My Little Becky Lynn

Becky Lynn

Suddenly, he became a single dad to his baby girl

My name is James Palmer. I am a middle school teacher. Linda, my wife, was also a teacher, we taught at the same school. We had met our first year in college and became inseparable from that moment on, marrying a week after graduation. We had been married just under two years for a total of six years together. Linda was an only child and her parents had passed away a year before we married.

It was Friday, I had gotten home early and I had our little two-month-old daughter, Becky Lynn, in my arms. I had sent the babysitter home, and had been home from school for about a half an hour. Linda had run into school this afternoon to make sure her room was in good order because she was going to cut her maternity leave early and return to school next week. She also met with our principal.

There was a knock on the door. When I opened the door, there were two police officers standing there, a male and a female. "Are you James Palmer?"

"Yes."

"Is Linda Palmer your wife?"

"Yes!"

"We need to take you to St John's Hospital."

The policewoman took Becky, and we all got into the cruiser. When we arrived, I was taken directly to an ER room. There, Linda was lying there with her head heavily bandaged and tubes and wires coming out from all over her. I held her hand, I kissed her and I whispered, "I love you." She looked at me, she tried to smile and speak. That was the last time I saw her alive and the last words I spoke to her. I was escorted out of the room, Linda died about twenty-five minutes later.

What happened!?

I was told that Linda had stopped at a convenience store on her way home, and an armed robber had walked in behind her. The clerk had pushed the silent alarm and when the cops got there the robber had the clerk and my Linda held hostage. The twenty-something robber was tweaking, high on something. The police had a hostage negotiator and two sharpshooters in place.

The negotiator had the guy almost ready to give up, when all of a sudden, the guy said, "You are lying to me!"

Before the sharpshooters could pull their triggers, the bastard had shot my Linda in the head. Linda was still alive and the robber was lying in a spreading pool of his blood with two holes in his head!

After Linda passed, the police called my sister, Janice, from the hospital, (my parents wanted our names to be similar. Mom used to just call "JJ" and one of us would answer, Jimmy or Jan we answered). Jan contacted the rest of our family.

I then had to put my hurt aside; I had a baby girl who only had me!

The district gave me a month's bereavement leave because it was a 'sudden' death. The union had negotiated with the district, and we had paid

maternity and paternity

leave. (It really was a temporary pay as part of a grant that preceded the Family and Medical Leave Act,

FMLA

.) I was able to take paternity leave due to Becky not being one yet. I would take a little over the customary ten weeks because I was given what was left of Linda's maternity leave.

I needed all that time. The first week, I spent the whole time in bed, I walked around numb for quite a while. Mom took two weeks off and along with Janice and dad, they took care of my little sweet Becky Lynn and me, they were a godsend.

For a while, there was a memorial set up at the convenience store dedicated to Linda. I had to hide Becky and myself from the news cameras; what was worse was that the news somehow got a picture of Linda— it was a nice one, must have been a picture from school— I had to stop watching the local news for a while. I just couldn't look at a picture of her for a long time.

The school community came to my aid. A number of PTA mothers made Becky and me their project, babysitting when I had appointments; sometimes tagging along when I did grocery shopping; helping with housecleaning and laundry. (Hey, I know I am a man but I can clean and wash.) I thought, soon one of them just might become Becky's wet-nurse!

I felt guilty that I was getting all of this attention, mostly because I was a man.

Does this happen with women?

A non-profit victims' aid organization walked me through getting legal representation for both me and Becky. There were some lawsuits filed. One group wanted me to sue the police, but that was a no go— my feeling was the only way for the police to have prevented this was to have killed the robber as he walked in the store. It turned out that the gunman was wanted and his very, very well-to-do family had hidden him from the cops. His parents were charged criminally.

My lawyers did find some people to sue, his father AND his mother, also some other people associated with the gunman. His father tried to fight the charges, my lawyer submitted a shitload of legal briefs. The father changed his mind and pleaded guilty to 'Aiding and abetting a fugitive from justice', it was

cheaper

to pay fines and 'restitution' to me and my motherless child, he only had to spend a half a year of weekends in jail, his wife got four months of weekend lock-up, his 'money' kept them out of 'real lockup'. The gunman's original charges were for armed robbery!

The father was asked by the news why he had changed his mind. "We need this to stop, we lost a son, too."

Janice became the family spokesperson, her comment in regard to the gunman's father was, "Only thing I can say is no comment," with an

exaggerated eye roll

!

The news had a long shot of me carrying Becky Lynn into the house with the narrative,

"Here is a father and a daughter who lost a mother, a wife and a best friend!"

Single Father

I settled down to being a single father.

After the paternity leave was over, I took an unpaid leave of absence for mental health. I could take a leave of absence for up to three years, and be assigned 'some position' when I came back. I had joined a survivors' group, which was ninety-percent women. We would 'weepingly' meet weekly, in the town's Presbyterian church. The women took turns in the child care room; every time it was my turn, I would be told that I needed to be in the discussion. (I think it was female chauvinism).

The women would always comment on how clean Becky and my clothes were. "

He must have someone doing his wash

." Heck no, after the initial wave of the PTA women, I was doing the single-parent thing, and I was '

Not bad for a man,

' according to Janice

.

I became the 'go-to guy' for some of the 'honey-dos' that needed a man's touch that members of the survivors' group needed. It was nice because Becky would get a baby play date while I would be a white knight, fixing a leaky sink, flat tire, or a loose battery connection, etc. None of these encounters resulted in anything resembling romance, and I liked it that way. I was just not ready to have my life saddled with a heavy relationship— Becky was my life.

I'd get a laugh whenever the

I-am-both-Mom-and-Dad

discussion was going on in the group; my addition would be, "I am both Dad and Mom to my little girl, but the high heels are brutal on my ankles and legs; I wonder how bras clasps work? I can get it off but putting it on, no experience; I am not retaining water, am I missing anything?"

A couple of the single moms asked me to intercede with men who were improper with them, I was like a 'big brother'. The best part was when I needed some comforting... there were a few times when I felt like I was going to break down, I'd start to shed a few tears. Well, the women decided that that wouldn't do, so, during an extremely emotional discussion

,

the women formed a protective circle around me, and I was hugged back to reality.

After a couple of months of the leave of absence, since losing Linda, I looked at my finances; with the money from the lawsuits and life insurance, Becky and I were doing okay.

I went back to college to finish my Masters in Educational Leadership. It was just over a year after we lost Linda. I would take Becky, then about fourteen months, with me, and drop her off at the college childcare.

One night, the childcare was closed because of a water leak, so Becky was in class with me. I was trying to wean Becky off the bottle, not all kids stop the bottle when you want them to. Instead of sleeping through class, Becky was being fussy, so I moved to the back of the class and 'put the plug (the bottle) in'.

There was another single parent in the class. She was a pretty but shy, mid-twenty-something mother, who had her fussy, about eleven-month-old baby with her also. She moved to the back, along with me, but she was breastfeeding and was having trouble arranging the blanket on her shoulder to cover herself.

I was holding Becky, and quietly said, "Let me help." I pulled a potato-chip-bag clip out of my diaper bag, and clipped the blanket so it would stay up. I had learned that from my support group; the group had suggested using a banana hair clip, but the bag clip worked just as well. I got a cute, surprised look and a thank you. Both girls fell asleep within minutes.

Roberta, Bobbi

The mid-twenty-something mom introduced herself as, Roberta Johnson, Bobbi. She had graduated at the end of the fall semester and was going to get married in January since she was seven months along. Paul, her sperm-donor-slash-longtime-boyfriend, well fiancé, had 'knocked her up' and left her at the altar,

LITERALLY!

He did not even tell his best man (his best friend)— he just walked out of the church, tux and all, and was not seen again. She named her daughter Isabella, Bella

.

She figured that while being a single mom, she'd get her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. She was using a couple of grants for single parents for tuition. Bobbi was working just enough to get by— rent, food and childcare; thank goodness her mom was able to help and that the college childcare was subsidized.

With Bella and Becky asleep in their carriers, we went for coffee after class. We exchanged phone numbers and went home. The coffee 'dates' started to become an every class-night meeting. By the end of the semester, we had become kind of a 'thing'.

We spent the summer getting together at least once a week for a play date, both girls were under two. Luckily, Bobbi and I had classes together the next semester also, so the coffee dates continued. The more we met, the more we found out about each other.

We had play dates at my place, Becky was about eighteen months and Belle about fifteen months. I was then twenty-six and Bobbi was twenty-four.

These play dates became play and dinner.

Becky and Belle were now taking naps together during our visits. Bobbi and I would have discussions on parenting; we got to discussing our pasts, and the loves of our lives.

With the more play dates, the closer we became. We ended each and every play date with hugs— hugging each other's child, and we would give each other a hug. After a few months of play dates, I took a chance and kissed Bobbi. With a smile on her face, she kissed me back.

Two weeks later, I asked Bobbi if she wanted to go out for dinner on Friday. I had a good babysitter, Janice, my sister, was a teacher also. My sister had just graduated just a year after Bobbi. Bobbi and my sister had met early in our relationship, by then, they had become friends.

With a wink, Janice told us if we wanted to 'stay out' all night, we could; after all, she was babysitting at Bobbi's place which made my place... 'available'.

I took Bobbi to a very nice restaurant for a six o'clock reservation. I think she got the message that she meant something to me. Her attire told me I meant something to her— a little black dress, her LBD; a necklace that drew attention to her lovely neck; sensible pumps; her hair and makeup were fantastic. I was proud to have her on my arm.

After dinner, we went to a nice club for a little dancing. Neither of us could be mistaken for Fred and Ginger, but the slow songs, we sure enjoyed the closeness. We were responsible parents and only had one drink during dinner and nursed one at the club. At about 9:45pm, I called Janice to check on the kids.

Janice said, "They were perfect angels, but now they're asleep." (9:45pm is late for single parents.)

I asked Bobbi if she would like to watch a movie at my place.

She said, "Okay." It looked like her eyes were sparkling.

I parked in my garage. As I opened the door from the garage into my house, Bobbi stopped, turned to me, and gave me an intense kiss; her hands embraced my neck and shoulders, my arms encircled her waist and I pulled her close. When we broke, we moved to the kitchen and I made us some coffee.

Bobbi asked if we would be watching the big TV.

"The 43-inch is in the family room, and the 65-inch is in my bedroom."

Bobbi answered, "I'd like to watch the big screen."

I told Bobbi, "There are extra pillows in the hall closet."

I quickly popped some corn and walked into my bedroom. Both Bobbi and I propped ourselves up against the headboard. I brought up the streaming services, and let Bobbi pick. Bobbi picked a romantic comedy. As the movie played, I put my arm around her shoulders; Bobbi let her head rest on my shoulder. During a romantic kiss on screen, I looked at Bobbi and leaned in and started to kiss her, and we melted into an embrace. As I moved my free hand to embrace her, I brushed her breast. She moved her free hand to my lap.

She then felt my erection, and with a giggle, said, "Is that for me?"

"I'd be lying if I said no." I started to caress her breasts as I went in for another kiss.

Bobbi gave out a moan of satisfaction as I slipped my hand into the top of her dress.

During the whole time we had our coffee dates, I had behaved but here... I was now holding her and stroking her delightful B-cup breasts. Our heavy breathing told each other that tonight was THE NIGHT. By the end of the movie, we had stripped down to our underwear. We found places on each other's bodies to kiss and increased our passion. I reached behind to undo Bobbi's bra— she laughed, as she undid her front-clasp bra.

My lips found her nipples, and with a little nibbling and some sucking, I had both nipples erect, like pencil erasers.

Within moments, we had removed the rest of our clothes. Bobbi had a firm hold of my cock. I was caressing her pussy lips, and every time I touched her clit, Bobbi gave out a moan of satisfaction.

Bobbi whispered in my ear, "I have been on the pill for months..."

It took me only a moment to register what she was trying to tell me. I then sank my hard cock into her very wet pussy; Bobbi wrapped her legs around my hips. With each thrust, her legs drew me deeper into her sexual center. We heightened each other's lovemaking with strong thrusts from both of us.

Bobbi began moaning my name, "Oh Jimmy, oh Jimmy, oh Jimmy. Oh my God, Jim!"

I felt her vagina tighten on my cock, as she orgasmed, which primed my orgasm. I shot a number of streams of my seed into her vagina, my semen splashing against her cervix. Our genitals were coated with our love juices. We moved to the shower and washed each other thoroughly, bringing moans from our lips. We dried each other off and returned to my bed.

Bobbi melted into my arms. We began to kiss each other's bodies; I sucked on Bobbi's nipples, as Bobbi was pumping my cock. We turned our bodies into a sixty-nine position.

When I licked her clit, Bobbi moaned while her lips were around my cock, "Yes, that is what I like!" Her aroma just made my cock harder.

I played with Bobbi's clit, 'til she climaxed again, and begged me to give her a rest. After a short rest, I flipped her over and grabbed her hips and entered her from behind. With every thrust, we both gave out a satisfied grunt. We both came one last time for the night. We both fell asleep, with me spooning her, still in her vagina. When we woke up in the morning, I was on my back and Bobbi's head was on my chest and her hand was on my morning wood.

Bobbi said, "Honey, I have never had that many orgasms! My pussy is sore, I need some time to recover, but I'll take care of you." She coated my cock with saliva and began to stroke it. It took just minutes for her to bring me to a climax. As I said, "Here I cum," Bobbi took the head of my cock into her mouth. She took all my cum.

Bobbi took my hand and led me to the shower where we 'washed' each other again,

'until'

the water cooled.

We went out to breakfast. After the waitress left to place our order, I started, "Bobbi, now that I have all my blood flowing to my brain... I have to tell you, your Isabella and my Becky Lynn, are deep in my heart and you are even deeper... Will you marry me?"

"Jim, I thought you'd never ask— Yes, yes, yes!"

After breakfast, we went to the jewelry store. Bobbi picked a beautiful ring that, believe it or not, was reasonably priced. We picked out wedding bands, too.

We drove to Bobbi's apartment and Bobbi showed Janice the ring.

Janice, with an excited voice, said, "We will be sisters... in law!"

Back to school

Meanwhile, my district had asked me to come back early from my leave of absence. Bobbi and I discussed our working prospects, and decided we would both like to be working again. Bobbi applied to teach in my district.

I got a surprise. Instead of a teaching position, it was a principalship at a new school that they wanted me for. It was the policy of the school board to hire from current staff for administration, and since I was on a leave of absence, I was still considered employed. I was the one teacher in the district that had the course work and the excellent evaluations from when I was teaching.

I took the position. It would be a small school, about two hundred students for the first two years, then it would increase to over six hundred because of a couple of housing developments were due to be completed in the next two years.

The first thing I HAD to do, was to interview new teachers and, yes, Bobbi was one of my interviews. I had a talk with the superintendent.

He basically said, "

She is marrying you? She must be good!"

HE

hired her after a fifteen-minute interview!

We decided to get married the first weekend of August, and we went on a short honeymoon.

Janice and her then-fiancé, Bill Nolan, babysat the girls. Janice said, "It would be good practice..." Bill just rolled his eyes.

School would start the day after Labor Day, but teachers had to report the week before. I still had one teaching assignment to fill. While we were on our honeymoon, the superintendent filled that position.

Unknown to me, Janice had applied for a teaching position in my district also. Just like Bobbi, the superintendent hired her after a fifteen-minute interview! "

Since she is your sister, she must be good!"

So my little school then had three Palmers on staff.

One thing I did was to convince the school board to open up a daycare/preschool for our growing community. I filed for grants to help pay for the running of it. Tuition was on a sliding scale considering income, siblings in the upper grades, and if a parent was an employee of the district, the fees were less. We started out with eight children in our 'Little Tigers Daycare/Preschool' (our school mascot was a tiger), four were children of employees at our school— our two sweet daughters; our maintenance man's son, he was a widower; and our lunch room manager's son, she was a single mother. The other four were from a mix of two-parent families and single parents in the district.

In the years that followed, I found out that having our 'Little Tigers Daycare/Pre-school' was a great benefit to attracting employees, and not just at our school. Oh, in the third year of Little Tigers, Janice used the daycare after she and Bill were blessed with twins, a boy and a girl.