Chapter 82: Gloriously!

December 17, 2000, Chicago, Illinois

On Sunday morning after walking Jessica to work, I cuddled Birgit, then she and I made breakfast for everyone else. After breakfast I went to my study and booted my computer so I could write in my journal. I focused on everything that had happened on Friday night, as well as the things that had been said to me by Doctor Mercer and my physicians, and tried to make some sense out of all of the disparate input. I was about an hour into writing when gaim got my attention.

Petra1983: Early acceptance to UofC!
NIKASteve: Good morning to you, too.
Petra1983: You are such a boy! 😀
NIKASteve: Thank you! 😇 And congratulations!
Petra1983: Thanks! How are things?
NIKASteve: So-so. I had an incident on Friday night so I’m going to Mayo for a week of diagnostic tests.
Petra1983: Crap! On your anniversary, too. Bad?
NIKASteve: Jess and I got into a fight about treatment options and reduced Kara to tears.
Petra1983: Jävla idiot!
NIKASteve: I am SO going to take away Birgit’s internet access!
Petra1983: No you won’t. You love her too much.
NIKASteve: You’re right.
Petra1983: A whole week at Mayo does not sound good.
NIKASteve: Nothing really changed, but my father-in-law is concerned, so they’re going to run a full suite of tests, including a sleep study.
Petra1983: Yeah, but if you aren’t having sex, you aren’t in your normal condition!
NIKASteve: LOL! That’s what Elyse said. I told her I’d tell Mary Whittaker and see what she said.
Petra1983: I’d fly up, but I have school this week.
NIKASteve: I’ll be fine. Mary is there and I told you about Naomi.
Petra1983: Isn’t she a bit old for you?
NIKASteve: LOL. I once told someone that getting wildly fucked by High School girls is one of my favorite things to do! But that was fifteen years ago.
Petra1983: I don’t think that’s changed! In fact, I believe you agree with John Winger’s comment - Did you ever see a monk get wildly fucked by some teenage girls?
NIKASteve: The chance I’m going to become a monk is ZERO!
Petra1983: Wish I could help more right now. You’ll be home on the 26th, right?
NIKASteve: My daughters would positively melt down if I wasn’t home for Christmas. Ashley is already beside herself thinking I might be dying.
Petra1983: She’s the most emotional one, for sure.
NIKASteve: She is.
Petra1983: I take it you patched things up with Jessica and Kara?
NIKASteve: All night.
Petra1983: LOL! Do you ever run out of energy for that?
NIKASteve: Only when Kara tries to wear me out!
Petra1983: Challenge: Accepted!
NIKASteve: A girl in Rutherford asked for sex lessons. She got them.
Petra1983: Duh! Will you have internet access next week?
NIKASteve: Doubtful. I’ll take my laptop and my Apple Airport which can dial an ISP, but not sure it’ll work in the hospital room.
Petra1983: I’m sure you’ll talk to Birgit every day. Give her permission to share, please.
NIKASteve: I won’t be alive if I don’t talk to her every day! I’ll do that.
Petra1983: Cool! Rap Session today?
NIKASteve: Yes.
Petra1983: Getting wildly fucked by Leigh before?
NIKASteve: That’s up to her.
Petra1983: So, ‘yes’, then!
NIKASteve: Might have that male recruit for the Inner Circle.
Petra1983: Who?
NIKASteve: Jackson, the guy who’s been coming to the Rap Sessions with Holly. He made it clear he’s interested in emulating the ‘Dear Leader’.
Petra1983: LOL! You and what’s his name in North Korea!
NIKASteve: Kim Jong-il. Anyway, I’m going to take him more under my wing and see if he’s the right guy. I’d say there’s a very good chance.
Petra1983: Cool. Is Holly his girlfriend?
NIKASteve: I think they’re just friends. She actually spent more time dancing with one of the single Navy guys Brian brings to my parties.
Petra1983: The hunting ground for Naval wives!
NIKASteve: Or for my sister for her ‘post-divorce fling’!
Petra1983: LOL. She’s really going to do that?
NIKASteve: I know her well enough to know those two guys won’t know what hit them!
Petra1983: LOL. Mom’s calling me. If you can’t get online, make sure Birgit keeps me updated.
NIKASteve: I will.
Petra1983: Thanks! Luv ya! L8r!
NIKASteve: Luv ya! L8r!

I got up from my desk and went to find Birgit to let her know what I’d agreed with Suzanne and she promised to keep Suzanne up to date on what was going on. I went back to my study and finished my journal entries just before Leigh arrived. She and I went to the nanny room where we undressed and got into bed. I kissed her once, then rehashed the events of the previous few days and what was going to happen.

“Make sure Birgit keeps me posted, too, OK?”’

“Sure.”

“The usual?” she asked with a smirk.

“If that’s what you want, I’m game!”

We did our usual thing where I pleasured her orally while she watched in the mirrors, then she rode me nearly to my climax and finished me with her mouth. We had a conventional screw, then showered together before having lunch with my wives, daughters, and Albert. After lunch the entire family went for a sauna, where we were joined by Jennifer, Josie, and Jesse. I filled them in on the situation and after a few questions, we all simply sat quietly in the steam.

“Can anyone come in?” Liz asked, opening the door.

“Sure, but Jesse and Albert are here.”

Liz laughed, “I think Jesse and Albert have seen more naked girls than I have, and I’ve been in lots of girls’ locker rooms!”

“Hmm...” Jesse smirked, earning him a ‘love tap’ from Josie.

“Boys!” Stephie said, shaking her head in exasperation.

Liz came in, naked as the day she was born, and I recalled the very first time I’d seen her in Saint Martin. She put her towel down next to Kara and then sat down.

“How are things?” she asked.

“Better. I do need for you to do something for me.”

“Anything. You know that.”

“Do we need to leave?” Jesse smirked, earning himself another ‘love tap’ from Josie.

“Not THAT, Little Duck! She’s seeing a very nice young man named Julius in the Public Defender’s office!”

“What do you need?” Liz asked, ignoring Jesse.

“I’m going to put a gun safe in Eve’s office, to which only she and you will have the combination, and which she will only use if you give your approval. I’ll put both my Berettas in there until you feel comfortable it’s OK for me to have them.”

“And I’m permitted to talk to Doctor Al and Doctor Mary?”

“Yes.”

“You’re giving up your guns, Pops?” Jesse asked.

“Only until the doctors sort out SOME kind of treatment plan that keeps me on an even keel.”

“If they can make YOU normal, that will qualify as a medical miracle!”

Everyone laughed, though Ashley didn’t look happy.

“I was just teasing, Ashes,” Jesse said. “You know Dad’s not normal!”

“Now THERE is an understatement if there ever was one!” Jennifer said.

“Like YOU have room to talk, Mom One?” Jesse asked with a smirk.

“Forget it, Jen,” I chuckled. “He’s on a roll!”

“I did NOT say that the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!” Jesse protested.

“Sorry I missed your game yesterday,” I said. “Did you win?”

“4-2; Kenny had an empty-netter when they were pushing hard at the end.”

“Good job!”

“Mom One taped it with your new camcorder if you want to see it.”

“I do. How about tonight after the family dinner?”

“Sounds good, Pops!” he replied, causing everyone to laugh.

“Jen,” I said, “I ran into Anna Wilson on Friday.”

“Wow! Now there’s a name from the past! How is she?”

“OK. She’s working for P&G. She has two kids, but she and her husband are separated.”

“Where’d you run into her?”

“Doctor Mercer’s waiting room, of all places. Anna was there with a friend who was the person I saw which set off the sequence of events I talked about before. And in other funny coincidences, the female Deputy Sheriff I’m friends with in Ohio dated Clark Brody when he was in college in Ohio. And Jess, before I forget, did you meet a doctor named Mike who works at the regional trauma center in Rutherford, Ohio?”

“He introduced himself after my presentation on treating fire victims who have suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation. He seems like a nice enough guy. I actually met him when he interviewed at Indiana fifteen years ago. Why?”

“It’s his sister and her husband who own the motel in Rutherford. He and Jocelyn have some kind of relationship, but I’ve never asked what it is.”

“It really is a small world!”

“It’s a small world after all...” Jesse sang.

“No, anything but that!” I replied.

“I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts...” Jesse sang, completing the sequence from The Lion King

“You two are BOTH nuts!” Josie declared.

“Don’t encourage them, Jos!” Jennifer demanded. “They’ll only get worse!”

“Heh heh, make mine a ‘cub sandwich’,” Jesse said with a smirk.

“STOP!” Josie exclaimed.

Everyone laughed.

“What’s wrong, Mom Two? Dad and I know that movie by heart!”

“And don’t we know it,” Josie groused, shaking her head.

“Are they always like this?” Liz asked.

“This is calm,” Jennifer replied. “These two are worse than Jesse and Birgit ever were!”

“Hey!” Birgit protested. “Leave me out of this!”

“Relax, Big Itch!” Jesse replied with a smirk.

“Now you’ve done it, Jen,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “Pumpkin, just let it go, please.”

“Boys are SO dumb!” she declared.

“I have better grades!” Albert declared. “Straight A’s since kindergarten!”

“What-ever!” Birgit huffed, rolling her eyes.

“Whose idea was it to have seven kids so close together?” I asked nobody in particular.

“YOURS!” came the chorus reply from Jennifer, Kara, and Jessica.

Everyone laughed hard, and then it was time to get out of the sauna so we could be ready for the Rap Session. Cindi arrived early enough that I could pull her aside. We went to my study to speak privately.

“Interested in introducing a kindred spirit into the erotic pleasures of life?” I asked with a grin.

“I think I’m getting a bit old for that at this point!”

“Right. Cindi Spanos is too old to have a virile, eager student who is of college age and who wants to learn how to properly pleasure a woman! Go on, pull the other one!”

Cindi laughed, “I’m thirty-eight, for Loki’s sake!”

“And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson...” I sung softly, slightly off key.

“Jerk!” Cindi said shaking her head. “Let me guess - Jackson?”

“Yes. You heard him at the last Rap Session. I suggested he get to know you.”

“Oh, you did, did you?”

“Hey, I know you!”

“What about that little girl he hangs out with?”

“Holly? They aren’t dating. That girl is likely going to be a virgin when she graduates, if not longer.”

“Only because you don’t ask!” Cindi laughed. “They ALL would say yes! Well, except Sheila!”

“Thank you so much for bringing up such a painful subject! While you’re at it, why don’t you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?“ I said in my best Miracle Max impression.

Cindi laughed, “That was epic. And I will rub some lemon juice in the wound and tell you Jorge went to eleven with her!”

“Fucking hell!” I said, laughing hard. “That actually makes it even more epic! And I do NOT begrudge our late friend one bit!”

Cindi’s eyes twinkled, “And reports say she was fantastic in bed.”

“Good for him! So, interested in getting to know our friend?”

“Oh hell, why not! If your sister can take those young Naval officers to Saint Martin, I suppose I can have my own crazy fling with a younger guy.”

“Let him make the move,” I said. “He will, simply because I suggested it!”

“He better be a good fuck, Boss!” Cindi said threateningly.

“Somehow, I think he will be! If not, come talk to me.”

Cindi laughed, “As much as I’d love to, we both agreed it had to be just that one time.”

“I do have something else to share with you,” I said.

“What?”

I told her about going to Mayo.

“Jesus, Steve! You have the best doctors in the world!”

I nodded, “Which doesn’t help when you have something none of them have ever seen before; or anyone, for that matter. The ‘practice’ of medicine is the right name for it - you try stuff, and repeat what works.”

“How can you be so calm?”

“I’m not, but after Jess and I got into a fight Friday night and had Kara in tears, I have to at least put on airs of being calm.”

“What are you saying at work?”

“That’s a good question. I think I may change my schedule for Monday afternoon a bit and do a video Town Hall.”

“That’s probably a good idea. I assume you’ve talked to your dad and Joyce?”

“Yes. I’ll call Karl and Beth tomorrow morning before I head to Pontiac with Samantha.”

“I agree with Elyse – where can I sign up to have sex with a guy and get a million bucks!”

I chuckled, “I believe that’s the net effect of our teasing back in college!”

Cindi laughed hard, then exclaimed, “Wow! I wouldn’t share that with Bob!”

“No shit!”

“Shall we go out?” she asked.

We left my study and joined the others who had arrived, with the remaining few straggling in just ahead of the ‘two minutes early’ rule about being late I enforced everywhere in my life.

“Now that the election is over, we can move on from politics,” I said.

“As if!” Elizabeth said.

“OK, we can move on from the election, which is what Americans always do – we come together to try to work with the Doofus in Chief, uhm, Commander in Chief, and look for common ground to try to find solutions.”

“Did your doctor give you hallucinogenic drugs?” Henry asked with a smirk.

“OK. Wishful thinking, but only to a point. Americans, in general, just go about their business because, ultimately, it’s easy to gum up the works and the Senate is basically even, so that means anything that passes has to be bipartisan.”

“Which is how you get double-penetrated with no lube!” Claire declared. “BOTH sides fuck you then!”

Everyone laughed.

“On that note, let’s talk a bit about our interior lives. I’m not necessarily talking about religion, but that’s part of it. This is more focused on your inner self and how you work out conflicts between your heart, mind, body, and soul. And I think the first thing to do is give my working definition for those things so we have a base to start with. Think of them as love, logic, senses, and spirit.”

“Logic wins every time with you, doesn’t it?” Jackson asked.

“Not a chance!” Cindi declared. “He’s a serious Romantic! And I’m not talking about romance in terms of relationships, but in terms of philosophy. Steve may apply logic to the world, but what really matters is how he sees the world to which he applies that logic. Let me see if I can explain, if Steve will indulge me.”

“I will,” I replied.

“First of all, one of the key emphases of romanticism is individualism, and it’s glorification of the past and of nature. If you’ve listened to Steve’s politics and sifted out the idiosyncrasies, you’ll find he has great respect for the Founders, and not much for anyone past them, except Coolidge and, to a point, Reagan. As for nature, most of you don’t know he enjoys his getaways in sparsely populated areas - Vermont and the UP - and he’ll freely admit the time he spent in rural Japan was the most important spiritual time in his life.”

“All true,” I agreed.

“Then,” Cindi continued, “as we think further about Romanticism, we find that it places a very high value on the achievement of ‘great’ individuals, especially individualists, who are the backbone of society and of progress. Individual imagination is a critical authority for the Romantic, and that allows freedom of thought, however expressed. He’s not an artist or musician, but we all know he has a very creative imagination.”

“I’ll say!” Kara tittered.

“Behave, you!” I responded, causing everyone to laugh.

“Most importantly, perhaps, is the idea that the ideal person is the ‘genius’, not only in the sense of what we’d call intelligence, but as someone able to produce their own creations out of nothingness, something often called ‘romantic originality’.”

“NIKA?” Claire asked.

“I’d say that’s a good example,” Cindi agreed. “It was Steve’s vision, which he was driven to make happen, that created NIKA from nothing more than the raw material of five classmates and a pain-in-the-ass High School girl!”

“Hey!” Penny objected.

“Guess who knew I was talking about her?” Cindi replied, smirking, and causing everyone to laugh.

“Ha-fucking-ha!” Penny replied, sticking out her tongue.

“That imagination, for the Romantic, is a critical authority which holds authority over everything else. Sound familiar, fellow NIKA inmates?”

There were nods of agreement from Claire, Liz, and Penny.

“Further, the Romantic is distrustful of the human world, and tended to believe a close connection with nature was mentally and morally healthy. If there’s somebody who distrusts social norms or what we call ‘group think’, it’s Steve. Also, and I’m using this word in a different way from how it’s being used currently, Romantics tend to be progressive in their thinking. For Steve, there’s an intersection between his progressivism, classical liberalism, and the Founding Fathers. There is no more progressive firm than NIKA that I’ve ever encountered. It’s damned near socialist in its character, but he’s a committed capitalist and libertarian in his politics. It’s the latter that fools everyone.”

“But not you?” I asked with a grin.

“Not me!” Cindi replied gleefully. “Have I got anything wrong yet?”

“No,” I chuckled. “But we’ve known each other nigh on twenty years now.”

“I have to ask,” Holly said, “did you?”

“Gloriously!” Cindi exclaimed, to much laughter. “But that is not the key to our relationship. The key to our relationship is we love each other. Yes, we did, on one occasion, consummate the relationship, but that’s a very normal way for Steve to bond with women. And for us to bond with him. Anyway, back to Romanticism, the most evident aesthetic of Romanticism, is the notion of eternal models - a Platonic vision of the world. Anyone who knows Steve would know he’s a Platonist, though he’s also a scientist. He just knows where to tell Aristotle to fuck off and mind his own business!”

There was a lot of laughter.

“Something a LOT of scientists need to learn!” I said, looking at Val and Elizabeth.

“Fuck off, Adams!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I got better!”

“You did,” I replied.

“To conclude, if we look at Steve’s tastes beyond Tom Clancy, they run the gamut of Romantic art, music, and literature. While it’s true that he positively detests Hawthorne, he loves Poe, Dumas, and Hugo.”