That's Okay

By E Walk

(Copyrighted by the Author)

Edited by Radio Rancher

Chapter 2 - Instant Love Affair

I looked at the clock, "Mrs. Archer, I need to go get the guys, would you like to accompany me?"

"No Les, I'll stay here and fix a snack for them. I am sure they will be hungry after a long day at school." Mrs. Archer practically chased me out of the kitchen.

I pulled up at the school and four boys came bounding down the sidewalk. They quickly entered the van and we were on our way home. I asked the guys about their day and got a wrap up from each of them about of what happened. When we got to Darrin, he was very hesitant, "Dad, I guess I didn't do a very good job on my solo today. The music teacher would like for you to call him tonight. I must have really been awful."

I couldn't think of anything to say, and fortunately we pulled into the drive. The guys jumped out of the van and entered the house; it was as if they were frozen in space when they saw Mrs. Archer. Finally David asked, "Who is she?"

I looked at Mrs. Archer. "This is Mrs. Archer. She is Father Bill's mother."

Danny looked at me like I had lost my marbles, "Who is Father Bill? Do we know him?"

Mrs. Archer was laughing. Before either she or I could say anything, Darrin answered, "You know, Daddy Bill from the church; the tall man who wears the white collar. He was here talking with Dad this morning and he went with us when Dad took me school at lunch time. I guess we should call her Grandmother Archer."

Darrin surprised Mrs. Archer by going and putting his arms around her. "You sure have a nice smile."

Mrs. Archer announced, "There is a snack waiting for you in the dining room. Why don't you go to the bathroom and wash your hands?"

The guys went quietly up the stairs with their backpacks. Mrs. Archer raised eyebrows like she was asking me something.

I shrugged my shoulders and put out my hands.

The four boys started to reassemble. When Darrin came down the steps, he handed me a note. I opened it and read what it said.

You might want to visit with Darrin. When he came to music today, I overheard him talking to some of the other children about his Dad and Daddy Bill bringing him to school at lunchtime. I know that third graders don't realize what they are saying, but one of the other children might say something to their parents.

By the way, Darrin has an absolutely beautiful voice. You might consider having him take voice lessons. I can see him on Broadway sometime in the future.

I will be at school until 4:15 or you can reach me at my apartment this evening. My number is 515-6606.

Don Daniels

I went to my small office where I would sometimes work, especially during the tax season. I dialed the school number.

"This is Western Hills School. How may I help you?"

"This Les Phillips, Mr. Daniels asked me to call him."

"Just a minute, Mr. Phillips."

"This is Mr. Daniels."

"Don, this is Les Phillips. Darrin asked that I call you. I read your note and everything that Darrin said was true. I was meeting with Father Bill Archer from St. Mary's Church when we brought Darrin to school today. We took Father Bill's mother to lunch and she is now visiting with the boys."

"Mr. Phillips, I am so sorry. Why wouldn't I have guessed that Daddy Bill was that hunk, Father Bill, from the church where I also attend?"

"No harm no foul, Don. We will see you tomorrow night at the program."

I walked into the kitchen and Mrs. Archer was sitting, helping the guys with their homework. Before I could say anything, the phone started to ring.

"This is Les Phillips."

"Hi Les. Bill here, could you come and pick me up since my car is at your place, and I can't get in touch with Mother?"

"Father Bill, if you would like to speak to your mother, she is sitting here doing my sons' homework for them."

Darrin yelled, "Don't believe Dad, Daddy Bill. She is just making sure we do it right."

Bill started to laugh, "Could someone pick me up in thirty minutes, please?"

I shook my head, "Father, I will be there in thirty minutes. I'm going to go check with my secretary, and then I'll be there if your mother doesn't mind staying with the boys."

Mrs. Archer indicated that was fine with her. I stopped at the office. Linda, my secretary, handed me some messages, "Les, most of these can wait until tomorrow. This Parker person has called four times demanding to talk to you. He said he tried your house, and you were not there. You might want to call him. He wouldn't say what he needed. I rescheduled your appointments and you have no free time for the next two days so you had better be here."

"Linda, I will be here. Thanks for being so efficient."

I went to the church and parked and went to collect Father Bill. I walked into the reception area and Father Darryl saw me, "Les, might I have a few words with you?"

My mind was spinning, 'What did I do now?' I shrugged my shoulders, "Of course, Father Roberts."

Father Roberts led me into his office and closed the door, "Les, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Bill and I have become good friends. He felt comfortable enough to share about his visit with you this morning in case you should come to me. Les, I am asking that you be very gentle with Bill. He is a very fragile person and doesn't need to suffer anymore. Les, I guess I'm just asking you to proceed slowly. I know that Bill has fallen head over heels in love with Darrin. I am so afraid of what might happen when he meets your other three sons. There is also Bill's mother to consider. I have no idea how she is going to respond if something should happen between you and Bill."

I started to laugh. I couldn't help myself, "Father Darryl, when I left the house Grandma Archer was doing my sons' homework for them. I am going to propose that she moves in with us and occupy the guest bedroom. That way Father Bill could have his bed back. I can't imagine him sleeping on a sofa. Maybe we can arrange that he could live with us at sometime in the future. It is a little premature to suggest that now; I would probably like that, but I need to think about my sons."

Father Darryl stood, "Les, come give me a hug. It sounds to me like you have you priorities right, but please don't let Bill be hurt again. He has suffered enough."

I hugged Father Darryl and as I was leaving his office, Bill was coming out of his. "I was beginning to wonder where you were. We better go relieve Mother."

When we got to the car, Father Bill put his hand on my leg and the energy was transferred to a part of my body that started to grow. "Les, can we go somewhere where we can talk?"

"Bill, if you don't move your hand, I may have to take drastic action. I am not sure my zipper on my slacks will take too much more strain."

Bill removed his hand and I drove to a small park that was situated around a small lake. After I parked in the parking lot, we exited the van. We started to walk and Bill unloaded. "Les, I was hurt very badly by another man and I swore that I would never let that happen to me again. I don't know what happened today when I was at your house. It was like something snapped. We were sitting there and it felt so right, and then when Darrin came in and he called me Daddy Billy, it felt even more right. Can we just go over there and sit for a moment?"

We walked over to a small wooded area and he pulled off his clerical collar and stuck it in his pocket. He pushed me to the ground and gave the most wonderful kiss and I responded. Bill pulled away from me, "Les, I'm so sorry."

"Bill, why are you sorry? I really liked what we were doing. I don't feel the least bit remorseful. We were not hurting anyone. I have already had two people scold me today and tell me that I needed to treat you with kid gloves. I will if that's what it takes, but I think you just need to feel loved."

Bill might have been a little bigger than me, but the element of surprise was in my favor. I pushed him back onto the ground and pushed my lips to his and pried my way into his mouth and the duel was on. I wanted to undress him, but the time and place were not right. I pulled away, "Bill, I am so embarrassed. My actions were totally inappropriate. This is not the time or the place. Let's get back to the house. Perhaps you should put your cleric collar back on so that it looks like nothing happened."

When we got to the house, we were greeted by the guys, Darrin started, "Daddy Bill, this is David. He then pointed to the twins. The one with the squirrelly eyes is Denny and the one with the fawn eyes is Danny. Don't let them fool you, they are all as mean as bulls when they sees red. Daddy, Grandma doesn't know what to fix for dinner. She says you need to go get some food."

We walked into the kitchen and Mrs. Archer lit into me, "How are you going to eat if there isn't any food in the house?"

I caught everyone by surprise, "Mom, I realized that this morning when I went to fix breakfast, but I really haven't had time to do much shopping today."

The conversation was interrupted by the phone. David suggested, "I guess that is Mr. Parker again. He has already called three times."

I picked up the phone, "This is Les Phillips speaking, how may I help you?"

"Phillips, what did you do to Lisa? We were supposed to fly to the Virgin Islands tonight"

I was almost to the point where I was speechless. I looked at the spectators who were watching what was going on. "Sir, I am going to put you on hold and go to my office and check."

I walked into my office and picked up the phone, "Now sir, if you will identify yourself, perhaps I might be able to help you."

"My name is Ken Parker. Your wife and I have been having an affair for five years. We were going to fly to the Virgin Islands, so she could get an annulment and then we were going to be married. What did you do to her?"

"Mr. Parker, the last I saw of her was this morning when she walked out of the house with two suitcases, and she announced that she never wanted to see me or the brats again. My loss is your gain, and I have to tell you none of us feels any regrets at her leaving. I have no idea where she might be. Perhaps there is another lover that neither of us knows about. Now please stop calling me."

Bill had been standing at the door listening, "Les, that was not a very Christian way of handling that conversation. You might at least have said, I wish God's love on Lisa wherever she is."

Little did he know how prophetic he was. I wanted to grab Bill and hold him. I was feeling very vulnerable. "Bill, let's collect the rest of the family and go to Tarantino's for dinner. They have a great buffet and it isn't really fast food, so your mother can't complain too much."

The boys were ecstatic when we announced what we had in mind but Mrs. Archer was skeptical. We were getting ready to leave and the phone rang again. "This is Les Phillips. ... Just a moment sir. ..." I turned to Bill, "Why don't you take the guys and your mother to the restaurant? I will join you shortly."

Both Bill and his mother knew something big was happening and did what I asked. After everyone had departed, I picked up the phone again, "Sheriff, you said that you had found my wife's body in a ditch. What else can you tell me?"

"You're saying that she was hit by another car and thrown out of her vehicle. ... Where is her body now? ... Please make arrangements to send it to the Cline Mortuary. I think it is on Pacific Avenue. Thank you, Sir."

I hung up the phone and just wanted to melt into the ground. I was so angry and confused. What am I going to tell the boys? Why is everything happening to me? I suddenly remembered that I was to meet everyone at the restaurant. Yes, I needed to be there for the boys.

I drove to the restaurant and I had no more than entered than David waved to me, "Daddy, we are sitting over there at the big table. Daddy Bill has a place for you beside him. You'd better hurry or we will be eating dessert before you start to eat."

I went through the buffet line and took some food and went and sat down. I was picking at my food and I guess everyone was observant enough to notice. Finally Danny asked, "Dad, what is wrong?"

I didn't know what to say, "I will tell you when we get home. Finish your food."

The Archers went with us back to the house. I had the four boys sit on the sofa with me. "Guys, your mother died in an automobile accident."

I was totally unprepared by what transpired next. David was the first to speak, "Dad, I regret that she had an accident, but I don't regret that she won't be around us anymore. Dad, it was like we were in prison. She never hid the fact that she hated the four of us and you. She kept telling us she was destined for bigger and better things. Dad, I can't believe you didn't realize what was happening."

Mrs. Archer stopped any further dialog, "Okay men, time to get ready for bed." She shooed the four young boys up the steps.

Bill came over and sat beside me and put his arms around me. He didn't say anything, and yet I felt a strength coming from him. I looked at his dark eyes and I was lost. What is happening here?

I was feeling very comfortable snuggled against Bill's body when the phone started to ring. I guess I started to shake because Bill whispered, "Les, we can make it, with God's help."

I answered the phone, "This is Les Phillips."

"Phillips, have you heard from Lisa?"

"Mr. Parker, Lisa died in an automobile accident, today. I would appreciate it if you didn't call me any more. ... No, I don't know what the funeral arrangements are, but I can assure you that it will be a private service, because I don't need my sons subjected to any more sorrow than they are experiencing now." I hung up and I guess I just collapsed.

The next thing I remembered was that Bill was lying beside me rubbing my abdomen. "Les, are you okay?"

I realized where I was and my state of dress or undress I guess would be a better way to put it. "Father Bill, I'm so embarrassed."

"Les, would you stop being embarrassed, Mother and I are going to the apartment and I will have her here tomorrow at 6:30." He leaned down and kissed me on the lips. "The boys are asleep, so they are fine; now you can go take care of that elephant instrument between your legs. See you in the morning."

Oh my goodness, what a day!