Chapter 17

Kimmy's turn:

Of course you realize that life has some imperfect moments. That's one of the downsides of having a man who's got a 'history'. My Tim's been married before.

Ex-wife. Eight year old daughter. Both in California. It's so cliché, I know...

And in the middle of the week, us, marriage license in hand, looking at the weekend: I just get home after school and I get a phone call. I don't immediately recognize the number on the display, so I answer, "Tim Duncan's home. This is Kimberly."

"Oh. It's YOU." Unhappy female voice that I recognized. The ex.

"Yes ma'am," I said. "Hi, Mizz Karen."

"Hello, Kimberly. I suppose your marriage is still supposed to happen this weekend?"

Naturally we'd told Tim's daughter Vicki (short for her proper name, 'Victoria', from the ex's grandmother) about the marriage and that we expected to have her staying with us for the Christmas holidays.

Vicki and I didn't exactly hit it off like long-lost relatives at first, but since the first telephone meeting, we'd talked a few times and we're at least civil to one another. It's difficult to parse, though. On one hand, an eight year old girl in California, on the other hand this poor sixteen year old child in Louisiana who's marrying her dad.

The ex, on the other hand, sees sixteen year old me as a fine chance to dive into every flaw that she ever imagined with Tim, as in "the reason he never rocked my boat was that I wasn't sixteen. I see that now."

"Mizz Karen," I had said, "I don't want to go into the problems between you and Tim. That was way before he and I met."

"Well, just saying," she said. I asked Tim in my most serious way if what she said was correct, I mean that 'sixteen' thing.

"Nope. You being sixteen is a hurdle I had to get over. Seriously, I would have never pursued somebody as young as you. We just sort of met and matched."

"Me, too. I mean, you're so OLD!" And that went into giggles and then the next step was evidenced by a string of clothes from the living room to the bed...

Back to today's conversation. "Yes, ma'am. Saturday. I wish Vicki could be here. Really." Inside, I did, sort of ... But her mom assured us that it was impossible because they have a big week planned while Vicki was out of school.

That's why I was surprised when Karen said, "Looks like you're gonna get your wish."

"What? Wait, I thought you said..."

"Johnny's mom is sick in Colorado. He needs to be there. I need to go with him. Our vacation's off, so..."

Okay, my mind went through a fast file check routine. I looked at the 'short honeymoon' tree. I looked at the 'family Thanksgiving' hierarchy. "Have you talked to Tim?" I knew the answer was 'no' because he'd've called me immediately for this sort of news.

"No, I know he's at work. I thought I'd talk to you. I mean, getting married, honeymoon..."

"We weren't planning on a big deal. We're having Thanksgiving dinner at his folks' and we weren't going to miss that," I said. "We thought we'd do a special trip when I'm out of school later. Or something. Definitely something."

"Look, Kim," she said. "I know what this looks like, but I really am NOT trying to toss a wrench in your plans. I'm in a bind. I don't have anybody around here that I'd trust with my daughter. I can't just send her home. My mom has issues. I don't know if Tim's told you about them, but one of the reasons I married so fast was to escape home. I don't mind going there to visit, but I don't want to leave Vicki with her. Just wouldn't work, right from the part where she has to drive to the airport to pick her granddaughter up. Mom's license is suspended."

"You don't have to explain, Mizz Karen. I know all the 'crappy mom' stories, maybe slightly different versions, but trust me, you don't have to explain."

She sounded almost tearful and none of my 'you're being played' alarms were going off. "So you'd be okay with it?"

"Sure I would. I love Tim. I will love his daughter."

"Do you want to break the news to him? He might be more understanding..."

"I'll call 'im. It will be no more curious than anything that's happened in our lives lately."

"Look, Kim," Karen told me, "I asked around. About you, you know. A lot of people knew about your mom. Some of them know about you in school and they say you're a good kid. People I trust tell me that. Be good to my daughter, okay?"

"I'll love her like my own."

"You sound serious."

"I am. People don't deserve to be used as pawns in somebody else's game. They don't deserve to be cast aside because Momma's got a new hottie. I know how that feels. I won't dish it out. Ever."

"I almost resemble some of that..." she sighed.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't aiming at you. I was remembering my own dear mother. You and Tim? That's history. Me and Tim? That's happening, and we'll be perfectly happy to figure out a way to make Vicki part of it. Family. We'll do it as good as we can. And that includes Vicki's mom." I was a gutsy little thing. There's the outside chance that Tim would come completely unglued over it, but I don't think that's the Tim I know. He's going to be more worried about me and about Vicki than he is about some honeymoon thing.

Besides, we've pretty much 'honeymooned' ourselves to death ever since I moved in, so that wasn't the thinking for me.

"Can we arrange for her to be picked up at the airport tomorrow? I'll put her on an early flight. Or should I wait until you talked to Tim?"

"There's one chance in a million that Tim will not be happy, but Vicki WILL get picked up tomorrow and brought into a happy home."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Mizz Karen. I'm sure."

"Thank you, Kim. As a mother, I thank you."

"Oh,, you're welcome. Don't sound so serious. You have a lot on your plate. Do what you need to do. We'll take care of Vicki."

"Thank you," Mizz Karen said. And the phone clicked.

I sat it in my lap for a minute, letting another series of programs run. Me and Tim. Couple. Real love. Two people. Big enough for a connected third whose presence will certainly dampen that enthusiastic coupling we've enjoyed. Is there more to us than wild, unbridled sex? I thought. Books. Reading. Music. Kayaks. Bikes. Yes, there is.

I put the phone to my lips and said 'Tim. Cell.'

During work hours, his cellphone is for emergencies only. On the third ring he answered, "What's wrong, baby?"

"Karen called. Vicki will be at the airport tomorrow. Her new mother-in-law's in a bad way and her and new hubby are going to be in Colorado."

"And you decided..."

"I like to think that Tim would have decided..."

"And Tim would've worried himself sick over how it would affect his delicate little flower of a fiancée, too."

"Then I did right, huh? If you can put up with my weird aunt and her mate, then I can put up with your waif of a daughter. And you love my aunt, so I will love your daughter."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Of course I'm sure. It's the perfect way for me to get the little sister I missed when Mom burned her uterus out."

"Tightrope," he said. "Sister. Friend. Mom. Are you sure?"

"AM I sure about my Timmy?"

"Okay, then. I'll talk to you more after work. See you in an hour or so."

Next phone call. Aunt Jenn, whose initial response was "Are you crazy?" which, with conversation, morphed into "We're here to help, you know."

"I may need some."

"We'll see if your daughter takes to her two new aunts." Aunt Jenn read my voice. "Oh, yeah, like we don't know how to act in public. I promise I won't fondle Laci when the munchkin is around."

"I didn't say that."

"Dear niece, you have a million things to worry about right now. Laci and I won't be one of 'em. Help. Really."

"Thank you, Aunt Jenn."

"Seeing you happy, that's a lot of thanks. Seeing you held hostage by an eight year old, that's even MORE thanks. Besides, your mom wouldn't bring you around me when you were eight."

"I know."

Aunt Jenn laughed. "Me bein' a big ol' bull dyke an' all. Didn't want my lifestyle corrupting her little snowflake."

"Yeah, like that parade of losers she brought home was rife with positive role models."

"Make sure you tell Tim that we want to help. You gotta be thinking that he's a wreck over this. Probably worrying about YOU."

I parsed that. "You're probably right. He probably thinks that this is rain on our parade."

"You need to work to make sure he gets through this, for the sake of the two of you."

"The three of us," I retorted.

"Good girl!" Aunt Jenn returned. "You'll do okay. Bye, baby!"

"Bye, Aunt Jenn. Thanks for being here for me."

I knew that Tim would soon be getting off work and I'd be getting my phone call, so I put away the previous night's dishwasher load while I waited. As I expected, my phone jittered on the counter, the ring tone a happy little tune that identified it as my honey.

"Hey, babe," I said.

"Good! I'm still 'babe'," he replied. "I was worried."

"Don't worry. You've got me."

Now I originally entertained the idea that Tim would be on the phone with his ex as soon as he got on the road, but then I started thinking. This is MY Tim. Nine chances out of ten that he'd want to be sitting beside me while he made that call. I kept piddling round waiting for him to get home.

I caught him before he closed the door behind him. I seriously love the man and I seriously needed to kiss him.

"You still want me?" he sighed after our lips parted.

"Only until the sun is a black, tiny cinder in a dying universe. Did you call our ex?"

He chuckled. "So now it's 'our' ex. Interesting."

"I thought you understood that when I bought you, that included all baggage."

"Emphasis on the 'bag'," he said.