by Grady, D. R.
“He asked if Uncle Ben and Aunt Treeny were planning to make babies.”
Lainy and Janine both gaped at them, and Treeny and KC had to both nod their heads to add credence to the story. What sounded suspiciously like raucous giggles escaped through the hand KC clapped over her mouth.
Janine’s hand rose to cover her own mouth in a like manner. “What did Ben do?”
“He laughed with the rest of us, and then solemnly told Ryan we weren’t quite at that place in our relationship.” Treeny tried not to sound too gleeful. Her cheeks warmed and betrayed her though.
“Max came to the doorway and rescued us. What a totally priceless moment.” KC and she exchanged pleased looks.
“Go, Mr. Ryan. Nothing like a curious kid to move a relationship along,” Lainy said.
“Exactly. But Ben was the only one of the three of us who kept a straight face long enough to answer Ryan. Since his mother was useless.” Treeny darted a mock glare at KC, who giggled all over again.
“Ryan is priceless. He asked me before we moved into Max’s house why we couldn’t just live there forever. Things are so simple for him.”
“He does appear to be a very linear thinker. That’s a Morrison trait,” Lainy said with a grin.
“Most definitely.”
“Who’s up for watching one of the chick flicks Treeny brought?” Janine questioned.
They all agreed on a movie rather quickly.
“I’ll make popcorn,” Treeny offered.
Janine nodded. “I’ll work on a few bowls of chocolate if you ladies would like to assemble some drinks?” She raised a brow of inquiry at Lainy and KC
“We’re all over it,” KC said and Lainy nodded her assent.
In about five minutes the four women were seated in front of Janine’s movie player. Treeny peeked on either side of her and was thankful for each woman seated with her.
“I’m so happy you called me, Janine. This night looked endless and hopeless without knowing where Ben is and whether he’s safe, and it could have turned out really awful, but you saved me.” She hoped her feelings came through in her voice.
“My thoughts, exactly,” Janine murmured.
“Even though I know where Mitch is, and I have work to do, I was going out of my mind.” Lainy grabbed a handful of popcorn.
KC nodded. She was intent on prying open a package of chocolate to refill the sadly depleted bowl. “I know where Max is, too, and what he’s doing, but that didn’t stop me from climbing the walls. We ladies need to get together more often.”
“Misery is much easier when shared,” Janine said with a grin. She and KC exchanged knowing looks.
“I only had one tour of Kuwait, but you went back.”
Janine shrugged. “I was asked, and I could, so I did. I believe the reason I got the job here was because I’d chosen to do two tours rather than one.”
“I still can’t believe you willingly went back over there.” KC shuddered.
“Being in Kuwait for two tours didn’t hinder my time with Ben. Besides, he encouraged me to do another one, since the Morrisons would have overwhelmed me otherwise.”
Treeny nodded. “This way, you could communicate and get to know everyone on your terms.” She remembered how awed she’d been of the Morrison family warmth towards her at age fourteen. She still had difficulty believing the Morrisons and their acceptance of her.
“That’s correct. I went from having basically no family to finding a biological brother – whose entire adopted family adopted me.” Janine blinked and they all laughed at her bemused expression.
“The Morrisons are overwhelming, love. We understand,” KC said and patted Janine’s left hand. Treeny patted her right, and nodded in agreement to KC’s statement.
“We can say that, since we’re not Morrisons by birth. But I was adopted during my teens.”
The three of them all turned to Lainy. Who held up her hands, palms out. “I grew up with them, and still managed to feel overwhelmed at times, so, yes, I also understand.” She grinned mischievously. “I even offered to sell some of them to Mitch.”
This set off hoots of laughter. “Let me guess, you offered up Will, Tom, Ed, Max, and the in-laws,” Treeny guessed, well remembering similar feelings toward those particular men. KC, gnawing on a particularly large piece of solid chocolate, asked, “Why? Even though I’m sure I can guess.”
“It was just after they’d tied all of us girls together, Treeny included, and threw us into the lake.” Lainy rubbed a hand over her bottom. Treeny caught herself doing the same.
“Ow! That doesn’t sound like fun,” Janine said in commiseration.
“It wasn’t. Thank goodness for Ben.” Who she desperately wanted back home.
“Treeny, by the way, I sorted through some of Mitch’s old emails on the laptop I built for him, and I found a very interesting one from him to Ben, and a reply back from Ben about you and me.” Treeny liked the way Lainy’s eyes sparkled.
This sounded interesting. “Oh?”
“Yes, I’ll find them and email them to you.”
“What did Ben do that was so heroic?”
She and Lainy turned in horror to Janine. “Whoops! Janine, we’re sorry. We assumed you knew the story.”
Janine shook her head.
“We were at the lake, enjoying ourselves until the boys decided it’d be fun to tie all of us together. Now, remember I have three sisters and all of the boys but Max were married, so that’s seven of us, plus Treeny, so eight.”
Treeny rolled her eyes and rubbed her bottom again.
“There were two bundles of us. Which would have been fine. Nice joke, very funny, ha ha ha,” Lainy explained, with definite sarcasm interlacing her voice.
“Except then they got the bright idea to throw us into the lake. Not such a good idea, because a few of us had to be on the bottom. The two of us were me and Lainy in our bundle. And somehow they threw us so that she and I both hit these submerged boulders.” Treeny and Lainy both shook their heads. She still remembered the pain that little episode had caused.
“This was bad enough. Dory was in the other bundle and couldn’t breathe either because she landed in a dip.”
Lainy took over the story again. “We’re submerged in water and Treeny, Dory, and I can’t push our noses or mouths above water to breathe.”
“And Laurie’s afraid of snakes,” Treeny added while Lainy shuddered.
Lainy said dryly, “And guess what’s in the water right next to us?”
Janine fluttered a hand to her heart. “Oh, my.”
“Yeah, Laurie is thrashing around, and remember, we already can’t breathe. Fortunately, Ben had just arrived, and hears the losers howling with laughter. None of them noticed any problems.” Lainy rolled her eyes.
“What did he do?” Janine asked, a bite of chocolate halfway between her lap and mouth as she stared at her and Lainy.
“To this day, I still can’t figure out how he did it, but he waded into the water and grabbed one bundle with one hand and another with the other and hauled all of us out of the water at the same time,” Treeny said, her awe evident in her voice.
Lainy’s eyes widened. “You know, he did haul all eight of us out at once. I didn’t think about that, but he did.” Her eyes grew. “How on earth?”
Treeny shook her head. “I don’t know if adrenaline helped, fueled by fear, because I was close to passing out,” and Lainy nodded in agreement, her mouth firm, “or whether he’s really strong, or if he used some form of physics to pull all of us out, but somehow he got us out at the same time.”
“Think about how much weight that would have been, and we were in water.” Lainy tapped a finger against her lips.
They all exchanged guilty looks, but Treeny couldn’t imagine sharing like this with any other females, except maybe her sister. These women gave her strength and understanding and compassion.
“Pass the chocolate,” she requested.
The others laughed. “Leave
it to Treeny to not care about calories.”
“I’m guessing fear helped him pull the eight of you out. I’ve seen some incredible things on the islands, mothers who barely weigh a hundred pounds picking up cars to rescue their children.”
“We’ve seen that in Kuwait, too,” KC mentioned quietly.
Lainy brushed some hair off her cheek. “I’d pick up a car to save Alexis.”
“Of course. Heck, I’d pick up a car to rescue Max. I’m sort of fond of him.” KC’s grin was all brat.
“So what happened after Ben yanked you out of the lake?” Janine wondered.
Treeny and Lainy laughed. “Ben started tearing strips off the boys, who by now figured out they nearly killed Lainy and me, and possibly Dory.”
“But then Granddad came, and Ben left the field open for him.” Lainy’s voice sounded gleeful and Treeny entered into her humor. She’d also been amused by the boys’ dressing down.
“Yes, his age and verbage is more impressive than Ben’s,” Treeny agreed.
Lainy unwrapped a piece of chocolate. “Granddad trumps even Ben, although it was uncanny to see the two of them side by side like that.”
“They did have identical expressions on their faces—” Treeny matched her chocolate wrapper for chocolate wrapper as they reminisced.
“And they were standing the same way—” Lainy said.
“Yes, even their arms were crossed identically.” Treeny and Lainy stared at each other.
Lainy finally shrugged before she popped the chocolate into her mouth. “Aunt Heather did say the reason she chose Ben was because he reminded her so strongly of Granddad.”
“He really does,” KC said. “It’s uncanny.”
“Genetics are a wondrous, beautiful mystery,” Janine said wisely and they all nodded.
“On that note, let’s watch this movie.” Treeny settled back into the sofa with a handful of chocolate and popcorn.
Getting into Ben’s genetics might fire up some things that were better left undone for now. She missed him enough. She leaned forward and added some chicken nuggets to her stash.
Chapter 11
While she loved the man, Treeny came to the conclusion that she definitely hated his hours. Or lack thereof – whatever one called his deplorable schedule. She hadn’t heard from Ben since Sunday evening when he kissed her goodnight with promises of more, and now here it was Thursday morning. No kisses, no phone calls, no e-mails, no text messages, not even a small plane with a message trailing behind it. Treeny would have gladly accepted a carrier pigeon.
She somehow managed to pass the time, but trying to live with the hours he kept were beyond stinky. They sucked. All she could say was she was relieved she had a job.
How to fill the hours before his return would otherwise really wear on her. But Treeny took some comfort in the fact that the other Morrison women weren’t without their woes. Lainy and KC both had husbands with demanding jobs who sometimes had to travel unexpectedly. And they certainly missed their husbands terribly when they left.
She couldn’t help but compare their situations though. While the other ladies could speak with their significant others every morning and night and any time in between, she had no idea where hers was. She didn’t know if he was safe, or what his living conditions were. Lainy and KC also had a tentative schedule for when their loved ones would return.
Treeny had no idea.
Not only did she not have any idea when Ben would return, she also didn’t know whether he considered her a loved one or not.
Balefully staring at the computer screen in front of her, she downloaded her email. Her heart skipped a beat, but she saw the message was from Lainy, not Ben. Which was fine, as this was the communication between Mitch and Ben that Lainy had promised. Treeny smiled as she clicked on the message and started to read.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Hey Treeny,
Here are these emails I told you about. Hope you enjoy them as I did!
>>>To: [email protected]
>>>From: [email protected]
FW:Subject: FW: I owe you one!
Hey Ben,
Just got in and received an e-mail from Lainy. She told me about the little disaster at the lake, due to her brothers.
I owe you one.
Lainy mentioned something briefly that I found...ummm...fascinating? Did you hear that she and Treeny checked each other’s butts? Apparently they both got rather bruised there. I doubt it’s appropriate to ask her, but did you hear about this? Are they okay? To hit so hard they had to check each other...that’s interesting.
Thanks,
Mitch
>>>To: [email protected]
>>>From: [email protected]
RE:Subject:: I owe you one!
Hey Mitch,
You don’t owe me anything. My cousins and Treeny were in that water! Dory, Lainy, and Treeny are all trying to breathe, and couldn’t. I was furious, to say the least. I think John caught on that Dory couldn’t breathe, but the others were laughing too hard to see Laurie’s panic.
My granddad sure can yell, though. I was glad he was there and took over, because he’s older, and has a lot more experience with yelling. I know the boys won’t ever tie the girls up and throw them in again. I was able, while I was yelling, to explain, I hope, that while tying someone up and tossing them into a body of water is a SEAL training method, it’s an advanced one. After lengthy training, and with supervision. I hope I shook them up.
We could have lost them all.
I thought both Lainy and Treeny were walking gingerly. I don’t remember hearing they hit rocks in the bottom, but that makes sense. Where the guys threw them is probably the rockiest part of the entire lake. (Of course! Bunch of idiots!)
What I would have given to hear the girl’s “examination”. They were probably plotting the death of all seven boys – maybe it’s just as well we missed the conversation.
Max wrote and told me they’re also holding the episode against him even though he wasn’t there. He thinks this is highly unfair. You’ll like Max, he’s laid back, smart, (unlike the rest of the men), and will remind you a lot of Lainy.
Anyway, I’ve got a mountain of paperwork, as I’m sure you understand. (When I joined the Navy I naively thought I’d be exempt from paperwork.)
Later,
Ben
Lainy wrote a message beneath that.
Men are so funny! ☺
Thought you’d enjoy reading these.
Love,
Lainy
P.S. Want to go out for lunch?
Treeny leaned back in her chair, thankful for her looming smile. She missed Ben so much, but somehow, seeing an email by him, even one not addressed to her made her feel better.
This message told her clearly he’d been concerned for her. She liked that. She liked knowing he cared, and he’d been scared and angry for her. Actually, she remembered being scared and angry for herself, but appreciated that he had entertained similar thoughts.
Knowing Ben cared helped to ease her pain. Now if she only heard from him that would make her life one hundred percent better.
She sent an email to Lainy in acceptance. Having lunch would help to pass the time, and she enjoyed Lainy’s company.
“No, I’m sure that was Lainy Morrison I saw,” the woman sitting near the buffet area where Treeny stood said.
Her sister, who had been in the same grade as Treeny, shook her head. “I don’t remember her. You graduated with her.”
“Look at her. She hasn’t changed at all.” Both of them turned and raked Lainy up and down disparagingly. “I can’t believe the size of the rock on her finger.”
Lainy rose at that moment to peruse the buffet selections on the other side of the room. Treeny admired the smooth way Lainy moved. Lainy, since she and Mitch had married, had blossomed and come into her own. There was a new confidence in the way she held herself, even in the way she moved.
Treeny finally realized Lainy acted like a beautiful woman. Smiling, she thought of the women’s comeuppance when they realized why Lainy had blossomed.
“Probably some fellow nerd gave it to her,” Alana, the woman from her class said.
“I’m sure. I mean look at her, she’s not that attractive. Alana, look at that gorgeous man.”
Treeny didn’t have to turn around to know they pointed at Mitch. She began to smile as she realized the reality check, and how, these hyenas would momentarily receive.
“He is gorgeous. Your hunk radar is intact, Sonya. He looks like a Marine.”
“I’m sure he is,” Sonya purred.
“We’ll have to see if we can...”
Treeny heard a gasp and turned in time to watch as Mitch bent and pressed a possessive kiss on Lainy’s neck. Lainy gasped and turned, and Mitch planted another kiss on her lips. She saw Lainy’s lips curl into a smile and felt very happy for her friend.
“That gorgeous man is kissing...her.”
“She’s married to him?”
Both women sounded astonished, and amazed, but Treeny wasn’t surprised in the least. Lainy was real while they were a little too tanned, a little too frosted, wearing too much makeup.
There was also no doubt but that Lainy was loved. She glowed because she loved Mitch and he loved her. She was also pregnant again, but you couldn’t tell. That would also increase Lainy’s happy glow. The glow hadn’t happened without a price, though. Lainy had nearly lost Mitch.
Treeny frowned as she thought of the trials Lainy and Mitch had faced before they could be together. Trials most couples had to weather. The thought coalesced that if a couple didn’t weather those experiences they’d cease to be a couple. Ben came to mind and she wondered if she could move past his dangerous job. Wasn’t she better off without him, than worrying about whether he would come home?