Some Things Change Pt. 02

I personally think he did it himself. If he'd hired someone to kill me, a professional, they would have got me in the chest or head, and I'd be gone. But the shooter missed my chest and got my leg. I also believed that, if Steve hadn't come out right away like he did, the shooter could have finished the job. Steve's quick reaction may have saved my life.

Lara went home to take care of Zeke, but someone stayed with me the entire time I was in the hospital. Mom brought the twins and my apprentice Joey after school got out. Prudence and Steve came in the evening. Pop stayed with me overnight. I even got short visits from Amanda and Greg, Reverend Jones, and Nancy Hammond.

I was released from the hospital Tuesday morning. I was confined to a wheelchair for a week or so, until I healed up enough walk on my own. My family and friends made a big deal of it as they helped me roll in my wheelchair to the ballot box, so I could vote for myself.

Then Steve rolled me to the garage, and we both realized that there was no way for me to get up those stairs to the apartment. We were both trying to think of an alternative - I was considering moving back to my parents' den - when Steve came up with a creative, and very unorthodox idea.

He figured that I wouldn't be doing much auto work in the near future, aside from possibly instructing Joey from my chair. So we could set up a bed in one of the garage bays. Or, even better, a mobile bedroom.

Thus it was that Lara's trailer was soon relocated in the garage bay. Lara was more than happy to help, of course, though she was concerned since her trailer hadn't been moved in years. She and Zeke took my bed upstairs. And I was able to shift my temporarily-crippled ass out of the wheelchair and into the trailer, and sleep there.

Lara poked fun at me about it. "How is it," she asked me while grinning, "that you won't ask me to move into the apartment with you, then suddenly you do ask, but you're not staying there with me?"

"Life is a cruel bitch," I nodded. "Or maybe it's karma."

"How is it karma?"

I pointed at my leg. "Remember the guy I shot in Iraq? I'm pretty sure that's the same spot where I shot him."

"You can't call that karma," Lara said. "He was coming at you. You defended yourself."

"Maybe your father shot me to defend himself, or at least his way of life."

It was a sobering statement, but Lara brushed it away with kisses to my forehead. "Stop that. You are a hero. He's a coward. You are loving and he is hateful. You and he are nothing alike." Then she smiled again. "That's why I voted for you."

----

The normal election processes in Gideon had the mayor and Betty, the secretary, counting the votes together. Since the mayor's office was on the line, the consensus of the town was that he should not participate, though he wanted to. In the end, the town elders agreed that Betty would count the votes with two trusted members of the community, selected by the town's commerce guild. Reverend Smith was an obvious choice. Mr. Anderson, from the hardware store, was selected as the second person.

The mayor and I watched from a distance as the three of them counted hundreds of votes. I was told it was more votes than any normal election, but most normal elections don't have this kind of controversial issue on it.

The mayor eyed my wheelchair. "Heard about your injury," he muttered.

"Yup." I didn't have much to say to the man who possibly pulled the trigger, and if not, most definitely knew who did.

"Gonna be able to walk again?"

"Yup."

I didn't look at him. I wanted the awkward silence to rattle him. I simply watched the vote-counters do their work and whisper quietly to themselves.

When they finally completed their tallies, and verified them between the three of them, they put the ballots away in a folder. Betty walked over to Jim, her hand outstretched. He grinned, and my heart dropped.

"It's been a pleasure working with you," she said to him, making the smile fall from his face. Then she turned to me, and shook my hand. "Congratulations, Mayor Williams."

That night, I had a party in the garage. Steve moved the trailer out to the street to make room, and all my family and friends came. There was music and dancing. Several women danced with me as best they could with my wheelchair. There was some drinking, but not for me, as I was still on pain medication.

Late in the evening, after Lara had put Zeke to bed, she was curled up in my lap as I sat in my chair. Most of the party-goers had left, but Steve, Prudence, Amanda, and Greg were all still sitting with us.

"So what's next, mister Mayor," Amanda teased. "Any more big plans?"

"Just one I can think of," I answered. "I'm moving into the mayor's house."

Looked at me funny. "You're moving into my father's house?"

"It's not his house," I stated. "That house, since it was built, has belonged to the town of Gideon, for the use of housing the mayor and his or her family."

Lara was still confused. "But... where will he live?"

I just shrugged. "I don't know. I don't much care, do you?"

"Not for him, but for Lance," Lara pointed out. "He still lives there."

"We'll figure something out for him."

"Does he know?"

"Nope," I grinned. "But he'll find out real soon."

----

Jim Hammond was furious that he was being evicted from his home. It was really the only home he'd ever known, since his father had been mayor before him. But the town owned the house, and he was no longer the mayor. "But I'll be merciful," I told him. "You can have two weeks to move out."

"What if it takes me longer than two weeks?"

"I'll throw whatever's left in a dumpster."

"Where the hell am I supposed to live?" he shouted with a red face. I'm sure he would've attacked me if the sheriff wasn't standing behind my wheelchair.

"I know someone with a trailer, they might be willing to sell it to you at a reasonable rate."

His big red face turned pale so quickly I thought he might pass out. Just the thought of Jim Hammond having to buy that old trailer from his disowned daughter made him sick and made me giddy.

"This isn't over, boy," he said gruffly, then went into the house and slammed the door.

"He's right, it's not over," I told the sheriff. "He's going to try to get at me."

"How do you know that?" he asked.

I pointed at my leg. "Pretty sure he's responsible for this. He knew he was losing that election. It made him desperate. Now he's being evicted, he'll be even more desperate."

The sheriff nodded. "You know I don't have any proof he shot you, Charlie. But I also don't have any proof he didn't. I'll try to have my deputies keep an eye out."

"I appreciate it."

----

Hammond was able to get his stuff out of the house by the deadline. The week before Thanksgiving, I had the whole house cleaned and painted, then had my stuff moved in. I had to buy new appliances, since Hammond took those, but it was worth the expense.

I didn't do much of the heavy lifting myself. I was out of the wheelchair, but I was still limited by using a cane to walk moderate distances. The doctors assured me I'd be rid of that before Christmas, but I might have a slight limp for years. But I didn't die and wasn't paralyzed, so I guess I should be thankful that Jim Hammond was a lousy shot.

I let Lara and Zeke stay in the apartment, along with Prudence and Steve. We moved the trailer to an empty spot behind my parents' house. I had no idea where Jim Hammond had gone to live, but he never did come asking about the trailer. I knew he wouldn't; a man like that could never eat that much humble pie.

Nancy kept Hammond as her last name, but the divorce became final right before Thanksgiving. Even better, Lance started living with her. He became a little nicer to people, realizing how much people hated his father.

All my friends and family helped with the moving-in process. I had made a request to them that we have Thanksgiving in that house, and everyone agreed. The house had a huge dining room that we set up so that everyone to eat together. I looked around the table that day. Pop and Mom sat on my right. Prudence and Steve next to them, followed by Jenny. Frank on the opposite end, with June on his right, and little Eliza in a high chair between them. Then Jilly on June's right, then Nancy and Lance and Zeke, and finally Lara on my left. One big family.

I said the prayer, as it was my house. "Lord, we thank you for watching over all of us and for all the blessings you've bestowed upon us. Thank you for keeping all fourteen of us together through difficult times. And bless this bountiful feast before us. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Everyone set to it, but Steve spoke up. "Charlie, it's fifteen, not fourteen."

I looked around the table again. "You sure you passed math, Steve? It's fourteen."

"I passed math, and biology too," he said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

I knew what he meant. "You got something to say, you say it to everyone."

Everyone shut up for a second to turn to Steve. "Pru and I are expecting."

Mom was the first to shriek, as she hugged Prudence close. Everyone else congratulated them in turn. June happily said to Eliza, "You hear that, little girl? You're gonna have a little cousin to play with." Eliza smiled and cooed back at her mother, but I'm sure she'd have done that anyway.

The meal was fantastic. The women all pitched in with the cooking. That meant the men had to help clean up. I waved my cane in the air and claimed a medical exemption, and June and Prudence both booed me. But Frank, Steve, and even Lance helped do dishes. This made the women available to hold Eliza, now sleeping, and have girl talk about Prudence's bun in the oven.

Pop and I retired out on the porch. I had put a couple of rocking chairs out there for days like this. "I like this better than the barn, Pop."

"It's nice, I'll give you that, but at least you can close the barn door and have private talks." He looked at me. "What are you gonna do about Lara?"

"Marry her," I said out loud. It was the truth and everyone knew it anyways. I hadn't popped the question, but it was only a matter of time.

Pop chuckled. "Didn't expect you to be so honest, you being a politician now." We both laughed at that.

"I love her, Pop. I don't get to see her as often as I'd like. She's still working six days a week at the diner. I told her I'd take care of her, but she wants to earn her money."

"She's stubborn, just like you. Good. It means she won't put up with your crap, and you won't put up with hers." Pop slowly nodded. "It's a good thing. You'll fight, but you'll make each other better and love each other more for it."

I thought about that. "You're a wise man, Pop."

"So when you gonna ask her? Before or after you knock her up?"

I laughed. "Damn, Pop. You don't beat around the bush," I said. "I've told her, if we have a kid, it'll be in a marriage."

"Good man." Then his ears perked up. "You hear that?"

It was quiet. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly. Seven women inside, eight if you count the baby, and not a damn peep. Something's going on."

We went inside to find the women sitting around the living room, several of them looking awkwardly at each other. Zeke was sitting on Lara's lap, as she spoke to him. "Not everyone has a daddy, sweetie. Some people just don't have one."

"Why don't I have a daddy, Mama?" Zeke asked.

Lara made the mistake of looking up at me as I entered the room, and Zeke turned to see what she was looking at. "Charlie, are you my daddy?"

You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was looking at me now. The ball had been thrust in my court, well before I was ready for it.

"Zeke, you wanna come with me, out on the porch? Let's talk outside." I said to the little boy.

"Okay!" He jumped off his mother's lap and ran over to me. As I left the room with him, I looked at Lara. She mouthed "sorry" to me.

I sat Zeke in one of the rocking chairs, and rocked him while I sat in front of him. "What's all this talk about daddies, buddy?"

"Mama and everyone were talking about babies. They said Steve was going to be a daddy, and Frank was already a daddy. But I don't have a daddy, I just have Mama."

"That's right, you have Mama, and she loves you and she takes care of you."

"But what about my daddy?"

I tried to find the right words to say to explain it to the two-and-a-half year old boy. "Zeke, sometimes people have different kinds of families. Some people don't have dads, and some people don't have moms. Some people have two dads or two moms. And some people don't have a mom or a dad, and they live with their grandma and grandpa instead." He sat quietly; I could tell he was thinking about it. "Does that make sense?"

"So I just don't have a daddy?"

"No," I answered honestly. "Not right now. But you know I love your mama, right?"

"Yes."

"And she loves me back?"

"Yes."

"And we both love you. And maybe someday, if your mama still loves me, maybe we'll get married, and if that happens then I can be your dad. Would you like that?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I think you and Mama should get married. When will that happen?"

I smiled. "Well, not today. And I have to ask her to marry me first, and she'd have to say yes."

"Oh. I think if you ask, she would say yes. Mama's really nice." He was so honest, it was adorable.

"I think so too. But we'll talk about that another day, okay?"

"Okay."

"Want to go back inside and get a cookie?"

"Yes!"

We went in and Lara met us in the foyer. "Mama, Charlie says we can have cookies, and then later maybe he will ask you to marry him."

I expected her to be shocked, but she wasn't. "Okay. Well let's find those cookies."

We gave Zeke two chocolate chip cookies and sent him on his way. "You were listening," I said.

"Was not," she said, but couldn't keep a straight face. "Okay fine. What gave me away?"

"Your son announces our upcoming marriage and you didn't even blink."

"I sure as hell blinked when he said it on the porch," she admitted.

"I bet you did. That little boy needs to learn to keep a secret."

"He's nosy," said Lara, "He gets that from me, I guess."

"But he's also smart like you," I pointed out. "He's asking questions I probably wouldn't have thought to ask at his age."

Lara nodded. "Can you imagine him as a teenager? I hope I can keep up with him."

When people started to clear out for the evening, it ended up being just Lara and I left. Zeke, not long after eating his two cookies, then stealing a third one and gobbling that up too, had fallen asleep on one of the living room chairs. Prudence scooped him up and took him back to the apartment with Steve. Lara was going to object, since she didn't have to do that, but Prudence simply said, "I need the practice. And you need couple time. Goodnight." Then she and Steve left.

The big house felt empty without all the people. Lara collapsed on the couch, sprawled over my lap. "I'm so full."

"You ate so much turkey, I'm surprised you're not turning into one," I teased as I stroked her hair from her face.

"So I'm a turkey now?"

I cocked my head to the side. "I think you were trying to talk, but all I heard was gobble-gobble."

Lara smiled. "Well if I'm a turkey, they why don't you give me a proper stuffing?" She sat up and pulled me to my feet, then up the stairs.

She stopped when we got to the master bedroom. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"This was my father's room," she answered. I saw the conflict. The room had once belonged to the jackass who disowned her and kicked her out.

"Was. Now it's mine. Let's christen it." I set my cane to the side of the dresser, and picked Lara up, and hobbled my way over to the bed, dropping her there.

"Oh! Mr. Mayor! What are you doing?" she teased, biting her lip in a cute way.

"Taking care of one of my most loyal voters," I answered, sitting on the bed with her. I winced in a little pain as I did, as my leg was still sore.

Lara saw it, and took over. "You lie back there, Mr. Mayor. I'll take care of you." She pushed me backwards and lay on top of me, kissing me ferociously. Then she pulled my shirt up and kissed my chest, while undoing my pants. When she yanked them down to my knees, my erection sprung up to point at the ceiling. "Oh, Mr. Mayor, what's this?" she asked playfully, wrapping her little hand around it.

"Just a token of my appreciation," I joked in response.

"Appreciation huh?" she said, stroking it up and down slowly, "You must appreciate me a lot."

"You're damn right I do."

She leaned in like she was going to take me into her mouth, but then only gave my eager friend a kind kiss. Before I could groan in protest, she quickly unzipped her dress and let it slide from her shoulders. When I tried to sit up and assist, she pushed me back down. "Nope," she told me, "You are still injured. But I can make you feel better."

She slipped the rest of her dress from her body and tossed it aside, followed by her bra, then she removed her panties too. "You just relax," she instructed, "and let me do the work." Then she climbed over me and lowered herself on to my dick.

"Ohhh," I groaned, "You're so damn tight."

"Maybe you can loosen me up," she said with a wink. Then she slowly, luxuriously, lovingly rode me. "I love your dick inside me."

"Baby, you feel so good," I responded. I tried to move my hands up to touch her, but she leaned forward and grabbed my wrists before I could.

"I told you, no," she chided me. She put my wrists above my head and held them there, all the while continuing to ride me. I could have wrestled my way out of it, but why bother? I was being tortured in the best way. I even tried to lift my head and kiss her, but her face was out of my reach. She held her body inches away from me, looking into my eyes, capturing my gaze with hers.

"I want you to come inside me, Charlie. I want your come deep in me." She started picking up her speed, and I felt myself getting closer to the edge.

I realized I wasn't wearing a condom. "Lara..."

"Shh..." she shook her head. She moved one of her hands from my wrists to my mouth, silencing me. "I know. Just do it. Come inside me, Charlie. Come on, you can do it, come on."

I was getting so close. Her body on mine was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. I could definitely get used to doing this on a regular basis.

"I'm gonna come, I want you to come with me, please, come inside me!" She was crying out, and then I felt her pussy clench me tightly. Her eyes closed, and she sputtered out, "GAH! CHARLIE!"

That was all I could take. "UNNH!" I grunted, and I released my seed inside her. I could feel each spurt. Six, seven, eight, nine. Lara's warm pussy milked me for all I had in me.

Then she collapsed on top of me and rewarded me with a steamy kiss. "God, Charlie, that was amazing."

"Yeah, it was." Lara finally released my wrists and I and used one hand to stroke her messy sex hair away from her face. "Can I tell you something?" I asked.

"I would hope so."

"It's gonna sound weird. Don't get mad," I started. "You know I've been with a couple girls over in Europe..."

Lara interrupted, "This seems like a strange time to bring that up."

"...but none of that was nearly as hot as what we do together."

She looked at me suspiciously. "You're lying."

"It's true, I swear," I said, crossing my heart with my finger. "And it's because I love you. I never loved those other girls, it was just a fling for fun. You are the only girl I love, and you are the only girl I want from now on."

Lara finally smiled, and relaxed into my shoulder. "You better. And I love you too."

I got up and realized my pants were still at my knees, but rather than pull them back on, I just shucked them off, and headed for the door.