Tara Ch. 05

"Seriously?" Lindsey asked.

"Yup. When she got there, the state of Georgia didn't recognize a lot of her credits as counting towards graduation. She's redoing her senior year starting in the fall." Katelyn told her.

"How did you find out about this?"

"Her younger sister was a freshman this past year. She told me." Katelyn told her.

"Is she smarter than her sister?" Lindsey asked.

"Yes. And so much more down to earth than Marcy ever thought about being." Katelyn told her. She tapped her coffee cup for a minute before talking again. "What happened to you Lindsey? You were the biggest bitch in the school and after you fought Tara, your whole attitude..." Katelyn paused and then her eyes opened wide in realization. "You lost that fight, didn't you?"

"I did. I lost big time. I got one punch in, and it didn't do anything to her." Lindsey told her. "I told you my father was golden gloves in college, and that he taught me a good bit about boxing?" Katelyn nodded her head yes. "Tara's father was a Green Beret before he met her mom. When she was old enough, he put her in Aikido, and eventually, she started Tae Kwon Do. Her dad taught her about FIGHTING."

Katelyn was shocked to hear that. "No way..."

"Yup. She wiped the ground with me until I would listen to her. When I calmed down enough, we talked, and I agreed to leave her alone and in return, she'd tell everyone that I frightened her into not fighting. It's amazing what a concussion will do to change your mindset." Lindsey said smiling.

"I had no idea... Why didn't you tell me? I was your friend." Katelyn told her.

Lindsey sighed. "Katelyn, you and I had reputations as the biggest bitches in school. We scared the shit out of all the other girls, and most of the boys as well. The LAST thing I wanted to do was be shown as weak."

"Ok, I can see that. But still..." Katelyn started to say but was cut off.

"Stop for a second..." Lindsey looked at her former friend. "What are you carrying around with you that's weighing you down so much?"

"What do you mean?" She replied.

Lindsey leaned in closer to her and lowered her voice. "The Katelyn I knew wasn't afraid to look me in the eye for any reason. You and I were intimate most of our junior year, and we shared quite a lot of pillow talk. I'd like to think I know when something's wrong with you."

Katelyn sighed and looked up at Lindsey and weakly smiled. "Can't put anything past you, can I?" Lindsey shook her head no. "Marcy told me what you said about life leveling the playing field. I didn't believe it at the time, I do now." Katelyn took a deep breath and blew it out. "Brad and I had some problems at the end of the school year. By the time we graduated, I was 6 weeks pregnant." Lindsey's eyes widened at hearing this. "The worst part is that right after graduation, I told him how far along I was. He called me a whore and denied the child was even his. He joined the Army and left for basic a week later." Katelyn said shedding a few tears.

"What about your parents?" She asked.

"Dad and mom weren't thrilled. Mom suggested I..." She made air quotation marks, "Take care of the problem." Katelyn scoffed. "Funny thing about that particular conversation was that I threatened to kick her ass all the way up the street if she ever suggested that again." Both the girls laughed. "I told them that this is the consequence of my own stupidity and that my child is not a problem to be taken care of. Daddy is proud of me for owning my actions." She said with a smile.

Lindsey looked at her watch and then spoke. "Listen, I have to get to class, but I want you to meet me at my apartment at 8 tonight. I'll make dinner and we can chat some more, ok?"

Katelyn smiled. "I wish I could, but I have to get over to the chem lab and do some work, and then I have to be up early for class tomorrow."

"Class?" Lindsey asked.

"Yup. UNLV summer semester. I'm trying to get my freshman year out of the way before I give birth in December, that way I can have the spring to learn to be a good mother." Katelyn replied.

Lindsey smiled at her friend. "You're going to be a great mother; I have no doubt about that."

They stood up and hugged. "Bye Linds..." Katelyn said.

"Bye Katey..." she said as Katelyn walked out of the store. When she was finished cleaning up her mess, she grabbed her phone and dialed her Mistress. "Yes, it's me, I'm on my way to class..." She sighed. "I need to ask a favor of you... Well specifically, your father..." She told Tara as she started explaining the meeting with Katelyn.

Three hours later

Katelyn was finished with her chemistry lab work at the campus and was on her way home. She thought about how nice it was to see Lindsey again. And if she was honest with herself, part of her did miss her in a romantic way. She shook her head to clear it of those thoughts. "Those days are over and long gone." She said to herself. When she pulled up to her house, she saw Lindsey's red BMW and a blue Mercedes sedan sitting out front. She got out and grabbed her pack from the back seat. When she opened the front door, she heard someone talking to her father about something, but couldn't hear what they were saying. Her mother had a hopeful look in her eye when she met her at the door.

"Your friend Lindsey brought someone over who got some information about how you can get child support from that deadbeat asshole that got you pregnant." She told her.

"Mom, language please, and he's not going to give me any child support, he's long gone." She replied.

"That's not actually true. If you can prove your child is his, you'll get support from him." A voice she hadn't heard in a long time said to her. She walked into the living room to see Tara sitting on the couch with Lindsey next to her. "Long time, Katelyn, how are you?"

"Tara..." Katelyn said with a shocked look. "I'm fine thanks, how are you?" She really noticed something that she hadn't before about her. The look on her face was one of "Don't screw with me" and her posture was one of total business.

"I'm fine thank you. Before we go any further, are you sure this is Brad's child?" She asked Katelyn.

"It's his. I'm not the cheating type." Katelyn told her.

Tara looked over at Lindsey who remained quiet but nodded her head in agreement with Katelyn. She stood and walked over to Katelyn.

"I wasn't accusing you of anything, daddy wanted me to ask before I gave you this." She told her handing her a folded sheet of paper.

Katelyn took it, opened it up, and looked at it. "Colonel Michael Gibson and a phone number?" She looked back at Tara who stared into her eyes.

"He's in command of the Judge Advocate General detachment on Fort Huachuca in Arizona. Daddy and he go back to when they were Lieutenants. Long story short, Brad is on the hook for child support, and it'll be garnished from his pay each month without him having any say in it. You'll also have health insurance for your baby, and I'm sure that's going to relieve more than a few of your fears." Tara told her. "Daddy told me to tell you that Colonel Gibson will be expecting your call in the next few days so he can tell you what you'll need to do and to give you the phone numbers for you to get the ball rolling to get your support."

Katelyn was overwhelmed at what she was being told. She had been stressing about coming up with ways that she'd be able to support her and her baby. She put her hand over her mouth to keep from crying. "Why would you do this for me? I treated you like utter crap." She whispered to Tara.

"First, All I did was give you information to help you hold that douchebag's feet to the fire to support his child. My father has been retired for 15 years now. Even after all this time, he DETESTS soldiers who won't support the gift that God blessed them with. Second..." Tara moved over to whisper into Katelyn's ear. She pointed to Lindsey as she whispered.

Katelyn's eyes widened as she listened to what Tara told her. She leaned back and then looked over at Lindsey who just smiled. She couldn't believe what Tara had just told her.

"I start UNLV classes in the fall. Find me, and we'll talk." Tara told her. She looked over at Lindsey. "Tomorrow after yoga class."

"Of course..." Lindsey replied nodding her head once.

Tara walked over and shook Katelyn's father's hand. Her mother on the other hand jumped up, gave her a firm hug, and thanked her for her efforts.

"You've taken a huge burden off of our daughter, and her father and I will not forget this..." She told Tara.

"Help raise the child to be the best person he or she can be, that's all I want as repayment." She said with a smile and walked out.

Her mom looked at Katelyn who was still in shock at this whole thing. "Katey?"

"Mom... Dad..." She started to say but all her efforts to hold back the tears failed. She started to cry. Her father jumped up and grabbed her into a hug.

"I'll see myself out. Call me when you have some time, Katey..." Lindsey said touching her arm as she walked by.

Katelyn lurched out of her father's grasp and grabbed a hold of Lindsey and hugged her harder than she ever had before. "Thank you Linds..." She whispered to her.

"You're welcome Katey..." She whispered back. She kissed her on the cheek and walked out to her car. When she got down to her car, her Mistress had already driven off, but she had left a small note on her car door. She opened it and read what it said and smiled with pride.

"No one could hope to ever duplicate you." Was all it said.