The First Ninety Days Ch. 03

Professor Chapman had done most of the recruiting, and he had recruited well. The previous group Jon had been in, Cantico Insanico, had been a pretty dull place, its members lacking the enthusiasm or energy needed to communicate full-voice eight-part pop music. The group had gone nowhere, and dissolved when its leader (Jon) graduated. When Professor Chapman approached Jon with his new ensemble, Jon's first reaction was, "Don't make me lead." Here, he didn't have to. Bethany Rademacher, the alto 2, was also a first-class monitor, keeping the group from veering too far off-course. Roderick Whitson was a piano virtuoso and could play out most anything passed to him. Serena Langdon, the soprano 1, had perfect pitch and a keen ear for vowel blending. Jon was free to sit back, crank out arrangements and provide stylistic guidance, which suited him just fine.

And boy, could theysing. Jon had done his best to infuse Cantico Insanico with the best singers of his day, but had gone missing in one critical component: joy. He'd found good vocalists, yes, but not the sort of person who sang for the sheer fun of it. Octapella, on the other hand, had that in spades. Professor Chapman, with his long experience at choral directing, had also managed to inveigle many of school's best singers, and the experience was so enjoyable that graduating seniors Zach and Christa Crane (nee Sternbacher) had stayed on despite starting their graduate studies and, now, working part-time jobs at Shellview Episcopalian Church to support themselves.

The end result was that, in terms of talent-to-weight ratio, Octapella was the best musical group at Greenfield University, bar none—and Jon had a hunch that they could make a running for being one of the best in the state, too.

It was the last rehearsal prior to their Christmas concert, so there was a lot to run through and some last-minute notes to issue. They were reusing all of their Christmas repertoire from the previous year—they'd gotten the group together just before November of the last year, and not had a lot of time to practice—but with better lead-in and no costly auditions to go through this year, they had spent the last ten weeks cramming music into their heads. Jon was always impressed by how fast people picked things up. Roderick was excellent, and Richard hardly less, so the basses practically took care of themselves; Christa was an excellent sight-reader and could hold up Serena when necessary (which wasn't too often); Bethany did the same with Melinda Sorensen; and Jon, who had often written the parts, could provide just about anyone with the right notes if they came up short, though his first priority was his fellow tenor Zach. Zach was an excellent singer and not a half-bad learner, so Jon thought it a hell of an accomplishment that he was actually the slowest member of the group when it came to picking up music.

And, of course, the details of the marriage started coming out. "Why didn't you tell us you proposed," Zach asked, and as usual Jon had to protest, "We didn't tellanybody, we wanted to keep the information secret so that it didn't somehow get back to Mrs. Delaney and cause her to blow her stack."

"And what did she do when she found out," Zach asked.

"Blow her stack," Jon said, sensing the futility of trying to keep history from repeating itself.

All the people here, of course, had met Caitlyn, and heard at length the stories of her confining circumstances, so they understood what it all meant. "I guess you didn't see any better options," said Christa.

"Jumping into marriage as an act of desperation?" Serena asked. "That sounds kind of... Dumb."

"It does," Jon agreed, "but, remember, Idid propose. And shedid say yes—before we knew any of this was going to happen. I know Caitlyn was waiting for it and I knowI would've done it a long time ago, only I didn't have the logistics and the money and the plan worked out."

"Would she have said Yes a long time ago?" Rod asked.

"...Maybe," said Jon. "Depends on when exactly 'a long time ago' is. You have to understand, we've..." He scrubbed at his neck, suddenly embarrassed. "It didn't really coalesce for a while, but we've been talking about getting married since we were together a month."

Serena and Rod, among others, looked puzzled, but Christa just nodded. "We saw the same thing happen with Brandon and Meredith. I mean, it took them until two summers ago to really make things official, but to some extent that'sall it was—making things official. They'd been married in their hearts for a long time—at least since we all came to college."

"Brandon said he just... Knew," said Zach. "Really early on. Which I don't quite understand, personally, 'cause, Christa and I had a much more normal process. We dated, we fell in love, we started to really like each other—"

"We started toreally like each other," Christa said, grinning broadly.

"—we started doing the sex," Zach said, "and then we came here to Greenfield together, and eventually some time in all this goings-on I started wondering if Christa was, maybe, the kind of person I'd want to spend my life with. Because, I mean, you can really love someone without them being the kind of person you want to marry. You need to have—I dunno—common goals, and the same priorities— You need to be on the same wavelength—"

"Shared values," said Jon, feeling a dizzy sense ofdeja vu.

"Yeah, that's it," said Zach. "Shared values. And so one day we just got to talking about this—well, 'one day,' that's not true, I brought it up 'cause I wanted to know—we got to talking about this and I asked her, you know, What do you want out of your life, you know? And she started telling me, and I felt really weird but really happy at the same time, because everything she said, I wanted too. And I'm just like... Wow. You know? I mean, how many people do you know who married their high school sweethearts?"

"Four," Jon said, who had gotten to know the Cranes and the Chamberses pretty well through Caitlyn.

"Besides us," said Zach, with a smirk.

"No, the romance stuff is not what I'd be concerned about," said Serena. "Jon, anyone who sees you and Caitlyn together would know instantly that you two are good for each other. The kind of couple you'd put money on. But being emotionally ready to marry each other isn't the same as being old enough, or mature enough, or rich enough, or... all those things. What about those? How are those working out?"

"Well..." said Jon, keenly aware of the discussion they had just had with Pastor Pendleton. "Truthfully, that's not as stable as it could be. I would have proposed to Caitlyn a long time ago—I would havemarried her a long time ago—and I think she would have accepted, too—except that we weren't ready. She wanted to stay home and let her parents pay for her master's degree, which she absolutely needs if she wants to have any sort of career as a harpist. Plus, more time forme to build up a savings. That was really the main reason for us not doing anything presumptuous, and obviously this explosion on her mom's part really forced our hands. We're still... We're still working on it. We feel optimistic, though."

"You can start small," said Richard. "Everyone has to startsomewhere. Find a cheap apartment, cheap furniture, cheap clothes... Better get some birth control, 'cause that's definitely a smart investment—"

"Yeah," said Christa, "absolutely. Poor Meredith—after Laurelyn popped out, she was able to go on and finish her last six months, but the money got so short that Brandon just... Dropped out. They've been struggling to catch up for a year now, and it looks like things might not change for a while."

"Hey, be fair," said Zach. "The only reason Meredith got through her degree at all was because of you and Sarah baby-sitting."

"Yeah, but, we can't breast-feed," said Christa. "We couldn't just, like, take over—and Meredith wouldn't have wanted us to, anyway. She and Brandon... I dunno, they're having problems, but you can also see they're totally happy. They're exactly where they want to be—married, and starting a family. It's too bad Brandon never finished his degree, but that's probably theonly thing they'd change if they had the chance to. They love it."

"When they're not falling down exhausted," said Zach.

"Yes, there is that too," said Christa in an entirely different voice. "Maybe we should've moved back with them."

"I'm sure Meredith's parents are taking good care of them," said Zach. "And besides, if we did, we'd never get this Christmas concert sung."

"What? Oh! Right!" said Christa. "Sorry! I didn't mean— Uh. Where were we?"

Jon chucked to himself.Do Cait and I check out like that? "All right, then. Starting back from measure 22..."

It was a very rewarding rehearsal, even counting the distractions of Jon's newly-altered marital status, but a long one because of that. It was nearly 10:30 before Jon was home—a half-hour past his bedtime, if he intended to return to work tomorrow, which he did. Caitlyn had probably been studying all this time—or maybe she'd given up and curled up with a book instead. Or perhaps she was chatting with Nathan on Instant Messenger. Whatever the case, he was looking forward to seeing her.

So he was rather surprised to find where she was: on his computer, staring wide-eyed at what was on the computer screen. She wasn't using Firefox, which was his browser of choice, but rather Internet Explorer, which he knew was what her family used... And whichhe used for his excursions into the wet wild world of porn.

He wasn't sure what she had gone online to look for—maybe the websites he had spoken of earlier, but maybe something else. Whatever the case was, it was the websites she had found, and that she was now gaping at.

Even as he watched, she clicked the mouse button, and the browser moved to the next page—this one with photographs of various sex positions. She scrolled down so rapidly that he wasn't sure she was even reading the text, but evidently she was, because halfway down she sat back with a stunned expression on her face.

Jon cleared his throat. "Ahem. Um. Hi."

Caitlyn whirled around, her face stricken and utterly red, and Jon couldn't help but laughing. This only caused her face to get redder, which only caused Jon to laugh more, but eventually she cracked a smile, and Jon opened his arms and she ran to them willingly.

"I'm—" she started.

"No you're not," he said, grinning. "I think it's wonderful to have a girl who's interested in what we do in bed and wants to learn more. —To have awife who's all that stuff."

"Yeah, but... You walked in on me."

"Could be worse. Once in college my roommate walked in onme in avery compromising spot. I was, err. Performing some manual exploration."

"What?"

"I was masturbating."

"Oh.Oh! You must've been so embarrassed!"

"No, not really, actually, we just both handled it with dignity. I said, 'Um, hey, could you wait outside for a minute,' and when he saw I was missing certain clothes, he understood why, and he went outside. I mean, it's not like he didn't know about it. Masturbation is a fact of life when it comes to teenage guys. I'm sure he does it."

"How do you know?" she teased. "Did you ever walk in onhim?"

"No," said Jon.Boy, that would've been uncomfortable. "Umm. No. But I'd be really surprised if he didn't, let's put it that way. He'd be in the like two-percent minority of men who don't."

They stood in silence for a while, fast in each other's arms, giving love and receiving comfort.

"So, my beloved," he said. "What have you found in your searches?"

"A lot," she said. "Way lot. More than I had any idea about. It'd take like a week straight to get through it all."

"Well, we only have the rest of our lives... And besides, it can't takethat long to read."

"No, I meant, to try it all," she said.

He felt his eyebrows jump into his hairline. "Mmm. Ah. And, umm. Anything you'd like to place priority on?"

"Umm... I dunno, I... Well, I thought everything looked kinda cool, at least to try. I mean, that doesn't..."

He could feel the heat from her face through his shirt. "All right then," he said lightly, "let's go the other direction. Anything youdon't wanna try?"

"Umm... The, um. I didn't like the idea of, the... Behind. That just seems..."

"What, doggie-style?" he said, confused.

"No, um..." It came out in a whisper. "Anal."

"Oh-hhh." He could see why she might find it distasteful. "That's okay. It never seemed like the greatest idea to me either."

"Okay," she said, her relief obvious. "I also didn't know about... Oral sex. About..."

"Really? You seemed to like it just fine last night."

"No, I know, I mean... About me, going down on... You."

Nowthat was a disappointment.

"I-I'm not saying I'm never gonna do it," she said hastily, as if sensing his reticence, "I'm just... I mean... Me, putting my mouth on your... That thing wasinside me."

"Well, I've washed it off since then..."

"Jon, stop it. This is serious."

"No, it isn't. Caitlyn, this isn't about... It's not like a contract or anything, where we have to, I dunno, set down in stone what we're going to do to each other. It's forfun. It's whatever you, or I, or youand I, feel comfortable with. I mean, yeah, I'd be disappointed if you didn't want to go down on me; I think you'd enjoy it and I know I'd enjoy it. But it's not the end of the world."

"Why would I enjoy it? I mean, putting your thing in my... In my—"

"Look, Cait. My friend Adam is gay, right? So, one time he asked me what was so special about a woman's pussy. He said, 'It's kind of ugly and it probably doesn't smell too nice... As opposed to a cock, which is all nice and clean and so much easier to put your mouth on. What's so great about it?' And it was a good question, that I was never really able to answer, not from a physiological point of view at least.

"But the real answer is this: I like doing it because of what it does to you. As a matter of fact, I like doing it alot, becauseyou like me doing it a lot. And I would challenge any man in the world to try it, and then still see if he dislikes it after he's seen how much his partner enjoys it. It's hard to argue with success like that. —And, by, 'success,' I mean, 'orgasms.'"

She giggled.

"Well, then," she said. "Shall we take a look at the computer and see if anything... Rises to the occasion?"

Did she just... My goodness, have I created a monster here? "I would love to, but... Baby, I have to be awake in seven hours. There just isn't..."

"Oh. Okay." Even he could sense her disappointment. (And if he'd known just how aroused she'd gotten from her 'research,' he might have changed his mind!)

"But it'll be the weekend soon, and we'll have...Plenty of time." He kissed her. "To try out... Whatever you want."

"Mmmm." Her audible smile again. "Is that a date?"

He grinned. "I think it's a—"

It was her cellphone again. "Umm. Hold on. Yeah. —Mom?"

Jon jolted almost involuntarily.

"Right... Right... Okay..." The temperature was falling by the second. "Okay..." A long gap. "Right, and what areyou going to do with it? Leave it in the corner untuned?You can't play it." Positively scornful, that one. "Oh yes Ican talk to you like... No I amnot, mother, I am not Caitlyn Claire Delaney anymore, I am CaitlynStanford, and I can talk to you any way I darn well please! And there's nothingyou can do about that!"

Then there was a long torrent of shouting from the phone, tinny but perfectly readable in hatred. And then the click of a disconnected line.

Caitlyn stood for a moment, listening to the dial tone. Then, slowly and carefully, she folded up the phone and put it down.

Then she started to cry.

It was many long minutes before she was in a shape to speak to him. Jon cradled her in his arms, stroking her hair, feeling the warmth of her body. He could never understand how she could seem so insubstantial, yet so solid. It was like holding a cloud, or heat, or light.

"It was my mom," she explained. "I called her about my harp—I'm going to need it, soon, or else my practicing will be... Well. I called and she didn't pick up, so I left a message. Andshe said—" A hiccup. "She said, that... Because they paid for most of it, it's mostly their property, and they're not giving it away."

Jon frowned. "Where'd they gettheir understanding of law?"

"No, no, that's the problem. They'reright. We had to work this out when I was six because Nathan and I co-bought a bike. The proportion of money paid is equal to the proportion of ownership. That's how businesses are owned, that's now real estate is owned... And since I only paid about $2,500 for the harp..."

"How much of it do you own?"

"About... About ten percent."

"Jesus!!"

"Yeah, it was... It was $23,000. And I was twelve, obviously I couldn't pay that. So... So now... They're saying that if I want it back, I have to— Buy the other 90% of it—"

"So tell them you want the 10% you own. Maybe they'll let you have some strings."

"And then— And then they said that, the only way I could get it for free was if I— If I left you, and came back to them, and—"

"Shh," he said. "No. No, there's no need to repeat such awful, hateful words. It's over. She's lost, and she knows it. We have money. We can beat them. If we need—"

But Caitlyn only cried all the harder.

Jon held her for many minutes more, but his eyes were closing and time was ticking away. "Caity, I— I don't mean to, to be insensitive or, or anything, but... It's eleven. Ido have to sleep—"

"I know," she gulped, "I know. I'm sorry. I just—"

"It's okay. It's okay. Here. Let me put on some pajamas and then I will hold you as much as you want."

And he did, and she did too, and hedid hold her, for all of the night. But though she slept, and eventually he did too, he had a feeling that the honeymoon, such as it was, was definitely over.It's the first time we didn't have sex when we could have.

Welcome to the real world.