The Night I Drank

"I already got one" I told Kate.

"What?" she asked in surprise.

"When Mom and Dad died" I explained. "I inherited everything. The company, some stocks and other stuff. The trust fund, of course. Also the house in the city that I ended up selling off. I got all of that when I turned 18. But also Mom's jewelry. I've had it since then. I never thought of giving any of it to any of my other girlfriends. But last month, I went to the bank and got it out of the safety deposit box. Not all of it. But Mom's engagement ring that Dad gave her. It's really beautiful. I've had it in my wall safe the last little while. Not ready to walk around with it yet. It'd make me too nervous. But when the time comes to pop the question to Annie, I'm ready. You wanna see it?"

"Oh Stanley!" Kate exclaimed as her voice choked up with emotion. "I do, but not yet. Let's wait till you can walk again. Hell, let's wait a couple of days, or even longer. No, you know what? When we tell Neil what's going on and what your intentions are. That's when you can show it to us both. You already having a ring is going to go a long way towards showing him that you're serious. And then we'll figure out when you can pop the question to Annie. Yeah, that sounds good, doesn't it?"

I broke into a smile. "That sounds fucking great to me" I said and then added "You're so smart."

"

"Oh my boy, you are so drunk" Kate told me and then let out a laugh. I laughed too, releasing all the nervous tension that I'd been storing up since the beginning of the evening.

Kate helped me to my feet and helped get me into bed. She told me to lie on my side so that I didn't choke on my own vomit like some rock star had. I forget the name she mentioned. I really don't remember most of the rest of the details of the evening. I do know that she left the light in the bathroom on and its door open as well as the door to my bedroom. I know this because, after she left, I tried to go to sleep, woke up sometime later and made a mad dash to the bathroom. It was a good thing there were no obstructions or anything to delay me because I barely made it before I vomited a truly ridiculous amount of bile.

I didn't go to work the next day because my head was pounding. True to her word, Kate called me to check that I was suffering through the hangover she expected me to have. I assured her I certainly was. She gently threatened me with greater pain should I ever try to hide anything from her again. I meekly promised I would never do so. And I meant it. If you're wondering if it was because of the hangover or the pistol, my answer is six of one, half dozen of the other.

Neil's mother died early that Sunday and Kate flew out to help make the funeral arrangements the same day. I drove her to the airport where she hugged me goodbye and promised me that everything would turn out alright. A few days later, I flew out to be with the Forests at the funeral service. Annie and I continued to keep our feelings under wraps although she did take me aside during the wake to tell me Kate had told her she knew what was going on now. I confirmed that she had confronted me, though I neglected to mention the gun or the alcohol. I didn't know how Annie would react to either one. I figured the important thing was that we could now confide in her mother if needed.

When we all returned to our homes, Kate and Annie got to work on gently bringing Neil up to speed. Between the two of them conspiring against him, I don't think the poor guy ever had a chance to be outraged. As expected, he was a little upset at first and missed a few poker nights. I likewise skipped a few movie nights until finally he called me up to tell me he was OK with me coming over again. The next time I went over, I waited until Annie was out of the room before showing her parents my mother's engagement ring. Kate almost started crying at how beautiful it was. And she was right in her prediction that it would go a long way towards making Neil accept how Annie and I felt about each other.

I was surprised at how little pushback we got from our circle of friends. It seemed that since Neil and Kate had accepted that Annie and I were a couple, everyone else saw nothing wrong with it either.

I didn't propose to Annie until the following Christmas. She said yes in a voice so high-pitched that I honestly thought some of the glasses in her parents' kitchen were going to shatter. After that, Neil and Kate finally allowed her to come spend weekends over at my house, something she had not done until then. Believe it or not, it was the first time she'd ever spent time at my house without her parents there. Never once during our time getting freaky on the train had it ever occured to either of us that she could come over. She didn't move in full-time until after our wedding.

That was in 1994 and we spent our honeymoon visiting cities all over Europe. Lots of train rides. And if you're wondering if we made love while riding them, we certainly did. Trains are kind of an aphrodisiac for Annie and I.

Annie has borne me three healthy children, two of whom have already moved out of the house and another who is preparing to do the same very soon. Neil and Kate are starting to pester my children about having children of their own. If you think grandparents can be crazy about their grandkids, it turns out the same goes for great-grandchildren too. The two of them want more kids to spoil rotten

And in case you were wondering, I never touched another drop of alcohol ever again after the night Kate pulled a gun on me.

THE END