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.