John Francis

Jon kept running into a brick wall.

No, a castle made of brick.

No, no, a castle of brick inside a fortress of steel inside a mountain of rock.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He had called Amanda’s mother three times when the last call went straight to voice mail, a sure sign she had turned her phone off. He’d stammered through a message that he was sure was a soliloquy in incoherence.

Jon stared at his watch. 10:30. He hit a speed dial button and started barking orders at his assistant, Sharon, before she’d even finished saying, “Good morning, J…”

Their conversation consisted of several “uh-huh’s”, “okay’s” and finally an “I’ll call you back.”

Jon hung up, a satisfied smile on his face. He would know where Amanda was by the end of the day.

Nothing was going to stop him.

Not even a brick wall.

~~~

Richie sat on the couch in Trish’s apartment, lost in thought. He had most of his attention tuned into the bathroom where Trish had gone, ready to spring into action if she was sick again. He was so engrossed in listening for sounds that she needed him that the ringing of her phone barely registered. The second ring had him looking around for it. By the fourth ring he knew he wasn’t going to get there in time, but he managed to fish it out from under her purse just as “Missed Call” showed on the display. More out of habit than curiosity, he hit the button that showed the last caller.

No name, just a number.

+30 22860 86267 (DO NOT CALL THIS - I MADE IT UP! LOL!)

Richie’s head tilted in the near universal sign for confusion as he looked at a number that was decidedly not from the US. He traveled enough to know that +30 was a country code. He took out his own phone and a quick search had the answer. +30 was for Greece.

Who the hell did Trish know in Greece?

Richie looked up as Trish came back into the living room.

“Hey babe, your phone rang, but I didn’t get there in time.”

She smiled at him and reached for her phone.

“Who do you know in Greece?” Richie asked.

Trish’s eyes widened slightly as she looked at the last call on her phone.

She knew someone in Greece alright.

“My … cousin.”

Richie smiled then himself. “Gorgeous country. You ever been there?”

“No,” Trish answered, shaking her head, “haven’t had the chance yet.”

“We should go. You close to your cousin?” He paused, then smiled even more widely. “Didn’t even ask if your cousin was a he or a she…?”

Feeling the tension that had risen with Richie’s first question begin to drain off, Trish gave a small laugh as she thought for a few precious seconds. “A female cousin…” She trailed off, not wanting to make her lie any bigger. Richie saved her from adding any more as he returned to the subject they’d been talking about before she’d left the room a few minutes earlier. Trish mentioning her cousin in Greece had him thinking of honeymoons which in turn had him right back where they’d left off.

“Trish, you -- you weren’t saying you don’t want to marry me, were you?” he asked.

“No, I wasn’t saying that. I -- we -- it’s just I want us to get to know each other better. This pregnancy -- we wouldn’t be talking marriage yet if I hadn’t gotten pregnant.” Trish fixed him with a firm look. “And you know that.”

Richie’s lips tightened a bit, even as he knew she was right. He knew he was falling for her. Hell, he might even have already fallen. It sure felt that way. But he also knew he could be a bit impetuous and a slight grimace crossed his face as Denise flashed into his memory.

“No, we wouldn’t be talking about it yet, that’s true,” he said. “But things have changed --” He gestured expansively, managing to include her belly and the entire world in the gesture. “We’re going to be parents together and I think we should be married when when we do.”

A dog with a bone, Trish thought to herself. She widened her eyes at him in a playful manner, a small smile on her face. “We’re going to be parents whether we’re married or not.” She reached out, putting her small hand into his large callused one.

“Richie, if this is right between us, a little time isn’t going to hurt, and if we’re wrong, we won’t be adding a divorce to it.”

He didn’t want to admit it, but she was making a lot of sense.

Why then was he so disappointed?

~~~

“Amanda! Thank god you didn’t call me from your cell phone!” Trish nearly shouted into the phone a few minutes after Richie had kissed her good-bye. She’d told him she really wanted to sleep that afternoon and he had reluctantly admitted he was now wide awake, so they’d agreed to meet later for dinner.

“Why? What’s the matter? Are you ok? Trish, dammit, I’ve been frantic over here!” Amanda’s voice was also loud in her excitement.

“I’m ok, but I have something to tell you,” Trish answered. “I got back from the doctor’s a little while ago and -- Amanda, I’m having triplets!”

“Oh--my--god…” Amanda’s voice rose on every word. “TRIPLETS?!”

Trish answered in a breathy near whisper, “Yes. Triplets.” She yanked the phone from her ear when Amanda let out a loud shout.

“I’m so happy for you!” Amanda continued. “Did the doctor say everything was okay with the babies?”

“Yeah, he did. It’s really early, almost too soon to really know, but apparently just enough!” Trish laughed as Amanda squealed again.

“What did Richie say?” Amanda asked.

“He fainted.” Trish said, a chuckle beginning low in her throat.

“HE WHAT?” Amanda shouted and Trish nearly dropped the phone as she doubled up with laughter.

“Fell flat on the floor. All six feet of him.”

“Oh, poor Richie …” Amanda crooned, then laughed. “That I would have liked to see.”

Trish hiccoughed as her laughter slowly wound down. “Oh no, you wouldn’t! He scared the hell out of me!”

They laughed as friends do for another minute until Amanda remembered what Trish had first said when she’d called back.

“Why did you say it was good I hadn’t used my cell to call you?”

Trish took a deep breath, letting it out with a small shudder. “Because Richie picked up the phone.”

“Oh god,” Amanda whispered, “that would have been bad.”

There was silence from both women over the miles separating them as they thought of the secret they shared. It hadn’t started out that way. It had begun the night Richie had brought Trish over to Jon’s house and they’d all had dinner at Buddakan, They’d exchanged phone numbers later that evening as they’d talked in the ladies’ room and a few phone calls later they were talking almost every day.

Amanda had mentioned to Jon that she and Trish were talking and Trish had said she’d done the same with Richie. What neither had seemed to have done was tell their men just how close they’d become.

Trish didn’t know anyone dating someone like Richie … except Amanda … and the same was true for Amanda. While Susan was still her dearest friend, the relationship she had with Jon seemed to be off limits in their discussions and she wasn’t sure when it had become that way. What she had come to value, though, was how she and Trish could talk as equals, each knowing quite a bit about how the other’s life was simply by virtue of dating the same category of men.

Over the last few months they had become closer than either of them had expected and during the last few weeks Amanda had come to rely on the support Trish provided, as had Trish with her situation. While neither shared intimate details of their lovers, each was able to find answers from the other when needed.

“Has he asked you if you‘ve talked to me?” Amanda asked.

“You mean Richie, right? I haven’t seen Jon since … well, since before all this happened,” Trish answered.

Amanda sighed deeply. Even hearing Jon’s name hurt. “Yeah, I mean Richie,” she answered.

“No,” Trish said, “and I’m surprised he hasn’t.”

Amanda smiled, although she knew Trish couldn’t see her. “I’m not. Not really. Those two are so close. There’s just this -- bond -- there that is more than just friends. Jon’s closer to Richie than to his own brothers. You can just feel it.”

“I haven’t spent as much time with the two of them as you, but I believe it,” Trish answered, then paused, taking in a deep breath. “Amanda, Richie -- he asked me to marry him.”

“Oh, Trish!” Amanda gasped, and then laughed. “So when’s the date?” Silence met her question and Amanda’s voice softened as she spoke. “Trish?”

“I’m here,” Trish said. “Not yet, Amanda, I didn’t say no, but I know we wouldn’t be talking about marriage if it weren’t for this pregnancy. It’s too much right now. We need more time to see if we work.”

“Aww, honey,” Amanda sighed. “I understand. You have some time.”

“I know we do and if it’s right between us -- and I think it might be -- then we’ll take that step,” Trish said.

Amanda nodded as she spoke. “You’ll know, Trish. You really will.”

“I think so too,” Trish said, then she took a deep breath herself. “Amanda? I need to tell you something.”

“Ok, I’m listening…” Amanda said.

“Jon wants you back.”