Leaving the Navy Ch. 06

"I'd love to." She took my hand and we headed for the back door. Della said, "Don't forget, we need to talk about your Momma."

"We'll be back soon." Pat said. Soon was an hour.

I sat at the table and Sandra served me a meatloaf sandwich. It was great. Margie was helping kids with homework. Della, Sandra, Pat, Krystn and Jim were at the table with me.

"Pat hasn't seen her momma since she left Carl. We were talking after we got her moved in about inviting her for Jim's birthday. She's worried." Della said.

"Momma's never met a family like this. I don't know what she'll think."

"Tell her the truth but don't start with the whole truth. Tell her how you met Nick and Sandra. Tell her about your job at the dry cleaners. Tell her we offered you a very good deal on sharing rent here. Tell her how you feel about helping raise the kids. Tell her how it feels to be called momma Pat."

I added, "Wait about a year to tell her you're married to the lot of us. By then she'll love us and will just accept it as weird, but good for all of us."

"Should I call her and invite her to the birthday?"

"Sure! The more the better," Jim said.

I looked at Jim and asked, "How do you really feel about the city party for your birthday?"

"Krystn has me mostly convinced I'll love it! I'm not a hundred percent sure she's right but since the whole town knows about it, I'm in." I rode past the newspaper office today and the flier is in his window too. I'll bet it'll be in the paper on Wednesday."

I turned back to Pat. "Are you staying here tonight?"

"I need to be at work at seven. I haven't driven a car since before you rescued me. I think I should sleep there and get used to driving before I start driving again every day."

"I can understand that. Tell me what time you want to go back and I'll take you. If it's Ok with everyone, I'll come back in the morning."

"Sandra got up and left the kitchen. She came back in less than a minute. She held something in her hands. She went to Pat and said, "There is a symbol I want to show you. For months now Nick has had this in his desk drawer." She handed the single die to Pat. She looked at it. On two sides it said, "Sandra", one two sides, "Margie" and on the third two sides it said "Della." "One roll and he knows where he sleeps that night. When I had it made I had another one made."

She took the six sided die from Pat and dropped the eight sided one in her hand. It showed two sides each for Sandra, Margie, Della and Pat. Pat looked at it for a long time and then looked up at each of us. "I really am a wife?"

"If you say so. You are a wife, a sister and a momma. If that is what you choose."

"I choose all of it. I am so lucky. Thank you."

Krystn stood and said, "Momma Pat, can I get your help in my room?"

"Sure." They took hands and left us.

Sandra looked at me and said, "How do you think the owner of the dry cleaners will take to having you spend the night in Pat's apartment?"

"Since she asked me last week why I hadn't spent the night already, I don't think she'll be upset."

"Really? She asked you?"

"Yup. She said that the way Pat looks at me it's obvious to a blind woman that she is in love with me."

"That's true. I think she started falling when Carl landed on his ass in front of the restaurant." Sandra said.

"Well isn't it Ok that a woman loves her husband?"

"Yes, but in a world where men only have one wife it isn't looked on favorably if she is wife number four."

"That could be a problem."

"Set the alarm for about six and come home. It will be different once she is completely moved in." She stood and gave me a loving hug and kiss. "I love you, Nick."

"I love you, too."

Pat came down stairs and we left. She sat next to me in the truck and held my arm. Krystn was right. All my wives rode like that.

In her tiny apartment we showered and made ready for bed. Pat turned on the clock-radio and set it for six. That gave her time to get ready for opening the dry cleaners and time for me to get home.

Sandra, Della and Margie all looked like sisters. Pat looked differently. Her ribs were more evident, her legs thinner and longer, her breasts more pointed. The first night we met she had a good sized bush of dark brown hair. It was all but gone. Just above her slit she kept a moustache of brown hair, trimmed into a line parallel to her waist and just above her slit. She said when she looked down it looked like she still had hair. And, Pat tasted differently than the others.

As soon as we were in bed and the light was off she said, "Husband, Can we have a serious talk?"

"Yes. Now?"

"Yes, unless you're too tired."

"I'm not too tired."

"I'm the youngest wife. I've never given birth. I think I want to. Can I call a family meeting and talk it over with everyone?"

"Is this something you've been thinking about for a while?"

"Yes. Even when I was with Carl I thought about being a mom. I was afraid of him and of the kind of father he would be... but I know who you are and I know the three best Moms I've ever known, Sandra, Margie and Della. If I'm ever going to do it now is the best time in my life."

"Let me be clear. You want me to be the Dad to your child. You want Sandra, Margie and Della to be the child's co-moms. You want to make the commitment to be a wife, Momma and sister for the rest of your life?"

"Yes. Am I crazy?"

"This strikes me as bigger than getting married. Bigger than being adopted. We do need a family meeting. I'm for it, in case you're wondering."

"Then don't be inside me tonight. I think I'm ovulating and until we have agreement in the family I don't want to start a baby."

"Pat, I love you. I can hold you and know we are married soul to soul. My heart and head are more important than my dick. Let's just hold each other and kiss a little." We kissed and snuggled until we fell asleep.

The alarm woke us both and we spent a few minutes playing before rushing around to get me on the road and her into the cleaners. I took the long way home and as I pulled up in front I was greeted by daughters ready to go to school. I took them and they chatted about school. When I got home I found Della and Sandra waiting for me at the table. They had coffee and I had a full breakfast on the table.

"So, did she ask you?" Della asked.

"Ask me?"

"About having a baby!"

"Oh, that. Yeah, she asked."

"Did you give her one?"

"Nope." I kept eating.

Della squirmed a little and said, "Spill it all."

"We talked about her having a baby. She asked me if she could call a family meeting and ask all of us if she can have a baby. She knows it's a big deal for everyone, not just her. It means we start new with someone who will take all of us eighteen years to raise. I told her she can call a meeting."

"Did you make a deposit in her last night?" Sandra asked.

"Nope. She told me she thought she was ovulating so we didn't. We fell asleep snuggling."

"You're the oldest one in the family. How do you feel about taking on being Dad for a new baby?"

"Scared shitless! Excited! Worried. And, I won't do it if there are any objections. We are a family. I won't make unilateral decisions that effect everyone."

Della stood up and said, "I'll schedule the meeting."

"No, I don't want you to do that. Please wait for Pat to ask. She needs to ask for the meeting and she needs to run the meeting. The three of you have been doing this for years. She's never been a Momma or a sister before. This is important to her. She'll do fine."

Both women hugged me and kissed me. They left the kitchen to get to work. I got to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. I went to the Honey-Do list and began what was next for me. It was two in the afternoon when I came back inside to eat.

Sandra had lunch ready for me. "Pat called. She called each of us individually and asked for a meeting. She said she would call after four to ask Jim and Krystn. I'm going to vote yes."

"May I ask why?"

"If I were her age and had you in my life I'd want to get pregnant too. She'll do fine, have lots of help and the perfect family to nurture her and the child."

"You're not that much older than Pat."

"I'll be fifty-nine when the baby graduates from high school. Pat will be fifty. Big difference. I vote yes."

"Jesus. I'll be sixty!"

"And looking good! A little gray hair, a wrinkle or two. Oh, I'm getting turned on by the thoughts."

"What do your sisters think?"

"Della is jealous. Margie is too, a little. Women who've had babies think of it differently than women who haven't. The discomfort, the labor, the morning sickness are memories other women don't have. In spite of all that we still want to do it."

"How will they vote?"

"For. I'm pretty sure they will vote for. That leaves you. You ready to be a biological Dad as well as Dad to the brood we already have?"

"Honestly, I don't think I can be more Dad than I am. When Mark runs up to me or climbs up in my lap, he isn't thinking I'm some kind of substitute Dad. In his mind, I'm it. Sam and Katherine bounce on the bed some mornings to wake Momma and Daddy. We are Momma and Daddy. Genetics has nothing to do with it. If Pat wants to have a baby and the family wants it too, I'm in."

"I think it will be a short meeting. Jim and Krystn won't object. They both will be heading off to college before the baby is two. In fact, Jim may be going at the end of the summer if you can convince him."

"I'm working on it."

The meeting was held on Thursday night that week. I picked Pat up after work and brought her home. I stayed with all the kids in Margie's and we watched a movie while the other adults held their meeting. The movie wasn't half over when Pat came in and motioned for me to follow her.

Out on the back porch I asked how it went. She smiled up at me and put something in my hand. I looked down at it and saw a condom in my hand with a big hole punched in it.

"The vote was unanimous. Everyone started with two condoms. One with the hole and one without. When we counted the votes they all had holes." She was beaming and her eyes were full but hadn't spilled over, yet.

I hugged her and said, "So, this means serious sex from now on. No enjoying it. We are in the business of making a baby."

"No! No! The best babies start when the couple are laughing and having fun!"

"That's an old wives tale!"

"No! Sandra told me and Sandra is never wrong."

"If we get you started within the next few weeks you'll have the baby before it gets hot next summer. Would you like to have a baby in March or April?"

"Nick, do you want a boy or a girl?"

"I have boys, Jim and Mark. I have girls, Sam, Krystn, and Kathrine. As long as you don't have a cocker spaniel I'll be fine with whichever denomination shows up."

"You don't like cocker spaniels?"

"No. If you're going to have a dog, make it a Golden Retriever."

We laughed and from that moment until it was born the baby was called Fido.

Jim's birthday was a success. Six girls from the high school and the staff of the Atlanta party supply decorated the park. It was spectacular! They also decorated the Honda. I parked the Honda on the grass of the park on Friday night. The girls built a cardboard box around the car and painted the wrappings on the box. They made the box in five pieces and had a rope attached to each piece. At the proper moment Sandra, Pat, Margie, Della and I would pull the ropes and the car would be unwrapped before Jim's eyes.

By eight Saturday morning there were a hundred people in the park. Krystn, Sarah and four more girls from school slept in the park to make sure no one messed up all their work. The local Sheriff put a deputy in the park all night too. I was there in my truck. Jim was kept at home from noon on Friday until ten on Saturday morning.

At ten when Margie let Jim out of the house and she drove the rest of the kids to the park there were hundreds of people waiting for him. Food was spread on twenty tables. Large animal feeding troughs were filled with ice, sodas, juice, water but no beer, no booze of any kind. Jim arrived on his bike at a crazy speed. He had dashed away as soon as Margie let him go. When he saw the huge box he rode right for it but Krystn and her crew had been warned and they wouldn't let him near it. I saw lots of gentle jostling, laughing and touching going on but no serious attempt to get to the box.

I overheard Krystn say to Jim, "Do you trust me?" He nodded his head. She led him to a picnic table where she had him sit down. He was facing the huge box. Krystn put his arms out along the top of the table towards the ends of the table. Two of her assistants tied his hands in place so quickly he didn't react until it was too late. Krystn sat on his lap and two other girls tied his legs in place.

Krystn said, "We'll feed you, get you a soda, kiss you, sit on your lap if you'd like, but you will not get loose until one o'clock when Dad gives the signal."

I walked over and said, "How do you like your party so far?"

"What if I need to go to the restroom?"

"I think we can find ten or twenty men to take you and bring you back."

"Oh. I was just asking. I don't need to go." I smiled and left him to Krystn's care. I knew he would be well taken care of. I also knew Krystn would never be more than six feet from him. She liked her friends but didn't completely trust them around Jim, in his condition.

The guy from the party store was all over the party. He took pictures and video of people having fun, eating and laughing. At one o'clock he sounded an air horn and got everyone's attention. He used a bull horn to tell people to gather round the big present it was time to sing Happy Birthday!

Each of the women of the family and I grabbed a rope and got ready to pull. I yelled to the crowd that at the end of the song we would unwrap the present. Krystn and her assistants were ready to untie Jim. The whole town sang and sang loud.

I winked at Krystn and she gave the girls their signal. In a flash he was loose and jumped on top of the table so he could see what was in the huge box. On the last "You" of the song we pulled the ropes and the cardboard flew away from the green Honda Accord.

The crowd cheered, hooted and clapped for Jim. I tossed him the keys. Just as he arrived at the drivers door we all stopped. The sound of a siren stopped all of us. The Sheriff pulled up next to the Honda and got out of his car.

"Who does this car belong to?" He asked in a loud voice.

"I think it belongs to me, Sheriff." Jim said.

"Parking on the grass is against the law, young man."

"I didn't park it there."

"Then I think you better get it off the grass before I need to write a ticket."

Jim was in the car and it was moving so fast a third of the crowd was in danger of being run over. The Sheriff was laughing so hard I thought he might hurt himself.

As things started settling back down I heard a man's voice say, "Pat!"

I turned to the sound and saw Carl, Pat's ex, standing in front of her. His hand was at his side and I noticed a pistol in it. I grabbed a kid near me and told him to get the sheriff quickly and quietly.

Pat was in danger. The crowd near her started backing away from them. I knew if he saw me I was in grave danger too. Sandra recognized Carl and saw the gun. She saw me and moved to the other side of Carl. She saw that danger or not I was moving in on Carl. Pat hadn't seen me. When I was twenty yards from Carl and moving as quickly as a bad knee allowed Sandra screamed and fell to the ground.

Carl heard her scream and watched her fall. It was enough. Enough time and enough distraction. I hit Carl with the best tackle I ever put on a quarterback. The pistol fired and then flew fifteen feet from both of us. I heard a bone or two break as we hit the ground. I hoped it wasn't one of mine.

Carl started to struggle until he saw the Sheriff standing five feet from him with his weapon drawn. He got his handcuffs out and tossed them to Jack Wilson who cuffed Carl and together they carted him off. The Sheriff's wife picked up the pistol by putting a pencil into the barrel and lifting it that way.

I started to get up but couldn't. The bone that broke was mine. When we fought the first time Carl broke his collarbone. This time I broke mine. A piece of bone was sticking out and when someone started to help me up they saw it and stopped.

"You're hurt, Nick. Stay down until the ambulance gets here."

I looked around and saw Sandra, Della, Margie and Pat making a barrier around me. All of them were crying. Only one person got past them. Mark. He dashed between them and came to me. Fear had drained the blood from his face and when he saw the bone sticking out he stopped and asked, "Daddy, are you going to die too?"

Sandra and Margie dropped to their knees next to him. He had never said anything about his original family before.

"No, Mark. I'll get patched up and be home before dinner. I'll be Ok."

His body shook and tears streamed down his face. He looked at Margie and then Sandra, then me. "We hafta go with Daddy! We hafta!"

I said, "Ladies, gather the family except for Krystn and Jim. We're all going to the hospital. Krystn can tell Jim what happened and catch a ride with him."

The ambulance parked on the grass but no one cared. They loaded me into the back and Pat climbed in with me. Mark broke free of Sandra's hand and was in the back of the ambulance before anyone could stop him. He sat on Pat's lap and the EMT closed the door. Sandra waved and headed for her SUV.

All in all it was a hell of a party. High School graduation was two weeks away and everyone wanted to know what we had planned for that. My answer was that we were going into hiding. Mark stayed with me the whole time we were in the hospital. The doctor who took care of me had worked in Atlanta and recognized Mark. He had been there the night Mark's dad was brought in, the victim of a drive-by shooting. Mark had been with his Dad as he bled out. He let Mark stay with me.

All the way home he kept telling each Momma that Daddy was gonna be Ok. He slept beside me in Sandra's bed. By morning he was back to being Mark, most of the time. I did notice that he checked in a little more often than normal for about a week.

Carl was held without bail for attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. There were over a thousand witnesses. He accepted a plea and apologized to Pat in court the day he was sentenced. He would be gone a long time.

Pat's Mom had chosen not to come to the picnic. The next weekend she rode the bus out to town and Jim picked her up at the bus station, with Pat. She didn't quite get the family and spent a lot of time a bit confused by the way all the kids called everyone Momma and when Sam asked her if she was Momma Pat's momma she said yes. Sam looked at her and said, "You must be Grandma ... I don't know what to call you."

For the first time that day she brightened and said, "Child you can call me Grandma Beth." She looked at the rest of us and said, "You can call me Momma Beth."

She had decided the title Momma was an honorific and so was the title Grandma.

I heard Mark tell Grandma Beth at least four times that I was his Dad. It choked me up every time.

When Sunday afternoon supper was done Jim asked if he could drive Grandma Beth home rather than have her take the bus. I said yes. Margie slipped him some gas money and Pat went along for the ride. On the way home Pat had him stop for gas and she filled his car. Sometimes doing the right thing brings its own reward.

He spent the twenty on Krystn.

Life went on with little bumps and little side trips. I was slowly retraining my arm and shoulder how to move without pain. Jim was doing lots of errands that I would have done if I was more mobile. Mark asked me often if he could get me a beverage, a sandwich or a momma. He made me a get well card just about every day. Sam would see me on the couch reading a book and crawl up into my lap, hold the book and ask me to read to her. She didn't care what I was reading. She knew more than any seven year old needs to know about the proper maintenance of a houseboat. Pat started driving back and forth from the cleaners and sleeping in Della's house.