Chapter 4

Maria woke me, whispering, “Thank you for last night. For putting up with my childish, immature tantrum. I love you. Please understand that was hard for me, but it’s over. Done. I love you.” She kissed me and licked my lips then was climbing off toward my legs so as not to disturb Danni or Marian, who had cuddled with us to make sure she was OK, or Linda, Tressa, and Charlene, who were snuggled to their backs, all sleeping soundly.

I whispered back to her, just as she had her head over my belly, “I love you, too, Maria, and I understand completely, you lucky little wench, you.” She looked at me questioningly. “I need to go pee, too, and I can’t get up.” I was trying not to laugh.

“Yes, you can. Don’t worry about waking anyone up, honey. They can go back to sleep if they want.” Linda reached over Danni to rub my chest. “Go. You’re fine.”

I went to the other bathroom and took care of business, being met by Maria on my way out. She hugged me and kissed me again. “Thank you.” She crawled back up on the bed, between the twins, getting them snuggled up to her and went back to sleep. That was a fine howdy do. I called room service and ordered two pots of coffee and enough scrambled eggs, Italian sausage, and toast to feed a small army, then waited.

Catching up with the world on my iPad and then partaking of my order, I was as happy as I was going to get that morning. I didn’t want to go to the other bed, alone, and was pretty much precluded from getting back into that one unless I laid on top of someone, uninvited, which I found out later was the wrong answer. Three of them told me I was always invited to lay on them, and a fourth told me it was in our wedding vows, somewhere. That got a laugh. They were awake enough then to help me eat and drink the breakfast I’d sent for.

“Italian sausage for breakfast. I need to remember that. This is good,” Charlene got out, barely, with a bit of it in her mouth.

One more full day in the paradise known as Malta, and we were off to the real world, home, and real life. Each of the women, separately, as if planned, spent about a half hour with me, just the two of us, telling me how much they enjoyed the trip and how much I meant to them.

Charlene talked of careers and such, and how much she enjoyed what she did. I told her I’d make sure she had whatever she needed, or even wanted, as long as she was happy. I told her I wanted that to be with me, with us, if that’s what she wanted. If she needed the military, her position there, we’d work around it. If she wanted to be out on her own as a psychiatrist, I’d do everything I could to make it work. She sat on my thighs and pulled me up to her. “You are too good to be true. I don’t need the military. I don’t need anything, actually. What I want, I’ll work for. I’ll check into the VA hospital where you all live. I have a commitment I need to meet, timewise, but I can ... Forget it. We’ll figure something out. I’m not staying on active duty until retirement. Doctors rarely do. Maybe the reserves. We’ll talk about it later. Just love me, let me love you, and between you, Linda, Tressa and me, we’ll work it out.” She hugged me, kissed my cheek, asked if I needed any oil or anything, and since we were out in the beautiful sunshine she put a bit on my backside, then dove in the pool. She is a really cute and gorgeous woman, with a beautiful smile. Meeting her was such a coincidence. She could just as easily have been a grizzly bearded old man as a shrink looking into my issues. Good thing, there. Charlene was a treasure. She was going home with us for a week or so before she went back to DC, thankfully. I wasn’t ready to give her up, and watching her girlfriend swim up to her for a hug and a kiss, I’m pretty sure Tressa wasn’t either. The plane is going to be getting some use for a while.

Linda came over to me and sat between my legs. “Me, too, Charlie. I’m going to miss her. She is such a great person. I’ve fallen head over heels in love with her. I think jazz outings will be in our future if you can get away once in a while.”

“Count on it.”

That evening, we all tangled up together. I wound up making love to Charlene and Tressa while Linda and Maria were together under the manipulations and coaching of the twins. The puppy pile of tired, wet, sweaty and very much in love bodies was testament to a future we wanted to build.

Packing after breakfast then getting bused to the airport was easier since some clouds had rolled in. It would be terrible to have to leave in the middle of a beautiful day. This made it much easier. It would be nice at home most of the time, so Charlene’s leave and vacation would continue. For a short time, anyway.

After a night in Cork, this time sending everyone out to the pool in the hotel and keeping Linda with me to make mad passionate love, just her and me, we connected. “Linda, you are my light. I wasn’t just using words or exaggerating when I said that to Charlene. You are my light. Ever since that kiss on your forehead in the hospital, I’ve known.”

“Roll me over on top of you, mister.” I did that, and she slotted me into her opening one more time and after two giant comes, got me off into her again. Then she collapsed on my chest. “I could say the same. You saved me, yes, but you are also everything I want, and I think of you as my center, my everything, too. I love you, Mr. Davis. I really do. Thank you for staying behind with me. Just you and me. This was nice. It is nice. I love them. I do. Each and every one of them, but you, Charlie, are my everything. Light was taken, so I’ll just say my everything.” She giggled. I laughed and smacked her bottom. “Take me to our girls and let’s swim a bit. I need to wear off some of these endorphins. God, you make me hot.” She kissed me, soundly, and off we went to a quick shower, then into our suits and robes and a quick walk to the elevator.

The night was spent sleeping. Lately an oddity for this group of lovers. Tressa and Charlene with the twins, Maria with Linda and me. We woke at a reasonable hour, got our things together and ate downstairs in the restaurant this time. The coffee here hit the spot and Tressa and Charlene conspired with the staff to get four large quart, or probably liter, sized cups with lids on them, full of the wonderful hot liquid, to take to the plane with us for the trip home. It lasted all the way to St. John’s, then as we stretched while we refueled I saw Charlene with Linda walking around the plane. As I watched, there were a couple of giggles and a couple nods, a headshake here and there, then smiles and hugs. They walked back over to me, holding hands, and Linda held her hand out and passed her to me.

“Charlene was making sure it was OK with me for her to spend this much time with you and when she realized the jealousy was because I couldn’t be up flying with her, as opposed to you, she understood the dynamic. One of these days, Prince Charles, we’ll have you in the back being pampered by half naked stews and we’ll fly you around. That is what I want. She knows until that can happen, I’m fine with her stealing kisses and holding hands on the throttle levers, as long as she shares the bounty afterwards. You two go preflight this bird, and I’ll get the kids rounded up. I love you both. No more questions of jealousy or wanting, Charlene. There is plenty of love to go around.” She kissed me, then Charlene, then patted us on our rumps and off we went.

I signed for the gas as we boarded, had Charlene start the Pilatus up, and let her pretty much handle the whole operation. She’d been watching closely, paying attention, and I talked her right through it. The plane was easy to handle, easy to understand, and once she had the airspeed and angle of ascent about right, she could tell. The screens might as well have smiled at her.

“Thank you, Charlie, that was fun. Help me get her up to our assigned flight level and turn Otto on. The talk with Linda proved to me I’m in the right place. These women don’t even argue about what to wear. It’s just ... It’s just. Period. It won’t be long and I’m going to miss you all so much I’ll bail, but I just had an idea. What if I tried the behavioral thing around there? There has to be a place for me. I’ll talk to some people and see, but there are plenty of veterans, contractors, bar fights and crazy people to mix all those up. No different than what I’m doing now, just with a lower monthly rent. You wouldn’t believe what I pay for that little place.”

“Charlene. No matter what you want, we’ll help you do it. One problem.”

“Problem?”

“We’re going to need to add some more covered parking and buy a bigger bed.” I had to chuckle at that. It had been a note of concern for a while now, and if we stole Maria, and Charlene came, we just wouldn’t have enough room.

“Not a problem. I don’t have covered parking now. That was an extra five hundred a month, and that’s more than I pay for my car!” Her turn to laugh. “And, the way this family sleeps, you don’t need a bigger mattress, just a couple more pillows.” She patted my hand, looked at me after I had the autopilot set, and smiled. “Thank you, Charlie.”

Tressa came up and offered us a drink, a very welcome one and as always, got a caress and a kiss when she gave her kitten a Pepsi. I got a water and of course a kiss and a lurid promise of more. Tressa told Charlene it would be nice to know what the weather was like back home so Charlene did some magic I’d showed her with the aircraft’s iPad. Finding from her kitten that it was warm and clear, and just having passed the longest day of the year, Tressa made sure the plan was hatched for us to all go home and spend time relaxing and recovering in the pool with the libation of Danni’s choice. She always did well in that department, and if the girls were drinking something fruity, seemed to always find a quality bottle of amber liquid somewhere under the bar for me.

I brought the plane into the airport, Charlene shadowing and having a ball. Once on the ground I had her taxi us back to the airport, then when I got out and opened the garage door and moved the vehicle, she was a bit startled, but I waved her in and she parked it just fine. I went back up to watch her run down the shutdown checklist only to see her finish, lay it in my seat and look up at me.

“That took trust, Charlie.” I nodded. “Thank you.” I nodded again, helped her up out of her seat, kissed her forehead, and got out and down to help with bags. She caught Linda and pulled her forward throwing her arms around my wife. I saw them from the bottom of the stairs. Linda nodded. My work was done. It’s amazing what small things make such large impacts.

At home, nothing was mentioned after the suggestion of Tony’s pizza and beer, so junk food and suds made the menu. Groceries were for tomorrow, and we had ice cream for tonight, but the freezer was raided and frozen pizza, paper plates, beer, and each other’s company was how we spent the evening. The tired nature of the group created a much more sedate environment than one might have expected, but the cool water of the pool and the talk woke most of us up.

“Charlie, Marian has asked if I needed to work and finish school both. I can’t let my Auntie down, and although there are many people that would kill for my job, I don’t have the resources. Marian said I did now, and that you and I, we, need to talk. You, Marian, Danni, and I. Linda should be here, as well, I think, and the others if they want. Look, I am not a mooch, but you can’t have any idea how tempting it is to take you all up on an offer like that.”

Over pizza and beer, and tears of thanks and acceptance, Maria was requested by the other five of us, (Charlene abstaining due to her not being a resident, but thought it was really a good idea having worked through college herself), to stop working and become the woman she swore to us to be. To become a full-time part of the family and let us help her finish school. She caved. Then asked us to help explain it to her aunt. That was the easy part, but it came a couple days later.

We splashed and had fun and finally wound down when the lights came on to draw the bugs away. The ladies started falling one by one, first Danni said she was tired, then Maria, and then they all declared the evening over and called for bed time. Whew. Just in time for me to hang on to my pride. I was beat. Linda and Charlene both looked at me, smiling. They knew. They were, too. Danni, Marian, and Maria headed for the guest room and the rest of us for the master. I helped the girls with a quick, dry hair shower each, then Tressa took Charlene to bed while Linda stayed to help me. They looked cute in their shower caps. I kept my mouth shut about it, though.

“We need her, Charlie. I don’t know how to explain it, other than that. I want her, need her, with us.” I nodded and kissed her. I knew what she meant. Charlene filled a hole. She fit. We, as a family, were better off with her around.

Sleep came quickly and happily. It was followed by a day of laundry, yardwork, and inventory. Even the newcomers, Maria and Charlene, got into the mix. Maria was good with sorting laundry and helping figure the kitchen out. Charlene helped Linda and me with the yard work. Tressa was busy making something in the back room.

It was certainly a tiring day, working, shopping, arranging, planning, doing all sorts of things an adult, loving, large family would do the first full day back from a vacation. Late in the evening, as we were again getting ready for bed, worn out, and assuredly not ready for it, the driveway alarm went off and while we were wondering who it could be, a shotgun blast took out a living room window, shattering the window, and while not ripping the heavy front room curtains to shreds, damaged them, as they caught the glass, wood, fiberglass, and buckshot. The curtains were designed to hold most of the mess, and a bang-up job they did.

My first thought; ‘Fred Baxter must be out of jail’. I herded the girls into the kitchen and onto the floor, headed for the family room and a pistol I had there. I had them all over. Then I remembered. I had them all over and we’d had this discussion. Then I saw a really cute butt wiggling. Wiggling as it crawled along the wall on the floor to the guest room. Danni. She was on the way to her gun and was not going to let anything bad happen to her Uncle Charlie. Her explanation later brought tears to my eyes. It happened often after that as well.

I watched her go, then come back and meet me in the family room. She had put on some black sweats and a ski cap. I had no idea what she thought she was doing, but she pointed toward the back door and kissed me. Twice. Then she was gone. Quietly and on the ground, she left and was in the back yard. Several seconds passed. Two shots. Then nothing. I cried. My tears actually dropped on my legs. I could feel them. I hadn’t been that pissed, mad, or out of control in 6 years, but it happened again. I stood and walked to the front door. I had a Beretta pistol in each hand and I was not happy. I threw open the door and there he was. Fred Baxter.

He was holding a sawed-off shotgun in his left hand. It all came back then. His right arm probably didn’t work very well. He was pulling the gun up at me and said, plain as day, “Asshole, she’s supposed to take her mother’s place. I told you that.” As the shotgun was coming up, my pistols, too, were on the way up when two shots were fired. The first hit his upper arm and the second the side of his head. Just that quickly. The shotgun went off, over to my left, as the first shot turned him. The second one dropped him like a rock.

Danni stood there, quietly. Gun at her side. Meekly, and as only a frightened little girl can do, she said, “Uncle Charlie, there’s a dead man with a gun and a knife in the back yard.” She’d killed him, then came around to the front of the house to help me.

“CHARLENE, CHARLENE, COME QUICKLY, PLEASE,” I yelled. “WE’RE SAFE. HURRY!” She came out the front door. I pointed toward Danni. Linda followed, then Tressa. Then Marian went to Charlene and Danni. Maria came to Linda and me, hugging Linda. Marian brought me the revolver and went back to her sister. Charlene took them both over into the front yard and sat them down in the grass. She talked to Danni, almost nonstop, touching her, making sure shock, or abject fear, or a combination of the two, didn’t set in.

Sanity surfaced. “Yes, I need to report a shooting.” It was Tressa. Holding Linda’s hand as she talked to the dispatcher. She explained how we were inside, and the front window blew out and how her wonderful girlfriend stopped two men who were trying to kill us. We are far enough out that it took a few minutes for the deputies to show up, but when they did, the only weapons out were mine, laying on the couch in the living room, and Danni’s, on the table by the door, and the two dead men’s on the ground with them.

The EMS people took control of the bodies, in both the front and back of the house, the deputies got statements from each of us, and Danny Damon asked me how lucky a man can be to have a girl love him enough to kill for him. Not a normal situation. I agreed with him and explained how she felt a need to make sure no one was coming in the back way. He shook his head. He knew it was justified. He knew it was right, and he knew she’d have problems anyway.

I held Danni in my lap on the couch that night, all night, her in a bit of a daze. We talked when we woke in the morning, with Charlene there to help us and guide the conversation. She needed to know that Fred was going to kill me and take Linda. She stopped that. She needed to know that the other man’s job was to distract us by holding someone hostage or killing someone to help Fred. She stopped that. If she hadn’t done what she did, one or more of us would probably be dead. She did the right thing in the right way. She was a good girl. A good girl. When Charlene called her a ‘good girl’ we got our first smile. It was twelve hours after the incident.

After a simple conference call with the county prosecutor and Sheriff Damon on the line, we were off the hook from any and all charges, and Danni was free and clear with two counts of justifiable homicide wrapped up in a police report. The prosecutor said he’d push for the coroner to rule the deaths ‘suicide by insane stupidity’, but he figured the bottom line would be homicide by firearm - justified. In any case, she was free from any involvement with the law.

I took Charlene, Tressa, and Danni back to DC the next day. Charlene wanted Danni separated from the incident and Linda thought Tressa might help. Danni had bonded with each of them in her own way, and Marian thought it was time. Time for that to happen without sister there holding her hand. She’d be back, not a problem there at all, but in the meantime, new surroundings, activities, faces, away from the shooting, were important. I spent the night with them, then with Danni’s knowing approval, left them to have some fun in Washington while Charlene figured out Danni’s state of mind, and her own future activities and desires.