Dear faithful readers - My apologies for the dreadful delay in returning to this tale of love and high finance. So many stories, so little time... Sierra.
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A Couple - Part 4 - A Holiday Birth and More Surprises
It was the third week of December and we were having a cold spell, with frost. The early morning swim club was in full swing, supervised by Suzanne and Wilma. Keeping the water at seventy was bankrupting our utility budget, and I summoned the pool people to install a motorized cover. Natalie laughed at me and said, "Oscar, you've got ten years of heat already covered from these swimmers and their fees. Not to mention that Lisa is smiling all the way to the bank with new business for West End Enterprises."
I kissed her carefully. The belly was enormous, with a little more than a month to go. Erica and Inge had come for the party before flying home for an old fashioned holiday in Stockholm with their families. Wilma and Suzanne were also leaving for family gatherings, so the event was labeled a Solstice party in celebration of the shortest day. The women had convinced me to invite the swim group founders, of whom there were quickly the limit of ten, to the party. They were all men, and would provide an opportunity for flirting, I was told.
The morning of the party, six young women were hip checking in their boy shorts in the kitchen and giggling over breakfast preparations. Natalie and I had been told to stay where we were in the big bed.
"Oscar, the doctor told me yesterday that the baby is over five pounds and might come any time. She said women my age are unpredictable."
"As if I didn't know."
She pulled gently on my hair and said, "I want you to do me a favor and stay out of the delivery room. I'm going to be stressed enough getting him out of me, and I don't want to be more stressed worrying about you being stressed. Is that ok?"
I let the silence hang for a bit and said, "No, but I respect your wishes. I want you to tell the doctor that I get summoned if needed. And to see our baby, if that is all right."
She stuffed a pillow in my face and lay on me. "Obnoxious male. No wonder some species reproduce without you."
A face at the door said, "Look, she's smothering him."
Another face said, "Oh dear, if she doesn't want him anymore, we'll have to take him away."
Breakfast was served on the bed and I had to listen to a seven way debate about whether fathers should be in delivery rooms. None of the seven females had delivered a child, so the discussion was on the abstract side. Lisa winked at me and mouthed, "Presumed fathers."
I switched around and whispered, "Who is going to deliver next after Natalie? You are the oldest."
She grabbed me by the ear, said "Excuse us," and walked outside, elbowing me as we went.
Around the corner, she leaned all of her against all of me and said, "You are not to toy with my emotions. You know I am all mixed up inside about work and lovers."
"But the excuses that you are too busy for a baby and for finding a suitable mate are wearing thin."
She sniffled on my shoulder. "Yes, damn it."
"Natalie told you to find out if I can do it."
She cried harder. "Oscar, it's one thing to have more than one girlfriend, but two families is serious!"
I pressed her to me. "I am the last person to pressure you about a baby."
She cried even harder and Natalie appeared from around the corner. "I thought so. Let's go on the far side of the pool and talk."
Natalie and I sat on a lounger with Lisa across our knees. Kisses and soft rubbing hands were applied.
"If I order you to not worry about this for a few days, will you obey me?" Natalie's voice was firm.
My sister buried her face in my crotch and cried again. Natalie told her, "You can't cry there, he will get hard."
Lisa turned over and they laughed at me. I stared back, "She said, 'presumed father,' to me in there."
After a few seconds, there was a gasp, and Natalie choked out, "OMG, think of all the women who go into labor not knowing whose sperm got them!"
"Yes," I said, "no wonder the women don't want male company when they deliver."
Natalie looked at me, eyes stricken, "Oh Oscar, this is not for joking. I am so sorry. I take it all back..."
Lisa's plight was forgotten and the two hugged each other, mumbling about stupid pregnant females.
I stood behind them and rubbed shoulders and made soothing noises. "Hey, I think we need to do our nice solstice party and worry about sperm later."
The boy short bodies were filing out, and the pool cover was retracting. In a moment, they were splashing, and we joined them. I held Natalie's arm as she descended the shallow end steps. I got my hands under her and floated the two of them back and forth, the big belly looking like a mushroom rising from the forest floor. Natalie waved her arms and said, "You are not to laugh. Someday, your bellies will be like this."
The looks on the women's faces were a mix of smiles and worry. I thought to myself that even a solstice party couldn't drive the impending event from people's minds. They had all been intimate with me, wonderfully orgasmically intimate, and I wondered where I stood with my family of lovers. Somehow, I had to convince them there are guys as good as or better than I am out there. I wasn't having any success with that line, however. I got beat on every time the subject came up.
I brought out an armful of terry robes and a full pot of coffee. They eased Natalie to a lounger and surrounded her with chairs and chatter. I went to check email.
My mobile rang and it was Lisa, asking me to come down to the West End room. When I arrived, she was just closing a connection to London.
We sat next to each other and she took my hand. �That was John Middleton, one of the biggest players in hedge funds. We�ve known each other for years. He helped me get started after I left the bank. He was calling to say there is a rumor going around that West End is in play. I told him I didn�t see how that could be. That Madelyn and I are very happy with the way things are and the amount of business we have.�
We stared at each other and I thought quickly. "We need to keep this undercover for the moment. Natalie would fuss if she knew. I will go and retrieve Madelyn and say there is news about the latest deal and a decision needs to be made today. While I am doing that, go over in your head who might benefit from the rumor."
Pool play was in full swing when I returned. Natalie was dozing and the others were enjoying the warm, sunny morning. I caught Madelyn's eye and gestured toward the video room.
I toweled her off as we walked and said, "Trouble in London. Lisa will fill you in." She took my hand and squeezed.
For the next hour or more, they rehearsed each other on who might have mischief in mind. There was a list of four or five competitors who had lost out in deal making, and more distant suspects they might have irritated in the past.
Madelyn said, "All of our biggest clients know us well, and a phone call will satisfy them this is nonsense. But it could put a crimp in our new business efforts. Being private means there is no public stock to attempt to acquire, but it feeds the rumor mill because everyone suspects the denials are just a cover for a sale."
I asked, "Is this likely to surface in a way that will get Natalie's attention?"
"It's hard to say, and difficult to counter from here. Perhaps one of us needs to make a quick trip to London?"
Madelyn spoke up, "Lisa, you must stay close to Natalie. It's better for me to go, especially since I am the pretty thing that can chat up the press."
I was about to make a comment about keeping the press at bay when I remembered how down and dirty games could get in the tough financial world of the UK. Instead, I said, "Let's make sure your security people are on high alert both for your personal safety and for the safety of your flat. Are they trusted enough to station a person on premises? I would go in a minute if we weren't so far along with the baby."
Lisa asked, "You are thinking the rumor may be a cover for something else?"
I responded, "When I am chasing an epidemic, nothing is ruled out until proven. Now that you have done a first pass on possible culprits, spend a few moments thinking about other kinds of attacks on you or the business. I will go and prepare lunch and say the latest opportunity probably means a quick visit to London by Madelyn. The first flight after the party. Be sure to smile when you come back." I gave each of them a squeeze and a kiss as I left. The faces were not smiling.
The Stockholm girls were working on a very fancy holiday smorgasbord, with tons of food, so my lunch was soup and salad, with sourdough French bread.
The group ate and gossiped. Lisa and Madelyn took chairs near Natalie and did a great job of conveying excitement about the news of another fabulous deal making opportunity, but also their unhappiness that Madelyn needed to make a quick trip to London to take care of details.
As the afternoon progressed, I was given menial chores as bodies worked on an amazing menu of drinks and food. There was mistletoe to be hung, bathrooms to be touched up, parking signs to be made. Handouts of the lyrics to holiday songs had been printed. Lisa elbowed me as various female pianists played their favorites. "You are to enjoy yourself even though you are worried about Natalie and about what is going on with my company."
"You are better at it than I am. I remember those plays from school."
"Yes, but you are an experienced WHO guy who has handled tight situations."
