V. Happy Birthday, Dads!
JANEY
In case we haven't mentioned it, both Paul's and my Daddy's birthdays are in February, less than two weeks apart. Lauren and I thought it would be cool to do a joint birthday for them, something really special. Just exactly what, however, was the problem. It was hard to think of a "thing" that we could give to both of them. And 'matching' somethings-or-other was just too -- well, it'd be like giving them 'date-mate' gifts. And so the best we could come up with was a great dinner at a really nice place like the Char-House, with lots of good wines, etc. And I'm sure it would be nice, and we'd have a great time but, still, 'a nice dinner' is kind of trite. So we were still open to a better idea.
One afternoon, Lauren came back to our apartment, bursting with news. "Remember Candace? My roommate from my first year? She left the dorm to marry her long-time boyfriend, Ted? I ran into her at the Union today. Guess what -- she's pregnant!"
"Yeah, I remember Candace -- the cute, bubbly one with the curly blond hair? She's pregnant? How's she doing?"
"Well, that's kind of a mixed story. First, the pregnancy is going well. She's in her eighth month, can you believe it! The second thing is, she's huge! Well, huge for her, anyway. You remember how petite she is.
Yes, I remembered that Candace is barely five foot two, petite, and had a disgustingly wholesome 9
th
grade cheerleader quality about her. Actually, that isn't quite fair. She's a really sweet girl, she's extremely kind and thoughtful, and despite giving off an airhead vibe, she's scary smart, doing well in some kind of engineering curriculum.
"We'll, anyway, the pregnancy is going great, but some other things aren't. Her husband, Ted -- I don't know if you ever met him or not -- he's in the National Guard, and his unit got called up before they knew she was pregnant. So now she's pregnant and without Ted -- she's been in love with Teddy since the 7
th
grade, and she hates being away from him. And to top it off, they have a deferred tuition installment that's due in about 45 days, and their plan was that Ted would be back and at his regular job earning his regular salary by now and that the tuition wouldn't be a problem. But turns out, his unit got their deployment extended, so even with his employer supplementing some of the difference between his Guard pay and his regular salary, it's not going to be enough. So now, in addition to the pregnancy and having Ted gone, she's got this added pressure of the tuition, and she's afraid that the stress isn't good for her or the baby."
"Wow, talk about a string of inconvenient events!"
"And," here Lauren burst out laughing, "to top it off, she's horny as hell! Between missing Ted and her hormones running wild, she say's she's constantly consumed by thoughts of sex --
any
kind
of sex -- and that she has to get herself off at least half-a-dozen times a day!"
We both broke into laughter picturing Candace -- little, pregnant Candace -- with her dilemma. After enjoying our laugh, Lauren calmed down and tried to get serious.
"And that brings me to something that's so off-the-wall it could just possibly be brilliant. You know how we've been struggling for an idea of what to do for our dads' birthdays, and how we've kinda settled on a nice dinner at a good restaurant, but neither of us is really enthusiastic about the idea, right? Well, what if we were to do two things -- help out Candace and Teddy
and
get our dads a birthday present that's truly memorable?"
She paused. One part of my brain connected the dots, while the other part didn't even consider the possibility that that's where Lauren might be headed.
"You and I have set aside a small ton of money to do or get something really special for our dads. What if ... what if, instead of giving it to an extravagant restaurant for some overpriced bottles of wine, we ... use it to help Candace
and
give our dads that birthday present they'll
never
forget!?"
"You mean buy them a night with a pregnant Candace?"
"Think about it, Janey. Candace is a terrific person who's a really good student and needs the money to stay in school. And she's also trying to deal with some
serious
physical needs."
Here we broke out laughing again. "Bottom line -- would could help her out with
both
of her problems and also give our dads a memorable birthday. Win-win-win!"
Lauren continued, "I know what kinds of things you're thinking. That we're buying our dads a hooker for the night. That Candace is desperate and needs money. That she's also pregnant and has a husband who loves her and is half-way across the world from her." She paused. "I had the same concerns. So I kind of sounded Candace out about some of these issues. First, Teddy loves her so much, and he feels so guilty for leaving her pregnant and horny and without him, that he'd probably say it'd be OK.
"In fact, since Candace already knows my dad and likes him, this could be the best arrangement for both Candace and Teddy: two clean, good-looking men who are both fathers, and she already knows one of them, and who'd treat her well, and there's no chance that she could fall in love with either of them, or they with her. Candace thought that if she were to do something like this, that these would be the kind of guys that Teddy would feel safest about."
"Lauren, this is pretty far-out, even in light of
our
'non-traditional' arrangements. And our dads, with our one huge exception, are pretty straight-arrow middle-class dads. What makes you believe they'd ever consider doing something this wild?"