Chapter 66

Saturday morning, I was sitting with Glenda discussing the explosion of my family and how sneaky my ladies were to bring in Dewey and family, along with Merlin and Missy, without giving me advance warning.

Glenda was brushing my hair for me as Kathy came out in one of the girl's terrycloth robes. As she sat down she observed, "You've been brushing Steve's hair since you two first began having coffee together. I think I'm jealous."

"Well, I'm just as jealous, Kathy, I bet you get to do things with Steve that I would enjoy as well," Glenda chided.

"As it should be, Glenda, I am one of his women you know," Kathy said arrogantly. "You know, of course, that Steve's women have asked me to stay and have even made me put my clothes in their closet. I've moved in and I am a permanent resident now."

Glenda laughed, "Someone sure has given you a confidence pill. You're so cock sure of yourself now, it's hard to believe you're the same girl."

Kathy got up and sat on my lap, "You know what gave me that confidence Glenda? That little creature in there with this guy's middle name gave me my new confidence. For some reason, when Greg was born I knew my life, my kids' lives, and even my folks lives, would all be changed for the better. Greg has always had a peacefulness about him. He's not very loud or pushy, but he makes you happy to just be with him."

Glenda said, "Kind of like Stevie. He doesn't make all the noise like CJ or Rob but he gets the others to do what they should be doing. He's always getting one or the other to stay out of trouble. Susan says that Steve was like that when he was little. And if you watch, little Mike and Liz are the same way. Sean is always up to something, but Mike and Liz are always keeping her in line."

Juanita, Sue, and Mercy came out with our kids. Stevie and Greg came up and climbed into Kathy's lap, who was in my lap. Liz and Mike both went to Glenda and were saying "up peez," while extending their little arms.

Sue asked Kathy, "Did you catch our husband letting some hussy brush his hair?"

"Yeah, I caught her red-handed. But she says I get other benefits so to hush up over it."

Juanita said, "We get very good benefits, but we all still like to brush his hair, and things like that to let him know how much we care."

Maggie came in about the time Bessie came out from her room. The two women were forming a friendship along with Glenda that would be fun for the three ladies.

As the Saturday morning crowd began filtering in, it became obvious who was going to put in some extra time to take advantage of Steve's generous offer. Tom and Al who usually went fishing on Saturday, said they were going to work in the utility body shop as they were behind on some orders. Apparently they had organized the entire crew to work today in order to turn out several service bodies to catch up.

When Abe came by, he said the superlift people were all working today, but that had been fairly usual for a while. He said unless I told them not to, they may work Sunday as well. I told Abe to tell them to take Sunday off. Everyone needs a day of rest. I told him to have them work an extra two hours a day this coming week and that would give them ten more hours instead of Sunday's eight.

Carl and Tiny were in deep discussion as to how to move down. Tiny's dad, the park manager, said that the house that was going to be empty was only six months old as the couple who had bought it had been transferred to California. He was military, so it was something he couldn't get out of. They, including Bessie, went off to talk to the couple about taking over the payments on the trailer and to see if it was something they wanted.

Ben came out from the Tampa Bay Shore mansion for some coffee and breakfast; he said that this was becoming the only way to see Beth. She spent so much time out here now he might as well try to find something he can stay in out here too. Sue told him that he could always stay with us and in the same room Beth was staying in when she stayed.

"Yes, you're right. We don't hide anything from you guys anyway. By the way Steve and Sue, I got the probate judge to bump you up for Monday morning. We can see him at nine in his chambers and conclude the whole thing. He'll have his reporter there so we can make this legal. I'll have the tax checks and the last of the property title transfers to file. It shouldn't take more than an hour."

Sue grimaced, "You could have given us a little more warning, Dad. I'll have to postpone a class that I was going to."

Ben said, "You have to take what you can get, and I called in a favor to get this thing moved up on the docket."

"It'll work out. I'm sure I can convince everyone to start late and finish a little later," Sue said, resigning herself to have to adjust her schedule.

Ben had something else he wanted to talk to me about so he had me come up to the bar with him while he poured some coffee. "I hate to tell you this but there will be Federal tax implications on the Mexican oil deal. I guess you never get that far from Uncle Sam that he doesn't need our support. I'm just telling you this so you don't commit too much of it to something and get caught short."

"Thanks for letting me know Ben," I said thinking about the dozen or so projects I had in mind. "I'll let it all wash out before doing too much. I'll get the accounting firm to begin working on it so it's handled correctly."

Dewey and Sheila came out smiling. "It's so nice to get to come down here as the weather warms up. It's still cold and windy up in the northwest so this is a nice break. Merlin and Missy have been having some terrible weather too. Too bad we have to go back tomorrow, but business is business."

That afternoon Kathy said she would like to take a ride this evening. Shawna and Hannah immediately began planning by getting Sandy and Mandy to agree to help with the travel arrangements. Kathy would ride behind me, Sue would ride in the sidecar, Sandy would two up with Mercy, and Mandy would be the chauffeur for Juanita. This would free up the shovel for Dewey and Sheila.

The word was out, so a lot of bikes were being washed, gassed, and serviced. Hank, Jim, and I figured all of our women were about on their last ride. They soon shouldn't ride anymore, as the kids they were carrying were too precious to take a chance with.

Bear and Hap said they were up for a ride, but wanted to go down to the St. Pete clubhouse bar, and Bear asked to swing by his old place in New Port Richey. It was going to be a fairly normal run by the local bars, over to St. Pete, back up to Clearwater, then up to New Port Richey. If we got started early enough, we might try to go to Dade City too, but we probably wouldn't as we were already figuring on around a hundred miles. That might be the most the mothers-to-be could do.

Kathy loved the sidecar addition to the bike she had sold me. When we were looking at it, she gave me a big hug, "When my car broke down, Dad gave me the check you had given him. I was so relieved because I didn't have to wait to get it fixed. The same car is still running great and should last several more years."

After supper, the bunch gathered: Hap and Marge, Bear and Crystal, Charlie and Shawna, Jim and Hannah, Hank and Debbie, Sandy and Mercy, Mandy and Juanita, Dewey and Sheila, and me with Sue and Kathy. The nine bikes sounded good heading out for the evening. Our first stop at big Jim's was fun. Double D came across the bar to get at Kathy. All the people who knew Kathy were all over her and taking all the women off to the side to talk.

The visit to the Vanishing point was the same. Loads of people wanting to monopolize Kathy to find out what she had been doing.

Our trip to St. Pete was fast, as Hap and Bear wanted a little speed relief. Since I was bringing up the rear with Dewey, we let off a little as we noticed we were nudging ninety-five. The St. Pete clubhouse was rocking this night. Apparently, most of the older members from Tampa had moved over to St. Pete in order to distance themselves from the anticipated problems at the Tampa clubhouse. Many of the people knew Kathy and smothered her with hugs as well.

Onion rings were calling to the pregnant women, so we rode up to the Crab Shack in Clearwater to enjoy a bunch of grouper sandwiches and onion rings. We split sandwiches between us, since we didn't need to eat that much and we had ordered a bunch of extra orders of onion rings. There was nothing left.

We actually stayed within the speed limit up to Bear's clubhouse and enjoyed looking over all of the improvements they were doing. While they were on the grounds, Bear gave Crystal a "property of" vest and asked her to humor him this night. Crystal stayed right next to Bear the entire time we were there, then gave the vest back to one of the women before we left. Bear thanked Crystal, saying his men would show her more respect in the future knowing she had given him the right to claim her as property. Crystal didn't seem phased by any of it.

The time was getting late, so we decided to head home. We rode out highway 52 to 41, then south to home. No hassles, no problems, just fun riding. It seemed like every time we went out like that anymore, I almost held my breath hoping nothing would happen to anyone, especially the women, the mothers of our children.

When the question of a hot tub trip came up, the four pregnant women all said to exclude them as they wanted nothing more than to snuggle down in bed. Dewey said that he and Sheila needed their sleep, as they were flying back in the morning.

Missy and Merlin stayed up with Mercy, me, Tiny, Ruth, Ryan, Michelle, Henry, and Nancy, having another drink and a late night snack. It was nice to visit with them all.

As Mercy and I joined Sue and Kathy who were already asleep in bed, I reflected that it had been a pretty uneventful, but not boring Saturday.

I woke about six fifteen, showered, dressed in shorts and T-shirt and went out to the kitchen to find Glenda already reading one of the Sunday papers. There was a hot cup of coffee at an empty stool that she waved to.

"You kids came back early and didn't even go up to the hot tub last night."

"The girls were tired, Sue especially. I think they are done riding until they get their kids on the ground. Even Hannah and Debbie acted like it was more than enough last night."

"How did Kathy like the ride?" Glenda was fishing for something.

"She had a good time. She was welcomed by everyone that remembered her over at Big Jim's and at the clubhouse over in St. Pete. I think she felt good about being with our group."

Glenda was smiling, "So you didn't parade her around like she was your new toy?"

"Not a chance, Glenda. When have I ever done that?" I asked, looking at Glenda funny.

Glenda smiled, "I just wanted to be sure. You and your women took Kathy in pretty fast. I was afraid you all would act funny with her. I'm glad you're showing her the respect she deserves."

Juanita and Kathy came out of the bedroom rubbing their eyes. Juanita said, "This is Sunday, so we need to shower and put on something special. I see you're looking good, Glenda."

Glenda laughed, "Do you guys think you should, with the four new kids and Carl and Bessie here? Dewey and Sheila have seen Sunday mornings, but maybe we should tone it down."

I tried to explain what had happened on Sunday mornings when Ruth came in the door. She was wearing one of her super-sheer gowns that let you know just how well she was built.

"Oh my," Kathy said. "The boys and Dad, especially J.J. will think they died and went to heaven. Barb and Mom are going to want a gown like that too. Mom and I forget to wear appropriate stuff around the boys all the time, so they've seen everything that women have. You'll just provide a nice variety for their eyes."

At that moment, Ryan and Michelle walked in, with Michelle showing as much as Ruth. Kathy said to Juanita, "Let's go clean up and get some of the sexy stuff on. I like to show off."

Maggie came in with a gown the same as Glenda's. It was sexy and showed a lot, but not see-through. The female form was shown as the material lay against the body.

When Juanita and Kathy went into the bedroom, Sue and Mercy came out, already wearing sexy gowns that let the world know how good looking they were.

The patio was soon full of women in see-through gowns, robes that were nothing but net, or in the case of Debbie, Shawna, and Hannah, T-shirts with holes in strategic places. Of course, they all three sat with their feet up on their chairs, showing the viewer how you can tell who is a natural redhead.

When Sheila came out with Dewey and little Dewey, she had on a super-sheer gown similar to Ruth's. She said, "I just love Sunday morning here. Dewey gets so excited, he may have to help me pack."

J.J. walked out to the patio and just stood there gawking. Kathy said, "Close your mouth, Son, something will fly in there."

Soon Ben and Carl were standing next to J.J. with the same expression. Dennis was there this morning and said, "You'll get used to it. They do this every Sunday. Get a load of Aunt Sue, she's got some nice hooters on her." Dennis elbowed J.J., motioning toward Kathy, "Your Mom does too."

Carl and Bessie came out long enough for Bessie to turn around and go back to their bedroom. She later came out in a mature, very sexy gown that showed the viewer a lot of delicious mature cleavage.

Poor J.J.! He didn't know whether to agree with Dennis or get mad because someone was checking out his mom. He became too busy looking at what was displayed to stay concerned over someone's casual remark.

Barbara came out and looked around at everyone then went over to Mercy. They had a conversation then the two disappeared for few minutes. When they came back Barb was wearing one of Mercy's sheer shortie gowns. She strutted right out onto the patio and came over to me climbing up into my lap.

She gave me a kiss on the cheek and laid her head on my chest, grinning at her mother. Tina came up in a fairly sheer gown, but you could plainly see panties on her. Tina stood right in front of me with Barb on my lap, her hands on her hips, saying, "No fair. You just got here and you're already showing off more to Steve than I'm allowed."

Mercy took Tina in and when they reappeared Tina was wearing another shortie sheer gown from the girls' wardrobe. When she walked up, Barb smiled and got up from my lap and said, "You can have a turn too. I'm not stingy."

Kathy, Susan, Mercy, and Sue were holding back their laughter at the two young ladies.

When it was time for Phil and Judy to go to church with several others from the group, which signified that the morning show off period was coming to an end. People disappeared, only to come back later dressed in shorts and tops. I'm sure some had to work off their stimulated libidos after viewing all of the displayed beauty.

Dewey, Sheila, Merlin, and Missy packed up and were taken out to the airport to go back west. Missy said she would be back soon as she wanted to spend more time with my new kids and Kathy. Every time Dewey and I parted, I felt like a brother was leaving. Funny, Dewey and I were closer than Henry and I. Charlie and I, and Jim and I, were close like that too. I guess they were my brothers of a sort.

Later in the afternoon, Henry, Susan, and I were sitting at one of the little tables, enjoying a snack and cup of coffee. Susan said, "When you were small, you always said you wanted a big family. You used to love to go over to the Hendersons' because they had seven kids. Looks like you've got your own big family now."

Henry said, "Nancy loves kids, but because she had to have a hysterectomy when she was a young teen, she can't. We were going to adopt but now she's able to enjoy all of your kids. I never did think too much about it, but it's fun to be around all the little ones, and now these older kids fascinate me. Dennis is already doing some entries for me at work, and Tina has worked with some of the billing people, as well as in payables. J.J. appears smart, so I'm looking forward to when he can begin learning. I enjoy teaching these kids and they earn their wages when they come in."

"I guess I'm lucky all around," I said, happy to be having a little private time with my siblings. "I have you guys with me now and I have my own special family that I hope quits growing after these next four babies come. Thank goodness I can take care of them. When I look at all of them, it scares me a little to know I'm responsible for all of their happiness. There is a lot to live up to when you hold each one and give each one a hug."

"You're doing fine so far, Steve," Susan said smiling. "The four ladies in there are doing their best to make you comfortable with them as a unit. That means they like each other and want you to like them as a group as well. Kathy will be good for your family. She brings a lot of experience with kids. She'll be able to help Sue and Mercy manage their eight as they grow. It's kind of neat that she has little Greg to raise right along with the other older little ones. He's fitting in very well and is already a part of the group."

As we were sitting there, I remembered about Henry's car. "How come you're not working on your car today?"

"I'm done. I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the top and then the whole thing will get one more coat of clear." Henry sat up straighter, showing his interest in the subject. "Jeff found some specs for the optional top and cast one for me. It fits perfectly. That man is a genius when it comes to fiberglass. Whatever you're paying him is not enough. He's also shown some genius with robotics. He says that it's just a hobby but he's incorporated his hobby full scale over at the cart plant. They can run the most popular model through fast now. They can produce about five times the quantity that they used to produce."

"I thought your main area was Quality Wear?" I asked.

"It is. Steve," Henry said. "But if that's all I do, it's too boring, so I try to keep up with what's happening in all of your other shops. Did you know that your T-shirt group just received an order for a thousand gross of your novelty NASCAR T-shirts. That's a huge order. That's a hundred and forty-four thousand T-shirts."

"I didn't hear about that yet," I answered. "Did the order come from Phil's group or your side?"

Henry said, "Neither one, the order came in from Ryan's group. Seems the Atlanta distributorship marketed the T-shirts to a bunch of their customers and the big order is the result. They didn't know the correct pricing, so they priced the T-shirts a little high figuring they would cost a little more. They didn't realize that we made everything in-house, so our costs are pretty low. They will probably turn in an extraordinary profit for the month they deliver."

"Are we going to be able to produce sufficient product for the order to be met on time?"

"Sure, the little plant is doing two shifts and may go to three. The next step is to add on to their building. You know you could easily double the size of their building on the land they have. The construction costs will be high as they used all block in the original construction. You should probably build on using the same construction methods."

"Wow, Henry," I said, in wonderment, "who would have believed that place would be producing so much we're working two shifts and considering building on."

"Well, make hay while the sun shines, Steve. I'm with you on thinking our economy may be superheating. The way housing is going up down here has a false ring to it. If you continue to sell to your employees, be careful so your people don't pay too much. Construction prices are up, but not that much. I heard you are considering more high density condos and zero lot line neighborhoods. You might have the right idea, but make sure your buyers are at about seventy-five to eighty percent of value. They really need equity in the event the bottom falls out of the market."

"I know, Henry," I said nodding. "My thought was to keep selling to employees at '93 prices for as long as we can. We own enough land and it is our construction company, so we should be able to continue to build cheaper than any one else. My idea was to sell to employees only right now to make sure that anyone who wants to buy and has saved up the down payment can do so. You and Tiny set up our own mortgage company and so far it's working. You both know when to pull the plug if we get to working too close. It's our responsibility for each group to make a profit, even if the end product is sold to one of our own. Just keep doing like you are."

Susan said, "It's so funny to hear you two talk business. You two didn't really know each other because you were off at college, Henry, when Steve was still in early elementary school. Steve used to carry around some of your big books, Henry. He said he was going to be a college boy like you."

"I didn't make it to college for very long, did I?" I said this, reflecting on the time before my stint in the military. "It wasn't for me. When I got out of the service, I didn't know what to do with myself again, and that's how I ended up spending my education money on a welding school. I guess I learned just enough to be dangerous."

"You did well, Steve. You've obviously learned a lot going up to Alaska, working out in Oklahoma, then down off the coast of Belize. I heard you didn't spend any money, so you must have read and learned quite a bit."

"I took one of the correspondence courses like Susan took, you know, from the University of Maryland. I have a business management type of degree, but it's not from a big university. It's what you would call a real mail order degree. It may be accredited, but I took the classes to learn something that I didn't ever think I would learn other than in school. I started it when I was in the Marines, but didn't finish until I was down on the platforms."

Henry looked at me incredulously, "You finished and graduated from the University of Maryland?"

Susan said, "He did, Henry. He used my home address for his correspondence address so I saw the certificate, his diploma. He wasn't the top student in his class, but he was in the top twenty-five percent. Not bad for the kid who didn't know what he was going to do."