Chapter 9 #3
Knowing that she was right, he did wonder what they were all going to do with their lives if they weren’t working all the time.
Become lazy rich people? He didn’t see that happening for very long.
In fact, he was thinking that if he didn’t have his books to write, he’d be bored out of his mind about now.
He was always at his happiest when he was working and didn’t think that his family was going to be any different.
They’d been working since before coming here, and he didn’t know how they’d do it without a job every day.
But he kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t going to comment on anything just yet. They might well really be ready for this mass retirement, and he was barking up the wrong tree. Time would tell, he supposed, and he was looking forward to what new thing was going to bring his family together again.
Demi was going to make dinner tonight as it was their cook’s night off.
They were going to have homemade corn dogs and French fries.
One of his favorite things to make for his family.
As he began prepping for dinner, Mandy came in to help him.
She didn’t do much, but she was good to have around as company.
He asked her what her plan was now that she’d decided to retire, too.
“ I’m going to join the school PTA. Not to be in charge but to be a part of the kids’ activities.
It’s been nice being able to have first-hand information from you when you’re there listening, but I want to be a part of it for a while.
At least until the boys are out of elementary school.
I might like it enough to run it someday.
” She laughed, and he joined her. She wouldn’t run it.
He had a feeling that she’d only go to a couple of meetings and decide that it wasn’t for her.
He didn’t like gossip anymore than Mandy did, and that’s basically what it all was.
“ You said that they’re having a meeting soon.
I’ll go just to see what’s going on. I don’t have to join anything to be around, do I? ”
“ No. Most of the people there are only there for the cookies and juice afterwards. I know a couple of people who are loud about things, but that’s not for me.
I only go because I’m required to by the school board, because I work there.
I don’t think I’m going to enjoy it as much as you might.
They do gossip a great deal.” She said that she didn’t want to be a part of that.
“ I knew you wouldn’t. Sometimes, it’s all I can do to get through the mornings with so much going around. ”
“ Yes, I wouldn’t care for that. I’ll just sit in the back and watch what goes on.” He nodded as he made the first batch of fries. “ I’ll call the kids down. I know that they had homework, and I hope they got it done. Otherwise, we’re going to be up for a while.”
The rest of the evening, after dinner, they did work on homework.
It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
Just some reading to do and some math homework.
It would be the end of the terms soon, and they’d have to get them into some activities around the town to keep them busy, but he knew that they’d love that.
Now that their pool was in, they would spend a great deal of time sitting around it and enjoying the summer months. He knew that he was going to.
Getting them ready for bed that night, he forgot that tomorrow was Friday.
He had to make pancakes for the older two tomorrow and then cook them at school for his other two sons.
It was fun having the first meal of the day with them.
He never tried to change things up with them anymore.
Just went with the flow of things like normal.
Messing with routines could cause a meltdown, and he wasn’t ready for that early in the morning.
After the boys were all in bed, he and Mandy sat in the living room and watched some television. There wasn’t really anything that he watched, but it was nice to catch up on the news. There was a lot going on in the news of late.
Going to bed with Mandy was always a thrill for him.
She would come to bed all warm and snuggly, and he’d be asleep in no time.
Once in a while, they’d talk about their day, but not often.
They were busy parents of four boys, and they didn’t have time to be there for them if they were exhausted all the time.
He loved his growing family and was glad that he got to share it with Mandy, the one and true love of his life.
Rolling to his side, taking Mandy with him, he closed his eyes.
It was then that he realized that he’d forgotten to order for the school and would have to do that first thing in the morning.
Glad for this time to be relaxed, he decided that when they took the trip to DC this summer, he was going to hotel it.
Or stay with Dusty and Shipley in their house.
Camping was fun, but he wanted to see the sights more than he wanted to be worrying about water levels in his tanks.
He was up and showered before his alarm went off.
As soon as he sat down at his computer to order the next week’s food, he realized that he had done it.
He was getting forgetful in his old age and decided to tell Mandy about it.
She’d get a kick out of what he’d done and laugh with him.
Or at him. He found that either way, he was going to be happy.
As soon as he got breakfast finished up for the two who were in middle school, it was time to go to work.
Demi enjoyed his job of cooking for the kids and thought he would for as long as it took to get his other two onto the next level.
After work, he decided that he needed to get a few things for home.
The cook would usually order what he needed, but she was on vacation and wouldn’t be back for another few days.
He was enjoying cooking for his family on the nights that she was off, but he didn’t want to do it all the time.
The clean-up was messy, and he wanted to spend time with the kids.
They usually helped him with cooking, but they usually made a mess bigger than if he did it by himself, but he never complained when they wanted to help.
Spending time with them was the best part of his day.
They were going to have burgers on the grill tonight, and then they were going to make their own sundaes for dessert.
It was really messy to make, but they all appreciated that time of the meal, and he couldn’t turn them down when that was what they wanted.
He was just leaving the store when he heard from Mandy.
“ They said they’d been wondering when I was going to make the move to join you at home.
” He said that it was great and loved her.
“ I love you too. I’m so excited. I only have a few more classes to teach before they start bundling them all together.
Just like you said. It’ll be tough getting used to being home all the time, but I think that I can handle it. ”
“ I’m sure that you will be able to. I can’t wait until we get into a good schedule with the kids so that we can be around them more.
” She told him that was what she was looking forward to as well.
“ Good. I wonder who will be next to leave their job. It might be Knox. I know that he was hoping to have more to do with the business, but with Zander retiring, he might well do it as well.”
“ Let’s hope we don’t all go crazy with being at home all the time. I don’t want us to fight all the time when we’re together.” He said he didn’t see that happening. “ I’m going to let you go so that you can finish up what you’re doing.”
He was home in another ten minutes and decided that he was going to make brownies to go with the sundaes. He was even going to make some hot fudge to go with them.