The First Ninety Days Ch. 01

"Yeah," said Nathan, not laughing either.

"So... I guess we're screwed, then."

"No, man, that's why I called. You need to go, right now."

"Go where? Why?"

"You need to get Caitlyn out of there."

Jon said nothing.

"Think about it. This is the perfect opportunity. Mom's off-kilter, she doesn't know what to think or react or anything. I mean, yeah, she's pissed off, she doesn't think her baby girl should be dating anyone, much less you, much lessengaged to anyone,much less engaged to you. But you know women: talk about love and they get stars in their eyes. There's a part of her that's really pleased. She's trying to ignore it, but I bet she can't. And what's she gonnado to Caity once she makes up her mind? Do you wanna leave your fiancée to experience that?"

Of course Jon didn't. He said nothing.

"She's in disarray. You'll never have a better chance. Go, now, while you still have time."

Jon crossed a hand over his face. "This is gonna be ugly."

"Yeah, I know. You've got my number, call me if you need help. Like, if you need to sneak in or something."

For a moment Jon imagined himself all in black, sliding in through back doors.It really is a war, isn't it. "All right."

"And I'm gonna call Dad, see what I can do from that angle. He might be able to hold Mom back a bit. ...Or maybe he'll just bend over and take it up the ass the way he always does. But it's worth a try."

"All right."

"Good luck, man."

Jon hung up, thinking,I'm gonna need it.

He went down the hall in a daze, trying to find Dr. Polkiss. He took a wrong turn and ended up in the bathroom.Jeez, I haven't done that since my second day here. What's wrong with me? Besides my fiancée being in the belly of the beast, that is.

"Dr. Polkiss, I may need to request the rest of the day off."

Dr. Polkiss, whose hands were halfway into Glenda Dickson's mouth, said, "Why, what's happened?"

"Uh. Something's come up with Caitlyn, sir."

"With Caitlyn?" said Dr. Polkiss.

"Caitlyn?" said Dr. Leyton from the next room over. Like Dr. Polkiss, she was clad in surgical scrubs and had a cloth mask across his mouth, which muffled her words. "What about Caitlyn?"

"Well, umm." Jon scrubbed through his hair with a hand. "Her mother found something out about us."

Dr. Leyton stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind her. "What, is she pregnant?"

Jon blinked. "She's not pregnant."

"Well, she might be, if you're having sex."

"We're not having sex," Jon protested.

"You aren't?"

"No. Who told you that?"

"Well, no one, I just, I just assumed that, since you've been going for a year and a half—"

"Stephanie, what you do with your boyfriends isn't necessarily what Caitlyn does with hers," said Dr. Polkiss calmly. "Whatdid Linda Delaney find out, Jon?"

Jon reddened. "That, um. That we're engaged."

Dr. Polkiss looked at him. Dr. Leyton stared at him.

"And you didn't tellus!" she burst out.

"We haven't toldanybody," Jon protested. "We were trying to control how the information got out. Instead of Mrs. Delaney finding out and blowing her stack."

"And whatdid Linda do," asked Dr. Polkiss.

"Blew her stack," said Jon.

"And you need to go over there for a little damage control," said Dr. Polkiss.

Either that, or create an insuperable rift between mother and daughter, Jon thought. He said, "Basically, yes."

"Clock out," said Dr. Leyton immediately. "No, don't clock out, it takes too much time. We'll handle it for you. Peggy can cover the receptionist spot. We're only open for an hour anyway."

"It sounds like your fiancée needs you more than we do," said Dr. Polkiss.

Jon nodded and began to run.

"Oh, and, Jon?" Dr. Polkiss called.

"Hum?"

Dr. Polkiss grinned. "Congratulations."

He felt blood pounding in his ears as he drove, as fast as he dared considering the speed limit. Itwas war, really. Mrs. Delaney had proved that time and again. Whenever Caitlyn offered anything that could be construed as an infraction, her mother would respond with crushing force. The best example Jon could think of was when Caitlyn was grounded for putting the bathroom counter into some semblance of order. In the aftermath, Mrs. Delaney had been unable to find something she needed, and then there was miscommunication as to the coordinates of drawers and their contents. Caitlyn was promptly busted for not only cleaning up the counter and thus confounding her mother's ability to locate needed cosmetics, but for not rushing down to help once the item was missed.

Dr. Polkiss's only comment had been, "If my kids cleaned up the bathroom, I'd pay them."

The Delaney house was quiet in the chill December afternoon, belying the raging conflict that must be going on inside. Or maybe this was merely the calm before the storm. Jon's breath frosted on the thin air.

He hadn't been sure how he was going to approach, but the front door opened before he was even halfway up the drive. "Well," said Mrs. Delaney. "The man of the hour."

"Why, thank you," said Jon, "I didn't know you liked me so well."

"I suppose you expect to be congratulated," said Mrs. Delaney. Her hair had gone white long before he had met her, but she was still young and vigorous, and from teaching second-graders could shout anybody down. "Well, I can tell you right now, young man, I will not stand by and letanyone harm my daughter."

"Good, then we're on the same side," said Jon. "I want what's best for Caitlyn, ma'am, same as you."

"What kind words," said Mrs. Delaney with withering sarcasm. "But your actions give them the lie. How did you convince her?"

"How did I convince what, ma'am?"

"To accept."

"Ummm... I asked her," said Jon.

"Mr. Stanford, we arenot having this conversation if you will not be truthful to me. We have physical evidence that you have blackmailed her into accepting your proposal of marriage. It's right there on her finger. So, tell me the truth or I will call the police and have you brought up on charges. What did you threaten her with? What have you forced her to do?"

"What has who forced me to do," came Caitlyn's voice from behind her.

Mrs. Delaney turned. "You aresupposed to be in your room."

"Clearly, I'm not," said Caitlyn. "So, what's this thing he supposedly got me to do?"

"Agree to marry him," said Mrs. Delaney in thunderous tones.

Caitlyn shrugged. "He asked me. And I said yes."

"You know what happens when you lie to me, young lady."

"I do it all the time, to shut you up." She took two long steps and was out the door, joining Jon on the front porch. His hand sought hers almost by instinct.

"Caitlyn Claire Delaney, you get back inside this instant!" said Mrs. Delaney.

"No," said Caitlyn. Her face was haggard, but evidently weariness was giving her strength, because she was saying things she had never dared say before. "I like it out here. Jon's out here."

"You are insuch trouble, young lady," said Mrs. Delaney. "Wait until your father comes home."

"No," said Caitlyn, "I don't think I will." She turned to him. "Jon, can we leave?"

Flustered, Jon said, "Uhh— If my lady so desires."

"She does."

Linda Delaney's face was thunderous. "If you leave this house, young lady, don'tever expect to get back in."

Jon was thinking about Nathan's offer to help them sneak in, and how ineffective that statement might be as a threat. But Caitlyn turned back with real venom in her voice and said, "What makes you think I'd ever want tocome back, Mother?"

Mrs. Delaney went very white.

"Do you remember when you asked me about my last argument with Jon, and I wouldn't answer you? Well, it was three weeks ago, when he was helping me get books at the library for my research paper. He refused to let me carry any, because he's a man.I refused to lethim carry any, because it's my research project. So the librarian told us to shut up and each take half.That was our last argument. Shealso told us that if that was the worst thing we could think of to argue about, we would probably have many happy years together.

"So, we're going to go now, to have many happy years together. Good-bye."

They got in the car in silence, with Mrs. Delaney standing in the doorway seemingly stuck between a glower and a shocked stare. Halfway through, though, her face abruptly firmed and she slammed the door. Jon didn't know if she actually intended to follow through on her police threat, so he hightailed it out of there as fast as he deemed safe. The last thing they needed was the police chasing his license plate numbers.

They made good time towards the freeway, but when Caitlyn said, "Jon," he turned at the choking sound of her voice and saw the tears on her face. Then it was a gas station and flaring neon lights, and the roar of cars and gas fumes combined with coalescent breath, and he held her and stroked her hair as she cried on his shoulder.

She had always been just short enough for her head to fit under his chin. Her fine dark hair tickled his skin. Her body was light in his arms, so soft, almost insubstantial, so fragile—but reassuringly solid, and always warm, even in the coldest weather. Caitlyn. His woman. His to protect.

"It's okay," he murmured. "Cait, it's okay. You're free. You're free. You don't ever have to go back there if you don't want to. You're free."

"No I'm not," she said. "All my clothes are there, and my harp. I don't have anything. We have to go back to get those, at least."

"Maybe, but not for a couple days, at least. And you have your keys, you can do it when your mom's not home."

"Idon't have my keys. I don't have anything. I just walked out that door with the shoes on my feet and the clothes on my back. I don't haveanything."

"That's okay, you can borrow some of mine."

"What, am I staying with you?"

"Where else would you stay?"

"Jon, you know how I feel about that."

"Yes, I do. And I wouldn't if the situation wasn't dire. But it is, sweetie. And it's not like I have any other places I can magically store you."

"I know."

"Besides, even Jesus might make an exception for this situation. Sure, you're not supposed to live with a man before you marry him, but not doing so would be stupid. Besides, you're supposed to obey your parents, and in this case that wouldreally be stupid."

"So, what. Jesus would break his own rules?"

"If obeying them would get you into trouble, yes. Loving people isn't the same as letting them hurt you. In fact, if anything, you'dkeep them from hurting you, and tainting their soul with sin, if you loved them."

"When did you get to be such a theologian?"

"Ever since you made me start reading the Bible." He hadn't been keen on that, but she'd offered to come and help walk him through it, and who was going to say no to a chance to spend more time with his girlfriend?

"Oh, so it'smy fault."

"Of course it is. Everything good in my life is your fault."

"I don't think we did anything good back there."

He sighed. "No. We broke you out of there, yeah, but in the exact way we promised we'd never try, unless worst came to worst. But, sweetie... I don't think it's really about what's good anymore. It's just about what's best."

She said nothing.

"So, come on. Let's get some gas, and then we'll head" (home) "to my house to figure out what we're gonna do."

She looked up, surprised. "We're getting gas?"

"We've been here for ten minutes, we'dbetter get gas."

"And then what?"

"Then? Then I am going to hold you for about a week."

So they did. He had to re-orient the car (he'd parked with the pump on the passenger side, for privacy, but the fuel port was on the driver's side), and as they drove home, Caitlyn explained the "family discussion" and her Away message. "It was just a lot of rhetoric. Mom listing all your bad points, trying to make you look bad. Threatening me with the consequences of being too rebellious. It was just a lot of crap, but... It was hard to deal with, after being forbidden to see you. And then this morning I got in troubleagain, for the stupidest reason—I told Rex to go say hello to Mom instead of jumping on my bed, and then while he was in there, he sneezed all over the floor. Which was obviously my fault. So she was already threatening not to let me see you on Friday, and I'd only been awake for five minutes. You can see why I wasn't happy."

"How did she find out? —Well, I mean, obviously you were wearing it."

"Yeah. I wanted to see if she wouldn't notice it among all the other rings."

"Guess that worked out."

"Yeah. I didn't think she paid that much attention." She sighed. "I guess I was wrong."

Jon's mother was surprised to see Jon home early, and even more surprised to see Caitlyn with him—but she played the gracious hostess nonetheless. "I don't know how much in the way of lodging we can offer. I will need to consult with Mr. Stanford, and see what he thinks. But Caitlyn, you are always welcome to visit here. Make yourselves at home."

And after they had thanked her and trooped upstairs, Jon made good on his promise to hold her for a week. Caitlyn was listless, clearly still worried about their answerless dilemma, but she accepted his touch readily enough, and it madehim feel good. When he held her, he felt... Whole. There was no other word for it.I don't know about this whole thing in Scripture about how a woman leaves her family and becomes one flesh with her husband, but it seems to me that Caitlyn and I have been one flesh for a very long time.

By the time Jon's parents had invited them down to dinner, they had their verdict. "Jon, as you know, we have tried to raise you in Christian values. I don't know how many of them have taken hold, but this one we feel is necessary to enforce. Caitlyn, in light of your situation, we are willing to let you stay the night, but we do not feel that we can host you for any significant length of time."

"As Jon's girlfriend," his mother interjected, "you're very nearly one of the family, but not quite."

"We also wanted you to know," Mr. Stanford continued, "that if there is anything wecan do to help you, within the outlines we have just described, you need only say the word. As an architect, I know my way around housing in the Shellview area, and Marjorie has a lot of experience fighting bureaucrats. Youare very nearly family—if not to us, then certainly to Jon—and your fights are our fights."

Jon grinned: those were exactly the words he used when trying to convince Cait of that very same fact.

Caitlyn beamed too. "Sothat's where he gets it."

Jon's mother smirked. "Oh, has he finally gotten it, then?"

After they had eaten, they repaired up to Jon's computer to get in touch with Nathan.dad went straight home and tried to calm things down, he wrote,but i dont know if he succeeded. u should prolly lay low for a little while, until it dies down.

"Ask him if he has any housing ideas," Jon said.

LightningSpeed:the problem is, i loost trak of all my school friends when i moved. or else id hook u up with them
MerannaFallon:Jon says I should just stay with him for a while, but I don't think that's a good idea.
LightningSpeed:ya, scripture n all that
MerannaFallon:Well, look who's talking, Mr. Living In Sin With An Unmarried Woman. =P
LightningSpeed:wellll...............

"What?!" said Caitlyn.

"What?!" said Jon.

MerannaFallon:What?!
LightningSpeed:lol
LightningSpeed:dint i tell u?
MerannaFallon:You did NOT, as you darn well know!
LightningSpeed:lol
LightningSpeed:since june

"Sheesh, it seems like everyone we know," Jon said. "Zach and Christa over the summer, Brandon and Meredith the summer before that... Hell, Laurelyn must be almost two now."

"No, she's almost one," said Caitlyn. "She was born three months after the Chamberses married, remember?"

"And the scary thing is, they're younger than us," said Jon. "Well. Brandon isn't younger than you, but Meredith is."

"Yeah. That's kind of a weird thought, too, because it's not likewe're that old," said Caitlyn.

They exchanged long looks.

"It's a crazy idea," Caitlyn said immediately.

"Yeah, but the writing's on the wall," Jon said. "Just look at what we've been hearing."

"There's writing on the wall, all right, but what language is it in?" Caitlyn said.

"It'd solve all our problems."

"But is that why we want to get married? Just tosolve problems?"

"Baby, we've been planning to get married since our second month together. All we've been waiting for is the right time."

"I still don't think it's a good idea."

"I don't think it's a good idea either. It'snot a good idea. But it's the best idea."

She was silent.

"Caitlyn," he said. "What do you want? If you put all your doubts aside and just listen to your heart. Doubts are the work of the mind. The mind's job is to second-guess itself. The heart's job is to know what it wants. What do you want?"

She gave a long, styptic blink.

"Let's do it," she said.

Jon's sister Melinda drove them to the mall on a breakneck mission to obtain wedding bands and a gown for Caitlyn. The prospective bride and groom could not drive themselves, because they were on their cellphones, calling up all and sundry and announcing the shortest engagement on record. Some of the people they would have liked to invite were out of town (Nathan was out of state!), and others were busy, but a pretty good number said they would be able to attend. Gifts were not necessary, Jon and Caitlyn assured them, nor was special dress; a more formal and elaborate ceremony was in the works, tentatively set for early March. All that was required was the company. Jon tried to pun that they wanted presence, not presents, but there was a phone in the way and no one got it.

The wedding bands—simple and elegant silver—were fairly easy to obtain, but at the bridal shop Melinda shooed him away. "The groom isn't supposed to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony. Jeez. I'm bi and evenI know that."

"You're a girl. Of course you know that."

"I am indeed. Now go away and let usgirls attend to our girlish things."

Jon shuffled his feet, feeling very exposed standing outside the bridal store. He didn't understand why that should be so; it wasn't like he was buying condoms or something. ...Or was he? A man didn't stand outside a bridal store unless someone he knew was inside it. That was pretty incriminating, on the whole. But the only nearby store with any interest to him was a toy store.

As usual, some of the kids gave him weird looks when he came in—he was, after all, nearly six feet and fairly broad of shoulder. Normally it didn't bother him. But today, the kids caught his attention. It was late on a Monday morning, but still, here they were, harried parents in tow. He remembered what his mother had said about parents who were too busy to raise their kids, who tried to buy love with toys instead of actions.