Dentist's Chair

"So we should just throw..." Yvonne shrilled.

"We were affording it with the old job, we'll afford it with the new one," Arthur said. "And she said 'love you' to me after we signed her up. Hear that again I'll sign her up for every night of the week."

"Love you Dad," AJ quickly said.

"Love you too son no you're not getting that Marshall stack or that vintage Les Paul," Arthur said and hugged his son.

"Hate you, Dad," AJ laughed, returning his father's hug.

"Hate you more," Arthur smiled.

"Now, what do you mean..." Yvonne tried to bluff as AJ ran off.

"This weekend, all right?" Arthur spat out at her. "Let's just get through this weekend, oh! How in the hell did I not see that? Steven Christopher! There's not another Steven or Christopher anywhere in our family! Oh God, no kidding!"

Yvonne's face again lost all color.

That evening, Yvonne came out of the bedroom and smiled softly at Arthur. She raised the hem of her nightgown to flash him her hairy pussy.

"Listen, I know it's been a while since we..." she cooed.

"And it'll be a few hundred years before I'd ever want to touch your wrinkled up old ass again," Arthur pleasantly chirped. "But hang on; let me see if I can find some eighteen year old kid for you."

"You son of a bitch!" she snarled hatefully at him.

"You skanky old whore," he smiled back at her, which infuriated her even more. "Really? Think you can just waddle in here, throw a mercy romp at me and I'll just forget what an insufferable old bitch you've been for the past what? Five, six months? Forget that you were throwing the pussy on some neighborhood kid? Forget that you stuck me with someone else's kid and even named the boy after someone else? Get real, Sister. That pussy is not that good."

"And it will be a cold day in hell," she growled hatefully at him.

"No kidding, got that right," Arthur cheerfully agreed.

"Get out!" she screamed at him. "Get out of my bedroom! This instant!"

"Oh get real, Yvonne, get real," Arthur laughed bitterly. "My bed. Don't want to sleep in here with me? Then you move. You go sleep somewhere else."

Arthur did not know where Yvonne slept that evening but did not care. He slept very well.

Chapter 7

At the breakfast table, Steven seemed to be the only one oblivious to his mother's bitter rage, just kept talking about the U.L.D. Storm's loss to Paulson College Pumas.

"Their quarterback's the worst threw three interceptions and got sacked twice and their defense? I could walk through them!" the boy said.

"Are y'all... I don't have to go to dance," Yvette offered.

"Sweetheart," Arthur said, gripping the girl's hand. "We are not fighting over that. Believe me, both your mother and I are just so happy you'll be doing that again."

"Then what?" AJ dared ask.

"Listen, sometimes people do things, they hurt other people, they don't think about how their actions affect others," Arthur tried to muddy the waters.

"You mother fucker!" Yvette screamed and threw her glass of orange juice in his face. "You cheated on her!"

"No ma'am," Arthur said forcefully to Yvette's retreating back. "I did not cheat on your mother."

Steven was stunned into silence. AJ tried to eat but was having difficulty.

"I'll go talk with her," Arthur said, getting to his feet.

He wiped his face clean then went to his daughter's room.

Go away!" Yvette screamed at him from her face down position.

"Listen to me," Arthur said gently, rubbing her back.

"Don't touch me!" she sobbed out. "Keep your disgusting hands off of me!"

"Listen to me," he ordered. "I did not cheat on your mother! I would never; I love you and AJ and Steven far too much to ever ever cheat. I could never risk losing you or your brothers."

"Then why? Why are y'all always so angry? Why does everyone hate each other so much?" Yvette sobbed.

"I, Baby, I don't know," Arthur admitted. "I don't know where all the anger and hatred's coming from. If I knew, don't you think I'd try to stop it?"

"Daddy, I'm so scared," she bawled, crawling into his lap like a small child.

"Honey, you know I would never ever let anything or anyone hurt you; you're my precious little girl," Arthur soothed.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm sorry I called you that!"

"Uh yeah, where you learn words like that, huh?" he asked.

She didn't answer, just sobbed in his arms.

Finally, she wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

"Listen, all I want, I just want you to go to your dance classes, I just want you to be happy," he said.

He kissed the top of her head.

"Church in thirty minutes," he said and she released her hold on him.

He walked into his bedroom, to select a clean shirt and to dash into their bathroom to clean himself up.

"Uh, listen, it's been a while since we took the camper," Yvonne said, trying to sound pleasant, cheerful. "Why don't we..."

"We can't even get through a family breakfast without a fight; you really think we can get through a whole weekend?" Arthur snapped bitterly. "My daughter was sure that I was the one that cheated his way out of a happy family. You really think we can get through a whole weekend?"

Monday morning Arthur sent Paula a quick email. She must have been at her desk; the response was immediate.

"I need to get DNA tests done on all three of my children; do we do that here?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure I'm the father of two of them and I'm almost a hundred percent certain I'm not the father of one of them."

"Lab on the fourth floor," she said and opened her desk drawer and pulled out a business card. Assume you'll want a lawyer; "Sophia Coutre. Best lawyer in DeGarde, probably best in the state."

"Then I better get her before my wife does," Arthur said grimly.

"Arthur?" Paula said. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Paula. Nice to know I've got a boss that does care," Arthur smiled tightly.

In his own office, Arthur went on-line and looked at the schedule for his children's schools, trying to decide when to schedule their DNA tests.

"How was your weekend?" Jill cheerfully asked as she plopped down on her chair.

"Tense, uncomfortable, stilted; yours?" Arthur pleasantly responded.

"Wow, I didn't see you there," Jill said. "Did anyone tell you you're wasting your God damned time and it's stupid to be working when there's so much else that could be done and need to hurry up and get a man while you still can?"

"No, no one told me I needed to get a man," Arthur chuckled.

"Oh well, then what part did you walk in on?" Jill asked as she logged on to her computer.

"The part where my daughter threw orange juice in my face and screamed hateful things," Arthur said.

"That's usually my favorite part of the weekend," Jill admitted.

Arthur looked at the blonde girl as she cheerfully went about her business. She was slender, with a dancer's build, with long honey blonde hair that reached down to the bottom of her buttocks. The ergonomic chair made her sit with her small backside thrust out and he smiled.

She turned and looked at him and wondered for a brief moment what he was smiling at, then returned his smile.

When she smiled, her long face crinkled and her brown eyes scrunched, giving her an almost child-like look.

"Hurts my back, just looking at you on that goofy thing," he said.

"Oh no, come see," she insisted

Arthur did and gingerly sat, hand on her desk to keep his balance.

He involuntarily bit down and saw Molly laying on the desk, completely nude. Her hairless pussy with large butterfly tattoo, pierced navel, and small breasts, both with large gold hoops threaded through her nipples.

As he watched, a cock split the butterfly and fucked the petite Asian girl hard.

"Well?" Jill asked and Arthur realized he wasn't paying attention to how the chair actually felt.

"It's not the worst," he conceded. "I mean, it's not as bad as I thought, but I still don't think I could do eight straight hours of this."

She smiled happily and Arthur realized, just a simple act of listening to, and honoring her request to try out her chair meant a lot to her. Her father probably never listened to her. Her father probably never gave credence to her requests, her opinions.

He got to his feet and resolved to listen to his daughter as much as possible.

He resolved to listen to his Administrative Assistant as much as possible.

Again, they had lunch together and again, Arthur guided them to a table with others; three student nurses. Next time, he resolved to find some orderlies to sit with; the nurses were vulgar in their language and their topics of conversation.

"Oh my goodness," Jill whispered as they got on the elevator. "Knowing what I do now about a vagina, add lesbian to the list of things I'll never be."

"I'd have to think long and hard about it too," Arthur agreed.

Sophia Coutre had an opening that afternoons Arthur pasted a smile on his face and told Jill she was free to take a nap or whatever; he had no idea when he'd be back.

"Want me to come with you?" she asked.

"Uh no, no, but thank you so much," he said, realizing that the false smile wasn't fooling her.

"Mr. Petitjean?" Jill stated. "It'll be all right. It'll be hard as hell, but it'll be all right."

Jill was right; it was hard as hell, especially since Arthur had no way to exactly explain how he all of a sudden realized that his youngest child wasn't his child after all. But Sophia didn't seem to be overly concerned with that little piece of the puzzle.

"Can you bring them to the lab tomorrow for..." Sophia said.

"Wednesday, Arthur said firmly. "Tuesdays and Thursdays my daughter goes to dance and we are not going to interfere with that."

"Is she professional?" Sophia asked, mildly interested.

"No, but she's happy and that's more important to me than any of this is," Arthur said.

"My mother said being a lawyer was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard," Sophia said. "My dad said it was the greatest thing he'd ever heard and he honestly couldn't imagine being any prouder of me."

She smiled warmly at him.

"Daddies should do what they can for their little girls," she agreed.

Jill looked up when he walked back into his office.

"Should have taken you with me," Arthur said. "You were right; that was pretty hard. And it's going to get worse."

"And I will be right here for you, Mr. Petitjean," Jill promised.

Inside, she felt pure elation; her boss said she was right, said he should have taken her with him. The man honestly seemed to value her as a person.

That evening's dinner began like most; tense, silent.

"Oh, hey! Yvette, your leotard still fits?" Arthur suddenly asked.

"Oh my God, oh, I don't know!" Yvette said and leapt from the table.

"After you finish..." Arthur called out but she was already thundering up the stairs.

"I'll take her," Yvonne offered.

"That would probably be a good idea," Arthur agreed.

"Bet it doesn't," Steven chuckled when they heard a wail from upstairs.

"Gee, you think?" Arthur chuckled and squeezed the boy's hand affectionately.

"See? See? He's yours," Yvonne said, eyes wide with fear.

Arthur shot Yvonne a murderous glare.

"You love him; why can't you, why do you want to just tear us apart?" Yvonne begged.

"Dad?" Steven asked.

"Not in front of the kids, huh?" Arthur spat at her.

"Dad?" Steven asked again.

"Yeah Buddy?" Arthur asked.

"It doesn't fit; it's too short," Yvette wailed, coming down the stairs.

"What, why, what's Mom talking about?" Steven asked.

"Again, all I know is, sometimes people do things without thinking about how it's going to hurt someone else," Arthur said. "Now, we're just trying to pick up the pieces and it ain't easy."

He patted the boy's hand reassuringly and smiled at Yvette.

"Your Mom's taking you to Goodwill after dinner," he said.

"Goodwill?" Yvette asked.

"Oh? What? Think your leotard's got to come from Babbage's like the last one did?" Arthur teased her.

"Whatever, Dad," Yvette smirked at him.

"My jersey came from Goodwill," Steven taunted her. "It's a Deuce McAllister and it is so awesome!"

"Don't think Ms. Kizzy, hey, is she married? Pretty woman like that ought to be, but I don't think Ms. Kizzy would let your sister dance around in a jersey, buddy," Arthur said.

"And I really don't think it'd fit anyway," Yvette said, a rare moment of conviviality pervading the dinner table.

That night, Yvonne tried again to entice Arthur to have sex.

"It was so nice, huh? Wasn't it nice? It was so nice; we were laughing and joking about Yvette dancing in a football jersey," Yvonne said, almost frantic.

"God damn, where was all this love for our family three days ago, huh? Where was all this shit before I figured out what a lying slut you are, huh?" Arthur spat, pushing her clutching hands away from him.

"I mean, I took Yvette to Babbage's and..." Yvonne stammered.

"Three days ago, you couldn't have given a shit if I dropped dead; now you're Miss Family Comes First?" Arthur spat.

Yvonne let a few tears slide down her face.

"But hey, let me ask you something, huh? Let me ask you, how would you feel you found out I had a kid with some eighteen, nineteen year old girl, huh?" Arthur asked. "You still be all concerned about keeping the family together?"

He plumped up his pillow.

"Oh, Wednesday, I'm taking the kids to St. Elizabeth's Trauma Center; there's a lab on the fourth floor does DNA," he snapped.

Yvonne fled from the room. Again, Arthur did not know where she slept that night, but he did not care.

Chapter 8

That morning, Yvette was so happy she was actually jiggling in her seat as she ate her breakfast.

"Good God, Yvette, if you don't want to do it, then don't!" Arthur teased.

AJ laughed and playfully pinched Yvette.

"Oh puke, a loving family breakfast," Steven said.

"Oh puke, a dead little brother," Yvette threatened.

Arthur was smiling when he entered his office. A few minutes after he'd logged onto the network, Jill scurried in.

"Good morning, Arthur greeted her and she looked and scrutinized his features, then smiled.

"You okay?" she asked and he smiled and nodded his head.

"Good," she smiled, her whole face scrunching up.

"You know, when you smile like that..." he said.

"Oh, I know, I look so stupid; believe me, I've heard it all before," she whined, covering her face with her hands.

"No, I was going to say you look wonderful, almost like a child," he said.

"Oh you were not," she accused.

"Oh, okay, Miss Mind Reader," he teased and again her face scrunched up.

A 'ding' alerted him that Jill had printed something and a moment later, she was standing in front of him for his approval. He took the sheet of paper and bit down to concentrate (he knew he probably needed glasses; his arms were getting too short.)

A feeling of warmth and affection rushed off of the page at him and he looked up at Jill.

"Looks good to me," he finally said and handed it back to her.

Again she smiled.

That evening, he parked in front of Kizzy's School of Dance and sat, watching his little girl as she sweated and strained. It was obvious that she was struggling to keep up with the slightly more experienced girls; having been away from dance for a while.

It was also obvious that she was elated to again be immersed in the music and the movement. Kizzy called an end to the class and the nine girls clapped for one another's efforts.

"Well, I might be a little prejudiced," Arthur said as Yvette scrambled into the car. "But I thought you looked great."

"Thanks Daddy," Yvette said, positively giddy.

"So, how did it go?" Yvonne asked with false cheerfulness as they bustled into the house.

"Yeah, did you crash into everything?" Steven teased.

Before Yvette's good mood could vanish, Arthur surprised everyone by picking the eight year old boy up, flipping him over his shoulder, and giving him two playful swats to his backside.

"No she did not, Smarty Pants," Arthur said, gave him two more light swats and put him back down. "She did great; you should be proud of your big sister."

"Whoa!" Steven giggled, surprised at his father's actions.

"Come on, I want to hear about it," AJ begged and Yvette launched into a rapid monologue.

Arthur decided not to tell the children about taking them to the lab; the mood was a happy one. The children were laughing a chattering and, even though Steven was being his usual smart mouth self, Yvette was actually seeing the humor in his remarks.

Arthur reminded them that it was a school night, there was homework that needed to be done, and even if their sweat smelled like perfume, they still needed to shower.

"With soap, Steven Christopher," he said.

Arthur puttered around as long as he could, but finally had to climb the stairs and go into his bedroom.

"Yvonne, say one thing and I will scream," Arthur warned when Yvonne came out of the bathroom, dressed in the red corset he'd bought for her one Valentine's Day.

She'd taken one look at the intimate apparel and declared it would be a cold day in Hell before she'd ever wear such a slutty get up.

In the harsh overhead lighting in the bedroom, Arthur saw a tired, frumpy woman that had given up the fight against gravity. The outfit did not look good or enticing; it actually looked cheap, tawdry.

"Sorry, Yvonne," he smiled tightly. "That does look good on you, but it's not going to work."

"But why not?" she whined.

"Yvonne, I'm sorry, all right? I'm sorry, but the thought of you letting some kid screw you, then carrying his baby, the whole time telling me it's mine... Well God damn, pisses me off so damned bad I just want to hit you," Arthur snapped.

She slumped and returned to the bathroom. A moment later, she came out in one of his old tee shirts, turned off the light and got into bed.

"I'm sorry; I thought he was yours," Yvonne lied.

"Oh, Yvonne, really?" Arthur said, exasperated. "You named him after his daddy and you're going to sit there and tell me you thought he was mine?"

Yvonne began quietly crying.

"Tomorrow morning, I'm telling the kids I'm getting them after school so we can go to the lab," Arthur said.

"But why?" Yvonne wailed.

"Why? Why do you think, Yvonne?" Arthur snapped.

In the morning, Arthur ignored Yvonne's pleading eyes.

"Hey, Steven, you get out of school at what? Three thirty?" he asked.

"Yeah," Steven agreed.

"Okay, I'll be there to pick you up; Yvette, AJ, y'all get out at three ten, right?" he said.

"Yeah, why? What's going on?" Yvette asked, worriedly.

"Need to take y'all to my work; see I get a five percent discount on my insurance if we have your DNA on file," Arthur lied.

"What? Why?" Steven asked.

"So, when your sister finally kills you for that smart mouth of yours, we save money by being able to just match the DNA to the mud puddle that used to be you," Arthur lied.

Yvette and AJ did not buy it, but Steven laughed.

"You!" Yvette hissed hatefully at her mother. "You're the one!"

Yvonne fled from the room.

"Yvette, that's enough," Arthur said quietly as Yvette took in a deep breath, preparing to scream her hatred at the retreating form of her mother.

"But she..." Yvette cried out.

"Enough!" Arthur said. "Enough, Sweetheart, enough, all right?"

"Daddy," Yvette weakly begged.

"Daughter," Arthur said.

"Love you, Dad," AJ said as he picked up his empty plate.

"Love you too boy but you're still not getting that nineteen fifty four Fender Telecaster, sorry, no way, no how," Arthur said.

AJ placed a hand on his father's shoulder and smiled tightly.

"No, it's a nineteen sixty two Fender Twin Reverb I want," AJ lied. "See, its pre-CBS and..."

"Shut up, just shut up," Arthur said. "You lost me at 'Hello.'"

"Cute, Dad," AJ smiled. "It's supposed to be..."