Kenny Ch. 10-11

Chapter 10

There was a seat for Mallory on the plane, but it was used for the bag of clothes they had bought for her. Mallory spent the whole flight on either Ken's lap or on Marta's. The little blonde had adopted "annie Matta" with whole hearted love.

The night before Mallory had slept on daddy's chest and when he had to leave the room for any reason she whimpered like a little puppy. Ken was almost as bad, whenever Mallory was not in his lap he was looking at her, making sure she was alright.

The limo that met them at the airport had two child car seats in it. No one wanted to wait for them to get to the lodge and instead they had all met them at the disembarkation point. Mallory was hugged and praised for being such a little beauty. She soaked it up as her proper due.

Ken also came for his share of attention. Selena, Marcia, and Consuela all hugged and kissed him with ever increasing levels of intimacy. By the time Connie stepped back Ken was hard as a rock and blushing furiously.

"Remember that Friday night," Connie whispered as she stepped back.

On the ride home the conversation concentrated on what changes to make to accommodate Mallory. The biggest one was going to be moving Ken into one of the bigger cabins. Mallory was big enough that she didn't need a crib, but a child's bed with a barrier would be needed.

The subject of the conversation in the meantime had made friends with Stefan. The two were sitting in the car seats touching hands and jabbering away.

Ken was in a quandary. The talk in the air with Marta had left his mind with all the to-do associated with Mallory. Now he was forced to confront the issue. Every time he looked at Connie she would lick her lips and smile. This interaction did not go unnoticed by the older ladies in the car; Marcia had all she could do to keep from laughing out loud at the cornered animal look in Ken's eyes.

Her laughter disappeared when the limo pulled into the drive at the lodge and there was a strange car parked in front of the house. When the limo stopped the doors on the Caddy CTS opened and the Neilson brothers got out.

Walter wasted no time and as soon as Marcia exited the limo he was right there lifting her hand to kiss. Wilbur did the same thing to Marta. Both women were a bit flustered at the attention.

Ken and Selena pulled the kids out of the restraints of the child seats. Ken grabbed the bag from the trunk of the limo, "I'm going to put Mal's stuff in the cabin ladies and we'll be back after I change her clothes." Ken turned and headed toward cabin 6.

"Hold up Ken, not that one." Marcia yelled, and then she pointed to the first of the larger cabins, #7. "We moved your stuff over there while you were gone. I think you'll find a few more surprises as well to welcome Mallory to her new home."

Ken smiled and threw the strap of the bag over his shoulder. He then took his daughter's hand and slowly led her over to their new home.

The larger cabins had a better floor plan for a family. In the small cabins it was like a motel room. The bathroom was in the far corner with only a shower stall, sink, and toilet. Next to the bathroom was an efficiency kitchen with an under counter fridge, a sink, and a two burner stove top. The rest of the room was a bed with a small table, two chairs, a recliner, and there was a TV hanging from the wall.

The larger cabins had a full bath with shower in the tub, and a separate bedroom. The rest of the cabin was kitchen and living room combination. It had a full sized refrigerator and a stove with an oven. In cabin 7 Ken saw that the couch normally along the front wall had been replaced with a pink covered brass day-bed.

Mallory loved her bed and bounced up and down on it several times while daddy was removing his arm from the sling and getting a clean outfit out of the bag. Ken's arm was still painful to use, but a two year old girl was not going to be cleaned and changed with one arm.

When they got back to the house everyone was seated out by the pool and Selena was serving chips and salsa. There was a carpeted and fenced play area for Stefan with several toys in it. Mallory joined Stefan in it and the two sat and jabbered at each other as they played.

"Thank you ladies for the work you did. The bed is great and should last her for years."

Wilbur stood up then from his seat beside Marta, "I'm glad to see you back safe and sound and with your lovely little girl. There have been a few developments since you have been gone. The DA for the Seaside court wanted to charge you with assault with a deadly weapon for throwing that IV stand at Jerry Fenault. He said that you used excessive force and had no reason to attack the man. You knew that the police were on the way and you should have waited for them to handle it."

Marcia jumped up at this, "That fucking idiot. If Ken had waited for the police it would have been a hostage situation and we know how well the fucking moron police handle those. There would probably have been two or three people killed then. Ken saved us all and there is no way we are going to let him be punished for it."

Walter stood up and took Marcia in his arms, "Take it easy babe, we already shut him down. You saw the headlines in the San Jose Mercury News, right?" When she nodded he continued, "Well the DA hadn't, and when we showed it to him he about shit a brick. I told him that he would be crucified for trying to punish a hero. All he had seen was the glory of prosecuting someone he saw as a brutal barbarian. As soon as he saw how Ken was treated by the press he changed his tune. There will be nothing filed against Ken by the Seaside DA."

"What was in the paper?" asked Marta.

Connie ran into the house and brought out three copies of the San Jose Sunday paper.

"TWICE A HERO Young man from Carmel saves people twice in one night. Hurt while saving his girlfriend from a rapist, Ken Jacobs then saved the crowd in the waiting room of the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula from gun wielding thieves with his damaged left arm held at his side."

The story went on to describe the action at the hospital in some detail. When Ken read about the scalpel in his arm he knew that Barb had been talking to someone. As far as he could tell everything was factual, but he would much rather that it had not appeared in the paper.

Wilbur spoke up then, "I understand that the story has been picked up by the national media and pretty soon everyone in the country will know your name Ken."

"Wonderful. At least I am the only one highlighted. They call Connie my girlfriend; but luckily for her she is not named. I can't see anything good coming from this."

"Don't be so sure son," Walter said. "The judge in Boise will be apprised of this and that is bound to make your case for full custody of Mallory better." Walter then sat back down next to Marcia and took her hand in his.

"The TV station in San Jose has been in touch with us and would like an interview with every one of you. I told them that a family emergency had taken some of you out of town, but they will call back soon and you need to know what you want us to tell them."

"I am not comfortable with the idea of doing a TV interview. I didn't do anything special, just what had to be done. Anyone else placed in that position would have done the same thing." Ken said.

"I beg to differ son," Wilbur said. "There is no one else I know that would have done what you did. As your lawyer Walter was allowed to sit in with the interviews done at the hospital. The nurse you helped was especially convincing. She said that with both assailants you had reacted and taken care of the situation before she had even realized her danger. That girl has some hero worship going for you right now. Don't denigrate yourself Ken, you are a hero. I think we can set up something where you don't have to be seen, but I think you should do the interview. If you don't they are going to speculate and blow everything out of proportion and make it much worse. Right now the only pics they have of you are a very bad driver's license photo and a blurry shot of you being led into the police station for your interrogation. I think an interview is your only chance to get it all to die down."

"If you say so Wilbur, but I don't like it."

The discussion was made to retire for a while. Stefan was crying. Mallory had a toy he wanted and was beating on him with it. Normal two year old play as neither child was used to sharing yet. Selena excused herself and said that dinner would be ready shortly and the Neilson brothers were invited to dine with the family.

For the past couple of months Connie had been feeding Stefan in her cabin, not wanting to interact with Ken and the sisters. Now suddenly there were two highchairs at the dining room table and everyone was treated to toddler antics with food. Selena had given them a gourmet assortment of finger foods and the game was on.

The conversation at dinner was spirited. Ken and Marta were asked of their impressions of Boise and the brothers courted the sisters subtly throughout the meal. Ken was kept off balance by being seated next to Connie, and her hand sliding on his thigh felt like lava on ice.

After dinner it was time to put the children to bed. Ken was sitting in his recliner watching the glory of his daughter sleeping when there was a light knock at his door. He opened it to see Marcia.

"Marcia, this is a surprise, what can I do for you?"

"May I come in Ken?"

"Oh, sure, please do."

Marcia came in and gave Ken a hug.

"Uh...ma'am, I thought that we had kind of ended that part of our relationship?"

"We have dear, although I have to admit that I will miss it, but I'm not here for that Ken; I'm here to begin teaching you to dance. You are going out Friday night with two beautiful women and you told me long ago that you had never been dancing. Marta and I are going to give you a chance to learn how before you make a fool of yourself."

"Oh thank you Marcia. I was worried about that. What about Mallory?"

"She's okay, tonight I'll just hum a melody to you to keep you in time. Tomorrow night I'll stay here with her and Marta will work with you at the main house. Now let's move some of this furniture out of the way and let the lessons begin.

An hour later, the two were moving together smoothly while Marcia hummed "Blue Velvet" with her head on Ken's hard chest.

"If you didn't have the child as a chaperone Ken I would be sorely temped to seduce you right now. I feel so safe and warm in your arms I could die. In my heart and head I know that you were right to end our relationship, but in my loins I am not so sure. It's a good thing Walter left or I would probably attack him when I leave here. Know that you will always have a place in my heart Ken."

"I miss it as well Marcia; there always seemed to be something new to learn about you and I truly enjoyed making you happy. You know that holding your soft body like this is very exciting. I do love you and Marta; I just need something more."

"Enough regrets dear; that is enough for tonight."

Marcia left and Ken had to take care of his problem the old fashioned way; by hand.

In the morning Ken was trying to slow his daughter down enough to get cleaned up and dressed when his door was rattled again.

"Well hello Connie. What can I do for you?"

"Breakfast is ready Ken, and have you given any thought to what you are going to do with Mallory during the day?"

"No, I hadn't thought about that at all. What am I going to do with her Connie?"

"You can leave her with me and momma Ken. We have to watch Stefan anyway, and she will be no bother. You will be able to see her at any time as you work around the lodge."

"Oh, that sounds great Connie. How much will I owe you for that?"

"Ken! I am insulted, you two are family and we don't charge family for help. You can just continue to help us when you can as you have done all along. You didn't ask for us to pay you for fixing our car, and we won't ask for pay for watching your sweetheart. What you can do is follow me into town today. I have to take my car in to get the window fixed; Marta's insurance is going to take care of it and then sue Drake's family for the cost."

"I can do that Connie, and I thank you for what you are doing for us."

The day went pretty smoothly for being the first day of his being a full time daddy. He couldn't seem to spend more than an hour working without looking in on Mallory. Selena and Consuela had long ago worked out a way for both of them to get their work done in such a way that one of them was always with the baby. Adding another child was not that big of a deal.

Ken didn't mind following Connie into town either. Last month he had traded his old Toyota for a much nicer car. A dealer down near Monterey had a black '97 Oldsmobile Bravada (a midsize Chevy Blazer with the Olds badge) that he was having trouble with. The engine kept cutting out and wouldn't get up to speed. Ken was able to trade the ugly but fine running Toyota and 300 bucks for it. When the problem turned out to be a badly tuned engine that clogged the catalytic converter, he was up about three grand in value. The dealer said that his body shop could make the Toyota look as good as it ran and he would make out okay on the deal. The best deal is one where everyone is happy.

Consuela had not ridden in the upscale SUV yet and besides, Ken needed to buy a car seat for Mallory.

That night Marcia sat with Mallory while Marta continued Ken's dancing lessons.

The sisters switched places again Wednesday night and on Thursday Selena was drawn in to teach Ken some salsa.

Friday night finally arrived and a very nervous Ken kissed Mallory good night and helped Connie into his car. He had been surprised earlier to find a sport jacket, shirt, pants, and shoes waiting for him on his bed.

"Well Connie, do you know where we are going? I am sorry to say that I have never been in a club and don't even know where any of them are."

"Don't worry Ken; I have our itinerary all planned for us. Our first stop is to pick up Barbara. Her apartment building is just a few blocks from our first club of the night."

"We are going to more than one club? Why?"

"Because each club plays different music Ken. It is much more fun to dance in a variety of styles and in different crowds. Some places will have live bands as well and those are always fun to watch."

"How do you know where Barb lives Connie? I was going to ignore her since I didn't know how to get in touch with her. She makes me a little uncomfortable too."

"Of course she does Ken. I'm not surprised that you didn't get many dates if you always plan ahead like this." At Ken's hurt look Connie took pity, "I'm sorry Ken, I know that this was not your idea. I talked to Barb after the police took you away and we planned this out on the phone this week. You have been too busy to do much planning, so we did it for you. I promise, the next time we go out, you get to be in charge."

"We'll see Connie, but you were right. I have no idea what to do on a date, hell; I married Belinda without ever taking her out."

When they picked up Barb, she was wearing a sleek deep blue sheath dress that complemented Connie's dark red dress. Both women had their hair up and looked fabulous.

The evening was a lot of fun, and had a couple of surprises in store for Ken. At one club he was tapped on the shoulder, "May I cut in please?"

Ken turned and saw Walter Neilson with Marcia.

"Well of course you may Walter, after all, that means that I get to dance with your lovely partner. Enjoy your self sir; I'm sure that I will."

Walter laughed and took Connie into his arms as Ken did the same with Marcia.

The next surprise in order was at the last club they visited that night.

The girls had both gone to the restroom when Ken heard a voice behind him ask, "Are you Ken Jacobs?"

When Ken turned he saw a young man about his own age. "Yes I am, may I help you?"

"Hi Ken, you may not remember me, but my name is Bill Kemp. We had a few classes together our senior year. I'm sorry to disturb you, but Donny Drake was my cousin." Ken mentally prepared to defend himself. He was looking for a weapon of some sort when Bill spoke again. "I want to apologize to you on behalf of the whole family. We knew that Donny was going to get into trouble, but we were unable to stop him. Are the ladies with you the ones he assaulted?"

"Yes, yes they are." Ken was thoroughly taken aback, the last thing he had expected was an apology.

"When they get back I would like to convey my regrets to them if I may."

"Sure, sure. Here they come now, the one in red is Consuela, and the lady in blue is Barbara."

"Wow, you are one lucky guy to be out with two such beautiful girls."

"Yeah, well it was kind of their idea, not mine."

Barb gave Ken a steaming hot kiss when he dropped her off later. Connie did the same at her door. She opened the door and Ken followed her in to collect Mallory from Selena.

"Thank you for watching her for me Selena. Was she any trouble?"

"Not at all Ken. Did you have a good time tonight?"

"Yes I did Selena, a lot more than I expected to."

Walking back to his cabin Ken noticed that there were no lights on in the main house. Either the sisters had gotten home earlier and were already in bed, or they weren't home yet. Since Marta at least would normally have been up for another hour or so, the second option was the most likely.

Saturday morning Ken was feeding Mallory oatmeal for breakfast when his cell went off.

"Hello?"

"Kenneth Jacobs! What the holy fuck is going on out there, and why do I have to find out about it when Gladys Swenson shoves a copy of USA Today in my face?"

*

Chapter 11

"Oh, hi mom."

"Don't you 'hi mom' me young man. When were you going to tell me about this? You called me last week and didn't say a goddamn thing about any of this."

"I was going to have to tell you before the TV interview I guess. I didn't want to worry you mom. I was in no danger and I didn't do anything special."

"What the fuck do you mean you were in no danger? They had guns Kenny, and the story said that you had a girlfriend. What about that?"

"Oh mom, one of the guns was loaded with blanks, and the reporter was exaggerating about the girlfriend. Connie works at the lodge here with me, she is a friend, but not a girlfriend mom."

Just then Mallory made her presence known by crying out for more food. When she was being fed you delayed in the feeding at the peril of your hearing. She required your total attention until she was full, not a little bit here and there, your total attention and nothing less.

"Ken, what was that, do you have a damn child there?"

"Yes mom, I went to Boise and..." Suddenly Ken realized that he had never told his mother about Mallory. He had meant to when she was born, but he was so uncertain about Belinda that the time had never seemed right. She didn't even know about the divorce or exactly why he had gotten married.

"Uhh mom, it's kind of a long story, but Marta and I went to Boise last week after all of the hassle and picked up my daughter from Belinda."

"Your daughter? I'm a fuckin' grandmother? And why was Belinda in Boise? What happened to her? What in hell else haven't you been telling me Ken?"

"Well..."

"Wait damn a minute; the paper said that you were injured. How the shit are you taking care of a baby when you are injured?"

"It's just my left arm mom; and everyone here at the lodge helps out."

"Never effin' mind; you make plans to pick me up. I'm coming out there and see my granddaughter. I should have come out long ago and met Belinda. I'm not waiting for you to visit any longer. I'm coming out on the first goddamn plane I can get on."