Replacement Therapy Ch. 06

Georgia was released after two weeks in a rehabilitation centre for abused women. It was the only facility available to her, a non-resident. Fortunately, she seemed to be better, although far from the woman I remembered three years earlier. She moved to Sacramento, and roomed with her friend. She had a job offer in Roseville and took it. I saw her a few weeks later when she visited the boys and she looked much better. Much more alive.

Meg disappeared for a few days in early October. Yolanda said she was off with one of her "boyfriends" at Lake Berryessa for a little R & R. No one deserved it more than her. She would return with her batteries recharged and ready for whatever came next, especially the wedding.

My bachelor party, such as it was, consisted of a night at Doug Howell's club with designated best man, Johnny Gordon, and my old pal, Nick Kleinhof. Nick was grateful for the night off and to be served by others for a change. We were a pretty quiet foursome, but had a lot of fun and a lot to drink. Johnny had provided a driver and limo for the evening. Our driver was a particularly attractive young woman, and it was a shame she couldn't join us in the club.

Meg arranged a "hen party" for her daughter, and gathered up a collection of Yolanda's friends to join the party. I have no idea what transpired with the six or seven women that attended, but Meg implied that it was just as well I didn't know. What I did know was that three of us were nursing minor hangovers the next morning.

I was getting nervous as the wedding date approached. I'm not sure if it was because I wasn't certain about marrying again, or just the usual pre-event jitters common to most grooms. There was one certainty, however; I was going to marry Yolanda, and with that, have a family of four children. I was going to have everything I ever wanted, and then some.

We talked about my adopting her children so that they could share the Prentice name. Yolanda was fine with it, but suggested we talk to the children and see how they felt. I was going to do that anyway. After all, if I had asked them if it was okay to marry their mother, it only made sense to ask them about their last name.

"DeDe, Kirk, I want to ask you an important question," I began. They looked at me, perhaps a bit worried about what I wanted of them.

"When your mother and I get married, her name will be Mrs. Prentice. But ... your names will still be Deanna and Kirk Michaels."

"Why?" Kirk answered. DeDe looked distressed as well.

"I have to adopt you so that your name can be the same as mine. But I only want to do that if you want it too."

"I want to have the same name as my mom and dad," DeDe said with authority.

"Me too," Kirk chimed in.

"So, if we do that, your names will be Deanna and Kirk Prentice. Is that okay?"

I got two very positives nods in favor.

"Good ... then that's what we'll do. As soon as your mom and I are married, I'll get the paperwork going and we'll all be the Prentice family.

"Yaay!" Kirk yelled. He raced of to tell his mother and grandmother about the meeting.

"Does that mean you'll be my real daddy?" DeDe asked.

"Well, not exactly ... but legally ... yes. Your real daddy died in the war, so I'm your new, official daddy. Can you understand that?"

She nodded and smiled one of her special big smiles. Then she paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Is it okay if I call you Daddy?" she asked carefully.

"Yes ... it's very okay. I'd really like that. Also, it means that Terry and Matt are your brothers, and you are their sister. How about that?"

"Goody. I like Matt ... and Terry. Now I have three brothers," she said, holding up three fingers.

These kids were making my life very easy. I could only hope it would always be this way.

Yolanda wandered into the living room a few moments after DeDe left and sat beside me. "You seem to know just what to say to them. Kirk is very happy that you are going to be his father. I'm sure Deanna is as well. Terry and Matt are happy to be back with you and seem very comfortable around me. That's a big relief."

"Well, I didn't expect a problem. DeDe and Kirk's real father is gone, and I'm the next best thing," I laughed. "Somebody has to play the role."

"You know, Aaron, that the ceremony is just that ... a ceremony. We're already married, emotionally and physically. You already are their father. The rest is just a formality. I've been Mrs. Prentice for a while now, and I've loved every minute of it ... except maybe for the appearance of Leonard."

"I know what you mean and I feel the same way. I have a wife, a daughter, and three sons. I've gone from being completely alone to having a wonderful family in a very short time. I feel very lucky ... very blessed."

We sat quietly for a while, just holding hands, satisfied in each other's company.

"I hate to break the mood," I said after a few minutes, "but something occurred to me today that we should discuss. We need bigger transportation. I was going to suggest we trade in one of our cars on a minivan. Something with seven passenger capability so there's room for Meg too. What do you think about that?"

"Here I was having lascivious thoughts about us and you want to talk about cars. Typical male," she said in mock disgust. She couldn't maintain her expression and dissolved into giggles.

"Well, on some of the models you can take out all the rear sets and we can turn it into a "shaggin' wagon" if you like," I tried.

"That's more like it. I'm getting to be a little more selfish with you around. We're going to have to guard our privacy if we want some regular playtime."

"That thought had occurred to me, all right. Maybe we can secretly put a private room in the shop building."

"And just exactly how, with four children around, would you be able to keep that a secret?"

"Yeah," I said, defeated. "It was just a thought."

She wrapped her arms around me in that now-familiar way and kissed me deeply. "We'll find a way ... don't worry. I'm not giving up my favorite pastime just yet. Maybe in thirty or forty years. Besides, we have a bathroom between us and the children's rooms. And ... we aren't that loud, are we?"

"Okay ... I'm convinced. It seems like the problem isn't really a problem."

I'd been off work for so many weeks this year that I didn't have the heart to take more time for a honeymoon. We decided to defer it to next year and give ourselves lots of time to decide where to go. In the meantime, I had an interim plan. Thanksgiving at Disneyland with the kids. It was a one day drive, and if we left on Thursday, we would have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to enjoy the sights, and then drive home Monday. For me, a one-day-extended weekend holiday. Yolanda was all for it.

"Let's not tell the kids until all the arrangements are made and it's closer to time to go. That way they won't get wound up and drive us crazy too far in advance."

"Agreed. My boys haven't been there yet, and I'm assuming your two haven't either."

"Sweetheart ... they're all ours," she reminded me. "And you're right ... none of them has been there before. I think it's a wonderful idea. Why don't you start making the arrangements?"

"Okay. In the meantime, we really will need a van, so why don't we go look for one on Saturday?"

"You talked me into it," she said, kissing me once again and moving back to the kitchen.

The wedding went off without a hitch, aided by wonderful early fall weather. The reception was held in the yard, with canopies supplied to ward off either sun or rain. It turned out to be a comfortably sunny day, and our guests lingered until quite late in the afternoon. I got to meet Judge Beltran, Representative Reardon, and a couple of other dignitaries who were friends of Meg.

Yolanda and I had booked a B & B in Nevada City for our one night honeymoon. I wish it had been longer, but we enjoyed each other's company that evening, and the next morning.

As I thought about my life now, it seemed impossible to accept that it had turned out so well when only a few short months ago I was alone and lonely. My special guest at the wedding was Nick Kleinhof, in recognition of his putting Yolanda and me together. It may not have been his intention, but that's the way it worked out, and I'll be forever grateful.

So it only made sense that I would be sitting at the bar with Yolanda that following Saturday afternoon, raising our glasses to Nick. We might never know who Backstreet Bernie was, but we sure as hell knew how important he was to both of us.

END

Editing by ErikThread and DaveT with my thanks for their thoroughness and helpful suggestions. Any errors are mine.