There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 20

"You certainly will be."

She went into the kitchen, took a syringe, and put medication into it. She returned to my side, swiped an alcohol swab on my arm, and injected the medication into my arm.

"What was that Hannah?"

She said politely, "Good night Doctor."

"I have phone calls..." I was out like a light. You don't fool around with Hannah.

I hate waking up and staring into those disapproving eyes.

"I didn't do anything," I said defensively. "I was sitting down and..."

"Even if you lie to me I'm going to stick Hannah's needle in your eyes."

"You wouldn't do that to a sick man."

"Try me."

"Jen leave me alone for a little while, I have things I have to figure out."

"If I leave, I'm going back to Denver, permanently."

"I would die if you did that to me."

"What type casket would you like?"

"Dammit, my sister paid me a visit. Are you happy now? She said if we are not off the ground by Christmas Day of next year the project will fail. There is no way we can meet that deadline. We don't know if the stasis project is ready. The nuclear engine will not be here for eleven months. If everything goes perfectly with its installation and testing, that brings us to fifteen months. There is not enough time to get it all done by a year from Christmas. It would take a miracle."

"So what is the great Doctor Even Luck going to do about it? Is he going to lie in bed and get sick over it; or is he going to get well and get back to work so he can attempt to make that deadline. If he fails, at least he can say to himself and his investors he gave it his best shot."

"You are as much a pain in my ass as the needle is. I'm beginning not to like you Jennifer. As matter of fact, I'm sure I don't like you."

She laughed at me. "I thought I was supposed to say that."

"You do, and quite often I believe. I don't like getting my ass kicked, but I will do it. I will get better, and I will do my best to finish the spacecraft on time. If I do, it will not be my doing; it will be Her doing. It is not humanly possible to finish that ship in fifteen months."

******************

Gordon was up bright and early Monday morning with two suitcases packed and waiting by the front door. He waited for Tammy to bring me my morning medication to come in to say goodbye.

"Hi dad, I have to leave for Austin and wanted to make sure you are alright before I left."

"What could possibly be wrong with me that another three months of healing won't fix? Just as Doctor Mozia said, "It's going to take time; time and patience. I tried to beat the system and found out that the system can't be beaten. I will follow the rules and I will get better. I want you to have the time of your life. I want you to get to know Zoie. I know you two are meant for each other. So did Dycke and Payne even though they didn't want to admit it.

Beware of their sons; you will get the ribbing of your life from both of them. Zoie was the Bain of their existence until recently. They will get even for that by taking it out on you."

"Thanks for the warning dad; thanks to Monty I will be able to defend myself."

"Wake up your mother and say goodbye."

"Who could sleep with you to making such a racket? I can't wait for you to go back to work Even, I was able to get more sleep back then."

Jennifer's head peeked out from under the covers and she kissed her son goodbye.

"Do you have your cash, ATM, and credit cards with you?"

"Yes mom, I'm ready to go."

"Okay, be better than I was at your age."

"If you tell me where he is, I will make sure he will not molest another young girl again."

"We went over that last night Gordon. It's time for you to go on vacation. I love you. I love that you are concerned about me. If that didn't happen to me, I wouldn't have you, and I wouldn't have this worthless piece of garbage lying next to me."

"I resemble that remark."

"Dad I meant to ask you one question that mom didn't answer me last night. She said I was not too old to be spanked. I hear you spanking her all the time. When do you become too old to be spanked? Mom is getting old."

Jennifer screamed as she threw off the blankets. "Old my ass, I'm still young enough to catch you.

Gordon yelled, "Goodbye dad," as he ran down the hallway and out the front door to the safety of the SUV waiting to take him to Zoie.

Jennifer stopped at the front door and yelled to him. "I'm not going to kill you when you come home. Death would be too quick and painless. I'm going to poison you slowly and watch you come apart at the seams. On your final day on this earth, I'm going to spank the crap out of you."

Gordon yelled back, "Can I watch dad spank you first?"

Jennifer took off her slipper and threw it at him. It wasn't even close.

"Goodbye mom!"

"Goodbye Gordon, have fun." (I'm going to kill you when you get back.)

She walked back into the bedroom and gave me that look again.

"Okay, what did I do this time?"

"He wants to watch you spank me."

I hurt myself laughing. It was fun as she climbed over me to get back into bed. Certain wonderful parts of her anatomy passed over my lips, and paused so I could suckle to my heart's content. Nursing on these wonderful pink protrusions would help any man recover more quickly.

****************

97. The Mile High Club

Zoie was bouncing up and down on her toes, in front of the hotel, waiting for Gordon's arrival. He called her as soon as they got off the interstate and said they would be in front of their hotel in nine minutes.

***********

She screamed in excitement, grabbed her father's arm, and pulled him out of their penthouse hotel room. She forced him to run to the elevator with her.

"Zoie, he is supposed to wait for you. You are not supposed to wait for him."

"Dad, I haven't seen him since Saturday. Does it really matter which one of us waits?"

"I guess it doesn't.

With guards on surrounding them, they waited as the black SUV turned into the circular driveway in front of the Hilton Hotel.

Zoie jumped into Dycke's arms, kissed him, and said, "He's here!"

"Remember Zoie be a lady."

Gordon got out of the car, and turned just in time to catch Zoie as she floated through the air to greet him. They kissed.

Dycke shook his head. "I guess we didn't have time to teach her how to be a lady."

When they broke their kiss, a spark arced between their lips.

Zoie giggled. "I guess we still have it."

"How are you this fine morning Miss Schneider?"

"I am fabulous now that you're here Mister Luck."

"Could I ask you a favor?"

"Anything your heart desires."

"Can I put you down and take three steps back so I can see what you're wearing today and compliment you on it. The less important part of our conversation will be finished, and we can get on to the more important things in our lives."

"Just how long do we have to be that far apart Gordon?"

"I think two possibly three seconds will be enough."

"Okay, but don't be like the other boys and start at the chest. They always get stuck there."

"I'll start at your shoes and work my way up. Ready?"

"Yes."

"Okay, on the count of three I'm going to put you down. 1,2,3."

"Magnificent."

Gordon pulled Zoie to him, and kissed her. He said it again, "My God are you beautiful. Now I know what you're wearing too."

"You can't possibly know what I'm wearing. You didn't have enough time to look."

"Would you like to know how many inches from your left knee your freckle is?"

"You saw my freckle; no one notices that little thing."

"I did."

*****************

"I'm sorry to break up your reunion kids, but your mother called and the airplane is ready to go."

"I forgot about your mom being a great pilot."

"She's okay, I guess."

"Zoie is your mother a great pilot or not? If she's not I'm not getting on the airplane."

"My mom is the best pilot my dad has. She's an instructor, and there are only two others in the fleet like her."

"Did you and your mother have an argument over us yesterday?"

"Sort of."

"Do you want to wait until we're in the air to discuss it, or do you want to delay our departure and do it now? If there's going to be a problem with me going to Charleston with you, I'll stay here."

"No, it was nothing like that. We'll talk about it when we're in the air. Okay?"

"Okay." They got into the limousine and headed off to the airport.

"Good morning Mister Schneider."

"Good morning Gordon, have you ever flown in a private jet before?"

"That's sort of the tricky question."

"Why, the answer should be yes, or no."

"But then again, sir, there's my dad, and crazy things happen when he's involved."

"Yes, I've noticed that. What happened with your father?"

"Do you remember when he had the aircraft accident in Alaska? I was only three years old when that happened."

"Yes, I remember when that happened. It was all over the television news, and the print media."

"He wanted to get us back to Denver but the airline said it was going to take several days to do it. Dad called my sister, and told her to have a private jet sent up from Seattle, or Minneapolis to take us back the following morning. He proposed to my mom that evening, and wanted to get back to Denver so they could get married.

He picked us up early the following morning and took us to the airport. The flight crew was there waiting for us. We followed them out to the tarmac, and a brand-new Boeing 767 was waiting there to take us home. There were five crewmembers, and the three of us. Technically, it was a private airplane."

"Delicious sent a Boeing 767 to pick up three people?"

"No sir; when the chairman of Boeing heard my dad was safe he called to see if there was anything he could do to help my dad. Delicious told him she was in the process of hiring a plane to get him back to Denver the next day. He told her not to bother; he would take care of it.

I had a lot of fun on the trip back. They let me sit in the flight deck. I learned that the airplane flew on wires, and the cockpit was made out of glass."

Dycke laughed. "You've come a long way since that day Gordon."

"My dad is an excellent teacher. I know being photographic is a big help, but if you don't know how to focus your energies on what you enjoy doing, it's just a waste of talent. It's like his friend Mister Laver says about my dad; if he had not wanted to get out of his father's house so badly, he would've never gone to MIT. He would have gone to a local college, and wound up being a high school science teacher."

"Okay you two, we are here. I will take care of my wife's anxiety. She will be fine by the time we get to Charleston. You will have to set up your own parameters as you go along. We want you to enjoy your little vacation, and get to know one another."

Zoie was flying through the air again, but this time it was towards her father.

"Thank you daddy, I didn't want to go home and have another argument with mom."

"It's okay baby; I'll just tell her you threw us out of the building."

"Wouldn't it be easier if I moved downstairs to the Chase's apartment for a little while?"

"Yes, but what would happen to all the drama if we did something as simple as that?"

"Dad, sometimes you are a stick in the mud."

"Zoie, I should have put you on birth control pills when you were two. I can't believe the difference in you."

"Gordon, before we leave, could you ask your dad to build us a time machine. I want to go back to when I was two years old. I want to start taking birth control pills at that age. I want to see what type of child I would have been, and see if my parents would've enjoyed me more or less."

"I don't care what you were growing up; I love who you are now. If the eyes are the windows to the soul, you are pure. You have never, and will never harm anyone. You are your parents' child. They raised you by example. They love each other, and their children fiercely. They worked hard to make you the wonderful person you are today. They protected you all your life; now that job belongs to me. I love you Zoie Schneider; I am going to make you the happiest bride on the New Earth."

"You are going make me cry and ruin my make-up."

"I didn't think you were wearing make-up. Your skin is flawless."

"I used to have zits the size of quarters."

"They were there to keep every other boy away from you, until you met me."

Dycke yelled down from the entrance to the aircraft, "Are you two coming to Charleston with me, or are you going to stand down there for the remainder of the day talking?"

"We are thinking about it dad. Gordon knows a Justice of the Peace, and we may elope."

"Get up here this minute young woman, or I will have one of my guards shoot him."

"Dad, you have no sense of humor."

"Zoie, I am not laughing. I am the one who is going to be shot."

"Come with me 'scaredy-cat'; he wouldn't kill you, he would just hurt you, a little."

"Someone needs a spanking, and I am going to administer it."

"Have you been talking to my dad? My mom and he get off on that stuff a lot. They even have paddles; I've seen them."

The starboard engine started.

"That's my mom warning us to get inside, or she is really going to get ticked off. No one fools with her flight plans."

"I like the color of her airplane."

They ran up the stairs, and into the aircraft.

Zoie stuck her head into the flight deck and said, "Hi Mom!"

Gordon followed, "Hello Mrs. Schneider."

Payne responded, "The next time you two make me miss my departure time, I will leave you behind."

"I'm sorry mom, but I had a tough decision to make. I could go home with you, or go to the Justice of the Peace with Gordon."

Payne turned in her seat, looked at the two innocents smiling at her. "You would be dead before you said I Do."

"I told you she would be reasonable about it Zoie."

Payne realized she had been 'had' and was not thrilled about it.

"Tell your father we are flying home inverted, because two wiseasses ticked me off."

"Zoie this will be great practice for take-off on the spacecraft. Thank you Mrs. Schneider, this will be awesome."

"Get to your seats, and buckle up. I will get both of you when we get home."

"Love you mom."

"SEATS!"

99. Special Delivery

Unlike Newton, who took his own sweet time being born, Teddy came into the world as if she was shot from a cannon. From the moment Delicious felt the first labor pain, until the 'Tiny Terror Teddy' entered the world, two hours and fifty-seven minutes elapsed.

The doctor almost didn't make it to the hospital in time for the birth. She looked at the baby in her hands, and asked, "What the heck was your hurry?"

Gray answered for her, "She's expecting four brothers and one sister very soon. When her mother gets home, we have to start working on them immediately."

"I hate to burst your bubble Doctor Thyme, but rules are rules. There will be no sex for two months. That opening is closed."

Delicious burst out into laughter. "Doris have you ever seen a more mournful face in your life?"

"I see that face every time I see a man receive that news. I get such a thrill every time I give it to them. It's like I'm getting even for getting their wives pregnant in the first place."

"I didn't plan this one Doctor, speak to her mother."

"I thought your mother was dead Delicious."

"It's a long story, but she speaks to Newton all the time."

"I don't believe it."

"Neither did we, but after a while we had to. There was no way my son could know the things he was telling us. It was unbelievable. I pray Teddy is normal. I don't know if I could put up with two of them in the same household."

"Internally you look wonderful. You can go home Tuesday morning. All Teddy's tests are at the top of the scale. She is a little underweight, at five pounds four ounces and she is fifteen inches long. Let her name stay with a Y; everyone's going to spell it that way anyhow."

"Thanks Doris, I'll see you in two weeks. When am I supposed to bring her to Doctor Greenspan?"

"They will have that information for you when you check out."

"Gordon, would you and Zoie like to be Teddy's godparents?"

Gordon was shocked. "We haven't decided when to get married, but I would love it. I would be honored to do it, but wouldn't that be a problem?"

"Do you see a problem with it mom?"

"They are going to be married forever. There will be no problem with it at all."

"I'm leaving with Zoie for Charleston tomorrow morning, when will the Christening be?"

"Zoie's next break will be Thanksgiving. Verify that with her, and I will make the arrangements around it."

"Thanks sis, this is going to be wild. I can't wait to see Zoie's reaction."

Gordon walked over to his sister's bedside, kissed her, and shook Gray's hand. "Thanks for the other information Gray, at least I'll know something."

Gray nodded.

A nurse came in and took Teddy to the nursery. Everyone said their goodbyes so Delicious could get some rest. Gray stayed to keep his wife company.

"How do you feel baby?"

"I feel like I could run a half marathon. Teddy did all the work. I didn't do anything this time. There was hardly any pain, and it was over before it started. It was a totally different delivery than Newton's'. If the next five are like this one, they are going to be a snap."

"Let's not jinx ourselves; let's just thank God this one was easy for you. We will work on the next one when the time is right. Remember to keep your birth control pills somewhere Newton can't get to them."

"I'm will have to keep those pills on me. Newton wasn't the culprit, my mother was. Only God can stop her."

"Gray what information did you give Gordon?"

"Oh, it was work related."

"He thanked you on a Sunday for information you gave him on Saturday?"

Gray turned his head and started walking away.

"Gray look at me."

"I have to run out down to the nurses station, I'll be right back."

"Grayson Thyme turn your ass around, and get over here now. What did you do wrong this time?"

"I swear baby, I didn't do anything wrong."

"Tell me exactly, word for word, what Gordon asked you. Then tell me what you did wrong."

"Can I stand by the door?"

"Why, how bad is it?"

"I don't think it's bad, but I'm not sure how you are going to take it."

"So it's that bad."

"Remember, you're not allowed out of bed."

"Tell me what you said to my fifteen-year-old brother."

"He'll be sixteen in ten days."

"Stop splitting hairs and tell me what you did wrong."

"Gordon asked me what you and I did during the ten months we didn't have intercourse. I told him."

"WHAT DID YOU TELL MY BROTHER WE DID?"

"Everything!"

"I'M GOING TO KIIIILLLLL UUUUUU! My little brother knows what we did in the privacy of our bedroom. Are you out of your fucking mind? He must think were perverts. Go home; I don't want to see you anymore today. I'm going to go crazy. I can't believe you did that. How am I going to look him in the eye ever again?"

"Did you have a problem looking at him today?"

"You know I didn't."

"Did he treat you any differently today than he has in the past?"

"No, he was his normal sweet self."

"Then what are you worried about? We talked about this yesterday, because he wasn't seeing Zoie until today. He wasn't sure how to handle himself when he got to Charleston. He wasn't bringing condoms with him, because there was no time to show him what to buy, or how to put them on properly.

Even was supposed to do that with him when they thought the time was right. Unfortunately, your dad didn't do it before he got sick, and I was the only other person he could ask. He was hesitant about asking me for help. He finally summoned up the courage to ask me what we did during those ten months before our wedding, and I told him. I couldn't let him go in to this relationship blind. It wouldn't be fair to Zoie, or him.