Chapter 7: Epilogue

Katie and Carl broke up shortly after we got home from Disney World. I don't think they made it two more months.

She told me that Carl was uncomfortable about their sexual adventures, even though they were exactly what he thought he had wanted. You know what they say, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

Well, Carl got it, and found that those fantasies were better left to porn videos and internet stories. He certainly enjoyed the physical parts of our week-long romp, but he wasn't prepared for its emotional toll.

I ran into him a couple of times and he seemed shaken by his experience. Maybe he was more of a prude than he thought he was. Maybe he was just insecure. Maybe we should not have given him everything he wanted all at once. He never said it, but I think he partially blamed me for his breakup with Katie.

It is my opinion that the thing that broke Katie and Carl up was Katie's sexual awakening. Her mother was a very conservative protestant woman who subscribed to the belief that sex was something to be endured, not enjoyed. Katie never believed that, but was raised in that environment.

Once she found out how much fun sex was, especially with people she cared about and who turned her on to new (and exciting) things, she found that she wanted more than just missionary position twice a month, like her parents did it. Carl wanted to keep her to himself, but for Katie, there was no going back.

Katie dated a couple of guys, but I don't think ever let them get past second base with her. I believe she realised that sex just for the sake of sex can be fun, but it's a whole lot more rewarding when she was with the right person. Melinda and I had a couple of wild weekends with her over the summer. We also bought her a vibrator or two and Katie spent a lot of time exploring her body in ways she had not done before. She also starting reading about sex, not just erotica, but she very became educated. Like I said, it was an awakening for her.

Melinda and I spent a lot more time together. After we dropped Leah off at the airport, we drove out to Jax Beach, took a walk and laid everything out for our future. We talked about what we wanted, what we expected from each other and how much time and energy we were willing to devote to our relationship. Everything was on the table.

I still had to work a lot, but I cut back on some of my side jobs and made a conscious effort to make time for her. She started to spend a lot more time at my apartment and offered to help me out with some of my bills to make up for me working less.

At the end of the semester, Melinda graduated and moved out of her parent's house. When she got out of high school, they had bribed her into living at home by buying her a car. With her bachelor's degree in hand, she was ready to spread her wings.

We moved across my apartment complex into a two bedroom apartment. We were spending a lot of time together and my little studio apartment just wasn't cutting it. With both of us working full-time, my bills were basically cut in half, even after moving into a bigger apartment. The only things that didn't change were my car payment and my auto insurance. This also allowed me to further cut back on my side jobs, devote more time to school and more energy into my blossoming relationship with Melinda.

I still talked to Leah fairly regularly, and once she was living with me, so did Melinda. When summer started, I started to hear from her less and less. Instead of calling every week or so, I'd only hear from her through a stray email or two and speak to her once every other week.

What had I done? When we did talk, everything seemed normal, but in looking back, she always seemed pre-occupied with something else or like she was busy. At one point, she had mentioned something about coming to see us in August, but she bailed on that about a week before she was supposed to fly in. I thought that maybe spring break had ruined our friendship.

Near the end of the year, I was worried about my friend. She just didn't seem as responsive. I wrote her a letter and had put it in a Christmas card, but for one reason or another, I never got around to mailing it. Which turned out to be a good thing.

A week before Christmas, Melinda and I were sitting on the couch watching TV when there was a knock on the door.

I got up to answer it and nearly fell over when I found Leah standing outside our apartment.

She was wearing a red and white Santa jacket, a matching Santa hat and a pair of high-heeled black leather boots. We later found out that she wasn't wearing anything else.

I was dumbstruck. Melinda nearly bowled me over to get to her. I practically had to pry them apart to get my turn.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, once we had settled on the couch.

"I'm looking for a roommate," Leah replied. "Or two."

It turns out the reason why I had heard so little from her was that she was up to her pretty eyeballs in schoolwork. She had taken extra classes over the summer and fall and had graduated a semester early. Now she had come down to live with us and pursue her relationship with Katie.

Melinda and I were glad to have her back in our lives. Leah had a U-Haul full of her stuff which we unpacked the next morning (after a night of vigorous, sweaty sex) and then put what we didn't have room for in storage.

Leah surprised Katie at work the next day and the two of them spent the next 48 hours holed up in the second bedroom of our apartment. I think I saw them twice over those two days.

When they finally came up for air, Melinda and I gave Leah a late graduation present. We tied Leah down on our four-post canopy bed and the three of us each had our way with her. We were all walking funny for the next couple of days.

Leah and I took Melinda home with us for Christmas. Leah's parents were surprised that I had girlfriend. I think she may have told them that she was coming to Jacksonville to live with me. Her dad tried to pump me for information, but since I didn't know what Leah had told him, I tried to say as little as possible until we could get our story straight.

After the new year, Leah went looking for a job, Melinda continued working hers and I went back for my final semester. With our bills now split three ways, I was able to quit all of my side jobs and concentrate on work and school. Katie spent a lot of time with us; I think her parents believed that she and I were dating, and we did nothing to discourage that.

It worked for a while, until Carl got wind that Leah was in town. I never figured him for the vengeful, spiteful type, but when he heard that Katie was spending a lot of time with Leah, he told Katie's parents what was really going on.

They went apeshit. Well, that's not quite right. Her mom went apeshit. Her dad took it pretty well, all things considered.

I don't for a minute think he approved of Katie's choices, but I think he valued his daughter more than what the neighbours thought of her. Katie's mom was another story. She cursed and wailed nonstop. She wondered what she had done to God that would make Him turn her daughter into a homosexual who was going to burn in Hell.

Things got so bad, Katie moved in with us full-time. We did everything we could to support her, but it got ugly. Her sisters were okay with her choices. Although they didn't approve either, they weren't willing to throw her out of the family for it.

Carl stalked her for a little while. He called a lot and showed up at her classes. He talked bad about her to their mutual friends. Leah and Melinda finally went to see him for a "come to Jesus" meeting. I don't know what they said or did, but he stopped harassing Katie.

Things got better towards the end of the semester. Katie's dad never came to visit her in our apartment, although he took her out for lunch and dinner a lot. Her mother would only scream at her, but her dad was good about it. He tried to get her to move home, but the situation there was untenable, and deep down, he knew it. But he never gave up on her and he never stopped loving his daughter.

What Katie's mom—and Carl, for that matter—failed to understand was that Katie wasn't a lesbian or a homosexual. She was in love with someone who happened to be female. Melinda and I saw it. What had started out as a short fling became a truly beautiful relationship.