Chapter 28

When I stirred Saturday morning, about five forty-five, Mercy had hold of me and was gently massaging me into a desire to fill her once again. As I awoke, she pulled me on top of her to resume where I had left off when we fell asleep. She said, "Sue said that when you two were trying for Stevie, you two did it almost once an hour for a week. You're going to be busy, Buster, until I know I'm plugged."

When I made it to the patio about six-thirty, I visited with Glenda for a little while, until Mercy came out to sit on my lap. Glenda surprised me by asking, "Mercy, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were pregnant. You have that look. Are you?"

"I don't know Glenda, I hope so. Will you be upset if I am?" Mercy asked.

"How could I be upset with you, Child? Steve and Sue are so strange about having little girls around that it was going to happen, I know you guys don't play checkers at night and I see the love between all of you. No, Mercy, I won't be upset. I'll just be a grandmother or great aunt to one more little one."

Mercy snuggled into my lap and said, "You may not have to work so hard after all."

That day, Charlie, Hank, and I went to visit with the now almost completely recovered, Bear. When we rode in, Hap greeted us with a welcoming hug. Bear was still a little tender, so we were gentler with him. It took several beers and a couple bowls of chili to tell each other everything that had been going on.

Bear made the observation, "You're becoming a regular husband, going on two kids now. You're bikes are going to get lonely with all of your responsibilities."

I responded, "Well so far, Bear, I know I'm busy with the business and all of the new people at work, but if I didn't travel so much, I'd have just as much time as ever to ride."

Hap elbowed Charlie and said, "Yeah, but both of you have lost the eye candy that used to ride with you guys. How is your little redhead?"

"She is gonna have another kid, Hap," Charlie groaned. "I'm going to be an old married guy with a bunch of kids running around. Hard to believe, isn't it? Steve and I apparently screwed ourselves into becoming dads again about the same time. The women think it's great, but it's a big responsibility."

Bear slapped me on the back with his good arm and hand and said, "Damn boy, you don't mess around when you get started. Shit, kids everywhere out at that park of yours. Your caterer said you have a bigger patio now and that you have a new house too. I guess you need more space for all your kids and your harem. You still have that California magic girl out there?"

"You know we had too many people out there for supper, and with the kids now, there needs to be some space indoors as well. Sue needed a bigger office, so we built out what we wanted in some trailer shells and doubled the size of the patio. You two should come out for supper one of these evenings. Bring one, or some, of your ladies and come visit like regular folks. If you're up early or real late for you two, come by for coffee after six or so. We usually have breakfast sandwiches; you know biscuits with sausage and egg."

Bear smiled, "Speaking of eggs. Those chickens you got for us are laying eggs like crazy. My bunch of farmer wannabes has even gotten some more chickens so we can have some roosters and setting hens. They have gone to the library to find out all kinds of information on chicken farming. First thing you know, they will be out on the highway with a 'Fresh Egg' sign. They have enough chickens now that we are having chicken for dinner about once a week."

"That is really good, Bear. I'll bet you're actually proud of them."

"I am," Bear said happily. "They did shock me with the digging up of a rather large area to make a garden. Then they said the chicken manure was good for growing things. They are turning into productive citizens lately. One of my guys is going to get a trailer out there so he can settle down with one lady. Can you imagine that? You'll have to show us how to set up our own trailer park."

I chuckled at the thought of the guys that had chased the chickens around. "When you want to do that, I'll let my park manager give you some hints. He's been managing parks for a lot of years."

Charlie, Hank, and I made the rounds of Big Jim's, the Vanishing Point, and even went over to the St. Pete clubhouse bar to visit for a few minutes. When we made it back home, we were able to relax and enjoy the rest of the day with our extended family.

Ryan and Michelle, along with Ernie and Nelda, and Abe and Alice were there for supper. It always makes a nice gathering when we can all be together.

When everyone had eaten and the tables had been cleared, I went inside to get a large plat map of the trailer park property and another of our almost complete business park. Once everything was spread out in the manner I wanted it to be, I brought out some recent aerial photos of the area.

I pointed out the business park on the photos and referenced the plat map for that. Next I pointed out the park and the plat map for that property.

Tiny caught on instantly, "Is that why you have these two plat maps tilted away from each other at the bottom? Does the park ground really come back that far?"

I began pointing out locations on the plat map, "Tiny, you see what I saw when I was walking around in the back of the trailer park. The land that we rent out actually connects the two pieces of property. I have an idea of what I want to do with that land back there. I'm going to subdivide it into a bunch of home sites for those of us that just seem to need to have a house. Abe and Alice will be here, Phil and Judy here, Bob and Sandy here, and I'm sure there will be others. I will connect all of us with cart paths and roads so that it remains a private area but is connected to both the trailer park and the business park."

Tiny said, "But Steve, how are you going to make money on this? You don't ever do anything that doesn't produce income."

"Right now there won't be a visible profit, but the benefit will be enormous. Phil and Judy will be next door, Abe and Alice will be right here with us. We'll all be together. I know Abe would love to be within walking distance to the lake back there. He and Alice could walk over there and fish in the evenings if they wanted, and they could still come for supper and coffee every day. What do you think, Abe and Alice, do you think you would like to live closer?"

Alice answered for them, "You're darn right, Steve. I've been bugging Abe for months to buy another trailer before the lots on the back of the park are sold out. If he had acted earlier, we could have had the lot next to Nelda."

Phil was getting interested, "What are you going to do with the rest of the land, build yourself a house on it?"

"At first I thought to just make it into more park land for you guys to walk around on. But I think this area would make a great community sports complex. We could have a little league ballpark with several fields for the different age groups of baseball and softball. We can have several soccer fields, and a couple of fields for Pop Warner football. Then in this area we could have a senior area with outdoor shuffleboard, horseshoes, basketball courts, and some tennis courts. The homes would be on a street on the backside of the property, separated from the sports complex by this little spring fed creek and the tree line. We will build up the tree quantities so it is very dense between the two areas. This will also give us a continuous cart path from the high density housing area down the road, through the shopping center, past here, through the sports complex, and into the business park."

Tiny's dad, Charlie, said, "It would be good for the kids in the park too. There would be another place for them to play."

I added to the plan, "We could have one of those county guys that supervise the playground and have after school and summer programs."

Tiny spoke this time, in almost a question way, "I think I know where you're going with this, but you tell me the next big benefit of doing this."

Smiling, I told them the plan, "Since we have improved the property on both sides of that property, the land value is skyrocketing. If we donate that property to the county as a completed sports complex, we will have at least a two million dollar tax write-off. We may have to bust it up for deductions over two years."

"You are sneaky, Sharp. It really won't cost you anything, as you'll have S&S buy the property from the park corporation for whatever you want, then build the complex with S&S funds. Will you donate this from the original S&S Corporation, or from the new business park corporation?"

"I forgot about that, Tiny, the park and the buildings are all owned by a different corporation than the businesses. All of the businesses, except the hotel and Sue's plant, are owned by S&S, but the park, the buildings, and the hotel are in a privately held corporation. I guess you'll have to earn your money, Tiny, and figure it out. Either that, or give it to your two assistants, and find out which one comes up with the best way to handle it."

Terrell, who had become a regular with us since he had married Deanne, said, "Can you plan on extending the cart paths on the other side of the road too. The new subdivisions over there are going to have some nice homes, and if you have the cart paths in place before they go up, they won't build the outer fence so close to the right of way. You are going to need another light, cart crossing, and cross walk, down here just on the other side of the park, for the new Denny's that you're putting in there. You'll need another up here, on the other side of the new shopping center you want to build, to get to the little plaza that you're building. Behind that plaza is going to be Pony Estates, with the big golf course and possible country club. We will have to wait to know what to do there. The developer has not shared all of his plans yet."

Phil said, "I keep forgetting that our construction company is building all over the place, and that you are developing land everywhere up and down the road here. We need to expand the cart plant. Just our local sales are taking up the capacity, and my men want a selection of carts so they have inventory to sell. Since you started to repair broken ones in the cart shop, that whole business is really busy. Better expand the cart building too, Steve."

Tiny nodded his agreement, "One of my guys said the cart factory was over sixty days behind on orders, and we are also falling behind on repairs. We've run out of booths for the mechanics, so we'll have to add on to the building, both at the plant level and in the repair area. I'll get on it and get it started."

Abe said, "Damn, it feels good to have activity like this. It's like when we started. Every time I turned around there was something being built or improved. I like it."

Tiny asked, "So, how soon are you going to do all of this?"

I answered by saying, "Ben has already received zoning for the streets, cart paths, and the residential. We have permits to join the sewers and utilities to the park system. It won't be difficult at all to do the infrastructure for the residential, and the sports complex will be on a separate electrical grid because of all the lights. The county is dancing all over the place wanting to announce something, but I'm going to make them wait until the sports area is nearly done. That way, locals won't be disappointed that it isn't ready overnight."

Abe asked, "When do you think you'll open the sports complex?"

I had to consider that a second. "Probably in time for the fall baseball, softball, soccer, and football leagues. A lot depends on whether we can get enough people to build it. I want to get the houses done first though, so everyone can move in and be neighbors."

Terrell asked, "Are you going to go ahead and build that McDonald's on the other side of Denny's, and the Burger King up near the little plaza?"

"Probably, Terrell, but I don't know whether I want to be the franchise owner. I may just lease the building to one of the big owners in the area. The demographics for the two fast food places is perfect, so it shouldn't be hard to get someone to manage a joint for us," I said.

Terrell said, "I know you don't like those restaurants, but we do need those breakfast sandwiches, and you were able to get the zoning and permitting for them so easily, that it should tell you that people like those places."

I rolled up all the plats, and sat with Sue and Mercy, holding Stevie a little. He was getting pretty squirmy and wanted to be down on the floor all the time. He could stand in my lap, but was still too unsteady to stand on the floor by himself without holding onto something. He was beginning to pull himself up though, and he could scoot and crawl across the floor pretty fast.

Hanna told Sue that she had a full sewing class who all looked like they would make it to becoming seamstresses and machine operators. Sue told Hanna to just keep training. We would build more plant if we ran out of space, as we had more offers for contract work than we could fulfill. The plants had a reputation for quality. They were fair priced, not the cheapest, but very fair. The quality though, is what made everyone want Sue's plants to produce their goods. Joan and Betty had even gone to Sue's original manufacturer, and some of the subcontractors, to teach our method of producing goods.

Sunday had Sue, Mercy, Stevie, and me visiting the big house on Bay Shore. The grandparents were back from Costa Rica to take care of local business. Ben's law firm now operated almost completely without his presence. He had several attorneys, who were working toward partnerships in the firm, doing the grunt work.

Beth had sold her condo and lived exclusively with Ben at the Bay Shore address, in Costa Rica, and on Key West. The couple was enjoying their time together, without having to explain the sibling relationship, while they were out of town.

The dinner was excellent and still served by the house staff that Ben retained here in Tampa. He was very excited about the addition I was making to the park, even though it did not affect the park corporation's profit or loss. We all felt the additional cart traffic would be good for the restaurants. Beth and Ben had an equal share of the park, as did Sue and I. The only way to get Ben off my back was to let him invest in our businesses. The income from the park was actually many times more than enough for Sue's and my life style. Other than our airplane habit, we really didn't spend money for us personally. We did have a nice Expedition for Sue and Mercy to get around in. The two still used the original Mustang convertible when they didn't have Stevie with them.

After dinner, Ben and I played pool for an hour or so before Beth said that Merlin and Missy were coming in for a week to play at the comedy club that Ben had used Sue's money to buy. Sue almost got huffy, but Ben said, "It was a good deal, it has just been renovated and it serves as a multi-function entertainment club. You can have dancing, comedy, or even stage shows."

Ben said it was perfect for small audiences, for popular bands or singers, and the best part, it came with a great manager. He said he would introduce us soon, as the manager was dying to meet us and to beg us to build and open an adjoining steak house. The manager wanted to make the club into a supper club for some venues, so the steak house kitchen could do double duty.

Sue rolled her eyes and tried to explain to Ben, "Dad, I'm going to have another baby. I'm going to be very, very busy. If you keep this up, I'll have to hire people just to look after my personal stuff and that's what you're supposed to do. Mom, please tell him to let up. Steve and I do not need any more investments. What we need to buy is more time."

Ben promised that this would not be a burden. Sue and I hoped not. All I could think of is, now I'll have to have Tiny check out one more place. If this keeps up, he'll have to get a third or fourth accountant.

Back home, the crew was excited that Merlin and Missy were coming to town. Most of them knew the comedy club and said it was a great place to go for an evening.

Tiny said he would get with Ben so he could meet the manager and work with him.

On Monday, Terrell began initiating all of our plans in association with building out the residential street and the sports complex. He would first have to hire at least fifty men for the Denny's and the two fast food places. He would need probably another fifty to begin the residential plan.

He needed to begin the construction of the small shopping area, down the road next to the high-end housing area. A grocery chain wanted to build with us, but I felt the big Publix I wanted to build across the road, just to the north of us would be fine, and there was also a Winn-Dixie nearby. The real estate company we were going to use for property management had requests for leases already, but we were waiting to see what kind of money we could get for the space as we built it.

By Friday, there was activity at the Denny's site, the two fast food sites, and the residential street. All of our future homeowners had been working with architects to design the homes they wanted. Terrell and Deanne wanted to have a house in our exclusive neighborhood so they were involved in the planning too. Sue and I were going to carry the mortgages at low or no interest. In most of their cases, they already had the money; they would just use what they got from their own property and put some with it. A condition to the property deal was that the house could only be resold to the original landowners, Sue and me. We did this so we could keep the property within our group.

Ryan and Michelle had breakfast with us on Monday and were back for supper with us on Friday. We were all going to the magic show at the comedy club Friday evening. Merlin and Missy had brought six other magicians to entertain the audiences with them. Mercy was included in the cast to do her mind reading and illusion show. She said she was rusty and had to practice at home a lot.

The show had begun on Thursday and would run through the Sunday after next. After the opening night, the rest of the tour was sold out. The newspapers wrote up some excellent reviews, plus one of the TV anchors who attended the first show, featured it on the local television news.

The magic show was great. Merlin did some spectacular tricks, including an escape while under a big black sheet held by members of the audience. The other magicians had rabbits hopping on the stage, snakes slithering across it, as well as birds flying from peoples' hair. The show was really busy.

A spectacular part of the show was Mercy and Missy on stage together. They did what was almost a vaudeville act. They both used wands to mesmerize the audience with masses of illusions. Mercy had Sue and me stand, and pointed her wand at her Mom. Sue and I heard Mercy's voice clearly in our heads, "Tell her my news, tell mom what we are doing."

Sue and I must have both thought "Baby," as at that instant Missy almost screamed. She ran to Mercy and hugged and hugged her. Together they began walking off stage. Just before they parted the curtain, Mercy turned and pointed her wand at the middle of the stage, and poof, Merlin appeared there, looking confused.

He saw the ladies leaving and said, "I guess I need to entertain you folks with one more trick. He held up both hands that spewed a deck of cards from each hand until they were all in the air at the same time then he clapped his hands. The cards froze in place.

He picked a couple of people from the audience to pick out a card and hold it so he couldn't see it. Then he had the other cards fall into small baskets.

He had the two audience helpers hold the card in their hands face down and draped a small black cloth over their hands holding the cards. Merlin used his fingers, like guns shooting at the scarves, and pulled the cloth from their hands. The cards were gone. Merlin pointed at two women who had low cut tops, showing ample cleavage. One was Ruth.

Merlin turned to one of the ladies and said, "You have plenty of room to hide something," Merlin produced a wand and pointed it at the lady andraised it. The card appeared rising from her cleavage. One helper confirmed that it was the card he had chosen.

The next guy was asked what card he had chosen. As he spoke the name of the card, Merlin waved his wand and the card rose from Ruth's cleavage. The audience loved it. I guess that was a favorite trick of Merlin's troupe.

He used that trick to conclude his act, and the house lights came on. We all went home to relieve our kids' babysitters. Our house was the perfect place for all the little ones, as the babysitters would have company, safety, and the house to use for food and entertainment.

Ben and Beth had traveled home with us so they could visit with Stevie, but he was sound asleep. They said they would stay the night, so the two of them enjoyed the bar with our crew, before going off to bed.

Missy and Merlin had come home with us, as Missy wanted more information from Mercy, and she was going to make Mercy be the one to tell Merlin.

Before the evening was over, Merlin had his arm draped over my shoulder, telling me in a tipsy voice, that he was so happy his daughter was going to have a baby. He said he had always been afraid that Mercy was going to go through life without giving them a grandbaby, but Sue and I had made it possible.

Missy and Mercy were happy, and surprised that Merlin took it so well. Missy gave me a healthy kiss and said, "It's a good thing I'm beyond child bearing age, or I would beg Sue to let you give me one too."

That'll get a rise out of you.

The mini-party slowed to a stop, so I shut down the patio and locked up for the night, joining my wife and our special friend, who had become a second wife, to hold each other before we slept.

That night, as the two lay with their heads on my shoulders, Sue observed, "Mercy, your breasts are already swelling. Since mine have finally become more normal looking, you're going to catch me soon."

As Sue reached across me and caressed Mercy's swelling breasts, she said to me, "Will you enjoy having two sets of big breasts to play with? Will it make up for mine not being so big anymore?"

I hugged Sue to me and kissed her, saying, "I think your breasts are beautiful. They obviously still fascinate me, the way I'm always playing with them. They are so much softer now, they make me want to kiss and play with them even more."

I hugged Mercy to me and kissed her, "You're growing larger breasts so you can give your baby the nourishment it will need. I'm going to enjoy playing with them though before he gets here."

Mercy pulled away and looked at me, "How do you know it's a he?"

"I hadn't thought of it, but you'll have a boy I'm sure. He'll probably pop out doing tricks, levitating, and talking to us in our minds."

Mercy kissed me back and snuggled into me, "I wondered whether you would pick up on whether it was a boy or not. You felt it on your own."