Coming Full Circle–Part 1
By Nancy F. Thysell (the Nifty Lady)
Author’s Note: This is a sequel to "Treading Water" and a part of my Chris Martin and John Gage series. This sequel picks up the story immediately after part 8 of "Treading Water." The series began with "Malibu Nights" and "En-GAGE-ment". If you haven’t read these stories, you may want to read these stories first before delving into this sequel. Events and people are referred to in this series that relate to those stories. Thanks, enjoy!
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It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving and John Gage’s last Sunday as a bachelor. He had taken his fiancée, Chris Martin to LAX on Saturday. She was going home to Kansas ahead of John to finish preparations for the wedding on Friday. In the meantime, Johnny had the task of moving her belongings to his house and getting Chris’ bungalow ready for the move out inspection. Then on Monday night, the guys had a bachelor party planned for him. That meant he’d probably have a hangover when worked his next shift. And he'd be exhausted by the time he flew to Kansas on Wednesday. It seemed like he had so much to do and so little time. He had made arrangements for Roy DeSoto, his paramedic partner and best friend, to fly out on Thanksgiving Day to be his best man at the wedding. It looked like everything was going to go off like clockwork.
Johnny was at Chris' place and had just finished taping a box shut when he heard a knock at the door.
"Door’s open! Come on in," he yelled out. The door opened and Roy, followed by Mike Stoker and Marco Lopez entered.
"Oh, hi guys! Thanks for coming," he said as he lifted the box onto the dining room table.
"What do you need us to move first," Mike asked, looking around at all the stuff Chris had that needed moving. Johnny stopped, catching his breath.
"Let’s move the furniture first. I rented a U-Haul truck so we can probably get everything in one trip, I hope. Plus we’ve got Chris’ pickup if we need it."
"Okay, then let’s get started," Roy suggested. "JoAnne would like to see me a few hours during my time off."
"Yeah, Beth feels the same way," Mike agreed with a chuckle.
"Where’s Chet?" Marco wanted to know.
"He should be showing up any time now. Cap said he might be a bit late. Had to take care of something at home first," Johnny replied.
The ramp that Johnny had installed when Chris was using her wheelchair made using the furniture dolly a breeze. By the time Chet showed up most of the furniture had been loaded on the truck.
Marco was taking a break, sitting on the tailgate of the truck when Chet strolled up.
"Well, it’s about time you showed up," Marco groused. Chet spread his hands in a gesture of innocence.
"Who me? Hey pal, I’ve got a life you know. I had an errand to run," Chet responded defensively. "Besides, it looks like you’re just sitting around anyway."
"Sitting around! Oh, never mind. At least you’re here now," Marco responded as he jumped down. "Let’s go inside."
The two coworkers entered the bungalow. The five men made quick work of grabbing the boxes and hauling them out to the truck. Amazingly, it only took them about thirty minutes to transfer everything from the house into the truck. Johnny brought out a six pack of beers from the now empty refrigerator and handed each of his friends a cold brew. They each took the beverage gratefully and made themselves comfortable in the shade of the small back yard.
"Cap should be here soon," Johnny observed. "Then we can all head up to my place and start unloading."
"Have you decided where you’re putting all this stuff?" Roy asked. He knew that basically, Johnny’s house was full of his own furniture and Chris’ would duplicate much of it.
"Well, Chris’ bedroom stuff will go in the extra bedroom. I’ve already cleared it out. For the time being, most of the stuff is going in the barn or the basement until we decide what to do with it. Maybe we’ll just have a big yard sale and get rid of most of it and buy us some new stuff."
"Well, I could use some furniture," Chet offered. "Most of my stuff is ‘Early Goodwill’, if you know what I mean. Let me know what you want to get rid of and maybe I’ll take it off your hands."
"Thanks Chet. I’ll let you know," Johnny agreed.
Captain Hank Stanley walked around the house and found his crew.
"Oh here you are. I’ve been pounding on the front door for five minutes," he complained. Johnny laughed as he reached for the final beer.
"Then you’re probably thirsty," he joked as he handed his superior the last beer. Hank took the offered brew with a grin.
"Thanks pal. So what’s the plan?"
"We just finished loading everything onto the truck and were waiting on you to head over to my house," Johnny told him.
Hank took a sip of the cold beverage and released an appreciative sigh.
"Sounds like a good plan. Everybody ready?"
The men all gave their agreement. They decided to car pool as much as they could to save on gas. Johnny would have to come back for Chris’ pickup anyway. So, Johnny drove the U-Haul with Chet and Marco as passengers. They were followed by Mike driving his car with Roy and Hank in his vehicle.
As soon as they arrived at Johnny’s place, Johnny made a beeline for the telephone, where he placed an order for a delivery of pizza. He figured by the time the truck was unloaded, the pizza would be there and they could take a break and eat. Unloading took a little longer because Johnny had to keep directing his friends where to take the off loaded items. But they had almost finished the job when the pizzas arrived.
He gathered everyone around his kitchen table and set the boxes of pizza in the center. He pulled cold beers out his refrigerator and soon all six men were stuffing their faces with the hot pizza and chasing them down with the beer. They were almost done with their meal when there was a knock at the door.
Johnny went to answer it and was surprised to find JoAnne DeSoto and Beth Stoker on his porch.
"Ladies! What brings you here?"
"Hi Johnny. How’s the moving going?" JoAnne asked as she and Beth entered the house.
"Good. Good. We’re almost done." He was still waiting to find out why they had come. The rest of the guys had spilled out of the kitchen to see who had arrived.
"JoAnne!" Roy exclaimed with a smile.
"Hi Honey," she greeted with a small wave of her hand.
"Hi Mike," Beth called. Her quiet husband just nodded with a smile.
"We thought we could get a few things put away for you," JoAnne finally explained. Johnny gave her a confused look.
"What?"
"Aren’t you going to have an extra bedroom now, with Chris’ things?" Beth asked. Johnny nodded.
"Well, I hope you plan to set up the bed and get the room in order. We thought we could unpack a few things, make the bed. You know, make it ready for when you bring Chris home," JoAnne explained to the confused bachelor.
"I guess. I really hadn’t thought about it," Johnny confessed.
"That’s why we’re here. Come on Beth, let’s see what we need to do up there," the determined woman said. She and Beth headed up the stairs. A moment later, JoAnne called down the stairs.
"Roy? I think we’re going to need you and Mike up here to help us."
"Coming dear," Roy responded to his wife and motioned to Mike to follow him. Johnny chuckled until Chet sidled up to me.
"That’s going to be you soon," he remarked with a mischievous gleam in his eye. The smile faded slightly from Johnny’s lips as he pondered that remark. Then he frowned at his coworker.
"Come on, Chet. Let’s finish unloading the truck," Johnny ordered.
"I’m telling ya Gage, you’ll be acting just like those guys in no time," Chet tried to inform him.
"Like what pal?" Hank asked as he came up behind the stocky Irishman.
"Oh, you know, Cap. Married!" he explained in all innocence. Hank put a firm hand on his shoulder.
"And just what would you know about that Chet?" Hank wanted to know.
"Hey, I watch you guys. Married guys behave differently from us single guys. Believe me, you don’t have to be married to see it," he explained earnestly. Hank had to laugh. Chet was probably right.
"Come on ya twit, let’s get the job finished to I can go home to my wife," he chuckled as he guided the younger man outside.
An hour later, Mike drove his wife, Beth along with Hank, Marco and Chet back to Chris’ bungalow to pick up their cars. Johnny stood in the rearranged bedroom and admired the work that JoAnne and Beth had accomplished in such a short time. JoAnne was smoothing out the bed spread.
"It looks great Jo. Thanks. I know Chris will appreciate it."
"Well, I figure she’ll have enough to take care of when you two get home from your honeymoon. It’s the least we could do," JoAnne stated.
Roy came into the room.
"Wow. It hardly looks like the same room," he commented appreciatively.
"Thanks honey," JoAnne responded warmly. "So are you guys finished?"
"Yep. All we have to do is take Junior here back to Chris’ place after he drops off the truck," Roy told her as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Great. Let me call the sitter and let her know we’ll be home soon," JoAnne said as she gave Roy a squeeze before she headed downstairs. She called back over her shoulder, "Johnny? You want to come over for dinner?"
Johnny leaned against the doorjamb. He suddenly felt exhausted. A home cooked meal sounded great.
"Thanks Jo, I’d love to," he called after her. Roy just smiled at his partner and propelled him toward the stairs.
"Let’s go Junior," he ordered.
"I’m going. I’m going," Johnny protested lightly as he let his partner push him along.
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Johnny leaned back in Roy’s recliner after eating JoAnne’s sumptuous meal. It had been a busy day and now he was just plain bone tired. Given half a chance, he’d be sound asleep in no time. Roy came by and gave his foot a tug.
"Don’t go to sleep on me, Junior," Roy ordered. Johnny opened one eye to look at his partner.
"Why not?"
"Cause you haven’t called Chris yet today, have you?"
That brought Johnny upright in the chair.
"Oh, man! I almost forgot. It’s two hours later there. Can I use your phone?"
Roy gave him an exasperated look.
"Johnny! That’s long distance."
"I know. I know. I’ll pay you back," Johnny promised as he searched for Chris’ parent’s telephone number in his pocket.
"Okay. But try to keep it short. The rates just went up you know," Roy cautioned him.
"Yes, dad," Johnny complied as he dialed the number. Annie Martin answered the phone.
"Oh, hi Annie. It’s John Gage. May I speak to Chris? Thanks," he grinned at Roy as he waited to hear her voice.
"Hi sweetie! Miss me?....Yeah me too...Yeah, we got everything moved...Uh huh. I’ll have to call early tomorrow because of the party the guys are throwing me...How about around six, your time?...Great. I’ll talk to you then. No, I can’t. I’m on Roy’s dime...Yeah, I know. I love you...Okay. Bye now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow...Well, I should be home in an hour. Uh huh. Sure. I’m leaving now. Okay! Bye bye sweetie." Johnny hung up the phone with a big grin on his face. Roy looked at him expectantly.
"She’s gonna call me at the house at nine. It’ll be eleven back there so the rates will be down again and we can talk for a while," he explained happily as he stood up.
"Well, that makes sense," Roy agreed.
"Jo?" Johnny called. JoAnne came out of the kitchen drying her hands on a towel.
"Yes, Johnny?"
"Thanks for a great meal and all you did at the house today," he told her fondly. He crossed to her and gave her a big hug. Then he offered his hand to Roy. "Thanks Pally. You were a big help too."
"Anytime partner. Anytime," Roy responded warmly.
"You’re welcome, Johnny," JoAnne said sincerely.
"Well, I’d better get home if I want to be there when Chris calls," he announced as he turned to leave.
"I’ll pick you up at six tomorrow night," Roy reminded him. Johnny laughed.
"I can’t wait. See ya then. Night JoAnne. Roy," he called as he headed out the door.
"Night Johnny," JoAnne called after him. They both watched him as he got in Chris’ pickup and drove away. Then JoAnne turned to her husband.
"You make sure he doesn’t have too wild of a party tomorrow night," she ordered.
"I’ll try," Roy promised with a chuckle. "After all, we have to work the next day. That means we’ll all have to behave."
"Well, as long as you do!" JoAnne replied as Roy shut and locked the door. He wrapped his arm around her with a mischievous grin.
"Can I misbehave tonight?" he asked suggestively. JoAnne giggled.
"Sure. Come with me," she answered playfully and they headed for the bedroom. Roy grinned. He didn’t have to get up early in the morning.
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Monday morning arrived with a thick cover of fog. Johnny forced himself out of bed and as soon as he dressed, out to the barn. He finished his chores and released the horses into the corral, determined to come back and take a ride somehow before the day was over. His errands included polishing his dress shoes and picking up his dress uniform from the dry cleaners. Both he and Roy would be wearing their dress uniforms for the wedding. By mid-morning he had his bag packed except for the last minute toiletries. Since he’d only be gone a few days, he was packing light so that he could carry everything onto the plane with him. He placed the cleaned uniform into a garment bag and hung it on the back of the bedroom door. Another bag was already packed and ready to go for the honeymoon. He grinned as he tucked their airline tickets into that bag. He hoped that Chris would like his surprise locale for the honeymoon.
He got to enjoy a couple of hours of riding that afternoon, giving each of the horses a good workout. While his neighbor would be taking care of them while he was gone, Johnny didn’t expect him to take the horses out for rides and exercise.
He hurried back to the house to shower before his phone call to Chris at four. Even though they had talked for a couple of hours the previous evening, he was anxious to hear her voice again.
A few minutes before the top of the hour, Johnny stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He used a second one to towel dry his hair. Then wrapping the towel around his neck, he sat on the bed and dialed the number to the Martin’s residence in Kansas. Chris answered on the second ring.
"Hi sweetie!" he said with a smile on his face.
"Hi honey! What have you been doing?" she asked, wishing he wasn’t so far away.
"Oh, just my chores and packing for the trips. What about you?"
"Well, my sister and sister-in-laws had their final fittings on their dresses and the shoes are being dyed. They promise to have them ready tomorrow. Looks like everything is coming together. Oh! We’ve gotten a lot of gifts."
"Oh yeah? What’d we get?" Johnny asked eagerly.
"I haven’t opened them yet. I’m waiting for you, silly," she told him.
"Oh? Okay. Man, I can’t wait to get there. I miss you so much!"
"Me too. How are you getting to the airport?"
"Roy’ll drop me off. We both work tomorrow and he’ll come over to the house sometime after the shift. Then he’ll take me to LAX. Oh by the way, he wants the telephone number where we’ll be staying so JoAnne has it in case of an emergency."
"That’s no problem. You’re both staying at my brother Dale’s. If you have something to write on, I’ll give you the number."
"Hang on, I’ve got to find a pen or something to write with." Johnny stood up and searched around until he found a pencil and an old envelope. "Okay. Go ahead...uh huh. Right. Got it! Thanks sweetie."
"So what are you doing now?" Chris asked thoughtfully.
"You really want to know?" he teased.
"Yeah. What?"
"Well, right now I’m lying on my bed talking to you buck naked."
"No!" He could almost hear her blush. "Why?"
"I just took a nice hot shower and decided to call you before I did anything else."
"Oh, am I supposed to be honored by that?" she asked timidly. Johnny laughed.
"Well, only if you can see me!"
"Johnny! You’re so bad!" she giggled.
"You can tell me after the wedding!" he promised her. They talked for almost an hour when they reluctantly agreed that they needed to end the call.
"Yeah, Roy’ll be here soon to take me to the bachelor party. I sure do miss you. Can’t wait until I see you on Wednesday."
"Me too. Seems like ages since I’ve seen you. Now, you’re coming in on Flight 1935, right?"
"Yeah. We should get in around eight p.m. my time"
"That’s ten here. Well, just look for me at the gate. I’ll be there."
"I’ll just look for the most beautiful woman in Kansas," Johnny assured her.
"Oh, Johnny," she sighed.
"I gotta go sweetie. I love you."
"I love you too. Hurry up and get here," she urged him earnestly.
"I’ll be there as soon as I can. You sleep well tonight. Sweet dreams baby," Johnny whispered softly as the time came to hang up.
"I’ll will. You too. Now try to behave yourself tonight!" she admonished him. "But have fun!"
"Well, makeup your mind!" he joked.
Chris laughed. "Have fun!"
"I will. Nighty night sweetie."
"Night Johnny. Take care."
"You too. I love you. Bye bye." He hated hanging up the phone. He wanted to linger on her voice all night long but that wasn’t possible. He got up from the bed and dressed. He had barely descended the stairs when he heard Roy’s car in the drive. He grabbed his jacket and keys and opened the door and waved to his partner. He locked the door and loped down the steps and hopped into the passenger seat of Roy’s sports car.
"Hiya pally!" he greeted with a grin.
"Hey Junior. Ready for your big night out?" Roy responded with a grin of his own.
"You bet! Lead the way!"
"Okay!" Roy said enthusiastically as he turned the car around and headed to the designated party spot. "The Smoke Alarm" was a local bar that catered to firemen. They had a room in the back for occasions such as this. Before long, Johnny was in the midst of his coworkers, fellow firemen and paramedics as well as doctors Brackett, Early and even Morton. The evening was a raucous party with a number of pranks by the "Phantom" but everyone had a good time in spite of Chet. Captain Stanley made it clear to the members of A-Shift that they’d better be ready and able for their shift the next morning so Johnny and the others took it easy on the beverages.
It was nearly midnight when they reached the DeSoto house. Roy had decided that he really wasn’t sober enough to drive Johnny all the way home so he brought him home to sleep in their guest room. Johnny didn’t put up much of a fight. He had clean uniforms at the station. He didn’t need to go home. He could call and ask his neighbor to feed the horses for him in the morning. He fell on top of the extra bed in Roy’s home, fully dressed and promptly fell asleep. Roy chuckled as he heard his partner snoring as he staggered to his own bed. Soon, he too, was sound asleep.
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THE END OF PART 1–CONTINUED IN PART 2
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