Chapter 9

We must have been the good luck charm because two weeks later we got a call from Mrs. Roberts that the other two sibling-pairs had been spoken for. Therefore, she wanted to know if we would like to keep Jim and Mary. It only took a short conversation for Jo and me to decide on the adoption. Jo called Mrs. Roberts and set up the final meeting to get some more paperwork done. At that time, the kids would come home with us and the court date would be finalized. Jo and I could hardly wait!

The legal niceties were completed in what I thought was an amazingly short time and Jim and Mary were officially our children. The kids were as ecstatic on the court date as Jo and I were, and we went out to dinner that night. We went to the Allgood Catfish Farm “all the catfish you can eat” party and made a big deal out of it. Jim surprised the hell out of Jo and me by announcing to the gathered crowd that they were now officially adopted, and he did not stutter once! Could it have been that his stuttering was caused by the stress of being in a foster home? For whatever the reason, Jo and I were thrilled.

The kids, NO, our kids were all excited about the situation when they got home. Their birthday was coming up next week on Wednesday—they would be 10 years old. Sometimes being twins could simplify things, and sometimes being twins could complicate things, and Jo and I had no idea which one a birthday party would be. However it turned out, Mary and Jim wanted a birthday party where they could invite the new friends they had made over the last few weeks. That was when they would officially announce to the neighborhood that they were now part of our family.

It was going to be a lot of work for Jo to put the party on; this was where I encountered one of the great advantages of being the father and not the mother. Of course, I was going to help in whatever way Jo needed me, but it was not my responsibility to get it set up, and I was very relieved. Mostly, I would do the shopping and that sort of thing. Naturally, I was invited to the party.

When asked what the kids wanted for their birthday presents, both kids wanted shotguns! Uh-oh, Jo left it to me to explain why that was not possible. I had to work at it, but I finally convinced the kids that they just were not big enough for a shotgun yet by letting them try to hold up an unloaded shotgun. Mary was a little easier to convince, but Jim finally gave in. Instead, they settled for bicycles and swimming lessons. Thank goodness that neither one asked for an ATV.

I was surprised at how easy it was to get the kids into bed that night, but they were as exhausted as their new parents were.

The next day was Saturday and normally a freelance hunting day, but this Saturday was totally different. We all got up early, ate breakfast, and stormed the stores shopping for the big party. Oh, my God, I had never realized how much work was associated with that. I was pooped after only two hours of that, so I was dropped off at home to rest while the other three completed the first round of shopping. At last I came to appreciate the stamina that women and children had when it came to something they considered to be fun. I didn’t want to rain on their parade, so I stayed home during the afternoon shift of shopping.

Sunday was spent by the kids getting out the invitations to the party. Jo began preparing for the party at home and I watched baseball on TV. A grand time was had by us all.

Monday was a regular work day, and we took the kids along. It was safe enough for them because all hunting was done from the truck. We got an unusually heavy load of hogs that day, maybe it was an omen of how our new family would prosper in the coming year.

Tuesday was a busy day as the whole family worked to get all of the decorations in place. That was where I was really needed because I was the tallest person in the family.

Wednesday finally came, and the kids were really wound up for the event. They had never had a birthday party like this before, and it was hard to believe how excited they were. Jo had planned to combine a lunch with the party, and the cake and ice cream were to serve as dessert. The table would be cleared to make room for the presents and games. I must say that Jo did a spectacular job, and I have never enjoyed a birthday party more. All of the kids seemed to feel the same way.

Jim gave a little speech at the end of the party announcing the adoption and thanking everybody for coming and for the presents. I nearly cried because he got through the whole thing without a single stuttered word. Mary hugged him after the other kids had left.

Thursday was another work day, and Jim and Mary were included. We hurried as fast as we could so that the kids could get home to practice with their new bicycles. I could already ride a bicycle, but Jo could not because of her injuries in the accident. She wanted to try to learn with the kids, so we bought her a bicycle, too. Wow, they ran me ragged as I worked to train all three.

Well, wonder of wonders, all three learned to ride by the time school started, so all four of us rode our bikes to the school on the first day to get the kids registered. This was a new school for them, so Jim did not have to worry about the bullies who had bothered him because of his stuttering. Nevertheless, I wondered how he would react to the other bullies that he would meet in his new school.

Both Mary and Jim fit right in with the school because they were used to changing schools. They insisted that they could get home by themselves, but we were going to meet them and ride home with them. Monday was a split work day for us, so we could get there for the half-day of school. Besides, we were a little concerned about leaving them at home by themselves that afternoon until we knew a little more about them.

It turned out that we got to the school just before it let out for the day, so we rode home with Mary and Jim with no complications. Too bad we couldn’t do that every day. We ate lunch at home before heading out for the second part of our Monday commitment. Of course, the kids went with us in the truck. That was to the nuclear power plant, and we did not find any hogs there. Maybe we had worked ourselves out of a contract. Well, we would know in a couple of weeks.

We got home early enough to take a family ride around the neighborhood on our bicycles. It was surprising how different a place can look from a bicycle as compared to a pickup. Anyway, that was an interesting excursion, and we were looking forward to doing it again before the weather got too messy.

The upcoming Tuesday and Wednesday were normally not contract days for us, so we were able to continue to enjoy our bicycles by going to and from school with the kids. By good luck, the family next door had a son, Billy Olsen, who loved to ride his bicycle every day as much as possible, so Jim and Mary began riding with him to and from school and around the neighborhood. Mrs. Olsen offered to watch out for Mary and Jim until we returned from hunting each afternoon. In exchange, we began taking Billy with us whenever we took our kids. That just solidified the bond between us and the Olsens.

The problem with the wild hogs was getting worse, and we were called more often to sweep the hogs from around the schools. Dothan had a total of eight schools, and several of them were near enough to plots of trees that one or more of them had a hog scare every day. In despiration, the mayor called us to see what we could do to alleviate the problem.

This kind of job was perfect for our employees, Paul and Ed. We arranged a contract with the city for Paul and Ed to concentrate their efforts on the schools, and we resumed the work schedule that they had taken over from us. The two boys were very happy with the new assignment because they were seen working almost every day by eligible girls, all of whom were interested in older men; namely, boys who had recently graduated from high school and who had money to spend. Occasionally, they were actually seen shooting a hog, and that only made them more exciting. Ed’d had a recent falling out with his girlfriend, so he was especially happy with this opportunity his job offered.

Jo felt that she was not spending enough time with the children, so she suggested that we hire another employee to take her place. This change would also give her more time to be an effective business manager. I was quite happy to go along with her because the truckstop was turning into another real money maker, and we were considering expanding the operation. The amount of hog meat products being hauled from the plant across the street was creating a massive amount of business for the truckstop.