Chapter 16
Thanksgiving morning found Jake awake at his usual six o'clock. He loved waking up in the morning with his women; these days he never knew what precise position he would find them all in. Trish and Melissa had jointly decided that he could not sleep in the middle any more because he always got up first and had to crawl over somebody. Melissa worked it so that she was usually in the middle; she was in puppy heaven every night with a warm body on either side of her.
Jake quietly got out of bed. He made sure Muffy was covered and put his still-warm pillow against her back. He usually woke the girls up after working out; but since it was a holiday, he figured they could sleep in. He and Leslie, though, had somewhere to be at seven-thirty -- so he went to get her up. Leslie woke up right away; she was immediately chipper, as always. Like Jake, she was a morning person. Jake yakked with her while she brushed her teeth. Jake politely turned around while she dressed.
"I love this body; I'm going to take much better care of it than my last one. I wonder what I'll look like when I grow up. I don't have a single picture of my biological mother, so I don't have a clue," she said.
"We need to get personal things for you from the Solomons. Mr. Solomon promised me that he would have them for you whenever you wanted them," Jake said.
Leslie nodded, "Well, I took her body -- so I want to know her history," Leslie replied.
"What about your real family? Do you want to keep tabs on them or get involved in their lives like Nina did?" asked Jake.
Leslie shook her head, "My life before was good; I can't think of anything that I would change. The Good Lord sure has done well for me. I am going to take every opportunity I find to repay him. I'm ready; let's blow this Popsicle stand," she said.
Jake turned around and gave her a grin. She was wearing a nice print dress with her hair spread out on her shoulders. She had a white cardigan tied around her shoulders. Jake told her how cute she looked; he grinned even bigger when she had the grace to blush.
By seven-fifteen, he and Leslie were at the Salvation Army homeless shelter. Jake had donated everything they needed to make dinner for at least five hundred people. Leslie had baked one of the turkeys for the meal last night, as had all the other volunteers. Six additional turkeys were also cooking in the big commercial ovens the shelter used. Jake and Leslie picked up aprons and got to work. Leslie was working with the food prep crew while Jake drew duty at the back sink washing pots and pans. By eleven-thirty, they were ready to start serving.
Jake and Leslie were serving mashed potatoes, halfway down the serving line. Jake watched the people coming through the line closely. They were a mixed lot: down on their luck families, emotionally spent Vietnam Veterans, and men and women who chose street life over honest work. Jake left the spuds to Leslie and went out to talk to some of the diners. All of them had a sad story; the trouble was, not all of the stories were true. Jake's heart especially went out to the families.
Jake ended up at a table with a couple in their late twenties with three young children. The man was a carpenter from Tennessee, displaced by the downturn in the economy that had ground new home construction to a halt. When his unemployment benefits ran out, Quincy Nobles had packed up his family in their ten-year-old station wagon and headed to Florida. Quincy had heard there was work in South Florida so he was heading for it. They made it as far as Palmdale before the old wagon gave up the ghost. For the last five days, he and his family had been camping in a city park. Quincy was taking any day labor he could find to provide for his family. The Nobles were good, decent people, victims of a fortune that was the opposite of Jake's.
Jake talked with them for a little longer. Not once did Quincy or his wife bemoan their luck. They were determined to find work and keep their family together. Jake excused himself, went to the office, and asked to use the phone. He made three calls, then went back to the dining room. Jake caught up with the Nobles just as they were standing up to leave. He asked Mrs. Nobles and the kids to sit back down while he talked to Quincy. By two o'clock Jake had the family in a three bedroom rental trailer near the campground where they were staying. Jake hired Quincy to be the maintenance man at the ranch. Quincy would take the load of keeping the physical plant running off Ramon Diaz's shoulders.
Hiring Quincy turned out to be one of Jake's best instinctual decisions ever. Quincy was a skilled craftsman who could fix almost anything, and the hardest working man Jake had ever met. Nothing stayed broken for long at TnT Ranch once Nobles was on board. Melissa was so pleased she had a caretaker's house build on the property for Quincy and his family. She also had a woodworking shop constructed for him. When Mrs. Martinez had to move because of family problems, Quincy's wife Tanya took her place. Tanya was a marvelous cook and was as hard working as her husband. The Noble's youngest child and only daughter Sally and Anita Diaz were the same age and became inseparable best friends.
Quincy was an excellent hunter and woodsman. Jake would sneak off with him and his two sons to go hunting or fishing every chance he had. Quincy was a taciturn man, when he spoke it was for a reason and to the point. Quincy lined up behind Ramon in his worship of Melissa. If Ms. Thornton wanted something, she got it. A hint from Melissa to Tanya was all it took to make it happen. At first, Tanya was also shy and quiet. She was embarrassed about her thick country accent and lack of education. Jake, however, soon got her out of that; he teased her unmercifully until she started giving it right back to him.
Jake and Leslie went home at three-thirty. Leslie was happy with their day together and pleased at Jake's generosity. Her new friend was a kind and compassionate man, but what if... ?
"Jacob, what if there are other travelers like us, ones that are greedy and evil?" she asked.
Leave it to someone else to point out the obvious. Jake was appalled that he had never even considered that possibility. It was entirely conceivable that a proportionate number of bad people had been or would be reborn. This was just great -- one more thing for him to worry about.
"It's possible, Leslie; and something I should have thought of before now. I'll talk to Trish about it; she's the brains of this outfit, and maybe she knows something we don't. Nothing we can do about it today, in any event. Besides, all I can think about is filling myself up with turkey. Smelling and serving all that food has me starved."
"Amen to that, my brother from another mother," Leslie said enthusiastically.
The Turner and Thornton clans sat down to feast at five that evening. Jake was a happy camper surrounded as he was by people he cherished. Even Chip Thornton, Melissa's playboy brother, was there. Chip had passed up jet-setting during the holiday at Melissa's request. Chip looked good and seemed more settled now. He was a junior at the University of Florida; amazingly, he was keeping his grades up while burning his candle from both ends. Chip's motto was: live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse. Old Chipper tried out a little of his playboy game on Trish the Dish after supper. Trish smilingly took him into the kitchen and had a little chat with him. Chip came back into the living room and sat back down. He barely looked at Trish the rest of the evening. She had most definitely shot him down in flames.
The other bad boy, Maria Thornton's son Tyler, was also there. Tyler had transferred from Princeton to the University of Florida when his father was killed. Tyler had taken a page out of Chip's playbook and had been breaking hearts all over campus. Had been, but no longer was. Maria had nipped his new lifestyle in the bud when she got wind of his doings at her New Year's Eve party. Maria told Tyler that he could live anyway he wanted, as long as he paid for it with his own money. While she was footing the bill, however, he would do things her way. Since Tyler did not have the boatload of money Chip did, he cooled his jets. Tyler was an excellent student and pretty much had a lock on a seat in the University of Miami's Law School.
Everyone made a big fuss over Helen's twins. Joey and Julie were almost two months old now and aware of what was going on around them. Helen let it slide that Jake called Joseph and Julia shortened versions of their names even though it set her teeth on edge. Jake remembered what his grandfather had told him about 'being with' Helen's baby. He looked at them both closely but could not discern any noticeable sign that they were anything other than typical happy babies. Jake did see trouble clouds in his future when Muffy held Julia all evening. Melissa smiled blissfully as she and Jake sat on the couch, each holding a happily gurgling baby. She clearly figured that, in two years, they would be sitting there holding at least one of their own.
During the evening the women started talking about Melissa's plans for her and Jake's wedding. Jake was shooting the shit with Charles, Chip, and Tyler while the women gabbed. It was then that Jake decided he had better tell Melissa about himself. She needed to know before she committed herself to spending the rest of her life with him. Besides, she was bound to find out eventually, better he tell her now and clear the air.
Jake tucked Leslie into bed at ten that night and then headed for his bedroom. Tonight was not going to work for telling Melissa the truth about himself. Turkey-stuffed Jake was too tryptophan drowsy; happy molecules of serotonin and melatonin strolled through his blood. Jake slept like a rock and woke up as hard as one. His morning erection was nestled pleasantly between Muffy's lovely butt cheeks. Trish was on the other side of Melissa; she was awake looking at the two of them. Jake motioned with his head to the bathroom; Trish nodded and rolled out of bed. Jake slowly disentangled himself and followed her.
Trish was at the sink brushing her teeth. Her large, well shaped ass jutted out enticingly. Trish grinned at his reflection in the mirror.
"See something you like, big boy?" she asked.
"I like everything I see," Jake replied as he rested his hand on the swell of her ass.
Trish favored him with another smile, spit out a mouth full of tooth paste, and rinsed off her tooth brush. She put her hands on the vanity top and leaned forward in invitation for further attention from his caressing hands. Jake slid one hand between her legs and cupped one of her breasts with the other. Trish rapidly moistened as he played with her puffy nether lips. She was soon lubricated enough to receive accept him.
"I'm ready, my love," she said. "Give me Mr. Turner."
Jake stepped back and Trish spread her legs more. He put his hand between her shoulder blades and pushed her upper body forward. Trish quickly saw his intent and leaned completely across the vanity, her head resting on her crossed arms. She was at the perfect height for him as he held his erection in his hand and ran it up and down her slit. Trish gasped as Jake pushed the head of his hardness into her tight sheath. It was a perfect fit; they were a perfect fit. Jake held onto her hips and drove his shaft home. Trish spurred him on with words of encouragement. She moved one hand from under her head and rubbed her clit as he sawed in and out of her quivering quim. Trish was just reaching her peak when Jake exploded in her with a grunt. His cum splashing against her womb set her off also.
The lovers stood up on shaky legs and headed for the shower. Jake was washing Trish's back when he told her of his plan to bring Melissa up to speed about his true nature. Trish said that it was totally the right thing to do; the sooner he told her, the better - in her opinion.
Jake told Muffy everything that day. He took her horseback riding to do it. When they were in a little glade in the cypress stand, he laid it all out for her. Melissa listened to his story attentively; her expression never changed. When he finished talking, she finally spoke.
"That must be why I like you so much," she said. "You are an older man in a younger body."
Jake looked at her incredulously; he was expecting more of a reaction. Melissa picked up on his look and continued.
"Baby, I don't care if you are an alien from Mars. I love you. I have known for at least a year that you were not what you seemed. I didn't care then and I care even less now. You are my man and I'm going to be right beside you while you change our future."
Jake and Melissa slowly rode back to the house as Jake told her what he remembered of the next thirty years. Melissa was more in awe of the computer technology revolution than she was of his rebirth. Her nimble mind was already plotting business strategies that would make her the head of the largest business empire ever assembled. She thought Jake's idealism was terrific but she knew that money drove the train and filled the boxcars. Her man was going to have all the money he would ever need for his good works.
Trish was anxiously waiting for them back at the house. She had had a good idea of what pragmatic Melissa's reaction would probably be, but she knew from experience to expect anything. Amazingly, their shared secret bonded them all even closer together.
The wedding was definitely still on. They set the date: Saturday, June 1, 1974. Jake stuck with his policy of keeping his ass out of the wedding planning line of fire. He made one suggestion, however, that saved everyone a lot of heart burn. He said they should let the Country Club staff deal with everything except items that needed a decision on Melissa's part. Muffy went for that in a big way.
Trish used her knowledge of the Garment District to snag Melissa an appointment with the hottest designer on the planet, Halston. On December the tenth, Melissa sent one of the Lear Jets to LaGuardia to pick up Halston (real name back in Des Moines: Roy Halston Frowick). Trish said Halston really went for the ostentatious so Melissa had Erika and Dave Larson treat him as if he were royalty. Halston stayed at the ranch for three days being wined and dined. He took the commission to design and make Muffy's dress. The dress was ivory-colored, beaded with real pearls, and universally acknowledged as Halston's masterpiece. Melissa would never tell Jake what the dress cost.
When December rolled around, planning for the Second Annual Thornton-Turner Children's Christmas Party had already been in the works for over a month. The event grew to keep pace with the expanding staff of both organizations. In addition to the employee children's party, they were also hosting one for underprivileged children. Leslie and Trish took the lead on the charity party, although the same committee planned both parties. When Leslie asked how many children they could bring, Jake said, "As many as they could find; just get a good count and prepare for ten percent more." Muffy called the wife of Jake's National Guard battalion commander and got the battalion's wives group involved also.
The response for the charity party was so large they had to split it into two days. Jake was Santa for over three hundred kids on the fifteen and sixteenth. On the twenty-second, over one-hundred and fifty children of employees and soldiers filled the ranch. It was grueling for Santa Jake but he enjoyed every minute of all the parties. True to her word, Helen had the twins at the party. They were too young to enjoy it, of course, but Helen was not too old to show them off. The Greers brought Billy Jr. again and little Rachael Doane came with Katie and LaMonte. Both toddlers were fascinated with Santa and everything going on. Leslie joined Nina Murphy and the Phillips twins on elf duty.
Melissa hosted another party for their employees Sunday night the twenty-third. It was a great party until Joe Bunnell drank a snootfull of loud mouth and started manhandling Louisa. Jake stepped in between Bunnell and a pissed-off Ramon and discreetly took Bunnell outside to quiet him down. Jake was willing to let the whole matter drop and was even going to drive the pilot home, when Bunnell took a swing at him. Jake jerked his head back and took a harmless glancing blow off his cheek. He grabbed Bunnell's arm in a submission hold and was frog-marching him to his car when he saw Melissa standing just outside the door watching them. Even in the semi-dark, Jake could see she was glowering irately. Old Joe's Christmas bonus check would be the last penny he earned at Erika Air. It would, however, not be the last they heard of Joe Bunnell.
Later that night Charles Turner took Jake aside and had a little talk with him.
"Son, I want to tell you how incredibly happy I am with the way everything has turned out. Your mother told me that the babies would not change the way she treated me. Well they actually have, but it has been all for the better. I swear I'm the best cared-for man on the planet, Helen dotes on me as much as she does the twins. Not to mention, once she was pregnant, the sexual pressure was lifted off me and my manhood slowly rejuvenated itself. The best thing is, she doesn't just wait for me to ask for something; she seeks me out to take care of me. I am not talking just about sex; I mean anything. It is good to be me."
Jake was very glad to hear Charles' little speech. He, as well as everyone else, noticed how Helen doted on lucky Charles. They made a great couple and a formidable team. You just had to envy a guy married to a Buckley woman if Helen and her cousin Mary were the norm.
The next significant event in Jake's life started New Year's Eve. Once again, they were partying at Maria's. Jake reckoned that Pearl S. Buck would have enough material for a book just by observing the changes everyone went through from party to party. Jake, Melissa, and Trish were standing by the bar when the Greers walked over. Jake introduced them to Trish, then Bill asked Jake if the two of them could talk privately. Jake said sure and walked off a short distance from the women.
"Jake, I need a favor. I don't know of a delicate way put this, so I'm just going to ask. We have been trying for eighteen months to make Billy a brother or sister. We have had no luck. My sperm count is still too low even after a year of hormone and vitamin shots. Victoria and I have discussed it and we both think you are the ideal person to get her pregnant. I'll be on the birth certificate as the father, so no one would ever know of your involvement. We both want another child before I get much older and we would be very grateful for your help."
Jake told Bill he would be honored to try for them with two conditions. First, both Melissa and Trish had to agree. Second, as a kind of repayment, Bill had to help him organize and chair a study projecting educational needs for the year 2000 and how to orient schools towards those needs. Jake told Bill that funding was no object if he agreed. Bill jumped at the chance to do something he had always dreamed of. In fact, such a study would allow him to expand on the ideas he had presented in his doctorial thesis. When Jake said he would pay to have the study published, it was icing on the cake. Bill was not sure why this new woman Trish had to approve -- but whatever it took, they would do.
Bill and Jake rejoined the women. Bill took Vickie's arm and, excusing them, he led her onto the dance floor. Trish and Melissa turned to Jake.
"What was that about?" asked Melissa.
"You'll know soon enough, Miss Nosy Nose," Jake replied.
As soon as the song ended the Greers returned to where Jake and his ladies were standing. Vickie asked Melissa and Trish to accompany her to the bathroom while their men refreshed their drinks. They return ten minutes later. This time Vickie took Bill's hand and pulled him out to dance.
"So how'd it go?" Jake asked.
"You'll know soon enough, Mister Nosy Nose," Melissa cattily replied.
Jake did find out that night. Melissa told him while they were recuperating from a seriously hot bout of sex. Trish and Melissa were even more passionate than usual that night.
"I agreed to let you get Ms Greer pregnant; but I told her I was going to be there with you," Melissa told him.
Jake's eyebrows arched up at that statement.
"Don't look so surprised, Baby; I've been hot for her since I was in the tenth grade."
Jake turned to Trish.
"What did you say, Dish?" he asked.
"Jake, honey, it was so sweet of you to include me. I told her it was fine by me as long as I was with you for the encore, the insurance session. She is a fox in public and, I'll bet, she is a minx in the sack," Trish replied.
"Did she agree to both your terms?" Jake asked.
"Oh yeah, she did; she said she had never been with a woman but the idea did not revolt her. It's all set up for the weekend before your birthday at the bungalow. You and me on Saturday, you and Trish on Sunday," Melissa said.
So a new year full of promise started for Jake. January was momentous. While Jake was donating his seed, Bill Greer took the seed money Jake gave him and formed a nonprofit organization he called the Millennium Project. Jake also started a small reference research company. Tongue firmly in cheek, he named it the Data on Time Company or DOT COM for short. Data on Time employed two reference librarians to cull newspapers, scientific journals, and other publications to find references to items specified by a client. Jake gave them their first assignment, find anything relating to computers. He especially wanted items about connecting one computer to another over phone lines. Jake also had them looking for items about people who were extremely lucky in the stock market or gambling. Leslie's comment about other back travelers with different agendas was gnawing at him.
The second weekend of January was a National Guard drill weekend. Jake arrived at the armory Saturday morning and found that the last of the items he needed to make his squad operational had come in. In addition, he had two new soldiers. He and his troops installed new track pads on the M113 and took turns driving it around the motor pool. By the time the drill ended Sunday evening, they were beginning to look like a real infantry squad.
Monday morning Jake went to class in eager anticipation of the week
to come. Muffy and Trish had been hinting that his birthday was going
to be full of surprises for him. Moreover, he had a weekend of most
pleasant duty coming up with the receptive Vickie Greer. But, most
importantly, he was turning eighteen. Eighteen, the legal age to do
whatever he wanted, was an opening door for him to charge through.