The Prodigal
Fifty-six
BEFORE WE GOT STARTED on the task of packing Sunday morning, we had to take care of Melody’s cramps. Her period was a day away and would make her useless for carrying things around. The cure seemed to work for several hours, and we could get work done between treatments in the tub. She made packing boxes a little more enjoyable.
Our cars were parked in the drive and on the street to make room for boxes in the garage. Each box was labeled with what room it would be moved to in the new house. The boys were thrilled that they were separating their personal things from each other to move into their own rooms. Jack and Lexi helped pack their room.
By Friday the thirtieth, we were ready to move. Kate and I took early morning loads to the studio and Goodwill. When we got back, ‘Two Guys and a Truck’ were there, carrying and loading our furniture and boxes into their van. Lexi, Melody, Kate, Wendy, and I took turns taking things out of Lissa’s hands and telling her not to lift stuff. Our baby was due in four weeks. Every time I passed her, I bent over to kiss the baby. I noticed that my ladies all did the same thing.
“I feel like Buddha. Everyone is patting my tummy,” she laughed.
“We’re preparing a place for our children, Liss,” I said. “We want to make sure she’s involved in the process.”
At two o’clock, Whitney, Bree, and Allison showed up at our new home and were stationed on different floors. Wendy took charge of the kitchen and Lexi helped her start setting things up, following her instructions on where each item was to be stored. Melody and Bree set up the master closet with Whitney and Lissa nearby to direct where things were to be put in the nursery. Jack directed things in the boys’ rooms. Allison had the family room and lower level. Kate took charge of the living room, dining room, and art. I carried boxes.
Everything was in the house by six o’clock, but it wasn’t even close to being habitable. We paid off the movers, locked up our new house, distributing five sets of keys among us, and went to the Grand Hyatt where we had a suite with a king-size bed in the master and a king-size murphy bed in the living room. We paid over $300 for the night and planned to enjoy all amenities, including room service. No one batted an eye when we ordered dinner for eight. Chalk up another $300.
In the morning, we left Bree, Whitney, Melody, and Lissa asleep in the master bedroom while Kate, Wendy, Allison, and I went to Pacific Place to get coffee, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches. We left everyone else enjoying a leisurely morning, complete with relaxing showers and hot tub while Kate, Wendy, and I headed to our new house. The delivery from The Home Store arrived and the first thing to be set up was the double king-size bed for the master suite. The delivery guys didn’t bat an eye as they bolted the two frames together and put two Westin Heavenly Bed sets together, including eight pillows and four custom sets of sheets and pillowcases. The new beds for the boys’ rooms went in next. Drew was going to be wild about the dinosaur bed and trundle for when he had company. He chose what he wanted and we got the whole bedroom set to match. Damon chose a loft bed with desk under it and cool stairs that led up to his sleep space.
The nursery furniture came in next. We directed the set-up of two cribs and a bassinet, changing table, and dressers. Lissa and Whitney had already arranged shelves of baby clothes. We figured we would only need one bassinet at a time, but that when our first was ready to move to the crib, Melody’s first would be near. Now that she’d graduated, Melody wanted to get knocked up as soon as possible.
I held Kate in my arms as we looked at the nursery set-up.
“You aren’t disappointed are you, Tony?” she asked softly. We’d talked for a long time in Georgia and on the plane home. I understood Kate’s decision and I was okay with it.
“I do not believe that the only or even primary reason for marriage is procreation, darling. We have children. We will have more children. No one needs to bear them if she doesn’t truly want to.”
“Oh, I’ll probably be all squishy and mommy-ish when I’m holding Lissa’s or Melody’s in my arms,” Kate said, “but I’m still incredibly selfish and it’s strange, but I feel that sharing you with my own child would be much harder than sharing you with Lissa, Melody, Wendy, Damon, Drew, and Melody and Lissa’s unborn. I know that Wendy won’t have children but we’ll be good mothers to all the others.”
“Kitten, I love you. When I think of a little one hanging on your tit, I get kind of jealous and selfish, too. And we’re young. If we change our minds in five or ten or even fifteen years, we can. But whether we do or not, I’m content with our decision.”
“Show me?”
Well, maybe it was weird, but Kate was hot and that’s all it takes for me to get it up. Her jeans and panties never made it beyond her ankles before she was bent over the crib and I was buried to the root in her, stroking her bare breasts under her T-shirt until she came. And then came again, loudly. That’s when Wendy walked in on us. Two seconds later, her panties were around her ankles and I was plowing into her from behind right next to Kate. Wendy’s orgasm was muffled by Kate’s lips, but mine was loud enough that we didn’t hear the arrival of the rest of the family. We had our pants pulled up and fastened by the time Lissa and Whitney came into the room. Lissa was so excited by the nursery that I thought she might go into labor just looking at the room.
“Oh, God! I want to fuck you both right now,” Lissa screamed. “But you are off-limits, husband of ours. You can watch and just be hard and aching for next weekend.”
“Oops,” we all said at once. Lissa rolled her eyes.
“I should have known.”
“Beautiful, beautiful, Lissa, I am always hard and aching when you are near.” I kissed her deeply then knelt to caress her tummy. “Little Baby Ames, this is going to be your new home. Daddy is waiting here to hold you and show you the wonders of the world. You will always know how much I love your mommy and how much I love you.” I kissed all over her bump and felt a swishing move under the skin. “Did you feel that?” I asked. “She came up to kiss me.”
“It was probably her butt, but she certainly responds to your voice.”
Wendy got groceries and dropped me at the old house to help the cleaning crew. Sandra, Walt, Rio, and Matt all came to help.
“Hey, Tony,” Matt said when we happened to be together cleaning the downstairs. “I know you were busy getting ready for your trip to Georgia after graduation, so maybe you missed the news.”
“What news is that?”
“It seems there was a nasty priest buggering little boys who got out of town one step ahead of the sheriff.”
“You reported him to the police?”
“Yes, but the AB had already contacted them. Mysteriously, however, the priest in question had already left the country. It was embarrassing for the archbishop. I brought this article in case you missed it while you were traveling.” Matt handed me a clipping. Maybe Bishop Donnelly had read all this before we met in Kentucky.
“Yesterday, it was brought to my attention that there is credible evidence that Victor Grundy, the archdiocesan Vicar General, may have been involved in inappropriate contact with children,” said Archbishop Mendel of Seattle when contacted by the Times. “In keeping with the Pact of Dallas and archdiocesan policy, I immediately reported this to the papal nuncio in Washington, DC and then turned the evidence over to the police. I don’t know where Father Grundy is right now, but I expect his imminent arrest. This diocese will not tolerate such abuse by anyone in a ministerial position,” the archbishop said.
“Well that’s one problem out of the way. What about the other?”
“Tony, the archbishop is a nice guy. Not only is he squeaky clean, he’s a real humanitarian as it turns out.”
“Matt…”
“He’s making regular donations to several organizations that are decidedly unCatholic. I examined his records thoroughly and found donations to NARAL, NOW, Planned Parenthood, LGBT Centers, the American Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and political donations to candidates that are pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and pro-liberal. Very strange for a man with such high aspirations in the church to make donations to so many organizations that are anathema to the Vatican. I sure hope no one higher up gets hold of those records.”
I stared at Matt incredulously. That sure didn’t sound like the archbishop I knew and hated. He grinned at me.
“You didn’t…?”
“It’s just amazing how loose security is when a man does all his transactions online through accounts owned by the Church.”
“Gosh. Information like that could prevent a political climber from reaching his destination.”
I was really beginning to like Matt. He was quiet and had a wicked sense of humor. I would never have thought of making donations on the archbishop’s behalf. It was also obvious that he felt deeply about Rio and doted on her. That, combined with his ability to give her the… other things she needed, made him a special guy.
“Here’s to our new home, our extended family, and all our friends,” I said, raising a glass of wine. Twelve of us sat at the new dining table and we had room for four more. It was a huge house by anyone’s standards.
Our new home commanded a view of the Sound and the Olympic Mountains from the back patio and decks. It was a great party house on nearly a fifth of an acre.
“When are we having a party?” Melody asked.
“With so many events coming up, how can we plan a party now?” Kate asked. The chapel dedication is next weekend, then SCU’s commencement the following weekend, then the baby is due, then… ACK!… We’re getting married.”
“Oh, who needs to plan a party?” Rio asked. “Just invite a bunch of people over and tell them to get naked. It’s easy.”
That was inspirational and shortly, we were all naked and splashing in the hot tub. I guess we had a party after all.
I woke up on Friday with Melody in my arms and no one else around. She was lying there staring at me. Her face worked into all sorts of expressions and I didn’t know if she was going to laugh, cry, or scream.
“This is it, lover,” she whispered.
“Are you sure you’re ready, darling?” I asked. “We don’t have to do it now. It’s not like it’s urgent.”
“I just want Lissa’s and my babies to grow up together,” she answered. “Damon and Drew already have eight years on them. These should be close enough to depend on each other.”
“I love you, Melody. I’m going to thoroughly enjoy putting a baby inside your pretty little tummy. Do you suppose that was what your mom was afraid of the first time she saw the mural? She was afraid that I’d corrupt her little Melly and knock her up.”
“She might have been at the time, but now she’s so excited about Lissa’s baby that she’s been asking me daily when I’m going to start.”
“She’s not!”
“Yes! I finally told her, ‘This weekend, Mom.’ I thought she was going to faint again. I love you, Tony. And I’m ready. It’s just like our first time. I’m so ready that I just want you to make love to me.”
And so I did. Lissa and I had practiced and pretended many times, building up a ritual around how we’d make a baby together. With Melody, I simply slipped into her and we moved together on our sides, looking into each other’s eyes. The intensity was incomparable.
“You’re in me,” she whispered. I could hardly speak to answer her.
“I’m in you and I love it as much as the first time. I’m not going to last much longer than the first time, either.”
“Yes, my love. Yes. And I love you. And yes. I can’t wait. Come in me, darling. Come.”
Responding to her command, I came. I felt her cervix against the tip of my cock, a thing we’d always been careful of because it hurt her if I rammed against it. This time it was like the tip of my cock was stuck there as I pumped my seed over and over against the thin membrane.
The rest of the day and most of the next, we were treated like royalty and catered to in bed, just as Lissa and I had been. Every member of the family felt it was necessary to participate in making sure I was hard and ready to impregnate my little darling. They stimulated us in every possible way and I filled Melody repeatedly. Of course, we had to take breaks periodically to greet Kate’s family and Mom and Dad when they arrived. Lissa told me that when Melody and I disappeared in the afternoon, Lexi took Mom and Gypsy aside to explain what we were doing. When we emerged for dinner, Mom just stared at me with an open mouth and Dad was grinning from ear to ear.
Clarice unexpectedly joined us for dinner.
“They’re here, finally,” she said when we’d emerged.
“It didn’t take us that long,” I complained. Kate was sitting with Clarice at the breakfast table in the kitchen.
“I don’t mean you are finally here. The books are here.”
“Oh!” I sat down next to Kate to look at the first of our books. It was almost as exciting as painting a picture. We went through the copies that Clarice brought. She handed out books to everyone in the room and we just touched the pages, smelling the ink and marveling at it. We finally reached the centerfold.
I was pleased.
The largest piece in the book, exactly in the center was the only piece that wasn’t in the chapel. It was the original of the image banned by the archbishop. The image had both the story that went with it and a little about the inspiration for the piece and the process used. On the next page, there was a simple side note with a small picture of the piece the way it appeared in the chapel with sheep instead of people. The note said “The original painting was banned by the Archbishop of Seattle and was replaced by the pentimento above and the story here.”
Fuck ’im if he can’t take a joke.
“Bishop Donnelly has already seen this. Has the archbishop?”
“No,” Clarice laughed. “Nor will he until after the dedication and reception on Sunday. Now, speaking of that, plan for a long day. Get lots of sleep. The dedication service will be at least two hours long, so eat before you go and drink sparingly. The chapel will be full and almost impossible to get in and out of during the service. Be there at least half an hour early to get a seat. You two will have to walk in the processional and sit in the reserved section, but your families will have to take their chances like everyone else. It’s not going to be that exciting. There will be a reading of all the names of the workers who built the chapel, but your name won’t get a larger or smaller mention than the carpenter who built the doorframes. It’s a long list. There will be a break when the service ends at about one o’clock. Don’t leave. People will want to meet the artist before the recognition service. That is a less formal service at three o’clock and I doubt the archbishop will even stay for it. The service of recognition will include the two of you, the stone mason who designed the altar, and Jerome, who did the crucifix in the chancel. There will be a little tour of the art and an individual recognition of each of the four of you and your crews. That’s the service you want all your family and friends at. You painted a lot of pictures, so anticipate at least an hour-and-a-half. Afterward, you will have an hour or so before you are due at the bookstore gallery for the official exhibition and opening of sales. That’s when people will see the book, though it will be mentioned repeatedly during the second service.”
“It sounds like a long, boring day,” I sighed. “What we do for art.”
We all giggled and I took Melody back to bed.
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