Chapter 14

I was sitting on the patio with Steve and Chuck, drinking some clear liquid that sent a warm feeling down to my tummy, when women I knew began showing up. First was Niki, who gave me a hug and whispered, "Tonight's Mom's night with you. Make her crazy."

That would make anyone blush, but the tiny girl gave me a sweet kiss and passed a hand over my zipper. Next was the tease, Grenaline. She came up to me and hefted her breasts as if offering them to me, and asked, "Do you like these, big boy? If you're good, you might get to check them out one of these days."

Donna, Janet's daughter, came by, gave me a chaste kiss, and whispered, "You did a good job on Mom last night. She was really tough to wake up this morning. Good job, Sal."

I thought all the kids who were going to say hi had checked in, until the twin turbines hit me at full stride. Joanie breathlessly told me, "Sal, we heard you are a good swimmer. Will you teach us how to swim? We want you to show us how to do the breaststroke. You know how to do that? You have to hold us by our breasts to show us how to do that, right?"

Janice was standing off to the side and leaned over to whisper in my ear, "You don't have to pretend with me, just show me your breaststroke, or should that be "best" stroke?"

The mothers began showing up as they each came onto the patio, found me, and gave me a sweet kiss. I filled each of their drink orders, along with soft drinks for the kids. Rita was the last to show up, so when I had them all together, I told them, "I need to talk with all of you for a few minutes tonight. It's something that's important to me, and it will affect the dynamics of our group."

That got their attention, and they all exchanged looks that said, "Now what?"

Tonight's supper was fried chicken with all of the usual trimmings. When all of the dishes were cleaned off, and all of the tables washed and being used for games and conversations, I waved at the five ladies who were sitting together, and asked, "How about coming over to the far table on the other side of the bar. I really want to talk to you about something that only concerns us."

They were all a little apprehensive about what I wanted to talk to them about. Each one came by me, rubbed on me, smiled, and kissed me on the cheek before finding a place to sit.

This was something that I marveled at. The women always arranged themselves in this or a very similar manner or order. First from left to right was Rita, followed by Jenny, Suki, Marilyn, and Janet, who was almost always last or on the far right.

Looking at all of the ladies had my manhood interest up a great deal, but I stayed on the topic that I asked to speak about with them.

"Ladies, you are all a wonderful mystery to me, as well as wonderful, loving, women who enjoy my company."

Almost so quiet that most didn't hear, Janet said, "I enjoyed his company so much last night that I'm out of business for at least a couple of days."

With some twittering around the table, I began again. "I want something that you ladies may be unable to, or maybe would not want to give me."

I paused a long time, looking at the five mature women, before stating, "I want to be a dad."

I paused a long time again, waiting for a response, waiting for at least one or two of them to make some exclamation of why she couldn't do that. It didn't happen, all five continued to stare at me as if they were saying, "So, who gets the first one?"

"Did you hear what I asked? I want to be a dad. I want to have babies. I want the fun of playing with and raising a little critter of my own to be a good citizen."

I sat back and looked at the blank smiling faces of the five women.

Jenny was the first to respond, "Most of us are on the edge of time when we shouldn't be having any more kids. But, Sal, I'll do everything I can to give you a baby. I can't guarantee whether it's a boy or a girl, but it will be a beautiful baby, just like my other two."

That brought Marilyn out, "I think I'm the youngest of us, except for Rita, but I'll lovingly have your baby, Sal. You are such a wonderful loving person and have accepted us as real people and not the weirdoes that we are. Let me get ready for you and fuck me pregnant, Sal. Let me have your baby."

Suki smiled at me, "I want to have your baby; I've already told you that. Let me give us a baby to raise, Sal. I really have fallen for you in just the short time we've known each other. Let me."

Janet was grinning, "I may have all of you ladies beat. I'm close to the youngest, as I had Donna when I was fifteen. I can have at least a couple of more kids before I have to stop doing that. You know that I'm not on anything, so I may have already trumped all of you."

So now someone is trumping the others as to who gets pregnant first.

I told them, "You know that I'm not trying to have a contest here. I was only telling all of you that I wanted to have a baby to help grow up. I want to be a dad. If Janet is pregnant, that is wonderful, but I might want more than one baby. Talk to me, Ladies, tell me if what I want is realistic, and if not, tell me what I can expect."

All five of them looked up at me and had the look of "pick me, pick me." I was looking at each of them when Rita came to me and hugged me. She softly said in my ear, "Not to worry, Lover, I already have our baby in my belly. We did the deed in Panama City Beach."

I pulled back and looked at Rita, "I thought you said we were fine?"

Rita winked at me, "Did you think I would tell you the truth? I wanted your loving, and I already knew you were someone special. Janice and Joanie are going to be so happy."

Well, that took care of that.

"Ladies, you have once again given me a heart full of love for all of you. All of you have become a part of me, and I want all of you to remain important to me. I would love to have a place like Chuck so I have plenty of room for all of us and our children. What you have given me this evening is extra special."

Rita kissed me and directed, "Go have a drink, talk to the guys. We girls have some things to talk about without you. You'll know later."

The other four nodded in agreement with Rita.

I really didn't mean to introduce a subject that could be divisive among the five friends. I had thought that they might help me find someone to marry who was in the market for a husband and wanted to start a family. All of these women were mothers already. All of them had older kids, some even in college. The youngest were Rita's twins. Janet suggested that she might be the youngest, but her daughter, Donna, was nineteen and in college. Even if she had her baby at fifteen, she would be at least thirty-four. I had always thought thirty-five was the close to the cutoff point.

This wasn't going the way I thought it would in an intelligent discussion, so I went back to the group. "Spread out, Ladies; there's still more to talk about. I have some concerns that we need to talk about."

They all looked at me strangely, but gave me room to pull another chair up to the round table. "Before we go off half-cocked and all of you want to get pregnant, I think we need to establish some things for your health and the health of a potential baby."

All five women looked at me, giving me a look of agreement so I could continue. "I'm not that knowledgeable, but I've heard it can be dangerous for women in their mid-thirties and older to have babies. I also have read and heard that the incidence of birth defects goes up the older the mother is. I care for all of you more than is reasonable, considering the short time we've been together, and don't want you to harm yourself or to maybe have a baby that could possibly have a problem."

Rita was the first to speak, "You have a couple of good points, Sal, but I think it's too late in my case. Let us all tell you a little of our pasts to help you understand us a little better." Rita looked at the other women and announced, "I'll go first."

"We talked a little up in Panama City, so some of this isn't new. I told you I was twenty-eight and popped the twins at fifteen. My folks were strict about me finishing high school, and while they were supporting us and taking care of the kids, I went to college with my new husband who was a jerk from the first year on, and got worse when he graduated. He didn't like living with my folks, but agreed to stay there while I finished my accounting degree.

"When I graduated, we moved to an apartment where he became his true self; loud, abusive, mean, and always out chasing other women. I was terrified that he would bring something home from some of his bar girls and really tried to make him use a condom every time we did anything. I just couldn't take the chance. The man has a golden tongue and can sell anything to anyone. His folks had money and he was making a lot by his own efforts. When he came home drunk one night and insisted on fucking my ass and kept beating on me, I decided right then and there that it was enough.

"I moved back home with my now six year old twins and found a woman who turned out to be the best female lawyer around. Sarah Perkins hardly charged me anything, since she was happy to rid me of my problem and take him to the cleaners.

"I've been living happily without the kids' dad, and like I told you, he tried to molest them and they made sure that people noticed. That upped the child support and will keep him away from the girls until they are eighteen.

"S&S was my first job opportunity, and I can tell you it has become the best job anyone could have had. Whereas my ex used to accuse me of sleeping with the men here, I was treated with respect and not really hit on because I was married. When I got rid of him, I began meeting other women in the same situation I was in, and that's how I became part of this group."

Jenny was sitting next to Rita and elbowed her, "Always showing off how young you are. Sal, I'm only thirty-four, and had Jack at fifteen, and Grenaline at sixteen. We were both military brats, and my husband went into the Army as soon as he was eighteen. We thought it would be a good thing for both of us, as I would have base medical care and be able to buy food at the reduced prices at the base commissary. The problem was that our money just didn't stretch enough with two kids.

"Both of our folks helped us, as our dads were still in the Air Force. My folks were Canadian, and when Dad retired, they moved back to Manitoba. They all helped me take care of the kids while I finished high school, and when I later took classes at a junior college. My Jack was unlucky, as he was killed in a fire fight just outside his base on his second deployment. I was now a single mom with two kids to raise. The feds give widows some money to help us along, but I still needed to work.

"I was living out here when I applied for a job at Quality Wear. It turned out to be a job for both Quality Wear and S&S. Sue is a real hands-on owner manager. She worked with me to learn how to set up travel arrangements and to get the best deals on hotels and airlines. In just a year, Sue and Steve relied on me to set up travel for all of the people moving around the world for the companies. When someone is going somewhere, they call me and I set them up. Just like you, Sal, I was able to set you up at the neat casino hotel on the way, and you found Rita in Panama City.

"So you know, I would love to have your baby, but I don't think I can. I've had to have a couple of procedures done that might have made me unable to conceive. I like to practice though."

Suki looked up at me, "My story is a little different. Niki's father was a Japanese American worker in Manila, Philippines. He bought me from my father, who was a mixed Japanese and Philippino, when I was only thirteen. Our family was dirt poor, and it was customary to sell a daughter when times were tough. Since I was thirteen and old enough to sell, my dad sold me. The man who bought me treated me like gold and didn't force me to do anything. I fell in love with him and we married. When he came back to the states he brought me and the baby in my tummy with him.

"Sato, my husband, was a very intelligent man and spent hours and hours teaching me to speak, read, and write English. I was not very smart because I only had five years of school, but Sato taught me well. Well enough for me to pass a high school equivalency test.

"Our life was good, and he allowed me to begin taking classes at a junior college to become a nurse. Sato made a good salary, but he recognized that I felt as if I should contribute. By the time Niki was seven, I had passed the Florida state nursing board exams and became a registered nurse. Sato and I were thinking about another child when he drowned while out fishing. No one really knows how he drowned, but he had gone fishing by himself as he often did, and he apparently fell and hit his head before falling into the water. I lost a good husband and father. I later found out from some of his co-workers, that he and the other men used to buy a couple of prostitutes for an evening and play all night. I had thought he was out fishing then too. I've already told you how I made sure I had not caught anything from his carousing. So you see, I am only twenty-nine, just about to be thirty, and young enough to have your baby."

Marilyn and Janet looked at each other. Janet pushed at Marilyn who said, "I guess I'm next. My story isn't as interesting as the others, and yes, I'm past that magic baby making age of thirty-five by two years, but I'd love to give it a shot.

"I met my ex-husband in law school where we were both at about the same level. I was deep into business law, and he was into ambulance chasing, divorce, and criminal law. That stuff didn't interest me at all. I've handled a couple of minor legal settlements, but I refer divorces out to Sarah, and know decent attorneys to contact if someone comes to me for a criminal case. Working here for S&S and Quality Wear, I don't have to worry about a lot of things other attorneys consider bothersome. I have no costs for offices, secretarial support, and all the research assistance I need.

"Garth came along while I was still in school, and I almost had him when I took the bar. My husband couldn't believe that I not only passed the bar on my first try, I did it while having contractions the whole time. Garth was born two hours after I finished the exam. Hubby took a couple of tries before he passed the bar exam.

"Luckily, I found a job with a company that was doing a lot of patents and needed someone to research and file the appropriate documents. S&S was submitting ten to fifteen patents a month, and over time; Quality Wear and S&S LSA are now filing that many as well. These people are very innovative.