“Whoa whoa whoa, Connie,” I said, holding up my hand, “are you trying to baby-trap Del? He’s just a kid himself! You’re 8 years older than he is, and so far out of his league you’re playing different sports!”
Connie put her coffee cup down, her face clouded by anger. “You got no room to talk, Tom,” she snapped. “You had no reservations about knocking up my perfect sister, did you? Like seven kids wasn’t enough, you used her like a brood mare and got her pregnant three more times!”
“Now Connie,” Dotty interjected, but her sister cut her off again.
“Shut up, Dotty,” she barked, “I’m not a little kid anymore. It’s my life, and you ain’t got no say in it! I’ve had one shitty boyfriend after another, now, finally I got me a good one! I don’t care what you say, the two of you are not taking him away from me!”
Just then, a yawning Del shuffled into the kitchen, bare-chested, wearing just his jeans. Being 18 and whip-thin, his chest had a well-defined musculature to it. Mine had looked like that 20 years ago, but being a father and businessman I’d been too busy to go to a gym and stay in shape. Although her tastes ran to bigger men these days (at least one in particular), I was sure Dotty was enjoying the view; admittedly, I felt a little jealous.
“Who’s taking who where?” Del sleepily asked as he scratched his blonde head. He bent down and kissed Connie, not a quick peck but a longer kiss, obviously residual from their night of passion. What’s more, the lump in his jeans indicated his readiness for yet another round. (I couldn’t really blame the boy; Terhune voodoo will do that to a man. Just when you think your pecker’s done for the night, a little Terhune sister magic will prove you wrong.)
“My sister and brother-in-law are trying to tell me how to live,” Connie blurted out, “they think I’m taking advantage of you, and don’t want me to interfere with your going to college.”
Del sat down next to her, took a sip from her coffee cup, and gave a quick laugh. “That’s bullshit,” he declared to the room, and kissed her again. “Taking advantage of you? You just gave me the best night of my life! No way I’m letting go of you, little mermaid.”
I thought to myself, ‘aw, geeeez’ because the pet-name thing was nauseating. My facial expression must have made my disgust obvious because Connie snapped at me. “What, Tom, you don’t have a pet name for your wife? I guess your romance is gone after banging her cellulite ass all those years. Sex with her must be getting old, just like she is!”
Dotty gasped in shock, and shouted, “CONNIE!” Angry now, I held my hand up to silence Dotty.
Narrowing my eyes as I spoke, I growled at my youngest sister-in-law, “I’ll have you know even after 20 years, your big sister can still get me hard with no problem. We got plenty of romance going on. And if you really want to know, my pet name for her is ‘trophy wife’, because she is! You got that?”
Connie didn’t respond, just glared at me. Then, I turned to Del. “As for you, Mister Bartolo, are you using protection in your nocturnal fun with Connie here, or are you playing Russian roulette? She’s a Terhune woman, which means she’s extremely fertile. She’s the youngest of fourteen kids, did she tell you that? Do you want to live with her and a newborn or two while you’re in college?”
Del’s eyes got wide for a second, but a big grin broke out on his face. “That would be SO cool,” he replied. “She’s already hot, I think she’d be even hotter pregnant. Plus, it’s not like I can’t afford to rent a house at Cambridge big enough for all of us!”
Arguing with David about Pearl had been hard enough, and I’d ultimately lost that debate. Del was as smart or smarter than his brother, so trying to argue with him was even worse. I tried a different approach.
“Look, Del, there’s more to being together than pregnancy. You have to develop a relationship, learn to live with each other’s idiosyncrasies, all that! It’s a huge commitment, along with going to school. Add being parents on top of that won’t be easy.”
The little bastard just smiled and shrugged. “Hey, I’m not worried. I mean, look at Walter. He spent 30 years beating guys up for my dad, but since I been here, he’s doing great as a father. If he can be a good dad, I can too!” Damn, this kid was fearless, not batting an eye as he explained himself. Walter’s usually stoic face alternated between shocked and pleased with himself from Del’s unsolicited testimonial.
Del moved to stand behind Connie, protectively putting his hands on her shoulders. “Look, grades are nothing to me and David. Both of us were top students all our lives, it’s all we knew. Because of the business Dad was in, we never dated, never had friends, it was just studying during the school year and going to stupid summer camps where you lose whatever friends you made after it’s over. Now here we are, parents are gone and we’re living in a strange place because our brother is hunting for us. It fucking sucks!”
I didn’t really know David and Del when they’d come to stay with us, but I had to admit as I’d gotten to know them, I’d grown to care for them. My interactions with them today had taught me plenty about who they were, and I continued to be impressed.
Del went on, “I’m 18 and want to live my own life, and I want Connie to live it with me. I mean, look at her! She’s sweet and kind and she’s hot as hell! I’m not leaving her behind, she’s coming with me!” He paused, took a breath, then added, “Plus, judging by how good Laura and Dotty look, Connie’s gonna stay hot for a long time. Can you blame me?”
Walter didn’t say anything, just scowled. I knew damned well that Walter would have punched any other man in the mouth for talking about Dotty like that, but this was Quiet Sal’s son. Plus, Del was right; Terhune women did age quite well. Del turned to Dotty, “No offense, Mrs. Connor.”
Flattered, Dotty smiled and replied, “None taken.”
I held my hands up in surrender. “OK, Del, I get it. You win. Go online today and start looking for townhouses and condos in the Cambridge area. Student housing rents are exorbitant, it’s better if you buy a place to live in since you can afford it. Now please go put your damned shirt on.”
~~~~~~~~~~
It had been an emotionally taxing day, to say the least. As I drove back home, I began to question my reply to Connie about still being romantic with Laura. Between building the new unit and taking care of the kids, how often did I really do anything romantic?
Aside from diminished availability, sex wasn’t a problem; her body’s changes over the years hadn’t affected my desire for her, a quick caress or two from her was all it took to get me on board. Then I remembered something that Minister Barksdale had counseled me on the morning before Laura and I had renewed our vows — men need sex to feel loved, but women need to feel loved to want sex.
When was the last time I’d reminded Laura how much she meant to me? When we first connected, I constantly reminded her of how desirable she was. When I was travelling as a consultant, I dreamed about her constantly and told her about it during our morning calls before starting work. But what had I done lately? We loved each other and were great parental partners, but in that familiarity, had I taken her for granted?