Are You My Husband? Pt. 03

Damn.

Scott said, "Talking about feeling humbled. Ramon, I'll be forever indebted to you for your help with Stennis. I know we've been too busy to focus on the legal details of the new company, but this talk is a good reminder that we need to get that done. Let's plan to set some time aside, here, maybe next weekend, preferably with a few drinks, to work out the details of that."

Ramon nodded. The women just beamed, including Beverly. Her son was working with good people.

__________________

Once home and in bed, Scott said "I have an idea about the business, and I want to run it by you."

They discussed it and developed a proposal to run by Wade and Beverly. If they agreed, they'd put it in front of Ramon the next weekend.

The next day, Saturday, the women all went shopping again, with the kids. Beverly and Dina joined them and invited Emilia. She couldn't make it that morning but said she'd love to go the next time.

Kathleen was distracted all day. Janie called her on it and Kathleen said, "Oh. I've been thinking about Mom. I'll tell you about it later."

The next night in bed, Kathleen said, "I'm ready to talk some more about if I should have another baby.

That had Scott and Janie's full attention.

"Friday totally recast how I view Mother's illness. There is an entire group of people that are ready to celebrate my mother's eclectic paintings, which were primarily driven by her illness. I should have been proud of her talent, not embarrassed by her illness. It bothers me that I cannot tell her this now that she's gone, but I can celebrate her through the exhibit at the museum.

"I've been thinking about this for most of the last two days. I'm proud of her. I wish she had shared more of her work and for whom she was commissioning pieces with us. I'm the reason she didn't, but I would like to think that if she had, maybe I would have eventually changed my opinion of her illness. Maybe not. Maybe I'm saying that to make me feel better about myself, But...

"But, I will do things differently with our children. I do good work for our company, and I'm proud of that. If I have a few hallucinations along the way, that's just life and an illness that I live with. We'll show our kids what their grandmother did, and how I inherited some of that gift. I'm not going to let whatever I have stop me from living my life. I have the most wonderful sister ever because she gave me half of her husband. But here's the amazing thing. I've never felt like I've only had half of him. He's such a loving man that I've always felt like I've had all of him, even though I know that he loves you, too. And in addition to him, my sister loves me in ways that are hard for me to comprehend.

"So, that's a long way of me saying, I'd like for us to have more children. If we can have two more, that's great. If we feel that we should have another after that, then we'll have another because we believe it is the right thing. My illness has nothing to do with this.

"Just to be clear, I'm not having a child to help my illness. I want us to have more children because they are little gifts from God that will grow our family. We aren't lacking for love in this house, so no matter how many more we have, I know we're going to have the most fantastic family. Ever."

"I stopped taking my birth control pills this morning. I want to get pregnant, but I don't feel the pressure I did last time. I enjoy making love with both of you, so let's just take it naturally and when we get pregnant, that will be great. This time, daily, or bi-daily, injections aren't needed. They are enjoyable, but not needed. Am I making sense?"

Janie and Scott were both thrilled to hear that from Kathleen. It was the most reasonable response yet to her illness and focusing on her wonderful full life instead of the few-minutes-per-month illness was what they had both wanted.

Janie said, "That makes perfect sense. I think you are going to find life much less scary by focusing on your blessings instead of your misfortunes."

Kathleen replied, "That was how I felt from the time I became pregnant with Franklin until the trial. It was an especially good time; the happiest that I've ever been. I'm going to feel like that again by not worrying about what I cannot control."

Scott asked, "Shall we celebrate with a little loving?"

Kathleen and Janie both laughed.

Kathleen said, "Come here, husband of mine. I'd love some good loving from you."

_______________

Kathleen called Connie on Monday giving their enthusiastic support to the Museum's exhibition of Amanda's work. She, Janie, and Scott would pull the saved paintings from storage and arrange a date for Aimee and Connie to come to look at them. They would also reach out to the friends they know through the church to see if any of them had paintings their mother did that could be reviewed for consideration in the exhibition.

The following weekend at Wade and Beverly's house, after working a full day, Scott, Janie, and Kathleen laid out their idea for ownership of the new, larger company.

Basically, Scott and his wives' share would be reduced to 50% combined. Once the old and new debt was paid off, plus with Janie's job, they would be fine financially. Ramon's stake would increase to 20%, double his previous position and in what was now a much, much larger enterprise. Scott's parents would have 20% of the company. Gabe and Dina would each have 5% to start, but each year the company would buy out 1% of Wade and Beverly's share and transfer a portion of it to Ramon, Dina, and Gabe until Ramon had 25% and Dina and Gabe had 12.5% each.

The non-Parkers were stunned at the generosity.

Emilia asked, "Scott, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but are you sure? The other day I wanted Ramon to speak up, but this is more than I was expecting."

"Oh, I don't know. None of us are going to earn any more than we previously did for the next two to four years while we pay off all of those loans. However, the three of us talked about it, and what we really want is for all of us to be fine, not just the three of us. Having something that we can pass down to our children was important, too. If they aren't interested, then we can just sell it in thirty years and retire. I don't believe that it's going to make any of us rich, but we should all be comfortable, and that's just fine by us."

Kathleen said, "We are making one other small change, though. We're moving the apostrophe in the business' name from Winter and Son's to say Winter and Sons'. We thought Daddy would like that. We know that Mom would."

Ramon couldn't suppress the grin that eventually escaped from his mouth at that revelation, which meant as much to him as the money. Even Emilia, who before today WAS worried about the money, recognized the importance of that change.

Dina was equally amazed. She planned to beat into Gabe that he needed to let his sister's company manage the money for him and not spend it all on cars or eating out. She was already imagining the prenup he would need. For herself? She couldn't believe it.

It was a great family dinner with a lot of long hugs that evening when everyone said their goodbyes. Beverly and Wade were exactly where they wanted to be -- near Scott, his family, and all their grandchildren. They loved having Ramon's family with them, too.

In the SUV on the way back to the Parkers' house, Dina asked, "You guys, I didn't want to say anything in front of everyone else, but are you sure? That's very generous of all of you. You told me that you're planning to have more mouths to clothe and feed. I don't want to take away from them."

Janie laughed, "Dina, who's going to be the one that is helping to put on those clothes or cooking the meals to feed them? You are."

Kathleen said, "Dina, I know I've heard Scott say this before, 'our house and business run because of you.' So, you should be rewarded for that, too. You help us, and we help you. Besides, you're family. It's hard for me to imagine how you could be any closer to us."

Janie said, "Oh, I could think of a way, but she doesn't need even more children to look after than the ones you are already planning, Sister."

That lightened the mood, and the three women cackled over that visualization.

Scott rolled his eyes over that statement. He knew Janie was teasing, but really wished she wouldn't pretend she was going to lend him out for stud services. Honestly, as much fun as he suspected being with Dina might be, he was more than satisfied having two women in his life. He imagined himself having to mainline Viagra just to keep up with three sexually demanding women, much less pleasing any of them.

Dina said, "That nurse at the hospital would freak out if I showed up pregnant with Scott's baby. She would probably be tempted to try him on, just to see what all the fuss was about."

Scott spoke up, "Ha. Ha. Don't even suggest that. Three is my limit."

That shut them up. Each of them wondered if he was considering what Janie had suggested. No, he wasn't.

"See. I got your attention." He said, "Life is perfect right now. Let's not upset the apple cart."

That night in the bedroom, he laid claim to Kathleen and Janie and told them, "No more. The two of you are more than enough. Janie, you can say you were joking, but I know you. You'd lend me out to Dina from time to time if you could talk me into it. I love her, but I only want the two of you in my bed. Are we clear?"

"Yes. We're clear. You are only making love to women whose maiden name was Winter."

"No. I'm only making love with the two of you, just in case you find some other woman with the last name Winter."

Kathleen told him, "Come here, lover. I'm not pregnant, yet. You've got work to do."

She quickly rolled him onto his back and mounted him, while Janie climbed onto his face. They must have done that over a hundred times, and he never got tired of it.

____________________

The next day when pulling all of Amanda's old paintings from storage, there were several bittersweet moments because they missed Amanda so much. There was one surprise in the group that they thought Connie and Aimee would be pleased to see.

It was the Parkers' turn to invite them to their house where they had all the paintings in Amanda's old painting room. The natural light coming in the windows would be a good setting to display the paintings.

After serving some refreshments the group got down to the business of reviewing the paintings. Of course, Janie and Kathleen's favorites were already hanging in the house, including the painting of the two women in their peafowl dresses. Aimee and Connie were very excited to see those and what else Amanda had painted over the years.

Except for a few portraits that she did, each painting was clearly an Amanda Winter painting. Ramon had brought his two paintings, and they really liked the 'Family' painting because it was so different from all of her other works.

Aimee had taken pictures of each painting to review with the museum director, but she would have the most say in which paintings were to be displayed. With her mother having known Amanda so well, the two of them would review the selection together.

As they were wrapping up, Scott disappeared and pulled one last one that they had hidden in Kathleen's closet.

Kathleen said, "We saved the one we thought you would like the most for last."

Connie and Aimee's jaws dropped when they saw an oil on canvas portrait of Aimee from her pre-teens. She looked fresh and happy, with a smile that perfectly matched her face and the glasses she wore at the time.

"Aimee, when I met you a couple of weeks ago, I thought you looked familiar. I believe that was because I saw this portrait a few years ago when we were moving these to storage," commented Janie.

Kathleen told them, "We've talked about this, and if you would like it, it's yours."

"Really?" exclaimed Aimee. "It could be worth some money should you want to sell it. Because of how well placed some of her paintings are, I wouldn't be surprised if some of her best pieces sold for tens of thousands of dollars, which isn't bad for someone that most Georgians have never heard of before."

They had never thought of that, but it didn't matter.

Kathleen continued, "No. We may sell some, but what the two of you have done for me is immeasurable. Before seeing the collected work, I had always focused on my mother's illness and not her wonderful life and work. The two of you really opened my eyes the other day.

"My mother's 'visions' were much longer and more debilitating than mine, but I don't remember her ever fearing them. Even so, I lived in fear of my relatively short 'visions' and oriented my life around that fear. Seeing some of her more important works as a collection helped to reorient me towards seeing her accomplishments, not her illness. I want to do the same thing.

"I also have a wonderful life. I want to live in it and enjoy it, not live in fear of what may or may not happen sometime in the future. The two of you helped me to see that. This painting is yours."

Connie asked, "Aimee, you never sat for her, did you? This is purely from her memory."

"No. Unless she took a picture of me that I wasn't aware of it would have to be from memory. I was her student for several years. Janie, you were probably only five or six when I was there. Kathleen was only a toddler."

Scott said, "It's interesting that she had difficulty remembering some things in her last years, but she remembered faces, like yours, well enough to paint them. She must have cared for you."

That brought out a smile from Aimee. "I enjoyed taking lessons from her. She encouraged me to take risks. I never was any good, but I learned a lot. Thank you. This brings back good memories that I have of your mother.

"As far as the exhibition, they are already developing the promotional material for it and should announce a date for it within the week. We expect the exhibition to open in about six months, and they'll probably keep it open for about three months."

Janie said, "We're really excited about it. Please keep us informed of how it's going."

"Oh, we will, especially since I suspect some of those currently hanging in your home will be requested. I hope you can live without them for around four months."

Kathleen chuckled, "We'll manage. Maybe we'll hang some of those that aren't selected."

Connie replied, "There you go. Maybe not all of them are amazing, but they are all beautiful. If I had all of those, I'd rotate most of them, but then again I'm a little biased."

They all smiled at that comment. The Parkers were very thankful for Connie.

_____________

While trying to get pregnant they did have some very surprising and good news.

As part of their sentences, the officials that were part of the bribery scheme were forced to pay off the work that was performed by Stennis. It amounted to several hundred thousand dollars in payments to Stennis Supply & Greenhouse, which was now owned by Winter and Sons'.

It was a huge windfall and after paying everyone a small bonus from that payout, they paid off a big chunk of the loans that they owed, relieving everyone.

______________

By the time of the exhibition, it had become a big deal, and not just for the Parkers and their family. Aimee invested a lot of her time in ensuring that the event did well. There was plenty of publicity in the Atlanta and broader Georgia area enticing people to come and see what one of their own was inspired to do.

The opening night was a black-tie affair. The Parker women, including Dina and Emilia, shopped in person and online, together, to find gowns for the night. They had a fabulous time doing that.

They ensured their husbands rented nice tuxedos for the event.

When Janie and Kathleen entered the exhibition area at the museum, all eyes turned to them, not just because they were beautiful and the guests of honor, but because they were wearing identical gowns that featured a peafowl theme, including short trains that had plumage trailing behind them. They almost matched Amanda's painting of the two of them in their peafowl appearance and that was their intent. They received very nice applause from the guests that were already there, especially from Connie's entire family, including her eleven grandchildren who were all adults and in attendance.

Janie and Kathleen insisted, and Emilia found a peacock vest for Ramon since he was one of Amanda's 'children.' He was extremely touched by their inclusion, and with his 'Family' painting being part of the exhibition.

Plenty of pictures were taken of the Parker and Jackson clans, including one of Janie and Kathleen in front of the peafowl picture for the Living section in the newspaper.

While pictures were being taken of them, Judge Reynolds approached Scott to chat.

Seeing her approach, Scott said, "Your honor. It's nice to see you outside of your courtroom."

She smiled and replied, "Well, outside of the courtroom, it's Gillian, please. Speaking of courtrooms...the grapevine, meaning my mother, has passed along to me that Kathleen is pregnant again. Congratulations."

"Thank you. I think. She's about three months along, which also means that she hasn't had a vision in three months, which has been reassuring, but this time that isn't why she got pregnant, which is a good change."

"I'm really glad to hear that."

"Thanks, you'll be pleased to know that her OBGYN is a master at artificial insemination, and we have the document to prove it."

She laughed, "Yes. A paper trail was wise on your part, but I'd bet my salary that based on the date of your visit to the doctor, the next little Parker will be born several weeks early."

Scott smiled, "You're probably right, but we're doing the best we can."

"I know you are. My whole family knows that you are, though Mother has told me that Kathleen has really blossomed over the last few months. She's come a long way since she was brought home from Nashville. Kudos to you."

He replied, "You see, that's the funny thing. It wasn't really me. Janie's the real hero of this story. She loves her sister unconditionally. She was the one that really orchestrated most of everything. I just benefited."

Gillian chuckled, "I'll say. Most men would kill to be you."

"And they should, but not for the reasons they would imagine. Sure, Janie and Kathleen are beautiful, but Kathleen has turned into such a sweet and devoted mother and person. What she gives of herself to her family and friends is amazing. Even if she were not beautiful, any man would be lucky for her to be living under their roof."

"Nice phrasing, and I believe you. Be glad of your situation Scott. Janie could have been asking you to bring home an evil step-sister."

"For several months that was what it seemed like, because she had made some really bad choices when she was younger, and it took her a while to overcome them. I think the real Kathleen Winter has finally emerged."

"Don't you mean Kathleen Parker?"

"Outside of the house it's Kathleen Winter. We're all good with that."

"Smart."

Nervously Scott said, "I'm not sure exactly how to say this, so forgive me if it comes out wrong. Thank you for your help during the trial. Kathleen was terribly distraught over the charges and her involvement. At the time she thought all of our troubles were her fault. I was worried about how that would affect her long term."

"Well, let's just say that I wanted to ensure you an impartial environment where the facts could be heard. While I think you and I both know the truth, the DA's case was incredibly weak, and in hindsight, it was obvious that Stennis intended to use him, the sheriff, and the indicted judge to railroad you and your business. It was important to ensure that justice prevailed."