The Gettysburg Zone Part 15

She remembered the tattoo for his birthday last year. She actually thought that that had been the end of it. While he never bent the boundries of her faith, for which she was glad, he did want to bend conventionality. Fortunately it was never anything visible to the outside world. With her teaching position, she had to be careful. Yes, her father was still a minister in town but....well....his reputation was his responsibility. But...oh...one of these days Karen was going to push the envelope on her husband. And, while she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize anyone's standing in Gettysburg, she wanted to make Paul rethink his ideas of fantasy and eroticism. She just didn't realize that it would be so very soon. But, his birthday was the twenty eighth. And Traci Cord needed her help on the day before...a Friday.
Traci had a job as a bartender at some little bar down around Thomasville way, on US30 between Abbottstown and York. It was pretty much a biker type of joint. But there were some lesbians and pool sharks that hung arou nd at the little bar. Traci had her eyes on someone that seem-ed to fit the last two criteria.. But she'd had her eye on that woman for at least a month. And for some reason she didn't seem to notice Traci. And Traci was smitten beyond belief! So, Paul got his bike for his midlife crisis even though he was no where near midlife . What was midlife? 40? 50? Who decided when folks were over the hill? Didn't we decide that personally? Wouldn't she know when she was over the hill before someone else did? Would something give out on her that was important? Would it take a Harley or a Mercedes to make to her feel young again? She didn't think so. She enjoyed the day to day existance that she believed the Good Lord provided her with. Yes, the tattoo and the pierced nipples were...different...and just a little more than exciting under the right circumstances. But she didn't need either to keep spice in her life. She only needed the attention of the one man that had had her heart from that fateful day when he'd scattered the church's mail!
Friday and Saturday nights were, as a rule , off limits becausse the weekends were for the kids. Paul worked and so did Karen. The children needed quality family time because neither of the them had had quality relationships with their folks and they didn't their kids cursing them in their teenage years. Karen knew that it couldn't be a late night because they were taking the bike. She couldn't drive the damned thing and he had a limit. He'd bought her some knee high lace up boots and a leather sleeveless shirt that was more like a vest. She dressed for the night like a true biker...with one exception. Her mother was babysitting at the Jefferson's house. And if she saw the outfit...well, Karen didn't want to know. She was 27 and the mother of two. Just suffice it to say, the less she had to explain the better. So she pulled a light leather jacket over the leather shirt/vest and zipped it to her neck. With any luck, she could kill two bothersome birds with one stone. It might cost her a night's sleep and a whole lot of praying for forgiveness, but it would be worth it.
Karen decided that the bike wasn't a bad way to travel if one didn't have to travel too far. But she didn't like the helmet. She was glad to get that off! She tied her hair back into a ponytail and pulled it through her Coors Light hat before going into the bar. Traci saw her and smiled broadly. She pointed to a woman shooting pool. She was a little older than Traci but very beautiful in a Demi Moore kind of way. Paul headed for the juke box and Karen headed for the bar. She pulled money from her pocket, ordered two longnecks and listened to her friend's heart troubles. The group Richocet came over the jukebox singing "Daddy's Money" and she frowned at Paul, who only smiled and shrugged his shoulders. She would always be his angel in a choir robe even though he'd never seen her that way. She'd given up choir in the tenth grade! She thought about his request for a stripper's pole in their bedroom. It wasn't against God to give him his fantasy...next year. But she didn't sew. Her mother did. Just how would she explain the need for a custom made choir robe, preferrably with velcro closings? She exhaled, closed her eyes and chugged her beer. She ordered another. She'd need it!
"So... what's the plan?" Traci asked. How do we pique her interest? Make her jealous?"
"This is a one shot deal. No retakes. You want noticed, I'm gonna get you noticed. Then I'm gonna get the hell outta here in case it backfires!" Karen replied in all honesty. "I don't need a woman in my life."
She wasn't sure how long she should drag the night out. She'd promised her mother that it would be early, not that Marjorie cared. She'd picked up the mantle of grandmotherhood eagerly. From keeping Heather while Karen went to college for her teaching degree and when Davey was born to encouraging them to go out to dinner just so she could babysit. Finally, during a game of pool, the opportunity arose. She snapped her finger for a beer. She had one sure shot at the eight ball. The timing was perfect. Traci had no idea what was coming...and neither did Paul. Traci brought the beer and handed it to Karen. But when she took the money, Karen grabbed her friend's hand so she couldn't leave. They locked eyes. Karen wanted so badly to back out, but she'd promised.
'Wh-What..."
If she didn't do it at that precise moment, she'd lose her nerve. She put her free hand on the back of Traci's head, entwining her fingers in the red curls. "Don't back out now, Traci," she told her. "Because of you and our friendship, I am a card carrying member of PFLAG. But I'm also very much a Baptist and everything you are conflicts with my beliefs. What I am going to do to make your little paramour jealous could very well cost me my salvation according to the Old Testament, but I am a follower of Christ. He associated himself with the dregs of society. You're my friend and I don't consider you the dregs of any society. Let's do this so I can leave! "
"What are you gonna do? If it might bother you...."
"You do not back out now! You wanted to be noticed, you're noticed." With those last words barely out of her mouth, she pressed her lips to Traci's for a kiss that lasted a good three plus minutes. When she released her, she downed the rest of the beer, sunk the eight ball even though her hands were shaking and jerked her thumb toward the door signalling time to leave.
In typical man fashion, Paul was definitely turned on. When she put her arms around his waist for the ride home, she felt it. Yes, he said he disin't want to share her when she was eighteen, but that didn't mean he wouldn't in his mind. When he killed the motor in front of their house and she got off the bike, all he could do was stare. As soon as the helmet came off, his lips were on hers and his hands on her breasts. She still couldn't control her response to that stimulation and it showed. She needed to get inside and send her mother home...quick! Thund clapped and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She dreaded lightning after the incident in 1994, afraid of where she might wake up. She liked her life as is. She unlocked the door with unsteady hands.
The sight burned into her mother's brain as she came down from checking on the kids was embarrassing to say the least. He had his lips pressed to hers, one hand on the wall by her head, one hand on her breast and her hopping on one foot trying to undo the laces of her boots. She ducked under his arm
and ran for the living room. He headed straight upstairs and she knew exactly why.
Marjorie Hampton was amused. She picked up her purse. "You've been married going on three or four years? Together for around eight? He still makes you ...uh...hungry? Got to be a record!"
She decided to open her vest and expose one of the gold hoops. It was her mother, after all. "He does his job just fine, but these make me weak. One in each." She shifted a little uncomfortably. Even the memory made her tingle! She was surprised that her mother didn't frown her disapproval. "No comment?"
She kissed her daughter's flushed cheek. "You satisfy him. He satisfies you. What's to comment on? I think God approves one hundred percent. The kids are asleep. Go upstairs before he cools down. I'll lock up when I let myself out."
She didn't wait for her mother to exit. She yanked off the boots and flew upstairs on stockinged feet. He was brushing his teeth when she slipped into their bedroom Heather knew not to walk in if the door was shut so she never locked the door. When he came out she was already in bed. The
sheet only covered half. He turned off the light and slipped beneath the sheets. She waited for his fingers to work their magic on her but he used his mouth on those hoops instead. The kids' rooms were way at the end of the hall. The few moans that escaped her lips couldn't have possibly woke them. But when the finish came for both of them, she was once again relegated to burying her head in his shoulder and biting her lip. She knew very well that it wasn't the memory of her kissing Traci that made what they'd done so incredibly exciting and erotic. It was the two of them. Fairy tales always had their happy endings. Well, the Battle of Gettysburg was no fairy tale, but Paul Jefferson was definitely her happy ending. And because of what she had done that night, Traci would finally get her hppy ending, too. Never underestimate the power of jealousy, especially in women!



Paul Jefferson tugged at his tie nervously as he waited for Karen to come out of the restroom. All she said she had to do was touch up her makeup but it seemed like she'd been gone forever, Finally he saw the flash of sapphire blue of the dress she was wearing. He latched on to her left arm like a drowning man would a life preserver. She laughed at him. They'd only been in Richmond for a few hours and he felt like a square peg in a round hole. "Don't leave me again...please!" he begged as they walked through the hotel lobby.
"It's only a high school reunion, honey." She hadn't even wanted to go but Paul had insisted.
"But these are your friends. Everytime I open my mouth I sound like an outsider!"
"You wanted to see what my ex-boyfriend looks like. Be honest."
"Aren't you curious?" Paul watched his wife's blue eyes scan the large room before returning to him with a devilish twinkle. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what was in her head but he felt compelled to ask. "It's been ten years."
She put her arm around her husband's waist. Normally she wouldn't have thought to mention what she was about to mention, but it could only put him ease. And she wasn't going to lie. "You know why I dumped him, right?"
"Because you caught him with someone else."
Karen took a deep breath. "He doesn't have what it takes to rock my world. I saw it, You, on the other hand...." She stopped at the sight of his blush and Chip Jackson was heading their way...flying solo of course. She wasn't the least bit surprised. "Now buck up, big boy. Here comes your imaginary competition now. You're gonna owe me for this, Paul Jefferson."
Paul smiled as she squeezed his hand. "And how am I expected to pay up?"
"In the room after this incredibly long evening...and I don't take cash or credit cards," she replied in a seductive whisper. "Chip! The things one sees without a gun." And she was only half kidding.




Paul cranked up the radio as he barrelled that Toyota Tundra southbound on U.S. 15. There was as accident on the PennsylvaniaTurnpike which made him late getting into the truck depot. It was Tuesday, October 25th, 2005. His wife was turning thirty. She'd left a message on his cell phone that the kids, Heather, aged 10, and Davy, aged 4, were at her mother's. She would try to wait up but tomorrow was a school dayfor her and she didn't know how late she could wait. Shania Twain was belting out "Any Man of Mine" and he laughed at the irony of that song when it came to his personal life. Karen Hampton Jefferson never demanded anything from her husband. But if he looked into her eyes, he could deny her nothing. To most of Gettysburg she was still the preacher's daughter and on two occassions she'd been voted Teacher of the Year by her colleagues. Most folks didn't remember the six months in the summer of 1994 when they all disappeared. But to her family she was a quiet force to be reckoned with. She'd forgiven her father but he was told in no uncertain terms to leave his religion on the front porch when he came to visit. That's not to say that she didn't pray and read her Bible. Paul knew that she did both. As she'd always told him, her relationship with God was personal and private and not defined by any organized religion.
She was still a Baptist but they'd been married by a priest in 1999. She took the kids to church two Sundays out of the month. She left it up to Heather to decide whether it would be Baptist or Catholic. Usually Heather would opt for Baptist. She had no patience for the ups and downs of her father's faith. Davy usually spent the entire time in Sunday School but Heather would sit there rolling her eyes at her Grandfather's fire and brimstone style of preaching...until she saw Karen's look of disapproval out of the corner of her eye. Karen gave 110% and expected her children to do the same thing. While Davy was pretty much too young, Heather had been brought back to reality many times by a well timed glare or frown from her mother. Karen didn't have to raise her hand. She demanded respect and she got it...plain and simple! He remembered all too well his wifes's talk with their daughter. Heather was ten and physically on the brink of womanhood. At least that's what his limited experience with women had told him. No, he wasn't in the room. He was within earshot. He really loved the look on Karen's face when Heather first told her about a boy in school that was "just so cool". Her head shot up from those test papers so quick! She ushered him out of the room not thinking anything about his Monday Night Football. Yes, there was the patented birds and the bees talk. But Heather wanted more.
"Mom, how do I find somebody like Dad?"
Karen's voice didn't falter. "You don't. If it is meant to be, you'll come together."
Heather seemed irritated. She didn't have her mom's coloring but she already had the long legs and she curled them under her. "More of the God stuff?"
"Yes...because we don't run anything, Heather! We think we do and we think that...we can shape destiny and erase the past. But we
don't have that power. I met your dad on chance and it was life altering. I love him and he loves me. But you have to know that sex won't create love. It can complicate it. And it can keep it from growing. Think, honey. That's all I ever want you to do. Think before you act." She watched Heather leave
the room and Paul take her place. "What do you want?"
"Our meeting was life altering?" he asked as he took a seat next to her. "I thought so, too. And I didn't know that you were a preacher's daughter then."
"Would it have made a difference?" she asked, turned those blue eyes on him.
"I don't know. Once I knew, well, you were..."
"A conquest." Her voice was flat and toneless.
"I guess I thought it was. But you showed me right path."
She was still uncomfortable about the Little Round Top episode. "I showed you my tits and everything else. We..."
"We had love. And I was too damned stupid to recognize it."
"But you wouldn't want our daughter making a spectacle of herself like I did."
"No! But I would hope that she gets a guy who knows..." He kissed her neck and nibbled her ear. "A guy who knows that the woman in his arms is a lifetime of love and he doesn't have to go that far to make it a reality."
"At least, if he does, we can hope he marries her. I love you so much, Paul Through the centuries and beyond."
"Me, too, baby. Me, too." The test papers and football were momentarily forgotten as she gave herself over to his kisses and his embrace. But he felt like someone was watching. He opened his eyes to find his daughter holding her little brother on her hip, shaking her head. Karen sat up and
straightened her shirt. Paul cleared his throat. "Uh..uh.."
Heather laughed. "That's what I want, daddy."
"Wh-what...?"
She leaned over the couch and kissed her father's cheek, careful to keep a firm hold on Davey. "I want someone just like you. But first I guess I gotta learn to be just like Mom."
He saw his wife's eyes widen. "No!!! You be yourself! The right guy will love you as you are."
Yes, to all who knew her, Karen was proper and dedicated. But if she reached too far over her head and her shirt came untucked from her low slung jeans, one might glimpse a flash of color. A graceful butterfly with rainbow wings perched on the delicately scripted name, Paul of course, just above her panty line at the base of her spine. She told her father that Paul had branded her heart so she'd branded her body. Richard Hampton could only shake his head and pray for the headstrong daughter he came way too close to losing. But as Paul neared Gettysburg, he smiled at what he called his wife's freaky side Yes, when she went to her classroom at Eisenhower Elementary, she wore a bra and modest clothes. Sometimes she wore jeans but nothing too tight or revealing. The teaching profession had suffered too many black eyes with teachers sleeping with their pupils. Karen's blond hair was either pinned up like she had at Angus's or tied back into a long natural blond ponytail. But when she set foot in her own home, the hair came down and the bra came off. Even after two kids, her breasts were firm and self supporting. Paul thought about the two delicate gold hoops piercing each nipple. He nearly fell over in a faint when he came home to find them. And the slightest touch by his fingers or mouth elicited a response that never failed to amaze him. He could damned near get her off with just a few well placed touches or kisses! He'd often thought that it could be dangerous to give anyone so much power but she relished in his touch and he felt like the proverbial king of his castle.
The preacher's daughter on the outside carefully concealed his temptress of Little Round Top! But even when she wasn't trying to be sexy, which was most of the time, she still was. Like when she was grading papers or going over her lesson plans and her hair was pulled back and her glasses were halfway down her nose...damn! If he'd had a teacher that looked liked her, he would have never quit school! She had that whole naughty librarian look nailed down without even trying. And when she put on those choir robes for his birthday, she very nearly blew his mind! She knew how to rock his world and never failed to do just that at every chance she got. He looked over at the seat next to him where he had a stromboli to warm n the microwave with the marinara sauce she liked, some fried mozzerella sticks with ranch dressing. There was a case of beer untouched because she didn't want him drinking and driving and a small bottle of Johnny Walker Red scotch. She couldn't stand it but she would give in like always. It was tradition to drink a shot or
`two on her birthday in memory of Angus. He couldn't wait to get home to her.
The Jeffersons had a modest country house on the Hunterstown Road. He drove a 4X4 black Toyota Tundra King Cab. Karen drove a gray 4X4 Jeep Cherokee. As he parked the truck he saw the glow of the television and the flickering of firelight. He quickly unlocked the door and tiptoed inside He sat the food and the scotch on the coffee table. She was sleeping peacefully on the massive leather couch in front of a fading fire. Country music videos played on the television. The kids were spending the night at her parent's house in town. He went to the kitchen and retrieved two shot glasses for the scotch and returned to the living room. He poured them both shots, sat them on the coffee table and started to quietly unbutton her shirt. With lightning speed her hands closed over his. He looked down into her eyes and smiled sheepishly. "Accident on the turnpike. Sorry."
She looked at the clock. It was nine thrity. He was three hours late but at least he was safe. "Tell me again why I helped you get your long haul trucking license?" She stretched. and let go of his hands, knowing they'd go back to work on her shirt.
"Because you love me and it's decent money." He opened her shirt and thumbed her nipples. Just like Old Faithful, he got the response he'd come to expect.
"Mmmmm...this waiting ...is getting old, Paul."
He kissed her neck, feeling the need to tease her about her birthday. "So are you, dear."
Her eyes flashed laser blue fire at him. "And what'll you do when I turn forty?"
He grinned. "Trade you in for two twenties?"
She frowned at him. "You won't live long enough! I've got ten years to plan the perfect crime." She sat up and closed her shirt with one button. She shook her head when he handed her the shot glass of scotch. "I'll pass, thanks."
He downed his and made a face. She was right. The stuff was nasty! They generally sipped Southern Comfort on the rare occassions when he got her to drink the hard stuff. But she did enjoy a cold beer without provocation from time to time, expecially over a game of pool during their very rare nights out. He enjoyed watching her bend over the table and it was hard for him to focus on his game. She usually won but he always won later. One of these days, I'll get a pool table for the house, he often thought. He watched her grab a semi-warm mozzerella stick and dunk it into the ranch dressing before popping it into her mouth. She wasn't volunteering any information but she never turned down a shot of scotch on her birthday!With the exception of the fever that came with her bout of pneumonia, not even when she was in 1863 amd pregnant with Heather Anne. Although he always thought that she'd discreetly spit that birthday shot out. He knew that she would put flowers on Angus McTavish's grave in Evergreen Cemetery soon if she hadn't done so already. He tried again with the scotch but she still refused. Bells went off in his head! "Karen..."
"What?!? I'm hungry!" She got up and took the food t0 the kitchen and put it in the microwave.
When she came back she let her jeans slide to the floor and straddled his lap. His body was on fire and he remembered their wedding night.
That night, she'd done it pretty much for his pleasure and to let him know just how very much in control she was. Tonight it was mutual. For a long time afterward he rubbed her back through her shirt and kissed her. He'd learned early on that he could never just roll over and go to sleep. If he did, it would be days before he would again sample her sweet charms. But that didn't seem like so much of a sacrifice after awhile. "What's gotten into you?"
She rested her head on his shoulder. "You. I've needed that all day."
He knew that she'd had parent/teacher conferences earlier in the evening. "Rough night?"
"No. You've just been on my mind all day and..." She tickled his ribs. "And you know how my mind works. That hasn't changed in eleven years."
"At least it's still me that trips your trigger and floats your boat," he teased.
She kissed his neck. "When it's not, I'll let you know. But don't plan on it anytime soon."
"M-m-mmm. I don't plan on it ever. Now...c'mon...let's toast Angus like we do every year."
She shook her head. "You know I hate the stuff."
More warning bells. "But you do it every year with few exceptions." He grudgingly let her get up. "Are you telling me that you want another baby?" he asked jokingly as he followed her to the kichen. She hadn't bothered to put her jeans on and the shirt barely covered her.
She got a coke from the fridge, handed him a beer and sat the stromboli on the table. "No, I'm not." She watched him take a pull of his beer.
"I'm telling you that there already is a baby...due the very end of June or the first part of July.. And if it's a boy, I want to name him Andrew." She ducked as he spit his beer toward the sink and tried not to laugh at him. "You're cleaning that up, buddy."
"You're pregnant?!?!" He counted on his fingers. His birthday! The stripper pole, that choir robe, the long blond hair and those pierced nipples. "You really are?"
She sighed and pulled a cheesy hunk of stromboli awy from the main piece. She knew he was watching her nibble the cheese. "No. I just wanted to yank your chain. Of course I am. Yes." He was grinning broadly. Men were pretty much predictable. The caveman or King Kong always lurked beneath the surface, ready to come out and thump their chests. "I think I'll get fixed after this one," she said absently, but knowing that she never would just in case her biological alarm clock ever went off again.
He smiled. "Fixed?"
"Snipped, spayed...whatever. Your father still thinks I'm a bitch, remember?" She took another bite.
"And you know exactly what I think about that. But you can name him Andrew if his middle name can be Lee like yours."
She held up her hand for his high five. "Deal." She watched him go to the living room and come back with the scotch. He downed the one he'd poured for her and was about to pour another. Her hand covered the glass. "Go easy on that. You're three hours late but I'm not through with you."
He shut the bottle and cocked his head. "Really?"
She sliced the stromboli properly and got plates. "Really. Did you know you were a fireman?"
He laughed and served them both. "Since when?"
She cleared her throat and took a long sip of her coke. "Your son...notice I said your son....told my parents that we have a fireman's pole in our bedroom. My mother put two and two together with the choir robe and broke up with laughter." She rolled her eyes heavenward. "My father now has serious doubts about my salvation...but he's had those doubts for years."
"Do you care?"
She shrugged and ate some of the stromboli. "I know where I'm going. It doesn't matter whether he knows or not. But I wish Davey would learn a little discretion."
"He's four."
"He's got a big mouth for one so little. I care about the fact that my father is probably seriously losing sleep over this...wondering just what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. But after all he's done to me...to us...and, yes, I have truly forgiven him...it is poetic justice.' She giggled.
"So the pole doesn't have to go?" he asked hopefully.
She shook her head. "Uh-uh. But tonight is my birthday and I'm not gonna be the one strippin'."
"Oh, you think so?" He gave her an incredulous look
"Baby, I know so. I don't mind giving you your fantasies, because I know it's me you want. Tonight you return the favor."
"How do I know you're not thinkin' of Brad Pitt or Ben Afleck."
"Because I'm not a man and I deal with the here and now. You've been the man I've wanted since you nearly knocked me down the Post Office steps. I don't need Brad Pitt or Ben Afleck to make me enjoy making love with the only man I've ever been with. I'm not embarrassed that I'm not worldly and experienced. You have what I want. You have what I need. You were my first and you will be my last." She got up and held out her hand to him. When he took it, she led him to the living room, pulled him tight against her and slapped him on the rear. "Now, number one husband, love of my life....strip, right here, right now because it's time for round two."



Marjorie Hampton sat on the couch next to her husband as he watched the news. She took his hand but he was too absorbed in what was happening in the Middle East. She remembered her father telling her that he didn't think she ever be happy being married to a minister. She had too much passion for life. Well, it hadn't always been smooth but she'd never cheated on her husband. And she had had been blessed with a beautiful daughter that had made things much more exciting. She had two wonderful grandchildren. She'd just gotten off the phone with Karen and in a matter of months there would be another one. "You're going to be a grandfather, " she said finally.
He dropped the remote and looked at her. "Again?"
She laughed and punched his arm. "Don't say it like that!"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I meant that she's got a lot on her plate now. And Heather is growing up so fast. "
"Well, I'm thrilled and she is, too." She gave him a critical look. "Are you insinuating that Heather is going to bear...watching?"
"Uh...well...she seems to be her mother's daughter." He shook his head. "If Karen had married Chip..."
"She'd be divorced by now. Chip Jackson is on his second divorce because he can't keep his pants zipped," she finished for him.
"Do you think Paul ever cheats when he's on the road?"
Marjorie Hampton laughed. "He doesn't have to, Richard! They apparently have quite a satisfying intimate life."
Richard frowned. "The stripper pole?"
"Really, Richard! Why does that bother you so much? She's got her nipples pierced, too, but it doesn't bother me. It's not something I would do but..."
He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Her..." He couldn't say the word when it referred to his daughter's anatomy. "She got them pierced?!?! And don't forget the tattoo! What did we do to her?"
"Raised her right despite ourselves. And we moved here for her and Paul to find each other. I know you find it hard to believe, but he's the only man she's ever been with and..."
This time he finished her sentence. "And he's done some mighty strainge things to her."
She sat in his lap and put her arms around his neck. "You are never gonna like him, are you? You do remember that it wasn't Paul that made the first move, right?"
Reverend Hampton shuddered. "He could've walked away." He saw the look in his wife's eyes that he hated seeing. "And, if he had, Karen would've been miserable. I don't hate him. I just think he's a little over the top for my daughter."
"He's...he was a bad boy and good girls can't resist bad boys. And Karen is a very good girl. I know that in my heart. It shows in her profession and the way she raises their children." Marjorie Hampton rested her head on her husband's shoulder. She had the utmost faith in her daughter's parenting skills. Karen monitored Heather's time on the internet and there were strict parental controls on both the computer and the television. Bad language and sass were not tolerated in the Jefferson home. She knew Karen could and did curse from time to time, but never did so in front of the children. While Marjorie was quite certain that her grandchildren didn't fear their mother, she was equally as sure that they loved and respected her. And Karen always made time for the kids and made sure that Paul did, too. She certainly didn't learn that from her father.
He pursed his lips in thought for a second. "So how does that come around to us?"
She ran her finger over his lips. "You're not a bad boy, but you have your moments. You need to call your daughter tomorrow and congratulate her on the new baby."
"I will. She is happy, isn't she?"
"Rich, I've never seen her happier...and even after eleven years! Paul worships the ground she walks on and she loves him with all her heart and body. I've never seen a more perfect match."
He started to tickle her ribs, something he hadn't done in a long time. "Never? What about us?" She couldn't answer because she was laughing too hard!




Their third child, after sonogram testing, was determined to be due on July 5th. He decided to come into the world on July 2nd, 2006, three days before planned. There wasn't time for the C-section. Paul was just about to walk out of the house for a day and a half on the road when he saw a look in Karen's eyes that he'd never seen before. He would be back for the C-sectionas always. But there was a look of shock and surprise in her blue eyes. She'd been about to kiss him goodbye. He had to practically catch her as she doubled over. Davey was born by C-section and planned down to the last minute. While Paul had never seen his wife in labor, the look of shock in her blue eyes told him that, not only was she in labor, she was about to deliver. For a woman who knew what she wanted and how to facilitate it, she was in a panic! He kept her as calm as possible during the drive to the hospital. When her knuckles turned white as they gripped the sides of the seat, he knew she wanted to say something, but Heather and Davey were in the backseat. The murderous look in her eyes told him that whatever she wanted to say was probably directed at him. He was highly amused. It took only a second to drop the kids with grandpa. The hospital was a stone's throw away.
Richard Hampton was terrified by what he saw in his daughter's eyes. He remembered seeing it in Marjorie's eyes once a lifetime before. "Karen, honey, are you allright?" he asked. He had tried to put his hand on her shoulder but she pulled away.
"I'll be fine. I just want it over with, Dad!"
Paul got into the truck and headed toward South Washington Street and the hospital. "It's gonna be fine, baby. You've had the pain of the C-section before," he said, thinking he was being calming and helpful. He'd forgotten that Cajun temper.
"That was a minor discomfort! This fuckin' hurts...a lot!!! And don't call me baby. Don't even...oh, damn!...don't even say the word baby again!" She took a few deep breaths. "I know. I did this to myself. I wanted another one. But so help me...it stops now!"
Paul was getting impatient for the light to turn. When he saw the wide blue eyes of his wife tear up he missed the turn and had to wait for the next light. He unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Karen, is something wrong?"
"Besides the fact that I'm not supposed to go through this?!?! My water just broke. The contractions are starting to damned near overlap! The incredible pressure I'm feeling...oh, not again! " She gripped the dashboard so hard she left an indentation. "Th-That pressure is the baby's head. My
body wants to push and I'm holding back because I want to get to the damned hospital! Get this hunk of junk movin' and I mean now!"
They had just settled into a room in the maternity ward when all hell broke loose. No time for scrubs, anesthetics or anything else! The boy, Andrew Lee Richard Jefferson, screamed his way into the world less than seven minutes later completely naturally, much to everyone's surprise. Especially
his mother's. Considering she'd never been to a natural childbirth class, Paul saw his wife come through like a champ. But he was sure by the look in her eyes, he wouldn't live down her pain for sometime to come. Andrew would be the only child of theirs to carry the gene for his mother's deep blue eyes. Some-
how that seemed appropriate. And the irony of the date of Andrew's birth was not lost on any of the Travelling Seven as Marjorie Hampton had taken to calling them. It was the anniversary of the Irish Brigade drummer's death. Spookiness had become a way of life for them and it would follow them all until they died.
"I think I'm through with this now," she said matter of factly as he picked up his son. She loved the way her husband looked at his kids. Yes, she knew that he was scared that he would lapse into his father. Yes, he did drink. But he never, ever got drunk and no matter how angry he got, he never raised his hand. He said it was because of her that he'd found God. But she knew that his faith was inside of him all along. He just had to have some prodding and a reason to believe. And she was willing to give him that and more. They had temporarily removed the nipple rings but she knew that she would always want that man, with or without the stimulation of the rings. Damn! She did even five hours of delivering their son! He'd often referrred to her as God's gift, but she'd reversed that a long time ago. Paul David Jefferson was her gift from God. True, she had been using him to get over Chip. But God had had other plans. And she was happy with every one of them.
"You did just fine. And Angus was worried about your hips bein' too...what did he say?...too narrow? The doctor said it was one of the easiest deliveries he's ever seen."
"He didn't have this baby, Paul. I did and it hurt for way too long." She took the baby and the bottle. He was always too fumble fingered for the first two or three weeks. "And he only weighed in at six pounds, fifteen ounces. I shudder to think what would happen with a nine pound baby!"
"But in a year or so, you'll forget all about it." He could see the gears turning in her head and she smiled at him. "Yes? I know you're gonna say something smart."
"You have the fourth child and I'll have the fifth."
"Right."
She looked down at Andrew and knew that she didn't want a big family. Never had. She'd never honestly thought about having children much at all. But she had never wanted Heather to be an only child like her. It was just pretty much a given if it was in the overall plan for her life that had
laid out for her before she'd even come to be. She knew she had very little power over that plan. And she was allright with it. And Andrew really wasn't planned. She'd switched perscriptions and got caught. But if God wanted her to have more children she knew she'd do it without question. They were comfortable and money wasn't tight. And they were surprisingly still in love after twelve years. "It takes too long to get back in shape...even with the exercises I do."
"You're in fine shape."
"I am now, but I'm not getting any younger," she reminded him, fully expecting him to gently rib her about her being over thirty.
"Well, then I'll help you exercise."
She arched her eyedbrow and gave him a sharp look. "It's your type of exercise that gets gets me into this condition, Paul, sweetheart."
"But you love being a mother. You love children and you love babies." He paused for effect. "And you don't like finality."
"You're probably right. But don't hold me to it. You and that damned magic touch of yours!"
"Well, I guess I could stop touching," he said, rubbing his chin.
"Don't even think about that!" She was pausing for her own effect. "And you know I can get what I want from you regardless."


Paul often thought back to June 24th, 1994 and the woman-child who had so shamelessly dropped her jeans in front of him. He'd treated her bacly at times and at times he'd felt the sting of what he had long ago learned was a Cajun temper. But she never went to bed angry. She never held a grudge. She was a woman of faith but she didn't preach. Her family came first, her friends second. She was the gentlest woman he knew and the most sincere. If she believed in something, she believed in it with a passion that couldn't be matched. Two perfect examples of that passion was the presidency of George W. Bush and their daughter's fascination and idol worship of Britney Spears. Couldn't be two more polarized subjects, right? Not for her! Karen had seen war first hand, although no one would ever believe it, and she was dead set against it. Although she was all too happy to support our troops in Iraq she didn't support the war. She had a yellow ribbon on her Cherokee. Her class wrote letters for the boys in Baghdad. She even helped
to organize a drive to send much need items to Iraq. When the proverbial shit hit the fan over Natalie Main's comments about "W' and people were bulldozing the Dixie Chicks' CDs, Karen bought the complete Dixie Chick collection to support free speech. As for Britney and Heather, that was a much more localized battlefront. But it was a battlefront nevertheless! Paul remembered all too well the tight jeans of his wife's younger days. Heather was not allowed out of the house in that kind of attire. Yes, it put his daughter at stubborn odds with her mother. When he reminded his wife of how many times she'd poured herself into her jeans for him and had peeled herself out of them, she never failed to put him in his place. If he wanted his daughter playing Mommy's role on Little Round Top or Devil's Den with some guy in a muscle car, she would be more than happy to step aside. He remembered how angry he'd been to learn that his ten year old daughter had gotten her first kiss on the last day of school, 2005! His wife's response? "I thought so!"
He learned quickly to bite his tongue with little lasting damage. If pressed to put a song to their relationship, he didn't hesitate. "The Woman In My Life" by the country singer Phil Vassar. She was his stability in a world that wasn't always normal or sane. She was the mother of his children, his lover,
his friend, his wife and his soul mate. What man could've ever asked for anything more?



THE END

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