A Hero's Reward (19 page)

Throughout the rest of the day he kept thinking about asking her
but his courage kept failing him. He had left the ring in its box in
his inner coat pocket and every now and then he'd pat the front of
his coat, reassuring himself that it was still there.

Greg returned to work the next day and shared the good news
regarding the custody of his daughters with both his boss and his
crew. The decision to ask Margaret to marry him he only shared with
his boss.

“Are you sure that's a good idea Greg? The last time didn't
go so well for you.”

“Well, Margaret's last time went even worse for her. I think
if she hadn't had such a hell of a time in her first marriage I'd be
more confident about asking her now. I'm just worried that she'll
associate her first marriage with marriage in general and turn me
down. Honestly, if she says yes I don't think that there will ever be
any of the issues Emily and I had. Margaret and I already get along
better than Emily and I ever did, either before or after we were
married.”

“I know, you're just doing this to try to get more time off
for a honeymoon, aren't you?” said his boss, jestingly.

“Sorry boss, I'm serious here. I really don't have anybody
else I can talk with this about. I don't want to do it with anyone on
the crew. I know some of them well enough but the thing about me
being their crew chief kind of rules out talking about things like
this, at least it does in my opinion.”

“Greg, you seem to know your mind here but I'll tell you
what, if she's worked her way into your heart this far this quickly
and it seems that the same thing has happened to her regarding you,
then you'd be a fool not to ask her. But yes, if her last marriage
was as bad as you told me then you need to be very careful about how
and when you ask her. Now, if you ever quote me as having said any of
that, I'll have to deny it vehemently.”

“Thanks boss. That's kind of what I thought myself but it
helps to hear it from someone else.”

“You're welcome. Now get out there and get to work you
slacker.” His boss said with a chuckle as Greg left his office.

As Greg's boss watched him leave
he
thought
Damn that boy has got it bad. I've never seen him this distracted
over a woman before, not even back when he was married to Emily.
Maybe he'll get lucky this time. It couldn't happen to a more
deserving guy.

The rest of Greg's day dragged out as
he kept anticipating seeing Margaret and the children when he got
home. Mainly he was thinking of Margaret but he was also discovering
that he enjoyed having the children around most of the time. It was
nice to see his daughters grow up on a daily basis and share what was
happening with them, at least when they'd talk about it anyhow. It
sure beat seeing them for a few hours every other week.

Greg stopped on the way home to buy
Margaret flowers. He hadn't done anything of the sort yet, since he
had been trying to let her cool down from the way he tricked her into
allowing him to buy clothing for her and Jack. He had decided that he
would court her properly for a while before popping the question
though. He hoped that it would lessen the chance of her being
surprised and snapping out a 'no' answer reflexively.

When he arrived home, he found Margaret
in the kitchen and made a show of presenting her with the dozen
long-stemmed red roses. Her face went blank for a moment, then she
smiled:

“I was going to ask why you were
bringing me flowers. But when I went to compare it to Freddy's
actions I realized that there wasn't anything to compare it to, he
never brought me flowers after we were married and only once before
then.”

“Well then, I guess these are
well overdue. I'm sorry I waited so long.”

“Oh Greg, you don't need to try
to make up for what other people did or didn't do for me.”

“No, but I want to. You don't
mind, do you?”

“You be the judge.”

Margaret took the flowers and set them
on the table. Then she leaned in against Greg, acting as the
aggressor in a kiss that took his breath away. Margaret smiled at him
shyly when she had finished with the kiss and went to get a vase for
the roses.

Greg shook his head to clear the
lasting effects from the kiss then wandered out into the living room.
He retrieved his cellphone and made a call to one of the guys on his
crew that he knew had children and lived relatively close to him.

“Mack? Yeah it's Greg.”

“What can I do for you Greg? We
don't have any work scheduled for tomorrow do we? I had plans.”

“Oh no, this is personal. I was
wondering if you knew of a good babysitter. I want to take Margaret
out tomorrow night but I had forgotten that I'd need a babysitter. I
thought you might know someone I could get on short notice.”

“How old are your kids again?”

“There are two girls who are
eleven and nine, and a six year old boy.”

“Let me ask my oldest, she's
seventeen and she might like to make a few extra bucks. Would that be
okay with you?”

“Yeah, that'd be great. I trust
your judgment as to whether she could handle it or not.”

“Oh, she can handle it if she
wants to. She's got a sharp tongue, just like her mother. I think
she's practicing to be a drill sergeant later in life.”

Greg heard him call out for his
daughter and then have a short conversation with her.

“Yeah, she's willing. What time
do you need her? I'll drop her off.”

“Let me call you back, Margaret
and I hadn't finished planning yet since we didn't know if we'd find
someone or not.”

“That'll work. I'll be up for a
few more hours. She said she wants ten bucks an hour and a ride home
after, if that's okay with you.”

“That's fine. I'll get back to
you in just a few.”

Greg went and found Margaret. She was
still working in the kitchen and had dinner almost ready.

“Margaret, would you like to go
out tomorrow night?”

“What about the kids?”

“I have a babysitter lined up.
The oldest daughter of one of my crew. He assures me that she can
handle it.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I don't know, maybe just dinner
and a movie? I don't want to be away from the kids for too long but
I'd like some time with just the two of us where we don't have to
keep an ear out for the kids. I know that sounds rotten but it's been
a long time since I had to worry about what I was doing because of
the children. I just need a little time off from that and thought you
might like to get out as well.”

“I'd love to. I can make up some
dinner for them to just heat up.”

“Or I can leave some money with
the babysitter and they can have a treat also and get a pizza
delivered.”

“That's a good idea. They'll be
less jealous about us getting to go out if they get a treat too.”

“Shall we leave here at five
tomorrow then?”

“Yes, it's a date. And it really
is a date, isn't it?” Margaret said in a dreamy voice.

“Yes it really is. Let me go
verify our babysitter.”

Greg called Mack again and made the
arrangements. After he had hung up Greg reminded himself to hit the
ATM tomorrow since he didn't carry that much cash on him normally. He
figured about sixty dollars for the babysitter, forty for the pizzas,
then money for the date itself.

The next day stretched out on and on.
It seemed to take forever to pass for Greg. The children squabbled
over what they'd watch on the television, they squabbled about who
got to use the computer, they squabbled over what they wanted for
lunch. The day seemed to be one unending session of the children
arguing, at least until the point where Greg told them that he and
Margaret would be going out that evening.

“Where are we going?” asked
Ellen.

“You misunderstood me. Margaret
and I are going out on a date. You children will be staying home. I
have a babysitter coming at five o'clock.”

“What?” shrieked Ellen,
“I'm eleven years old, I don't need a babysitter!”

“We've been over this before. I
don't trust you yet. You're better than when you got here but I
certainly wouldn't trust you to watch Christine and Jack, never mind
leave you alone yourself.”

Ellen stalked off in a huff and all of
the sudden the children weren't arguing amongst themselves any more.
They presented a unified front to Greg, insisting that he had to take
everyone out.

“Well, I'll tell you what. If all
three of you behave well until the sitter arrives and don't give
Margaret and I any fuss about our going out I might be convinced to
arrange a treat for you three as well.”

The children chorused in with cries of
'what treat?' and 'That's bribery dad!' and various and sundry other
things but eventually boiled their questions down to asking what,
exactly, he was offering.

“I think I could be convinced to
leave money with the sitter to order a couple of pizzas and some
Cokes delivered. If, that is, you all behave yourselves for the rest
of the day.”

They had just finished lunch when the
discussion had begun and the children were amazingly well behaved for
the rest of the afternoon. Greg made a mental note to remember that
making the kids think that they had extorted a treat from you, even
if you had planned it beforehand, worked wonders for their behavior.

When the doorbell rang at five, Greg
got up and answered it. A heavyset seventeen year old girl, with
multiple ear piercings and a nose stud, stood on the doorstep. Mack
waved from his car out on the street and then drove off.

“Well come on in, I didn't catch
your name from your dad.”

“I'm Eileen.”

“Okay, come on in Eileen and I'll
introduce you to the kids.”

She came in and Greg introduced her
around. Ellen stared in awe at Eileen's nose stud and Greg suspected
he'd be vetoing another one of Ellen's ideas pretty soon. Even Ellen
didn't seem to have a problem with Eileen, especially not after the
first time Eileen snapped at her. It appeared that Mack was correct,
but Greg thought that a sharp tongue wasn't going to hurt the
children and might actually help them shape up some from their recent
poor behavior. He was pretty sure he and Margaret were spoiling the
children but he just didn't know how to be a good parent on a
twenty-four/seven basis. He'd been out of the loop of raising them
for too long and he was still trying to get a secure footing from
which to deal with the new situation.

Greg told Eileen that they expected to
be back by eleven at the latest and gave her money to order dinner
for herself and the kids. He let her know that the kids were supposed
to be in bed by eight and gave her his cell phone number in case of
emergency. Then he and Margaret grabbed their coats and left on their
date.

They had decided that they wanted a
sit-down meal, but not someplace that would take too long, so they
stopped at the local steak house. After a decent meal they headed to
the theater. Greg allowed Margaret to choose the movie and they ended
up seeing a fairly well made comedy. On the way home Greg was
thinking that it wasn't the wonderful date he would've liked to take
her on but that it hadn't been bad. Margaret had certainly enjoyed
herself and was talking to him all the way home. If he wasn't
mistaken she was actually excited about the whole thing, much more so
than he was. He had thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Margaret
away from the children and talking with her more. But she was very
excited about what had been, to him, a decent but not wonderful date.

“Thank you Greg. I'm still saying
that lot, aren't I?”

“Yes you are, but you're welcome
anyhow.”

“I know I'm kind of babbling but
what you probably don't know is that this is the first real date I've
been on since before I married Freddy. I suppose our at home stuff
could count but this was actually being taken out somewhere, it just
seems different.”

“I'm sorry, I would've taken you
out sooner if I had known. I should've figured it out on my own but I
hadn't given it any thought. Even after Emily and I had kids we still
normally managed one or two dates a month.”

“That's okay, I could have said
something but I didn't want to sound pushy.”

“Margaret, you can be as pushy
with me as you like. If I have a problem with it, I'll tell you.”

“I won't promise that, I don't
want to be pushy or an imposition.”

“How about being a joy and
delight to be with? That, you've got down cold.”

“Greg, you're being a flatterer
again.”

“I'm entitled to my opinion, yes?
Well, that's my opinion.”

They arrived home at about ten thirty.
Margaret went in to check on the children and Greg paid Eileen and
drove her home. Eileen claimed that the kids weren't much of a
problem but that she had let Ellen stay up a little later than the
others. Ellen was still in bed before nine though, according to
Eileen. Greg thanked her and asked her if she might be interested in
babysitting for him again some other time and she said she would be
happy to, if she could manage it.

Greg returned home to find Margaret
waiting up for him. They went to bed together and Margaret had a
chance to properly share her excitement with him.

The days passed uneventfully for a week, aside from the normal
'emergencies' experienced with growing, active children. As the
children all grew more comfortable in the house, they also grew more
rambunctious. Finally Margaret brought the matter up with Greg one
day.

“Greg, I'm sure you've noticed but the kids are all over the
place, all the time. I know the basement is unfinished and kind of
dank but is there a way we can fit it out for the kids to keep them
out of everything else? I love them dearly but enough is enough.”