Flyover Country Ch. 04

Before he left, "Joe" had placed Mattie's booster seat between Tom and Judy's, which I thought was cute. Tom's was still on the driver's side, right behind me, which was his desired place. Judy didn't care, so everything was in order as far as the three munchkins were concerned. All three of them fell asleep, of course, somewhere between two and three minutes after we left the parking lot.

* * *

I'd had a custom job done on the new pickup to get some wide, very comfortable bench seats installed, front and back. I caught Mercedes gazing into the back seat at the sleeping trio with a gentle smile on her lips. With them asleep, she unbuckled her seat belt on the far passenger's side and slide across to rub shoulders and hips with me.

"If that isn't the cutest backseat full a' kids in the whole world, I don't know what is!" she declared.

I glanced up at the rearview mirror. I had to agree. Three perfectly adorable children ... and two of them were mine.

"Baby...," Mercedes said softly, "...I'm so sorry ... about Sharon," she offered. "It was so sad..."

"She was a wonderful woman...," I told her. "She was a great wife and a super mother ... but she was in so much pain when she finally passed. It was hard on Judy and Tom, but we had a long time to prepare for it, and now we're slowly gettin' on with gettin' on," I said.

Mercedes patted my arm and kissed my cheek.

"I have a message for you from Sharon," I remarked after a while.

Mercedes was startled, and a little alarmed. A message from a deceased wife could be more than a little uncomfortable.

I shot a look at her. "Well ... indirectly, anyway," I said, relenting.

I directed my attention back out through the windshield at the road ahead. "A couple a' months before she died, Sharon shooed all the doctors and nurses out and made me lie beside her on the hospital bed so she could talk to me without straining anything."

I pointed at a building on the side of the road we were about to pass. It was Jesse's Barbeque where Mercedes and I first met. She recognized it instantly.

"Ohhhhh ... honey, we have to go there ... real soon, okay?" she asked delightedly. I noticed she was calling me "honey" again, just as she had before we split up those years ago. I liked it. It felt great.

"We will...," I assured her, patting her thigh, "we will."

"Anyway, Sharon told me that when she was gone, she wanted me to go out and find a woman to love and who would love me and our children—she made me promise," I told Mercedes.

Mercedes looked down, studying her hands in her lap.

"So...," I continued, "...I don't want to scare you off, but my dear wife made me promise to love and to let me and my children be loved ... so if that's not how you see things working out..." I had to pause there for a moment. "If that's not what you want and it's going to be like last time..."

"Stop there!" Mercedes demanded, pointing out at a roadside park just ahead.

I just had enough time to brake and pull in without making it a violent maneuver and waking up the kids. When we stopped, a cloud of Texas dust we'd kicked up drifted past the cab.

Mercedes swiveled to face me and threw her arms around my neck and mashed her lips against mine. "I want you ... I love you ... and I am never going to leave," she swore. "I meant what I said ... I'll be here with you, beside you, 'til you kick me out ... understand, Matthew James?"

I kissed her back and put my arms around her. "You used the 'L' word," I murmured. "We didn't do that last time we were together ... even though I wanted to..."

"I know...," she said softly. "I wanted to say it, too, but if we had—"

"—We'd never have been able to go our separate ways and ... wouldn't have been able to do the things we had to do." My voice was low and rumbling with emotion. "...But this time, Little Dove That Calls At Morning"—it was her Cheyenne name—"I'm going to say it morning, noon, and night, so if you're not ready for..."

"Say it!" she insisted.

"I love you!" I replied instantly. "I—love—you!"

"I love you, too," she cooed. She sighed happily and rested her cheek on my shoulder.

We sat there a few more minutes, kissing, but not speaking. I put the truck back in gear and we pulled back out on the highway. We didn't do much talking as we drove; we didn't need to. Our relationship, one that had been disrupted years ago, seemed to have picked up where it left off. We were amazingly comfortable with each other and already making commitments to each other.

* * *

After their nap on the way home, all three kids were wired when they were awakened at the ranch. They wanted to do everything and do it all at once. When the horses down by the corral whinnied, it settled the question of what to do first. Mercedes and I escorted all three children down there after loading up with a small bag of apples.

The kids fed the other horses while I saddled two Shetland Ponies I had for my kids. I had in mind a place where I could get another one for Mattie, and I told her so. She was thoroughly delighted. I got a big hug and a bunch of kisses from her.

Judy reined her gentle animal around the paddock by herself. She'd only been doing that for a month or so, and she was very proud of her ability to do it. I put Mattie on the saddle behind Tommy and my son took his new friend on a long ride. Three-year-old Mattie held tight to Tommy's waist while Tommy guided his Shetland around. After a while, five-year-old Tommy came back to where Mercedes and I were standing and had us move Mattie to a position in front of him so Mattie could see where they were going.

She loved it. Tommy got a big hug and a kiss on the cheek for that. He didn't quite know what to do about Mattie kissing him, but he decided to accept it much like he did kisses from his little sister. He would tolerate them, but wouldn't return the kisses.

After a while, the kids decided they wanted to go swimming. We unsaddled the ponies, watered them, then brushed and curried them before turning them back out into the pasture. I raced the youngsters back to the house and shooed them upstairs to change into swimsuits.

I offered, and half expected, Mercedes to take this opportunity to unpack all their stuff—we'd already selected her and Mattie's rooms—while I watched my all the kids in the wading pool, but she wouldn't hear of it. She opened one suitcase to retrieve her and Mattie's swim suits and we all decamped to the wading pool. Mercedes and I watched as the three kids laughed and played in the sunshine and water.

As the sun dropped low on the western horizon, I fired up the grill and seared a couple of steaks for myself and Mercedes, and did some chicken drumsticks for the kids. In addition to baked potatoes, I roasted some asparagus tips and assorted veggies just to stave off any potential nutritious-diet guilt.

After dinner was over, the three youngsters used their waning energy chasing fireflies around the backyard. By bedtime, all three children were in the latter stages of exhaustion. Mercedes and I supervised showers for all of them, my two went into the master bath in my bedroom and Mercedes took little Mattie into the bathroom accessible from the hallway outside their room.

All this was according to my diabolical master plan. I wanted all three children totally worn out ... so they'd sleep like little logs all ... night ... long!

* * *

Mercedes and I went from my children's bedroom door to Mattie's, gazing at them as they slept. I had my arm around her waist, no longer even pretending we were just the friends we'd told the young ones we were.

"I'm pretty sure when the Bible talks about angels...," I said, "the model that was used was a sleeping child." I smiled.

"Mmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm," Mercedes agreed. She shifted from beside me, to in front of me in a lithe move. She wrapped both arms around my waist and plastered herself against me. We shared our first unchaperoned kiss since she and Stephie left me behind years ago. We'd both been mindful of the fact that three pair of eyes were watching closely.

In her room, Mercedes opened another suitcase and retrieved a nightgown before we walked down the hall to what had been my bedroom. It was ours now. We didn't bother discussing it.

We spent the night together getting reacquainted with each other's bodies and making love. It turned out we still knew how all the parts fit into other parts, and what buttons to press, and when. Everything worked out fine. Mercedes got up just before dawn, put on her nightgown and went to "her" bedroom where she still hadn't unpacked her luggage.

* * *

We maintained a pretense of sleeping separately for almost three weeks. Mercedes would get up early to go back to "her" bed, but the alarm clock didn't go off one morning. The first she and I knew of the problem was when all three kids climbed into bed with us and announced—demanded—someone should get up and fix breakfast. They didn't much care who took care of preparing pancakes and sausage links, but they needed it done quickly so they could watch cartoons.

Mercedes was in a nightgown, and I was in my boxers. We were fortunate we'd taken the time before falling asleep the night before to put on something; I didn't even want to think what would have happened if they'd caught us nude—way too many questions. I resolved to change the batteries in the baby monitors in their rooms, and turn up the volume so we'd have at least a chance of getting some advance warning.

After we got caught, Mercedes officially moved into the master bedroom with me. To our surprise, none of the children seemed even remotely concerned that Mattie's mother was sleeping every night with Tommy and Judy's father. It didn't bother them in the least. We'd anticipated a lot of angst and intense confusion.

Encouraged by that, after considering how easily they'd already accepted our closeness, Mercedes and I sat them down and talked about mommies and daddies and how we would like it if I could be Daddy to all three of them and Mercedes could be the Mommy for all three. I told Tommy and Judy their Mother was in heaven watching over them forever, but explained how Mercedes would be their "Mommy" to take care of them every day. Judy and Tommy accepted the new arrangements very easily. They'd already formed a close bond with Mercedes, and she with them.

Mattie, whose father had been absent since before her birth, wondered only if I was going to be her Daddy, would I would still read stories to her like we'd been doing for the past few weeks. When she heard I would read even more stories and that I'd never leave, she was all in.

* * *

We expected telling our parents was going to be traumatic and we anticipated a ton of advice to slow down, think things over and come to a rational decision—stuff like that. We expected there wouldn't be any outright opposition, but maybe a little resistance...

Since they were closest, we went to my Mom and Dad's home first.

Moments after Mom and Dad gave all three children some quick hugs, Mattie, Tommy, and Judy escaped to the backyard. Tommy and Judy wanted to show Mattie the sandbox and swing set Dad built for my two kids back there. That left Mercedes and me to accept a glass of Mom's lemonade and sitting down for "the talk" we knew was coming.

"Mom," I said after taking a deep swallow of lemonade, "This is Mercedes," I said by way of introduction. "We're going to get married," I added.

"I told Matt I didn't really need to be introduced to you," Mercedes chimed in before either Mom or Dad could frame a response. "We've already met, actually, Lea, in a video chat years ago—Matt introduced us, then," Mercedes continued. "Do you remember?" she asked my Mom sweetly.

Mom was taken aback. I was sure she'd been about to ask some very searching questions but hadn't been able to get them out. She looked Mercedes over very closely. "Ahhhh ... no, honey, I don't think..."

"How 'bout if I was holding up a pair of fancy handcuffs ... hmmmmm?" Mercedes asked merrily. "...Or how about a nice little strap-on ... that you left behind from your first trip...?"

Mom blinked, then comprehension struck. "Oh, crap!" Mom blurted in consternation. She blushed a really interesting shade of red almost instantaneously.

"The girl in the mirror!" Dad exclaimed. He was grinning.

Dad got up, stepped over to Mercedes and shook her hand formally. "Very nice to meet you, young lady," he said. There was an approving note in his voice. Dad was on our side. He proclaimed us a nice couple and went out to the kitchen to get the pitcher full of lemonade for refills.

When Mercedes revealed she was half Cheyenne, Mom and Dad were amazed. After Mercedes told how her dad always said he'd counted coup on a smiling Irish lass, and her mother maintained she'd captured a Cheyenne warrior for her very own, Mom and Dad were thoroughly enthralled. After dinner, when the three kids pleaded with my Dad to read them stories, it was clear my parents were as captivated by my Cheyenne maiden and her baby girl as I was.

Comments about the relationship thing being too quick or rushed never developed. Our body language seemed to reassure Mom that everything was going to be just fine.

By the time all the dishes were washed and put away that evening, Mom and Dad were working hard on getting their third grandchild to call them "Grandma" and "Grandpa." They succeeded with hardly any effort at all. Mattie's paternal grandparents had always been distant and she hardly knew them, so she adopted Tommy and Judy's without even thinking about it.

* * *

A week later, we flew up to Philadelphia so Mercedes could introduce me and my children to her parents. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them. When I first met Mercedes years ago, I'd thought I would love getting to know them and that proved to be correct.

After some concern on their parts—Mercedes' divorce decree was less than two months old when she came to find me—they accepted me and my children with open arms. We had a great time.

I had a suspicion Mercedes actually talked with her mother, Fiona, about the three weeks we spent with each other way back when. It seemed she'd probably had done it shortly after Mercedes left me behind, because Fiona gave me a very thorough hugging before we'd even been introduced.

By the time we left to go home, Tommy and Judy had another set of doting grandparents intent on spoiling them rotten.

Mercedes called her ex-husband's parents to see if they wanted to see Mattie, but they declined. So be it.

* * *

All five of us flew up to Anchorage to talk to Tommy and Judy's maternal grandparents. On the aircraft, all three kids had a fantastic time, quickly capturing the hearts of all the flight attendants in first class. All three got extra snacks, goodies, and lots of attention throughout the flight. While the attendants babysat, mom and dad held hands and napped.

It went very well with Bruce and Judy, though I'd been concerned beforehand. They both knew Sharon had charged me with finding a mother for the two children, and someone for me to love and be loved. They were surprised I'd done it so quickly, but they took Mercedes in and made her feel welcome without reservation.

All in all, introducing ourselves to all the in-laws went very, very well.

Mercedes and I fit together like two interlocking pieces of a puzzle, and we had since our beginning. We'd never had a "first date" and had gone from "just met" to totally involved, in nothing flat. Since she'd returned, we immediately slipped back into a full relationship, watching ourselves carefully for problems the whole time. We couldn't find any.

Encouraged, Mercedes and I were married a whole three months after Mercedes and Mattie surprised my children and me in the pizza restaurant.

CHAPTER NINE

Being married to Mercedes an adventure, but a comfortable one. We agreed on so many things, but we always had things to talk about. Whenever we found a difference of opinion, we always discussed alternatives and decided on a path together. Sometimes, I adopted her slant on a particular difficulty and sometimes she came over to my side.

Honestly, the worst things that plagued us were times when Mercedes got into a "what might have been" mood. Mercedes sometimes worried that she should not have been so adamant about keeping her dancing career so sharply in focus. She wondered where we'd be in our relationship if she hadn't left me behind to pursue her career.

I took a more pragmatic view. First, what happened, happened. All of that was history—we couldn't change it. Second, we had three small children to love we wouldn't have otherwise had, and there was no way we could ever regret our children.

We both knew, even if she didn't want to admit it, if she had not stayed with her dance troupe, she'd have come to regret it—perhaps bitterly—later. Any deep relationship we'd explored back then might not, probably WOULD not, have survived and we wouldn't be together now.

In spite of everything that had happened to us, we were married now, and we had three wonderful children. We found ourselves deeply in love and having a wonderful time with our blended family. We fit together beautifully and settled into our roles easily. Mercedes was Mom to all three children and I was the Dad. We worked together to establish boundaries and rules within the family. We taught the children, by living it, what a loving relationship was like every day.

One of the things we did, was to make certain Mercedes and I had date nights every so often—actually, quite often. We were newly wedded, after all. My mom and dad (AKA Grandma and Grandpa), loved having the kids over for a sleepover and a couple of times, for a whole weekend.

Whenever they weren't available, we had a pair of sisters take care of all three kids. Many years ago, I'd sold a horse, Ginger, and another young mare to two young teenage girls by the name of Ingram who still lived not too very far away. Amber and Pamela were in their late teens now—just the right age for babysitting a trio of adorable young children, and we took advantage of them a lot. We paid them pretty darn well too.

The kids often stayed in daycare during the week. I wanted them to, and I got Mercedes to agree. The daycare we chose was fairly small with a great caretaker to child ratio so there was plenty of excellent supervision. We thought it was important for our three kids to meet, play, and work on projects together with other children. I think Tommy, Judy, and Mattie all had a great time, judging from the stories they recounted to Mercedes and me. I was pretty sure they learned a great deal about getting along with others and working in concert with them too.

Things were settling down very nicely. Actually, things were just darn near perfect.

* * *

The overhead bank of TV monitors said the 3:18 flight from Philadelphia had landed, on time even. Mercedes and I were waiting beside the carousel where the luggage should be making its presence known shortly. We were waiting for Mercedes' latest recruit for her dancing school. She told me only that it was a woman she knew from the dance troupe who was also retiring.

Mercedes had retired from touring after an ankle injury, and a lengthy recovery. The injury was severe enough so that while the injury did heal, the ankle was never again going to be strong enough to withstand the constant stress of on-stage dancing plus the enormous number of hours of practice. So now she taught, and she was having a great time doing it.

I was absentmindedly watching departing passengers down the long concourse checking in for their flights and wondering why all, or at least most, of them didn't used the check-in kiosks set up all over the place. It didn't make sense to me to wait in long lines rather than use the touch screen method, but, whatever!