25 comments/  16999 views/  9 favorites

The Wisdom of Solomon

By: radk



To the reader:

This story could have been submitted under a couple different categories but my editor suggested Interracial Love. I tend to go along with those suggestions. My editor also said it might be a bit controversial. I hope so.

Thanks jo for doing the hard work of editing and making everything better.

Day 1

"Tony wake up, I think my water just broke."

"Wha? Huh? Yeah, okay, I'm up."

Tony jumped out of bed and promptly tripped over his shoes. After getting back on his feet he pulled on his pants, a t-shirt, and his old loafers. Shari slowly waddled into the bathroom clutching her soaked nightgown between her legs.

"Babe, bring me a clean pair of underpants, will ya?" came the voice from the bathroom.

Tony picked up her clothes from atop the hospital bag they had prepared and also got a clean pair of underpants from her drawer. Upon opening the bathroom door he found his lovely wife standing in front of the full length mirror with her legs apart, toweling off her legs and hairy crotch. The reflection of both sides of her very pregnant body was comical to look at; well at least it was at that moment for Tony. A wide smile broke out on his face.

"Don't you say a single word, buster. Just help me put on my clothes and let's get out of here."

All the while he helped he had a broad smile, but he didn't say a word. He knew if he made one of his usual weird, funny remarks she would jump down his throat and probably start crying. Her hormones had been so screwed up in the last month or so that no matter what he said she would either go ballistic or start crying. Either way she would no longer be the sweet, beautiful wife that he married, just some hormone charged gargoyle that he wanted to avoid at all cost. Throughout her pregnancy her emotions had been out of control. Shari spontaneously cried for no apparent reason and at times she danced around the house with joy. Her sex drive was out of control also. She had more orgasms in the last nine months than she ever had in their entire first year of marriage. She was insatiable, not that Tony ever complained. The term 'basket case' described her best.

As they drove to the hospital Shari was definitely uncomfortable. She shifted her broad backside all over the front seat and scowled every time they had to stop for a traffic light. After all she was as big as a house. Tony was very careful to say so only when she wasn't around. She was carrying twins and when one wasn't doing the tango in her belly the other seemed to be training for a marathon. Hopefully the dancer was the little girl and the marathoner was the little boy. They found out a couple months ago that one had a penis and the other one didn't.

At the hospital, Tony wheeled his very uncomfortable wife into the emergency room and passed her off to a nurse, kissing her on the lips before leaving to fill out the paperwork and for a minute of rest. He entered the maternity ward waiting room thirty minutes later and a nurse escorted him back to Shari's room. She looked more at ease now that she was lying down. And from the look in her eyes she had also received an epidural.

"Hi Babe," she said with her crooked little smile. "Dr. McCoy was here a minute ago and said I wasn't fully dilated yet. It'll be another hour or so before I'm ready. He ran away to deliver another baby just before you came in and said he'd be back when it's my turn. I've had the epidural so the back pain is gone. I'm supposed to watch the fetal monitor there and see when it spikes. That will be a contraction and I've got to do my breathing exercises when I see one. Hold my hand, I'm kinda new at this."

He took her hand in his and gently kissed her fingers. They smiled and looked into each other's eyes all the time knowing, without saying, exactly what was in their hearts.

Shari and Tony had always been in love. From the first day they met their universe was in harmony, the planets aligned, it never rained when they went on a picnic, and there were always short lines at Starbucks. They made love for the first time a couple weeks after meeting and even the sex was cosmic. Tony found just the right spot to make Shari climb the walls in ecstasy and Shari could do things with her tongue that one only reads about in magazines. From the very first time they did anything and everything, there was no hesitation for either of them. If one person wanted to try something new, they did it with enthusiasm and loved every minute of it. One day they just started saying "when we're married." There was never the traditional proposal where Tony gets down on one knee with a ring and proposes. They just knew that they would be married and one year later they were.

In the first year as a married couple they wore out one mattress and the springs on the old couch they bought at a garage sale. They went to work every day but when they were at home they were like two rutting goats. Even their next door neighbor asked with a silly smile about the "unusual animal sounds" coming from the house.

Needless to say there was a lot of smiling at Tony and Shari's house. Their biggest smile came when Shari found out she was pregnant. She showed Tony the little blue test strip and they hugged and cried. After calling their parents, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbors, and anybody else that they could think of, they went out to a little romantic Italian restaurant and sat behind the candle in the Chianti bottle and held hands. But when they got home they were naked and in bed within minutes of locking the front door. The celebration continued throughout the night as one long kiss. When their lips weren't together Tony was kissing her nipples and her belly and the soft warm folds where his child was going to make its debut. Shari would also lick his nipples and belly and wrap her tongue around his cock as it slid deep into her mouth. Even when Tony was on top of Shari with her legs wrapped around his hips they kissed continuously. It was almost like somebody welded their lips together. The only time they broke their kiss and came up for air was when one said "I love you." And they said it a lot that night. At dawn they each sheepishly called into work and took a sick day.

Another contraction jerked Tony back from the past.

It was close to two hours later when Shari was wheeled into the delivery room with Tony tagging along behind. "Okay, let's get this show on the road," the elderly doctor said with a broad smile. "I've got a golf date at nine that I don't want to miss." The nurse and the aide just rolled their eyes toward the ceiling at his attempt at delivery room humor. Tony only hoped he was joking but wasn't sure. Shari just laid flat with her legs spread and her feet in the stirrups.

"Okay, Tony you stand next to Shari and hold her hand," the doctor instructed. "She's probably going to squeeze pretty hard so be prepared and don't let her break anything. You don't want to miss the action if you have to go off and get a bone set. Now Shari, you just push when I tell you to, and only when I say to. Any other time I want you to relax and breath just like you learned in class. Everybody know what to do? "

Everybody nodded, even the nurse. The aide also nodded as she went about preparing the two bassinets.

The doctor worked between Shari's legs for what seemed to be a long time when he looked up over her distended belly and said, "Okay Shari, now push."

The muffled grunt and screwed up facial expression said that she was pushing with everything she had. It must have been like trying to push a bowling ball through a straw.

"Okay, now stop," the doctor commanded.

Shari fell back and continued to do her rhythmic Lamaze breathing as the doctor went back to working between her legs.

"Okay Shari, push again."

Her expression changed again and the grunt was louder. She must have been holding her breath as she concentrated on expelling one of the babies.

"Stop."

Again she fell back and did her rhythmic breathing. The sweat was starting to drip down the sides of her face when the nurse took a towel and wiped her off.

"One more time, please."

Her face turned beet red as she grunted and pushed with everything she had. All at once the doctor stood up holding a tiny red baby coated in slime and said, "You can relax for a minute. Say hello to your son." He cradled the newborn in his hands so everybody could get a good look while the nurse clamped and cut the umbilical chord. Then he passed the slimy, red, squirming baby off to the nurse who put him in the bassinet and started cleaning. Tony and Shari smiled from ear to ear.

"That's little Brian," Shari said between breaths. Her face was glowing, but it may have had something to do with the sweat running down her cheeks. She reached out and stroked Tony's cheek and blew him a kiss.

"We're not done yet," the doctor said with a little twinkle in his eye. "You've still got one waiting on deck. Okay, when I say push I want you to push like you did on that last one. Hopefully we can get by with only one."

Everybody relaxed as the doctor went back to work between Shari's legs.

"Okay, Shari, push hard."

She grunted and pushed with everything she had. This time her face turned so red it looked like an overripe grape aching to explode.

"Stop. Wait a minute."

Shari relaxed and gasped for air.

"Okay, push again but this time don't hold your breath."

Shari pushed and grunted and took an occasional breath. The doctor stood up holding another dark red slimy baby. But this time he looked down at the child and then up to the nurses. They all exchanged knowing glances as he held up the little girl for inspection.

"It's a girl," he said as he handed the little girl off to the aide while the nurse severed the umbilical cord.

"Bria," Shari said with a wide smile.

The doctor did his suturing and clean-up work between Shari's legs quietly as the nurse and aide finished cleaning the two newborns. Tony wiped Shari's face and the only sound in the room was the hum of the air conditioning. When the nurses were done they put little Brian in Tony's arms and put little Bria in Shari's. Then stood back to watch what happened next.

Shari and Tony were all smiles as they looked at the little bundle in their arms. Tony looked down at Brian and started to cry. He then looked over at Bria and his smile vanished. He looked at Brian and then Bria and a worried expression appeared on his face. When he looked at his wife he saw that her expression had changed as well. She looked very worried and seemed nervous. Both Tony and Shari continued to look back and forth between the two babies. It was apparent to everyone now that the two newborns looked completely different. Brian was a typical newborn, slightly red skin, bald, and pudgy features. Bria however had the same pudgy features but her skin was much darker and her head had a tuft of curly black hair. Brian's features were of a white baby and Bria's features were of a black baby. Everybody was thinking the same thing. Nobody was smiling any more.

"Okay Shari, it's time to take you to the recovery room and the babies to the nursery. Tony you can wait in the waiting room and somebody will tell you what room your wife is in when she's ready." The doctor turned and walked out pulling off his latex gloves.

Tony looked up as the nurse took Brian out of his arms and the aide took Bria from Shari. Another nurse entered and said, "Mr. Mason, follow me please," while yet another started rearranging Shari on the delivery table.

With a final glance back at his wife's worried expression, Tony walked out with his escort.

"Uh, I need to talk to the doctor for a minute," Tony said stripping off his hospital gown as they walked. The nurse must have been anticipating this because she walked him around to a little duty station where the doctor was sitting in front of a computer monitor.

"Uh, doc, what's going on?" Tony stammered.

Dr. McCoy stood and looked into Tony's face and said with a serious expression. "Mr. Mason, I'm not a hundred percent sure what's going on. I have my suspicions but I can't say anything until we run a few tests. There are a series of tests that I'm going to order and they should give us some answers. I wouldn't worry for now because from everything I see both babies look healthy and strong.

"Doc, do these tests have anything to do with DNA testing?"

"Actually they do, we want to find out if there are any genetic markers that indicate problems like Down's Syndrome or a number of other lesser known conditions. Like I said, I can't tell you anything now without doing the tests but as soon as we have the results we'll call."

There was a long, uncomfortable pause as the two men stood together in front of the computer. Tony had a number of thoughts and fears rattling around in his head but he didn't exactly know how to broach the subject. Finally he just said what he was thinking.

"Doc, since you're going to do the DNA tests will you be doing a paternity test as well?"

"Not usually, unless you think it's necessary. I'll order it if you want."

There was another long, uncomfortable pause before Tony sheepishly said, "Do it, please."

Dr. McCoy put his hand on Tony's shoulder and said, "I will. Now go to your wife. She's probably wondering where you got to. Go!"

Tony went back to the recovery waiting room and sat in a beat up old orange chair. He sat thinking about what he saw and what he feared. Thoughts were not his friend at that moment.

After sitting for an hour letting every possible bad scenario wash over him the nurse came over and told him where Shari was. He sat for a while longer before going to the men's room and washing his face. The walk to her room was slow and deliberate almost like a condemned man taking that last walk to the gallows. He didn't smile. He had lost the will to smile. When he finally saw his wife she was asleep. Her head was back and her mouth open with spittle running down her chin. "At least someone can sleep peacefully," he thought.

"We had to give her something to help her sleep," a voice said from behind Tony. He turned and saw the ward nurse standing there looking at Shari. "When she got here she was acting irrational and started hyperventilating. She kept asking for you and when you didn't show up right away she tried to get out of bed and find you. We couldn't have that so we got her doctor to prescribe something. She'll sleep and rest comfortably now. You should probably come back in the morning."

Tony's eyes went back to his wife lying in the bed. He stood in the doorway for a long time trying to decide what to do. One thing he didn't want to do was talk to Shari, so he turned to go home. On the way out he passed the nursery and stopped to look in. In front and to one side were two bassinets, one labeled Mason Boy and the other Mason Girl. He just stood and stared at the two sleeping infants. This should have been the happiest day of his life, but it wasn't. Clouds of doubt darkened his day. As he looked at the little boy his heart lifted and he knew what joy was. When he looked at the little girl his heart broke. He couldn't understand why. He had too many questions with no answers and it was killing him. He had no way to figure out what to do, so instead he just put his head down and walked away.

Day 2

When Tony got to the hospital the next morning his whole family met him in the lobby. Shari's parents and his mom and dad were sitting with his sister and her husband and everybody was talking animatedly and smiling. There were hugs all around when he came in but he didn't smile much. After a few minutes Tony led the family to the elevator and up to the maternity ward. A host of smiling people crowded around the viewing window and blocked the view inside. They were looking and pointing at the new addition to their own families. When Tony and his family inched up to the window they saw that the two Mason babies were far away from the window and they couldn't get a good look at either of them. They could only make out blankets wrapped around something with tiny wiggling arms. One of the nurses mouthed to the crowd, "which one is yours?" and Tony pointed at the little boy. The nurse scooped him up and brought him as close to the window as she could. The oohs and aahs started. A minute later a second nurse picked up his little girl and brought her up beside her brother. The oohs and aahs stopped as everybody got to see the two side by side. Every family member turned in unison to look at Tony with stunned expressions. Tony couldn't handle their looks so he just walked away.

Eventually, Tony showed up at his wife's room. She was sitting up in bed looking out the window. When she heard Tony at the door she started crying.

"Babe, where have you been?" she said through her sobs. "I was worried when you didn't come back yesterday. I don't know what you're thinking and I'm worried. Talk to me please."

Tony just stood beside the bed with his hands in his pockets looking down at her. He couldn't think of anything to say. His mind wouldn't work and he couldn't get his mouth to form words. Finally he summed up everything he was thinking and feeling in three little words. He mumbled, "I don't understand."

Shari reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him closer. He didn't move. Her hands crawled up his stomach and chest like a spider as she tried to reach up and grab his face to pull it down to her. Tony still didn't move. Shari's tears were flowing heavily now.

"Babe, listen to me. I don't understand what's going on either. Something's wrong, I don't know what it is, and I'm scared. They brought them in here this morning for their feeding and it's obvious that Bria is different from Brian. If they hadn't put her in my arms yesterday in the delivery room I would have sworn that they got them mixed up in the nursery. They didn't. Brian looks like you and Bria is, I don't know what, a stranger maybe. I asked the nurse to explain why they look so different and she said the doctor will come in and explain what's going on this morning. I'm scared that something's wrong with her and I think you're thinking the same thing. We just have to wait for the doctor to talk to us."

The sadness in Tony's heart wouldn't go away. His wife was thinking exactly what he was. She was worried too; he could hear it in her voice. And her sobbing said that she felt the same heartache he did. He still didn't know what to do.

A strange voice in the room startled them both back to reality. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Mason? I'm Dr. Lin. I'm the staff geneticist. I specialize in genetic health issues. I understand you've got some questions and concerns about your daughter. I'll try to answer any question you have. Now before we begin let me tell you that I talked to Dr. McCoy about your pre-natal care and your delivery yesterday. Everything he told me seems absolutely normal. Even the amniocentesis looked normal. So how can I help you?"

Neither Tony nor Shari could say anything. They didn't know how to ask the question. Finally Shari spoke up. "Doc, tell me what's wrong with my daughter. I don't understand what's going on here. Is there something wrong with her?"

The doctor looked puzzled. "I don't understand. From everything I see you have two very healthy babies. Dr. McCoy ordered a battery of DNA and genetic marker tests that will show any abnormalities, but they should be routine. You may want to ask for a complete DNA mapping on both of you. That may help give you the answers you want. But frankly, I don't see why you think there's something wrong."

"Did you see them?" Tony asked rather pointedly.

"Well, no I didn't. I just looked at their charts and lab work and talked to your doctor."


The Wisdom of Solomon



"I think you should," Tony said. "Come, let's take a little walk."

Both men walked down to the nursery and stood in front of the viewing window. Tony pointed to the two Mason babies and the nurses picked them up and held them at the window.

"I think I see your concern," the doctor answered with one raised eyebrow. "Let's go back and include your wife in this conversation."

When they returned and sat down the doctor started. "Mr. Mason, Mrs. Mason, I can see why you're concerned. Your little girl doesn't look anything like you or her brother. Now let me tell you a little about fraternal twins. You probably know some of what I'm going to tell you but I need to lay everything out for you to understand your situation.

"Fraternal twins occur when two fertilized eggs implant in the uterine wall at the same time. When two eggs are independently fertilized by two different sperm cells, fraternal twins occur. Some women have a predisposition for releasing multiple eggs during one ovulation cycle, you might be one of them Mrs. Mason. Fraternal twins, like all siblings, have an extremely small chance of having the same chromosome profile while identical twins will have exactly the same DNA profile. Like other siblings fraternal twins may look similar, however they may also look very different from one another. Another way of putting it is that fraternal twins are simply siblings who happen to be born at the same time. About 1 in 90 births result in twins and of that about 75 percent are fraternal twins.

"It's a common occurrence that one twin may have health issues while the other doesn't. As I said earlier, Dr. McCoy ordered a series of DNA tests on both children to see if there are any genetic abnormalities. I'm sure you know of one that we can test for before birth and that's Down's Syndrome. But there are others that we don't test for on a regular basis. There's a very rare one called Progeria that causes rapid aging and we'll be testing for that as well. But there are literally dozens of abnormalities to test for, anything that indicates a problem we will find.

"There's also another possibility but we won't know exactly if this is your case until we do the DNA mapping we talked about. It's possible that one of you has a recessive gene from a distant ancestor who was black and it chose this time to come out. The genetic material in each of you is the product of the hundreds of generations that came before you. Somewhere in your past there may have been an ancestor whose contribution to your DNA has now come out. It happens rarely but it does happen.

"I don't know if I answered your questions or just gave you more to worry about. I would recommend waiting until we have the entire DNA work up completed before doing anything. When you have answers you can make educated decisions. Right now you're just afraid and worried. We should know something definite in about a week."

Both Shari and Tony just sat and tried to absorb everything they heard. It was going to take a while to process everything. They thanked the doctor and he left. Again it was just the two of them in the room and they were afraid to say out loud what they were thinking.

Tony looked at his wife and said, "Shari, I don't want you to be blindsided here but before I knew all of this I asked Dr. McCoy to do a paternity test. I wasn't thinking straight and may have jumped to the wrong conclusion. I'm sure it will be okay too. I'm sorry."

"You did what? How could you even think such a thing? I can't believe..."

"Hey you two, congratulations," came the clamor as both families entered the room. Shari and Tony's conversation ended abruptly as everybody's attention went naturally to Shari. This gave Tony the opportunity to sneak out unnoticed.

When Tony got home he plopped down in his recliner chair with a beer. The phone began ringing. There must have already been twenty messages on the answering machine from Shari or her parents. This time they didn't leave a message. Tony just wanted to be alone to think. He understood everything that the doctor said, almost all of it, but that still left him with unanswered questions and a heart full of pain. He decided he needed to read more and totally understand everything before going off the deep end. He put down the beer and went into the den and started looking at websites that had anything to do with twins, DNA, genetic abnormalities, and recessive genetic traits.

About two hours into his investigation he remembered something that the doctor said about fraternal twins. He said that "fraternal twins occur when two fertilized eggs are implanted in the uterine wall at the same time. When two eggs are independently fertilized by two different sperm cells, fraternal twins occur." What he didn't say was that there might be the possibility that the two different sperm cells could come from two different donors. So Tony googled that and found a website that described something called Heteropaternal Superfecundation. These two five dollar words simply meant that when two or more of a woman's eggs are fertilized by different men in the same ovulation period twins can occur with each having the same mother but a different father. It's so rare that only a few cases have ever been documented in medical records. Tony just sat back and stared at the screen. The possibility never occurred to him that Shari could do something like that. She loved him and he loved her. How could she do something so awful as to cheat on him? He just sat and worried that he might have a bigger problem on his hands. At that moment his doorbell rang.

"Hi Mom, Dad, come on in. What brings you guy here?"

"We were worried about you, the way you disappeared like that," his mother said. "And you haven't been answering the phone. What's the matter with you? We brought you up better than that."

"Mom, you saw the babies. There's something wrong with Bria. She doesn't look like either Shari or me. I don't know what's going on. The doctors are going to run all the tests they can to see if there is some kind of a genetic problem but I don't think they'll find anything. I have my suspicions what the problem is but I can't talk about it right now. I just have to wait until the blood tests are done."

Mom gave him her usual kind and sympathetic look as she said, "Tony, I don't know anything about these things but I do know you and Shari. You're good people and love each other more than any couple I've ever met, so whatever problem there is I'm sure you will find a way to fix it. Just let us know if there's anything we can do to help?"

"Yeah Mom, I might need a place to live when Shari gets home with the babies. I'll let you know."

Both Mom and Dad sat there with their mouths hanging open worrying that the problem may be bigger than they ever imagined.

Day 3

The next morning Tony showed up at Shari's room ready to take his family home. Her parents were with her and she wouldn't talk to him. She wouldn't even look at him. Her father had to tell Tony what was going on.

"Tony, we're coming home with you. We want to help and have decided that we can stay until things are settled. Shari told us what you said and we can't believe you would accuse her of such a thing. She would never cheat on you. She loves you too much to do anything that stupid. She's a good girl and she loves you."

"She said I accused her of cheating on me? Bullshit! I never said such a thing. I hardly said anything to her. You know, I think you better come home and stay with your precious daughter for a while. I'm not sure what's going on and I don't want to say or do anything to make things worse. Besides, how much worse can it get?"

Tony packed up the car and drove home alone with only the bags for company. Shari's mom and dad followed along behind with their daughter and the two little ones.

For the next few days everything was quiet but tense. Whenever Shari and Tony were in the same room her mother or father would circle around them like referees in a boxing match. Shari's parents slept in the spare bedroom and Tony slept on the couch. Sleeping on the couch didn't do anything to brighten his disposition either.

One night when everybody was asleep Tony snuck into the nursery and just stood there looking at the two newborns. He felt awful taking out his bad mood on them. They were innocent. They didn't do anything wrong. He didn't hate them. He just had misgivings whenever he looked at Bria. He wanted to hold them. He wanted to love them. But there was no way he could until he understood what was going on and everything was back to normal. For now the only thing he could do was look at them as they slept. He turned and crept quietly back to his couch.

Day 10

It had been a week since the twins came home. Everybody was at home and the daily routine was set but everything was not normal. Tony still slept on the couch and Shari would only talk to him through her parents. Even her parents were getting tired of things the way they were.

"Tony, it's Dr. McCoy's office," Shari's mom said poking her head out from the kitchen.

"Mr. Mason, Dr. McCoy would like to see you and Mrs. Mason in his office to go over the results of Brian and Bria's tests. Can you come in at one o'clock?"

"I'll be there," was all he said.

At noon Tony got in his car and started down the driveway. Suddenly Shari jumped in front of the car and stood there with her hands on her hips. The expression on her face could have frightened a demon.

"And where do you think you're going?" she shouted.

Tony stuck his head out the window and said, "The doctor's office called and they have the test results back."

"And you didn't think to ask me if I wanted to go?"

"Shari, you haven't said two words to me since you got home. Hell you won't even look at me. I'll go get the test results and bring them home and give them to your parents. You can look at them later."

"Hell no! I'm going with you. You're not the only one worried here and I have as much right to be there as you do. Now open the door and let me in."

The drive to the doctor's office was very quiet. Once they were sitting across from the elderly doctor he started talking.

"Mr. and Mrs. Mason, I've got all the test results back and have good news to report. Neither Bria nor Brian has any health problems. Everything checked out okay. They're fine, healthy little babies. You met the geneticist when you were here and he told you about doing a DNA mapping to see if there was a recessive genetic trait showing up in Bria. Well, the preliminary results don't show anything in your DNA that would cause Bria to have black skin and features."

He stopped talking and just stared at the two of them.

"What," Shari asked. "What else is there? Tell us."

The doctor gave out a heavy sigh and looked first at Tony and then Shari. "Mr. and Mrs. Mason, I do have one test left to report on and I'm afraid it isn't going to be good news. The paternity test shows that Mr. Mason is the father of Brian but not the father of Bria. I'm sorry, but we double checked the results and they agree. Each child has a different father."

"WHAT?" Shari screamed loud enough to be heard in the waiting room. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! THAT'S ABSURD! THAT'S ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT! Tony's their father. I'm their mother. That's that! You're lying. You don't know what you're doing. I'll get a lawyer and sue your ass."

All Tony could do was sit and watch as she stormed out of the office, screaming all the way down the hall.

"I'm sorry Mr. Mason. Here's a copy of everything for you to take with you in case you need them for, well, anything else. I hope everything works out for all of you."

As Tony walked into the waiting room he half expected to see Shari sitting there. She wasn't. He looked in the hall and in the lobby and she wasn't there either. She was gone. The security guard said a woman ran out of the building screaming and crying and he tried to catch up with her but she disappeared in the park across the street. He didn't know where she went after that. Tony drove around the park and the surrounding neighborhood for a while before giving up and going home. If she wanted to she would come home when she was good and ready he thought. But he wasn't going to hold his breath.

Once at home he gave her parents the good and bad news. They were stunned. They couldn't believe that something like this was even possible let alone that their sweet daughter would do something to cause it. Tony just got a six pack and went into the den and closed the door. He stayed there for the rest of the day and night.

Day 11

Tony awoke around noon the next day to find the computer keyboard smashed and laying on the floor. He didn't remember what he did but from the condition of the room it didn't look pleasant. He slept sitting on the desk chair with his head on the desk. His head hurt from the beer and from lying on the hard oak top but he got up anyway and ventured into the living room only to find Shari's mom sitting on the couch with Brian and Bria. After a muffled hello he stumbled into the bathroom to do his morning business and then into kitchen to have a piece of toast for breakfast. The beer he had been drinking lately had done a number on his stomach. He could barely keep the toast down. Shari's father came in with a concerned look on his face.

"Son, do you have any idea where she might be? I drove home this morning to see if she was at our place and there was no sign of her. I called her old girlfriends and they hadn't seen her either. I even drove by her work and the security guard checked and she hadn't been there either. I don't know where else to look."

Tony looked up from his breakfast and said, "I haven't a clue. There seems to be a lot I haven't a clue about. Right now I don't really care." He walked out to front porch, plopped down in the old wicker chair and started pouting.

Around two o'clock a taxi pulled up out front and a little old African American woman got out. She was thin and frail looking and walked slightly stooped over. She looked to be as old as dirt. The cane she used to hobble from the street to the porch looked to be even older that she was. The black dress she wore looked like her Sunday go to meeting best but it too appeared to be about as old as she was. The trip from the street to the porch took several minutes and Tony didn't move at all waiting for her to arrive. When she did he stood up.

Tony greeted the little old lady with, "Hello. Can I help you?"

She looked up at him with old eyes that held a sparkle of life experience that anyone would envy. Her body may have been ancient and worn-out but her eyes showed that her mind was anything but.

"Good afternoon, are you Tony?" she said very slowly with a slight southern drawl.

"Yes I am. What can I do for you?"

"My name is Violet Solomon. You don't know me but I know a great deal about you. Can I come up and sit down so we can talk?"

"I don't mean to be impolite ma'am but what about?"

"Shari."

There was a long pause before Tony spoke again. "I'm afraid I don't have anything to say about her. She disappeared yesterday and I haven't heard from her since. I don't want to talk about her. So if you don't mind I'll just say good day to you."  

He sank down in the wicker chair and continued pouting. The little old lady just shrugged her shoulders and turned and spent the next few minutes walking to the curb. On the way she took out a cell phone and made a call then sat on the curb to wait. Fifteen minutes later a police car pulled up and the cop got out and started talking to her. He helped her into the back seat of the cruiser and then hiked up his gun belt as he walked to the porch.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Mason?" The cop asked with a deep baritone voice.

Tony looked up from his chair and saw the tallest, baddest looking cop that he ever had the occasion to meet. He was standing there with one foot on the porch steps and his hand on his pistol. He was an imposing figure.

"What can I do for you officer?" Tony replied.

"How long has my grandma been sitting on the curb out there? She's got bad arthritis and sitting on the damp ground is only going to make her knees and ankles hurt. She said you wouldn't talk to her. She wants to talk to you about your wife. Why don't you want to talk to her? Is there some problem that you and I need to discuss?" The threat was veiled but understood.

Tony stood up and walked over to the officer and almost came face to face with him even though he was standing two steps down on the sidewalk.

"Anything between my wife and I is just that, between my wife and I. I don't want some stranger coming into my house and getting into my personal business. I don't care if you do have a gun strapped to your hip; you still have no business interfering with me and my wife."

"Mr. Mason, sir, I appreciate your situation but I don't like your attitude. My grandma came all the way over here to talk to you about something she thinks is very important and I think you could at least listen to what she has to say. She may be doing you a big favor. The least you can do is be polite enough to hear her out. Or would you rather I do the talking for her?"

Tony just looked at the officer and figured that anything he said wouldn't make any difference anyway. He might as well listen and then let them go on their way.

"Okay, I'll hear her out. Ask her to come up here on the porch and we can talk. I have to make a phone call. I'll be right back."

"Who's that outside?" Shari's mom asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"I don't know, someone that wants to talk about Shari. Why don't you join us? You might be interested to hear what they have to say."

Tony made a phone call and then got seven bottles of water out of the refrigerator. When he got back out to the porch he saw the little old lady, Violet, and the police officer sitting at the picnic table. Shari's dad was sitting on one side of the glider and her mom following behind Tony.

"The kids are down for their nap," Shari's mom said. "I've brought the baby monitor so I can hear when they wake up." She sat on the glider next to her husband and everybody looked at Tony holding the bottles of water.

"Drinks anyone?" he quipped as he passed out the water.

At exactly that moment Tony's parents drove up and got out. They found a couple folding chairs and joined the group on the porch.

"Okay, it seems like everybody's here, all except one person that is," Tony mocked. "And Miss Solomon here is going to tell us all about her. Ma'am, you have the floor."

The little old lady may have been frail looking but the stare she gave Tony would have knocked over any man, even the cop sitting next to her. Tony just retreated quietly to his chair.

The slow drawl began. "Mr. Mason, Tony, I've come here today to tell you a story, a story about your wife, something you don't know but you need to know. Now I understand that you and your wife are having a bit of difficulty at the moment, and your pride is hurt, but I hope my story will shed some light on the situation and make things a little better for the two of you. Maybe you feel that you're justified in feeling the way you do, but I don't think so. After you hear what I have to say you have some decisions to make. I hope for your sake you make the right ones.

"I will start my story by telling you that I have two grandsons that I raised from infants, after their mother died. Clarence here became a fine law enforcement officer and Denzel was a sergeant in the Army. Long before Shari met you she and Denzel were a couple. I don't know if she told you about her old boyfriends but they were together for a couple years. I got to know her pretty well. We spent many an hour in my back yard talking about just about everything. She even came over and spent a couple days with me when I got out of the hospital after a bout with pneumonia. She was always kind to me.




The Wisdom of Solomon



"Now Denzel loved her and I think she loved him but that wasn't enough to keep them together forever. I know that Denzel was aware of the differences between them, race being only the most obvious difference, and he did everything in his power to make it work. It didn't. They broke up. Neither one of them would tell me why they broke up but it was sad to see them apart like that. A few months later Denzel's Army outfit was deployed to Iraq. He did two tours of duty on the front line before the incident that sent him home. One day Denzel and his patrol group were checking out an abandoned house when he saw a little dog tied up to a pole. Denzel was a careful soldier and looked all around for snipers and the like. When he thought the coast was clear he went over to untie the dog to rescue him. What he couldn't know was that it was a booby trap. He called it an IED, an improvised explosive device. The ground under the dog exploded sending both of them flying through the air. The little dog was in a hundred pieces. Denzel looked down and found he was missing a couple pieces of his own. He didn't see his legs. The medevac helicopter got him to the hospital in time to save his life but he had lost both legs and part of one arm. There were several other injuries that basically took his manhood from him. He was a broken man. He spent nine months in a rehabilitation hospital outside of Washington D.C. and came home just before Christmas a year ago. He had new prosthetic legs to walk on but they couldn't do anything about his spirit. He was constantly depressed and even talked about suicide. Between his brother and me we tried to keep him happy and positive but no matter what we did or said he just continued to go down hill. That's when I thought of Shari.

"Denzel loved Shari at one time and would do anything for her. I got it in my mind to call her and have her come over and talk with him and maybe she could cheer him up. From what she told me yesterday she never told you about visiting him. I'm sorry you never met him. I think you would have liked him. Anyway, Shari came over and visited with us a couple times a week. We talked and ate and she even helped to get Denzel enrolled in a computer course at the community college. He seemed to feel better about himself when she was around. He started to think of himself as a whole man again, not just a cripple with no legs. Shari was always honest with him. He knew that she was married and very much in love with you and they never did anything except talk as old friends. That is until one day I had to go to church for a meeting.

"Now Shari told me this yesterday and it shocked me to my core. I'm sorry I have to tell you this but I'm going to be honest and blunt and just say it. While I was at church they made love. She said that she didn't know why she did it except that she felt pity for him and maybe a little responsible for his injuries. Yeah, I said to her exactly what you're thinking now. How can she be responsible for the injuries he got in a war five thousand miles away? Well, she explained it like this. If they hadn't broken up then maybe, just maybe, they would have been together and he would have done only one tour of duty and passed on the second to come home to her. We'll never know if that would have been the way things turned out but that's what she was thinking. She felt so much guilt about what she did with Denzel that when she got home to you she made love to you. She felt so bad about what she did that she thought she could make it up to you with sex. She was wrong and she realized it afterwards. There was no way she could make it up to you. She hurt you without you ever knowing it. She hurt your marriage. But she never stopped loving you. I know this in my heart to be true. She made a mistake by being with my Denzel because she loved only you and she betrayed you.

"Now, here's the hard part for me. I've got to tell you what happened afterwards. Shari was wonderful and helped to brighten Denzel's life. But after that day Denzel fell into a deep depression. He was mumbling something about having lost everything he ever loved. He felt very guilty about what they did and even said he wanted to come over and apologize. I talked him out of it and I think that's what sent him over the edge. All I remember about that day was the sound. I hear it at night just before I go to sleep now and I'll probably hear it for the rest of my life. The sound came from upstairs. I went up there as quickly as I could and went to Denzel's room. I found him lying in his bed in a pool of blood. He still had his service revolver in his hand. There was splattered blood all over the wall above his bed. Mr. Mason, my grandson, my beautiful grandbaby, took his pistol and stuck it in his mouth and pulled the trigger. He just couldn't handle being half a man, and one that only a beat up old shell of a woman loved. Shari decided to never tell you about Denzel or what they did or his death because it would have killed you. She's right you know. It would have destroyed any happiness you might have had. She vowed to never to get in a situation like that again. One mistake in a lifetime was enough and she would pay for it silently for the rest of her days.

"Shari called me yesterday and I got a cab to pick her up and bring her to my house. You should have seen her. She was wailing and crying and a complete mess. When she did calm down for a minute she was so depressed that I thought about hiding the kitchen knives. We talked all day and all night long. She knows that her little girl is Denzel's and her little boy is yours. Neither of us understood how this came about because the IED damaged more than his legs. He lost one of his testicles and had severe abdominal injuries. The doctors said that he would never be able to father children. That's what I meant when I said he lost his manhood. Shari and I talked about what she did and what she created. I'm a God fearing woman Mr. Mason and I'm not going to judge her, but she's already judged herself and passed sentence. If you don't get off you backside and go talk to her then her sentence may be as severe as that of my grandson's. I don't want that to happen. You see, I love her just as much as Denzel did, and probably as much as you do. She needs help. She needs you. I think you're her only hope, her salvation if you will. Please do what's right and go to her."

When she sat back, her story finished, everybody on the porch sat in utter silence. There wasn't a dry eye in the lot. Even the mountain of a policeman wiped away a tear, trying to do it so nobody would see. Slowly, one by one, each person turned their eyes to Tony. He just sat looking straight ahead at Violet, their eyes locked on one another.

As he sat there he remembered the time about nine months ago when Shari went into a deep funk that lasted almost a week. It was right after that marathon two-person orgy they had one night. He would never forget the things they did and how forceful she was. Now he understood exactly why, guilt. He thought something he did that night caused her depression but couldn't get her to tell him. Now he understood that it was what she and Denzel did. In a few days she was back to normal and so were their lives. It was just about a month later that she announced that she was pregnant. The first thing he thought of was that night with Shari.

Without saying a single word Tony got up and went into the house.

Violet and her grandson said their goodbyes and slowly walked out to the cruiser arm in arm. Everybody else just sat on the porch wondering what was going to happen next. What happened was Tony walking through the door and over to the cruiser. When the cop lowered the passenger side window Tony said, "I'll take Violet home. I need to get my wife and bring her home. We've got a family now that she needs to take care of. Thank you officer, I wouldn't have heard the story if you hadn't twisted my arm."

Tony and Violet drove in silence to her home across town. They found Shari in one of the upstairs bedrooms under several blankets. She looked like hell. She had obviously been crying. But when she saw Tony she threw the covers off and jumped up into his arms and started crying all over again.

"I'm sorry Babe, so, so sorry. God I made a mess of things. Please forgive me."

Tony held his wife for the first time in over a week. She felt good in his arms, warm and soft. It was just then that he realized just how much he had missed her touch. But the problems still existed. They needed help to get past what she did, if they could at all.

"Come on let's go home. You've got a family now and can't be running away whenever there's some little problem. Let's go. We'll talk at home."

Tony and Shari each thanked Violet in their own way for what she did and parted never knowing if they would meet again. The drive home was quiet but not as tense as the past week at home. It almost seemed like the dark clouds had parted and a bit of sunshine came shining through. Only time would tell.

Day 18

Shari had been home for more than a week but life with Tony had not returned to normal. When they talked they could only talk for a few minutes before one or the other them got upset. They were having trouble communicating.

One day Tony came home from work and told Shari to get dressed because they were going out. When she asked where he said only that it was a surprise. She smiled and dressed casually like he said. Shari's mom showed up to babysit and they drove away. The car seemed to know where it was going all by itself. Shari was on pins and needles worried about what Tony had planned, she hoped that it would be a nice dinner but she couldn't judge his mood. She just sat quietly and waited. Twenty minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of an office complex. They got out and Tony took her hand and led the way. They ended up on the fourth floor standing in front of a door with the words 'Felix Simón, Family Counseling' printed in gold letters. Tony turned to Shari and said, "This is the only way I can think of to get our problems out in the open and to see if we can find a solution. I met with Dr. Simón a couple days ago and told him the basics. Tonight you and I are going to start putting our marriage back together. Frankly I don't know if we can but I'm willing to try. I hope you are too." Shari just smiled and opened the door. That simple action said she wanted this as much as he did.

"Good evening Mr. Mason, Mrs. Mason, please come in." Dr. Simón motioned for them to sit down on the couch across from his big office chair. He sat down like he was sitting on a throne and intertwined his fingers.

"Mrs. Mason, Shari, it's nice to meet you. I don't know if Tony told you but we talked already. He told me the situation but didn't go into too much detail. Tonight we're going to start by having each of you tell the same story from your own point of view. Let me tell you, during our sessions together I set the rules. I expect you to respect me and each other. What we say here may be painful but it's necessary to be open and honest about everything, no matter how it makes us feel, so that we can bring your problems into the light. We may talk about intimate parts of your life and your deepest darkest secrets. All I expect is for you to be honest with each other and to try to understand things from your partner's point of view. We will continue these sessions until I feel you have reached a point where you can go it alone. But, at any time if you want to stop you are free to do so. You are under no obligation whatsoever to fix your problems and move forward. Now are there any questions before we start? Shari?"

Shari just shook her head no.

"Tony?"

He also indicated no.

"Good then we'll start with you Tony. Tell me the problem as you see it. What happened that brought you here?"

Tony took in a deep breath and let it out. "It started with the birth of our children, the twins. They're fraternal twins but they look quite different from one another and from us. You see one is white and the other is, well, uh, African American."

"Tony, hold on a minute," Dr. Simón interrupted. "Since we're going to be talking a lot about race here I don't want to hinder the conversation with terms that carry any baggage or words that make you feel less than free to say what you want. From now on we will refer to your race as white and my race as black. I was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Miami. I don't consider myself a Dominican Republican American or an African American. I'm an American whose color is black. That's how we're going to proceed, if you're comfortable with that."

"That sounds fine," Tony answered sounding a bit relieved. Shari only nodded. "Brian is our son, he's white, and Bria is our daughter, she's black, or of a mixed race. Their birth was quite a shock to both of us. The DNA testing proved that I'm the father of Brian and someone else is Bria's father. I now know who that someone is. It seems that my wife had an affair with one of her old boyfriends on the same day that she and I had sex.

"My first problem is one of trust. I don't know if I can live with Shari knowing what she did. I don't know if I'll ever trust her again. I don't want to go through life always looking for clues to her infidelity. I can't live like that. If I can't trust her again then I don't think we can be together any more.

"The second problem is a bit more hairy. Every time I look at Bria I'm reminded of what Shari did. I don't think I can live in the same house with her because every time I look at her I'm reminded of what happened, and of the pain. I don't know what I can do. I don't think of her as my daughter and I certainly don't want to raise someone else's child, even if Shari is her mother. It just gnaws at me every day when I look at her. I haven't a clue how I'm going to get past it. It may be a deal breaker. I don't know. I just don't know."

"Tell me Tony, how do you feel about Shari?" Dr. Simón asked. "Do you love her or have your feelings changed?"

"I... I'm not... I love her," Tony said looking down at his lap. "I've always loved her. I just feel like she's ripped a large part of me out and stomped on it. It hurts like I can't explain. I've never felt anything this bad before, ever."

"Have you told her how you feel?"

"No, not really. We've talked a little but I couldn't say what I really felt. I was afraid I would say something that would make things worse. I was afraid I would say something about Bria. I'm very afraid of what's bouncing around in my head. And, I can see why she wouldn't want to talk to me; after all since the twins were born all I've done is mope around the house. I haven't even held my son since he left the hospital. I've taken my feelings out on everybody around me. I've been such a dick."

"And why? What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that Shari and everybody's going to think that I'm some kind of a racist because I don't want to be around Bria."

"And you're angry because Shari was with a black man?"

"No, that's not it. I'm angry that she was with another man period. His race doesn't make a difference. I'm just hurt that she thought so little of me that she would have sex with someone else."

"NO! That's not true!" Shari yelled.

Dr. Simón put his hand up in front of her to say stop. "Please, wait a few minutes. I want Tony to say everything and then you can respond. I know it's hard having to sit there and hear what he's saying, but he has to be free to say whatever he wants no matter how much it hurts. Just imagine how much it's hurting him to say those things. Now, Tony, please continue."

"I don't remember what I was saying."

"You were saying that you hurt because she thought so little about you that she would be with another man."

"Well, yeah, that's the way I feel. I can't help it. I've never done anything to her to deserve this. I'm so hurt and confused. That's why I came to see you the other day, that's why we're here now, to get someone to help me understand what I did that was wrong and if possible, to help us get past it. Someone that can be impartial."

Tony stopped and looked up at Shari. Tears were streaming down her face and she was rocking back and forth with her feet pulled up under her legs. She had a handful of tissues balled up in her hands. She looked awful.

"Is there anything else you would like to say Tony before I turn to Shari?"

"I don't think so. I may have said too much already. No, go ahead."

Dr. Simón turned to the obviously distraught woman. "Shari, before I have you talk do you want to take a break? Maybe go to the bathroom and straighten up. How about something to drink? I have some water if you would like."

Shari wiped her eyes and grabbed another handful of tissues. She wiped again and said, "No, I think I'll be all right. Just give me a minute. I'll be okay."

Her body uncurled and she sat up straight. She wiped her face again and took a couple deep breaths.

"I'm okay now. How do I start?"

"Shari, I want you to tell me in you own words what happened since the birth of the twins. I don't want you to go back any further. I don't want you to say anything about what happened before that time, just talk about what you've been feeling since the delivery."

After a moment to gather her thoughts she started. "Well, I've been a complete mess. Even when I've looked all calm and composed outside I've been screaming inside. When Brian was born I looked over and saw Tony and he looked happier than any time I've ever seen him. I was too. We were both in heaven. We had a little baby boy, something we've always wanted and have talked about since we got married. Then when Bria was born everything changed. I knew immediately that there was a problem with her but I just thought she had a skin problem that would go away in time. When I looked over at Tony his expression had changed. His mouth was open and his eyes just stared at her. I could almost see the joy flow out of him. It scared me more than anything ever has before. When they brought her back and put her in my arms I knew what I had done. I didn't even know that is was possible but I saw someone other than Tony in her. I started shaking and almost dropped her. Tony's face had no expression, not even hate. He was just blank. I thought right then that I may have destroyed the man I love. I did, I did, and I hurt the man I love more than anything in this world. I wanted to die.

"When they took me to the recovery room I tried to get off the table and go to Tony. Two nurses held me down as I started screaming for him. Then one of the doctors came in and gave me something. I fell asleep as they held me down. I don't remember anything until the next morning.

"They brought Brian and Bria to me the next morning to feed and I just started crying again. I asked the nurse to explain to me why one looks like me and the other doesn't. She looked sad when she said that she will have one of the doctors come in and explain what's going on. I continued to cry until they took them away. I couldn't feed them. I couldn't hold them. I couldn't do anything. I just cried.

"A couple hours later Tony came in and I could see it in his eyes. He hated me. He was accusing me of something, but I didn't know what. He hardly said a word. He just stared at me with those eyes full of hate. I don't remember what I said but I tried to say something that would get him to talk to me, but he wouldn't. One of the staff doctors came and told us of all the possibilities that could cause Bria to be like she was. He said a lot but it boiled down to our waiting for the blood tests to come back for the answers. They wouldn't know anything definite until the blood work was completed. After he left Tony seemed to soften a bit and told me that he had requested that they also do a paternity test. I felt like he slapped me across the face. It was a veiled accusation but I understood what he meant. I started to say something but before I could get the first word out our parents came in. When I looked around for him he was gone. I could see something accusatory in my parent's eyes too. They looked at me like I was a stranger. I started crying again and the nurse asked everybody to leave. I grabbed the phone and tried to call Tony's cell but he didn't answer. I left a dozen messages at home but he never called me back. All I could do was cry.