Chapter 36

Okay, so Terri managed to completely melt our Tennessee gang at the restaurant. That's a good thing. My daughter's got a quick mind. She can be completely disarming. I know she's wrapped me around her finger a time or two. However, at Christmas time, she met her match with Tina and the two of them just sort of merged together. I think that Terri saw Tina as somebody old enough to be 'grownup' but still young enough to be fun. That was one thing. The other was that she saw Tina as somebody to emulate; a female who was assured of her station in life and who loved me as much as Terri does.

Driving back to the trailer the three of us talked.

"Sweetie," Tina told her, 'we're gonna have to put up with the trailer for a few days until we can trade places with Jason, okay? It's gonna be tight, but we can do it. We just need to work with each other."

"I can do that," Terri said. "Uh..."

"Question, Princess?" I asked.

"Yessir. I know that you just have the one bed. I can stay on the sofa. But tonight..."

Tina tapped my arm. "Tonight, if you want to, you can sleep in the big bed with me and your daddy."

Happy squeal. "Thank you, Tina. Dad, I know ... adults..."

"It's not a problem every now and then, sweetness," I said. "But it's not a king bed like at home. It's a queen, and three of us is gonna be crowded. But for every now and then, it'll work."

"Good," Tina said. "It's okay for Terri to miss her daddy."

That statement got Tina a trophy-grade little girl hug. "Thank you, Tina. I love you, you know. You're not one of those bad step-moms."

"What do you know about bad step-moms?" I asked.

"Daa-aad, I pay attention. Lots of kids have step-moms at school. And some of them are NOT happy. I tried telling them about how things worked between me and MY step-mom and they think I'm lucky. But one of 'em said that it was one thing when he just visited an' another when he moved in."

Tina looked at the little blonde girl sitting beside her. "Terri, he's right, you know..."

Terri's face fell.

"It's gonna be a whole lot BETTER!" Tina giggled at Terri's expression as it went dark and then lit back up. "You need to realize something. That blonde girl, Susan, that we ate with?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's ONE of MY sisters. And we have TWO more. We'll meet 'em tomorrow on the computer."

"Uh, Cindy and Nikki, right?" Terri said.

"Yep! And sometime this summer, we're all going to move into an apartment building in Alabama. Everybody gets their own apartments, and you and I can decorate your room."

"And the rest of the house, right?" Terri added.

"I'm lost," I said. "Two of you."

"You've been lost since you stopped for breakfast, guy," my Tina said.

Terri bent forward to see me. She was smiling.

We pulled up alongside our trailer and went inside.

I sat Terri down. "A few things we need to discuss, kiddo," I said.

Those blue eyes stared at me in a precocious 'go ahead, Dad' expression.

"We have a whole five gallon water heater. It's not enough for three people to take a shower, one right after another, unless somebody likes cold showers. And we only have the one little bathroom for the three of us, so when you go to the bathroom, don't dawdle."

"I understand, Daddy," she said. "I think we can make it until the weekend okay. I'll try."

"Okay then. I'll let Tina show you how things work in the bathroom. And you can shower first."

Tina took care of that task, carefully warning Terri about the hot water situation again. She showered after Terri and the two of them were drying hair. I gave the water heater time to recover before I took my turn.

When I got out, the two of them were on the sofa. "The tea's steeping on the counter, baby," Tina said.

Very pleasant, sitting there in the evening with the TV on, sipping tea with the two females I loved most in life.

"Daddy," Terri said, "Is it okay if Tina an' Susan take me to get my hair cut tomorrow after school? I want it like Tina's."

"Makes sense, babe," Tina said to me. "Easier to care for. And she'll be a cutie, still."

I thought about that. Yep! Tina was right. Terri's flowing blonde tresses were beautiful when they were carefully brushed out, but they were attached to a seven year old who didn't know the meaning of 'slow down' most of the time, and I knew what it was like fighting to brush out the tangles. "I'll leave hair styles to you two and Susan." Nine-thirty was bed-time. There was a twinge of regret in my mind (and elsewhere) as I remembered that tonight's sleep would not be eased along by shared orgasms.

I got the middle. Tina on my left, Terri on my right, a little nightlight at the far end of the trailer providing a dim glow, and Tina punched up a playlist that we both liked. Terri recognized it.

"Still listening to good stuff, huh, Daddy?"

"Yes, baby," I said. "Calms your mind so you sleep good."

"It sounds relaxing," Terri affirmed. "I like it. Just like at Christmas."

"That's right. We did this at Christmas."

"She doesn't forget anything, baby," Tina said softly. "Lay down so we can snuggle."

I did. Got rewarded by daughter formed against me on one side, wife on the other, and a sweet kiss from each, a peck from daughter, a little softer, lingering brush of loving lips from wife.

And sleep. The alarm came on with Tina's choice of a wake-up song, a Mozart concerto that started out a bit light and soft and quiet, then crescendoed into full orchestra. Tina rolled over and silenced it, then kissed me. Nine months of kissing Tina first thing in the morning, that's a good thing. My second kiss went directly on the nose of the sleepy-eyed little girl child on the other side of me.

"Let's get up and get dressed. We'll go out for breakfast when everyone's ready," I said. "We have things to do."

Tina was already in the bathroom washing her face and brushing her teeth. She moved aside to accommodate Terri. I took advantage of the private moment to slide into today's trousers and waited my turn. With some small amount of giggling, Terri exited with Tina close behind.

"He'll take a few minutes in the bathroom. We can get dressed with a little privacy," Tina told Terri.

I finished my morning routine and exited to see Terri fully dressed except for shoes, and Tina was brushing out Terri's hair. Tina had her jeans on and the blouse for the day was on over her bra, but the shirt was unbuttoned.

Terri pointed to her hair as Tina brushed. "See Dad? That's why I wanna cut it."

Tina smiled over the top of Terri's head. I pulled my shirt on over my head, tucked it, and fastened my belt, then sat to put on socks and shoes. Terri was sliding into her sneakers. "Here, let me tie those," I offered.

"Daddy, I can tie my shoes, you know."

"Oh," I said, "I thought I was going to do my daughter a favor."

"Sorry," she chirped. "I thought you thought that I couldn't tie my own shoes." She smiled sweetly. Okay, if there was guile, she hid it well. I looked past her and saw Tina's amused smile.

"It's gonna take us all a while to get used to each other. Be happy."

Terri swung her head around to look at Tina. "I am happy. I mean, I worry about Momma, but I'm very happy to be here. You know what I mean."

I arched an eyebrow.

Tina revealed the missing element. "I know, baby. You wanted to come with us after Christmas, but we just can't do that without your mom's okay. Or it's a big mess and a lot of people get their feelings hurt and costs a lot of money. You and I talked about that. This changes things, though."

"I really wanted to be with you an' Dad," she said. She emphasized that statement by hugging Tina.

I looked at the two of them, my wife, the love of my life, and my daughter, the love of my life, one tall and auburn-haired, the other much shorter, and the perfect little blue-eyed blonde. Tina's expression showed no bit of trepidation over her new role.

I stood and we put the trailer into 'sleep' mode for the day and then we all trooped outside. I offered Terri a seat beside me in my truck for the short drive to the restaurant for breakfast. Tina was driving her own car because she had to go to school after breakfast.

"No, Daddy," Terri said. "I'll be with you all day. Let me ride with Tina, okay?"

"Hop in, baby," Tina said. "You're right. You'll be with your dad today."

I just chuckled to myself and got in the truck. After all, I wanted them to bond. As I followed them out of the park, I could see animated head-bobbing. Bonding? Not going to be a problem. I saw Terri with Tina's cellphone. When I pulled into the restaurant parking lot, I saw Jason's truck and Susan's little car there too. This wasn't bonding, this was immersion.

Breakfast was happy. Jason and I did a sidebar conversation about the work he could take care of while I played 'responsible parent' and tried to get Terri into school for the remaining three weeks. Tina and Susan talked with Terri about getting her hair cut. I looked at the two models. I adored Tina's pageboy and bangs, but Susan's shoulder-length blonde wasn't bad, either. Terri's hair was down almost to her waist, beautiful when brushed out, but I knew it was not the best choice for a girl as active as Terri was.

"We'll take Terri to Susan's hairdresser after school, Alan," Tina said. Terri smiled.

After breakfast, I took Terri an a little ride around the area while we waited for the school board offices to open. I figured I'd give them a half an hour after opening time before I showed up with Terri. I showed her my worksite. I showed her Tina's high school. We went downtown and she saw the middle of small-town America.

A bit after eight, and a lot earlier than I really expected, my cellphone rang. I answered it.

"Alan Addison, this is Dan Jenkins. What're you tryin' to do to me this time?" His voice has laughter in it. He'd followed the track of Tina just a bit since we sat in his office and he knew where she fit in the grand scheme.

"My seven-year-old, second grade daughter is with us. I know it's close to the end of the year, but what can we do about her finishing out second grade?"

"Bring 'er in," he said. "I'm sure we can fix 'er up."

"I'm about half an hour out," I said. "We'll be there."

Terri, naturally, was following the conversation closely. I glanced sideways. She was smiling. "My teachers say I'm not really second grade, you know."

"I know, sweetie," I said. "But you gotta remember, we're just showing up here three weeks before the end of school. I imagine they'll call your old school and get your records and see what they can do."

"I guess so," she sighed. "It's just that ever' year (coming from a kid who'd had a kindergarten year and a first grade and a second grade) I start out with all the kids and then I can do things and I'm sittin' there waitin' for the teacher to TEACH me new things an' she's still tryin' to teach the other kids what I can already do. Like readin'. 'See Spot run'? Come on, Dad!"

I parsed this as I drove. It's difficult to get a really good assessment of a child's intelligence when you're restricted to phone calls and a couple of weeks in the summer and around holidays. But I had an answer.

"Baby doll," I said, "I'm glad you're smart..."

She didn't let me finish. "My second grade teacher, Mizz Melcashian, she says she thinks I'm smarter than a lot of kids. But Mom an' Mister Martin, they don't pay attention to that stuff."

"We'll pay attention, baby. I didn't know how smart Tina was, either, but when we found out, we started making a way for her to do what she wanted with it."

"I know Tina's smart. We talk."

"I hear you talk. And I hear Tina's side when you and she talk. I think I know a little bit of what goes on. Tina's not going to treat you like you don't exist."

Smile. "She said she always wanted a little sister. Or a daughter." Giggle. "Whatever I am to 'er. Mom says Tina's too young to be my step-mom."

"'Step-mom' is a matter of definition," I said.

"I understand that. And I'll be a good daughter to her. Promise."

"If you do that," I said, "then Tina's going to be very happy with you. She already is."

"Really? 'Cuz when I talked to Mom abut this stuff, like Christmas vacation, Mom says I'm really in the way of you an' Tina."