Vivian Laaning Ch. 57

When Erica followed by Rod Koeninger arrived at her apartment, she put Tony to bed. She directed Rod to have a seat on a kitchen chair as she handed him a glass containing a shot of Johnny Walker Black on the rocks. She excused herself momentarily to go the bathroom. There she removed her stockings and garter belt to get more comfortable. When she returned she fixed herself a screwdriver.

During the drive to her apartment, and as she was preparing to talk to Rod, she took stock of the astonishing revelations she had been privy to that night. She had assumed that the wild wicked weekend that past May nearly four years ago had faded away in memory for all of the other participants.

Hell even with regards to her sister, Vivian, that weekend only served as a simply transitory sexual event. She noted that Vivian went so far as to decorate her body to ostensibly celebrate some really exciting sexual events, she had participated in. Vivian had commissioned tattoos to be carved on her thighs to honor her marathon gang bang of fucking twenty-five different men in a twenty-four hour period. She had acquired a gold plated body chain belt awarded to her for triumphing in a sex contest at an orgy conducted by a swingers sex club. And she had purchased four sterling silver ankle bracelets to commemorate her successful completion of a boast asserting her ability to seduce every member of her first year law school study group.

So as Erica saw it, her sister's perspective on that orgy weekend in Madison could not have had much significance in her life. Certainly it was not as monumentally important in Vivian's sexual history to merit similar acknowledgment via à vis the other mentioned three events. Still to be fair, it was evident from Erica's knowledge of her sister's sexual adventures that she had gone through numerous memorable sexual encounters. Thus, to memorialize then all would be extravagant not to mention tacky. But the material point was that there's no denying that for Vivian that weekend in Madison was not all that consequential in her life. Presumably the same could be said for the fellows.

However unlike the case of the others, that weekend in Madison four years previously was for Erica a game changer; an unequivocal turning point in her life. She became pregnant and subsequently a mother as result. That was not an insignificant outcome considering she had not become pregnant despite nearly four years of marriage. During that time not only did she eschew employing any birth control measures, but she took pro active steps to ensure that she always had sex with her husband, at every presumed optimum time in her menstrual cycle wherein impregnation was at its maximum possibility.

Her infidelity exercised that weekend, and her resultant pregnancy was the main reason for her divorce. A major incidental consequence of the divorce was the termination of pursuing a lifestyle as a farmer's wife. That lifestyle was Erica's sole goal and ambition in life since she was a little girl; ever since she started dreaming of what she would become once grown up. During her formative years and beyond, Erica's conduct was conducive to fulfilling this apparently desired goal. Consequently, the bitterest pill Erica had to swallow as a consequence to her sins was to forget and forego her initial life dreams.

Now most importantly, notwithstanding Erica's genuine regret at the loss of following her life's goal, she was the mistress of the banal cliché: if life hands you lemons, make lemonade. So instead of going through life as a farmer's wife, Erica became a waitress. Scratch that; in today's political correct world she became a server. But she wasn't a server for long. As a result of her noticeable and undeniable skills and talents, she quickly became first an assistance manager, and then the general manager overseeing one of the finest restaurants in Chicago. And as if that was not enough production of lemonade, Erica was beginning to harbor a realistic dream of owning and running a restaurant. Therefore, it was safe to say that there were lots of positive consequences arising from the aftermath of Erica's sinful activity during that weekend in Madison, Wisconsin to offset the otherwise negative impact of the same.

Disregarding the advantages and or disadvantages, that may have accrued to Erica as a result of that weekend of debauchery at a hotel room in Madison, WI, she had definitely moved on with her life. Hence, her memories of the weekend had lost any angst she might have previously harbored in her mind, and instead it merely became a recollection intermixed with recalling the sheer hedonist pleasure of the group sex to realizing that one of those men had impregnated her.

Since that time, she had the luxury of imagining that Rod Koeninger was the actual father of her wonderful son. Without a doubt that was her most desirous end result in her fantasy. But now with this actual meeting of Rod at her restaurant, Erica was apprehensive to realize that her dream world that she had established in her mind was about to crash. So she could only foresee doom and gloom, with the forthcoming conversation she was about to have with him. In fact after receiving his drink, as they were seated at the kitchen table, Rod did commence an intensive interrogation:

"So you were not on any birth control regimen that weekend?"

"Obviously not since I did get pregnant and gave birth to a handsome son."

"What about your sister? Did she get pregnant as well?"

"No she did not. She had an IUD inserted in her vagina."

"And you did not?"

"I was married and desirous of getting pregnant, whereas my sister was single with no such desire on her mind."

"Still you surely could have acquired a birth control device beforehand. That weekend was not a spur of the moment thing that just happened. It was deliberately planned consensual sex. Hell, I remember even paying for the hotel room some weeks prior to the event."

Erica conceded:

"I commend you on your perspicacity. That orgy weekend was definitely an event planned beforehand, Still it was a planned event without consideration of the possibility of pregnancy occurring. And obviously I did not contemplate such possibility."

Rod suspected that Erica's answer was disingenuous, but decided to let it slide for now. Instead there was in his mind a more important aspect of the situation that he wanted to clear up. So he asked:

"When you first realized you were pregnant, were you in doubt as to the father? Could not your husband have impregnated you? Only when your son was born and you saw he was biracial did you belatedly realize it had to have been that weekend that caused you to become pregnant?"

"No I knew from the start that it had to be that weekend when I conceived. I had a period prior to that weekend and I had not any sex with my husband since then or at any time thereafter for that matter."

"Oh really! Was the weekend the cause for your divorce?"

"You might say it was the straw that broke the camel's back."

"So if you knew you became pregnant as a result of that weekend, and your marriage was shot anyway, why didn't you get a hold of me? I know I gave you my number. Hell that number is still active today; you can still reach me by that number."

"But I didn't have your brother's number nor the other guy's number. And I would've needed to get in touch with them as well if I was going to disclose my pregnant state fairly."

"That excuse doesn't fly. Obviously, you had to be aware that I was and still am in touch with my brother. And he could have reached the other dude. So again, why in hell did you not get in touch with me?"

Erica hesitated a little bit recalling her discussions with Vivian at the time on this very same subject. Finally she answered:

"I honestly believed that it would have been unfair to the three of you, for me to disclose my pregnancy. Moreover, I thought it would be in the best interest for my son. I believed that whomever it turned out to be the biological father would resent my child which attitude could not be good for my son's psyche."

"And how did you come to that way of thinking?"

"Well just think about it. Say I did get a hold of the three of you at the time. What would have been my speech? 'Say guys I got pregnant and the only time I could have conceived was that weekend in Madison. So one of you is the father. Can you all hang tight until the baby is born when paternity can be conclusively proven by a blood test? And if you are the father would you want to act as the father to my child? I don't mean marriage of course, but would you want a say in our child's upbringing. Would you want to exercise custodial visits? Would you go so far as to provide some child support?"

Rod hesitated for a moment before reacting:

"So what's so wrong with exactly doing that?"

"First of all, it would have been a burden of life unjustly imposed on you guys, that you surely could not have anticipated. As we've already acknowledged that the weekend was not a spur of the moment happenstance. The planning for it was formulated some weeks prior. Thus, there would be a reasonable assumption on your part that my sister and I would ensure we would utilize a birth control measure for the event. And of course Vivian did, but I didn't. For the record, I don't care to rehash my reasons for not practicing birth control. Suffice it to say that I was in essence solely responsible for becoming pregnant."

Rod thought about Erica's calm unemotional recounting of her decision. He honestly felt that here was an underlying fallacy to her thought process that he was determined to discover. So he replied:

"I can't speak for the others, but I understand your thinking as to why I might resent learning of my possible fatherhood status. But I can't understand your reasoning that if it did turn out I was the father, why would I resent it? Yes I might have initially resented being advised that you were pregnant, but if your child does prove to be mine why would I resent him?"

"From my point of view, it would seem to me, that if I did reveal to the three of you the circumstances of my pregnancy, each of you would initially view the news as an unwelcome intrusion in your personal life; an intrusion you didn't need or expect. None of you knew of my existence prior to that weekend, and at the end of the weekend all three of you would have had the realistic expectation of never seeing me again."

Rod interrupted:

"But wait a minute Erica I did give you my phone number. So you must have thought I was interested in seeing you again."

"You knew I was married, although granted you were not aware of the state of affairs in my marriage. But you did know I was committing adultery. Thus, I believed that you gave me your number simply on the off chance that if I'd have any occasion to come to Chicago I could look you up for another tryst. There's no denying that I did not live all that far away from Chicago."

Rod replied:

"Fair enough, but I understand by what you've already told me, that you have been living in Chicago for at least three years now. So why haven't you tried to contact me before tonight?"

"By the time Vivian and I moved to Chicago, I had become a mother. At that point in time, the circumstances of my pregnancy was water under the bridge as far as I was concerned. I imagined you were leading a life presumably without any regard to me. Hell you could have been married for all I knew. Actually I have to admit I no longer had your phone number as I had discarded it as being a useless bit of information."

"Still you could have gotten in touch with me. You could have left a message with the team, and they surely would have passed such message to me. Don't you think I would have been interested in knowing about the possibility that I might be a father?"

"Look Rod, at the time I ascertained my pregnancy, I had the impression that the reaction each of the three of you would have upon my news disclosing pregnancy, would be the supposition that you are not the father. After all, the odds for each of you individually, would be two to one against you being the father. Thus during my pregnancy, each of you would pursue your life and your ambitions with the presumption that you are not the father, and thus your life would be undisturbed if indeed it turns out you're not the father.

"However if you are the one that proves to be the father, why the applecart of all your future dreams and aspirations would be upset. You couldn't help feeling that you were unlucky to be the one in three saddled with such an encumbrance. The child support you might be liable for, whether you could afford it or not would be viewed as a most unfortunate expense. No doubt you would harbor the sentiment: 'Why me?' Such thoughts couldn't be conducive for you having a healthy attitude towards my son. And that in turn could not be helpful to my son's self esteem."

Rod Koeninger considered Erica's reply long and hard. There was no denying that her outlook was reasonable and logical but it still seemed to him to have been unduly cold and even callous. So he replied:

"I know you really don't know me, and for that matter the vice versa would also apply. Still from what little you know of me, do you really think that if I truly am the father of your son, I would resent him? Do you really think I would begrudge paying you child support? For your information you should know that there are a whole slew of athletes in professional sports, and not just in the NFL either, who pay child support for children they have fathered but have not married the mothers of those children."

Erica replied:

"Well I guess, my point of view is that I'm fully capable of raising my son on my own. My salary at this restaurant is very adequate to support us. Besides that, I'm in possession of a substantial trust fund that my father started when I was born. After a further two years of experience in running this restaurant, I believe I'll be capable of running my very own restaurant, and obviously I will have the capital to bring that dream to fruition."

Rod replied earnestly:

"It is actually immaterial whether you can adequately support and raise your child comfortably. The legal point is that every child is entitled to financial support from both its parents. Thus, if you really do not need any support from the father of your child for your day to day care of him, then a trust fund, the kind similar to what apparently your father established for you, would be welcome for your child's future."

Erica observed with trepidation:

"But for me to legally demand child support from you, I would have to prove that you are the biological father of my son."

"Well yeah! That goes without saying!"

"Let me ask you this. What is the financial situation of your brother? His name is Nigel isn't it?

"Yes! Nigel got married a little more than a year ago, and they have a son. At this time his wife is pregnant with another. They are struggling and I do help them out occasionally. But I'm sure this financial crunch is temporary, but eventually he'll be OK."

"All right, what about the other gentleman of that Madison weekend; your brother's friend? I've forgotten his name as Vivian knew him better."

"Yes I don't know his name either. Nigel hasn't mention him to me for more than two years. So I can't tell you anything about him."

"OK! So if I do go to Court for child support, the odds are two to one that either your brother or the forgotten gentleman is the father of my son. In the case of the latter I would have to find out his whereabouts to actually collect any child support ordered. In the case of your brother I would be inflicting a financial burden that he could ill afford. So my son is not better off by either outcome, but unfortunately I would be deprived of a fantasy which I've harbored for that past few years. Obviously I can intellectually give up my fantasy but I'll not be happy as a result."

"And what fantasy are you talking about?"

"As I've already told you my reasons for not disclosing my pregnancy to the three of you, as to who would be the father of my child, are what they are. This leaves me with the paternity of my son undetermined. So I had affixed in my mind of what is the actual desirable scenario. There was and is in my mind no question that the best case scenario is that you are the biological father of my son.

"You can appreciate that such desire is not predicated by mere mercenary reasons. If that were the case I would be in the Court in a heart beat. It would be a no loss situation for me. If it turned out that you were not the father then nothing had changed. But if you were the father, why I would be entitled to generous child support.

"I do have to confess, that it I was in an impoverished condition. I probably would have had no option but to pursue child support against all three of you; and try to enforce the order against the one who turns out to be the father of my child. No doubt the state government's children agency would be my champion in such case to extract what child support payments I could secure.

"However, since in my actual case I can support my child adequately, then by not tracking down with certainty as to who is the father, I have the luxury to indulge in my fantasy so as to image the ideal father for my son. I of course would never divulge the actual circumstances of the conception of birth to my son, as I would not want him to think ill of me. But still I'm free to attribute the manly virtues of his father. I do not have to invent the virtues either, because I merely only need to recite the virtues I discern about you.

"So now I trust you can understand why I'm not so eager to discover factually the true identity of the sire of my son. That way I'm free to simply believe that it is you. Actually since Vivian was with me at birth we both believed it has to be likely you, because how else can I account for the perfect son that was born to me?"

"Perfect son?"

"I am his mother so by definition, he must be perfect!"

Rod chuckled at Erica's flip remark, and paused and considered the entirety of Erica's answers. After taking a further sip of scotch he asked:

"So you want to believe I'm the father because that is what you wish to be the case. And you will extol my supposed virtues to your son. By the way what virtues pray tell will you highlight?"

"Well I would tell him that his Dad was the handsomeness man I had ever met. A truly man's man that every woman could not help but fall in love with. That would explain his own handsome features."

"Is that what you actually believe of me?"

At this point, Erica affected her sultry sexiest voice as she responded:

"Oh yes indeedy! That weekend was without a doubt the most exciting time of my life. Your brother and the other guy were terrific, but you were sensational! I can honestly say that if I were to close my eyes and conjure up an image of the most virile good looking man that would automatically cause my toes to curl, it would be you."

"Even though I'm black?"

"That's not a handicap!"

Again Rod paused and mulled over what Erica had said. Then seemingly changing the subject he asked:

"What is the name of your son?"

"Tony."

"No I mean what is his full name that you had registered on his birth certificate?"

"Anthony Laaning."

"So you didn't register you husband's surname for your son?"

"Certainly not. Although I do not know the identity of Tony's father, I certainly know it was not my husband Matthew English. Although my divorce was not final at the time of Tony's birth, I had already reverted to my maiden name, and was able to record Tony consequently."

"Who did you identity as the father?"

"They allowed me to leave it blank, as opposed to stating 'unknown'."