Homeless – CHAPTER 18

Adult story: Homeless – CHAPTER 18

by senorlongo

I took a few photos of Jennie and Andrea, emailing them to Toni and Mom almost immediately. Mom called and told me she had reservations to Myrtle Beach tomorrow morning, arriving around one. Then she hit me with something out of the blue. “Would it be all right it Paul came down in a few days? He’ll have a reservation for one of the hotels just in case your father—I always cringed when she called that bastard ‘your father’—has him followed.”

I explained that we had invited our friends and that they had two teenage daughters. I ended the conversation by telling her I’d call her back tonight. I explained to Jennie when she woke from her nap. She’d told me that between feeding Andrea and the hard hospital bed she’d barely slept a wink. “I think I just missed you,” she said with a wan smile. My smile in return told her the same.

We phoned Toni and the girls around five. They said they would come on the 26th if that was okay and that Charlie would be able to join us on the 30th. Christmas and New Year’s Day were on Friday this year so the girls didn’t have to be back in school until January 4th, the following Monday. Jennie explained my Mom’s situation and told her that we wouldn’t have her “friend” visit if she or the girls would feel uncomfortable. “Don’t be silly, Doug—they may go to Catholic school, but they’re hardly nuns. Actually, it might be good for them to realize that people older than their parents enjoy sex.”

“Are there any people older than their parents?” We shared a laugh before I gave the phone back to Jennie. After walking into my office I phoned my mother about arrangements for Paul to join us. I had just ended the call when Lady rushed into the room. She turned and, making sure I was following, led me to the bedroom where Andrea was just waking up. How? How did she know that?

Jennie and I talked about that over dinner. The only thing I could think of was that Lady could detect some tiny change in Andrea’s breathing. We’d never know for sure, but Lady always seemed to know when Andrea was waking up. During the day she’d run to either me or Jennie. At night she pushed her nose under my arm and she was never wrong.

I met Mom in the airport as planned. She was almost as excited as I was. I was her only child and she’d long ago given up any hopes of ever having even a single grandchild to spoil. She had been completely surprised to learn that I’d gotten married.
Paul was coming in tomorrow and had a reservation at one of the oceanfront hotels in Myrtle Beach. I agreed to drive to the hotel that evening when he took a cab to one of the local restaurants. I would follow to ensure that he wasn’t being followed by either my father or some private investigator. If he wasn’t I’d pick him up at the restaurant’s parking lot and we’d return together to my home.

Mom was thrilled to hold Andrea and even to change her. She helped Jennie bathe Andrea in the kitchen sink. Andrea was safely and snugly in her bassinette with Lady on guard when Mom told us how her divorce was going. “He acts as though he was the innocent party even though I have depositions from four of his former students stating that he coerced them into sex with him. He has also been treated for STD’s twice while I’ve always tested clean. Those are county health records. I used them to track down his lovers.

My attorney says that he can subpoena them if necessary. It’s not going as easily as I had hoped. That’s why I want to be careful with Paul. There’s no indication that he knows about us yet, but he’s totally irrational. We had one meeting with our lawyers and his had to restrain him. I won’t meet with him again and I’ll continue to refuse counseling. Incidentally, I’ll be getting another deposition from his current squeeze who described sex with him as ‘sleeping with a grunting pig.’” Jennie howled with laughter then caught herself. “Don’t worry. You’ll learn soon enough that she’ll sleep through a hurricane. That’s what babies do.” We said good night and headed off to bed.

Jennie and I were lying in bed, naked as usual when she whispered to me. “I miss making love with you. That’s the only part of having a baby that I don’t like. I can’t wait for these stitches to come out and for Dr. Cullen to give her okay. I always feel so…complete…fulfilled with you inside me.”

“I always feel so horny when I’m not. It’s clear we were meant for each other. You make me feel like I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

“That’s because you are, silly.” She leaned over to give me a kiss then settled in for…well, not the night, that’s for sure…for as long as Andrea would permit.

We were up an hour later, warned once again by Lady who seemed to enjoy her new job. I changed Andrea while Jennie prepared herself, pushing the pillows against the headboard and getting a cloth diaper for her shoulder—for when she burped our daughter. Back in bed twenty minutes later, I congratulated Jennie on becoming a pro. “Me? All I did was sit there while she suckled. I think you did all the work…Dad!”
She snuggled up against me and I pulled the blanket up to our chins.

All told, we were up three times that night so a nap was in order the following afternoon. I left at 5:30 for the drive to Myrtle Beach. Paul had a reservation at the Landmark and I saw him exit at exactly 6:12 with his suitcase. He was easy to identify because everyone else with a suitcase was going in the opposite direction—either checking in or going to their rooms.

I watched carefully as he entered the taxi, lying back because I knew where he was going—watching to see if anyone would follow. Myrtle Beach is usually pretty dead at this time of year. Even the snowbirds stay home for the holidays. There was no traffic even though I waited until they were almost a mile up the road before I put the car in gear. The cab pulled into the lot at Margaritas, an authentic Mexican restaurant. I picked it because the restaurant and the parking lot were small and I could get in from the back entrance, behind a jewelry store, but I doubted a private detective or my idiot father would know that.

Paul stood outside, calmly looking around as if waiting for someone to join him. I let him stand for about ten minutes before calling his cell. “I’m here…over on your left behind the jeweler. I’ll pick you up in another minute. You can put your suitcase in the trunk. I’ll have the passenger side door open for you.” I started the car and turned on the lights. Ten seconds later I pulled in front of the restaurant, the trunk already up. Paul was ready for me. I left and was back on the highway in less than ten seconds.

Mom ran out to the garage as soon as I pulled in. She hugged Paul then said, “Come meet my granddaughter. She’s beautiful, just like her mother.” Sounded just like my mom—bragging about everyone except me. There were a lot of reasons why I left Long Island. The weather, cheaper housing and living (like I had to worry), getting away from my father, and maintaining a comfortable distance from my mother; I was sure that she loved me, but she was never too expressive of her love. I’d learned not to take it to heart a long, long time ago.

Lady greeted me once I was in the house and she was followed closely by Jennie. Mom was right about one thing. Andrea was beautiful, just like her mother. Jennie’s beauty went far beyond her physical being. She was mostly a beautiful person.

We’d had no way of knowing what would happen tonight, so neither Jennie nor my mom had cooked and now it was kind of dark to grill so I suggested getting take-out pizza. Paul offered to come with me, but I thought it safer if he stayed here where we knew he wouldn’t be seen. We still had no idea if dear old Dad knew about him and Mom or if he knew about Paul’s trip near to where I lived. I had a listed phone so it would be child’s play to find me. Then again neither Jennie nor I were hiding. We no longer had any reason to.

I’d taken an online subscription to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and I’d been rewarded with several articles on the former sheriff. The first told about how he was injured in a fight in the shower. I already knew about that. The second described another attack in the prison yard that had resulted in injuries so severe that he had been restricted to a wheelchair. There was conjecture as to whether he would ever be able to walk again. His attorney had appealed to the court to have his sentence reduced, but Judge Pepper steadfastly refused. I made a note to contribute to his reelection campaign. We needed more judges like him.

We had a wonderful visit with Paul. Jennie and I both liked him. Most of all we liked the way he treated my mother. “I don’t often run into your father, Doug. He’s in the school of science and I’m in humanities, but I have seen him often in the Faculty Senate. He has quite the reputation as a blowhard. We can always count on him to monopolize the meeting. He’ll go on and on until the president has had enough then he sits down and pouts for the rest of the meeting. He thinks he’s been discreet in his relationships with his students, but there have been rumors going around for years—almost as long as I’ve been trying to get Eleanor to divorce him.”

“You know, Mom—I’ll testify for you, if necessary. I have first-hand knowledge I can share. I’ll bet having his only child testify will drive him crazy.”

“I don’t want you to get involved, Doug.”

“Mom, I’ve been involved for the past twenty years. I’ll only be bringing my annoyance to an end. I’ll still hate him, though it could be worse. He could be Jennie’s step-father who repeatedly raped her when she was a child.”

About a week before Christmas Mom asked why we hadn’t decorated for Christmas. I was ashamed to admit that I hadn’t done anything last year when I was alone. We put some formula into a few baby bottles and Jennie and I took our first time off as parents to do some shopping, knowing that Andrea was in good hands with her grandmother.