At coffee break Janet noticed the class ring on my left hand and giggled. "Did he ask you to go steady? That is the sweetest thing. I know for a fact that Becky never had that ring, in fact he never wore it at all, guess he was saving it for you."
"He did ask me to go steady, and as soon as we were through making love last night, he asked me to marry him."
Janet's mouth hung open for thirty seconds or more. "Wait, what? You two made ... He asked you to ... Oh my God, you move fast girl."
"It was all his idea actually, I simply had no reason to say no. I love him Janet, he loves me, and he loves my girls. How can that be wrong?"
Through the morning around our normal tasks neither of us could come up with a reason to make it wrong. Janet did mention it takes a special guy to take on someone else's kids and love them as his own, but she thought Frank was just that kind of guy. Frank and I were ready to have a full-blown sex life, but knew that couldn't happen openly, for the sake of his career and the girls. It wouldn't take long for Ken to find out we were an item and cause trouble if possible.
For the next few weeks we found time to be together at his house, twice we enjoyed a quickie in the truck and once at his dads in the haymow. The girls suspected we were romantically involved, but they'd seen nothing physical beyond some hugging and light kisses. Sitting on his front porch, Julie was off with friends and the younger girls were playing on the tire swing when he asked.
"Carla, what are we waiting for? Why are we torturing each other physically and trying to hide what we really feel from the girls and the town? Why don't we just get married?"
I think my answer shocked him, "Are we living at your place or mine?"
Looking at me he smiled and kissed me. "Good answer, I have more land, but you have a bigger and nicer house. The girls are settled where they're at, seems to me your house would be the wisest choice. How should we tell the girls?"
"I'll set up a supper or something in the next few days, I'll let you know tomorrow, they're going to be thrilled. I want to make you aware of something, Julie has a massive crush on you, she may get a little fresh and risqué once you're in the house full time, so you'll need to be on your guard."
"I've noticed. I can remember my mom telling dad that the best thing he could ever do for his girls was to tell and show them how beautiful they were, then they wouldn't need to seek that attention from some greasy pimple faced boy. I can shower them with attention and help them confirm in their minds who and what they are without neglecting you or making them think they're going to take your place."
On Tuesday Frank came for supper, the girls were all over him. How was his day, did he catch any bad guys, was there anybody shady walking around town? He laughed and joked with them as though he'd been in their lives from birth, at one point little Janet jumped on his lap, causing the other two to show their jealousy. He wisely stood up, gave all three a hug and said they should wash up and set the table. There was no argument, no rebuttals, they went down the hall and returned to set the table. The two youngest wanted to go out and play after we ate, I told them we needed to talk as a family.
With three pair of young eyes staring at me I started, "Girls, Frank and I have decided waiting to get married doesn't make any sense, so we're going to do it in three weeks. I want Julie to be my maid of honor, Jean you'll be my first bridemaid and Janet you will be my flower girl/ring bearer. Frank's brother Edwin will be his best man, and his nephew Elliot will be a groomsman.
Julie was the first, "You mean I walk down the aisle with Edwin?" I nodded yes. "Oh my, he's dreamy, and he's still single I think."
"I know he's dreamy honey, but he's 29 and you're still 15. You can dream, but that's all."
Jeanie was next, "Elliot, the boy a year ahead of me in school, oh he's so cute."
Janet sat looking sad until Frank spoke. "And you Janet will stand by my side until your mom walks down the aisle and you hold her flowers."
She smiled, giggled, her little butt squirming on the seat, it was like she had ants in her pants. The older girls were lost in their own dreamland thinking of who they were partnered with.
Little Janet was the first to ask where Frank would live, when I told her he'd be with me in my bedroom she wasn't very happy. I could see the little gears turning as she stared.
"Honey, it's what married people do, they share the same bedroom."
"Yeah but, then he'll see you naked and you guys will have sex, I don't want you to do that mom. Then you'll have more babies and we won't matter, you'll throw us away just like dad did."
Frank coaxed her onto his lap letting her cry it out. "Janet, I'll never throw you or your sisters away. Your mommy can't have any more babies, and I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world to soon be the step dad of three beautiful girls. I'll never be so busy I don't have time for you, I may not be available the minute you want me, but I'll never ignore you or your sisters."
As we sat on the porch later I asked Frank if he was seriously ready for the craziness of raising three teenage girls? His response was priceless, "the questions is, are they ready for me?"
We were able to keep our wedding plans fairly well contained until we got our marriage license. The gossip machine was in full swing by days end, I was sure I'd be hearing from Ken soon, he'd be nasty at first, because that's the way he is, and then he'd try to find a way to weasel out of child support. I didn't care about maintenance for me, when I married Frank, we didn't need it. I told Frank of my suspicions and as we sat on the couch that night the call I'd been expecting came through.
It was as I had anticipated, nasty remarks, how could I get married so soon, I never really loved him, blah, blah, blah. I reminded him that he'd been cheating on me since high school and that shut him up. I had the phone on speaker so everyone could hear, the next few sentences opened the girl's eyes wide.
