Chapter 12

The next couple of months were busy and interesting. Zena, Bee, and I all did some business traveling. The big deal though was the work on the house. The workers were very good and very gentle with the existing structure. They added onto the house in a way you could hardly tell it was an addition. The new bedrooms and the two new bathrooms would be welcome when lots of people were visiting.

As soon as the addition was complete, mom and dad, along with Dana and Jeff came out. The weekend was complete though, as Zena's girlfriends came. My Mom fell for little Joanie in a big way. She had Joanie in bed with my dad and her on Friday and Saturday nights, to Dana's amazement.

Betsy was having a great time teasing Jeff and my dad with her big bazooms. She rubbed those naked beauties on them every chance she got. I figured that any second, Jeff would just throw her down and do her wherever it might have been. Dana rewarded him for his resistance.

I'm not sure about dad. He can be sneaky if he wants. Betsy wouldn't tell, but mom had her suspicions.

Dana almost caught mom playing with me in the kitchen. She came through the back door just as she had me right on the edge of coming. The dumb thing wouldn't go down and Dana caught a good look at me. She said, "For crying out loud, do you have to show that thing off constantly? Just because you have a big one doesn't mean you have to advertise."

When the big addition was started, I began advertising within the park. I would need two to four people for housekeeping and one or two people to cook.

We interviewed several, and found six people to share the workload for now. My plan was to offer the small cabin folks the opportunity to eat with B&B users. I was possibly going to increase the kitchen offerings to include lunch and supper. If so, we would probably have to increase the staff even more.

Zena, Bee, and I were coming up on being together for six months. We were enjoying a peaceful Saturday morning on the porch. The B&B folks had been fed and the kitchen staff was preparing a small lunch, as we only had five units rented. The first two cabins were complete, but were just beginning to be rented.

As we were sitting in the glider together, I casually said to Zena, "What do you think about going up to Atlanta to see your mom and dad?"

Zena thought for a second and said with a question, "That would be nice, but why?"

Zena was on my right, so I picked up her left hand then slipped an engagement ring onto her finger. She held up her hand and gasped, then grabbed and held me. She said, "Yes, you wonderful man, yes."

She sat there a few minutes, then looked at me, and with one word she asked, "Bee?"

I held up my hand that still held another ring. Giant tears rolled down her face. "Oh Tommy, I love you so much. Who can I tell, I have to tell someone."

Call your mom, call your uncle, call your brother, and call your girlfriends.

She ran into the house and came back with Bee who had been lying down. She had not been feeling well lately, and her doctor couldn't find the problem.

She put Bee in the glider with me and left. Bee put her head on my shoulder and asked, "What's got Zena wound up?"

I was holding her left hand and gently slipped the ring on her finger. She did the same thing as Zena. She held her hand up, looking at the ring, and nearly leaped on me. She was hugging me, kissing me, telling me how she loved both of us. She got up and rushed in the house to share her excitement with Zena.

We had a nice dinner that evening, then shared our love with each other for a long while.

Monday, I was busy in my office and knew Zena was presenting a lease package to a prospective tenant in the conference room when my phone rang. It was someone from accounting. They only said, "Bee collapsed. She's fainted. We've called 911. Come down here quick."

I stopped to tell Bruce quickly and to have him tell Zena as soon as she was out of the conference room.

When I arrived in accounting, Bee was coming to. She said she was dizzy but didn't know what happened. She said she just blacked out.

The paramedics arrived, checking her vitals then suggesting she go to the hospital. We decided on University Community Hospital because of its size and how close it was.

Just as the paramedics were leaving with Bee, Zena came running into the room. She held Bee for a few seconds, then had to watch her being wheeled out.

We arrived at the emergency room almost simultaneously with the ambulance. We followed her progress through a couple of wards, but made sure her records were straight and that they had her company health insurance correct.

Her personal physician had arrived and was with several specialists. They decided to give her an MRI as it had been scheduled as a diagnostic tool for her anyway. When that was complete, they admitted Bee and took her to a room.

Zena was finally able to see her. Zena sat next to her holding her hand, leaning over to kiss her every few minutes. I was there with them. Bee had me come down to her and kiss her. She said softly to both of us, "Don't be sad. I love you both so much and feel your love. Something's wrong inside me that is bad. I don't know how to describe it or even tell you where it is. If something happens to me, just remember how much I love you."

Bee closed her eyes and slept. The same as she had been doing so much at home.

Two hours later, Bee's personal physician walked into the room with a solemn look. He motioned for the both of us to come with him. He took us into a small bare office with just a desk and a few chairs.

"The MRI revealed what Bee's problem is. I'm saddened to tell you that she has massive cancer throughout her brain and down her neck into her spine. I don't know how she is even alive right now. Normally, this kind of cancer is accompanied by severe pain, but she doesn't seem to be hurting and is doing okay so far."

"If that isn't bad enough, she is just eaten up with cancer in her stomach and intestines. We have no way to remove such massive growth."

"If you want me to, I can be the one to tell her or you can do that. To answer the question in your mind, the oncologists agree that if she lives a week that would be a long time. I'm sorry I couldn't find the problem earlier, but she has only been coming in to see me for about a month."

Zena had tears streaking down her face as the doctor said, "I'll have a representative from Hospice come by to see you. They help survivors as much as they help the patients."

Zena looked down at her left hand, clenched her fist, and then squeezed her eyes closed.

We went back into the room to sit with Bee a minute, then Zena said, "Let's get a cup of coffee and go to the bathroom. We'll be back in a few minutes."

In the cafeteria, Zena said, "I'm so glad you gave Bee her ring. She knows we are united forever now. Can you call the girls? I don't know whether her family cares or not, but I have their number in my purse. Let me get it out. You need to call work and let them know, and also call out to the park to let them know so they can pray for her."

"We have to be strong and upbeat for her. I don't think I'm going to tell her right away. I'm just going to keep telling her we love her. Oh Tommy, I love her so much. We are going to miss her so much. She has been a part of us for over six months now. Here, take my phone book and make the calls. I'm going back up. Come up as soon as you can. Help me to be strong Tommy, make me smile."

I kissed Zena and whispered, "I love you."

She hugged me, smiled, and left.

It took thirty minutes to call everyone. The girls were in a panic. Dana wanted to come immediately, but I convinced her to stop by later for a minute. The office was all upset, from accounting all the way up to Bert. Mr. Franks assured me he would pray for her and tell all of our friends. A person I needed to call, who needed to come to help was Zora. Before I called her, I called my mom. She was as shocked and saddened as anyone was. She had come to accept that her son was going to have two women. She said that Zora would want to be here with Zena, so I was to go ahead and call.

When I called Zora, I was getting pretty choked up. I was able to tell her the whole thing and then begged her to come. Please come to help Zena get through this. Zora said she would be on a plane this evening. She would call my mom to give her the itinerary.

Back up in the room, I sat next to Zena as she held Bee's hand. She said, "She hasn't been awake again. I hope she wakes so we can tell her we love her at least once more."

We sat there hugging each other watching the monitor over her bed. The heart rate and beat seemed steady but slow, very slow. When we touched Bee, the heart rate would go up a little. I went around to the other side of the bed and both of us held a hand and leaned down and kissed her. We said together, "We love you, Bee, we love you forever."

The monitor went spastic, but Bee's eyes opened. She smiled at us and said, "I love you both forever. Kiss me."

We both kissed her softly and then sat to hold her hands as her eyes closed again. Bee had a smile on her face as her heart rate became slower and slower, until it stopped. Zena and I were still holding her hands with tears running down our faces as the nurses came running in. They had wheeled in an emergency cart and were holding up paddles. I put my hand up to stop them and asked them, "Give us a few more minutes okay. We'll leave in a little while."

They pulled the curtain around us as Zena and I was still holding her hands. As we sat there, Zena reached over and took Bee's left hand and gently took the ring from her finger. She slid it onto her ring finger with her own. She looked down at the ring and smiled.

Zena stood and leaned over and kissed Bee's lips then said, "I love you Baby, we love you forever."

Zena looked at me and said, "Cover her, she's ours, we should do that."

I leaned down and kissed Bee's forehead then pulled the sheet up over her head. We both let out a big sigh then went out to the nurses' station. They directed us to the administrative offices.

There, we had to prove that I had power of attorney for Bee and that we were what family she had. I had them call the company's attorney so they could confirm the document. We had just recently done that, as cross documents, so we could act for each other. When we were asked about arrangements, I asked her if we could call her with our decision. She nodded and gave us some pamphlets and her card.

We walked out to a little atrium, where I made all those calls again to sadly inform everyone that Bee was gone. Mom asked me where we were going, and I said probably home. She said she would meet us out there. She also said dad would meet the plane and bring Zora. Dana wanted to come out as well. I told each of them that Zena and I probably needed some time alone together, but they insisted that they be nearby.

We had ridden in today in the Jeep. All three of us had been in a light-hearted mood this morning and thought the Jeep would keep us happy.

We rode home slowly and were passed through the gate without comment. Mom and Dana were both getting out of their cars as we pulled up. We went inside and Zena said, "I would like one of your killer martinis, please. How about fixing some snacks and we'll just munch?"

Zena and I did what we always did. We undressed and she came into the kitchen to be by me as I made the drinks and some snacks with cheeses, chips, dips, and veggies. Mom and Dana joined us in a martini, then the stories began. Dana told many funny stories and the one where Bee tried to explain how she had fallen in love with Zena and me. The way Dana told it, it was funny. We told story after story until dad pulled up outside with both Mark and Zora.

When they came in, Zena ran to her mom and held her, then the two of them went into a bedroom. Dad noted that mom and Dana were nude so he motioned for Mark to follow him and they went into a bedroom and stripped. When they returned, I cracked the second 1.75 bottle of gin for more martinis and made up some more snacks.

Zora soon came out and asked me to come with her. We went to our new big bedroom and she had Zena and I sit together. She asked us what kind of arrangements we wanted for Bee.

Zena looked at me and said, "I don't think I want anyone looking at her in a casket. I want to remember her exactly as she talked to us that last time. If we bury her, can we not have an open casket? You know she had more friends out here and at work than anywhere else. I think we should have a service out here."

Zora asked, "What do you think about cremation?"

I said, "Probably a good idea. If we want to keep her with us, we can, or we can scatter her out here where she was so happy."

Zena hugged me said, "That's so beautiful, Tommy. It shows how much you loved her too."

Zora said, "You should call the hospital, Tommy and call a funeral home to have the cremation done. You can schedule the service for out here this weekend."

I went out to the Jeep to get my cell phone and the administrator's card. I called her and told her of our decision and that I was calling a funeral home to take care of the procedure. She said it takes about three to six business days for paperwork to be completed. I asked her to provide me three notarized copies of the death certificate so the paperwork could go faster and nothing could get lost. She said she would have it for me in the morning.

One of the brochures she had given me was from a funeral home that did cremations, so I called and my call was forwarded to a funeral director. I told him where Bee was and that I would be by the funeral home to take care of the arrangements in the morning after getting the paperwork from the hospital. He discussed prices and such, and I said I would take care of it in the morning.