Day Sixty-four - Monday
I woke Sue by softly sucking on her distended nipples. She opened her eyes while she was deep in an orgasm. She shivered and said, "Fill me up, lover, but I'm already carrying our son. I know it in my heart that he's in there right now growing, getting bigger by the minute. You're going to be a dad. Make love to me."
Our lovemaking was full of intimate touching and kissing, holding me deep within her and then both of us shaking and shivering through our release. This is the way love making is supposed to be.
We were ready for the crew when it started to show up. Phil and Judy brought breakfast sandwiches and a lot of good cheer, saying it was going to be a great week. Phil felt like he had a great chance to get several government bids, as well as a huge Saudi bid. The Saudi bid was for equipment spanning five years. Each year was enough to make our nut, making everything else we did for the year pure profit.
Phil was excited to be interviewing some Spanish-speaking salesmen to send off to South America to sell more equipment. We had special permission to sell new equipment in several countries without paying a duty fee. Phil was going to focus on those.
Sue was excited that her website would be online today with her new fashions, meaning she should get a slug of new orders. Her company was really booming. She said she was going to be topping a million a month in new orders. She had told me privately how proud she was of both of us, as she didn't need the money that her mom and uncle prized so much. We had made enough on our own to live the rest of our lives without going hungry.
Actually at this point, we could sell out and be very comfortable forever.
At the shop there was a freshness that had invaded the building. Everyone was excited to begin the new week, to produce for themselves and for the company. The excitement seemed to include everyone.
Our race day truck returned to park in our lot. Our two men said that they had been busier than they could ever have expected. They felt as if it would take a four-person crew to work the truck, as the little sales took away from the time they could be spending with a crew chief getting the right part.
They especially wanted a couple of Ford engines, along with at least two Dodge engines. They felt like our reputation was important, but the idea that a team could buy one of our engines, install it, then go racing was a big plus. They said the NASCAR officials all said that there was no reason to tear down an engine, as they knew it was going to be right.
The guys didn't have to leave till Wednesday afternoon so I told them to think about working with their wives. The ladies could sell all the trinkets and pick up items, while the guys could concentrate on taking care of the team buyers. They liked the idea and said they would discuss it with their wives. They collected their pay, doubled, and double commission, then headed home with a big grin.
Phil said he would have one of his girls inventory the truck and begin re-ordering product, along with a new list the guys had given him. Phil was looking at the truck as an advertising avenue that he wanted to keep in people's minds.
With Gene's help, I was able to buy four Ford crate engines and get the NASCAR specs for the motor. My two militant feminists said they knew Ford motors and wanted to build them. The two gay guys said they wanted to build them too, so that the girls would have someone for checks and balances. If both teams built two motors a piece, it was fine with me.
Debbie said the phone was ringing off the hook from teams that had been at the race this weekend. There were several inquiries as to whether we had less expensive motors and if we do our own financing. I told her I thought our website should be up, so we could put an entire area for race car or motor sports support.
I went upstairs to see Phil about the website. He said he was ready to put other products in it now. He had the Onan line, the various welding supply lines, and the new Truck line, complete with our video, ready to go. I asked whether we could get the race car support group up to include the motors, frames, and sheet metal, and to also feature the truck for Winston cup on site support.
Phil thought that would be good and said he would get the site builder to work on it today. He then told me that, confidentially, he felt that this week could be one of the highest volume weeks to date as he had already heard from two of his major bids that the folks awarding the contracts were thoroughly investigating us. Phil said Tiny was all over it, making sure our bankers and the county folks lauded us.
Ruth introduced me to her new assistant, Marsha, building her up to me as someone who had extensive experience in human relations. While I was talking to Ruth about whether we should split up faxes, one for race car support and one for everything else, Marsha got up and hopped to the closet, got something out, then hopped back.
Marsha saw me looking and said, "My leg is sore today, so I took my prosthetic leg off for a while. I hope that doesn't upset you."
I smiled at her saying, "One of my best sheet metal men has a fake leg too, so don't be concerned, I was just surprised. You do hop pretty good," I joked.
Going back to the shop through the lunchroom, I thought that we had a pretty diverse group of folks working here. The one group we did not have anyone of was a black. I wondered why none had applied. I was guessing that, since almost all of our employees were the result of a direct referral, we had not advertised for people as yet. We did have a Mexican, a couple of Germans in rebuild, an Oriental of whatever nationality, and a Venezuelan in Phil's customer service area, but no blacks. We weren't against women as we had four of them in motors with a female supervisor there. We weren't against the rainbow crowd as we had three avowed gay couples. We even had a deaf guy.
Speaking of Bob, Sandy was over in the frame area signing to him. Does everyone know how to sign but me? Come to think of it, Sandy has been talking to Bob during most all her breaks and at lunch. Wonder if there is something there? Bob was a nice, good looking, guy, that was respectful and a hard worker. Those two could be a good couple.
I checked with Al and Dan saying that if they were any good, we needed the people that they interviewed Saturday to work with them in bed/body building. We would probably need to find a couple more guys to work in sheet metal.
Al asked if I thought that we would really sell that many trucks. "I don't know how long the orders will keep up but right now we are only marketing them in the southeast, mostly Florida. All the trucks sold so far are from Florida because we haven't marketed them anywhere else yet. We are about to put the truck on the web and Phil is going to do a mass mailing in the Carolinas, Virginias, Georgia, and Maryland. If there is a big interest, he wants to take a truck to some commercial shows to show off. We have a potential to sell a lot of them, so I think we should be proactive about hiring."
"If we don't sell enough to keep four guys busy, then both you and Dan are good welders. We have several other products I'd like to get out, so I think we'll have enough work for four more guys."
Tiny paged me to call him, so I went to the phone in the sheet metal area to call him. As I did, I looked up toward his window to see him answer the phone then turn to look at me.
"The real estate agent for the property next door and the owner are here, do you have time to go look at the property?"
"I do, but before we get into numbers, have you been able to do any research on the property yet? We better know everything about the property we can before we commit to anything."
"I did the title search, county tax collector search, and talked to the building commissioner department who condemned the property. I'm ready for them."
"Good, I'll meet you in the showroom."
The agent was like a puppy dog with his tongue hanging out. The owner was a very old guy named Ernie, he was still sharp as a tack. We walked over the grounds that were grown up in weeds, except the areas that were concrete. He opened the building and showed us a fairly nice building. It had a very small office area and a large open warehouse. The building had been used to repair and store construction equipment, such as expensive cranes, specialized graders, paving, and other equipment.
He showed me the six large rear doors that were nearly forty feet high. Two of the doors were partially off the track. As heavy as they were, the doors could be really dangerous. That was why the building was condemned. The owner said that the tracks that the doors rolled on needed to be replaced as they had let go where joining welds had broken. He said he didn't know whether the motors for the doors would still work or not. The reason he had never repaired the doors was he had trouble finding a company with a crane strong enough to handle the doors. He said he figured that whoever bought the property would probably just tear the building down so he had not pursued repairing the doors for the last couple of years. The building had been empty and for sale now for three years.
The salesman began jabbering about what the owner wanted and how it could be financed and on and on and on. I looked at the owner and winked, then told the salesman that it was a little early for us to discuss money yet. We needed to do some investigating first.
Turning to the owner I asked him if he were hungry. He smiled and asked, "You buying?"
"Sure, let me call my wife and see if she wants to feed us or if she wants to eat over at the little Greek restaurant."
Sue said she would be at the shop in ten minutes, as she would love to eat at the restaurant. By the time we had locked the building and the gate to the fenced property, Sue was pulling up to the shop. She got out of her topless Mustang and gave me a smokin' kiss and hug. Sue was especially bouncy and radiant today. But then she is every day. The salesman sprouted a boner at the sight of her and the old guy owner fell in love at first sight. Instead of a bunch of cars, we all got in Tiny's big new Expedition for the short ride to restaurant.
The restaurant owner was happy to see us, Sue mainly, and sat us in what we now considered our special place, close to the kitchen, so he could visit with us. Ernie sat on the other side of Sue, who was displaying some delicious cleavage, as usual. He was cool though, as he was able to keep his eyes up most of the time. The salesman only spoke to her chest whenever he said anything to anyone.
Sue asked the old guy all about the property. When he had bought it, who had used it, and why he had not sold it yet. She told him that we only wanted it for storage right now, but the way we were growing, that could change. Ernie was extremely talkative to Sue, but then who wouldn't be.
By the time we finished lunch I think Ernie was ready to adopt Sue and I. He was very interested in our quick growth, and almost had a fit when he found out that Sue had her own business, as well. He asked us a couple of times if we were in need of a backer, as that's what he did best, investing in growing businesses. Tiny assured him that we didn't need financing at this time. Since Tiny took care of Sue's books too, he told Ernie that Sue's company was in good shape too.
When we went back to the shop, Sue told Ernie that we had a gathering at our home every evening and if he wanted to stop by about five thirty this evening, he would be welcome. She gave him a little map on the back of her business card. We all watched as she got in her Mustang, and there was a collective sigh as she drove off.
Tiny told the real estate guy and Ernie to come in and he would talk to them a little to see where they were on selling the building. I excused myself, saying I needed to check on projects in the shop. Tiny would do a good job setting the folks up for us to get the place for a fair price.
Al and Dan had a stainless steel bed almost complete. It was bright, very bright, but looked really neat. I could see a company wanting one, if for nothing else but to show off.
Debbie paged me to the showroom and when I arrived she introduced me to two new owners of our trucks. Both of these men were from Miami and had planned on driving back together. Debbie had two packets made up for them, each containing an itemized list of the accessories and the state paperwork. The new trucks already had temporary tags on them.
Debbie and I took the men through our shop, showing them our various operations. One of the guys said he really liked the stainless steel model. I told him it was an experiment, as we had thought we might see what it looked like and to see if the customers would pay the extra for the metal.
Out back, the two trucks were ready to roll, polished and full of fuel. They looked good, better than our original truck. The guys went over the truck, checking the equipment, opening doors and drawers, until their excitement waned enough for them to say they needed to get on the road. Debbie said that all the paperwork and funds had been taken care of, so I shook their hands and thanked them for their business. We watched as the two trucks left the back lot.
Debbie and I now knew what a car salesman felt when a car they sold was 'over the curb.'
The noises of the shops were addicting. Abe's had enough people, that at least once or twice a day, they were firing up big diesel motors to test the work they had done. The motor shop had their testing noises after an engine was built, doing the run ups and static testing. The welders made some big buzzing noises, along with banging and cutting. The sheet metal area was actually the quietest, as all you heard was the almost melodic bending and forming of panels, after the high pitched cutting. It was a nice working environment.
Debbie said I needed to spend some time answering phone calls, so I went back to our office and worked my way down the list. A couple of calls were from small teams or individuals that wanted to know if we built the entire car. I had to tell them no, as we didn't need to be in the whole car business. I referred them to the guy who was always trying to get me to build something for him for nothing. Perhaps he would see the value of paying a fair price for something.
There were a couple of frame orders and a Ford motor order in the calls, but the nice part was that the calls from various owners, crew chiefs, and track officials complimenting the company for our product and for the trailer store. Some had product suggestions, but most were just praise and hoped we would continue to come to the races.
I called Gene to get his opinion on a truck for the truck event and possibly a separate truck for the Busch series races. He said that one for the truck event would possibly be good, but those owners were pretty cliquish. The suggestion was to have some sheet metal, a couple of motors, and some suspension parts. He thought that a display of one of our frames would be good. We ended the call with him saying, "If you want their attention, you have to show that you are one hundred percent in the truck business and paint up a tractor and trailer with just the trucks."
I went to ask Tiny what he thought, and if he could come to any conclusion as to how much the actual investment was to put the truck at a race. Tiny was still in his office with the real estate salesman and the property owner. The discussion must have been going in our favor or else Tiny would have shown them out a while ago.
I asked Phil if he had any numbers on what the truck has cost to go to the races. He gave me a copy of what Tiny had figured, along with the additional cost of the re-supply we sent. It would be fair to think there wouldn't be a re-supply for our intro into the truck races, so I used that figure and about half of the revenue we did for our first exposure. It made sense to try as, with very low volume, we should break even within three races.
I called the Lakeland team owner as he had trucks and had bought two truck frames and a motor already. He thought we would do all right, but he warned me that a lot of the guys racing trucks didn't have a lot of money and were operating on a shoestring. He felt as if everything should be cash and credit card only. While he had me on the phone, he gave me his findings on what I had asked him for as to what panels were replaced the most. This was valuable as we could carry extra of these on the truck, along with a full set.
I made a note to Tiny to lease another truck from Penske and to see if we could get another trailer just like we had purchased before. I made out the order for the sheet metal to sell on the truck, along with the three motors that I wanted to carry. The general parts order that we had made, plus the add-on items the two driver/salesmen brought back, was put in a formal order to all the parts houses we dealt with.
Al and Dan had started two additional guys and Drew was watching them closely, at the expense of slowing down on the utility bodies. He seemed to be happy with their productivity and the observance of our quality standards. I asked that the truck order I put in be moved to the front, so we could put it on the race day sales truck for this weekend.
I called Gary and told him what I was planning. I told him that I needed another ex-crew chief and possible another ex-crew member for a team like he and Sam. He said he would call me back in a few minutes and hung up.
While still musing over the inventory list of the new truck, Gary called back and said he had just the pair. They were a little older, but were dying to get back to being a part of race days. He said he had them coming right in and they could be at my front door any minute.
He was right, as a couple of older guys came in the showroom and instantly went to the sample motor and were looking over the frame and sample car hanging from the ceiling. We introduced ourselves then I took them on a tour of the shops then out to the tractor-trailer rig that was our Winston Cup race day sales truck. The two guys fell in love with the idea, and both still had current CDL licenses, so driving a big truck was taken care of.
When I told them their truck wasn't built yet, they both had a disappointed look on their faces. I told them to research everything they could on the truck races and be ready to leave Wednesday evening. I explained that if it were easier for them to bring their wives, they were welcome. They told me that they were not married and that they lived together in a sort of semi-retirement.
While we were talking, I saw Tiny show the real estate guy and the property owner out. They were all smiling so it was probably good news. I wanted to hear all about it, but getting a truck and trailer here was most important.
I excused myself from the two and went to see Tiny and asked that he get Penske on the phone and get a truck and trailer here so we could work on them. I told Tiny that we would have time to discuss his property deal over a beer later.
We went back to the paint shop to find Hank. He was pushing out the stainless steel utility body that he had coated with a tough epoxy that helped dull the glare of the highly polished stainless steel. Hank had done a good job making the body look even better, while keeping the glare down.
"Hank, we are putting another truck at the races this weekend. Do you think you can handle the trailer tomorrow? This one is going to be at the truck races, so the paint theme needs to be for trucks. If you need some ideas, use the Internet in my office. Debbie will help you look stuff up."
"No problem, Steve," Hank smiled. "Will Shawna be able to do the tractor, or do you want me to do that too?"
"We'll talk to her this evening and find out whether she thinks she can come back to work yet. If not, you can be as nuts as you wish, but with a truck theme."
I told the two guys that they were going to be employees with all the benefits that employees have. Upstairs with Ruth, they got the idea that we were a company that would look after them. I told them to come by tomorrow afternoon so Ruth and Tiny could show them how to use the credit card equipment.
Tiny told me that the tractor and trailer were in route.
I had already ordered and received the pipe to make the edges of the cuts easier to handle, and to make the reinforcements I needed. What I had forgotten was a carpenter to make the cases and bins we would need on the truck, so I called the contractor and asked him if he could have the cabinet guy that we had used before come by. He might need a helper, as this was another of my rush jobs.
As soon as the tractor and trailer came into the lot, I was busy building the internal frame that would keep the sides from collapsing when I cut them. Then I installed all of the hinges at the points where we had before. The next step was easy, Tom and I cut the lines on the truck starting at the bottom and finishing on the top cut to hinge out to make a canopy. Then with Tom's help we put the pipe on the sharp edges completing the trailer modification.
Tom and I quickly cut the plywood to fit the bottom of the trailer. Once the floor was screwed down, we were ready for Hank.
Hank had his equipment ready and was dressed in his space suit. He was covered from the top of his head to his feet with goggles and a breather unit. He fired up the portable compressor then went into the trailer to paint the entire inside.
When he finished the inside, Hank began the outside with a really light, bright blue. It was good the day was not windy as the paint came out very nice. Hank was able to get two coats on the trailer quickly.
The tractor was put into a paint booth and taped off. Hank painted the entire tractor with the same blue paint. He obviously had an idea of what he wanted to do already.
It was time to call it a day. All the departments were cleaning up. I loved when the shop was ready for the next day. Everything neat with the floor shiny made the place very inviting. I noticed that everyone, even the girls from upstairs, was going up to the wall where the tool room was, taking cards out of a rack, stuffing them into a machine then putting them back in a rack.
Damn, we were making everyone use time cards. Sure hope they didn't get pissed about it. I wondered whose idea it was to have this contraption on the wall.
Everything was being locked up so I went out to my truck and drove home, arriving just in front of the folks who had left the shop heading here for a beer. Sue was entertaining Mr. Wainwright, the property owner we had gone to lunch with. He was bracketed by the over endowed Sue on one side and the buxom Joan on the other. I hadn't noticed before but Joan was now noticeably losing weight becoming a very shapely babe but retaining her big bazooms like Sue had. Poor guy he couldn't decide which way to look as both were showing some dramatic cleavage.
I went to the bar thinking I might have a Beefeater martini before supper but was intercepted by Tiny who handed me a beer.
"Before you talk to Wainwright, I need to tell you what kind of deal we are making. Earlier, I showed them the two figures you asked me about. One to repair the building and two, to tear it down and build a storage building. Wainwright bought my idea that the value he had placed on the property was too high at a minimum of the cost to repair the building. We discussed it back and forth a while and came up with a very nice figure for his twenty acres that includes the building if we pay him off by the end of the month, which is Friday. We have the cash but it will strap our cash flow for a while. If you have any sources to borrow the money, then do it and let our cash flow pay it back over the next couple of months."
"Jeez Tiny, that's a hell of a deal. For that kind of deal, we might even let him eat with us tonight."
Tiny laughed, "Don't forget, you already fed him at lunch."
I took my beer and went to sit with Sue, Joan, and Wainwright. He greeted me with, "Did your man tell you about the deal we made?"
"He did, but why don't you tell me the whole thing, so I really know the deal. Sue wants to hear it too."
"You're going to buy the place at the ridiculous figure we agreed upon, but you have to pay me by Friday. If you can do that, we got ourselves a deal. I need some cash for taxes and some improvements on some other properties. This one is nothing but a drain on me right now, it's good riddance." At this point he chuckled a couple of times. "If you buy it, you're responsible for the damned condemned property insurance. Sorry girls, I didn't mean to curse."
They forgave him by shaking their upper bodies enough to make him and I forget our names, then Sue spoke up, "We'll have the money to you before Friday. You just make sure you have all the closing documents ready. No title, no money!"
"You're a tough little lady, if I didn't know better, I'd say you resemble one of the older families around Tampa, the Phillips. Old man Phillips was a dear friend of mine. If he had not married his Nina, I would have. They had two nice kids. The boy is Ben Phillips, a lawyer in town and the girl's name is Beth. Seems she had a baby back twenty-five, thirty years ago. Don't remember who her husband was.
Sue sat up straight, which put her prominent chest in full display, "You mean my Uncle Ben and my mom, Beth Phillips."
"You're Jake Phillips granddaughter? Holy smokes, you could probably buy and sell me on an hourly basis. And this guy is your husband? Did you start him in business?"
"No sir, Mr. Wainwright, Steve built his business all by himself. So far he hasn't used one dime of the Phillips money, even for all the expansion he is doing. I might be able to help on this one if he lets me, but he is pretty stubborn about using anyone's money but his own."
"Son, I like you even more. Not many would pass up the opportunity to live high on the hog off his old lady's money. You're quite a guy. Glad to do business with you." With that he stuck his hand across the table for a shake.
"Damn, I'm finally doing business with a Phillips," Wainwright said with sigh.
"Sorry sir," Sue apologized. "You're really doing business with Steve and Sue Sharp. Steve didn't take my name, I proudly took his. You know he's building this business for his son, don't you."
I looked at Sue puzzled. She winked at me and sent me an air kiss.
"Oh, you two have been married long enough to have a son already?
"Actually sir, you are the first person to know, I'm pregnant with our son right now. Or at least I hope it is a little Stevie."
My mouth was open wide enough to not only catch bugs, but probably a passing bird or two.
Wainwright saw my shock, "You didn't know yet, did you?"
All I could do was shake my head, still staring at my smiling wife.
"Well congratulations, son, you two will make great parents, good examples of what's right about this country. Glad I got to be a part of the announcement."
He lifted his glass high and said, "To you both and the new one on the way, I salute you."
He had said this loud enough that all of our friends had paused long enough to hear the toast. As soon as they grasped what Wainwright had said, they mobbed Sue. Glenda and Ruth were kissing and hugging her, Mandy and Sandy were almost crying, they were so happy for her, Shawna, Hanna, and Debbie wedged their way into the mesh to further grope and congratulate Sue.
Wainwright motioned me toward the bar to have a drink with him, Phil, and Tiny. Charlie came wheeling up to us and said, "If you pour me another beer, I'll shake the hand of the new dad."
I drew another beer for Charlie, Tiny, Jim, Tom, Al, and made another scotch and water for Mr. Wainwright. We were all in a festive mood.
Phil said, "Let me brighten your day, Dad. I was called just as we were closing tonight to tell me that our bid to the state of Florida for the generator back up at all of the FDLE locations was accepted. Earlier, we were notified that the feds have accepted our bid for the generators for all of their Southeast FBI and Customs locations. Those two, Steve, will make you a rich man, this year, and next year. Want to know how much those two bids are for?"
"Don't tell me, just let me know how we are going to put together the crews to install them. That is going to be a real trick."
"That is not a problem, Steve." Phil said in a proud voice. "Part of the bid was an agreement we made with Barnhart Electrical Construction. They are excited to be installing equipment for the next eighteen months."
"How did we do on markup. Government jobs are notoriously close," I asked.
Tiny answered this one, "We came out with our normal margin for a high volume customer."
All I could say was, "No shit!" Then, after recovering from the shock, I had to say something. "Phil, it sure was a lucky day when Abe told me to hire you. You sure have taken us to some new levels."
"I have a very serious question, Steve." Phil said as he winked at Tiny, and now Judy, who had joined us. "Do these two deals fall within your double commission plan, or does it only count for goods delivered and billed?"
"I don't know, Phil. I planned on it being for any business written during the month. It takes too long to ship it or to get it shipped. That's alright with you, isn't it?"
"Judy climbed up into my lap and gave me a smoldering kiss. If I were younger, I'd have your baby too."
"Hawaii, here we come," Phil said. "Judy and I have always wanted to go to Hawaii and this commission is going to pay for it. Holy smokes, this is not a windfall, it's a fricken hurricane."
I asked Tiny in an intimate voice, "Will there still be any margin left?"
"Plenty my man, loads, and loads. So far, we haven't given anything away," Tiny assured me.
Mr. Wainwright stood up, "Well, congratulations on your big business deal today, and congratulations for buying my property. What is an albatross for one person is an eagle for another. I have to get. I have a dinner engagement and do not wish to leave the lady alone too long. Hope you all invite me back." He walked out of the patio then out to his big Lincoln.
Tiny was pretty happy tonight. "Want to know how your truck did, profit wise, after all the loading factors are figured in?"
"Sure do, if we break even, the venture is worth it for the advertising."
"You don't have to worry about just breaking even, your idea paid a profit, not gross sales, but a net profit of one hundred one thousand plus some change."
"No way," was the only thing I could say.
"Way, my friend," Tiny said standing, "I've figured the total races yet to come and divided the cost of the truck and the total annual salaries of your two men. These numbers represent your real profit before taxes. You made enough from the one truck to not only lease and paint a new rig, but also fill it up with inventory as well. This coming week will really be important. If sales are up on both trucks, we will have another brand new S&S business."
Sue came to me at that point and said, "Are going to feed me or am I supposed to fill up on junk food tonight?"
"Have someone bring the steaks and I'll fire up the grill. Let's get some salad made and let's party. Sue, how about breaking out some of that wine we found a deal on? I think tonight calls for some wine."
We ate, drank, then had some delicious Shawna handmade Dutch apple pie, my favorite. Shawna said that she felt domesticated today, so she made up a bunch of pies. She told me she would come back to work next week and to let Hank paint the truck and trailer. She promised to make up any work she missed. I told her not to worry, to just take care of Charlie until he could take care of himself.
After supper, Sue and I took a long walk, ending up at the pool and swimming for a solid half-hour. We sat in the hot tub to have a few minutes of private time.
"So when did you find out you were pregnant?" I asked.
Sue smiled, "I've known for a few days. I've just felt it inside."
"Did you take a test or see a doctor?"
"Not yet, but when we get home I'm going to pee on a stick and see what it says. I already know though, I'm pregnant."
I gave her a tender kiss, hoping she was right and didn't disappoint herself by thinking she was pregnant and wasn't.
Sue surprised me, "Did you know that Sandy has a phenomenal crush on Bob. She told me that she was going to invite him over tonight. She did and they were moony-eyed at each other all night."
Knowing how much Mandy and Sandy meant to Sue, I asked, "How do you feel about losing both of our bed buddies?" "I'll miss them, but I'm so happy for both of them. Mandy and Drew are the sweetest couple that you could ever find. And Sandy and Bob, well, they took off just before we went for our walk. From what Sandy said, I don't think they will be coming back tonight. I'll miss them both, but I'm glad they got lucky like I did."
"Now I have you, my husband, all to myself, tonight anyway," Sue said standing up and getting out of the tub.
Back at the house, the patio group had pretty well disappeared. We said goodnight to Glenda and Martin then to Ruth and Tiny, leaving us alone with me having a little scotch and water, while Sue had a light rum and Diet Coke. We locked up, then made a ceremony of Sue peeing in a cup and sticking the indicator in the pee for the prescribed about of time. We stared with fascination as the "we're gonna have a baby color" became bright.
"So, how do you know it's a boy?"
"I don't, but that's what I feel we'll have. We'll have a girl later, but right now, it'll be a boy."
"So, how do you feel about your kids growing up in a trailer park?"
"I thought of that. Actually I thought a lot about that. But you know what? Our kids will grow up with all our friends' kids and be some of the best kids there ever were, because they will be loved and be with friends that care for them too."
"Good answer. Glad you want to stay with our friends, I know I do. Do you think we'll have to add a nursery out on the patio?"
"Probably, Joan and Betty both want kids and they both think that they are getting close to being able to afford to have them. Shawna, Hanna, and Debbie all want babies. They all told me they were even a little envious because I beat them. You watch though, all of them will be pregnant with their own kids very soon. There will be babies everywhere."
"I think I'm going to like being a dad. I hope I'm as good a dad as mine was."
Sue looked a little wistful, "Since I've never known my dad, I hope you are a good one too. But since I think that Ben's my dad, I've thought that he was a pretty good dad. He was always attentive to me, helped me with my homework, took me places, and was always there when I needed him. I sure hope my mom and Ben come clean with me. I want to call him "Dad" too."
We went to bed and spent a long time just kissing and hugging, until nature took its course and we ravaged each other, putting us to sleep.