Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 16

"Mom, no one thought you lived a celibate lifestyle. Everyone hoped that you were living a good, rewarding, and full life. Speaking for myself, I could not be happier for you."

"We are not going to get married, Harold."

Harold smiled and said, "You little Tart."

Catherine laughed at Harold's reply, and hurried him off the kitchen. Her gentleman friend quietly came down the stairs, kissed her goodbye, and exited through the front door.

When she entered the kitchen Harold said, "Am I next?"

Catherine said, "I think I'm a little too old for you, Harold."

"Mom, all women would love to be in your gene pool. When you reach 100, you are going to look 60. You look absolutely fabulous for 55-year-old woman."

Catherine curtsied and asked, "What is going on with my daughter's wedding gown?"

"Mom, how many gowns do we need to make for the wedding? There's one for Callie, you, and Claire. Who else needs a gown?"

"Her three bridesmaids from work: Elizabeth, Terry, and Joanne."

"That is everyone, mom, no one else?"

"No Harold, that is everyone, why do you ask?"

"I have a friend who owns a company that makes wedding gowns. I wanted to keep the number of gowns as low as possible so we could have them within the right timeframe."

"Harold, we need Callie's wedding gown; and 5 others if it's possible."

"Thanks mom, I have to make a phone call."

Dycke answered the telephone, slightly out of breath, "Schneider residence."

"Dycke, from the sound of your voice, I think Payne left you, as soon as you walked in the door."

"What would make you think that Harold?"

"The last time I called she said you would be home, and she would be minus one child. I guess she opted out of killing Robert, and went to spend some of your money instead."

"I wish she would do that Harold, but she is the exact opposite of her mother. She is her father's daughter, and holds onto a penny, until it screams for mercy."

"Are you complaining Dycke?"

"I don't know Harold? Sometimes I think if she would loosen up and spend some money, she wouldn't be so wound up around the children. Every time I walk in with a toy, she says I'm spoiling them. I tell her to bring in a toy for them so that she can spoil them, instead of me. She just brushes the statement aside, and talks about something else. Tell me what is going on with you. Your young lady is beautiful, and much too good for you."

"Isn't that the truth Dycke? She is rich, too; so I know she is not, after my money. I have a way for you to get Payne to spend some money, if you're up for it. When was the last time you two guys were alone together?"

"It's been a while Harold. Things have been very hectic around here, and yes, I have been ignoring my wife a little, lately."

"Okay, my friend, you can kill two birds, with one stone. I want you to be in the wedding party, with your wife. It means you will be in a tuxedo, and your wife has to go to Paris to be fitted with a wedding ensemble, with the women Callie has picked from here. You will be flying out here on your own airplane, and it will experience a serious malady in Sedona, on the day you are supposed to depart. The new part will have to be sent out from the manufacturer' warehouse, and naturally being Sunday, they are closed. Your crew will order it by express courier, on Monday, and it will get here by Wednesday morning. Naturally, they will send the wrong part. Both of you will wind up spending at least a week out here, possibly two, looking at the wilderness, seeing the Grand Canyon and doing all sorts of awfully fun stuff together, without the children."

"That my good friend sounds like a wonderful remedy for what ails us. All work and no play have made me a bad husband. It's time for me to make up for it. I will send the aircraft out to you tomorrow load it up with ladies, send it back here to pick up Payne, and then they will be off to Paris. Thank you Harold, I needed a common sense talk with you. I think I'm going to give the office off that entire week. Everyone has been working too hard."

"That is a marvelous idea. Your employees will love you, especially your father-in-law."

"I will talk to you later Harold."

Payne returned home, two and one half hours later, with a salted pretzel in one hand and a Diet Coke and the other.

Dycke kissed her and asked her if she was able to calm down.

She said she was able to relax a little, but Robert was getting out of hand, and she had to find a different way to control him.

Dycke said, "Payne, I am not going to accept any arguments from you on this subject again. I am not going to allow you to run yourself ragged over our second son. I am bringing in a live-in housekeeper, and a licensed nanny. She/he will have a psychology or sociology degree, and I don't care a how much I have to pay her to babysit him 10 hours a day. If I have to hire two or three of them, I will. He may be hyperactive, but I will not put him on medication at seven years of age. I will get these people, while you are out of town."

"Where am I going?"

"The day after tomorrow, you leave for Paris. One of the reasons Harold called today was to ask us to be in his wedding party. He would not take no for an answer. We are sending one of our aircraft to Arizona to pick up their people. When they fly east, the aircraft will stop here, pick you up, and continues on to Paris. You can coordinate everything with Suzette, because none of them speaks French. Harold wants Callalily to look as good as you did on our wedding day. I remember how you looked, and I don't think God himself could make anyone look as gorgeous as you looked, on our day. Ask Suzette to do her best, because Harold means a lot to me."

"I didn't realize you two were that close, Dycke."

"We don't talk as often as I'd like, but we have a lot in common. If we lived closer together, we'd be having each other over every weekend for a barbecue or dinner."

"When is the wedding?"

"That bastard didn't give me the date. I know he said five or six weeks, but he didn't say the day, or date. You will find out when you get on the airplane, with the other women. You should have a good time. If you would do me a favor, while you're in fashion capital of the world, buy yourself something nice. Try to buy yourself a lot of nice new things. I love you so much, and we have so much; spend some of it please. I know you hate the thought of being like your mother, but you don't have to be as tight as your father is either. Find the middle ground; we've been together for 12 years. It's not time for us to be an old married couple. Everything will be paid for through T.E.I., while you are in Paris: hotel, meals, hot dogs, and everything else. I do not want anyone else to have to spend a dime, while they are having their dresses fitted."

Dycke thought for a moment, smiled and said, "I have an even better idea. Why don't you fly out to Arizona and pick up the girls in 'Payne's 2'. Your license is still active. I know you haven't flown for almost two years, but Randy can be in the right seat with you. It will be like riding a bicycle. The aircraft has not changed, and neither have you."

"Dycke, it is a little harder than riding a bicycle."

"Yes, I know my PET, but it was the one thing that you could do that I was unable to do. If you recall, you never let me hear the end of it. I aced every single ground exam, but when they put me in the airplane, I froze. You barely passed the written portion of the examinations. However, when they put you into an airplane, baby could you fly. It was like you were born to it. You couldn't drive a car, and stay in your own lane; but when they put you into an airplane, everything you did was perfect. Every landing you made was perfect. You never bounced once. If you weren't married, I think the instructors would have fucked you in the flight deck, because you were that good. They might have done it anyhow, because you are so beautiful. Put your wings back on, fly out to Arizona, and have some fun."

Payne listened to Dycke talking about the freedom flying had given her. She remembered all the hours she put in to get to her jet rating. Now it was sitting in her pocketbook, doing nothing. She remembered needling him, when he could not fly a single engine airplane. You could always tell his aircraft, when he was in the approach pattern. His was the airplane with the left wing down 20° or more. It was as if he needed to see the ground to make sure it was still there. After six months of trying, he and the instructor came to a mutual understanding. Dycke would stop flying, and the instructor would stop taking Dycke's money. He would never understand how to keep the wings of an aircraft level, while they were in the air.

Payne smiled at him, and said, "You do love me, don't you?"

"Payne, any day you doubt it, shoot me, because I've done something to put a wedge between our hearts. I told you when we first met the most important thing in my life I had ever done was fall in love with Payne Elizabeth Temple. All the money we have, all the things we possess mean nothing to me if I don't have your love. I thought I lost you once, and it drove the wild."

"Dycke, I will fly to Arizona tomorrow, and lay over there tomorrow night to meet the people I will fly to Paris. I will take the full crew, so we each can get the proper rest, as we fly over the Atlantic. I really want to get back to flying."

Dycke grabbed her and twirled her around. "Wonderful, Mrs. Schneider that is exactly the medicine I think will help you get back to being happy again. If you want, I will put you on the crew schedule, and you can fly anywhere at any time you want."

"Am I going to get paid?"

"You, my dear, are going to get paid in two ways. You will get paid as the captain of the aircraft for the amount of hours you fly. Then you will get paid for your other important undercover assignments."

"What undercover assignments, Dycke?"

"Follow me, madam."

They stepped onto their personalized Segway's and zoomed off.

Payne asked, "Where are we going?"

"You are going to receive your first undercover assignment."

"Where?"

"In the Playroom!"

Payne laughed as she saw Dycke turn into their huge bedroom. "Undercover assignment, my ass," she said. "In this playroom, we don't use covers on any assignments, except to get some sleep."

She decided he was right; which she always hated to do. She was burning the candle at both ends, and at 29 years old, she should be having fun, as well as raising a family. Cleaning the 18,000 ft² apartment, and running around after three children, when Evan was home, was a little more than she could handle. She would let Dycke hirer the domestic help, and the psychologist to help Robert control his moods. Dycke's mind was so organized; he probably had it on his to do list for the first thing tomorrow morning.

Zoie, her four-year-old daughter, was an angel. She was a clone of her mother. Her room was always kept neat and clean, and she was unhappy when her mother went into it without her permission. Payne had to come up with a peace treaty with Zoie in order to clean her room. Zoie would sit on her bed and watch her mother's every action, until her room was completed and Payne stepped outside the threshold. Zoie would then close her door, and move her things back into their proper positions. At least it stopped the arguing.

Payne never told her boys that she and Dycke monitored everything they did on their computers, from his office, and at home. Dycke and Payne had so many parental blocks on their boys computers, very little spam mail made it through to them. An alert was sent to them if Evan or Robert tried to access an adult website. Evan was getting close to the age where curiosity would begin to rear its head. At 11 and 7 years old, their parents wanted to be the first to know what their children were getting into. Dycke had broached the subject of sex with Evan many times, but his eyes glazed over, when Dycke started getting more specific. Seeing no interest, he backed off, and let the subject drop. He would broach the subject again, before the school year started to see if there was a change in his son's attitude.

An urgent email came that day, which every parent fears the most.

"Dear dad, I wish I had listened to you more closely, when you tried to explain to me the things I was supposed to know about sex, and keeping a girl and myself safe. I know it is too late to ask for that explanation now, and I hope that you will not be too angry with me. I got my girlfriend, Terri, pregnant. The first time we did it; she bled terribly, and was in a great deal of pain. She has not bled again in a very long time. We are sure she is pregnant. She is afraid to tell her parents, but I had to tell you, because I knew you could give me advice on how to handle this situation. Both of us are only 11 years old, and we know it is not smart for us to marry at this age. Please dad, don't be angry with me. It was the first time for both of us, and we didn't really understand the consequences of our actions. Help us please, your loving son, Evan"

Dycke looked at the email and could not find it in his heart to be angry with his son. What he decided to do was wait, until Payne left for Paris, to have Evan come home with his little friend to see what could be done, about their situation.

He called Marti into the office, and showed her the email. She was all business.

"Dycke, how are we supposed to transport an 11-year-old pregnant girl, across state lines, without the permission of her parents?"

"Why do you think I invited you in here? Payne flies to Arizona at 12 PM, and I have to be home, before she leaves for the airport. Whatever you and legal decide, make sure you tell her parents the size of our apartment, and that we have at least two armed guards on duty inside and outside the apartment at all times. Their daughter, will be in her own room, and will be absolutely safe, while she is with us."

"I will take care of the letter this morning, Dycke. I will transmit it to North Carolina, today, and couriered to her parent's home. We should have an answer by tonight."

"Thanks Marti, let me clear off my desk. Then I have to run home and interview a few people."

"Dycke that is not your job. That is our job. You tell us what you want, and we take care of it. When are you going to remember that no one gets close to you or your family, before we give our approval?"

"You are right, Marti. I went brain-dead for a moment. This is what I need. A live-in housekeeper, that will cooks like a three-star Michelin Chef; does light cleaning, and does the laundry. I need a cleaning service to come in once a week to do the heavy cleaning work in the house.

I need a person with a psychology or sociology degree to be a nanny for Robert. All during the summer months, and from the moment he arrives home from school, until the moment he goes to sleep, at night. He has to learn how to control his moods. He/she will have to sign a minimum of the three-year contract, because I want him to get used to one person teaching him about his behavior."

"What are the salary considerations, Dycke?"

"Tell them their salaries depend on the quality of their first months' work, and their resume'."

Dycke responded to his son's email that pleaded for help. "My dear Evan, Nothing you do would ever make me so angry with you that I would turn down a plea for help. You have made a mistake, as every human being does in his or her lifetime. What you and your friend, Terri, decide to do now is what will make you into responsible adults, sooner than you expected. Your mother and I will always be here for you. We will help guide you through this torturous time in your life. Speak to no one about what is going on. If anyone asks, tell them you just want to go home and see your parents for a few days, and then you are going to see her parents before returning to the camp. I am sending two of my people to get you. You will recognize both of them. Please remember that your young lady has a reputation that must be protected. You do not want to harm her at that delicate age. We will do whatever we can, when you get home. If all goes well, you should be home in two days. Dad

***

Payne slid into the Captain's seat, of Gulfstream's marvelous 650, and began her preflight checklist, under the watchful eye of their new senior captain, Trevor Canyon. As Dycke said to her last night, 'She was a Natural.' She went through the list as she had 1000 times before, almost without referring to the manual on her lap. She called out commands for checklists items that were on his side of the flight deck, and Trevor responded to each of the items, as she called them out. When she was finished, he said to her, "Captain, it is like you have never been out of that chair."

Payne wanted to kiss him, but knew it would be inappropriate for her to do so. "It's like falling off a horse, Steve. You get up, dust yourself off, you get right back on."

"Well, you got right on, doing it perfectly, as always, Payne. Why don't you call in for clearance and do the whole thing."

She called the tower, and received her flight plan, and taxi instructions. She started the engines, pulled out of the hanger, and headed for the east end of the runway.

As she was getting close to the end of the taxiway, she said, "Charleston tower, 6651 Tango, number one for take-off."

Charleston tower responded, "6651 Tango, winds 290°/ 13 knots, altimeter 3001, climb and maintain one seven thousand, contact departure control 125.95. Cleared for takeoff."

6651 Tango, roger, wins tonight, winds 290°/13 knots, altimeter 3001, maintain one seven thousand, 125.95 for departure control, cleared for takeoff. We are rolling."

As Payne pushed the throttle's forward, and she felt the Rolls-Royce engines push her back into her seat. She felt a sense of freedom she had not felt for two long years rush through her body. It was so enervating and delicious; she promised herself she would never let that feeling leave her again. Now she realized she had two homes, and the flight deck of this aircraft was as important to her well-being, as the penthouse apartment, where her family lived.

As the aircraft climbed swiftly, through 11,000 feet, westbound, she asked Trevor to take the controls, because she had to call her husband.

Dycke picked up the phone and said, "What; your turning around, and coming home, because you miss me already?"

"Fat chance twerp. I just wanted to say thank you. I did not realize how much I missed flying. This was your best idea ever, and I love you for it."

"Payne, get this into your thick skull. My best idea ever was falling in love and marrying you. After that, everything else was secondary. Without you, my life is meaningless. Keeping you happy and safe is what my life is all about. I enjoy making the money that makes us very rich. However, if you are not happy, I would burn it all to put a smile on your face."

"You can't do that and keep me happy, Dycke. You couldn't afford to let me fly in my airplane. Please keep making money, so I can keep flying my pretty pink airplane."

"Payne, have you gone colorblind? Your airplane is not pink."

"If you love me, it will be. I will hit you when we get back from Paris, for being so wonderful to me."

"Goodbye, my PET, enjoy yourself."

"I am enjoying myself; I'm flying. Goodbye twerp."

"I am taking out the paddle in anticipation of you returning home, Payne."

"I have not used it on you, in a very long time, Dycke. I hope my aim is true. Otherwise you will not be able to go to work for a month. Have fun thinking about that, while I am gone, husband, because I am getting wet just thinking about you lying across the bed."

He started laughing as soon as he heard the connection cut off. Payne had not shown any sparkle in her eyes for months, and he had been worried about her. When Harold gave him the idea about flying the girls to Paris, for their gowns, all of his thoughts zeroed in on Payne flying the bridal party there and back. Harold sweetened the pot by adding the mechanical breakdown that would take a week or more to fix. It was going to be a perfect vacation for the two of them.