Chapter 8

The next morning we were up and at the Barton house by 9. Doug and I had the porch completed by noon. By 5 PM, with all of us working, we had the rest of the house painted. Ma had been over and boxed up all the stuff to be moved out of the house.

As we were getting ready to leave Michelle complained about her aching back. Sara said, "All right Michelle, we would be happy to have you in the hot tub tonight." Michelle blushed and stammered while the rest of us thought it was a great joke. Doug said that he had taken out steaks for us all for dinner and would be glad to bring them to the house, so we agreed.

Dinner was great and the steaks were great too. Afterwards we retreated to the hot tub and once we were settled for a time, Michelle told us that she wanted to thank us for arranging and entertaining her folks. I laughing and said, "I guess I have two sets of out-laws now!"

Doug started laughing but the girls did not get the joke so Doug said, "Instead of in-laws he is referring to them as out-laws meaning although they are related they are not really part of the family in this case!"

Then the girls saw the humor of it and Sara said, "That's a good way to think of it, and we should keep it that way."

I was surprised when Doug stated, "I think both Bob and I like your father! Although we do not like the way he treated you nor do we condone it we do feel he had your best interest at heart, as he showed this weekend!"

Bobbie asked with great concern, "You mean they are accepted here anytime?"

"No, they are not! They would have to be invited. But I think Doug is right and you all need to think about losing them forever, which will be like cutting a piece of you off, or accepting that parents are human and can do the wrong thing for the right reasons." I explained. Then I continued, "Look, maybe I am not saying this right. I think they felt guilty about the rape, about the fact that it was a relative and they did not know how to react or what to do! So they tried to protect you by preventing anyone from having access to you!"

Doug took over and said, "When this happened rape was not discussed. To have it happen within the family and presented to the world must have hurt them terribly. In their society they were failures. Even 15 years ago to have a child out of wedlock was terrible and branded the mother as a slut. Nowadays it is fairly common and no one brands the child or the mother!"

"Sara and Bobbie, I was planning on marrying one of you. But you Sara helped me make the decision on which one. At the time you suggested I marry Bobbie so her child would not be a bastard. That remark is based on your upbringing, because you know today no stigmatism is attached to a child born out of wedlock yet in your own mind it is better to be married when the child is born! Now think about your parents and their up bringing!" I suggested.

A few minutes later Michelle said, "Are you saying they acted correctly?"

"No, I am not. If anything I am saying they over reacted, but for the right reasons — to protect their children!" I explained.

A few more minutes passed then Sara said, "I will have to give this some more thought, but for now I think I am ready to get out of here." Doug and Michelle said goodnight. We took a shower then settled down to watch the evening news and weather. Rain was forecast for tomorrow and Bobbie was worried about moving Ma. I told her we could always pack tomorrow and move on Wednesday.

Tuesday morning was overcast with intermittent rain. I loaded the truck with flattened boxes and drove to Ma's place. We unloaded the boxes and I taped three of them up. As the girls helped Ma pack them I made the necessary phone calls to arrange for the cashier's checks required to buy the additional property. Then I called the lawyer to be sure everything was ready for Thursday.

By the time I was off the phone Michelle and Doug had arrived. Michelle gave me a hug and said, "I want to thank you for what you said last night. I think I can understand some of what my parents thought; but it does not excuse their actions."

"No, it doesn't! But understanding may lead to forgiveness, and I doubt they have forgiven themselves yet." I said. Michelle looked at me hard then turned and went inside the house. I started to follow but Doug was bringing out a box so I lowered the tailgate on the truck instead. When we went inside the girls were in the bedroom with Ma and the door was closed.

I went to the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee and passed one to Doug. He asked, "Are we doing the right thing in insisting they accept their parents?"

"Doug, I am doing no such thing! I hope they reach that decision since it will allow them to have roots and possibly avoid feeling guilty about the way they treated their parents after they die when making peace with them is no longer an option. Your Ma and you were not communicating about the girls. Look what almost happened! Would you like it if you had not corrected the problem, then did not to see your Ma for the rest of her life?" I asked.

"No, of course not, but that is different!" stated Doug.

"Not really, both parents wanted what was best for their children! If you had been younger your mother would have forbidden you to see them at this age, but that was not an option. Their parents in turn overreacted and saw a bogeymen everywhere trying to hurt their children and made mistakes in trying to protect them. Was there malicious intent to cause harm in either case?" I asked.

"Well I guess I understand... So what do we do now?" he asked.

"Nothing. I think that is what they are talking to your Ma about. And if that does not work then we need to give it a lot of room so the girls will not feel forced into a situation they are not happy with." I stated.

Doug and I talked about the ranch and changes that would have to be made in the near future. As we were about to start a third cup of coffee the bedroom door opened and everybody started to work again. Shortly, we had seven more boxes of clothing to move to the Barton House. Doug and I took the load over and put it in the house because it was starting to rain again. By the time we returned it was coming down pretty good.

We ate lunch at Ma's then continued with the packing. By 3 everything was ready to move but it was still raining. Ma stated she would like a hamburger from the place in Lamkin. The trip there, dinner, and the drive back were relaxing and I could tell the girls had reached some decision because they were much more calm.

Once we got home we watched a movie then the evening news and weather. The rain was supposed to move to the east during the night and although it would be muggy tomorrow it would not be raining. Once we were in bed the girls attacked me, They made me spend three times before they would allow me to sleep then they insisted that there be no more than half an inch of space between us. Do I sound like I am complaining? I'm not — I am just overwhelmed.