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Sophia Pt. 01

By: CastleStone



Author's Notes:

Thank you for even opening up this story. I hope you enjoy it. I was once again, effected by gamma radiation from my desk lamp, so it's not my fault if it sucks. But I will, of course, take all credit if it is liked. 

In this story, you will notice and probably get sick of, the number of meals that I describe. I myself thought, that I might be overdoing things a bit, with the descriptions. But on further thought, I decided to leave them in. I find meals, especially homemade meals to be a terrific way of binding people together. There is something primal about it. 

I wanted to show, how the two main characters of the story fall in love together. There are of course other ways, related in this story, that are not food related. In many stories, on this website, and good stories too. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they have wild sex. With no real description of the events, big and little, that cause them to fall in love. 

With this story, it wasn't a case of compulsion, I didn't have that much of a choice. I tried to show some of the factors, that caused the two main characters to fall in love. Again, I hope you enjoy the story and I hope that it doesn't suck, too much. And yes, the adulterous wife, gets hers in the end. But not the way I expected, damn gamma radiation.

Thanks for reading.

Oh yeah, disclaimer time. This story is entirely fictitious. Everything is made up. Including, but not limited too, various musical groups like The Beatles, the city of Seattle, the Cascade Mountains, the lodge referred to in the story, horses, and vehicles with internal combustion engines. 

I haven't lived, in the mythical city of Seattle, for over twenty years. Don't abuse me too much, if my made up facts; disagree with your made up facts. 

..........................................



Sophia, Part I



I love my girls. We had just finished singing along to AC DC, Dirty Deeds. They really like the "high voltage" part. "Okay, what to you want next Queen, Meat Loaf or The Beatles?"

"Dad, when are you going to get some new music? All you like, is old music and old movies." Came a plaintive voice, from my oldest Megan.

"Old movies have class and character. Not like the movies, made today. The only thing they got, is special effects. Pretty soon, that is all movies are going to be, special effects, even the actors."

"Yeah, yeah, Dad, we've heard it before. Your favorite movie is the African Queen. Your favorite actor is James Cagney. Your favorite actress is....."

"Queen, queens are you talking about gay people, like Rock Hudson?" My youngest Robin interrupted.

"Rock Hudson was not gay!"

"DAaaaad" My two girls harmonized. "Everyone knows......"

"I'm not listening to this, La, La, La, La, La." I used my right hand to cover my right ear, cause I needed the other one to drive.

"He sounds like a Teletubby now." Stated Megan.

"Isn't one of those gay, too?" Asked Robin, from the sound of her voice, I just knew, she had one her classic big grins.

"That is it! You're both out of the will. I'm going to leave my vast fortune, to the Save the Chipmunks Foundation." 

There followed a fierce conversation between Megan and Robin, about which Chipmunk might be gay. I love my girls. Of course, I sometimes want to strangle them. But I would lovingly strangle them. Eventually they wound down, and I asked them again about music.

"I want the Moody Blues. Blasting, billowing forth with the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes." Sang my youngest, Robin.

"You're back in the will Robin. Megan you're still out, no desert for you tonight."

"Then no more kisses for you Daddy."

"Oh yuck, kisses from girls can give you cooties. But, okay you're back in the will, too."

I love my girls. My marriage of twelve years was lie. The type of sex, that I was dying for, she gave to everyone else. I lost at least two million dollars. I'd been branded a willing cuckold. It was all worth it, because I got my girls out of the deal! We started singing, Nights in White Satin.

Two and a half years ago, I found out the truth about my wife. That she had been cheating on me, for at least three years with a lot of different men. I've never been a very observant guy, when it comes to human interaction. Frankly, it takes a couple of hits with a clue bat, to even begin to think that someone might be deceiving me. I'm a better than a middling programmer, but about people forget it. I take people at their word and I trust them, until I get hit with the aforementioned clue bat, several times.

When I confronted my wife with her adultery, her reaction was, "well, duh". Even though we had never agreed to or ever mentioned an open marriage, even though she had been deliberately deceiving me, even though she well knew my obtuseness. She said "well, duh". No apologies, no crawling back to me, no request for marriage counseling, no promises to stop cheating, no nothing. I doubt any of that would have worked anyways. But it would have helped my self image, if she would have at least tried. She was Clark Gable at the end of Gone with the Wind. She didn't give a damn!

So I filed for divorce based on adultery. My attorney told me that it would have no effect on the property division, but I wanted it for the principle. I wanted it known that I had been an unwilling cuckold. Then I made a big mistake, on the financial end of things. I tried to be completely, honest and transparent in all our finances, expecting my wife to behave the same way.

We had almost eight million dollars in investments, that I had carefully nursed over the years. Even though my wife was in banking and I was a programmer, I was the one handling our long term investments. My wife had done an analysis of my financial performance versus the pros, there was no contest. The amount of research I would do, before making a decision was mind numbing. I always had plans, at least, two and three tiers deep for any market change in relation to our investments. Frankly, I just cared more about our money, than they did. I worked harder.

What I should have done, was immediately convert all our investments into cash and put them into certificates of deposit. Three million was fairly conservatively invested. Five million was invested in more risky ventures. Nothing to bad, I knew when to sell and I thought we could maybe make another half million, before I liquidated.

Well my wife's lawyer requested the Judge to freeze all of our assets. The court issued the order and our broker was notified. I started to worry at that point. So I sat down with my wife, Barbara, an explained how within the next couple of months we should sell those stocks. She listened politely and ignored me. I went to my attorney and explained things. He tried to get the freeze lifted, and was denied. I started to panic. I raised a fit with the judge, I was nearly held in contempt of court. The judge brought in a professional. Guess what, he was associated with the same bank, my wife worked at. This man got on the stand, and swore all our investments were financially sound and that selling now, would lose us almost two million dollars in certain gains. Four months after I filed for divorce, we were three million dollars poorer. 

Wait it gets better. There was now approximately five million left, plus the house and a few smaller assets. I already agreed that my wife would get the house. After finding out, how many of her lovers had been there. I swore to never enter that place again. Of course, only after I got all my stuff out. 

The house was easily worth over six hundred thousand. So how did the judge split our remaining assets. She gave my wife 3.2 million and I got 2.2 million. The judge said that because of circumstantial evidence, that I might have hidden some funds, she was awarding my wife one million more than me. No where, no when in the case, had anyone made allegations or presented any evidence that I had stashed some money. I had complete records of all our income and investments, there was nothing unaccounted for. I still don't understand what happened. First my wife and I, lose three million, then she gets a half a million of my remaining share.

My lawyer advised against challenging the decision. He told me. 

"You've been screwed, you can turn bitter and fight. Spend at least a hundred grand and probably two years on appeal. Get ulcers, lose sleep. Or walk away, and instead of living two years dwelling in the past, spend two years building your future. Knowing you're an honest man, regardless of what this dumb ass judge says."

And that wasn't the end, when Barb's attorney challenged the divorce grounds of adultery. He claimed, that I knew my wife was cheating. He said, I had to have known because so many of my family, friends and coworkers were aware of my wife's adultery. Heck my wife had, had sex with a lot of my coworkers and friends. That revelation, caused four more divorces. They brought in, witness after witness, including my two older twin sisters. That admitted, they had known about my wife's affairs. Most of the witnesses said, they thought I had known too. Did I mention, that it takes a clue bat. They characterized me as a submissive guy. Shit, that is what I get for being nice and polite. 

Even my daughters, at only nine and eleven, admitted that they had some suspicions. I was so pissed, when my wife and her attorney put them on the stand and the judge allowed it. They brought in some therapist, from the Children's Welfare Department, that testified that it would not hurt my girls. And it would empower them, to make them part of the process. A year after my divorce I heard that, that shrink was fired and had to move out of the state to get another job.

Megan and Robin, later explained to me that they hadn't really understood the situation and were just trying to get us to stay together. They said their momma told them she wanted to stay with me.

Barbara wanted me to publicly accept being a cuckold and come crawling back to her. That cheating cunt!

But I did get one thing out of the deal, I got shared custody of my girls. That is the most important thing in the world to me. I've got an apartment in the same school district. Actually I own the apartment building, it is a small one. I live two miles from my old home and one mile from the school. The girls might spend one night at my home and the next at Barb's. I might hate her cheating, lying ass, but when it comes to my girls we stay in communication. Barb and I, both know where they are at all times, aren't smart phones with GPS wonderful. I don't trust Barb worth a damn, but there was no way I would be able to get sole custody of the girls, so I hadn't even tried. Barb, on the other hand, knows I would willingly die for either Megan or Robin.

There was a lot of fallout from my divorce. I told all my ex-friends to burn in hell and I told my older twin sisters to fuck off and die. My sisters still try and contact me. I think it is because they miss, having a free financial advisor and handyman. 

Did I mention that I'm a tool addict. I just can't help myself, some women by shoes, I'm a guy who buys tools. 

I quit my job with no notice. It turns out my boss and two of my subordinates had played, hide the salami with my wife. I couldn't sue my employer, because of the judge's decision that I must have known and tacitly agreed with my wife's behavior.

At my old job, we had been working on a completely new revision of our primary retail software product, our biggest profit maker. It was completely new code from the ground up. If you know anything about programmers, quite a few of us do extra work at home. It is a dumb thing, because we are not adequately compensated for the extra work, but we do it anyways. Well, there were some add-on features and modules that I had been developing, solely at home. 

These were things that our sales people were quite excited about. I had kept things separate because I had wanted some extra money, for once, for the additional work I had been doing. I planned on extorting a bit of money, when my boss asked for the additional code. I would point out, how not one line of code had been written on company time or on company equipment. I would also point out, how it was not even part of the original project design. Marketing had wanted it, but the CEO and president had decided it wasn't feasible. Now, that they knew I was close to delivering, they were thrilled. Oh, did I mention that the company president, had done my wife too?

Marketing had even started a massive advertising campaign, about the new features my added code offered. Then I found out, how my employer had been screwing me over for the last few years, by screwing my wife. I was not pleased. The day after my divorce, I packed up my office, gave my boss the finger and walked out. 

They did try to get that additional code. At first they demanded it. Then they threatened legal action. They even went to the police, but I had everything documented. There was not one scrap of evidence, that I had ever worked on that code during company time or on company equipment. Mind you, I couldn't sell it to anyone else, but I didn't have to give it to them. 

They asked me my selling price. I gave them two choices. First choice, fire everyone that had ever fucked my wife. Giving them no golden parachutes, since they had violated company policy. I would then sell it to them for a half a million. You see, the new program was scheduled to be released in two months, they even had the new packaging. Second choice, pay me two million dollars.

They chose neither, I hear the CEO is still kicking himself. One year later and their attempt to reproduce my code, still sucked. Two years later and their market share was so small, as to be nonexistent.

So, I quit my job, making eighty thousand a year. Lost two million. Severed all ties with my family and ex-friends. But I had my girls, it is good to be a winner.

I had Megan and Robin, make a solemn oath. My private life was my business, and they were not to discuss any of it, with their mother or their aunts. Everyone had kept me in the dark about her. Now that we were divorced, they had no damn right to any knowledge of my personal life. I also told them, that I didn't want to know anything about their mother. I phrased it as diplomatically and gently as I could. But it still came out pretty damn hard, especially when telling nine and eleven year old children. It was not something, I should have inflicted upon them. But I was so mad and crazy at the time, about how everyone had kept silent about Barb. Then they all turned around and said, I must have known, assholes!

Oh, the CD is starting to play "I'm Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band". The girls really like to belt that one out. So, I've got the girls for another weekend. I pretty much have the girls for every weekend. 

Their mother does take them on some very nice long vacations, Europe and such. It has made me a bit concerned about how much money Barb is spending. She quit her job after the divorce and instead of investing her share of the money, and living off the interest, she has been spending the principle. All of the vacations, she has taken the girls on, have been first class. Her new car, I think is about $160,000.00. Well if she spends it all, I am always ready to take the girls full time.

We're going to a small lodge in the mountains. In the winter, the place is packed with skiers. In the off season, they shrink the operation a lot and have horses and a barely adequate 9 hole golf course. Both Megan and Robin are mad about being eques, equestr.., they love to ride horses. I just like to sit and view the fall colors in the mountains, with the smell of pines, and a good book.

I had been hoping to beat the rain storm to the lodge. I really enjoy sitting by a fire and watching a storm out the windows. The storm was supposed to pass a bit north of us, but it had swung suddenly south. My SUV is good one, it ain't new but it is reliable as all hell. With these muddy wet roads and driving wind, I'm happy about the all wheel drive.

I'm driving slow because of the weather and poor visibility. I catch a glimmer of light out of corner of my eye. But I'm too busy paying attention to what is right in front of me, to give it any serious attention.

"Dad, there is a car in the ditch back there." Shouted Robin.

"Huh," I slowly stopped the car.

"What Honey?"

"I saw the lights of a car in a ditch, back there."

I checked my rear view mirrors and there was nothing behind me and no lights either. Both Megan and Robin were busy looking out the back and side windows.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive Daddy!"

I thought about it, a car being in a ditch was nothing new. But the culverts on either side of the road were particularly wide and deep. They were at least ten feet deep and someone could be seriously hurt. Then there was the cell phone reception, which sucked where we were. I slowly started to back up the car. Then stopped with that stupidity. Visibility was so bad, that I couldn't be certain that I was backing up in straight line and I didn't want to chance turning around in the current conditions. I pulled over to the side of the road and turned my emergency flashers on.

"Robin, hand me my rain suit from on top of my tool box, please." I classified clothing like my rain suit or my Carharts as tools. Did I mention I love tools. I struggled putting on the suit, in the confines of the front seat.

"Honey, please hand me the big flashlight, it is by my tool box in back." Robin struggled to dig out my battery spotlight and pull it out. It weighs close to fifteen pounds. "They called me submissive. Hey, I'm a manly man, don't you see all the big tools I got?" I thought to myself.

I stopped for moment and thought about the situation. I'm pulled over on the side of the road. I'm leaving my two precious girls behind, visibility is poor, and there are always idiots on the road. Any sane person should be driving slow in these conditions, but there is always some moron out there. A friend of mine had a car break down in a similar situation. He came back an hour later to find his car had been rear ended and knocked over a cliff. On the other hand, someone could be in serious trouble back there, and there is no safer place for me to park. 

Then I remembered, some tools that I had purchased years ago and never used. JUSTIFICATION!! I haven't wasted money. I've hauled them around for years with my jumper cables and they thought I was mad at the academy.

"Robin, in the back there is a bag, that holds my jumper cables. Could you dig it out, please. " With much groaning and grunting, she dug out the bag from beneath everything else back there. Good thing she was strong. She handed me the bag.

I pulled two road flares and a yellow flasher with a magnetic base, out from the bag.

"Robin I'm going to stick this flasher thingy on the roof. You roll down the back window a little bit and I'll pass the cord to you. Just plug it into the rear cigarette lighter, okay?" 

"Got it Dad."

"Megan I'm going to check this out. We haven't seen anyone else driving on this road for a half an hour. I'll only be back there, about a hundred feet or so. If you have any problems, just honk the horn. Now, I'm off to get wet." I looked out at the driving wind and rain, and turned again back to Megan and grinned. "I wish I had packed my scuba gear."

"We packed our swimsuits for the sauna and the whirlpool baths. How about if we have Robin change and send her, since she saw the light?"

"I'm not going out there....."

With that playful discussion going on, I forced open the door against the wind. Stepping out of the car, I realized that I had forgotten to change my hiking boots for my mud boots. Ah well, these boots were pretty tough too. 


Sophia Pt. 01



I stuck the flasher on the top of the car and Robin plugged it in. Up close it was so bright, that it was blinding. Good! I walked twenty five feet back and dropped my first flare.

I continued to trudge down the road, periodically shining my light in the ditch. About one hundred feet behind our SUV, sure enough there was a car in the ditch. But it had no lights on and looked to be partially buried in the mud. I shined my light on the driver's side window.

.............................................................................................

Maria had been desperate to get back to her home, her sanctuary. She had a condo in the city but her retreat, her refuge was her home in the mountains. Originally she and her husband had found and bought it together. But over the years she had restored, remodeled it and made it her own. After the divorce there was no question, between the two of them, that she would get it out of the settlement. Their divorce had been quite amicable. Maria was still, in a sense, a business partner with her husband. Richard had a been a young financial genius, with little money. Maria a daughter of Brazilian immigrants, had been a successful dancer and model, and had a modest inheritance, as well. Richard had taken Maria's money and turned it, into a fortune of almost two hundred million dollars. 

After the divorce, Maria had taken forty million to conservatively invest. She left the rest, entrusted with Richard. He could make more money for her, he so enjoyed making money. He also enjoyed young women. He had never cheated on Maria. But he had fallen out of love with her and Maria wasn't sure, if she had ever really loved Richard in the first place. He was charming, intelligent and loyal, but there was no deep loving warmth. They had sex together and were friends, but they never seemed to be a family. But while they were no longer, if ever, in love. They were still dear and the closest of friends. He did have one vice though, he always had to have the shiniest and best toys. 

Maria guessed at thirty-two, she had lost most of her shine. But during the two years since the divorce, many men still thought she was shiny, she thought with a grin. There had even been more, than two proposals of marriage, but they had all reminded her of Richard in a way. The last one she had thought, might have been the real deal. Oh what a mistake she almost made. Better to find out now, but it hurt so much the way she did find out. 

Maria had met Robert, a lawyer in town from the East Coast. He was a rising star. Tall, blonde and handsome. He had seemed so sincere and honest. Never been married. Maria and he, had even been taking about engagement. They were supposed to be traveling back to Boston to meet his entire family, where they would be formally engaged. She had even been ready to move from the West to the East Coast. Though she would desperately miss her home.

But suddenly his parents decided to make a trip to Seattle to meet Maria. Maria was overjoyed, that she would be able to show her prospectives her town. When they got off the plane and met Maria. Robert's father John, was gracious and a gentleman. Robert's mother, Caroline was a nightmare. On first sight of Maria, she had a grim foreboding expression. Maria did her best. She had made reservations for them in the best of hotels. Introduced them to her closest friends. Took them out, on a day long cruise on her boat. All in all, she tried to show them her best. 

But to no avail. Today, she took them to her favorite restaurant, for an early dinner. At the restaurant, she found out the truth about Robert.

She was coming back from the ladies room. She was just turning a corner, behind Robert and his mother, when she heard Robert and his mother talking.

"Robert, she seems a lovely girl, but don't you think that she is a little bit dark?"

Maria was shocked. What was that woman from, the Stone Age? She had run into racism before, but she could never understand how such people could be so brain dead and still be able to walk and talk.

"Well Mother you know I love you, but......"

"Here it comes," thought Maria. "Robert is going to tell his mother that he loves me and is going to marry me, despite her objections."

"Well Mother you know I love you, but if you look honestly and logically at the situation, you will see that this is brilliant opportunity for me. Maria is quite wealthy. I highly doubt, if we will have any children. So children of mixed race, shouldn't be a problem. If we do get divorced later on, then I should get quite a nice settlement. With that kind of money, I could set up a proper home for a new wife and family."

"Robert that is a good plan, but I'm so worried about my possible grandchildren being of....."

During the conversation, Robert's Father had been staring bug-eyed at his son and wife. "I CAN NOT BELIEVE YOU TWO! I'm appalled at your behavior. You have no morals or decency at all. This meal is over. I'll pay for this dinner. After the lavish way, Maria has treated us, it would be a crime to have her pay for such lowlifes, as you two." John said furiously.

John got up from the table and quickly walked towards Maria. She was surprised, she hadn't realized that he had seen her. He grasped her two hands in his and looked gently into her eyes.

"Maria, I am so ashamed. I must have done a terrible job raising Robert, please forgive me. You would have made a wonderful daughter. But he isn't worthy of you. I just wish, I was twenty-five years younger. I would be courting you in a heart beat. Again my sincere apologies. Have a wonderful life. It was a joy to meet you." He turned back to Caroline and Robert, who were staring with shocked faces and open mouths.

"I'm going back to the hotel, find your own way back. I'll probably be getting a separate room and quite possibly, travel back to Boston by myself."

"John Darling, I wasn't being......." Caroline said desperately.

"I know what you are and I've hidden from it, too long. After this shocking display, I need time to think. Goodbye, Caroline. Robert, prove that you are a man, at least in this regards, and see that your mother, makes it safely back to the hotel. Goodbye Maria, take care." John walked off to see the manager about paying the bill.

Maria nodded her head, in reply to John and turned to the table. She picked up her purse with one hand and with the other she slapped Robert across the face. "Scum!" She said simply, and walked off. 

It was only late afternoon, she had time to pack her car and get to her home in the mountains. She didn't even take time to change. Less than an hour later, she had her car loaded with the necessities. She had a cooler chest full of ice cream, two chocolate cakes and a sack full of DVDs of her favorite movies.

During the long drive, she listened to classical music to calm her nerves and thought about the disaster, she narrowly missed and the pain it caused.

"Am I going to spend the rest of my life alone? Why am I only attracting superficial losers? What do I want?........."

"Hell I know what I want. I want a knight in fucking, shining armor, to come along and sweep me of my feet. A man who will back me up with words and deeds. A man who will be loyal and never let me down. A man who will grow old with me and not abandon me, when I got a wrinkle or two. I WANT A HOUSE FULL OF KIDS!" She screamed with tears on her face.

She really should have been paying more attention to the road, what with the weather conditions. There was a flash of lighting, a deer bounding across the road, and Maria jerked the car to the right, and off the road. She felt the car nosing down, there was an impact and the airbag exploded in her face.

There were a few more seconds of the car sliding around and almost flipping over. When things settled down, Maria started to knock down the airbag. She was scared and in a bit of a panic. Her pounding on the airbag filled the car with a bit of dust, which caused her to start to cough and made her eyes water. The engine was still running, she wondered if she should turn it off. A moment later, with a groan, the engine died.

She looked around to assess her situation. The road was to her left, and was at least ten feet, over the roof of her car. To the right, the wall of the trench was at least six or seven feet high and her car was resting in the bottom. Maria tried her cell phone, but as she expected, no signal. She was wondering what to do, should she stay in the car?

Lights briefly swept over her car. "Did a car just pass on the road overhead," she thought? "Should I try to get out and make it to the road? I'm in dress for goodness sakes, it is cold, wet and muddy outside. I don't even have a proper coat for this weather." It was at that point, that her car lights died.

Now she started to panic. She had no flashlight in the car. The storm was fierce and she was all alone. "Calm down, Calm down, think about what to do, think, think....."

She saw powerful flashes of light going off in the ditch in front of her. She realized someone was periodically shining a light down from the road into the ditch. "Maybe someone saw my car crash and is looking for me?" She thought.

Suddenly a bright light from the road, was flooding her car. She looked up at the light, shielding her eyes. Just as suddenly the light turned the other way. From the movement of the light, it looked like someone was running back up the road.

"Where were they going? Come back here! Don't leave me alone. Maybe they went to get help?"

.........................................................................................................

A face looked back up at Don through the driver's side window. There was a huge amount of mud and debris against the doors on the driver's side, and the other side was wedged firmly against the embankment.

"Shit, shit shit...." Don lit and dropped his second flare, and then turned to run back to his car. "You dumb guy," he thought to himself. "Don't have a tow rope do you? Got all your other tools, but not a long chain or a rope. If you had one you could maybe reposition the car to get the driver out. Well, you've got a shovel and a crowbar. Maybe the power windows still work? If they don't, I can always break them."

Don ran back to his car and pulled open the rear door.

"Megan, Robin, try your cells phones. See if you can get 911. There is someone back there."

"Do you need our help Dad?"

"No I think it is going to be okay, but just in case try and reach 911." While saying that Don grabbed his folding shovel, a crowbar and a small blue tarp. There was no way, he was going to let his girls out in this storm and do anything dangerous.

He slammed the gate closed and started to run back the other way.

Maria was relieved to see the light coming back towards her. 

The man, dressed in a yellow rain suit, scrambled down the embankment. He slipped and slid down the muddy wall. His left arm was wrapped around some long tools. His right hand was carrying an extremely bright flashlight.

As Don looked at the woman, he wondered if she realized how much danger she was in? The ditch was filling up fast with rain water and her doors looked like they were wedged shut with mud and debris. He didn't even bother trying the doors. His boots were full of cold muddy water, that was an icy, painful shock. He did his best to ignore it.

"Do your windows still work?" He yelled to her.

"No," she yelled back and shook her head.

Don set his tools down and wedged the light into the embankment, so it's light shown down upon the car. He unfolded his shovel and started to work on the mud holding her car door shut. He was working up quite a sweat with all his labor, but his feet and ankles were freezing. A few times he had to put his shovel down and move a log or stone with either the crow bar or his bare hands. Don was wondering if he should just break the window. But he had never deliberately broken a car window before and was concerned that flying glass might injure the woman inside. He decided to try his best at clearing the door. If the water got knee high before he was done, he would change tactics and break the glass.

Maria felt her feet getting cold and wet. She looked down to see water covering the floorboards of her car. She jerked her legs up and onto the seat.

"There's water in here." She yelled in panic to the man outside.

"I know, just give me a minute or two. I think I've almost got it." He huffed that out while still working furiously.

The water was already covering the floorboards by and inch or two, and was rising rapidly. Maria was suddenly aware of what a dire situation she would have been in, if her rescuer had not shown up.

Don kept on working until he had all the obvious debris away from the driver's door. He also made sure that there was plenty of clearance for swinging the door open. It would do him little good, if he could only open the door and inch or two. He was almost ready to open the door, when he took another look at the driver. It was hard to tell with the rain and poor light, but she seemed to be wearing town clothes. Nothing suitable for the cold mountain air. She wasn't even wearing a coat.

"I'm going to open the door. Put your coat on first, it is really cold out here."

"I didn't bring a coat."

Don put down his shovel and picked up the tarp. He started to swing it about violently, to shake off any mud on the outside. He was also muttering to himself. "Just like a woman, never prepared. Never have a proper tools. Always want a man......."

"Are you saying something?" Maria yelled.

"I've got a little tarp here. It is a little bit wet, but it is a lot better then nothing. I'll open the door and give it to you. Wrap it around yourself. Got it?"

"How will I walk?"

"You won't, I'll carry you. It doesn't look like you've got proper shoes. The water is cold and getting deep."

Maria looked at her feet, all she had was a pair of high heels. "But...."

"We've got not time. Let's do this!" Don yanked open the door and thrust the tarp at Maria. She felt the unrestricted cold for the first time and quickly wrapped the tarp around her body. The man easily picked her up in his arms. The rain was so fierce that Maria covered her face with a corner of the tarp. Slowly, the man climbed the embankment to the road. Maria was terrified that they would slip and fall. But while he did move very slowly there was no hesitation in the man. His arms seemed strong and secure, like he could carry her for an entire day, without weakening. Finally, they made it to the flat of the road and Maria breathed a sigh of relief.

A few minutes later, from all the flashing lights, Maria could tell they were at his car. She could hear a door open.

"Are they hurt?" Yelled a young girl.

"No, just didn't have a coat or good shoes." Answered the man.

..........................................................................................

The woman in my arms wasn't very heavy at all, but my feet were so cold. Robin had opened the door for me, from the inside, and I set the woman on the rear passenger seat.

"Megan, turn up the heat, full blast."

"Okay, Dad."

I still had my arms around the woman. I was just going to pull my arms out from under her when, I looked down at her face, for the first time with decent light, and............

Sophia Loren, I was looking at a beautiful gorgeous Sophia Loren. Maybe the skin color was a bit darker, but who would give a shit. I wanted to run around the car, like a cartoon wolf and bang my head against the door post. Scratch that, I know what to do. I'm going to take her back up in my arms and run to the top of the nearest mountain. Along the way, I was going to pick up a club. I would use the club to keep away all the other men, after my woman.

She would be there sitting on the ground with her legs outstretched. With her arms wrapped around and clutching my leg. I would be screaming at the men trying to climb our mountain. Crushing them with my club. "Get away you ASSHOLES. She's Mine! All Mine, Mine, MINE!" 

"Dad, Dad, DADDY!"

"Huh, what?" I tore my eyes away from her face and looked up blankly."

"Daddy, what are you doing?" Asked Megan.

I took a deep breath. Oh yeah, my girls, my precious girls. No mountain for me. SHIT!

"I'm sorry honey, I'm just a little bit tired and cold." I looked down again at the woman, and braced myself. Oh, she looked so lovely. She was staring at me with wide eyes. No mountain, no mountain, remember Megan and Robin.

"Hello, I'm sorry if kind of phased out there for a second. My name is Don Hendricks and these two lovely ladies, are my daughters. The one in the front seat is Megan and next to you is Robin. Robin is the one, that saw your car. If she hadn't seen you, you might have been in a bit of trouble. Right now I need to get my tools, before that ditch fills with water. Do you have anything you need from the car? I expect it to be under water, before morning. So, if I don't get it now, it will probably be ruined."

"My name is Maria Wilson. Thank you for rescuing me. I really only need my purse. There are a few things in the trunk but you don't have to get them. It would be too much bother, after everything you've done."

"Better to get them now. Waste not, want not, as the saying goes. Are the keys still in the ignition?"

"Yes, but you don't have to."

"No problem." I took the tarp from her and left.

..................................................................................

Maria was carefully put on the rear seat of the SUV. She pulled the tarp away from her face and looked up, into his face. A complete look of shock washed across his face and then his arms tightened possessively about her. It was frightening. Then a look of longing came into his face, that seared her heart and touched her soul. He looked like a man, that was about to carry her off into the night. Luckily, the girls in the car, broke him out of whatever spell, he was under. 

He took back his tarp and trudged back and forth from her car. Carrying things and making three trips in all. At one point, he suddenly pulled open Robin's door and thrust a tarp wrapped bundle onto her lap. The tarp was wet so she shrieked a bit. It turned out to be Maria's chocolate cakes and her DVDs. The girls ooohed, at how yummy they looked and Maria promised, one of the cakes to them. But while Don was working, they had time to talk.

Megan started to talk. "Can we call you Maria, or do you want us to call you Ms. Wilson?"

"Oh, Maria is fine."

"Maria, I saw how Daddy stared at you. I know it was a bit freaky. He's never done something like that before. He's the best, most honest, loyal man I know. I'm not just saying that because he is my father. So, you don't have to worry. I think it just surprised him to see how beautiful you are. But if we tell him what he did, he will get all embarrassed and he'll feel real bad, for making you uncomfortable."

"I think he's just lonely. He only really has Robin and I now. Some real bad things happened to him and he has hard time trusting people. Robin and I hurt him too. So please don't be too mad at him, okay?"

Megan's eyes had such a pleading look, that even if Maria was so inclined, and she wasn't, she couldn't be mad. "Don't worry Megan, I'm not mad. With the accident and everything, I'm just a little stressed out. I'm sure your dad is a wonderful person. He has to be, if he has two such girls as you, for daughters."

"Thanks Maria," spoke up Robin. "He's the best dad in the world. They hurt him so much, during the divorce and before. Everyone lied and he lost so much money. We just don't want him hurt anymore and there's nothing we can do, to make it better." Robin started to cry.




Sophia Pt. 01



"Robin, don't cry Daddy will be back soon. You know how much he loves us. He always says that no matter what happened, he is still the big winner, because he has us. Calm down, please." Megan reached into the back seat to pat Robin's shoulder.

"Okay," Robin did her best to quiet her sniffles.

Maria took a couple of deep breaths, maybe Don has had, some really bad things happen to him. And his girls haven't had a joy ride either, she thought. "So, he stared at me like a hungry wolf, it has happened before. Well, maybe not that intensely and not with a look that seemed to see my soul. But...., oh shut up. He rescued me. I'll treat him cordially, until I see the wolf again."

.........................................................................................

It took three trips down into the ditch to bring up everything. There was Maria's purse, a cooler chest, two large bakery boxes, a bag full of DVDs, and my tools. I had to strap the cooler chest to the roof of my SUV, there was no more room inside.

I was glad to be done. The water in the ditch had been well above knee height at the end. My feet were screaming in pain, from the cold and it was hard to walk. I stumbled to the driver's door to let myself in. There was a lot of mud on the my boots and lower legs, but I didn't give a shit. I just had to get warm.

I opened the door and plopped myself into the seat. I was shuddering and shaking from the cold. I couldn't believe how cold I was, I looked at the dash to check the outside temperature. It was registering forty degrees, oops dropped another degree, now it was thirty-nine. That thermometer normally registered at least two degrees higher than ambient, because of the heat of the engine too. I swear it was at least fifty, when Robin first spotted Maria's car.

"Dad, are you okay?" Megan asked with a worried tone to her voice.

"I just need to warm up a bit. It's a lot colder, than I thought it would be and I wore the wrong boots." My teeth were chattering when I said that. I tried to grin at my daughter, to ease her mind. That just made her look more worried.

"I'm okay Baby, honest. Now, that I'm in the car, warming up. Maria, where do you want to go? We're heading to the Elk Mountain ski lodge, but we can easily make a detour to drop you off."

"I live just five miles from the lodge entrance. If you could drop me off, that would be wonderful."

"No problem, just give me directions."

"My drive is off this road, about twenty miles down and five miles before the lodge."

"Beautiful." I put the SUV in gear and started to slowly drive down the road. I didn't have good control of the gas and break peddle because my feet were still too numb.

It took forty minutes to reach Maria's driveway. Maria had found out, that my girls were horse crazy and they had been having a happy discussion. I was too miserable to pay attention to anything but my driving. My feet were no longer numb, but they hurt a bit. Plus water had wicked up my pant legs, so the only place that wasn't soaked was my chest area. My hands looked a bit a swollen too, I hadn't been too careful in my desperation to free Maria. I've got at least three pairs of heavy leather work gloves in the back and I hadn't thought to grab a single pair, dumb guy.

"Just up ahead on the left, is the drive. Can you see the reflectors?"

"Red and yellow ones?"

"Yes.'

"Got it."

"There is a gate about thirty feet off the road. You've got to stop just before it, so I can punch in my code."

"Okay." I did as she directed and pulled up parallel to security box just before a heavy black security gate. I stopped the car so Maria's window was lined up with the box. The gate was one of those huge ornate affairs that you see in the movies. With heavy stone columns at either end.

Maria was fumbling in her purse for a moment and then lowered her window. I watched through the side mirror, as she slid open the door on the box. She then slid a key card through a reader and punched in a code. Pretty fancy system, must have a few bucks.

The gates started to slowly swing open. I was wondering how she handles it, when snow fills the driveway and blocks the gate from swinging open. So I asked.

"What do you do, when there is so much snow that it blocks the gate?"

"The motors on the gate are extra strong, so they can push quite a bit. I've also got a local man that keeps my driveway clear. I've only had problems once or twice. But I had to add the gate. There were too many tourists driving up and disturbing me. Some of them quite drunk, thinking my house was the lodge."

We drove up the drive. I was looking at the odometer, four tenths of mile, and it was all paved. Yep, she had some bucks. Automatic lights came on as we got closer. I could see why people thought her home, was the main building at the lodge. But there was a difference, her home was bigger. It was built of stone and logs and had an attached four door garage.

"If you can pull up to the left hand door of the garage, I can get out and punch in the code. Then you can just pull in and we can unload there."

"Makes sense, but you're not dressed for this weather. If you can temporarily trust me with the code, I can punch it in. You can change it later." I turned on the dome light and looked in the rear view mirror at her. Which I been religiously avoiding doing for the entire ride. Damn, she was gorgeous. That dress she was wearing was to light for this weather, it wouldn't be much better than naked skin. No, no, no, don't think about her naked skin. I carefully kept my face and eyes under control and looked at her eyes in the rear view mirror, so she could see mine. I wanted her to see that I had everything under control and she had nothing to worry about.

..................................................................................................

I stared in the mirror, and screamed. "Barbara you're an adulterous slut and scum. You don't deserve any happiness, you piece of shit!" I had to vent. It was only safe to do it, when Megan and Robin were gone. I took one of my lipsticks and scrawled all over my reflection in the mirror. I then collapsed down onto the floor with the shakes. At least this time, I didn't throw up.

My life was a complete wreck and it was my own damn fault, but Don's sisters had helped a bit too, SHIT!

I needed therapy but I had been avoiding it, because of fear of what the therapist would say. I had even stopped my girls' therapy, when their therapist had asked too many questions. You're a GREAT FUCKING MOM, BARBARA.

About six years ago Don and I were having problems, and what I did just made them worst. Or I should say, I was having problems, Don was just perfect like always. I had been taking him for granted. He was my rock, my comforter, and my life. He totally comprised everything that made up a safe and secure home to me, he was the essence of the word "home". AND I HAD BEEN COMPLETELY TAKING HIM FOR GRANTED, AND I KNEW IT! 

Maybe it was the fact, that I made five times his salary. Maybe it was because he was always so nice, calm and reasonable. He always spoke with me calmly, no matter the provocation. Even if I was being a BITCH. But harsh words were not his way. I knew he had an iron will, but he wasn't a man of rage and violence. I loved him, with all my heart and soul, but our marriage was suffering and so I went to best my friends, his sisters, for advice.

I had first met his sisters, Diane and Michelle, at college. They were one year older than me. I don't know why, but we just hit it right off and became close friends. 

They were constantly talking about their little brother, Don. How when his father died, and Don was just twelve. Don had tried to become the "man of the house" for the family. All the heavy chores he did, all the household repairs he did. When he found, he couldn't do some of the heavy chores around the house. He started exercising constantly, so he could do the heavy work, that an adult man is called on to do, from time to time. 

Don went to the library and borrowed books about household repairs, so he knew how do them. He even got jobs, doing lawn work and window washing, and gave most of his earnings to his mother. And this wasn't a phase, he was still doing it, when he was a senior in high school.

Well that summer after my freshman year, I went Michelle's and Diane's home, to visit with them for a couple of weeks. The thing that immediately struck me about Don, was that he carried an air of competence. Like he was a man that could do anything, but he still looked like a kid. Don's mother was nice, but he was always in the shadows, ready to support her. The power behind the throne, so to speak.

Well, there was one evening when Michelle, Diane and I, all had dates with our boyfriends. We were going to a fancy dinner/dance club for a romantic night. At the last minute, my boyfriend had to cancel, he had problems with his student visa and was forced to hurry home. I told Michelle and Diane to go on without me, but they refused. Then Diane got the bright idea of having Don accompany us, he could be the designated driver, too. They said Don could keep the chair warm and maybe I would meet someone else at the club. Personally, I thought it was beneath Don, but they and his mother talked him into it.

At the club, I did dance a few songs with Don, but then I met some other people and spent most of the evening at their table. Both groups decided to leave, at the same time and Don went off to get the car. That's when the true colors of my new friends revealed themselves. I made it plain to them, that I was going home with Michelle and Diane. But they wanted me to go with them. There was no way, I was going to get into a car with three strange men. Flirting and dancing with them, okay. But go home with them, hell no.

Things got physical. Michelle's and Diane's boyfriends tried to help, but my new ex-friends were much bigger. Michelle and Diane were both screaming for Don, and I was thinking, "what can one eighteen year old kid do against these guys?" I had already been forced into the back seat and was being held by one of my new boyfriends, when Don arrived. 

He appeared and suddenly the two guys outside of the car, just seemed to magically fly about six feet, into the wall of the club. Don then reached into the car and grabbed my soon to be ex-new-boyfriend at the belt and collar. He pulled him from the car, with the guy screaming all the way, like a little girl. Don lifted the guy over his head and smashed him down onto the car's roof. Scaring the hell out of me, since I was still inside the car. The police came, charges were filed and my three very ex-new-boyfriends got two years probation. And I started looking at Don, in a whole new way. Let me tell you, there is something primal when a guy fights for you.

It took me four years to finally catch him, and then I went and blew it, eight years later but his sisters helped.

Don had been after me, to spice up our love life. He had books about different sexual positions and acts, that couples could try. I think he would have been happy, if I just started giving him blow jobs again. Lord knows, he deserved it, with all the oral he performed on me. I was still desperately in love with him, but he no longer got my juices flowing. And I wasn't even willing to try to do anything about it. I refused trying new things. I refused romantic evenings in or out of the house. I refused to see a counselor and most definitely, refused to see a sexual therapist.

There I was carping to my sisters, about what a lousy wife I was, shit. I should have just gotten off my ass, swallowed my pride and seen a licensed therapist. My two best friends and sisters to Don, made a confession to me. They said, that when they felt their own marriages were getting stale, they went out and had brief affairs. Never lasting too long and never more than once a year. They said, that when they returned to their marriages, that it made them appreciate their husbands more and they gave their husbands a lot of kinky guilt sex. They suggested, that I give it a try and like a damn fool I did.

I've always had a weakness for men with accents, they made me go weak in the knees. I'd dated quite a few men from other countries, while in college. But I never wanted to marry any of them. For me, there are just too many cultural differences when involved with someone from another country. I just can't get comfortable with them and relax into a long term relationship. But to have a brief affair with one, that was another story for my demented mind.

I had my masters and was involved with international finance at the time. I managed large loans and investments from the U.S. to overseas, and managed a lot of overseas investments into the U.S.. 

His name was Philippe, and he was from France. He was here on a joint venture project. Every time he was near and spoke to me, my face grew red. We went on two dates, before I let him go all the way. I even prepared for it. The books, that Don bought for our love life. I finally read them, but for Philippe. I WAS SUCH A BITCH! I did things for Philippe, that I no longer did for Don. I did things for Philippe, that I never did for Don.

And when the affair was over, did I then return to Don, hell no. Don was my fluffy down comforter. Don would always be there. He was nothing to excite my pussy. Ah, but Sean from Scotland, his very voice got my pussy wet. So I had affair after affair. I even got into a brief affair, with the president of Don's company. He was from England. That proved my undoing.

During the almost four years of my adulterous life. My sisters became increasing furious with me. But I always hit them with the fact, that they were the ones who got me started and that they were adulteresses too! Personally, I always thought, that they vicariously got off from my affairs. I was seeing exotic, exciting men. Michelle and Diane would always press me, for every detail of my dates. 

When friends, finally discovered my affairs, I tricked them with the aid of Diane and Michelle. I told our friends, how Don was so ashamed but he got off, on me seeing other men. It helped Don to perform in the bedroom. I MADE DON OUT TO BE SOME SORT OF PERVERT AND THEY BOUGHT IT. They promised not to confront Don with my infidelity and embarrass him. Michelle and Diane would add to the story. They would tell, how Don had grown up in a house without any male, father figure, how sad. The only thing he had, for a role model was three strong women, what a crock.

Well the vice-president at Don's company, had picked up some clues regarding my behavior, from the president. And that fat toad, hired a P.I to follow me. Three weeks later, he was blackmailing me for sex. 

I thought it was the most disgusting thing ever, when he laid hands on me. I was wrong, the second time was the most disgusting. I needed to get drunk to let him touch me and I swear he slipped me something too. But the second time, he brought in two of Don's subordinates. I did my first multi-partner sex act. THEY GANGBANGED ME! The next day, I called that fat toad. And with a calm and sincere voice I threatened to kill him, if he ever came near me again or told my husband.

But I couldn't do anything about Don's subordinates. Don overheard them talking about me. He didn't believe it, but he had heard enough to hire his own private detective. The man discovered virtually everything. How I had been having affairs for over three years and how I had a secret apartment.

Some evenings, when I was very late, could be excused as business related. But too many evenings would even make Don suspicious, he was a bit dense but in a good way. So, I became an imaginary frequent traveler. I did make many business trips, but only half of them were real. During the fake trips, I would still go into work, but the evenings were all about my lovers in my apartment. The apartment was also useful for showering and changing clothes. I have some beautiful gowns, dresses and especially lingerie, that Don has never seen. My lovers would take me to some of the fanciest affairs around town. Money can open any door, and we were money people.

I was disgusted with myself about how I was treating Don, but I couldn't stop. Many women read romance novels, well I was having real romances.

That is until Don found out.

I came home, from two days out of town, "at my apartment". When he confronted me. I tried to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Barbara, sit down at the table. There is something we have to talk about."

"Honey, I'm so tired from my long trip. Can't we talk later?"

"I'm sure you're tired from FUCKING Sergei. Sit your GOD DAMN ASS DOWN!" He roared. I almost fainted. Don never yells. The words penetrated and I did faint.

I came to, with a bucket full of ice cold water, hitting me in the face. Then, Don bodily picked me up and PUT ME IN A DINING ROOM CHAIR. Don had never been physically assertive with me before, and he never makes a mess. Yet there he was pouring a whole bucket of water on me and the floor. I knew Don would react badly to my affairs. In the back part of my mind, where I tried to never looked, I even suspected that if he found out, it would lead to the end of our marriage. But I had never imagined, that he would be so enraged.

He thrust some papers before me, on the dining room table. It was a detective's report on my affairs. "I thought about confronting you at your apartment, but I was afraid I might kill someone. Right now, if you're wondering, Megan and Robin are at Diane's house."

"What do you have to say for yourself Barbara!" I didn't say a word. I didn't even cry. I just looked at the papers and refused to look up. For a half an hour at least, there were no sounds made by either of us.

"Barbara the depth of your betrayal is disgusting, and we are probably heading for divorce. But if you have any hope of saving this marriage, you had better speak in the next fifteen minutes, or I am out of here!" My hand with my wristwatch was on the table. I could look at it without looking up or moving. I remembered doing a mental count down, like when a bomb goes off. "Fourteen minutes until my marriage is over. Thirteen minutes......"

True to his word, Don left. He had his SUV already packed. Initially he stayed with Diane, until he found out about his sisters' involvement.

There was one terrible meeting, that I had with my attorney, Don and his attorney. I couldn't believe all the evidence, that they were easily able to acquire, about my past affairs. Don said something like, "you've been cheating on me for years!" I don't know why I said it, I think I was insane at the time. But I said it sarcastically and looked at him mockingly when I did it. "Well, duh." 

Don picked up, one of the heavy conference chairs at the table. And threw it the length of the table and into the wall. The drywall shattered, and he stormed out of the room. It was a good thing, that we were at his attorney's offices.

Then the divorce proceedings occurred. My lawyer was good, he was a real shark. He didn't care about justice, he just cared about winning. I was still in so much shock and mental anguish, that I let my attorney run the show. 

First, I humiliated Don with all our friends, then they talked about Don's "problems" on the witness stand. When our friends were confronted with the fact, that Don's "problems" were a lie constructed by me and his sisters. Our friends, when pressed by my attorney, said Don still had to know about my affairs, because they were so blatant. They mentioned several pictures of me, in the society pages of the local newspaper, as example. Like Don, would ever read a society page. I had Don's absolute trust, and I betrayed it, absolutely.




Sophia Pt. 01



Then the stupid freeze, was put on our finances. Did I choose to trust Don, no. Instead, I trusted my idiot lawyer, some dumb-ass financial guru at my own bank and the judge. We lost three million dollars. Then the judge, awards me a million more than Don. At first, I thought I really deserved it. Then the financial advisor comes to me, trying to get into my pants, and admits that the judge was a second cousin of his. And he had, during some private conversations with the judge, convinced her that Don was hiding some assets. 

The truth was, that I had hidden some assets in the Cayman Islands. All my sleeping around over the years, had gotten my bank some big deals. As a result, my bonuses had almost doubled. I had separate checks cut and the money deposited in the Caymans. My last year working, I had also started to receive some nice gifts, maybe they were bribes, from customers and clients. I put those in the Caymans as well. I did try and give some of the money back to Don. But he said, he would be damned if he accepted any charity from me, and that any money that passed through my hands, would be diseased.

When the divorce was over, the slimy toad from Don's office called me again. He wanted to go on a date with me! When I told him, "hell no." He started to laugh at me and told me, how everything had gone to his plan. He revealed, how he had overheard the CEO talking about firing him and giving Don the job of vice-president. Oh God, Don would have finally been rewarded for all his hard work and I screwed it up. The toad had used me to embarrass Don in the eyes of the CEO, so Don would never be offered the promotion. He had also figured that Don, would probably quit as well.

So Don went from making eighty thousand a year as a programmer to thirty-six as a lead tech support person. I understand that he also has a job as maintenance man at an apartment building, I think he gets a free apartment, out of the deal. "I AM SUCH A LOVING AND DEVOTED WIFE. I SHOULD BURN IN HELL!"

Shortly after the divorce was finalized. I was encouraged to resign my position. It turns out, that I hadn't used the best judgment, in the investments I had approved, during the past year. People and companies desperate for money, had found out about my predilections. For over a year, the gorgeous and exotic men that I had been meeting, had been professionals alright, but not the financial kind. They had been professional gigolos, used to seduce me into making some really dumb decisions.

I got back on my feet, to look at the mirror again. This time, I took the lipstick directly to my own face and screamed. "YOU STUPID CHEATING CUNT." 

..................................................................................................

Don's eyes caught mine in the mirror. Gone was the hungry wolf with the longing eyes. They just looked sad and tired now. I didn't have the heart to doubt him, and the weather outside was miserable.

"You're going to need my key card. Just swipe the key card through and punch in my birth date 2/26/75. After you do that, it will ask you which door to open. Press button one for the left door and thank you."

"No problem, Maria."

He slowly got out of the car and seemed to stumble a bit, but he caught himself on the fender. He made his way over to the box and punched in the code. The door slowly rose and he stumbled back to the car. I was getting worried about his walking, there had been no sign of difficulty, when he carried me, earlier.

I was starting to think something, which might be a very bad idea. But I owed them, maybe my life, and I would be the worse sort of ingrate not to help them now.

We drove into the garage and I jumped out to hit the close button. I was chilled to the bone, in just a few minutes, with that dreadfully cold wind rushing in. I opened up the door to the house and briefly stepped inside. There was one of the house thermostats located there, and I turned up the heat from the resting temp of fifty to seventy. The thermostat offered me two options, warm up the house as economically as possible or as quickly as possible. My handyman Carl, calls it turbo mode. Fuck the expense, I was cold and they might be needing to warm up too.

I went out to garage. Don was lifting my cooler chest off the roof of the SUV. Megan approached me.

"Maria could we use your bathroom, it would only take a minute?"

"Of course......"

Don walked over carrying the cooler chest. "Where can I put this Maria? I'm going to step outside for a minute, I'll be right back." 

I looked at him curiously. Why is he going outside? He's shaking and shivering, and basically looks like shit? Then it dawned on me, he needed to pee. He was covered in mud and dripping with water. He didn't want to mess up my house, by tracking mud through it. Then I looked at his hands, holding the ice chest. He had cuts all over his hands, they were bruised and obviously swollen.

What kind of ungrateful, unthinking shit was I, to not notice. I remembered how, when he was moving the junk burying my car. He was throwing around huge branches and stones the size of exercise balls, with his bare hands. So he kind of looked at me lustfully. He saved my fricking life. I should give him a blow job, if he asks.

"Girls, we've got to get your father warm and dry. Don, you are not moving. Do not go outside. We will be back in a few minutes. Pee in your pants if you have to, you're already soaked. It won't make any difference. Megan, Robin, follow me." Don just stood there with a kind of dumb expression on his face, as I turned back to enter the house.

The girls followed me inside. "The bathroom is the door on the left. I'll be right back." I ran down the hall, through the great room and up the stairs to the master suite. There were things closer, but I knew exactly where everything was in my own bedroom. I grabbed an armful of extra large bath towels and two soft wool blankets. Turning around, I charged back down to the garage. The girls were already there, helping their father off with his rain suit.

I set the blankets down and spread two of the towels on the cement floor, right in front of the entrance door to the house. "Move over here Don. Sit on the cooler chest and let's get your boots off." He stumbled over, to tired to object and stand on his manly pride.

His boots were caked with mud and it took me a few minutes to undo the laces. I yanked the boots off and pulled off his socks. His feet were white, and pruney looking. They also looked they were starting to swell, now that his boots were off.

"Stand on these towels Don." He stood up and I started to shoo the girls into the house. But I stopped to look at his hands. They were swollen and looked too stiff, to be used. So without looking into his face, I undid all the buttons on his shirt. I then reached to undo his belt. When he started to object.

"Ah, ah, maybe you better......"

"Don, your hands are all swollen. I'm just going to undo your belt buckle and the top button of your pants. Then we'll leave the rest to you. There is a full bathroom with a shower just the other side of that door. You get yourself undressed, wrap one of these blankets around yourself, get to the bathroom and take a shower to warm up. I've got an on demand water heater. There is plenty of hot water."

"While you're doing that. Megan and Robin will get you dry clothes out of your luggage. Okay?"

"Okay, sounds like a good idea. Thank you very much."

"Megan, Robin, let's go inside for minute, to give your father some privacy." 

"But I wanted to take pictures." Said Robin with a grin.

...............................................................................................

I slowly took off my clothes. Even though it was embarrassing, having Maria undo my buttons, especially my pants, I was glad she had helped. When she was doing that, it was easy to tell that we were almost the exact same height. I always liked women the same height as me. It made it easier, when dancing cheek to cheek or kissing. Hold it, drop that thought.

The garage I was standing in, was huge. There were a couple of snowmobiles in sight, as well as a medium sized tractor with a front bucket and backhoe attachments.

What the hell am I doing! I'm standing here naked in her garage looking around. I've got to get warm! I wrapped a blanket around me and stepped inside. There was a flash of light, there were my two grinning daughters and my youngest was taking my picture. Standing behind them was Maria, with a concerned expression on her face.

"What took you so long Daddy? I bet you were looking at all the tools in the garage. You need help Daddy. I'm going to sign you up for Craftsman's Anonymous. I'm Don and I haven't bought a new tool in seven days." Megan said solemnly with her right hand raised, like she was making a pledge.

I know I should have roared at them in jest, but I was too tired. I grunted and shuffled off to the bathroom.

...............................................................................................

Why was Don taking so long? Should I go out there and check. Robin had a small digital camera in her hands, the kind that can fit in your pocket.

"Oooh, I'm going to get some good ones and post them on the internet. Maybe we can get Daddy a girlfriend."

Why did I feel a small flash of jealousy, ridiculous. Don finally came through the door. He looked so tired. I looked at his feet and they were definitely swollen. Robin took five or six pictures while he just grunted and shuffled down the hall. He wasn't paying much attention to how he held the blanket. At one point, he stepped on a corner of the blanket, pulling it down and exposing most of back and part of his buttocks. He just pulled the blanket back up and continued on to the bathroom. He walked in and closed the door.

"Hot damn, I got some real good ones. We post them on the internet and we'll get Daddy a girlfriend for sure. I'll title them Stud Muffin in a Blanket." Chortled Robin as she looked at the little screen on the camera.

"Let me see, let me see." Robin handed the camera to Megan.

I found myself looking over Megan's shoulder at the little pictures on the LCD screen. Oh my God, what am I doing? What are they doing. They're his daughters, for goodness sakes. I took the camera from Megan.

"I'm sorry girls, I know you hardly know me. But I don't think this is appropriate behavior for young daughters to be involved in. Your father is too tired, to have really noticed what was going on. I've got to play responsible adult now, while he is so out of it. There is nobody else here. I'm sorry, I hope you understand. I will return your camera later."

Megan and Robin, said "aw" at my actions, but didn't object.

"Now it is time to get the rest of your car unloaded. I'm going to talk to your father and convince him to stay the night. With the way his feet are swollen, I don't even think, he can put his shoes back on. There is plenty of room here and having company would be nice." Actually I wanted to be alone this weekend because of my breakup, but I wanted the girls to feel at ease.

..................................................................................

Oh, man the hot water felt so good. Better than sex, probably. Though I hadn't had sex with anything but my right hand in such long time, that I might not have an accurate memory of it. Even when I was getting sex, it wasn't that often or good. But she was giving it to everyone....... STOP THAT THOUGHT. It is over and done with it. Don't think about her again. You've got a new life and the only family you have is your girls. You've got a new home and a couple of new jobs. The past is dead and gone.

I took a deep breath and focused on the here and now. Boy I'm glad, that Maria insisted on me showering here. What with driving to the lodge and checking in, it probably would have been an hour or even two, before I could warm up there. Looking down at my feet I noticed how swollen they were, they didn't look like they would fit in my regular shoes. But, I had a pair of rubber mud boots, that were really loose. I could wear them if necessary. 

But I didn't want to drive out, in that lousy weather and then stand around, waiting to check into the lodge. I wanted to lie down and rest my aching back. Maybe eat something. With that thought, I suddenly got hungry. The cabin we were supposed to be renting had a small kitchen. I had promised the girls spaghetti, Italian sausage and garlic bread tonight. I was too tired to cook and the restaurant, at the lodge even if it was open, sucks during the off season.

I realized suddenly, that I had been standing in the shower for a long time, doing nothing. I quickly scrubbed myself clean and got out. On the floor of the bathroom was my overnight bag. I hadn't even heard anyone come in. I got dressed, put some thick socks on my feet and exited the bathroom.

I smelled sausage and spaghetti sauce.

I followed my nose.

......................................................................................

"If we get everything unloaded and put away, your father is less likely to raise a fuss and object."

So I had the girls take their bags to one of the guest rooms. I wish I could have moved Don's to a room, but he needed his in the bath. Then with Megan on one side and me on the other, we moved their heavy cooler chest to the kitchen. Robin followed us, with a grocery bag full of food. 

I opened the cooler chest and felt my mouth water. I was so hungry. There were eggs, milk, bacon, packages wrapped in butcher's paper, orange juice and other good eats. Here I am, a multi-millionaire and what do I have. A cooler chest full of ice cream, and two chocolate cakes. Correction, one chocolate cake, I promised one to the girls. I do have a freezer with some food. But there is just a couple of frozen dinners and some meat, that would take too long to defrost and cook. 

Carl's wife Lucille, usually kept my pantry stocked. But she had been hurt in a car accident and was still in the hospital. Carl was staying with her in town, until she could return home. Carl and Lucille were good friends. I was paying for his hotel and had them both listed as full time employees, with medical benefits. Carl's former employer went out of business and he had lost a good chunk of his pension. 

When he first started working for me, his straight forward behavior, honesty and sense of humor; had warmed my heart. Lucille was absolutely wonderful, with a wicked sense of humor. I would sit in the kitchen while she cooked and Carl worked outside. We would chat, about all manner things. Some of the things, she said, I'm sure would shock Carl. He was a lucky man, but Lucille was also a lucky woman. They became my friends, and I had more money than I knew what to do with. So I paid them a little more than what was necessary, big deal. The big thing was the medical and dental coverage. Carl was suspicious, but I made up some lie about my accountant, needing it for a tax deduction.'

Robin groaned. "I'm sooo hungry."

Megan chimed in. "Me too, Maria can we use your kitchen? Daddy packed a lot of food. He promised us spaghetti and sausage tonight. He always packs too much food. He says you never know, when you might have company or a big appetite. So there is plenty for you, too."

I was so hungry, that I wanted to scream "let's cook". But I had to be more dignified. "I'm a bit hungry myself, if you're sure your father wouldn't mind? I would be happy to join you for dinner."

Megan looked kind of sheepish. "There is just one problem, we don't know how to cook very well."

I laughed. "No problem, I sure between the three of us, we can figure it out."

Megan started lifting packages out of the chest and bag. There was one large bag, containing one of those cheap store bought salads. I guess Don, as a typical male, wasn't into salads. She explained each package. Her father's homemade spaghetti sauce, his homemade Italian sausage, which was extra good because he hand chopped the meat, instead of using a grinder. Homemade French bread, which was to be used to make garlic bread. A large package of mushrooms, which was to be fried with butter. Her father loved them as a side dish. Finally she pulled out a wonderful looking pecan pie, which was of course homemade.

My God, the man could cook, and he rescues damsels in distress. Maybe I should take another look at him. Maybe he is not so much a wolf, but a lonely sheep dog. I suddenly thought about Robin's digital camera in my pocket. Maybe I should take a closer look at those pictures, too. I could feel the beginnings of a tiny, wicked grin on my face.

.................................................................................................

Following my nose, I came to large and beautiful kitchen. I stood in the entryway looking around in awe. It was at least six hundred square feet, and there were at least six ovens. There were built in refrigerators, freezers, 4 large sinks, a center island with built in grill and smoke hood. I've seen many restaurants with less equipment. Wood cabinets, marble floor, granite countertop and of course, all appliances were stainless steel. I mentally figured the low end of the kitchen cost was $120,000 but I would not have been surprised at $250,000 or higher.

Maria and my girls were standing at the other end of the kitchen, busy cooking.

I walked slowly towards them, because of my swollen feet. So when I finally spoke, I was only ten feet behind them and they were surprised.

"Smells good." They all jumped a little.

"Daddy," screamed my youngest. "You almost made me spill the sauce." She came running back to punch me in the arm.

"Sorry Baby, I didn't mean to scare you. What's happening?"

"Maria is cooking the sausage and mushrooms. Megan is making the noodles and garlic bread. And I'm making the sauce and I set the table too, see." She pointed to an alcove with a large bay window. Nestled within was a large, round oak table.

Maria spoke. "I hope you don't mind that we started cooking and are using your groceries?"

"Why should I mind. This is wonderful. You all seem to be doing a great job. I can play lazy man and sit down at the table, if you don't mind."

"Go right ahead. I think everything is going to be done in about ten minutes."

"Dad, are you feeling better?" Asked Megan.

"Much better, I'm dry, and I'm warm." There was a sudden big gust of wind that rattled the windows. I took a deep breath, I wasn't looking forward to leaving this warm house for even the short trip to the lodge. I better give them a call and warn them, that we would be checking in late. I pulled my cell phone and checked it, no bars.

"Maria, I've got no signal on my cell phone. Can I use your house phone? I need to call the lodge and warn them about our late check in."

"Daddy, Maria wants us to spend the night. It is so late and it is so nasty outside. She's shown us our bedroom and it's beautiful. Please, can we stay one night?" She looked at me with big mournful eyes. 

Robin returned to my side, took my hand and looked up at me with big eyes. "Please Father, it would mean ever so much to us, if you would allow us to stay the night." She said it all, with a fake English accent. I wasn't sure if she got it from Mary Poppins or Oliver Twist.

"You two, think you've got me wrapped around your fingers, don't you?"

From Robin, "yep."

From Megan, "pretty much."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure. Maria, are you sure that it is all right for us to stay? I wouldn't want to inconvenience you in anyway."

"Don, I would be happy to have you stay over. Your two girls are wonderful, they are fun to be with and I'm enjoying their company. This is such a terrible night, that I would be grateful to have someone else in the house."




Sophia Pt. 01



"Well I'm glad for the invite. I really didn't want to go back out in the storm either, thank you. If I could still use your phone? I need to let the lodge know about the change in plans."

"Of course, there on the wall by the refrigerators." 

I made my call and informed the desk clerk about the change. He understood, no problem.

"Did you bring in the small cooler chest from the SUV?"

"No Dad, we forgot," answered Megan.

I thought about it, I didn't have any shoes that I could wear, and I was weary and sore. "Megan could you run to the car and bring back the small cooler? And while you're doing that, bring in my rubber boots and set them just inside the door. I might need to wear them tomorrow."

"Sure Dad, just let me pour the noodles into the colander and if you could pull the garlic bread, it looks done."

I gravely strode, maybe limped, forward to check on the bread. Megan was right it was done. I found an oven mitt and pulled the tray.

Robin started explaining to Maria. "We've got a cooler chest full of root beer. It's wonderful and it's homemade by Daddy."

Maria replied in a kind of a blithe tone. "Of course."

It only took Megan five minutes to be back with the ice chest. There were only twelve bottles inside and just a small amount of ice, so I was sure she could handle it.

The table was set, and the drinks poured. We were ready for dinner.

.............................................................................................

The cooking was going smoothly and the smell of the food, had my mouth watering. The girls had been telling me about their daily life and how great their dad was. The cooktop I was using, was right next to two ovens, stacked one on top of the other. The top oven was very useful for me, when I had guests. The glass door, on that oven, was like mirror that gave me a perfect view of the entry way, behind me. I kept one eye on that mirrored surface, waiting for Don.

He finally appeared in the door way. He seemed to be alright at first. But he looked around for a moment and sagged against the door frame. He seemed to rest there for a few minutes and then started quietly limping towards us. It took me a moment to figure out what was going on. Since our backs were towards him, he thought he was unseen and didn't have to put up a strong front. 

He was only a few feet behind us, when he pulled himself together, pasted a smile on his face and spoke. "Smells good." 

The girls jumped a bit and I acted, like I had been startled too.

Robin yell, "Daddy, you almost made me spill the sauce." She ran back to punch him on the arm.

"Sorry Baby, I didn't mean to scare you. What's happening?"

"Maria is cooking the sausage and mushrooms. Megan is making the noodles and garlic bread. And I'm making the sauce and I set the table, see." She pointed to the kitchen table.

I spoke. "I hope you don't mind that we started cooking and are using your groceries?"

"Why should I mind. This is wonderful. You all seem to be doing a great job. I can play lazy man and sit down at the table, if you don't mind."

"Go right ahead. I think everything is going to be done in about ten minutes." Please sit down, before you fall over you oaf, I thought.

"Dad, are you feeling better?" Asked Megan.

"Much better, I'm dry, and I'm warm. Maria, I've got no signal on my cell phone. Can I use your house phone? I need to call the lodge and warn them about our late check in."

"Daddy, Maria wants us to spend the night. It is so late and it is so nasty outside. She's shown us our bedroom and it's beautiful. Please, can we stay one night?" She looked at her Father with big pleading eyes, what an actress. 

Robin ran back to her Father and took his hand. "Please Father, it would mean ever so much to us, if you would allow us to stay the night." She sounded like that little girl from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

"You two, think you've got me wrapped around your fingers, don't you?" Asked Don.

From Robin, "yep."

From Megan, "pretty much."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure. Maria, are you sure that it is all right for us to stay? I wouldn't want to inconvenience you in anyway."

"Don, I would be happy to have you stay over. Your two girls are wonderful, they are fun to be with and I'm enjoying their company. This is such a terrible night, that I would be grateful to have someone else in the house." I would also feel guilty as hell, if you left.

"Well I'm glad for the invite. I really didn't want to go back out in the storm either, thank you. If I could still use your phone? I need to let the lodge know about the change in plans."

"Of course, there on the wall by the refrigerators." He made a brief call and hung up. Everything seemed fine from what I overheard. 

"Did you bring in the small cooler chest from the SUV?"

"No Dad, we forgot," answered Megan.

"Megan could you run to the car and bring back the small cooler? And while you're doing that, bring in my rubber boots and set them just inside the door. I might need to wear them tomorrow."

"Sure Dad, just let me pour the noodles into the colander and if you could pull the garlic bread, it looks done."

He limped over to the oven and pulled the tray.

Robin started explaining to me. "We've got a cooler chest full of root beer. It's wonderful and it's homemade by Daddy."

"Of course." Of course it is homemade. He is super Father, able to fix anything with a pocket knife and a bit of chewing gum, while baking bread.

It only took Megan a few minutes to come back. The cooler didn't look very heavy and she handled it with ease.

We sat down to eat and the girls were right. The food was wonderful, except for the salad. The girls and I started talking about horses again. I told them how I had four horses stabled at the lodge. I love to ride, but I let someone else clean up after them.

The Italian sausage was the best, I had ever had. I'm not much of a meat eater but it was goood. The girls even convinced me to try the root beer. I've had root beer before, and haven't thought much of it. But this stuff was of a whole different caliber. It was like the difference between a good bottle of wine and a cheap can of beer. A bottle a day, with let's say lunch, would not be bad. 

Don was strangely silent during the whole meal. Though, he did have a big grin on his face from all our antics, he didn't join in much. There was a small hint of sadness to his eyes. He laughed out loud when, after I drank the root beer, I got in a burping contest with Robin. I won!

For a spontaneous evening that came out of misfortune. I was having one of the best nights of my life. It felt like having a family. Which at first made me kind of sad. Then it made me think about Don. But I decided no, after the disaster with Robert, I was going to be careful. Especially since Don and I, didn't seem to be that compatible. I was impressed with him, but I felt no immediate attraction. On the other hand, all the people I've had an immediate attraction to, have been losers. I think, I'm going to keep my eye on Don and look at those pictures. Maybe he would grow on me.

We finished dinner and Don insisted on doing the clean up, since we had done all the cooking. I suggested that he needed to rest his hands which still looked terrible. He said that they were feeling better, and that the hot water and a little bit of exercise would be good for them. He shooed us off to relax. Maybe he was growing on me.

After Don finished the clean up, he found us in the movie room. He was tired, so I showed him to his bedroom, right next to his girls' room. 

The girls and I, watched one DVD and had a piece, a big piece of pecan pie. Which just might be better than chocolate cake. Then we called it a night too. 

The bedroom I had given them, was on the opposite side of the house from mine and down the hallway. It was kind of a fantasy room that I had decorated. It had two queen size canopy beds with pink curtains. I always thought my friends would bring some daughters for a visit. But almost all my friends are still childless, like me, FUCK! So the room has never been used.

I had some funny feelings when I went to bed that night. This had been, both one of the best nights of my life and the saddest.

.......................................................................................................

While I was cleaning up the kitchen, Maria and my girls were starting to watch a DVD. It didn't take me long and I was yawning, before I put the last dish in the rack to air dry.

I followed the sound of the movie and girls talking, to an entertainment room. Huge screen TV, speakers all over the place and really comfy looking couches and chairs. Maria looked up at my arrival and paused the DVD.

"You look like you're having fun."

"We're having a blast Daddy, have you seen the size of this television? I didn't know they made them that big." Megan said, Robin had a mouth full of pecan pie and couldn't talk.

"How's the pie?"

"Yummy, Daddy." Said Robin.

"It's quite good, best pecan pie I've ever had." Remarked Maria.

"I hate to be a party pooper, but I'm pretty tired. Maria could you show me, where I can put my head down for a bit?

"My pleasure, I'll be right back girls. Follow me Don."

"Goodnight Daddy."

"Night, Dad."

"Goodnight my darlings, my pearls from heaven, the cherubs of my....."

"Shut up Dad."

"There is no poetry in your souls." I turned to follow Maria. We went up the stairs from the great room and entered a long hallway. We started to pass room after room.

"Maria, if you don't mind me asking. How many bedrooms does this house have?"

"Twelve bedrooms, not quite a hotel. But it is great when I'm entertaining, especially during ski season."

"How do you keep it all clean? It has got to be a full time job for one or even two people."

"I've got my handyman Carl and his wife Lucille. I think I mentioned them to you. They're in town right now. They don't work full time but pretty darn close. I've also got a cleaning crew, that comes in three times a week. I'm not comfortable with a full time, live in staff." 

"Carl and Lucille live just down the road. If I need them, they're here. If not, they still get paid. Carl takes care of inside repairs and outside tasks. Lucille takes care of the kitchen and spot cleaning. The cleaning crew, takes care of all the large cleaning tasks. It is a big crew and they are normally in and out, in under four hours. This way I have more privacy and if at night, I want to run downstairs to the kitchen, in my underwear, I can." She said the last with a grin.

Keep cool Don, don't think about Maria in her underwear. Oh God, I want to starting licking her toes and work all the way up. Take a deep breath Don, pause turn and look at the picture on the wall. Don't show her your face, so she doesn't see your fight for self control.

"Oh, you like Kincaid too? I think his painting are so cheerful. They always make me feel good." Commented Maria.

"Who the heck is Kincaid?" I thought to myself. After composing myself, we continued down the hall.

We almost reached the end of the hall and Maria pointed to an open door on the right. "That is your room. Your daughters' room is the next one down, on the right. Extra blankets are in the chest, at the foot of the bed. Make yourself to home."

"Thank you for your kindness Maria. Goodnight."

"Thank you for rescuing me. Goodnight Don."

I stepped into the room and Maria turned to walk back down the hallway. I hurriedly stuck my head back out, to watch her ass, as she was walking away. When she was out of sight, I pulled my head back into the room. I then noticed the room had an attached bathroom. I was really hoping that there was some hand lotion in there. Because there was no way, I was going to be able to get to sleep, unless I took care of my John Thomas. And if there was no hand lotion, he was going to be getting some terrific friction burns.

To see such feminine perfection and not to able to , SHIT! Now was not the time. Maria had graciously invited us into her home. I'm a strange man and we're miles from nowhere. Hell of a thing, if I make a pass at her, she could kick us all out. So, I've got a hard-on that needs a whip and gun to control. Deal with it, Megan and Robin are having fun. Their enjoyment and Maria's peace of mind comes first.

BUT I WANT TO FUCK HER, THOUGH! COVER HER IN WHIP CREAM AND CHOCOLATE SYRUP, AND LICK IT OFF HER BODY.

Oh God, there better be some hand lotion in that bathroom.

.........................................................................................................

I wished the girls goodnight and told them, that I needed to step into my home office for a bit, before I headed up to bed.

The girls went up stairs and I went to my den. Luckily Robin hadn't asked any questions about her camera.

I booted up my computer and stuck the memory card from the camera into the slot on my pc. Robin had even taken more pictures than I had previously thought. And Don, had been much more careless with that blanket, too. He must have been very tired, since I didn't take him for a flasher.

Oh my, oh my, not bad, not bad at all. A bit bigger than normal, entirely adequate. Let us also remember, that he was quite cold at the time. Things might be scrunched up a bit. Torso looks a bit sloppy, not too much though.

I felt so wicked looking at the pictures. You are a bad woman, Maria. You purloin his daughter's camera, so you can check our her father. I turned around to make sure my office door was still closed. Now to check out his back and ass. Hot damn, we have a winner. It was like looking at Arnold's ass from the first Terminator movie.

Earlier, I had thought about wanting a knight in shining armor. Maybe I had one, maybe his armor just needed a little polishing. Or to put it another way. I had remodeled this old lodge, into a huge magnificent home, that was the envy of many of my wealthy friends. Maybe all he needed, was a bit of remodeling. I would definitely have to think about it.

I transferred all the pictures to my hard drive, making sure the memory card was clear of the offending photos. I had to make sure to protect the innocence of his daughter. I was such a baaad girl. I almost printed out a copy of the pictures to take to bed. Maybe the result of the subsequent disasters of Robert and my car wreck, was going to be a good thing. 

I went off to bed. The storm was really lashing the house, when I finally got off to sleep. I was little worried about losing power, but I had generator for emergencies.

My sleep was interrupted by large crash, in my room, that shook the house. I jumped up screaming. I felt a blast of cold wet air. There was a large dark mass in front of me. I screamed again.

"What the fuck is going on? What the fuck?" I was panting very loud in a panic. When awoken abruptly, I never handle it well. And this was about as abrupt as possible. I was making little whining noises, what was going on. I'm cold. Where am I? I didn't know what to do. I was in my bed. But I didn't want to get out, because it was so cold and I was frightened. Where's the light switch? Call for help?

Suddenly my door burst open and I jumped again. Someone was there and they turned on the light switch.

"Maria, are you all right?" He asked. What was his name? He helped me with the car accident. He has two daughters. Don, that's it. He's only wearing pants.

I turned to look away from him and to where my picture window used to be. There was a tree sticking in my room. I made some more funny noises.

"Maria, are you all right?" I didn't answer him.

"Maria, don't be afraid. I'm going to pick you up and carry you to my daughters' room. I' m not going to hurt you. I promise."

He wrapped all the blankets around me, and scooped me up in his arms, and held me against his naked chest. Don carried me out of my bedroom. At first I felt very nervous in his arms. But he kept reassuring me.

"I'm just taking you to my daughters' room. You'll be safe. Then I'll take care of that mess in your room. So don't you worry. I'm good at things like that. Megan and Robin are probably scared with this big storm. You can keep each other company."

I started to feel very secure, with him holding me. But just as I was getting really comfortable, we were at the end of the hall and at his daughters' room.

I heard Megan's voice. "Daddy what's wrong? Why are you carrying Maria? Is everything okay?" She sounded scared, I was scared.

"Don't worry Honey. Maria just had a big fright. A tree branch came crashing through her window. She was probably sleeping soundly. Getting woken up that way is really disorienting. It is so bad out tonight, that I think you ladies should have a slumber party. If you don't mind, Maria?

"No, no, I don't mind." I really wasn't sure what I was replying too. But it sounded good. If Don, kept holding me that sounded good too.

"Megan, if you get in one bed with Robin, I'll put Maria in the other." Don sat me down on the bed, but I had a hard time releasing my arms from around his neck. He didn't pry my arms loose, he just crooned to me until I calmed down enough to let go on my own.

"Don, thank you. I'm so embarrassed."

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about. That is a hell of a way to be woken up. You're sleeping deeply, you've already had stressful day, what with your accident. Now, a bloody tree comes through your window. Anybody would freak out."

"I know this is your house and your rules. But, with such a nasty storm outside, I think it would be a good idea if you three spent the night together. I'll to a little clean up of your bedroom and go back to bed myself. I'm probably not as good as your handyman Carl, but I'm not bad. Okay?"

"Okay Don, thank you. Don't do too much yourself. I've got plenty of money and insurance. I can easily afford to get everything fixed."

"Just a little bit of clean up. Doing a little bit now, can save you big bucks later. I hate to see things go to waste, no matter how much money you have."

He got up from kneeling at my side. I didn't know, what he could do with a tree, sticking into my bedroom. But he said only a little bit of work. I would trust him to know better than me.

"Okay Don, thanks again for rescuing me a second time."

When I said okay, he seemed to get a deep thoughtful look, like he was planning something. His next statement caught me by surprise, but the way it was delivered and his mannerisms convinced me, that it was an unconscious reply, his thoughts were elsewhere.

"My pleasure, for the second time tonight, I've carried in my arms the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Well, I'm going to get to work, goodnight."

He left the room with me staring in shock, at his back. I turned to give Megan and Robin a flabbergasted look, but they were staring at each other with open mouths. Megan caught my expression, out of the corner of her eye and snapped her mouth closed.

"It's a spooky, stormy night. Let's tell ghost stories." Megan blurted out. I mentally applauded her quick thinking and the change of topic. But it wasn't a bad idea. To be spending a night, telling spooky stories with a pair of girls, young enough to be my own daughters. Damn, I wanted my own children so bad.

I told the Gray Ghost of Witching Tower. Just before the next story, Robin announced that she was hungry and hinted at wanting a piece of chocolate cake. That idea met with unanimous approval. I told the girls to stay in the room, while I hustled down to the kitchen in my pajamas.

When I passed by my bedroom, I opened the door to look inside. It looked like Don had given up and I couldn't blame him. The tree or branch sticking through the window was huge. I couldn't see what anyone could possibly do tonight, especially with the storm outside. I shrugged my shoulders and shut the door. Oh well, that's what insurance is for.




Sophia Pt. 01



I continued down to the kitchen and loaded one entire cake, plates, napkins, knife, forks, and three glasses of milk onto a tray; then rushed back to the room. The next story was the Green Ghost of Petticoat Lane.

.........................................................................................................

After dropping off Maria, I returned to my room to get properly dressed. I was already second guessing myself. I loved to solve problems like this. Give me something broken and I've just got to try and fix it. Eighty or ninety percent of the time, I make things better. But, sometimes I screw things up and make things worse. And this could be, one of those situations. But, I can't help myself. It's liking having an itch, I've just got to scratch it.

Once I was dressed, I stopped in Maria's bedroom to inspect things. Damn, I wasn't sure if it was one big limb or the top of a tree, but it was big. I better hustle outside and see how much weight is leaning against the house. I ran down to the garage, put my mud boots and rain gear on, grabbed my spotlight and went outside.

I had to walk clear around the house, to get to the back side and see what was going on. Maria's house had a walk out basement on the rear. So the broken window was close to forty feet from the ground. A large oak tree had been toppled against the house, with the crown of the tree breaking through the window.

Did I really want to do this? Hell yes, I'm a manly man and they called me submissive. But could I do it, without further damage to Maria's house is the question? I would hate to make myself look like an idiot to her. I am an idiot, I just don't want her to know. Well, I've got to see what kind of tools Carl has. Without the right gear, I might as well forget it.

Carl had a good assortment of chains, ropes and towing straps. There was a good quality chain saw with a 24" bar. He had not one, but two come-a-longs, with a four ton rating. I just hoped they were strong enough. There was also a tractor in the garage, but he had the engine in pieces, so that was a no go. 

So I had the tools for the job. Did I have the materials to patch the window?

Well, there was rack full of two by fours, but I couldn't find any plywood. I also found a supply of tarps, but they were either canvas or the cheap blue kind. But I had a silver, heavy duty, 12' x 12' tarp in the back of my SUV, that I kept for emergencies. I could build a frame out of the two by fours, cover it with my tarp and fit it into the existing window frame from inside the house. Probably not the best solution, but I'm an idiot. There was no way, I was going to climb forty feet up a ladder, on the outside of the house, even without a storm. 

Got the tools, check. Got the materials, check. Got the stupidity, double check.

I couldn't measure the window upstairs for the patch, accurately, with the tree in the way. So I was going to have to remove the tree, then measure things. That would leave the room, exposed to the full force of the storm. I could only hope, that things wouldn't get to wet in Maria's room.

I went back upstairs to attach a chain to the crown of the tree. I took a pair of loppers and a hand saw with me. Probably the chain saw would have been better, but I didn't want to scare the girls with the noise. Who am I kidding. I didn't want Maria to run down the hall asking me. "What the hell are you doing?" She would probably stop me.

Getting that chain attached was a pain in the ass and took me almost forty-five minutes. Damn that chain was heavy. I left enough wood chips and sawdust in her bedroom to mulch a pretty good size garden. I was well on my way to making myself look like a complete numbskull. Time to complete my buffoonery. I wonder if Maria, has insurance protecting her from the dumb. 

I went back outside pushing a wheelbarrow. Loaded with more chain, straps, ropes, come-a-longs and the chain saw. I prepared the base of the tree with the chain saw, cutting out a wedge shape. This was so, when I pulled the tree away from the house, it could more easily fall in the direction I wanted.

I then attached the two come-a-longs, to the bases of two different, very large, trees that were on a slope a short distance from the house. I hooked more chain onto what I had dropping down from the top of the tree, and then I attached that chain to the cable of the come-a-long. I then had to wait for a lull in the wind. It took nearly a half an hour for that lull to show up. While I was waiting, I entertained myself by singing Monty Pythons', "I'm a Lumber Jack and I'm Okay", repeatedly at my loudest volume. It seemed appropriate, what with the task at hand, the weather and me being a complete fool.

I also got into fits of maniacal laughter, imagining the girls being able to see and hear me. Megan and Robin would disavow knowing me. Maria would probably call the sheriff. 

Eventually the lull came and I started cranking the first come-a-long like mad. It took a while for any progress to be made, but eventually it started to move. I nearly had the tree nearly up right, when I reached that particular come-a-long's limit of travel. Which was what I had feared and known would happen. Now I had to connect the second come-a-long to the chain to finish pulling the tree over. And I had to do it quick, because I didn't want the tree to fall side ways, and maybe twist into the house. 

God must have been smiling down upon me, because everything worked exactly as I had planned. I didn't even have to run that fast or far, when the tree started to topple over. It was a pain digging out the chain and the buried come-a-longs from the trees branches, but it was expected. Paul Bunyan, eat your heart out. "I cut down trees, I wear high heels, suspendies and a bra!"

As quickly as I could, I rushed back into the house to measure the size of the bedroom picture window. It was a perfect 6' x 6' square, which made things a bit easier, I measured twice of course. 

I prepared the frame in the garage, and attached the tarp using some fender washers and screws. I lugged the whole thing upstairs. I first attached some scrap wood to the outside edge of the existing window frame, to act as stop when I slid my patch into place. I didn't want the whole thing to fall out of the window before I secured it. Then I used some four inch galvanized deck screws to attach my frame to the stops and pre-existing window frame. 

Damn I was good. It was at that point, that the lights went out. Seeing as how every thing had gone as close to perfect with my hair brained plan, as humanly possible, losing power was a necessity. Life can only give you so much good luck. 

While outside, I had spotted a whole house generator and I patiently waited for it to switch over, but it wasn't happening. There was a wet/dry shop vacuum in the garage, which I had been hoping to use for clean up. Bending down I felt the carpeting and it was really soaked. Maybe I would checked into what was wrong with the generator.

There was a file cabinet, next to Carl's work bench. He had everything neatly organized and sure enough there was a manual for the generator inside. First thing that occurs to me, when an engine doesn't start, is that the battery might be dead. I rigged up a 12 volt tester, using a light of the tractor and some wire. Sure enough the battery was dead on the generator. Following the instructions in the manual, for these conditions. I swapped in the battery from the dismantled tractor and had the generator working in less than twenty minutes. When I was done, I carefully looked over my shoulder and made sure I had no witnesses. Time to do the happy dance.

I cleaned up the tools, Maria's bedroom and then went to bed. It only took me about five hours, I was impressed. As a reward, before I left Maria's room, I had grabbed one of her pillows and clutched it to my face, breathing in her scent. Everyone should have the right to dream a little bit.

..........................................................................................................

We ate too much cake and then we all climbed into one bed to tell ghost stories. I was surprised, it was Robin that knew the scariest stories. We all conked out after about two hours. 

When I woke up the next morning the light on the bed side clock was flashing. I guess we must have lost power during the night. Listening carefully, I could hear the sound of the generator. Normally, when we lose power it takes at least three days to get it back. I would have to check the level on the propane tanks. That was something Carl would normally do. If the level was too low, I'd have to give the gas people a call.

I slowly sat up in bed. This was a bit harder to do, since I had someone else's leg laying across my waist. I looked down at Robin's sleeping face. She looked like she could sleep forever. Megan was at the very edge of the bed and looked like she was about to roll out. I carefully extricated myself from Robin and got out of the bed. I walked quickly to the other side and rolled Megan away from the edge. Man, these girls could sleep. 

I looked around the room with a grin. This was a wonderful way to christen it. I was so happy.

I left the room quietly and walked back to my own bedroom. Time to see the damage in the light of day and change my clothes. When I opened the door I was shocked. The tree was gone! The room was clean! There was a big silver tarp where the window used to be. From adjoining windows there was bright sunlight streaming in. The silver tarp was flexing a bit in the wind, but it seemed pretty secure. I walked slowly across the carpeting. When I got close to the window, my bare feet felt a bit of wetness. All the broken glass was gone. How long had Don worked?

I moved over to an adjoining window to look outside. I had expected the limb to be from the tree closest to my bedroom. But I had not expected the entire tree to be down. Carl had warned me about that old oak. But it had looked so healthy, that I had refused him permission to cut it down.

From the remains of the splintered trunk, I could easily tell that it was the whole tree that had come down on the house, and broke through my window. I could also see saw cuts. I thought I heard a chain saw last night but it was only for a short time, and I thought it was just noise from the storm. There had been longer noise too, that woke me briefly. But I had ignored it too. There was no way someone would be vacuuming at four in the morning.

I marched down to Don's room to get an explanation. I knocked on his door and there was no answer. Cautiously I opened his door, and peeked at the bed. He was laying there spread eagled in just his boxer shorts. His hands and feet were still swollen or swollen again. He rolled over, making a groaning noise as he did. I quietly left the room and closed the door.

I went back to my room, to clean up and change. Once that was done, I needed to get some coffee and get my thinking in order. Over my second cup, I thought about my current situation. Two strange girls sleeping in my home, and one exhausted man. I had a good time with Megan and Robin, but they were almost complete strangers. But I did want to get to know them better. I guess I'm looking for an outlet for my maternal instincts. 

Only problem, they came with their father. Who I wasn't too sure about. Did I like him? Could I like him or was he just a door stop. It was awfully presumptuous of him, to have done so much work like that, with out getting my permission. I know in one way, it was nice and he worked hard. But this is my home, mine! Nothing is done here without my okay. On the other hand, I was pretty upset when he left me, maybe this was something that he had to do, for the safety of my house.

Don't get me wrong, having the clean up done, so I don't have to worry is great. But he still should have cleared a job this big with me. I'd shelve my thoughts about the repairs, until I had more information.

Megan and Robin had come up here to go horse back riding. I owed them for my rescue. Don would probably be tired and sore for the rest of the day. And I owned four horses, stabled at the lodge. Even though I had flunked calculus, this kind of math was easy for me. Time to see if the girls were awake.

Robin was snoring and had her feet on top of Megan's chest, it was so cute.

"Megan, Robin time to get up, if you want to go riding." No answer.

"GOOD MORNING YOU TWO." Maybe a bit too loud. Robin did a sort of back flip off the bed, landed on her feet and collapsed onto her butt. Megan rolled off the bed, nearly hitting her head on the night stand and hit the floor with a thump. I even heard a surprised yell from Don's room.

Groans filled the room and I think the room next door too. Megan sat up on the floor rubbing her eyes. Robin jumped up, to run to me and give me a good morning hug. Ooh, that was nice.

"Morning Maria." Nice hug, but her breath. I should have made them brush their teeth after the chocolate cake, last night.

"Good morning, Maria." Megan slowly stood up, looking at me while scratching her butt. She definitely was not a morning person.

"I figured, I would use more of your father's food to make us breakfast. What would you like?"

"We always have either pancakes and sausage, or French toast and sausage on Saturdays with Daddy." Robin replied.

"Okay pancakes and sausage, it is."

"Be sure to use Daddy's special syrup."

I winced at the double meaning that statement could have, I don't even know if I like him. "Don't tell me, it's homemade right?" Megan wandered off to the bathroom.

"No, Daddy just mixes regular syrup and real maple syrup together, it makes it extra good."

There were groans coming from the bathroom. Megan definitely was not a morning person. But there were still sounds of pain, coming from next door too.

"Robin, your daddy is making some funny noises let's go check on him."

"Okay," Robin led the way out of the room. She didn't knock on his door, but just burst right in.

"Daddy are you okay?"

He was laying flat on his back, but he was covered up. Before Robin had opened the door, I could hear him groaning. Now that we were inside the room, he had shut up.

"Good morning, Baby. I'm just a little sore." He looked over at me. "Good morning, Maria."

"Good morning, Don. Sorry for invading your privacy, but I heard your groans. You did an awful lot of work last night, you're probably very sore. He looked a little embarrassed at my comment.

"Robin, could you get me a couple of Motrin out of my bag, and a glass of water from the bathroom, please? After that, I'm going to teach you how to grovel properly when you make a mistake."

"Sure Daddy. Did you make a mistake."

"You better believe it, Honey."

"Maria I apologize for not making clear to you how much work I intended. This is your home and property, and I never should have done anything so drastic, without getting your permission. I sincerely apologize, things could have gone wrong very easily. I had no right to do those things, without your full understanding and okay."

I was taken aback. I thought he was going to go all alpha male on me. "I know what is better than you do little girl," kind of attitude. I've never taken that crap from anyone. Maybe I was bit flustered last night, but give me a few minutes and we could have discussed things. But he recognized his mistake and was sincerely apologizing.

"I've got a problem, Maria. When something is broken, I've just got to try and fix it. It's a compulsion." He looked at me with pleading eyes. "I carry tools with me, wherever I go, just to be ready. I just couldn't go to sleep last night, with the thought of that multi-ton tree leaning against your house."

Multi-ton, multi-ton? Was it that big? I began to have some unease about last night's situation.

"The wind was making it shift around in your window frame. I was worried about structural damage or maybe the tree would break loose from the window, slide down and take out the whole exterior wall. I'm really sorry. I should have expressed my concerns to you. I didn't want to disturb you last night, but only an idiot wouldn't wake a homeowner for such a job.

Boy, he was good at groveling.

"Daddy always has to fix things, and he's good at it too." Robin spoke, looking at me with such a sad face. 

I thought about Don's apology. He knew, he had screwed up in not talking to me. I also thought about his compulsion excuse. Maybe this compulsion thing, is what causes a man to search a drainage ditch on a dark and stormy night. Maybe this compulsion of his, saved my life. It was time to be gracious.

"Don, I thank you for your work and your apology. You didn't wait for me to bring it up either, that means to me that it is more sincere. Please if you do any more work around here, consult with me first, okay?" He started to look very sheepish, oh, oh.

"Well I'm sorry Maria, but last night as I was almost done, we lost electricity."

I gave him a gimlet eyed stare. "Yeah, and I've got a back up generator, that starts automatically."

"Well, it didn't start. So, I took a quick look at it and the battery was dead. It was real easy to fix. I just swapped the battery from your tractor and it started right away. I'm sorry." He said that all in a rush.

I thought about the lights, heat, and well pump. That wouldn't be working right now, if he hadn't fixed things. There are times to stand on principle and there are times not to be a damn fool. And I hated to admit, it is nice to be taken care of, too.

"Well Robin, what do you think we should do to him?"

She seemed to go deep in thought. "I would say no breakfast, but he looks hungry. Tell you what, I won't give him any kisses for two days. Is that enough?"

"Sounds fair. Okay Don, you are forgiven. Don't do it again."

"Yes, Ma'am. I won't do it again."

"How come I don't believe that? You're a complete fix-it addict, aren't you?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I'm sorry Ma'am."

"You need mental therapy, but that can wait until after breakfast. The girls want pancakes and sausage. I'll have it ready in about forty minutes. You groan your way out of bed and come down, okay?"

"Okay and thanks for accepting my apology."

"You're welcome Don. Thank you for fixing my house." I turned and left the room. 

As I was leaving, I heard Don say. "No kisses for two days, two whole days, you're a mean woman, Robin." 

Oh damn, I forgot to talk about taking the girls riding. Oh well, I'll do that at breakfast.

.........................................................................................................

I was happy, that Maria had accepted my apology and wasn't too ticked at me. Maybe I should have made it in private, so she could have really yelled at me. But I don't like to hide things from my kids. They can learn from my mistakes too and how I handle them.

Robin helped me to get out of bed, and then she pushed me into the bathroom. She told me that I was stinky and to shower. Then she went back to her own room to get dressed.

I showered, dressed, left my room, and walked slowly down the stairs. I could smell the sausage, cooking. It was wonderful, another a meal I didn't have to prepare. I consider myself a pretty decent cook, I had to be, especially since I consider most restaurant food to be overpriced and generally lousy. But the big secret about me is that I hate to cook, but I love eating good food. I don't mind baking, I just hate to cook regular meals.

I walked into the kitchen. "Smells wonderful, is there any coffee?"

"It ought to smell good since it is your homemade breakfast sausage." Maria put extra emphasis on the word "homemade".

"Yep, I've got a back lot, where I raise some pigs. That meat there comes from Emily. She won me a prize at the county fair. Should be mighty fine eating."




Sophia Pt. 01



Maria turned to stare at me, looked down at the fry pan and mouthed the word Emily.

Megan and Robin, burst out laughing.

"You're kidding me right." Maria asked. I put a big grin on my face and nodded my head, yes."

"Robin, make a note. You don't give your daddy any kisses for three days, okay?" 

"Okay, Maria. Daddy you're a bad boy, and you're in so much trouble."

I looked down, faking depression and walked over to the coffee pot, pouring myself a cup. I then walked over to table and sat down with Megan. Who was nursing her own cup of coffee. Megan was not a morning person. It got to be so bad, that starting at twelve years old, my ex-wife and I either gave her one cup of hot chocolate or one cup of coffee, heavy on the cream and sugar, in the morning. On school days, we also had to wake her up a half an hour earlier than Robin, just to get her fully prepared for her day.

"Good morning, Sunshine." She groaned into her coffee cup.

"Good morning, Megan." She looked up, gave me a half-assed smile, mumbled "morning", and then resumed staring into her cup.

"Were you out bar hopping again? How many times have I told you..."

"Daddy."

"Yes, Dear."

"Shut up Daddy, or no kisses from me too."

"Yes, Dear."

I looked towards Maria, who was staring at us. She had a big grin on her face.

"Don, I was thinking. I've got four horses stabled at the lodge. The girls mentioned to me that you don't ride. How about I take the girls riding today. You seem to be pretty stiff and sore, still. That way you can stay here and relax. Does that sound okay to you?"

"It sounds good to me Maria. But we've already spent one night here. Don't you want us out of your hair?"

"Oh no, I'm having fun. I'm really enjoying your company. Please stay another night. Also, since my car is stuck in that ditch and maybe covered with water, I'm trapped here without transportation. If you don't mind, when you leave tomorrow, could you give me a lift back to town?"

"No problem, giving you a lift." Megan and Robin had been following the conversation with big grins on their faces. Even Ms. Grouchy morning person.

"And since Megan and Robin, obviously approve. We would be happy to accept your invitation of another night, thank you. If I stay here during the day, it will give me a chance to cut up that tree into logs for your fireplace."

"Don"

"What, Maria?"

"No"

"But, Maria"

"No and don't make me say it a third time. I appreciate your offer. But I've got a handyman that I pay. He can take care of it, when he comes back. You are still stiff and sore. No work, promise me."

"I promise."

"No building an addition onto my home or digging a swimming pool, understand?"

"Understood, Maria. Can I use your kitchen when you're gone?"

"Sure, but why?"

"I promised the girls chocolate chip cookies, for this weekend. I could bake them and have dinner ready to go, when you get back."

"Don, there are very few women in the world, who would turn down fresh baked cookies. And I'm not one of them. How do you make your homemade cookies." Again that emphasis on homemade.

"Nothing special, just double chocolate chips and maybe a touch more vanilla."

We finished breakfast and I did the clean up, while the girls got ready to go riding. I of course had to lend Maria my SUV and then they left for the remainder of the day. I was going to prepare a sandwiches to take with them, but Maria said that they would buy a hot lunch at the lodge.

After they left I spent an hour or two, checking out Maria's home. Damn the place was big. Kitchen, family room, great room, bathrooms, bedrooms, entertainment room, game room, room with growing plant thingies, basement gym with a lap pool, den, and I'm not sure I found everything.

I then read for an hour or two, made myself lunch and started making cookies. I'd do the dinner setup, when I was done baking.

............................................................................................... 

When I got to the stables. I talked with Nancy, she was the lead instructor and stable master. She was also a part owner of the lodge. I spoke with her about the girls level of skill. It was her opinion that my horses were to spirited for their abilities. Because of the storm, many people had cancelled their weekends, so the girls were able to pick their favorite horses from those available.

We did a two hour ride, and then went to lunch. We walked a bit to stretch muscles unused to riding and then went on another ride with different horses. Most of our conversations for the day centered on me, giving the girls instruction. I also enjoyed showing the girls some of my secret spots, that weekend visitors never get to see.

With sore legs, we went back home. We came home to house filled with smells of fresh baked cookies. I could get used to this. We were all horse stinky, but we stopped in the kitchen for a few cookies and a glass of milk.

"What's for dinner, Daddy?" Asked Robin.

"Turkey and dumplings, and I'm making corn bread, too."

"I thought you were going to make hamburgers and French fries?" Remarked Megan.

"Maybe tomorrow for lunch, before we go home. You always eat too much of the French fries. I want you to eat something a little more healthy."

"But your French fries are so good."

"Enough talk, you're stinking up Maria's kitchen go shower."

"Don, would it be okay if I invited your girls to a little movie party tonight? We've got pecan pie, chocolate cake, a ton of ice cream, and now your cookies. The three of us can stay up late and be bad, then we can sleep in the car while you drive us home." I gave him my sweetest smile.

He took a deep breath. "No problem, don't let them eat so much sweets that they get sick."

"Getting sick is half the fun."

Us girls went up stairs, to remove the stink. After we showered I put on some perfume and gave some to the girls too. This was to tease their father. He held my chair for me, as I sat down and seemed to take a couple of deep breaths. I was secretly pleased.

"Daddy do we smell all pretty now?" Asked Robin.

"You all smell like beautiful flowers."

We had a good meal. The girls and I discussed which movies I had brought, and chose the order that we would watch them in.

Megan, Robin and I did the kitchen clean up, I insisted. Don cooked this time, so it was our turn to clean up.

Megan and Robin, hinted that a homemade pizza would really be nice for our party, tonight. But Don said that he didn't have the ingredients. Was there no end, to this man's talents?

Don went up to his room to relax and watch television. All the bedrooms were equipped with satellite TV.

Megan, Robin and I had a wonderful evening. As we talked and ate, we started to open up more with each other. I told them about Robert and they told me about their father's divorce. What they told me shocked me and I couldn't believe their story. They told me many things, they said, that their father didn't know. They were willing to tell him, but he didn't want to know anything more. He said, he had been hurt enough. To know anything more, would just hurt him further and make him more angry. The past was dead and it was best to leave it that way.

I really liked the girls, and I was a little interested in Don. But that story couldn't possibly be true, could it? But if it was maybe true, then I had to speak to Don about the girls. According to the story, he no longer had any adult friends to confide in.

I had a chest in the movie room full of blankets and pillows. The girls, eventually fell asleep on the couches, and I covered them with blankets. I wanted my own babies, so bad. I turned of the television and fell asleep in a recliner.

I woke up the next morning, to hear Don making noise in the kitchen. When I walked in, he was making coffee.

I was only in my pajamas and robe, but I didn't feel uncomfortable at all. He offered me a cup.

"Don, I know we hardly know each other, but there are some things I need to discuss with you. It is about your girls." He looked at me intently. I told him how I had told the girls about my most recent break up with Robert. I also told him a few details about the break up. He commented, "what a complete moron." Which made me feel better.

But then I went on to tell him what the girls said about his own divorce. He got a very wary expression on his face.

"Don, I apologize for invading your privacy, but the girls had a lot to unload. And they've had no adult to talk with about it. You justifiably don't want to be hurt anymore. Their mother and your sisters, they consider to be the cause of the ill that befell you and them. They've got no one to talk too. They really should be seeing a therapist."

"My ex-wife and I, had them in therapy after the divorce. But Barb, my ex-wife, said that everything was resolved and that they didn't need therapy anymore."

"Don, your ex-wife arranged the therapist, right? And then she decided it was over, right? After everything that Barbara did to you, according to the girls, you still trust her judgment and her word?" I gave him a look of disbelief.

He got this extremely angry look on his face. And I was frightened at first.

"I'm a complete idiot, aren't I?" He put his face in his hands. He took several deep breaths. I wanted to get up and put my arms around him, but I didn't want him to assume, that we were unusually close. I still remembered the look of the hungry wolf. 

He finally looked up at me and his eyes were wet with tears. I then cursed myself for not offering a bit of physical comfort, to the man who had saved my life. "I've been a terrible father. I've been unable to talk to them about the divorce. Every time I think about the betrayal, there is so much rage, that it frightens me. I can't let my girls see how angry I am. But, how could I not see that they needed help?

"According to the girls, you're a wonderful father. You give them every bit of love in your heart. You're just not very observant. If you like, I have some good contacts. I'm sure I can find an excellent therapist for the girls. You'll have to keep it a secret from your ex-wife, though. I don't think she is going to like them, going back to therapy or seeing a therapist that isn't hand-picked by her."

"She kept so many secrets from me, that I've got no problem keeping one from her. I do worry though, that asking the girls to keep that secret will put additional pressure on them. But I don't see any other choice at the moment. Thank you for your advice about the girls and thank you for your help." What I saw before me, was a completely sincere and loving father, and I cursed Robert for making me so wary about future relationships.

"Don, have you thought about seeing a therapist?" I asked with a bit of trepidation.

"Thought? I've been to a therapist and I still see her once a month. I can't even talk to her without blowing up. She says that I am justifiably angry at the situation and I need time to heal. Because I still have to talk to Barbara, regarding the children, frequently. I'm constantly being reminded of the betrayal. So every month I visit with my therapist and we see if I'm able to talk about the entire mess, without hulking out. She says, that I need some new happiness in my life to counteract the pain."

"I've got plenty of happiness with my girls. But she says, that it is not enough. She says, that every bit of happiness I had, except for the girls, was stripped from me, faithful wife, loyal family and friends, successful career, and financial success. Well I'm working on the financial success. I guess I will never have a successful career as a programmer again, my old employer set out to black ball me."

"Have you tried dating?" No why did I have to go and ask that question?

"Maria, I'm a mental wreck. I like being a nice guy, but with this rage I've got inside me." He shook his head. "I don't have the guts to inflict my presence on any woman, it wouldn't be fair or kind to them. On top of that there must be something wrong with me, if my wife could cheat like that and have everyone back her up. It just doesn't help my self confidence."

"Maria you've helped me unload a bit and I appreciate it. But as you pointed out, we barely know each other. Though what I do know, I like quite a lot. But I don't like talking about the situation, rages issues like I mentioned, and I don't like inflicting my past on anyone else. There is no reason for you to have to deal with it."

"But any bit of help you want to extend to Megan and Robin, I will be eternally grateful for." He looked at me with eyes full of sincerity and desperation. What he had unloaded on me, was a bit of a shock. It was expected because of my talk last night with the girls, but still a shock. My first thought, was to run away from this basket case and I didn't need those kinds of trouble in my life.

But....., I really liked Megan and Robin. They needed an adult that they could confide in, besides a therapist. This situation was not their fault and not Don's. Right now, my dead body could be stuck in a car full of muddy water. No more waffling, it was time for some serious payback. I would check into Don's divorce and if their story was on the level? I would strive to become a friend that they could confide in. On top of that, he bakes cookies. 

"Don we'll need to exchange cell phone numbers to talk about the therapist. And next weekend will be the final time for the year to go riding at the lodge, they will be closing the stable for the upcoming ski season. No promises yet, I'm not sure of my schedule." I'm not sure your story is going to check out, I thought. "But if I'm able to make it, how about you and girls come back here for that weekend? Probably a couple of my girlfriends will be here too. I think it would be good for Megan and Robin. We can have a repeat of our movie party. I'll give you a call, probably my Wednesday, if I can make it. Does it sound good to you?" 

"I think or know that I'm taking advantage of you, but I know the girls would love it. But let's not tell them until you know for sure. I wouldn't want to disappoint them."

"Agreed, but you will of course have to bake more cookies." I said that with a grin.

"If you want, I will cook and bake all weekend long, and clean your house too." He said sincerely.

In the back of my mind, was the idea that Don was a knight in rusty armor, in need of a bit of polishing. It also seemed, that he might be a wounded knight, that had fallen off his horse. He needed some healing and perhaps a new horse. 

At that point in my thoughts, I could hear Megan and Robin walking down the hall, towards the kitchen. They stumbled in, with Robin pushing a reluctant and groggy Megan.

"We need an IV of coffee, with ringers sugar and cream, stat!" Stated Robin with a big grin. Megan just groaned.

"Should I make French toast and bacon for breakfast?" Asked Don.

I looked at him in shock. Robin put a hand over her mouth and voiced what I was thinking. "No more sweets! We ate one whole cake, one gallon of ice cream, I don't know how many cookies, and we finished the pecan pie. I don't want any more sweets for at least a week, or I'll barf!"

"Well, how about I make an early lunch at eleven? We'll have hamburgers and French fries."

"Your homemade French fries, Daddy?" Again with the homemade.

"Of course." 

During that brief conversation Robin had left Megan to wobble on her feet, alone. I hurriedly got up and steered her to a chair at the table. Then I got her an IV of coffee, stat.

We sat at the table, just gabbing for an hour. It was so nice. I really hoped Don's story checked out.

The girls and I, then went upstairs to get cleaned up and dressed. Don asked me if I wanted him to strip the sheets off the bed and launder them. The man does laundry, too. I reminded him, that I paid a cleaning crew for that.

I dug out a Play Station, that I had purchased for guests. Robin put in some sort of fighting game. Megan showed me how to play. The rankings after two hours of play. Megan beat Robin, Robin beat me, and I kicked Don's ass. He grits his teeth and snarls when he plays, I am of course more dignified and ladylike, hah. Lunch got started late.

We ate in the garage, it was great. Don didn't want to cook inside because of all grease. He said he would cook just outside the garage and bring the food inside to the kitchen. We all went outside to watch and give him unneeded advice. It just evolved into all of us eating in the garage. He made wonderful hamburgers on a little hibachi grill. 

But the truly fantastic thing was the French fries. Unlike those common restaurant fries that are nothing but crispy pieces of Styrofoam with no taste. Don made them from scratch and he had a little electric deep fryer. He must have made at least five batches. He left the skin on the potatoes and hand cut them down to the perfect size. Once they were fried up, he would dump them in a brown paper bag and shake them up with different seasonings, for each batch. I need to go on a diet and if he does come back next weekend, because he is going to have to make French fries too, besides cookies.

After lunch we took a leisurely few hours packing up and goofing around. Don tried to do some housecleaning, but I again reminded him about the cleaning crew.

We loaded up into his SUV and left. When we came to my car. I had Don stop the SUV, so I could take a look. The water level was down, but it was clear from the damage that the car had been completely submerged. There was even a large log that had been driven through the front window. I hadn't been able to call my insurance company because of down lines from the storm. I would wait until we got closer to town and try my cell phone.

Don, had a travel version of the Yahtzee game. I got my revenge on Megan and Robin, and kicked their butts for three games. They, then instructed me on the proper way to say "high voltage" when singing along to AC DC. It was a good trip, that seemed too short, by the time that Don dropped me off at my condo. 

When they dropped me off, I kissed both Megan and Robin on their cheeks. Don started clowning around by blatantly sliding up to me with his right cheek presented. I mentally said what the heck, and kissed him too. It took him by surprise, but it seemed to be a happy one.

The early the next day, I called my insurance company about the car. The very next call was to my ex-husband, Richard. I told him about my complete weekend. The fiasco with Robert, my wreck, and about Don and his children. I told him everything, that the girls had told me about their father. I asked him for the name of a private detective, that could check out the story, because it just seemed so improbable. 

Richard made a conference call with a detective that he trusted. I repeated the story and the P.I. promised to get a preliminary report to me by early Wednesday. But the investigator warned, that without a release from the subject, that there was only so far that she could go. Also, any in depth questioning of friends and contacts of Don, might cause the inquiry to be revealed to him. 

Carl and Lucille were still stuck in town. Lucille needed a bit of physical therapy, before they would release her. I visited with them at the hospital on Monday afternoon. I told them about everything that had happened. They were glad that I was safe and unharmed. Carl felt guilty that he couldn't take the time to inspect the damage to the house. He gave me an "I told you so" about the fallen tree. He didn't like someone else using his tools, without permission but he understood. I reassured him that Don had cleaned up after himself.

Carl made some phone calls from the hospital, to some home repair/remodeling people, that he had done business with in the past, on my behalf. They promised to take a look at the damage on Tuesday and give me an estimate. I told them I didn't care about price, I would trust them, just get it repaired as quickly as possible. I offered a 35% bonus on the labor if they could have the repairs done by Friday morning. Since the broken window, was a standard size, they didn't feel that acquiring a replacement would be an issue. I arranged with the cleaning crew, to grant the repair people access to my home. 




Sophia Pt. 02



Author's Notes:

Sorry it took so long to get Part two submitted. Life just got in the way and it was more work than I expected. I want to thank people for all the praise that I was given for Part one and I hope that this lives up to your expectations. Part Three should have a fair amount of humor and some erotic scenes. Thanks again for your positive feedback on Part one.

Special thanks to my new and first ever editor Yellow Peril, he did a whole lot of work on this story, with repairs and some positive additions to the story.

Thanks for Reading

CastleStone

Disclaimer: None of this is real and actually right now, you are dreaming this story. So, if it really sucks just wake up.

………………

We packed up and every one exchanged hugs and kisses. Freddie and Kathy surprised Don by kissing him on the lips. I think Kathy even tried to insert her tongue. I was ready to strangle her.

I promised Don's girls that I would invite them back for the ski season.

We got in our separate cars and started the drive home. Since we were following Don's car to the highway, Megan and Robin could wave back to me every once and awhile. I made a comment under my breath that my friends overheard about how I wanted to ride with Megan and Robin. Kathy and Freddie gleefully suggested that I call Don on his cell and we could switch passengers for awhile. They said that they would be happy to keep Don company. Like, I would trust them alone with Don. Our routes finally diverged on the highway and I finally waved goodbye to Megan and Robin.

…………………

The weekend had been wonderful. Megan and Robin talked non-stop about what a good time they had. The only thing that made them depressed was that they wouldn't see Maria for a while, which reminded me about the decision for us all to go to therapy together. I didn't feel comfortable with or want to drop the bomb about the therapist right then. I figured that when I eventually did, I would mention that Maria would be going with us and that would probably make things a whole lot easier.

Damn, I had had a great time! They had been the best two days in my life in years. Those women flirting with me was sure good for the old ego! They obviously weren't really serious, but the gesture had been really nice. 

They even got me thinking about dating again. But first I had to get my head straight. I would give my own therapist a call on Monday and arrange an appointment ASAP. I've got to get my rage under control, and suddenly I have the motivation to do it. 

That thought got me feeling guilty, though. My love for my own daughters couldn't motivate me, but four pretty women could. I must be a completely worthless shit! 

We finally got back to my apartment and I made dinner for the girls. I made something that is my own invention, I think. It's similar to lasagna, but I include thick slices of Italian sausage in it too and lots of cheese; my girls love anything with cheese! 

During dinner I discussed with them my and Maria's concerns about their emotional welfare. I told them how both Maria and I felt that a visit to a therapist might be in order for all of us together. I wanted them to know Maria was involved because they liked and respected her so much. I went on to stress to them how much Maria liked them, and how she had recommended a therapist to me for them. I explained how Maria was even willing to go with us to visit the therapist. Up until that point they looked kind of fearful and almost sick, but when they found out Maria was coming they brightened right up.

They immediately started pestering me with questions. "Is Maria staying for dinner?" I lied and told them yes; I didn't know for sure, but I would beg Maria on my knees if necessary. "Could they have a movie party?" I told them only if Maria has the time, and only one movie. They also had to have their homework done before we went to see the therapist if they wanted to have fun with Maria. Their dismayed reaction to that was when I found out they still had homework to do for tomorrow, the little stinkers! They had promised me that everything was done before we left. I had doubted them, but they swore on a Hershey Symphony Milk Chocolate bar that they were telling the truth. In my home that is a solemn oath. So I had to crack the whip on them and get them working. I understood why they had done it, and I really hated to play the bad guy because they had had such a terrific time, but at least they still had this evening to get caught up with their work, and they were darned well going to get caught up or no desserts and no video games for a week. I'm such a mean task master, heh heh.

I got them off to school on time the next morning. They would be heading to Barb's house directly after school and I wouldn't see them again until Wednesday. I gave my own therapist, Dr. Huff, a call and she was delighted that I wanted to work on breaking through my rage issues. She was so excited that she wanted to see me that evening. Awfully smart lady, she seemed always willing to go the extra mile for her patients.

After calling her, while driving from one customer site to another, I had time to call Maria to try to talk her into going to therapy with us. 

"Hello Maria, it's Don. Do you have time to talk now?"

"Hold on a moment Don, give me a minute………….. Okay, I'm ready what's up?"

"I talked to Megan and Robin about the therapist you suggested. They were pretty nervous at first, until I told them that you were going, too. The thing is, I spied on them last night and I overheard them talking in their room. I know it was a bad thing to do, but I had to. What had them so upset about seeing the therapist was that they thought that you might think they were crazy or something and wouldn't want to be their friend anymore. They really like you, Maria."

"Oh no, those poor kids! Why would they ever think something like that? I really like them, too. I miss them already."

"I've got a favor to ask. They would really like you to have dinner with us after we all see therapist; I'll make a snack before we go, so we don't get too hungry. You are still going to go with us, you haven't changed your mind, have you? 

"No, I said I would go with you and I will, don't worry."

"Then could you, maybe, spend some time with them afterward? We could even have a mini-movie night?" I said it all in a rush and kept talking rapidly. "I was also thinking that by that time of night it would be awfully late for you to drive all the way to your home on the other side of town. I've got a guest room; I know that they would be thrilled if you spent the night with us. It would be such a big surprise for them. Please, Maria? I'll cook whatever you want for dinner. I am getting on my knees here and begging." 

Keeping my girls happy was my primary reason for living and, during the dark times it was my only reason. This would be such a huge treat for them, if Maria would only agree.

"Don, I can definitely spend a late evening with Megan and Robin. I'm not sure about spending the night. Let me get back to you on that. Wait, this is not a no. I just might have some other commitments that keep me from spending the entire night. I'll get back to you soon."

"Thank you so much, Maria, I really appreciate it. Think about what you want for dinner, too. Bye, and thanks, Maria."

"Bye, Don, take care."

Well, I got three quarters of my request; that was a whole lot better than nothing.

Later that day, I received an automated email stock alert. That caused me to think back about all the financial problems I had had after my divorce. During that depressing time, I had found it nearly impossible to find a job. I was slightly burned out with programming and I couldn't see starting my own company as a contract programmer. The way my reputation had been trashed, I wasn't certain if I could get any work. I also needed a place to live. For years I had heard that the only way to really make a profit on a small apartment building was to employ yourself as the maintenance man and/or manager of the complex. 

It made sense to me, so I started looking for an apartment building to buy. I was lucky to find a condominium project that was going under in the same school district as my kids. Phase 1 of the build wasn't even complete and they were bankrupt. During talks with the township and county I had ascertained that they would have no objections if I changed it into an apartment project rather than condos.

I made a bid on the uncompleted Phase 1; it included one large building that only had the exterior shell erected. A little of the framing had been done on the inside, but nothing more. The Phase 1 parcel also came with enough land that I could build a second structure if I ever decided it was economically viable to do so.

To make a long story short, I won the bid. Initially I had to fund everything myself to the tune of almost a million dollars. This included the initial purchase, additional construction costs, and my own salary. Later on, I was able to get financing and was able to pay myself back half of it. I did have to subcontract some of the construction, but I did a lot of the work myself. That together with the very selective purchase of quality materials (I love a good deal), saved me a bundle. A year and a half later I had an apartment building that looked like it cost twice as much and had full occupancy.

It was at that time that I finally got a job offer for a tech support position, taking care of corporate clients and solving their daily computer and network problems. It was far beneath my skill level and only paid about half my former income, but the hours were light and the stress was nonexistent. My new employers knew that they had struck gold with me, so they tried really hard to keep me happy. 

At the same time my own corporation, MegRob Inc., was paying the apartment loan off from the gross revenues. I was paying myself a salary of just under fifty thousand a year plus bonuses and medical. MegRob provided me with a large apartment at no cost to me. In addition, I got unlimited use of the company vehicles, my SUV and an old pickup truck. 

I was very picky about my tenants. I wanted polite people that knew how to use a plunger and what a circuit breaker was. I created a website where they could report problems to me. In an emergency, if they couldn't reach me, they were given the phone number for a local handyman service that I trusted. 

I also started trading in the stock market again. I had up to one million in play at any particular time. I wasn't a day trader; I worked on a larger time frame. Of my remaining seven hundred thousand or so in reserve, I had most of that in certificates of deposit. I was ready to risk some of my reserve and had started tracking several promising stocks whose prices were falling. 

The automated email alert that I had just received was for one of the stocks I had been tracking. The stock was down to less than $3.50 per share and I just couldn't understand why. The company had always been a good and stable performer. Their management was making sound and well thought out decisions, if a trifle conservative. I reviewed everything I knew about the company. Their management hadn't changed and didn't look like it was going to change. Their products up until now had always received good reviews. They had new cutting edge products close to release and, most importantly, they had a large cash reserve that was sufficient to weather most financial crises. In my mind there was no way that that particular company could go belly up. The only thing that explained the low stock price was panic. I decided to take a gamble and commit $200,000 of my reserve to buy stock. In a couple of years they should have their stock price back up to between twenty-eight and thirty-two dollars a share, giving me a tenfold return on my money. And, if I blew it, always possible, it still wasn't going to put me in the poor house.

It was that evening that I went to see Doctor Huff and we started to work through my rages issues. Of course the primary factor causing my rage was how incredibly hurt I actually felt. My ex-wife and sisters had stuck a knife in my heart and twisted it. Well, I started to let it all out for the first time in two and half years. I wasn't a very manly man for almost three hours. Doctor Huff promised to keep it a secret. I also mentioned how I felt badly about being motivated to try to work this rage out of my system by four attractive women instead of by my daughters. She told me that that was utter nonsense. 

"Megan and Robin have kept you alive for almost three years. Don't think about these other four women as being your sole motivation to seek help. Think about them as being the additional motivation that put you over the hump to seek help."

Early Tuesday evening I got a welcome phone call from Maria letting me know that she could spend the night! As for dinner, she said to surprise her. Damn, I owed her big time. I had to come up with a dinner that would knock her socks off. 

On Wednesday, Megan and Robin let themselves into my apartment after school. When I got home they were hard at work doing their homework, good kids. Maria would be here in about half an hour, so we would have another half hour to snack and then leave for the therapist.

I made some coconut fried chicken wings and a vegetable platter for a snack. Megan and Robin smelled the food and wanted some early, but I told them they had to wait for Maria. I wanted us all to sit down and eat together; I didn't want Maria to get here and find they had already eaten, I was worried that that would make her feel uncomfortable, like she was late and we had to rush for our appointment because of her.

Maria arrived about ten minutes early. Man that woman is FREAKING GORGEOUS. Down boy, she is way out of your league. Megan and Robin ran into her arms, and she clutched them to her like she was their own long lost mother. It was so sweet that it brought tears to my eyes and I had to turn away. It also really sucked. She wasn't their mother and she would one day move on. That day would devastate my girls and me! I told myself to think happy thoughts about the here and now, screw the future and live in the moment.

I busied myself in the kitchen instead of properly greeting Maria, but I just couldn't look at her right now; my eyes were too damn wet. I could hear them chatting in the living room. Finally, I brought the food out to the dining room; my kitchen table was too small to seat all four of us comfortably.

They fell on it like a pack of starving wolves. They were actually competing with one another to see who could eat the most chicken wings. Not one of them touched the vegetable plate. They were girls, for god's sake! I thought they all liked rabbit food? I was stuck eating the carrot and celery sticks, and they just grinned at me; but my babies were happy. For that I would happily eat kibble.

When we drove to the therapist they were chattering away like proverbial birds and it was great. I met the therapist; she seemed like a therapist to me, what do I know? No horns, no tail, and Maria vouched for her. At first the kids went in by themselves. Then the therapist came out and fetched Maria. I was happy to be left out. I had my own demons to let go of; having me be in that room wouldn't be good for my kids or me. Their session lasted for almost an hour, and they all came out of the room looking cheerful and upbeat. Life was good.

On the way back they wanted to sing. This time they picked the Beatles, good choice. "Shake it, shake it, shake it, baby now." During some of the songs Maria and the girls would be swiveling their hips in their seats, and shaking their heads, making their hair fly about. I had the pleasure of watching Maria do that for half the ride home. My God, did I ever need a very long, very cold shower after that!

When we got back home I started dinner. I made a modified version of a Korean dish that I had had years ago. I set the table with all the side dishes; sautéed spinach with crushed garlic, spiced bean sprouts, sliced garlic, sliced onion, sliced cucumbers and rice. Then I took thin slices of pork, similar to bacon but not smoked, and fried them up with salt and pepper. 

I've got a special grill just for this recipe that I picked up cheap at an Asian market, and it uses butane cartridges. Instead of allowing the grease to build up in the grilling pan, special holes let the grease drain away into a bowl on the side. I was frying up pork, mushrooms, garlic and onions together and all the grease was making one hell of a mess in the kitchen. Normally when I made this particular meal I did it outside, but it was too wet and cold tonight. It was a wonderful meal to eat, simple to make, but terrible on the cook. I felt like I was taking a grease bath and I would have to clean the kitchen floor when I was done.

Megan and Robin showed Maria the proper way to eat it. You take a piece of leaf lettuce, you place a piece of pork on it and then add whatever you want from the side dishes. For the pork I also had dipping dishes of sesame seed oil and soy sauce beside each plate. I liked to add grilled mushrooms, grilled onions and rice the best. Once you're done, you curl it up into a ball and pop it into your mouth, but the greatest thing about this kind of meal is that you can make every ball a little bit different. The trick is to keep the balls small; make them too big and it gets too messy, or you could choke.

This was one of Megan's and Robin's favorite meals, but they didn't have to cook it or clean up afterwards. Maria seemed to enjoy it too. I don't know how they did it, but they ate almost three pounds of pork, plus the side items. I could see the headlines, "Three females devour Seattle." I told them my joke, and they actually snarled at me. Women just can't seem take a joke these days!

After dinner, before they got comfortable, Maria went out to get her overnight bag from her car. When Megan and Robin found out she was staying for the night they went bananas. They hurriedly showed her to the guest room. I had spent a bit of time and money making it extra nice for tonight. I was quite proud of it. 

The bedroom contained the first furniture I'd ever made, except for some cabinets. I had made a queen size bed, a dresser and a nightstand. I had finished the oak furniture only about four weeks ago. If I do say so myself, while everything had simple lines, I thought it all looked great. For the rest of the apartment I had been under time constraints and had to buy from the furniture store. With the guest room I had never expected to ever have a guest so I had decided to try my hand at making furniture for it. I had all the tools, I took my time and it was fun.

The previous Tuesday evening after Maria's call, I went out and bought new linens for the room. I tried to find something like she used in her bedroom in the mountains. It was expensive, but I found a duvet/comforter set that seemed close. I bought drapes, pillows and sheets, too. Then I stumbled on a print by that Kincaid guy that Maria likes, so I bought that, too. Well, maybe I went looking for the print, so sue me. 

I was worried that Maria might get too bored in a plain room, so I purchased a new LCD television and DVD player for it as well. When I installed it I made sure to connect it to my cable service.

Megan and Robin were surprised to see the blankets and television.

"Daddy when did you get the new blankets and TV for the guest room?" asked Robin.

I lied, I lied. "Oh, I got the TV a few weeks ago. But I did buy new blankets and sheets just the other day, they were on sale." The trick is to tell part of the truth. There was no way that they could miss the new blankets and sheets.




Sophia Pt. 02



They all seemed to buy my story, though Maria looked at me strangely. Maybe the Kincaid print and comforter set matching her existing bedroom was overkill?

We went back to the living room and they watched a movie while I cleaned the kitchen. When I finally had the kitchen degreased I brought them all a piece of lemon meringue pie. They were all cuddled up in their pajamas already and wrapped in blankets. It was another scene so touching that it could have been from a Norman Rockwell painting; I had to close my eyes from the pain in my gut. I knew that the sight before me was a short term dream, nothing that would last. Taking a deep breath, I finished delivering the pie and went to take a shower.

After my shower, I caught Maria's eye and she came into the kitchen to talk with me.

"Megan and Robin seem to be having a wonderful time. Whatever you want to do tonight is okay with me, Maria. They haven't had a lot of good times in their lives lately, so if you want to sneak in an extra movie with them or something else, that's all right. If necessary, I'll call in sick for them tomorrow."

"Okay, Don. I don't know about an extra movie, though. I think they're tired already, but if they want to be bad girls tonight, I'll keep them company," Maria answered with a big grin.

"That sounds wonderful. Well, I'm going to go to bed, then. Goodnight, Maria."

"Goodnight, Don. Maybe the girls and I will all sleep in MY new bedroom." Maria gave me a little grin. I didn't like how she said "MY", but I was too tired to talk anymore, so I wandered off to my room, saying goodnight to Megan and Robin on the way.

……………………………….......

I was surprised that Megan and Robin wanted me in the room with the therapist. It became like a group session, where all they did was dump. Wow, did I ever hear some nasty stuff – so bad I had to wonder if any of it could be true? Doctor Ward and I just constantly kept encouraging them to unload. Periodically we would reassure them they had done nothing wrong. Mister Perfect Father had really screwed up by not seeing sooner how desperately they needed to unburden themselves. Of course, Barbara was an even bigger culprit in the crime.

Don made another wonderful meal. It seemed pretty simple at first, compared to his earlier culinary feats. But man oh man, did it grow on you. I can't believe how much I ate!

When I sprang my sleepover surprise on the girls they were overjoyed. It really warmed my heart to see how I affected them, but it made me a little sad, too; someday my relationship with them might end and we would all be hurting.

They showed me the guest bedroom. I was shocked. The duvet set on the bed was almost exactly like mine, and it wasn't cheap stuff. A lot of people buy furniture cheaper than that comforter set. There was even a Kincaid print on the wall. Megan commented that it and the television were new. I didn't know whether to be warmed by this or frightened. Robin explained how her daddy had made all the furniture for this room in his basement workshop. He had kept it all simple, but it all looked beautiful.

Don later made some dumb comments about the comforter set being on sale. Even when that stuff is on sale, it is still too expensive for most people.

While Don was cleaning the kitchen, instead of paying attention to the movie I was thinking about the duvet set, picture and television. I really doubted that Don would buy such a nice television just for a guest room. The room was set up as nicely as any of my rooms in my home. Then I repeated that thought. Maybe Don was just trying to give me as comfortable a room as I had given them? That would certainly make sense. He had probably been using his cast off blankets and sheets in the room before. 

I bet after my phone call Tuesday he rushed out to buy a new comforter set and had just gone completely overboard! He might have entered an upscale store and not even known how much it would cost, and could have been committed to the purchase before he found out the price. That made even more sense to me. He might be Mister Perfect, but a guy knowing how to shop for a duvet set? No way.

As for the Kincaid picture, I was kind of touched. Don had seemed to like the ones in my home so Don buying a print for "my" bedroom didn't seem so bad. I decided after all my ruminations to be warmed by Don's gesture.

Then, to really warm my heart he brought me a piece of pie. If I could get him trained he might be a keeper.

That night Don gave me permission to go wild with his girls. We stayed up until eleven watching movies in the living room and gossiping. Then we moved to my new bedroom. Slumber party! We finished off the pie and had some ice cream too. I think we all fell asleep at about one AM. At two, I woke up briefly to turn off the TV and roll Megan away from the edge of the bed.

Don was willing to let the girls play hooky, but I wasn't; if you play, you gotta pay. I had the alarm set for six-thirty. It was tough, but I dragged myself out of the bed and out from under Robin. Then I proceeded to wake Robin, and then tried to wake Megan. In the end Robin and I carried her into the bathroom and stuck her in the shower. Robin was giggling the entire time. When we turned on the cold water I found out that Megan knew several words that a young lady of thirteen shouldn't know. In fact she was so loud that Don heard them too. He let out a roar that brought Megan to her senses and abruptly filled her with fear. Even Robin was frightened.

I opened up the bathroom door and peeked out to look at Don's grim face.

"Don, everything is fine, we just had a little accident. Sometimes words just pop out." I smiled weakly at him. I turned back to look at Megan. She was standing up in the shower completely wide awake and her face was blanched white with fear.

"But, but she said…. You heard what she said. Where did she learn words like that? I don't know words like that."

"Don, calm down. Kids hear things nowadays. It can't be helped. Now we've got to get cleaned up, so why don't you make breakfast while we're doing that, okay?"

"Okay, but I don't like it. Would you please talk to her about her language? I would be too embarrassed." He stomped off to the kitchen to make breakfast. That was a close one; I let out a deep breath.

I turned back to Megan and Robin. They were both breathing sighs of relief, too. "Megan, that isn't the best language for a young lady to use. I've heard worse, so don't be too worried, but you really need to stop saying things like that." I've heard a lot worse. Some of the things that a room full of models would say to each other would shock and scare off a sailor.

"Where have you heard such language?"

Robin answered, "Mom uses it sometimes when she thinks that we're asleep or busy with something. She will only do it for a short time, but she is so loud that we can hear her. We don't hear everything clearly, but we think she is yelling at herself about the divorce."

Well, that made sense, and Barbara should be yelled at, too. "I think we should keep that a secret from your father, okay? If we tell him, then he will probably feel it necessary to confront your mother. So for right now we keep quiet about it. Next week we will bring it up with your therapist, okay?"

Their eyes lit up. "You'll come with us again next week?"

Well, I seemed to have committed myself. "If it is okay with you and your father, I would be happy to. Now you two have to get ready for school, so get washing." They both fell to, cleaning themselves furiously. I washed my face, then brushed my hair and teeth at the double sink.

I went out to talk with Don. "Everything is settled. I've spoken with them and they've agreed to talk with Doctor Ward about their language next week." Don let out a relieved sigh.

The girls came out and we all pretended like everything was normal. Don made his normally scrumptious French toast and sausage for breakfast, and then I DROVE MEGAN AND ROBIN TO SCHOOL! I had never driven anyone to school before.

When we got there they made it a point to dramatically wave goodbye to me and point me out to all their friends. It made me really sorry that my roadster was a muddy ruin. If I had been driving that car we really could have made an entrance. I just wish I were picking them up after school, too.

The Wednesday nights at Don's home became a regular routine. We were getting closer to ski season and I was wondering what their plans were for Thanksgiving.

Three weeks before Thanksgiving I finally asked. "Megan, Robin, what do you normally do for Thanksgiving?"

"Well, since the divorce our holidays are really screwed up. For the Thanksgiving holiday Daddy always has us. Then Momma has us from the beginning of Christmas vacation until late Christmas night; we spend that time with Grandpa and Grandma, too. So we're back with Dad late Christmas night and we have a second Christmas on the twenty-sixth. We're with Daddy until we go back to school since Mom is always going to fancy adult parties around New Years. So we stay with Dad then and he feeds us real good." Robin answered my question. When she got to the last sentence, boy did her eyes light up. How could Don feed anyone better than he had been doing since I met him?

"That sounds great. Now how would you all like to come to my home for Thanksgiving this year? Ski season is starting and I've got special arrangements with the lodge."

Oh, oh, they looked sad. Did they have other plans? Did I wait too long to invite them?

Megan spoke. "Maria, we were really hoping you could spend Thanksgiving with us, here. Daddy has been mentioning it, but he was worried that he might be imposing on you."

"Well, we can just to go to my home for Thanksgiving dinner, then." I looked at them brightly, but they were still looking upset.

"But, Maria, if we did that then we wouldn't get THE TURKEY." Did I just hear the scream of an eagle? I should have figured it had to be something food related with Don involved. How good could a turkey be? I mean turkey is okay once a year, but…. On the other hand I remembered all of Don's other cooking, maybe he did make one better than normal.

"What's so good about THE TURKEY?" Again with the eagles?!

"He takes a turkey and he injects it with a mixture of butter, pure maple syrup and Drambuie. Then he slow smokes it for hours." Megan's eyes had a feverish glow while she replied. Then Robin, with the same look, took up the tale. "And he has candied yams, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade kielbasa, rolls, dressing, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, pecan pie….." Her voice just trailed off, as she got lost in a vision of food lust.

"But, why can't he cook it all at my home? He's done plenty of cooking there."

"Because you don't have a smoker, and Daddy's is too big to take with us."

"That does it! Show me this wonder machine of your fathers!" So they took me out back where Don had a small area with a wooden privacy fence. I took a look at his smoker. It didn't look like much. It was big, but I could easily afford one. "That thing looks like an oil drum turned into a charcoal grill and it has got a little drum attached to it. Can you use it as a charcoal grill too?"

"Daddy uses it like that all the time," answered Robin.

Well, that settled that. Don had been complaining that I only had a gas barbecue at my home. It was an almost three thousand dollar stainless steel gas barbecue and he had been saying that it was no good. I would buy one of these things and shut him up. Then my girls and I could go skiing Thanksgiving weekend.

"Don, I need to talk to you!"

"Yes, Maria," he answered me quietly, looking at me strangely. Well, I guess I had sounded a bit firm.

"We are all going to spend Thanksgiving at my home. Robin and Megan are going to go skiing. They have informed me that, in order for you to make Thanksgiving dinner, we need a smoker. Where can I get one?"

"Any major home store carries that model and you can order from the internet, but…"

"To the computer, girls." Megan and Robin followed me to Don's office and Megan logged me on using her password.

Don followed us in. It was easy; I selected a major home/hardware store close to my home, did a search on the brand name and presto. It was cheap! The web page displayed a long list of accessories that I could buy, too.

"Don, is that your model?"

"Yes, but.." I clicked on it.

"They have a list of accessories, here. Do you use a chimney?"

"Yes, but I've already got two." I selected three.

"How about a charcoal basket?"

"Yes, but, Maria…." I selected three. I saw a bunch of different tongs listed. I didn't even ask Don, I just bought the ones that looked the most useful, and the same for gloves.

"How about a wireless thermometer?" Don didn't answer my question; he just was staring at the ceiling. "Don?"

"You don't have to spend all this money, Maria."

"Don, I am not buying this for you. I am buying this for my home, okay?" He still didn't look like he was buying it, but Megan came to my rescue.

"Daddy loves those kinds of thermometers and he has two. He says if he didn't have those he would have to sit outside with the smoker all day."

They had two different brands of wireless thermometers, so I bought two of each, and a couple of regular thermometers too.

I read off a list of all the available accessories to Megan. To most of them she said no, but to a few I got a yes. It came time to select the choice of delivery, and I was asked "Do you want the smoker assembled?" What a dumb question, of course I wanted it assembled. So, for slightly more than five hundred bucks I had my girls and my guy for Thanksgiving. It was a bargain. I sat back in Don's office chair fully satisfied. Hmmm, this chair seems a little rickety; I'll have to get him a new one sometime. I turned to look at Don. He had a defeated look on his face. That's right, he better learn who is boss here!

"Maria, I'm going to have to season the smoker before Thanksgiving. What with cleaning and doing it right, that is an all day job. How…"

I interrupted him, "No problem, we will just have to go up the weekend before Thanksgiving, too." That got Megan and Robin jumping up and down. I was pleased. "This weekend, though, I've got to take them shopping for ski equipment."

"Maria.." I gave him my "you're pushing it" look. Wisely, he shut up.

So on the weekend I took Megan and Robin shopping. I had a blast. Good thing I had bought a big car, because we stuffed that sucker. We came home to a wonderful meal. Don had even made THE PIE. Megan, Robin and I had one of our best movie nights ever. Don kept on coming out acting the aggrieved father, what with all the noise we were making. "I can't sleep. Blah blah blah." Hah, he just enjoyed doing it. He well knew that making his girls feel like they were being slightly naughty just added spice to our evening. He would stomp back to his bedroom and we would stick our tongues out at his back. He caught my eye once and just winked.

It was a good thing that that weekend was so nice, because Monday sucked. Richard called me to his office. He finally had the complete report on Don. The company with the DOD connections had even enlisted the aid of the FBI. I was shocked, that was a serious invasion of Don's privacy! Richard said not to worry about it because that company, after reading Don's resume and getting the preliminary report, was genuinely interested in hiring him. If it weren't for the slow economy they would have already made him an offer.

I read the report twice, and it took me two whole days. When the private investigators approached his old friends and family for information about Don, explaining that it was for a security clearance, they couldn't say enough good things about him, even his ex-wife and his sisters. It was like everyone was going to confession. They had screwed Don over and they would do anything to help him get a new and better job. The only one who gave Don a bad recommendation was his ex-boss; even the CEO and ex-president of Don's former employer talked favorably about Don.

The FBI got involved with the judge that handled Don's divorce and pressed her hard about her ruling. They wanted to know just exactly what evidence about Don she was referring to when she did the asset division. Her only excuse was that if Don was innocent why didn't he appeal her ruling? They pointed out the expense and time it took to make an appeal. She abruptly ended the interview and has refused all attempts for another.

Everything about Don is perfect, that man is practically a saint! But with my past, I would be flirting with disaster to get in a romantic relationship with Don. It was time to call in Vanessa, Kathy and Freddie again. That old polishing idea, maybe it wasn't so dumb after all. I really liked Don, and I thought we were slowly working towards something, but with what I learned I figured that unless Don changed we only had a small chance of making it work.

I called my friends and told them of my concerns. Then I had Richard copy the report and send it to them by courier. They needed time to read it and I only had Thursday to talk to them before going to the mountains with Don and my girls.

On Wednesday I mentioned to Don and my girls the possibility that my friends might be going with us for both weekends. Actually, I think Robin and Megan were a little bit excited about hearing that, and I was curiously a little disappointed. Wasn't I enough for a good time?  But I understood. Don just said that whatever made me happy, made him happy. Now that was sweet and made me feel a whole lot better, but when he found out my romantic/sexual past would he still say such sweet things?

Thursday I met with my friends at my condo. I was wondering if they had seen the same things in the report that had worried me. Most of the really important information, as far as I was concerned, had been given in interviews with Don's sisters, but some came from his ex-wife.

Freddie spoke first. "Can you believe it? Don has never dated or been with any woman but his ex-wife for his entire life?" Kathy and Vanessa both expressed disbelief, too. 

Yep, they saw what I saw and immediately understood the reason for my concern. I had been a bit of a party girl back in my old days, and after my divorce was final there was that crazy two months when I had resumed that activity. It wasn't a secret with any of my friends, and if Don and I became attached he would eventually find out about it. To put it bluntly, I was a very experienced woman. 

What was worse is that he had been seriously deprived sexually, according to his sisters. If I went to bed with him it would be like a college professor sleeping with a freshman high school student.  Damn his wife, instead of having a sexual life with her husband that they could both learn and grow in, she had it with others, leaving him to wither. His ego had to be in the toilet from what I read, and his sexual self confidence must be nonexistent.

He would have no confidence in a sexual relationship with me. And if we did start dating, when he found out about my past and he experienced my expertise first hand, THAT WOULDN'T BE GOOD! I couldn't even pretend to be a novice with him because of my well known history with all my friends! I really liked him. He could be that guy I grow old with, but right now because of his past and mine, too, there would be too many sexual hang ups.

His confidence being zero is probably why he hasn't made a pass at me yet. Here I am, a very rich ex-model, and here he is, an ordinary working shmoe whose wife went out to get sexual satisfaction. I'm lucky he didn't hide under the blankets when I came over.




Sophia Pt. 02



I was even getting close to making a pass at him, and that would have thrown him into a complete panic. Good thing I didn't.

Don seemed to have a good body. In fact, he had a body just slightly less than model quality; it was a lot better than most women are ever likely to bed. Damn his ex-wife.

And if I ever get into a permanent relationship with Don, how would I know that he just didn't settle for me rather than want me over all others? It's not like he has dated any other women that he could compare me to.

Talking to my three friends, I explained my thoughts. "When I first met Don, I thought he was a rusty knight, and that he was just in need of a little bit of polishing. Then I got to know him better and I thought, screw the polishing. I really like Don and I adore his daughters, but his ego and sexual confidence have to be zero. He is Saint Don and I'm the scarlet woman. What do I do? I'm looking for advice here."

Kathy had taken out her contacts and put on her glasses. She was now in professor mode; she almost had her doctorate in psychology, which I was helping to paying for. She spoke and we paid attention. "The only thing we can change is Don and his self confidence – we can't change Maria's background. Let's see what we can do about Don."

"I always like to start with small things and work from there. Frequently when you start with the small parts of a problem, you change the situation and make the hard parts of the problem easier to deal with."

"Let's start first with Don's appearance. He seems to be very fit; he is not chiseled, but still very fit. We want to give him a boost to his ego, so let's start him on an exercise program to really get him in shape. Seeing himself chiseled in the mirror would help with that, and reactions from women when he gets chiseled should help as well. Maria, I think it is time we saw those infamous photos." 

Kathy wasn't showing her sex maniac side, she was showing her professional side. I got the pictures.

Freddie made some suggestive comments, but Kathy and Vanessa stayed cool.

Vanessa asked, "How did he get the scars on his back?"

Freddie answered, "Didn't you read that? About five years ago some psycho teenage boy was chasing his girlfriend with a garden rake. Don stepped in the way to shield the girl and got hit in the back." 

Just like Don, the idiot, to forget his armor.

Vanessa replied, "Oh, wow, I missed that. Let's be frank. He has some wonderful definition of his leg muscles, butt, back and arms but his torso is a sleeper. I know he is very strong, but the definition of his chest and abs is terrible. With the right exercises we can probably change that. I doubt he has ever had a personal trainer, so let's start with getting one for him and since I already work as a trainer in my own gym, I'm confident I can handle the job and shape him up. We will probably have to cut some of the carbs from his diet too. As for his hair, there has got to be something that we can do with it. Anything would look better than what he has now, even a military brush cut." We all nodded our heads in agreement.

Kathy spoke again. "I'm not talking about sex here, but what other things is a stud or suave gentleman supposed to know? I'm not talking about romantic behavior. I'm talking about skills or attributes."

Well, we discussed Kathy's question at length and came up with a list. Item one was to be a good dancer. We knew from interviews with his sisters and ex-wife that Don had wanted to take lessons with Barbara, but she had always refused, so we assumed that Don wasn't a good dancer. It would fall to me to teach him. 

Item two, be able to fix a car. We all laughed about that one. Don could probably fix a 747. 

Item three, be able to cook a good meal. Well, we could safely skip that. 

Item four, be able to lift heavy objects. Vanessa mentioned how he had casually picked up a 300 pound snow blower, so we figured we could skip that one, too. 

Item five, be willing to defend himself or others. I told them how a tenant of Don's is giving him self defense lessons in exchange for using Don's basement home gym, so that took care of Item 5. 

Item six, not be a bully. Don being a bully? Nah. 

Item seven, be handy with tools. Well, skip that one too. 

Item eight, have a good income. So far as we knew he makes around eighty thousand a year, and that seems plenty good. 

Item nine, be financially secure. Don has over two million in assets, that should be secure enough. 

Item ten, be intelligent. He's got a college degree and knows how to boil water, so he passes again. 

Item eleven, be a both a good listener and a good talker. This one sparked an argument between Kathy, Freddie and me. Freddie and I thought Don was a good communicator and Kathy brushed us off. "Nope, if Don were a really good listener he wouldn't have been so easily deceived by his ex-wife, and he would suspect how you really feel about him, too, Maria. Personally, I think this will always be a weakness of his. It is not so much that Don misunderstands what people are saying, he doesn't seem to have any understanding of what is unsaid in a conversation, particularly when having a conversation with a woman. Now, this shouldn't be a deal breaker for Don, but I think we need to work with him to make him more observant. Now when it comes to educating Don in communication and romance, I think what we all should do is take Don on practice dates."

Freddie yelled, "Yeah, I'm ready to practice on Don."

Kathy looked at Freddie crossly. "This is a little off topic, but I mean romantic practice, not sex practice; romantic evenings, stopping at polite kisses and going no further. During those evenings he should engage other people in conversation so that afterwards whichever one of us was with him will be able to discuss the conversation with him to see what he understood and what he missed. In that way we will be able to, as it were, kill two birds with one stone. All of us have small and large events that it will be nice to have a date for. I propose that we take Don to some of these events to "give him some polish", as Maria mentioned. When we feel Don is ready, we get him some real dates where someone might be sexually interested in Don."

"Hey, I'm not sure I like that."

"Maria, Don needs to get his sexual confidence up. I don't think that is going to happen with any of us in this room. I'm not saying that he is going to actually have sex with anyone. All I'm saying is that we're just going to make it more likely to happen. That's all. As for sexual instruction, I've got some books I can give Don at the appropriate time."

We resumed talking about the list. 

Item twelve, be kind. It was very possible that Don was too kind. 

Item thirteen, be able to ride a horse. Kathy thought that one was pretty silly, but the rest of us overrode her. What good is a cowboy or knight without a horse? I would be Don's instructor.

Item fourteen, know how to dress well. Don wasn't exactly a bad dresser, but he wasn't good either. Vanessa and I would handle that one together.

Vanessa spoke up. "I want to be sure, why are we doing all this? I think I know why, but I want to know for sure."

Kathy spoke up again. "I hope I speak for all of us. First, we like Don and he has been screwed over. Second, we like Megan and Robin. Third, we like Maria, who definitely has an interest in Don. Fourth, and most importantly, this investigative report was a complete and immoral invasion of Don's private life. We are complicit in this act by reading the report and not raising objections. We are also now aware of Don's potential difficulty with romantic relationships. We have a moral responsibility to help Don if he will accept it. And fifth, I think it will be a lot fun, just like something from My Fair Lady, except with a guy." During the last sentence Kathy ripped off her glasses and put a big grin on her face.

We all laughed as she stood up. "I declare the formation of the Polishing Don Association. For president, I nominate Maria. Head of the physical education department will be Vanessa. Comic relief will be Freddie." Freddie stuck her tongue out at Kathy, and Kathy grinned back. "And I will be head of the planning department. I also propose that at a future time we might want to bring in Megan and Robin as junior members. All in favor say aye." We had been sitting at my dining room table discussing things and I had a vegetable party tray in the center and, you guessed it, instead of saying aye we threw vegetables at Kathy. But what the hey, it meant the same thing.

Kathy caught some of the vegetables thrown at her and said, "I also propose that we have Don cater all future meetings of the P.D.A since Maria's cooking sucks." Everyone else said "aye", but I said "Hey!" Let them chop up their own carrot sticks from now on.

I didn't know how far I would agree to follow Kathy's plan. Some of it made sense. But I really didn't like the thought of Don going on real dates. He was a gem, ripe for the plucking. He has too much kindness and integrity, and he has an old world sense of honor. Some woman was likely to get him into bed and he would then feel compelled to marry her. I wonder if that was how Barbara did it? Polish his armor, lubricate his joints a bit and, damn it, I wanted him! Then my heart gave a lurch and, with a sickening sense of despair, I realized that he would never feel that way for me if he were to ever find out what I was really like and what I had done before we met. Oh, god, what was I going to do?

It was unanimously decided that the PDA was not going to be a kept a secret from Don. We would even tell him about the report. Kathy was confident that, knowing his personality, she could present it in such a way as to mollify Don's potential anger. Morally we had no right to work behind Don's back, even if it would be to his benefit. However, we also didn't feel it necessary or beneficial to tell him everything. For example, the way that Kathy had proposed working on his communications skills would probably work better if he didn't know about it. 

We decided to wait for Thanksgiving weekend to spring this all on Don. I had mentioned THE TURKEY to them and the gluttons had immediately gotten interested, even Freddie. They would be coming up the weekend before Thanksgiving, too. I firmly told them that I had promised Megan and Robin that I would ride with them in Don's car. My cronies, as Don calls them, then started the old game of insisting the girls ride with me and my friends would ride with Don, assholes.

We all met up at Don's apartment for our weekend trip. I let Vanessa drive my new SUV, while I got in his car. I was bummed out at first. We couldn't find the Yahtzee game. Don swore that it was under the seat, but after searching for ten minutes, we gave up, so the girls and I decided to practice our musical talents. For some reason their father had a real preference for either the Beatles or Queen during this drive. I didn't care; it was all good to me. Don seemed to really enjoy the trip.

………………………………...............

That had to be the best long car ride of my life. Maria's dancing and singing to the Beatles while in her seat had made my blood pressure rise. It took a lot of deep breaths for almost twenty minutes and switching out the Beatles for a jazz CD, but when we got to Maria's home it was finally safe for me to get out the car.

I brought the usual desserts with me. I had baked everything at home because I knew I wouldn't have much time during the weekend. I had brought two PIES and one CAKE, plus I had made a whole bunch of cookies. 

This time I made white chocolate cookies with macadamia nuts. Kathy and Freddie drooled when they saw them. After Friday's dinner of grilled salmon they sat at the table right across from me and I swear they made love to them. Three cookies in a row! I was blushing so much I thought steam would be coming out of my ears. My big brain didn't catch on soon enough, but my little brain certainly did. It wasn't safe for me to get up from the table. Even when I refused to look at them I couldn't calm down, because I could still hear them. It's a good thing my daughters were doing the dishes at the sink. Vanessa just sat there looking back and forth from me to Kathy and Freddie. She had a big grin on her face and I think she was waiting for me to explode.

Finally Maria, who was puttering around the kitchen, noticed what was going on. She came back to table and hissed at them to stop. "Megan and Robin will see you two, stop it! Or I'll throw out THE PIE!"

That forced them to get up with grumbles of "you're no fun!"

Vanessa waited until Maria's back was turned to lean over and whisper in my ear, "If you think that was hot, wait until I show you what I can do with THE PIE, tonight." Then she gently blew in my ear. I had to wait another ten minutes to get up!

Another movie night for them. I went up to bed early. I didn't want to chance seeing Vanessa make good on her threat.

I stuck an old movie in the DVD player in my room and then I got in bed. A bit later Megan and Robin came upstairs to check on me. They were worried that I had called it a night so early.

"Dad, are you okay? You came up to bed real early," asked Megan.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Good thing that they came up when they did. I had almost made up my mind to go to the bathroom and relieve a little tension. Five minutes later and I would have been in a thoroughly humiliating situation. I could just imagination my girls yelling through the bathroom door at me. "Daddy, what are you doing in there?"

Robin looked at the movie playing. "Dad, are you watching that Houseboat movie again? Aren't you sick of it?"

Megan grabbed her and pulled her away to hush her. Sadly, I could hear a lot of the whispered conversation. It was my night to be embarrassed.

"Robin don't you ……. That movie …...….actress…..… Loren…….like Maria."

Robin turned to look at me with big eyes. I wanted to hide under the covers. That is not something that guys and especially FATHERS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!

The two of them came back to me, all innocent smiles. They patted my blankets and gave me kisses on the cheek. THEY TUCKED ME IN BED! Then they told me how much they loved me and left. When my door closed behind them I could hear giggles out in the hallway. The tension I had earlier was completely gone. I was too humiliated.

I got up early the next day and used the snow blower to clean the driveway. Carl had the tractor repaired, but I was unfamiliar with it and figured that there was less chance of me damaging things with the blower. Being out in the fresh air with a power tool helped make me feel better, more in charge of things again.

I made a really early lunch of hamburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and French fries for everyone before they went skiing. I then started work cleaning and seasoning the smoker. I don't know what anti-rust preservative they used on the sucker, but it was hell to clean off. I got tired after three hours and thought forget it, it was clean enough, so I started curing the smoker. I was still doing that when everyone got back.

They looked tired but happy as they all walked in with rosy cheeks. I had hot chocolate and cookies ready for them to warm up with first, then they got cleaned up and I started dinner. Since I was stuck outside all day seasoning the smoker as I had suspected would be the case even before we came up, I had previously decided to cook that Korean pork meal for them. I cooked up almost seven pounds of pork and those sharks ate every bit of it. It was a shame that all that grease went to waste. If it had been earlier, I could have used it for seasoning the smoker.

For Freddie I fried up some shrimp and small pieces of squid. I also made sure to cook the pork separately. Freddie whipped together her own dipping sauce made from cocktail sauce, Tabasco sauce and horseradish. She just slathered it on her lettuce while building her balls. She seemed to devour it all with great relish. That sauce of hers would have burned out my tonsils!

I went to bed early again, and for the same reasons. However, again for the same reasons, I made sure that night to watch a John Wayne movie.

The next day I made Sunday breakfast as usual. Then I barely averted a minor disaster. Maria was almost talked into riding home with her friends because of time constraints, but, luckily for me, I found the Yahtzee game in the spare tire compartment. I wonder how it got there, heh, heh, heh? "Shake it, shake it, shake it, baby now."

That Monday I went for my now regular appointment with Doctor Huff. I told her what happened during the weekend, with the way Kathy and Freddie ate the cookies and how my kids reacted to me watching Houseboat, and then my own doctor laughed at me! I don't mean a little giggle, but a full deep belly laugh that filled the room. Every time she would slow down, she would take one look at my face and start back up. I felt so betrayed! 

………………………………..........

I'm not so sure about my friends. I get the sneaking suspicion that they are all starting to imagine themselves walking down a wedding aisle with Don.

The afternoon before Thanksgiving Day we all drove up to my home. I was stuck driving my own car. Don's was too packed with food. 

Thursday morning he got up really early to start cooking. I walked out a couple times to inspect the outdoor activities and progress. Don had his smoker set up in the little walled outdoor kitchen area where I keep my gas barbecue. He had a green canvas tarp on top of the smoker. 

"Don isn't that thing going to catch on fire?"

"Nah, it's a welding blanket that I use on cold days to keep the temperature up in the smoker. It might get scorched a little by the firebox if I'm not careful, but it won't catch on fire."

After several hours, he brought the finished turkey in and it smelled absolutely wonderful. He made us wait a while for it to reabsorb some of its own juices. I had to admit the smell had my mouth watering, but when we finally tasted it, I discovered that his daughters had been wrong. THE TURKEY was even better than they had described! Don had bought the biggest turkey that I have ever seen and I was worried that it wasn't big enough.

Don had also brought up four live lobsters in a special box he built out of a cooler chest and some parts from an old aquarium, just especially for Freddie. While she ate the first two of her lobsters she looked on in awe as we scarfed the turkey down. I think that was the first time I have ever seen her depressed about being a vegetarian. The other food Don had with THE TURKEY was just as wonderful, too. Barbara had cheated on this man, she must be certifiably insane. 

Don had worked so hard and he still had to clean the smoker so we girls cleaned the table and kitchen. Even though we were stuffed to the gills, we still kept on stealing bits from THE TURKEY. We refused to throw out the smallest pieces of THE TURKEY. If a plate or platter had a tiny bit left, we would lick it off. It was just too good; it was like sacrilege to throw out any of it, no matter how small.

We were ready to bow down and worship Don for his creation of THE TURKEY. Instead we waddled our way to the movie room and fell asleep for a couple of hours. When Don found us nearly comatose in the movie room he gently revived us and then served us each one piece of pumpkin pie and one piece of pecan. Then he went to bed, it had been a long day for him. I would have been worried about my friends sneaking off to his room to pay homage, but we were all too bloated and tired. For the rest of the night the only times we woke up were to start a new movie in the player.




Sophia Pt. 02



About dawn we all got up to go to our bedrooms and sleep. At noon, I got up feeling wonderful. I showered and went downstairs only to find that all us girls had the exact same timing. We had left over TURKEY for lunch, and it was just as good as the first time. Sadly, it seemed like there was only enough left for one more meal. Don asked if we wanted something else for dinner, but we all declined, we wanted more TURKEY except for Freddie, who was hoping for another lobster. When he went to check on the lobsters Don was pleased that his lobster cooler box had worked as well as it did and the remaining two lobsters were still alive. Freddie got one of those for lunch. 

That afternoon was the planned showdown with Don. Vanessa and Freddie kept Megan and Robin busy while Kathy and I nervously sprang the investigative report and the PDA on Don.

"Don, can you come with Kathy and me into my den?"

"Sure, what is it?" He asked as he followed us in.

"Don, do you remember when you took down that tree without asking me, and then groveled in apology?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, Don, this time it is my turn to grovel, but I'm not so good at it. I'm really, really sorry though." I asked Kathy to explain, hoping she would do a better job. "If you want to yell later, that's okay." I was just hoping that he wouldn't get so mad that he stormed out of the house, taking my girls with him. I might never see them again!

Kathy began to speak. "Don, back when you first met and rescued Maria, which was a wonderful thing to do, your daughters told Maria a really strange story about your divorce. It sounded unbelievable, something too extreme for even a soap opera. Maria had just come out of a bad relationship with her ex-boyfriend at the time. Because of that she was afraid of getting personally involved with you and your kids and, after hearing such an outrageous story, she decided to have you checked out. She contacted her ex-husband, who is a really decent guy and thinks the world of Maria. She told him about her recent break up, the accident, your rescue of her, and the story of your divorce. He helped her to find a private detective who did a superficial investigation and confirmed a lot of the story. Even though he is divorced from Maria, her ex-husband still treasures her as a friend. He wasn't satisfied with the report and decided a more in depth investigation was needed. The headhunter that contacted you and had you sign a release was pointed at you by Richard, her ex. That was an immoral invasion of your privacy. What is worse is that Maria guessed what was happening early enough that she could have stopped it and didn't. She had enough information already, but she was curious. She liked you and your children, and wanted to know everything."

"About ten days ago the final report showed up. She was dismayed to see the terrible betrayal you suffered completely confirmed and then some. She needed advice and asked Vanessa, Freddie and me to read the report, too. We should have said no, but we were curious, too. And we, too, invaded your privacy by reading the file. All four of us are desperately sorry. It is all the worse because we knew we were acting immorally even when we did it. So we can only beg you to please, please accept our most humble apologies."

I had been staring down at my desk with guilt and worry. When Kathy finished, I desperately nodded my head in agreement with her apology. 

After thinking for a few moments, Don replied with a deep sigh and a sadly resigned look, "Kathy, Maria, I don't care. The investigation, yes it was an invasion of my privacy. The head hunter trick was underhanded, but I never believed anything good would come from it, so it doesn't really hurt." He sighed again and his apparent feeling of hurt seemed to deepen, even though he was obviously trying to not let it show. "Maybe a lot of people would be angry over something like this, but I just don't feel mad in the least. Ever since I met you Maria, I've been having a wonderful time, the best time I can remember in my entire life."

"I'm an open book. I don't feel like I've got any skeletons in my closet or anything else to be ashamed of. I don't want the whole world knowing my life, but I have no objections about a background check. I know you would have never done such a deep one all on your own. I can certainly understand someone like Richard wanting to protect you. After all, you've got a lot of money, you had just been hurt in a bad relationship and you were feeling wary because of it. I'm really not surprised, so don't sweat it."

"As for the files, however, I'm not comfortable having them around as they contain a lot of painful memories for me, so please destroy them. I don't want to read them. I don't want to get angry over incidents in my past, or mistakes in the report. I spend too much of my time being very angry and I am trying very hard to stop, so just burn them, please."

"As for your apology, consider it accepted. Let's just pretend the incident never happened, okay?" Don did his best to give us a good smile, but there was a lot of deep sorrow and pain in his eyes, which made my heart ache for him. Kathy seemed to shudder, too at his expression. I had betrayed him, and I had to make it up to him.

"Oh Don, I'm so happy that you are able to forgive our actions, we were so worried and felt so badly about it. It is a great relief to me and all of us," Kathy replied, but her voice sounded odd to me.

Don then changed the subject and said, "I'm going to find Megan and Robin. It looks like perfect snowman making materials outside and I'm going to see if they're interested."

I would have kind of liked to build a snowman with them, but Kathy grabbed my arm, preventing me from following Don.

"Shit!" Kathy said. "You stay here. I'm going to get Vanessa and Freddie, we have to talk!"

She rushed out and I collapsed. Even though Don had said nice things, evidently Kathy felt this hadn't gone well at all, and it was all my fault!

They all came back to my office to find me with my head collapsed onto my desk, worried to death about what Kathy had to say. 

"What the hell happened? Don seemed okay when he went outside with his kids," Freddie asked.

Kathy spoke. "I explained the investigation to Don. I really think that the invasion of his privacy doesn't bother him in the least. However, I believe the fact that it was us who did it to him is tearing him apart. Quite possibly we are the first adults that he has begun to trust since his divorce. He is probably desperate for some adult friendship. Well, you read the report about his old friends and family. Now we, his first friends since his divorce, just betrayed him, too."

I began sobbing into my arms.

"Don't panic, I think we can fix things. One big item that counts in our favor is that we didn't try to conceal our mistake from him. In the long run that will count for a lot. To repair things, we've got to stop taking him for granted. We eat his food, we joke and tease him. But we three, I don't know about Maria, really spend all our social time with his kids."

"Instead of springing the PDA on him right away, I think we should do more to involve him in our activities. He probably won't want to watch any of our chick flicks with us, but for everything else we should try to include him, even if we have to force him. Let's admit it, we are four pretty hot looking women and most guys would be flattered if we insisted they accompany us."

"This evening instead of watching movies, what do you say we hit the game room and drag Don along? We can even try to start his dancing lessons tonight. I don't think Megan or Robin know anything about dancing. It would be fun with us all trying to teach the three of them. Tomorrow Don goes skiing with us, or we all stay home. If we have to we can get him an instructor and make the man learn. Enough of him sitting home by himself! We've got to show him that we genuinely care for him and that we enjoy his company all the time, not just when he is cooking for us or when we're eating his wonderful food."

"One other thing, although flirting and teasing him are okay, we need to have some serious conversations with him, too. Vanessa, you've been using Maria's home gym. Drag Don with you next time and give him some pointers." 

"Freddie, besides that Kincaid stuff that Maria likes so much, she has some other really nice art work here. I think Richard picked it out." I was feeling too upset to object to that slight. Kathy kept talking. "I've seen Don looking at that stuff. You're an artist, talk to him about it."

"We've played at being his friends, let's actually do the job. The guy has a heart of gold; it is time to patch the cracks in it. We'll start the polishing now, but we just won't announce our plans for a while. That isn't really going to be necessary. Only a blind man wouldn't realize what was really going on. It is common for friends to help a jilted friend recover from a bad relationship, that's what friends are for." 

We all agreed to Kathy's new plan. Freddie rushed out. When the rest of us walked more slowly out, she was already thundering down the stairs with her ski clothes.

"I think we should have a good old fashion snow ball fight," she yelled out. We thundered after her. We had no problem getting Megan and Robin involved, but Don seemed pretty listless. Finally Vanessa tackled him and Freddie put a hand full of snow down his back. That seemed to get him from a completely dead state to half awake. But the life was still drained from his eyes.

I was right next to Don during most of the fight. I just couldn't bring myself to throw a snowball at him. I always had to be on his side and he never threw a snowball at Kathy or me, either. 

Well, he finally slipped and fell at one point after being hit in the face by Robin. I found myself diving on top of him. I didn't fall; I deliberately landed on top of him like a secret service agent protecting the President. It wasn't a conscious decision. I just did it. When I landed on top of him I found out why my subconscious made me do that. Even with the bulky clothes we were wearing, my arms swept around him with surprising strength and I felt myself squeezing his body next to mine as if my life depended on it. I was trying to squeeze out all his pain and replace it with my own warmth. Sadly the heavy clothes seemed to prevent him from even realizing what I was instinctively trying to do.

Robin and Megan came hurrying over. Robin was afraid that she had hurt her father. "Dad, are you okay?" Don let out an exaggerated snore, pretending to be asleep. So I did the same, but my snore was more ladylike. I was too embarrassed to think of anything else, while lying on top of him. That, as it turned out, was a big mistake. Robin put a hand full of snow down the back of my coat! I let out a scream that provoked a fit of giggles from all the ladies present, but it also caused some loud guffaws to spring from Don.

That hand full of snow got me out of an awkward situation and lightened Don's mood. It was well worth a cold wet back. I will have my revenge on Robin one day I thought to myself with relish.

We spent the whole afternoon building snowmen and snow forts, and getting into snowball fights. It was a silly day, but we all had a blast. Don's eyes were still lacking their normal sparkle, but they were getting better. Freddie disappeared for a while and when she came back out she had a tray loaded with mugs of hot chocolate and some of Don's cookies. I mentally thanked her; there had been enough of Don waiting on us. It had been nice and he would probably still do it, but it was way past time for us to cater to him for a change.

At dinner we finished the last of THE TURKEY. Who could believe it? A twenty-two pound turkey, gone in three meals? Before dinner we had clued Megan and Robin in on forcing him to go skiing with us. They were both in favor of the idea. It was a piece of cake, we just blackmailed Don.

"Don, tomorrow you are going skiing with us," I told him.

"Maria, I've never been skiing in my life. Truthfully, I would be a danger to myself and other people on the slopes."

"Well, that really sucks and I was looking forward to skiing tomorrow," said Megan.

Don look confused. "Well, you can all still go. I'll just stay here, or I can even wait for you at the lodge."

"No, Daddy, we all decided. We all go together or we all stay home together," Robin said. Why did I like it so much when she said "stay home", when referring to my house?

"But…"

"Don, you've got a choice. Go skiing or disappoint your daughters," I told him. Megan and Robin put their heads together and stared at Don with big puppy dog eyes.

"But I don't have any equipment, or even any ski clothes."

"Don, you just let me worry about that. Will you come with us, or do we all stay home?"

"Okay, okay, I give up! I guess I'll just have to make a fool out of myself again, what else is new?"

That evening we played ping pong, pool and air hockey. Don sucked at everything but pool. What really got the evening going was when we all trooped down to my dance studio. The only problem we had was who would partner with whom. It was settled in a way that I didn't like, but it was really the best solution. Vanessa, the best dancer after me, would partner with Don, Kathy with Robin and Freddie with Megan. I would play dance instructor.

No one would listen to me! I wanted to play too! But I had to pretend to be the strict teacher. I would dance the lead and demonstrate a step with Vanessa. They couldn't count steps; they couldn't remember their foot positioning. Arrgh! I needed some CAKE and Don hadn't brought one! I finally settled on my goal for the evening to get them remembering just two steps. Not three or four, just two. Robin was actually the best of the three, with Megan and Don being equally bad. I was wondering if I would live long enough to merely teach Don how to Waltz, let alone Tango, Foxtrot, Mambo and all the rest. The man kept putting too much power into every move. He didn't merely lead his partner, he dragged her along. I was going to have to buy some steel toed shoes for both Vanessa and myself!

At the end I put some rock and roll in the CD player. Don tried to play wallflower and I wouldn't let him. Then he tried to stand there like a lump. So I gave him my best "don't you dare tick me off anymore" look. I showed him a few moves appropriate for the music playing. He seemed to do better with real music rather than with me just counting off. I'd have to remember that for next time. 

After dancing we were all tired so Don headed up to his room and we girls settled down to watch at least one movie; tradition is tradition after all. I had a huge piece of pecan pie to make up for the missing CAKE. I decided to forgive Don after all.

The next day, Don, that bum, got up early and made breakfast. I swear I'm going to staple him to his bed. I called the lodge ski shop and made some special arrangements. Gear sold at a ski resort is normally a lot more expensive than back in town. They've got a captive market and they have to make every buck possible during the season. I told them when we came in to lie about the prices to Don. I would just put it all on my credit card and he would never know the truth. If he found out how much some of the equipment cost he would probably balk, but I don't believe in cheap boots or cheap bindings. Show me something that will give me the slightest reduced risk of injury on the slopes and I'll buy it. 

Don had some insulated brown coveralls in his SUV, and he wanted to wear those for skiing! I'm going to have to kill him; there is just no other choice. I wanted to take Don to the shop while the rest started skiing, but they refused. They all wanted to put in their two cents worth regarding Don's choices for clothes and equipment. I was pissed because I didn't want Don to have any choices; I wanted him to select what I told him to.

Well, perhaps it was a good idea that Freddie and my girls were there. Freddie was our own ski expert and had actually been in quite a few competitions, so she chose the equipment best suited for Don. I made sure, though, that my girls and I picked the colors. Nobody else was going to dress up my….., Don. Shit! I don't stand a chance with him, why do I keep thinking like that?

I had already arranged a special instructor for Don, an older retired gentleman named Bill. He worked at the lodge, but not for the lodge. He's a great teacher for beginners. I think he is a retired banker. Bill worked with Don for two hours and then we made sure Don took a break. Learning to ski when you are tired is how accidents happen.

Vanessa took over his instruction then for the next two hours. I was just as good a skier as Vanessa, but she is a better teacher. Then we all took another break. For the last two hours Freddie taught Don and she had him going down some moderate slopes by the end of the day.

I have a storage locker at the lodge to store my ski equipment in, so we all dropped our skis off there. We decided then that instead of heading straight back to the city tomorrow we would try to get in some more skiing. Freddie pointed out that we didn't want Don to forget everything that he had learned. 

When we got back home we snacked on some more of Don's fabulous cookies and headed upstairs to shower and wash all the sweat off. An hour later we were all back downstairs, except for Don. Robin ran upstairs to check on him and found him sound asleep, still in his ski clothes, so she woke him up and chased him into the shower. She came back downstairs with a big grin on her face and seemed quite pleased with herself when she reported on her actions.

"I went upstairs and he was laying half on the bed, still wearing his ski pants. I tried to wake him up and he just kept sleeping. I pinched his nose closed and all he did was open his mouth and start breathing that way. So then I took off his socks and tickled his feet, but he just moved his foot away. Finally I got mad. I grabbed his big toe and bit it! He jumped up in bed screaming, "Whoa, toe!" Daddy jerked his foot back from me, rolled over and fell out of bed. I think I'm grounded for a month!" We had it under control for her entire speech, until her last sentence. Then we all lost it and Robin was grinning like she had just won the Olympics.

While Don showered, Freddie and I started dinner. Don had brought up a huge cooler chest packed with Dungeness crab this time. He must like fat women, because I didn't see any way we could eat them all! We steamed them and had them with some baked potatoes and asparagus, yummm. Unfortunately, Megan and Robin didn't like the asparagus, too bad, all the more for us!

After dinner we just goofed off for while. We watched a little TV and played some video games. I was starting to get better at the video games and I beat Robin a couple of times, but Kathy cleaned all our clocks.

Dance lessons resumed that evening. Instead of just counting steps again, I tried Don with some actual music. I put "Moon River" on and took Don through a few steps. Then that stupid moron went and did something dumb. He pulled me close and whispered to me, "This was always one of my parents' favorite songs, especially my father's. It makes me kind of happy and sad at the same time whenever I hear it. Happy to remember all the good times with them and sad that they are gone." 

So Don decides to share something so heartwarming and intimate like that with me and expects me to teach him at the same time? I think not! When he tried to release me and let me go back into my proper position, I just hugged him close. The waltz I was trying to teach him gradually turned into a shuffling slow dance that you see most couples perform. I swear, if he embarrasses me one more time I'm going to knock his block off.




Sophia Pt. 02



I put Vanessa back with Don for the remainder of the lesson. There was no way I was going to let him put his hands on me for the rest of the night, he just might get me all wound up and I definitely needed to change the music. Who does he think he is? Getting all sentimental and sharing something like that with me! While there are other people around! Doesn't the man understand anything about timing? Oh god, why does he have to be so damned NICE!

After the lesson, we did our normal routine. Don went to bed and the rest of us watched a movie. We skied for almost four hours the next day. Sure enough, at first Don seemed to have forgotten everything that he had learned on Saturday, but by the end of the second hour he was back in form.

A few more weekends with him skiing and I could stop worrying about him breaking his leg or neck. So long as we keep him off the black diamond runs.

………………………………....

It was a pretty good weekend. The turkey turned out great. Sometimes something goes a little wrong and the flavor isn't always all there, but this time it seemed just about perfect.

The shocker that Maria and Kathy pulled on me concerning their background check on me certainly hurt, are all women that invasively curious? I would be sure to talk about it with Doctor Huff this Monday evening.

Learning to dance and ski, I have to admit it, was fun. Maria insists that she is going to turn me into a reasonable ballroom dancer in six months. Let me see, holding beautiful women in my arms for six months, especially Maria? I think I could be talked into it!

I had some good news waiting for me at home about that stock I had invested in. From $3.42 a share it had already recovered to $5.60. I knew there was no reasonable explanation for that stock to be so low. I guess some other people finally figured it out, too.

Then I had my therapy session and Doctor Huff spent our entire session on the invasion of my privacy. She agreed with me that the ladies had, indeed, done me wrong, but she then pointed out that they seemed to be truly sorry and she felt they had done it because they were genuinely interested in me. She even hinted that she thought they might be having romantic thoughts about me. I told her no way, those ladies were way out of my league. Doctor Huff also expressed disappointment that all copies of the report had been burned. She said that it might have helped in my therapy if she could have read it. I had to think about that some more, she was probably right.

Then on Wednesday Maria came by like normal and I decided to let her know what was going on with me, as well as try to get her to understand what I was going through.

"Maria, for the last few weeks I've been going to therapy every Monday evening trying to get control of my feelings of anger and rage. Well, I told my therapist this time about the investigation you had done on me." Maria's face went pale. "She helped me to understand some things and I think I really don't have a problem with it now." Maria slowly let out a sigh of relief. "However, she expressed interest in reading the report; she said that it might help my therapy. I know you burned your copies, like I asked you to do, but do you think you could maybe give her a call? She has a few questions for you if you have time, and it might really help me."

"Don, I would be more than pleased to help. I'm really glad you're in therapy, and I have to agree that that damned report might help her work with you to understand what happened to you and help you get over your anger. I'll be happy to give her a call. Don, I don't really know how to tell you this other than to just say it straight out. While we burned all our copies, there are probably a few more still out there." 

"The employment agency and those possible employers should still have some copies. I know you don't believe that anyone will hire you, but now that a few companies know the truth regarding your resignation from your former employer it is quite likely that you will be getting some good job offers, especially when the economy improves. I know one of them is really interested in you. Since they still have the report, I can probably get a copy sent to your therapist. Is that okay?"

"That would be fine, Maria. I always understood that there were probably more copies out there. I just didn't think you could get another one so easily and I didn't want to ask you after telling you to burn them all."

"No, again it is my pleasure. I'm just happy you're not mad at me anymore." Maria gave me a big smile that lit up her eyes. I am going to have to take another long and very cold shower tonight!

The next month was busy. Megan, Robin and I were all getting over a cold the first week in December. I hate to spread diseases, so I warned Maria not to come by for our trip to the therapist that night. Did she listen to me? Of course not! 

Megan and Robin had both called me Tuesday morning from school, complaining of being sick. All three of us must have been exposed to something on our way home from Maria's house, maybe at the convenience store we stopped at, because I was dragging my ass too. Well, I went and picked them up at school and then took the rest of the day off. I let Barbara know what was happening and she was fine with the kids staying with me. I then called Maria to let her know that Wednesday night was probably off.  

When I got home from work Wednesday, feeling like shit, I found Maria already there taking care of Megan and Robin. She had homemade chicken soup on the stove, a load of different over-the-counter cold remedies on the kitchen counter, and she was helping my girls get caught up with their homework. They had fallen behind a little because of getting sick.

Maria really came to our rescue. She even gave baths to Megan and Robin. The two of them had been doing a lot of sweating and were pretty rank and uncomfortable. Maria changed the sheets on their beds and put them in clean pajamas, too. Whatever it was that we had was completely knocking us out. Maria stayed at my apartment again on Thursday to take care of Megan and Robin. Thursday night she headed back to her own condo after she saw how much better Megan and Robin were.

On Friday Maria didn't answer my calls and I began to get worried about her. I figured she might be sick and there would be no one to take care of her. I got off work early, picked up Megan and Robin and drove to Maria's condo after stopping home for supplies. When we showed up at the security desk at her condo with overnight bags and a pot of chicken soup, Megan and Robin frantically explained our concern to the guard. I had never been inside her condo, but Megan and Robin had seen it the weekend they went on their big all day shopping trip with Maria. The security officer tried buzzing and Maria didn't answer. He then checked her parking space and found her car still there.

He reluctantly agreed to go to her condo and, if necessary, let himself in to check on Maria's safety. My daughters didn't give him a chance, they followed right along with him and I followed them carrying the pot of chicken soup. When he knocked on the door Maria still didn't answer. So with Megan pushing him, "She could be dying in there!" he unlocked the door. As soon as he had it open a crack, Robin snaked her way by him and through the door. He yelled out, but she wasn't stopping for anything. That's my girl! Then he found himself standing around, not knowing what to do. Should he chase after Robin or what? I decided to distract him so that Megan could get by. A hot pot of chicken soup pressed to someone's back makes a really good distraction! 

We had now succeeded in getting two infiltrators into enemy territory. Everything was proceeding on schedule with operation "is Maria okay". I apologized for the hot pot and waited for agents M and R to report.

Robin came running back. "Daddy, Maria is really sick, just like we were. She didn't want to call and bother anybody and she couldn't get out of bed to answer the security panel."

At the words "Maria is really sick", I was suddenly magically transported through the guard and doorway, and I was fifteen feet inside Maria's condo before I even realized it. I think the guard got sucked in behind me in my wake. Robin ran in front of me to show me the way. I had no problem knowing where to go, all I had to do was just follow the sound of the coughing.

I entered Maria's bedroom, pausing slightly because I was entering uninvited. What the hell, I'm good at groveling.

"Maria, honey, are you okay?" Maria and my girls suddenly looked at me strangely. I wonder why, did I say something funny?

So here I am kneeling at the side of her bed, with oven mitts on and a big pot of chicken soup. I did the only sensible thing I could think of and said, "Are you hungry?"

She looked at me like I was nuts, but she did have a slight smile. "No," she coughed out. I think the guard left at that point.

"What are you doing here?"

Robin replied to her question with a wonderfully simple answer, "You took care of us, now we are going to take care of you. We love you, Maria." I wish I could have said that!

Maria got all big eyed with the girls and she opened up her arms. Megan and Robin fell into her arms for a wonderfully touching hug. A real Hallmark moment, even with all of Maria's coughing. I snuck out to find the kitchen and ditch the soup. 

My girls set to, taking care of Maria with all the combined skills of Florence Nightingale and Attila the Hun. I was just the supply clerk. Maria didn't want a bath? It didn't matter. Megan and Robin gave her a bath anyway. Maria didn't want her sheets changed? It didn't matter. Maria didn't want to eat? Megan and Robin just sat by her bed, gave her big puppy dog eyes and said "pleeease." Maria ate soup and crackers. Maria was lucky she gave up early or they would have pulled out the big guns and played choo-choo train with the spoon. Take my word for it, it is hard to eat soup while you're laughing, most of it that doesn't snort out your nose winds up on your chest that way.

…………..……………………….

I spent a terrible yet wonderful two days taking care of Megan, Robin and Don, but on Thursday night I was starting to feel a bit peaked so I headed back to my own condo. I felt like I was probably coming down with their bug and I am such a bitch to take care of that I didn't want them see me like that.

By Friday afternoon I was feeling like pure crap and I was so lonely. Even taking care of Megan and Robin had been fun because I was with them. I was feeling sorry for myself, big time. Oh sure, Don, Megan and Robin had been calling my cell and leaving messages, but I didn't want them to know that I was sick. That would get them feeling guilty and then they would feel compelled to come over and take care of me. I sniffed back some tears; it would be wonderful to have a real family.

The buzzer on my security panel had been going nonstop for that past ten minutes. I don't know who was there, but I was feeling too shitty to get out of bed and answer it. Hold it, is that someone opening my door? I better find enough strength to get out of bed and hit the panic button.

I heard a man's voice yelling, "Hey!" Then I heard "Maria, Maria are you okay? Maria?" That's Robin's voice! She's running into my room!

"Maria, are you okay? We were so worried. You didn't answer your phone! You're sick now, too, aren't you?"

"I'm fine, baby." I took a break to stop coughing. "What are you doing here?" Now Megan is coming in!

"You didn't answer your phone so we got worried and Daddy got off work early. He just knew that you were coming down with the same thing we had, and it was so bad! I'm sorry we got you sick, Maria, especially after you took care of us," Megan answered.

"Robin, go get Daddy, okay?" Robin ran off and Megan went into my bathroom for something.

Don came into the room with a huge pot of chicken soup in his hands, the big dummy. The first time he comes into my bedroom and here I am, a disgusting wreck.

"Maria, honey, are you okay?" Did Don just call me honey? Maybe I'm sicker than I thought. But if he did, and I think he did, I like it a lot. Oh shit, what will he call me when he really finds out about me?

"Are you hungry?" the big dummy asks me. Even sick I have a hard time not laughing. 

"NO," I coughed out. "What are you doing here?"

Then Robin said something that melted my heart. "You took care of us, now we are going to take care of you. We love you, Maria." 

It got even better; Megan and Don both smiled and nodded their heads in agreement with what Robin said. I held up my arms to my girls and they fell into them, even though I was stinky and coughing. Over their heads I could see Don carrying the pot of soup out of the room. I don't think he was aware that I saw him, but he had an absolutely huge smile on his face and just for a second, before he turned his back, I could see that his eyes were wet. 

Well, for the entire weekend they took care of me. They helped me to the bathroom, they bathed me, and they fed me. When I got feeling better they even played Yahtzee with me. This time Don played, too, and I absolutely wiped his ass.

On Sunday I was feeling much better. When I was taking care of my girls at Don's apartment, he gave me a key to it. On Thursday when I tried to return the key, he firmly refused saying that I might need it in the future. So turnabout is fair play. I called the security desk and I got Don a key card to the building and the underground parking area. I, of course, also got him a key to my condo door, just for emergencies. He tried to politely refuse, but I gave him my best pathetic sick person with puppy dog eyes look. He shut up and took the keys.

I made sure that the girls got all their homework done while they were here. We watched one movie Saturday night in my room and on Sunday we watched two, and Don made some blueberry cobbler and he served it with vanilla ice cream. I was getting really tired of chicken soup, and the cobbler was a real treat. I told them to go home Sunday night so they could get ready for school and they refused. Megan and Robin turned on me with wide eyes, fake tearful sniffles complete with crocodile tears and said, "You want us to go? You don't like us anymore, Maria?"

Shit, I knew that they were faking, but it worked, okay I'm a sucker. They were probably going to be able to manipulate me for the rest of my life. "You know I love you. I'm just worried that you don't have your school clothes for tomorrow and it's a long drive from here."

They both perked up right away, the little fakers. "Oh, don't worry about that. Dad already went and picked up our school clothes and his work clothes, and I promised to get up extra early tomorrow so we will have plenty of time," Megan said with a straight face. Yeah, like she can get up extra early. I'll believe THAT when I see it.

The next morning Don's alarm clock woke me. I didn't want to miss the fun so I forced myself to stay awake. First Don took a shower and then he called to my girls, waking Robin up. Of course there was no reply from Megan so he left their room and returned with a coffee mug in his hand. I could just imagine him waving it by Megan's nose and gently encouraging her to wake up. However, that didn't seem to work so he went back to the kitchen. He walked by my room, saw I was awake and, with a big grin on his face, he pointed at a glass full of ice cubes in his other hand. I grinned back at him and nodded my understanding. One minute passed, then two and suddenly there was a screech. 

"DADDY, THAT'S FREAKING COLD!" 

Good girl! I had been working with her to change her language. I had been afraid that she would pop out with another nasty word.

"Shhh, baby, you don't want to wake Maria, she's been so sick she needs her rest." Why, that sneaky old man, using me to get quiet and prompt cooperation out of Rip van Megan! I would have to remember that and perhaps use similar tactics in the future.

Megan and Robin tiptoed into my room before they left and softly kissed me goodbye on my cheek. I had a really hard time pretending to be asleep. Once they left the room I waved goodbye to Don, who gave me a big grin. He waved his cell phone at me and mouthed the word "later". I nodded my head back in understanding.

After they left I decided to get up and get a bite to eat. I don't know when he had had time to do it, but he had baked some cinnamon rolls thick with icing. I had two with a cup of tea and went back to bed. 

That afternoon Don called me and told me firmly that he was going to stop by after his therapy appointment. He said her office was located not too far from my condo and he wanted to make sure that I had a proper dinner after being sick. I tried to refuse, but he pointed out that he now had a key and I had no choice. Darn good thing I gave him those keys!

Don showed up at seven. I had made sure to take a shower that day and I had put on clean pajamas. I found out then that Don must have done all my laundry while I was ill. He even cleaned all my panties and bras! But I was sure that Don was such a practical guy that cleaning my underwear probably had no effect on him. Like Dudley Doright, the poor innocent man! I didn't put on any makeup; I didn't want to appear too recovered. This was the first time that I would be alone with Don and I was more than a little anxious. I had eaten two more cinnamon rolls during the day plus I had made myself a sandwich, but I didn't want Don to know; I was going to milk this for all the TLC I could get.

"Hi, Maria, are you feeling any better?"

"Yes, thank you, Don," I coughed out; I had to kind of force the coughs.

"Did Megan and Robin make it to school on time?"

"Yes, they did. They really wanted to come back here tonight, but they've got to spend at least some time with Barbara or things might get nasty, custody wise. I told them that with my schedule I didn't have time to pick them up, which really is the truth." 

I didn't want to think about Barbara. I'm glad that he didn't call her "their mother". I realized that I was getting far too possessive about Megan and Robin, and Don, too. I didn't care, that bitch had royally messed up her family's lives, just to get screwed! I would never reveal my private disdain for the woman, but I seriously doubted if she would ever have the tiniest bit of my respect.

"Maria, after I've been sick there are two comfort foods that seem to be gentle on my stomach. Now I'm willing and happy to make you anything else, but how would you like French toast and nice lean ham or a plain hamburger? Does either of those sound good to you?" He looked so anxious when asking the question, the dear.

"Don, French toast and ham sounds really good to me." Just to lay it on a little thicker, I changed my voice a shred to make it sound more like a little girl and pulled my covers up. 

I was doing my best sick Shirley Temple impersonation. "Are you going to be using your homemade sourdough bread? And do you have the special maple syrup that Robin likes so much?" The big lug fell for my act; I was going to have such fun running his life. Oh, SHIT! There I go again!  

He replied seriously, "Yes to both and I've got some especially good ham too. You rest right there and I'll bring it in to you."

A half hour later he was back with my dinner on a bed tray. I sat up in bed and set the tray across my legs. I've never owned a bed tray, so that meant that Don had gone out today and especially bought one just for me. Sheesh, he really is a saint! Everything looked delicious and he had made me some hash browns with onion, too.




Sophia Pt. 02



He then brought in one of my folding tables for his food so we could eat together. We had a wonderful conversation about everything under the sun. We talked about Megan and Robin, both my homes, his home, dancing, skiing, old movies and he even talked a bit about his meetings with his therapist. I could tell that he kept strictly to the light stuff. He remarked that one time he even had his therapist laughing uncontrollably. He started to tell me what caused the laughter, but then he suddenly stopped himself and said that he had to keep it a secret for now. To say that I wasn't curious would be a lie, but no matter how I pleaded with him he refused to give.

It being the Christmas season we decided to watch "A Christmas Carol", the one with Alastair Sim. At first we were going to watch it in my room, but I really wanted to get out of bed so we decided to watch it in my entertainment room. I carefully stumbled when I got out of bed; Don thought it was weakness from my illness and he quickly put his arms around me. When I didn't object, he gently picked me up and carried me to the couch in the other room. Vanessa is so right, the man is strong, and he carried me as if I were as light as a feather.

I thanked him for carrying me while he put the DVD in the player. I think I have every Christmas movie ever made. I just knew that when he came back that he would sit in the arm chair instead of sitting on the couch with me. I had to prevent that. 

"Oh, my!" I said loudly when he got close to sitting down. I put my hand to my head and leaned back, as if I was in pain. Don came rushing over, just like I planned, and gently placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Maria, are you okay?" He was breathing deeply with worry and his face looked panic stricken.

I quickly grabbed his hand with mine and gently pulled him onto the couch beside me while acting as if I were doing it out of pain or seeking comfort from pain. Don, being worried about my condition, didn't resist in the least. 

I finally realized he was waiting for an answer to his question. "Oh, Don, a splitting headache suddenly hit me for just a moment, and then a bit of dizziness."

"Maria, maybe I should carry you back to bed?"

"No, Don, please – I think the best thing for me to do is just to sit up for a while. I've been lying down too much for the past three or four days. The headache was only for a second and the dizziness is gone. So don't worry, let's sit here and enjoy the movie. My diabolical plan had worked, Don was stuck; he couldn't get up and sit somewhere else, that would be rude.

Don turned out to be as big a Christmas movie buff as I was. He told me how on Christmas Eve it had been a requirement of his that he and his family watch all the great classic animated Christmas programs. Then on Christmas Day, after opening presents, they would start watching all the great classic Christmas movies. That was a multi-day event that had to be completed before New Year's Eve, Don stated with conviction. Because of the divorce, he said, the schedule was now pushed back one day. However, as far as he was concerned, Christmas didn't officially start unless he was with Megan and Robin. Though he went to church on the twenty-fifth, Don didn't celebrate Christmas until the twenty-sixth. He figured that God, being a family man, would understand.

"Maria, I get the children back Christmas night. Would you maybe want to spend it with us, and the twenty-sixth too?" Don asked hesitantly. "It would make them, and me, really happy." 

And yes, she SCORES!!! The crowd goes wild! The chant begins Maria! Maria! Maria!

Quite demurely I replied, "Why, Don, I would love to spend it with you three. Perhaps if you and they would like we could spend it at my home in the mountains. Every year I've got a massive Christmas tree I put up. I would really enjoy showing it to Megan and Robin."

"That would be great, Maria! Thank you so much for your offer. I know how much they like your home. If I pick them up at six, with luck we should be there by eight-thirty."

We ended up missing a lot of that movie, but we did pause our conversation for the good parts, of course.

After seeing me back to bed, Don left for his own apartment. Oh god, my condo had never seemed so empty before. 

…………………………………………

I told Megan and Robin about spending Christmas with Maria. They were thrilled and panic stricken at the same time.

"We've got to get Maria a fantastic present! What are we going to get her?" 

That question put me in a panic. After buying all our ski gear, of course we had to get Maria a great present. "And what about Vanessa, Freddie and Kathy?" I asked them, which made their panic even worse.

I suddenly had a brain fart. One of my tenants is a jewelry designer, or wants to be one. He's in a special apprenticeship and already makes some of his own designs. He was a fire hazard in his apartment, but I understood his difficulties so I let him use my tool room in the basement. I've got two tables with fume hoods down there, and one is fully enclosed. I have torches and even a kiln; I do love tools, especially when I can pick them up really cheap. I gave him a call and asked him to come by. He owed me some favors, and now was the time to pay.

"Hi, Ken, thank you for coming; my girls and I have a problem. We've got four new friends who have been a really big help to us for these past couple of months. These ladies are smart and beautiful, and we want to give them presents that will really knock their socks off."

"Sure, Don, right now I've got some extra time. Things haven't been so hot for me this month, but we are only talking about sixteen days here for four pieces of jewelry. That's pretty tight. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I thought we would just tell you about the women, give you a price range and trust you to come up with some good designs. No pressure, you understand." I gave him a big grin.

"Gee thanks, Don, I will be sure to tell my boyfriend what a great guy you are." Ken said mock sarcastically. 

I shrugged my shoulders. "Ken I'm sorry but I don't know what to buy them and it really is important to us that we get them the best presents we can."

At that point Robin opened her big mouth. "Daddy," she said so innocently, but I could tell by her grin that what was coming out would be bad. Megan, too, knew something was coming, but she always enjoyed her younger sister's explosive comments. "Daddy, just before we met Maria, do you remember you were talking about Queen, Rock Hudson and other things like that? Well Daddy, I was wondering about Ken and……"  "Robin, shut up, Rock Hudson was not gay."

"Don, what is going on here? I think……"

"My daughter is what is going on here and she likes to play with nitroglycerine. If we encourage her…"

"But, Daddy…"

"Robin, Rock Hudson was not gay, Ken is not gay and neither is his boyfriend. Have I made myself clear?

"Actually, Don, I think my boyfriend might be gay. Megan and Robin did notice their dad is going to a gay guy for advice about what to buy a woman. Have they covered stereotyping in school, yet?" He was looking at me with a big grin.

"Don't you start with me or I'll start charging you for double occupancy because your boyfriend is in your apartment all the time."

With a lot of work I got the conversation back on topic. My, girls bless their hearts, already knew the birth dates of our four targets and their preferences in jewelry. Maria likes necklaces and earrings, Freddie and Vanessa like earrings and bracelets, and Kathy likes earrings but she has a fondness for old style broaches too. Ken perked up at that and he said that it wasn't often that he had a chance to work on designing a broach.

He and I walked back to my office to discuss prices. I told him I wanted only quality materials to be used. I would prefer something small, built of good quality metal and gems rather than something big built out of junk. For Maria I told him to spend ten to fifteen thousand, for her friends three to five thousand, but I would prefer the higher figure. 

Ken told me that he would need a check right away for materials and he would charge me a thousand dollars per person to design and construct jewelry for Maria's friends, but for Maria, he would charge two thousand. I said that seemed reasonable. What do I know about jewelry? Ken always seemed honest and, on top of that, I know where he lives. I also told him that he didn't have to pay next month's rent as a bonus. I just begged him to give it his best effort. I gave him a check for twenty thousand and a credit card number if he had to make any quick purchases. If he needed more money, he knew where to find me.

I was spending almost a third of my yearly income, but the way my life had turned around in the past few months made it seem like I was getting away with a bargain.

Ken left and I went back to talk with my girls. "Megan, Robin, I just had a thought."

"Oh, oh! Daddy is thinking again. I thought we told you to stop that!" said Megan with a grin. And here I thought she was my good child. She and Robin exchanged high fives.

"I swear I'm going to sell you as crew on a Japanese fishing trawler. You'll eat nothing but really fresh sushi for months and you'll never have a piece of THE PIE again." That shut them up!

"We are buying gifts for our new friends and it is very possible that they will not be expecting us to. It is also very likely, since we are so new in their lives, that they will not be buying us any gifts, which is fine by me as I'm happy just to have them as friends. So, if we don't get any gifts from them don't act disappointed, okay? We wouldn't want to hurt their feelings. After all, look at us, we almost forgot to get them something, so they might forget too."

Megan and Robin just looked at me pityingly and shook their heads. "Dad, Dad, Dad, you call that a thought?" Megan said. "Just being with them, especially Maria, is present enough for us. We know better than to act like spoiled kids."

"Megan, I think Daddy is just getting old. Brain cells are dying." Robin shook her head sadly.

I'm going to strangle them and I'll never be convicted. They'll call it justifiable homicide; I might even get a statue erected in my honor for saving the world from them. 

Maria came by as normal on Wednesday and spoke about the upcoming weekend. She was all excited about decorating her house for Christmas, which then got Megan and Robin all excited. They began gabbing away about how to decorate Maria's house. Maria wanted them to go shopping with her Thursday night for decorations, but they had to say no. They hadn't been spending enough time with their mom lately. They just had to spend Thursday night with her, especially since they would be back with me and Maria for Friday night. Maria understood, but I thought she looked a little peeved when they mentioned their mother. Then Megan volunteered me to go with Maria. Maria looked up so hopefully that I told them sure, I would be happy to go, and actually I was, I always enjoyed Christmas. Back when I was married, Barbara would always disparage my joy in the season and I never could understand why.

That Thursday night I met Maria at her condo to go shopping. We took her SUV, since it was bigger. Surprisingly, she had me drive, and here's how the evening routine progressed. We would be passing a store and she would suddenly say, "Ooh, ooh, stop here, right here, there's a parking space." The parking space she would be pointing at would be just barely big enough for a motorcycle, let alone her SUV, so I would have to drive further for a decent size space. First, though, I would offer to drop her off at the door and she would politely and firmly refuse. So, for the inevitable long walk back to the store from the parking space, she would harangue me about passing up the first space.

To make matters worse, when we would walk by the space that I had rejected, we would find that someone had already parked a vehicle in it, one even bigger than Maria's SUV. I swear I don't know how they did it or how they got out of their car after they did it. That didn't happen just once that night, it happened three times.

So, after the third time it happened, I just gave the keys back to Maria. We hit a few more stores and sure enough at one of them was a space too small, in my opinion. Maria looked at me with a fierce expression and pulled right in. But we did have a hell of a time getting ourselves out and back in the SUV. We actually had to climb into the back of the SUV, work our way over all the shopping bags, and climb out and back in using the rear hatch. I didn't dare say a word of complaint, though. I think she would have killed me.

Even with the parking space dance, I had fun that night. We bought ornaments, tinsel, lights and Christmas village sets. Maria even bought a special Christmas train that she could program to run around her home; it didn't need tracks. The locomotive pulled three open cars that you could put presents or food in. It came with a charger that looked like a little train station. When the battery was low, the train would automatically pull up to the toy building and start to charge. The thing wasn't cheap, but she thought Megan and Robin would get a kick out of it. I thought Maria was pretty darned excited by it, too.

That was one busy weekend. We decorated, we skied, we danced and we ate too much. Maria extended invitations to our late Christmas celebration to her three girl friends. Freddie was already going to be there with Maria starting on the twenty-third and now that Vanessa and Kathy heard about our plans for the twenty-sixth they said they could be at Maria's early in the morning for a second Christmas. So, the whole gang would all be together again at Maria's home for Megan and Robin.

Maria's normal visit on Wednesday the week before Christmas was kind of a sad one for me because after that my babies would be with their mother until the twenty-fifth. I knew that I probably see them more than my fair share, but I love them. I was kind of hoping that Maria might extend me an invitation to do something during the following week, but she didn't mention anything. We had a good time that night anyway; we watched "Miracle on 34th Street" and I baked THE CAKE especially for them. In the morning everybody left and man, it was lonely after that.

……………………………………

Across town Barbara was having a difficult time dealing with the holiday season as she thought about her life.

The past couple of months have really sucked. I've hardly seen Megan and Robin at all. I don't dare complain, because everything is my fault. Of course Don wants to spend time with them and of course they want to see their father, but where does that leave me, the lonely villain of the piece? When it all started over two years ago Don was supposed to have them every weekend starting Saturday morning to Sunday night. Then it became Friday night to Monday morning. Since then they've added Wednesday night too. And frequently it is one more random night a week. So at most I see my daughters three nights a week, and sometimes only two.

Sure, I can go out with friends on those nights when I'm alone, but I've got a lot less real friends nowadays. I deservedly lost most of those after the divorce. They didn't like how I had deceived them and used them to hurt Don, and I can't blame them – I was a nasty, adulterous bitch. 

Some of the people I go out with associate with me only because I pay for everything. The only time I can even fake happiness is when I'm on a romantic date. For just a little while I can lose myself in the evening. But then the evening is over and I crash even worse. I will never be able to find someone to replace Don and I don't even want to try. I was a fucking idiot, I must have been out of my mind!

Well, at least I'll have Megan and Robin for the next week. We'll be going to my parents' house. I love my kids, but I can't stand to be alone with them. The looks they give me sometimes are so dreadful with their accusing eyes that seem to say, "Why did you ruin our family? Why did you cheat on our daddy? Why are you an adulterous slut?" I just cringe when they do that. With my parents there, there will be other distractions so I don't get so many of those horrible looks. I will get a few from my mother, though. I remember how Dad tried to put some of the blame for my cheating on Don that one time. Well, Mom wasn't going to put up with any of that, so she told him off good and me, too, indirectly. She had him sleeping on the couch for a month even though they've got a big house with available guest bedrooms. Something he said made her think that he might have cheated on her in the past, I guess. Dad's been walking on thin ice ever since.

Mom has never said a bad word about me; I know she still loves me, but she is so disappointed in me. She did try to give me helpful advice once, but most of it wasn't helpful at all in the face of the enormity of my sins. 

When Don divorced me, my heart was crushed but it was still beating. Now every day what remains of my heart gets another little cut or two. A look from my daughters, a memory of Don, a look from my mother, and there are other ways that I get those little cuts. The truth is that I am emotionally and mentally dying, and when my heart finally stops beating I am beginning to wonder if anyone will miss me. When my emotional heart finally stops, I know that I won't be able to live like that and it will be time to finish off my physical heart. 

My daughters are home from school. Time to watch their faces shut down. When I spy on them walking up our street, their faces are so happy. Probably talking about their time with their father. Then when they open the door their faces will completely change. I know that they are not doing it deliberately to hurt me, but it happens all the same.

"Mom, were home," calls out my oldest.

"I'm in the kitchen." I'm trying to make them an after school snack. I'm a decent cook and actually I can cook more things than Don. There is something magical about the things that Don makes, however, that I can't even come close to matching. I've long since given up trying to bake. I've made them both a toasted club sandwich. I wonder if this time they will eat it, or just say they are not hungry again?

I can hear their footsteps approaching. That's odd, these footsteps aren't normal. Ever since the divorce their footsteps have been slow when approaching me, like they were only reluctantly coming to me. But this time they seem to be full of energy. I looked up hopefully.

"Hi, Momma, we missed you," Robin says, as Megan rushes over to give me hug. What the hell is happening? I like it, but what is happening? I hug my daughter back and she doesn't start to let go until I finally stop the fierceness of my hug. It is wonderful. I kiss the top of her head, as I let her go.

Robin steps up to give me a hug, bliss.

"Oh, I missed both of you too, so much. How was school and how was your time with your father?" That is a safe question to ask. They will give me details about school, but only talk in the most general terms regarding Don. I mentally castigate myself again, I know why they do that and, truthfully, it is no less than I deserve.

As Robin steps back, I kiss her cheek. "I hope you're hungry? I've made you a couple of sandwiches with chips."

"Starving, Mom," Robin says as she pulls out a chair to sit down. Megan sits down to and asks, "Do we have any bread and butter pickles?"




Sophia Pt. 02



"I'm sure we do, I'll get them," as I rush over to the refrigerator, praying that we have pickles. I don't know what is going on, but I will do anything to keep the mood going. Luckily we have the pickles and I breathe out a silent sigh of relief.

I sit down with them. And for the first time in years, we have a wonderful chat. I felt so good that I got up to make myself a sandwich; my appetite has been inconsistent lately. I was in for further surprises. Megan and Robin didn't get up when they finished their snack. They stayed at the table and talked with me until it started to get dark outside. At that point, they got up to do some of their homework and I started dinner.

When they left the room I fell across the table crying, and begged God to let this change in my daughters' behavior continue.

Friday after school was the same. It was fantastic. Had they finally forgiven me?

On Saturday, we loaded up the car to go to my parents' house. They live about forty-five minutes away, outside of town. The drive was great. For the first time since forever they put a CD in the player and we all sang along. We used to do that all the time with Don. "Dashing through the snow in a one horse…."

Normally I drive about ten to fifteen miles an hour over the speed limit. This time I did exactly the posted speed, grateful for anything to prolong the trip.

When we got there my kids rushed out of the car to give Grandma and Grandpa hugs. It had been a long time since that happened, too. Mom looked over their heads at me and saw my smiling face. Her face broke into a huge grin and her eyes got a little bit teary.

We had a wonderful six days. We did all the family stuff we used to do. We played games and watched movies. Megan and Robin spent a lot of time with my mother learning how to bake some of the family recipes. Maybe they would have the touch, I certainly didn't.

On Christmas Eve, Megan and Robin got out DVDs of "It's a Charlie Brown Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman" and other Christmas cartoons. They made us all sit down and watch every one, it was simply wonderful and we watched DVDs for four hours straight. I sat there on the couch with my babies snuggled up on either side of me, I was in heaven.

On Christmas morning we went to church after breakfast and then came home to open presents. Megan and Robin had a small present for me. I opened the box with shaking hands. Inside was a simple, but very well made heart shaped gold locket and chain. 

Inside the locket was a picture of them cheek to cheek and an inscription, "Merry Christmas Mom, We Love You, Megan and Robin." I couldn't stop crying. It was the best Christmas present that I had ever gotten in my entire life.

At six o'clock that evening Don came by to pick up Megan and Robin, and my mom went outside to help them. I knew that I had to stay inside; Don had made it abundantly clear that he never wanted to see my face again. 

As for my father, he and Don have never gotten along. Dad was a successful banker and an ex-football player who almost turned pro. To say that Dad was arrogant is putting it mildly; he has changed quite a bit, though. I even think Dad and Don came to blows one time. Dad was always riding Don about absolutely nothing and then one day they went for a long walk. I could just imagine the situation. Don finally telling Daddy off and Dad taking a swing at Don. Don would never throw the first punch. When they got back Dad had the beginnings of a shiner and he was holding his stomach, Don looked perfectly fine. Dad said that he fell. From that time on they were coolly polite with one another and Daddy gave Don a certain wary respect. 

I was sad to see Megan and Robin leave, but this Christmas had been the best. Maybe it was time for me to straighten out my life. My daughters' love and this locket seemed to be giving me the strength to try.

…………………………………………

Megan and Robin were very happy with themselves. Their therapist had helped them see how badly they had been treating their mother. They had also been feeling guilty about how well they had been treating Maria in comparison to their mom.

Yes, their mom had taken a hammer to their family, but she was still their mom, she gave birth to them and loved them very much. It was time to forgive her. They got some advice from Ken about a locket. He didn't have time to make anything, but he pointed out an internet site with high quality jewelry. Their dad lent them his credit card, they made the order and when it arrived Ken inscribed the locket for them. 

They loved Maria now, but they had always loved their mother. Their hearts were big enough to love both.

……………………………………

We got to Maria's house after singing Christmas Carols the entire trip. My voice was worn out. It was nice that Maria had given me a key card to the gate; it made it easy getting in. She had pointed out that it was stupid not to give it to me since I had keys to her condo already.

Megan and Robin jumped out of the car and ran to Maria and Freddie to give them big hugs before we unloaded the vehicle and went inside. As soon as we were done unpacking Megan and Robin dragged us all down to the movie room to watch animated Christmas shows. They acted like they had never seen them before and Robin wanted to start off with Rudolph.

My girls insisted that we all be in our pajamas, but I put on a robe, too; I hardly ever wear pajamas. Megan and Robin had us all sit on the same couch together, covered by a blanket. Freddie was on the end, then Robin, then I was put in the middle, then Megan and finally Maria on the other end. Maria and Freddie seemed to get a real kick out of it.

In between Charlie Brown and Frosty, I went to the kitchen and got us all a big piece of THE CAKE. When I came back I found that Megan and Robin had switched positions. They spent most of the evening making sure that we were all snuggled up with each other as tightly as possible. Actually, it got physically uncomfortable for me being in the center and covered by a blanket, I just got too damned hot. All four of the girls were having a marvelous time, though, so I just kept my big mouth shut and sweated it out.

The next morning we all slept late. When we finally got up, we adults and Megan had coffee, but we waited for breakfast until Vanessa and Kathy got here. They finally arrived at about nine. The girls had insisted that all of us remain in our pajamas, so they insisted that Kathy and Vanessa change, too.

The two ladies were happy to comply and understood the necessity. One must keep with the appropriate theme, after all. There was a ton of presents beneath the tree and most of them seemed to be for Megan and Robin. I wondered how I could get all those presents home, and also wondered if we could leave a lot of them in my girls' bedroom here. They got all the usual stuff - clothes, purses, shoes, computer games, books, DVDs, CDs and some very nice jewelry. Maria had also bought them some very high end notebook computers for school; actually I was kind of jealous, my laptop wasn't nearly as good!

Then I got some presents, too. Vanessa gave me a gift card to Sears with a hint in the card to use it in the tool department. Freddie gave me one to Lowes, and Kathy gave me another to Home Depot. I think they know me too well. Maria gave me a card with a picture of a chair inside. It's something called an Aeron office chair and it looks pretty slick. She told me to call the number on the picture to set up delivery.

Then it was time to hand out their presents. Robin and Megan solemnly handed them out. Ken had designed some really beautiful pieces and I had gotten away with it pretty darned inexpensively. I don't know if he did all the work on the pieces or ordered components and assembled them, but he had all the materials rushed to him in three days and then worked many late nights in my workshop and a jeweler's shop in which he had some rented time.

Freddie got a matched bracelet and earring set made of 18 carat rose gold. The bracelet was made of small dragons and carnations interlinked, and in the center of each carnation was Freddie's birthstone. Freddie's earrings were carnations with a good size diamond in the center.

Vanessa got almost the same thing. Her pieces were made out of 18 carat white gold. The bracelet was interlinked tigers and lilies, and her birth stone was in the center of each lily. The earrings were lilies, again with a good size diamond.

Kathy's jewelry was made out of 18 carat yellow gold. Kathy's broach looked like a bundle of dahlias with her birthstone in each dahlia, but if you looked again, you could see the face of a lion and the eyes of the lion were diamonds. Her earrings were dahlias with diamonds in the center.

But for Maria, Ken had pulled out all the stops and gone over budget, but I didn't care. The metal he used this time was platinum. The necklace was heavy with part of it being interlinked roses with small diamonds in the center. There was a large pendant on it as well that looked like a spray of three roses, again with diamonds. The earrings matched the pendant.

The four women were all absolutely stunned with their mouths open in total astonishment; my girls and I exchanged high fives. Maria's pendant had a small inscription on its back. I knew all the ladies could afford better, but at least it wasn't cheap stuff and it was very well made on top of that. I was probably going to give Ken an extra month free rent. He had worked his butt off getting everything done in time. Ken was having some sort of financial difficulty right now and I was going to be glad to reward his hard work.

…………………………………………

Last night with all of us watching cartoons was my best Christmas in a long time. First Megan snuggled up with me, and then Robin. Freddie and I kept on sneaking glances at each another only to see a grinning face looking back each time. She had a blast too.

Vanessa and Kathy showed up a little late the next morning, and Megan and Robin promptly chivied them into putting their pajamas on like the rest of us. We all sat around the tree watching the girls open their presents first. I had probably spent too much money on them and Don might be upset, but it was worth it. The way they oohed and aahed at all their gifts, especially the notebook computers, made it all worth it, and I even saw a look of envy on Don's face, too.

Don had laughed at all the gift cards he had been given for various tool stores. He was a little confused with my gift at first, but he finally figured it out and was obviously pleased.

I was touched that they had thought to get gifts for all of us. First they gave Freddie her gift, and I was getting mentally prepared to have to act impressed. I didn't have to act at all, I was shocked and astounded at the beautiful pieces of jewelry they gave her. I know jewelry; I have pieces worth well over a hundred grand. The pieces with their beautiful workmanship that Freddie held had to be worth at least ten thousand dollars!

Then it was Vanessa's turn and they brought her the same size box as Freddie's. Her jewelry was just as exquisite as Freddie's, but white gold instead of rose. My mouth was beginning to drop open in astonishment. Vanessa's and Freddie's mouths were already hitting the floor.

Kathy opened up her present with trepidation. Her beautiful pieces were in yellow gold. The broach in particular was of a delicately clever design with a hidden lion face.

Then it was my turn. Here I had been worried about them thinking I had spent too much! Megan and Robin handed me the largest present yet and it was heavy. I was absolutely stunned at what was inside. I picked up the jewelry. Yes, there was no doubt, only one thing is that heavy, platinum. It was all diamonds too, no lesser stones. These pieces Don had given me were probably worth more than my new SUV. I was going to have to kill him! Then I saw the inscription on the back of the pendent, "Merry Christmas, Love Megan, Robin & Don." That caused me problems. You can't exactly kill someone after they say or write something like that. But I planned on really bruising him.

…………………………………………

The ladies all sat around comparing the jewelry. Then as one they said "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE!" Unfortunately, they sounded like they really meant it and I could be in trouble here, so I did what any red blooded male would do in that situation; I blamed it on my kids. I pointed at them and said, "They made me do it!"

You have to understand that Megan and Robin were really excited at the presents they had gotten and given. They also had no idea how much money I had really spent so they were happy to, in their minds, take the credit for making me buy our four friends such nice gifts.

"Yep, Daddy almost screwed up big time. You know men; we had to remind him about Christmas presents," Robin said gravely, like she was a fifty year old woman. I was paying attention to Robin so I took my eyes off of Maria for a minute. BIG MISTAKE!

Suddenly my ear was in excruciating pain, as if someone had grabbed it and was attempting to lift me off my chair by it. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Maria, with a grim expression, grasping my ear. Oh shit! At my yelp of pain, everyone turned to look at me. Maria put a smile on her face and spoke.

"Oh, don't mind us; I just have to speak to Don for a minute, alone."

She kept hold of my ear pulling me along with her. I had to bend over at the waist and walk hunched over because of the way she was holding my ear. Didn't Thomas Edison go deaf because of a similar incident in his life? Megan and Robin tried to follow, but Kathy and Vanessa stopped them. Freddie had a big grin on her face, then she started to look worried.

Maria dragged me all the way back to her office and shut the door behind us, and she still wouldn't let go of my ear!

"Donald, what do you think that you are doing, spending at least fifty thousand on my jewelry and another thirty on my friends?"

"But, but…I didn't."

She shook my head by shaking my ear; it felt like she was going to rip it off. Wasn't there some fool artist that cut his ear off for a present to his girlfriend?

"Don't tell me you didn't! I know platinum when I see it. This is custom jewelry; I've never seen designs like this before. You spent too much money on us. Why did you do this? Are you trying to buy our friendship?" She looked at me with tears in her eyes and finally she let go off my ear.

Oh oh, I had messed up once again; time to become the Unmasked Groveler. "There's no need to tear, the Unmasked Groveler needs a beer." No, that doesn't make any sense, better work on a new slogan. 

"Maria, please, give me a chance to explain." She started to reach for my ear again; I quickly put a heavy armchair between us.

"Maria, please, listen just for five minutes. Then if you want to take my ear off, I'll even get you a knife. Please." She crossed her hands over her chest, slightly lifting up her boobs in the process and gave me a grim look.

"Talk!"

"The last few months with you and your friends have been great for my kids and me. Our lives have been completely turned around and we've had some wonderful, fantastic times. My babies are back in therapy and are really being helped. I've gotten the strength to do the same. If we hadn't met you I don't know how long we would have continued with that emotional pain rotting our souls."

"So, we wanted to make sure we got you a nice present for Christmas, to thank you for everything that you have done, and to thank you for being our friend." Oh oh, she was starting to look grim again. I better get the rest out.

"Maria, I'm happy that you think I spent so much money, because I like a good deal. But honestly, I didn't. I have a tenant who is a jewelry designer; actually I think he is an unemployed jewelry designer. All those pieces cost me less than thirty thousand dollars, honest. He used my workroom for a lot of it. Not to imply that you're not worth spending more money on, but it wasn't eighty thousand dollars. So I spent about one third of my yearly combined salary income. It was easily worth it to me. I just wanted to get you something nice to make you happy. So did my girls. I'm really sorry if you don't want it and, please, don't be angry with me. Now you can rip my ear off if you want."

And I stepped out from behind the chair and I bent my head down so she could grab my ear more easily. Well she grabbed my ear and pulled my head over and GAVE ME A KISS ON THE LIPS! My knees went weak and Mister Wolf came out. She doesn't know how close she came to being thrown onto her office couch. Hold on, what is going on? She's not stopping the kiss and her arms are going around my neck. There is no way in hell that I'm going to be stopping THIS kiss.

……………………………………………

I was so mad at Don! Spending so much money, when he didn't have nearly as much as I did! But, I would give him a chance to explain, and then make him sleep in the garage.

My god the man is an expert groveler, nice quality for a husband to have. Hmmm, he wanted to thank me and make me happy? I've turned their lives around? The pieces only cost 30k? Impossible, but he doesn't look like he is lying. Now he is coming out from behind that chair and is walking out with his head down. What am I going to do with him?

The only sensible thing; I grabbed his ear, pulled his face to mine and kissed him. Oh it was a pretty good kiss for being closed mouth. Maybe I should open my lips a little. Oh! My tongue seems to have a mind of its own and is lightly touching Don's lips. His lips are opening. Oh! Very nice, very, very nice. He is being so gentle, but I can feel that he is restraining himself from a passionate fire waiting to take control. His hands are absolutely rigid, like two pieces of steel on my back. I can just feel that he wants to clench me to him so fiercely that I would be robbed of my ability to breathe.

My nipples grew hard, strained against my bra, and I started to get wet down below. A little more coaxing and he will be mine, maybe just a little more with my tongue. Oh, god, please let him love me in spite of my awful past!

Suddenly, boom! The door slammed open and I heard screams as five bodies literally fell into the room. Don and I leaped apart and guiltily smoothed our clothes out. Shit, shit, shit!

"What are you all doing spying on us like that?" I yelled at them. Megan and Robin quickly got up and hid behind Vanessa and Kathy who promptly pushed Freddie out front. "It was her idea. She was worried because you seemed so mad." Freddie tried to force her way back behind Vanessa and Kathy, but they didn't let her.

"Freddie?"

"Ah, ah, I just came back for a peek. Then Megan and Robin followed me and then Kathy and Vanessa followed them. We were just opening the door a crack because it got so silent when we sort of fell against the door and we all fell in."

I breathed out a mental sigh of relief. They hadn't seen anything. I had almost jumped the schedule too far forward with Don. They had saved me, but I WAS REALLY SORRY THAT THEY HAD!




Sophia Pt. 03



Author's Notes:

Sorry it took so long to get Part three submitted. It turned out to be much longer than I thought. I want to thank people for all the praise that I was given for Parts one and two, and I hope that this lives up to your expectations. 

Special thanks to my new and first ever editor Yellow Peril, he did a whole lot of work on this story, with repairs and some positive additions to the story. (Yes, I did just copy that part from Part II, but it is still true so why mess with perfection.)

Thanks for Reading

CastleStone

Disclaimer: None of this is real and actually right now, you are dreaming this story. So, if it really sucks just wake up.

PS. At the end of part two I wrote.

I have been informed by my editor that it is sweeps week. Look forward to the exciting conclusion of Sophia in Part Three. There will be romance, sex, cooking, intrigue and comedy. Honest, would I lie to you?

Well I LIED! Actually I was mistaken, but "Well I Lied", sounds more dramatic. The story is much longer than I planned for, and it ain't done yet. Personally I like part three better than part two, but there is more to come. There is going to be at least two more parts after this. Part four is with my editor (originally the second half of part three) and I've got half (or more) of part five done, so I hope to have the rest of the story done soon. 

(I lied about this too.) It is now a line in Part Five.

"Carefully she put the laser sight on Don's date for the evening. Try and steal Don, she thought. This is the end for you."

I sincerely apologize about the delay. The end of Sophia is significantly longer than parts one and two combined thus it took longer to write. Also my editor's ISP uses drunken scotch drinking seagulls while my ISP uses beer swilling ground hogs. This has caused numerous lost emails and missing files when they do the hand off. Most recently with the part that you're reading now, it should have been posted far earlier. Of course none of this is my fault and yes, my wife really hates all the lame excuses I use around the house.

…………………………………………

The next morning we were all at the kitchen table while Don was making French toast. Megan was inhaling her coffee as she turned to Robin and said, "You tell him - I'm too sleepy."

Robin brightly replied, "Okay" 

"Daddy," she yelled.

"Yes, pumpkin?"

"Maria, Vanessa, Kathy, and Freddie all think you're a dork."

"That's true, honey. But I'm a nice dork." Don didn't even pause while flipping the French toast.

"Well, we started a club to undork you so you can be a stud and meet lots of women. Is that okay?"

"That's fine; I could use a good undorking. Do we have to pay anything?"

Robin turned to me and I frantically shook my head no. "No, Daddy, undorking is free." All my friends had their hands over their faces at this point. I think Freddie was struggling to keep from laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes.

"What's the name of the club?" Asked Don.

"The Perfecting Daddy Association," answered Robin. Megan wasn't even paying attention, she just sat there and sipped her coffee like this was an everyday occurrence for her.

"That's a nice name, do we get t-shirts?" asked Don.

"No, just ballcaps."

"Well, I guess that's better than nothing."

With those solemn words, we were now officially in business. I was beginning to think that maybe I needed a good undorking too.

……………………

"♫ I'm a dork, I'm a dork, I'm a dork, dork, dork.

I'm a dork, I'm a dork, I'm a dork, dork, dork. ♫" 

I was half singing and mumbling to myself while cooking breakfast, the words matching music from the Lone Ranger/William Tell overture by Rossini. 

When Robin told me what Maria and her friends thought about me, my immediate thought was, "No shit, it took them long enough to figure it out." Actually it did piss me off a bit because it brought up some bad memories. I must be a dork for my ex-wife to cheat on me so flagrantly for three years with my sisters helping her to cheat. Well, time to calm down. At least my new friends are going to try to undork me. They probably had some bullshit explanation planned to let me know; I'm glad that Robin just cut straight to the chase.

I know that they all are doing it out of kindness, because it is probably going to be a lot of work. On the other hand, I get to take personal lessons from four ex-models; yeah I can live with that. But maybe I should burn the French toast that I serve them?

I finished cooking and sat down at the table with them to eat. "Okay, when do we start the undorking lessons and what are they?" 

I, of course, cleverly waited until they all either had food in their mouths or were drinking coffee. Food and coffee sprayed everywhere and I gleefully exchanged high fives with Robin. Megan, who had been drinking coffee at the time, was the only one not to spray; she just kept on drinking her coffee.

Kathy choked out, "We thought we would go skiing today, and tonight Maria would give dancing lessons again. That's part of your undorking."

"Sounds good to me."

I did pretty good skiing that day. Only my daughters and Freddie chose to stay close to me. I think the others were too embarrassed.

That night I was disgusted to learn that, since I was the subject of the undorking, I didn't get a baseball cap; what a gyp! On the other hand, the hat might have read "Official Dork" and I wouldn't like that.

Kathy picked up the explanation after my lessons. "Don, we all think you're a great guy, but your confidence really took a big hit because of the divorce. We're going to help you not only get your confidence back, but we're going to turn you into an attractive hunk. You've definitely got the potential, but there are some skills that we think you need to gain along with some slight physical improvements, but once we get those done you will be a real babe magnet. Then the four of us will start taking you out on practice dates. When we think you are ready we will get you a real date with some lucky girl. Just leave everything to us."

Why did this entire script start reminding me of "Pygmalion"? The thing that really hurt was that they were eventually going to try to get me a date with someone other than them. I was kind of really hoping that one of my new friends was maybe interested in me romantically. Who am I kidding? I was hoping that the kiss with Maria actually meant something and maybe she was in love with me. Let's get real - Maria is a rich, beautiful ex-model and I'm just a cuckolded dork. 

My sisters had turned on me, all my friends had believed I was submissive and enjoyed being cuckolded, my coworkers had had so little respect for me that they didn't tell me about my adulterous wife and just screwed her themselves, the court system decided I had to know about my wife's affairs, and to top it all off and make it even worse, MY OWN DAUGHTERS believed the same things about me for a time! Cuckolded Dork is too good a name for me, something new should be invented just for me. I know if I let my disappointment and sadness show that they will just spout some bullshit to placate me. Hell, they might even give me a mercy fuck! Freddie and Kathy, with their self professed interest in sex, would probably even be willing to lower themselves to give me a mercy fuck, not that they would have any actual desire to do so.

As for Maria, there is just no way, that she could be romantically interested in me, but I'm head over heels in love with her. I'm a complete joke of a man. I've got to get over a woman that I was never involved with in the first place and I don't know how to do it! A line from a completely appropriate song came into head.

"♫ Unchain my heart cause you don't care about me. ♫"

With that depressing refrain echoing in my head I complained about being sleepy and told everyone I was going to go to bed early. First, I needed to take a long hot shower. Only wimps cry into their pillows, but when you take a shower nobody knows. I was finally able to get to sleep about four AM after spending most of that time in the bathroom. With daughters, that is the only place a guy is guaranteed privacy. Shit I hurt! But it was my own damn fault - I had built up a fantasy in my head and let it become a possible reality in my own imagination.

The morning was absolute hell. I woke up about six-thirty. I wanted to hide in my room or go home to my apartment, by myself. I couldn't do any of that. First reason: my daughters. Second, my friends didn't deserve my rejection of them. They liked me, just none of them loved me and I shouldn't have been stupidly imagining anything different.

I kept on looking at my eyes in the mirror. They looked terrible and there was just no way to hide them. I needed some heavy exercise to break me out of this funk. I took another look at the clock, but it was still way too early. Instead of hiding in my room until the last minute, maybe what I should do is sneak down to Maria's gym and work up a good sweat.

So that's exactly what I did. Normally I like to work out for two hours at a time; sometimes I'm forced by my schedule to only get in an hour. Today I was able to do three and a half, cranking weights, doing crunches and a spending a long time on the treadmill, but it did the trick. 

It was Vanessa who finally found me. I guess everyone had been searching the whole house for me and she was the only one that thought to check the basement gym.

"Don, we've been looking all over for you. How long have you been down here?"

I slowed the treadmill down by a mile per hour and reduced the incline by two, so I could talk. "Oh hi, Vanessa, I just got up a little early. I've been missing my regular workouts and I decided to hit the gym. I wasn't hiding or anything." Oh yes, I was.

"Well, we've got breakfast ready. Hurry up and come upstairs, okay?"

"Vanessa, you own a gym, you know how it is. I've got to complete a cool down on the tread mill and then shower. It will be at least twenty to thirty minutes, even with rushing." I reduced the incline by one notch and the speed by a half mile per hour.

"Okay, be as fast as you can. I'll tell everyone where you are and we'll keep breakfast warm for you."

My kids came downstairs a couple minutes later to check on me. They were relieved to find me, and I felt bad for making them worry. They waited until I had completed my cool down, and then chased me upstairs to take a quick shower.

When I got to the kitchen I found everyone was eating really slowly so I wouldn't be alone while I ate. Really nice people, they broke my heart but really nice people.

Once they spiffed me up a little I was going to have to get serious about dating women. Stop living in the past or my little fantasy world. Get hardcore serious and try my best. I really didn't want to grow old alone.

We went skiing again that day and both Vanessa and Freddie stayed close to me. Kathy and Maria kept their distance. That night there were more dance lessons and Vanessa informed me that I would start physical training in the morning.

By seven o'clock, Vanessa and I were hard at work in the gym. She began by showing my some new exercises for my stomach and chest area. They were hard, but not that bad.

"Don, you are physically one of the strongest people I know. The only people I know personally that are stronger are a couple of friends of mine that are powerlifters, and I think you could earn even their respect in terms of your physical strength. So, I hate to say this because you're definitely not out of shape or fat, but we're going to have to put you on a diet if we're going to get you looking chiseled in any reasonable amount of time."

"A diet?" I asked in horror.

"I'm sorry, Don, but yes. To begin with we are going to cut your carb intake by half and I'll want you to watch your fats too."

"For how long?"

"Don, I've watched you eat. You like your breads, pastas, cakes, cookies and pies. To stay chiseled, even with all the exercise you do and with your high metabolism, you will probably have to be careful with the carbs for a long time." I just know she wanted to say "forever" instead of "a long time". If she said "forever" I would have been out of there, baby. 

"We won't make you start your diet until January first. That way, you can enjoy yourself." Well, I sure dodged a bullet there. It would have been terrible if I couldn't eat my own EXTREME BUFFET APPETIZER FEAST. No big entrees, just lots and lots of really good, really fattening appetizers – did I mention they taste really good? With food being served from about three in the afternoon until one AM. On New Year's Eve the only time I leave the kitchen is for the midnight toast. I like to keep making small batches of different foods, that way it's always hot and fresh so nothing gets stale. I also had plans to use Maria's Christmas choo choo train for the night.

After our workout that morning we showered, had breakfast and went skiing. That night after dinner I had more dance lessons. The next day was the same routine. On the morning of New Year's Eve I took a three hour drive early in the morning to pick up some fresh seafood that I had especially ordered. I was at the store when they opened at nine AM and back to Maria's by one PM. Let the feast commence!

I chased everyone out of the kitchen; I didn't want them to see the goodies until I started producing them. The first thing I did was program that train of Maria's and set it up so that it pulled all three of its big open cars. Each car was easily big enough for a couple of large serving plates. I walked the train through the virtual track that I wanted it to follow. It would start in the kitchen at its charging station and then it would go to the movie room and loop around the chairs there. After the movie room it would go to the great room to do the same thing, and then it would return to its charging station. The train had antennae feelers all over it, hit one of those antennae and it automatically stops until the obstacle is removed. So, if you wanted it to stop, all you had to do was just stick out your foot.

I started making greasy, delicious food in the kitchen with a couple of my deep fryers. The kitchen would become a disaster zone, but that is the price of gluttony! I started out with one batch of coconut chicken wings and another of coconut shrimp. I had homemade mini-pizzas in the oven and I was also frying up some Italian sausage that I would slice up so you could eat them with a toothpick. Broiled kielbasa was being treated the same way while stuffed mushrooms were in a different oven. I had six ovens to work with and I was in hog heaven!

I sent the first train load out with great anticipation. Sure enough, Maria timidly snuck her way into the kitchen. "Just how much food are you going to make?"

"You ain't seen nothing yet, Baby. I'm just getting started."

"Would you mind if I invited a few friends? There is going to be too much food for just us to eat it all."

"Go right ahead, it's your house. I certainly don't mind."

Well, the first to arrive were Carl and his wife, Lucille. They had just gotten back from visiting their kids and grandchildren and Lucille was still using a cane because of her accident. She said hi to me and went back to the movie room with the other girls. Now Carl had brought some wonderful home brew, what a guy. It was a nice amber lager that was awfully good drinking, and we instantly became best friends – funny how these things work!

He became my assistant chef and chief bartender. I would stick food on a plate, and he would load up the train. When it came back he would unload the dirty dishes and wash them. Most importantly, when my beer got low he would pour me another. We talked about everything; some of the myriad of important things we discussed were tools, fishing, women, poker, sports, kids, and hunting. I'd always wanted to go hunting but my father got sick and died when I was too young so I never had anyone to teach me, and I never had the time to go.

Somewhere along the way one of us, because of the toy train, started humming "Chattanooga Choo Choo", this led to the other singing it in a soft voice and then – I don't know how it happened - both of us were belting it out. 

Maria's kitchen is the most fully equipped kitchen I've ever seen; it even has its own sound system. I don't know where Carl got it from, but he snuck in a CD with songs from the Swing Era. Besides "Chattanooga Choo Choo", we were listening to and sometimes singing to (when we knew the words, and sometimes later on even when we didn't) songs like "In the Mood", "Mack the Knife", "Sentimental Journey", "Ain't Misbehavin", and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". Occasionally we even got to dancing but that never lasted too long - Carl was a lousy dancer and he would never let me lead! I think I need another beer.

We started sending out loads of seafood like Dungeness crab clusters, mussels, clams, oysters, peel and eat shrimp, and then another load of mushrooms.

More guests arrived including Nancy and a few of Maria's other friends from the lodge.

Every once and a while someone would come in and check on me and Carl, but we were fine, half in the bag but fine. I think our singing was scaring them away most of the time, but occasionally they would stay and stare in awe or it could have been shock from the assault on their eardrums. Carl had gone back to his house earlier and brought back some great dark beer and a few more CDs. Maria's beautiful kitchen was a wreck. So what if I spilled a few things, I never spilled my beer!

At 11:45 we sent a train load of champagne back to the movie room. At midnight my kids gave me kisses, and then they kissed Maria. Maria gave me a short kiss on the lips. I got lots of kisses. It is nice to get kisses from FRIENDS, shit. Carl and I started the final cooking. When we had that done, we sat down with his last six pack and started playing gin at the kitchen table. We were pretty tanked when we finished off the last of the beer and I think I owed Carl a gazillion dollars, for some reason we were playing for a hundred dollars a point. Did you know home brew has a higher alcohol rating than commercial beer?

"Daddy, daddy?" Megan was standing there looking concerned.

"Yesshh, baby?"

"I think you better go to bed."

"But the kitchen izzs a messhh. I have to get it clean."

"Don, don't worry about the kitchen. Tomorrow is my regularly scheduled day for my cleaning crew. They'll clean it up." It was Maria looking awfully concerned with Vanessa backing her up. Carl was already gone, I didn't remember him leaving, and it's been a long time since I was this drunk.

"Okaayy sounds good." I staggered my way up the stairs with Megan, Robin, Maria and Vanessa waiting to catch me when I fell. But I fooled them - I didn't fall until I made it to the upstairs hallway. 

Megan was talking to Maria. "Daddy hardly ever drinks; the most I've ever seen him drink was four beers in a whole day."

I decided it was time to sing. "♫ How dry I am, how wet I'll be, if I don't find the bathroom key. ♫" Nah, that's no good, what to sing next. Vanessa is certainly strong for a lady. I turned my head to look at Maria and came up with the perfect song.

"♫ Unchain my heart 

Baby let me be  Unchain my heart  Cause you don't care about me  You got me sewed up like a pillow case  But you let my love go to waste  Unchain my heart set me free ♫"




Sophia Pt. 03



It wasn't very good singing. Okay, it was drunken mumbling and I ain't Joe Cocker or Ray Charles. But I was getting some really strange and worried looks from Vanessa. I think she was the only one close enough to hear me, must be a music critic.  

The next morning I woke up in severe pain. There was my oldest daughter looking down at me with a very concerned expression on her face. In one hand she had a mug of coffee and in the other a glass full of ice cubes. Can anyone spell revenge?

She helped me to sit up and I moaned the entire way. "Here, Daddy, drink this," and she handed me the cup of coffee. Then she went in the bathroom and came back with a lumpy towel. She put the towel on my head. What a good kid, she had put the ice cubes in a towel and folded it over. It felt so good on my pounding head. I always knew I had her for a reason.

Vanessa and Freddie came bursting into my room; Maria was following timidly behind them. I apologized for making a fool out of myself last night and they all graciously assured me it wasn't a problem. They raved about all the massive quantities of good food that I had prepared. I only make that kind of feast once per year. I don't think the human body could handle it more often!

Instead of making fun of my hangover, Vanessa and Freddie pretended like I had a valid reason to get drunk and sick. That's nonsense of course. Maria was strangely silent, and gave me some really odd looks. My behavior must have totally shocked her. I hoped I didn't screw up our friendship, I wouldn't want to be the cause of something like that, and it would devastate my daughters.

They brought me glasses of water and aspirin, then told me to go back to sleep. A couple hours later Megan came back to check on me. I was feeling better, but I still wanted to crash in bed. Before she left I asked her to put a DVD in the player for me, just something to keep me company. She picked up my DVD/CD soft file case and started searching through it.

"Daddy, would you want me to put the movie Houseboat in the player?"

"No Baby, I'm done with that one, I've watched it enough to last me the rest of my life. I think there is an Abbot and Costello movie in there, put that in please." She looked at me really oddly, did as I requested, kissed me and left the room.

I spent the day physically and emotionally recovering. My girls and my friends watched movies; there were no dance lessons that night.

The next day I got up bright and early to hit the gym. Vanessa joined me about an hour later to supervise and get her own workout in. I'm perfectly satisfied at being able to bench three hundred and sixty pounds, but Vanessa seems excited at the chance to train someone to lift some serious metal. I'm a little worried at what I've let myself in for with her as a trainer. Nothing against powerlifters, but I will have to buy some new shirts if she pushes me too hard. For the next four days I exercised in the morning, skied for the remainder of the day, cooked dinner and then had dance lessons. I was kept pretty busy. The only thing that truly sucked was that low carb diet Vanessa put me on. Then my own flesh and blood turned traitor and they both agreed to make sure that I kept on the diet.

Maria rode back with us on Sunday. She and my girls played Yahtzee for almost the entire trip.

………………………………………

I was really worried; Don reacted to the PDA a lot better than I thought he would. He acted a tiny bit odd for a few days but he didn't seem angry at all.

I can't believe all the food that he made for New Year's Eve! And then he and Carl got so drunk – I think guys need to do that now and again. I suspect he was worried that I would be mad at him; he was extremely polite for the rest of our time in the mountains. To keep him on his toes, I acted coolly toward him, too, that way when we get together again in the future he won't repeat that drunken behavior very often. Am I good at this game or what?

On Wednesday I went to his apartment as usual - I even got there a little early and let myself in. My girls were thrilled to see me and we had a long conversation about their mother. I was happy with what they were doing about her, but I was a little jealous, too. Nonetheless, they were right and any improvement in their relationship with their mother was really the best thing for them and her. I was just going to have to share them. I could live with that. It was the right thing to do and I needed to adjust my expectations about my relationship with my girls. They were still my girls, but they were Barbara's, too, and I couldn't replace her as their mother. I keep telling myself that half of something is better than all of nothing.

When I went into Don's office to see his new chair it still hadn't been delivered. I was going to have to call that company and tell them to get a move on. I was there so early that the girls were able to bring me to meet Ken, the designer of my jewelry. They actually took me downstairs to Don's workshop; Ken was busy working on a few other pieces.

It was soon obvious to me that Don was right, Ken was out of work. It struck me as ridiculous that so talented a young man couldn't find a job. He was trying to make a go of it by selling custom jewelry and by selling cheaper stuff at street fairs. But materials were costly and he couldn't afford all the tools. He pointed out that, without Don's support and workshop, he would be quickly out of business. It turns out that Don had given him an additional month free rent as well as a check for five thousand dollars since my friends and I were so pleased with our gifts.

I told him that I might be able to help him, but I would need to check on a few things and call him back so we exchanged cell phone numbers. I normally don't wear bracelets, but I was impressed by the ones he made for Freddie and Vanessa so I decided to ask Ken to make a bracelet matching the pieces he already made for me. It would be a bargain and he needed the work.

After talking with Ken, my girls and I headed back upstairs to wait for Don. Boy, did he arrive with a glum expression - must have been a really bad day at work.

On the way to the therapist I told him my idea about helping Ken. He was impressed by my stroke of brilliance, and complimented me by saying I was always so helpful to my friends. Don was more than willing to help with my plan for Ken. Now I just have to enlist Freddie's, Vanessa's and Kathy's help.

………………………………………

In a secret location, startlingly similar to Freddie's studio, especially with all the art supplies lying about, the PDA Secret Security Directorate was meeting. They were so secret that not even the President of the PDA knew about it. The blonde haired head of the Directorate, who used the code name Sister D-day, turned to her subordinates.

"That was agent M on the phone, things have gotten bad. The only music that Don listens to; is that same damn song over and over! Plus, he's thrown out the Houseboat DVD. The situation is getting critical." She turned to the red-haired member. "Sister Flounder, should we reveal these things to Maria or keep quiet?"

Sister Flounder grimaced at her code name, but all the other members had insisted on this nonsense so she went along with it. At least it would make for a good paper in support of my doctorate, she thought.

"If we tell Maria, I see two equally likely possibilities. One, she still sees herself as the Great Scarlet Woman who is unworthy of Saint Don and says something dumb like, 'Oh this is probably for the best.' Two, she goes to him, rips his clothes off and they don't leave bed for a week. On further consideration, since Maria is acting like an idiot, I would have to say that option one is the more likely. I wish we had had more luck quashing that damn cruel nickname of Maria's that's resurfaced. If we push too hard with people in her social circle to stop using it, they will just start using it even more by reflex. Those shitheads know how much it hurts her and they also know how kind and generous Maria is! They think that, since they never use it to her face, she doesn't hear it. Then they wonder why she doesn't socialize with them as much as she used to, the morons!"

The dark haired Sister Bluto remarked, "Well, shit, what are we going to do?"

Sister Flounder replied, "Put more pressure on Maria, try to lift Don's spirits and keep all other women away from Don, so Maria has time to grow a brain."

Sister D-day rose to her feet. "And that is what this Security Directorate was created for, to keep all other women away from Don. Let us remember that they are both our friends and if Don falls into the clutches of another woman, we might never have THE PIE again."

"Let us now close the meeting with the……"

Sister Flounder spoke firmly, "I am not doing that stupid secret handshake again - it is embarrassing and obscene. You two have twisted minds, and if you keep it up I'm going to tell Megan and Robin!"

………………………………………

Another weekend at Maria's house. Freddie and Kathy had called me in a panic for some reason and begged me to bring THE PIE. They're good friends so I brought two. I've given them the recipe; I don't know why they don't make it themselves.

Same old, same old weekend. Friday night we have dinner and the girls watch movies. Saturday, exercises in the morning, breakfast, ski during the day, dinner, dance at night until we get tired, then the girls watch movies and I go to bed. Sunday, exercise in the morning, breakfast……

Hold on, Vanessa is speaking to me. "Don, I was thinking - you work right by my gym. If you're not busy on Tuesdays and Thursdays you can stop by after work and work up a sweat. You would make a lot more progress that way. I know you are exercising at home, but this way would give me a chance to alter your exercises as needed for maximum effect."

"That sounds good, but your gym is a ladies only club. Won't this cause you trouble with your clients?"

"No, I occasionally do have men there. If a client objects, then you might have to leave. But that has never happened before. While they do pay to come to a women's only club, they don't seem to mind having a man there every once and a while."

"Okay, then I'll see you Tuesday after work. Would seven PM be okay?"

"That would be fine, Don, see you then."

So Tuesday after having dinner finds me following Vanessa's directions to her day spa and gym. Upon arriving I'm suitably impressed; it is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. 

As I walk through the doors I see a display set up for "Ken's Jewelry Creations" with pictures of Vanessa, Freddie, Kathy and Maria modeling his work. There is a small stack of brochures, a card holder with his business cards and a website listed. I had created the website for him. Heck, I had improved and updated Vanessa's business website and created one for Freddie's studio, too. I understand that Freddie has the same display for Ken set up at her studio, which has worked out even better for Ken than the display here. Besides her traditional painting, which is fantastic in my opinion, Freddie's main source of income is her body art, tattoos and body painting business. A lot of people who like body art are also into custom, one of a kind jewelry. Maria does have some good ideas.

Vanessa is already waiting for me at the receptionist counter. "Hi, Don, any trouble finding the place?"

"No, not at all. I'm really impressed; your club is a lot bigger than I thought it would be."

"That's because we have a full size pool and very few operations like ours have them. I think swimming is one of the best exercises available, especially for our older clients. It was a huge added expense at first, but now it is one of our biggest draws."

"Boy, do I feel dumb. I thought you were a much smaller operation and, in a way of apology to your female clients, I thought to bake some cookies. Pretty stupid, huh?"

Vanessa perks right up and so does her receptionist and two customers at the counter. "I wouldn't say that, Don, and it is pretty sweet thought, literally. I thought I smelled cookies when you came in. How many do you have in that box?"

"Three dozen chocolate chip and three dozen white chocolate and macadamia nut."

I put the box on the counter and open it up. Now all the ladies are leaning over it and making sounds of desire. The receptionist asks me if she could have one.

"They're Vanessa's cookies, she gets to decide." Vanessa nods her head and everyone there reaches in to grab a cookie.

"Don, I think you are rapidly going to become the most popular member here."

I have to use Vanessa's office to change. She then puts me through an intensive workout. Frequently, during that evening, ladies at the club stop by and thank me for the cookies. 

There is method to my madness, now that my stupid fantasy had been destroyed when I finally found out that Maria actually didn't have any romantic interest in me at all, and her friends didn't either. I am going to take advantage of every opportunity I get to meet women. Maria and her friends like my cooking; I figure I can use that to break the ice with other women. But I won't move too aggressively yet, I will wait until I get to be almost a regular here, then I'll start to casually converse with some of the available women at the club. As Maria has said, I am a dork; I am going to use this as a learning experience. If I don't meet an appropriate woman here, I'll use the knowledge I gain for the next time. Enough of this sitting passively in my apartment!

I get in a good work out at Vanessa's club, except she keeps pushing me to lift more weight. I finish up with an hour and a half on the treadmill. Call me a wimp but I hate running on anything but a treadmill, it is so much easier on the knees and feet and, on top of that, it is more comfortable in a climate controlled building. When I am done, Vanessa offers to stand guard while I use the shower in the locker room, but instead I just drive home in my sweats.

……………………………………………………………………………..

"Sister D-day this is Sister Bluto, Don just left here and he brought cookies. I told some of my trusted clients about Don and they made sure to greet him with a lot of warmth. But you know Don, ever the gentleman."

"Did you save me any cookies?"

"I tried, but by the time I got back to the box it was empty. Not even crumbs were left."

"Damn, no cookies for me and too many of the women at your club have now eaten his baking. You better be careful - you probably have at least a couple of foodies, perhaps more, at your gym. He's a good looking guy that can cook and bake like nobody's business. To a foodie he is USDA prime marriage material, watch him. If you see any members of your club licking their lips when looking at Don, call me. We might have to scrub operation 'Boost Don's Ego at the Gym'."

"It could have been worse, just think what would have happened if he brought THE CAKE or THE PIE to my club. We would never have had a chance. He probably would have been given thirty or more phone numbers, and some of them written on panties! Hell, I could imagine some of my members kidnapping him. I've got this one chocoholic; she's rich, built like a brick shit house, and she works out constantly because of all the sweets she eats. That girl would have grabbed Don and had him on her Daddy's jet to Vegas and into a wedding chapel after just one taste of THE PIE. I've made arrangements with her trainer to encourage her to use the pool whenever she and Don are here at the same time."

"Yes, we might have made a grave error in suggesting to Don that he work out at your gym. But, we could never have guessed that he would bring food. It almost makes me think that Don is setting out deliberately to meet and entice women, but that would be a radical change in his behavior. We can't back out now; it would be insulting to Don. Do your best Vanessa. If I can do anything to help, call me."

"Thanks, Freddie, I just might have to call on you. Both you and Kathy are members here and it might be necessary for you both to change your work out times to help me keep an eye on Don. I'll let you know if that has to happen. This is Sister Bluto signing off."

"'Bye, Sister Bluto, and remember that the next time Don brings food you had better save some for me and Sister Flounder. She may act like a sex-starved intellectual sometimes, but she is only one step below being a foodie herself. If she finds out you didn't save her any cookies, she will be giving you grief for weeks!

…………………………………….

The next couple of months settled into a routine. On Mondays I saw my therapist, Tuesdays and Thursdays I spent at Vanessa's gym. Every Wednesday Maria came by and we took my daughters to their therapist. Friday through Sunday we were at Maria's home dancing, exercising, skiing and pigging out. The only variation was that on some Wednesday nights, after the therapist, Maria would give us dancing lessons instead of watching movies or playing games with my girls. Though, it was a real pain moving furniture to make an area big enough to dance in.

At the end of January I had a secret meeting with Ken, and I was almost too late in placing my order. His business was doing very well, but he promised to get my requested job done in time.

One particular Wednesday Maria spent the entire afternoon at my apartment. She had gotten frustrated with waiting for her Christmas present for me to be delivered so she arranged for the delivery on her own and waited at my apartment to receive it. It was a really nice surprise when I got home. Maria is always so kind to her friends.

………………………………………..

I was so ticked, Don had some problems at work that really confused our travel plans for February twenty-first and I couldn't ride with my babies to my mountain home. To add insult to injury, Vanessa, Freddie and Kathy teased me unmercifully for the entire ride. I just knew this weekend had better get better, or I was damn well going to have to kill someone.

It got even worse! Don twisted his knee so he couldn't ski for the whole weekend. I wanted to stay home and nurse him, but everyone insisted that the rest of us had to go skiing. When Megan and Robin gave me their big-eyed "Pleease", I just had to surrender. But, if Don's knee were hurt, he had to stay off it and that meant he needed someone to take care of him; I wanted that job but they wouldn't let me have it. With friends like that, who needs enemies?! I insisted that he at least let me call Lucille over to cook dinner for us, and he reluctantly agreed. Why did he seem to be secretly pleased?

My time on the slopes almost made up for my disappointment. Megan and Robin were so affectionate and playful, and it would have been just perfect if only Don were there with us.

When we got back from skiing, the house was full of wonderful smells. Lucille was at the door of the kitchen almost literally standing guard. Don was sitting in the living room with his leg up when we walked in.




Sophia Pt. 03



"Hi Maria, Freddie, Vanessa, Kathy and my little dew drops from heaven. Did you all have a nice time skiing?"

"Yes, but we're starving!" I answered, as everyone else scurried upstairs. They must have been really hungry and anxious to get cleaned up and back downstairs to eat. I quickly ran upstairs after them; I didn't want to be the one causing a delay in dinner being served.

When I came back downstairs, Megan and Robin were waiting for me. They said that, because Carl and Lucille were here, it had been decided that we would eat in the dining room. They kind of hinted that they wanted to eat there too. It was pretty fancy and I hardly ever used it, but if my babies wanted to eat there I wasn't going to argue.

The house was full of such wonderful smells that it seemed like someone had prepared a feast. The double sliding wood doors to the dining room were closed. Why was that? Megan took one door and Robin the other, then they slid them both open at the same time, leaving me in the center.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIA!" Noise makers went off, people were clapping and there was huge banner and balloons with my name on it!

Besides the people that I expected, my friends from the lodge were there, and even Richard, my ex-husband. He was smiling broadly and clapping just as hard as everyone else.

Megan and Robin got on either side of me to give me a big hug and they both said at the same time, "Happy Birthday".

I looked to Don, and he had noise maker in his mouth and was giving it some toots, but for some strange reason I thought he was a little sad.

The table was groaning with food. There were two huge garlic encrusted prime ribs, Yorkshire pudding, Dungeness crab, sautéed spinach, asparagus, rolls, pasta with garlic and olive oil, Italian sausage, shrimp scampi and mashed potatoes. We were going to be eating food for a week! On the sideboard was a massive CAKE, already decorated with candles.

This was the absolute best birthday I've had since my parents died. It was wonderful having a family! I was so happy that my eyes were constantly leaking tears. Megan and Robin sat on either side of me and had to keep encouraging me to eat. Don's eyes seemed to be a little wet, too, and his appetite didn't look to be that good either, Hmmm. 

After dinner the cake was brought before me with all thirty-five candles lit. The cake read, "Happy Birthday Maria, We All Love You." I pulled in Megan and Robin really close to help me blow out all the candles, and I knew I would need help with the forest fire in front of me! On three we all blew and cameras went off. I think the tears from my eyes helped with extinguishing the flames.

It was decided that, since we were all too full, we would save the CAKE for later. Then it was time for me to open my presents. I got some lovely and thoughtful gifts from everyone, but when it was time to open the heavy, small box from Don, Megan, and Robin, I did so with both trepidation and a secret plea that it be as wonderful as the gift I got for Christmas.

It was a platinum and diamond broach, matching my earlier pieces. I slowly turned it over, to see if there was an inscription. "To Maria, thank you for coming into our lives. All our love Megan, Robin and Don. 2/26/09" 

It was so wonderful that I completely lost it. My girls both hugged me and all my female friends gathered around to comfort me and share my joy.

That night we danced and played games till almost eleven. Then all us women folk settled down in our jammies to watch chick flicks while the men catered to us. Nancy and Lucille in particular seemed to be having a good time. The cake was finally cut and we started to pig out once again!

The men stayed in the kitchen playing cards until about three. During the night, besides the cake and ice cream, they served us pizza, stuffed mushrooms and homemade French fries. Finally, the men all went to bed. Shortly after that we all fell asleep, too, on the various couches, chairs and recliners in the movie room. Throughout the evening Robin and Freddie had been taking a great number of pictures, and I would have to be sure to get copies to help me remember this magic night.

…………………………………….….

I finally got to meet Maria's ex-husband, Richard. He seemed like a great guy. The first thing that he did was apologize to me about the invasion of my privacy that he had instigated with his investigation. He explained to me how Maria was like a sister to him that he had to do everything in his power to protect. I accepted his apology and assured him that I fully understood. 

While cooking, drinking Carl's beer and cooking some more, I learned a lot about Richard. It turns out, that years ago while Maria was still a model, she had been using a particular financial/brokerage firm to handle all her money. Richard was a junior employee at the firm and was used as basically a messenger between the decision makers at the firm and the holders of the smaller accounts, such as Maria. While Richard was there, the old management team got replaced and the new team started making decisions that he didn't agree with. He knew that it could cost him his job, but he always got on well with the customers that he dealt with and didn't want them to suffer, so he started giving them warnings and advice about what to do.

Sure enough, the company got into trouble. The senior management didn't want to accept the blame, so they very publicly stuck Richard with it and fired him, thereby completely destroying his reputation. I knew from Maria that Richard was an orphan and that he didn't have the most impressive academic credentials; he simply hadn't been able to afford the better schools. He was in dire straits, he had very little in savings, and it looked like that he would never be able to find a job in the financial sector again.

Maria and others that had followed his advice had come out of that financial fiasco without any harm at all. Later, when she asked at the firm about Richard, she was told that he had been let go. She had immediately asked for a cashier's check for her funds and went looking for him. She found him in his cheap apartment going through the want ads. Maria first asked and then convinced him to start managing her money, explaining that he was the only person that she would trust with her life savings. Then she went out and dug up some of the other clients that had dealt with Richard and got them to join in. She was careful how she did it, not wanting to get Richard in any trouble with his former employers. Since these were all smaller account holders, and not very numerous to boot, his old firm barely noticed their withdrawals. However, for Richard it was more than enough to start his own company and he was actually able to pay himself more than he had been making before.

Over the next year and a half Maria and he became quite close, especially after the death of her parents. He admitted that it was a mistake that they got married; they did love one another, but more like a brother and sister than spouses. Eventually they admitted the truth to one another and had an amicable divorce. For some reason he warned me about treating Maria right, saying that she was his only family and it was his job to look after her. I shrugged it off, it was not like I was ever going to harm or marry Maria.

We talked a lot about financial matters and investing. He impressed the hell out of me; he was probably the only financial expert that I would ever trust any of my savings with. I mentioned some of the custom programs that I had developed and used to track and research my investments, and he expressed some interest in seeing them. In turn, he gave me some good advice about other data sources that I could use to make safer investments and make my programs more accurate.

Personally, at the end of the night I thought all the information he had given me was only provided as a distraction. He and Carl cleaned my and David's (one of Maria's friends from the lodge) clocks at pinochle! As an appropriate revenge, I made sure that David and I got the last two of Carl's beers.

……………………………………….

On Wednesday, Maria came by as usual, but we hadn't warned her that we had canceled that night's therapy session. It was decided by my daughters and me that we had to celebrate Maria's birthday closer to the actual date, which was tomorrow.

When Maria arrived, we had the banner hung, and balloons and cake were on the table. I figured they had to be sick of chocolate, so I made a white cake with raspberry and lemon filling.

She got all teary eyed again and insisted that Megan and Robin sit closely by her at the table. For dinner I served that Korean pork dish that they liked so much.

After dinner was gift giving time again.

……………………………………..

They were giving me another party. I wanted this! I wanted them! I wanted to magically transport the four of us, to someplace where we could start new lives together and forever. After dinner and after blowing out the candles on the cake, I was presented with even more presents. I got toys! No one has given me toys since I was a little girl, it was such fun! They gave me four Nerf guns - two big ones and two little ones with holsters and lots of ammunition. Then Megan, Robin and Don reached behind the couch, opened up cupboards, and got out a whole bunch more Nerf guns with holsters and slings. They were some of the craziest looking things I've ever seen! Megan had a big gun that looked like it had a belt going into it. Robin stood in front of me, pumped her gun and said with an evil grin, "Do ya feel lucky, punk?"

Oh, the battle was so on! Sides changed constantly, we ran all over the apartment fighting and even took the war down into the basement. At one point Don and I found ourselves on the same side, and we found ourselves defending the kitchen. By that time we had gotten hungry again and needed a snack, but just as we got the food on the plates, my girls launched a vicious attack with some weapons that Don didn't even know they had, and we were chased out of the kitchen. And to make our defeat more complete, Megan and Robin loudly ate the snack, we had just finished preparing for ourselves! Don and I retaliated by setting up a crossfire outside the hallway leading to the bathrooms and bedrooms. Finally, on the evening of February twenty-fifth, a peace treaty was signed, ending the great Nerf Battle of Don's apartment. It was a long a bloody campaign, and I can only pray that it will never happen again until we do it at my mountain home. I have just got to find a gun that holds more ammo first, though!

We watched movies that night, but only small single shot Nerf guns were permitted, and they were only to be used in self defense per the accords in the treaty!

The next morning, on my actual birthday, I was sung Happy Birthday at breakfast and I got lots of hugs and kisses from my babies and even a polite kiss from Don on the cheek. Damn it, I wanted a kiss on the lips and for him to suck my tonsils out!  But it was still a wonderful birthday week.

……………………………………

When the big change in my life came, it started at Maria's during Saturday night's dinner. I remember that during that day, while skiing, I witnessed quite a few seemingly fierce discussions between Maria and her friends. My daughters seemed to know what was going on and they seemed to be quite tickled by the situation.

That night Vanessa spoke to me at dinner. "Don, you've been doing quite well with your dancing lessons lately and we've decided it is time for your first practice date."

"Does that mean that I've been officially undorked?"

"No, you're still partially a dork, but we love you anyway," Freddie answered with a grin.

"There's a good dinner and dance club that opened a couple of years ago, they specialize in ballroom dancing and they have a small live orchestra on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Instead of coming to my gym this Thursday evening, let's go there for dinner and see what you can really do on the dance floor."

"Vanessa, that sounds like fun, but don't places like that have overpriced mediocre food? I would much rather cook you dinner at my apartment. I'll make you whatever you like and we can still pretend to be on a real date there and at the dance club. How does that sound?" Vanessa's eyes lit up when I told her that I would make her whatever she wanted. If I were going to practice my new method to successfully meet more women, I figured that I had better include cooking, too, just to be complete.

"Why, Don, I think…." She started to say, but she was suddenly interrupted by Kathy, who was looking surprisingly fierce.

"Hold it right there! We agreed that you could go first, Vanessa, but none of us knew that Don would be cooking for his first practice date. I think we have to revisit this issue!" The other ladies seemed to be ready to chime in so I figured I had better defuse the issue.

"I'm flattered that you all like my cooking. You all know what I think about restaurant food; I would be happy to cook for all my practice dates, rather than spend big money on so-so food. You tell me what you would like, and it would be my pleasure to make it for you. Anything that I've made you already, except for THE TURKEY, please, that takes too long." My statement seemed to settle them all down and give them big smiles, except for Maria. She still seemed to be a tad upset.

On Thursday, Vanessa arrived at six-thirty. I had prepared prime rib, Yorkshire pudding and THE PIE.

I wanted to play the scene for a laugh, since it was only practice, but she had insisted at Tuesday night's workout that I play it straight.

We exchanged polite kisses at the door. I like kisses from pretty women, even if they are just friendly, polite kisses. Before dinner I showed her around the apartment. Since she had never been inside before she seemed to be mildly surprised when she saw Maria's, I mean the guest bedroom.

"Vanessa, you really look beautiful tonight." She was wearing a short red dress, perhaps too short, but I wasn't going to complain.

"Did you notice I'm wearing the jewelry you bought me?" She stopped to wave her bracelet in my face. "I get so many compliments for these pieces, thanks again for such a lovely gift."

"I don't deserve much of the credit, Vanessa. Ken was the one who really came through for me. I'm just overjoyed that you, Maria, Freddie and Kathy are so happy with them. You've done so many wonderful things for me and my family. For example, what you're doing for me tonight is very generous, and I will have to find some way to repay your kindness."

"You're making dinner and paying at the club is thanks enough, Don. I do get to take the left over PIE home with me, don't I? Her question seemed to have an implied threat to it. I assured her that she could indeed take THE PIE home with her. Years ago I had foolishly made too many of THE PIES for myself and I had gotten a little burned out with them. Currently I was working on a variation of a lemon meringue pie; I wanted something that would hit with all the power of a good glass of lemonade, made with fresh real lemons, but so far no success, though.

I like to serve fruit preserves with my Yorkshire pudding, just for a change; I offered cherry-almond butter. At first it was a bit uncomfortable being alone with Vanessa, but once she started eating, the predator emerged, just like the tiger on her bracelet. I didn't know that tigers liked cherries!

Both Vanessa and I really enjoy having healthy bodies with lots of endurance, but we never have as much time as we would like during the week to work up a sweat. I was amazed; I thought we had expended every available topic concerning physical activities during my work outs with her, but we found lots of new things to talk about like hiking, bicycling, scuba diving and sky diving. I hadn't been scuba diving in years and I really missed it; as for sky diving, I've always wanted to try it. I think that Vanessa started hinting with me about going on a dive vacation to Hawaii, the Florida Keys or the Cayman islands and it almost seemed like she had some romantic thoughts about me. No, couldn't be, just because she's a woman I think that way; she probably just wants a dive buddy.

Vanessa ate three big pieces of THE PIE after dinner. I couldn't believe it after how much prime rib and Yorkshire pudding she had just eaten. Sure enough, just before we started to leave the house for the club, she suddenly got a distressed look on her face. I had pretty good guess what was causing it too.

"Don, could I use your bathroom, just for a minute?"

"Vanessa, please don't think I am rude, but you just ate a huge meal so don't rush yourself. I want you to be comfortable tonight. It's okay if you take an hour or even more. The only thing worse than having an upset stomach; or being stuffed to the gills and having to use a dirty public restroom, is having no bathroom at all. I'm going to take a quick look at my computer while I'm waiting; you just take your time."

A look of relief spread across her face. "Thank you, Don," and she sped off for the main bath. I didn't really need to use my computer, but I wanted her to know that I wouldn't be twiddling my fingers while she warmed the toilet seat in the bathroom. Maybe I should have offered her a magazine?

She was in there for forty minutes. I know my cooking didn't make her sick, she just ate too much. When I heard her leave the bathroom, I pretended to be hard at work on the computer; I didn't want her to be embarrassed. Her footsteps came hesitantly down the hall.

"Don, are you there?"

"I'm in my office, Vanessa, sorry I lost track of time. I was just looking at the latest tool sales. There's a new joiner that I've been thinking about buying, but the thing is never on sale." When she came into my office I could see an embarrassed expression leave her face. I clicked off the computer and stood up.

"I'm ready to go." 

We walked out to her car; it was a Mustang GT500, white with red racing stripes. I'm a guy who always picks function over form. I would rather have a minivan, which I can pack to the gills, than a sports car. But after seeing Vanessa's new ride I thought I might have to change my priorities. I was in complete lust with the car! 

"I hope you don't mind me driving, Don, but this club is a bit tricky to get to and I know the best places to park."

As I settled into the passenger seat I said, "Driving is not something that I enjoy; it is something that I do because it is necessary. I could live very happily being chauffeured around for the rest of life. Especially like right now, I am in a hot new sports car being driven by a fantastically beautiful lady. Forgive me for being such a male chauvinist pig, but this is great!" I grinned at her.

"You are forgiven, silly man. I've just had a great meal and I've got half a PIE left. For all that I'll even let you fart and stink up my new car," she grinned back at me. Her joke might have been a little crude, but we were work out buddies. I can't even count how many times one of us was busting a gut with some exercise and suddenly we would cut loose with a real stinky one. You've just got to laugh, farts happen. Sometimes it was so loud it sounded like a drive by farting, ha ha. Oh man, was that a bad pun or joke or whatever!




Sophia Pt. 03



The club was busy, but it wasn't packed because it was a Thursday night. That was nice because that meant we had lots of room on the dance floor. My waltzing had improved enough that I wasn't ashamed, but I was still a beginner when it came to the Tango, and forget the other stuff. Since Vanessa was my primary practice dance partner, we put on a good showing on the dance floor. That short red dress came close to giving me a heart attack on more than one occasion, especially when she went into a twirl. Maybe Maria is a better dancer, but for this crowd Vanessa was pretty hot stuff and she was collecting a huge group of admirers.

Whenever we sat down, someone would almost always come over to the table to chat. Even the owner stopped by; Eva was a nice person. She is only a year or two older than I am and already owned such a successful establishment. We ended up staying until midnight even though we had originally planned on remaining only until eleven. We were having such a good time that we decided to stay until closing. In fact, almost everyone there stayed until about the same time. When I tried to settle up our bar bill, I was told that everything was on the house. I left a big tip for our waiter, though. While I was getting our coats, I noticed Vanessa having a last brief conversation with Eva. Eva handed her something and then walked away.

Vanessa was almost bubbling on the ride back to my apartment. "We knocked them dead tonight, Don. You done good!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Boy, you really are unobservant, aren't you? Why did you think everyone was staring at us? Why do you think that everyone was coming by our table to chat?"

"Because you're beautiful and a great dancer, why else?"

"Well, thank you for the nice compliment, but that is only part of the answer. You're pretty good looking yourself now; in fact you're more than a bit hot. You didn't notice; did you, that over half the people that visited our table were women? We looked pretty good on the dance floor. You don't know many dances or moves yet, but what you do know you've got down cold. On top of that, we were obviously having a blast on the dance floor. That kind of thing is infectious; why do you think everyone stayed until closing? We made the place exciting. The owner put all our drinks on the house tonight because she knew we were bringing in business. In fact, she gave me a couple of VIP cards as we were leaving. We've got special parking privileges, no cover charge and a ten percent discount on everything. I've been here many times, Don, with some pretty good dancers, and I've never been treated this way before. You like your old movies, Don – well, for tonight we were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers."

I was more than a bit blown away by Vanessa's enthusiastic speech, but I was certain she had it wrong. You don't go from being a cuckolded dork to Fred Astaire in a few short months. But at least I didn't embarrass myself and that is something to be proud of.

Vanessa dropped me off at home and then drove off to her own apartment. For a work night we had been out awfully late.

………………………………………

I was so upset I couldn't do anything but cry and pound the pillows on my bed. The first person to have a private dinner at Don's apartment should have been me! The first person to take Don dancing should have been me! It will be only worse if Vanessa and Don have a great time. And it was my own damn fault. I was too cowardly to take him on a practice date, what if someone I knew saw us and called me that horrible nickname? I was just too well known in Seattle's social scene. Why did I have live down to my old reputation after my divorce from Richard? People had forgotten the old me. With Robert, that asshole, he had his own sexual skeletons in the closet and hadn't dared cast stones. But with Saint Don, I would be too ashamed if he found out.

Vanessa, Kathy and Freddie were right, for the benefit of Don's ego, he had to go out and see how much progress he has been making. BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME! IT IS SO UNFAIR! And I broke down again, sobbing into my pillow.

…………………………………........

Vanessa got back to her own apartment and she was completely beside herself. She didn't know what to do. The evening had been almost magical, even with an upset stomach caused by her gluttony. And Don had been so sweet and considerate about it, pretending to be busy on the computer.

She started to dance across her apartment floor, pretending to be once again in Don's arms. In her head she heard the music again and danced two complete numbers. But then she suddenly stopped.

There could be trouble at that dance club. So many of the women there had been looking at Don with hungry eyes, and Eva, the owner of the club, could very well be the worst of the bunch. Don had let something slip about being only friends with Vanessa and when Eva had sought to confirm that with her, she had to reluctantly admit the truth. That was why Eva gave them two VIP cards, one for her and one for Don so they could use them separately. But Vanessa had kept Don's card and hadn't given it to him. Better to keep temptation away, she thought. There had been something in Eva's eyes when she looked at Don, which I hadn't liked one little bit.

But, Vanessa had to admit to herself that she had been bad, too. She had strongly hinted during her dinner conversation with Don about how she would enjoy going on a dive vacation with him. She could easily imagine walking down a tropical beach with Don, hand in hand. Stop it, stop it Vanessa, she told herself, you promised Maria. She deserves the first shot at Don. Remember the way that Don has his guest bedroom set up for Maria? Don't go poaching!

She started to idly caress her jewelry and thought, but Don had bought me such an expensive and wonderful presents for Christmas. A dive vacation to maybe Hawaii would really not be all that expensive and I really should repay him with a gift of equal value. It would only be fair, just a couple of work out buddies going on a dive trip together……….. Hell, that is a TERRIBLE lie to tell myself, good thing I'm so easily fooled.

Running to her computer, she signed onto her favorite travel sites and started to investigate available dive packages.

………………………………..…….

I had everyone meet at Don's apartment for the drive to my home. I wanted to be sure to that I would be riding with MY Don (the hell with farting around about it!) and my girls. I was done with denying the truth to myself. Somehow, someway I would make Don mine. I would continue to go slowly, and I didn't care how long it might take, but he was going to be MINE. Vanessa was supposed to be driving my SUV with Kathy and Freddie as passengers, but at the last moment Vanessa switched out and Freddie drove. I almost objected, but stopped myself; Freddie wasn't that bad a driver and I was fully insured. Time to calm down, I'm with my family.

As I got in Don's SUV, I was more than a bit disconcerted. Vanessa had kept giving Don glances, filled with a little too much tenderness, in my opinion. I hoped it was only my paranoid imagination, but I couldn't be sure.

"Don, how did your practice date go with Vanessa?"

"Vanessa said that it went very well, but I'm not so sure, she might have been saying that just to boost the old ego. I'm pretty confident that I did nothing embarrassing and, for my first practice date, that is good enough for me."

I didn't know how to react to his answer. IT DIDN'T GIVE ME ANY INFORMATION, DAMN IT! Vanessa could indeed by lying to protect Don's fragile ego or Don could be vastly understating things because of his low self esteem!

"What did you do?" Let's see him dodge that question!

"We had dinner, and then we went dancing, just like we planned," Don said with an absent minded shrug to his shoulders. I'm going to have to kill him! Thankfully, I was saved from a long prison term by my two allies in the back seat. Don's ambivalent answers seemed to be driving them insane, too!

"Dad, you're being too much of a dumb man! We want specifics, and if we don't get them we will make you sorry." Megan stated forcefully.

"Yeah, Daddy, give us all the juicy stuff, or no kisses for a month!" Threatened Robin.

"It was just a practice date with Vanessa, for Pete's sake! Don't make a big deal about it!"

At the same time that I said "Don….," in a threatening tone, my girls said "Dad….," and we harmonized.

"Okay, okay, give a guy a chance. It was all pretty boring. Vanessa came by the apartment, I showed her around and we ate dinner. She drove us in her new car. That is a pretty slick ride. You know me, Mister Practical, but I felt more than a bit of lust for that Mustang," he continued. Hmmm, maybe I would have to buy him one. I've rarely heard Don express any avarice over any material possessions besides tools. 

"We got to the club and we danced; it was nice dancing to a live band. Several people came to our table to chat, and even the owner stopped at our table frequently. Eva, the owner, seemed to be a nice lady, about the same age as us. We stayed later than we had originally planned. We had gotten there late and we were having fun, so we decided to stay until midnight."

They were having fun?!!

"When we left, I found out the owner had given us all our drinks on the house, which was nice, but we really only had a couple of alcoholic drinks and everything else was just soda water with a twist. Then in the car Vanessa told me that Eva had given us two VIP cards. Vanessa said something about us being exciting enough that we held the other customers there until closing. She even said we were almost like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for the night. Now don't tell her that I said this, because she seemed thrilled with that VIP card, but that is utter nonsense. While she is a beautiful woman and a very good dancer, I'm not Fred Astaire and there is no way that we could hold a bunch of people in a club until closing."

SHIT! It was worse than I had thought. I exchanged stunned looks with Megan, who seemed to partially understand her father's accomplishment, but Robin didn't seem to get it at all. I had met Eva and she was an aggressive and greedy woman - she didn't give away anything for free. For Don and Vanessa to have been that successful on the dance floor, there must be strong chemistry between the two of them, especially since Don is still a complete novice. Hell, I had been a professional dancer and I had never been given a VIP card to that club! I wanted to burst out crying again and I couldn't do it here, not in front of Don, Megan and Robin. 

Don saved me by pulling out the Yahtzee game; he never seemed to put a CD in the player anymore, good thing - I don't think I could have sung a note.

…………………………………….

Meanwhile, in the super secret spy car of the PDA Security Directorate, Sister D-day, Flounder and…… Screw it; Freddie, Kathy and Vanessa were talking in Maria's SUV about basically the same thing. Vanessa had already told them about the same events that Don related to Maria, but she continued.

"Guys, I've got a big problem and I feel absolutely terrible about it. I've been seeing Don a lot lately, almost as much as Maria. We've been getting along together really well at my gym. Last night was almost magical with both of us on the dance floor, like you see in those old movies that Don enjoys. Everyone was watching us, and we were on center stage. I know that Maria has first shot at him, but I've nearly completely fallen for Don. After I got home from our date, I almost booked a dive vacation for the two of us, except I didn't plan on any diving. I planned on romantic evenings and walks on the beach. It was only at the last minute with my credit card out that I stopped myself. I didn't even have Don's knowledge or permission. He hasn't been diving any place nice for years, and he really misses it. I was going to present him with a fait accompli and give him some bullshit line about a friend cancelling out on me and I didn't want to see the money go to waste. Don would have bought it, too; he's a trusting and frugal guy. He would hate to see a few thousand dollars go down the drain. Please don't tell Maria, she's the one that believed in me when I was left flat broke and invested in my club. I'm so sorry, PLEASE don't tell her!" Vanessa started to cry softly.

Kathy spoke, "I think we have all been spending too much time with Don lately. We've been so concerned about Maria's happiness that we've forgotten about our own. I'm still fitting in the occasional real date, but you two have become fixated on Don. Hell, I agree with you that he is mighty fine catch, but as the saying goes, 'there are other fish in the sea'. It is time that you two got on with your lives. It wouldn't hurt things if you were to stay home one of these weekends and go out and meet some guys. You've devoted almost all your weekends for the past four months to Maria. Live a little - we all owe Maria, but she isn't going to hate us if we want to go off on our own. In fact, there are some mighty cute guys still skiing at the lodge. During other ski seasons we've had them falling all over themselves to get close to us. It's time for us to get back into action. Do you all agree with me?"

Vanessa gave it her best effort, but her "agreed" came out a little flat. Kathy was willing to take that as a victory, though.

Freddie started to speak, "I agree with you, but I'm still going to help Maria and Don. Personally, I'm looking forward to my practice dates with Don; I think that they will be fun, especially with his cooking. So far we've devoted four months to this project and I'm willing to give it a couple more before I start getting antsy. I owe Maria and she is my dear friend, plus I really like Don. I'm not saying you two have to do what I do, but that's the way I feel."

Vanessa replied, "I completely agree with you, Freddie. I just have to put my feelings for Don aside. But, as you pointed out, Kathy, it is also time that I start dating again."

"Okay that sounds like a plan; we'll give it our all for at least two more months, but we also try to fit some dating action back into our own lives."

"However, there is something else I think you two should consider. When we informed Don that we would be setting him up with real dates, it completely devastated him. He must have been thinking that after the kiss he got from Maria he had a chance with her. So here we all come, including Maria, telling him that we are going to set him up with other women. In Don's mind he must think that no woman that is romantically interested in him would set him up on a date with another woman. Thus, by his thinking, Maria must not be romantically interested in him, and he has been depressed ever since."

"The same exact thing applies to the three of us. While Don was primarily attracted to Maria, we are three single attractive women and who had been flirting with him for a couple of months. He has been alone for almost three years; he wouldn't be human if he hadn't considered the possibility that, while things might not work out with Maria, perhaps one of us might be attracted to him. Suddenly we burst his bubble and tell him about fixing him up with other women and, just like Maria hurt his feelings, we did, too."

Vanessa exclaimed, "Oh, no!" and suddenly got sick to her stomach and almost asked Freddie to pull the car over so she could throw up. If they hadn't been following Don's SUV she would have. She would just have to do her best to swallow her gorge back down.

Freddie simply said, "Oh, Shit!" which caused Kathy to nod her head in agreement.

"Yeah, and I am the one that came up with this idiocy of setting Don up on real dates. I haven't a clue how I could have missed such an obvious pit fall, but we're stuck with it now. We could have gotten similar results with a lot less heartache if I had never mentioned it at all. We could have just had

Don take us on a whole lot of practice dates, then have Maria turn one of her practice dates into the real thing. Maria has enough brains and kindness to take Don's lack of sexual expertise in stride and teach him gently, and Don has enough brains and kindness not to take offense at being instructed in sex. I think I was too focused on Maria's 'Scarlet Woman' obsession." But, as I said, we're stuck with this plan for right now. There is no way I can take back what I said about real dates without explaining to Don that Maria is romantically interested in him, and she is just not ready herself for Don to know that."

………………………………….….

Normal weekend at Maria's home, not! Everyone was perfect with my babies and we did the same things, but around me the ladies were acting as strange as a gopher in a space suit. Nothing rude was ever said to me, but their body language, tone of voice and facial expressions made me feel like I was a test subject for psychological experiments.

At times I felt Maria was angry with me, other times apologetic or sad. Vanessa alternated between sad and, if I didn't know she had no romantic interest in me, I would have had to say she was acting timidly affectionate. Freddie, the queen of fun, spontaneity and being laid back, was almost frantically running between Maria and Vanessa. She would occasionally stop and spend some time with me, always giving me warm hug as if trying to reassure me about something.

Kathy was the only one to behave consistently. She consistently acted pissed at herself for almost the entire weekend. I almost went home as I was going so crazy with the situation, but my four beautiful friends behaved normally around my girls. So, I just grinned and bore the confusion - it was a good thing I never leave home without some Zantac tablets.

For the first time ever, I saw some of my friends trying to socialize with other people on the slopes and at the lodge. Maria was always close at hand; Kathy was the biggest social butterfly. Freddie seemed to try a couple of times to meet new people, but then she gave up and returned to just hang out with Maria, my girls and me. Vanessa was behaving more than a bit odd. She would start to converse with some guy, look up see us and suddenly hurry back to rejoin our group, almost as if she were doing something she felt guilty about.

I saw the end of another furious discussion, this time between Freddie and Maria, as I came down the stairs Sunday morning. That breakfast was more than a bit strange. When I walked in the kitchen I found Vanessa hard at work making breakfast; she's never cooked for us before. The table was set and the ingredients for the meal were setup by the range. She must have gotten up at least a half an hour early. 

She was making omelets and took our orders for what we wanted in them. Megan was still barely awake, so Robin grinned as she translated Megan's mumblings into "ham, Swiss cheese, and onions". When Vanessa was putting mine on the plate, she had such a look of concentration on her face that I thought she was performing brain surgery. And, as usual when you're trying your best like that, sometimes things can go wrong. It broke in half and part of it fell on the floor. She was so upset I thought she was going to cry. I knew what was going on - I had made so many tasty meals for her that she wanted to return the favor, and now the dumb omelet broke. I felt so bad for her; it took a few minutes for me to calm her down as I gave her a hug and rubbed her back. It was funny for just a split second there when I turned and looked back at the kitchen table over Vanessa's shoulder and I saw Maria with a shocked expression on her face. When she locked eyes with me her expression cleared and she quickly got up to help clean the mess from the floor. She must have been angry about that, but messes sometimes just happen. It was probably just a bad morning for her, maybe PMS.




Sophia Pt. 03



We were all finally able to sit down at the table. Mine and Vanessa's omelets were the last two. The table was unusually quiet and, without the normal breakfast chatter, no one was even teasing Megan over being a sleepy head. That was normally a great sport for one and all, and it was her mumbling retorts that made it so funny. This morning, however, Megan was looking alert and attentive. Hell must have frozen over! Personally, I thought that on many weekend mornings Megan was just faking it. I've even had a quiet talk with her in the past about it. I wanted to be sure that she didn't mind the teasing because it was all done in fun, but sometimes you can really hurt someone's feelings that way. I'd rather drive a rusty knife through my own heart than hurt my little girl or let others hurt her. However, she had assured that she knew it was all done in fun, with no mean intent behind it, and she strongly hinted that she did enjoy it - it was just another form of attention. I believed she was beginning to look at our new friends as more like a loving family than just friends. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Vanessa finally broke the silence.

"Don, how do you like your omelet?"

"Just fine, Vanessa, it's great." I picked up a big fork full of omelet and stuffed it in my mouth to emphasize my point. Actually I'm not much of an omelet eater, but you never insult the cook.

"I wanted to cook at least one meal for you after all the times you've cooked for me. Ah, I've got a scheduling problem; I've got to get back to taking care of some personal things. So, if you don't mind, we are going to have to cancel our Thursday night workouts together." Vanessa looked at me a little sadly.

I had enjoyed my time with her and it was a nice change having a workout buddy, but I understood. "I can certainly understand Vanessa. You've devoted a lot time to helping my improvement and sacrificed your own personal life to do it. I want to say that I appreciate it and thank you. So, don't give it another thought, I'm just so very grateful for all that you've done for me." I swear after I said that I heard a sigh of relief come from Maria, who was sitting beside me. Freddie spoke next.

"Don't think that you are going to have Thursday nights off, Don. Thursdays evenings are now going to become your semi-official practice date nights. Vanessa told us about your date last night while we watched our nighty-night movie. Sounds like you did better than anyone could have hoped for; you should be proud of yourself. This Thursday is my turn to be your practice date. Is that okay, do you think you're ready for me big boy?" Freddie gave me a saucy grin.

"I don't know; I'll have to ask my booking agents. Well, my little cherubs, is Daddy ready for this blonde haired temptress?" I asked with a grin.

Robin spoke up quickly, "Sure, but no making kissy face on the first date!"

Megan gave a quick glance towards Maria first before replying, "If you promise to be home before midnight and make sure to put on clean underwear that night, then I'll let you go."

"Gee, thanks, Moms."

"Freddie, my Moms say I can go, so what are your plans?"

"You will take me to the art museum where there is a special exhibition of American art. For dinner, you will make me the lettuce thingy with fried shrimp, fried squid, and THE PIE for dessert. I will be at your house at five thirty and we will leave for the art museum by seven."

"Got it, one Korean special hold the pork, and sizzle some sea monkeys."

…………………………….……….

I was so upset about Don's date, I wanted to get a big stick to smack people with and yell "HE'S MINE, PISS OFF!" I longed to wrap Don in chains, kidnapping him, stealing him away to a lonely cabin on a mountain top that I knew about. The only thing that stopped me was my girls. How could I explain it to them? How could I leave them behind while taking their father?

I knew this wasn't anyone's fault but mine, but I had such a hard time controlling my temper. I tried to stay close to Don, but when I felt my behavior was getting out of line, I would get away for a few minutes to blow of some steam.

Vanessa's behavior towards Don was giving me the heebie-jeebies; I knew that Vanessa no longer viewed Don as just a friend. I also knew that she was a dear and trusted friend who would never betray me. However, when she looked at Don, a timid look of longing filled her face and when she looked at me she had such a guilty looking and distraught appearance. I loved Vanessa like a sister I never had, the same with Kathy and Freddie, but I found Don first and I was certain she would respect that. Nonetheless, the conversation we are going to have this Saturday night isn't going to be fun. If necessary I could always use a big stick on her, and I had found a beaut out in the garage. I think it was an old ax handle, except it was new. I wouldn't hurt her much, just enough to get my point across.

I made dinner that evening but, what with Freddie being a vegetarian; it is hard to make something that pleases everybody. Don always does it somehow. How does he do that? Everyone seems to like Dungeness crab, so I served that again. For dessert I served two blueberry cheesecakes that I had made myself. I had secretly been practicing making cheesecakes for the past month and a half in order to get it just right. My ex-husband, Richard, and his office staff had been my test dummies and had gotten totally sick of eating them. Almost every Wednesday and Friday I would go breezing into his offices with a cheesecake at lunch. It got so bad that all his staff started hiding from me, but Richard, the dear, took it like a man and sampled everyone, doing his best to critique it.

The cheesecake was a smash hit. Everyone loved it and had two pieces, even though they were stuffed with crab. In fact I think Don wanted a third, because I caught him checking out how much was left. I think he didn't voice his desire because of the diet he is on.

Dance lessons that evening were particularly tough on me. At first Vanessa was very stiff and clumsy with Don, then she finally seemed to forget herself and flow with dance. Eva was right to give them a VIP card and I was right that they were displaying great chemistry. My heart had fallen into my stomach; it was painful to have such a vacant feeling in my chest coupled with a twitching stomachache. I put my modeling lessons to use: the dress is too tight – smile; the shoes hurt your feet – smile; you might lose your boyfriend – smile.

I picked on some minuscule errors that Don was making so I could dance with him myself to show him the proper steps. For only the second time since I started teaching Don, I put on the song Moon River and we waltzed to the piece twice. We were good together, not as good as Vanessa and he were, but still very good. We just needed more practice. From now on, I'm going to dance with him every Wednesday. We've done it before, but we have to move the furniture in his living room to give us enough clear space, which dissuades us most of the time. However, I've seen his basement gym, and it is plenty big enough for a dance floor. It should be, since Don's basement is the basement of the entire apartment building and not just his lone apartment; his tenants aren't allowed access to it, except for a couple of special cases. That was one of the perks that he gave himself when finishing the building. He put in a raised wooden floor in both his gym and workshop because he didn't like walking on cement. The floor is scruffy, but I think it is usable as a dance floor, and I can probably make it even better if I clean it up a bit. Don's even got a sound system down there, so he can listen to his music while exercising. 

When lessons were over, Don headed up to his room to relax in bed and watch TV, while we girls headed to the movie room. It was time for my showdown with Vanessa.

While everyone else stopped in the movie room, I grabbed Vanessa's hand and gently pulled her towards my office. She was looking pretty distraught but she followed me willingly. After I closed and locked the door - no more peeping toms! - I turned to her. "Vanessa, you know I love you like a sister. I know that you are good person. I also know that you had a special night dancing with Don, and ever since then you've been acting a little love struck. I'm not mad at you, I'm jealous and I'll fight you for Don, but I'm not mad. Do you want to tell me what is going on and what you are feeling?"

Vanessa broke down completely and started to cry. Ah shit, this isn't supposed to be my job! I rushed to her, put my arms around her, hugged her and gave her the "There, there, everything will be alright, we'll figure out something together, routine." But I didn't know if everything would be alright and inside, my heart was breaking too but I had to keep it together for myself, for my friend and for Don. We sat down on the couch together and finally she started to talk, though it was broken up by the occasional sniffle.

"Maria I'm so sorry, I didn't see it happening! I joked about being interested in Don, because he is such a great guy, but I would never have really made a play for him because I knew you wanted him. It just slipped up on me. I work out with Don four times per week. I'm his practice dance partner, twice a week. We go skiing twice a week, and frequently I'm instructing him and we're alone together. We have just spent so much time together that I've formed an emotional bond with him and didn't even realize it until that dinner at his house."

Crap, it started at dinner and not on the dance floor!

"Then we went to the club and I know you don't want to hear this, but the night was just magical for me." No, I didn't want to hear this, but I had too! "I never even came close to being a big league model like you were, and suddenly, in a room full of people, I was the star, and not just for my looks and it felt wonderful. Don took me to that level; he brought out the best in me and made me shine. I know Don has his weaknesses, quirks and mental hang-ups, but even with all that he is just so solid, that is the only word I can think to describe him. When I was with him on the dance floor I knew I was with a MAN and not just some guy. We're trying to give him some surface polish, but all the things a really man needs to be, he already is in abundance."

My face must have revealed the depth of my fear.

"No, Maria I'm not going after him. At least I won't go after him as long as you're interested in him. I've partially fallen for him, but I'm positive that he doesn't have the slightest romantic feeling for me. I'm just his good work out buddy and his tough ass trainer. I've spoken with Kathy and Freddie, and we all think that the major part of my problem is that I've been spending too much time with Don and not been out socializing on my own."

I suddenly felt very, very guilty. For over four months I've been demanding too much time from my best friends, because of my romantic interest, screw that, because of my love for Don. There I said it. Not once in those entire four months did I give any consideration about their personal lives. Oh what absolutely selfish and greedy bitch, I've been. I didn't have the right to be their friend.

"Vanessa, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I've been so selfish! I've completely forgotten about you three and your own lives. You all must hate me! I've been a terrible friend. For all these months it has been all about me, how can you ever forgive me? I created this situation by not having the courage to be honest with Don about my past." Then I broke down and Vanessa was comforting me.

"There, there, Maria it's alright and we all still love you. We understand, you're just in love woman, and you've got all your attention focused on your prey and his girls. You've been a wonderful friend to us. When I was left broke you rode to my rescue, same for Kathy and Freddie. The only job skills we had were modeling and suddenly they were all telling us that we're too old. Then all three of us had those disastrous first marriages. Freddie and I signed those pre-nups that let those asshole husbands of ours financially rape us. Kathy married that jerk, I don't know why she likes bad boys, and he squandered her savings. Then along comes our knight on a white horse, and that was you. Everything was gone. When you rescued me I was about ready to move back in with my folks; Kathy was almost on the street and Freddie was thinking about stripping for a living. You turned my love of exercise into my successful business, you turned Freddie's love of art into her career and you funded Kathy's return to college. You gave us back our pride and we can never repay you. You've always been there for us and now it is our turn to be there for you."

"Now, Kathy, Freddie and I have come up with a plan. It is really rather simple and we are not abandoning you, but the three of us are going to start going on dates again, although Kathy never completely stopped. I'm going to cut back on my hours with Don and I think we should start shuffling his practice dance partners a bit. I know that is not the best for learning, but I think it is necessary. Kathy thinks that, because we started this silly polishing Don nonsense, we have to go through with it. Stopping it suddenly might really confuse Don. What we think you should do is glue yourself to his side every chance you get. We think it is best if Don gets in a few more practice dates to build his confidence and ego, maybe one or two with each of us three, then it will be time for you to make your move. None of this setting him up on a real date nonsense! You probably already know this, but you're going to have to be patient and understanding with Don the first time you make love. Really patient, really understanding and really encouraging or he might break and run in shame and embarrassment, and you might never get another chance. As for your past, knowing Don, I don't think that there will be any problems. So…"

I recoiled from her, everything she said up to that point had reassured me and made sense, but how could Don with his sheltered family life accept my past so easily? Impossible! When I tried to stand up, Vanessa pulled me back down into a hug, god she is strong! She rocked me and stroked my hair, whispering in my ear.

"I know; I know you're not anywhere near ready to tell him and you think that he will despise you. I know you're making a dreadful mistake and are just letting your fears control you. If you had any sense at all, you would march up to his bedroom, tell him that you loved him and climb in bed with him for a week. We would be happy to take care of Megan and Robin for you. But if you want to take your time and get over your fears, we will stand behind you. We all love you Maria."

This wasn't how I thought my confrontation would go with Vanessa at all! I thought I might get in an argument with her. I thought I might have to comfort her. I never thought that I would be the one needing comforting!

We finally calmed down, fixed our appearances and rejoined everyone back in the movie room. Kathy and Freddie visibly relaxed when Vanessa and I returned arm in arm to the room. Megan and even Robin were looking suspiciously at us, as if they knew something big had happened. 

I decided we all needed a treat so I went to the kitchen to get the rest of the cheesecake. When I got there I found a big piece missing. Don, that sneak, had probably stolen a piece and taken it up to his bedroom to enjoy. I was flattered that he liked it, but should I inform Megan and Robin that he was cheating on his diet or keep quiet? I would have to think about it. So everyone got a small piece of cheesecake, and a medium size piece of THE CAKE, which Don had brought up. I wonder if it was going to become THE CHEESECAKE, with maybe the sound of cows mooing? 

The next morning I got up early to fix breakfast. I intended to show Don that I could be kind and considerate too. When I got to the kitchen I found Vanessa hard at work. Her back was to me, so she didn't see me. I saw RED, she had told me that she wasn't going to make a play for Don and here she was cooking and she hates to cook! I was going to cook for Don, what is going on here?!! I started to step into the kitchen when suddenly Freddie grabbed me, turned me around and put a finger over her lips urging me to be quiet. I settled down a bit and remained silent. She took my hand and led me out to the great room, far from the kitchen.

"What's going on here, Freddie?" I asked furiously.

"I thought you might be upset. This is Vanessa's way of saying goodbye to Don. She really likes him Maria, but she knows you love him. Vanessa has never had him over to her home, never been on a REAL date with him and never cooked him a meal. This is how she is getting closure; this is a goodbye dinner, except it's breakfast. Just let her do this, okay?"

Freddie had such a concerned and worried expression that it just reinforced my opinion that I was being a bitch again. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. "Of course it's alright; it just surprised me after what she said last night, and especially in light of her own hatred of cooking. Thank you for stopping me, Freddie, from making a complete fool of myself. Both you and Vanessa are my dear friends."

I had been so focused on my discussion with Freddie that I had been almost oblivious to the fact that someone was coming down the stairs and could possibly hear our conversation. I turned to find it was the worst possible person to have maybe heard us, it was Don! But he simply said good morning and moved towards the kitchen with his normal facial expression. We just dodged a damn big bullet!

At breakfast when Vanessa dropped Don's omelet on the floor, I was shocked to see him get up so quickly to comfort her, but she was very upset. He hugged her and patted her back, and did his best to calm her down. But when a moment had passed and my shock had dissipated, it was plain to see that Don was just comforting Vanessa as a friend, and that while Vanessa melted in his arms a bit, she was still holding herself back. That omelet she had dropped represented her goodbye kiss to Don, so I could understand why she was so upset. I would never tell her that Megan and Robin had told me that Don hated omelets (and I must swear them to secrecy about that!).

At breakfast Vanessa informed Don about the change in their workout schedule, and Freddie told him about the new practice date schedule.

I again rode home with Don and my girls, but we were finally getting tired of Yahtzee. We were going to have to find a new game. It was handy that Don's apartment made a good, safe place for us all to rendezvous and car pool before driving to my mountain home. Otherwise my insistence on riding with him and my girls would look very odd. This way it could simply be explained away as my fondness for Megan and Robin.

While we were riding back in the car I explained my idea about dancing lessons in his gym. Don admitted to me that there was plenty of room, but he was doubtful that the floor was in good enough shape for dancing. When I arrived at Don's apartment I took a quick look in his gym to look at the floor. He was right - it was a simple floor made of plywood that had been stained and sealed. There were some large rubber floor mats around the exercise equipment, but that was it. I decided to pull a "Don".

When I went back upstairs, I spoke with him. "Don, you're right about the floor, but when I was a kid taking dancing lessons, I had to work on the dance floor in the studio I was at many times (true). I know some ways to tune up a floor to make it usable. If you don't mind I will stop by early on Wednesday and fix things up a bit, it shouldn't really take me much work." I didn't tell a single lie, heh heh.




Sophia Pt. 04



Author's Notes:

Sorry it took so long to get Part IV submitted; you're probably getting sick of me saying that. Thanks for all the positive comments for Part III. 

To the anonymous person that submitted the exact same "Horrible" comment eight different times for Part III. There are different methods used for scoring on this website. One of those is by the sheer number of comments; it doesn't matter if they are good or bad. So by submitting the exact same comment eight times you inflated the story's score, so to speak. I did not feel that this was fair to other authors, so I deleted seven of them. 

Special thanks to my new and first ever editor Yellow Peril, he did a whole lot of work on this story, with repairs and some positive additions to the story. (Yes, I did just copy that part from Part II and III, but it is still true so why mess with perfection.)

Thanks for Reading

CastleStone

Disclaimer: None of this is real and actually right now, you are dreaming this story. So, if it really sucks just wake up. (Copied that too.)

............................................

When Don mentioned people grabbing his ass, I saw red. Strangers were taking liberties with my Don! When I went clubbing, not so much nowadays and I could easily give it up for Don, occasionally some jerk would grab my ass, but I always made it a point to cause a scene which swiftly either brought a bouncer to my side or even the cops a couple of times. Guys really didn't have that option, and with the way Don's ass looked last night I could understand why it was so "grabbable", but dammit, it was MY ass to grab! 

Megan and Robin finally got up about an hour after I did. Don and I sent them in to see Kathy with a large mirror and I stood by the door with Don's camera. Kathy didn't have the energy to shriek, but she could still moan. That's what the undead are supposed to do, isn't it, ha ha?

Early that afternoon I took my family shopping. Don definitely needed some new clothes, and I wanted to get my girls some robes and slippers. When it came to Don's clothes he allowed me free rein to pick the styles and colors, but he whined a little too much about the prices until I gave him my "your pushing it" look. When it came time to pay, I had to give him the look again and I even had to mention Roscoe before he would put his wallet away. I had a wonderful day shopping; someday soon I'm going to have to get him that Mustang. Maybe a convertible, we would look so good in it.

............................................

I had an interesting weekend. Saturday night sucked, but it was still an interesting weekend. Maria went a little crazy and bought me a ton of clothes; I think it was because of the jewelry I got her for Christmas. She even bought me two pair of shoes, and they were four hundred dollars each! I didn't know loafers were back in style. When we got back from shopping I got a call from Kathy during which she profusely apologized for being such a terrible date the last time we went out and asked for another chance next Saturday night. She promised she wouldn't drink any alcohol if I would only give her another chance, so I agreed to try it again – a fresh start and I could certainly use all the practice I could get going out with beautiful women.

On Monday I met with my therapist again and this time she wanted to talk with me about my father. "Don, you told me how all through your father's long sickness you were constantly by his side, starting when you were ten. He gave you advice and instructions on how to care for and protect your childhood family as well as your own family when you eventually got married. You even took notes at the time, which you have shown me. I know you loved your father dearly, but being with him for all those months must have been very traumatic for you. Also, when people are sick and are aware that they are running out of time, they tend to speak a lot more forcefully when trying to communicate words of wisdom and advice. Ten year old children are very impressionable, especially in a situation like that. Don, you are a very good person and a superior care giver." How come I could sense a "but" coming. "But, your behavior, which your father ingrained in you under extreme circumstances, encourages people to take you for granted and take advantage of you. That they take advantage of you is not your fault, it is theirs. But, it is also just a sad part of human nature that most people will behave that way regardless of whose fault it is." Wow, that was a double "But"! "I am not telling you to immediately change your behavior, because that would be something not only difficult to do, it might even be dangerous to your mental health for you to do so too soon. What I do want you to do, however, is to try to be aware of your behavior around others, and just take note of how others react to your own actions. If you have any very close friends you might want to talk with them about this, and perhaps they could try to alert you to the actions you take that encourage others to take you for granted."

She didn't really tell me anything that I hadn't already suspected, but I liked being a nice guy, so if the rest of the world didn't understand, well screw'em! We spent the rest of the session discussing my behavior and why people tended to take advantage of me.

While dancing with Maria on Wednesday night, I decide to broach the subject that my therapist had mentioned. Megan and Robin had already gone back upstairs, and we were dancing again to "Moon River." Maria seemed to like that tune as much as I did.

"Maria?"

"Yes, Don?"

"Last Monday I was talking with my therapist and she mentioned that I had an unfortunate behavior pattern that encouraged people to take advantage of me. She suggested that I might want to discuss this problem with some very close friends. I know we have only known each other a short time, but do you think that we qualify as close enough friends?"

Maria's arms tightened about me and she pulled me in close; her arms seemed to be trembling a little. "Don, for my part, I know that I consider you to be my very, very, very close and dear friend. If you want to share anything with me, I would be overjoyed to listen."

That seemed to be a yes, so I told her everything that my therapist and I had talked about.

"Don, what you've told me concerning your father's death certainly explains a lot of your behavior. As for alerting you to things that you do, which encourages long time associates to take advantage of you, Don, that is going to be difficult, but I'll try my best. Not only I, but all of our friends, too, have been aware of this facet of your personality since shortly after we met you. We've tried to resist taking advantage of your generosity, yet we catch ourselves still doing it! It just seems to be something pervasive in your behavior, a sort of kindness and a quiet competency along with the knowledge that you will always get the job done, no matter what. The only solution we have been able to find to our taking advantage of your kindness has been for us to attempt to treat you as kindly and generously as you treat us."

For the rest of that dance lesson we didn't so much dance as hold each other really close and shuffle across the floor. Maria had the CD player set up to repeat 'our song'. We finally stopped when Robin called us upstairs to watch movies; we were both a little embarrassed. Maria really is a good friend.

On Thursday I was able to get in a sparring session with my tenant, Phil. My schedule had been so busy lately that our sparring sessions had decreased from three times a week to once per week most of the time. I had to be very careful with my strength to not hit or grip him too hard; he had it all over me in technique and speed, but when I connected it was normally over pretty quickly. If he just weren't so good at dodging I would win a lot more often!

Saturday night was my big makeup date with Kathy. I made prime rib for dinner and THE CAKE for dessert, as per her request. Once again Maria and Kathy picked out the clothes they wanted me to wear. At least the new pants were a lot more comfortable this time and I didn't feel like I was getting a prostate examination with every step.

We went to two clubs and we drank nothing but soda water. The clubs Kathy took me to this time were much more sedate and you could talk without screaming, so I had a good time and was enjoying myself; she started to teach me how to dance to more modern music, too. 

After leaving the second club Kathy looked at me a little hesitantly and made a strange request. "Don, I've got a favor to ask. There is an underground party club that I've been dying to go to for a long time, and I'd like you to take me there tonight. I know where it's supposed to be this month. It is rather notorious, but would you please take me to it? It will be only for one quick drink, but I really want to see what it's like."

"Kathy, I don't like the idea of taking you to some illegal operation. I've heard too many stories. Call me a wimp and a scaredy-cat if you like, but a good way of avoiding trouble is to stay away from places like that."

"Please, Don; I've got friends that have been there and I just want to see it."

"Kathy....."

"Please, Don, Pleeeease; I really want to see it once, just so I can at least say I've been there." She started giving me puppy dog eyes. Kathy is a person who I never would have thought would give anyone puppy dog eyes. Against my better judgment I agreed to take her, but I had a major bad feeling about it, as I had heard about some of the things that go on in those clubs. 

"Okay, but you have to promise to stay close to me."

"I promise, I promise," and she skipped along like a little girl.

The place we went to was an old warehouse, and the parking lot was jammed full. We had to pay a forty dollar cover charge at the door! When we came in I was shocked. The music was deafeningly loud and the crowd was totally out of control. There were at least three raised platforms with cages. Within the cages were completely naked women. Two of the women that I could see were dancing, but the other one was sitting on a chair and screwing herself with a dildo. I bent down to Kathy's ear, "They must pay a lot of money for the strippers."

"No, I heard that they're all customers; they just volunteer when they get here. I guess they're exhibitionists and this is how they get off." It takes all kinds I guess. At the bottom of each platform were some really big guys, one per platform. I imagined that was to give the ladies some extra protection, which made me feel a little better about the place, but I was still scared for Kathy. Some of the legal clubs we had already gone to had me feeling terribly uncomfortable, this place completely raised my hackles, my Spider Sense (trademark Marvel Comics) was tingling and I was afraid of spiders! I really wanted Kathy out of this wild, noisy, illegal club and back to someplace safe, but I've always been overprotective of my friends and loved ones.

Kathy and I worked our way through the crowd and we got a couple of soda waters. She got separated from me for just a moment by three college age guys. They closely surrounded her and it almost seemed like a practiced move, which gave me a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I started moving in on them when they broke apart and vanished into the crowd. That incident put me on edge for the rest of the night and it reminded me of the time years ago when three assholes tried to snatch Barbara.

We drank our soda waters and danced to a couple of numbers when we decided we had seen enough and it was time to go.

"Don, I'm not feeling very well, I'm feeling kind of funny and I'm a bit dizzy. I'm going to the ladies room and I'll be right back." I followed her to the ladies room door, located in a narrow hallway in the back of the building, and I tried to wait for her right there. Opposite the ladies room door was the entrance to the men's room. The hallway between the two doors continued on for a short distance and ended at an exit door. A bouncer stood in front of the exit door. There were so many people, especially ladies to whom I'm always polite, trying to get to the rest rooms that I got pushed out of the way and forced back almost twenty feet, but I still kept my eyes glued to that door.

When Kathy came out, she had her hand to her head and was moving unsteadily. Suddenly the men's room door opened and those three college punks from earlier came out, grabbed Kathy and hustled her out the back door right past the bouncer. He didn't do a damn thing to stop them, he even moved out of their way so they could get by!

I started moving as soon as they grabbed her. The bouncer tried to stop me.

"Buddy, you can't use the back door, you have to go......" I didn't bother slowing down to argue with him, he had to be in on it judging by the way that he had let them grab Kathy and leave. I was moving fast and hard and I think he managed to hit me once before I grabbed his face and rammed the back of his skull into the wall as hard as I could and then I was out the door.

I ended up in a dead end alley. The alley was dark, but there was a light over the door giving me enough illumination to see that there were a lot of large steel trash dumpsters and one parked car. Two of the assholes were loading Kathy, who was weakly struggling against them, into the rear seat of the car while the third was getting into the driver's seat. The alley was L shaped with the car parked in the very short lower arm of the L. I wouldn't be able to stop a car, but the dumpsters could. There was one near me and I quickly hit the brake release on the wheels on my side. Then I pushed it as hard as I could to block the car in. I knew it wouldn't be enough by itself, but the driver seemed reluctant to damage his car at first, so he stayed put. As quickly as I could I pushed the other three dumpsters over by the first one, thoroughly blocking the car in. Now they were trapped and the dumpsters were positioned in such a way that if the car pushed against them the dumpsters would in turn be rammed up against the concrete block walls of the alley and jammed in place.

I pulled out my cell phone and called 911. I reported the kidnapping, gave our location, the license number of the car, my name, Kathy's name and the number of kidnappers. The police told me to hang on and they'd be right there. I told them there was no time because it was happening right now! I left my cell phone connected to them and set it down close to the wall of the alley next to a hand-sized piece of a concrete block. I picked up the piece of block and ran for the trapped car. 

Even though he was trapped, the frightened driver began moving the car rapidly back and forth as soon as he saw me coming, making it unsafe for me to be alongside it. I waited for my opportunity and jumped onto the trunk of the car and from there I made my way quickly over the roof and onto the hood of the car where I could finally use my left hand to hang on to either the wipers or the lip of the hood. Using my right hand and the piece of block, I started to smash the windshield. I thought about smashing the driver's side window, which would have been faster, but it would have been a far more difficult and dangerous location from which to launch an attack on the driver while stuck on the hood of the car. I could hear Kathy weakly screaming from inside the vehicle. The car was jammed in so tightly, that it couldn't move more than about four feet forward and back, and only a little from side to side. 

Even so, there was no way that I could have safely stayed on the ground! The car was jerking back and forth, bashing into the dumpsters that were in turn bashing into the alley walls. It was a terrifying ride, made more so by the screeches and crashing noises made by the impacts with the dumpsters. The lurching car almost threw me off many times, but somehow I managed to stay on. I wasn't scared for myself, I was scared for Kathy. It was like she was in the belly of snarling, screaming beast that I had to rip open and pull her from. NOBODY FUCKS WITH MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS! Furiously, I continued to smash the windshield until I had hole in it. The three assholes inside were yelling in a complete panic. From their appearance in the club they hadn't looked like the sort to carry guns, and I was sure glad that I had guessed right. This had probably all been a game for them, as far as they were concerned, with no consideration for their victim's feelings. Now it was all too real for them with the apparent forces from hell about to descend upon them, namely me!

I wondered why they didn't just get out the car and maybe grab a tire iron to attack me. It wouldn't have worked, even if they had, because as soon as they would have stopped the car and gotten out, I would have played "Hulk smash puny humans!" I was much stronger than most average guys and there was no way that I would hold myself back like I do when sparring with Phil. Maybe they could sense that, or maybe they were unfamiliar with fighting and just plain afraid!

Punching through the hole as abruptly as I could, I smashed the driver in the face with my piece of concrete. He tried to dodge, but I got him good on the left side of his face and he screamed. With him temporarily stunned, the car stopped moving. I then quickly smashed the driver's side window and was surprised that it shattered really easily; are they meant to do that? During all this time Kathy was screaming and the other two assholes were yelling incoherently. I wasn't paying any attention to their words, though.

I slid off the hood of the car, reached in to hit the unlock button, and threw the driver's door open as hard as I could, hoping to rip it off its hinges. I've heard of people doing that before. I didn't quite succeed, but I didn't think that that door would ever close properly again. Reaching into the car, I pulled the keys out of the ignition and threw them away. The driver was huddled on the far side holding his bleeding face and moaning.

The remaining two assholes in the back seat with Kathy tried to play games with the rear door locks, attempting to delay me from getting at them. They were screaming and yelling things at me, but I had no time to listen. After a few seconds of me playing with the power unlock button on the driver's door (good thing I hadn't ripped it off), I timed it right and got the back door open. Kathy was sandwiched between the two jerks. I grabbed the one closest to me and threw him as hard as I could into the wall of alley where he hit with a thud and slid to the ground in a heap. The other creep was still hanging onto the partially unclothed Kathy, trying to use her as a shield. I reached past Kathy, grabbed him by the throat with one hand and started to pound his head against the door window until he released her. I then pulled Kathy from the car and carried her clear. She was sobbing hysterically. I figured when those three creeps boxed her in earlier in the club they must have dropped something into her drink. You hear about that happening all the time nowadays. Then they just waited for their chance. It probably didn't help their plans that Kathy hadn't had a drop of alcohol all evening.

Reaching the wall by my cell phone, I put my back to the wall and slid down, setting my butt in the muck of the alley. I cradled Kathy with my left arm while I used my right to pick up my cell phone. My hands were a bloody ruin, but they still seemed to be working.

I got back on the phone, described the current situation and asked for police and ambulances. Kathy was shuddering and sobbing the entire time, occasionally saying, "Thank you". I was shaking almost violently too, I had been so afraid for Kathy. The amount of blood leaking from my hands had me a bit concerned, too. I was worried that I would become weak from the blood loss and be unable to protect Kathy until the cops showed up. Maybe I should have tried to get to my car, but the whole area seemed so unsafe that I was afraid to try. Also, I wanted to keep an eye on this spot because I knew that those three rapists were still trapped in the back of the alley and I wanted them prosecuted and thrown in jail!




Sophia Pt. 04



The first police cars arrived within five minutes of my rescue of Kathy. Four policemen charged into the alley with guns drawn. I was too tired to say anything but "hello."

They wanted to question me separately from Kathy, but she refused to remove her arms from around my neck and screamed when they tried to force her. Her being the obvious victim made them treat her with kid gloves, and they backed off. It was a good thing they did, because I had been getting close to the point where I was going to do something completely stupid to make them stop.

I told my story and mentioned that the bouncer had to be an accomplice. That little tidbit interested them greatly. Then, before the ride to the hospital in the ambulance, they once again tried to separate us. I ended up riding in the ambulance, sitting on a gurney with Kathy on my lap. The attendants seemed to be very concerned about my heavily bleeding hands, but they still seemed to be working, so I called Freddie at her home. Thankfully, she answered; I told her part of the situation and asked her to come straight to the hospital to help Kathy; she was going to need all the support she could get after her near rape.

At the hospital Kathy still refused to let go of me and the nurses there were getting quite forceful with her until I told them in no uncertain terms to wait for Kathy's friend to arrive. I was surprised to see that it was Vanessa who was first through the door, followed five minutes later by Freddie.

They were then able to coax Kathy from my arms and Vanessa took her into hers. The nurses had already drawn blood from Kathy to determine what she had been drugged with, so they were then able to work on my hands. They even ended up giving me an IV. I took thirty-seven stitches in my right hand and eighteen in my left to close the mess of, thankfully, mostly shallow cuts; in addition both my hands were pretty swollen and bruised because I had indirectly used them like hammers. While they were working on me, my cell phone rang. It was Maria, and Freddie answered the call. Freddie had been staying with me while Vanessa stayed with Kathy. Freddie seemed to talk for a long time before she finally held the phone to my ear and I briefly said hello. I was really beat and kind of out of it by then, so I asked Freddie to take the phone back.

........................

Where were they? It was almost four-thirty in the morning and they still weren't home yet! Finally I had had enough and I decided to call Don's cell phone.

"Hello, hello, Don are you there?"

"Hi, Maria it's me, Freddie, I've got Don's cell phone."

"What are you doing with Don's cell phone? Are he and Kathy okay? What's going on?"

"They are both okay now, but they had a big scare. Don didn't call you because you're taking care of Megan and Robin and there was no way for you to come to the hospital without worrying them."

"The hospital?!!"

"Some assholes drugged and tried to kidnap Kathy, probably to rape her. Luckily Don was on the ball and put a stop to it. They took Kathy to the hospital to check her out because of the drugs. Don hurt his hands a bit and he needed some stitches. With luck we should have everyone home in an hour to an hour and a half. Here, I'll let you talk to Don."

"Hi, Maria, sorry to worry you, how are you and my babies?"

"Don, we're fine, but what about you?"

"I'm okay, just really tired. Freddie, can you talk to her for me?"

"I'm sorry, Maria, Don is really wiped out. They gave him some pain killers and I think they're making him sleepy. Don originally called me to come to the hospital and help Kathy because she was so upset. I called Vanessa and she met me at the hospital. We would have called you earlier, but we've been really busy here, I'm sorry."

"Okay, I understand, but please get back as soon as possible. I don't want Megan and Robin to worry."

I WAS FURIOUS! DON AND KATHY WERE HURT AND HE DIDN'T CALL ME! I didn't know if I wanted to cry or kill him. After calming myself down with some deep breathing, I could sort of understand him not calling me because he was fearful that Megan and Robin might hear something, but it still hurt! Didn't that big dope know how I felt?

I spent a very anxious hour waiting for them, and I kept looking out the apartment window every minute or so for what felt like forever. Finally I saw both Vanessa's and Freddie's cars pull up. Vanessa hurried over to Freddie's car and helped Don out of the back seat. Why did he need help if it was just a couple of stitches? Freddie tried to help Kathy out, but Kathy ran to Don's other side and started helping him too. Don seemed to be walking all right, but what was going on? Time to get up close and personal, I ran outside to greet them in my bathrobe.

"Don, Kathy, are you two all right?"

Kathy answered, "I'm okay but Don's hands are really hurt and he's a little bit dizzy from the drugs, blood loss and lack of sleep."

Blood loss??!!! Drugs??!!!

Don rebuked Kathy, "I'm fine, I tell you, I just need a little sleep."

I decided to wait on the third degree until I got them inside and at least got Don into bed.

We managed to get Don inside and into bed, but because of his hands he had a hard time removing his pants. Since I had been kept in the dark, I made damn sure that I took care of that little chore. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow and we quietly left the room. I wanted to furiously turn on my friends and demand an explanation, but I knew better than to do that so I shut my mouth, gritting my teeth.

I made everyone sit at the dining room table. 

"Before we start talking about tonight, Kathy, do you feel up to talking about it now?"

"I think it would be better if I got it out now. I don't think I can sleep at all and I know you're probably dying to know about Don."

"Okay, but first, would anyone care for maybe some tea and THE CAKE before we start talking?" I know it was stupid to worry about food at a time like this but I needed something to do for a just minute while I got myself under control and maybe a snack would help everyone else to relax too, especially Kathy.

I got three affirmatives so I set us all up with the snack before I sat down. There was a lot of chatter at the table that I kept one ear tuned to while preparing the snack, but it was such a disjointed conversation that I couldn't quite follow it. 

"Could you please start from the beginning, Kathy? Some of what you're saying doesn't make any sense."

"Okay, after the second club we went to, I realized that we were close to this month's location of an underground club that I've always wanted to go to. Some of my friends at school have been to it, and I've been more than a little intrigued. Here I was with my reputation as an all-knowing bad girl and I'd never been to it. Well, I wheedled Don into taking me, cause he was really reluctant to go. Neither of us had had anything but soda water tonight and I promised Don that it would only be for a short visit."

"We got our drinks from the bar when I was suddenly surrounded by three well dressed, skinny college-age punks. They jostled and distracted me, and we figure that that was probably when they doped my drink. They were obviously pretty experienced at it too, because they were able to cut in between Don and me, drug my drink and vanish into the crowd before either of us realized what was going on."

"Don and I danced to two or three songs when we decided we had had enough and it was time to go. I was feeling dizzy by then and felt like I might throw up, so I went to the ladies room first. I wish I would have thrown up; it might have gotten some of that damn drug out of my system. I got scared while I was in the bathroom because of how I was feeling and came out looking for Don. It was so crowded in the hallway that I guess Don was pushed back a bit by people trying to get to the rest rooms. When I stepped out, those three shitheads grabbed me and hustled me out the back door. The bouncer standing there didn't do shit and must have been in on it. They dragged me outside and stuffed me into the back seat of a car and two of them got in with me. They were so anxious to rape me that they had already started to take off my clothes. I think Don first showed up when they were pushing me into the car."

"Suddenly one of the dumpsters was moved, blocking us in. The two in the back seat with me screamed at the driver to 'get us out of here', but the driver yelled back that he 'couldn't smash up his mom's car.'" 

Vanessa, Freddie and I exchanged looks at that revelation. What a bunch of pathetic, juvenile, shit-for-brains would-be rapists!

"Someone outside pushed more dumpsters and blocked us in really tight. I know now that was Don. Suddenly the whole car shook as Don jumped on the trunk, went over the roof and was suddenly on the hood. With his bare fist, he started to pound on the windshield, breaking it! The punks inside the car, were screaming in panic. They were yelling things like 'what are we going to do', 'we're sorry, we're sorry', and 'we'll let her go'. And I was yelling for Don to save me."

"Don was roaring that he was going to kill them, threatening them with tearing off their balls and ripping out their throats if they hurt me, even as he was continuously pounding on the windshield. I could see blood on the windshield from Don's hands." 

"I felt like I was in a horror movie, but the monster was trying to break into the car to save me. Suddenly Don made a whole in the windshield and hit the driver on the side of his face. Blood sprayed into the back seat and that's when those assholes went completely insane with panic. I'm sure that they thought that Don was going to kill them. It got pretty rank back there; I think they shit and pissed themselves."

"Don smashed the window on the driver's side and ripped the door off. Then he got the back door open and did the same to it."

"The two punks with me were trying to get away but they couldn't open the passenger door on the side away from Don because the car was too close to the alley wall. Don grabbed the fucker closest to him and just threw him away, like you would toss a bag of garbage into a dumpster. Then he reached in with his bloody hands and grabbed the other guy and started to slam his head against the passenger door window. It was pretty damn terrifying and Don looked like an angry wild beast, ready to tear his prey to shreds. He even scared me at that point!" 

When the shithead holding me let go, Don gently pulled me from the car and his whole demeanor changed. He was trying to soothe and comfort me. I know now that Don suspected I had been drugged because of my earlier behavior, but, even though I was drugged, it was only affecting my physical abilities and not my mind. Mentally I was quite alert. Maybe the drug they gave me works better with alcohol in the victim's system, or maybe I didn't get enough of it, who knows?"

"He took me away from the car and carried me a ways before we sat down and he called the police. They showed up really quickly. Don was holding me in his lap and I was so scared and shook up that there was no way I was going to let him go, and Don was shaking himself, probably from an adrenaline reaction."

"The cops and the paramedics tried to separate us, but I wouldn't let go until Vanessa and Freddie showed up at the hospital. I feel bad about that; if I had let go sooner they could have started working on Don's hands right away and he wouldn't have lost so much blood."

Freddie, Vanessa and I were all stunned by Kathy's story and we all turned as one to look at Don's bedroom only to wonder just what was it that was sleeping in there. I recalled a description of Barbara's rescue when Don was still a teenager from the investigation we had had done on Don. What kind of man was I interested in? I knew he was a hero, but still, someone who can do that is a little frightening. They were stupid thoughts and unworthy of Don, but I was still having them. That was when Kathy said something that instantly cleared up my thinking and straightened me right out.

"Maria, you don't have to worry about me, I would never poach. But I am now firmly in the 'Official Don Fan Club'. He is more than enough of a 'bad boy' for me. If you change your mind about him or things don't work out between the two of you, I want my shot at him!"

Vanessa spoke up at that point and immediately made her objections and interest clearly known to us all. I felt like I had just had an icy bucket of cold water thrown in my face. Get real, Maria! So Don has the ability to become a raging barbarian, he is YOUR raging barbarian, and he only does it to protect people. So the thought of Don pounding on a windshield with his bare hands until they became bloody and ripping off car doors was terrifying, he would have almost certainly done the same thing for YOU!  How come that last thought made me suddenly aroused, made my breath grow short and I even got a little wet?

Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Freddie had her face in her hands, shaking it from side to side, and was laughing a bit crazily. Freddie was the first of my friends to express a sexual or even romantic interest in Don, but she seemed to be the only one now who was even partially immune to his charms. The mighty Professor Kathy, queen of the one night stands and brief flings, had fallen. If Don suddenly appeared in full barbarian mode and roared "I WANT SEX!" Freddie might be the only one not to respond; of course I would have to do something to eliminate my rivals in such a situation. Damn, I had left my new big stick at my home in the mountains! I had better introduce my friends to Roscoe!

The situation got a little worse when Kathy detonated another land mine.

"Maria, I've got a big favor to ask. Can I sleep in Don's bed tonight?"

We all just stared at her open mouthed. I began to shake my head no, but she resumed speaking again in a rush.

"Don is dead tired, and I just mean sleep. Right now I don't think I could get to sleep without Don nearby. I'm sorry, but that's just how I feel, and I have it all figured out. You'll sleep with us too, you'll be in the middle and we'll both sleep on top of the top sheet on the bed. I just really need him nearby for one night, and Vanessa just doesn't make me feel as safe as Don does, plus I'm really concerned about his hands. Just give me one night to let me calm down please, please, pleeeease?" Then Kathy did it, she used her big weapon - something she hardly ever uses, and for that reason it is all the more effective - her infamous puppy dog eyes. I wondered if that was how she talked Don into going to an illegal club? 

In the end I agreed to it, but for my own selfish reasons. I wanted to sleep next to Don, and I wasn't sure if I was chaperoning Kathy or she was chaperoning me! Vanessa and Freddie also spent the night, but they slept in my girls' room since the girls were sleeping in mine.

................................................

Robin woke up in bed surprised to find that it was only Megan with her and that Maria had already gone. She let Megan sleep and went to brush her teeth; they felt especially scummy this morning, yuck. The apartment seemed way too quiet for nine AM; Daddy never sleeps this late. Still in her pajamas, she went out to the kitchen and checked there. Nobody and no signs of breakfast, just some dirty cake dishes and coffee cups in the sink. What's going on?

Walking back in the direction of the bedrooms, she opened up her father's bedroom door a crack and peeked inside. He was sleeping in bed with both Maria and Kathy! What the heck is going on?!! She ran back to Maria's room to tell Megan.

While shaking her furiously, she shouted. "Megan, you've got to get up right now! Megan, get up, it's an emergency! Wake up Megan!"

"Okay I'm up, I'm up. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Daddy, Maria and Kathy are all sleeping together in the same bed!"

Suddenly Megan's eyes snapped open. "What did you say?"

"You heard me; they're all sleeping in the same bed. What are we going to do?"

Megan grabbed her new robe and ran out the bedroom door while Robin followed. Megan was thinking, if it were just Maria I would be cheering and trying to cover things up with my little sister. But it's both Maria and Kathy, and Robin found them first! Oh my god, has Daddy changed that much? I've got to see! Slowly she opened her father's door and at first just peeked; then she carefully looked at the situation.

Hmmm, they just seem to be sleeping. Maria and Kathy are both wearing pajamas and it even looks like they're sleeping on the top sheet while Daddy is underneath. It doesn't look like any funny business went on. What happened last night?

"Megan, what do you think?" whispered Robin.

"I'm not sure, let's let them sleep. I think we should get dressed." 

Robin followed Megan to their room only to find Vanessa and Freddie sleeping their beds! WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?!!

The two girls decided enough was enough. Megan went to wake Vanessa, with whom she had always gotten along best, and Robin went to wake Freddie, the one to whom she always felt closest after Maria.

The two women were startled to awaken in a strange bedroom, but they quickly remembered what was going on and composed themselves. Megan and Robin were demanding an explanation for what was happening.

Freddie interrupted them, "Be quiet, you two. Your father, Kathy and Maria had a very bad night. They need their sleep. You get dressed and we'll take you out to breakfast. Don't worry, we'll tell you everything that we know on the way in the car. Everything is fine now and everyone is safe, but they really need their sleep. So, let's get dressed quietly and we'll all sneak out, okay?"

Freddie was adamant in not explaining anything until they left, so the two girls hastened to get ready while Vanessa and Freddie took tooth brushes out of their purses and went to get cleaned up as best they could.

On the way to the restaurant, Vanessa explained the situation, which provoked several comments from Megan and Robin.

Megan exclaimed, "Kathy was drugged and kidnapped?!"

Robin shrieked out, "Daddy smashed a hole in a car windshield?!"

Vanessa explained again, "Yes, and that's something very hard to do with your bare hand! I would have expected your father to break his hand first before breaking a windshield. He then punched the driver through the hole in the windshield, ripped off the driver's door, ripped off the rear passenger door, grabbed one of the guys in back seat, picked him up and threw him away like a sack of garbage. Then he climbed in the back seat, beat up the other guy, who was holding Kathy, got her free and carried her away."

Megan then reverted to using the foul language that Maria had been so carefully trying to get her away from using, "HOOOLYYY SHIT!"

Robin at first just agreed with her sister by simply saying, "Yeah." Then she got a really silly grin on her face and started up mischievously, "I'm either going to buy him Superman or Batman pajamas, and I'll get Maria and Roscoe to make him wear them. I'll even get the kind with the attached feet too. He'll look so cute."

Megan grinned back at her little sister's coolly imaginative suggestion and they exchanged high fives. Wait until we tell our friends at school about THIS! Some of them had said some quite cruel things about their father after the divorce, like he was a big dummy and worse. This will shut their mouths. They're not going to make fun of a man that can tear doors off of cars!

.................................................

I woke up in the morning, or maybe it was early afternoon considering when we went to bed, only to find that I was sleeping on my side and I was snuggled up to Don with my left arm across his body, except, of course, the sheet was still separating us. I reveled in the closeness that I was experiencing with my breath softly playing across his face. Did I brush my teeth last night? Maybe my breath is a bit stinky? It would be terrible to find that my breath was so rancid that it could wake him up! He might never want to sleep with me again! Okay, he's staying asleep, I guess I'm safe. I then alternated my time between staring at his sleeping face and closing my eyes and luxuriating in just the physical closeness to him.