Chapter 2

This has been a deathly quiet week with Jim at orientation. I'll be glad when he and his sister are home Friday evening. I have thought about what my son said. I am more prepared. I have prepared a list for him and his sister. I don't know if it's practical but a woman who fits those criteria and is willing to go out with me would be someone I can at least have an interesting conversation with and whose presence I would enjoy. I wrote up the list and printed it out for them in quadruplicate. I think it's also challenging enough to slow them down, too.

The four of them pulled in and came blasting into the house. Wanda screamed, "Daddy!" She rushed into my arms and kissed me with a full body hug.

Then it was Julie's turn and she even gave me a bit of tongue in addition to a full body rub rather than a simple hug. She whispered, "Date me and there will be no limits. I'll do everything you ask!"

Chan was more demure and gave me a sweet kiss on my lips and a chaste hug. Jim came last and gave me a hug without the kiss or body rub.

It was good to see them all. Wanda said, "We have some good ideas about who we will find for you at school this year."

I said, "I'm glad you mentioned that. I hope you haven't contacted anyone yet because I have put together specific requirements." I grabbed the sheets of paper and handed them out.

Julie went over it. "You want superwoman. I hoped I had a chance of warming your bed but I'm an inch short and a cup size too big." I noticed she ignored the age requirement and put in a cup size requirement that didn't exist. "Uncle Si, don't you think I'm pretty?" She came over and sat on my lap straddling me.

"I think you're very pretty except for your age. I could forgive the rest but for that." She kissed me again very thoroughly before she stood up and went to sit with Wanda. I was breathing a little hard and was a little red in the face. I did manage to keep the sigh of relief inside. I smirked wondering what might have happened had I taken her up on her offer. I was afraid. Those kisses were fun but there was a hint of seriousness to them. Julie's parents were divorced. She didn't see her father nor was he involved in her life.

Chan noticed and whispered something to Jim. She said, "What's the matter, Dad? Aren't you used to twenty year-old women offering themselves to you?" Everyone laughed.

I said, "There is plenty of night left. My door is unlocked!" There was more laughter though there was more of that serious look in Julie's eyes.

"Have any of you eaten supper yet." I'm buying if anyone is interested." Heads shook and then Wanda cried out, "Yay, Dad!"

"Jim, Chan, why doesn't one of you call the Young's and ask them to join us?"

Chan called her parents and they were willing to join us. We went to the Golden Corral because they had something for everyone. Wanda and Jim put me in the middle and sat to either side with Julie beside Wanda and Chan across from Jim next to her mother, Barbara.

It was a fun meal. Chan had brought her copy of my requirements and showed it to her parents. Rich almost died laughing after he read it. "I want the rejects though I have no idea what I would do with them."

Barbara said, "Anyone who meets all these requirements will be a very interesting person. Are you serious, Si?"

I said, "These requirements are designed to force my wicked children and their two evil associates into having a difficult time but not to make it impossible. I'm just barely thinking about dating. Being fixed up by my children with a blind date without any restrictions at all is a terrifying thought." Rich and Barbara loved it and laughed happily. I could tell their imaginations were as good as mine at imagining the horrors inherent in four young people turned loose with my romantic life.

We had a great meal. Jim and Chan went to her house with her parents to unload her stuff and stay for a while. Wanda and Julie had ridden with me and I helped them finish unloading from her car into her bedroom. Julie pretended to pout about her stuff not going in my bedroom. I hoped I would not have address that issue. She was very pretty and a great person but I had seen her with Wanda so much that she was firmly identified in my mind with my daughter. I had met her mother and made sure without being obvious that she didn't meet my written requirements either. That was not a complication that I wanted to consider much less resolve.

They stayed up and talked with me into the evening. Both were working on business degrees and my practical experience with all phases of business seemed to truly interest them. We went to our beds and I, at least, slept quietly and undisturbed.

I woke to the smell of coffee and breakfast. I showered, shaved, and dressed before going downstairs. Chan was there with Jim preparing a big breakfast for us as they enjoyed working together. Jim had spent the night at their house. There was a spare bedroom that had a change or two of clothes along with bath gear. As far as I knew, they were not having sex but I had decided around Christmas to take the position of "don't ask, don't tell."

In two weeks, they would all leave for college. Wanda and Julie were going to be in the same dorm as last year and remain roommates.

Chan and Jim would be in a coed dorm but on the same floor. They had met and traded roommates during orientation. Their new roommates were also dating seriously. I'm not sure whether or not I am comforted by that news.

My issue was that the house would be lonely without Jim around. Chan stayed over a lot during the last year and the spare bedroom was pretty much given over to her things like the one at her house for Jim. During the summer with Wanda here, he had spent more time there. I appreciated Rich and Barbara for their understanding. Chan asked me over breakfast if I would print some more copies of my requirements. "Mom and Dad would like one each and kept mine. I want one to have to check when I see a likely candidate." She looked at my face and giggled. Jim and Wanda laughed outright. Julie smirked.

Wanda said, "Email me the list. That way I can print more of them if I need them."

I said, "Guys, that was meant for you not for public consumption."

Wanda said, "It won't be very, public, that is. You already have one dejected candidate."

"Wanda, Julie, that was fun and a bit more than I bargained for. However, as mature as you are, you are too young for me. I would feel incestuous dating you, Julie. I would be uncomfortable with someone the same age as my children. I not looking to relive my childhood or for a 'trophy wife.' These unfortunate ladies would just be dates when I am visiting the school. I really don't expect anything from this. Don't read anything in it that's not there."