John Finds Out
Tanya sat at the large dining table that doubled as a
worktable during the day. The tomatoes
she had been canning were completely forgotten in the wake of the bombshell her
eldest daughter had just dropped. She
started as Paul spoke from behind her.
“I think you better fix John a good dinner before you tell him.”
“How much did you hear?”
“Most of it. I’ll take the kids camping this afternoon. We were going to hunt upvalley next week anyway, we’ll just move it up some.”
“Coward.”
“You just promised your daughter you’d tell him. I think you better fix him a good dinner and take him to bed before you tell him.”
Tanya smiled. She, Paul and John had formed an odd threesome years ago. Mostly, Paul had ignored her liaisons with John, which had grown less and less frequent over the years, mostly because they were all too busy with the children and just learning to survive on Terra Alpha, and partly because Paul’s accident kept him close to home. She couldn’t remember a single time Paul had suggested she be with John.
“Do you think having sex with an old woman will distract him enough?”
Paul limped across the room, tilted her chin up and gave her a heart stopping kiss, then he traced a finger up her cheekbone to the crows’ feet by her eyes. “Aged like fine wine,” he corrected her.
“Flatterer.”
“I’ll go recruit Alan. We should be able to start out just after noon. That’ll give us enough time to reach Lookout Mount by sundown. And give you enough time to get ready for tonight.”
He didn’t wait for a reply and she smiled after him, already planning a menu of John’s favorite foods.
“I thought we were going next week.” Alan said, wiping the sweat from his face with a rag. He was repairing a hand-pump next to the shed that was used to butcher meat.
“We need to move it up. I’ve already sent the kids to pack everything up.”
“What’s the hurry?” They were all used to the slower pace of life on Terra Alpha.
Paul leaned forward and spoke softly into his ear.
Alan’s eyebrow rose. “John is going to erupt like a volcano.”
“Tanya is going to break it to him tonight.”
“I’ll get my gear.”
“Do you have any strawberries left?”
“The kids took the last of the berries with them this afternoon. Would you mind telling me what is going on?” Sandra asked her old friend.
Tanya sighed and looked around. There wasn’t another soul stirring. She leaned forward and gave Sandra a succinct account of what Jean had told her.
Sandra’s eyes widened. She drew Tanya in the house and toward the kitchen. “I’ve been saving the last of the dried apples. Apple pie is his favorite.”
Well after sundown John and Tanya lay in her large bed, sweaty and satisfied. John’s head was pillowed on her thigh and she ran her fingers through his silver hair. Candles burned on the dresser bathing the room in a golden glow.
“Tanya? Are you thinking of having another baby?”
Tanya gave a soft laugh that turned to a gasp of pleasure as John drew his finger up the inside of her thigh.
“No, I’m no longer in the baby making business myself.” She said after a moment or two of distraction. “Although I must say you tempt me.”
John prompted himself on one elbow and looked at her. She knew it was time. She worked to break it slowly.
“I’m going to concentrate on being a grandmother I think.”
“A grandmother? You mean…”
She smiled and touched his cheek. “And you are going to be a grandfather.”
“Jean?”
She nodded.
He grinned, getting used to the idea. “She’s okay? She’s pretty young.”
“This is her choice. And we’ve already discussed that our children would need to start the next generation soon. We do not have the luxury here for a long childhood.”
John lay back on the bed next to her and held her hand. “I know. And she’s been talking about being a mom since she was ten. She’ll be a good one, don’t you think?”
“Of course she will. She’s been all the mother little Josiah has ever known. And she’s always been wonderful with her little brother and sisters.”
“Is that why she decided to come home? To have the baby here? Good god I’ve missed her.”
“She missed you too. And, yes, she wants to have the baby here.”
“Is the father going to move down here too? Who is it? One of Tony’s boys?”
“No. It’s not one of Tony’s boys.”
“Someone from here? I didn’t realize she was interested in anyone here. They’ve all grown up like siblings around here.”
Still holding his hand, she looked at the ceiling and bit the bullet. “It’s Bill’s child.”
John frowned, trying to recall a child named Bill. There was a William, and a Willie, but he couldn’t think of any of the children called Bill.
“Bill Fraser.” Tanya clarified.
For a moment John lay completely still. Then he sat straight up. “Bill? Fraser? My pilot?”
“Well, he’s been a fisherman rather than a pilot for the better part of twenty years, but yes, that’s him.”
John was out of bed and pacing the room with no thought of his own lack of clothes. “What the hell was he thinking? What the hell was he doing? She’s just a child! He’s old enough to be her father! I’ll kill him!”
At that last he turned toward the door and Tanya rolled out of bed herself.
“John. Stop. This was not Bills idea, it was your daughter’s. She did this of her own accord and it was not Bill’s fault.” She stood between John and the door, both hands on his chest.
“How can this not be Bill’s fault here? He’s the adult…”
“She is an adult as well. She makes her own decision. He did not force himself upon her, in fact, from what Jean told me this morning, it took her quite a while to convince him.”
“To convince him! Good god, Tanya! On Earth he could be arrested for this!”
“John, we are not on Earth, as you may have noticed. Things are just not the same here. This was Jean’s decision, not yours, not Bill’s.”
“This is absurd, I’m her father!”
“And she’s still a young woman, in charge of her own body. Not only that, what’s done is done. You’ll just have to live with it.”
“Like hell I will!”
“Yes, you will!”
“I swear to god, Tanya, I’ll kill him!”
“No, you won’t! With any luck, by the time you do see him, you’ll have calmed down some.”
“I doubt it!” He looked around the room. “You put all this together to butter me up. Did you think I would take it better if my stomach was full and my…”
“John Koenig, stop talking right now before you say something you’ll regret.”
John looked like he was about to explode. Tanya braced herself. She almost trusted him enough to know he wouldn’t hit her, but she stood her ground and waited. They stared at each other for a long moment, neither blinking, neither daring to draw a breath. John blinked first. Then he breathed.
“Oh, Tanya.” He turned and sat on the edge of the bed. “Oh, Tanya.”
Tanya put out the candles, sat down next to him and put her arm around him.
“Things will look better in the morning.”
“I don’t think so.”
October 11, 2006
ECL