Saturday morning, I was sitting with Glenda discussing the explosion of my family and how sneaky my ladies were to bring Dewey and family, along with Merlin and Missy, in without giving me advance notice.
Glenda was brushing my hair for me as Kathy came out in one of the girl's terrycloth robes. As she sat down she observed, "You've been brushing Steve's hair since you two first began having coffee together. I think I'm jealous."
"Well, I'm just as jealous, Kathy, I bet you get to do things with Steve that I would enjoy as well," Glenda chided.
"As it should be, Glenda, I am one of his women you know," Kathy said arrogantly. "You know, of course, that Steve's women have asked me to stay and have even made me put my clothes in their closet. I'm moved in and a permanent resident now."
Glenda laughed, "Someone sure has given you a confidence pill. You're so cock sure of yourself now, it's hard to believe you're the same girl."
Kathy got up and sat on my lap, "You know what gave me that confidence Glenda? That little creature in there with this guy's middle name gave me my new confidence. For some reason, when Greg was born I knew my life, my kids' lives, and even my folks lives, would all be changed for the better. Greg has always had a peacefulness about him. He's not very loud or pushy, but he makes you happy to just be with him."
Glenda said, "Kind of like Stevie. He doesn't make all the noise like CJ or Rob but he gets the others to do what they should be doing. He's always getting one or the other to stay out of trouble. Susan says that Steve was like that when he was little. And if you watch, little Mike and Liz are the same way. Sean is always up to something, but Mike and Liz are always keeping her in line."
Juanita, Sue, and Mercy came out with our kids. Stevie and Greg came up and climbed into Kathy's lap, who was in my lap. Liz and Mike both went to Glenda and were saying "up peez," while extending their little arms.
Sue asked Kathy, "Did you catch our husband letting some hussy brush his hair?"
"Yeah, I caught her red-handed. But she says I get other benefits so to hush up over it."
Juanita said, "We get very good benefits, but we all still like to brush his hair, and those things like that to let him know how much we care."
Maggie came in about the time Bessie came out from her room. The two women were forming a friendship along with Glenda that would be fun for the three ladies.
As the Saturday morning crowd began filtering in, it became obvious who was going to put in some extra time to take advantage of Steve's generous offer. Tom and Al who usually went fishing on Saturday, said they were going to work in the utility body shop as they were behind on some orders. Apparently they had organized the entire crew to work today in order to turn out several service bodies to catch up.
When Abe came by, he said the superlift people were all working today, but that had been fairly usual for a while. He said unless I told them not to, they may work Sunday as well. I told Abe to tell them to take Sunday off. Everyone needs a day of rest. I told him to have them work an extra two hours a day this coming week and that would give them ten more hours instead of Sunday's eight.
Carl and Tiny were in deep discussion as to how to move down. Tiny's dad, the park manager, said that the house that was going to be empty was only six months old as the couple who had bought it had been transferred to California. He was military, so it was something he couldn't get out of. They, including Bessie, went off to talk to the couple about taking over the payments on the trailer and to see if it was something they wanted.
Ben came out from the Tampa Bay Shore mansion for some coffee and breakfast, as he said that this was becoming the only way to see Beth. She spent so much time out here now he might as well try to find something he can stay in out here too. Sue told him that he could always stay with us and in the same room Beth was staying in when she stayed.
"Yes, you're right. We don't hide anything from you guys anyway. By the way Steve and Sue, I got the probate judge to bump you up for Monday morning. We can see him at nine in his chambers and conclude the whole thing. He'll have his reporter there so we can make this legal. I'll have the tax checks and the last of the property title transfers to file. It shouldn't take more than an hour."
Sue grimaced, "You could have given us a little more warning, Dad. I'll have to postpone a class that I was going to."
Ben said, "You have to take what you can get, and I called in a favor to get this thing moved up on the docket."
"It'll work out. I'm sure I can convince everyone to start late and finish a little later," Sue said, resigning herself to have to adjust her schedule.
Ben had something else for just me so he had me come up to the bar with him while he poured some coffee. "I hate to tell you this but there is going to be Federal tax implications on the Mexican oil deal. I guess you never get that far from Uncle Sam that he doesn't need our support. I'm just telling you this so you don't commit too much of it to something and get caught short."
"Thanks for letting me know Ben," I said thinking about the dozen or so projects I had in mind. "I'll let it all wash out before doing to much. I'll get the accounting firm to begin working on it so it's handled correctly."
Dewey and Sheila came out smiling. "It's so nice to get to come down here as the weather warms up. It's still cold and windy up in the northwest so this is a nice break. Merlin and Missy have been having some terrible weather too. Too bad we have to go back tomorrow, but then business is business."
That afternoon Kathy said she would like to take a ride this evening. Shawna and Hannah immediately began planning by getting Sandy and Mandy to agree to help with the travel arrangements. Kathy would ride behind me, Sue would ride in the sidecar, Sandy would two up with Mercy, and Mandy would be the chauffeur for Juanita. This would free up the shovel for Dewey and Sheila.
The word was out, so a lot of bikes were being washed, gassed, and serviced. Charlie, Jim, and I figured all of our women were about on their last ride. They soon shouldn't ride anymore, as the kids they were carrying were too precious to take a chance with.
Bear and Hap said they were up for a ride, but wanted to go down to the St. Pete clubhouse bar, and Bear asked to swing by his old place in New Port Richey. It was going to be a fairly normal run by the local bars, over to St. Pete, back up to Clearwater, then up to New Port Richey. If we got started early enough, we might try to go to Dade City too, but we probably wouldn't as we were already figuring on around a hundred miles. That might be the most the mothers-to-be could do.
Kathy loved the sidecar addition to the bike she had sold me. When we were looking at it, she gave me a big hug, "When my car broke down, Dad gave me the check you had given him. I was so relieved because I didn't have to wait to get it fixed. The same car is still running great and should last several more years."
After supper, the bunch gathered; Hap and Marge, Bear and Crystal, Charlie and Shawna, Jim and Hannah, Hank and Debbie, Sandy and Mercy, Mandy and Juanita, Dewey and Sheila, and me with Sue and Kathy. The nine bikes sounded good heading out for the evening. Our first stop at big Jim's was fun. Double D came across the bar to get at Kathy. All the people who knew Kathy were all over her and taking all the women off to the side to talk.
The visit to the Vanishing point was the same. Loads of people wanting to monopolize Kathy to find out what she had been doing.
Our trip to St. Pete was fast, as Hap and Bear wanted a little speed relief. Since I was bringing up the rear with Dewey, we let off a little as we noticed we were nudging ninety-five. The St. Pete clubhouse was rocking this night. Apparently, most of the older members from Tampa had moved over to St. Pete in order to distance themselves from the anticipated problems at the Tampa clubhouse. Many of the people knew Kathy and smothered her with hugs as well.
Onion rings were calling to the pregnant women, so we rode up to the Crab Shack in Clearwater to enjoy a bunch of grouper sandwiches and onion rings. We split sandwiches between us, since we didn't need to eat that much and we had ordered a bunch of extra orders of onion rings. There was nothing left.
We actually stayed within the speed limit up to Bear's clubhouse and enjoyed looking over all of the improvements they were doing. While they were on the grounds, Bear gave Crystal a "property of" vest and asked her to humor him this night. Crystal stayed right next to Bear the entire time we were there, then gave the vest back to one of the women before we left. Bear thanked Crystal, saying his men would show her more respect in the future knowing she had given him the right to claim her as property. Crystal didn't seem phased by any of it.
The time was getting late, so we decided to head home. We rode out highway 52 to 41, then south to home. No hassles, no problems, just fun riding. It seemed like every time we went out like that anymore, I almost held my breath hoping nothing would happen to anyone, especially the women, the mothers of our children.
When the question of a hot tub trip came up, the four pregnant women all said to exclude them as they wanted nothing more than to snuggle down in bed. Dewey said that he and Sheila needed their sleep, as they were flying back in the morning.
Missy and Merlin stayed up with Mercy, myself, Tiny, Ruth, Ryan, Michelle, Henry, and Nancy, having another drink and a late night snack. It was nice to visit with them all.
As Mercy and I joined Sue and Kathy who were already asleep in bed, I reflected that it had been a pretty uneventful, but not boring Saturday.
I woke about six fifteen, showered, dressed in shorts and T-shirt, then went out to the kitchen to find Glenda already reading one of the Sunday papers. There was a hot cup of coffee at an empty stool that she waved to.
"You kids came back early and didn't even go up to the hot tub last night."
"The girls were tired, Sue especially. I think they are done riding until they get their kids on the ground. Even Hannah and Debbie acted like it was more than enough last night."
"How did Kathy like the ride?" Glenda was fishing for something.
"She had a good time. She was welcomed by everyone that remembered her over at Big Jim's and at the clubhouse over in St. Pete. I think she felt good about being with our group."
Glenda was smiling, "So you didn't parade her around like she was your new toy?"
"Not a chance, Glenda. When have I ever done that?" I asked, looking at Glenda funny.
Glenda smiled, "I just wanted to be sure. You and your women took Kathy in pretty fast. I was afraid you all would act funny with her. I'm glad you're showing her the respect she deserves."
Juanita and Kathy came out of the bedroom rubbing their eyes. Juanita said, "This is Sunday, so we need to shower and put on something special. I see you're looking good, Glenda."
Glenda laughed, "Do you guys think you should, with the four new kids and Carl and Bessie here? Dewey and Sheila have seen Sunday mornings, but maybe we should tone it down."
I tried to explain what had happened on Sunday mornings when Ruth came in the door. She was wearing one of her super-sheer gowns that let you know just how well she was built.
"Oh my," Kathy said. "The boys and Dad, especially J.J. will think they died and went to heaven. Barb and Mom are going to want a gown like that too. Mom and I forget to wear appropriate stuff around the boys all the time, so they've seen everything that women have. You'll just provide a nice variety for their eyes."
At that moment, Ryan and Michelle walked in, with Michelle showing as much as Ruth. Kathy said to Juanita, "Let's go clean up and get some of the sexy stuff on. I like to show off."
Maggie came in with a gown the same as Glenda's. It was sexy and showed a lot, but not see-through. The female form was shown as the material lay against the body.
When Juanita and Kathy went into the bedroom, Sue and Mercy came out, already wearing sexy gowns that let the world know how good looking they were.
The patio was soon full of women in see-through gowns, robes that were nothing but net, or in the case of Debbie, Shawna, and Hannah, T-shirts with holes in strategic places. Of course, they all three sat with their feet up on their chairs, showing the viewer how you can tell who is a natural redhead.
When Sheila came out with Dewey and little Dewey, she had on a super-sheer gown similar to Ruth's. She said, "I just love Sunday morning here. Dewey gets so excited, he may have to help me pack."
J.J. walked out to the patio and just stood there gawking. Kathy said, "Close your mouth, Son, something will fly in there."
Soon Ben and Carl were standing next to J.J. with the same expression. Dennis was there this morning and said, "You'll get used to it. They do this every Sunday. Get a load of Aunt Sue, she's got some nice hooters on her." Dennis elbowed J.J., motioning toward Kathy, "Your Mom does too."
Carl and Bessie came out long enough for Bessie to turn around and go back to their bedroom. She later came out in a mature, very sexy gown that showed the viewer a lot of delicious mature cleavage.
Poor J.J.! He didn't know whether to agree with Dennis or get mad because someone was checking out his mom. He became too busy looking at what was displayed to stay concerned over someone's casual remark.
Barbara came out and looked around at everyone then went over to Mercy. They had a conversation then the two disappeared for few minutes. When they came back Barb was wearing one of Mercy's sheer shortie gowns. She strutted right out onto the patio and came over to me climbing up into my lap.
She gave me a kiss on the cheek, then laid her head on my chest, grinning at her mother. Tina came up in a fairly sheer gown, but you could plainly see panties on her. Tina stood right in front of me with Barb on my lap, her hands on her hips, saying, "No fair. You just got here and you're already showing off more to Steve than I'm allowed."
Mercy took Tina in and when they reappeared Tina was wearing another shortie sheer gown from the girls' wardrobe. When she walked up, Barb smiled and got up from my lap and said, "You can have a turn too. I'm not stingy."
Kathy, Susan, Mercy, and Sue were holding back their laughter at the two young ladies.
When it was time for Phil and Judy to go to church with several others from the group, that signified that the morning show off period was coming to an end. People disappeared, only to come back later dressed in shorts and tops. I'm sure some had to work off their stimulated libidos after viewing all of the displayed beauty.
Dewey, Sheila, Merlin, and Missy packed up and were taken out to the airport to go back west. Missy said she would be back soon as she wanted to spend more time with my new kids and Kathy. Every time Dewey and I parted, I felt like a brother was leaving. Funny, Dewey and I were closer than Henry and me. Charlie and I, and Jim and I, were close like that too. I guess they were my brothers of a sort.
Later in the afternoon, Henry, Susan, and I were sitting at one of the little tables, enjoying a snack and cup of coffee. Susan said, "When you were small, you always said you wanted a big family. You used to love to go over to the Hendersons' because they had seven kids. Looks like you've got your own big family now."
Henry said, "Nancy loves kids, but because she had to have a hysterectomy when she was a young teen, she can't. We were going to adopt but now she's able to enjoy all of your kids. I never did think too much about it, but it's fun to be around all the little ones, and now these older kids fascinate me. Dennis is already doing some entries for me at work, and Tina has worked with some of the billing people, as well as in payables. J.J. appears smart, so I'm looking forward to when he can begin learning. I enjoy teaching these kids and they earn their wages when they come in."
"I guess I'm lucky all around," I said, happy to be having a little private time with my siblings. "I have you guys with me now and I have my own special family that I hope quits growing after these next four babies come. Thank goodness I can take care of them. When I look at all of them, it scares me a little to know I'm responsible for all of their happiness. There is a lot to live up to when you hold each one and give each one a hug.
"You're doing fine so far, Steve," Susan said smiling. "The four ladies in there are doing their best to make you comfortable with them as a unit. That means they like each other and want you to like them as a group as well. Kathy will be good for your family. She brings a lot of experience with kids. She'll be able to help Sue and Mercy manage their eight as they grow. It's kind of neat that she has little Greg to raise right along with the other older little ones. He's fitting in very well and is already a part of the group."
As we were sitting there, I remembered about Henry's car. "How come you're not working on your car today?"
"I'm done. I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the top and then the whole thing will get one more coat of clear." Henry sat up straighter, showing his interest in the subject. "Jeff found some specs for the optional top and cast one for me. It fit perfectly. That man is a genius when it comes to fiberglass. Whatever you're paying him is not enough. He's also shown some genius with robotics. He says that it's just a hobby but he's incorporated his hobby full scale over at the cart plant. They can run the most popular model through fast now. They can produce about five times the quantity that they used to produce."
"I thought your main area was Quality Wear?" I asked.
"It is. Steve," Henry said. "But if that's all I do, it's too boring, so I try to keep up with what's happening in all of your other shops. Did you know that your T-shirt group just received an order for a thousand gross of your novelty NASCAR T-shirts. That's a huge order. That's a hundred and forty-four thousand T-shirts."
"I didn't hear about that yet," I answered. "Did the order come from Phil's group or your side?"
Henry said, "Neither one, the order came in from Ryan's group. Seems the Atlanta distributorship marketed the T-shirts to a bunch of their customers and the big order is the result. They didn't know the correct pricing, so they priced the T-shirts a little high figuring they would cost a little more. They didn't realize that we made everything in-house, so our costs are pretty low. They will probably turn in an extraordinary profit for the month they deliver."
"Are we going to be able to produce sufficient product for the order to be met on time?"
"Sure, the little plant is doing two shifts and may go to three. The next step is to add on to their building. You know you could easily double the size of their building on the land they have. The construction costs will be high as they used all block in the original. You should probably build on using the same construction methods."
"Wow, Henry," I said, in wonderment, "who would have believed that place would be producing so much we're working two shifts and considering building on."
"Well, make hay while the sun shines, Steve. I'm with you on thinking our economy may be superheating. The way housing is going up down here has a false ring to it. If you continue to sell to your employees, be careful so your people don't pay too much. Construction prices are up, but not that much. I heard you are considering more high density condos and zero lot line neighborhoods. You might have the right idea, but make sure your buyers are at about seventy-five to eighty percent of value. They really need equity in the event the bottom falls out of the market."
"I know, Henry," I said nodding. "My thought was to keep selling to employees at '93 prices for as long as we can. We own enough land and it is our construction company, so we should be able to continue to build cheaper than any one else. My idea was to sell to employees only right now to make sure that anyone who wants to buy and has saved up the down payment can do so. You and Tiny set up our own mortgage company and so far it's working. You both know when to pull the plug if we get to working too close. It's our responsibility for each group to make a profit, even if the end product is sold to one of our own. Just keep doing like you are."
Susan said, "It's so funny to hear you two talk business. You two didn't really know each other because you were off at college, Henry, when Steve was still in early elementary school. Steve used to carry around some of your big books, Henry. He said he was going to be a college boy like you."
"I didn't make it to college for very long, did I?" I said this, reflecting on the time before my stint in the military. "It wasn't for me. When I got out of the service, I didn't know what to do with myself again, and that's how I ended up spending my education money on a welding school. I guess I learned just enough to be dangerous."
"You did well, Steve. You've obviously learned a lot going up to Alaska, working out in Oklahoma, then down off the coast of Belize. I heard you didn't spend any money, so you must have read and learned quite a bit."
"I took one of the correspondence courses like Susan took, you know, from the University of Maryland. I have a business management type of degree, but it's not from a big university. It's what you would call a real mail order degree. It may be accredited, but I took the classes to learn something that I didn't ever think I would learn other than in school. I started it when I was in the Marines, but didn't finish until I was down on the platforms."
Henry looked at me incredulously, "You finished and graduated from the University of Maryland?"
Susan said, "He did, Henry. He used my home address for his correspondence address so I saw the certificate, his diploma. He wasn't the top student in his class, but he was in the top twenty-five percent. Not bad for the kid who didn't know what he was going to do."
"Wow, Steve, that's really great. I knew Susan finished her Associate's degree that way, but I didn't know you did. Perhaps all this business success isn't just luck. You have been making a lot of good decisions based on your knowledge."
"Henry, Henry, you think too much considering all that time you took learning how to count without your fingers. You number crunchers always have to have a reason for something that's successful. So far, Henry, it's just been some lucky results from taking advantage of opportunities."
Sue had come out and was sitting with us now, "You seem to hunt out opportunities, Steve. You draw opportunities and success to you like you draw people."
Henry said, "I just found out Steve finished a Business Management degree from the University of Maryland. I'm really impressed."
Sue looked perplexed, "I didn't know you did that. When did this happen?"
Susan laughed, "He didn't tell you he took a correspondence course from the time he was in the Marines all the way through working in Belize? It's just like him, he just doesn't talk about stuff like that."
"Where's you diploma, I haven't seen it?" Sue asked.
Again, Susan said, "I have it. He used our address as a permanent address while he was in the oil business and I've never given it to him. He's never asked for it, so I figured on keeping it until he wanted it."
Sue gave me a kiss, "So that's how you know all those things about business. You're so sneaky. You didn't even tell me you took some correspondence classes, much less that you graduated. Don't you think I would have been interested in that?"
"Oh, Sue," I protested. "It was a correspondence course that was covered under my military education savings plan. It's not a big deal school or anything. The courses were all just reading and submitting homework projects, nothing real tough. There was never a time limit so sometimes you finished a class fast and sometimes it took you twice as long as they said it should. I didn't really graduate. I finished the course work and they sent me a paper."
"You don't understand, Honey," Sue said, exasperated. "You finished. You graduated. You received a degree from a nationally recognized school. That's a big deal. You are something. What else have you done that I should find out about?"
I just shook my head. This wasn't that big a deal. At least Susan was on my side and didn't make a lot out of it.
The older kids had taken the five younger ones up to the pool for a while. Kathy, Mercy, Glenda, and Maggie, couldn't help but go up to watch how they took care of the little ones. The ladies lay back watching on loungers hidden from the kids. They were happy with what they witnessed. With Dennis and Tina leading, J.J assumed a leadership role and they were all playing together, helping the little ones swim. Greg was getting better from practice.
When the preset time for them to be home came, the kids packed up and went home, not forgetting even a sandal or towel. The ladies followed shortly giving the kids plenty of time to get a head start. They happily reported how mature the older kids acted in caring for the little ones.
Dennis and J.J. went to Susan's and Kevin's house to ride around the neighborhood on one of Dennis' dirt bikes. This was pure heaven for J.J., as it was still too cold up north to do any dirt bike riding. Kevin said he would take the kids out to the dirt tracks so they could all ride. He said he had the little eighty cc bike that Barb could learn on, and had some low compression one twenty-fives that Carl and Ben could learn on. Kevin said, "You know, Steve, you're going to have to get involved in this. I can't teach and watch them all. Get Kathy interested so she can help out too. It's a chore to watch six kids riding dirt bikes."
"There's only five with Dennis and my new four," I said, correcting Kevin.
He corrected me by telling me, "Don't say that loud enough for Tina to hear. She's every bit as good as Dennis out on the track. If all the kids go, she'll be right there with us."
"We'll need more bikes then. You help, Kevin. I've never ridden or owned a dirt bike. I'll have to learn too."
"Well, you won't be riding with my group without a helmet, so you and I will go to one of the bike shops and get you and your kids some gear. They need pants, jackets, boots, gloves, helmets, and lots of pads. They'll still get a broken bone or two, but kids mend fast."
Kathy had heard this conversation and said, "I let J.J. ride his dirt bike and Dad takes him out to tracks, but won't let him get crazy like he wants. You've just said it all, Kevin. I'm terrified the kids will get hurt. I don't want them breaking something."
"It's part of growing up, Kathy," Kevin said, motioning for Susan to come over. "Let Susan tell you how our prissy little Tina has been on dirt bikes."
Susan shook her head in what seemed misery, "She doesn't act like it when she's around most of time, but she's a tough little tomboy. The second season she was in competition, she broke her hand and cracked a bone in her leg winning a heat race, but didn't tell us. She went on to win her division, then told us she thought she had broken her hand. When we took the glove off, her hand was swollen to twice its normal size. On the way to the hospital, she said she hurt her leg too, but didn't think it was too bad. She ended up with casts on her leg and hand for six weeks. Two weeks after she got back on her bike, she broke her arm. She didn't say too much because it was getting too cold to ride anyway."
"Dennis has been just as lucky. He broke his right leg when he was seven. He broke his left leg when he was eight. At ten, he broke a couple fingers, his arm, and his collar bone. Then the last year he raced up north, he broke his wrist."
"The both of them are crazy out on the track and can't stand being beat. They don't act like it, but their whole personality changes when they are riding. Dennis is now infatuated with Del's wife and wants to dirt drag big bikes."
Kathy began laughing, "Infatuated is the right word. I'm sure Jan is waving her big boobs in the kid's face constantly. You should watch that the only thing he learns from her is how to dirt drag."
"We had a conversation already, Kathy. Shawna warned me, so I had a heart to heart with her. I think she just teases him. Del's getting a little jealous as he gets older too."
Sue said to me, "Tomorrow, take them down to the store on Florida and get them the stuff they need. Look around for a couple of dirt bikes. One you can ride and a smaller one J.J. can ride. Maybe a couple of used ones, that way you won't feel bad tearing them up while you learn."
Kevin spoke up, "No fair going to the track while I'm working. Wait till I get off if you want to go so I can go with you. If you get a couple of bikes, make sure you get a trailer that will carry four or five, plus your gear, as you always end up having more people riding than bikes. Let Dennis help you gauge whether a bike is a good deal or not. He know prices of dirt bikes.
Kathy said, "I don't know whether I like this or not. I don't want my kids hurt, but I want them to be tough. I guess they'll learn, but you have to promise me, they will wear all of the protection gear they can, okay?"
"I'll do that, Kathy," I said, comforting her. "I'm a novice at this too. Dirt riding is a lot different than on the street, and you know I ride like an old lady out on the street."
Susan said, "Sure you do. You were the kid that had the cops pulling up in the driveway after you were almost in the house. The policeman said he couldn't catch you. You kept telling him it had to be someone else because you never rode fast. He was nice and just warned you, but you had your shit eating grin when you went inside."
"Now, Susan, would you insinuate that I was speeding and misled the officer?"
"Is that what that was?"
Sue and Kathy laughed, with Kathy saying, "And this is the dad that is going to teach our children to ride safe?"
"He does have his wild streak sometimes, Kathy," Sue said.
"I know, Sue, I've seen it. I've never seen a person so focused on being wild as I've seen Steve when he's reacted to a problem. He's absolutely scary. That's why I left before, but it's why I'm back. I finally figured out that I like that in a man."
"Good," Sue said, "Come with me. Wait till I tell you a couple of things that happened when we were on vacation up in Alaska and sailing with Dewey. I'll let Mercy tell you about the Caribbean."
As he got up to go to the bar, Henry said, "Your legend grows, Steve. Now it's college boy Steve. I wonder if Tiny knows?"
"Let it go, Henry. It's just something I did. If people know stuff like that, they'll expect even more from me. I yam what I yam, get me a spinach Beefeater martini and keep quiet."
Darnel came in and said, "Tell him what I tell him, Steve, 'As soon as I finish my watermelon, Boss.' The guy is just too bossy sometimes. Come here, Deanna, tell the man, tell him the news."
The tall dark lady stood holding her little one and said, "I'm going to have another baby. With Debbie and I both having kids, you may have to get someone else to do the work."
"Why?" I asked. "Are you planning on staying home and being a mom?"
"I want to come back to work, but I'm going to miss a lot of work again like I did last time. There's so much happening all the time anymore that it's going to be tough to keep up."
Debbie and Hank were sitting at the big table waiting on pizza. "Hey, Deb, come here a minute."
"Deanna says she's pregnant and that we won't be able to take care of business with the two of you missing some time."
"She might be right but it's time we added another girl to our group anyway. Star's so busy that she has to have her girl full time so we can't use her any more. I say we should get Ruth to bring on another girl or steal her from another department that may be under worked."
"Hey, Ruth," I called to her, as she was waiting for Tiny to finish making her a drink. "Monday, we need to find another girl for Debbie's group. Move Star and her girl to another cube and put the new girl with Deanna so she can learn. We're going to grow some more around here. She gonna give us another junior Darnel."
"It'll be done. I think Judy is messing with her groups and may have a surplus body or two. I'll look at their personnel files and find the best match."
"See, Deanna, no sweat. If you want to keep working for us, we want you. I'm happy for you. Babies are exciting."
Bessie and Carl had witnessed the interaction and Carl asked, "Is it always that easy to resolve an issue like that. No bitching, crying, or complaining? You don't have unions, but even with a union, when some chick gets pregnant she only gets personal unpaid leave for so long. Most women use up their holiday pay and their unused sick leave, and still exceed their personal leave time."
"That reminds me, Carl, will the guys from up north be okay with not having a union down here. It's not that I'm against unions, but if we had a union I couldn't pay as well as I do, and the union wouldn't provide as good of insurance as we have. The union up in Chicago is still fuming that people in our other non-union shops have better benefits than they do. It's their contract, so we have to pay the union more than what our benefits cost us. Someone is getting the benefit and it isn't the employees."
"I'll make sure there aren't any instigators in the group I invite down, Steve. I think we can take care of both plants with six to eight men. Your present subcontractor is billing you for a dozen, but I don't see work orders that justify that many. I also see too many call backs for the same problem on the same machine. That means a guy isn't troubleshooting correctly. Yep, I think six to eight max, should do the job for both places."
Sue said, "That would be wonderful. It would be so nice to be able to have our own people pull preventative maintenance on the machines on a regular basis. We could set up a rotating schedule so we could do a group a day, or week, or however long it took. Right now it's taking almost a month of down time on a department to pull maintenance. That's just too long."
"You have about fifty units per group. A thorough PM should take about twenty minutes start to finish, so say three an hour. That would be about nineteen hours work except when we find repairs that need to be done. So let's see, three guys should be able to take care of a department in a day, including some minor repairs. Any heavy repairs, we can swap the machine out and repair the broken one in a shop that I noticed you don't have in either location."
"That's what I want to hear," Sue said. "A man with a plan and the knowhow to make it work. Do it for me, Carl. Let Tiny get you guys moved down here right away. We need to work on the kids to get them moved down here so they can start school. I'll take them by school tomorrow to get them registered. J.J. is in his first year of high school and the other three are all in junior high. We'll get it done tomorrow, then take you guys home to watch some people pack you up and ship you back down."
Bessie said, "That fast? Carl, we've lived there for almost twenty years. Can we do it that fast?"
Carl smiled, "How long will it take to tell all your very close friends that you're moving to Florida?"
"Well, ah, well, I have only one really close friend and she moved down here last year. I guess I'm ready. You know, Cindy lives out in Brandon, is that far?"
Sue said, "As soon as we get the kids registered, we'll go out and see Cindy for lunch. We'll take her out so you two can talk."
"It's that close? Can I call her? Is it a free call?"
"Bessie," I said, waving my hand, "Go into the kitchen and call your friend. Friends are too important not to tell them you're near them."
Kathy leaned down and kissed my forehead. "You and Sue don't let any grass grow under your feet do you. What do you think if I leave Ben, Carl, and Barb down here, and only take J.J. back up to help me pack."
I shrugged my shoulders and Sue said, "Good idea. You know what though, Juanita will want to go with you to help and maybe even Maggie will want to go. With two extra hands, it'll go a lot faster."
Kathy asked, "Would they do that? Would they really?"
Sue got up and brought both Maggie and Juanita back to the huddle, "Carl, Bessie, Kathy, and J.J. are going back to pack up their stuff and load it to ship down here."
Sue didn't have to even suggest, Juanita said, "I will go with you. You need a good Cuban to get you Yankees moving."
We all laughed, then Maggie said, "Can I go too? I love to go places and I'm pretty good at moving. Because of the military, my husband and I did it every couple of years our entire lives. Would it be okay if I helped?"
Susan said, "You're not going to leave me out, are you? The girls won't need my help with the kids for a few days, so I want to go to. You should have seen the way these guys unpacked us when we moved in. Do you have a place yet?"
Bessie said, "We are buying the home that a military couple just bought and are being transferred. It's almost as many square feet as our little house up north. We'll try a trailer to see how it is, then make up our minds later."
Kathy had her say too, "The place they are getting is really nice, fancy with every kind of built-in you could ask for. They can even see the back edge of the patio from their place, so they'll know when the light is on in the morning."
I looked at Sue and asked her, "Umm, so what's the schedule for tomorrow?"
"I'll take Kathy and the kids to the schools first thing in the morning. You get an airplane to take everyone up there and call a mover to meet them at the house tomorrow morning. After you get them all the boxes and packing material they can use to start, you come back and do what you have to do. As soon as they are getting near done, they will call so you can go pick them up. The kids start back to school a week from Monday, and I'm sure it won't take but two or three days to pack. Ruth can get a realtor up there to get an appraisal and begin marketing the house. We'll do like we've done in the past, buy the house, fix it up, and get it sold."
Carl was smiling as he snapped his fingers, "Just like that and it's done."
Sue said to him, "Now you two, and you too, Kathy, don't go killing yourself. Let the moving company earn their pay. You guys pack up the delicate stuff and make sure you mark every box. Keep the stuff together that you'll need right away and the extra stuff we can store if there is too much. I don't think your new place has a storage shed so we'll get one installed on a pad right away. Keep in mind, Carl, you won't need a lot of yard tools, because it's part of the lot rent. You'll only need little stuff for flowers and gardening. Bessie, did you look to see if the new place has as good a fridge, washer, and dryer as you have at home?"
Bessie smiled, "The place has brand new Maytag stuff that they are leaving. We'll leave our stuff there, less to ship."
"We have my pickup, Bessie's car, and Kathy's van to get down here. Can we have a car service bring them down?" asked Carl.
"Good idea, Carl. I'll call about that, as we have a trucking group that I'm sure knows people for that."
Susan said, "Ask Kevin, he has some friends that haul cars back and forth down here all the time."
I turned to Carl, "See, ask you shall receive."
"This is hassle free and fast. Thinking about it, we'll probably finish in two days," Bessie said.
Susan spoke again, "Let the real estate people do the clean up. Don't worry about anything. Leave the curtains and blinds and if they want they can have them cleaned. Scoop up the big chunks of trash and set it out front. The real estate people should earn their keep too."
Kathy said, "You're really making this happen. We're moving back home, or here anyway. My old house looks good over there, but this place already seems like home. Let me go tell the kids and let them know this is really happening."
While Kathy was talking to the kids, the pizza guy came with thirty pizzas and twenty dozen wings. You would think that was too much food until you see so many people show up. While the boxes were being opened, Kathy's kids came running out of the house straight at Sue and me.
J.J. looked at the two of us, then turned around looking for something. He went to get Mercy and Juanita, and pulled them back to us by their hand. Kathy came up carrying Greg.
"I want to tell all of you together. Thank you. All of us have missed being down here and now it's happening. We're moving back. This is a dream come true."
"Tina and Dennis clued us in that you ladies are all our moms and that Mom, ah, Kathy, our real mom, is going to be all of the kids' mom too. We like that, but we might slip and call you by name when we want just you and not any mom. But then Shawna is a neat mom. They, ah, you all are. Anyway, we're just kids, but we know this is a big deal. Barb has never quit talking about Steve, and mom hasn't either. Ben and Carl have said they want to grow up to be like Steve. I want to grow up and be a son to Steve as well."
J.J. looked around at his sister and brothers, "Did I cover it all?"
"No," Barb said, and began climbing up my body, so I had to hold her, "you didn't tell him that we love him and Sue and Mercy and Juanita. We love you all, and this is going to be so neat to live here with you."
Mercy had tears in her eyes, "It is going to be neat to live here with you."
Ben and Carl sought out Mercy and Juanita to get a hug, while Kathy and Sue were hugging with Greg in the middle.
I put Barb down, "Okay, guys, we'll gush later, let's have some pizza."
Kathy put Greg down to follow his siblings. She came to me and wrapped her arms around me, laying her head on my shoulder. "You're too much again. You constantly overwhelm me. This time you made my kids overwhelm me. Did you hear J.J.? He was the spokesman for the group. He's only thirteen, he's ahead in his class as he started early down here, but still, he's just a kid."
She turned to Sue and put a hand on her cheek, "You guys are wonderful. Just like Dad said," Kathy snapped her fingers, "just like that, it's done."
We ate and drank some beer, but I didn't overdo it as I would be flying tomorrow. Star and DeDe were on the patio, so I asked DeDe if she could make sure I had something like the Lear or the small 200 for tomorrow so I could fly some people up north.
DeDe said, "No sweat, Boss, John says that we need to keep the Lear and the 1900D pretty loose unless it's a spectacular charter. What time do you want it and I'll have it in front of the ops building."
"I guess eleven, right, Sue?" I said this, thinking that she had two schools to go to.
"Make it one o'clock. That ought to be about right. I'll hit the high school first, then we'll go over to the junior high. We might be done before that, but we're going out to lunch with Bessie's friend Cindy, then we'll be out at the Aero Park, so one o'clock would be good."
The evening was pretty relaxed, and I felt good about my newly enlarged family. Kathy seemed willing. I hope she doesn't feel pushed. I was surprised that Carl and Bessie were so willing to move. But then Carl is without a job and Bessie has been counting pennies. Without Kathy's and the kids' pension from the military, they wouldn't be making it. I guess it was working out for the best.
We did some serious lovemaking that evening, but it was more among the girls than with me. It was Juanita that took me between her thighs and threw a good Cuban lovemaking on me. Soon I was sleeping soundly, still wrapped in Juanita's arms and legs.