Chapter 32: Epilog and A House Full

The new house was finished so that we could move in just before Tara and Marie's little girls were born, so they came into the log house never having been in the old place.

Not that Heather or Rebecca would remember much of anything about the old place. Since it was the size it was, we leased it out to a troubled children group. There were plenty rooms, bathrooms and space to let kids be kids. The people they should have been able to trust the most had abused mostt of them, their parents.

It was a cause that is near and dear to my heart. A very belligerent, angry, violent, drunken mother raised me, so my "view" of women in the world was "perverted" by the one roll model I was supposed to be able to trust.

It took a lot of therapy to overcome much of that and I still don't give a rat's ass about my mother. She still abuses my father and I wish he'd just kick her ass and toss her out on the street where she belongs, but after 65 years, it ain't gonna happen.

Joining the Navy and becoming a SEAL was my escape. It was also training that saved my life. I also have ADHD and the training gave me a focus. I had something I could focus my anger on. Every time one of the instructors would get in my face for something, usually petty, I'd just say to myself, "Fuck you asshole. You're not going to make me quit!" It's ok though it was their job.

I didn't quit.

Now back to the new house.

It was everything we'd dreamed of. Big bedrooms, big bathrooms, the gym, the pool with the roll away roof, the numerous Jacuzzi's scattered around. I'd had one installed for every one of the "assigned rooms", plus there was a really large group tub. Wolfgang Puck would have had multiple orgasms over the kitchen. It was a dream come true.

The movers came in one day and packed everything, and loaded it on a HUGE truck. The next day it was in Willits being unloaded and unpacked by the same crew. It couldn't have gone more smoothly.

I gave Bob a call and let him know we were now in the neighborhood and invited him and the girls over for a BBQ. I'd told him previously about Tara's mentioning that if she could get him alone.

He had laughed telling me he didn't need to add anything to his list, but if the opportunity presented itself, who knows. Heather and Michelle were very accommodating, but he reminded me that his girls were all bi and three out of the four of them would entertain my girls, so it would be an interesting neighborhood.

Dee and Janell formed an instant friendship that ended up in one of the bedrooms or another, but with all the other commotion going on, nobody really missed them.

I was jealous. I still had my eye on Janell!

All in all it was a really great day. The girls brought over some acoustic instruments and after the food had had a chance to settle, we went out to the "amphitheater" and built a nice bonfire and everyone gathered around while the girls played, everyone sang. There were a few times when we all just stopped and listened to the girls. It's no wonder they were so popular, and absolutely fun to be around. Not a hair of pretension amongst any of them.

When the fire burned down, and eyelids began to droop we bid the neighbors good evening, and went to clean up the house.

One of the really nice things that happened that evening is when Bob and the girls got here, they noticed that both Tara and Marie were "ready do drop" as they called it, and Bob offered to fly them down to the hospital when the time came. That way we'd only have to drive a half a mile instead of thirty or forty. He said he'd had to do that a few times with his girls.

We had our bags ready because they were both due any time. When I talked to Bob about it, we decided that if one went into labor he'd fly them both so that if the other suddenly decided it was time, she'd already be there instead of trying to get him back up to fly the other one.

As it happened, it wasn't more than about a week later, I gave Bob a call about 2am to let him know that Tara was feeling the first twinges and since she was experienced I'd go with her assessment. He just said, pack 'em up and bring 'em over. One of the girls will meet you at the house and direct you to the helipad.

When we arrived, a sleepy Michelle hopped in next to Tara and pointed the way. Shit. I'd have never found it without a guide! Michelle said not to worry about the vehicle; she and Heather would drive it down later in the morning so we had transportation at the hospital. She said she knew right where it was.

With a chuckle she told them, "I've had two down there, so believe me I know how to find the hospital!"

We all laughed, and thanked her profusely while Bob helped the two pregnant ladies to their seats and made sure they were belted in and the doors latched properly. He shouted for me to get in the left seat up front, and he jumped into the right. We were airborne in a few minutes and he was calling ahead to let the hospital know we had two pregnant on board, one in labor, the other so close we didn't want to leave her without transportation. He let them know when he'd be arriving so they'd have the appropriate personnel to meet us at the pad. They all knew Bob.

The entire ordeal went very uneventfully with the exception that about noon that day Tara gave birth to Amanda Jayne, and just to keep things exciting Marie went into labor about an hour after Amanda was born and about 11:15pm Kylie Sue was born, so we had two little girls with different mom's born the same day.

That would make for some interesting explanations at some point in time. I phoned up to the house to let Dee and Lisa know what was happening, and early the next morning Michelle and Heather showed up with "the beast", as we called it. It was a large SUV, which we actually needed considering the size of our traveling brood these days.

Bob's girls stayed for about an hour before telling me that my girls needed some rest, and that they'd probably go home tomorrow. I nodded and thanked them for bringing the vehicle down for us.

They let me know that it was no problem. They were now going to go off and do some shopping as long as they were in town. Then just before they departed, each came to me, pulled my face to theirs, and gave me a very nice kiss. Heather's was a bit more shall I say, suggestive? I let them know I appreciated THAT also!

They giggled and out the door they went leaving me with my two new mamas.

Tara could have gone home today, but they figured that since they were together they'd discharge them together, so we only had to make one trip back up the hill.

An interesting trip it would be!

Whew! Two new babies, and two 18 month old kids, well Heather was 19 months, but we won't quibble over 25 days. Of course the entire contingent of moms doted over all the children. It was like they all had four mothers and one daddy. That doesn't include the kids and moms from next door that were a constant presence. Their youngsters were fascinated by our babies.

Ya think they may be confused when they're growing up. Dee said she'd already talked to Janell about how to deal with that issue since they were all in the same boat, and theirs were old enough to ask questions now.

Dee knew that she was on the clock. We'd decided again that if there were going to be another round, it would be when the two new babies were at least 6 months old. She didn't argue about it at all totally understanding the logic. She wanted at least one and maybe two more.

Even with all the others around, Dee and I were still madly in love and totally devoted to each other. Yes we messed with everyone else in our house, and sometimes the neighbors house, but that didn't take away from our devotion to each other. It did redefine the word a little, but it was nothing any of us were going to worry about.

We all had our things to do around the place. We had decided to raise our own livestock so we knew it would be healthy, grass fed and drug free.

We also organically grew pretty much all of our produce as well. Over on the side closest to Bob's place I built two monster greenhouses so that we could grow some veggies, like tomatos, all year round. Yeah, yeah, I know. Tomatos are a fruit! So sue me!

We offered Bob and the girls greenhouse space, and since they didn't have time for livestock we agreed to raise enough for them as well. It wasn't that big a deal, and an extra couple head a year, and an extra few hundred chickens. Bob and I together had about 400 acres of "pasture" land amongst the redwood trees, so we planted different grasses for the livestock to graze on. All organic!

We tried pigs for our own pork, but after 2 years we all decided – disgusting! We'll purchase our pork from one of the organic farms on the other side of the valley. Essentially what they did was take over our pig brood and raised our pork for us. We provided them with some of their food because we had no use for it and it was better fed to the pigs than turned into the ground for fertilizer; we had plenty of that already. It all worked out very well. We even traded a steer and a bunch of fresh chicken for seven or eight dressed hogs.

Dee got her barnyard chickens. They were slightly different than those at Pollo de Oro, but they grazed on different grasses and bugs here. They were still incredibly delicious and everyone got a taste for the "real deal".