The Wrong Way Road Trip

Part 3 - Taking In Strays

Chapter 7 - Checking on Jeremy

As Las Vegas faded into the distance, I felt a strange sense of calm. Kate and I had just finished ten days of romance with an incredible wedding in an auto shop. After she was rescued from the diner on old Route 66, we agreed to take our lives one day at a time. And here we were, headed to our next adventure.

"What are you so quiet about?" The newly married woman looked terrific. She had been scared to death of the whole idea, which was hers before she got cold feet. I had lectured that she was tough and would do fine. She had. She still was, smiling and on top of the world. At least for today.

In a few minutes, she pulled over. "Show me how to put the top up. I am not ruining all of this fancy hairdo." I scooted over on the bench seat and reached between her legs. "Somewhere in here is a switch..."

The slap was quick. "No molesting the bride until I say!" The kiss was soft. "Someone is going to kill us running off the freeway if you don't put up the top and let me drive."

In a minute, we were back on the freeway, headed to St. George. The sun was behind us, lighting up rocks and bushes in the desert. All of a sudden, now that we were married, my tongue was tied. We needed plans, she needed a baby doctor, but nothing mattered except our being together, out on the road.

The motel really was on a cliff, overlooking the town. The spire of the 1871 Temple was still visible in the twilight. There were signs of boom in the new housing developments. I decided tomorrow was for plans, tonight was for loving.

The room was extra fine. We had been upgraded to a suite and the parlor had a big picture window. "Dearest, since this is the honeymoon suite and there is a big window, do you suppose we are required to put on a show?"

Her leg behind mine put us on the carpet in a hurry. Her frown was deep. "Let's get one thing straight. No random attacks. Sex is only by negotiation!"

Wrestling with my many named woman was great fun. She twisted and batted and bounced. I grunted and swore. "Trying to start things off with a bang, are you?" She was laughing hard at the double entendre as I tossed the last piece of underwear across the room. My Grr sound was very loud as he drove home, right there on the carpet, no negotiation needed.

"A married screw! This is unbelievable." She felt good. Really good. I stopped to enjoy the feeling. "Tell me how a married screw is different?"

Silence, but lots of little kisses and twitches. A thrust or two from her hips. "It is very silly, but our first married screw means something. Don't ask me what, but it does."

She reached for my ears. "This morning, when I woke up, I could feel him. Just the tiniest little tingle down there."

"He is happy to have a legal Daddy? Even if I didn't supply the sperm?"

"Jeremy doesn't worry about things like that. The DNA of the parents is all jumbled up anyway and he didn't get to choose!"

Her tongue came after mine. "Is this a real screw, or just pretend?"

She bounced and clenched and pounded my chest. "I can see already we are having a difficult marriage."

Five minutes later, we were still on the carpet, catching a breath after a furious finish. I whispered, "That will remind him his parents are in love."

As we stood up to find the shower, she repeated in my ear, "Parents." Her eyes were moist.

The restaurant next door had a so-so menu, but we weren't paying attention. Outside on the terrace, the desert air was cooling rapidly and Kate scrunched into my side. She poked and said, "Now that we have the honeymoon out of the way..."

I thought to myself that so far, every day with her was a honeymoon. Kissing her ear, I said, "I have a subversive thought."

We almost wrestled right there on the patio. "Everything about you is subversive. Picking up girls in out of the way places..."

The safe choice hamburgers were good. I had a beer, from which she got small sips. "We may be overthinking this blog business. What about accumulating a little experience? Travel for a few weeks, doing the blogs but storing them until the right moment?"

"If we don't look out, the right moment will have Jeremy in my arms instead of my belly."

I was tired already of being in public with my bride. "Eat up, we need to go back to the room."

She looked at me quizzically, "I thought you had your stress relief?"

I made a threatening Grr noise and she followed. Inside the door of the suite, I held her upside down and growled louder. "Put me down, and stop being foolish."

Once she had me on the bed, under her, she smiled and asked, "What is the problem?"

I squished her down on my chest and pulled up the quilt. "A little voice says I have to take care of you. Both of you."

She cried and I cried and we fell asleep.

It was hot under the quilt. We had our clothes on and the bedside clock said 1 am. Her teeth worked on my ear. "Now see what you have done. We will be up half the night."

"Screwing?"

"I'm already sore. That attack on the carpet was too brutal."

"But..."

She tossed the quilt aside and bounced on me. "I never thought I could have a mate and a friend at the same time."

I hustled us to the shower. With hot water pouring down on her head, which had a protective shower cap over it, we punched at each other. "A friend? Someone to share things with? Someone to overcome life's little obstacles with?"

She replied, "Someone to raise babies with?"

Cuddled back together in the big honeymoon suite bed, minus clothes, she said, "So, we travel to interesting places, practicing our photography and our blog skills? Spending your money?"

"I have a confession to make. When I discovered your situation, I said to myself that I was going to put my life on hold until you and your baby were taken care of. But the game plan has changed. We are hooked up. Hooked up permanently. Maybe everything shouldn't be on hold. Maybe we need to think about the future. The future beyond little Jeremy's birth."

She was choked up. "This is such a crazy time to be having this conversation. In the middle of the night on our first married night!"

I pinched the bottom which was squirming around and making me hard. "You knew I was trouble. Why would an otherwise sane man reach out to the troubled pregnant teenager who will be twenty next week?"

She pressed herself down harder, "Damn, damn, damn."

She was still tight when the desert sun coming in the window woke us up. Newlywed kisses were necessary. I was hard and she was soft, but a leap out of bed meant no sex right now. The body I lusted after danced around the room. "Brian, the first day of our married life!"

I joined hands and danced with her. Parts of both of us were stiff. I threw her in the air and caught her in my arms.

"Brian, let's get the doctor visit over and find a better place to hang out than a motel in a city, even a nice city like St. George."

Over decent eggs at the restaurant next door, I asked her about the ideal travel itinerary, which got me a stare and an elbow in the ribs. We were sitting side by side, and I was afraid my ribs were going to suffer. My hand squeezed her thigh and I made a threatening noise.

"You don't scare me anymore."

Truth to tell, both of us were scared of what we had launched ourselves into. She answered my question.

"Shouldn't we explore out of the way places? Not just tourist sites? The readers of our blog do not need another shot of Zion Lodge."

"Out of the way, wayward?" I joked.

We stopped at the front desk. Kate waved me on so she could have a private conversation with the woman. I ambled upstairs, thinking about out of the way places. Years ago, in high school, I had the good luck to be taken along on a family back country trip to this part of the southwest. "The quirky part," I remember my Dad saying.

Kate was smiling as she came into the room and fell into my arms on the bed. "I have two different numbers of OB/GYN doctors she says have good reputations. Since it is after eight o'clock, I can call and see about a last minute appointment."

I teased, "Jeremy, she is about to give away your secrets."

The new wife was feeling good, which meant a few hard smacks for her new husband. I reacted, "Damn, you are a menace. Probably going to jump into that fancy car and leave your husband in the dust."

This redoubled the blows, until she said, "You are too tough for me. I give up. May I have the phone?"

The kiss was hot and long. My hands roamed. She sat on my legs with a frown. "Behave."

The first doctor was booked solid and not accepting new patients. The nurse at the second number was sympathetic and put Kate on hold while she discussed the situation with her supervisor. After several minutes, Kate received an appointment for noon. "Promptly at noon," said the woman. Kate repeated that back and smiled at me.

Still sitting there, she said, "Maternity care, would you believe?" Her eyes were big and teary. There was going to be a meltdown if I didn't do something.

"Lucy, if we are going to camp on this trip, we better buy some stuff for camping." I had us up and moving. "The front desk will know where to send us. Where are we sleeping tonight?"

"Not on the ground!" Her hand came up for a slap, but I grabbed it and kissed it.

The front desk said there was a Dick's Sporting Goods, but locals preferred the Desert Rat. We were out the door in five minutes. "Years ago, my folks brought me here and we stayed in Springdale, just outside the park. Why don't you check with your phone for something interesting?"

She smirked at me, "Am I indentured as the travel arranger?"

"I can't put marks on you before the doctor visit, but just wait until after."

"Remember, I took a self-defense class in school!"

"That's where those fancy moves come from?"

"I think I need more practice!"

Amazingly, she hadn't even noticed that she was sitting as though the console was still between us. I pointed to the new upholstery next to my hip.

"Oh shit, after all that talk!" Her arm went around my neck and lips entertained my ear. "Brian," she whispered softly, "thank you so much for this wonderful car."

"Thank Ben and his incredible crew. Why don't you give him a ring? The number is in my phone."

After three rings, he answered. "Brian, how is married life treating you?"

In the sexiest voice imaginable, she said, "Ben, I can't tell you how great the car is. He's driving right now but you wouldn't believe what happened in the back seat..."

"Stop! Marigold, there are people listening on the line!"

Back to her normal voice, "Ben, you are such an easy tease. Was the afterparty fun? I sure liked talking to your guys and their women. What an outstanding group!"

"Listen, I can't believe this, but the phone won't stop ringing with new business this morning. That reporter's story and pictures are in the morning paper. You are famous. Three different agencies want you to model for them! Will he let you come back to Vegas?"

I was in the parking lot at Desert Rat and seized the phone. "Are you kidding? Not on your life. But we have a favor to ask. If Kate gives you a name and address, will you mail a copy of the paper to them?"

She had the phone back. "Ben, this is fantastic. She gave them her parents' address and asked that he hang on to a couple more for us until we had an address he could use.

"Lovers," he said, "check the paper's website. The whole article and pictures are there. I have to go, the office manager says three calls are holding."

Kate wouldn't leave the car until she had viewed the small size version of the article. "Oh, look at the pictures!"

They were good. Two people clearly in love. Marigold was a fantastically beautiful bride. She read some of the text to me. "Oh god, Mom and Dad are going to have such a fit! I love it! In an auto shop in Sin City in a restored Hot Rod!"

Will your parents' friends get wind of it?"

"Absolutely. I'll bet some of this is already on Facebook."

"Justice, of a sort?"

"Yes. Now I can file my bad memories away and not worry about what the family thinks. It doesn't matter."

We went inside and filled two big wheeled carts in half an hour. She nudged me and said, "I don't have the faintest idea of how most of this stuff works."

Including two expensive zip together down bags, the total bill was over a thousand. I reached for my credit card and realized that was not the new game plan. The checkout clerk's eyes widened as my hundreds slapped down. I whispered, "We just got married and her family was generous!"

"Mister, you sure married the right girl."

The large bags mostly filled the trunk and we decided to leave them there since we were leaving. As we passed the front desk, the same woman who had helped Kate waved us over, pointing to the double page spread open in front of her.

"I didn't know we had a famous couple staying with us." Her smile was wide. She asked, "He really bought you a restored convertible with a bench seat?"

Kate smiled yes as she kissed me, pointing out the front door. The reception clerk whispered, "I'm going home for lunch!"

In the room, we packed up. Kate said she needed to shower all the important parts. I asked if help was needed.

"You stay away from me. She is going to know what has been going on in ten seconds of looking in there."

We were tense on the way to the doctor's office. Nothing was wrong that we knew about, but neither of us knew much about pregnancy problems. I was directed to a corner of the waiting room and Kate was immediately ushered into the back, clutching a clipboard of forms. I told the woman at the desk there was no insurance and I would pay the whole bill in cash before we left.

She looked down at a form where it said, "Initial prenatal exam," and looked up at me, guessing the truth. "Not yours?"

I shook my head. "Married her yesterday."

The frown took a while to be replaced by a smile. "Mister, you are a prince. A real prince."

I thanked her and sat down. Mentally, I told Jeremy not to worry about his little swimming pool being disturbed. "They are just checking, buddy. You and we don't want any problems down the road."

I was dozing, almost asleep, when Kate came back, followed by the doctor. Both were smiling. I shook hands and was introduced to Jacqueline, who was from Paris. "Your wife is fine. The blood samples will be tested at a lab, and if anything shows up, we will call. When she is further along, almost four months, there needs to be amniocentesis, to check for possible genetic defects. Find a major medical center, where they do the procedure frequently. Denver maybe?"

She proceeded to poke me hard in the middle of the chest. "You, sir, are remiss in seeing that both you and your wife had physicals before marrying. I have checked the vital signs on Marigold, in addition to checking on the fetus, and find everything is good. The nurse is going to come and take you in the back for a blood sample. She will also take your blood pressure and listen to your heart and lung sounds. That will have to do until your wife takes you to a medical center for a full workup!"

I was too stunned to do anything but mumble, "Yes, Ma'am."

Both of us thanked her profusely and she said "Good luck on your trip," as she disappeared back to the inner sanctum.

A very cute nurse stuck a needle in me and filled two test tubes with blood, plus making me take my shirt off so she could poke and prod and listen. "You have elevated blood pressure, 150 over 90, but that is better than some males I have to deal with." She lowered her voice and stepped closer, "If you didn't have such a beautiful new wife, I would ask for a date. What about a quick kiss?"

I gave a low growl and pulled her tight. The body press was great and the lips wonderful. "You are temptation with a capital T!" I swatted the tight bottom and walked back to the front desk, where an invoice for $810 sat prominently on the counter. "Mr. Westerman, I hope this is ok, the doctor already gave you the maximum hardship discount our system permits."

She had a winning smile, like all the other women in this office, and I paid quickly.

Before leaving St. George, we had one more errand. "Camouflage," I said to Kate. "We need a cover for this gorgeous car." Two quick phone calls found us a place with the perfect cover. Expensive, but with a steel cable in the skirt that made it at least somewhat theft proof. In a few more minutes, the Katemobile was headed for Hurricane and the park.

Kate had her nose in the phone. "What about Wildrose Lodge, in Springdale?"

I laughed, "You are definitely my wild rose. Sign us up."

Kate had a new bandana and asked if we could put the top down. I found a wide spot and pulled over. With the top secured, I asked, "Do you wish to take the wheel, Madam?"

Watching her, I was impressed all over again. "You look like Elizabeth Taylor in that film with Montgomery Clift. You know, the scene in the convertible."

She looked across and laughed. "I love your compliments, Brian, but I am no Elizabeth Taylor!"

I slid over on the consoleless seat and applied a kiss. "I sure do like this seat, Ma'am."

She pushed my head down in her lap and ran her fingers through my hair. "Brian, we are really on the road. Is it true we don't have to get organized right away?"

I turned on my back, head on her muscled thigh, and stared upward. She stuck two fingers in my mouth and laughed. "Isn't it the guy who is supposed to be driving and doing bad things?"

"Speaking of bad things, what did the doctor think of the violence to your female parts?"

"She was so funny. She said that a Parisian girl would never go steady with a guy who did not please her in bed. And then she said, "Marigold, it looks as though your new husband has been pleasing you!"

"I was laughing so hard, I almost slipped off the table. She had me all opened up with the metal contraption and her fingers had some kind of gel on them and I was instantly wet. She was terrible, said that if I was her girlfriend, she could get me off in just a minute. She leaned down and ran her tongue over my clit and I almost died."

"What about poor Jeremy?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that I have a print of the ultrasound in my purse! He is so tiny. But he is moving already. She said it was too early to tell much, except that the picture was very normal."

I knew the scenery was spectacular, but preferred the view from Kate's lap. She noticed and put her free hand over my eyes. My free hand found its way up under her tee shirt. Suddenly we were off the road and stopping. I was pulled up and slapped. "You are going to cause a wreck. We are on a two lane road. You can molest me all you want once we get to the Wild Rose."

She was right and I apologized for being juvenile. Then she administered punishment. "Move over and pretend there is a console between us!"

I slumped in the corner and thought about itinerary. In between bouts of sorting our lives, Kate and I deserved some interesting outings. Especially with all the new camping gear stashed in the trunk.

"What's the longest hike you have been on in the last six months?"

"Hmmm. Maybe ten miles. Why do you ask?"

"Thinking about going somewhere on foot. You ever heard of Paria Canyon?"

"No. Is that around here?"

"Less than a day's drive. You fancy trying a night or two camping with me? There are no large mammals to worry about."

"Except for you, that is." She laughed in my direction and said, "Get back over here."

We went along hip to hip, my arm over her shoulder. "We are heading to Navajo Country, with side stops along the way."

We were gaining altitude and losing temperature. "Want to stop and put the top up?"

"We can do it at the motel. Looks like Springdale right over there."