My Only Talent Ch. 46

We never got around to watching any movies. They pale by comparison.

..........

Ashley and Pepe's wedding ceremony was a tour de force of PR success. It was held at the Warner ranch, where Pepe' grew up, just as Jay and Millie's wedding had been. Cactus Jake made the same arrangements and spent the same amount of money as that big wedding, as several of the reporters looking for a negative spin discovered. Ashley's uber liberal California family was very taken with Jay's family and they didn't hesitate to praise them to anyone that would listen.

Ashley got almost all the reporters she was targeting to attend and managed to get them all one on one time with Jay, but not on camera, not yet. She would keep that in reserve. Millie charmed all the visiting male politicians right off their feet. Most of them told their friends they thought the incredibly charming Millie was actually hot for them. Ashley just thought Millie really knew how to work a crowd, but Millie had to change her panties several times between meetings, and after the last pol left Jay and Millie disappeared into their bedroom for most of the next day. Both emerged the following morning with big smiles on their faces.

Debbie Delaney was surprised and delighted to be invited to the wedding at the Warner ranch. She flew in from California with her sexiest wardrobe choices, hoping that Millie Kincaid had not been kidding about disciplining her. Something about that just resonated with her. But as soon as she arrived, she saw this was not the kind of gathering where that could happen. She recognized several major national political reporters and big-time pols in the crowd, and she had some competition for most attractive woman there. Gaupo, Ashley's husband to be, was not pretty, despite his nickname, which she now realized was satirical, but he was sure a hawk faced hottie. The sexual energy radiated from him like one of those big yellow tinted lights above an airport parking lot. In another setting, she would have gladly been a moth flitting around him. But she saw the look in his eyes when he saw Ashley. He was in love and he only had eyes for Ashley. Happy honeymoon, Ash!

Suddenly Millie said hello. She looked incredibly hot and worked up. "Hi. Debbie! Too many reporters around for us to spend any time with you, but your next invitation will be to an event that should prove much more opportune. I've got to go work the crowd!" Debbie thought somebody needed to work Millie, and soon. She looked ready to explode. Too bad it could not be Debbie herself. But when that next invitation came in, she would clear her calendar.

Stuckey Jones was pissed that he didn't get the comms director job, but Ashley had that covered too. She got him an exclusive on camera interview, with Jay's grandmother, mother, and Pepe's mother, who told childhood stories about the two boys growing up. Women absolutely loved the segment, and Stuckey got interviewed on several national shows because of his 'in depth knowledge' of the family. The B roll included shots of people arriving at the ranch and socializing with Jay and Millie, Jay going to classes, and Millie speaking to groups. The ratings were great. One of these short segments even appeared on "Face the Nation" on Sunday morning.

Suzanne Pliskin dropped her brunch plate when she saw Robbie, Lara, and an obviously pregnant Nora Upman arriving at the ranch, smiling widely! Lettye helped her clean up while her insides churned. It hurt! She thought she was over all that. Her folks did not see how shaken she was. But Lettye did; she noticed everything!

Alexander and Carmencita saw the same segment. He tried not to show any kind of reaction when he recognized Robbie and Lara. Carmencita knew what had happened in Austin, but she had no idea who Robbie was or what he looked like. Best to keep it that way.

..........

Now that Nora and Lara were on their way back east after the wedding, I knew I needed to have a serious discussion with Chrissy about two things: going airtight and my impending fatherhood and not being able to see her anymore. I gamed it out in my mind several different ways.

I thought the airtight business was easy -- she was not ready, and she did not have the kind of trust needed built up with anyone except me, much less at least two or three someones who also new each other. I would tell her I had an awfully bad intuitive feeling about her rushing into it. It worked great for Mei Ling, but she was older and had long term relationships in place. Note to self: next time we have one of those frat rat rush brainstorming sessions to list all the myriad reasons to join UDP, should I suggest being able to arrange a relatively safe gang bang for your girlfriend if she asks?

On the fatherhood thing, surely, she would understand my desire to devote my energies to my newly forming family, and the fact that after this semester, I would not be back in Austin again until the following September. That should make our course of action abundantly clear. I could not give her any hint of why my bond with the womb rat was so strong, but I could certainly tell her how sincerely I felt it.

There was a "we need to talk" lunch at the union in our future, I guess. I realized maybe women feel sad when they set those up, too.

..........

Suzanne was having trouble getting the image of an incredibly happy and pregnant Nora out of her mind. Clearly, Lara, Nora, and Robbie were a family unit now, one Suzanne herself would never be a part of. She did not want kids, in fact it was 90% certain she could not have any even if she wanted to, and Mike was okay with that. She had filed it away and compartmentalized it, but suddenly it hurt. It even affected her concentration when lecturing her classes. Tuesday afternoon she was extra cruel to Steven, but he got just as hard as ever. Now if that bitch Carmencita would just leave her alone.

..........

I met Chrissy in same food line at the Union where she told me about Big Bones, and they were still cooking that stinky kimchi. I felt just at bad now as I did then.

"Hi Robbie, what's up?"

"Well, I have done something that is definitely going to change our relationship, and I need to tell you all about it."

She looked surprised. "I thought we were on pretty solid ground and understood each other."

"We were and did, but circumstances have changed. You see, I am going to be a father soon."

Her face fell. Total surprise from left field. "Wow. I never even considered that!"

"It was a surprise to all of us."

"All of us?"

"Nora, the woman who lives in Massachusetts right now, and Lara who goes to school at Penn."

"Nora who you just went to visit?"

"Yes."

"What part does Lara play?"

"Well, we are a 'throuple' I guess you call it, these days."

"So, are you going to marry Nora?"

"Yes, and Lara too."

"How does that work?"

"Lara is in law school. She is working out the legal aspects of things. Nora's pregnancy was unexpected, but Lara wants to get pregnant as soon as she finishes law school. She calls it co-parenting. She plans to lawyer up and change the legal definition of marriage to accommodate it."

"Wow." She looked at me funny for at least a minute, then she smiled a crooked smile. "Well, I have to give you points for honesty!"

That made me even sadder.

"Do they know about me?"

"Oh yes! They know about you and approve, at least until the end of this semester. We tell each other everything."

"So, when classes end in December we are done too?"

I nodded. She looked very thoughtful. "Robbie, those pictures that Mei Ling had on her phone, was that Lara and Nora, and who else?"

"One of the girls was Lara. Nora was not in the picture then."

"The tall blonde bombshell?"

I nodded.

"She's amazing. Who were the other two?"

"One is a wonderful woman that I had an open and honest relationship with, much like we do. She is married to one of my friends now."

"You are okay with that?"

"Yep. I introduced them."

"Still friends?"

"Yes. They were at the wedding I just went to."

"And the other woman?"

"She's the one that broke my heart."

She looked very worried. "Your life is complicated, Robbie."

If she only knew the whole story.

She sighed. "Joyce is going to be devastated!"

"What do you mean?"

"Guys get her hot, but she has trouble trusting anyone. She told me you were the first guy she ever just let herself go with, and it really got her off."

"I think you had something to do with that too, Chrissy. I think Joyce is wonderful, and I would like to continue to be wonderful to both of you until I leave in December."

She smiled. "Do Nora and Lara know about that?"

"Yes."

"Wow, an honest man!"

"Well sometimes I am not completely honest with myself, but I am working on it."

"My mother will be mad, too. She wanted me to marry you. I told her I am not ready to marry anybody anytime soon."

"I wasn't either but a child kind of forces your hand. At least your father will be glad I'm out of the picture."

"I'll always love you, Robbie!"

"Me too, Chrissy. I only want the best for you. So, I want to talk about one other thing."

"Big Bones?"

"No, we have worked through that. It was one of those things you had to do, I guess. Big Bones is a major pussy hound, and he certainly sniffed out a sweet thing like you. Risky but exciting, I suppose. Frankly, he has probably banged ten groupies since then."

"What do you want to talk about then?"

"Your desire to do the three or four on one thing."

"I know it's risky. Why did you set it up for Mei Ling, then?"

"She knew all the guys already and had spent a good deal of time with them, and I did vouch for them as low risk, good guys who could keep a secret. Plus, she was older and more experienced already. But I didn't set it up for Mei Ling."

"Huh?"

"It was set up for the girl who broke my heart. She asked me to do it so many times that I finally agreed."

"Wow. I don't know if you were being generous or stupid!"

"It turned out I was in love and thus both generous and stupid. Then, at the last minute, she decided to go back to her old boyfriend. Mei Ling was a close friend and Cisco knew about the planned gang bang beforehand, and she asked if she could step in."

"Why did Cisco even know about it?"

"He's an electronics whiz, and I asked him to check the condo for bugs and webcams beforehand, so there was no chance of a video."

"Wow. He gave her the okay?"

"Yes. They are amazingly open about everything."

"So, it went okay after the switch?"

"Well almost. Big Bones has a habit of showing up at inopportune times."

"Big Bones? Was he part of the condo wrecking crew for Mei Ling?"

"No, but he showed up while we were waiting for her, and when he saw four horny guys, and we were afraid he wanted to be the fifth, which would have been too much, plus he was too risky to include."

"I see. So that's why he thought there might be some more hot action at the condo when I was there?"

"Well, he was right about that, wasn't he?"

She grinned. "I will never tell anybody about me and Big Bones except you and Mei Ling, Robbie."

"Just remember that you don't have that kind of trusting relationship with three guys now, much less four, and it will take time to develop. You need to really feel comfortable to make it work. I have a very bad feeling about you trying it too soon."

Chrissy looked thoughtful.

..........

I got emails from all three postdocs as soon as I got back to Austin. They all had reasonable and measurable milestones, and suggestions for how to overcome obstacles. I had enough to put together a project plan. On the first Zoom conference, we went over the plan and formed a consensus and I modified it while we were on the call. Then I got with each one individually and got their commitments to meet their individual goals.

One the next call, I bought in Oilers EE buddy from NI, introducing him as part of our "advisory board' and he clearly spoke their language and had some practical suggestions for things to try. Their enthusiasm increased dramatically. Nora reported that the dinners were going swimmingly, with 100% attendance. She had access to my project plan too, and she did some subtle questioning and not so subtle reinforcement. She visibly praised the guys who were on track in front of the female guests, and quickly realized this these dinners were the social event of their lives for the postdocs.

Nora was the 'nice pregnant lady' who was now giving them relationship advice on how to court some of the bright females at her dinners. They would do anything to keep from disappointing her.

..........

Chrissy, Joyce, and I went out to the condo for one last time on a Friday afternoon. Chrissy had already told Joyce about my leaving and not seeing them again after that. All business Joyce was clingy. I liked it. We made very tender whoopee for the first couple of hours, with me doing each of them doggie style while they went down on the other girl. It was good, and kind of broke the ice. As we lay in afterglow, Joyce got almost maudlin about missing me and being lonely.

"Joyce, you are a primal female animal just like Chrissy. You are absolutely fabulous in the sack and any man or woman should be overjoyed to be with you."

"Yeah, but I know I can trust you!"

"You should hang around UDP more, then. Come to my going away party during dead week and meet some of the guys. I like to think we are way more trustworthy than your run of the mill frat rat. I would like to see you flirt with a couple of freshmen and make their day. Take it from me, there is nothing like a hot junior taking an interest to build up a young guy's confidence level!"

She grinned. "Do you have someone in mind?"

"No, you go with your first impression and female intuition. You are hot enough to have your pick, but I would suggest a guy that you think you would enjoy having chase you. Keep him on the string for a while, and then let him catch you and light up his life."

Chrissy stretched and said, "Speaking of lighting up your life, Joyce, I want to show you a short video!"

"Oh, My Fucking God!" did not sound any better to me in stereo, but I had to admit that two fired up girls were better than one. After they wore me out, I just watched for a while. The tribing was a lot hotter than the video, and it got me back into the action. An all-night way to say goodbye.

..........

My dad once told me that you can track the stages of your life by how much stuff you must tote around with you. His prime example was what he called his 'terminal' phase, wherein my mother wanted to take so much stuff on even a weekend trip that a full-sized Chevy Suburban was just barely enough to hold it all. I was still at the stage where everything I owned would fit in my relatively small two door vintage Chrysler Crossfire. But it was packed solid as I headed north on I35 out of Austin, including a bunch of background info Rock Tappert gave me to study on NeuroSignal.

My class projects were all turned in and I had done well on my finals. I had exchanged tears with both Chrissy and Joyce and had a sendoff party at UDP during dead week. Joyce had energized two promising UDP freshman who were now in the hunt for her. I had even pre-registered for my 'distributed education" internship courses for the spring and summer semesters. This would be a vastly different job experience living in New England rather than suburban Kent. I would be living everyday with Nora, and we would see Lara on almost every weekend, also a different and wonderful routine.

It only took about three hours to get on the tollway and make the final approach to Prosperous, Texas and my folk's house. The surviving dogs were friendly, but it was not the same without Eldie leading the pack. I would spend the night here and then take off early in the morning. I was going to make Knoxville my overnight stop, and then make it to Pennsylvania to see Lara for two nights before driving on with her to Cambridge. Kevin had shown me the old movie Easy Rider to set the mood for my trip, and even if I didn't identify with motorcycles or running dope, I still felt a measure of the uniquely American freedom of being on the road. I would soon have to spend all my waking hours trying to get the postdocs on track for a summer finish to the hardware demo project, but I would have Nora and Lara to help. I guess this was the end of the beginning for me. Fatherhood awaits!