A Young Single Father

A Young Single Father

In only an instant

My name is Robert Clark. I stand five-foot-ten tall, with light-brown hair, I am kind of trim but not an athlete; just your average boy-next-door. When this started, I was almost nineteen, not even a year out of high school... and a single father.

My girlfriend and I had slipped up, and we got pregnant. We secretly got married by a justice of the peace, and we would have a big wedding after Ann had the baby. She did not want to be pregnant in the wedding pictures. Young love, we certainly were in love. We moved into an apartment driving distance from the hospital.

Ann's parents were just outraged. Ann's parents first suggested an abortion, then an adoption, finally marriage after the birth; Ann said no to all, but the marriage. As we found out, her parents wanted time to talk her out of marrying me. I don't know why they did not like me. In an effort to please Ann's parents, my lawyer, Shannon, wrote up a very fair prenup that we both signed, but Shannon kept it in our file. By the way, Shannon is my older sister.

On the night Ann went into labor, we packed the car, I made her comfortable and started to drive to the hospital. I was driving as carefully as could be. We stopped at a light. I could have gone through the yellow, but didn't.

The Crash

Now the rest of the information is from family and the police report.

A drunk, driving in a company car and driving too fast, turned onto the street we were stopped on. He slammed into us on the passenger side. We were taken to the hospital that we were headed to. We both were admitted to the ER, and the doctors took on the task of saving our lives. I had a concussion, cuts and scrapes, a broken ankle crushed foot, and was in a coma. Ann, she did not make it. Her injuries were too severe to the upper chest and back of the skull; the doctors did an emergency C-section, and saved my little Emma Ann.

The first person the police were able to contact was Shannon. She had just finished law school and was eight years my senior. She was an associate lawyer with a big and prestigious law firm. She had guided Ann and me when we got married.

My sister and I had money from two huge trust funds that were the result of my parents being killed in a plane crash when I was a freshman in high school. Our favorite uncle, Bob, had a big hand in setting it up. Shannon got guardianship of me, even though she was only twenty-two at the time.

It was odd for me to now have to answer to my sister, instead of my parents. Her trust paid off all her undergrad tuition in full and tuition for law school; it didn't make a dent in her trust. My trust allowed me to draw a weekly 'allowance' so I did not have to get a job to have day-to-day money every teenager used and 'needed'; it didn't make a dent in mine, either.

Not having a 'teenage job' set me off from kids my age. It also allowed me to concentrate on my studies. I did very well at school; after my freshman year, I had straight A's. Our extended family helped Shannon and me with whatever they could. Uncle Bob owned a manufacturing plant and he convinced me I should go into mechanical engineering.

My trust paid living expenses for Ann and me, so we decided we would wait a year so as to get us settled as husband and wife, mommy and daddy before both of us started going to college. She would start as soon as the baby was able to go to daycare safely. Ann's parents never knew of my trust fund; they looked at it as a lazy 'gap year.' There were times, I wished my dad was there to give me guidance.

My Lawyer, My Sister

While I was still in a coma, Shannon, with the help from her law firm, got temporary guardianship of Emma, and temporary power of attorney for me. By all intents and purposes, she 'was' now me.

It was a good thing, too, because after ten days, Emma Ann was ready to be released. Ann's parents showed up and were about to take Emma Ann to wherever. Maybe to Child Protective Services, which would put her in the 'system'! I was in the system before Sis got guardianship of me. One of the nurses phoned Shannon. On her way to the hospital, she phoned her bosses and told them why she had left in such a hurry.

The nurse stalled Ann's parents as much as she could. As they were about to exit the hospital, Shannon stopped them. A big argument started right there in the lobby. Security was called, who then called the police. Shannon had all the paperwork— our marriage certificate, Ann's death certificate, Emma's birth certificate, the order of guardianship, and my power of attorney. Ann's parents did not believe that Ann and I had been married for four months and went straight to an attorney to try to get custody of Emma. Shannon beat them to it, and had an emergency custody hearing set up for the next day.

Shannon entered the courtroom with 'The' senior law partner of her firm at her side (pro bono). During the hearing, the bailiff entered and handed the judge a note. The judge called the three lawyers up, recessed the hearing, and took them into his chambers. He gave Shannon the note, and she immediately called the hospital.

I had woken up. I still did not know what happened. The judge continued the hearing for a later date. It was never needed, since I was back with the living after ten days.

You're a Single Dad

I had woken up, but didn't know shit about what had happened. I was introduced to my beautiful daughter Emma Ann Clark. Shannon had named her using the name Ann and I had chosen, and added Ann's name. When I heard the name 'Ann', I asked about Ann. Shannon then had to do the most heartbreaking thing since our parents' death, tell me Ann had died. I felt like the weight of the world was on my chest. I held Emma for I don't know how long because I was given a sedative and fell asleep after a while.

Shannon's bosses gave her family leave (really reduced responsibilities) for nine weeks. Ann's parents complained that Ann should be in the family mausoleum on the other side of town. I was still weak and could not argue, so Shannon took over, and told them to go to hell in such a nice way they were looking forward to the trip! Twelve days after the accident, we buried Ann. I was let out with a nurse and orderly, and I was wheeled in a wheelchair to the funeral home and gravesite. The funeral home did a good job at hiding all of Ann's bodily injuries. The orderly helped me stand, and I kissed Ann goodbye for the last time.

Her tombstone read,

Ann Clark,

Loving Wife And

Loving Mother.

Home?

I came home (well, Shannon's home) after five weeks. I would still need help since my ankle had been reconstructed, it had been broken and crushed so badly. Shannon had hired a certified nursing assistant with childcare knowledge to aid me with healing, and taking care of a newborn.

That's when I met Catherine Barkley. She was about to turn nineteen, already had her CNA; was about five-seven, auburn hair, and she had curves in all the right places. She always smelled like flowers. The doctors said I would need three months, and maybe more, to recuperate from my crushed foot. I also had to be 'watched' because of my concussion. I found out that Shannon had insisted the doctors save my foot, instead of amputating it.

Catherine was there to help me with Emma, and help me with day-to-day activities, fixing meals, getting dressed, and um... um... personal hygiene.

Bathing was a sponge bath, and at first, wasn't too bad, but when she got to washing my privates, 'my little friend' would want to say hello.

Lawsuits, payment.

Meanwhile, Shannon tackled the insurance companies, the driver of the company car, and his company. Luckily, the criminal courts had the driver 'tied up.'

With the help of the law firm, Shannon sued for a total of over thirty million dollars from all the affected parties. That was not pro bono; I think I got a family discount. Shannon said the firm was only charging me twenty-five percent, instead of the usual, thirty-three-plus percent.

The other side tried to say I was in the intersection, and that I wasn't paying attention. But a recording of the intersection from a nearby business' security camera, showed that I had stopped even before the white stop line, and was sitting there waiting for the light to change. It also showed Ann's face, as she had turned to see death coming.

"That recording gave us real bargaining power," the senior law partner said. "That shot was worth ten million dollars alone."

Dealing with the aftermath and hearings

I was still in an angry, revengeful state of mind. I thought of many ways that I could try to kill that driver. I found out that he was so drunk, that he hardly felt a thing, and was able to walk away from the wreck. When the cops came, he was sitting on the curb. In the criminal trial, they said he blew almost three times the legal limit. He faced twenty-three years in jail and fines.

After I testified (I had regained most of my memory), and broke down on the stand, the defense asked for a recess. The prosecutor and the defendant with his lawyers retired to a conference room in the courthouse. After thirty minutes, the prosecutor sent for Shannon, who escorted me into the conference room, and I sat down.

I was still using the cane, but feeling physically better every day. I looked at the son of a bitch who killed my wife. One of the asshole's lawyers tried to say that we had only been married a short time, so Ann's life was not worth as much as a longtime married wife. Shannon stood up and almost challenged the attorney to a duel. Shannon sat down.

I then spoke, and asked the prosecutor, "Any agreement you make, do I get to sign off on it?"

The prosecutor said, "It is our department's policy to have a plea deal that the victims agree to."

"I want to make my statement."

The asshole's lawyers started to speak in hushed tones. We returned to the courtroom. The judge asked if the prosecution and defendant had reached a deal.

The prosecutor said, "Judge we would like to hear the victim's impact statement first."

You don't have to be sworn in. You just get to talk, so I talked.

"Okay, I need to know some things about this man."

"There is no need to hold back anything."

"How much do you make? You are an executive? Am I right?

How many children do you have and what are their ages? Have any of those children finished college? That is about twenty to forty-six-thousand dollars a year. That could be up to one-hundred-and-eighty-four-thousand dollars.

Do you have a wife? A mother is valued at about 178,200 dollars a year, times eighteen years, that's 3,207,618 dollars.

"You know, I read it takes over three-hundred-thousand dollars to raise a child nowadays, and that is not counting college."

The defendant was hanging his head and not really paying attention. I slapped the podium and said, "Look at me...! I did my own investigation— you have had three DUIs in the last ten years. Yes, I found two in another state. You, you chose to kill my pregnant wife."

I looked at the prosecutor and then at Shannon; I had built up steam. "I now have a baby without a mother; my baby will have to go to counseling to just override the abandonment issues she will have.

"Do you understand? I have lost my wife, and my daughter has lost her mother! That is the emotional pain. What is that worth?

"I might ask the prosecutor to go to the max on your prison time. I have anger, but I feel I need to let it go. We are coming up on my daughter's first birthday and I can not hold onto this rage I have for you, anymore. I am going to ask the prosecutor reduce the time, if:

"You never drive again. You spend a month in the morgue to see what drunks like you do. And you see the autopsy photos of my wife.

"It has taken almost a year to get to this point. I have turned my civil case over to my lawyers. One of them is Shannon Clark, Esquire. She is my sister."

He received twelve years, with five suspended, a fifteen-thousand dollar fine, and a lifetime suspension of his license. He also did have to spend a month at the morgue. He was shown Ann's autopsy pictures.

Ann's life was only worth seven years and fifteen-thousand dollars.

The stress of the trial was so overwhelming, that when I returned home, Catherine prepared a bath for me. Usually, I'm kind of embarrassed whenever Catherine had to help me bathe, but today, I was stressed out. I got into the water, eased myself in, and just sat.

Catherine came in, got a washcloth, and started to wash me. Hell, I had been taking solo showers with Catherine standing outside the shower for two months now. This felt so good, though. Catherine's hands were so soft on my back and shoulders. She suggested that she should give me a massage after my bath.

In the last year, I had shared many of my feelings and emotions with Catherine, I even cried on her shoulder.

I fell asleep during her massage.

The nitty-gritty

Now, we started on the lawsuits. The driver's lawsuit was short and sweet; my lawyers basically cleaned him out, leaving enough money for his family to live on, and send his two kids to community college, and that was that.

My own insurance settled right away to policy amounts; it was by the book. The driver's insurance company tried to stonewall us, until pictures of my wife were shown. I could not view them, and I didn't ever want to see them.

Ann's life insurance was worth five-hundred-thousand dollars, and paid double-indemnity, since it was an accident.

Uncle Bob pushed us to insure our lives for the half-a-million each; he had paid the first year's premium for us.

Now it was the driver's company's turn. My lawyers subpoenaed the HR records of the executive, and had company employees testify under oath as to whether it was known if the executive had a drinking problem and drunk-driving problem. It was known.

Well, fecal matter hit the rotary impeller.

The company had a disgruntled employee, who spilled the beans about the executive and where he had been drinking. It was a company get-together, and the executive was actually 'on the clock.' The company had a duty to protect their own workers, and, in turn, the public.

When the smoke cleared from all the legal stuff, I ended up with about 22.5 million dollars from all of the lawsuits, which became eleven million dollars after taxes and lawyers' fees. I divided it up— three million dollars for Emma Ann's trust, and five million dollars for a family trust. That left over two million dollars for 'pocket change' and investing.

Things Change

I used the life insurance to buy a home for Emma and myself. I gladly found a nice home, paid cash. The house was on ten acres; included a pool in an all-weather enclosure, a hot tub, five bedrooms, four baths, a TV and games room, den, a fully equipped kitchen, and a deck. Along with a half acre of grass that was fenced in. It was a foreclosure sale, so I got it real cheap. I asked Catherine to come work for me, as a nanny; I would pay her very well, with benefits, full room and board, and a car. She accepted it right away. I had the place renovated, and Emma Ann and I settled down to live a quiet life.

I bought Catherine the new car, a Subaru Ascent, because she would be driving Emma Ann around, and I wanted them both to be safe. I bought a Nissan Pathfinder for myself. I started classes at the university, and I paid for Catherine to take more classes toward her receiving an RN degree.

I spent many evenings in the games room or den with Emma and Catherine, while Catherine and I, both did our homework and studied. We settled into a pseudo-family setting, and

I didn't even know it!

I couldn't believe how close we became; we talked about everything, but mostly about Emma.

Catherine snuck in things about herself and wormed things out of me. Without me knowing it, I started to feel very safe and at ease with Catherine, and I was beginning to think Catherine was feeling very at home with me.

Shannon would stop by, and usually, she and Catherine would disappear to have some girl-talk.

One night, when Emma was a little past two years old, Catherine and I were watching a horror movie; both of us were on the couch, and Emma was in bed. One scene was quite scary, and Catherine jumped up against me and threw her arms around me; she was actually scared. I held her and did not let go. Hell, it felt good. We were almost cheek to cheek.

My mind started to think about Catherine; she was pretty, warm, intelligent, and good looking. I was looking in my heart, did I feel something there? It had been around two years past Ann's death; should I have feelings like this? I wanted to kiss her. I just held her until the end of the movie. After that, I started to call her Kat; she started to call me Bobby.

Kat's birthday

When it was Kat's twenty-second birthday, I got a sitter for Emma and took Kat out to dinner. I didn't know that girls her age wore a LBD, Little Black Dress, yet. Kat was smokin' hot. I took her to the best restaurant in town. Neither of us had a drink. After the meal we walked, arm in arm, by the river. We then drove out of town and parked in an open field and did some stargazing. We talked about the 'world' about each other's lives. We saw a meteor shower. We got home about 1:00am, and I paid the sitter plus a tip. Kat and I sat for about fifteen minutes, talking. I walked her to her bedroom, and I gave her a peck on the cheek; she turned and went into her room.

The next two years were quite interesting. Kat remained Emma's nanny, and I would take Kat out to dinner about once a month, just like I did for her birthday. Kat and I both finished our degrees, Kat got a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and I got Bachelor of Science and Engineering, and we graduated in the same ceremony.

Emma starting kindergarten.

Now that Emma was starting kindergarten, Kat didn't have as much to do while she was at school. One Friday evening, after Emma went to bed, Kat said she wanted to get a real nursing job.

I said, "Why? Don't I pay you enough?" This hit me like a ton of bricks. I retreated into my room. It was at that time, I realized I had some very real and deep feelings for Kat. I called Shannon and proceeded to pour my heart out to her.

She was saying 'yes', 'I see', and 'hmmm' a lot.

When I finished, Shannon said, "Little brother, you are a dumbass! Kat has been waiting for you to see her as a girlfriend, a lover, or maybe even a wife. She loves you and you can't see it!"

All I could say was, "What? Ummmm," and breathe in and out.

Shannon asked, "How do you feel about her?"

"Is this a trick question...? I really like her very much."

"That's what a middle schooler's answer is. I will tell you, after tonight, I can say YOU DO LOVE HER!"

"Well, do you think I should tell her?"

"You really are a dumbass! Of course, you should!"

I looked in the bathroom mirror, and splashed some water on my face. I tried on four different shirts (yes, I was just going to walk to the other room).

I walked into the games room. Kat was on the couch, on her phone, and ended the conversation with, "...he's here."

It was now or never.

I walked up to her, held out my hand to help her stand, and then I wrapped my arms around her, and... kissed her!

It was a deep and passionate kiss. I was on fire and Kat felt like she was too. Our hands wandered all over each of our bodies. Our passion took over, it flowed like water out of a broken pipe.

We started to lose clothes, and before long, we were naked. I picked Kat up and carried her to my bedroom. We were both inexperienced. Ann and I were virgins when we met, and actually hadn't gotten to the point of sexual variations yet. Kat was a virgin.