Chapter 48

Morning came too early for me. I knew that I had to go with the partners and legal counsel, but Jules could have made a later tee time. I was sure there was a reason that would be revealed later.

I got up without disturbing the girls and let them rearrange themselves so that they would remain sleeping for a while. I went through the shower, shaved, and dressed in golf clothes. I put my gun in a clip-on holster instead of the shoulder holster, and put it in my waist under an extra-large shirt that wasn't fitted and had a straight bottom. I could give Donte the piece if he came with us this morning, but any of the others would make sure I had the gun on me.

I was getting ready to leave the bedroom suite when Jules got up and hugged me. She told me to enjoy playing golf and that I needed to be doing more of that sort of thing. She told me, "I had the pro give you a set of clubs with a bag that should be perfect for you. He said he would watch you warm-up and make some suggestions, and would also know what to help you with when you begin going in for lessons. Don't get upset, but you need the lessons so that you give some of these people a good game. You need to beat Grandfather and Yuu at least half the time. They will constantly be making fun of you in Japanese if you don't. That's something else you need to be learning. I'll work on getting you a Japanese language tutor."

I had a cup of coffee downstairs in the kitchen, and was told there were some American type breakfast snacks on the bar.

Sure enough there were some burritos with bacon and scrambled eggs. Stephen was standing behind the bar with a shit eating grin. I wondered what was up, but he just brought a tall glass from below the bar with ice, a reddish liquid, and a stalk of celery sticking out of it. Perfect; I can get hammered and get the men equally inebriated before we ever see the golf course. I tasted the concoction and shivered. "You might want to mix that a little less lethally, Stephen. That's strong enough that these guys won't make nine holes. How about some weak ones so they can play eighteen without wrecking a golf cart?"

The three all came down at once. I directed them toward the burritos and coffee, and didn't encourage them to drink what could still be a very lethal Bloody Mary. No one wanted the morning waker-upper, so we took off for the golf club with their golf bags in the limo's trunk. I was surprised as there was no Donte, no Michi, nor any replacement.

When I was on my way out the door to get into the limo waiting for us, Vicki, the new chauffer, patted me down until she found my pistol in a waist holster. She whispered, "I'm also a Dai-trained bodyguard. Donte told me that you carried and were proficient. You're supposed to go to the range this weekend too. FYI, Brad I speak fluent Japanese and two dialects of Chinese if you need a translator. I'm the product of a Japanese mother and an American father who were in the Diplomatic Corps. I think one of my responsibilities is to teach you to speak, read, and write Japanese. It's really not that difficult if you can envision how they think. I'll work with you."

My life kept getting more complicated, or should I say 'more interesting'? I was beginning to enjoy having the second chauffeur.

This country club was virtually right around the corner. Vicki had our entrance pass out ready to show the gate attendant and had me show my membership card. This gave us all a feeling of security. Vicki mentioned to me that this club was used by visiting dignitaries and many of the movie industry VIPs.

I had the guys come in the pro shop to make sure their shoes conformed to club standards. I was fitted with shoes and then shown the set of clubs that Jules had purchased for me. The pro said, "Your wife said that she wanted you to start golfing out here with good equipment, and that I should evaluate your swing and golf skills to get you equipment that fits you better. Let me get my assistant to watch the store, and I'll come out to the driving range to loosen up with you."

The driver in my hands was worth twice what my entire bag cost me back in Florida. I wondered who now had the clubs that I had directed Fred to sell with the condo. The country club there even sent me a refund of the unused portion of the annual fee. I suppose they had a membership limit, so for me to give mine up allowed one of the membership committee an opening to get a friend into the club.

The first shot off a tee felt good. I was surprised I had hit the ball so far when I looked out after my follow through. The pro suggested that I use each of the woods and the low numbered irons to get used to how each felt. They all felt good and I wondered if I should maybe go pro. That made me laugh. They had a chipping area, a sand trap, and a putting green. I had fooled with each area enough to know that I could probably respectably play with the men who were playing with me.

The caddy I had was an older guy who seemed to be muscled enough to carry my bag for eighteen holes. He told me that he was a registered PGA caddy and had worked with many pros over the years. He said that he was paired with me because I was a new member.

We played the first nine holes fairly fast, and often had to wait on the foursome ahead of us. My caddy gave me a running lesson on each hole. I was eight over par and didn't feel bad at all. I'll take a ninety-eight for eighteen holes on my first round in a couple of years. I was using all my high school and college instruction for each of my drives and was surprisingly accurate. I didn't try to kill the ball on any of my drives and concentrated on keeping the ball in the center of the fairway. My short irons weren't that good, but I didn't expect them to be. My putting left a lot to be desired, but I was feeling really good all the way.

My drive on the par three seventeenth was a beauty. The ball ran right up to the pole but didn't go that last inch to be a hole in one. The par five eighteenth was supposed to be the most brutal, but it ended up being easier than some of the other par fives. I finished dancing around with a club in my hand waving a score card with ninety-three. My bosses couldn't believe that I had not picked up a club for close to three years.

The caddy said that he had a notebook full of notes for the pro, and said that he didn't think I should change clubs until I had more experience on the course.

We were all tired and sweaty from walking a long eighteen holes by the time we were back in the pro shop. I told the pro in the pro shop about how the caddy had given me a lot of direction while playing. The pro said, "We're lucky to have a guy like him hanging out here. The kids out there are learning from him and will be valuable caddies one of these days because of him."

The guys in the back of the limo were very quiet on the way home, compared to how boisterous they were on the way out that morning. Vicki said, "I'm surprised that they walked the course. I could have done without that. Let's use carts next time."

I told Vicki, "Unless something changes, the next time I go to the golf course will be for lessons. That will be very boring and not a lot of walking."

Vicki laughed, "We both use the treadmill almost daily, and I hear from Donte that you like to run on the streets and in the parks when you have the time."

It wasn't lunch time at home yet, but the bar was manned. The three men all had something to drink while I had some coffee. There was a lot more that I wanted to do today. The women began ganging up on the men about going home. They said that being pampered here was nice, but they needed to be home for other activities.

Dan said, "We should go home and give these folks a break. I heard they like to play pool for some money games on the weekends. Brad is going to be busy preparing our bid presentation to the County and City. He also has to work with all the folks from San Antonio who will be here for training. He's filling his time productively, and most of it is for us and the company."

They all agreed, finished their drinks, and went upstairs to shower and change to fly home. Vicki brought the big white limousine to the front of the house while Charles and Stephen were ready to haul luggage.

We had a nice lunch, but it wasn't food that would make you so full that you wanted to go crash. Finishing lunch was the key to get them on the move. The guests were soon saying their goodbyes for now and loading into the limo. I figured that they would be here for the bid presentation, so I knew they would be back in a couple of weeks.

Katie and Jules made announcements as soon as we were back in the house. Katie took the lead with, "Okay, let's go play some pool. I think Jules and I are ready because we have been practicing daily this past week so you're the guy who may lose some pocket change, Brad."

Jules said, "Mattie has been telling people that you might be an easy mark for some of the guys since you've missed so much practice time."

I just shrugged and said, "I do need the practice, so I'll be sure to keep the dollar value of the games within reason. I've been away from the game too long to be good. I'll see how bad my stroke is and play from there."

Brindle drove us in the Bentley and dropped us off at the door. Michi was on duty today and got out with us. The pool hall was just opening, so we had the opportunity to use some remote back tables and do some practicing. Mattie gave me my cue case and told me to be prepared for a lot of matches. A lot of guys wanted some revenge after constantly losing to me.

I set the balls for a practice round and made myself focus on my stroke. I noticed that I was trying to hunch over to shoot and made myself stand up straight, and then bend down for the shot. That sharpened my longer shots up right away. I wasn't making a good bridge with my fingers and couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I finally realized that my hands were tired and were trying to cramp up from a morning of playing golf. I realized I'd have to remember to lighten up on my golf club grips. I began shaking my hands out between shots, and that helped.

The place was beginning to fill by two o'clock. Katie had a match as soon as a group from an out of the area pool hall showed up. Another man challenged Jules because he thought that she might be an easy mark since she was somewhat of a beginner to the game.

I was feeling pretty confident by the time the first of the regulars wanted a match. He wanted to go for fifty, but I talked him back to twenty. I told him, "I'm seriously out of practice, so I shouldn't be throwing money away. I'll pay twenty for some practice though."

I won the lag and instantly found my break lacking. I made a ball, but the one was hidden. I was able to kick it to keep the man from having a ball in hand, but I left him with the table in really good shape to run. He became over confident and missed the eight. I easily finished the first game and thanked him for giving it to me. My break was better, but the cue ball was kicked toward a side pocket. He couldn't put a run together, and left me with four balls to pocket and win game two. I knew this kind of luck couldn't hold up, so I really focused on the next break and it did what my breaks are supposed to do. The cue ball was below the middle of table and the one ball had a clear shot at the corner. There were two sets of balls tied up, so I would have to find a way to break them up. I put too much English on a shot to break up one set of balls, and missed the shot and missed the tied up balls. My opponent was able to finish the table and tucked a penny under the rail on his side of the table.

The game progressed until it was six games each, with his break. He got too low on the cue ball which makes it leap off the table after a hard impact. The 9 ball was lying on the lip of a center pocket and was an easy kiss when pocketing the one. Game and match for twenty. The man said, "Well, you may be out of practice, but are still good enough and lucky enough to pick up a twenty."

I told the regular, "I'm not shooting that well right now, and you picked the perfect time to win a match. It was just luck that I won, but thanks for the twenty. I think I'm going to work on some practice before I get into more matches."

Mattie was talkative tonight, and fed me my favorite drinks, along with some of her excellent bar snacks. I had some jalapeno poppers that were supposedly without a lot of cheese and with some other type of filler. They were as advertised and delicious. I had some chicken tenders that weren't overcooked and had been dipped in some scorching hot sauce before and after. Those required a beer.

The girls finally came to me and told me that they were done for tonight, but might want more tomorrow. We said goodnight to all who knew us and left with Brindle to get the car.

We were just getting to the Bentley when two guys jumped out with knives in their hands from behind the car in front of us. Both were yelling to 'Give it up' and waving the knives at us. Michi was moving up even with me as I pushed the girls behind us. Jules said, "Let me shoot the mothers and be done with it. Don't let yourselves be hurt."

Michi looked at me and we both shrugged our shoulders. I told the two, "You're outclassed unless you have guns. The girls behind me want to shoot you, but I'd like to have you two try to get close to Michi and me with those pathetic knives. You could have at least brought bigger knives so that we don't feel like we're taking rattles from babies."

That did it for the man on my side and he lunged at me. This was right out of the first hand to hand combat training I had Yori. I took the man by the wrist as he thrust at me and snapped it, causing the knife to fall to the sidewalk. I put my foot to his back and said, "Move and I'll shoot you just for fun."

That man's actions caused the second one to lunge at Michi. Michi was so fluid that it would have been a great training video to watch him throw the man into the building next to the sidewalk. The knife went skittering across the sidewalk and the man didn't move right away.

Brindle had called the cops who must have been just around the corner as they almost instantly arrived. Michi and I were holding the two men down and had the policemen cuff them and then showed them the knives they threatened us with. One policeman noted Michi's driver's license that he used as an ID had his private bodyguard license next to it. The policeman asked, "Why didn't you just use your gun to scare them off?"

I told him, "I advised both of the men that we were armed, but they decided to try to use their knives instead of running."

They took all our IDs down and took the two men away. The man with the broken wrist was acting like a real baby, complaining on having his hands cuffed behind his back.

Brindle told Michi and me, "Don't do that again. Brad teased the guy into doing something and could have been cut. I didn't know he had been trained very much yet. In any case, just pull your guns and hold them for the cops. Don't take a chance."

Michi grinned at me since we both wanted something physical after playing nice for so long. Michi told me, "We have many we can spar with when I'm at our training home. That will take care of the inner desire to lash out, but doing our regular duties is so tame that we get a little crazy and need the opportunity to do something physical. You obviously needed something too. Maybe we should become more aggressive and show our weapons. I can continue to give you your hand to hand combat lessons and teach you to spar."

Jules told Michi, "That's why we have you with us, Michi. You're supposed to keep these people away from us and not let you and Brad play with them. I didn't know that Brad had been learning self-defense from you men. It's good that he is learning, but not good that he has to use what he knows. Just shoot them next time."

Michi shrugged his shoulders and held the door to the Bentley open as the two girls got into the car with me in the center.

The two girls had to tell Willy about the confrontation as soon as we were home, of course. She said that she wished she could have been there to kick the bad guys while they were down. She didn't think there was anything wrong with two men showing two idiots the problem with their ways.

Charles made me my favorite drink and had our Japanese cook bring some sushi out for me. Katie had developed a taste for good sushi which meant there was a three, and sometimes four-way, battle to get that last piece on the plate. Tonight was a good snack night as we were brought some freshly imported snails that were delicious. This was followed by a platter of pieces of crab meat, lobster, and shrimp that could be dipped in a variety of tasty sauces. I was in hog heaven with all the taste treats. Willy and Katie were suspicious of the giant snails, but decided to try one. I showed them how to use a strong toothpick to pull the snail from his shell, and to only eat the front part, leaving the dirty looking part on the other end. Fancy restaurants cut those dirty ends off and serve the snails at exorbitant prices.

The police came to the door and wanted to interview us again. We had to get Michi to come from his suite where he was ready for bed. Brindle was still in the kitchen snacking, and came out. Two detectives split up and interviewed us at separate tables. I made them do Michi first because he was obviously ready for bed. Brindle was next, followed by Jules and Katie. The two men asked why I didn't use my gun, which was now on open display, when it was my turn. I had to think for a second before I said, "My thinking was that if I were to shoot either of the two men we could be there for hours and hours while it was determined that I fired in self-defense. It was also easy to see these two men were not proficient in handling the weapons they had. My bodyguard and I train often, and this was a way for us to use some of that training; a lot less messy and a lot more efficient."

The detective looked at me and said, "I know you from a flap over some guy stealing from your company. You killed a couple of men when they attacked your place of business. It's good that you have a bodyguard, but you should let him do the dirty work."

I smiled at the man and said, "There wasn't any dirty work. The man lunged and thrust at me, I took him by the wrist, broke it, and then slammed him to the sidewalk. Very quick, very efficient. My bodyguard was attacked and took care of the man who attacked him. Which is better, two dead petty criminals, or two men in custody to do ten years for screwing with others."

The detective said, "They'll make a plea deal and get five years, maybe ten for attempted robbery and attempted murder. The sentence will probably be less since there was no blood. You know that you should have just held them for us with your guns."

We all decided to have another drink of sorts and to go to bed when the police were gone. The girls all had some drinks without booze, and I had one more good one.

We were making love the way we liked in bed a little later. We all enjoyed me making my rounds of all three to taste each one, and then to taste them all over. It's so neat to make love to Katie's big top and then to Jules. Willy is special because she doesn't have large breasts, but she does have some dynamite nipples. All three enjoyed my loving.

Jules and Katie had been satisfied by me and Willy by the time we were sated. The little devil followed me from girl to girl. Willy whispered to us, "Thank you all for letting me bring my mother here," when we were all three down for the count. "She'll be here Monday. I pray that she isn't a burden on us. She is a lovable woman and will bring some smiles to our gatherings."

That gave us something to think of as we slipped off to sleep.

Sunday Morning

I was up early wanting to run, but I realized it was doing what it doesn't do often in LA as soon as I was up. It was raining. I was going back to bed, but decided to use the treadmills in the gym room instead. I was surprised to find Vicki and Michi working out. I stretched before I began using a treadmill, while observing the two doing their routines. Vicki was much more aggressive with her lifting than Michi, who lazily did his required lifts.

The two stayed and watched me do my lifts, and then asked if I might be interested in some minor sparring. What's the harm? This should be fun and a little different than the action/reaction training I had been given to date.

I quickly realized that the two were my superiors, as I was flying through the air with very little effort on their part. They said after a short while that this was to show me that there was a lot to learn, and that I needed to devote some time to learn a little more each day.

Vicki told me that most bodyguards didn't like to teach their guardians to defend themselves because it might threaten their job. She knew that Hideki had us under Dai's watchful eyes so that his granddaughter and the rest of us were safe. We went up to the kitchen for some coffee and a couple of the thin pancake rolls that were such a treat on weekends. I wondered if I could get the recipe for the delicious pancakes with pineapple and coconut the Hawaiian cook made.

I used the next hour to finish my reports for last week that included Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, and to write the proposal for the purchase of the block of land from Tormain. I reported my intention to re-arrange the regions and my reasoning, and then the appraisals to promote Don Baker to be the new San Antonio Manager, John Bentenson as Austin Manager, and for Jim Patina to become the Assistant Regional Manager for the South Central Region. I made a note on the bottom of the report that we should investigate putting another office in Fort Worth because of its growth and our inability to really market there. I re-read everything twice to make sure that I included everything, and then sent it off. The girls were waking up when I put my laptop back in with my luggage.

We finally had breakfast at eight-thirty, and left for the gun range at nine. Michi was in the front seat with Vicki who was driving, while the three girls and I were in the back of the limo. I sat in the seat looking at the three, and smiled at them. Katie asked me what I was smiling at.

"You three look so sweet. I love you so much, and I almost want to give up doing anything else except keeping you happy. I know that wouldn't make you happy, but I hate to be away from you so much. We'll at least be able to enjoy each other for a few days this week."

Our group caused a bit of a stir as there already were six men in shooting lanes. The range had twenty lanes and we only needed six. Vicki wanted to shoot next to me as she had heard that I was an unusually good shot from Yori, Donte, and Michi.

We each bought our usual fifty range rounds. I was impatient and brought four extra magazines to use. I filled three magazines with fifteen rounds each, with the remaining five in the last one. I liked to fire the first magazine with both hands, the second with only the right, and the third with only the left. Each magazine was ten rounds to the body mass and five to the head. The five remaining rounds all went for head shots from the hip.

I was the last to enter the lanes since I spent the time to load my magazines first. I laid my magazines out on the tray in front of me, with my eye protection and ear protectors on. I pulled my Glock, dropped the field loaded magazine, ejected the round in the chamber, and stuffed it in the magazine and then into my back pocket. I pushed the button to put the target at the back of the range which would be at twenty-five yards.

I took a deep breath and began. The first magazine looked to be all good hits in the center of the target area. The second magazine with the right hand was the same with the center mass becoming a big hole. The third using the left hand didn't have any stray rounds and further trashed the target. I jammed the fourth magazine in and shot both eyes the nose and the mouth on each side from my hip. I was laughing at that, as I hadn't originally intended to show off like that.

The other shooters were still shooting, and others were between magazines as they loaded the next fifteen or seventeen rounds. I watched as Vicki was finishing her fourth magazine. She was a good shot and rivaled Donte, but was superior to Michi. He made sure that he wasn't next to her and was at the end, with Katie next to him.

I watched Willy as she methodically emptied each magazine with surprising accuracy. She had taken all the instruction she had been given seriously, and was very adept at using her weapon, although all her rounds were with two hands. You can't fault her since she was so accurate.

Vicki was next to me at the cleaning station, and said, "You did some showing off with the left-handed and hip shooting. Donte and Dai both said that you were unusual, but I had to see it to believe it. I'm glad we're on the same team."

I smiled at the girl and said, "Me too."

We had some Sunday snacks back home, and talked about going to the pool hall. Katie said that she needed the practice, and Jules said that she really liked to beat those guys who kept thinking she would be an easy mark. I was willing, but said that I didn't want to stay late because I'd like to enjoy some quiet time with my wives and Willy.

Katie said, "This might be the last of some quiet time for Willy, because her mother will be here tomorrow." The rain had stopped and the girls wanted to get some sun and swim in the pool instead of going to the pool hall.

I went to put my swimsuit on, but no one else came. I saw the girls all walking around nude when I looked out to the pool, giving me a tantalizing view of some of the fun that awaited me. I took a deep breath and walked out to the pool area. The three women crowded to all sit on a wide lounger with me.

Jules kissed me and said, "You have given Katie and me something that we've wanted for a long time. You've given us both a baby. We know that this isn't an event to take lightly, and that it will affect us the rest of our lives. Both of us knew that your willingness to help us create this life was going to be a great celebration for all of us."

Katie took over and said, "You've accepted us finding and bringing a copy of Cindy that we lost, and have found her twin, Willy, into our love and life. Look at her Brad. Look at the glow that surrounds her. Now you know that you put that glow into her. You have created life once again, Brad, and now it's in our Willy this time. All three of us are going to give you a baby to hold and love with us."

Tears were streaming down the faces of all three women. I was getting choked up too as I realized I had helped to create babies in three women. I had this protective urge to gather them to me and fly off to Hawaii and hide there in that beautiful mansion.

Katie said, "We're a family and we're creating a bigger family. You found Cindy's sister for us and you've helped us create a new wealth for us. We're a very special family to be able to have all that we do. I'm a simple farm girl who has found a utopian lifestyle with a woman I love deeply. I've found a man who is more than a body with a dick. I've found a man who loves me and wants to be with me. My life is as complete as it can get, Brad. Let me kiss you and love you for all eternity."

Willy clung to me and kissed my neck as she curled up in my lap. Jules had a hand on my face while leaning over to give me more kisses. I think this was the most intense that I've ever felt.

Katie pulled back, followed by Willy, and finally Jules. Jules said, "Go ahead, Willy, tell our husband."

That was different as this was the first time Jules or Katie ever encouraged Willy to address me as 'Husband'.

With a smile wider than her face, the diminutive Willy said to me, "You already know it, but I'm going to make you a dad. You're the father of my child. I will add our baby to our family about a month after Katie. This is so special."

I sat with the three of them sitting on me, and thought about how special this really was. To all three, I said, "You three are all going to be so busy with three babies, our visitors, your parents, and all the craziness that I'm trying to make happen. Jules won't be doing any trading for a while unless she has her baby on her breast as she busily types in buy and sell orders."

Katie was smiling and said, "My jugs are big enough to feed all our babies when they get here. We'll have some kind of system worked out to make sure our critters are taken care of by then."

Jules told everyone, "The Hawaiian home should be finished by the time we begin having our babies. We'll go there and be incognito while we learn to be parents."

The evening was very pleasant. The four of us inspected Willy's mother's new suite. They had divided the room to give her a two room suite with a new enlarged bathroom, a walk-in tub, and a walk-in closet on the bedroom side, with a small living room area on the other side that had the exterior wall with only a single door now. The furnishings were very nice, with feminine curtains on both windows and light-colored upholstery in the living room area. There was a large TV on the wall over a fake fireplace in the living room, and a fairly large TV on the bedroom wall opposite the bed. I thought that the woman should feel comfortable here.