Kristiana Pt. 03: A Risk Taken

My father had the two ladies appear on my weekly Skype call. They were very nice, curious about Switzerland and the hotel, and very complimentary about my father. I got the impression that was for his benefit as well as mine. I think my dad was still at the "can't believe I'm this lucky" stage. The call was coming from their lodge at Lake Tahoe and I could see some of the home in the background. Dad gave me a panorama of the great room and it left me with the impression that it was a magnificent home.

Kristiana watched as she sat beside me, and I could almost hear her thoughts. How would he manage two women? The ladies were very nice to her and she was happy to have a chance to talk to them, but not about their private life. I know she was bursting with curiosity. Jan-Richard walked in during the gabfest and stuck himself in between his mother and me. He said "Hi" to his new grampapa before he remembered we had decided to call him Granddad. He got bored with the conversation soon enough and scampered off to somewhere else.

"He's growing like a weed," I said to the threesome.

"He looks happy," Sarah said ... at least I think it was Sarah.

"He is. He has a papa now and a new home soon. He's still a year from kindergarten, but he has some friends to play with."

"Our children are all grown and off on their own now," Sonya added.

It was the first I'd heard that they had offspring and I wondered about the absent husbands. Or, maybe there was just one?

"So what do you ladies do when it isn't ski season?" I asked.

"We go to the baseball game with your father," Sarah said quickly. "He keeps us quite busy when he isn't working."

"I'll have to remember to make it three seasons tickets this Christmas, Dad."

"That will be great, Son."

We chatted a little longer before signing off.

"They are very lovely ladies with your father," Kristiana said.

"Yes. But I have to admit, if someone had said that my father would end up with two very wealthy, attractive women as special friends, I would never have believed it."

"I think you are proud of him, Richard."

I nodded. "Yes, I guess I am."

We had good luck with the weather, and the windows, siding, and outside painting were all completed before winter weather set in. The rest of the project was interior work and with heat, power and all the other services in place, it allowed the men to move along quickly. I was confident we would be in our new home before Christmas.

"Richard, did you see this?" Kristiana asked as she brought me the local newspaper.

She was pointing to a story about an avalanche that killed three people in British Columbia. Two of the three were German nationals while the third was a Swede. The Swede was identified at former Swedish National Team member, Lars Halvorsen. I looked at Kristiana and could see the shock written on her expression.

"That's a terrible thing to happen to anyone," I said, non-committaly.

"It means he cannot come to bother us about Jan-Richard," she said.

There wasn't a hint of remorse in her statement.

"Were you worried about that?" I asked.

"Yes. I didn't want to be, but I was afraid someday he would return and try to be with our son."

I took her in my arms and held her closely. "He can never bother you again, my love. There is only me to be Jan-Richard's papa. No one else."

"Richard," she moaned softly into my shoulder.

"Yes."

"You are going to be a papa."

"Yes, my love."

"No ... I mean ... soon."

It finally dawned on me what my wife was trying to tell me.

"When?" I drew back, looking at her wide-eyed.

"The doctor says late May or June. Are you happy?"

"I'm more than happy! I'm delirious! Thank you, Kristiana. This is the best gift you could possibly give me," I cried, picking her up and whirling her around.

I could see the joy in her eyes as I reacted to the news. I was going to be a father! Jan-Richard would have a brother or a sister. I couldn't wait to spread the news.

"Have you told anyone?"

"No ... I would never tell anyone before you."

"Then we must tell your parents. And I must call my father. We will tell everyone!" I said, laughing.

I was hugging Kristiana tightly to me. This was truly a great day for me.

"Richard," she said as I began to calm down. "I love you."

I smiled as big a smile as I could. "I know. I know you do. And I love you more than I thought it was possible to love someone. Thank you, Kristiana. Thank you for being my wife. Thank you for Jan-Richard. Thank you for our new child. I am so happy."

There was a lot of excitement in the hotel that afternoon. The news of Lars Halvorsen was long forgotten by us, replaced by Kristiana's news. Plenty of tears from the women and plenty of handshakes and hugs from the men. Even Jan-Richard was pleased that there would be a new baby in their new home.

I had more than a couple of beers that night, followed by Schnapps. It would prove to be a deadly combination, but not until the following morning. Luckily, I had recovered enough that when the time came to call my father, I was at least feeling semi-human. A nice walk in the clean alpine air seemed like the best restorative, along with Bayer's ancient medicine.

"Congratulations, Richard. I'm very happy for you. Are you hoping for a son?"

"No ... I mean ... it doesn't matter, Dad. I have a son in Jan-Richard. So, I think a daughter would be nice."

"And more after that?" he asked.

"I'll leave that up to Kristiana. I'm fine with whatever she decides."

"Good for you. Good decision. How's the new home coming?"

"Really well, Dad. I think we'll try and move in about December 15. It should be ready then."

"That will be the last piece of the puzzle then. A bride, a child on the way, and new home. You must feel very good about all this."

"I do. When I think of what it took to get here and how it might never have happened, I just thank God that you gave me the impetus to do the right thing. You had everything to do with it coming out this way, Dad, and I will never forget that."

"Thank you, Son, but you took the initiative to do what was really in your heart. You had to do that yourself and you made it happen. You should be very proud of yourself. I know I am."

"Thanks, Dad. I'm pretty proud of you too. How are your two ladies doing?"

"They're just fine. I might have some news for you in a while. Nothing to talk about now, but maybe before Christmas."

"You can't tantalize me like that and just leave me hanging," I pleaded.

"Sorry, but you're going to have to wait. Not all the pieces are in place yet."

"Not fair, Dad, not fair."

"I'll be talking to you. Take care, Richard ... and congratulations again."

We signed off with me wondering what he could possibly be up to.

We began moving furniture and assorted items into our new home as each section was completed. Jan-Richard was excited that we would have a nice home and could invite his friends over and play in the yard or his room. The hotel was never a place to have small children playing. The rental cottage had a small yard, but I was mindful that it wasn't our property and thought it was better that our son play elsewhere until we moved. For the good weather days, the school yard was the designated place.

As November arrived and the first serious snowfall left us with almost a foot on the ground, I began to think about something that had been bothering me for a few months. I had lost contact with my mother and as much as I was angry that she hadn't responded to our wedding invitation, I wanted to make one last attempt at reconciliation. I was having a hard time believing that she wanted nothing to do with me, regardless of her feelings about Kristiana.

I had neither a current address nor a telephone number for her. She had never bothered with the Internet, so she had no e-mail address. To compound the problem, I didn't know what her last name was if she had remarried. I wasn't sure how much my father might know, but it might be enough to help me contact her. It was worth a try.

"Hi, Dad. How are you?"

"Fine, Richard. How are you and what can I do for you?"

"I'm fine and how did you know I wanted something?" I asked, surprised that he had anticipated my asking for help.

"I've known you for over twenty-seven years, Son. I can pretty well tell by your tone of voice that you are asking me for something. What is it?"

"Uhhm, I want to try and contact Mom. I'd like to make the attempt at least, but I don't have a phone number, address, or even her last name ... if she's changed it."

"Okay. I can understand how you'd want to stay in touch with her. I know her last name is now Kirkpatrick and she lives in the greater San Francisco area, but I don't have an address. I will try and do a little digging to see if I can come up with something for you. It's possible my lawyer might be able to help if there's been any communications with her lawyer. I'll do my best, Richard."

"Thanks, Dad. That's all I ask. I'm sure she doesn't know I'm going to be a father and she'll be a grandmother. I'd like to try and repair the relationship, but I need to talk to her to do that."

"Yes ... that's the only way. I'll get back to you and let you know what I can find out."

"Thanks again, Dad. I'll be talking to you. Say hello to Sarah and Sonya for me."

We signed off the call. Now it was a matter of waiting to see if Dad could track her down.

~*~

We had quite a task force to get the interior of our new home painted. Between myself, Kristiana, Karl, Jan and Hedda, it went much more quickly than we thought. Hedda and Kristiana specialized in the trim and detail work, while Karl, Jan and I looked after the big wall and ceiling surfaces. It was quite amazing how different the addition of colour made the place look.

There would be no carpet in the new home. All the floors would be tile or hardwood. Rugs would look after softening the surfaces in the living room and bedrooms. Hedda was teaching Kristiana how to make curtains and thus we only had to buy one set of drapes for the larger living room window. We installed the kitchen cabinets after the floors were laid and the room painted. Each of these additions brought us that much closer to moving in and raised the level of excitement about our new residence.

With the exception of a couple of small details, we were ready to move in early the second week of December. We had been gradually moving some things from storage, particularly furniture. The only things we were not able to move were the everyday items in the kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom. That made the final move-in day go very quickly and easily. On December 11, we took occupancy of our new home and promptly held a housewarming party for all those who had contributed to the project. It was a wonderful feeling to have our own home and know that it gave us that sense of permanency we sought.

It was two days later that I got a call from my father.

"Hi, Dad. Good to hear from you."

"You too, Richard. I think I have the information you need to contact your mother."

"Oh, that's great, Dad. Thanks a lot for taking the trouble to get it."

"Her married name is Kirkpatrick and she lives on Green Ridge Drive in the Hillside district of San Francisco. I've e-mailed you the address and phone number. I haven't talked to her in a couple of years. We didn't part in the best of circumstances. What's interesting is that this isn't the guy she was seeing while we were still married. She moved on from him, I guess."

"I don't think I ever imagined something like this, Dad. Even when she wasn't happy, I wouldn't have thought she would cheat on you."

"No ... I didn't either. However, as you've discovered, people do change and I guess that's all I can say about her. I'm pretty happy with my life these days, so what can I complain about?"

"Well, I have to at least make the attempt, so I'll let you know how it comes out, either way."

"Do that. I'd be interested in hearing about it. Talk to you soon, Richard."

I closed off the call and sat back in thought. I wasn't sure I was ready to call my mother, and when I did, I wasn't sure what my attitude toward her would be. I didn't want to be angry, but when I thought about what she did to the family, it was hard not to be.

It was three days before I had settled my mind enough to make the call. I decided to call at eight in the evening, which would be eleven in the morning in San Francisco. My stomach was in turmoil with apprehension on what the conversation might be like.

"Hello?" It was a male voice, not young.

"Uhhm, may I speak to Mrs. Kirkpatrick, please."

"Who shall I say is calling?" the man asked.

"Richard Barton." I left it at that.

There was a pause, then, "Just a moment please."

I could hear footsteps and I thought I heard voices, but they were very indistinct. I heard the footsteps once more, but lighter and quicker this time.

"Richard?" It was a familiar voice and an anxious response.

"Hello, Mother. How are you?"

"I'm ... I'm fine, Richard. I didn't expect your call. Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm okay," I said. I took a deep breath and continued. "We haven't talked in a long time and the last time ... well ... anyway, it's been a long time. There are some things I wanted you to know."

"Oh ... yes, Richard. And I very much wanted to talk to you if ... if you'd let me."

"Of course I would. You're my mother." I probably sounded a bit indignant, and maybe I was.

"Richard ... I'm sorry the way things ended; my marriage and our relationship. I never wanted that to happen. I wasn't in a very good place back then. Your father and I ... well ... you know what happened, I'm sure. But what about you? Where are you? What are you doing?"

"I'm married, Mother. I married Kristiana Nordberg this past spring. I'm also step-father to a four-year-old boy, and next May or June, you will be a grandmother. We live in Bellwald, in Switzerland, and I'm a minority partner in the hotel that Kristian's parents own."

"Oh, my goodness. I don't understand. The last I heard, you had broken up with that girl when she ran off with some other man. What happened?"

I gave my mother the shortened version of events and brought her up to date.

"I was really disappointed that you didn't reply to our wedding invitation," I told her.

"I didn't receive one, Richard. I'm sorry, perhaps it was when I was moving to this house and it got lost, but I assure you, I never received an invitation. I never wanted to lose touch with you. You're my son," she cried, shedding tears I suspected.

"Okay, Mom. I understand," I said, hoping to calm her down. "I guess those kinds of things happen. Tell me about the man you married."

"His name is James Kirkpatrick and he's a property developer. He takes old, historic or heritage buildings and restores them. There's an unlimited supply of projects for him in this area."

"Dad says this is a different man than you were involved with in Reno."

"Yes. I was a stupid woman and fell for a man with no job and no money. He thought he was going to live off me and I thought I was going to live in luxury and comfort. We were both wrong. I left him shortly after your father filed for divorce."

"But you did find someone else."

"Yes, I found a job working for James. Can you imagine, me at fifty going to work for the first time in thirty years? Anyway, we fell in love and I married him and I am very happy."

"I'm glad, Mom. I hope we can stay in touch now. I'm sure you'll want to see your first grandson or granddaughter. I'm also going to adopt Kristiana's son as soon as I'm allowed. His name is Jan-Richard."

"She named another man's son after you?"

"Yes, the father didn't stick around for the birth. He's dead now, so there's no fear he will interfere with our family. Kristiana's parents have treated me like another son, so I'm very happy and secure here. I love my wife and she loves me, as do her son and parents. It's all turned out great for me."

"I'm happy for you, Richard. I'm sorry I was so miserable to your wife and I'll try and make it up to her with an apology. She deserves at least that. Do you talk to your father often?"

"Yes, at least once a month, if not more. He's doing well," I said, leaving out any details.

"I'm glad. Someday I'll have the courage to call him and apologize."

"I think he would appreciate that, Mom."

"Richard ... please stay in touch. I don't want to lose you again."

"Mom, does your husband have e-mail?"

"Yes ... for his business."

"If you give me the address, I'll send you the details of how to get in touch with me and I'll send some pictures of my new family and our new home."

"Oh, that would be wonderful, Richard. I'm learning to use the computer now. I'm still working in James's office, so we can keep in touch."

We spend another couple of minutes talking about our lives before I ended the call with a promise to contact her again soon.

I felt relieved and good about talking to my mother. She sounded like a different person than the one I remembered from Spain. The coldness and bitterness were gone. She sounded like ... a mother.

I called my father before I let my new family know about contacting my mother. He wasn't answering, so I left a brief message letting him know the call went well. We could talk about it in more detail when time permitted.

Hedda had been very supportive of my trying to re-establish a relationship with her. I guess she was relating on a personal basis. She couldn't conceive of not being in touch with any of her children.

"You are happy that you called your mother, aren't you?" Kristiana said as we lay in bed that night.

"Yes. I never felt good about her not approving of my choices. I think she's changed for the better, though. I don't know why, but she sounds more relaxed and at peace. I guess maybe this guy she married is good for her, just like you are good for me."

"And you are good for me," she whispered as she worked to get my complete attention to her immediate objective.

~*~

"Merry Christmas, Dad. How are you and your ladies?"

"We're all fine," he smiled.

"So what did you get from Santa," I asked.

"These two," he said, pulling Sarah and Sonya in to him and into the picture. The ladies were holding up their hands and at first I didn't get it, but then I noticed the rings.

"Are those rings what I think they are?" I asked in amazement.

"If you mean am I engaged, then yes. I couldn't think of any Christmas gift I'd rather have."

"No, I suppose not. But ... doesn't that pose some problems?"

"Not really. We tossed a coin and Sonya will be my legal wife. But all three of us will live as man and wife ... or wives. For that matter, we have been for a several months now."

I was shocked speechless. I had an inkling that something was going to happen with their little ménage à trois, but this wasn't what I expected.

"I don't know what to say except ... congratulations, Dad, Sonya, Sarah. This has got to be a first for the Barton family tree."

"I'm sure it is," he chuckled. "We've talked about this a lot, Richard. It isn't some rush decision. We are all totally committed to each other and confident we can make this work."

"Well, Dad, I know you well enough to accept your decision. You don't make them on the spur of the moment, so again ... congratulations to all three of you."

I got a trio of thanks from them and then another surprise from my father.

"I handed in my early retirement papers, as of the end of the year," he said when things calmed down.

"Early retirement? But Dad, you're not old enough to retire."

"That's true, but I have a new career beginning in January. My wives and I will be building a new casino and hotel here in Incline Village. It will be smaller than the big ones in Reno or Las Vegas, but still quite a good size for the area."