Colleen Ch. 03

The next morning was Sunday and we actually made it to church with five minutes to spare.

Following her birthday, Colleen began spending a lot of time talking with Sharon and Mi Lin. At first I didn't pay any attention to it but when I saw the phone bill and the long distance charges were almost ten times higher that they were the month before, I knew something was up. When I asked her about it, she just gave me one of her half smiles and was very evasive saying, "Oh you know, some times I just feel like talking to my sister-in-law."

Two months after her birthday I was woken up by Colleen getting out of bed. With one eye barely open I glanced over at the window to see that the sun was just beginning to come up. Colleen went into the bathroom and I heard the now all too familiar sounds. I lay on my back staring up at the ceiling waiting for her to come back to bed. She came in and sat on the edge of the bed and I reached out to place my hand on the small of her back.

After a moments' pause Colleen scooted back then twisted around and cuddled against me, her head on my chest and my arms around her. Her head was just below my chin so I bent my neck slightly and kissed her on the top of her head. Her lips were against my chest and I could feel her begin to smile. After several moments I whispered.

"Pregnant?"

"Yep." She whispered back.

I continued slowly stroking her back and then whispered again, "Ok, I'll take the girls to school this morning."

"Thanks," she replied.

After several minutes Colleen spoke.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't take the girls to school today."

"Why not?"

"Today is Saturday and they'll be the only ones there and the cafeteria will be closed and the entire world will know about it after they write their Mommy and Daddy Dearest books."

"Ok," I said as I kissed the top of her head again. "Do you want a test kit? I think we have one left over in the bathroom cabinet."

"No, there's no point. I'll call Dr. Chan on Monday for an appointment."

"Ok," another kiss on the top of her head. "Go back to sleep."

Colleen lay still for a second and then turned over onto her side, her back to me. She reached back and took hold of my wrist, pulling on my arm until I was lying spooned against her, my arms around her just below her breasts. In unison we quietly said to each other, "I love you," then we both faded off to sleep.

A couple of hours later we were up and had breakfast with the girls. Afterwards I was sitting on the couch in the livingroom with my cup of coffee reading the morning paper. The weather was nice so Molly took Noelle out to the backyard for a little while. Meghan was heading out to join them when she stopped and looked through the doorway into the kitchen. She walked over and hugged me then kissed me on the cheek. She put her finger against her lips in a signal for me to be quiet then took my hand and pulled me after her. When we were in the place where she had been standing before, she signaled again to stay quiet and pointed into the kitchen.

Colleen was standing in front of the kitchen cabinets pulling out the ingredients to make a batch of oatmeal cookies, a particular favorite in our household. She had her gentle half smile and was softly humming to herself. Meghan tugged on my arm until I bent over so she could whisper in my ear.

"Isn't mom beautiful? I think you make her happy."

That said, Meghan turned and went to join her sisters.

I looked back into the kitchen and watched Colleen. Meghan was right; her mother was beautiful, so beautiful it literally made my heart ache. I must have made a sound because Colleen turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Her smile got just a tiny bit bigger.

"What? Did you need something?"

"Yes…I do." I walked into kitchen and stood in front of her. "I need this," and kissed her. "You've been ignoring me and I haven't had a kiss in at least twenty minutes."

Colleen placed her hand against my chest and laughed as she gently pushed me away.

"Get out of here and let me get my work done."

When I turned around to go back to the livingroom, she reached out, pinched my butt and said with her half smile, "We'll take care of this later."

Once the cookies were in the oven, Colleen came into the livingroom and pulled the newspaper out of my hands. She turned sideways and sat in my lap with her arms around my neck and my arms around her waist. She gave me a little kiss on my ear lobe and said, "Hey, you know what? If this one is another girl, you'll be able coach your very own women's basketball team."

"Well, if she's can't pass the ball any better than Noelle, we'll never make the playoffs," I told her as I kissed along the side of her neck.

Actually the odds were pretty good that we would have another girl. Jimmy had two children – daughters. Mike had three children – daughters. Colleen and I had four children – again, daughters. Mom had nine grandkids, not one grandson. This didn't bother any of us except when it came time for dad to deal with the public restrooms. Why can't those kids ever go before we leave the house?

Monday morning I passed Miss Jennings' desk on my way into my office. She stuck out her arm and handed me my cup of coffee without looking up. It doesn't matter what time I arrive in the mornings, Miss Jennings is already at her desk and hands me my coffee as I pass by. I have tried varying my arrival time by as much as an hour either way…unannounced…I have even tried sneaking in the back door…and she is still there with hot coffee.

I sat at my desk and was studying my appointment calendar when Miss Jennings came in and dropped some papers into my in-basket. She was about to turn and leave when she looked at my face and did a double take. She placed both her hands on the edge of my desk and leaned over to take a closer look.

"Jesus, Robert, you just can't keep it in your pants, can you. Honestly, I don't know how Colleen puts up with you."

How in the hell does she do that?

I opened my mouth to speak but she held up her hands to stop me.

"I know...I know, I won't say anything but have you guys EVER talked about birth control?"

Then she turned and went back to her desk.

There was something different about Colleen being pregnant this time. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was, just different somehow. When Colleen was pregnant the first time with Noelle we were ecstatic with joy and anticipation. I was so excited I wanted to do back-flips all the time. The second pregnancy came as such a shock to us that we were both in a state of confusion for weeks after we found out. And now a third pregnancy…

Everything about it had a feeling of…I don't know, maybe predestination is the only word to describe it. It felt as though this is the way the universe wanted things to be. We had a sense of serenity, of contentment almost to the point of casualness about the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, I was excited and very, very happy, but there in the background was a voice saying, "Yes, but don't worry, this was meant to be."

Just like before we waited awhile before telling anyone about being pregnant. But by three months we couldn't put it off much longer and as always we started with the kids. We flipped a coin and Colleen won (or lost depending on your perspective) and got to tell Meghan and Molly. Noelle and Brigid's language comprehension skills were not advanced enough to understand just yet.

One evening after diner, Colleen brought out the lemon meringue pie again. She set the plates down in front of us and then sat down in her chair with Brigid in her arms. Meghan and Molly looked down, staring at the pie and then looked up at each other. Noelle watched this from her high chair, leaned over and stared at their pie just like her sisters then looked at their faces when they looked up. In unison all three kids turned and looked at me then Colleen with questions written all over their faces.

Colleen opened her mouth to speak when Meghan raised her hand just like she would in school. Colleen looked at her for a second and then said, "Yes Meghan?"

"Mom, are you pregnant again?"

Meghan, Molly and Noelle sat staring at Colleen, waiting for her answer. Colleen was caught off guard and had a startled expression on her face.

"Uh…yes, I am."

"OK"

Meghan and Molly looked at each other again then shrugged their shoulders and began to eat their pie in silence. After a few moments Molly looked up at me and quietly said, "Dad, it's OK if we have a brother this time."

Our kids will always amaze me.

Next was telling Mom and the twins. When I brought it up, Colleen got her slow, soft smile and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

The next day when Colleen was kissing me good-bye at the door in the morning she informed me that she was going to call mom and give her the news. Just before lunch Miss Jennings stuck her head in the door and said, "Your mother is on line 6."

I picked up the receiver but before I could say anything Mom spoke. "Robert, this is your Mother."

This was not a good sign.

Mom only calls me Robert when she is upset; and when she identified herself as my mother I knew the ship I was sailing was going down fast.

"What exactly do you and your brothers talk about when no one else is around?"

My brain was scrambling to make sense out of that question.

"Is something wrong Mom?"

"I didn't say anything was wrong, just that you and your brothers have a very strange sense of humor."

"Mom you're losing me here. What are you talking about?"

"Sharon and Mi Lin are here with me and I just got off the phone with Colleen. How long have you boys been planning this?"

"Planning what?"

"Making your wives pregnant on the same night?"

"WHAT?"

In the background I could hear Sharon and Mi Lin giggling.

"Mom, I don't know what you're talking about. Are you saying that Sharon and Mi Lin are pregnant?"

"Of course they are. Now which one of you boys first had this bright idea?"

"This is all news to me."

"Are you saying that you didn't plan this?"

"If this was planned I had nothing to do with it...and tell them to stop laughing so loud, I'm having trouble hearing you."

There was a moment of silence and then Mom said, "I have to call Colleen back."

I could hear hysterical guffaws in the background then a click followed by a dial tone. I sat paralyzed at my desk staring at the receiver in my hand.

When I got home after work that day, I found Megan and Molly on their hands and knees in the dining room chasing Noelle who was laughing and running around the chairs and under the dining table. Brigid was sitting in her highchair with a pacifier clinched between her gums, watching all the action taking place in front of her. She looked like the line judge in some obscure game that only children could understand.

Those that were capable of speech yelled, "Hi Daddy." Noelle darted out from under the table and hugged my knees before running back under the table.

"Hi girls, where's your mother?"

"She's working; we're watching Noelle and Brigid until dinnertime."

I headed down the hallway towards the back of the house. Colleen had converted the small bedroom across the hall from ours into a small studio where she could work on her illustration projects and still be close at hand to keep an eye on the kids. The door was open and I stopped to watch her at work for a second before I interrupted her.

She was sitting on her stool with her back to me, leaning over her drawing table. She sat up and put her hands on the small of her back and pushed in an effort to get her spine into a straight line up and down. When she did this I walked in and put my arms around her from behind and rested my chin on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hi sweetie, I didn't hear you come in." She glanced at the clock on the wall as she stood up. "Oh Lord, I didn't realize it was so late, the girls are going to be staving."

Colleen started to pull my arms from around her waist but I kept them there so she couldn't get away. I slid one hand down to her lower belly and started to slowly stroke the small bump that was growing there. You could only see the bulge if you knew to look for it, but I loved to touch and feel what would soon be our next child. I nibbled along her neck for a moment before I whispered into her ear.

"I doubt the girls are in danger of passing out from lack of food any time soon."

I kissed along the other side of her neck before I spoke again.

"I had an interesting phone call from Mom this morning."

I could hear the smile in Colleen's voice as I continued kissing towards her ear.

"Is that so...what did she have to say?"

"Turns out that Sharon and Mi Lin are both pregnant too. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

"I don't know...I might have heard a rumor to that effect somewhere. Why do you ask?"

"Mom accused me and the twins of planning this...I don't remember exactly...she may have used words like sick, and what was that other one...oh yeah, perverted."

Colleen gave a soft giggle and pressed back against me. My other hand slid up her chest until it was caressing and gently squeezing her breast.

"I assured her that I was still her baby boy and didn't know anything about where babies come from. I always thought they came from the cabbage patch. Do Mike and Jimmy know any thing about this?"

Colleen turned around inside my arms until she was facing me. She put her arms around my neck and gave me a quick kiss before answering.

"They do now." Colleen punctuated this with another kiss.

"So neither one knew about the other's wife being pregnant?"

"Nope, not until today; just like you."

"And what you're saying is that Mom was right. This group pregnancy thing was planned all along, just not by her sweet and innocent sons."

"Well DUH." Colleen pulled her head back with a look of concern on her face. "You're not upset are you?"

"Hardly..." this time I kissed Colleen. "...is it safe to assume that you and Sharon and Mi Lin came up with this little plan all on your own?"

"Actually Sharon and Mi Lin had already decided to do it before they talked to me. Sounded like the thing to do at the time so I said 'what the hell,' count me in."

I couldn't stop myself from grinning. I already knew the answer to my question but I had to ask it anyway.

"And exactly when did all this planning take place?"

"My birthday party at Gypsy Sally's. Remember when we took so long in the restroom?" She put her lips next to my ear and whispered. "Now you know why girls go to the restroom in a group."

Colleen gave me a short kiss under my earlobe, then took me by the hand and led me into the kitchen so we could start fixing dinner.

One Tuesday night we decided that we needed to have some grown-up alone time for ourselves. When there are this many kids in the house you have a constant craving for adult conversation with your lover. Debbie the teenager across the street was available to sit with the girls so we headed out for dinner.

We didn't have to discuss where to go, it was the Shanghai Garden. The restaurant was the scene of our first date and had become our favorite destination for date nights. Just like the first time, the waiter was showing us to our table, Colleen following the waiter and me following behind, watching Colleen's backside. She was about seven months along; her stomach was huge and her hips had begun to widen but she had not yet reached the waddling stage. Once again I was reminded of what I had observed on our first date.

My sister has a fantastic ass.

After dinner we were relaxing over coffee and talking. The conversation was meandering all over the map when it ventured into the subject of our dating experiences in high school. We pondered what the reaction would have been back then if we actually had dated each other...probably not very positive. But according to Mike, everyone in school thought we were doing it anyway, so it probably wouldn't have mattered.

"Bobby, I know that I had a lot of dates, but they never went any where. I never had what you could call a real boyfriend, just guys that would take me out a couple of times and then move on to someone else. I bet I was the only girl in high school that never got taken out to Miller's Pond."

Miller's Pond was a small body of water outside of Santa Teresa that was somewhere between a large pond and a small lake. Every Friday and Saturday night all of the available parking spaces would be taken by cars filled with teenage couples and steamed up windows. It was estimated that Miller's Pond was responsible for half of the teen pregnancies in Santa Teresa.

"Of course you didn't, no guy in his right mind was going to take you Miller's Pond."

"Was I that ugly?"

"No! You were gorgeous. It's just that none of the guys in school had a death wish."

Colleen was frowning.

"What, were they afraid I might have cooties?"

"Of course not."

Colleen was beginning to show her irritation.

"Then what was it? Is there something you're not telling me?"

I had to laugh.

"You mean you don't know?"

"Bobby, you had better tell me right now what you're talking about or you're going to regret it tonight when you try to go to bed."

"You don't know, do you? Everybody else in school knew."

Colleen had the same expression on her face that Mom always had just before she lost her temper.

"Bobby, I'm going to count to three and then..."

"Ok, just calm down. No guy would take you to Miller's Pond because they were all scared to death of Mike and Jimmy."

"WHAT!"

"I'm guessing that means that you don't know about Butch Woodcock."

Colleen sat back with a confused look on her face.

"Butch Woodcock? Are you talking the about that jock from high school?"

"That's right, he was a senior when you were a freshman. Do you remember what happened to him?"

Colleen knitted her eyebrows together as she thought.

"I think I remember. He was a quarterback and had a scholarship to one of those big name football schools then he got beat up by a gang from another school. His knee was banged up pretty bad and he lost the scholarship. The last I heard he was working on his dad's dairy farm."

"Yeah...only the other school was the junior high and the gang was Mike and Jimmy."

Colleen sat with her mouth open in astonishment.

"Why would they do that?"

"Butch was an asshole. He was bragging to the football team and all of his friends that he was going to take you to the homecoming dance then out to Miller's Pond and turn you into his personal slut. Mike and Jimmy found out about it so one evening after practice they explained to him that was not the sort of thing they wanted to hear about their sister."

"Why didn't Mike and Jimmy get into trouble over this?"

"Because Butch didn't want any one to know that a couple of eighth graders beat the crap out of him. So he made up the story about the gang, but everyone knew anyway. Once the story got around, every guy in school knew what would happen if they didn't show you a whole lot of respect. They didn't care who you went out with but anybody that tried any funny business was dead meat. I'm surprised you never found out."

"And you knew about all of this?"

I was a little sheepish when I answered her.

"Well, I guess you could say I was sort of a lookout for them...and I might have kicked him the balls once or twice. But Mike and Jimmy did most of the work."

Colleen smiled then leaned over and patted my cheek.

"My big strong hero."

"Besides, I don't know why you're complaining. I never got to take a girl to Miller's Pond either...and it wasn't because I didn't ask."