Chapter 10: Making a new plan

We dragged in a couple of the dining room chairs so we could fit more comfortably in the living room and while munching on sandwiches Katherine and I told everyone of our experiences in 2006.

Afterward Dana said, "Oh, Katherine, you gave up so much for us. How could we ever hope to pay you back?"

Katherine smiled, "I came willingly. You owe me nothing. Admittedly I didn't exactly understand what I was doing at the time I just knew I was supposed to do it. And look on the bright side, I'm twenty-four again, and I'm a virgin."

"You going to give it to Sam?" Vicky asked.

"My virginity?" Katherine asked.

"Uh-huh," Vicky confirmed. "You going to let Sam be the first?"

"Vicky!" I broke in.

"Just asking," Vicky defended herself. "And it isn't like you're not married to her or anything. Everyone in this room knows good and well that she's wife number nine."

"Nine?" Heather questioned.

"Come on Heather," Vicky laughed. "You're number eight and you know it. Don't act stupid. I call for a vote. All for eight and nine say aye."

There were a number of "Aye's."

"All opposed say nay," Vicky requested.

All was silent.

"There you have it." Vicky said haughtily, "What we already knew is now official."

"Welcome aboard lady's. Now Katherine, is Sam going to pop your cherry or not?" Vicky smiled.

"It's so good to have you back Vicky." Jen said smiling. "I forgot how much I've missed you."

"I have to admit. Even I've missed the little shit." Candy said with humor.

"And I can stop babysitting," Heather added.

Vicky looked over at Heather, and then getting up she walked over to her and then kissed her on the mouth, "Thank you." She said softly.

"Well," Kim said getting back to what we had been originally talking about. "You know the one thing you never explained was why the Sam Eldon in 2006 was even seeing a psychiatrist?"

"I was saving that for last," I said drawing out the folded papers from my pocket and then getting up and handing them to Kim.

"What's this?" Kim asked unfolding the papers, and then she started to read. "Oh! My god!" she gasped covering her mouth with her hand.

"What is it!" several of the women asked at once. Jen and Dana even went over and looked over Kim's shoulders.

"This is a letter that we wrote to Sam in 1989." Kim said looking up.

There were several blank looks then candy said, "But it's only 1980 right now."

I explained how I happened to come by the letter then I asked Kim to read it out loud to everyone.

After Kim had finished reading the letter everyone was in shock, especially Vicky, Heather and Jen.

"Vicky runs away. Clarity commits suicide. Heather goes off the deep end. Dana and Candy have to resign. We sell everything and hide, all because of that ... that sick bastard of a son of mine. It's all my fault." Jen said dejectedly.

"Like hell it's your fault! You didn't do anything!" Candy snapped.

"If it wasn't for you we wouldn't even have Sam. This Sam, the one we love. How would that be?" Kim snapped just as adamantly.

"Besides none of this has even happened. And it won't happen. The people who would live those miserable lives don't exist. And because Sam's here, our Sam, they never will." Dana jumped in.

"How could I do that to you guy's? I'm so sorry. How could I?" Vicky sounded distressed.

"And me," Heather said. "How could I worry you like that? I'm so sorry."

"Damn it! That goes for you guy's too. You haven't done anything and you never will. So all three of you get over it!" Dana growled again.

"We must thank Katherine for not making such bad things to happen." Maria said.

"Darn right!" Pat said. "Once again Katherine, thank you, honey."

We tossed it around for a while letting the initial shock wear off and when finished I think everyone felt better having come to the realization that with Katherine and I traveling to 1980 we had already altered the future from what was written on those pages and the only thing that was left were words, and the bleak picture painted by those words which would never come to pass.

"It's still eerie," Kim said gritting her teeth, "Looking at writing and knowing that you wrote it but also knowing that you hadn't. Weird."

"Yeah," Vicky said agreeing. "And you know what? If Sam hadn't of come back when he did I could have run away just like in the letter. I was headed in that direction. Stupid me. That'll never happen no matter what. I promise you guys."

"And I promise never to freak out over something I don't have any control over." Heather added.

"Just that alone from you two makes that letter well worth while," Pat said patting Heather's hand.

Heather smiled.

"Another thing that's interesting is all the connections," Dana said. "You know, Carl Katzman just happens to be Jimmy's psychiatrist, and he just happens to work with Katherine, who just happens to be Sam Eldon's psychiatrist, who just happens to come up with the epiphany of how to get Sam back to 1980. It's like a big circle."

"Or like destiny maybe," Maria said quietly.

Another gem out of the super hot babe tamale, I thought.

I guess I wasn't the only one that thought that. "Right Maria, like destiny." Jen said agreeing.

"You know, it's odd how when you two came back that Katherine ended up in her own 1980 body but she also ended up in Jimmy's bedroom. Weird." Candy pointed out.

"Indeed," Pat agreed. "There is so much we may never understand."

"Hang on a second guys, I'm curious about something." Kim said and then she hurried upstairs.

She returned a few moments later carrying Caroline Anne Gridley's notebook. "They're all there," she said dropping the notebook on the coffee table, "every page, including the last six."

"Du na nu nu ... du na nu nu," Vicky hummed the tune to the twilight zone.

"Normally," Katherine said, "we will perceive some events like dreams. Their cause, their meaning, their place in one's history remain forever unexplained. They occur once in time, surprising us sometimes, but always making a mockery of our expectations. In memory they are recurring, timeless, with vague borders and an always jumbled, inexact sequence. In the aftermath all one can say is that they occurred, and defiant memory recalls only the pieces, never their source or their reason. However, in this case it would seem it has occurred more than once in time but will still remain forever unexplained."

"Yeah, what she said." Vicky said.

"You mean like two books across time, one whole the other with six missing pages?" Heather asked.

"Uh-huh," Katherine said, "Or not. That other book could have just as easily vanished as soon as Sam and I arrived in 1980. We'll probably never know."

"Du na nu nu ... du na nu nu," Vicky repeated.

"So, what does Clarity believe the reason for me going missing in action is?" I asked.

"Vicky and I told her that you needed to have an operation and you went to a world renowned specialist at the Yale-New Haven Hospital to have it done because the operation is so delicate."

"Okay, so why didn't I take the time to tell her goodbye?" I asked.

"Heather scrunched up her nose, "Because what you had was so embarrassing you couldn't face her."

"Okay, so what did I have?"

Heather's nose remained scrunched up as she answered," Ah ... Weakness of the sphincter muscle which caused incontinence and could occur anytime you laughed, giggled, had emotional excitement, or during sexual activity. And it was getting worse. We also told her that's why you didn't have sex with her, because you were afraid that you might ... might pee yourself while doing it with her."