Chapter 11
I stopped and hesitated, even I knew that when a woman uses the words 'We need to talk.' it's bound to be something very serious. I glanced at Andy and she held up her hands as if in surrender. In other words, she didn't know any more than I did.
"This isn't that much about Andy, even if she's involved because she's here." Lisa-Marie said quietly. "This is mostly about you and me."
"Well, if it's not about me . . ." Andy said quietly.
"Oh no, no, no, it does concern you too. I'd like you to stick around and listen in, even if you don't comment." Lisa-Marie reached out and took Andy's hand for a second. "I'm not too good at keeping secrets from anyone and I'd just as soon not do it if I don't have to."
She walked over to the stove and lifted the tea kettle. "Who wants their nightly tea?"
"I think I'll have mine." I said quietly. "Something tells me that I'm going to need it."
"Oh, don't be such a pessimist." Lisa-Marie sighed. "Andy, what about you?"
"Me too." Andy whispered.
"Look you guys, this isn't anything extremely drastic." Lisa-Marie said as she poured three mugs of boiling water, added three of the special packets from the cupboard, then carried the mugs over to the kitchen table where Andy and I had seated ourselves.
"Can I ask why you waited until Fran was gone before you decided to say whatever it is you're telling us?" I asked.
"Well, she sort of knows, I think." Lisa-Marie sighed. "You see, I had a long talk with Mom and we thought about what's going on. Then we tried to decide what had changed in my life that might be affecting me. We decided that the only thing that made sense was the birth control pills. You see when I started the course I'm taking now, I couldn't get home to see my old doctor, so I got a new one and he changed my prescription for birth control pills because I had some complaints. Then just a month ago, the drug store changed brands on me and I didn't realise it until I was well into the pack. I called them and they said the old pills were no longer made but that the new pills were equivalent. I think there's a minor chemical difference and my body reacts to it."
"So what are you saying? Do you want to go off the pill?"
"It's not that simple." Lisa-Marie sighed. "First off, if I do that, chances are I'll get pregnant soon and right now with a new farm, I think it would be a bad time. Then too, if I go off the pill and my hormone levels change, I'm liable to act differently again, but I like the way I feel right now. I really don't want to change my birth control pills again because the different pills affect my moods and because my moods change so much, they affect the people around me. That's why I asked you to stay while we talked, Andy."
"I understand." Andy smiled. "So I can comment?"
"Sure you can comment."
"Could you try it like this for now, since you're not taking all those other medicines?"
"Well, that's the other thing. All this stuff might change a lot anyway because I'm off of those other medications, but you have to remember that the doctor put me onto those because of the new birth control pills, and he changed those because I was screwed up before. When I was taking the original pills, I was a jealous bitch and I really didn't like that, but now that I think about it, this last little while was even worse."
"Yes, but Fran has you using herbs to take the place of those medications." Andy argued.
"And what if the herbs do the same thing as the medications did? Can you guys put up with an oversexed woman around here, like the one who was here the other day, the one who doesn't seem to have any limits?"
"Oh come on, Lisa-Marie. You weren't all that oversexed and you certainly had limits." I protested.
"Oh sure." She snapped. "I encourage Andy to run around nude to tease you and I arrange for her to watch us having sex, then I laughed about you getting a blowjob while I'm sleeping beside you. Don't you think that's outside of normal limits?"
"Define normal limits." I said flatly, doing my best not to look at Andy to see her reaction to the fact that Lisa-Marie knew about the blowjob. "You know darn well that normal isn't a term you can apply to sex. What's normal for the Smiths is outrageous for the Joneses and vice versa. Actually, you probably have a different idea of what normal is than I do. On top of that, you and I haven't been together long enough to define what we agree to be normal for the two of us."
"Tom, I don't want to argue about this or anything else." She said through her teeth. "I just want your honest opinion. What do you really think I should do?"
"I don't think you have much of a choice. I think you need to decide which doctor to listen to and then follow his advice." I shrugged. "If you want to keep on trying the herbal treatments, I think that means you need to continue to go to Dr. Timmins. Otherwise your other doctor would probably insist that you go back on the other medication."
"Oh fuck that." She snapped. "I feel so much better now, there's no way I want to go back to feeling all doped up and loggy."
"There's something else you might consider." I smiled weakly. "Your reaction right now might be part of the withdrawal symptoms that Fran was telling us might be brought on by going off of those other drugs. She did say that some symptoms might show up at any time in the next week or two."
"Oh shit!" She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "My whole frigging life is a puzzle right now. I just want it all to settle down so I know what's going on and what to expect."
"Well, I can't tell you what to do, but you know I'm here to help and support you any way I can." I sighed. "I don't know what else I can do than that."
"I am too." Andy said firmly. "You two are two of the best people in my life and I'm sure going to help you any way I can, that's for certain."
"Even if I drive you crazy by being nuts?" Lisa-Marie asked. "Because that's what I feel I am right now. I don't know what to expect that I'll find myself doing the next moment. I don't seem to have any control over what I do or what I say."
"So what would you like us to do? Do you want us to act as guides or what?" I asked. "I mean, I can try, but like I told you, I probably have different limits than you do."
"Oh, Tom, I've known you since I was six. We were raised together for cripes sake, so I think your limits and mine are as close as possible."
"One big difference, I'm a guy, and the last time I looked, you were a gal. I have different basic limits than you do. For one thing, under natural circumstances I approach sex with a completely different attitude than you do."
"Like what, the fact that as a male of the species you want to spread your genes as widely as possible? Have a close look dear, at the moment I'm chemically neutered and Andy is knocked up. Fran left and I think she's already gone through menopause anyway. There's nowhere for you to spread your genes right now."
"You know those limits that you're talking about? You're pushing them right now."
"What? Getting you to admit that you'd like to screw Andy? How is that pushing the limits? We all know you would and we know she'd love it if you did. I'm not giving you permission to do it behind my back or anything like that."
"No, but it sounds like you're trying to give us permission to do it with your knowledge." I growled.
"No, she's not." Andy said quietly. "She just wants us to admit that we're sexually attracted to each other, which is true. But, I'm not about to do anything about it, because I'd be afraid of ruining things. A week ago when I first came here, I might have, but Tom told me his limits when we discussed kissing and cuddling the next morning."
"Oh come on, are you trying to tell me that you didn't sneak into our bedroom and give Tom a blowjob on the night of the blizzard?" Lisa-Marie snapped
"Me? You're blaming me for giving Tom a blowjob?" Andy looked at her indignantly. "Are you telling me that the blowjob you were talking about happened just the other night?"
Lisa-Marie stared her in astonishment, then turned and looked at me in wonder.
"Omigod, it was Fran." She whispered, then we both broke into laughter.
Andy suddenly giggled and looked at me strangely. "Was it a good one?"
"Absolutely frigging wonderful." I roared with laughter. "She should give lessons."
"And she'd have gotten away with it, if you weren't so darn honest too." Lisa Marie giggled. "Besides, like I said the next morning, she didn't do any damage."
"Except that both of us were blaming Andy." I said bluntly.
"Oh, Andy, I am sorry." Lisa-Marie said quietly. "I was convinced it was you, and I've been mentally holding that over your head all week, even though I was trying to be civil. I should have just asked, shouldn't I?"
"Oh, no problem." Andy was still giggling. "I have to say that I really didn't notice that you treated me any differently though. You aren't going to treat Fran differently now are you?"
"I don't see how I can?" Lisa-Marie giggled. "Since I almost treat her like a doctor, I think I'll just pretend that she was giving Tom a physical and let it go at that."
That brought more giggles from Andy and another laugh from me.
"Well, since she's been teaching me all about herbs, maybe I should get her to teach me a few of her other skills." Andy added. "Then I could almost be like a doctor and give guys decent physicals myself."
"Honey, if you do, I'll make sure Tom is one of your first patients." Lisa-Marie snorted. "I owe you an opportunity for thinking you were a bitch for the last week."
"Don't suggest things like that." Andy grinned. "You're putting ideas back into my head that I've already had to fight to clear out."
"Hey, both of you stop, please." I pleaded. "I don't think teasing me is going to help anything right now."
"Teasing you? Just how are we teasing you?" Lisa-Marie grinned. "We were coming to terms so we know where we stand."
"Yeah, don't ruin this for me." Andy laughed softly. "She's made me an offer and I'm trying for a bigger portion at the same price."
"We're haggling over you, Tom, how does that make you feel?" Lisa-Marie giggled.
"Well, at least you're grinning now." I sighed. "I'm glad you're in a better mood."
"Yeah, we've resolved the blowjob thing which has been bugging me, and besides, I think Fran might have changed my tea a little bit."
"I wonder?" Andy got a strange look on her face. "I thought mine tasted a bit different too, but then I decided I was just imagining things. What about your tea, Tom? Did you taste anything different about it?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it." I lifted my mug and sipped the last mouthful. "Yep! It does taste different, a slightly bitter aftertaste that I never noticed before."
"Well, now I know why we're all so uninhibited." Andy giggled. "I imagine she put it into all of our tea mixtures, but I think I smelled ground coriander in mine and I just remembered what that was used for."
"So are you going to tell us?" Lisa-Marie demanded.
"Well, I didn't hear about it from Fran, I read about it in that book I got from the town library about herbal remedies, in the section about herbal potions that were used by witches." Andy was giggling so hard she could hardly talk. "Coriander is one of the main ingredients used in love potions and other potions meant to increase desire between couples."
"Oh come on." I scoffed. "Fran wouldn't give a love potion to all three of us."
"I think she would." Lisa-Marie started to giggle almost as much as Andy.
"But why?"
"Because, I think she likes you." Andy snorted. "I think she's decided that you need lots of love and attention."
"And of course she heard all about last Friday night, when I was so open about our sex practices with Andy." Lisa-Marie snickered. "So I think I'm loaded with things that have made me feel about the same as then."
"While you and I have a nice big dose of herbs that will make us happily uninhibited." Andy added with a big grin as she winked at me.
"We could always go throw up and then drink a bunch of coffee or something." I suggested.
"What, and waste a chance to screw around when we can blame our actions on someone else." Lisa-Marie giggled loudly. "Jeez man, what are you thinking? What do you think, Andy, do you want to find out what the old witch's love philter will do to us?"
"You mean you're serious? You want to try it? You don't want to try to purge this junk from our stomachs?" Andy stopped laughing and stared at Lisa-Marie almost as if she was in shock. "What about the long term effects to our friendship, should we risk that?"
"I think we'd be a lot closer." Lisa-Marie giggled, then calmed. "But, perhaps you're right. I like you too much to have either of us feel like we were hurt by this sort of silly thing."
I sighed heavily.
"What's with you?" Lisa-Marie said sharply. "You sound relieved and you were the guy who was going to benefit the most. The dream of any man, two women vying for his attentions."
"That's the trouble, there are two of you and only one of me, so I actually am relieved. On top of there being two of you, I know you can wear me into the ground on your own and since Andy hasn't had any sex in what, a couple of weeks? She's probably even more aroused than you." I looked at Andy questioningly.
"Actually Tom, I'm not." Andy said quietly. "I think the early stages of pregnancy are really setting in and my body's hormones are telling me to take it easy. I'm nowhere near as wound up as I was last week. Maybe Fran's love potions were just for you and Lisa-Marie? Or maybe mine will hit me later?"
"Well, it's funny, but I don't feel anywhere near as wound up as I usually am after a week without any kind of sex either." I shrugged. "If anything, what I'm feeling right now is . . . energetic and willing, but not particularly horny."
"Well, I make up for both of you." Lisa-Marie grinned at me. "And Tom, I'm glad you feel energetic, because I feel like I can keep you busy for a long time and you may need that energy."
"Well, it's early, but I have a book to read for now." Andy grinned. "So I'll say goodnight and let you two do what comes naturally."
"Want us to leave the door open for you?" Lisa-Marie teased as the two of them hugged.
"You can if you want, I'm closing mine for now." Andy giggled, then came to hug me. ""Goodnight, Tiger Tom."
"Tiger Tom? Where did that come from?" I laughed and caught her head in my hands, then kissed her lightly.
"I don't know." She giggled. "It just seemed to fit. Goodnight now."
And with that, she ran upstairs. Lisa-Marie and I only paused to rinse out the mugs before she led me up the stairs by the hand with a mischievous look in her eye. When we got to the bedroom, she paused and turned to face down the hall.
"We're leaving the door open and the night light on. You're welcome to come visit." She called fairly loudly, then pushed me into the bedroom and away from the door.
"You are a real bitch at times, aren't you?" I laughed at her. "Poor Andy."
"Poor Andy my ass!" She giggled, her fingers already busy on the buttons of my shirt. "I have an idea she's a manipulative little bitch, almost as much as I am. Besides, I offered, and she turned me down. So now I can tease if I want."
As she undressed me, I was returning the favour, but I paused and kissed the tip of her nose.
"What if she changes her mind and decides to come down and see us?"
"Then I guess we'll just have to make room for her to crawl into bed too, won't we?" She tickled me lightly. "And don't try to tell me that 'Big Johnny' doesn't like that idea a whole bunch. You'd love to carve another notch in your bedpost."
"Well, number one, we don't have any bedposts and number two, there wouldn't be room for another notch after I carved all the notches for the times that you and I . . ."
"Ass." She interrupted, giggling loudly. "Each woman only gets one notch for the very first time."
"Can't see that we'd need a bedpost then, the notch for you would be awful lonely."
"Don't you think there should be at least a little notch for that great blowjob?"
"Unh uh. I don't know how to carve half a notch." I laughed.
Then I dropped to my knees, pulling her jeans and panties down in one motion, then scooping her up in my arms and carrying her to the bed.
"Unh uh." She hung on around my neck as I tried to set her down. "I want you in the bed, and in the middle. I do want sex, but first, I want to talk and cuddle, okay."
"Hey, you usually like to talk and cuddle afterward, what brings on the change?" I asked as I set her down and willingly slipped into bed.
"Well, tonight I want to make sure you're worn out and that means you'll just fall asleep afterward." She snickered as she snuggled close.
I ran my hands over her back and kissed her forehead as she shifted to where she wanted to be. Her eyes were gleaming and her face was wreathed in a smile as she shifted to lay atop my chest.
"I still think perhaps it was Andy who gave you the blowjob last week." She whispered quietly, her lips only inches from my ear.
"But she denied it and I believed her." I protested. "I thought you did too."
"I did at first, then I thought back and she never actually denied it. Instead, she said something like 'Who me? Would I do something like that?' Don't you remember as a kid using words like that when you were trying not to lie directly but still trying to get away with something that you knew was wrong?" She snorted. "I did tell her I forgave her though, but I think she's going to come see us later."
"I suppose you could be right. I don't recall exactly what she did say." I frowned. "However when it comes to her joining in with us in bed, I'm not sure that I'm happy with that."
"Oh nuts. She's here and she's willing and available. You're a very virile man and I'm a rather uninhibited woman, especially right now. Just talking about her has perked up your Johnson, I could feel it get harder under my belly as we talked, so I know your body wants her, even if your head is hesitant. And you know what's strange? I don't feel jealous of her at all. But at the same time, if it was Fran that gave you that blowjob, then I am jealous of her."
"That doesn't make sense." I frowned.
"And when do I ever make sense to you?" She grinned. "Gimme a kiss, please."
"Quite often." I grinned, as I wrapped her tightly in my arms and kissed her.
She was in one of her 'hungry' moods, almost swallowing my tongue and I expected her to swing into sex in one way or another the instant we broke the kiss, instead, she hugged me tightly and brought her lips near my ear.
"So, I've spouted off and been honest with you. I want you to honestly answer one question for me. Okay?"
"That depends on the question." I teased.
"Hey, be fair. Please?"
"This is a loaded question isn't it? One of those questions that implies that you'll be able to hold my answer over my head for the next forty years."
"I intend to do that with all your answers to all of my questions." She chuckled. "But in this case, I'll even grant immunity from that, although I don't know why I should."
"If necessary, can I plead the fifth instead of answering?"
"Well, since Canada doesn't have a fifth amendment to our constitution, the answer is no." She giggled. "But, that would be all the answer I'd need anyway."
"So it is a loaded question, isn't it?"
"Maybe, but I really do want your answer."
"You're not going to give me any until I answer you, are you?"
"Possibly."
"You're being a bitch."
"Unh huh. What else is new?"
"Well, let's cut to the chase then." I sighed. "You want to get Andy in here in bed with us, right?"
"That isn't the question." She sighed softly. "I don't know what I want for sure. I'll be honest though, I like Andy an awful lot. If I was sexually oriented to love women, I'd be trying to get her into bed myself because she's just so cuddly and so . . . well, so easy to get along with, besides, she's sexy."
"Hmm, I never thought of her as that much like you." I admitted. "I think I see a lot of differences."
"Oh, there are differences, but not the important ones. We think the same way and I know how much I hate to sleep alone now that I've had you to cuddle me at night. Just think what she must be going through right now. And she's laying in that darn bed, probably crying herself to sleep all alone."
"So you want me to have sex with her so you can cuddle her?"
"Oh, don't be an ass." Lisa-Marie snorted out a short laugh. "I think we'd both love to cuddle her and I think she'd like to have sex with you, but she sees you as my guy, so she's holding back. My question was going to be, if I wasn't part of your life, would you have sex with her?"
"I'll be honest. I don't know." I sighed. "When she first came, she came onto me like gang-busters and I knew that having sex with her at that time would be the wrong thing to do for several reasons. That's when I got all worried and wanted you here. I was actually worried that she and I would end up having sex and that would have been the worst thing we could have done. Of course once you were here, things got a bit strange, but the next morning, Andy and I seemed to declare a truce. Now you're bringing it up again."
"Yeah, I am." She sighed. "For some reason, it's the most important thing in my mind right now."
"Umm, there is one question I think you should answer, for yourself as much as for me. You were talking about sexual orientation, is there a chance that you're bisexual? Do you want to make love to Andy yourself and trying to get me to have sex with her as a proxy?"
"I don't think so." Her whisper was hardly audible. "The idea of licking her doesn't turn me on or anything, but I do want to cuddle her and hold her tight. At the same time I want to be cuddled by you and have you cuddle her as well. My head is so fucked up that I can't think straight."
"Well, have you asked Andy what she thinks?"
"No, but I guess I should huh?"
"Yeah." I couldn't help chuckling. "It might be an idea, what if she hates the idea of being touched by a woman or something."
"Oh come on, the way she hugs me? You've gotta be kidding."
"So? Go ask her what she thinks."
"If she wants to, will you go along with what we decide?"
"Maybe, but I want in on the decision. This is a big one and we need to really think it over because it could affect our lives in a big way for a long time."
"Well, I don't want to go talk to her smelling of sex." She sat up and rolled out of bed. "And, maybe you should put on some shorts? I'll pull on a robe and see if she'll come talk to us about it."
"Isn't that loading the dice, having her come here to our bedroom?"
"Yes, it is." She grinned sheepishly. "And, I'm going to try that first, because if she comes back with me, I'll already know that she's interested."
"Sneaky bitch." I swatted her bottom as she turned away.
"Ouch." She giggled. "You'll pay for that."
"Hey, I just thought, if you go down there not smelling of sex, she may automatically think that we want her here to join in."
"Oops, she might at that, mightn't she?" She giggled again, then she was gone, running down the hallway.
"Oh boy!" I sighed, rolling out of bed to find my undershorts and pull them on, then crawling back into bed and pulling the covers above my waist.
I lay back waiting for Lisa-Marie to come back. Perhaps Andy would be with her and perhaps not, but then what was I to do? In all honesty I liked Andy, but I wasn't sure I wanted sex with her, after all I really didn't know her all that well. On top of that I really didn't want to screw up my relationship with Lisa-Marie and I was worried that this was just another of her wild flights of fancy induced by all the medications she'd been on.
I heard a strange noise and wondered what it could be when Lisa-Marie came tearing back into the room.
"Oh God! Tom, come quick. There's something wrong with Andy. I was talking to her and we were teasing each other, then suddenly she grabbed her belly. She's having horrid pains and her colour has gone all wrong. She's white as a ghost."
"Damn, I don't know the emergency numbers here. Check the list by the phone downstairs and call the RCMP." I jumped out of bed and grabbed my clothes. "After that call her folks, they're listed under the name Bill Martin. Tell them I'm taking her to the hospital. Then get your clothes on, I'll need you along because I'll have to drive."
"Are we taking the pickup or my car?" She demanded, as she yanked on her clothes.
"Your car, she can lay on the back seat."
"Take the time to get the old Chevy." She ordered, already running back the way she had come."It's a lot better on these roads and you're used to driving it. And you make the phone calls. I'm going to be busy looking after Andy."
It was at least fifteen minutes before I scooped Andy up in my arms to carry her to the car and we headed out. By then Andy's Mom was there, so she rode along with us, sitting in the front seat and praying softly. Lisa-Marie knelt on the floor in the back with Andy stretched out as much as she could on the seat. Meanwhile Willy and his dad followed in their pickup truck.
That was one night I blessed studded tires because the snow that the chinook had melted during the day had turned to black ice on the roads. Without studded tires, we might have ended up in the ditch several times. As it was, Willy had to drive a lot slower so we left him and his dad well behind by the time we reached the highway. When we hit the blacktop, I opened that old car up and made time.
When I pulled into the hospital driveway I skidded to a stop out of the way of the ambulances, and then dove out of the car, scooping Andy into my arms. Meanwhile Lisa-Marie went running inside, herding Andy's mother along so she could answer questions and fill out the forms that hospitals seem to need. A nurse came rushing up to me, pushing a wheelchair, but I ignored her chair.
"Where do I lay her down so she doesn't have to be moved again?" I growled, frowning at the nurse. "Every time she moves, she's in major pain, so I want to cut out the unnecessary movement."
"Oh, this way then." She acted surprised, but showed me through a door and into a room with a bed on wheels. "But as soon as you lay her down, you'll have to go fill out her paperwork."
"It's already being done." I growled. "Her doctor's name is Timmins. I've already called him and left a message on his machine."
"Oh, he's on call and you're in luck, he's in the hospital already tonight. Now, since you're here, are you a relative?"
"No, she's staying with us though. Her name is Andy, no make that Andrea, Andrea Martin. Her mother is out doing her paperwork right now and her father and brother are on the way."
"Right, well we'll take care of her now Mr . . . ?"
"Just call me Tom." I growled, getting out of there so I wasn't wasting any more of her time.
As I walked back down the hall and out to the car, I felt like I had a load of bricks in my gut. I was actually shaking as I drove the car to the regular parking lot. Then for a few minutes, I simply sat behind the steering wheel and tried to make sense of the crazy feelings going through my head. I felt angry and I didn't know why. On top of that I was worried about Andy and I suppose I was still carrying a lot of my confusion about whatever was going on with Lisa-Marie, Andy, and myself.
Finally I felt calm enough to walk back into the hospital and look for the waiting room. Lisa-Marie was there with Willy and his folks.
"Where did you go?" Lisa-Marie asked quietly.
"I was parking the car and then calming down the adrenaline from driving fast on ice-covered roads." I frowned at having to explain. "My gut is tied in knots."
"Oh, were you scared?"
"Not at the time." I managed a weak smile. "But, to change the subject, I don't suppose there's any word yet?"
"No dear, but at least her own doctor is here in the hospital."
"Yeah, the nurse told me that when she showed me where to put Andy."
"Well, I guess we just wait." She sighed, taking my hand and leading me to the chairs near Andy's folks.
Mr Martin was on his feet the instant we got close and reaching out to shake my hand.
"Thank you." He said quietly.
"I didn't do anything special." I shook my head. "But, you're welcome anyway."
"Where the hell did you learn to drive on ice like that?" Will demanded. "We thought you were nuts at first, but that car didn't even wiggle, not even when we were slipping all over the road."
"Studded tires all around." I shrugged my shoulders. "Driving to school and back every week in the winter, you need them and I suppose I got practise driving on slippery roads then too."
"I just slowed down." He sighed. "I knew you'd look after Andy if anyone would."
I just looked at him, then realised Lisa-Marie was squeezing my hand.
"Let's go for a walk, okay?" She said quietly.
"Yeah, I want a coffee." I nodded then turned to the others. "We're going out for a bit. I know darn well this is going to take a while, because if nothing else, they'll want to check her out pretty thoroughly. We'll be back in a half hour or so."
"You guys don't have to stay." Mr. Martin offered. "We can let you know what they say."
"We'll be back." I said shortly, then didn't give him a chance to argue.
Instead I led Lisa-Marie away and didn't look back at him. Once we were out the door, Lisa-Marie squeezed my hand and when I looked at her she was smiling weakly.
"Want to bet that right now they're busy discussing how much you remind them of Silas?"
"No bets." I snorted.
"Yeah. Well, I guess you know that this doesn't look good for Andy's baby, don't you?"
"Yeah! Fucking Fred can't even make good babies."
"Hey, how do you know it's his fault?" She asked. "It might just be circumstance."
"Honey, at the moment, I need someone to blame and he's on the top of my shit list anyway, so he got the nomination."
"Oh, I see. Where are we going by the way?"
"There's a coffee shop a block over that stays open late." I answered quietly. "Remember, I go to school here in town."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. I'll bet that was the fastest trip you've made from the farm to town though, isn't it?"
"Slightly!" I answered facetiously. "Do you have any idea how fast we were going when we got on the highway?"
"I don't want to know, thank you." She said sharply. "Mrs. Martin said she was praying twice as fast as you drove though, and she was white when we got out of the car."
"I'll have to apologise to her." I managed a small smile.
"I wouldn't worry about it. She was praising your driving at the same time." She laughed softly then. "We've lived on the farm a couple of weeks and I'll bet we're already on the top of the rumour list. This will just add to it."
"Yeah, probably." I held the door of the coffee shop open for her, then followed her inside.
We went in and had hardly found a seat when the middle-aged Chinese wife of the owner came hurrying up.
"Well, Tom, you here on Friday night? How come you not out at your farm? And, you got a pretty lady friend along too. Come to town see movies?"
"No, Mama Tang, we brought a friend in to the hospital and we decided we wanted real coffee, not hospital coffee."
"Oh, I hope friend be okay soon. Two cups coffee then. Anything else?"
"Not for me, anything else for you, Lisa-Marie?"
"No thanks." She shook her head, then as Mama Tang hurried away, she smiled at me. "Do you make friends with everyone you meet?"
"Nope, but a lot of them make friends with me."
That made her shake her head and smile. In only a moment Mama Tang brought our coffee and paused, looking at Lisa-Marie whose smile had become a slight frown.
"Young lady upset? Maybe want something else?"
"No, I was just asking Tom if he made friends with everyone he met."
"Oh, he good man. One night we have two trouble makers here, he asks politely to leave. They go, no trouble. This very good man, you should marry."
"I plan on it." Lisa-Marie smiled.
"Good idea." Mama Tang nodded her head, then patted Lisa-Marie on the arm before she scurried away.
"You do have a way about you, don't you?" She smiled again.
"I don't know? I just do things that need to be done. Then everybody else makes a big fuss about it. Sometimes it's a pain in the butt."
"Yeah, for you maybe, but what you do is getting to be rare these days. People just don't get involved any more." She sighed. "You know, in all this fuss, I didn't get to tell you what Andy said to me."
"Okay, tell me now, if you want."
"She said she needed to talk to you alone and then have some time to think about it, but she was flattered by the offer."
"That sounds sensible to me."
"Hmm, yeah. I suppose."
For several minutes we were both rather quiet as we sipped our coffee. I was thinking deeply, wondering how Andy was doing. I suppose Lisa-Marie was doing the same thing.
"I think I'd like to be at the hospital." She said suddenly. "If there's anything we should know about, maybe we should be there."
"Okay, I'll get the check." I nodded. "I'm feeling a bit lost myself. Besides, we'd both probably feel better if we were there when they give out any news on Andy's condition."
We had walked slowly on the way to the coffee shop, but we walked much faster going back to the hospital. We got back to the waiting room moments before the doctor came out of the doors that closed off the hallway. He walked over to the Martins, but included Lisa-Marie and I in his gaze as he sighed.
"Andy will be fine, unfortunately, she's lost the foetus. There was nothing we could do, but if it's any condolence, the foetus was congenitally deformed. I'm not sure that you should tell Andrea that, but as family, you should all know that it wasn't her fault. Although they are rare, these cases do happen. It's no fault of either parent. Now we're going to keep her in overnight for observation, but in all honesty, unless complications develop, there's no reason that she won't be able to go home tomorrow afternoon."
"So she's okay?" Mrs. Martin beat the rest of us in asking.
"Andrea is fine, in fact she's resting quite easily. She never lost consciousness and we have her on mild to medium pain killers now, but she'd like to see you Mrs. Martin and she'd like to see Lisa-Marie. I think it might be better if the men folk could wait until tomorrow to see her."
We didn't argue. It really was long before the two women came back out. They smiled at each other, but it was a guarded smile. Then we all left quickly with Mrs. Martin squeezing into their pickup with the two men.
"We could have given her a ride." I frowned at Lisa-Marie.
"I think she wanted to talk to Willy and her husband. I hope you don't mind, but Andy's coming back to stay with us when she gets out of the hospital."
"Well, I sort of expected her to. I mean all her stuff is at our place now and she was rather upset with her father just a few days ago."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lisa-Marie said quickly.
Neither of us was talking much on the way home, in fact Lisa-Marie dozed part of the way. I was driving a lot slower so it was almost two in the morning when we got there and we were both too tired to feel romantic, so we just slipped into bed and cuddled.
I was almost asleep when Lisa-Marie spoke quietly to me. "Tom? Are you awake?"
"Mmm." I mumbled.
"Does that mean yes or no?"
"Halfway." I sighed.
"Well, when I said Andy wanted to come live with us?"
"Yeah?"
"I think she meant permanently."
"Oh." I managed to say as I dozed off.