Where the land meets the sea

A Detoured Life

I can't say I planned it this way but here I am and this is where I am at. I lay here listening to the woman whose life has become mine, she is the mother of my children. Tonight she sleeps deeply, thankful I am there to keep her warm.  Like I said this is not what I had planned but it is where I am at. You ask do I love her; I ask how can I not?

I suppose I should start from the beginning, but no, let me go back farther than that...

That moment

That moment
When a bolt hits you
Reality sets in
The world
You said yes to
Is not of your choosing
You are living
Someone else's dream.

Wall

Sitting between
The walls
Of a home
Not my own
My vision blurs
My sight fails
The city robs
My memories
The shore I see no more
The eagle
Sitting above the beach
No longer greets me
I look out
Towards the horizon
I see it not
No forest smells
To fill
My breath
No dogs
Off the leash
Gone are the mountains
In their place
A wall.

So, Here I Am

A month has passed, since my move to Scottsdale, I now am asking myself was it worth it.  For the hours I have been putting in I can tell you the money is not worth it not to mention I have gone from doing the work I love being involved with show production to making sure the banquets department has enough circuits to power their toasters.

Okay maybe that's simplifying it a little too much but at almost 72 hours a week I have watched my hourly calculations of what I am getting paid plummet.  In the end though the job got me south and has allowed me to be warm and there are possibilities.  So yes it is worth it and going back to freelancing is always a possibility.  Time though will be the score keeper so for now I am taking a wait and see until hopefully after my family joins me.

Its Been Awhile

Yeah its been awhile
Life is changing
Soon to leave my home
By the seashore
Will be looking for a new abode
In the land of sand
And cactus
Job already waiting
Excitement not set in yet
Sometime in those ten days
Of travel time
It will hit me
For the love of my wife
I am making this drastic change.

Recently... teaching lessons

I recently was contracted to hop aboard as a production designer and technical director for a college production of Enron at the last minute.  To borrow a line, I through it all together and sold it as the truth, though it was far from what I would have liked due to time and budgetary concerns we pulled it off.  As apart of my daughters home school education I put her to work running a spotlight.  I then had her write an essay on it.  Below is what she wrote.

“Enron” is the “play” about the rise and fall of Enron. It starts out with a lawyer telling everybody that these thing may not be /exactly/ how it happened. But that they would put it all together and sell it to you as the truth. Than it goes to a party scene where the four main characters are introduced including The big boss dude (whose name I cannot remember) Some lady (whom I can also not remember her name) Skilling and Fascow. They go on to explain something about trading and the markets.
As the story progresses the lady and Skilling compete to become the next CEO of Enron. Skilling gets the job and proceeds to make many changes in the company. Those changes include quitting just selling gas and oil, and hiring a new CFO (Fascow).
They set up a banking system (that is now in widespread use today) that caused the company to become a “black box” by feeding all the debt into themselves and not actually selling anything but stock.
They ended up being caught and going to prison (the boss dude died).

The fact that is most people never knew that Enron prior to the late 1990's actually was a real company that sold real products.  During the short tenure of Skilling not only did he manage to destroy a company but his business model was adopted as a teaching model at several major business schools and embraced by congress in such lovely companies as Solyndria and other green energy companies.  Hello it did not work then and wow would you believe it, it does not work now but instead of sending those congressional leaders and their cronies who are partly responsible for this, not to mention our friendly neighborhood Uncle O.  This house of cards they are trying to build will also fail and my daughter will have the joy of inheriting the mess.

City Nights

Street lights
City bright
Saturday night
Dressed to impress
Not for success
Romantic seduction
On a cold winters night
Angelic visions
On prettified faces
Dudded up
Strutting their stuff
With a smile
I pass them by
My journey
Continues
I wonder
What believers
Will become sinners
In the morning
Sinners will become believers
Now
It's about
Chasing away
Loneliness
In the City nights.

Sunsets

A good way to end the second week of the year the world ends.

Change Comes

Today
Snow fell
Like soft whispers
Alighting on my skin
A nice change
From the rain
In a week maybe more
As I look
Around
Change will have happened
Like the water in the sea
And the sand forever
As its partner
In an eternal dance
Our life is about change
For me
I embrace change
Let it come
Wherever it may take me.

On A Side Note

So today or I suppose I should say yesterday as the midnight hour has come and gone; the decision was made to go see two more of our grandchildren and daughter. This started as we had need to get our eldest grandson, who has severe learning disabilities due to his mothers choosing not to take care of herself while carrying him, his annual birthday card which is a gift card for ice cream, this year Cold Stone.  Nothing like a family reunion at Super Walmart on a gray day in the pacific northwest.  Listening to a well spoken three year old boys take on life as he explained things to Grandma got me to thinking.

It is the little treats in life that make an otherwise mundane existence livable. The puppy which greets you as a child upon your return home.  Asking grandma when you first spy her in the grocery store where did she put grandpa and his mom explaining I was in her phone.  For our oldest grandson, who because of his living arrangements we have not seen since he was an infant it will be the awe when he watches the pretty girl behind the counter make his ice cream.  Next it will be when he gets his next robe as the last one grandma sent well it has become more of a tattered and torn after bath Hefner jacket that itself is way too short.  For him it is a piece of grandma.  I know the three year old will soon pass him up in both thought patterns and vocabulary but I have to wonder if maybe being able to continue to be excited over the simple things like a good game of chase with half the teachers of the school chasing you is not the better gift in this life.  I know that in my twelve year old grand sons case not having to understand and think about why mommy did not want you is not his worry though it still haunts the rest of the family but still we humor my oldest step daughter as she lays claim to being a good mom, she had had two more and we are hoping if she believes she is a good mom it will come to pass. I for one am not holding my breath.

Enough about the struggles of being a dad with a prodigal child.  I prefer to everyday go out at least once and look around my backyard and be awed by something as I would when I was a child myself.  Today it was grandma and grandson conversing and then stopping to watch the seagulls sitting on the pier watching.  When I do wake up mid morning maybe it will be listening to the patterns of the raindrops falling above my head.

Changed Plans 4

The weekend came and passed, with two little ones back in the house it felt right to Christina particularly with teen mom Kimberly coming to hang out she found the riding trail and asked where the horses were.  Julie who had come over told her there had not been horses on the farm for as long as she could remember.  She had stared at Christina who smiled.  It was the following day that mom and the girls had showed up, smiling she said if only Christopher Jr. would show up.  His would have been bride told her not likely as he had been invited to see the new home of those horses.  One of his stepsisters told Christina her dad would not even tell her where Mr. C was moving to.  With church out of the way Christina needing to plan for her week told the girls to have fun and she would watch the twins.  When her mom came over that afternoon she was not doing so well as both twins who had found crawling could get them from point A to point B and how tasty her bare feet could be which caused her to try to keep them away.  When her mom came in she was holding her feet up and shaking her head.  Mom told her they were not rodents as she scooped them both up.  Christina thanked her mom and asked if she knew where the man who left him alone with them was.  Mom ignored the question and took the twins with her when she left.  Christina felt the quiet which she had not had for a long time.  She went through her case notes for the week as quickly as she could and then checked on her next rotation on the Mercy Ship.  Answered several messages to the family doctors of several of the service members she had helped outfit with newer prosthetics and had to take a look at her calender to see when she could go check on their progress.  She knew she should really hire someone but after her year and change with her life under a microscope and she had wanted to be alone to do her work.

She had told herself she would become celibate on her return home; fat chance that had been as her very nature was flirtatious and oh God she was married again to a man who was never home.  She tried to call him but found his phone was unavailable.  Her message to him was help. When she finally went out of the house after a nap it was dark; she heard them first and did not think of it as she had heard horses whinnie before.  Then she heard them running. Walking out to the back side of her house she found all the girls watching the horses run in what was a makeshift pasture in one of the hay fields.  She saw the young mare and looked for that stallion which was not there.  Julie looked happy and asked if she had seen dads new place.  Christina asked how she was supposed to be able to do that if he was not talking to her at the moment and since they were married it would be their place. Handing over her phone her second oldest told her she would like to see her go without running water and have to walk to an outhouse, and well hardly any electricity at all.  The first photo's were the view some in color and some in sepia giving the valley an old west feel.  The picture of the cabin, and her boys along with the man she had cheated on Chris with were all in sepia and except for the hummer and the trucks she thought of the old westerns he liked.  There was even a handwritten sign which Chris Jr. held up, Bar MRC ranch home of the Roughneck Country Club, boys only.  Christina repeated the boys only part and asked where he had gotten that attitude from.  When his lawyer and his supposed babysitter showed up, they looked tired.  When she asked how their day had been Sammie asked if being tossed on a plane in more or less a vegetative state after almost thirty six house of champagne sipping pretending to be she did not know what and oh yeah apparently there were pictures that would be made public if they did not behave. Jay was only slightly better and said she was glad to see the horses made it safely.   Kimberly told her as she held up the registration papers for the mare she was glad too.

Dinner which mom had cooked but was had down at Christina's was not necessarily quiet but it was more subdued as everyone seemed tired.  Julie had to answer her phone and turned red before excusing herself.  Jay asked Kimberly if she was okay with her dad dating again.  The girl shrugged and then said her dad deserved to be happy again.  It was when a second phone call came into her second oldest who told everyone to quiet down as Chris was on the phone.  She put him on speaker and asked so where was dad's new secret hideout; her little brother told her to be honest he had no idea and if he did and told it would not be secret and just so mom would not worry please tell her Mr. C was resting and he was going back to the ranch with dad who wanted to take a look at the golf course which was more or less a couple of big yellow machines pushing dirt right now until dad or rather Mr. C finalized the plans.  Christina asked if he new how to get a hold of this Mister C.  Her son told her until he put up the cell tower and pulled in fiber optics she would have to mail him or drive out to see him if she did not get lost but he did say that he would be stopping in soon.  Soon was almost a week and a half later with him coming by train once again and showing up at the office on a rather busy day.  Christina noted he was on crutches. She had to go to the hospital to cover a shift as part of her agreement to be allowed to use the facilities.  The administrator a gentleman she had known for years found her at dinner and tried to talk her coming on full time and she told him if he had only asked a month or two earlier she might have agreed but having just gotten married and with twin infants at home, not to mention her work with several organizations.  The man smiled and grabbing her hand with the rings on it he told her he wished he had asked her out earlier then.  Something told her to look behind her and found Chris standing there; pulling her hand back she went to say something but he waved for her to stay seated.

He was using one crutch and hobbled over; her colleague asked if everything was all right; Christina watched as Chris held out his hand to shake and told the man most just called him Mr. C these days and if he did not mind the intrusion he would like to borrow some of his wife's time and would make it worth his while if he could do so alone.  She did not see Chris push on a nerve but saw recognition in her colleague's face.  He gave a wimpy smile as he told Mr.C it was nice meeting the lucky man who finally tamed the infamous Dr. Christina. As Chris sat down he took off the brace and leaned back. He smiled and told her he supposed he would have to get used to seeing her numerous admirers grovelling for crumbs.  Crossing her arms she told him as she looked toward the door of the cafeteria that first that man was not grovelling and two what admirers.  He told her besides that big wig that just left he counted at least six why he was just standing there listening to her conversation.  Turning to face him she asked how long he was eaves dropping.  rubbing his knee he told her she had been having a conversation in a public place and he just happened to walk in as he was looking for her and did not want to interrupt her lunch date.  Her mouth dropped and he smiled with his eyes and whispered if she knew how cute she looked when she was mad.  He then grabbed her hand and told her as he looked at the rings he was glad she had found it.  She asked if he put it on the necklace; he eyed her and asked what necklace.  She told him it had been hanging on the corner of her mirror but she was still in her few last minutes of her lunch break needing to know why he had come here.  He looked down and just as her name was paged to the ER he told her he had wanted to see his wife.  Her name was paged with a code meaning someone was dieing so she ran with the memory of the look on his face etched into her mind.

There had been a major pileup on the interstate which had her and most of the hospital staff hopping, she was surprised to find her husband had just kind of showed up to hold hands or sit with those who had no one.  When she was done it was morning already.  When she went to find Chris the duty nurse asked who and she explained she was looking for Mr.C the really tall man with a brace on his knee and a crutch.  She nodded and said she called him a cab earlier as he looked like hell and really needed to go home and rest.  The duty nurse asked why was she looking for him; Christina showed the old gal her rings which she had just put back on.  The nurse asked when did that happen, as the last time she was in here she was the focus of every single doctor and a few married ones and she should have really invited them all to her wedding.  Christina told her since they had already been married once before she had kind of chose to skip that part and go straight for the desert for dessert.  When one of the staff ER doctors came in he asked if she was okay and the nurse told him of course she was married and to a really nice cowboy actually that fella who had been helping last night.  The ER doctor told her told her to tell Dr. and waited for her to give the name.  She shook her head and told him he was no doctor as he was an engineer and her name was still the one she had as it was the one she had when they were married last.  The doctor nodded and told her he would not tell anyone but tell him thanks anyway from him and the family of that little boy who would not be still with them if it had not been for her engineer knowing how to do an emergency trach so he must have been in the military as a medic.  Christina told him she would tell him but needed to get to her office to see a couple of patients for follow ups.  He shook his head and told her after last night she really needed to go home and go to bed but since he was not going home either.

Christina found herself swamped with calls and and besides her follow up she had to go back to the hospital and was grateful to have Jay driving her again as she was dead tired.  She would nap in the car and by the time she got home she started disrobing at the door as she headed to her room.,  before she hit her shower she realized it was too quiet and when she went to look in on the twins they were not anywhere in the house.  She started out of the house when her phone rang; Christopher told her before she ran out she might want to put some of those clothes back on.  She ran back upstairs and went into the bathroom and asked where he was.  He told her he was feeding the twins and getting ready to go home and was sorry for upsetting her by showing up to have lunch with her and they could talk later after she got some sleep and hopefully before she left for her mission trip thing.  She told him to please stay for the night anyway.  He asked if she was sure and she told him the twins would probably like to spend time with him and she doubted she could get to sleep as she was now awake as she got spooked those two got off to somewhere.  He chuckled and told her would be down in a few unless he could talk Ms. Miriam into getting the ready for bed; she told him he owed her at least one massage to which mom asked if that was how he was getting everyone to do his chores and if so she was going on strike until she got hers.  He asked Christina if she saw what she started, She told him he could start on her if he was up to it as her shoulders and back were sore today. She wrapped herself in a towel and waited as she watched him come down the path from moms.  Even with the crutch and his right leg in a brace he moved better than when he was using the cane.  She was still listed as his primary care physician but she knew only the details of a few incidents as in the last time he had been shot  coming out of the courthouse not far from here and when he had collapsed in the street she thought he was not going to make it.  At that moment the words he had said more than once since he had come home took over her thoughts; I don't care.

For a man who did not care the thought flashed through her mind that adopting twins and then saving a little boys life by performing an emergency trach.  She stopped her thoughts there as she also remembered him saying there was nothing left for him here.  She had to tell herself that he came back to see her. He had always come back to see her and the children no matter how much she had argued and screamed at him over the years.  She watched as he bypassed the front door and headed toward the pasture.  When he did finally come in she had already showered and was in bed reading.  She listened as he put the twins to bed, when he did not come into her room she went to find him and found him sleeping in the guest room.  Waking him she asked if he forgot where their room was.  He sat up and rubbed sleep out of his eyes before grabbing his crutch and pushing himself up made his way to their room.  She had seen that same look in his eyes when he had come home and found she had been pregnant with Christopher and then too he had gone and slept in the guest room.  She told him she got it he was mad and being a jealous man he did not like seeing her having lunch with other men.  He told her that was none of his business. Instead of yelling this time she helped him get his boots off and told him he really needed to remember to take his boots off before climbing into bed.  She saw his face register pain and told him to relax as she was not going to bite as she began to pull off his pants.  He came fully awake and told her he could do it. Grabbing his hands she told him no she wanted to look at his knee.  With a little more finesse this time she pulled his jeans off; she asked to take his mind off the pain how his day was.  He leaned back and told her he had gone to the office to finalize plans on the golf course and to hire Beth and Steve and then came back to moms to hang out with the twins and start putting in fencing.  Looking up she asked if he had any help, and when he shrugged she began palpating his knee and feeling something she asked what the doctor had told him and just so he knew she was going to find out.  He told her he was not supposed to take it easy for the next six weeks.

She told him after his shower he was getting into bed and staying there.  Shrugging again he told her he had planned after getting home doing nothing for awhile.  She told him as far as she was concerned he was home.  He looked up and told her mom had asked if they were not going to get along for him to leave.  Christina told him if he had not noticed she had a nice little practice going here and that gentleman who happened to be admiring her rings had asked her to join the staff at the hospital.  As he got back up and yanked off his shirt he told her he had caught that as well, but he also had work and it was not here so for now he was heading back and as he could he and the twins would come visit.  She asked what he was talking about.  He paused to look at her before heading into the bathroom. When he came out again still having not gotten into the shower; he had his head lowered and told her he guessed he needed help.  Walking in behind him she could not help herself as she noticed his back muscles had come back nicely. She traced the scar as he stepped into the shower.  He tried to smile and she finally had to pause as she soaped up the sponge to ask if he was having second thoughts.  He told her no, she asked if he was okay with her eating lunch with a colleague then what was the problem; when he did not answer she told him that by the way her colleague who ran the ER wanted her to tell him good job and the little boy lived which brought up a question in her mind and that was where did he learn to do an emergency trach.  He looked around and told her he knew when he stepped in he was breaking who knows how many laws but that boy was not going to make it.  She for the first time realized that look in his eyes was not anger but fear. She began scrubbing him down and could tell his right knee was swollen.  She told him as she finished up she would like to help him.  When he eyed her, she shivered and told him that she had actually not been thinking that but if he was afraid of being arrested for helping a boy out not to be.  As he turned off the water he told her he was not afraid of being arrested.

Stepping back and taking off her now wet shirt, he looked at it and she said it had been in a one of those crates of his.  He nodded and said it looked good not on her, she had to think about what he just said and shaking her head pointed to the bedroom.  As she tucked him he told her thank you.  As she looked at him she could tell as his face closed off again that he was lost in his own thoughts.  When she got up to go check the twins who were thankfully sleeping through the night she smiled as she went back into the room; he followed her with his eyes as she headed to the closet.  Grabbing another one of his shirts she slipped it over her head and walked back out to find him sitting on the edge of the bed.  Walking over she pushed him back down and told him he needed to stay in bed and for at least tonight he would do just that even if she had to sit on him.  He did not say anything as he let her push him back down when he tried to sit back up the third time she did exactly what she told him she would do and straddling him she asked what he was going to do now; she had not seen his hands but felt them soon enough and gave a startled scream telling him that was not fair.  He let her pull his hands up where she pinned above his head and told him there needed to be some ground rules this time.  He kept his passive look when he nodded.  She told him first off neither of them could not start something unless they intended to finish it, secondly they needed to work on this communication thing, because he sucked at it. He went to say something and she kissed him to keep him from speaking.

When he tried to say something; she let him up for air; he told her thanks for letting him breath.  Smiling she kissed him again and when she pulled back he still had an unreadable look but she pressed on and said they needed to work on their living arrangements but right now they both needed sleep and she needed to say thanks for bringing those horses.  He was about to say something so she kissed him again, on his part it was not the most passionate but she made up for it and then out of her own exhaustion she lay where she was.  She was not all that surprised to find him not in bed when she woke up as he had had a restless night and at some point he had told her he would finish the night in the spare room.  She found a letter for her on the counter with a sticky note asking her not to be mad but he really did need to go to his cabin and since she would be leaving for her trip while mom had put her foot down the twins would be with him.  Christina did not have time to speak to her mother before Jay came to pick her up.  She asked where Beth was and Jay told her Beth had gone out to Arizona to oversee a development project.  Her day seemed to start slow until she got a call from the hospital to take a look at several of the accident victims.  The administrator lead her around to talk to half a dozen families, at least two families had children who would need some serious surgery that would take many years, one was a little boy who had a tube coming out of his airway to help him breath.  She had smiled at the families and held their hands and promised she would be talking to them soon.  The administrator asked if they could talk later, when she said yes he told her he would meet her at her office.

She changed her schedule for the next week as she wanted to talk to Christopher; then the Administrator at the hospital showed up and they walked to one of the restaurants along the waterfront.  After a few drinks he grabbed her hand and told her he still wanted her.  She told him she would have to think about it and at that moment she saw her second oldest sitting two tables away. Her eyes told her she had been listening and when she ran out, Christina pulled her hand back and told the administrator next time she asked a female colleague to join the hospital staff do not hold her hand.  He smiled and told her he wanted her.  She told him no thanks and as she got up to leave he threatened to expose that man as a fraud.  Jay was right behind him and said the way she saw it he had just sexually harassed a married woman and a pillar in the medical community and after checking his records it seemed he had had to move to several different companies on the account he could not keep it in his pants.  Holding up her phone she told him his current wife she knew would want to know as would the medical board who had already began to take a look as several reports into the impropriety of an administrator which would make his current company very concerned about possible lawsuits.  When Sammie walked in there was a Dr. Morrison; when he lifted his hand she told him apparently he parked in a tow away zone.  When he ran out Christina asked if her husband had anything to do with this.  Jay told her no but her daughter just came running out like the gates of hell had just opened up and was even now trying to call her dad.  Christina said she may as well go home to her lonely house.  Sammie told her the plane should be back sometime tonight.  Christina asked what plane.  

She tossed and turned half the night, unable to sleep she went downstairs to get a glass of wine and to go sit outside by the fire pit.  She was startled to find her mom and Christopher sitting in the kitchen in the dark, with only the moonlight to see by. She turned on the light and could tell Christopher had been crying.  As she sat down he smiled weekly and told mom he guessed he would be going now.  Christina asked him where he was going; he told her he was going back to his cabin.  She told him he should really get off his leg.  He nodded and after kissing her on the forehead he left.  Christina went to get up and her mom held her arm.  Christina looked at her before she pulled away and then went out only to find he was already gone.  Christina walked and told her mom thanks for sending away the only good thing that had ever happened in her life.  Mom told her in the morning they could talk but right now they both needed rest.  Christina asked her to tell her one thing; when her mom nodded she asked if it was true she sent told her husband he was not welcome here.  Her mom told her they would talk later.  Christina told her not to count on it. Her mom told her to stay calm; Christina asked why since now she supposed her husband thought she was cheating on him again.  Her mom looked at her with surprise and asked what she was talking about.  Christina asked if she really had not heard, she had gone to dinner with a colleague who had asked her earlier to join the staff at the hospital and then after seeing those children and that little boy her husband saved from that crash he asked if they could talk over dinner and guess who happened to be eating in the same restaurant when the man grabbed her hand and told her he wanted her, none other than her second oldest daughter.  Mom asked if this fellow was a doctor.  Christina reached up and pulled her hair and told her the man was married and apparently under investigation by the medical review board along with who knows for being a womanizing prick although she did not know that until tonight or she would have told the man earlier when Chris caught them with her hand with her wedding ring being held by the same man.

Her mom said she was sorry but she did not want to see her hurt anymore;  Christina laughed and told her that it was not she that had been hurt by Chris but rather her hurting him every time she had an affair starting with his eldest son's father who happened to be a neighbor willing to make use of her while her husband was out working so that when he came home he could find her knocked up by another man.  Her mom's eyes grew large and Christina told her it had not stopped there as every he left again she would have another affair, and even after divorcing him and marrying a man that tried to kill him he still forgave her and took her back.  Mom asked what about his affairs; Christina asked what affairs would that be, and she asked if she had not noticed those twins looked a lot like him.  Christina said she noticed but also knew the boy who got her newest daughter pregnant was a little thug living somewhere in California.  Mom told her she had seen pictures of him with Jay and Sammie his long time lawyer and Miriam had told her about their trip aboard her daddies yacht.  Christina asked mom if in any of those pictures she had seen her husband actually having sex with another woman or did Miriam tell her she had actually had sex with Chris.  Mom told her after she got a hold of herself that no;  Christina pointed to the couch and told her after Chris had taken his tour of the inland waterways with a representative of the management company that was managing the resorts at the four communities he designed and built she and that same woman sat in her living room and made love in front of her friends that were here and despite what people think when a man finds out the woman he loves is cheating on him it hurts no matter who it is and now thanks to her that man was gone heading back to his cabin she supposed somewhere in the mountains of Colorado which happened to be a very large state.  Mom told her she was sorry and she could always call him; She told her that no she could not as at his cabin there was no television, no electricity and he was still using an out house and from the pictures he had a hand pump in the kitchen for water and since he never owned anything in his name trying to find his little place in the mountains would be next near to impossible and she had commitments for the next couple months.

Mom pointed to her mail and told her more of his letters had come today.  Christina told her they could talk later but now she needed rest and needed to be alone which she supposed was what she deserved after what she deserved to that boy.  Her mom told her she could not blame herself.  Christina told her mom Chris had been twelve years old and still scared and did not have a chance to make a decision when two years later she got herself pregnant by making use of him but instead of letting her take the blame he stepped up and accepted all responsibility and he had because of her lost any possibility of experiencing his youth and childhood, while she still got to go to school, still got to see her friends, still got to go to parties while he watched the girls, still got to let her hair down while he did everything dad asked and more so he could pay for her school and all that time he had sent his whole paycheck home to her even after she divorced him and stole his companies while he was laying in some hospital where no one visited him and she let those two lawyers of hers continue to harass him even after he kept her out of jail and managed to keep his children alive and during her interrogations he was the one who stood by her side and gave her a whole new lease on life so thanks for telling him to leave.  Mom surprised her when she pulled out her phone and called the Colonel who told her he was sorry but he had no clue where that cabin was and those who did were loyal to Chris to the point of death but he did hear something about it belonging to his family which he had no idea what that meant since he had always figured he belonged to her family.  Christina called Ben waking up his wife and asked if she knew if they had flown Chris to and back from Colorado .  Christina was told Chris had not used him since someone had tried to declare him dead and had only talked to Ben when absolutely necessary which was not very often anymore.  Christina sent out a mass email to her friends asking if anyone saw or heard from Christopher to call her. 

Changed Plans 3

Christina was heading down to her house when a freight delivery truck showed up,  She asked Carl what he thought they might be bringing, when Bubba pulled up behind it she rolled her eyes.  She was about ready to walk back up to her mom's when Beth came down with Steve.  Steve walked by with a quirky grin on his face.  She watched as he and Bubba helped unload something that looked like furniture.  She looked at Beth who was at a loss as she was.  They both walked down as they had finished pulling out what definitely looked head boards that were a dead ringer for what Christopher had built.  As she approached the truck the driver pulled out a couple of envelopes and asked who the guilty party was.  Everyone looked at Christina who handed Carl to Steven as he more or less grabbed the boy from her and thanked the driver for doing this on short notice.  Smiling he told Steven it paid the bills.  As the straight truck drove off, with Christina looking at it and then at Steven and down to the furniture she definitely recognized the matching changing table dresser.  She took Carl back and asked Steven why were the twins furniture sets here.  Steven told her he just got a message to show up and give a hand; she looked at Bubba and Steven told her it was okay Christopher had asked to see if he had time to lend a hand in getting it set up.  Moments later Stevens children showed up with Bubba's  kids in tow.  Beth told Christina it appeared the twins were moving home so it was a good thing she still had all those clothes she had bought.  She told Beth she did not have a room ready for infants.  Julie walking down reading a text told her yes she did as both dad and Christopher confirmed that the old nursery would be used.  It took less than an hour for the furniture under Ms. Jennifer's direction was moved around and the old nursery had become a nursery again.

With their help gone, Christina asked if the mother of the children had come along where was she.  Julie said she was at school as she had been accepted to the governor's school.  She looked at Beth and then Ms. Jennifer who told her she was just here to help. Turning back to Julie she asked where exactly was her father.  Julie said she actually did not know and it seemed no one else did either but the good thing was he was back online and using his phone again or rather his new phone.  Christina had her write it down and told everyone for the night she could handle the twins.  She wondered after she finally got them settled into bed how Christopher could deal with both of them with his leg how it had been.  She opened the letter first, it she knew was the one he had been writing to her last week.  She could tell her was frustrated by her not telling him they would be having guests.  Christina was still not sure why she had invited everyone, but in spite of what had taken place the women had had fun and it was another one of her weekends to remember and be talked about.  Some of them had even asked what she had planned for next year.  She was tired but she finished that letter.  The man may not always be the best man when it came to talking to directly but reading what he was thinking and the passion he poured out onto the pages caused her to know she had done the right thing by marrying him again.  She could tell he was still struggling with her past during her previous letters but what came out in this one was he no longer cared.   She had planned on not opening the overnight deliveries, but seeing the handwriting she knew he had sent them.  Pulling out the huge stack of hand written pages on the first there was a post-it note which told her to look at this letter until she read the other letter.  Shaking her head she opened the second envelope and realized there was something wrapped in tissue paper.  she shredded the tissue and found two rings that matched her old wedding band, which she went looking for.  When she found it hanging on a chain off the corner of her mirror on her boudoir she wondered how it got there.

His first letter was brief as he explained to her that after thinking about the situation he had done some digging of his own which seeing her in his mind wrapped in a towel in front of him on a horse did not help in his digging and well with the doctor telling him to take it easy he was sending their little ones home and had arranged for a young mom to go finish school where she could do what she loved as her dad would soon be transferring to east coast in some training position. She went back and reread the letter and as scared, distraught and mad which she had taken out on him she had actually been grateful he had been there and even more so when he put her on that horse before riding down and finding a man in their bedroom; Christina told herself it was his bedroom in spite of the fact she had shared many a night that bed with him, and had watched him in spite of the desire she saw he had for her he had refrained like he told her he would.  At first it had made her mad that he could lay there with them both unclothed comforting her after her grilling which she knew now was just a matter of fact questioning save for one man who she now also knew her husband had gotten removed.  Christina also new they had looked into everyone she had slept with and anyone they had slept with so she had asked why and the Colonel had explained to her that because Mr. C had been not just privileged to know secrets he was the source of more than his fair share or at least a catalyst for those who had information to come forward.  She had asked early upon her return if Christopher had killed people.  The colonel had told her he had never seen him kill anyone, Christina also knew the colonel had not been a field man, as he had spent most of his adult life in the halls of power on the east coast.  She had taken that question to Ben for one and that woman during one of her girls sleep overs.  Ben had told her he had been half unconscious during their flight to a safe haven or rather their hike, but he had no doubt Mr. C had to fight his way out and she should remember he had not been the only one who had found a new lease on life thanks to him.  As a doctor that had bothered not to mention she had taken on the outlook as many of those in that tiny hamlet of wealth in the mountains.  That had begun to change after his first ordeal and hospital stay where he had been assaulted.  It had completely changed after the assault of the guard dogs on him at her house.

She like everyone else could still see those scars as he did not even try to hide them but as he had redeveloped muscle they were less noticeable to her.  Thinking back to this past two weeks she realized the numerous scars he had gave him character even the very noticeable scar on his shoulder.  She had after that night he would have killed whoever was responsible even though she had put some of the blame on him.  There was so much she still wanted to know but had accepted the fact she might never know why and since all her children were still safe and there had been no other attempts on their lives and the worst she got was a drunk Bubba showing up at her house.  The only reason she had even talked to him or had lunch with him was upon her move home no one else had attempted to greet her even at church.  The next letter she did not even get halfway through the first page as he was describing to her how he saw her and how he was trying to deal with the images of her and Miriam for example in his mind and the image he had of her in that ice cold shower with his most recent keeper as he had noted how nice her breasts were in that moment and figured she being the expert on breasts must have noticed them as well and was hoping that was not giving her any angst.  She told the letter she was sorry but at the moment though her mind did notice it had been preoccupied with the fact some not so nice men were outside trying to get the twins and their mom.  It was that thought that stopped her continued reading and as she struggled to understand why she called the number.  She did not get her husband but his current babysitter and she had to ask who was watching the girls as she could tell they were somewhere not so family oriented.  Judith was her real name but for some reason everyone called her Jay; Christina having had to play doctor a few times to some of the employees had seen her and that woman had caused her to take a pause and admire and wondered why she had ever joined the marines.  Christina asked where she was and was told she was with Mr. C and this tall long legged looker; Christina asked where and she told her not to worry about and she would get Mr. C for her. When Christopher got on the phone she asked where he was and he asked if seductively if she was already longing for more because if she was she could lose these two and be right over.  She told him she would play his game and told him as long as he told her what he was doing she might let him in the front door.  He told her to hold on as he could not hear.  With the phone still one he asked someone what her name was and when the woman told him he could call her Candy in a seductive voice, he told her he was really sorry but tonight was another lovely ladies lucky night.

Christina could hear an announcer in the background telling someone to give it up for Jasmine.  When he was back on the phone she asked if he was in a strip club, he told her not anymore as he and his escorts which she would; he had stopped and said anyway they had gotten the information he was needing and were headed to the house.  She asked again where he was and he told her he had gone to do some hunting as he wanted to know why someone wanted the twins and their mom, which is also why they had legally adopted the twins and he had enrolled mom under their name so she might want to go in and play the doting mother a couple times a week.  Christina told him she had a career and he told her he knew that and when Mom got back she would be taking care of the day to day babysitting and she should be back as soon as the house was packed up and his livestock was moved and then she and the girls were going to help grandpa pack up and get his children moved so as soon as Miriam arrived she would take over from Jennifer and then well he would send her a list of her socialite gals who had signed up to come take their turn visiting.  She told him that was his home and he told her actually it had just been another rest stop on the way but yeah he had grown accustomed to the lifestyle so he was selling the other desert house, and had leased the mountain house for way more than the cost of its upkeep.  She told him their children had been raised there.  She could almost see his smile when he told her she could always go visit as he was leasing it to Miriam and Jennifer and this gal with the longest legs he had ever seen who at the moment was teasing him and he had won the bet.  When she asked what he was talking about she could hear a distinct laughter and that same normally very professional voice tell him to stop like a school girl.  Then she heard two distinct female voices ask her what had she been feeding him lately.  Christina asked where he was and was told he was still there just he had retreated to his corner of the limo so he could massage his wounded pride for losing the bet as she had started out wearing panties until this one legged man spilled wine all over her jeans forcing to go to the shortest mini skirt ever.  Christina told her when she left he had two legs, the woman told her he still did and then when she burped she begged her pardon but she had had a few too many.  When she heard someone kissing she told someone to please tell her what was going on.  Christopher was back on the phone in seconds and asked if all women got like this when they were drunk.  She asked what did he mean and he told her Santa's helpers were stuck together at the lips at the moment.

She asked really and he told her really but he was doing his best to look elsewhere but if she wanted a picture he could send it to her.  She lost him,  and moments later she received several pictures and when she called back she asked if he was okay.  He told her now that he had his brace back on and he was not having to put bills into the slot to get information he was doing much better.  She told him she was guessing that he was not a casino.  He told her he had been earlier which is where he spilled the wine all over Sammie.  Christina asked who Sammie was and he told her his lawyer and the one currently on the bottom of the wrestling match.  He told her he would call her back on her house phone and stream a video of the match to her phone.  She asked if he could do that and he told her yes he could.  When he was back on and she was getting a video of the two grown women rolling around in a limo, they were laughing as clothes were getting ripped off.  Sammie had ended up on top and she bit Jay on the thigh so Christopher told them that was enough and they both turned toward him and she saw his cane point and told them not now but if they felt they needed a spanking when they got home he would oblige.  As they both went to sitting on the far bench seat he kept talking to her and she told him it was okay as they began teasing as they both looked a bit sloshed.  He told her they were sloshed and he supposed having them to pretend they were intimate with him and each other probably had not helped.  Christina realized before he did they were not just teasing him as they were straight out masturbating in front of him.  She had realized he realized what they were doing when he asked God to save him.

He told her he was changing his plans and would stop in after he moved the cattle to Colorado as well as most of the horses.  She asked what he was doing with the ranch and he told her he had contacted a few other people who like her were interested in helping wounded families reconnect so they would be starting construction on the lodge and rec center probably within the next week and they should have already started on the golf course.as well as the remodel on the barn and equipment shed but the boys scouts would also get equal use.  Before he hung up Christina watched both women pass out in rather embarrassing positions.  He did the best he could to cover them up before crawling back to his corner.  He shut off the video stream and she asked if he was okay.  He told her at the moment he was feeling a little bit on the lonely side and to be honest if they had not rushed it he would probably have been the one to put Sammie to sleep.  She asked if he liked her and he asked if she did not; she told him yes she did and if she could have a year or so back she would have gladly climbed into bed with her.  He asked if she had read his last letter and she told him she had gotten through the front page and had been thinking about sitting in front of him on a horse with only a towel on so she called and found her husband at the titty bar with two hotties, he told her that would be the last one for awhile.  She asked if this obsession of his had been going on for some time. He told her if she was asking did he frequent those establishments on a regular basis he told her no but if he needed information about certain types of individuals knowing who to talk to and when and where to find them which since they danced for other peoples money he had been in more than his fair share and no he did not tell anyone during the inquisitions as they did not need to know his sources for their own safety meaning the resources. he told her and she might want to know he had met at least three of her past client in the last thirty six hours who were very proud of her art work and liked showing them off.  Christina told him to name one and he told her that pretty little blond thing who pretended to be a lawyer.  Christina rolled her eyes and asked how that happened; he told her that woman had wanted to show him they were not enemies and to prove it invited him to see she was not just a friend but a client, then there was a server at one of the casinos who just wanted to show him everything and a stripper who apparently had gotten into that line of work after she received a make over.

She told him she still did not get why strip clubs; he told her that men of all ilks frequented such establishments and when they were under the influence of either the alcohol or the hormones they loosened their tongues and said stuff and many of those women whether they wanted to have it or not had privileged information and with the right persuading they passed said information on, but he usually avoided such avenues as it could put the woman or man passing on the information in danger; but as he wanted to get the information now he could not avoid it.  She asked if he was going to clue her in or let her think her first thoughts and be jealous.  He told her not to be as if she really wanted to go to see other women take off their clothes he would take her.  She asked if he was serious and he told her yes he was though he preferred other forms of entertainment more in line with what she had entertained herself with over their honeymoon which he also put in his letter though he was not so sure where she got all of her energy.  She giggled and told him that since that was their impromptu make up, catch up and honeymoon she had kind of went overboard.  He told her enough about his week what about hers.  She told him she had cornered the colonel with a little help on her first day back and then saw her Monday patient today and that accident had done its damage.  He asked if she was going to be able to help her.  She told him yes she could give back her self esteem and fix much of the damage over time but she was never going to be what she was and if she had to guess the woman's marriage was already over and he had moved on.  He told her just so she knew that if anything happened to her he would not care; she tried to bait him even though she knew what he meant but he sidestepped her.  When he finally told her he had to figure out how to move two naked women from the limo to their hotel room she told him good luck.  He told her he would call when he could and she should know he had always loved her.

Sleep had not come easy after that but reading his letter was out as her eyes were tired so as she was thinking about him and her while looking at the images he had sent she pretty much put herself to sleep in the same manner.  She had several follow up appointments that morning so she was up early only to find the twins beat her in getting up as they were both awake.  She still was asking how he did it as she got them changed, fed and dressed before taking them up to mom's house where she found Beth with her daughter who would actually be babysitting per something she worked out very early this morning with Christopher.  So back to her house they went.  Christina realized she did not want to leave them and was told by her now babysitter she could watch them and do her homework anywhere like at the office as they did have the boardroom and they had the park where she could walk over and see her third oldest daughter, when she winked; Christina remembered and told her that she actually liked that idea and would not mind going with her but she had to go to the surgical center today.  The teen girl nodded and told her that was even closer than the office to the school.  Christina felt like a mad woman trying to decide what to bring.  In the end it was her babysitter that showed her and told her Uncle C had clued her in that she may be a bit out of practice.  Christina asked if he really said that and was told no he actually told her his wife having missed the earlier opportunity to learn to change diapers would probably spend an hour deciding which was the front and the back.  Christina asked her since when did diapers have a front and back. The deal was struck if Christina bought lunch she would not only keep that tidbit of information secret she would show her how to change a diaper.

She had seen three patients that morning and then got a call to do a consult at the hospital but was able to take the lot down to the school where a teen girl she had barely met hugged her and called her mom.  It took Christina a moment to remember what she had been told.  Christina asked when she would be able to come home for a visit, and was asked when dad got back.  Her babysitter kept her from making the blunder, and said Uncle C was still packing and moving the horses and cattle but she should know that little filly would be waiting for her when she did come home as she was on her way even now.  When several of the girls new classmates asked if she really had horses the girl smiled and said her mom and dad were part owners of a ranch in the west.  Christina watched as the girls status just rose as most of the teens had not even made it out of the state. Playing the mom she was shown the dorm rooms and then met the office staff and asked since her office was just up at the far end of the park could she take her daughter out for lunch at times.  She ended up with the whole schedule and found out on weekends the girl would be staying with them.  She took her to dinner that night and asked if she was in the loop as what was going on.  Walking in the park Christina was told dad had told her about what had happened at the ranch and she told him the boy who she had slept with, his family was involved with a motorcycle group and he called Mr. C and then she found out her children had a god mother and when she dropped her off you can only imagine the stir that came of that since it was a school dedicated to live performance.  Christina told her she found her dad was transferring from San Diego out here somewhere.   She nodded and looking at the children told Christina she liked the fact she and Mr. C had stepped up to help but also knew there was no way she could be a mom while she was still in school which is why she decided to ask him to adopt the twins outright.  Christina asked if her dad was okay with this and she nodded telling her it did not actually make him happy but since Mr. C wanted to include him in their lives he was dealing with it and would still get to be grandpa which might be a weird as Mr/ C was older than dad as dad was only thirty seven.  Christina gave her her card and told her if ever she needed someone to help her escape hers and Mr. C's offices were a hop, skip and a jump away.

The girl gave both the twins hugs before hugging Christina and then the babysitter who told her to call when she just needed to sneak out.  Christina told her she did not hear that, but the two girls made arrangements to call each other on the weekend.  Christina was that night alone again, but did find another letter had been dropped off with her mail.  Apparently it had come by courier as there was no stamp.  She could see in the writing her husband had hurriedly written it and he told her that he was willing to take up wrestling if she wanted him to.  He then texted her and told her he had just saw off the last of the cattle and would be driving by their new ranch on the way home.  Miriam came in as she was feeding the twins and when it was time to change them they both took the time to figure out that the side with the tape went in the back.  She texted Chris back and told him he could stop telling people she did not know how to change a diaper as she just figured it out.  He sent one back and asked if that was an invitation to make another one.  When she reminded him she was past fifty her reminded her so was he technically and his still worked.  Christina texted him back and told him so did hers and then looked up and at Miriam who asked if she was okay.  Christina asked if she might have a test kit as someone just made her realize that they were not past baby making years.  Miriam told her that was what Condoms were for and she told Miriam that being married to a certain man kind of precluded the use of those even if she did use them in her last short lived marriage Miriam asked if she was late and was told she would have to check but the fact still remained she had spent the better part of two weeks testing every bed, the dining room table and the kitchen counter not to mention that big old bear rug in front of the fire place. Miriam just looked at her and she told her when you were the only ones out their you could skip a lot of stuff like getting dressed except she would put on a nice blouse and a lab coat when she needed to make a video call.  Miriam asked her if when she called her to tell her the news if; Christina nodded and showed her her tan lines which were now gone.  Miriam changed the subject and told her they may as well get a room ready for her third daughter.  Julie on cloud nine came down and helped.  Miriam asked if she was okay and Julie told her now she was as she had been able to put life into perspective.

She then asked if the nice marine asked her out yet.  She looked at her mom who had raised an eyebrow.

Changed Plans 2

Beth could tell Christina was still suffering from this past weekends activities and rehashing in her mind what had happened to her families lives over the last ten years.  Though Beth had not been directly involved with FES's field operations or with some of the side work which was done through FES which had also been involved in Security Planning as an offshoot of their municipality engineering which her boss had always referred to as social engineering it did not matter as she had kept the books from day one and when she had to send payments to a family for a man who would never make it home, or pay the hospital bills and even write the letters when one of their field engineers sent out to take a look at something did not make it home, the issue with many of those letters was in may cases there was no one to sent them too and if there were they were already happily married or more likely than not just married again to someone who would be there to help when little Johnny or Susie did what they needed to do for school, for sports or whatever else they doing and they were there for their wives whether they were happy or not.  She had been mad when Christina had divorced Mr. C and stole the company out from under him and allowed someone else to come in and take over or rather companies as in order to keep ownership of FES hard to track as its owner was always in the field and usually in some very bad places it was owned by several other companies all of which were owned as LLP's in states where it was difficult to get the records.  She knew how much Chris made and he sent the whole paycheck home which had further infuriated her at the time as even though it was no where near the pay of other owners or CEO's of publicly owned companies their size as in the volume of work not necessarily the size of the administrations as in reality there had been no real administration beyond her and him plus a few other office personnel and the few men and women whose job it was to translate the engineering into drawing which then could be read in the field by the men who like their boss tended to do their own math in their head.  To an outsider it may have seemed backwards but to those men whose job it was to make the calls out in the field well if something went wrong which at times she new did they could not gripe and complain but had to fix it and that was what had really kept them busy as they also fixed other peoples mistakes as they were engineered by men in offices who never actually went out into the field and knew little to nothing on how to build and make work what they were engineering.

Beth had learned early how to read a blue print and learned early what worked and what did not both in operating the business on the day to day level or in the engineering aspects and because she was a woman she also knew she knew what looked aesthetically pleasing unlike many of the men who now had started to look to her as they in the company reborn with her and her husband as essentially the management in theory of all the tendrils of the company much of which she had turned over to the two people who had kept not only Chris alive but had also brought him back from his death bed more than once as the man particularly in the years since his son's birth had unlike other men in the same boat who turned to another woman or the bottle had turned to work and had taken more than his share of side jobs and from some of what she had gleaned from men like John and Ben had meant he had put himself out in front of men and women who thought American's were the reason for the world's problems and their own personal problems and in some cases she knew on a personal level their were both men and women from her country who did not help alleviate those beliefs but overall she knew the truth was the parts of the world where they had been working, for sometimes even those who more or less were sworn enemies of her nation which it turned out was a good way to keep tabs on what your enemy was doing.  That had started to change even before Chris had just showed up one day and pretty much said as he had walked into their old offices which were now housing one of the surgical centers used by his ex wife or rather his un-ex wife.  Beth remembered  it was after Chris had taken off after spending time with Carlos after dropping off his rig in Montana at one of their equipment yards in the growing oil and gas fields of America.

The fact most of the men who had come over from FES before Chris bought it back from his ex wife which she was then had all worked the fields over in the Middle East, South America and even in the arctic had set them up early as one of the contenders and they were not trying to be the biggest as they had no stockholders but they were trying to be the best and that was what paid off for them at first but they had grown with Carlos brokering the deals to develop those first four master planned communities which had never even been marketed accept in very select circles.  She herself had almost started to believe he was dead as she had listened to her best friend and had lost that anger and renewed their friendship.  She had finally bullied Dr. Christianson to move home after her time of being grilled.  She had not known that Chris had encouraged her to branch out from making perfectly good boobs more perfect.  Her first year home had been a time of reflection and Dr. C as some of her patients now called her a time for Dr. C to put behind her her past which she did by burying herself in her job which with her work now with three different groups all trying to help people she had become the girl Beth remembered albeit without the wild streak she had carried into her marriage but she could also tell Christina's travels into some of the same war torn villages and countries which her husband had sometimes been in during those wars had had a profound effect on her, the woman no longer lived in her bubble or that false sense of security that had plagued most of America's citizens who preferred to snooze and ignore that there was really evil in the world and there were people really out to kill them not them as individuals but them as a nation.  She also knew that there were people in this nation out to destroy it.  She had been around long enough to know it was they who had been behind the various attempts on Mr. C.  She guessed he had an inkling to that as she had realized in his own way he had tried to stir the hornet's nest to see what falls out but he had not been the man he had been over the years always knowing the next step to take once he was back out and more than anything that had made it seem like he had checked out and gave up.

She had not been aware of his time spent in an American Prison which was not listed anywhere and was not even in their country and which was used for one thing, to make men America or rather those the men, who were in the position to make such calls, wanted to to disappear.  She had not been privy to every detail but over the last several years she had learned to listen, not to just the news which was constantly on in the operations room of Security Consultations Group but to the looks and hushed whispers of the men who had been over there when he had suddenly appeared in the field yard, in a country where he had not been expected to be in and he apparently had been in bad shape.  Where he had gone after cleaning up no one had known and after three years of his bouncing around showing up at the most unexpected times and the most unexpected places he had come home, checked to let her know he was through and went to see his wife.  That was ten years ago.  Three years ago they had come home and Christina who was trying to become part of his life in baby steps again he had kept at arms distance and farther when he could.  She still remembered that phone call on that dammed ranch in the middle of nowhere, fear something she had never faced before had coursed through her veins.  She knew Steve had fallen in love with that dammed desert just like well all the men, most of whom had experienced way to much cold in their lives not to love the heat of the desert and the dryness as they had all experience way too much rain and snow as well.  She was not surprised how many had moved to the desert and now called it home.

Beth had known right where they had dropped Chris for the most part on his dime and though they had originally wanted to put him at the estate in greener desert as it was more accessible but he had told them they could have it and since he happened to tell his story to the right doctor who told it to the right general who had brought in another general who was more than right because he had also known of Chris as the infamous Mr. C and the fact two men under his command had had to play babysitter to Chris during a recovery period.  Thanks to her contacts and those of key people like John, Ben and a very beautiful and talented lawyer who for all intensive purposes had accept in the physical had become married to Chris.  As she was now the company lawyer, something they had never had it was her job to keep tabs on the man who as more or less a boy had given his life to helping this country,yes he had made a nice profit off of it but that was not the driving factor.  As Beth pulled into the drive of her second mom's house she knew mom was not their and she could have pulled into the back driveway but that was still knew to her.  Christina had looked up and asked who might be home.  Beth had not noticed the second vehicle parked on the other side of Mom Christianson's, she got nervous then particularly after this past weekend which had given her a start and cemented in her mind how much she hated the desert.  She though had seen Chris move and even with a more or less bum leg it was hard to fathom someone who could react so quickly being shot twice and being stabbed.  She knew Christina had been scared as no one had treated her like that in her life.  Heck at the realization of what was going on all the women had been scared except for a select few, herself as she was more or less mad that they had all gone and acted like teeny bopper's in front of and with men who Lord knew the last time they had showered and where they had put their paws and other body parts last.  Thankfully there had been none of that more so because of an ex marine who had made it her mission to keep an eye on Chris and that troop of hired guns which had come with or because of a few of Christina's friends.  She had not seen it but had heard the lesson which he had given the leader of that troop who according to Ms. Jennifer had been in some ways like Chris but it was more like a peacock showing off his feathers where as with Chris when he stood out it was because there was substance there and not feathers.

It was Ms. Jennifer and Miriam who also from the south and an exotic beauty that turned everyone's heads including hers and she knew had done more than turn Christina's head and also Chris's though he had not actually taken what she had been more or less blatantly offered which Beth figured was why she had showed up at Christina's and had instigated their affair which was well hidden from the world but not from those who were apart of her everyday life.  Beth had to admit the night they had the sleepover she had been surprised and stirred by those two women's unabashed if not slightly sloshed bout of love making on the couch next to her during the movie.  Beth had never been a prude and it was not uncommon when she was home to shed her clothes and walk around in her skin but that had been beyond that; it still had intrigued her enough to let Christina in that same half sloshed state kiss her and feel her up that was until she felt it shudder her body which she had most definitely given to Steven and when dawn had come own she had left and woke him up just to prove it.  That had been shortly before she found the stack of letters.  Because Christina had taken liberties she had taken her liberties with those letters and opened them and read them.  She had not talked  with Christina about that night they or rather Christina and Miriam got very happy on Champagne so she brought it up and forced Christina as recompense to read Chris's letters.  That had pretty much cut drinking out of Christina's life, that and the realization Bubba wanted more than to be friends which had kind of came to what would have been a disaster if the night he had decided to show up was the same night Chris had shown up with twins that looked like the could be his, except they were not his technically or legally but she doubted since he was now more or less back on his game in some ways no one was going to say no he could keep them.  Though she wanted to tell him he could not keep the ranch even though she had no say in that as he owned that company which held the properties outright.  She had voted to let the Boy Scouts have it that very night.  His mom on the other hand upon seeing it said it was him to the t.  That woman had a manner about her that would charm a snake out its own skin and it was her arrival that had brought a calm after not only those men bent on doing harm to Julie and the twins but Chris and the boys who had showed up at her request got hauled in as well.

That calm had remained until they showed back up, Christina had seen them laughing about the night and that had made her mad as seeing him hauled off had only scared her again.  As they sat in the car just looking at the house; Miriam stepped out with an infant.  Christina asked Beth if she had noticed Miriam being pregnant; climbing out Beth realized it was a twin which after seeing Chris with them she could not figure out how he had agreed to let Miriam or anyone to take them away.  When Julie stepped out behind her with the second twin was when it dawned on Christina that the twins were here.  She remembered the last thing besides I love you, the man who had once again disrupted her planned out life he was going to see the doctor about his knee.  Memories off all the times over the last ten years she had seen him headed to the hospital with her sure he was going to die flooded her.  She jumped out of the car and Julie seeing the fear in her mom's eyes shielded the baby she was holding as she had learned when mom looked like this there was not telling what she would do.  Ms. Jennifer on the other hand, having declared herself god mother and had even called the young mother to tell her which Julie knew had blown the young woman away so much so they had arranged for her to come with them to prove it as her dad who had finally listened to the doctor albeit this one was an old army doctor and had been backed up by the two marines who she was introduced to.  Dad had raised an eye brow as she gushed over the grandfather of the twins but had kept his mouth shut until after her coffee and breakfast meeting at the diner when he dropped his daughter off.  Dad had asked how her date had gone and she told him it had not been a date and he asked who else had been there.  She told him at their table just the two of them but there had been the ranchers and a few bikers, smiling he asked if that fine fellow had taken her hand.  She had blushed realizing he had and asked how did he know.  Dad stuck in bed had shrugged and told her since he could not take care of the twins she might as well take them to mom and make sure she brings their shots up to date and play a little hard to get.  She had gotten the call on her cell phone and he asked how his angels were doing earlier this morning after getting in and that phone call had lasted more than her ten minute phone calls with her ex.  She had caught herself gushing on the phone and could not help herself.  She had let some of her frustration at her dad go when she had been asked if she would like to do something some time like take the kids horseback riding.

Her dad quizzing her how her phone date had gone had not gotten to her even after he asked what kind of tux he should be looking for.  Julie waited, for her mom to get caught up and when Ms. Jennifer told her to meet the new grandma as she nodded to Julie; she did push back a little as she told Ms. Jennifer she had to see a ring first.  Mom had expertly parted the boy from her and then hounded her on exactly why dad was not with them.  Beth made the call to find out and found out that it might be because against doctors orders he was out feeding the horses and had redesigned his pool area so he could keep the trees as he kind of liked being able to climb them.  When she asked John where he was at that moment, John had told her exactly they were still trying to determine as pretty much as soon as he got off the phone with his baby girl he had disappeared and they knew he had been feeding the horses was they had been fed and they knew he had climbed the tree because now there were foot marks painted on it and they knew he had redesigned the pool because it was staked out and he had a new color picture to put on his refrigerator.  Christina had gotten on the phone and asked if all the women had left.  She was told mom was still there as well as Ms. Miriam, her four daughters.  It took a moment for her to realize he meant Christopher's half sisters and his girlfriend who at the moment he had been taken a break from.  John then said he had been antsy ever since the twins had left.

Changed Plans 1

Dr. Christina walked into her offices overlooking the Reedy River which were tucked into a corner of the, 'The Engineering Firm's corporate offices allowing her to use their reception area which was also used by the Security Consultation Group.  Neither of those firms hardly ever received clients at these offices as most of their work was done afield.  Her office here though it did have two examining rooms was not where she did the brunt of her work as that tool place in surgery centers or hospitals.  Here was where she could sit down and study charts and do her research without the office politics she had endured for more than she could remember.  Her move here in the timeline she called her life had been recent, or rather it was her move back she did not have to remind herself.  At fifty three she knew she looked almost twenty years younger, accept for the graying at the temples in her otherwise platinum blond hair and one really did not even notice that unless they were up close and looked at her slightly darker roots.  Still though she did have the cases she preferred to see in a less medically formal environment and with both of her treatment rooms overlooking the river it helped her clients or the ones she saw here.  This morning it was a young mother of three who had been in a serious head on collision and after spending months in recovery just learning to walk again it was now time to give back to her something more a sense of self worth and self esteem.  

Normally her sense of humor and quick wit helped both her deal with seeing the aftereffects of such a major catastrophe in someone's personal life, as well it also set her clients as well as their loved ones.  Her looks which had been a good trait when she was primarily taking already gorgeous people and tweaking them to make them more perfect were almost a deterrent in this more recent aspect of her career.  Thankfully it was not the young woman's husband that came with her but her sister, mom and her children.  This would take time almost seven surgeries over the next year.  She was pleasant enough to her newest patient but she played I am the professional and have been doing this for years card and sent her out to get lunch at one of the numerous restaurants that lined the river.  In her office which actually held some of her ex husband's hand made furniture which Beth had saved when she had her lawyer sell everything.  She stopped realizing her ex was not her ex anymore and the last two or rather three weeks if you count him showing up to surprise her, not that she was surprised thanks to not only her son but his handlers who had turned over him back to his own company.  She had not had all the details even from her son who only let her know that he had twins.  She remembered the first letters which she had let pile up which she had left unread for a year and would have continued to ignore them if had not been for Beth who had intercepted the mail man and recognized the writing on the envelope.

She looked at her hands which had begun to shake again.  That had started two nights ago after he was hauled off to jail with the man who yes she had danced and flirted with but had never expected him to show up at the house and she cringed as she knew that if he had not been there she would have been somewhere south of the border after becoming a bride.  When she had been told about the plans they had for her daughter she had wanted to vomit, the fact he had acted like it was a normal thing for him had made her mad, but with several of hr friends talking to her she had calmed down until he had been dropped off and stood around hanging with his men; or her men as she had thought of them during the years he had been sequestered away from the world with her not being able to tell a living soul.  In a way it was his fault as it was his life and career that had been put under the microscope but so was hers and she had had to come face to face with the fact much of why he had stayed away was the fact he loved her and did not know how to deal with the fact she had had an affair which was over before it started.  Then in her attempt to deal with his long absences she had turned to her friends which he had found about the night they had flown home or the home she had finished raising their daughters and her son in and it had become home for her and in some ways even for him.

With him showing up like he had when she was at the height of her career and had become a central part of the small iconic haven of ranchers turned landlords and the hideouts from the left coast.  Everyone knew she was married to a man who worked overseas and traveled the world, but she had kept doing what a secret.  The fact he was gone so much and she was a doctor who did her share of travelling for conferences and vacations helped her to feel apart of those jet set.  His paychecks which were substantial allowed her to put her children in the private school, pay for that property in which she had made her life where she had essentially lived as a widow struggling to overcome the loss and move on with her life.  Then when he came home he said permanently she had struggled to deal with that and him as he had seamed lost.  Dr. Christina realized that was almost ten years ago and her life since had been turned upside down.  She had gone and helped aggressively grow the medical group when she moved to the desert and tried to retain a sense of normalcy as his life had seemed to spiral out of control.  In her mind she had known it was not all of his doing particularly when her Uncle showed up which she now knew was to observe and if necessary to stop him from becoming completely unwound.  She started crying as she thought about trying to maintain her status quo but with the children old enough to be out of the house she had to watch as the father of her daughters and in all respects beyond the physical when he had been home he had been a father to Christopher.  She realized now as she had looked back his work had revolved around the various wars and interventions her country had gotten involved in but during these past years as she struggled to maintain her life as she watched his go from absent to something out of a nightmare she had married that horrid man who had not been horrid when during her struggle to find equilibrium he had comforted her and had loved her so tenderly and then to have that boondoggle in her life try to kill the man who was more and more looking like the hero at least to her children.

That had ended after they both had come home and he had hauled off and hit two of the men who were trying to help after which he forced the law to arrest him.  Then these past three years one with her spending a good deal of time with him an that arid piece of dirt with that creek which at times was no more than a mud puddle.  That had been her darkest year and the man who she in reality had originally because of her own rebellious streak with which she had shed his innocence not that he had complained then or even now as he had accepted full responsibility for his part in her getting pregnant, she had not expected her dad who had brought a strange boy into their home to actually allow them to marry, but he not only did but pulled that boy out of school and finished his step into manhood almost over night.  It was not until her flight back after what had to be the wildest two weeks she had ever had even thought she knew he thought she had been wild the reality was she had changed because of him, yes as soon as she got where she actually had real cell coverage she called to move her schedule around some more so that yesterday she could talk to the Colonel who for some reason beyond her understanding had been handed the oversight of Security Consultations Group after he had held a gun to her husband in front of her.  He had not wanted to talk but with Steven who now ran the other half of well her company she had cornered her uncle in the board room.  He had not even known she and Jonathon Christopher had gotten hitched and had actually thought she had been aboard the Mercy Ship.  Nor had he known that her husband was raising twins.  Something he had said after that crazy stunt he pulled with the horses had gotten her to ask where he had come from before dad brought him home and gave him a last name.

She held her hands together as they began to shake harder, he had never talked to her about his childhood which with his helping her get through school even as he worked along side her dad and continued his studies under dad not that she had noticed as being pregnant, going to school and coming home to watch him build their house or rather turn the barn into a home; which she only told them to turn into a home to try to wiggle out of getting married.  By the end of college that first year she had loved being married and felt grown up and focused and he had kept her their even as he took on more responsibility,  Best of all was unlike her friends in high school who were always worrying about who they would date or getting caught sneaking out to the old camp amphitheater in the woods, she found being able to have sex as soon as they hit the room in her parents house at first and then anywhere in the barn when it was being finished having her own house as she went to school, well that was good but then life moved on, because her husband had a knack for engineering almost anything and dad making him his architectural and mechanical engineer on several large projects which as she knew now had garnered the attention of others and ended up landing him larger and larger projects, and then projects overseas, she had learned some of it over the last ten years but had tried to ignore it as time after time it seemed, it was insane as he kept finding himself on the wrong side of the law or so she had believed which had been encouraged by her uncle, those friends of hers who were not in the know and the fact she lived in a world where you only got arrested if you broke the law and the fact he had broke up her life and scared her to death particularly after asking to marry her and then disappearing during those trials which she could not blame him for but by then the deed was done and he had acted like it was her fault.

She was interrupted in her thoughts by Beth standing in front of her waving her hand.  She told her to snap out of it as being married was not that bad.  She shook it off and asked if her client was back from lunch.  Beth nodded and told her to eat something.  Finished with her appointment with a second appointment scheduled after she returned from her stay on the Mercy Ship, she was ready to leave when she was handed another letter.  When she looked up, Beth told her mom had the mail forwarded here when she found her daughter had gone and done something crazy like hop aboard a train and stow away in some man's cabin.  Christina told her she was married to that man; Beth told her and then she went off her rocker and fell right off the front porch and she had better be in church on Sunday thanking God that man helped hide her from the railroad police.  Christina new her friend was just trying to get her out of her deep thinking as it was what generally what got her into trouble, the fact Beth had taken her back as a friend still amazed her.  As they left the Colonel was just coming in, he looked tired and old.  He smiled and shook his head signifying he still had no idea where her husband came from.  On the way home Beth asked if he ever talked about his childhood as in all reality when he had moved in to become the boy in the room next door he was over being a child which is why if she remembered correctly someone had wanted to play doctor when she was fifteen and he only twelve.