Maybe she wasn't actually looking for a guy. That wasn't the point or perhaps it was. I don't mean to make her sound pathetic because she wasn't at all but from an early age she had never had any expectations of being married or having children. She knew she wasn't attractive to the opposite sex. Some people aren't particularly they don't worry about it. They move on with their lives. When I met her she was teaching a creative writing class, I thought I ought to expand my horizons a little. She did have loads of male friends. That's all they were though, friends. In one sense she was particularly asexual. I thought she would be perfect for Jack. Did I choose her because of her looks? I'd be a fool if I didn't say that they played a factor but more importantly I liked her, she laughed at my bad jokes and she was a good friend who I didn't like to think of spending the rest of her life alone.
Is it worse for two nice people to live lonely lives, when there is a chance at some sort of companionship and happiness? Everybody is holding out for Mr or Miss Right. The One. The most perfect partner, soul mate have it what you will. Maybe that's not a nice thing to think but there is nothing wrong with apparently settling for second best. Is settling, settling when both parties are honest about their emotions and expectations?
I decided that they would both do each other good and invited them both to dinner. They had no idea I was setting them up. I don't know how Jack didn't realise, him being military and all. They hit it off; they have a lot in common – a love of The Simpson's, Guinness, and Ice Hockey and that's just for starters. They didn't even notice when I went to bed.
I didn't see much of Jack after that or her. She had someone covering her lessons. When she came back five months later I was like a junkie who needed my fix. Boy did she have a lot to tell me, Jack had retired. They'd gone to his cabin, there really weren't any fish, then they took in Vegas and did I want to buy them a belated wedding gift. I stood there doing my best impression of a fish before hugging her. I hadn't expected that much. Shows what happens when you try to play god.
Later that evening at dinner they showed me another little surprise, a picture of their daughter Katherine. She was about twenty weeks old. Small but perfectly formed. My name is Katherine. As Jack was seeing me out he thanked me, he had never expected to experience this again. He had come to an understanding with her, she knew that he couldn't and probably never would be able to give her everything. She had seemed happy with it but he suspected that in a few years time she would have grown out of him. He would want a beat-up dumb old flyboy? I told him if she was stupid enough to grow out of him, there was always room in my bed – rent-free. I left before he had a chance to reply. That's the closest I've ever got to telling him I love him.
I saw them regularly until I moved away after the birth of Katherine. She was the most beautiful baby I've every seen and I'm not just saying that because she's my namesake. We kept in contact at birthdays and Christmas'. I swear Jack went on a mission to find the weirdest cards ever made. I also received regular reports on their ever-expanding family; in five years they had four kids. Talk about making up for lost time.
A/N The last part of this story has a major character death. You might not want to read it if you are bothered by that kind of thing. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing.