Chapter 85

After Sara was gone, Jill asked me "Well, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"Come on, Jack. You know what I'm talking about. What do you think about Daddy and Wanda?"

"I think they care about each other a lot. And I think both of them really missed you. Wanda looked so relieved when you hugged her. And your dad was mesmerized while you were telling him about your week. They both love you a lot and are glad you came back."

"I didn't know how much I missed them till we went to the game without them."

"Do you want to go over on Sunday?"

"Could we?"

"I don't see why not. I'm sure your father would be thrilled."

"Ooh. I want to call him."

"Jill, it's after midnight. You'll see him in the morning. Why don't you just tell him in person?"

"You're right. I'm just so excited."

She was resting her face on my chest, her right arm wrapped around me. She scooted up and gave me a kiss. Soft and gentle and full of feeling.

I reached up and took a breast in my hand, manipulating it, feeling the nipple expand. I gave its twin similar treatment. I slid my hand down and toyed with her belly button, making her giggle. I started to move further down and she took hold of my wrist.

"Not tonight, please."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't feel clean down there."

"What do you... Oh. Are you all right?"

"Of course I'm all right. This isn't the first time I've had my period, you know."

"What should I do?"

"You could try kissing me again. And then let me sleep in your arms."

"I can do that." I kissed her and then pulled her in as she snuggled up to me.

I woke up alone. I could hear the girls talking in the kitchen, so I hit the bathroom and made my way in there.

"Well, good afternoon, Sleepy Head."

"I'll take any kind of head I can get."

"Oh, Poor Baby. You should have asked."

"I did. That wasn't on the list."

"No, you're right. Maybe I can think of something to make it up to you later."

I went over to the stove, where she was rolling up a crepe filled with strawberry jam and kissed the back of her neck.

"Stop it. You'll make me mess up."

"Oh, great. Now I can't even kiss you."

"Wait till I'm finished here."

The crepes were great and everyone made total pigs of themselves. Jill didn't get much chance to kiss me because she was constantly making more. But I eventually got my kiss. I must say, it was worth the wait.

They all left for the mall right after breakfast. Jill's father was going to meet them there, sign them up for class, find out what uniforms they needed and get them for all three. He was there primarily to bring the credit card and sign on the dotted line. Mom had made a call earlier, found out she had to sign permission slips for Mary and Sara and had picked them up. Too bad they weren't just getting abortions. They could have done that without even telling Mom.

While the girls were at the mall, I went into my old bedroom and got on my computer. I logged into ebay and checked on my account. The time had run out and the final bids were in.

The same guy had the high bids on both the kids' records and the old record player. I hoped he was buying these for children instead of to sell. We'd spent many wonderful hours with that record player and those records as children. And that kind of music never goes out of style. Some of the Disney stuff had been decades old when Mary and I sat around, singing along with the record. I was almost sorry to part with them for $125 but it was better than leaving them in the garage. He'd probably have to spend $500 to get that stuff new. Provided he could find records and a record player.

The LPs had gone for $350. Most of them had been my parents'. Some of the stuff like The Beatles, Stones and Donovan had been classics back when they bought them.

I was surprised that my grandparents' stuff brought in over $750. I think my record player could handle 78s, but I don't recall seeing any turntables that went that speed. It must have been a collector who bid that high.

The Encyclopedia Brittanica was also popular. The bidding for it had ended off at $650.

I accepted all of the bids. Five minutes later I got an email that just under $1800 had been deposited in my account. They made almost $100 on my sale. There was also an account number to charge shipping to. Since the majority of the stuff was records, the purchasers had OKed premium packaging and insurance. In other words, I could take them to the UPS Store, pay to have the stuff packed and just give them account numbers to bill. I printed up each of the addresses for shipping.

I went out to the garage and started pulling stuff down from the platform. There was some sawdust on the plastic but everything was in the same shape as when it had been when we took pictures. I loaded it all into my car and headed for the mall.

The UPS Store had an entrance off the parking lot. I lucked out and found a space that was fairly close. They let me borrow a cart when I went inside and told them what I had. I was able to pile a lot on the cart but it still took two trips to bring it all in.