Is The Third Time a Charm?

Thanks to 'LadyCibelle' and my editor 'Techsan' for reading and editing this story to make it a better read. They are two of the best.

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I was at our five year class reunion. Everybody looked like they changed a little but no drastic changes. But inside who knows what changes took place. I've had a number of drastic changes in my life in the last five years. I really wonder what changes some of my classmates went through.

Here I am watching my old classmates and thinking a few years back to the end of my high school days. I was thinking about my dating scene and all the different girls I dated. Hell, I probably dated half the girls that were here tonight. I was just a normal guy but had a way with words. I never considered myself good looking but just average. Some of my dates thought differently. I never lacked for dates.

I remember passing around the year book and reading a lot of the autographs and seeing they were all pretty similar, "Good luck in all your future endeavors" and so on. As I was reading them, one stood out. It was from Julie. It read, "Wish I could have gotten to know you better, love, Julie."

I never dated Julie before the autograph books were signed. She was in a few of my classes and I did talk to her. I talked to all the girls. I learned years before to treat everyone nice. You never know what the future holds.

One time when I was a younger teenager I use to kiss this one girl named Mary. She always hung around with her girlfriend Sue, who had lots of pimples and was kind of gawky looking. Needless to say I didn't treat Sue very nice. I wasn't overly mean to her or anything. It was just that I didn't want her hanging around when I was with Mary. A few years later I was out with some of my friends at a dance. This knockout of a gal comes up to me and kisses me on the cheek and says, "Hi, Larry. How have you been?"

I looked at her and didn't recognize her. She was nice, really nice. She said, "You don't remember me, do you? I'm Sue, Mary's friend from the old neighborhood."

I told her how nice she looked and asked her to dance. She looked at me and said, "No, thank you, you never wanted me around you before and I don't care to be around you now. I just came up to you to teach you a lesson. Treat all people with respect. You don't want to burn your bridges in case you need to cross them again." Then she walked away.

Well, I learned my lesson from that day forward. I treated all people with equal respect. I learned my lesson from Sue.

Back to Julie. She had great looks but always dressed down. Not down as much as old fashioned. I never saw her in jeans. She always wore kind of granny dresses to school. Her family wasn't poor. They lived in a nice neighborhood and she was an only child. She was extremely conservative. I don't know anyone who took her out on a date. No one ever said anything bad about her and she did have friends, mostly girls. I talked with my girlfriend Jill at the time and asked if she knew anything about Julie?

She said that Julie's dad was really old fashioned and didn't allow Julie to date until she graduated from high school. Any guy that went to see Julie had to be very proper, like from the 1940's. She said it was weird but that was the way they lived.

Right after graduation Jill and I broke up for a few weeks. It was fine with me because we had already done the nasty and I wanted to play the field. One day during the summer before going to college I decided to drive by Julie's house and say hello, remembering what she wrote in my yearbook. I walked up to the door and knocked. Julie came to the door smiling. She had on a pair of shorts and a white blouse. Wow, I thought, nice legs. As she got to the door her father came up behind her and asked me if he could help me. I told him I stopped by to see Julie.

He looked at me and then Julie and asked if I had made a date with her? I told him, "No, I was in the neighborhood and just stopped by."

He looked at Julie and told her she had a guest and to go get properly dressed. He then told me I could sit on the porch swing until Julie was presentable. I was ready to hightail it out of there but didn't want to hurt Julie's feelings so I went over and sat on the swing.

About five minutes later Julie came out attired in a dress. Her dad stepped on the porch with her and said, "Next time, son, don't drop in. You may call Julie first so she will be presentable when you arrive."

I said, "Yes, sir," to him and he went back into the house. Julie sat next to me on the swing and talked low so her father wouldn't be able to hear. She apologized for her father's actions but said as long as she lives at home she will abide by his rules. I told her I understood and then we talked a lot of small talk. I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere and she said she couldn't because she didn't have permission yet. I couldn't believe this. The girl was eighteen years old and still needed her dad's permission to go on a date. I asked her to get permission to go out Friday night. She told me I would have to ask her dad. That's the way it was. Damn, I didn't want to get married, I just wanted to go to Big Boy's for a hamburger and maybe see a movie.

I knocked on the door and her dad appeared. I asked for permission to take his daughter out on Friday for something to eat and to see a movie. I got her dad's permission but he said, "No drive-in movies and I expect you to be dressed in proper attire."

I told him I understood and then asked if it was alright if Julie went up the street with me to McDonald's to get a hamburger right now? He said as long as we walked. It was about a mile walk but I wanted to get away from the house. Julie got up and thanked her dad and away we went on our walk.

The setting seemed like 'Leave it to Beaver' or 'Father Knows Best,' it was kind of weird. Anyway we had a nice talk and had a burger and made arrangements for Friday night.

I guess I was dressed semi-proper. I didn't wear a tie but I did wear slacks instead of jeans and I did wear a sports jacket. It felt kind of weird dressing up to go to a movie and Big Boy's for a burger. Julie on the other hand had on a nice dress. Kind of a blue flowery type. She looked great. I made sure I opened the car door for her seeing her dad was watching me.

After we left the movie I pulled into one of the local lovers' lanes. I turned off the car and reached over and kissed Julie. She put her hands against the side of my face and gently kissed me back. Damn, that girl could kiss. She had these warm soft lips you could melt in. After a few more kisses I reached over and gently squeezed her breast. Soft and nice, wow, I couldn't believe she let me do it. I gave her breast another squeeze and heard a slight moan come from her. I quickly put my hand on her knee and slid my hand under her dress and quickly up her thigh till she clamped her legs together. I know she like it. I could feel her shake. That was always a good sign.

She looked at me and said, "Please don't, Larry. You shouldn't be doing that."

"Well, stop me if you don't want me doing it. I know you like it."

"Please don't, Larry, it's not right."

"I don't see you stopping me, Julie"

Right then she reached her right hand back and bitch slapped me as hard as she could on the left cheek. I pulled back quickly and put my hand against my reddening face. Man, that hurt, I mean really hurt. I guess I asked for it and she delivered. I looked over at her and she had her face in her hands and was crying, "Please take me home, Larry."

I started to apologize but she cut me off and said, "Please, just take me home." She cried all the way to her house and when I pulled up in front of her home she didn't wait for me to open the door. She jumped out and ran into the house. I didn't know what to think. All I could picture in my mind was her dad coming out with a shotgun. So I hit the accelerator and hightailed it out of there. When I got home my dad saw my bruised face and asked me what happened. I told him and he told me I got what I deserved.

That was five years ago and this is the first time I have seen Julie since that day. She was still a fine looking girl, woman now. I wondered if there were any skeletons in her closet. She just seemed so pure. She was over talking with some of her old girlfriends. I went over to talk to some of the guys. Everyone kind of talked about what they had been up to and then I looked over at Julie and asked the guys what the latest on her was.

Bill said she owned and operated a day care center with her mom. No one knew much about it. Jim said he thought she was a lesbian because she wouldn't go out with him. That's the way Jim always was. If a girl didn't date him she was a lesbian.

Bob looked at Jim and said he was full of shit. Julie was no lesbian. He took her out a couple of times. She was a lot of fun but wouldn't put out. She told him she was saving herself for marriage.

Earl said, "I would propose to her if I could get into her pants."

Bob laughed and said, "It's not that easy, Earl. First she has to love you and I don't think she will hardly talk to you, let alone screw you." We all laughed.

One of the other guys said, "She sure is one sweet woman. I wish my wife Becky was half as nice as Julie."

Jim added, "I want to meet the lucky guy who finally nails her."

Then we looked up and Julie came over to say hello. Boy, did the guys ever clam up quick. I was the first to speak. I said, "Hi Julie, it's so nice to see you again. How has life been treating you?"

"So-so" she answered. "You guys haven't been over here talking about us girls, have you?"

Bob said, "No, ma'am" and we all laughed.

I told her I would like to talk to her for a few minutes if she had time later. She said she would enjoy talking about old times with me as she walked away. Of course the guys all asked if I was going to try and score. I laughed and told them I didn't think so even though I thought to myself how I really would like to.

After awhile I walked up to Julie and asked if she would like to sit down and talk for a few minutes. We both grabbed a Coke, then went and sat down in a booth away from the crowd.

I said, "First, Julie, I have to apologize for my actions on our date. I never did apologize to you. It was a combination of being embarrassed and afraid of your dad."

She looked at me to see how earnest I was in my apology. Then she said, "Apology accepted. You did deserve it, you know. I had wanted to go out with you for two years and we finally went out and you went too far. So even though I accept your apology, I will not apologize for hitting you."

"Well," she said, "I hear you have had a hellish five years according to the rumor chain. I doubt if anyone else here could match your last five years."

"How do you know about them? Have you been following me?" I laughed.

"No, there are a few people I tried to keep tabs on and you were one of them. I can't believe you were married and divorced twice in five years. Are you going to tell me all about it?"

"Do you really want to hear all the details of my failed life?"

"Yes, I do. Please tell me."

So I began the story of my last five years. "Well, it started with Jill. About a month after my date with you, Jill came up and said she was pregnant. I didn't love her but I wanted to do the right thing. I went home and talked it over with my dad and he said, 'If you got her pregnant, then you should marry her. You could learn to love her.' He said, 'You definitely learned to fuck her.' I'm sorry for swearing but if I'm to tell you my story the rough words will be part of it."

"That's fine. I've heard swearing before, please go on."

"Jill and I got married right away. I postponed going to college till we could get on our feet. I got a job and we bought a small used trailer. It was all we could afford being so young. My dad cosigned for us. After about thee months, I asked Jill how come the baby wasn't showing yet. She looked as trim as ever. She told me she had a miscarriage and lost the baby. I felt so bad and held her. I asked her when that happened and she just started to stutter. I looked at her and said, "You were never pregnant, were you?"

"She looked at me and started crying and said, 'No, I wanted to get out of my house. I hate it there.'"

"I looked at her and said, 'But you lied to me and made me change my whole life trying to do the right thing.'"

"I went home and talked to my dad. I wanted out of this three month marriage that was a farce. We contacted an attorney. He told us, my dad and I, that because the marriage was perpetrated on a lie that we could get an annulment, but that the transfer of assets could be a little stickier since we bought property together. So, my dad ... what a great man ... took fifteen thousand dollars out of his savings and paid off all our debt. which was the trailer and accessories and gave them to Jill."

"She was happy because she didn't have to move back in with her parents. I was happy getting out of a marriage I never really wanted and dad wasn't very happy but said, 'You are my son and I bailed you out of a loveless marriage so you will be able to go ahead and go to college.'"

"I went to a school in California in the Silicon Valley area. I wanted to become a computer expert and what better place to learn. Computer Island is what we called it. If it had anything to do with computers, it could be learned there. I started school and really buckled down. I learned everything about the inner workings of the computer. My teachers said I was one of the best in the class. Of course my old ways came back to haunt me and even though I still studied hard, I started to play hard."

"I went out with my friends pretty regularly. I started doing recreational drugs and smoking pot. So I was always a little on the high side. I met a girl, not just any girl but a model. She was a couple of years older than me. Not just a student but an honest to goodness full fledged built like a brick shit-house model. A real California girl. God damn, was she ever beautiful and that wasn't the pot talking. She was a bikini babe all the way."

"Okay Larry, I get it, she was a great, even magnificent specimen of the female species. Get on with it, will you?"

I looked at Julie and had to laugh, I knew I got her dander up. So I said, "But, Julie, she wasn't as beautiful as you.?"

Julie looked at me and said, "Yeah, right!"

I continued my story. "Well, she had a couple of major faults. For one she was kind of stuck on herself. She was a 'me first' type of person. But worse, she was a heavy drug user. Stupid me thought I could help her but you can't help someone who doesn't want it. Well, we dated and had a lot of sex, we took drugs together and of course she got pregnant. I thought, "Oh, shit, not again." We made a doctors appointment and he verified that she was three months along. I was at a loss. I told her we should get married right away. The baby must come first. I knew it was the pot thinking brain I had, but it was also the right thing to do. Besides, as I mentioned before, she wasn't hard on the eyes."

"Yes, Larry, again I know she was beautiful. Go on."

I looked at Julie and asked, "Why am I telling you this? I'm about to tell you the worst and saddest days of my life."

Julie looked a little worried. She told me that she thought I had been holding it all in and needed to get it out. To tell someone and get it off my chest. She was right. I needed to release my past and she right then was the sweetest person I have ever known. I asked her if we could finish talking outside. I knew I was going to break down and didn't want anyone else to see it. We walked outside and sat on a porch swing on the patio of the restaurant and I continued my story.

"Ellen, who was my girlfriend/model and I went to Las Vegas the following weekend and got married. She had an apartment and I moved in with her. We had a really stupid life. The only thing we had in common was we both loved sex and smoked pot. I called my dad and told him the news. He called me a stupid ass who couldn't keep his dick in his pants. He told me if me or Ellie were on drugs to get the hell off of them for the baby's sake. I never even thought of that, the stupid ass I was. Ellie luckily had insurance with the model's union. Without that insurance, we would have been up a creek without a paddle."

"When Ellie was five months gone she told me she didn't want the baby. I couldn't believe her. Why wouldn't she want her baby? She told me since she carried it this far, that she would have it, then give it up for adoption. Otherwise she would consider abortion. She wasn't ready to be a mother and really didn't care for kids. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My wife of two months was going to give our baby away or kill it. I just couldn't believe it. The baby had a mother and a father. Why would you give it away? I told her no way! She wasn't giving my child away. God almighty, the things you find out too late."

"I told Ellie that I couldn't stay with a woman that would give her child away knowing that me, the father wanted it. She told me I could have it. After it was born I could take the kid and do what I wanted with it. She couldn't even call it a baby, a girl or boy, she called it an it, the dumb bitch. I just couldn't believe this was happening. In two years I'd been married twice and my second wife didn't want our child. I sat down and cried."

"I called my dad, my rock in hard times. I explained the situation to him. I know he could hear me crying. I was lost and needed help desperately."

"My dad said he would help me all he could but there wasn't much that he could do living so far away. He told me after the baby was born I should move back home. He, mom and my sister would help us all they could. He told me even though I had made all the mistakes he was proud of me for standing up for the baby. He told me the baby right now had no one else to speak for him."

"About two month later Ellie was rushed to the hospital. Due to her taking drugs the baby was going to come early. She, yes it was going to be a girl and would be a preemie. She would be a seven month baby and to make it even worse she would be addicted to drugs. The only good thing about Ellie was that she did have insurance to help cover the pregnancy and the baby's care. It would end up being in the tens of thousands of dollars."

"I decided I was going to name her Carly. I liked that name. When she was delivered the doctor grabbed her and rushed her into an incubator. He looked at me and said she only had about a thirty percent chance of making it. I looked at her and sat down and bawled. The tears wouldn't stop. I knew that Ellie was a druggy but so was I and look what we did to our baby."

"I decided right then and there that I wouldn't take another drug or smoke weed. I was going to stop cold turkey. I wasn't a religious person but I walked into the hospital chapel and prayed for my little girl. There was just nothing I could do to help her. I would have given my life for her but life doesn't work that way. I felt so helpless. I have no idea how long I stayed in the chapel. I guess until I ran out of tears. I headed back to see Ellie and she said she felt bad but it might be better if the baby died rather then going through life with health problems. I didn't know what to say. I told her I would go see a lawyer the next day and get the divorce papers and full custody papers taken care of."

"I spent the entire night in the hospital praying and feeling helpless. Every couple of hours a nurse would come out and tell me Carly's condition. Normally it would be 'No change, I'm sorry.' They wouldn't let me in the room with her due to all the special treatment she was getting. I overheard two nurses talking in the distance as she said, "How could anyone do that to their child? If she makes it, it will be a miracle." So at that moment I started praying for a miracle. Carly would be my miracle baby."