Chapter 15

There was a look of shock and horror on the poor girl's face. She feared this was a cruel joke being played on a poor, unsuspecting, lonely woman. I felt Jackie slip something into my free hand. It was a ring. She must have retrieved it from one of the steamer trunks from the attic. I slipped the ring, a diamond of about three carats, on the fourth finger of her left hand. She just gawked at it.

Mom had moved over to the couch, and she gently and lovingly nudged the poor woman.

"Oh, oh! Why, yes, I will. I will marry you."

She threw her arms around me, smashing her large chest against my face. She almost smothered me, but oh, what a way to go!

"Before you really say yes, you need to know a couple of things that I hope won't change your mind in any way," Mom said, "You see, there is a secret that goes with this. Jackie is already married to Eugene. She isn't his sister, but rather his first wife."

Tara thought for only a moment, and then hugged Jackie and kissed her.

"That's okay by me. Jackie is a swell kisser anyway, and we had a lot of fun last night as well."

There's more," Mom said, and Tara expectantly waited. "Although it's not legal, as in with a license and all, I am also married to Jackie and Eugene. I love him every bit as much as you do, maybe even more."

Tara just slid up against Mom, brought her hand up to Mom's face and turned her head so that their lips could meet. The kiss showed passion and promise. They didn't hold it for very long, though.

"I don't care if you are married to another woman," Tara said, "You're more than capable of satisfying all of us, Eugene. I still want to marry you."

I looked at Mom. She knew what I was thinking and she nodded her head.

Then she had a thought and said, "Why don't you go get them. It would be easier."

Mom was right, once more. I excused myself and told Tara I would be back in a few minutes. I quickly got dressed in my respectable 1870s garb, and activated the watch. I instantly was at the Waco house. Everyone was at the breakfast table. My six children were almost finished eating, and I soundly kissed each one of my wives. I told them I was getting engaged to another woman in my original timeline, and they were excited for me. I asked them to go with me uptime, and they got all excited. They agreed to go with me.

You would have thought they were going across country, with all the preparations they made. They each packed a bag and each baby had what they called a 'possibles' bag. It contained everything that would be needed if something possibly went wrong during our trek. It surprisingly only took about three hours to get ready. Everyone had a bag and a baby, including me. We crowded together, shoulders touching. I activated the watch and we were standing in the kitchen.

"Come on," I said, "I have someone I want you to meet."

I led them to where Jackie and Mom were waiting, with Tara.

"WHO?" Tara exclaimed. "Where ... Shit!"

I had been carrying Eugene II, but I handed him off to Mom when Tara pulled her fainting trick. I easily caught Tara and picked her up. I carried her upstairs as Jackie hurried to the bathroom to wet a washcloth. I had a full parade of followers. I gently laid her on the bed and joined her. The room was full of concerned attendants. Jackie handed the cloth off to me and I started applying it to her face. She came back to us.

I explained to her that these were the rest of my wives and that the children were my children. Tara began to cry. She sobbed and her body shuddered with it. Mom sat on the bed next to her and spoke with the voice of reason.

"It's okay, Baby. Eugene still loves you. It's just that he has a huge heart, and there's room enough for him to love everyone here. He will still take time with you and make you feel special in your own way."

"But, but how?" Tara was confused. "Where did they come from? And why are they wearing those old timey clothes?"

Ever the sharp one, Tara had noticed that the newcomers were all wearing long dresses of the type a ranch owner's wife would have worn in Texas in the 1870s. They were clean and neat, and not too overly frilly. Their complexions were clear and they all had a look of concern for Tara. Clementine, the self-acclaimed leader of the 'Waco Wives', moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hello, Tara," she began, "I want to welcome you to our family. I know it's hard to believe and may be harder to accept, but we, Ginny, Becca, Rebecca, Susannah, and myself, Clementine, represent part of Eugene's unusual family. We all live together in a large ranch house on a nice spread, where we raise cattle and children."

She laughed at herself and several of the other women giggled. Each wife introduced herself again, in turn, so Tara could begin to learn who was whom. They also introduced their children. Mom could see that Tara was getting a bit overwhelmed, and suggested the group adjourn to the study with the children. Only Mom and I remained with Tara once the room was cleared.

"There is one other thing that you are going to think of as unbelievable," Mom began, "I need you to keep an open mind about this, though. What we're going to tell you now is the absolute truth. We will prove it to you in a way that you won't believe, either. It will seem like something out of the movies or a novel."

This had perked Tara up. She was curious about it now. She sat up a little, snuggling into me. Mom knew the natural curiosity Tara exhibited would be an advantage for us. She moved in close on Tara's other side. Tara remembered the activities we'd done the night before and she gave a little shiver of remembered excitement. This too would be an advantage.

"Tara, Darling, we have a secret that can never be exposed. To do so would endanger the lives of everyone in this house. That includes even the little babies. So you understand that this secret can never be told, don't you?"

Tara solemnly nodded her head. The look on her face confirmed the fact she understood the enormity of the danger. Mom continued as I pulled Tara close and began to play with her voluptuous body. It kept her busy and the distraction helped with what came next.

"The family members you just met," Mom said, "Live in Waco, Texas. Eugene was just there to get them so they could meet you. You see, Eugene has a device that's almost magical. It can allow him to travel great distances, in the blink of an eye."

If I hadn't been distracting her, Tara would have contradicted that notion. However she accepted it without question with my ministrations.

Mom continued, "The most amazing thing about it is the fact that Eugene, and anyone with him, can transport through time as well."

Despite my distracting her, Tara objected.

"You can't travel through time! No one can. Einstein proved you couldn't. No, I don't believe it!" she was almost in tears.

"Tara, my darling, it's an easy thing to prove to you. I will take you through time to anywhere you want to go, within reason. Isn't there some event in the past you'd like to go see?" I soothingly asked. "It would be proof positive for you. Please, think of sometime you'd like to see. It could be any time, even from your own past if you wish. But first, just ask one of my other wives what the date is. Do it when they are separated, then ask another and see if they don't say the same thing."

Tara took that challenge when Ginny came in the room to ask me where they were going to sleep.

"Ginny," Tara asked "What is the date?"

"It's May 17^th", she said in reply.

"And the year?" Tara responded.

"Why 1877, of course. That's a silly question."

"Will you wait here for a minute?"

"Yes, I can stay here for a little bit, but I will need to get back shortly as it'll be my turn to watch the younguns."

Tara went to search out the others. She found Rebecca, Clementine, and Becca tending the babies in the study. It was quiet and it was dark with the curtains drawn. They rocked themselves and the babies while sitting on the overstuffed divan. They all looked up and smiled when Tara entered the room.

"Could one of you tell me the date today?" Tara led the discussion.

"It's May 17^th, 1877" Clementine maintained.

Becca chimed in at that point. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to verify whether or not we've traveled through time."

Tara was shocked at the revelation. Becca continued, "You can believe it. I've traveled in time, too. I originated in 1985 and traveled back to 1875 through some freak of nature. We trekked from Montana down to Texas and met up with another group of travelers. I can't say more about them unless they give permission. My mom and dad, along with my brothers and sister, took cover in a cave when a lightning storm suddenly came up. We were in the past when we woke the next morning. Our husband is different, though. He has a watch that allows him, and anyone with him, to travel through time and space."

Tara still shook her head in disbelief. Becca reached out to the frightened young woman. She touched Tara's hand. It was if a spark coursed through their hands. She felt the electric tingle of excitement of her touch. Tara stood and raced back to the bedroom and into my arms. She was shaking like a frightened little girl.

I held her for a bit until she calmed down. When she lifted her head and looked towards mine, I softly kissed her on the lips, and then her nose, her eyelids, and finally, her forehead. That brought a little smile to her lips. She settled down and then asked. "Can we go to my high school graduation? I remember it so vividly, I'd believe if I saw that."

I agreed with my doubting Thomasina. I gathered the information I needed and we immediately jumped. I set it to bring us out in the twilight. We arrived at Stepford High School. There in the last row, seventh from the left side, was Tara's doppelgänger. Well, not exactly, since it was the same person that was beside me in the twilight. Fascinated, she watched the entire ceremony. She remembered the salutatory speech because she had had a crush on the boy who gave it. It was only after school ended that she found out he was playing for the other team. She personally thought it was a waste, but she moved on.

"Can anyone hear us now?" she asked.

I told her 'no, ' and she proceeded to relate a play by play of the activity. The ceremony matched her memories and she was smiling. She was now certainly convinced. She urged me to take her back when the graduates tossed their mortarboards. We returned to where we started only a couple minutes after we'd left. She was excited beyond measure. She was bouncing up and down, in fact. Certain parts of her followed suit a half a second after the rest.

"Can we go back to their home, with your other wives?" she begged.

"May we go back," I corrected, and she slapped my arm playfully.

"Okay, smart ass, MAY we go back?"

"Well, that depends." I answered.

The rest of my wives had gathered in the room. They too were waiting for my reply. She did that little thing with her head and eyes, indicating she wanted me to continue. I grinned.

"You already have a question before you. I'll answer yours once you give me a definitive answer, now that you have the full story."

She had a puzzled look on her face. I noticed Jackie move slightly behind me on the right. I saw her pointing to her left hand ring finger in my peripheral vision. Tara's face broke out into a huge smile.

"YES!" she exclaimed, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I will marry you, and the rest of your wives will become my sister-wives. Yesssssss!"

She started kissing on me, all over. I stopped her when she dropped to her knees. I told her we'd go together when I took the rest of my family back.

The babies were down for their naps and Mom started dinner, so it was decided that we would wait until after eating before leaving for Waco. The kitchen was a flurry of activity as the wives all gathered together to prepare the evening meal. I looked in the kitchen from the doorway, knowing that this was not my domain. Tara had taken her place with the other wives in helping Mom make the dinner. The Waco wives were amazed at the modern conveniences exhibited in our kitchen.

I took the opportunity to look in on the children while they were cooking. They were all lying on the bed side-by-side with pillows on either end. Fascinated, I watched them as they slept. They all looked so peaceful and it brought a tear to my eye when I thought about how little time I had with them, even though I had all the time in the world. I vowed to spend more time with my babies. I heard Mom call us to dinner just then. I gently closed the door and made my way to the dining room.

The large table was elegantly set with some of the place settings that we had recovered from the attic. The China, silver, and crystal all matched in design. There was a linen tablecloth that I had never seen before covering the table's rich mahogany wood. The chair at the head of the table was empty. Mom motioned for me to have a seat there. Jackie was seated on my right while Mom was on my left. Tara had taken the seat next to Jackie while the other wives had filled in around the table.

The meal was excellent and I insisted upon helping with the cleanup.

"You will do no such thing!" Clementine demanded. "You go into the study and smoke your cigar like all the men do after dinner, while we take care of the cleanup, Husband. You should know better."

I laughed and said, "I don't smoke Clementine, my dear."

Both Tara and Jackie were tickled by that, and they started giggling. Mom broke in and told me to get, so I got. On a hunch, I went up to the attic to check the trunks out. Yes, my hunch was right. More trunks filled the space. They were labeled with Tara's name and with the names of each of my Waco wives, as well. Everyone in my large family now had a set of trunks. I noticed a change to the trunk that had the special compartments, so I opened it. The lock mechanism seemed different, although it wasn't locked. There was a note inside.

'I've made a change again, Eugene. The new lock is unpickable. It's actually a biometric lock made to look like an old key type. It has a keyhole and everything, in fact. You will notice an oval design on the body of the lock. The lock will activate once you place your thumb in the oval, and the only ones who can open it are you, Tara, Jackie, and Mom. Each of you has been encoded. It's not just via your fingerprint, but each of your DNA, as well.'

I checked out the lock on the trunk and found the spot that was mentioned in the note. It was then that I noticed the change to the interior of the trunk. There was no room in the trunk for clothing anymore. Both the main portion, and the lid itself, were filled with drawers. I checked a few of the drawers and found different stashes of money, jewels, and gold. I closed the lid and locked it. Grabbing the handle, I transferred to Waco, and put the trunk in the main bedroom. I immediately transferred back, descended from the attic, and closed the secret door once more.

I wandered toward the kitchen a few minutes later. I heard light laughter coming from the room. I came around the corner just in time to see Ginny use the sink sprayer to douse Clementine with water. That wasn't a smart thing to do, because Clementine was holding the remains of a pie. The pie and Ginny's face came in contact with each other before anyone could react. The other women began to laugh. I could see the trouble was brewing, and I stepped into the room.

"And just what is going on here?" I demanded, as brow-furrowing frown filled my face.

The women instantly separated while the other wives stopped their laughter. The look on my face had the anticipated effect on the women. Both Clementine and Ginny immediately began apologizing to me. I held up my hand in a stop sign. I suggested that perhaps they should apologize to each other instead of to me. This was a new concept for them, but they readily accepted my suggestion and all was soon forgiven. Jackie had retrieved a new dishtowel and carefully wiped the pie from Ginny's face.

The other women pitched in to clean up the mess that it made on the floor. I suggested that it was time to go once the cleaning was finished. They went to retrieve their bags and my children, of course. The moving awakened not one of the babies, so we were immediately ready to leave. I activated the watch and we were in the great room of our Texas ranch.

I had set the time for noon, which would have put the girls only about an hour off their regular schedule. We were in such a rush to come that Mom and Jackie had forgotten to change, and Tara didn't have any clothing for the time. I helped a bit by going back and retrieving Tara's, Jackie's and Mom's trunks, and offered to take the three of them into town to do some shopping. That brought about a small uproar because the other women also wanted to go. Since 'discretion is the better part of valor', I decided everybody should go, but that we would go tomorrow. We would be okay until then.