Chapter 22

A sprawling ranch style house stood at the end of a cul-de-sac in a suburb of a large southern city. The house had been built by the owner over a one year period. It was the best built house in the entire development. Outside, it was plain in style. Simple lines across the front and back. Inside, it was splendid and very well organized.

The house abutted against a wooded area. It spanned two lots and was adjacent to an empty lot. The empty lot had been converted into a large playground. The owner of the house owned that lot as well, and had built the playground for his children as well as the neighborhood children.

The road ended in a large circle. Nets were set up on opposite ends of the circle, giving the children in the neighborhood a place to play street hockey. Since the only cars that ever touched the road belonged to the owner of the house, it was a safe place for kids to play.

A large sign stood near the road stating the rules of play. Most of the rules were designed to protect the owners from lawsuits. The rules stated that children were to be supervised by an adult, that they took responsibility for injuries, and there was to be no fighting. The rules were signed by the Smith Family.

Glen was in the safe room, an extension that ran off the basement separated from it by a very heavy steel door. The other end of the safe room was sealed by a steel door that lead to an escape tunnel that ran to a small shed in the woods. Inside the shed was the hidden exit and several ATVs.

Glen edited the last article for the magazine. He was pleased with how the magazine had evolved. It now had a regular readership of over ten thousand subscribers. The advertising revenue was steady and production costs had been minimized. They could look at their administration web site and see exactly how many people had visited.

Sue continued to work on the magazine and now had a regular editorial. Sandra continued to sell advertising and Wanda remained the web mistress. The business was good and money was no problem. It wasn’t the kind of money that would make a person rich, but it covered the bills and allowed them to save for a rainy day. They knew that rainy days could arrive without warning, announcing its presence with thunder and lightning.

His work for the day had finally been completed. Satisfied, he looked up at the clock and realized that the kids were going to be home from school soon. A little more than seven years ago, on the very same afternoon, the twins have given birth to twins. They had gone from having no children to having four in one day, two boys and two girls. Wanda, formerly known as blue, had given birth to the boys. Sandra, formerly known as red, had given birth to the girls. The irony of that had been the subject of many jokes.

He smiled to himself as he remembered that day. It was as if it was yesterday. He had been so excited and the twins had breezed through the birth. It was as though they were protected by God. He had nearly burst with pride when he had been shown the children for the first time. From the first moment, he could tell them apart. Jake was more outgoing that his brother Jack. Susan was more extroverted than her sister Louise. Even as infants, when Jack and Susan put their heads together, you could be sure that the result would be exciting.

He had enjoyed watching the mothers with their babies. Each would recline on a sofa and hold a pair of children to their breasts as they feed them. They didn’t always feed their own. He had watched many times as a look of bliss settled upon the faces of the mothers as the children would suckle contentedly. He couldn’t get enough of watching the loving moments between mother and children.

He had become a much better father than he had thought possible. As a man in his forties, he wasn’t embarrassed to be seen playing hide and seek with the kids. Anyone that had the gall to make a comment was severely rebuked. He had been quoted as having said on many occasions that there was nothing more important than raising children to be loving and compassionate.

Most people didn’t understand his insistence on being loving. His boys would cry when hurt. Rather than telling them that big boys don’t cry, he would comfort him and let them know that the pain would pass. When asked if he was worried that his boys would grow up to be sissies, he would reply that it was impossible; they came from tough stock.

The children had started taking self-defense lessons this year. He had resisted starting them earlier stating that their bones were still too soft. He had insisted they take them because he realized that they all possessed that same innocence that marked their mothers. They might have to defend themselves one day and he wanted them prepared.

The children were amazing in the same way as their mothers. Each pair of twins seemed to share a common mind. Even the boys and girls acted in concert at times in very spooky demonstrations. The teachers at school often suggested that they cheated on tests. All four of them would get the same problem wrong in exactly the same way. Of course, the teachers had separated them to different corners of the room to stop it, but that hadn’t stopped them.

He glanced up at the clock and realized he had better get upstairs. The kids would be home in ten minutes and he still had his surprise to set up. The school year was almost over and the weather had turned warm. He had decided that it was time for a major afternoon of play.

Glen joined his wives outside on his driveway smiling at them. All of the children in the neighborhood were due to come home from school any time now. Other mothers had gathered around them smiling as they waited for their children. All of the kids would gather at the playground. Wanda noted the look on Glen’s face asked, “What are you up to now?”

Rather than answer, Glen opened the garage door and started carrying out small containers filled with water balloons. The twins looked at him in surprise. The other mothers started laughing. He then brought out a bunch of super water guns, each loaded with water. He set all of the stuff around the circle.

All of the mothers moved over and picked up the water pistols. This included his wives. As one, they all turned the weapons on Glen and started spraying him. He was taken by surprise, having expected a parent versus kid water war. He ran over and picked up a water pistol himself and returned fire.

The children came around the corner in mass and saw the activity. They all ran to the circle, shouting in glee. The huge number of water balloons brought them to an immediate halt, their eyes wide with delight. As one, kids picked up water balloons and started throwing them in the direction of their mothers.

His children, from different areas around the circle, simultaneously lobbed water balloons at Glen. He didn’t stand a chance and was immediately drenched. The kids took turns, first soaking Wanda and then Sandra. There was lots of running and laughing as adults and children played in the circle. By the time the water pistols were empty, the water balloons had all been thrown.

Half of the mothers were laying on the grass lawn laughing uncontrollably. No one cared for the moment if Jack or Jill had gotten in trouble at school or received a bad grade on a test. For now, the kids were being kids and their mothers were young again. The kids, with their limitless energy, had all run over to the playground. Soon, swings were swinging and lines had formed behind the slides.

Glen looked around at the women around him. It hadn’t been his intention when he thought of this water war, but he was happy with the results. By accident, he had created his own wet tee-shirt contest and was now enjoying the sight that the wet clothes provided. Wanda and Sandra knew what he was doing and smiled at each other as they silently planned their evening. Glen would definitely be ready for sex by the time the kids went to bed.

Mothers slowly collected themselves and thanked Glen for his creative ideas on entertaining the kids. They moved over to the benches and watched the kids play. The standard topics of conversation raged at the benches. Mothers discussed the kids, their problems, and worries about the future.

Glen watched as the twins joined in the talk, happy at how they had integrated into the neighborhood. Going into the street, he started picking up the broken balloons. He cleaned, happy to have created such a wonderful play time for the kids. Occasionally, he would stop and watch the kids while they played. A smile played across his face, as he considered how healthy and balanced they were.

One of the neighbor kids, came over to Glen and started helping him clean up the drive. Glen looked down at the boy with a smile and asked, “How’s it going, Steve?”

The boy looked up at Glen and said, “Much better. The kids at school are being nicer to me now.”

Glen nodded as he listened with a serious expression on his face. The boy was an only child and hadn’t known how to deal with other kids. He had pushed his way into groups that didn’t want anything to do with him. His first three months at school had been miserable. Glen had talked with him one afternoon when he noticed the boy sitting on a bench crying. Glen answered, “I’m glad. I was sure that if you followed your own interests that the other kids would come to you.”

Steve smiled as he continued picking up the broken balloons. He answered, “Thank you.”

“You’re quite welcome,” replied Glen. He wanted to make sure that this neighborhood was free of drugs. It was his desire to be the guy that kids came to when they had problems. He wanted them to feel free to tell him about other kids that were doing wrong.

Steve picked up a couple of more balloons and then ran back to the play ground. He helped one of the smaller kids into the swing and helped get them started. Glen watched with interest, pleased to see the boy reach out to help others.

One of the mothers, a particularly lovely woman, came over to him. Despite the fact that her white cotton shirt was soaked and she wasn’t wearing a bra, she didn’t seem embarrassed by the clear view of her breasts that it provided him. He struggled, mostly successfully, to look her in the face. When she was convinced that she had his full attention she said, “You are so good with the kids. I wanted to thank you for your help with little Steve.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure,” replied Glen. He looked over at the playground and added, “These kids are not going to have problems with drugs or peer pressure. None of them will join a cult. They’ll all grow up to be good citizens and leaders in anything that they choose to pursue.”

She looked at him for a moment. This wasn’t the first time that he had expressed that sentiment. She asked, “That’s important to you isn’t it?”

Glen nodded with a sad expression on his face thinking back to the bad citizens he had known. He said, “It’s the most important thing in the world.”

She didn’t know what prompted that and knew that she would never know. She changed the subject by saying, “We are throwing a swim party for the kids on the last day of school. I want to make sure that the fearsome foursome are there.”

Glen laughed at the common reference to his kids. He answered, “They’ll be there. I’m bringing a little something to help entertain the kids.”

She couldn’t imagine what he would bring, but knew that it would be great fun and safe. Knowing him, it could even be a clown or a magician. She asked, “Are you still going to run the bicycle safety course this weekend?”

“Of course, summer is coming and the kids will be out riding their bikes. I just want to make sure that they all know how to do it safely. I’ve arranged for a policemen to set up a training course and to register their bikes.”