She came in wondering what was going on so I explained then I showed the photos of her stepfather with his two black eyes, band-aid on his forehead, and his arm in a cast, bandages wrapped tightly around his torso—a sure sign of bruised or broken ribs. She took one look and joined me in laughter. “This was you, wasn’t it? Some friends or contacts you have?”
“I cannot tell a lie, but I do plead the fifth—a person does not have to testify if his answer might incriminate him.”
She leaned down to kiss me then whispered, “Thanks.” Then she kissed me again. I scrolled down the screen to read the text again—“What a complete fucktard this asshole is. He thinks he is still a hot shit, trying to boss everyone around. He has pissed off all the prisoners who have met him and more than half the guards. He’ll be lucky to live out his sentence. Doubt he will. Thanks for the upgrade. It’s working great. A friend” After deleting the message I went to join my beautiful wife on the deck.
Jennie and I spent the next three weeks having fun—going to Bird Island on the southern end of Sunset Beach in the boat with Lady, or playing golf, or going to the beach. The only other thing we did was prepare for our visitors. There were no direct flights to either Myrtle Beach or to Wilmington, North Carolina, roughly fifty miles north of us so I phoned Executive Jet to make the arrangements once I had checked with Toni for dates and times. I insisted that the attendant be a woman to make the girls more comfortable.
Take-off was scheduled for 9:00 Saturday morning so Toni and Charlie had their daughters at the Newark Airport General Aviation terminal at 8:20, giving them plenty of time to meet the captain and crew and double-check the arrangements before departure. Two hours later they were safely in Myrtle Beach, riding in Jennie’s SUV with Lady seated between them and they were talking nonstop. I grinned toward Jennie, but she was into the conversation as much as the girls.
They ran into the house and up the stairs to the bonus room closely followed by Lady. She jumped and capered, playfully nipping at their feet, as they put their clothes into the dresser and closet. I couldn’t help but laugh. This was going to be some visit!
I grilled hot dogs for lunch and then we took them to Bird Island in the boat. We liked Bird Island for several reasons. First, we could take Lady, even in the summer. She loved the beach and often scampered in the waves with us. Dogs were restricted from the town beach between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Also, Bird Island was on the Little River Inlet so we had a choice of the waves in the ocean or the calm water where we and others parked our boats. Bird Island had ceased to be an actual island decades ago when the narrow inlet between it and Sunset Beach had silted in. Still, it was more than a mile from the nearest road so it was virtually deserted even on the busiest weekend. The only practical way to get here was by boat. We’d brought the Blasi’s here on their first visit and they loved it as much as we did.
Lady raced back and forth when I pulled her Frisbee from the beach bag. The many holes from her teeth showed clearly how much she enjoyed playing with it. I reminded Andrea and Allison about the heat and Lady’s need to rest and drink then sent them off to the ocean side which was completely deserted while Jennie and I set up our umbrella and beach chairs.
Jennie was five months into her pregnancy so her baby bump was obvious. She’d bought a new swimsuit, telling me how much she hated seeing women’s bare abdomens when obviously pregnant. “Some things should be private, don’t you think?”
I’d never given the idea much thought, but I could understand her reasoning. Some things should be private.
The girls and Lady returned after about a half hour. They hadn’t been in the ocean—not yet—because our rule was not to swim unless one of the adults was present. I’d read and heard of many idiotic things done by people at the beach. One of my roommates at Harvard had worked as a lifeguard at a state park near my home. I cringed at the stories he’d told me—how parents endangered their own children through things they’d never consider doing at home.
We sat under the umbrella enjoying a Coke from the cooler and some fresh sliced veggies with a cup of ranch dressing. We dug in, eating and laughing until we’d had our fill. We went for a swim, staying fairly close to the shore. There was a lot of boat traffic farther out in the channel, some of it involving fairly big ships, so there was danger in swimming out too far.
We all jumped into the water at the same time—all of us, except Lady. Dogs can swim, but they tire quickly. The dog paddle is a very inefficient stroke, using a lot of energy to go nowhere. Jennie had read of several dogs drowning at one of the local beaches. I always forced Lady to “stay” under the umbrella. Yes, dogs can get sunburned, too. We picked up our mess around four for the twenty minute trip home. I had the boat on the hydraulic lift, washing it carefully while Jennie and the girls carried the umbrella, chairs, and beach bag up to the house. I followed a few minutes later, carrying the cooler. We were ready to go out for dinner by 5:15, driving into Calabash for pizza.
We were back about ninety minutes later and I fed Lady, noticing how quiet things were in the living room. “Everything okay in here,” I asked.
“Jennie, could we ask you something? It’s kind of personal.”
“Okay, Andrea; go ahead.”
“Mom told us that you ran away from home.”
“That’s right; did she tell you why?” Andrea shook her head “no.” “You’re so lucky to have wonderful loving parents. You should thank God for them every day. I had a wonderful father, but he died in an industrial accident when I was ten. My mother remarried almost two years later. She wasn’t married even a month when my stepfather—the county sheriff—made his first nighttime trip to my bedroom.
I screamed the entire time he raped me, but my mother ignored me. I screamed every time he did it—two to three times a week—for the next five years. I hated that man—I still do. I hated him so much that I ran away when I had the chance. Anything was better than having to lie under his fat sweaty body almost every other day. I knew that I’d have to have sex with some of the men who picked me up, but most of them were nice decent people who just wanted to help me.
“I had sex with lots of other men, but I’ve only made love with Doug. Do you understand the difference?”
“I think so,” Allison said. “Dumb animals can have sex, but they don’t make love.”
“That’s true,” Jennie told them. “For me—I would lie down and allow men to use my body, but I was somewhere else. I never had an orgasm and I didn’t want one. With Doug I’m always an active participant because I love him. I want it to be good for him just as he wants it to be good for me. Are you guys ready for Monday at the doctor?”
“Oh yeah, Jennie—we’re looking forward to it,” Andrea replied eagerly. Jennie had realized that she had an appointment for a sonogram scheduled for the week they would visit. She presented three options to Toni: cancel the appointment; take them, but leave them in the waiting room; or take them in to experience the test with us. I wasn’t surprised when Charlie and Toni said they’d accept whatever we wanted to do, but thought that seeing a real sonogram would be an excellent and interesting learning experience for their daughters. Jennie and I agreed. Monday would be the day—a big day for all of us.
Sunday morning Jennie and I drove them to church and then to brunch at a nice restaurant in Myrtle Beach. We spent the afternoon at Farmstead hitting balls and practicing our putting. Andrea did quite well, especially considering that they didn’t have their own clubs and hadn’t practiced since their last visit. Allison, however, smoked the ball. “Gee Allison,” her sister commented, “watching you makes me wonder if Daddy is really your father.” Allison howled in laughter then she went to the putting green and smoked everything under eight feet. Jennie and I must have given her a dozen high fives and even more knuckle bumps.
Everyone seemed more than a bit nervous at breakfast the following morning. We were in my car before any of us had even spoken. It was Allison who broke the ice. “I bet you’re hoping for a boy, Doug.”
After laughing, Jennie replied for me. “You’d lose that bet, Allison. Doug wants a girl.”
“That’s right,” I joined in. “Girls tend to stay close to their families even after getting married although Jennie is an obvious exception. Boys don’t generally have much choice because their wives have made it for them…just like almost every other decision.”
Jennie laughed and the girls joined her. Then Jennie ended the conversation with, “And don’t you forget it!”
“Yes, boss!” Jennie giggled then leaned across the console to kiss my cheek. Thirty
minutes later we were in Dr. Cullen’s office, sitting nervously until we were called then I thought the nurse would have a cow. I guess she’d never had such a crowd follow her into the exam room.
Jennie was handed a gown and pointed toward the restroom. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she told the nurse. “Why would I want to hide a body like this?” She took off her top and bra and pulled the gown over her arms. I tied a bow behind her neck, but left the other undone as Jennie removed her shorts and lay on the exam table.
She was there about fifteen minutes when Dr. Cullen entered with a smile. “I heard this was going to be a theatrical production.” I introduced Andrea and Allison and Dr. Cullen told them where they should stand in order to get the best view. She rubbed some gel on Jennie’s abdomen and asked what we were hoping for.
“Doug wants a girl,” Allison blurted.
“How much do you girls know about sonograms?”
“We went online to Google when our mom told us about being here for Jennie’s test,” Andrea replied.
“Yeah, we must have read six or seven articles about it,” Allison added.
“And I bet we looked at four or five videos,” Andrea added. I just laughed; Jennie smiled. We loved their enthusiasm.
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