Saturday's Aren't All That Bad

So we set out to get married, and found out that unless you are going to go to a justice of the peace, marriages don't happen overnight.

We found a small chapel that we thought was just perfect, then spoke with the priest. He was really not happy with us getting married so soon after my divorce, but after explaining things to him, he finally agreed.

The fly in the ointment was that the little chapel did a tremendous business in weddings. The earliest we could get married was two months down the road, and I was not in the least happy about that. Kathy would not stay at my house, nor could I stay at hers. We would slip away for a night, coming home at 1:00 or so in the morning, so that the kids never saw us sleeping together.

With her classes and my business, we really didn't have that much free time to leave on a honeymoon.

Finally I just told her that we could take a honeymoon anytime we wanted, but I wanted to get married, and if we simply moved in together that night, I didn't care.

We finally agreed and set a date. It was going to be a small wedding, just us, the kids, my parents, her parents, and a few close friends. Of course Susan and her husband were invited. Erin and Caitlin were going to be bridesmaids, and Ian was going to be the ring bearer, although we both thought he might be a little old for that.

The week before the wedding, Gayle called after a couple of months without any contact, wanting to take Erin and Ian for the weekend with her parents. I told her that simply wouldn't work, but that she could take them the following weekend. Gayle demanded to know why, and I just told her that the kids had a prior commitment that could not be changed.

"What the hell is so god-damned important that they can't see their mother?"

"Well, their father is getting married, and they are part of the wedding party."

"I knew you and that whore would be getting it on, I just didn't think that you would involve the children in this travesty."

"Gayle, the whoring was done by you, not by me, and I am not continuing this conversation."

I hung up. Not surprisingly, Gayle never did call back about taking the kids for the following weekend.

The wedding was wonderful, and as we faced each other, and said our vows, I could see that Kathy's eyes were changing from hazel to green with her emotion. I didn't see a whole lot else for the next few minutes because the tears in my eyes were blurring everything else.

My mother stayed at the house with the kids, and we went up along the California coast staying in B&B's for the next few nights. When we came back, we simply moved our bags into the master bedroom.

The first night, we had dinner, and wine, and I just couldn't believe the radiance I was seeing from Kathy. She was looking like a dream to me, so happy and so much the woman I had wanted. It really came home to me that Kathy was the woman I had been looking for all my life. Gayle passed out of my life that night, forever.

Kathy wouldn't let me see her undress that night. She went into the bathroom, to change, and when she came out, she had on a white satin nightgown that made me think I had died and gone to heaven. Needless to say, the nightgown didn't stay on too long, but the effect stayed with me for the rest of my life.

The first morning we were back, we awoke early, and just cuddled, my head on her breast, as I told her how much I loved, wanted and needed her. We were fortunate that we had not started making love, which we had done every single morning since we were married. I don't think that it was even 6:30, when all three kids burst into the room, laughing and welcoming us back.

Caitlin crawled onto the bed, and demanded to know if she was supposed to call me Daddy now. Erin was doing the same thing to Kathy; only she wanted to know if she was supposed to call her Mommy.

We calmed the kids down, and told them that they needed to call us what they felt like they wanted to. Caitlin immediately said, you are my Daddy. Erin and Ian were a bit more reluctant, but then asked if Mommy Kathy was okay. After being reassured that Mommy Kathy was okay, everyone seemed to settle down, and breakfast seemed to be the next order of the day.

It was a wonderful breakfast, Kathy cooking, while I made orange juice, tea, and coffee. We were a family, and I could feel it.

Epilog

It is now twenty years later. Erin and Caitlin are both psychologists. Ian is engaged to a wonderful woman, and is just finishing his PhD in English (I would like to think that Kathy had something to do with that.)

Kathy has become Mom, not Mommy Kathy, and Gayle has become Mom Gayle, or more frequently, just "My Other Mom."

Erin and Caitlin are both married, and are going to be mothers very shortly, girls, as Kathy tells me. They are both psychologists, and very interested in child psychology, practicing together, and as best we can tell, doing wonderfully.

I got to walk both girls down the aisle as their father, and can't tell you how pleased I was. I did have a wee bit of a talk with their future husbands, and felt very comfortable with them.

I adopted Caitlin about a year after our marriage, and Kathy tried to adopt Erin and Ian at the same time. Gayle objected, so that adoption did not go through. The good part that came out that was Erin felt that her mother wanted her, at least to some point, and her mind was set at ease.

We are getting to our "Golden Years", but it doesn't matter. We still love each other, and at least I cannot imagine being with anyone else, and from the way Kathy acts, she feels the same way. We still take our vacations, and roam the B&B's of the California coast.

I occasionally say that I wish that we had found each other earlier, but then Kathy reminds me that we wouldn't have Erin and Ian to cherish if we had.

We are looking forward to our grandchildren, and to the relationships we will build with them. But the best thing I can say to them is for them to look at Kathy's and my relationship, and use that as a basis for growing on.

You couldn't do better.