Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (39 page)

“
She’s too close, Jill,”
Jacob said. “My fear and love for her gets in the way of any
psychic impressions.”

Jill nodded.

“
Do you have any Mommy
intuition?” he asked.

“
I think what’s interesting
about my dream was that it was all Katy’s perspective. I saw and
felt things as if I was Katy,” Jill said. “My adult Mommy is
horrified at the idea of anyone harming Katy. But seeing from
inside Katy, I see how strong and bright she is. I had a glimpse
into what she feels and cares about. It was like a
gift.”

“
Why were you sorry?” Jacob
asked.

“
I never knew how scared
she was of losing me,” Jill said. “I mean, I bought the Jill doll.
I knew she had some problems but I thought it was from working all
the time. I didn’t realize…”

Jill fell silent. She rolled onto her back
and stared at the ceiling.

“
What?” Jacob
asked.

“
Trevor’s parents continue
to push this Grandparent thing,” Jill said. “Even knowing Katy’s
not Trevor’s biological child.”

“
I thought the Child
Advocate assured you it wouldn’t go through,” Jacob
said.

“
Katy’s terrified of having
to live with them or even spending time with them,” Jill said. “I
wish I knew what they wanted.”

“
Whatever it is, we’ll work
it out,” he said.

Jacob stroked her hair and pulled her head
back to his lap.

“
How do you feel?” Jacob
asked.

“
Tired, agitated ,and a
little dizzy,” she said. “Why?”

“
It’s almost like you had
the kind of dream Katy and I have,” Jacob said. “A
vision.”

“
Why would I get a vision?”
Jill laughed. “That’s silly. I was just worried because of what
Delphie said.”

“
No really, Jill,” Jacob
said. “You have all the post symptoms.”

“
Why would I get a vision?”
Jill repeated.

“
Because you’re pregnant,”
Jacob said.

“
I am?”

“
With a Marlowe
male.”

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday morning — 8:25 A.M. MDT
Rose Hospital

“
How’s the acupuncture
business going?” the doctor asked when he entered the treatment
room.

“
Slow,” Blane said. “You
probably heard about Jake and the secretary? Anyway, I’m the COO at
Lipson while he gets everything sorted out. I just see patients a
couple nights a weekend and every other Saturday.”

“
That’s a lot.” The doctor
picked up Blane’s chart to review his test results.

“
It sounds like a lot but
everything is actually really good,” Blane said. “Mack’s growing
and very healthy. Heather has started school to get her
aesthetician’s license. We’re even starting the process to adopt a
child out of foster care.”

“
You seem really happy,”
the doctor said.

“
Happier than I’ve ever
been,” Blane said. “Ever. How’s my health?”

“
Still no virus count for
the Hep C,” the doctor said. “I think you kicked it. Your T-cell
count is good. Happiness will do that.”

“
But?” Blane asked. “Just
tell me.”

“
Your liver’s not doing so
great,” the doctor said.

“
When has that not been
true?” Blane laughed. His smile faded when he looked at the doctor.
“What do you mean?”

“
I’m putting you on the
liver transplant list,” the doctor said.

“
Transplant list?” Blane
asked. “It’s that bad?”

“
I’m hoping your
acupuncture will be able to keep your liver going until a match is
found,” the doctor said.

“
Oh,” Blane said. “I told
Heather not to bother coming. Just a routine visit. She’s going to
want to know everything. Do you mind if I call her?”

The doctor nodded and began checking Blane’s
vitals. Heather answered on the first ring. Blane gave the phone to
the doctor. Dazed, Blane watched the doctor tell his wife that his
liver was failing. He was dying.

How could his liver be failing? Now? When
everything was perfect?

The doctor touched his shoulder and gave him
the phone back. He heard Heather assure him that everything would
be all right. He made some mouth noises and hung up the phone.

“
Do you think I’m going to
die?” Blane asked the doctor.

“
You will definitely die,
Blane,” the doctor said. “The question is when. And I don’t know.
Honestly, HIV positive patients don’t often get livers except from
family. We should screen your family.”

“
I’d never ask them to…”
Blane said.

“
They would want to,” the
doctor said. “You have to give them a chance to love
you.”

“
Did you tell Heather
that?”

“
I did,” the doctor
said.

“
She’s probably already
asked,” Jacob said.

“
That’s why I told her,”
the doctor said. “Listen, when we met, your virus count was through
the roof and that was before you caught Hep C. You’ve been sick for
a long, long time.”

“
But I’m not sick now,”
Blane said. “I’ve never felt better.”

“
Then it’s a good time to
do this while you’re strong,” the doctor said.

The doctor patted Blane’s leg and left the
room. Blane dressed quickly, paid his co-pay and left the doctor’s
office. Sitting in a Lipson Construction truck, he wondered what he
should do next. Out of nowhere, he felt a craving he hadn’t felt in
more than eight years.

He wanted to get high, go to a bathhouse,
and have sex with a dozen nameless men.

Shaking his head at himself, he put it out
of his mind and drove to a work site. His life was too great to
mess it up now. He pulled into the site parking lot and stopped.
For a moment, the longing to return to his old life was
overpowering. Hearing a knock on his window, he looked at the site
manager’s smiling face and remembered who he was.

He was Blane Lipson, gay man, married
father, recovering addict, with family and friends who loved him.
His family would help him no matter what, even if it meant giving
him their liver. That was his life now. He smiled at the site
manager and returned to his day.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday evening — 5:25 P.M.

“
Where’s Charlie?” Noelle
asked. “I thought we were going to watch our shows
tonight.”

“
He went to martial arts
with Nash and Teddy,” Sandy said. “Your Daddy went with them so we
could spend some time together.”

“
Girl time?” Noelle flushed
red with excitement.

“
Girl time,” Sandy
said.

“
What will we do?” Noelle
asked.

“
I thought I could do your
hair. We have that mother-daughter tea tomorrow,” Sandy said. “If
you want, and only if you want, Mrs. Heather said she could come
over to help with make-up.”

“
Miss Tanesha too?” Noelle
asked. “Yes please!”

“
We can also just spend the
night together,” Sandy said. “It’s up to you.”

Lost in thought, Noelle tapped her chin.

“
What if we do
both!?”

“
What do you mean?” Sandy
asked.

“
We could have dinner,
maybe go some place fancy,” Noelle said. “Then we could have the
girls over.”

Sandy smiled. Noelle had a marvelous way of
enjoying every minute of her life.

“
Sounds like a great idea,”
Sandy said. “Where should we go?”

“
I don’t know,” Noelle
said. “Where’s a fancy place?”

Sandy laughed.

“
Can we go to that place
you and Daddy had your first real date?” Noelle asked. “Daddy told
me all about it.”

“
Avenue Grill? It’s not
super fancy,” Sandy said.

“
That’s okay,” Noelle said.
“This is a historic journey.”

Sandy smiled at Noelle’s exuberance.

“
Mommy?” Noelle
asked.

“
What’s up?” Sandy
asked.

“
I have something to talk
about,” Noelle said.

“
That’s good. So do I,”
Sandy said. “What do you have to talk about?”

“
You first,” Noelle
said.

“
Teddy asked your Dad if he
could take you out to the movies,” Sandy said.

“
Really?” Noelle asked.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about! Teddy asked me to the
movies and I didn’t know what to say.”

“
What did you tell him?”
Sandy asked.

“
I told him that I have a
Mom now,” Noelle said. “I would ask her if it was all
right.”

“
Nash wants to take out
Melinda,” Sandy said. “You could go together so it won’t be so
scary.”

“
Seems kinda scary,” Noelle
said. “Plus, we never talked about… you know.”

“
What?” Sandy
asked.

“
Sex,” Noelle leaned into
Sandy to whisper. “Girls in my class talk about it all the time.
One girl asked me to set her up with Charlie after he dropped me
off yesterday. They say that’s the only thing guys
want.”

“
You’re ten!” Sandy
said.

“
Almost eleven,” Noelle
said. “That’s pretty old to still be a virgin.”

"You knew all about sex when I met you!"
Sandy said.

"I didn't think I would have sex," Noelle
said. "It was just kind of... abstract. Like a painting then.
Now..."

Too shocked to do anything else, Sandy
laughed.

“
How about this?” Sandy
asked. “Why don’t we talk about what you want to do about Teddy at
dinner? We can ask the girls about sex when they come
over.”

“
Great idea!” Noelle
beamed.

“
Ok, we’ll leave in ten
minutes,” Sandy said.

Noelle ran to her bedroom to change. Sandy
went into her room to change her top. Staring in the mirror, she
had no idea how to talk to this girl about having sex. She was a
baby when she’d first had sex. Sandy shook her head. These kids
brought her to the strangest places. She made quick calls to
Heather and Tanesha to set up their girl’s night later on.

“
Ready?” Noelle
asked.

“
Ready.” Sandy
said.

Noelle took off down the stairs. Closing the
door to the apartment, Sandy was sure this was going to be an
interesting night.

“
Come on!” Noelle said from
the stairwell.

Shaking her head at life’s twists and turns,
Sandy trotted down the stairs to catch up.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and
FOURTEEN

Not alone
anymore

Thursday early morning — 4:52 A.M.

Charlie wandered down the hall toward the
living room. He wanted to talk to Aden when no one was around. Last
night, he’d heard Sandy say she was too tired to get up when Aden
left for work at five in the morning. Aden had assured her he could
get his own breakfast. She’d laughed and made pumpkin muffins.

And Charlie had made a plan. Not wanting to
miss his chance, he’d barely slept. When he heard Aden moving
around, he got dressed and waited until Aden came out of the
bedroom. Sliding into the living room, he saw Aden tying his shoes
with one foot on a dining room chair.

Aden had a black box on his ankle.

“
What’s that?” Charlie
said.

Aden looked up at Charlie and finished tying
his wing tips. He pulled out a chair and nodded for Charlie to sit
down.

“
Join me for breakfast?”
Aden asked. “You look like you have something to say. I bet your
sister’s pumpkin muffins will make this easier.”

Charlie nodded and sat down. Aden set two
muffins on Charlie’s plate. He took some eggs and passed them to
Charlie. For a few minutes, they ate in silence.

“
The box is an ankle
monitor,” Aden said. “I’m on house arrest for beating up Sandy’s
biological father.”

“
Did you beat him bad?”
Charlie asked.

“
I did,” Aden
said.

Charlie raised his hand. Laughing, Aden gave
Charlie a high five.

“
I did the deed. I have to
pay the price,” Aden said. “I also hurt and betrayed Sandy. I’m
much less proud of that.”

Not wanting to know anymore, Charlie
nodded.

“
Your Uncle sentenced me,”
Aden said.

“
Uncle Howard?” Charlie
laughed. “How did you get that unlucky?”

“
It’s a long story,” Aden
said. “Suffice it to say, your uncle and I have some serious
history.”

“
You’re lucky he didn’t
throw you away for good,” Charlie said.

“
Three months in prison. No
good time,” Aden said.

“
Prison?” Charlie asked.
“That sucks.”

“
I ran into my brother
there,” Aden said. “Let me tell you about suckage.”

“
What happened?”

“
Nothing good,” Aden said.
“On Friday, I’m getting all new teeth.”

Aden smiled to show his broken teeth.

“
Life goal?” Charlie
asked.

“
Sort of,” Aden
said.