Note
: The descriptions and accounts in these stories are fictional and do not portray any actual people or events.
Asa Weltschmerz had greased the skids for Nora's early release from the hospital, and to ensure a minimum of interactions with other physicians, lab tests and records. He did not think that the state's required newborn screening tests, while extensive, would reveal anything about the baby's nervous system or potential talent. The OB was okay with that, since he had agreed to do several home follow up visits and was also amazed at how uncomplicated and fast the birth was, and how fast Nora snapped back. Asa was sure to collect the umbilicus, and we had agreed that he should preserve it but not examine it until we all agreed on its future. He made sure no one at the hospital had anything else that DNA could be taken from, even to the extent of surreptitiously slipping out some bloody rags and sheets.
Lara drove us out in her Baby Beamer and I was surprised to see her take Mass Pike west and we ended up in Newton. She pulled into the driveway of a huge stucco house near Greenwood Street. She noticed me looking around nervously. "My father insisted on renting this." she said. Before I could ask the follow up questions, the car was surrounded. Nora's parents, my mom and dad, my grandparents, and Lara's dad and Lillian Gush, now his fiancé, all cheered our arrival.
The house was a monthly rental big enough for a family reunion, courtesy of Lara's father. Nora and Randy were immediately spirited away by the women, including a nurse practitioner that was on call, and I joined the male contingent in the huge media room. I suppose all our discussions about carefully preparing the extended family for a tripartite marriage were now moot. There were handshakes and congratulations offered to me by the group for a few minutes, and then suddenly my grandmother joined the male group and suggested that she and I take a walk outside. Everyone else filtered away to the kitchen.
I could tell from her tone of voice that she was in her matriarchal mode, and she didn't mince words. "Robbie, as far as the family is concerned, Nora and Lara are both your wife and both are Randy's mother, no matter what kind of legal arrangement you eventually reach. When Lara has a baby, we will all feel the same way. No one will question it, discuss it, or argue with you about it. Nora's folks and Lara's folks all are on board to, and anybody outside the family can like it or lump it, but they have to shut up about it. We are all overjoyed to be grandparents and great grandparents. But you should know that happy state of affairs did not come to pass without 24 solid hours of fussin' and cussin' which ended last night, but it is a done deal now. Comprende?"
"Of course, Grandma, but there is something you should know. It might have saved some of those arguments."
"What's that Robbie?"
"We are already legally married. We did it a week ago, starting in a city hall Massachusetts and ending in three different courts in DC. It's a done deal, and we don't think anybody can successfully challenge it in court. Lara can explain the legal details."
Grandma looked very thoughtful. "Does Jay Kincaid's granddaddy know about this?"
"Jay and Millie know all about it, so I assume Mr. Warner knows too. Why do you ask?"
"Because he insists there is going to be a big wedding for you three at his ranch. Jay sent a woman named Ashley Armstrong to ask us for invitation lists and open dates."
"Well, we did discuss having a public ceremony later. After we had talked to the families, but..."
"Say no more, Robbie, it's a done deal! We can all do to a big blowout wedding at the Warner Ranch whenever you want. But let's talk about our wonderful little Randy now."
When Grandma and I got back into the house, she went to help prepare dinner, and my father took me aside. "Robbie, am I crazy or is that little fucker already sending Suzie signals?"
"Yep. For the last few weeks he was pinging and banging like crazy from in the womb. Asa says it is an exciting neurological development milestone marker. Nora can hear him even better than I can, and he can already sense other people's moods." I decided not to give him the details about what happened when he was near Rock and Veronica Tappert, or Rachel. But he needed to be prepared for Randy's accelerated and unusual adolescence. "We are going to have to talk to him about his talents long before his eighteenth birthday. We may have to do something with him even before he can talk! I think home-schooling is probably a very good idea. We are going to have to carefully and thoroughly socialize him, like we used to with the working dog puppies, and have lots of family members that can keep a secret to interact with him."
My dad looked funny. "No shit, Sherlock! It shouldn't be a problem, though, with three sets of grandparents ready to spoil him."
Not another word was said about our marriage or further plans for the next month. Randy was cuddled, cooed to, and generally loved up on. Lara had to fully assert herself to get some time with Randy on the weekends when she came up from Wharton. Nora went back to her classes on campus, and everyone else competed to take care of Randy while she was gone. That little kid was being bathed in love and adulation. I hoped it would merely socialize him, not fuck him up.
* * * * *
Anna Azier was busily exploring Robbie Roberts and all his connections, and she was continually amazed by what she found. Even if she hadn't been digging into him, he would soon be fully investigated because of all his connections to the New Chunnel stuff. Anna didn't have clearance to know why that was such a big deal, but she could infer from what was and wasn't visible to her that it was surely a Bravo Foxtrot Delta. She found links to at least three unnamed and security masked entities connected to Pliskin, and dozens of links to VIPs in Texas and DC, and this little tech startup that just hired Roberts was on both the DARPA and DIA shadow watch lists. WTF?
She pulled up bios and pictures of all the women he was linked to. How did this guy get those women? She looked at every available picture of Roberts. He was earnest looking, trustworthy even, but not exactly a movie star. What did he have in person to person encounters that so transcended expectations? Did it work on men, too? No record of any gay entanglements, but lots of male friends. Why did all these straight guys befriend and trust him? How could she find out? Despite his fraternity membership, he had exceptionally good grades and did not drink at all, much less to excess. His frat also had the best grade point average on campus.
Maybe she could interview some of these people who knew him, but how to disguise her real interest? Her curiously burned bright. It was at the same time one of her strengths and her major weakness. She even put together a daily schedule and a routine to track Roberts physically using his phone, traffic cams, and security cams. She backtracked the timeline visibly and found him coming out of a pediatric hospital. What did that mean? Records search. He is a new dad? Who is he married to? Records search. TWO wives? On the same date? She did a quick database query. He was the only person in Massachusetts that showed a legal marriage to two women. In fact, in the entire USA. The marriage date was almost three weeks ago, but the record just appeared yesterday. She looked in LEXIS/NEXUS and her other case law databases. The marriage had already been challenged and upheld in three different courts. How was that possible? The only possible challenge left was the US Supreme Court. Who in the world could do something like that? Nora and Lara were super smart, and super-hot, too. Anna would chase either of them herself. How did Roberts get together with them?
Curiosity burning hotly, she put together, in her head only, a plan to meet Roberts in person. She had figured out how to do it and how to hide it all when her better judgment finally spoke to her. This was not a good idea. But what could she do? She decided she would approach Alexander Walton. She couldn't ask Pliskin directly, but maybe Walton would give her a hint. Maybe he wouldn't sack her on the spot like Pliskin probably would. Somehow, she had to know more.
* * * * *
I had hoped things would return to normal when all the grandparents departed, and we moved from the big rental house back into Nora's little apartment. Some things were normal. But Nora was still consumed with Randy, and not that interested making it with me or Lara. Asa had prepared me for some postnatal adjustments, but as the problem continued, Lara and I both got worried. Nora was totally focused on Randy.
Lara and I banged each other almost daily, but Lara was missing her times with Nora, too. We talked about how to seduce her again, separately, or jointly. We finally cornered her, in a "we need to talk" moments, one of the very few I have ever initiated.
Nora sniffled. "I'm sorry. You know I love you both, but I am consumed with Randy. It's like we are directly connected all the time."
Lara touched her cheek. "We all love him. How about we all cuddle together when you nurse him, and then see what happens if we stay together after we put him to bed."
Lucky for us, little Randy was a hard sleeper. Once you got him down, he slept for at least four hours. When he woke up, he was ravenous and loud as hell. We all enjoyed cuddling him, and we all felt connected. Nora seemed to warm up a bit, and I could feel Randy's contentment, too. Nora had been encouraging Lara to let Randy nurse with her too, and the little mammal worked her nipples hard. She giggled, and said it turned her on and made her content at the same time. It took about a week, but suddenly she was producing milk too. Once that started, Lara's Suzie (which I could now hear perfectly) was even louder in signaling desire for me and Nora.
They tried to keep Randy on a rotation to drain all four teats equally, and he certainly did his part. Asa and the OB doc were surprised at how quickly he was ascending the growth curve -- he started small but was rapidly reaching above average dimensions. Asa said the two diverse milk sources were great for him biologically and emotionally.
One night in his sixth week on earth, Randy had just topped off on teat number four, and I expected to hear his contentment Suzie, followed by his journey to dreamland. But suddenly a new symbol popped up in his table, like one I had already heard, and it was loud and unmistakable. Nora and I snapped to attention and looked at each other in surprise, but the astonished look on Lara's face brought us up short. Lara took a deep breath, and said "Did Randy just say what I think he said?"
