, by design. We tried to calm your ‘happy feet’ because you were expending too much energy by dancing around. I think in this case there are two things to try. Go back to what Sensei Jim called your ‘hummingbird’ style.”

“He felt it was too hyper, which is why we changed things.”

“And he’s right. When you start sparring with black belts, you have to be very efficient or you’ll wear yourself out before the end of the tournament. And it worked well in your first two matches. This one is different. Change it up and throw a few fastballs. And try some of the footwork we played around with when we developed our plan to beat Ted.”

“But I don’t want Molly or Ted to see that!”

“Will it matter if you don’t move to the next round?”

“No.”

“Then take a deep breath, let it out, and go kick this guy’s butt!”

“Yes, Sensei!”

I had to suppress a laugh when Marcia scored the first point by literally kicking her opponent in the butt. They traded points all the way to the end, which left Marcia with a 3-2 victory. She walked over to me, breathing hard from the exertion. There had been many more blocks than scores, and they’d come close to the time limit.

“Good job,” I said. “Now it’s down to the third round. What do you think?”

“I guarantee they’re adjusting for what just happened just as we are.”

“What do you think they could do? You made it even. How will they try to get an advantage?”

“Well,” Marcia said thoughtfully, “if it were me, I think I’d go more defensive and let my tired opponent wear himself out, so long as I didn’t give any points.”

“So what do you do if he does that?”

“Press the attack, though not recklessly. I’m not as tired as he thinks I am!”

I nodded, “Go for it.”

She winked, smiled, turned, and walked back to the mat.

As she walked back, it dawned on me that her heavy breathing was an act! If she was right, he wouldn’t expect her to press the attack. I smiled wanly and shook my head as Marcia and her opponent bowed.

As soon as the referee called ‘Begin!’ she pressed a furious attack which caught her opponent completely off guard, giving her the first point. The minute they reset, she did the same, scoring a second point.

When the referee called ‘Begin!’ Marcia simply waited. Her opponent looked perplexed and feinted twice, then attacked, but he wasn’t lightning quick this time, and Marcia was waiting for him. She stepped forward and scoring the third and decisive point with a quick jab to his chest.

“Nice,” I chuckled when Marcia came to stand next to me.

“What?” she asked, trying to sound innocent.

“You seem to have an amazing ability to recover from being winded.”

She shrugged and smiled, “I believe you told me this was all mental. He was overconfident and thought I was tired.”

“Well, it worked. You’ve made it to the quarter-finals, but tomorrow morning you’ll do your kata. We’re done for the day.”

“Thank you, Sensei!” she said, bowing.

I returned the bow and she went over to where her dad was watching, and I chuckled. I now knew what Kara meant. Will had walked over and they’d hugged, and it was totally clear that it wasn’t just a friendly hug. I shook my head slightly in amusement, then went to find Sensei Jim. Jolene had made it through three bouts and was in the middle of her fourth. If she won, she’d make it to the quarter-finals as well.

I checked the scoreboard and saw it was one round each, with both rounds finishing 3-2. The current round was tied 1-1, with Jolene having just conceded a point. Her opponent was from Sensei Ichirou’s dojo, which meant he was both well-trained and disciplined. Molly came to stand next to me.

“Ted and Marcia will probably meet first thing tomorrow,” she said. “There’s another set of teenagers from a dojo in Michigan, so they’ll want to try to get four separate dojos into the semis.”

“I wish they continued with the ranking system past the preliminary rounds. When they do the first brackets, they spread out the kids who made the quarter-finals the previous tournament so they don’t compete against each other until the round before the quarters. I wish they continued that.”

“I heard they stopped it when one year all four semi-finalists came from Sensei Ichirou’s dojo.”

Jolene conceded a point, and was down 2-1.

“Now, it makes perfect sense. He’s been head of the ISKC for almost two decades, and he’s the tournament organizer. I still don’t like it, I’d really like to see a ‘Swiss’ tournament where everyone participates in the first four rounds, winners go against winners and losers against losers after the first round. After the second round, 2-0, 1-1, and 0-2 go against people with like records as much as possible. Same with the fourth round. Then advance the top 16 and go from there.”

“So nobody gets knocked out until the end of the first day?”

Jolene scored, and the round was tied, 2-2.

“Correct. And when you do the sixteen, you distribute the highest scores so that nobody who was 4-0 goes against anyone else who was 4-0 unless there are nine competitors like that. Let’s watch this last point.”

Molly nodded, and we watched as Jolene won her bout with a nifty combination. That put her through to the quarter-finals.

“Good stuff!” Molly said. “She won!”

“This much I expected. Tomorrow may be a different story.”

“You don’t have much faith in her.”

“I have great faith in her skills. It’s the mental part where I’m very concerned.”

“Back to our conversation before. Should we propose a change?”

“It still might result in all the competitors in the semis or finals being from one dojo, but I think it’s worth it to ensure the best competitor wins.”

“So you could, in theory, have a champion who lost a bout?”

“It’s possible, yes. I’ve seen that in chess tournaments back when I played in Junior High and High School. An Elo system would be awesome, but it would mean keeping track of every competition and applying the rankings. The belt system is a ranking method, but it’s only a rough estimate of skill, and there is a huge standard deviation at each Kyu or Dan.”

“Let’s talk about it at the next black belt dinner. Will Sensei Jim allow that?”

“Sure. I’ll talk to him.”

“Wager on tomorrow’s matches?”

“Same as before?”

Molly laughed, “Yes, though I guess dessert is out of the question.”

“I certainly don’t want your police commander to come looking for me! And you know the rules.”

“Then dinner it is!”

We hugged, and I went to congratulate Jolene. After speaking with her and Sensei Jim, I headed home.

May 26, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“So you figured it out?” Kara said with a laugh at breakfast on Sunday morning.

“Given that Will was there and hugged her after she won her last match, I think so! They’ve kept it really quiet.”

“And with good reason, don’t you think.”

“When did it start?” I asked warily.

“BEFORE the policy was put in place.”

“Then it’s grandfathered. Why hide it?”

“How do you think they felt when the new rules were being discussed and put in place?”

“I hadn’t thought about that. I remember joking with Will about asking Lindsey out. But I also remember he blushed. I thought it was because Lindsey has a boyfriend! How did you find out?”

“Marcia talked to Hannah and me to make sure it wasn’t an issue.”

“When did they start seeing each other?”

“About three weeks before the Family Court hearing.”

“And her dad knows? I mean about them dating, not the other thing.”

Kara laughed, “‘The other thing’? Seriously?”

“I was being polite!”

“Yes, he knows they’re dating. Her mom doesn’t. That’s another reason they kept it quiet at first. They didn’t want her mom to have ANY excuse. Marcia wasn’t allowed to date when she was living with her mom.”