The Good Samaritan

Chapter 6: Terms and Conditions May Apply!

Bobby dropped me off and I headed upstairs to our apartment. Mom was already home and had started on supper for tonight. I ran and gave her a hug. She asked, "Oh my, what has you in such a good mode for a change?"

I could barely contain myself, "I was so scared about doing that assembly. And then after, at lunch, three girls came up to me and asked to sit with me. We talked all through lunch, and then on the way to math class, which I helped them with in class. Now we're like best friends." I squealed, I was so getting into this girl thing.

It must be the hormones, between being a girl and being pregnant, the double dose I was getting had me bouncing around like a rabbit. Mom said, "Hold on there Lola Bunny, I'm happy you made new friends finally, but you need to calm down."

I say, "Don't you mean Bugs mom?"

Mom just gave me that look, you know the one I'm talking about, it's the 'Who are you and what have you done with my little girl!' look. She said, "No, Lola Bunny, just your most favorite cartoon character of all time! What's come over you lately?"

Can a twelve year old have a heart attack, "Just kidding mom! You know, testing you! Keeping you on your toes, you spend so much time with Bobby. Making sure you're alert. Okay?"

Looking relieved, she asked, "You don't think it's too soon do you?"

Of this I was certain I could assure her, I took both her hands, "Mom, as far as I'm concerned, anyone after dad passed, doesn't exist, that was six years ago. I'd say that your mourning period is over. Bobby makes you happy! You deserve to be happy." Believing what I said next because of sixty years of living, I looked her in the eye, "And if Booby ever gets smart enough to ask you to marry him, don't you dare hesitate! Say, YES! With all your heart."

We hugged and cried some. Mom promised that she would. When I asked her what the special dinner was about, she said, "Bobby is coming over, we're having a family dinner together. So either help me with dinner or take care of your school work. When the time comes, all too soon, you're going to miss out on school because of the baby. And I don't want you to get behind."

"I'll help you mom. I was thinking the same as you, so I'm trying to get ahead in my classes to make it easier to catch up." And we work at preparing dinner.

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After everything for dinner was ready to go and it was just a matter of putting on the table when our guest got here. Mom went to pretty herself up, not that she need much to look fabulous. I decided to change out of the school uniform into something more comfy, shorts and a soft T-shirt.

The shorts were Pink brand mid shorties in a soft blue, 'PINK' across my butt. The shirt was a white v neck with the number 17 and 'PINK' across the shoulders. I looked like I was ready to go play basketball. The important thing is they were soft and nice on my skin.

I was watching the TV in the living room when mom came in from changing. Holy... "Shit, mom!"

Mom smiled, "Watch your language young lady. I was going to ask how I looked, but that response said it all." Her blue-green skirt left a lot of leg showing, wearing her best silk stocking, set off by some new black pumps. With the matching colored blouse, she was ready for the club scene.

"Wow, mom! All I have to say is, if he doesn't drop dead at the first sight of you, then you better get him to a hospital, cause he's already dead."

It wasn't too long before the doorbell rang, I called, "I got it mom". I checked the peephole, sure enough, it was Bobby. I opened the door and started to whisper, 'you better notice she went all out'. When...

He grabbed my shoulder as if to steady himself, "By the Goddess! Stephanie, you're an absolute vision of beauty."

I pulled him down to give him a kiss on the cheek, whispered, "Thank you for that." He walked up to her and gave her a warm kiss, which she returned enthusiastically.

Breaking their kiss, Bobby says, "If I'm not having dinner with the best looking woman I've ever seen, I'll the fire hydrant outside!"

Mom blushed sweetly, and batted a hand at him, "Sit down you... " I sat in my regular spot, while mom seated Bobby at the head of the table, dad's spot. She retrieved the few things from the oven keeping warm, set them down and took the place across from me. "Would you like to say grace?"

Bobby said, "I'm not sure I should. I'm not much for common religious beliefs."

Mom assured him that it was okay, we weren't either.

Bobby, "Well then, here goes. May the Goddess Bless those who need help, and those she sends to help them." And that was it, no amen. The conviction of his words testimony to the feeling of his belief.

Mom patted his hand. I asked, "Where does that come from? I don't think I've heard the like of it before."

He smiled at me, "That is a discussion for another time that will take a while to explain. Just for now, let me say that it is old, very old, but is on the rise again."

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Dinner with mom and Bobby was quite nice, Bobby shared his attention equally between mom and me. I told him all about what happened at school after the assembly, he was equally impressed with me for making new friends.

I left them alone to share some red wine, figuring that the more time they have together, the sooner Bobby will propose to Stephanie and they can all be a family, leaving me to move on with my afterlife.

With that thought, Vic made one of her very rare appearances. Her comment was, 'Sorry girl, but I've found a way out, you have control. Do what you want with this life. I hope it's better for you than it was to me.'

'You can't mean that Vic! This is still your life.'

Vic, 'Listen, I know that somehow, you being here with me is my fault, either directly or indirectly. If you weren't here, this body would still be in that hospital bed with me, checked out, never to return. You're already better at being me than I was, you have more experience with people and things. You even made friends with those girls today. I could never have done that.'

'You can't be serious! But anyway, what is this way out you talk of?'

I could sense humor from her. 'You'll find out soon enough. Until then, take this life and make it your own, because it is from now on. And Walter, I'll always love you!'

'Wait! Vic... ' But, just like that, she was gone. I could not sense her at all. With Vicky completely gone, it finally hit me, for better or worse, this was my life. After that I cried for a good long time. I felt that I had failed Vicky in some way, that I couldn't protect her.

I felt a warmth and sensed a presence, 'Be at peace for now. She loved you for the help you gave, and will love you again. As will you for her. Bless you!' Shortly, I felt the presence go.

I got up off the bed where I had collapsed when I cried myself out, and went to my desk to turn on my laptop. Right now, I could use some company from my friends.

I called Clara, and she sensed something was off, she suggested going on Skype and linking in Cloe and Zoe. At first I had no clue until I saw the icon for Skype on the menu bar, hit that and we were good to go.

2 hours later, we were all laughing, we had gotten a lot done. We worked on homework, some me helping them, and some, them helping me. I might be older in the head, but it doesn't mean I remembered everything that I had learned before. Damn, I wish I had an eidetic memory.

I was getting ready for bed later, and went out to say Goodnight to mom. She gave me a kiss on the cheek, and before I could get away, Bobby gave me a kiss on the forehead. Kind of caught me off guard there, almost to the point I didn't hear him say, "Night, Princess!"

Without thinking, I responded, "Night Bobby!"

Soon I was asleep without a thought.

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Things settled for a time. School became easier. I made more friends, but still kept my core of BFF's. Yeah, BFF's, like I'm so a girl. And because I was friends with more girls in school, the boys started treating differently, mostly better. Since, now, they would ask me about one of my friends or about class stuff.

I was no longer the school pariah, though there was still the whole pregnant from rape thing, some people didn't understand.

It was about 3 months into the pregnancy, and as usual, because this body was always ahead of schedule, I was starting to show. At least in the tight uniform blouses we had to wear. When someone at lunch made a passing comment.

Zoe of all people reacted the worst to what was said, and it took all three of us to hold her back. Zoe's comment was, "NO Right!"

When we sat back down, I kept her next to me and held her tight. I said, "It's alright, Zoe, really! Everyone is entitled to their opinions."

Zoe looked around the table, then back to me, with one word, she asked a huge question, "Why?"

I smiled at them all, my friends, "You all are wondering why I'm keeping the baby, yes?" They all nodded agreement. "Well, that's both and easy question and a difficult one. The easy answer is that, the baby is innocent. She or he, didn't choose to come into the world this way. Who am I to deny that life?"

Zoe then graced us with the longest amount of words that we had ever heard till that day. "You are way braver than I think any of us would be, given the situation. And you never know, that child may grow up to invent or create something that saves lots of lives in the future!"

We all sat stunned at her. Finally, I leaned into her and gave her a kiss. It started innocently enough until she got over the shock and returned it with some actual heat. Wow, where did that come from? The others were whooping it up, teasing us, but man, that kind of made me warm all over.

I look at her, "Are you... " And the bell rang. The only answer I got was a shrug. I could understand being attracted to girls, I had been male for sixty plus years, that's not the kind of tendency you lose right away. Besides in todays age, gender was kind of in a state of ambiguity.

I gave her a light kiss and said, "We'll figure it out!" She nodded.

From that moment on, when it was just the two of us, she would speak more often and freely, though she was still a quiet person. And to think, as a grumpy old man, I had been the quiet one, now, I was practically a chatterbox.

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I found I loved to go shopping as much as any other girl my age did. Thankfully, I could afford pretty much anything I wanted, within reason. But between clothes that fit my ever changing body and stuff for the baby, it was still easy to keep to a budget. As I bought things, I mentally checked them off a hidden check list and kept a running tab with how much money I still had. Lately my memory had improved. Some people think that has to do with the pregnancy, but I had other thoughts.

As my friendships grew with the girls, their parents became friends with mom and Bobby. It was about this when we were going to the doctors for a regular visit to check on my progress, mom asked, "Maybe today, we can find out if it's a boy or a girl?"

I had my head in my Iphone just like any other kid, when without thinking, I said, "It's a girl."

Mom was shaken for a second, "How can you know it's a girl? Or do you hope it's a girl?"

I shook my head, "I don't know how, but I'm certain it's a girl, just somehow I know."

As we pulled into the lot of the doctor's office, we were both surprised to see Bobby, waiting for us. He walked to us, as mom pulled into a spot fairly close to the doors.

After a quick kiss with mom, Bobby asked if he and could talk for a moment privately. He pulled me aside and kept himself between mom and I.

"Vicky, I know this is an important day for you, and I would like to share it with you and you're mom." I nod that I agree, before he goes on, "You know how much I love your mother, and I hope you know that the love I have for her includes you as well!"

He paused, then continued, "And I want your permission to ask your mom to marry me?"

I grabbed him tightly, "Hell yea!"

Mom heard that outbreak and started to say something to me, but Bobby turned to her as she stepped near, "Considering the circumstances, I'd say they were warranted." He then got down on one knew with a red ring box in his right hand, opening the box to show the ring, "Stephanie Anne Tyler, will you agree to be my wife?"

Mom had both hands covering her mouth, so we couldn't hear what she said. We both looked confused at her, so she repeated herself, "My answer was, HELL YEA!" The last part loud enough to startle birds in the nearby tree and some older people who happened to be walking by.

Bobby slipped the ring on her finger, then they hugged and kissed. She looked at the ring as she accepted my hug, then showing me the ring. It was simple, beautiful and old. There is now way, that ring was anything less than a fortune.

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The visit with the doctor showed everything was on schedule and fine. When I asked why I was showing already, she said that some women carry the baby in and some out, it was nothing to worry about. And just like I was certain, She confirmed that the baby was going to be a girl.

End of Chapter 6

Thanks for Reading!

Goddess Blessings!

Mopar