Chapter 6

Thursday came. I took a half-day off, spent it with Nina fussing over a simple white dress she'd bought to get married in.

The "simple" wedding kind of mushroomed once word got out, and at five PM on a Thursday in late spring, Nina and me, her grandmother, Jannie, her husband, most of the office crew, and a good dozen of Nina's contemporaries were seated in a meeting room at the First Baptist Church to watch us exchange vows.

It wasn't your classic wedding. Let's see ... my buddies from work tended towards safety-toe shoes, khakis or jeans, and long-sleeved shirts. Among Nina's party I saw a selection of carefully shredded jeans, logo'ed shirts, including one or two that had the Baptist minister shaking his head, a few pair of high-end sneakers, and one dress besides Nina's grandmother, Helen.

I wore my "Dan Gleason, respectable engineer" suit. Nina, as I said, was wearing a perfect white dress, simple lines, ending just above her knee, a string of pearls that set like a pedestal to highlight that soft rounded face, and hair that was shiny perfection. As I stood beside her in front of the minister, you could've paraded the entire female population of the planet in front of me naked and I would not have taken my eyes off this one (in my mind) perfect female.

In keeping with the rush and the informality, our reception was one door down in the church recreation building, and my credit card took a hit for a caterer to throw together finger foods, pizza and soft drinks. Soft drinks? Yep. Baptist church in the South. To the guys from work, I promised a barbecue with appropriate beverages at some indeterminate future date.

And we took off on our honeymoon. Airline flight. Cruise up the Inside Passage to Alaska. Yes, there were some marathons in the cabin. But I married a fledgling engineer, and there was more than one tour of the cruise ship's engineering spaces, too.

And a week later we were home. OUR home.

But there's another thing. Remember that "small town" thing about news traveling fast? Well, the same network that spread the news throughout the town also had a tendril that reached the ex-wife. Nina and I were in a hotel room, waiting for our cruise to depart the next day.

I wasn't exactly on friendly terms with the ex. She'd left me for an old high school boyfriend, and the departure was NOT on the best of terms. However, we did have a daughter in common, one little Miss Sandra, commonly referred to as "Sandy", now ten, so we did stay in contact, and that's why her name was attached to phone number on my cellphone.

Which is why I made a face when my phone rang and I saw who it was. My face must have given me away. Nina looked at me.

"Ex," I said.

Nina wasn't threatened. No, Nina was smug. "Tell 'er I said "hi"."

I smiled at Nina and took a deep breath. "Hello, Jennifer," I said.

The voice at the other end was familiar. Unfortunately, so was the very perceptible edge of nastiness. "Hello, Dan. I just heard some interesting news."

Nina's ear was against mine so we could both hear the conversation. Her hand touched my thigh. I looked. She smiled.

"And what news would that be, Jen?"

"It seems as though you've acquired a wife, Dan." I pictured her face twisted in a sneer I was all too familiar with from the divorce. Her face was actually quite pleasant without the sneer, but for some reason now, the sneer was the default picture in my head.

"Oh, good," I said. "I was afraid it was another one of those gossipy rumors you've been repeating back to me. So what did you hear, and I will tell you if it's true or not." I felt Nina's thigh against mine. That's all I needed for support.

Jennifer started in. I could picture the nasty smirk. "My sources say that YOU married some TEENY-BOPPER who's young enough to be your DAUGHTER, and that she just graduated from high school last month."

"Right. WRONG. Right."

"What'd'ya mean, Dan?" There was an edge of venom.

"Well, Jennifer," I said calmly, "We, that's Nina and I, did indeed get married a week or so ago. She is indeed eighteen, but she's far from a teeny-bopper. She had a 4.0 average, National Honor Society, and third in her graduating class." I breathed then continued before Jen could crank back up. "And I already HAVE a daughter. I married a kindred soul. By the way, how's YOUR hubby doing?"

That was a little sprinkling of salt into a wound. Jen's new husband was a notorious grand talker, perpetually just one step behind that One Big Deal of a Lifetime. I don't think they were doing particularly well financially, and I suspected that the monthly child support checks I sent were a significant portion of their income at times.

"Jerry's doing just fine, thank you very much. He's got a big used car lot now, and he's angling towards getting a GM dealership."

"That's gooood," I said. I could do sarcasm, too, you know. Nina slapped me on the thigh.

"Be nice," Nina mouthed silently.

I continued, "So how's Sandy doing? She hasn't called. School's out."

Jen sighed. "Sandy's doing fine. Straight A's. Just like you. Right now she's upstairs listening to music. YOUR music. Bugging me about PIANO lessons. Wanna talk to her?"

"You know I do. In a second. So what else do you want to talk about? Wanna talk to my new wife?" I looked at Nina. I was smiling, because Nina was smirking. "Because she's gonna be Sandy's step-mom. Well, more like a big sister."

I knew pretty much who Jennifer's "source" for news was. The source was a long-time friend of Jen's (and mine, actually) who was a high-school teacher. I surmised that the source knew exactly what was what with Nina. Further, I actually trusted that person to tell Jennifer the truth even if it didn't particularly please Jen to hear it. And the truth was that my Nina was bright and intelligent and moral and I was sure those findings had been given to Jennifer.

Jen snorted. "Yeah. Let me talk to your sweetie." Sarcasm dripped.

"Be nice. Really. I KNOW you can do it," I said.

"I AM nice," Jen said. "Lemme talk to her."

I handed the phone to Nina, who jumped in with both feet. "Hi, Mizz Jennifer," Nina chirped, her voice dripping with youthful exuberance. I was listening, ear to Nina's.

"You don't have to call me "Mizz," Jen said. "You married my ex."

"Yes ma'am," Nina grinned, "But my grandma taught me to be respectful to my elders."

I almost choked trying to stifle my laugh. My eyes watered.

"Babe," Jennifer battled back, "You married my ex. You don't call him "Mister" do you?"

"I did, until, you know..." Nina countered with a decidedly girlish giggle.

There was a palpable pause. "Good one," Jennifer said. "Good one. Okay." She paused. I heard the sigh. "Let's retract our claws, dear. Is Sandy staying with you guys for a few weeks this summer going to be a problem?"

Nina looked at me. I mouthed "okay". We'd already had this talk between ourselves.

"Oh, certainly not. Dan's told me about her, and I want to meet her anyway."

"But you and Dan being newlyweds..."

Nina's mouth straightened. Her "serious" look. "Uh, Mizz ... Sorry. Jennifer, I am a person with a sense of propriety and decorum and morals. Dan knows this. Everybody around me knows this. With Sandy here, I will be her big sister or her step-mom, even, but she is Dan's child, and I would never do anything to hurt a child, especially Dan's." She paused. "And yours." Another pause. "And now, mine..."

"Did HE tell you to say that?" Jen asked.

"Nope. He pretty much knows how I am, and if I wasn't like this, I don't think he would have married me." Nina smiled at me as I stroked her shiny hair.

Jennifer admitted, "I actually heard nothing but good about you, you know, except that you married Dan..."

"Hold on there, cowgirl," Nina jumped in. "I MARRIED Dan. Like in "forever" and all that. He's not a weekend or a summer or whatever. I will be with him until the day I die. Or he does."

I knew that the "forever" comment had driven a stake through the heart of my ex, and honestly, I don't think that Nina did it on purpose.

"I'm sorry. You're right, uh ... Nina?" Jennifer was reeling, losing the battle badly. "He was single. It's his choice. And yours. And honestly, I heard nothing but good about you. Can we be, you know, sort of friends?"

Nina took that hit. "Uh ... yeah," and then threw her own. "Yeah, we have something in common." Pause "A little girl named Sandy. 'Friends' would be best for Sandy, I think."

"Yeah," Jennifer said. "And be good to her dad, okay?"

"Absolutely," Nina answered.

"Can I talk to him for a second?" Jennifer asked.

Nina looked at me and then said, "Dan, Jennifer wants to talk to you," acting like I hadn't heard every word that had been spoken between them.

"Okay, Jen," I said. "I heard you get a little idea of how Nina is."

"Yeah I did. Dan, she's something. At least that's what I heard."

"She had to be something, Jen," I said. "She cracked quite a shell to get to me." I paused. "So when are we getting Sandy?"

Jen said, "How about a couple or three weekends from now? We can meet you halfway."

"Last weekend in June sounds fine. How long can we have her?"

"Three or four weeks?" Jen stated.

"Four, I'm thinking. We'll see how Sandy and Nina hit it off. I'm thinking it'll be fine."

"Okay, Dan," she said. "Anything else?"

"Nope," I said. "Can I talk to Sandy now?"

"Sure," Jen said.

I heard her call Sandy's name, then footsteps, then "Hi, Daddy!"

"Hi, baby," I said. "I heard you did all A's in school."

"Yessir," she said. "It's not that hard." She paused. "Mom said you got married."

"Yes, baby," I said. "I did."

"Mom said she was young. Like high school."

"She is, baby. Her name is Nina. And she graduated this year. Do you want to say hi to her?"

"Sure." That was my little girl. Sometimes I saw things that were purely her mother's and sometimes I saw myself at that age. Her matter of fact tone? That was me.

I handed the phone to Nina.

"Hi, Sandy," Nina said.

"Hi," Sandy said. "Uh, what am I s'posed to call you? Like "Mom" or "Miss Nina" or what?"

"Call me just plain "Nina", Sandy. You have a mom already."

"Okay then, Nina. Do you work?"

"I don't have a job right now, Sandy. I start college in the fall. Why?"

Sandy was thinking. I could tell. "'Cuz dad'll have like a week of vacation and we can ALL do stuff, and then when he goes back to work, I can hang out with you. Can I?" Sandy paused. "That's if you don't have, like HORNS on your head or something..."

Nina's laughter tinkled. "I don't have horns, sweetie. And I'd love to hang out with you."

"'Kay," Sandy said. "It's nice meeting you. Can I talk to my dad now?"

"Sure, babe! We're gonna have a good time." Nina handed me the phone.

"She doesn't have horns, Sandy. Her species has the scales and forked tail."

"Da-aad! You were LISTENING!" She sounded exasperated as only a precocious ten-year old ("ALMOST eleven!") could sound.

"I was listening to the two women I love most in life. And yes, we will have at least a week of vacation time for all of us together, okay. Maybe two. And I've rented a beach house."

The squeal almost burst my eardrum. "The BEACH!?!?!? I LOVE the BEACH!"

"I know that, princess. That's why I rented it."

"Okay, Dad! I love you!" she squealed. "Did you get us a sailboat, too?"

"I love you too, baby," I said. "Yes, I got us a sailboat."

"Oh, good! I love sailboats. I can't WAIT!"

"Us neither, Sandy."

"Okay, Dad. Tell Nina bye," she said, then "Wait! Mom wants to say something."

Jennifer's voice. "Sounds like she's taking this better than..."

"Better than what?" I asked.

"Nothing," Jennifer said. "Nothing. I hope you and Nina are happy, and I'm happy that it sounds like Sandy is okay with it."

"Thank you," I said. "Nina?"

Nina smirked.

"Nina says, "Nice to meet you," and all that," I said. "Bye..."

"Bye, Dan." Click.

As I sat the phone down, Nina slid into my lap and put her arms around my neck. And smiled. "Well!" she said, "That went better than expected."

I said, "I'm a little surprised myself. She had her claws out when she called." I kissed Nina's nose. "But YOU..." I laughed. "When you said "respectful to my elders"? I thought I was going to die..."

Nina giggled. "Don't nobody mess with MY man, Dan. Nobody. Just because she's your ex doesn't mean I will put up with any crap." She paused. "Well, when it comes to Sandy..."

"Sandy's not going to be a problem?"

"I don't think so, Dan. Not from what you've told me, and how she sounds on the phone."

"Good, babe. She IS my daughter."

"I know, honey," Nina said. "And I know you want to do your best with her. And so do I. So we will." Then Nina wiggled. Her lip came out in a pout. "What kind of luck is it that I start my honeymoon while I'm having a period?"

"No luck at all..."

She laughed. "I know ... established principles and parameters at work..."

I kissed her long and hard, her form melting into my arms. She was completely nude except for panties. I didn't let them deter my hands for feeling her butt. Her teeth nibbled at my ear.

"I wish you were inside me, Dan," she whispered.

"Babe, I can be..."

"No," she said. "I know you told me that some women do that, but not me. Not on my period. Her eyes locked into my own. "A couple more days. We'll be in the cabin, and, mmmmmm, okay?"

"Okay," I said.

She raised up and resettled astraddle my lap. I lived and died in the beauty of her face, eyes twinkling, that smile, her arms encircling my neck, her small, firm breasts pressing against my hairy chest. Another wiggle and I was hard. Very hard. Obviously hard to a young girl wiggling her butt in my lap.

This was considered to be a very good thing and her hands were planted against my chest, pushing me backward. She was grinning, her pink tongue's tip protruding between her teeth as she slid down. "You don't think I'm gonna, like, let you build up all that pressure, do you?"

"I could, you know..." I was being truthful. I could. I wouldn't want to, but I could. And I'd have to paddle that cute butt for parading around almost naked in front of me every time we got in a private venue.

"Well, maybe I'll let you charge up the night before this stupid period is over," she said. She stripped my briefs off and her head bobbed down and I was in heaven as her mouth took me in.

"Oh, godddd, babe," I moaned. "I feel like I'm taking advantage of you..."