Chapter 27

Sunday morning, I could hardly move. I was so beat up from all the extra contact that I couldn’t get going. We had some coffee and then got dressed to go to church. After church, we all went back to the country club for their big brunch. By about two in afternoon, I was starting to feel human again. The girls reminded me that we had missed studying Friday and Saturday, so we needed to catch up. We told the folks we would see them for supper and took off for the house to get our books for the library.

When we arrived at the library, several of my teammates and a bunch of the other people who studied with us became far too noisy congratulating me for yesterday’s game. The library staff had to speak out loud to quiet them down and get them to concentrate on what they were there for. We studied until six before going to Delta’s for the gourmet meal Carol had wanted to serve. We had veal Marsala served on a rice pilaf, asparagus, and different wines, beginning with the salad down to the desert.

After the great dinner, the girls and I sang a couple of the songs we had been practicing. Dad said we were good enough to record and should look for a studio to record some of our stuff. I said that as soon as I had some original music, we would do it. What were the odds I would have enough time to write music?

Mom and Dad said they were going to go back home tomorrow. They were happy to have been able to see me play and were excited at how well I played. They also promised to try to come up for one more game. I reminded them that this was my senior year, and I may not be here to play next year, so they said they were going to try to bring my sisters to see me play. They had already been to a Florida game with Sally and would probably go to at least one more game with her.

Dad said he had something for me, so we went out to his car where he gave me an envelope. He told me not to open it until later and to enjoy the gift. He also took out a couple of hundred dollar bills and folded them up before giving them to me. “Use these to take your girls out to eat or to buy them something special. Get some flowers and a gift for them. They will enjoy it.

“Son, you make me proud,” my dad said shaking my hand and holding my arm. “You’re doing well in school. You’re playing sports at a very high level for your division. You’ve improved the property where you live by yourself, and you’re being a good mate for the two girls in there. I don’t know how you’ll do it, but I know you’ll figure out a way to keep your little family unit together. When you need it, your mom and I will be there to help you. George and Dan will be there, too. It’s great to see you so successful.”

The girls and I left after giving and getting lots of hugs. This night we went to bed and only played for a while before drifting off to sleep.

It became school, practice, study, and sleep and then start over again, with the only breaks being away games. The girls were no longer cheerleaders, so they couldn’t go with me on the bus, making away games pretty dull. I used the time to study, as my classes were getting tougher. Or was it that I was taking tougher courses?

I had figured out that I should finish with the pre-med courses plus the extra courses I would need for a biology and chemistry major. If I could squeeze in a couple more classes, I could do a math major, too. I would have enough hours to graduate in May but would need some extra classes for the triple major. Too bad I couldn’t make up my mind.

The Thanksgiving break came up quickly. Mom called, telling me they were all coming to see me play the football game the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Our three households were in a tizzy trying to plan every second for them. Mom and Dad were going to stay at Trish’s, while the three sisters were going to stay at Delta’s.

The bunch arrived Thanksgiving evening after driving since the day before. They ate and then crashed, waking up Friday around noon. Friday night was a great party for all of us, ending with lots of music at Trish’s. We had carted all the instruments over to Trish’s so everyone would have something to play. Saturday, game day, we did our usual late breakfast before I went to the stadium. We won, beating Miami of Ohio decisively. I scored a touchdown on a reception, intercepted a pass, and recovered a fumble. A pretty good game, although playing every play is very wearing. Sally said I was good enough to play for the Gators, but then they probably wouldn’t want a one-year transfer. I was proud to show off my family to anyone who would stop to be introduced. My sisters are pretty good looking and draw attention on their own. Put them in a place like the country club where lots of young men are drinking, and they, along with Trish and Delta, are guy magnets.

Sunday, the folks all loaded up and headed back home, as the girls had to go back to school. They were going to drop Sally off in Gainesville on the way home and figured she would get there in time for her first class at ten Monday morning.

Football finally finished, and basketball was well underway. Sandy was helping me with all my lab stuff. She was actually the one who kept pushing me into more biology and more chemistry along with the pre-med stuff, which was pretty much the same. Her guy was the math genius and was my mentor when I struggled with a concept. Trish thought it was funny that a now seventeen-year-old math guru was tutoring a senior.

I was planning Christmas. This year, two families were going to go to Florida for Christmas with my folks. Dad had a new house built on the farm that he was planning to have his new farm manager live in. Both boys had already built their own houses and were in search for that elusive life partner that I seemed so to have luckily stumbled into. Anyway, Trish and Delta’s folks were going to stay in the new house for the holiday. Our plans were to leave on Friday the twenty-second and come back the following Thursday or Friday. Dan decided to rent a luxury bus that would hold all of us, our luggage, and a bunch of instruments. Since none of us wanted to drive something like that, we found a driver who wanted to go to Tampa for the holidays. We would have him drive to Tampa, and then we could drive the bus to the farm.

The trip down was nice. The bus was set up like a little house, with a little kitchen, a booth type dinette, a bathroom complete with tiny shower, and a big bedroom and a little bedroom. In the front, the big couch pulled out to a bed, and the table folded down into a bed using the booth cushions. The whole thing was built on a Greyhound bus chassis, giving a ton of room underneath for luggage. We were told a lot of the music people used these things to travel in while on tour.

The trip down was fast and pleasurable. The folks had drinks while the girls and I played and practiced some new songs that I had arranged for us. I had some ideas for some original stuff for us and constantly made notes on music pads while we were playing. I was trying to put together something that the three of us could play and sing. The final song would be a ballad or some type of love song that would include all of us.

Before the trip, I had done all my Christmas shopping. I had used a bunch of the money Dad had given me in that special envelope along with some cash I had made welding and building stuff in the neighborhood. As soon as the neighbors found out I could fix cars, there was a constant knock on the door for help. Most gave me a couple of bucks to get greasy, and then there were some that needed the help for free. Anyway, I had enough to get what I wanted from a jewelry store. The biggest problem was getting two exactly alike and that they be a little unusual for our unusual coupling, or would that be tripling?

Mom and Dad always had the Christmas gift giving on Christmas Eve, so we were all sitting in our big living room on the farm unwrapping lots of presents. The pile was big again that year with all the people, there including my older sister, her husband, and their new baby. Trish and Delta monopolized the infant the whole evening holding, feeding and changing it. Its Mom, my big Sis, was happy to have the help.

When we finished unwrapping everything, I left the two girls sitting on a couch and turned down all the lights, leaving just the Christmas tree illuminating their beauty. I went over in front of them and knelt on both knees.

“Trish, Delta,” I said while looking at each of them, and then I repeated, “Delta, Trish.” Again looking at them individually. “I know this may be too soon but,” I brought my hands from behind my back with two open ring boxes. “Will you marry me? Will you be my wife?”

Trish and Delta gawked at me with their mouths open then looked at each other before turning back to me. They both jumped forward, knocking me onto my back, landing on top of me. I banged my head and saw stars but kept hearing, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.”

When we finally recovered, they got back on the couch and I took the engagement ring from each box and put them on their fingers. I gave them each a tender kiss and whispered, “I love you.”

The two stood and yelled, “Whoopee. We’re engaged.”

Mom, Cecile, and Carol were sitting together dabbing at their eyes. All my sisters were weeping and smiling at the same time. Sally came and gave me a very un-sisterly kiss, saying how romantic I was. One by one, the dads and my brothers and my brother-in-law shook my hand and congratulated me.

The girls kept pulling me back down on the couch to kiss me with smoldering eyes and smiling faces.

Delta surprised me by asking, “So when can we get married? Do you want to do it this spring or this summer?”

Darn, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I guess I figured we could be engaged for a couple of years and then get married. Besides, I had not figured out how we were going to get this thing done with the three of us.

We had lots of cookies, eggnog, and other snacks until it was time for bed. This time, the girls and I piled into a double bed, cuddled, and slept together peacefully.

Christmas morning everyone was up for chores before a huge breakfast. Trish and Delta’s folks were pretty quiet, looking at the girls and me like we might have something no one wanted.

Later in the living room, Delta asked her folks, “Okay guys, what’s up? You two are acting like something bad happened.”

Carol spoke up first, “Your father and I realized how much trouble you kids are going to have getting married together. You and Trish have done everything together since pre-school. We know you are partners in everything and understand your mutual attraction to Chuck, but Chuck needs a double so you both can have your own husband and family.”

“That’s okay Mom,” Delta said. “Chuck’s enough for both of us, and as you saw, he knows how to deal with the two of us. Do you know we have never had any bad words with each other, and we have been together for over a year and a half? If it comes down to it, one of us will marry him and the other will live with us. Or neither one of us will marry him, but we will all live together. Trish and I have already talked about that and found out about legally changing our names so our names would all be Johnson.”

Dan just shook his head. “Hope it all works out for you three. This is going to be a major step.” He turned to me and asked, “Chuck, how do you figure on supporting these two?”

I looked at Dan then at the girls, “This past fall when Mom and Dad came to watch me play football for the first time, Dad gave me a big envelope that pretty much takes care of things right now. In there was a description of some property Dad put in my name. The place is big enough for us to build a farm on if I want. Also, there was a bankbook and a stock portfolio with some nice stocks in it. The letter with the envelope said this was my share of the profits for helping Mom and Dad become financially well off for the first time in their lives. The income off the stocks should keep us going for a while since we don’t have a lot of expenses. When all of our school money runs out, we’ll have to review our finances. Right now, you are still paying for Delta’s cafeteria pass, but she was able to pay her own way for tuition and books. The same goes for Trish. If necessary, we can pick up the cost of the cafeteria pass now, too. So far, what we did with the house is paying you for it. You did give us a good deal on it, and we all thank you for the help. Without it, we would be in an apartment or would still be living in the dorms. Dan, I think we have it covered for right now. We’ll just have to see if we can make it on our own.”

Carol sat back, crossed her legs and then crossed her arms under her breasts, letting out a sigh, “Guess you been told Dan. Delta seems to have it together.”

“She does,” Dan agreed. “I just remember how we sponged off our folks a bunch for several years after we got married. It took us a couple of years with both of us working to get everything together.”

“Yeah but we didn’t have it together like Chuck does,” George said. “Celle spent half the night worrying about the kids and how they were going to make out. She worried and talked about stuff that had happened to us. I kept telling her that the three kids had already taken care of everything she kept bringing up. You know, I don’t think we should worry until they holler for help. When they do, we can just dig in and give them some help.”

“It’s not me that has it together,” I said directing my comment to George. “It’s the three of us together that has made this work. We have had a common goal from our beginning. School was first for a while; we were committed to just being friends first. Then life became first with us as our commitment to each other grew, making sure that we did well in school to support our present and future life. Trish and Delta are two of the most determined, levelheaded girls you’ll ever know. They think together about what we do almost as if they hear each other’s thoughts. Like I said, it’s not about me, it’s about them and us.”

Mom and Dad were bystanders, being the audience. They just listened and watched, waiting to be asked for an opinion.

The girls and I went outside to wander in the fields, looking at the stock and then going to one of the strawberry fields to pick some ripe fruit and eat it fresh off the plant. Since it was Christmas day, there were no workers in the field. As we walked along a dusty path, we began to discuss a plan.

Trish offered, “I think Delta and I could be good university teachers. We are both going to be qualified to teach undergraduate education courses, and with very little effort we could get our doctorates, making us valuable, and probably could get tenure.”

“I have been thinking along those same lines, Trish. I want to teach, but I really don’t want to teach grade school or high school. The university would be perfect for us,” Delta agreed, then added, “But when Chuck starts bringing home the bacon, Trish and I are going to start having babies. We both want a big family.”

I smiled at Delta’s add-on to her agreement with Trish and then put in my comment. “I keep thinking of research,” I announced to the other two. “I’d love to be a farmer, and I’d love to be a doctor or a vet, but what I’d like to do is work in a field that I could study and help create a solution to a problem. Is that medicine, or chemistry? Whatever it is will require me to have more than an undergraduate or masters degree and probably at a school bigger than this one. Oh yeah, and I always thought I would be doing whatever it would be in Florida. I’m flexible, though, and don’t care as long as we are together.”

“Well we know what Delta and I want. You just have to keep working toward learning more. That is what will get you your answer of what you want to do,” Trish said. Obviously, the two girls were not upset that I couldn’t figure out my future yet.