Chapter 77

I woke up to soft kisses on my neck. I turned to greet Lisa's lips as she was kissing me with big tears streaming down her face.

"What's the matter, Honey? Is there something wrong?"

"No, Chuck, I'm just so happy to become a mother. This is something so special to me. I'll have a chance to love my children the way Mama Peaches loved me. You know, I think that Mama and my dad may have been more than just friends. Mama told me that she had comforted Dad for many years when my mother passed away, until he got sick and died. Mama said that she thought Dad just got tired of living without my mom. I know how he felt now. I love you so much and we have made those inside me, so we'll have proof of our love forever."

Lisa softly whispered between gentle kisses. She said, "Feel them? They are moving around in there, doing their morning exercises. I suppose they're doing forms."

Behind me, I heard Wanda say, "Would you please get out of here so the rest of us can sleep? If you want to do forms, go do them."

Lisa giggled and told me, "Go do your Tai Chi so that you will feel good about today."

Not having the slightest idea of what time it was, I slid from bed, put my peg, shorts, and T-shirt on after using the bathroom for a quick toothbrushing and shave.

Mina was the only one in the kitchen and gave me a serious hug and lip kiss that wanted to wake up other parts of my body. The lady may be about Missy's or Beth's age, but she still had a body that said, 'I'm all woman.' She asked, "Do you want coffee?"

"Not yet, Mina, I'm going to do some stretches or forms called 'Tai Chi'. It's like exercise, but not stressful. I'll be back in about twenty minutes."

The area on the side of the house where the big birds enjoyed their morning fruit was grassy, so I stayed in that area and went through my forms, beginning slowly and gradually speeding up. Each set requires that you go slow to stretch, prolong it through each stance, and then to go through the set faster a little at a time until you were executing the moves as rapidly as you would while sparring.

I finished with my slow, extremely peaceful, full-body forms. I looked up and saw, Wanda, Lisa, Taiying, Sing, Brandy, Tiani, Jane, Frieda, Betty, and Mickey finish with me. Wanda said, "I suppose we could run down the hill and jump in the pool or the ocean." Tom, his women, and the condo girls were sitting on the porch watching.

Mickey said, "I love that. Do you do them often?"

Frieda told her, "Almost every morning that it isn't raining. We usually jump in the pool for a good cardio workout afterwards."

Mickey questioned all of us, "Do you mean that you do this before coming over to breakfast?"

Tiani was feeling frisky and leaped into my arms. She told me, "Use me as a weight, and do some curls with me. I'm just about the right weight for you."

"I need to be careful with you, Tiani; you know that you are carrying our son."

Tiani stood in front of me and said, "Don't say that. This is going to be a girl. I already have a boy."

Oops, I supposed no one had told her what was probably coming. I somehow knew it was going to be a boy. The tiny mother, who was also a mother-to-be, sighed as she said, "Oh well, I guess I'll have to be like Mom and keep trying until I get a girl."

I wonder if she will do that. Brandy will have to build on to the house if the girls keep delivering kids.

The coffee was good as I sat on the porch enjoying the warm island smells and those coming from the kitchen. Dewey and Steve came out carrying a pitcher of Dewey's special morning mix. Tom and his women, along with Betty joined us. She was being very social lately. I wondered if she was getting tired of captaining the big fishing boat.

Steve asked, "When do you want to go home? I'm good for another day if you have things you want to do."

"I'm good for another day, Chuck," Dewey said, as he sipped his drink. He then asked, "When did you want to go to Hawaii to check out how the remodeling is coming along."

Brandy had Danny on her hip, and told Dewey, "Let's not go until the work is done. The girls and I will want to go over and do the decorating before we want the whole family to come. It won't take but a couple of days to fill the house up this time. We're only expanding the house out another forty feet, although we're actually doubling the size. This will give us more suites upstairs, but best of all is that we'll have more room for kids next to the master bedroom, and a much larger kitchen/family room and dining area. We'll be able to have two big tables like the patio and we can have another table with chairs stored in the garage."

I was startled at the size the house was going to be. I looked at Brandy as if I was looking over the top of glasses I didn't have, and asked, "The house is forty by two hundred, right?" Brandy nodded. "And you're adding another forty feet to the entire two hundred feet?" Brandy nodded again. "The house is going to be bigger than our home in Tampa. Holy cow, Brandy; you're talking about adding sixteen thousand square feet to the existing sixteen thousand square feet." Brandy just nodded.

Brandy became a little defensive, and said, "That's why we have to move the pool. I want the porch larger too. You guys enjoy sitting out there, especially in the morning, so it needs to be bigger. I don't like the pool where it is now because it blocks the view too much, so I'm putting it on the side of the house next to the ball fields. The little ones can still get to it easy with steps from the porch over there. We have to keep the fence up so they only go in when we're there to watch them. We needed the room, Chuck. We don't have the patio, so the house has to be our house, Steve's and Dewey's houses, and the patio all in one place. I'm having the kitchen expanded too so that we'll have two stoves and a bigger commercial fridge like at Steve's. You know we're going to have all our families come for visits, so we need the room in case everyone decides to come at once."

I sat back with my second Dewey special and grinned, "You can build on any way you want, Honey. Heck, even add a third floor with elevators. I just cleaned out a couple of casinos, so we're good. I love it that you enjoy having more and more space. You know this will require more of the sexy housekeepers you've employed, and make sure we have a large enough hot tub for all of us."

Now I had sparked something in Brandy. She said, "I think we need some cottages like we have in Tampa for guests, parents, or for our friends who might want some privacy. We could put cottages up in a row along the tree line in the back like we have in Tampa. We could make them the same natural looking little grass shack style."

Mina came out and called for help to bring breakfast out. Brandy came out of her reverie talking about the expansion of the Hawaiian home. She handed Dan to me, and told me, "Hold him until I get his breakfast. All he's had is some breast milk so far."

I was looking at Dan and thought to myself, 'I wonder if he's hungry?'

"I'm hungry, Daddy. Mommy is talking too much again." I quickly looked around to make sure that what I just heard wasn't heard by anyone else.

This was another 'Oh shit' moment because Dan was listening to me think and thought the words back to me. I'm not sure he recognizes what he did, but it made me wonder if the kids were already communicating and didn't even realize they were doing it in their heads. "Scary, isn't it?" came from a voice that was probably Missy's. She was becoming as much of a snoop as Mercy.

I was listening to the kids as closely as possible while they ate, to hear if any of them realized that they could communicate without the spoken word. Etta felt me and said aloud to me after breakfast, "You know that it has to do with your family's happiness. The happier and more content you are, the more all our gifts are going to flourish. I wish your mother could be here. She would go nuts with all your kids and the discovery of their gifts. I'm being her surrogate, and I have to tell you that my gift has become stronger. Missy and Mercy both say theirs is stronger lately too. Just keep your family happy, Chuck."

This was something that I had to think about more, but what I wanted to do was hide away in a studio and let my mind create some music. I was hearing some really strong blues riffs and I wanted to see if my hands could reproduce them. Bonita and Lizzy had taken off with the other kids, so I told everyone I was going to the studio for a few minutes.

Miguel quickly ran me over to the resort island and I walked back to the studio. We had keypads that let us put in our code to get in Instead of a key lock. The cleaning people had their code, and the rest of us had codes so there was a record of who went in/out and when.

I pulled my old Fender Stratocaster out, tuned it, and began picking to see what would come out. I was thinking about my current family, and my mom, dad, and sister who were now gone, the whole time. What was coming from the guitar was some slow, mournful, true blues that made you want to cry. I kept thinking for some strange reason that B.B. King was sitting next to me with his crooked grin and picking with me in his stop/start style. I could hear his music as I played mine. It was eerie when I felt the presence of Stevie Ray, and played a couple of his riffs I loved so much, but went back to playing my own while hearing his and feeling him with B.B. and me. Stevie even joked how the 'Blues Boy' was laying them riffs down. My mind raced through the talent that had left us, thinking of Jimi Hendrix, his intricate fingering, and the lessons he taught me about using sustain. There was the presence of Jerry Allman and his happy guitar. I was hearing Rory Gallagher's sliding fingers and the busy fingers of Frank Zappa. Gary Moore had to show up in my head with his flying fast fingers, of course. I heard the screaming rock of Randy Rhoads and how Kurt Cobain was always making fun of something. I was surrounded in the studio by greatness that was forever lost to the world, but would never be forgotten. I was listening and playing all their styles as they were the ones I learned from. All these ghosts were having fun with me in the studio.

It was as if my mind cleared all of a sudden, and an original tune came from my fingers. I was hearing and playing the blues the way it was supposed to be done. This was a time I wished I had the brass and those who could play the guitar and the bass at the same time. I could hear all the parts. I could imagine and mentally hear Lisa wailing in the background, giving the music some validity. I needed this to be written so we could do it again and again. I already knew the title, as it just had to be 'Blues Remembered'.

I turned the keyboard and the midi computer on. That's when I noticed the sound recorder had been turned on. I hadn't noticed it before.

There's no time like the present, so I played the theme as well as the piano could do it, but I knew what this would sound like when the guitars played. Every guitarist has his/her own style and would put a different expression in it. I wanted all the sliding between changes, and Lisa would pull some strings and let the sustain carry her as she picked through an entire chord while the sustain covered her. I even heard Kenny's way of trying to copy Jimi H's method of playing.

I began handwriting what the guitar should be doing when I finished with the theme, along with the effects needed at different places. Those lost greats would have a blast with the modern effects and recording controllers, but they did give those of today the inspiration to play with the fever necessary for good blues.

I saved everything, and even downloaded some of what I had played while I was visiting with the ghosts. This had been some special time. I wanted Lisa and Bonita to listen to that hour I had been lost to dead guys; music. I hope they would visit again so I could listen to their inspiration.

I put my guitar away and locked up. I didn't turn the controller off because I somehow knew Elmer had been there while I was in dreamland and would return. The one thing I knew was that I wanted the whole group to work on that piece.

I found Steve and Dewey playing pool back at the house. They were enjoying themselves and invited me to join them. I told them both; "I'll join you with something to wet my whistle, but I'll watch a couple of pros play each other." That brought a laugh.

Lisa walked in and gave me a hug and a very intense kiss. She said, "You had quite an experience in the studio today. I heard you and I heard everything you were thinking. All your kids must have been listening to you also, because they were all sitting in the lounge here staring as if mesmerized. Izzy, Stephano, and Sue Ellen couldn't understand what was happening. You're going to have to quit broadcasting so your kids don't hear your musings."

Who could believe the kids would become aware the way they were.

Lisa made the comment, "You know that we need to devote some time to create an alternate life for both of us. We can easily be more musically popular than ninety percent of the people out there because we play such a variety of music. Elmer's releasing blues and country albums while we've been doing some decent jazz. All we need is a few singles in any style to catch on internationally. We need to do a few pieces in Spanish for release in South America to really confuse the issue. Our future would be set if we were to concentrate on music for a year or so. Your two future women would be happy, and all your present women would be happy because you were hanging out here or touring, and we know how to tour with the entire family."

"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, is this your dream? Is this what you want could happen? Are we good enough to think we can command the income to sustain tours with all the support staff and equipment to be successful?"

My bulging mate said, "Without doubt, my love. We can't be going on tour for a year or so, or at least until the new babies are getting around. We need to write and record so much music between now and then, and our place in the music stores will be huge. We can invite the Expedition to join us sometimes, but I want us to do this ourselves. That's you and me with Bonita and Lizzy. Take your pick of bassist, drummers, and backup guitars among the kids. We'll need some regular percussion, and we'll have to have Pop, Rags, and the guys to fill in for some of the good brassy music, of course. We have the voices for vocals and backup, so think about it. It's something I can do with this huge tummy and when I have four little ones hanging off my tits. We can make this a family affair. That's not a bad name for the country flavor either."

It did make me smile and laugh by the way she put it. It was something I dreamed of when I was a teen. I had already exceeded what I ever expected with music. My mom always told me my music was special and would be heard around the world someday. I suppose some of it already has. I would need to create even more now if I wanted something like this to work.

What about law enforcement? What was I going to do about the Marshal Service and the Secret Service Ops Group? Could I keep up with them, as well as focusing on music? Would it be fair or right to do? I did know that having those credentials kept me out of trouble, and even gave me the ease to defend ourselves against those guys on the Riviera. I wondered what the fallout from that had been.

Frieda came to where Lisa and I were in the lounge and handed me my phone. "This thing has been going berserk for the last hour. Find out what Ben wants."

I didn't bother listening to the voicemail messages, but just pushed the button to return the missed call. Ben answered with, "Where the hell are you, and what have you been doing to deposit that kind of money in more than one bank. You have to tell me in advance if you're going to do something like that. Those two banks are about to throw you out for putting that kind of money on deposit in a plain account."

"Nice to hear from you too, Ben."

"Okay, Chuck, I'm sorry but you have both those banks in a tizzy. Where in the hell did you get multiple billion dollars?"

I needed to tease the man a little. "I found it lying on the sidewalk on the Riviera. Someone must have won it and dropped it."

There was a long pause then, "No, you didn't. Those were direct transfers from two casinos' holding companies. How did you win over ten billion dollars?"

"Well first, Ben. I won the money based on the Euro, so I won what I think is a buck eleven in dollars for every Euro. That inflates the amount a little. Secondly, I was doing Dewey a favor, so I went overboard a little. Now we have to figure out how to use that money to do something good with it."

"Christ, Chuck, who would have believed the kid who won a lawsuit could be the possessor of probably ten or fifteen billion. That's billion, as in nine zeros. Your holdings already cause my staff grief and now you're going to add a few more billion to the problem."

"Just pay all the taxes where the money landed, and we'll go from there. I had to pay taxes in France and Spain on the winnings. The casinos should have sent the statement with the transfer, so use the information to put the money where it can earn some interest and be available for some new ventures I'm trying to set up."

Ben asked, "Do you really want to bring all of it into the country? How about bringing about half in, pay the taxes on that, and use it as you need. I'll put it in interest bearing accounts so that it isn't totally idle until you find a way to blow it. What you keep below the southern borders can be used for quick investments. I'll be able to risk some bucks on a few ventures that I'd love to play with having that much available. Jesus, Chuck, you don't only make money on everything you touch, you go out and just command money to flow into your accounts."

"Okay, Ben, but know that as crazy as it sounds, I did it to help a friend. So are we set? I'm probably going to be around home a little more in the near future except for going to Hawaii and here in Costa Rica. You know you probably have all the money you could ever need or spend, so why are you still investing so radically?"

The man sighed as he stated, "I love this stuff. You keep giving me the numbers to play with and that makes my day, week, or month. This to me is like your music is to you. I love to make a dollar bill break into a bunch of tens."

"Go for it, Ben."

He hung up and I wondered at how confused those two small banks felt when they received the transfer of billions of Euros.

My phone rang as luck would have it. It was the contact. He asked me to look up the information and call him back with security set up. I was looking up the number when Lisa came over and asked, "What could they want?"

I made the call and went through the security protocol. The contact asked, "Were you just on the Riviera? This sounds nuts, but if you were there yesterday, how are you already back in Costa Rica, and what were you doing there anyway? The CIA has come up with video of you with your current Deputy Marshal bodyguard, your office manager, who is one of our observers, and some of your friends winning a bunch of money in the high roller pits. Do you just use your Star Trek device and materialize where you want?"