Love Without Limits Ch. 04

"You were stubborn even back then. Remember what I bought you?"

I nodded, "Eleven red roses. When I asked why eleven, you told me that I was the prettiest in the dozen."

"It was corny I know."

"It was not! It was a very sweet thing to say."

Tim then turns to Amber, "Roz also lead me to you Amber. I love you just as much. We're going to be great parents who will shower this child with more love and affection than they bargained for."

Amber and I gave Tim a big hug.

I smiled, "Guess it's us against the world."

*** *** ***

Another surprise came a few months after Amber's big announcement. It was on a weekend and we were feeling lazy that day watching some TV when we heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Tim said getting off the couch.

He opened the door, I thought I heard a familiar voice. An unpleasant voice.

Tim came back into the living room, "Roz, there is a sickly old man at the door claiming to be your father."

"What?! What could he possibly want?"

"That mother fucker is not welcome here!" Amber shouted, "If he starts anything I'll kill him!"

"Calm down Miss Hormones. Let me see what he wants."

The pins and needles feeling I had whenever I was home as a child had suddenly made its way back. I nervously opened the door to see a man I barely recognized as my father. He had lost all his hair and apparently needed a cane.

"What are you doing here?" I shouted.

"It's good to see you again," he said.

"Cut the shit! What do you want?"

"Listen Rozalin, please don't shut the door in my face. I won't take up much of your time. Can we sit down here on the porch?"

"Suit yourself, but I'll stand."

He sat down on one of the lawn chairs and became short on breath.

"As you may have noticed, I'm not doing so good. I've been diagnosed with liver cancer."

"Am I supposed to give a shit? Because I don't," I said coldly.

He let out a small chuckle, "Always the smart ass, but I deserve it."

"You've drunk like a fish ever since I've known you and you're surprised you have liver cancer?"

"I can't deny that. I am sober now though, for over two years. Too little too late I know."

"Do you want a cookie?" I asked sarcastically.

"Look Rozalin, I'm not here because I want your forgiveness or your pity. I don't deserve either. I was a horrible father and I will be paying for that sin here soon enough."

He looked up at me and for the first time, I saw tears in his eyes.

"I'm here because there was something I wanted to tell you before I died. It's about your mother."

The confusion as to why he would come all this way to talk about my mother had oddly peaked my interest. He never talked about Mom. Ever.

"What about her? You told me she left after I was born."

"That's only partially true. She didn't leave. She died, in the delivery room. The doctors told her there were complications with the pregnancy and one or both of you would die if she went into labor. She ignored their advice to terminate the pregnancy."

I saw my mother in a new light. My whole life I had thought she had abandoned me, but she had given her life, to give me life.

"I loved your mother more than life itself. I was lost without her. Only by drinking was I able to numb the pain but it never went away. In time, I committed the biggest sin of my life and took her death out on you. I'm sorry for what I did, for what it is worth."

He struggled to stand up, made it to the bottom of the porch steps.

"That's all I wanted to say. I can rest in peace now."

I stood there dumbfounded as my father hobbled his way to his car.

"Dad?"

He slowly turned around. He had a slight smile on his face, since it had been the first time he heard me call him "Dad" since I was a little girl.

"Her name? What was her name?"

"Ariel," he replied. He got into his car and drove off.

Not long after that we had read in the newspaper that the church that Tim's family attends had burned down.

"Tim come look at this!" I said, "Didn't you go to school there?"

He looked at the article, his face looked so sad.

"Yes I did. It was a good school. We have to help them rebuild."

"Help them rebuild?" Amber asked, "The people who go there are probably the same ones who spray painted "Sinners" across our front windows weeks ago."

"That's not the point Amber, this is about the kids who attend school there. We can't hold it against them."

"They are likely not to accept help from us, you know this right?" I said.

"Look, I'm doing this with or without you guys. Either way, I'm going there to offer my help in rebuilding. My vocational degree in carpentry should be more than enough to convince them."

I smiled at Tim, I've never seen such determination in his eyes before.

"We'll come with you," I said, "We'll do whatever you ask."

When we arrived at the site, the entire building was in ruins. Nothing but ash and fallen stone could be seen where once stood a well built church. There was a crowd of people, all chipping in to help clean up the wreckage. As we approached, we passed Tim's parents who were overseeing some of the crew.

"Dad, where is Father James?"

Giving no vocal reply, he simply pointed further down the site.

We walked up to Father James who immediately recognized Tim.

"Hi Father James, how are things going?" Tim asked.

"Not bad all things considered. No one was hurt thank the Lord. I'm still not sure what to do about the rest of the school year."

"About that," Tim said, "I want to help rebuild the school. I've learned so much from this place that I want to give back. I have a vocational degree in carpentry which I'm sure would be of use here."

"That's very kind of you Tim, we could use the extra help. Unfortunately what we need most is the funds to rebuild. The insurance will cover the building expenses but that still leaves all the desks, books, and everything else."

I looked over at Tim, I could tell his heart ached for this place.

Father James looked over at Amber and myself, "So you must be Tim's wives."

I was shocked that a complete stranger knew about our arrangement. Then again, Tim's family wasn't known for keeping quiet.

"Um, yes. I'm Rozalin and this is Amber."

"Very nice to meet you Father." Amber said.

"So you... know about us?" Tim asked.

"This is a small town Tim. Word travels fast. What you decide to do is between you and God. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do according to His good pleasure."

"Phil 2:12," Tim said.

"I see you still remember, you always were a great student."

"Father James, we'd like to donate some money to your cause," I said.

"That's very generous of you all. We have a collection box set up in the tent over there."

I looked at Tim, he was smiling at my willingness to help them. I was so proud to call him my husband. I wanted to make him just as proud of me.

"I want to hand you a check, if that is alright?"

I reached into my purge and filled out a check. When I handed it to Father James his eyes widened.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Yes I'm sure. You don't have to say where you got it. I know you have an image to uphold but we want you to have this. Make this school better than it ever was. It helped shape Tim into the man he is today, for which I am extremely thankful for."

"Your words are too kind Rozalin. You and your family will always be welcome here. I will let your generosity be known throughout our church. We are all the Lord's children after all."

"Thank you Father James," I said.

We went back to our truck to grab some of Tim's tools.

"So how much did you give him Roz?" Tim asked.

"Five thousand"

"Five thousand?!" he shouted with a smile on his face.

"We have plenty in savings. This seems like something you really want to do."

Tim picked me up off the ground, hugging me tightly.

"Thank you Roz!"

*** *** ***

Several months later I got a call at work, Amber had gone into labor. I ran to Tim's department and told him. We sprinted out the door and sped off in our car.

"For fuck sake Tim drive faster! Drive it like you stole it!"

"I'm trying, alright?" he shouted.

We got home in record time and carried Amber to the car. When we got to the hospital, the nurses rushed her to the delivery room. They tried to remove one of us from the room claiming they didn't have the space, they gave up after I threatened them with bodily harm.

"You're doing great Amberly, just keep breathing," I said comforting her. The grip she had on my arm was extremely painful.

"Guys, I can't do this! It hurts so much!" Amber said, panicking.

"It's a little late for that now, don't you think?" Tim said.

"This is all your fault!" Amber shouted at him.

"My fault?" he shouted, "you're the one who jumped my bones as I recall!"

"Will you two calm down?" I yelled, putting them in line.

The doctor came into the room, lifted up Amber's gown, examining her.

"She's ready to go. Did you know beforehand if it was a boy or girl?" the doctor asked.

"No, we wanted it to be a surprise," Tim said, "we had an ultrasound done but told them not to tell us."

"Okay Amber I need you to take three deep breaths followed by a big push. Ready?"

"No I'm not ready!"

"Amber you got this," Tim said, "Grab my arm."

Amber clutched his arm like she was holding for dear life.

"We're all here for you Amberly. You're almost there. A few minutes and it will be over."

Gaining some courage, Amber smiled. "Thanks you guys. I'm ready."

She took three big breaths and pushed, letting out an eardrum piercing scream.

"Again Amber," The doctor said.

Again she took deep breaths and pushed. I thought she was going to break my arm.

"You're doing great Amberly, keep going!" I said giving her much needed encouragement.

She pushed really hard and we heard the sound of a baby crying.

"There we go, well done Amber. Well, it's a boy," the doctor said handing the baby to the nurse for cleanup.

"Yes! Yes!!" Tim shouted, "Finally balance has been restored in our house!"

Before I could get too excited Amber let out another blood curdling scream.

"It... it still hurts... guys..."

"Doctor what's wrong?!" I asked alarmed.

"Well she still has afterbirth to... oh my."

He stopped in mid sentence. My adrenaline was pumping. I feared something was terribly wrong.

"What? What!" Tim and I shouted.

"Well you wanted to be surprised, so here's the surprise; Amber you're having twins."

Amber about jumped out of the bed, "What? Twins!"

Tim and I looked at each other completely dumbfounded. No wonder her belly looked so huge during her final months of pregnancy.

"It's alright Amber, you're doing just fine. Same as before, three deep breaths and push."

Two more pushes and another sound of crying filled the room.

"And it's a beautiful baby girl," the doctor said once again handing the baby to the nurse.

We were all relieved that Amber had stopped screaming. She was still breathing heavily and I wiped the sweat from her face with a cold wash cloth.

The doctor stood and said, "You'll need a few stitches but everything appears normal. We will keep you here a few days for observation. Congratulations to you all."

The doctor shook Tim's hand and then mine, and left the room.

The nurse returned, handing the babies to Amber. Staring at them for the first time I realized they were the most beautiful babies I'd ever seen.

"They are adorable!" Amber said with tears of joy.

"Yes they are, you two make beautiful babies," I said.

I then turned to Tim, "So much for your balance in the household."

Tim reached down, grabbing our son into his arms, "It was great while it lasted, huh little guy?"

Amber smiled, looking at me, "Rozzy, come hold your daughter."

"Don't you want to hold her? You did all the work, you should be the one to hold her. Besides, I don't see Tim letting go of our son any time soon."

"I'm exhausted Rozzy, there's plenty of time to cuddle with them later."

I picked the sweet innocent baby from Amber arms. She was beautiful with bright brown eyes and dark puffs of hair. She looked up at me for a few moments then closed her eyes, completely content. I guess Amber wasn't the only who was exhausted.

"Rozzy, I want you to name her."

"Huh? But why?"

"Rozzy, I may have given birth but they are just as much your children as they are mine. It's you who has always wanted a baby and it's you who holds this family together. I feel you should have that honor."

What she said touched me, I instantly started crying.

"What about our son?" Tim asked, "I like the name Charles."

"I like it! It sounds like royalty," Amber giggled, "what do you think Rozzy?"

I looked over at the baby boy curled up in a ball in Tim's arms, "Charles it is."

I stood there, holding my daughter, thinking about my long journey. None of it would have been possible without one person's sacrifice; my mother. Though she paid the ultimate price to give me life, I would have done the same for this child.

"Ariel. Her name is Ariel."

All the events of our lives, the good, the bad, had lead us to this moment. The lives of these two children are a miracle.

Some people think the way we live our lives is wrong or immoral. Several people at work have harassed Tim, calling him a polygamist like it was such a horrible thing. There were even those who make the ridiculous assumption that Amber and I were forced into marriage. Whenever I mention I have a husband and a wife, I'm met with ridicule for being bi-sexual, but also for also having multiple spouses.

People have perceptions of right and wrong; they tend to be close-minded towards the things they don't understand. If three people can cast aside their own perception of love, accept love without limits, maybe in time the rest of the world can accept it too.