There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 20

He's not going to hire an airplane and have them sky write it all over town. He's going to use it as a database for himself. He and Zoie will establish their own limits as they go along."

"Did Gordon know anything about sex?"

"I know ten-year-olds that knew more about sex than Gordon did. He and Zoie are going to have a wonderful time learning about each other's bodies as they grow up."

"Do you think you should call Dycke and let him talk to Gordon?"

"First, I think Gordon would be furious with me for betraying a confidence. Second, I don't think he would be able to speak freely about exploratory sex, with the young woman's father."

"Do you remember what happened to you on the evening of your father's wedding?"

"Did you have to bring that up? I still shiver when I think of being naked, in the hallway, with Jennifer and dad looking at me. I had your goop all over my hands and chest. All I wanted to do was crawl into a hole, cover it over me, and die."

"As I remember, I wasn't much help. I heard you scream, and ran into the hallway to see if you had been hurt. The only problem was I was naked. When I saw your parents standing by their room, I believe my profound words were, "Oh Shit!"

"Yes, but you were smart enough to turn around, and run back into our bedroom. I was frozen to the spot where they saw me. Jennifer; I wanted to kill Jennifer. She always has the perfect words to say. "Is it Delicious, Delicious?"

I finally gained enough courage to move into the bathroom. I screamed, "I'm not talking to either one of you for the rest of your lives."

I could hear my parents laughing at us from their bedroom. You could sleep through a tornado, and not be bothered by it. I wasn't sure if I loved you more, or hated you that evening. I did envy you, because it took me hours to fall asleep."

"Do you feel better now baby?"

"Do I feel better about what?"

"Do you feel better about my conversation with Gordon?"

"Husband, you are a sneaky son of a bitch. You pick the most embarrassing moment of my life, then you compared it to what you did with my brother. He is still only fifteen years old, and so innocent. Are you sure he was ready for that?"

"He's going to be sixteen in ten days. Over fifty percent of sixteen-year-olds have already had sex. It was better for him to hear it from me, then for him to pick up a magazine, or watch the Internet and learn it from them."

"You are right. I just hope they go slow, like we did."

"Babe, compared to us, I think they will be moving like a 300 pound tortoise."

"It would be wonderful for both of them to move that slow."

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

Gordon turned his seat towards the rear of the aircraft so he could look at Zoie. She began telling him all the wonderful things he would see in the historical area of Charleston. When the seatbelt sign went off, she jumped from her seat into Gordon's lap, and kissed him. It may have been the fastest she ever moved in her life.

After the bright spark died down, she said, "I love being in love with you. It's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Do you mean being in love with me is better than getting rid of the quarter sized zits that covered your beautiful face?"

Zoie put her head on his shoulder, and bit his earlobe. "The zits are close second, but you are definitely the winner."

"My sister wants us to be godparents to Teddy. Would you like that?"

"It would be awesome. You would belong to me forever. If anything would happen to Teddy's parents, we would have to stay together to raise her properly. She would need a two parent home. I would have you trapped, with a noose around your neck, and a nose ring. Call your sister now, and tell her yes."

"Who runs your household Zoie?"

"My mom does."

"Are your brothers married?"

"Yes they are."

"Who runs their households?"

"Their wives do."

"Do you want to guess who runs my parent's house?"

"Your mother?"

"Are you beginning to see a pattern developing?"

Zoie kissed Gordon's neck. "Are you telling me once were married, I have the upper hand?"

"Remember the beginning of that sentence Zoie. Until we are married, I have the upper hand. After we are married, I become your golden retriever, collar, and all."

"Oh goody, I always wanted a puppy."

Gordon kissed her, and nibbled on her lower lip. "Remember my love; puppies grow up into mature animals. When you pull on the leash too hard, they can get angry, and run away."

"I will never put a leash on you. I'll spank you instead."

"I have no idea what this spanking stuff is about, but everyone seems to love it."

"I'll teach you."

"How would you know about spanking?"

"When I was younger, I would sit by my parent's door and listen. It didn't matter which one of them was being spanked, because they both loved it.

Let me give you a word of advice; don't ever bet against my father. He does not lose. My mom doesn't know how he does it neither does my Uncle Steve. My dad does not lose a bet."

"Thank you for that information Zoie, forewarned, is forearmed."

"Let's tell my dad about being godparents to Teddy, and see what his reaction is to it."

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

Dycke was working on his computer, when he noticed four feet on the floor to his left.

"Are you two ganging up on me again?"

"No Mister Schneider, I just told Zoie something, now I wanted to tell you. I'm impotent, and cannot have children."

"What; you proposed to my daughter without telling her you were impotent in advance? Don't you think she had a right to know this before she made her decision?"

Zoie giggled at her father's reaction.

Dycke looked at the two of them, and saw the smirks on their faces.

"What is with you two? I've known you for seven years Gordon, and you've never told a joke. You've been with my daughter twice over three days, and you are driving me crazy with these things. You do know I have access to a gun, don't you?"

"Yes sir, I do, but Zoie told me you would not kill me, you would only hurt me. I just wanted to see you smile."

Dycke did smile. "Okay, I know she can't be pregnant, what do you two want from me now?"

"My sister asked us to be Godparents to Teddy. We would both like to do it. We just wanted your thoughts on the subject."

"I think it's a wonderful gesture by your sister. As long as you are sure you could raise Teddy as your own, I believe you should do it."

Zoie kissed her father. "Thank you dad, it's what we wanted to do, but we wanted an adult opinion."

Dycke closed his computer, and told the kids to sit down.

"You two have made an adult decision; you have decided to get married. Even and I believe you should wait at least one year before that happens. Gordon will be seventeen, September 30. Zoie, you will be eighteen, December 24. Any time between those dates will be fine with either of us. However, Zoie, if you want your mother to be in heaven when you get married, a Christmas wedding would do it for her. She was so disappointed when you came a day early. She wanted her legs tied together to keep you inside until after midnight, but you were determined to be born on the twenty-fourth. I'm not sure if a church will be available on the twenty-fourth for an afternoon wedding. I'm not sure if the two of you will agree to it. It means waiting three additional months before you get married, and again that has to be your decision.

Then we need to make a decision as to where to hold the wedding. I want to hold it in the same church your mother and me were married. Even wants to hold it inside 'The 'Good Luck'. It will be in the finishing stages of completion, and should look awesome. This will be your decision, again.

Your gown will be made by the same design house that made your mothers' gown. That is not negotiable. Her gown has been featured on more magazine covers than I can remember. The last time it was featured was on Bride's Magazines last March. Payne and I have been married twenty-six years, that's how timeless the design of her gown is.

Now for the biggie, Zoie you will continue taking your birth control pills until you get married, after that, you and Gordon will decide your future. You have our permission to sleep together if you so desire. It is the arrangement I had with my parent's, and Payne had with hers. I don't see any reason to be hypocritical about it with the both of you. You are much younger then Payne and I were. We were both eighteen. I would suggest you both read extensively on the subject of sex, as we did, before we did anything. It made our first time much more pleasurable, because we knew what we were doing."

"Zoie return to your seat. I want to talk to Gordon alone."

"Don't you hurt him dad."

"Does it sound like I'm going to hurt him?"

"I'm never sure what you're going to do."

"For fifteen years of your life I wanted to throw you off the balcony, and I didn't. Go to your seat young lady."

"That wasn't nice dad."

"It may not have been nice Zoie, but it was true, every word of it."

***********

"Did you bring condoms with you Gordon?"

"My dad and I were supposed to buy some when the time was right. I never met a girl my age, until I met and fell in love with your daughter. My dad is bedridden, as you know, so I couldn't go with him. I had a long talk with Gray on Saturday, but we worked most of the day, and didn't have a chance to buy any, and for him to show me how to put them on properly. I promise you I will not be having intercourse with Zoie until I am completely knowledgeable on the use of condoms, and she is fully protected."

"That is a very smart precaution, because even though she is on the pill, they are not completely safe. Recent studies have downgraded them from ninety-nine percent effective, to ninety-seven percent effective. She is still in school, and the last thing she needs is to be ridiculed by her classmates for being pregnant, before she is married."

"I would never let that happen, Mister Schneider. The day Zoie tells me she is pregnant will be the day we get married."

"You are an amazing young man Gordon. I felt the same way about Payne. One more thing, Zoie is ticklish. She is especially ticklish under her rib cage. She loses control immediately."

"Now isn't that a shame. Do you think I would take advantage of a young woman with a condition like that?"

"You would be a fool not to."

"I wholeheartedly agree. Thank you Mister Schneider, I'm going to rejoin my fiancé."

"Enjoy yourself, just remember we are at 51,000 feet, and if she throws you out of the airplane, it's a long way down."

"I don't believe I would bounce sir."

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

99. Do Not Disturb

No one was sitting down. They kept watching the 'Beauty Box' waiting for it to open automatically. This was an intricate part of the test. If it didn't work, one year was wasted, not on the human experiment, but on the technical side of the experiment. According to their calculations, the box should have opened more than three hours ago, but it showed no signs of doing so.

Junie was still in a deep sleep, her vital signs were nominal, and everything was working properly; except the program should have ended. It hadn't, and they were worried.

Callum and Cassie were ordered not to touch anything, as Patti, Laura, and Anna rushed back to check the main computer in the basement to see if they had made a mistake on the day, hour, or minute the box was to open.

They checked the primary and secondary computer outputs. They were correct. The box should have opened a little more than three hours ago.

They were halfway back to the barn when they heard Callum yell, "The light went on, the box is opening."

Laura yelled, "Don't Touch Her!"

They climbed the ladder to the loft, threw Callum out of the way, and checked Junie's vital signs. She was still in a deep sleep, but that was to be expected.

Laura inserted an oxygen cannula into her nose, and put the gauge up to 100 percent. It would get the anesthesia out of her system quickly.

Anna made the electrolyte mixture, and brought a pail for Junie to vomit in if necessary. It happened in all the movies, but this was the first time anyone had done it in real life.

Patti said, "She's coming out of it."

Laura turned around and faced him. "So help me God Callum, if you touch her, I will cut your balls off, and feed them to you."

"I understand, Laura. I will stay back, I promise."

Cassie said, "Come here big guy, hang on to me, until they finish checking her out."

Jemma stuck her head above the loft, and asked, "Can I watch?"

"Absolutely Jemma, she's just about to wake up."

"Perfect timing."

Laura was looking down at Junie, and said, "You slept enough. It's time for you to wake up. Come on Junie, open those eyes, and look at me."

Patti said, "Her vital signs are now normal. Her oxygen saturation rate is ninety-eight percent, she should be awake."

"She should be, but she's not. What the fuck did we do wrong?"

Callum started pushing his way forward.

Laura turned, "Callum, if you take one more step I'll kill you."

Callum stopped dead in his tracks. He knew a real threat when he heard it.

Laura placed a stethoscope over Junie's carotid artery. The blood was flowing smoothly to her brain. She checked Junie's heart and it was pumping perfectly. She couldn't understand why Junie was not awake. She decided to try something outrageous."

She moved her mouth close to Junie's ear. "It's your wedding day Junie; it's time for you to wake up."

She stood back and waited. There was a muscles twitch on the right side of her face, and then another one. Her right eye blinked, blinked, blinked, and stayed closed. Her mouth opened, and she breathe in. Her right eye opened and tried to focus. There was no movement on the left side of her face.

Laura looked into Junie's eye. "If you can hear me try to move either of your hands."

Junie moved her left hand and it dropped back to the mattress.

"Junie if you'd like a drink, move either of your hands?"

Junie raised her right hand.

Anna placed the straw into Junie's mouth, and squeezed the bottle slowly. After three seconds she stopped. After ten seconds, she squeezed the bottle again and repeated the procedure.

Junie finished the entire sixteen ounces of electrolytes, and Anna went to refill the bottle.

Laura asked Junie to wiggle the toes on her right leg.

She did.

She accomplished the same task on the left leg.

Laura looked at her mother and said, "Here goes."

"Junie follow my finger."

Laura placed her finger at the 12 o'clock position and moved it slowly to 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and watched carefully to see if Junie would move her neck as she went to the 3 o'clock position. She moved her finger ever so slowly, and Junie's head followed.

Everyone in the room wanted to scream and dance, with joy.

"Junie follow my finger the other way."

Junie followed the instructions and turned her head completely to the left.

Unbidden Junie said, "Thirsty."

"Welcome back Junie, it's been one year."

Junie was drinking the electrolyte solution, and didn't answer. When she finished she said, "Would someone wash out my left eye, it feels like its glued closed."

"Callum bring me the saline solution, and eye drops, please."

Laura stopped him before he was in Junie's line of sight. "One more minute please."

Laura cleaned out both of Junie's eyes and asked her if her vision was clear.

"Yes, everything looks good."

"Good, now I'm going to give you a memory test. Do you remember who this asshole is? He's been bothering me for a year. He thinks you lost weight."

Callum walked into her view, and Junie lit up like a Christmas display.

Callum bent into box and kissed her.

"I don't want to rush you or anything, but when are we getting married?"

"Can I take a shower first?"

Laura said, "Mom, her brain is working fine. She doesn't want him to get away."

"Callum get Junie the crutches; it's time to see if she can walk."

"Junie as we bring you to vertical, you must let us know immediately if you feel any pain in your spine. This is imperative, a disk may have degenerated, or a bone may have fractured. We may have to take you to a hospital for treatment. Okay?"

"Yes, let's do this thing and see if we got 100 on this test."

They used a hydraulic lift to bring her up very slowly. At seventy degrees, Callum gave Junie her crutches, and verified the length. As she went to complete vertical she smiled.

"I don't have any pain. I have muscle stiffness but no pain."

"Use the crutches, and go for a walk."

She walked the length of the loft in the barn and back, with aides on both sides. She handed Anna the crutches. She kissed Callum, and took him for a walk down and back the loft.

Junie said, "I think the three of you built me a winner. I feel fine."

"Fantastic, now all you have to do is call Delicious and tell her. She just had a baby girl, and her name is Teddy."

"You can't trust anyone when you're sleeping. Did she at least take care of our railroad?"

"What railroad?"

"All of them went bankrupt this year."

"I believe that when they stop putting corn into cars. Come on muscles, I want to put one of your muscles to use right after I take a shower."

"Call Delicious first, it's more important than getting laid."

"Okay I'll call her, but I'm not getting laid. Callum promised he was going to make love to me as soon as I woke up. I'm going to hold him to that promise."

"That girl has an excellent memory; he told her that over a year ago today."

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

They landed at the Charleston International Airport 3 ½ hours later, due to the one-hour time difference. When the plane came to a halt in front of the hanger, Gordon stood up.

Zoie said sternly, "Sit down."

"Why, we're here aren't we?"

"Do you have rules set up by your agents in Texas?"

"Yes."

"Then unless you want to wind up face down on the floor, with one of dad's agents kneeling on your back, reciting the rules to you, I would sit down."

Gordon sat down instantly, not only remembering what his father said, but thinking of what Monty would do to him if he disobeyed one of her rules.

"What happens now, Zoie?"

"It depends. Limousines or SUVs will pull up to the stairs of the aircraft. Our agents will call us when it's our time to depart. No one passes the yellow line on the floor in the front of the aircraft; until the agent takes you by the arm and says go. It should take you no longer than eight seconds to go from the door of the aircraft into the limousine.

Don't look around, don't talk about the weather, get in the limousine. If I slip and fall, don't stop to pick me up, get in limousine. The agents will pick me up and throw me into the limousine."

"Do you remember my mother saying to me, "Don't fall, and break your neck?" There was a reason for that warning. I was a failure at ballet, and I was worse at gymnastics. Although I have only two legs, I have four left feet. When I try to do something fancy with them, I usually wind up on the floor."

"Should we start taking dancing lessons for our wedding?"

"ME, DANCING, you will be taking your life in your hands."

"No, I will be taking you in my arms. You also have to dance with your father; it's traditional."

"Oh God, I'm going to maim the two men I love the most in the same night."

"Don't forget, you have to dance with my father too."

"Why don't we hold a reception at a hospital? It will be easier than transporting the walking wounded from miles away."