Chapter 36

Mel and I did our bedtime routine together in the family bathroom; on the way back to my room, we popped our heads into Katelyn’s old bedroom, where Abby and Ben were fast asleep in their mom’s childhood bed, one at each end.

The tender expression on my fiancée’s face as she watched the sleeping babies convinced me I needed to give her one of our own just as soon as we could do it. I was feeling the same. I guess that’s why, like puppies and kittens, young kids are so cute – to bring out the nurturing instinct. They may not be quite so lovable later in life, but by then you’re stuck with them. Hey, if our daughters turned out anything like their mom for good looks, then come their teenage years, I was in for a whole lot of evenings spent worriedly pacing the floor until their dates brought them safely home before curfew...

I put my arm around her waist. “Katelyn says they love you already!”

“And I love them! It was so amazing, being with Katelyn, singing with them, playing with them, the tub, the bedtime reading. That never really got to happen with my parents; they were always too busy.”

“Too busy to play with you?”

Even in the semi-darkness of the upstairs hallway, I could see the set of her jaw.

“Not totally, but it was more a case of them doing their normal things around us. We spent a lot of time watching the TV or stuck in our chairs while Mom cooked. We had to entertain ourselves from early on. It wasn’t until I got to kindergarten that anyone other than Grandma ever read to me. She was the one who brought us games and had time to spare; she had more of our drawings pinned up in her kitchen than we did at home. Fenton was the one after me, then Shelly, then Lauren when I was thirteen. Shelly and I practically raised Lauren; Grandma had passed by then, and Fenton was never in the least interested in the baby; he was spending a lot of time with Dad by then. Shelly got to do the fun part; I had diaper duty and by the time Lauren was walking and talking I had my high school studies and then my job. Our parents’ marriage was on and off; maybe if Lauren had been another son, then Dad would have taken more of an interest...”

She sighed. “I need to tell you all this, but not here, not now. Take me to bed, please, honey?”

I locked my bedroom door, assuming we’d more than likely have small and curious visitors early in the morning, knowing I’d rather be at least partially dressed when they were admitted.

We piled our clothes neatly on the chair, then Mel rummaged in the bags and pulled out our sleep wear. A cheeky grin. “No point in putting it on only to have to take it off again, hey, honey?”

“Leave it handy for when the kids knock on the door.”

A knowing smile. “Good point.”

Once we’d gotten ourselves comfortable, me on my back and her front on my front, we did a little exchanging of tokens of affection. Then she raised herself up a little and looked me in the eye.

“Mike, since you sprung your proposal on me, we’ve hardly had time to talk. I’ve been making wedding policy on the hoof as your mom asked the questions. Mind if we tackle a couple of things now?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“We’re having a wedding, not eloping?”

I chuckled, “Yes, and I swear the real reason is I want to do you honor. Has abso-lute-ly nothing to do with Mom wanting a new hat.”

She pretended to give me the evil eye, but ended up giggling. “Okay, I do believe you. Just about.”

“Okay, so both reasons are true. But I still want to marry you ‘in front of God and this congregation’, right?”

“Right! Uh, I know I ruled out any of my immediate family, but it would be cool to have some people my side of the church. There are three school friends I keep in touch with: Auburn, Gaby and Yessica. Yess was a neighbor and still sees her mom every week – that’s how I know about my father’s various live-in girlfriends. Candy, Jolene and Marnie from Emory; you’d like them as well. There are a couple of cousins on Mom’s side I always got on with; perhaps they’d like to come. I’d certainly like to introduce you to them. Oh, and Mikala.”

“Mikala?”

“Yeah, she was a high school video production classmate who really helped me do the work for my scholarship application. Without her, I wouldn’t have gotten it, and I wouldn’t have escaped Wisconsin. She studied broadcasting at Ithaca College; she’s working in New York these days.”

“What about the friend who persuaded you to have your belly button pierced?”

“Susanna? Last I heard she joined the military, don’t know where she’s gotten to. Gaby might know, they were pretty tight. Gaby went off to Hofstra University, she’s also living in New York. Married her high school boyfriend, Maxwell Taylor; he’s one of the few nice guys, they’ve got a couple of kids.”

“And your LA friend, the one who disappeared, what was her name, Alisha or something?”

Her lips pursed. “Alaina. If she’d stayed in touch, she’d have been a shoo-in. But the way she just vanished, no call, no note, nothing? I don’t think so.”

There was a silence for a moment. Her ‘I don’t think so’ had sounded kinda final.

I wished Mel would open up a little more about Alaina. From what she had shared, Alaina had been the closest thing to a real friend Mel had found in Los Angeles. There was something... off ... about her sudden and complete disappearance. I just hoped it hadn’t been yet another of those unreported, unsolved crimes against young women.

I hate it whenever we find ourselves with a John or Jane Doe in the hospital mortuary. Happens all too often. Nobody deserves to die alone, nobody deserves to be buried in an unmarked grave. I just hoped there was another explanation for Alaina. A happier sequel.

Mel’s next question broke into my morbid thoughts.

“Mike, your old babysitter, the one we met earlier...?”

“Cassie? Yeah, what do you want to know about her?”

“Did you have the hots for her?”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I did, but not at the time she was babysitting us; I hadn’t learned about girls back then. She’s five or six years older than me, which means I was about twelve or thirteen when she went off to college and didn’t ever sit for us again. Then, about two years after, Mom asked me to take something over to Jessica, and Cassie answered the door in underwear and an open shirt...”

I explained all this to Mel, not omitting Cassie’s unknowing contribution to a teenager’s masturbatory fantasies.

She chuckled appreciatively. “She’s kept herself in trim. I can see how good she’d have looked back then. Wouldn’t have minded seeing it for myself.”

“Oh, it was absolutely worth seeing. Still is. Katelyn sent me a photo last summer of a water party they had with all the kids; Cassie’s in the background in a bikini. You would never know she’s carried three babies.”