You're Not Finished Yet Ch. 03

I stood and waved while the audience loudly applauded me, and also elicited giggles from not only Jennifer, but the rest of the girls in the band as my face turned bright red in embarrassment.

Because of Lynn's little announcement, my relationship with her and Jennifer was now out in the open, and even though the press was going to have a field day over it, I was still very proud of both of my angels; and I didn't give a shit who knew.

~~~~~~

Backstage after the show, I was surrounded by reporters, each one wanting to know about my relationship with Lynn and Jennifer. I said nothing about it, and left them all standing there pissed off because I wouldn't answer their nosy assed questions. When Ahmet found out about it, he smiled, praising me because I wouldn't bow down to the media, knowing that if any of them made any bad comments, or untrue statements, that they would get their asses sued for slander.

"Goodness, my boy," he laughed over the phone, that night, "You're just full of surprises."

"It is what it is, sir," I replied, "I make no excuses, nor will I be cross examined by the damned media about anything that concerns my personal life, or my family. I'm sorry if that's problem."

"Nonsense," he continued laughing, "You kids keep doing what you're doing, and everything will be alright, I assure you. Besides, this will definitely sell more records, I promise."

"Thanks Ahmet," I smiled, "You're a good man."

"Thank you, Mark," she chuckled, "You're the most fearless artist it's ever been my pleasure to have met."

~~~~~~

Our next show was at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. It was a decent sized venue that seated twenty-five thousand people. I really liked the acoustics, too, because Lynn's pure voice, which was a cross between Leah Nash, of Sixpence None the Richer and Colbie Caillat, was heard by everyone in attendance. Ad at the end of our show, we were all very surprised at the small gifts such as teddy bears, roses, and even greeting cards from well wishers about Lynn's pregnancy. All in all, I thought it was really very sweet, as did the rest of the band members.

Miss Lynn Chandler was becoming quite the celebrity in the music scene, and she was beginning to get offers from would be paramours, all of which she politely turned down. Jennifer, too, was getting rave reviews, as were the Mackey sisters. Rolling Stone magazine described Sally Richardson as, and I quote, "A guitar player way ahead of her time."

Me, on the other hand, while I was definitely being praised as a great writer, I was also being called a lothario that had his own harem to choose from; and the rock critics were wondering which of the females in the band I would impregnate next. It didn't really bother me, but I still thought that maybe one day all of the hoopla would die down.

It finally came to a screeching halt when Lynn, in an interview on The David Letterman show, while he was trying to make jokes at my expense, let him know what an uninformed asshole he really was. She flat told him backstage in no uncertain terms that if he insisted on being such a jackass about the relationship I had with Lynn and Jennifer, then she would tell the world that he'd repeatedly made unwanted advances toward her and the rest of the girls in the band, all of which were prepared to back her up, if he didn't shut his mouth about me henceforth.

Apparently it worked, because David Letterman himself came to our hotel room later that night after a show when we were in New York to personally apologize to me for every bad thing he'd ever said about me. I basically told him not to worry about it, and that he was forgiven. After that, he couldn't say enough nice things about not only me, but the band as well; healing the rift he'd caused between us.

~~~~~~

Chapter Five

We were now two months into the tour, and Lynn's pregnancy was beginning to show, but only a little bit because of the fact that she's such a tiny thing to begin with. Still though, like Jennifer, being pregnant made Lynn even more beautiful than she already was. Her face was radiant, and her attitude on life, which had always been great since I'd known her, was even more bright cheerful, making Jen and I fall deeper in love with her, if that was even possible.

And like Jennifer during her pregnancy, Lynn stayed horny all the time. I mean, it was almost every night that she craved sex. Hell, she would, on occasion, pull either Jennifer, me, or both of us to the back bedroom in the tour bus for a quickie; the woman was insatiable. And the two of them have gotten progressively worse as we've gotten older, especially now that the kids are grown. But then I'm getting ahead of myself...again...lol.

~~~~~~

One would think that being around five women day in and day out for four months straight would be stressful, but no; it was really very pleasant, at least for me anyway. Don't get me wrong, there were the occasional disagreements, especially between Lisa and Tonya, but that was because they were sisters, after all.

But other than that, we all got long quite well, and I began to become attached to these girls like they were my family. And while Jennifer and Lynn really were my family, Tonya, Lisa, and Sally became like sisters to me; sisters whom I will forever love for the rest of my life.

~~~~~~

As the love between the three of us grew deeper, I came to a point in my life where I decided that I would never live without either one of them. And when the band played in Utah, in the cities of Ogden and Provo, it was there that I decided we would eventually make our home. While polygamous marriages are not legal...yet...they are still tolerated; and I wanted more than anything for Jennifer and Lynn to both bear my last name. After we all had dinner one night before a show, I pulled Jen and Lynn aside and expressed my feelings to them.

Needless to say, they both hugged me while shedding happy tears and agreed with my decision. The only obstacle that I could foresee was getting my parents and grand parents to see things my way. I mean, after all, they were from the old school, and while never once did they approach me about marrying either of my angels, I knew that that still weighed heavily in the backs of their minds.

~~~~~~

Our final show was at the Darrel K. Royal Memorial Stadium on The University of Texas campus, in Austin, Texas. We filled the stadium to capacity, which, at the time seated roughly eighty thousand people, not counting the two thousand people who were seated on the field next to the stage.

This was one of the best shows we'd done during the whole tour, and we were all very excited to be there. We began the show with a song I wrote called, "Living The Life", which of course, brought everyone to their feet. The show was going smoothly without a hitch. However, little did I realize that all hell would break loose right before the encore?

We'd been reading in the local papers about this religious cult based out of Nacogdoches, Texas called, God's Vengeance, which was led by this extremist Asshole who called himself The Holy Brother Amos Ridley. Of course we all thought he was full of shit like the rest of his "cult". But they had been wreaking havoc with the law enforcement officers all over the state. And they'd also release a press statement that said that God's judgment was coming soon, and that it would happen in the not too distant future.

~~~~~~

When we came out to take the stage for an encore performance, automatic weapon fire riddled the front of the stage, making me pull Lynn behind my keyboards where the rest of the band had already moved to. Suddenly someone came running onto the stage with an M-16 rifle in his hands that was aimed at me. What this stupid asshole hadn't known, was that my experiences in Beirut had taught me how to take care of dickheads just like this one.

"God's wrath is upon you, sinner," he sneered, raising his weapon to fire it.

"Fuck you," I growled, sweeping his feet from beneath him, and disarming his dumb ass at the same time. Then after I kicked him hard enough in the face to knock him out, I snatched the weapon from off of the ground and made certain that it was locked, loaded, and aimed directly between his eyes.

"Go ahead and make a move," I growled, "I'll kill you right here, motherfucker."

"Take it easy, son," said a police officer, who'd climbed upon the stage, and was now standing behind me with his weapon drawn, "Everything is going to be alright now. Please, put the weapon down."

I did as he asked and stepped away, however, the would-be assailant took this as a chance to reach into his belt and draw the nine millimeter pistol he had holstered. But before he could pull it, I heard three loud discharges from the police officer's fire-arm, and then the man was dead.

The would-be assailant was none other than Amos Ridley himself, and soon after his death, the rest of his cult were either arrested and/or disbanded all together. Either way, this band of roughly a hundred, or so people would never be heard from again. I just thank the good Lord that he gave me the reflexes that he did; otherwise, God only knows what could've happened.

~~~~~~

We were all over the front page of every major newspaper the next morning, and I had gone from the status of a sleazy lothario to that of a genuine hero, which of course I thought was total horse shit all the way around. Still though, all of the positive press releases made our first album go multi-platinum; and because the show in Austin had been our last, we were more than happy to return back to Houston for a long and well deserved rest.

~~~~~~

Abbey had grown a lot since we last saw her, and God knows that we had sorely missed her while we were gone. She was so beautiful to look at, with her honey blonde locks of hair and her bright blue eyes that danced like candles the moment she saw us; and it was all that I could do not to cry as I held this precious little darling in my arms, especially after knowing, the day before, how close I'd come to never seeing her again.

~~~~~~

Lynn was five and a half months pregnant by this time, and Jennifer and I coddled and babied her just as Lynn and I had done for Jennifer when she was pregnant with Abbey. The one thing that Lynn was doing differently though, was that now she was at the proper term in her pregnancy to be able to get an ultrasound, so that she could determine the sex of our child. So, with that in mind, Lynn, Jennifer, and of course Mom, all took off to the doctor's office the following day, leaving me and Abbey to have a morning to ourselves.

~~~~~~

"Mark, guess what?" Lynn came through the front door, smiling.

"What," I grinned, "What is it, baby?"

"Oh, Mark," she said, sweetly kissing my lips, "We're going to have another little girl in the house."

"Aw, sweetheart," I grinned, hugging her, "That's great."

"I know," Lynn cooed, "And Jen and I have already picked out what we're going to name her."

"Is that right," I chuckled, "Do I get a say in this?"

"No," Lynn and Jennifer giggled, in unison.

After taking abbey into her arms, Jennifer sat down on one side of me, and then Lynn sat down on the other side of me and said, "We want to name her Amy Elizabeth Haynes. Do you like it, sweetheart?"

"Of course I do," smiled placing my arms around them both, "If you two like it, then I love it."

"We love you, Mark," Lynn softly said, kissing my lips.

"We sure do, baby," Jennifer added, kissing me then Lynn, "We love you very much."

~~~~~~

That night as I lay between my two beautiful angels that meant more to me than life itself, I began to ask myself what it was that I had done to deserve this wondrous blessing that had been bestowed upon me. I'd always tried to do the right thing where treating people were concerned; and I sure as hell didn't break, nor had I broken any laws, but I must've done something right, somewhere at least

However, as I dozed off to sleep, my mind went back in time to when I was stationed with the Marine Corps in Beirut. My best friend in the whole world, David Sellers, and I were walking through what was considered to be a "safe area" when suddenly we heard the words, "INCOMING, INCOMING," being shouted, indicating that mortar fire was coming down upon us.

"GET DOWN, DAVE," I yelled, yanking my buddy to the ground. Then suddenly, from the window of one of the many bombed out buildings around us, the distinct sound of AK-47 fire began to pierce the air as the ground in front of us began to explode in small pops, which immediately let me know that we were being shot at by a sniper somewhere near.

"SNIPER, SNIPER, CHECK YOUR SIX," Dave repeatedly yelled, "CHECK YOUR SIX." And the moment I turned to look behind me, I saw a terrorist moving from window to window on the third floor of the building less than twenty yards behind us.

"I'VE GOT HIM," Dave shouted, and because he qualified as an "Expert" on the rifle range at Camp Pendleton, in Oceanside, California, Dave rolled to his right behind a pile of rubbage, and took aim.

However, what Dave didn't see was another terrorist pop up behind him with an RPG sitting on his shoulder. I withdrew the .9mm pistol that I carried and took one shot, which hit the son of a bitch in the side of the head,, but not before he shot the RPG.

Luckily enough, the RPG missed Dave by quite a bit, but with the distraction of the explosion, the terrorist with the AK-47 got five shots off, two of which hit Dave before I could get to him.

"DAMMIT, NOOO," I shouted, racing toward Dave at full speed, consequences be damned. He was still alive when I got there so, I assumed that he's only been slightly wounded. Then I picked up Dave's rifle and took aim at the rag-head asshole with the AK-47, and just as soon as the opportunity presented itself, I blew his fucking head off.

When I turned back to check on Dave, the whole front of his chest was covered in blood. "DAVE, NOOO," I screamed, "Don't do this, buddy," I said, shaking him. "Come on, man," I said, beginning to perform CPR, but it was to no avail, Dave was dead.

However, I must've been in shock, or something, because the next thing I knew was that four Marines were dragging me away from his lifeless body as I continued to scream his name, tears pouring down my face.

Suddenly, from somewhere off in the distance, I heard two sweet and tender voices calling my name, "MARK, BABY WAKE UP." And someone was shaking my body and crying, "MARK, BABY PLEASE WAKE UP, WE LOVE YOU, MARK, PLEEEEAAASE!"

~~~~~~

And then I opened my eyes to find that I was lying in bed at home, with Lynn and Jennifer holding me and crying, both of them, "We're right here, baby. Mark, please wake up...we love you so much."

"I'm awake," I replied, in a shaky voice, and then the tears began pouring down my face as I sat up in the bed crying and shaking, as Jennifer and Lynn continued to hold me like they were never going to let go.

"I'm alright," I said, trying to shake off the nightmare, "I need to get up."

~~~~~~

I stood out by the pool in my boxers with a shot of bourbon in my glass, while Jennifer and Lynn stood next to me, each wearing one of my old tee-shirts.

"I'm really sorry for scaring you two," I quietly said, "I just can't...I don't know..."

"Shh," Jen softly replied, as she and Lynn held me, "It's okay, baby."

"That's right, Mark," Lynn sniffled, "I wish that there was something that we could do so that you wouldn't have those damn nightmares."

"I don't know," I quietly replied, sipping the bourbon, trying to calm my nerves, "It creeps up on me when I least expect it."

"Have you ever thought about maybe talking to someone about it?" Lynn asked, "Maybe that would help you."

"I know you mean well, my love," I gently told her, caressing her beautiful cheek with my hand, "But how can I explain something to someone who hasn't been there and could never understand?"

"I don' know," she sniffled, "But seeing you like this hurts us so badly, baby."

"She's right," Jen softly cried, "It kills us to see you having those fucking nightmares, Mark...it really does."

The next thing I knew was that both of my girls had their arms around me, as well as each other, and were softly crying their beautiful eyes out. And that literally ripped my heart out by the roots. So, it was right then and there I decided that I would go and see Dr. Richard Barnes the very next morning. Because God knows, that for me, seeing Jennifer and Lynn like this was even worse on me than the nightmares could ever be.

~~~~~~

"Goodness, Gracious," Dr. Barnes smiled, as I walked into his office that next morning, "If it isn't Mark Haynes in the flesh, how in the world are you, boy?"

"Hello, Doctor Barnes," I replied, "I hope you're not too busy."

"Of course not," he ginned, "Have a seat. What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to you, sir," I solemnly replied, closing his door behind me, "It's the nightmares, Doc, I'm having them again and they're getting worse."

"I see," I said, "Well, let's talk about you, first why don't we, okay?"

"Okay," I smiled, "What do you want to know?"

I understand that you're a father now, with another child on the way," he said, "Let's talk about that for now."

"Okay, what would you like to know, sir?"

Dr. Barnes leaned back in his chair, and with a proud smile etched across his face, he looked at me and said, "I heard about your little escapade in Austin, and let me tell you now how proud we all are of you. But I also want to talk about your personal life, too. How are things with you, Miss Bradley and Miss Chandler, oh, and your new daughter? What's her name?"

"Her name is Abbey," I proudly replied "Abigail Leigh Haynes."

"Beautiful name," he smiled, "Do you have any pictures of her with you?"

"I sure do," I grinned, reaching into my wallet and withdrawing a picture of my beautiful little Abbey, showing it to Dr. Barnes, "Isn't she pretty?"

"She's not just pretty, Mark," he smiled, "That child is beautiful. She looks just like Jennifer, I'd say."

"I'd say you're right," I laughed, "That's why she's beautiful."

Then as he handed me the picture back, he looked into my eyes and said, "Tell me about your dreams, Mar; and try to be as explicit as you can."

I began with the dream I'd had the previous night, and then after going into as much detail as I could remember, I told him about the dreams I'd experienced, well, as many as I could remember anyway, ever since I'd been out of the Navy. It was tough to talk about, but Dr. Barnes let me take a beak whenever I needed to, and once I was done, I felt emotionally drained.

"I can tell that you made some good friends while you were with the marines," he commented, "And it sounds like you really miss them don't you?"

"Yes, sir," I replied, my eyes beginning to fill with tears as I thought of the friends I'd lost, "Sometimes I feel like I've lost a part of myself."

"I understand, son," he kindly replied, patting me on the shoulder, "I lost a lot of friends in Vietnam so; I know exactly what you're feeling."

"So, how did you get over it, Doc?" I pointedly asked, "And did you ever have dreams about it?"

"Some times I still do," he plainly said, "But there's no getting over it, as you say. There's only dealing with it."

"How do you deal with it?" I asked, "Sometimes I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingernails."

"Think about those three beautiful girls that depend on you," he told me, "Remember that they need you, and they love you. Don't you have another child on the way, too?"

"Yes, sir," I proudly smiled, "We just found out that it's going to be a girl, too."

"Well, then," he replied, Think about the soon to be four beautiful girls that are going to be depending on you. Once you've done that, I want you to put yourself in the place of your friends that are gone."