Cascade (2 page)

“
I don’t ever want you to
feel… second best or taken advantage of… when…”

Delphie put her arms around his neck. She
held him close.

“
Do you love me?” Delphie
asked.

“
Yes,” Sam said. “I
do.”

“
And Celia?”

“
I love her too,” Sam
said. “Miss her. I…”

“
Shh,” Delphie said. “When
it’s all said and done, she and I will have split your life. How do
you feel about that?”

“
There are a few years
when I didn’t know either of you.” Sam smiled.

“
Yeah? How
many?”

“
Ten glorious years.” Sam
laughed.

“
You and Celia met when
you were ten years old,” Delphie said. “I met Celia when I was
twelve years old. She rescued me when I was sixteen. You had Celia
for…”

“
Thirty-seven years,” Sam
said.

“
I’ll marry you on our
thirty-seventh year,” Delphie said.

“
What if I die before
that?”

“
What if I die before
that?” Delphie shrugged.

“
I don’t want you to feel
taken advantage of or be alone in your old age or…”

“
I have no family. At
least any I’ve seen in almost fifty years,” Delphie said. “You,
Celia, the kids, have always been my family.”

“
The kids think of you as
family,” Sam said.

“
Isn’t that wonderful?”
Delphie asked. “It’s like a dream come true for me. If you die
before I do, I’ll have our family. But I’ll miss you
desperately.”

Sam held her to him.

“
Do you feel second best?”
He said in her ear.

“
To Celia?”

“
Yes.”

“
I am second best to
Celia,” Delphie said.

Sam shifted away from her to look into her
face.

“
Celia was…” Delphie shook
her head. Tears sprung to her eyes. “The best person I’ve ever met.
I owe her my life. I’m second best to Celia because everyone
is.”

Sam held her close again.

“
I miss her too, Sam,”
Delphie said. “And I love you. Both things are true for
me.”

“
I don’t want…”

“
What do you want, Big
Sam?” Delphie asked. “Because I have everything I want – home,
love, family, friends, good work, gardens, bees…”

“
Thirty-four more years?”
Sam asked.

Delphie laughed.

“
I’ll tell you what, Mr.
Lipson.” Delphie helped him out of his shirt. “When I want to get
married, I’ll tell you. I will ask you for what I need. Will you
promise me the same?”

Sam nodded.

“
There is
something…”

Delphie dropped her towel.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday afternoon – 1:05
P.M.

“
Big day,” Jazmyne
said.

Jill and Mike’s sister, Candy Roper rolled
onto her side of their bed. She stroked Jazmyne’s bare
shoulder.

“
Your fabulous cake got you a real
job at a bakery,” Jazmyne held up one finger.

“
Colin Hargreaves offered me the
job,” Candy said. “I have to meet the other owners. He said they
would set up a baking interview this week. This time next week, I
could have a real paying job.”

“
Yes,” Jazmyne kissed Candy’s
hand.

“
We went to our first family
function.” Jazmyne held up a second finger.

“
Together,” Candy added. “And no
one thought a thing about it.”

“
We even danced together,” Jazmyne
said.

“
A lot,” Candy said. “Hey doesn’t
that get a finger?”

“
Sure,” Jazmyne held up a third
finger.

“
You spent the day with your
mother.”

“
Yesterday,” Candy said. “And you
met her and liked her.”

“
She’s a gorgeous, amazing
person,” Jazmyne said. “Like her daughter.”

“
And I was right. She doesn’t care
that I’m gay,” Candy said.

“
She wants you to be
happy.”

“
Yeah,” Candy said. She moved
Jazmyne’s forth finger up.

Jazmyne’s hand popped open to five.

“
What’s the fifth?” Candy
asked.

“
Mike said he would father a
child,” Jazmyne said.

“
YOU ASKED HIM?” Candy blushed to
the edges of her hair. “What did the beautiful wife
say?”

“
She said it was a great idea.
Candy, we could be pregnant by the end of the year!”

“
Wow,” Candy said.

“
You need to get over your Valerie
complex,” Jazmyne said. “She’s not the person they say she is on
Entertainment Tonight. She adores your brother. She’s quite
friendly. So gorgeous too. Plus, she paid for your Chef school and
never asked for anything in return.”

Jazmyne turned onto her side to look at Candy.
Candy seemed lost in thought.

“
Are you mad? Say something!”
Jazmyne said.

“
We’re going to be
Mommies!”

~~~~~~~~

Saturday afternoon – 1:05
P.M.

“
Kids asleep?” Sandy asked from
his Park Hill living room couch.

“
Finally,” Aden Norsen
said.

He held his hands out to her. She took them
and let him pull her into his embrace.

“
It’s all that Captain Crunch,”
Sandy said. “Was that their first wedding?”

“
The first one where they know the
people,” Aden said. “Since he elevated me to CEO, Jake’s been such
a big part of our lives. Jill is your best friend. She has special
status. God, Noelle went on and on.”

“
About what?”

“
Everything.” Aden kissed her
lips. He squinted at her.

“
What?”

“
I’m wondering how I can get you
into bed,” he said.

Sandy laughed.

“
How asleep are the
kids?”

“
Nash is completely out,” Aden
said. “Noelle was just dropping off. You know how she talks until
she’s asleep. What did you have in mind?”

“
Hot tub. We’ve never…”

“
It’s snowing.”

“
No nosey neighbors.” Sandy kissed
him.

“
I love the way you
think.”

Undressing as they went, he dragged her
through the kitchen. Naked, he wrapped her in a bath sheet. He was
reaching for a towel when he dropped to his knees.

“
Aden!” Sandy screamed.

He looked up at her and took her
hand.

“
Promise me, you’ll think about
marrying me,” he said.

“
You really scared me!” Sandy
said. She swatted at his head.

“
Promise me. Please.”

“
I will.”

“
You will what?”

“
Marry you.”

“
What?!”

“
I’ll marry you,” Sandy
repeated.

“
Today? Because I bet
Delphie…”

“
Soon,” Sandy said.

“
I have to work
tomorrow…”

“
I’m working fourteen hour days
until Christmas,” Sandy said.

“
You’ve given this a lot of
thought!”

Aden hopped to his feet. He pulled her into
his arms. Sandy nodded.

“
I don’t have a ring,” Aden said.
“Oh crap, Sandy, I’m sorry.”

“
No rings,” Sandy said. “Let’s
play it cool.”

“
Cool. I can play it cool,” he
said. “Are we telling people?”

“
Oh, do you want to?”

“
Yes, I want to tell everyone! I
want to shout it to the world! I want …”

Sandy kissed him.

“
Slowly,” she said. “For me.
Ok?”

Aden nodded. He opened the door and the blast
of cold wind blew snowflakes onto them. Sandy shivered. With his
arm on her shoulder, he led her to the hot tub.

“
Aden?”

“
Yes, Sandy?”

“
You’re naked and it’s
snowing.”

He jumped into the hot tub. In a flash, he
stretched his arm out and snatched Sandy’s towel off. She squealed
and ran to get in the hot tub.

“
You’re the very best thing that’s
ever happened to me,” Aden said.

“
Prove it.”

As the snow fell into the hot water, he rose
to her challenge.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday afternoon – 1:05
P.M.

MJ held his wife Honey’s hair while she threw
up in the toilet.

“
Are you sick from the Captain
Crunch?” MJ asked.

“
I don’t think so,” Honey said. “I
think I’m pregnant.”

“
What?” MJ asked. “How is that
possible?”

“
The egg is released from the
ovary. It travels down the fallopian tube where it meets the
sperm…”

“
But I thought we couldn’t. You
couldn’t. I…”

“
They said six months,” Honey
said. “It’s been about five months since I was injured.”

“
Wow.” MJ leaned against the
sink.

“
Could you get me a wash cloth? I
can’t really get it myself.” Honey gestured to her paralyzed
legs.

“
Oh. Yeah. Sure.” MJ wet a hand
towel and gave it to her.

Honey wiped her face and hands.

“
You seem lost in thought,” Honey
said.

“
You’re sure? I mean about a baby.
You’re sure.”

“
No, I’m not at all sure,” Honey
said. “It could a combination of the Crohn’s and three bowls of
cereal.”

“
Oh,” MJ said.

“
Oh?”

“
Let’s make sure.”

MJ carried her back to bed.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday afternoon – 1:05
P.M.

“
What do you mean?” Blane asked.
“What did he say?”

He was lying with his head on Heather’s lap
while they discussed Jacob and Jill’s wedding. Heather was sitting
against the headboard on her queen sized bed.

“
I don’t care if he is the Lipson
CFO, he’s very rude,” Heather said. “Someone should teach him some
manners.”

“
What did he say?”

“
He said I couldn’t be married to
you because you’re gay. He, kind of, went on and on. I was so mad.
He implied you weren’t good enough to be my husband.”

“
I am gay,” Blane said. “You’re
straight. And we are married.”

“
We were arguing when Tanesha told
him to shut his pie hole. She told him only a real asshole would
get a pregnant woman so angry. She dragged me away.”

“
I’m sorry I wasn’t there to
intervene.”

“
What’s his problem?” Heather
asked. “Is he like the marriage police?”

Blane shrugged.

“
What?”

“
I used to date his brother.”
Blane’s face dropped with sorrow.

“
What did his asshole brother
do?”

“
I thought… Anyway, it didn’t work
out.”

“
You thought what?”

Tres Sierra had pushed Heather’s loyalty
button. She was mad.

“
I thought he was the ‘one’. You
know, like Sam and Celia, Val and Mike…”

“
Jill and Jacob,” Heather
said.

“
Yeah.”

Blane’s face shifted to hard stone.

“
We were together for a few years…
three I think. Dated off and on, then seriously for a while. We
lived together for nine or ten months.”

“
What happened?” Heather
asked.

“
He found out about
me.”

“
He found out you were gay?”
Heather asked.

Blane laughed.

“
I think he would know you were
gay,” Heather said.

“
He found out about how I… You
know…”

“
I don’t,” Heather
said.

“
Promise you won’t divorce me if
you find out? Our family, strange as it is, is the best thing I’ve
ever…”

“
I don’t care what you did in the
past,” Heather said. “You’re a good husband, Blane, now, in the
present - honest, loving, kind. You give me your checks so I can
run our household. You even buy me little presents or things for
the baby. I’d be a fool to divorce you for something you used to
do.”

“
You’re a good wife, Heather,”
Blane said. “You’ve really made a home, not just for you but for
us. I have space for myself, my studies, and space to hang out with
you. I wouldn’t be able to get through this medication stuff if you
weren’t taking care of me. You’ve taken my chaotic life and made
everything work. I’m really happy.”

“
It works for us,” Heather smiled.
“What did jerk-off find out about you?”