After getting back into the house and heading up to his office, David took off his jacket and started making his phone calls. He called several contractors, many of which wanted to look at the building that was standing before giving estimates on how long it would take to rebuild it and how much it would cost, which of course David was completely ok with.
After hanging up the phone with the last of the contractors, David made a conference call to his brothers in the band. “Guys, you know how you all beat me to being fathers?”
“Yeah”, they all responded in unison.
“Well, I called to rub in your fucking faces that I finally beat you fuckers at something.”
“Oh really?” Mike asked.
“And what would THAT be, David?” Dan asked.
“I’m gonna be a grandpa.”
“Congrats, brother”, John said.
“That’s great, man”, Mike said.
“Who’d Malachai knock up?” Dan asked.
“What makes you think it’s Malachai, Danny?” David asked.
“Well, I don’t know, David. Jacob is too worried about getting into medical school and being accepted into the Pre- Med program at YOUR Alma Mater to even worry about girls. Plus, you’d kill any boy that even half assed THOUGHT about getting Jordan pregnant. So, logical leap there would be that your eighteen year old has a girl pregnant.”
David laughed. “Well, I don’t think I’m going to be worrying about boys with Jordan anytime soon, but anyway… Danny’s right. It IS Malachai that’s making me a grandfather. The girl’s name is Amanda.”
“You mean that girl that was his study partner from their online psychology class?” Mike asked.
“One in the same, Mikey.”
“Didn’t you and Malachai save her from abusive relatives a few months back?” John asked.
“Yeah, her Aunt and Uncle were beating the hell out of her and her Aunt raped her.”
“How the hell did she do that?”
“From what I understand, the crazy bitch usually did it with her fingers.”
“Oh, God. That almost makes me not ever want to use my fingers on my WIFE again”, Dan said the distaste in his voice evident.
David gave a disgusted laugh. “Yeah, no kidding. But anyway, Malachai’s making Brie and I grandparents in about nine months.”
“That’s great news, David. I, for one, am happy for all of you”, Mike said.
“Same here”, John said.
“Me too”, Dan added.
“Thanks brothers”. David looked up and saw Brie standing in the doorway to his office, the leather jacket he’d bought her for Hanukkah a few years before gracing her body. She had changed out of her scrubs and into a pair of skin tight blue jeans and boots that made her ass look scrumptious. Using hand signals, she asked if her wanted to go out for lunch. He stared for a moment then nodded. Clearing his throat, he spoke again. “Well, brothers, I’ve got to go. My wife wants to get out of the house for a little bit and she seems to be getting a little impatient.”
“Yeah, right. Brie’s getting impatient?” Dan said, and then addressed Brie. “Hey, sis, are you getting impatient?”
“Just a little bit. I’d like to go out and have lunch with my husband before my next appointment. I’ve only got an hour and a half and we live thirty minutes out of town.”
“Ok, then, we’ll let you go, David”, John said. “Oh, next time you see Logan, could you have him call me? I haven’t spoken with my oldest son in a month or two.”
“Not a problem. Now, I’ve really got to go now, boys. She’s standing here tapping her foot and pointing to her watch.”
“Ok, Brie, we’re letting him go now!” Mike said. They all hung up.
David looked to his wife. “So, do you really have only an hour and a half for lunch?”
Brie laughed. “No, I don’t have any more appointments today. My 2:30 canceled. I just want an afternoon away from the house with you and without kids.”
He smiled. “Sounds like a plan to me. Just let me grab my jacket and we’ll be on our way.” He grabbed his leather jacket off the back of his office chair and put it on. After coming around the desk, he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her passionately.
She returned the kiss for a few moments, then broke it. “Damn, baby. What’s that all about?”
“I almost don’t want to leave the house. You look so fucking sexy I could shut the door, lock it and take you right here on the desk.”
She laughed. “I know, honey and that would be a LOT of fun, but I have an ulterior motive for wanting to go out for lunch.”
“Oh? What might that be?”
“I wanted to try to start shopping for our grandchild to be. Get the parents a crib and a bassinet. Maybe a stroller.”
“Uhuh.” He shrugged. “Ok, let’s go. This should be fun.”
--------------
They went to a little Mexican restaurant that had just opened in town. It was a quaint little Mom and Pop shop. David had opted not to wear his labret piercings. It seemed to him that he didn’t get recognized as often as he did when he wore them. As they waited on their order, David told Brie what he planned on doing with the guest house. “I’m going to have it totally rebuilt.”
“WHY?”
“It’s just not what I would want for a family that’s just starting out to start out in. The bathroom is tiny, the ONLY bedroom in the house is smaller than Jessi and Marc’s rooms, and the living room is so damn small that I could barely breathe. It’s really cramped quarters in there.”
She shrugged as she took a sip of her tea. “Well, then, it’s getting rebuilt.”
“You’re not going to try to talk me out of this? It’s probably going to be a LOT of money.”
“If we couldn’t afford it, David, then I’d say you’d lost your mind. But, we CAN afford it, even supporting thirteen people; soon to be fourteen.”
“Yeah, being a rock star does help.”
“And the fact that I don’t just sit on my ass and expect you to pay all the bills helps too.”
“Very true.” He took a drink of his tea, then changed the subject. “So, what are we getting today when we leave here?”
“Well, there’s this little baby shop that just opened about nine blocks from here. Another little Mom and Pop place, but it’s NOT second hand. It’s all name brand stuff. I wanted to get at least one crib and bassinet, and one stroller for Malachai and Amanda. We could give them to them as Hanukkah gifts.”
He nodded. “That actually sounds like a really good plan. If we can convince them to find out what the sex of that baby is, we can start buying clothes.”
“Every baby needs a cute outfit to come home from the hospital in”, Brie said with a laugh.
The waiter couldn’t help but overhear Brie’s comment. “Are you two expecting a new baby?” he asked as he set their plates on the table.
Brie fought off the urge to laugh. “No, sweetie, our oldest son is. We’re DONE having kids, have been for about four years now.”
“How many kids do you have?”
“Ten”, David said without missing a beat. He liked to see the shock on people’s faces when he said that.
Sure enough, the waiter’s eyes doubled in size. “How old is your oldest?”
“Eighteen.”
“And your youngest?”
“They’re four.” Brie said with a smile.
“Wow, how do you guys do it?”
“We both work our asses off at jobs we love”, David said.
“Well, I wish you both all the luck in the world with your ten kids and soon to be grandchild. Enjoy your lunch.” The waiter walked off.
They laughed when the boy was out of sight. “Oh, dear Lord”, David said. “Is it really that hard to believe that we have ten kids?”
“Apparently it is, honey, or people’s eyes wouldn’t become the size of saucers when you say it”, Brie giggled. “Now, let’s eat our lunch so we can go shopping.” She picked up her fork and started eating her taco salad with beef fajita meat.
“If we’re giving these things to Amanda and Malachai for Hanukkah, how are we going to get them in the house with the there?”
“Have Malachai and Amanda go pick up the younger kids from school so that we can take this shit into the house and hide it in our room. And, while we’re at it, we should go on ahead and get gifts for all of the kids.”
“Something tells me that the other guys are going to pop us during Hanukah, so we should probably shop for them and their families too. If my gut is wrong, we can send the gifts Fed Ex to them after Christmas”, he said as he dug into his enchiladas.
She shrugged as she chewed. Once she swallowed, she spoke. “We can do that. We’ll end up having to go to the mall, but hey, if that’s what we’ve got to do, that’s what we’ve got to do.”
--------------
Once they finished their lunch, David and Brie went to the little baby outlet that Brie wanted to go to. The woman who owned it greeted them with a smile. “Hello. How are you today?”
“We’re not bad. We’re just here to get a crib, a bassinet, and a stroller for the moment”, Brie responded, the same pleasant smile on her face.
“Decided to drag the Daddy to be out baby shopping with you?”
“No, actually we’re not here for us. We’re here for our oldest son and his girlfriend. We’re not expectant parents. We’re expectant grandparents.”
“Oh, isn’t that sweet? Grandpa decided to come out and get his grandbaby some of the more practical stuff he’ll need when he gets here.”
David looked at the woman’s face, trying to decide if she was being condescending or not. Her face looked sincere, but he decided not to chance it. He’d learned in the fourteen years he’d been with his wife how to choose his battles wisely. This was one battle he had rather not get into, she he kept his mouth shut. He just strolled through the store and looked at the cribs, playpens, and bassinets and let Brie handle the overly friendly woman.
“If we should need anything, we’ll let you know”, Brie said to the woman the caught up with her husband and slid an arm around his waist. “Thank you for not getting us tossed out of here. She may be a condescending bimbo who’s WAY too happy, but you did well in not saying anything. I’m proud of you.”
“I decided not to mess with it. Yeah, I wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but I decided not to. It just wasn’t worth it.” He spotted a crib that was really nice that looked hand crafted. “This one’s pretty nice”, he said as he pulled them to a stop in front of the item in question. “What do you think, baby?”
She looked it over, then called the woman over to ask a question. “Is this crib hand crafted oak?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How much is it?”
“Well, you do understand that we’re an upscale baby boutique, right?”
“I asked you a question, ma’am. Do me a favor and pretend that you’re talking to people that can afford to buy the entire store from you. Better yet, don’t pretend.”
The woman cleared her throat after swallowing her pulse. “It’s a thousand dollars, ma’am.”
“Does it have a bassinet to go with it?”
“Yes”, she said and moved cautiously past them to the bassinet beside the crib. “It’s five hundred.”
“We’ll take them. Now, I need a stroller. What do you recommend?”
“If this the first child for your son?”
“Yes.”
“Then I suggest this one”, she said and moved to a stroller/ car seat combo. It was black.
That’s all David needed to see. “We’ll take that too”, he added.
“Alright. I’ll have a staff member disassemble the crib and bassinet while you pay.” She lead them to the front counter to pay and had a couple of the member of her staff go out to dismantle the crib and bassinet.
Once they had paid, Brie sent Malachai a text telling him to pick up his younger siblings from school when school was out. They went to the mall and did their shopping for everyone else. They even got Malachai and Amanda separate Hanukkah gifts. “The big gift is going to have to wait”, David said. I’m hoping to have the new house built by the end of the year so that I can give them keys to their own house.”
“We’re going to furnish it once it’s done, right?”
“Yeah, we’re going to furnish it after it’s done. That shouldn’t be difficult. Not even a day of shopping to make sure that they have everything they need.”
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