That Summer with Kate

"Thanks for that mate." Bryce, the Flight Engineer said. "We were afraid that you might have fucked up your calculations and we'd end up in the scrub somewhere. We had all the faith in the world in our driver, and she told us that she had faith in you. Lucky for you she was a good judge because if you had fucked up we would have beaten the crap out of you."

This sounded a lot more serious than his facial expression indicated. "You would have had to catch me first. If I'd stuffed up I would have legged it out of there." I hoped that they would realise that I was joking. They did, and we were the best of mates by the time we got to Darwin.

You could hardly feel the Herc kiss the runway when we touched down and Micha taxied her around to the hanger where she would be loaded for the next trip in a couple of days. "I've got tomorrow off, what would you like to do?" She asked me as we hopped into a car for the drive to my hotel.

"I don't know, would does one do in Darwin on a day off?"

"I could come to your hotel and spend the day fornicating with you."

"Or," I said hopefully, "you could even stay with me tonight so that we can get an early start on it."

"Why wait until morning?"

"I do have to make one phone call."

"To Kate I suppose."

"Yes."

"I hope that you're not going to do anything stupid like tell her about us."

"I should. I had an attack of the guilts the next day. I feel bad about betraying her."

"Don't. For all that you know she could have been having it off with someone else behind your back."

"I don't think so."

"You hope not, don't you mean?"

"I think that I know Kate well enough to trust her."

As it turned out, I didn't know her all that well. I dialled her number and got a recorded message. My face lost its colour as the words poured forth.

"What's the matter?" Micha asked.

"Listen to this." I redialled the number and put the phone on speaker. "Hi this is Kate," The familiar voice said. ", and Will," a male voice added, "we are not here right now, so leave your name and number and we'll get back to you."

"Fuck." That was all that I said.

Some minutes later Micha hugged me. "That's a horrible way to find out, worse even than a 'Dear John' letter."

"It wouldn't surprise me if I have one of those waiting for me." Prophetic words those as it happened.

Without guilt hanging over me, my relationship with Micha scaled new heights in both passion and intensity. "Wow." Micha's voice was husky, and sexy, as we paused to regain our strength. "While I'm no novice when making love, I now realise that I have a lot to learn. I can remember as a little girl, standing outside my father's bedroom listening to the noises from within, and wondering what was happening. Now I know, which probably explains why he and Julie are still very much in love."

"This is different for me as well. While Kate and I were sexually very active, it was somehow different. It could be that she was the instigator of much of what we did, while you and I just seem to be in synch."

"Adam, darling Adam." Micha whispered to me as she ran a finger up the side of my neck to my ear.

"Yes." My voice sounded tentative. What was coming?

"When do you get leave?"

"Next month, why do you ask?"

"That's good. I can arrange leave for the same time. I want you to meet Dad and Julie."

"I think that I'd like that. And you can meet my parents. This will come as a surprise to them. They'll be expecting Kate."

"You don't make it easy for me, do you? Now I'm going to have to compete with her."

"No you won't. My guess is that she will have broken the news of her new status to her family, which means that my rellies will know all about it and will have told my parents. The only surprise will be you, and once they get to know you they'll be happy."

"That's great, I'd hate to think what would happen if they're not happy with the girl that you're going to marry."

"Whoa there, slow down, let's not rush into something that we'll possibly live to regret. Kate and I had plans of getting married when we graduated from Duntroon, but decided to wait. It's just as well that we did."

"She went to Duntroon?"

"Yeah, she's an Engineer like me. She's based at Richmond."

"This could be interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"When we go on leave we should be able to hitch a ride on a plane going to Richmond. I can get Dad to pick us up from there and fly us back to their place. Chances are that we might bump into Kate when we get there."

"You're not thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking, are you?"

"If you're thinking that I'm going to make sure that we bump into her, you could just be right."

"Awkward." I had visions of Kate expecting some sort of emotional scene when we meet for the first time in, what is it, almost a year.

"Not necessarily. She has her bloke and you have me, what could be more perfect? She's got to feel happy that you're not going to be left on your own for any length of time."

"No time at all, as it happens."

"No time at all like the present." Micha said as she made it quite obvious that she wanted more loving attention. Even in this she was different to Kate. There was no demand for sex, just a subtle hint of her desire for my cock inside her. What could I do but oblige her.

Two days later I was back in Tyndall. I unpacked my kit bag and took my washing to the laundry. While my clothes were sloshing around in the machine, I called into the office to pick up my mail, and yes, there was a letter from Kate. I decided to wait until I was back in my room before reading it. It made fascinating reading;

Dear Adam,

I hope that you are well. I was home last weekend. Mum and Dad send their love. This brings me to the reason that I'm writing this letter to you. I want you to remember that I love you, and will always love you, but I'm sorry, I'm no longer in love with you.

I have met a man who fulfils my needs in so many wonderful ways. Will is an FA18 pilot, and I met him when I had to check his plane's telemetry. We got talking and he offered to take me up in one of the twin seat planes. I have never been so scared and excited at the same time before, and when we got back on the ground I was sort of weak at the knees, and he had to hold me while I got my shit together. He took me to dinner that night and, what with the flight and all that, we ended up making love.

Adam darling, please don't hate me. I'm sure that somewhere out there, there is a girl who is more perfect for you than I could ever hope to be. You are too perfect to be alone for any length of time, just not my kind of perfect. I'm sorry, but that's how it is.

You are the solid reliable kind of bloke that authors like Barbara Cartland write about, you know, the one that sees the love of his life fall under the spell of the handsome, dashing Lothario who sweeps her off her feet. She is so blind to his dashing good looks that she ignores the fact that he has love for other women and can never be faithful to her for long. Eventually she gets up the courage to leave him and return to her reliable solid bloke. The only difference in this scenario is that I will not be coming back to you. I'm sorry, but solid and reliable is not enough for me anymore. Will and I are planning to marry as soon as his divorce is finalised.

Forgive me, please.

Kate.

I folded the letter and placed it in my top drawer. I rang Micha. "Guess what was waiting for me when I got back to base."

"A 'dear Adam' letter?"

"You got it right in one. She told me that she still loves me but is not in love with me. Then she told me how she met Will, who happens to be a pilot. And that good old solid reliable me is not good enough for her. They're going to get married as soon as his divorce comes through, isn't that wonderful?"

"It could be worse, you might not have met me, and have a new love ready to marry you."

"How would it be if we got married before we went back to Sydney?"

"Don't joke about this Mate. I want you to marry me because you want to, not because you're pissed off with Kate for dumping you."

"What would you say if I was to tell you that I am sure that I want to marry you, and have been sure for some time, even before I found out that Kate has a new bloke? That night in Darwin, the reason that I rang her was to tell her that I had met you and was going to ask you to marry me. I wasn't all that upset when I heard the answering machine message, just didn't expect it, that's all."

"You'd better not be bullshitting me Mate."

"Not a chance in Hell. I mean it with all of my heart."

"Thank you. I've got a short flight tomorrow, just a test run to try out a new guidance system. I'll be back mid-afternoon and I've the next day off, so I'm going to drive down to Tyndall and you and I are going to spend the night together, and among other things, we are going to arrange the how, where and when of our marriage."

"Sounds really great to me. I'll see you tomorrow, my love."

Time has never moved as slowly as it did the next afternoon. I wasn't sure when she would actually be landing. I didn't know when she would be leaving Darwin, or how long it was going to take her to drive down to Tyndall. There is no maximum speed limit in the Northern Territory, so if she has a fast car she will take no time at all, just as long as she doesn't run into any of the wild life that has a habit of wandering out on to the road at inappropriate times. You have your choice of kangaroos, cattle and water buffalos to contend with, none of which are very forgiving when you hit them with a car.

It took all of my willpower to concentrate on my job, and it wasn't until I felt her arms around me that I realised that Micha had arrived. We created some interest among the other personnel with the passion of our greeting. My boss, who had known about Kate and me, automatically assumed that this was her. He was somewhat shocked to find out that the man that he had thought would end up married to Kate, was locked in a passionate embrace with someone who was not her. We set him straight and he was okay with that, especially when he saw that it was Micha. She had something of a reputation for her flying abilities and dedication to the humanitarian roles that she was called on to perform on a regular basis, flying in and out of tight and sometimes dangerous situations. He had read the report of her tight landing on that shortened runway.

Micha stayed with me as I finished up what I was working on, and we walked back to my quarters together. "I'll have a quick shower and change and then we can go over and sample the culinary masterpieces that they dish up here."

"Do we have a choice? About the food that is."

"Not really." I had stripped out of my uniform and was standing in just my jocks. From the look on her face I came to the inescapable conclusion that dinner would have to wait.

"Can I read the letter from Kate, or have you ripped it up?" I was under the shower soaping up my pubes.

"It's in the top drawer, help yourself."

I was rinsing off when she had obviously got to the bit about 'still loving me but not in love with me.' "Bullshit. The person that came up with this, as being a way to let you down easily, needs to be horsewhipped. She either loves you or she doesn't."

"She's probably hedging her bets. If it doesn't work out with Will I'll get a gilt-edged invite back into her arms and bed."

"You of course will accept."

"Like hell I will. I have my woman, the love of my life, and there is no way that I will ever give you up for her, or anyone else for that matter." I was just about to step out of the shower when I was pushed back in by my beautiful and now naked Micha. Dinner would have to wait a little longer.

As it turned out we never got to dinner, or breakfast. Sometime mid-morning I spoke with the base commander and requested a couple of days leave for the next week, so that I could go to Darwin for 'personal reasons'. This was granted when I explained that it was to get married. We arranged for the necessary paperwork to be emailed to me to sign so that there was no delay when I got to Darwin. "I want to see Dad and Julie's faces when we get to Sydney as husband and wife."

"You're not going to tell them beforehand then?"

"No. If they ask about the suddenness of our decision, I'll just point out to them that we waited a little longer before tying the knot than they did. Are you going to tell your parents?"

"I don't think so. I don't know if they know if I know about Kate and Will. If they don't, it will let them down easier than if I spring it on them now."

Our wedding was a very low-key affair. A Marriage Celebrant and a couple of friends acting as witnesses were all that were in attendance. The ceremony was followed by a celebratory meal and a couple of drinks at the hotel where we had booked a room for the night. The mood changed when we got to our room. I took a small package from my pocket and handed it to her. "For me?" She asked, a puzzled expression on her face, it didn't feel like the sort of package that would contain jewellery. She opened it and took out the RAAF cloth name tags that now said "Matthews". We had discussed whether she would keep her name, or change to mine, after we married, and she had decided that she wanted to change. "I'll sew these on as soon as I get back to base." She said before she launched herself at me to begin our night of celebratory lovemaking. We had another day's leave before we had to return to our various bases, that's of course if we managed to survive.

Survive we did, and we both returned to base for the week until our leave began, and we hitched a ride to Richmond. Micha spoke to her father to let him know her ETA and he promised to be there to pick her up. I decided that I would not contact Kate, I didn't want a confrontation with her, and hope that she would not be around when we arrived. I did contact my parents to tell them that I would be down on leave and that I had a few things to do before I could get to see them. They were okay with that.

The welcome that we got on our arrival in Sydney was, to put it mildly, interesting. We were greeted by a tall, handsome man and an equally tall and handsome woman who turned out to be Micha's father and step-mother. He looked at us for a second or two before pointing to Micha's name tag. "What is this?"

"Dad, I'd like you to meet my so new the paint's not dry, husband, Adam Matthews. Adam, as you've probably guessed by now, this is my father Mitchell Underwood, and mother Julie."

"I'm pleased to meet you Sir. Micha has told me a lot about you, both of you." I held my hand out to him and he didn't hesitate to take it and shake it.

"You can call me Mitch. This is my wife Julie." He introduced me to her, and if I expected her to shake my hand I was mistaken. She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. "This is all a bit sudden, isn't it? You're not going to tell me that you 'have to get married' are you?"

"We did have to get married, but not for that reason. We had to because we are very much in love and wanted desperately to be together. And before you make any comments. . . ."

"I know, Julie and I didn't wait long before we married."

It was about then that I noticed Kate walking towards us. "Shit." I said as she approached. Mitch was about to say something but Micha held her hand up.

Kate reached us and was about to say something when she noticed Micha's name tag. Her face fell. "Oh fuck. I've really fucked up this time." She turned and ran from us. I was tempted to go after her, but not for long.

"What was that all about?" Julie asked.

"That was Kate. She and Adam were very good friends, and it was assumed that they would get married. But she dumped him recently, at around the same time that he was going to break it off with her, and for the same reason it turns out, they both fell in love with pilots. It would appear that there are problems on her side."

"We don't know that." I said. "It could just be that she didn't expect that I would be married."

"Come on, let's get out of here." Micha said, and we walked across to where he had parked the rental car. We drove from Richmond to Bankstown, where he had parked his plane, before taking off for the short flight back to the family property.

"This is new." Micha commented as we got airborne.

"Yeah, the other one was a little small for our purposes. Would you like to take over?" He asked her.

"No, I'll stay back here and hold my man's hand, not that he's scared of flying, it's just that I want to."

Minutes later Mitch circled around a farm house and lined up to land on the landing strip. Four people emerged from the house and walked to the large shed that proved to be the hangar for the plane. He landed smoothly and taxied to the group before shutting down the engines. One of the men, who bore a striking resemblance to Micha, opened the door on Julie's side and we scrambled out. "Hi Sis. Long time no see. And who is this?"

"This, baby brother is your brother-in-law Adam Matthews."

"Wow, you kept that bit of news a secret, didn't you?"

"We didn't even know about it until they landed at Richmond." Julie said. "And I have to say that we approve of her choice."

"Adam, this is my brother Julian, and this other ugly beast is my other brother Rory." I shook hands with both. "And I assume that this young lady is the unfortunate girlfriend of one of you." I was introduced to Beccy, a quite attractive young woman, and Rory's girlfriend. We adjourned to the house where coffee and cakes were spread out on the kitchen table.'

"I think something a little more celebratory is in order." Mitch said as he opened the wine cabinet where the chilled whites were stored, and extracted a couple of bottles of sparkling whites. (We aren't allowed to call them 'Champagne' in Australia, even though they are made with the same grapes using the exact same method, and producing comparable product to the best that France has to offer.) Corks pulled and wine poured' Mitch held his glass high. "Here's to the happy couple, Micha and Adam!" Glasses were clinked together and we sipped the excellent wine. "May they love each other for as long as I have loved Julie, because if they don't, Adam you had better be able to run like hell because it will have been all your fault."

I recognised that he knew his daughter and wasn't serious, so responded in kind. "No chance of that happening, I couldn't even run fast enough to get away from her to start with." This was greeted by Micha punching me on the upper arm and then throwing her arms around my neck, kissing me with an intensity that needed no translation.

We had settled into an easy conversational flow that covered a broad range of topics from farm operation, Rory was studying Ag Science at Uni, to what Julian would do once he finished his flight training. He had intentions of becoming a commercial pilot, and this would require him working for a small regional or charter airline to start with while he got his hours up. I mentioned that I was planning to switch from ground engineering to flight engineering so that I could fly with Micha instead of waiting for her to return from wherever.

It was then that we heard a car pull up out front. "That'll be Pete and Jan." Mitch said as he got up to open the front door. "We heard that Micha was here on leave, so we had to come over." With them was a girl in her late teens or early twenties, who moved over to stand next to Julian, obviously his girlfriend.

"How are you Beth?" Micha asked her.

"I'm fine." Beth said as she hugged Julian. "We both are." He responded by hugging her.