It Could Happen to You

That's when I noticed the microwave was on; guessed that's where the bacon was. I hollered in the David, "Where's your car? Is that your bike out there?"

David held up my Cira and kissed her. He called back, "Sold the car, bought a used cycle. The car was a mistake anyway."

I didn't like the way he was holding Cira, but didn't say anything, over-protective I guessed. I thought about the car for a second. The car he'd been driving the day before had Indiana license plates. Gee, if he'd bought it out there wouldn't they have been temporary tags? Selling an almost new Audi for a grungy old motorcycle? It didn't add up, but then David didn't add up.

"Looks like a swell bike," I quipped.

He hollered back, "Yeah, I always wanted one, but being at sea so much, what in the navy; it would have been in storage most of the time."

"Hey Dave," I yelled back, "What did you do in the navy anyway?"

He shouted in, "Missile technology. I was on a missile frigate most of the time."

'Uh oh,' I thought, "I thought you said you were on a carrier, the Ronald Reagan?"

"I was, but they needed someone who understood the missile tech, so I got switched."

"I see," I shouted back. 'Well that was bullshit,' I thought. I looked in at Celine; she'd broken a couple eggs, not something normal for her, "Need any help?"

She happily replied, 'too happily,' I thought, "You can get the bacon out and put another batch in, and honey could you finish the eggs? I want to change Cira."

I went in the kitchen, "Sure darling," I kissed her head and patted her behind as I walked past.

She brushed my hand away as she went toward the living room, "Cut it out Michael. David might see."

'Shit, in my own house.' I finished the eggs she'd broken and dropped in a couple more. They broke too. They say if the eggs are real fresh they're more likely to break. I heard Celine and David leave the living room. They went back to our bedroom. I don't think David knew I could still hear.

I heard him murmur to my wife, "I missed you..."

Then I heard her, "I missed you too. We all missed you."

"I thought about you all the time," he added. "I guess I could've written."

Celine whispered, "A letter once in a while would have been nice."

Then he seemed to mutter, "I couldn't. After basic they sent me to a special school. It was kind of incognito."

Celine quietly asked, "Like a secret mission or something?"

In a low tone he said back, "Something like that. I can't discuss it, hush, hush you know."

I heard Celine again. I knew they didn't want me to hear, "Gee no one knew..."

What he said next was garbled but I got some of it, he said, "They've sealed my military records. No one's supposed to know what I've been doing. I might be recalled..."

I missed the last, but I'd heard enough. Even if I did find anything on the Net he could say it was planted to throw people off. Damn this wasn't the Dave I remembered; then I thought, 'maybe it was.' The Dave I remembered never worried about schoolwork, he never worried about getting anywhere except into some girl's pants or except...other stuff. Yeah, I remembered, Dave did toy around with the 'druggies'. He wasn't always 'Mr. Perfect'.

I'd gotten several eggs done, and the second batch of bacon was up. I yelled in, "Dinner's ready!"

Celine called, "Be right there."

A minute later we were all at the kitchen table. Celine had Cira's bassinet beside her; she was cooing and drooling, and giggling. God she was beautiful. I glanced at Celine; she was the model of domesticity. Then I looked at Dave; he was looking at me, and I could see the jealousy.

He smiled sweetly at Celine, "You're a lucky girl."

She looked fondly at our baby, then at Dave. She didn't look at me. She smiled back at my brother, "I think so."

I had to break the spell, "Hey Dave you remember in your senior year and you had your license suspended?"

He looked from me to Celine. I didn't think she'd heard this story. Dave mumbled, "Uh huh."

I added, "Remember you bought Gary Upton's old Pontiac, but you couldn't get insurance so you couldn't get tags, and how you and your pal went into the city and found a car with some simple letters on the tag, and you guys stole the tag and you repainted the letters so it was like a new set, and then how you used it to drive at night."

He shrugged, "Yeah I remember."

I went on. I could see Celine hadn't heard this story, and I could see she didn't like it, "You remember how you had like twenty gallons of stolen siphoned gas in your trunk, and how you thought you needed new tires, so you and one of your pals picked out a car with good tires, and then how late at night you and he were going to jack up the car and steal the tires, but it was dark, and when you opened your trunk you couldn't find the lug wrench so you lit a match, and then..."

David was sitting there stiff as a board. He hadn't touched his eggs, "Yeah, but that was a long time ago and..."

I interrupted, "Man they said flames shot twenty feet in the air. I remember all the hair was burned off your face. Dad was so pissed..."

Then Celine interrupted, "I thought you got burned when you pulled some woman out of her burning car...that's what you said..."

Dave interrupted her then, "Well I lied about the car and the woman OK?"

Dave started shaking then. He said, "I need one of my pills," He looked at Celine, "Honey they're in my medicine kit, the green ones, would you bring them here?"

Celine's demeanor had changed from suspicious curiosity to well-meaning former girlfriend. She jumped up and ran for his bag in the living room.

While she was out Dave looked at me, "I don't need your shit OK?"

I smiled, "Gee, just reminiscing."

She came back with the pills and handed my brother the bottle. He was shaking while he opened the bottle and took three out, "I need these to control my nerves. After what I did in the navy...it's too...terrible...," He looked at Celine, "Thanks Babe."

She smiled at him and frowned at me, "You shouldn't bring up those old stories from high school; that was all so long ago. We were all just kids."

'Yeah,' I thought, 'just kids.' My memories were starting to clear; the 'hero' across from me had feet of clay. I was just too young and dumb back then to see it.' I looked at my wife; she was still in full worship mode. What was I going to do?

We finished dinner, and shortly after Dave left. Celine had to work the next afternoon, but I didn't. Mom Campanaris would watch our baby. Celine and I would go to mass in the morning. I'd study in the afternoon while Celine put in her time. It was late winter, and they were prepping for the spring. Her being a manager meant extra work.

We got baby tucked away, and we climbed into bed. Celine crawled over and we cuddled. I put my arms around her, and we kissed. I loved her smell. She'd washed her hair and it was so thick, and wavy, and fragrant. Her boobs were right up against me.

I rolled over on top. She curled her arms around my neck, and I slowly slid in. She was warm and wet. It didn't take long; we both did it at the same time. That was something that happened almost all the time; it was as though our bodies were synchronized.

Don't know about other men, but I always seem to be slow to shrink. We can have sex, and I can still be pretty hard several minutes later. That's a great feeling to lie side by side, with me inside and her all cuddled up, me with my head squished between her boobs. Sometimes just me being inside like that gives her a second thrill. When that happens I especially like it. It's satisfying for me to know I can please Celine that way.

When she finished her second 'go' I whispered, "I love you."

She squeezed up even closer, "I love you too." Then she added, "Let's have another."

I murmured in her ear, "Give me another minute sweetie."

She kissed my cheek and whispered, "No I mean let's have another baby."

I stopped feeling amorous and leaned up on one elbow, "You mean like now? Make another one right away?"

She sat up then too, "Cira's still a baby. If we wait she'll be older and they'll be farther apart in age. If we did it right away they'd be closer, not just in age, but in everything."

I rolled on my back and put my right hand behind my head, "Well you may have a point. I'll be done with school by Christmas. I'm pretty sure something's already lined up. Your company's been pretty good about Cira and all. Let's check the money thing in a couple days. We should talk to our parent's too. I mean our moms are the daycare."

She snuggled up under my left arm, "My mother's already said something. I checked our finances. Even if you didn't pick up something right away I'm doing really well at work. We could wing it, no sweat."

I felt good. Another baby? Why not? Then...wait...uh oh. Why now? Why now when Dave's suddenly back? No, Celine's not that devious; she wouldn't. I turned my head and kissed her soft cheek, "OK, when do we start?"

Celine jumped up, "I'll take my diaphragm out now! Let me clean up. We can start tonight!"

The nascent erection I had collapsed. Oh well I thought, 'He'll come back.' It did, and we did, and then we sent to sleep.

~~V~~

And then...it was like a nightmare. All my fears and anxieties came home.

We'd gotten through Sunday. Celine was off Monday. I worked all day, and had a class Monday night. It was that time of year, late winter when anything could happen. The weather lady said there'd be some precipitation. It had been unseasonably cold and the ground was still hard.

I was about halfway to school, the rain was falling and turning to ice when it hit; that's when the man on the radio announced classes were cancelled. I came to a stop; got my bearings, put my vehicle into four-wheel, like that would help? I turned around.

I slowly drove back home. When I got back I parked and saw Dave's motorcycle was over on the grass near our garage apartment. 'Oh,' I figured, 'he's back for some more sympathy.'

I went inside, took my wet shoes off at the bottom of the stairs and started up. I got about three quarters the way up the steps when I heard them. 'Oh no,' I thought, 'this can't be happening. Celine and I meant so much to each other; all our plans, our hopes...the things we said...'

I continued up the steps and got to the kitchen. I started through the small living room toward our bedroom. Cira had to be asleep. I heard everything...,

Dave was whispering to my wife, "I'm so sorry I never wrote. I missed you so much."

I heard Celine whisper back, "I love you David. I've always loved you."

"God," he said, 'you're so warm. Your body's so soft. You're so sweet. I love your hair. Your lips are so full they're like blossoms. I can't get enough of you."

'Jesus,' I thought, 'everything I loved about her, and she was sharing it with him.

Then I heard her say, "We can do it Dave. We can do it."

My brother responded, "He went for it? We can?"

"You know I can never leave him," my wife answered, "it would destroy my parents, but it's you Dave it's always been you."

"We can do it then," he believed you."

"Oh Dave I feel so guilty. Michael trusts me so, but I so want to have your baby. What the DNA, you being brothers, he'll never..."

I couldn't take it, not another word. I yelled, "NO!" I pushed open the door! I had to stop this shameful thing!

The next thing I heard was Celine, "Michael! Michael! Wake up!"

I rolled around. I almost tossed my dinner. I sat up, "Oh..."

Celine was holding me, "You must have been having a nightmare. Wait here. I'll get you some water," She looked over at the bassinet, "Thank goodness, we didn't wake the baby," she slipped on her robe and scurried quietly into the kitchen.

I was bathed in sweat. It was dream, only a dream. Thank God!

Celine was back, "Here sweetie, drink some of this."

I took a sip and handed her back the glass.

She looked at the clock. It was late. She reached out and pulled me into her bosoms, her soft warn bosoms, "Come here my darling. Let me fix it," she started to stroke my head. She kissed me just above my left ear, "It's all right. I'm right here."

I hugged her close. I didn't say anything for several seconds, then I said, "I love you Celine. You know that."

She kept stroking my head, "I know you do. I love you too. You're my hero. Did you know that?"

I closed my eyes. I felt safe. It was only a dream, just a bad dream

~~V~~

Dream or not the next few days and weeks turned into a nightmare. David, poor pathetic, sickly David was at my parent's, around my wife, and up my ass day and night.

He was right when I looked on the Internet; there was no record of his ever being in the navy, or any other branch of the service. On the other hand over time and with some ingenuity, and some money, I found out someone could uncover all manner of military matters. I mean, if I wanted to I could obtain the specifications to almost any type of military vehicle from the most primitive Humvee to detailed specifications about our best tanks and artillery. Oh I realized some content was classified, but for the casual investigator say from some third world country interested in learning how to build the stuff, it was almost all there. Of course knowing how and actually delivering a weapon were two different things. I guess the big thing was the rare metals that were needed; not to mention the availability of competent manufacturers.

I wasn't into weapons anyway. I wanted to find out about my brother and I did. He'd never served in anything except a couple prisons. My brother had a criminal record; nothing overwhelming, just a bunch of minor things, mostly involving controlled substances like cocaine and heroin. Like I originally suspected my brother was an addict.

I didn't worry about his drug troubles; how he got that way wasn't my problem. What was my problem was how to break it to mom and dad, and more important how to let Celine know without her getting all defensive.

Some people are actors; they see something and they take action. Others are worriers; they see a problem and they worry, they stress, they obsess; damn it - that was me, the classic obsessive compulsive. Throw in being a coward and my dossier was complete.

Celine's a good girl; always has been a good girl, but she's also a bleeding heart. Any other time and place she'd have been a Robert Kennedy liberal; the type that's always looking for some cause. Me I'm more on the moderate conservative side. Sure I see somebody hungry I'll fix them a fish, but while I'm fixing it I'll show them how to catch their own. After that they're not my problem.

So David was an addict; he needed help, but that didn't mean more money to feed his addiction. I needed to talk with my brother, but I had to keep mom, dad, and Celine from knowing.

I finally got him cornered one afternoon at the local tavern. He was in the corner with some other guys. Like always; he was bullshitting. I got him on the side and said, "Hey Dave I need you for a minute."

He gave his pals one of those, 'little brother can't make it without me' grins and agreed to walk to a corner booth.

We both sat down, "Dave I know."

"Know what," was his reply?

I answered, "Don't be so fucking insouciant. I know about you."

He said, "What the fuck is insouciant?"

I got a little pissed, partly because I thought he was a little smarter than that, but second because I knew he was and he'd deliberately fucked with me on my choice of words, I replied, "It means you got a great big I don't give a shit attitude about everything, and you're a total bull-shitter who's never been anywhere or done anything except get high, get in trouble, and go to jail. In fact I'm surprised you haven't been harvested by the 'three strikes' laws."

He rocked back in his chair and laughed, then he leaned forward. He got real close and said, "Well fuck you little brother. Been checking up have you? OK, well fuck you. Fuck your wife too."

I said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look stupid," he said, "I got her long before you ever did. She was my little whore back in high school. And you know what? I'm going to fuck her again. Yeah, I'm going fuck her, knock her chunky little ass up, and then I'm ditching this fucking shithole."

I knew he hadn't got her in high school. How did I know? Well that was obvious; I got her that night at my parents. What I did think was she was still carrying a torch for the cocksucker, and with her gooey, 'oh he needs my help' attitude to everything he just might get into her britches. If he did I knew what I'd do. I'd kill this son-of-a-bitch, and yes I'd have to leave her.

I gave my brother my very best glower, which I dare say wasn't much, and I told him, "I want you to leave. I promise if you leave I won't rat you out to mom and dad. I won't ruin Celine's childish fantasies, but you've got to leave."

He scowled, "Or what? They wouldn't believe you. Mom and dad are convinced I got sick serving my country, and Celine? Shit you stupid fuck; she still loves me. She married you because you were her second choice. All I have to do is snap my fingers," with that he snapped his fingers, "and she's in my bed, legs spread wide, and my dick deep inside her cunt."

I hated the word cunt; it always sounded vulgar and dirty to me. Sure there were women who had cunts, but not my Celine. My girl's vertical cleft with its thick warm lips was a holy place; a place where I worshiped. Sounds stupid I know, but that's how I felt. I would've punched David in the nose right then and there, but that wouldn't have accomplished anything except get me in trouble. Plus knowing the slimy bastard across from me who used to be my brother he'd only use it to garner more sympathy. For all I knew he'd probably get me arrested and then sue me. I didn't know what the fuck to do.

I sat back, "David you're still my brother. I remember us growing up, the good days. Don't ruin it. Don't fuck up mom and dad's good memories. Celine sure doesn't need this shit. Do us all a favor and leave, just leave. Make up some story and pull out."

He got up, "I'll leave after I've fucked your wife, and not until," then he walked away and out the door.

Damn this was getting hairy.

~~V~~

Celine was working odd hours, and my mom and hers were babysitting Cira when I wasn't working or in classes. Like I said, I was down to my last two classes, and though I had what I thought was a pretty sure

thing lined up as far as jobs were concerned I was still interviewing.

Celine and I had agreed we'd get pregnant again, and around Thanksgiving Celine missed a month so it looked like the stork would be making a visit sometime in the late spring. What scared me about the whole thing was, while I'd been working and attending classes I knew David had been lurking around in the shadows. I mean the son-of-a-bitch was a determined so and so.

Then Celine was looking pregnant; was the baby mine?

About that time, around and right after Thanksgiving mom and dad seemed to be acting funny; it was like they were trying to hide something from me. 'God,' I thought, 'Celine had slept with my brother, my parents knew it, and were trying to protect me.' That worried me.

Worse, David's behavior since he'd come back had always been on the 'over-confident' side, but lately he'd been acting downright arrogant. That really worried me.

Even worse, maybe I was over-sensitive, but it seemed like Celine was behaving differently; it was as though there was this veil of secrecy, this thin curtain, like a shroud of subterfuge that covered many of the things she said and did. In fact the only things that seemed good were our conversations about a new baby, our mutual love for Cira, and what we did in bed.