We're a Wonderful Wife Ch. 13

Lanh and Andi dashed into each other's arms, and it seemed like their conversation picked up exactly where it left off so long ago. Lanh led Andi to their dockside table where Don and Kim-ly rose and greeted Andi. "It's so good to see you Doctor Roberts," said Don, "I hope I'm not the one that chased you out of practice."

"No, I had my own reasons," she laughed as she hugged Kim-ly. Don introduced Andi to Annie and Tiên

As he gave Annie a goodbye hug Don said, "We'll see you in a few days, don't eat up all the frog legs before we get back."

"I'll be ok," she whispered as she kissed Don's cheek. "We need you to be ok too."

With a sad wave goodbye Don stepped aboard Andi's Dream and from above a voice called out "Cast off all lines fore and aft." The young man unwrapped the fore lines from the dock cleats, then as the young woman coiled up the forward lines the young man ran to the stern, released the stern lines then hopped on board. Once the fenders were stowed the yacht moved sideways away from the dock and headed out of the marina. When Andi turned to Don, she found a very despondent man and a weeping wife while Kim-ly hugged them both.

"What's wrong?" Andi asked quietly as the yacht purred out of the Marina.

"They lost a friend," said Kim-ly quietly. "They just found out. The Viet on the dock was his widow."

"I'm sorry," said Don. "It's just... he didn't want to tell us he was sick..."

"Or stuck in a tree," muttered Lanh into Don's side.

"...not with all of our troubles," Don finished.

"Take your time," Andi said as she placed a hand on Don and Lanh's shoulders.

Finally, Lanh's tears began to dry, and she turned to Andi and said, "I'm sorry, you set up this nice vacation for us and we..."

"Hush! This is exactly why we set up this vacation for you. To let out the sad and get back to living." Andi smiled and said, "For the past four or five years you guys have lived a nightmare. It's time to unwind!" She turned to Kim-ly and said, "I want to see the baby!" Kim-ly grinned and pulled out her phone and began showing pictures as did Lanh. "He's so cute!" Andi practically squealed. "He's adorable!" then she saw a picture of Danh and Krissy snuggled up with Karole in her wheelchair. "Awww, they're beautiful, she really looks like her mom." She handed her phone back to Kim-ly and said, "he's precious... can I ask who his father is?"

"Yes," was all Kim-ly said.

"The last time I saw you, you were pregnant, and you wouldn't tell me then..." Then she realized that Kim-ly was being a smart-ass. "Ok, I'll play your silly little game, who is your baby's father?" Andi wasn't ready for the smiles and the rolling eyes and Lanh and Kim-ly's heads jerking in Don's direction. "Don?" she gasped.

"What I do?" said Don who wasn't paying attention, he was watching the sailboats in the Beverly Beach marina slip by.

"You knocked up your sister-in-law?" hissed the feisty little doctor.

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, I sure did," said Don. Don firmly believes that the best lie is the truth told unconvincingly.

Andi laughed and said, "Ok if you don't want to tell me, then fine. Let's look at my boat." She indicated the young couple behind Don and said "Giggles here is our chef and head engineer, Yi-jin Carlson, and chuckles is Kenny Johnson. He's our deckhand, assistant engineer, and Yi's gofer."

Yi-jin was a tall slim Asian girl, she wore her black hair down and it was streaked with blond. Lanh reached out to shake her hand and said, "Bạn là người Việt Nam hả?" (Are you Vietnamese?)

"Huh?" asked a startled Yi.

"Oh... um... hangug salam-ieyo?" (Are you Korean?)

"Oh, yes. On my mother's side. How many languages do you speak?" asked Yi.

"She can order drinks in eight different languages," said Kim-ly, obviously in awe of her sister's super-power.

"Just English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. I just exhausted my entire Korean vocabulary, and my Spanish isn't much better," said Lanh laughing.

Andi continued her introduction, "Yi-jin is a Culinary Institute trained chef and grew up working cruise yachts like this one until I hired her as our executive chef and governess." She then turned to Kenny. "Kensington here is an Army veteran and when he's not helping Yi wash dishes, he runs his dad's feed store in Springville, NY." She turned to her employees and said, "Yi, Kenny, this is Don and Lanh Campbell and Kim-ly Nguyen. We'll have a chance to catch up this evening, but they live on a dairy farm in Grant Valley Minnesota."

Immediately Don, Kenny, Lanh and Kim-ly fell into a conversation about feeding dairy cattle until Yi excused herself and ran up to the galley to finish breakfast. As Kenny was explaining a new cattle feed they had been selling, he stopped talking and looked surprised. "Yi needs my help, gotta go," and he headed up to the Galley.

"Something I said?" asked Don.

"No, he's been like that since he started dating Yi," said Andi. "Ok, this lower section at the stern, this is the cockpit, this is where we do the fishing and swimming." She opened the stern door and pointed down, "There's an extending swimming platform for when we want to swim." She smiled and said, "there's no need for a swimsuit if you don't want to wear one, we're all adults here."

"That's what I'm talking about!" cried Kim-ly and she started to peel off her t-shirt. Lanh was about to yell when she saw that Kim-ly was wearing a bikini top under her t-shirt.

Andi showed off the bait wells in the gunnels and the catch wells in the floor, the electric grill for cooking on one side of the stairs leading up to the mezzanine, a fish cleaning station on the other side of the stairs. She led them up to the mezzanine, a covered outdoor dining area just aft of the galley. The mezzanine was surrounded by couches and had two tables and a counter on the side adjacent to the galley. "This is where we spend most of our time and have most of our meals, a nice, shaded comfortable dining area with tap beer." She indicated a beer tap on the side counter.

Kim-ly gazed at the beer tap and said, "You guys go on without me, I'll catch up."

Lanh dragged her sister forward where they found the U-shaped galley where Yi and Kenny were working. They took great interest in the facilities there until Yi asked, "Can I help you?"

"My mom and dad own a restaurant; Lanh and I grew up working in the kitchen and I taught Don how to cook!" said Kim-ly.

"Her dad taught me," whispered Don. "He figured if I was going to graduate it would be with a D minus, so I was going to need some kind of skill."

"Stop it." Lanh gave Don a pointy little elbow in the ribs eliciting a yelp of pain. "Did I get the ones you broke?"

"Yes," wheezed Don.

"Good! You deserve it," and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Continuing with the tour, Andi showed them the saloon ahead of the Galley, a huge living room with couches and tables to easily seat a dozen people, windows all the way around. "This is where we have meals when the weather is bad, the coffee tables adjust height for comfortable dining, and if we can't get back to port to drop off guests, the couches and tables combine to beds where we can easily sleep over half a dozen folks here.

There was a door on the port side that opened to a side deck that led to the fore deck. From the saloon a small stairway led below deck to the cabins. "There's four cabins here," and Andi pointed them all out, "port, bow, and starboard cabins. Here's the main cabin. Kenny put all of your bags here, is... that... right?" Andi's tour guide skills faltered as she entered uncharted territory.

"Doctor Roberts, I suppose you ought to know..." Don put an arm around Kim-ly while he held Lanh tight. "Sixteen years ago, two high school rejects met, and we haven't let go since. I got busted up, then Lanh got busted up, but at the same time Kim-ly got busted up on the inside. She needs us and we need her. So, this is us, Lanh and I are married, and Kim-ly is part of our union now. If it's something you can't handle, we will understand, and you can let us out anywhere you want. This is your boat and we'll be ok with your decision."

"It's ok," said Andi, "that's why you're here. You saw me and the twins in Denver, we had nothing, we were barely scraping by, how do you raise a child when you're crying yourself to sleep every night? But Paul rescued us, and we rescued him just as you guys rescued each other. We have the same thing going."

"Thank you," said Lanh softly as Andi turned to leave.

"Oh, and breakfast is in ten minutes up on the bridge, we'll talk some more. Yi or Kenny can show you the way," and the smiling young doctor left them to explore their cabin.

Andi and Lanh started putting clothing away as Don changed into a swimming suit and a T-shirt. "You're getting ready to hit the water already?" Lanh asked. Don came up behind her and unbuttoned her blouse and unsnapped her front closure bra. As he nibbled on her highly sensitive ear lobes Don cupped her firm little breasts as she groaned, "What are you doing?" She leaned back against her husband and made no move to push his hands away.

Kim-ly hopped on the bed and leaned in and suckled on Lanh's nipples, first one then the other as Don held Lanh and untangled her blouse and bra from her arms then Kim-ly pulled a tube top on her as he nibbled on her neck. "What are you doing to me?" Lanh's voice shivered with excitement as Kim-ly and Don touched her gently in her most tender places over and over... now her slacks and panties were being pushed down, someone's fingers were gently sliding between her nether lips driving her out of her mind.

"Ok," whispered Don, "up we go!" and he cupped her pussy with one hand, wrapped the other arm around her chest and lifted her up allowing Kim-ly to slip a tiny pair of shorts over her feet and slide them up her legs.

"Annnnnd, we're dressed!" cried Kim-ly. "Let's go eat."

"Wait... what! I'm not wearing anything!" cried Lanh. The shorts and top fit perfectly but were so lightweight they were nearly see-through. Her nipples pressed against the fabric of her top and Don's fingertips tracing over them softly only made them harder sending jolts of pleasure through her. "I've never done this before," she whispered.

Don held her close, her back against his chest as they looked into the full-length mirror. "You look so sexy," he whispered, "so hot."

"Come on," said Kim-ly, as she ran her hands down Lanh's sides, "you look awesome," but the terrified look on Lanh's face said it all. "Here," and Kim-ly handed Lanh a gossamer white zip-up hoodie. It was as insubstantial as her tank top, but it was an added layer and it made Lanh happy so as Lanh put on her light hoodie they stepped out of the main cabin and realized they were lost.

"Now where do we go?" asked Lanh.

"Up," said Kim-ly and she led them up the stairs to the Mezzanine where Yi and Kenny were just stepping out of the galley with trays covered with baked goods and coffee pots and cups. Acting like she knew exactly where she was going, Kim-ly spotted a staircase behind the galley heading upstairs. She led Don and Lanh up the stairs where they found themselves on the beautiful flying bridge.

"There you are!" cried Andi and she greeted her three guests to the bridge. The bridge was a fully enclosed lounge with a couch along the starboard side, on the port side was the pilot station. There were two large, comfortable, captain's chairs facing a dashboard that was covered with displays. There was a large steering wheel, dual throttles, and a joystick for controlling the thrusters. The bridge was surrounded by windows giving the captain an amazing view. The rear of the bridge featured an open dining area above the mezzanine.

"Welcome!" said a tall man as he rose from the captain's chair. He was easily six foot five inches tall, and he towered over Andi. He had black hair and a distinct hawk shaped nose, narrow set gray eyes and a gentle smile.

"Don, Lanh, Kim-ly, this is Paul Jarecki, my husband and father of Daniel Robert Jarecki."

"Who's that?" asked Lanh while she shook Paul's hand. Andi showed Lanh a picture of herself holding a newborn baby. "He's beautiful!" she cried.

"Wait!" cried Kim-ly as she grabbed the photo away from Lanh. "All this time that we're worried you got kidnapped by aliens or crashed in the mountains in Ecuador, you were busy getting knocked up on a yacht?"

"Ummm... yeah," said Andi in a tiny voice. "Actually, in the main cabin."

Don chuckled as he hugged Andi then turned to Paul and shook his hand. "So, what do you do besides drive yachts and knock up tiny pulmonologists?"

Paul choked down a laugh, he hasn't been questioned like that in a long time. "To start, the yacht is all Andi's. Her ex was..." he searched for a word and finally settled on abusive. "Yeah, abusive is the best word to use, I guess. He wanted this yacht and used Andi to get it, then dumped her, I figured out a way to transfer ownership to Andi. As for me, I'm a cardiologist, semi-retired from medicine."

"Nice," grinned Don, "I'd be spending my semi-retirement on this floating palace."

"Oh, I'm not retired," said Paul. "I cut back on medicine so I could concentrate on Jarecki Motors." He led Don out to the open-air dining area directly above the mezzanine and they sat watching the shore fade into the distance. "My dad left me and my brother a couple of Ford dealerships in Western New York. I took some business courses at the local college and tried my hand in business when he died."

"How did that work out?" asked Don, as the girls joined them.

"They're up to fourteen dealerships in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire," said Andi as she hugged Paul. "He had nine dealerships and was working at the VA hospital when we met. I asked him to slow down so he cut his time at the hospital and bought five more dealerships." Her eyerolling expression clearly said, "Just like a man."

"I can't help it," said Paul. "My brother and his wife are pastors, so people tend to think that I'm honest too and the deals just fall into place."

Don chuckled then asked, "how did you steal my doctor?"

"I found her stuck in a snow drift," said Paul.

"He did!" agreed Andi as Yi and Kenny set out breakfast which consisted of fresh fruit, several kinds of baked goods, coffee and juice, then Yi and Kenny sat down and joined them. "I flew into Buffalo to meet up with a friend, we were going to spend Christmas in Toronto but before we could meet a snowstorm struck..."

"In Buffalo?" asked Kim-ly, "who woulda guessed... ow!"

"Did I bump you? I'm sorry," said Don whose elbow connected with Kim-ly. "Could you pass the butter?"

"You don't get snowstorms in Minnesota?" asked Yi.

"We were in the middle of a three day long subzero blizzard when Andi called," said Don.

Lanh's eyes were wide open in shock at the memory. "I have never seen anything like it from Don, he was like "Cruise a yacht in Florida? Give me some time to think about itYES!" He never decides anything that quickly!"

"We, we lost three cows," muttered Don.

"Three cows? Uff da!" said Kenny.

"You know uff da?" said a shocked Kim-ly.

"My Aunt Lacy and Uncle Torvold Johnson live in Becida," said Kenny. "I'd spend my summers with them, and we would go camping at Lake Itaska."

"That's near us!" said Lanh. "Do you know why it's called Becida?" Before Kenny could respond, Lanh, Kim-ly, and Don all recited, "Because it's beside-a Alida!" Their high school cheer was met with stunned silence.

"It's actually funny if you know where Alida is," said Don.

Kenny chuckled and said, "You're right, it is."

A few moments later Yi said, "Is it really about 20 miles east of Alida?"

"Yeah, you've been there?" Lanh asked.

Yi looked at Kenny nervously then said, "No," in a quiet voice.

"I've told her about the area," said Kenny. "I've spent summers on their farm." He smiled as he reveled in his mind the summers they spent there. "The fishing was incredible." Yi smiled and nodded.

"Speaking of fishing, we have guide licenses," said Paul as he got up to man the aft helm there on the port side of the flying bridge rear deck, "Kenny, you could teach Doctor Campbell a few ocean fishing skills before we head out to Nisi Arcadia? We'll be holding station in three hours."

"Aye-aye sir" said Kenny as he started clearing the table.

"What is the plan, Cap'n?" asked Kim-ly as she watched Paul advance the throttles.

Lanh leaned over to Don and said, "ten bucks says she is going to beg Paul to drive before this cruise is over."

"No way," replied Don, "that's a sucker bet." As Kim-ly got up to get a close look at the helm station that Paul was standing at, Don pulled her down in his lap. Giggling and fighting Kim-ly tried to get up but Don held her tight and as they fought one breast became exposed. She whooped and laughed as Don held her tight and Lanh tickled her sister.

When their tussling ended Andi said, "Ok, after breakfast cleanup, Yi and Kenny are going to stay up here with Paul and I, and you three get the run of the cockpit, mezzanine, and cabins as we head to Cape Canaveral. All we ask is that you stay out of the engine room."

"I never asked," said Don. "What's the itinerary for this trip?"

Paul made a few settings on the helm then stepped over to their table. "We're going to pause for a while at Cape Canaveral, do a little fishing, then a nice easy cruise down the inland waterway to Jupiter Florida where we will tie up for dinner, then we will head out to Nisi Arcadia, an island owned by some friends of ours."

"And then?" asked Don.

"That's up to you," grinned Paul as he headed toward the main helm controls.

The trio helped Yi and Kenny clean up from breakfast and as they washed up the breakfast plates Kenny said, "you don't have to help, you guys are guests."

Don just smiled and dried a dish, put it away and said, "Andi said that this is your vacation too, so you are guests also. We're restauranteurs, this is what we do."

"Thank you for the help," said Kenny as they finished up. Then quietly he said, "is it true that your son is a test-tube baby?"

"Yes, but... how would you know that? I know Lanh and I haven't told anyone and Kim-ly only told Yi a few minutes ago while we straightened up the saloon and she's been upstairs ever since."

Kenny looked like he was fighting an internal battle then he tugged on a chain that was around his neck and pulled it out from under his t-shirt to show the gem on the chain, a perfect black pearl. Both Kim-ly and Lanh gathered close to look at it, Lanh even reached out to touch it but Kim-ly asked, "is that from a dragon?" and Kenny said, "Yes," Lanh withdrew her hand quickly, as if the pearl was radioactive.

As if called for, Yi came back down from the flybridge and grabbed several wine glasses but without a word she stepped up to Kim-ly and Lanh, swept her hair back and showed Kim-ly and Lanh her black pearl earrings. "Did you get them from a dragon?" Lanh asked.

"Don't be silly, I got them from Kenny. He got them from a dragon." Then she gave a smile that said, "If you don't believe the legend then I'm kidding." She put down the glasses and told them, "We're far from shore and there's no kids aboard..." Yi reached behind her and unclipped her bikini top, and it slid down her arms exposing her small, perfect breasts and permanently erect nipples. Lanh noticed that her dark pink nipples were pierced, and she was wearing studs in her nipples, each end of both studs had a tiny black pearl. Lanh reached out to touch one of the studs but Kim-ly pulled her hand back with a wordless reprimand.

Kenny too was as startled as Don was by Lanh and Kim-ly's reaction to the black pearls, especially when the sisters asked if the pearls were from a dragon. They were from the great golden dragon Guoxin and Yi's reply that they were from a dragon appears to mean something to all three girls even though they come from different cultures. Yi silently told him that their cultures have shared beliefs about the dragons and the black pearls. Both cultures know that touching a black pearl that was a gift of a dragon to somebody else was incredibly bad luck, the worst kind. Kenny decided that he was going to have to mention this the next time he spoke with Guoxin.