Sue's factories were receiving bids for military uniforms from the academies and the military. The first was the Air Force Academy, then the Merchant Marine, followed by the Coast Guard. Finally, we were able to bid on Army fatigues and won a very large contract.
Along with the fatigues was an order for the beige T-shirts and boxers worn under them. The production was going to require almost a full third of Quality Wear's production. To me this was great, to Sue this was a disaster, as she had plans for so much more. She said that if we were able to continue bidding and receiving contracts, she wanted to expand her manufacturing in the park by at least two more buildings of about the same size as the others.
While Sue, Mercy, Hannah, and Debbie, settled down into every day routines and making babies inside of them, I spent time planning and directing the new Dublin plant and expanding the Canadian locations.
Ryan had consented and had hired three men to do the heavy leg work while he followed up on key issues that arose around the country. Michelle surprised all of us by announcing one Friday evening that she was four months pregnant, and that Ryan was going to need a new secretary. Her due date would be only a month or so after Mercy's and Sue's, somewhere around when Kate should have her new one.
The couple considered having a house built in the back area where Abe lived, but then made a deal for a double space next to where Sue's place was. They wanted to be closer to the patio and all of the child care at our place.
One afternoon, after getting back from the gym and getting a little sun, we had all of the pregnant women there while all the kids were napping. Glenda began reminiscing about our start and the people who we had come in contact with. As soon as Glenda mentioned Kathy and her kids, Sue said, why don't we call her and have her come down while her kids are on spring break. Have her Mom and Dad come down too and they can have a week visiting and going to the amusement parks.
Glenda said, "I have her number, let me go get it. We'll make the call out here so she will know we all want them to come."
When Kathy answered, she was surprised that Glenda had called. I began talking and Kathy became very excited. I told her that Shawna was with us as well as Sue, Juanita whom she knew, and a new person, Mercy.
"I've heard all about your three ladies. What happened to the other one, did you kick her out?"
Sue answered for me, "Kate was able to get back with her husband, but she's still a part of our big group here. She's sitting with us right now."
I took over, "We're calling to ask you if you would like to come down to visit over your kids' spring vacation? We want you to bring your Mom and Dad too and stay with us. Our place is big enough for everyone and we would love to have you. I'm dying to see the kids. I'll bet they are really big."
"Do you really want us to come down there? Will your women put up with me because I was close with you before I moved away?"
Mercy got in on the call, "This is Mercy, and yes we want you to come down here. You need to see our kids too and you know you want to see Martin and Glenda, Juanita, Abe, and Alice. We all want you to come."
Kathy paused, then said, "If we come down you may be in for a surprise. I'm not sure about it, but I'll ask Mom and Dad. I'm not going to ask the kids because they will go nuts, but I would love to see all my old friends and meet some new ones. Can I call you back later? Sue, I'll talk to you okay so you'll know about how to handle my bunch. Let me call you later, okay?"
Sue said, "Call me, Kathy, everyone has nice things to say about you. I want to get to know you for sure."
Glenda and Juanita were very excited and immediately called Alice to tell her. Kidding me, Sue said, "Well, maybe you'll have that fourth lady around here for a little while to give us pregnant ones a break."
Juanita said, "I will take up any slack for you two, but I would share with Kathy. She is a good person."
Later, during supper, Kathy called back and spoke with Sue for a long time. When Sue got off the phone, she huddled up with Mercy and Juanita for an extended period of time. I guess having seven people come would be a bunch, but we had the room for easily that many plus more.
They were coming in just a week. I had not realized the spring breaks were coming so fast. Sue said that she would fly up to get them in the small two hundred, as she said she needed some more flight time. I was fine with that, because I had to make a quick trip to Dublin to okay the plans for the new manufacturing facility being built. Abe, Jed, Tiny, and Ryan were going with me so we were going to fly the Lear fitted with the special extended range tanks. John and DeDe had something to do, so I had to talk an old airline pilot to come along. There was no way that I was going to make the flight by myself. Too many chances of something happening.
Fred Taylor, the retired airline pilot, and I had a good time flying to Dublin. We did the refueling in Iceland then straight in to the United Kingdom. Fred was experienced dealing with international flight plans and with customs, so we were able to land and immediately get to work.
Mac and Mike met us and took us to the building that was now fully remodeled to our specs. When we turned on all of the lights, the white dazzled the eyes. There were perfect signs everywhere, including the "Is it perfect?" signs over every door. We had hired the main working management personnel and they were in progress of hiring teams and sending them to the States for training. There were four teams in Florida and two teams in St. Louis being trained, so we only needed two to four additional teams to produce the quantity necessary for profitability.
The cart manufacturing area already had a line built, as well as a stock of parts that should last them a month. Abe's new motor was being built in a new shop opened out at the park this past winter and was not yet running to capacity. We were going to be able to use the new motor in all of our products, including the police utility vehicle.
I was satisfied that this place was going to work. All we needed now was for the teams to begin rebuilding the super lifts that were already being barged in for repair.
That night, we spent the evening at Mac's Irish castle and were able to visit with Mike, Chanda, Lucille, and Margaret. Lucille was wearing loose clothes and informed me that she was going to add to the family in the near future. I told her that Sue, Mercy, and Juanita would be happy to hear that she was expecting. She told me that I was the last to know, as the three Irish lasses called my ladies often.
The second day in Ireland, we looked at the state of the new building under construction for our lift manufacturing facility. It was expected to be complete within six weeks. The robotics were being set up, as was the rest of the lines. The plans looked right and Abe, Jed, Jeff, and Tiny all concurred that we were on track. On the third day, we had a meeting with many other business owners in the Dublin area. We used a large convention hall and had food and beverages brought in for a giant cocktail party. The idea was to get them to help us find qualified people. When I announced that I would be training people from the ground up, there was a general excitement since when this usually happened, a company often trained workers for all businesses. I cautioned the other owners, saying, "We take care of our employees on a scale much higher than usual, so we do not often lose desirable employees. We hope this would continue here."
I asked Mac to let it be known in the countryside that the company would train men and women to work on our line. The main requirement was that they would give their best, everyday, to every product. He and Mike said they would get the word out.
The flight home was uneventful, but gave me the opportunity to realize I wouldn't wish to do it by myself. Too long, too tiring. Fred and I alternated and were able to nap a little during the trip.
As we landed, Sue was getting ready to go get Kathy. Sue had Mercy and Juanita with her and she would either scare poor Kathy to death, or make her very comfortable. I was able to get a hug and kiss from the ladies as they were getting ready to leave. Those of us returning were ready to go to bed as it was now morning and we had been up most of the night because of a holding layover in Iceland.
We all went home, checked in at the office, then crashed. I asked Glenda to wake me up about two so I could shower and be ready for the visitors. Glenda acted a little funny, but said she would get me up so I could greet them.
When I lay down, I tried to think of Kathy's kids. Back in '99, J.J. or Jake Junior was nine going on ten, Ben was nine, Carl was eight, and Barbara was seven. Four kids within a year of each other. Now three years later, J.J. would be a teen, Ben would be twelve, Carl eleven, and cute little Barb would be ten. They would all be a lot bigger. J.J. was going to be tall, but then all the kids were pretty tall and slim.
Kate gently woke me at two with a kiss on the lips. "I love you, Steve. I love that you gave me my baby. I love that you helped me get back with Jim. I love that you've given me new life friends in your wives. I'm sorry I can't be one of your wives, but I think you understand."
I gave Kate a hug, then was bounced on by Carson who had leaped onto the bed. Stevie, CJ, Rob, and Tia followed, until I cried uncle and told them to wait until after I took my shower. After cleaning up, I went out to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. The kids were immediately off doing something else, not needing me to entertain them. Lizzy and Mike toddled over to me to be picked up and loved. We chatted for a few minutes. I would say something like "What did you two do today." Then they would answer, "Jabber, jabber, da, ma, da, ne, ne, Jabber," then as clear as can be, Lizzy said, "Gamma Glenda."
Glenda was at the stove with Maggie and began laughing. She turned around and said, "Good girl, Lizzy, you know who has the cookies."
"Cookies! Cookies! Please, Grandma Glenda, we want cookies!" This was from the five crazed older kids. Susan, Maggie, Kate, and Glenda poured some milk and had them sit at the one of the big tables then put gave them each a cookie and glass of milk. Amazingly, all five sat still and savored a fresh peanut butter cookie. When they were finished, they stayed at the table squirming but not complaining. Glenda hollered, "You may be excused after you bring your cup inside."
In a flash, five little ones were bringing the paper cups inside then running full tilt back out to the patio. During the day, it was hazardous to walk around out there, as the kids usually had the floor pretty well covered with toys. Before four or four-thirty, they brought all the toys to their toy box and kept only one out to play with in the living room. They usually piled up together and watched TV while the adults came in after work, so they were docile while waiting to see their parents.
Maggie, Susan, Kate, and Glenda had the kids begin picking up the toys as they said Sue would soon be here with Kathy and her family. In no time, the patio was straightened up and Kate quickly ran a mop over the floor to clean up from the heavy traffic the place received during the day.
I was sitting at the bar, out on the patio, when I heard a couple of cars pull up. There was enough commotion to tell that there were several people. Four kids came around the end of our trailer and came running into the patio. The first to reach me was Barb, now a lot taller and looking more like Kathy than before. I got a big hug from her then hugs from the three boys. When they pulled back, I got a good handshake from J.J. As he said, "Hi Steve," I could tell his voice was changing. He was growing up. Next in the door were Kathy's Mom and Dad, who immediately gave me a hug and handshake respectively, thanking me for coming to get them and how great the place looked.
Then came Kathy with my three ladies. Kathy came right to me and put a lip lock on me that curled my toes, and I hoped it didn't piss off any of my three women. When she pulled back, she said, "You look really handsome without your beard. I liked your long hair, but it's still pretty long. I'm so glad you asked us to come."
She stood back from me as Sue came up, carrying a little boy a little older than Stevie, CJ, Rob, and Tia.
Kathy said, "Steve, I want you to meet Greg, a new addition to my brood."
Sue handed me the little boy who immediately touched my mustache, then laid his head on my chest, smiling. When I said, "Nice to meet you, Greg," he said to me, "Nice to meet you too."
Mercy said to Kathy, "Go ahead, tell him."
Kathy looked down, then up, then rolled her eyes. Kathy's Mom came over to stand next to her when she said, "Meet your son, Steve, his name is Gregory Stephen Sharp."
Well, knock me over with a feather or a baseball bat or something.
The little boy in my arms then said, "Are you my Daddy?"
Mercy grabbed the boy, and Sue grabbed me as I was about to pass out from shock.
"Wha, ah, how? Ah, Kathy, why didn't you tell me, call me, why?"
"I couldn't Steve, I couldn't tell you because I couldn't come back here. I was too afraid. We'll talk about it more, but I want you to spend time with Greg while we're here."
I looked at my three ladies, stunned. Mercy was holding the little boy who was enjoying the attention of the ladies. I invited them all to sit and offered all soda, water, coffee, beer, or any kind of drink we could make.
J.J., Ben, Carl, and Barb had watched the introduction of Greg, but now had taken over the pool table. Sue took Kathy inside to meet all of the other little ones.
Kathy's dad said, "Kind of a shock huh?"
"Why didn't you call me, tell me, I should have been helping Kathy, she needed help with the baby and I wasn't there."
Kathy's mom said, "She felt very guilty that she let herself get pregnant, and she felt even guiltier that she was denying you your son after he was born. I can't tell you how many times I begged her to call you or come to see you. We heard you were successful down here, but if this place is an example, you are very successful. The question would be, how come you still live out here in a trailer park?"
"This is where my friends are. This is now next door to part of our businesses. We do have some houses out back. Some of our people prefer houses, while the rest all want to live close in mobile homes."
"What kind of business do you have, Steve?" Kathy's dad asked.
I grimaced, as I didn't know how to describe it all. "Let's just say that it started with welding and rebuilding some Onan equipment and has grown exponentially since. You'll hear from everyone while you're here, but just keep in mind some of these guys blow a lot smoke around. Hey, how about a beer? We have ice cold beer on tap and all kinds of imports in bottles."
Both Kathy's mom and dad wanted a draft so I gave them each one as Sue, Mercy, Juanita, Glenda, and Kathy came out. Kathy came up to me and put her arms around me, "I'm so happy to see you. I've missed you every day I've been gone from here. It was a good thing to leave, but not a good thing to stay away. God, I've missed you."
Kathy gave me another toe curling kiss that made me concerned for her health. When I looked around though, my ladies were all smiling.
J.J. came out and asked me, "Now that you know about my little brother, are you going to be my Dad? Carl, Ben, and Barb all have wanted you to be our Dad too, so think about it. We're good kids, but we want to have a dad and we want to come back to Florida."
Kathy was a little embarrassed. "J.J., you can't just ask something like that."
"Sure I can, Mom. Since dad died, this is the only man I've ever wanted to be my dad. Why shouldn't I ask him? My brothers and sister all want that too. Why should Greg be the only one that can call him Dad?"
Sue came over and hugged me, "You have some decisions to make during this next week. I bet I know what they will be, but we'll all get together and talk about it. Wait till Susan finds out you have another son. She'll be all over him."
"Who's Susan?" asked Kathy.
Juanita said, "Susan is Steve's sister. His brother Henry lives here now too. Susan has a husband, Kevin, and two kids, Dennis, who is going to USF, and Tina, who is a senior at Gaither high school. Henry and his wife, Nancy, don't have any children. You'll meet them all in a little while. They will all be here within an hour. They will be coming for supper."
Kathy wanted a beer so I poured her one and Juanita said she wanted a Cuba Libre. I wanted something strong too, so I made myself a big Beefeaters. Glenda came out and hugged me, "You took the news of your little boy better than I expected. I should have known though, you love kids. So what's one more, huh?"
"No, Glenda, not one more, five more. What of J.J., Carl, Ben, and Barb. What would I do with them; I can't just steal Greg and keep him and not them. And hey, who told Kathy my middle name is Gregory?"
Glenda smiled, "Kathy asked me, but I didn't know why. I didn't know about Gregory until just before you left for Dublin. I was worried about them just coming and surprising you like that. Are you alright? You didn't have a stroke or anything did you?"
"I'm fine, Glenda, you better prep Martin though, he's gonna have a cow."
"He knows and thinks it's funny. He says you were playing around too much, and now you have all these kids to take care of."
I smiled at Sue holding her to me, then reached out and pulled Kathy to me. I smiled at Mercy and said, "Come here," then did the same to Juanita. I hugged each of them and kissed them. I looked at the four women and shook my head, "My God, I'm a lucky man. What the heck do you do with four women?"
Mercy said, "You didn't do too bad on our trip to Europe. I think there were even more than four on the way home."
Juanita was laughing, "You are the man, Senor. You are the man."
Kathy asked, "You have three little ones already and Sue and Mercy are both going to have multiple births? You'll have eight then? How are you going to handle five more if you choose to keep us?"
I looked at Kathy, then at Sue, Mercy, and Juanita, "I don't know, Kathy, but I can't let you leave with Greg, and I sure can't be a dad to Greg and not the other four. I don't know, but I'm going to say this and hope my ladies agree, Kathy, please stay. Please come, let me be a father to Greg and a second dad to your kids. For you, please stay with us, we have lots of room and the girls will make you a part of us, I'm sure."
Sue and Mercy were grinning, while Juanita was now standing by Kathy, with her arm around her.
Susan, Dennis, and Tina came through the door. Susan hollered, "We have to get ready for their dad. It's his birthday today, and we have his cake and a surprise."
Sue sighed, "Like he'll never know."
I had a thought, "Kathy, you'll never guess who our neighbor is now too. Hap and Margie live out here. And believe it or not, Hap has only a mustache and shorter hair like me. Did you ever meet Bear?"
Kathy nodded her head, "Yeah, I know Bear, don't you remember, I met him at the clubhouse."
I told her quickly, "He lives out here too now and even has a lady that may become his wife."
As people began coming in the various doors, Sue, Mercy, Juanita, and Glenda were busy introducing everyone.
Someone hollered, "Here comes Kevin, get ready."
As Kevin walked in the door everyone yelled, "Surprise, Happy Birthday, Kevin."
He was surprised, but grabbed hold of Susan and gave her a big kiss, then grabbed his two kids and hugged both of them. They made him sit down and several presents came his way. Sue and Mercy had a couple that were from our household, so Kevin was being well taken care of.
Sue went in to get Greg, then began taking him around to all of our friends, introducing him as another of my kids. When Sue came back I said, "You should be taking the other four with you when you introduce my kids. They're going to be my kids too."
Kathy corrected me, "They already are your kids. They want it so bad. The answer is yes, I will move down here to be with you. Will you get me another trailer?"
Mercy said, "He will not. You will live here with us. If this place isn't big enough, we'll just build on."
Kathy looked at Mercy a little crooked and said, "Do you mean what I think you mean? Do you want me to be another wife?"
Mercy looked shocked, "Don't you want to be? Don't you want to be Steve's wife too? You're already the mother of one of his children, why wouldn't you want to be a part of his close family."
Sue came over, still carrying Greg. She handed me Greg, pushed Kathy backwards so she sat on a couch, then sat in her lap. "Kathy, we are a happy family here. You and your children will make it happier. Our husband is only one man, but let me tell you, he's one hell of a man and we will all make sure you know you're as important to him as we are. You're not coming down to just hang out next door; you're coming here to be a part of us."
Kathy's dad said, "Are you guys Mormon or something?"
Sue said, "Not Mormon, we are just living together because we should. I'm legally married to Steve. I invited Mercy to be a part of Steve and me, and then we both brought Juanita in to be with us. We have a lot of kids to take care of, so the extra help is good. Now we will have even more, so Kathy will be a help too. Mercy is going to have triplets and I'm going to have twins. We will soon have eight here, plus the new five. That's a lucky thirteen. If anyone is superstitious, we better have another real quick."
Sue gave Kathy a kiss and said, "We're all friends too, Kathy. I know you and I will get along fine."
Nancy came up to me and said, "Is this your new little boy? I just heard. I don't think Susan knows yet, but she will any second. I can't wait till she sees him. He does kind of look like you."
Nancy gave little Greg a hug and kiss, then asked, "Did I heard he comes with three brothers and a sister."
Nancy looked around and identified Kathy as the obvious new girl and mother of the kids. She sat next to Kathy and hugged her, whispering loud enough to be heard across the patio, "You are so lucky to be a part of this sexy group. God, you're going to have Steve to yourself every night, you lucky little girl."
Juanita said, "Nancy, hush, you will embarrass everyone."
"I always do, don't I?" said Nancy, laughing then heading for Susan.
Kathy asked, "Who are all these people? Where did they come from?"
At that moment there was a shriek, "Kathy, you're here." Shawna raced up and threw her arms around her.
Since Kathy is tall, Shawna's face was right into Kathy's bosom and as they hugged, Kathy squeaked and slapped at Shawna. "You haven't changed a bit. I hear you have two kids now. Do you know who the fathers are?"
"Oh, you bitch, I'll get you for that. My stump is the dad to both of my rug rats."
As she pointed to Greg, still in my arms, Sue said, "See what Kathy was hiding. She apparently carried away a prize from Steve."
"And you didn't even tell us. You didn't call Steve, that's not nice, Kathy. Steve is a great dad to all of our kids."
Charlie came in and gave Kathy a hug and kiss, then finding out about another little boy, he said, "Oh boy, another kid to call me Daddy too."
Kathy looked puzzled, so Mercy said, "All the kids call all the guys 'Dad' and us 'Mom.' They do say Momma Sue or Momma Nita or Momma Shawna but we're all Momma. Glenda and my mom and Mercy's mom are 'Gamma' or Gramma.'"
Kathy's mother said, "This is heaven having so many grandkids. I would enjoy being around so many kids everyday. I just love little Greg, I'll bet this place is fun."
Kathy's dad asked me, "How are jobs down here. I'm sort of retired, but we can't live on my retirement income. If we were to sell the house and move down here, are there jobs?"
"Depends on what you do, Sir. There are jobs for mechanics, salesmen, welders, sheet metal workers, hotel people, all kinds of jobs."
He nodded then said, "I was a sewing machine mechanic for almost thirty years until they shut down the factory I worked at. Since then I've filled in doing repairs for the Necchi people."
Sue said, "You're hired. I employ several sewing machine mechanics, but always need more. I think we have about two thousand machines now."
"Two thousand? What company is that? Two thousand?" He asked, stunned at the number.
"This is home to Quality Wear Clothes. Some people know us as "BigGirlsClothes.com."
The man said, "I know who Quality Wear is. They're the biggest manufacturers in the southeast. They are the ones who don't have seconds, they only accept perfect work."
Sue said, "That's us. If you really want a job down here, we'll even help you relocate. We have a group that takes care of all the tough stuff and we'll help you with a place down here. Do you want a house, a condo, an apartment, or do you want to live out here with us?"
He stuck his hand out and said, "I haven't told anyone my name. It's Carl, like my grandson and this is my wife, Bessie. We are the Loftons. And if Bessie agrees, yes, I want your job, and yes, please help us to move and yes, I want to live right here as close to my daughter and her kids as I can."
"Dad," Kathy said, "I haven't said I was moving down or in with Steve yet. I know he wants to be with his kid, but do I want to live with his other women? I'll have to find out how that goes."
Kathy got up and hugged me, kissed me, and then said, "I do still love you, you kinky sucker. Three wives and you want another? This is nuts, but I'm in."
Hap, Bear, and Margie were standing behind Kathy. I turned her around and she almost screamed. She hugged Hap, Bear, then Margie. The two women were almost crying. Kathy told Margie loud enough that we could all hear, "I'm moving back down, Marge. I'm going to live with Steve to see if he'll have me as another of his women."
Margie giggled, "Well, if you don't want him, I'll trade you Hap and I'll try out for a spot."
Crystal came up and blustered, "So who're you, Dolly. Are you another of Sue's babe's, or are you one of Mercy's. Steve just follows along and plugs whoever is left."
"Christ, Crystal, you are about the most crude little tart that ever was," I said, shaking my head.
"That's cause I don't get enough of your famous swingin' dick."
I just shook my head as Kathy said to Crystal, "Pretty good stuff, right? I know, because I took serious what he was pokin' for fun."
Crystal looked puzzled until Kathy scooped up Greg and said, "Meet another little Steve, this is Greg which is also Steve's middle name."
Crystal took the kid and said, "You're a cutie. I'll give you a quarter if you'll give me a call in about fifteen years." She turned to me and said, "You sucker, and you know what I would have used. How do you keep putting out good looking kids?"
The entire evening was taken up introducing the visitors to all our people and discussing Greg. I finally said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Kathy and all of her kids, including Greg, are moving into our house right now, forever.
"Kathy's mom and dad, Carl and Bessie Lofton, are moving down here as soon as it can be arranged. The good news is Carl is going to be the new head sewing machine mechanic out here at the park, plus he will help at the main location some time.
"Give a welcome to Carl and Bessie, J.J., the other Carl, Ben, Barbara, Greg, and especially to Kathy."
There was a lot of hooting and clapping as the group welcomed new people.
During the evening, we were able to get Greg down first next to Steve, then we were able to pair up Ben and Carl, but we let J.J. have a room by himself and Barbara had a room by herself. Carl and Bessie were stashed in one of the big rooms, then Sue led Kathy to the room that Kate had been given but ended up never using. When she showed Kathy the nice cozy room she said, "We know we all fit in the bed, so if you want to join us, we want you."
Kathy went into the little room and appeared in a robe a few minutes later. I was sitting out on the patio after everyone had left, thinking how busy this place was going to be with four older kids. Kathy and Sue came out and sat on either side of me.
Kathy said, "I'm kind of scared about this. I'm about to climb in bed with a man that I love, but haven't seen in over a couple of years, plus I'm getting into bed with a bunch of women who I'm told like women, or at least like women as much as men."
I patted Kathy and said, "You can be on the outside so nothing will happen to you. The girls will respect your space."
Kathy smiled at Sue and said, "Maybe I don't want them to respect my space. Maybe I want to get to know them better. What then?"
"Tell you what, Kathy, You start out for a few minutes between Sue and me, then move to between Sue and Mercy. Then Mercy will swap with Juanita and Sue can swap with Steve. That way you can have a little of all of us."
That's about how it worked out. There wasn't a lot more than a lot of kissing and touching. It was very relaxed, with me falling asleep lying on the outside hugging Sue's back, while she hugged Kathy.