A New Kind of Someday

Chapter 13

JE owns them and she shares

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When we got back to Maryland things between me and Lester began to subtly change. I looked to him for advice. We got up early in the morning to walk or run and quietly talk. When we walked I held his hand. I loved to hear his laugh when he was working and talking to the guys. One day, I was walking and he was up on a ladder with Cal putting on a new roof. He had taken his shirt off. He took my breath away - he is a beautiful man. He looked down and gave me a crooked smile and went back to hammering nails into shingles. One afternoon, I was in the kitchen rinsing green beans for dinner and I felt him come up behind me and softly kiss my neck.

"What are you doing Les?"

"Kissing your neck."

"Why?"

"Because your neck is so soft and you smell so good."

"Do you think you should be doing that."

"Absolutely."

"Lester, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Why?"

I leaned into him. "I don't know why but I…"

He turned me around and looked in to my eyes. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"What are you doing Lester?"

"I'll leave so you can figure it out Beautiful." He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and left the kitchen.

Ella and Louis had witnessed this and just smiled at each other.

I went up to my bedroom and put on a bikini and some shorts and went to the pool and jumped in. Nix, Trouble and Job had followed me and stood on the side of the pool barking. I put the life jackets and sunscreen on the Boxers. I swam lap after lap trying to calm myself down.

Ella and Louis were sitting at the table in the kitchen and quietly talking.

"I think she has made a decision even though she doesn't know it." said Ella.

"The men know it Ella."

"Do you think Hunter will back off?"

"I think he always knew it was a long shot."

"Louis, what do we do? I can't bear it she gets hurt again."

"Les will never hurt her. It's going to be interesting to watch this Ella I think he already has a plan in place."

"You mean tease and retreat?" laughed Ella.

"Yes, like I said he has a plan and it's going to be fun to watch our girl discover real love for the first time."

Tank walked in grabbed a bottle of water, looked at the running water and green beans in the sink and sat down. "Has Lester started to implement his plan?"

"He told you about his plan?" asked Ella.

"No, but I have known Lester for years and I know how much he loves Steph. This is going to be fun to watch. Why is she swimming laps?"

"Because Lester came in to get a bottle of water and let's just say the mission began with soft kisses on her neck, softer talk and he left her standing at the sink in a daze." laughed Louis.

"The man is good, now she is swimming laps! Like I said this is going to be fun. Ella, Skip is bringing over crab cakes for dinner. We made 7 dozen I hope it's enough for the heathens."

"These boys can eat Tank. I'll throw in a couple of pans of lasagna and with corn and green beans we should be good to go."

"Good thing we live on a farm. Is the walk in freezer ready? When it is ready I'll order the 3 sides of beef. How long do you think it will last?"

"Not long enough."

Lester walked back in the kitchen, looked at the sink that still had the water running and the half done green beans. "Where is Steph?"

Ella laughed, "She's swimming laps in the pool. What are you up to Les?"

Lester looked at them and laughed and walked out the door towards the pool.

"He's going to stir the pot again" laughed Ella "I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve."

My legs and arms were screaming in pain, it had been a long time since I had exercised like this. I flipped over on my back to float and look at the sky and when I opened my eyes I looked up into Lester's laughing eyes. It scared me so bad I lost my concentration and I started to sink and took in water and started to splutter. Les slid into the pool grabbed me and steadied me.

"Watcha doing Beautiful?"

"I was swimming laps."

"Why?"

"I needed the exercise."

"Looked to me like you were trying to burn off some energy."

"Why would I have to do that Lester?"

"I don't know Beautiful, why don't you tell me."

I was now standing close to Steph and had my arms holding her still while I talked to her. I started rubbing her back and she shivered.

"Are you cold?"

"No, I'm not cold"

"Why are you shivering?"

"Let me go Lester."

"Let me put some sunscreen on your back - your burning and your skin is turning red" She was muttering something as she got out of the pool. I took my time putting on the sunscreen and she kept moving and squirming around. "Beautiful, you had better hold still so I can make sure I have gotten your whole back. Well, that's done - see you later." I got up and quickly walked away smiling. I also needed a very, very cold shower. This plan was going to kill me.

I went back to the house we were roofing and took the garden hose and put it over my head. I heard the laughing and looked up. Cal, Binkie and Hal were laughing, "You know, we can see the pool from here. Need a cold shower?… you could have used the one in the house." yelled Cal.

"What is your master plan Santos?" laughed Binkie

"Damn Santos, all you have to do is look at Steph and give her that damn stupid crooked grin and she looks stunned. I thought you were going to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation after you scared her and she almost drown." put in Hal.

"You know Lester, that is a big bay out there with lots of deep water to lose a body. Don't hurt her." said Tank walking up to the house carrying more shingles.

"I will never hurt her. I love her."

"We know - how do you want us to help?"

"Don't help - I know the disasters that happen when you help. We just need some time alone, but around here that is damn near impossible."

"We can arrange …"

"No!"

At dinnertime it was the typical pandemonium. Steph had gotten Jenny seated, fixed her some food and sat down next to her. Lester sat next to Steph and put him arm on the back of Steph's chair. He leaned forward and asked Jenny what time her doctor's appointment was for in the morning.

Jenny said it was at 10 am.

"Steph do you want to take the chopper or the SUV?

"We made an appointment with a Doctor who specializes in high risk pregnancies, which includes multiple births and he has an office at the hospital that has a whole wing for high risk deliveries. It's in Towson. So the most practical and time efficient way would be to take the chopper to Hunter's building and then the SUV to the hospital. Is that alright with you Jenny?"

"A helicopter?"

"Lester is an expert pilot. He, Hal, Brett and Tank are pilots."

"You have four pilots?"

" They are not my pilots they just fly the planes. They were all military pilots and the Best of the Best. The chopper is a little scary at first but then it is really cool. Les is teaching me to fly it. Lester will point out all the sights and the trip will be fun. I promise you!"

Tank walked over with a plate of crab imperial. "Skip and I experimented this afternoon. Taste it and tell me what you think."

Lester started laughing. "Tank you remind me of that guy Bubba in Forest Gump when he was talking about shrimp. Only you talk crab….crab puffs, Crab cakes, crab soufflé, crab imperial, crab legs, shrimp with crab meat, Crab dip….."

"…..fried crab wontons." yelled Hunter.

"…flounder stuffed with crab." yelled Cal.

"….crab soup, crab canapés, crab balls." chimed in Hal.

"…crab Rockefeller, crab croissants," yelled Brett.

"….crab salad, crab triangles, deviled crab"…added Manny.

"…..crab casserole."….yelled Hector.

"…crab quiche, crab tartlets."… laughed Ella.

"Barbequed crabs"…..yelled Louis.

"Crab Newburg, crab alfredo"…. yelled Steph.

"Crab alfredo Steph?"…. asked Lester laughing.

"Hey I'm part Italian….."

"Stop it! I know I am obsessed" said Tank laughing so hard he had tears coming down his face. "The Bay gives them to us free….."

"Except he's spent a fortune on traps and gas…" interjected Skip laughing.

"Well, I can't trust Steph to throw the traps off the pier…."

"Tank, you promised you wouldn't say anything…"

"Sorry Steph."

All eyes were on Steph… "Okay I forgot to tie the line on the trap and when I threw it off the dock I lost my balance and fell in. The trap kept going and I couldn't get it back…"

"…and then she had no way to get back up on the dock. The puppies were going crazy so we ran out and threw the line she forgot to attach to the trap. That's why Louis built two ladders one for each side ….."

"…it's not my fault it could happen to anyone."

"But, it didn't Beautiful, it happened to you."

"I think we should get back to Tank's obsession with crab…"

"Nice try Beautiful" he drew her closer and kissed her forehead.

They looked over at Jenny and she was laughing so hard she was holding her sides. "You guys are crazy. I haven't laughed this much in months."

"Stick with us Darlin' you haven't seen anything yet" Woody told her.

"Steph feel this." said Jenny.

Steph put her hand on Jenny's stomach and felt the kicks and looked up at Lester who put his hand over Steph's.

"Wow, does that hurt Jenny?" asked Lester.

Next thing all the guys were up taking a turn laying a hand on Jenny's stomach with wonder in the faces. Steph looked at them and saw the wonder and realized that the blank faces were almost gone.

"We are going to have to give him lessons in Karate. He's got one hell of a kick." laughed Manny.

"What do you mean he? That could be our little niece…."

The doctor's appointment was exciting to say the least. They had sonograms of the babies and a lot of information. Jenny was young and healthy and so were the babies. They were about 1 ½ pounds a piece and the sonogram showed both of them sucking their thumbs. The doctor wanted Jenny off her feet as much as possible but cleared her for swimming as a good source of exercise. Lester and I were going to be Jenny's coaches and we signed up for the classes.

Everyone was waiting for us when we got home and the pictures and the DVD of the babies were greeted with all kinds of comments about how strong, handsome, beautiful, the babies were. We heard the guys discussing how they were going to build a toddler training facility, no dating for baby girl, public schooling vs. home schooling. Ella, Jessie, Beth, Jenny and I just sat and listened, who knew that the guys even had an opinion on home schooling.

Suddenly, Cal, Hal and Lester looked at Jenny.

"Do you know how to swim?" asked Cal

"Just a little."

"Do you know any strokes?" asked Hal

"What do you mean by strokes?"

Lester smiled at Cal and Hal. "She's a virgin."

I yelled at them "What the hell are you talking about!"

"She's a newbie to swimming and we are just the guys to teach her Beautiful!"

"She is not going into SEAL training. She was told to swim for exercise not for military maneuvers. If she is going to learn to swim for exercise it will be adjusted for pregnancy."

"Oh."

Never did I imagine the can of worms I opened up. The 3 ex SEALS devoted hours to research. The internet was their best friend, every known to mankind DVD on swimming and pregnancy was purchased and studied,

Including foreign ones, since between the 3 of them they spoke 13 languages. The next step was setting up an exercise schedule, the pool's temperature was checked and rechecked. Jenny, Beth, Jessie, Ella and I watched this with great amusement. I told Jenny if it got to intense the ultimate weapon was tears. The guys did not know what to do with them and it crumpled their resolve if even one tear rolled down a cheek. She must save them - overuse negated them as a weapon.

The day arrived and Jenny dressed in her black bathing suit with her baby bump was scheduled for her first swim lesson. The 3 SEALS were ready. Ella, Jessie and I were on lounge chairs with ice tea to observe the lesson. Beth had to be in Baltimore, but we were taping the lesson for her. Jenny arrived at the pool and Hal helped Jenny down the ladder, let her adjust to the water temperature which had been checked again. Cal explained the free style stroke in finite detail(it was enough to make your eyes glaze over). Demonstrating the proper arm motion, the perfect cupping of the hand, the position that the hand must enter the water. Lester provided the in water demonstration. Jenny looked up at us and winked. We had rehearsed this move when the guys were busy. Cal took up a position about 15 feet out from Jenny, Hal was behind her and Lester provided the side coach to swim alongside the expectant Mommy in case she got in trouble. With words of encouragement Jenny dipped down in the pool went 2 strokes flipped to her back and floated. I looked at Ella who was biting her lips to keep from laughing out loud. Jesse had to get up and leave for a few minutes, her shoulders just shook with silent laughter. I pulled down my blank face I had learned from the guys.

Patiently, they went through the whole scenario again. Jenny winked at me and repeated her performance. They couldn't figure out where they went wrong. By this time Tank, Skip and Hunter who was working at home, joined me on the lounge chairs. I fully expected Cal, the engineer, to start taking measurements and doing formulas. Hal tried to hold her from turning over and floating but he got too embarrassed trying to find a place to put his hands on her body. Lester just stood there and looked at her then he turned around and looked at me. The light bulb went on and before I could run out of the pool area he had me over his shoulder striding toward the pool to the whistles, catcalls and cheers of the guys. I was yelling and trying to grab his shorts when he smacked my ass and jumped in the deep end of the pool. I came up spluttering, he came up laughing.

"Beautiful, you almost had me fooled, we had forgotten about her center of balance being off."

"What gave me away?"

"I looked up at you and you had half a blank face - your eyes were dancing with laughter."

"I'll need to work on that Lester - I mean my blank face."

"Never hide your feelings from me Beautiful" and then he kissed me and laughed again. He left me to go back to helping Cal and Jenny. I just wondered what the hell Les was doing, he would kiss me, hold me then he would walk away. He was driving me crazy.

Jenny was working with Cal on her backstroke smiling up at him. Hal was getting razzed by Tank about watching his hands. I was totally mystified.

It was a beautiful day.