Hearthstone Entertainment
48 Matthew Douglas
FRIDAY NIGHT, the Lady Hoosiers put paid to Liberty. The opponent was so overmatched it was difficult not to be embarrassed for them. Three Hoosiers scored nineteen points each while hitting sixty percent from the floor. It didn’t seem like Liberty could get a shot all the way to the rim.
There were a lot of hugs as our ladies talked to the opposing team after the game. It seemed like the 97-46 victory was harder to take than the victory over Ball State Monday night at 98-42.
Whitney came home feeling a little sheepish and I cuddled her closely all night.
What is it about me? You, Nikki, Jessica, Maggie. I think even Danielle, though I don’t know why. Robyn. What is it that attracts damaged, broken women to me? I’m so out of my depth. I don’t know what to do for these women. When you were… sick… I wanted to fix things and Dr. McCall kept telling me I couldn’t fix it. Stop asking why. But she was so pitiful, Hannah. She just wanted to be held, and touched sexually, and know that she was in control.
I guess that’s the answer, isn’t it? She could trust me. And there isn’t anything that I want more in the world than for my friends to be able to trust me. I have to switch her to that category. She’s not just my employee. She’s my friend. I can’t be her friend unless I let her be mine.
Is that what happened to you and April? You each found someone you could trust? I think I understand. A little. I’m still pretty dense.
I sighed. Arms wrapped around me.
“Some things are just too hard to say out loud, aren’t they?” Hannah whispered. “I feel that way sometimes, too.”
I thought I wouldn’t see the triplets over the break. They had gone home to Louisville, but they all showed up at the house Saturday afternoon.
“Is it all right for us to spend the evening?” Danielle said. She was already stripping off her clothes. The other two were slower, but both were hanging articles on the pegs by the back door.
“Of course you can,” Rose said. “You can have a room for the night if you want. Why go back to an empty chapter house?”
“Rose! That’s so sweet of you,” Debbie said. She and Dolly went with Rose to the fireplace and were introduced to Lexi, Judy, TK, and Pam. The younger girls had only arrived this morning. Rich and Amber were out with Lionel, Lamar, and Sugar. Susan had Renee out at a spa as they prepared to celebrate Renee’s 23rd birthday. We were keeping Lexi and Judy occupied while the rest of Casa de la Tierra prepared for Lexi’s 18th and Carl’s 20th birthday.
While they were talking, Danielle led me to the chair and curled into my lap like a cat. I swear, she purred. We didn’t go to sleep. Danielle was in a talkative mood and wanted… I wasn’t sure. It seemed like she just wanted to be petted. Like a cat.
“I shaved my legs this morning because I didn’t want to scratch you up when I sat on your lap. Do you like them?” She kept hold of my hand as she ran it up and down her leg. Then she took my hand and held the palm against her face. “You have such nice hands. I got around front to watch you while you were cooking last week. You always wear gloves. Do you think your hands are ugly, Brian? Because they have scars on the knuckles? I don’t mind. I know you have hard hands, but you are always so gentle with them.” She dragged my hand down across her breasts and onto her tummy where she left it. “I like you to hold me and pet me. Is that weird? I’m not teasing you. I’m not, like, leaking pussy juice in your lap or anything and you aren’t poking me with your thing. If you were, I’d call Debbie. She wants to be poked by it. But you can pet me. I like every place you pet me. I just feel so warm and cuddly. I’m talking a lot, aren’t I?”
She shut up abruptly and looked at me with her lips pursed together. I stared into her eyes and then we both started laughing.
“I like to hold you,” I said. “And I like listening to you. You’re like my own little Chatty Cathy doll. Only naked. And even if we’re not getting turned on, I like holding you and petting your naked body.”
“Did you see that movie? I love Steve Martin and John Candy. But they are so homophobic!”
“I wouldn’t be holding John Candy naked on my lap no matter what sex he was,” I laughed. “I like this kind of softness, not his.” I petted down her side, her hip, and her leg. She rubbed her face against my chest. She seemed happy. No. That’s too weak. She radiated happiness. I don’t know what caused it, but she was just happy sitting with me.
“Is there room for Ellie and me in your nest?” Hannah asked.
“Oh, yes!” I said. “Cuddle up with us here.”
“She’s so sweet,” Danielle cooed.
“Are we just giving Theresa and Larry a little time off this evening?” I asked.
“Sometimes I think they just go to sleep,” Hannah giggled. “But I like to carry her around and they like to have a little together time.”
“You’re so nice, Hannah,” Danielle said. “I think you’re my second favorite person in the whole clan. Like if I needed to be cuddled and Brian wasn’t available, you’d be right there.”
“We all need people like that, Danielle,” Hannah said. She reached out to pet Danielle’s hair as I rubbed my cheek against baby Eleanor’s. The tiny one giggled.
The birthday celebrations Sunday were fun and then everyone had to scatter again. Sarah headed back to Oberlin, Nikki to Brown, and the seniors back to Mishawaka. Maggie and the triplets all went to their campus residences. Monday night we listened on campus radio as Creighton put an end to the Lady Hoosiers’ undefeated record. It was a close game, but at the buzzer we were still down by three.
We had another week to go before finals and I was glad to see Friday come, just so I could study without interruption. Of course, the weekend was interrupted with the Full-O-Pep Classic tournament. We took out the University of Illinois-Chicago in the first game Friday night, 74-48. In the final, Saturday night, though, we just couldn’t put two plays in a row together. We lost to West Virginia 77-81.
At least we were finished taping cooking shows for the first semester. Hannah and Elaine, though, were pressing forward with Chick Chat with two tapings on Friday and two more on Saturday. They’d do the same thing next weekend and then do four days of taping during finals week.
We celebrated Josh’s 20th on Tuesday the tenth. I wrapped up my paper for humanities Wednesday night and had just picked up my calculus to start reviewing. I only had one more class and there was no assignment due, so I figured I could get a head start on reviewing for my first final on Monday.
“Brian! Brian!” Sandy yelled as she came through the back door. I jumped up and ran to her.
“What? Is everyone okay?” I asked.
“It’s time. We have to go to the hospital. Doreen is in labor.”
“Labor?” I said.
“Brian! We have to go. She’s having your baby.”
Rose, Courtney, and Liz were on me like a house afire. I had no idea what they dressed me in. The keys were in my hand. Oh! Yeah! I’m the designated driver! I pulled the Suburban around by the bunkhouse and made sure the heater was turned on full blast. The temperature had dipped into the forties again after Thanksgiving and we hadn’t seen anything that warm again since. Sandy, Rhiannon, Doug, and Doreen came out the door and Doug lifted his sister into the middle seat. Sandy and Rhiannon slid in beside me in front. I looked toward the studio and saw Hannah and April running to the car with a camera. Oh, yeah. We’re doing a documentary. Shit! As soon as the door was closed, I was moving. I was so glad I’d rehearsed the directions to the hospital. I knew exactly where to go.
Of course, after I’d let everyone off, I was alone in the Suburban and had to go find a parking space. I sat for a minute in the parking lot and took a deep breath. I was about to become a father.
Doreen’s labor was long. We all took turns doing the breathing exercises with her. Mom and Anna got to the hospital about nine-thirty Thursday morning. Doreen took great comfort in them being there. They’d both been through it and could assure her that everything was normal. It had been thirteen hours of being awakened with a pain every five to ten minutes before drifting back to sleep.
“How long was Betts in labor?” Doreen whispered.
“About six and a half hours,” Mom answered.
“I’m going to kill her,” Dor mumbled.
About noon, I was sitting at the head of the bed and wiping her forehead with a damp cloth.
“I’m so tired, Brian. Make it stop. Please make it stop,” she whimpered.
“We can do that, honey,” I said. She whipped her head around to look at me. “All we have to do is have a baby. Are you ready, sweetheart? Are you ready to hold our little child in your arms? I know this isn’t as much fun as making him, but just think, sweetheart: when you’re done you get a baby. You don’t have to wait around nine more months. In just a little while, maybe a few minutes, it will be a brand new life that looks for your nipple and latches on. Are you ready for that, Dor?”
“I… ha… I… ha… I… Aagh!” The nurse-midwife stepped into the room and expertly looked under the gown.
“Here we go,” she said brightly. “The baby is crowning. It’s time to push.” I was going to go and let someone else in the room, but Doreen had a death grip on my hand. Mom pushed her way to the other side of the bed. We could see the next contraction coming just by looking at Doreen’s face. “Ready, and push!” the nurse coached. Doreen strained.
It’s not like once you start pushing the baby just pops out. It was still another twenty minutes until the nurse grabbed hold of me and pulled me between Doreen’s legs.
“You put him in there. You pull him out,” she said. I looked up and Mom was grinning at me. I thought Doug was going to do this. But he’d been caught on the wrong side of the door when the nurse closed it and said “No more people. It’s too crowded.”
I put my hands on either side of Doreen’s vagina and with her next push, our baby’s head was in my hands. A minute later, we had a son. I reached up to Doreen and placed him on her chest. The midwife was doing a quick check of his vitals and jotting them down on a clipboard. I looked at our son and I looked at Doreen and had tears in my eyes.
“I love you,” I whispered. “I love you both. I love each of you. I love you.” I kissed his head and I kissed Doreen’s head.
“It’s time for you to cut the cord,” the midwife said.
“His daddy needs to come in to do that,” I said. Her eyes got big as I kissed the two again and turned toward the door. “I thought…”
“It’s complicated,” Mom said.
As soon as I opened the door, Doug rushed into the room. I stepped into the hall and Rhiannon and Sandy went in as well. I leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor. Hannah slid down beside me. She took my hand as she leaned against me.
“Is he healthy?”
“The midwife says so. So red and wrinkled and beautiful.” I was crying. Anna sat down on the other side of me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“I’m a grandma,” she whispered. “Twice in two weeks. And my daughter hasn’t even gotten pregnant yet! Has she?”
“No, Anna. Doreen’s is the only current pregnancy on the ranch,” I laughed. “I’m a father.”
“I hope April got good tape. I had to just leave it up to her,” Hannah said. “I want to watch it all.”
“I hope it’s usable. We didn’t intend for me to be the father in the room,” I said.
“She’ll keep you out of it.”
“You might as well all go in for a minute. Then we need to give baby and mommy a chance to rest while I sort out the paperwork,” the midwife said as she came out of the room. Hannah and Anna slipped through the door and the midwife stopped me. “So, you are the father and he’s the daddy?” I nodded. “And there’s the mommy and the aunties and the grandmas. And a film crew. At least I knew who they were. We met early in the pregnancy. We should have gotten you all a bigger room. Sign here.”
“What’s this?”
“We need the father’s and the mother’s signatures on the birth report if we can get them. I did get it right and you are the one who planted the seed, correct?” I nodded. “Then you get to be the one who signs.”
I signed and went into the room. Everyone was cooing over the baby, of course, but only Doug and Doreen were touching him. He had a little knit cap on his head and a blanket over him as he happily sucked at Doreen’s tit.
“This is Grandma Marilyn and Grandma Anna,” Doug said. “And here’s Aunt Sandy and Aunt Rhiannon. And you’re going to get to know La Madrina really well, little guy. And here’s Papa. You’ve already met Mommy. I’m Daddy. We’re your family, Matthew Douglas Swift. We’re your family.” Doug was crying like all the rest of us. We had a little miracle in our midst. I reached out and took Doug’s hand. Doreen put hers on top of us.
“We’re your family,” I echoed.
Of course, we had to call Betts right away. And Dad. And Doreen’s and Doug’s parents in Florida. They promised they would be up in a week for Christmas and to meet their grandchild.
“Betts,” I said when she answered the phone, “You’re an auntie!” She squealed.
“Don’t hurt our ears,” Doreen said as we held the phone between us. “You’ll wake the babies.”
“Babies? There’s two?” Betts yelled.
“You have one, don’t you?” I asked. “You have a baby, Theresa has a baby, and we have a baby. That’s three.”
“Don’t scare me like that! How are you, Dorie? Is he the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” Betts asked, calming down.
“He is. I’m looking at Doug holding our son and it is just so sweet.” I looked over at them. Doug had the silliest grin on his face I’d ever seen. I suppose I should have looked in a mirror. My cheeks were aching. We talked to Betts for a while and confirmed that we planned to come out after the first. Doug, Doreen, Addison, Matthew, me. Oh yes. Mom, Dad, Anna, Hannah. And Rhiannon and Sandy. We might as well charter a plane.
Doreen was released from the hospital on Sunday, tired and a little sore, but very happy. All day Friday and Saturday there had been a parade of cousins in to meet the baby. I think they released Doreen and Matthew just to cut the traffic. Dad got there Friday night. You know, no matter how old you get, sometimes your father’s hug means all the world to you. I was going to remember that. I was always going to be there to hug my son.
In spite of missing the last two days of classes on Thursday and Friday, I managed to get through my finals without much of an issue. It’s a good thing I was so prepared. When I got home from an exam, the first thing I did was go to see my son.
“Papa’s here,” Doug said as I walked into Casa del Agua. “I think he’s just in time to change your diaper.” The diaper was the only article of clothing being worn in the house. They had the heat cranked up enough so that no one was cold and a blanket over the baby and whoever was holding him kept him toasty warm. We learned quickly that the diaper was a necessity. You never knew what was going to get sprayed or pooped on otherwise.
I didn’t get a chance to make the change. As soon as I carried him into the nursery, Rhiannon snatched him out of my arms and efficiently changed the wet diaper. Doug and I stood there with an arm over each other’s shoulders. When Matthew was dry, I carried him to the bedroom and crawled into bed next to Doreen.
I was careful not to spend all my time with the baby. The poor kid had four people hovering over him full time and I knew Hannah made him her first stop each day as well. I didn’t want my hearthmates to feel I’d abandoned them like they felt when Jessica was being so demanding. Still, it was different and everyone recognized that.
Jim and Jill Swift arrived on Matthew’s one week birthday looking fit and tan. Jim’s biggest concern in life was reducing his golf handicap. Jill told us she had taken up line dancing at the community center and her group met every morning to follow Sora’s routines. I didn’t realize we had a station in Florida at all. Their arrival curtailed the nudity at Casa del Agua much more than the continued presence of Mom and Anna. They’d blended in so well at Casa del Fuego, ensconced in the master bedroom and running to the bunkhouse, that we hardly noticed them.
Hardly. It was a bit of a shock to walk into the kitchen one morning and find Anna fixing her coffee and chocolate without a stitch on. It was more of a shock when my naked mother gave me a hug. I guess having Dinita around whenever she could visit had given me a bit more perspective on having people of different generations running around naked. It just wasn’t an issue. I wondered, though, if everyone would be just as comfortable when Dad came back down Friday.
I went to Whitney’s game Thursday night. It was the last one before the holiday tournament between Christmas and the New Year. They handled Marquette pretty easily and I was seeing Whitney really hitting her stride at forward. Her coach had adapted to the needs of the team by setting plays from a new formation. She kept her point guard near the top of the key with Whitney on one side and the other guard on the other side. They could set plays in either direction with equal results. The team was really clicking.
Friday, people started streaming in to the ranch. All the seniors drove down from Mishawaka. Sarah got in late from Oberlin. Liz picked Nikki up at the airport. Later in the day, Carl headed in to Indy to pick up Geoff, Kevin, and Robyn. With the whole clan at the ranch and six parents—Dinita arrived in time for dinner—we were beginning to fill up the dormitories, our former bedroom, and all the guest rooms.
Mom did a double-take when three identical Amazons walked in the back door, stripped, and hung their clothes by the door. Two headed for the kitchen with grocery bags. The third dragged me to the big chair and curled up on my lap. Right behind them, a tiny Korean joined the parade. Maggie saw Danielle in my lap and wiggled and squirmed until she had found a way to be there, too. Both girls were giggling.
“Thank you for all coming to my birthday party,” Rose said as she stood in front of the fireplace in the studio late Saturday afternoon. We all laughed. “Doreen just couldn’t keep her legs crossed to have our new baby on my birthday. But today is the day we officially welcome our newest clan member.” She walked over to Theresa and accepted Eleanor from her mother’s arms. “Look how fast they grow,” she said. “We welcomed Eleanor Marie just eighteen weeks ago and look how big she’s grown! And today, Ellie is going to help us welcome her new cousin.”
Doug, Doreen, and I went to stand beside Rose with Matt soundly sleeping in Dor’s arms. As soon as we were close enough, Ellie reached out to him. It was almost like it was scripted. Of course, what she grabbed was Doreen’s milky boob. There was an instant wet spot on the front of her gi. Theresa came to pick up Ellie and the older baby immediately latched onto the offered nipple.
“Family,” I said. Mom, Dad, Anna, Jim, and Jill all came to join us. “This is just the core of us who are related to Matthew Douglas. But we all know that this only represents a fraction of the family here to welcome our baby to the clan. Rhiannon and Sandy are mothers who didn’t have to go through labor. Hannah is La Madrina. And the rest of Casa del Agua, Theresa, George, and even Dawn—who isn’t an official member yet—join with the rest of Casa del Fuego—Rose, Whitney, Liz, Samantha, Jennifer, Courtney, Elaine, Nikki, Sarah, Sora, Angela, Cassie, Mary, and Josh—to become the households in which Matthew will reside.”
As I called them all, each came to join us.
“Matthew Douglas will be surrounded by love every day of his life. Not only will these casas care for him and nurture him, but all the Clan of the Heart gathered with us. All our tribe will join us. Our friends will know when they visit us that this is a place where there is great love.”
Doreen let me take the sleeping baby and I held him in my arms.
“Matthew Douglas, I love you. We love you. And I promise—a promise that will never be broken—I will do whatever is necessary to love, care for, and protect you. We all, your family, will do whatever is necessary. Welcome to the Clan of the Heart.”
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