Bart and Chris

By E Walk

(Copyrighted by the Author)

Edited by Radio Rancher

Chapter 9 - Tory Meets Mrs. Sweet

Zack and I were awakened the next morning by Bart, "Dads, are we going running this morning or what? It's already 8:00 o'clock."

I sat up, "Why don't we pass on running this morning. You go take a shower and get ready for church while I go fix some breakfast and make sure everyone else is up. We'll let your other Dad sleep a little longer since he seems to be a little tired this morning."

Zack pulled me back down beside him and squeezed me as hard as he could, "I'll show you who's tired and who's not tired, mister. Bart, go do what your Dad told you to do, so I can teach him a lesson. You're too young to witness such things."

Bart left and Zack started to kiss me despite our morning breaths. "Listen Markey, you'd better be careful or you and I won't be doing any dances soon. I'm still tingling from the tango you did last night."

I started to giggle, "Well, dahlin', I'm just trying to get you in shape for when we dance the marathon when you finally get your Master's Degree. Now let me go, so I can get out of bed."

When we got downstairs Tip and Ty had the children eating and the boys were trying to con their Dad into taking them to a movie. Ty tried to deter the boys, "Guys, we had a call from Uncle Chip and Uncle Troy. They are going to be in town this afternoon with their sons. They wanted to know if you would like to go to a baseball game with the boys and them. We're going to meet them for lunch after church. Bart, we thought you might like to go with them since their sons are about your age."

I was watching Bart, "Uncle Ty, that sounds like fun to me since I didn't go the game, the last time."

Ty laughed, "Good, then I won't need to go. I want to go take Mrs. Worthington down a peg or two this afternoon. Chip told me that the Worthington's were divorced and that Colonel Worthington was getting married again soon. I can hardly wait to see Lindsay's reaction when I confront her."

The conversation was interrupted by the phone; Zack went to answer it. He put the phone on speaker, "Hey Dad, guess what? I caught six big fish. I learned how to cut them and take all the bones and yucky stuff out of them. Aaron says that we were making fillets. We had some for dinner last night and they tasted wonderful. We hardly knew that we were eating fish. Mr. Horn wants someone to meet us at the roller skating rink at two when we get there. He wants you to bring a cooler with some ice to keep my fish from going bad. Ask Dad Nano if we can have them for dinner with some home fries and cole slaw. They're really good."

Zack was laughing, "Christopher, slow down and take a breath. Someone will be at the roller skating rink at two o'clock when you get there. Remember, someone has to take Becky and whoever is there will have a cooler with them to pick up your fish."

"Okay Dad, we're going to fish for a couple of hours before we leave. Aaron loved his gifts. Gotta go. I think I have another fish." Click.

Zack sat down, "Well I guess Chris is having a good time. We'll have to take everyone fishing sometime and have Chris give us instructions."

Beck and Barbie turned up their noses, "Yuck!"

Bart I and were doing the dishes when the phone rang again. Bart answered, "Hey Tory, what's up? ... We're going to go to church at 11:00 and then we're meeting some of my Dads' bosses' friends for lunch and I said I would go to a baseball game with them. ... Okay, we usually eat at six. Why don't you come over at about 7:15 so you can meet my family? ... Okay, see you then."

Bart came back to where we were working, "Dad, it's okay if I asked Tory to come over wasn't it."

I hugged Bart, "Of course, Son, I would rather you be open about what you are doing rather than sneaking around. Besides, I want to meet this young lady who is chasing after you."

The phone rang again and I went to answer, "This is Mark Leavitt, how may I help you?"

"Hi Mark, this is Amber Sweet. I was wondering if I could come over and talk to you tonight about setting up a schedule for me to work with Bart? I have been reviewing the books and pretty much know how I would like to proceed."

I looked at Bart and he shrugged his shoulders, "Grandma Sweet, why don't you come over about 7:30. Bart has a young friend coming to visit him so Bart will be here and we have no plans after dinner. On second thought, why don't you come for dinner? Chris has been fishing this weekend and has caught at least six fish and has requested that we have fish for dinner. Why don't you come over about 5:00? Do you want one of us to pick you up?"

"I love fresh fish. I'll even show Chris some new tricks to make people think that they are eating something other than fish. I can get there by myself. Someone may have to take me home. Just make sure that you have some good white wine to go with dinner."

This had been the strangest morning. We assembled and went to church in two vehicles. We got there just before the service was to begin so we were a little late. The ushers seated us toward the rear of the sanctuary. Barbie was sitting on her Dad's lap as the service began and after the children's sermon the four young ones disappeared to go to children's church.

We picked up the children after church and went to meet Tip, Ty and Zack's friends at some restaurant that I had never heard of. It was called The Golden Angus. It was good thing that Tip was leading, or I would never have found it. When we walked in, there were four absolutely stunning men standing waiting. Ty's four children ran toward them and greeted them. Tip, Ty and Zack hugged them. Zack finally introduced Bart and me to Troy and Chip and their sons, Luke and Pete. The three teenagers had no problem adjusting, but I felt like an outsider."

We had a nice lunch and it was decided that Tip and Ty's two sons, Zack and Bart would go to the baseball game with the out of town visitors. We invited them back to the house for dinner before they went back to the farm in Iowa. We warned them that we would be having fresh caught fish for dinner so there wouldn't be any surprises.

When we got home, I loaded a cooler in the van and put ice in the bottom. Becky got the bag of gifts for Amy, and Ty, the two girls and I went to the skating rink. When we walked in, a lady was standing by the door greeting people and checking the names of the children who were attending. She looked at Becky, "And who are you, young lady?"

Ty answered before Becky could, "Lindsay, Becky is my daughter. Her name is Becky Jefferson. This is her Nano, Mark Leavitt. His son should be arriving shortly with two other of the invitees. We just had lunch with Troy and Chip and understand that you and your husband are divorced and that he is getting married shortly to his new fiancée. By the way, Tim and Elena are doing great. You know that Tim just got his second star, don't you?"

Becky looked at the lady, "Mrs. Worthington, where would you like me to put the gifts that Chris, Skippy, Aaron and I got Amy."

Mrs. Worthington wasn't looking very happy, "I thought I made it clear that Amy only wanted gift certificates from Macys or Nordstrums."

I stepped in, "Mrs. Worthington, I don't know you, and I don't even want to know you. You are about as phony as anyone can get. Amy told my son and his friends that she didn't want gift certificates. She told the children that you wanted them to buy things for yourself. She said that you buy all of her things at the Kid's Rerun Events and then resell them there. She specifically asked that they buy her something you couldn't return. I have written Amy's name on each of the gifts."

"If Becky comes home and tells me that you sold the gifts they gave her, I will personally take action to have you declared unfit to be a mother."

My tirade was interrupted by the arrival of Chris, Skippy and Aaron. Chris jumped into my arms, "Dad, did you bring the cooler? Dr. Horn is waiting out front with my fish. He is talking to Dr. Carlisle. Dad, may I have some money to buy us a drink please? Did you bring the gifts so Amy's Mother can't exchange them?"

Ty started to laugh as Mrs. Worthington walked away, "Chris, your Dad has everything under control. Here's twenty bucks. Remember you have to fix dinner and we are having company. Grandma Sweet is going to come and help you fix the fish. Now have a good time. One of us will be back to get you and Becky at four o'clock."

Ty, Barbie and I went back to the house and it was almost scary. We went into the kitchen and I started to get the potatoes ready and Ty was making cole slaw. I made some dressing for the slaw and everything was ready for when Chris got home.

Ty and I were sitting in the living room reading the Sunday paper and Barbie was coloring when we received a phone call. I went to answer, "I want to talk to my sons and I mean now."

I thought I recognized the voice, "I'm sorry sir, the only people here at the present time are Tyler Jefferson, his daughter Barbie and me. I don't think any of us are your sons."

The voice came back, "You dumb prick, I'll come and get them when I get out of this joint. You've brainwashed them."

I slammed down the receiver, "Ty, that was Mr. Winters. How can he be calling here from jail? He's threatening to come and take the boys away."

Ty looked at me. "Mark, don't say anything about this to anyone. I'm going to go see what's going on. You and Barbie will need to go pick up Becky and Chris. Hopefully no one else will arrive before one of us gets home."

Poor Barbie, at three forty five I loaded her into the van again, and we started to the skating rink. We were watching the children eating cake and ice cream. We were joined by Dr. Horn and Dr. Carlisle. The two of them knew each other and we were talking when a good looking man approached me.

This was scary, "I understand that you are Nano Mark and that you and your friends took my ex wife down a peg today. I'm Jim Worthington. I'm so glad that you saw through my ex-wife's charade and got Amy something she really wanted. Your son, Chris, and Becky filled my ear about what was happening to Amy. I will be filing for complete custody of Amy in the morning. I am appalled that I hadn't realized what was going on."

I didn't know what else to do so I said, "Colonel Worthington, I'd like to introduce Dr. Carlisle and Dr. Horn. Their sons were involved in the gifts the children got Amy."

We were interrupted by the arrival of the three boys and Becky. Chris yelled back, "Happy Birthday Amy, we'll see you tomorrow. Dad, is everything ready for me to cook?"

Colonel Worthington looked and asked, "Chris, why are you cooking?"

Chris was confused. "I caught some fresh fish and I need to show everyone one how to cook them so they don't taste like fish. We had some last night on Dr. Horn's yacht."

Colonel Worthington looked at me, "Mark, how did you know that I was a Colonel?"

I looked at him, "We had lunch with a General Miller and General Nelson and they are going to be having dinner at our house this evening after my son fixes it. It was nice talking to you." I shook hands with the three gentlemen and left with Barbie, Becky and Chris.

We were the first to arrive home. I sent Barbie and Becky to the bathroom and I made Chris wash his hands. "Okay, Christopher, what do we need to do to cook this fish."

"We need some eggs and we beat them with a wire thing. We need some crackers and we have to roll them until they are all tiny crumbs and we need some flour, salt and pepper. You can't cook them very long. You want them to be just a nice golden color."

We were interrupted by the doorbell. I went to answer it and Ms. Sweet was standing there. "Lead me to the kitchen. I'm here to give Chris his first lesson in cooking raw fish."

We walked into the kitchen, and Chris looked up, "Hey Grandma Sweet, are you going to help me with this fish stuff? Dad doesn't know how to do it."

Ms. Sweet looked at Chris, "It seems to me that you have just about everything ready. How many people will be eating here tonight so we know how much to cook?"

Chris looked at me. I did a quick calculation, "I think there will be thirteen of us but you had better be prepared. You never know around here. We sliced up fourteen potatoes and they are ready to stick in the oven at 5:00 and the cole slaw is made."

Ms. Sweet looked at me, "Mark, go to the store and get some hush puppy mix and some tartar sauce, a couple sweet potato pies and some whipping cream. We'll make this a good ole' southern meal."

As I was driving to the store, I thought to myself, `I've lost control of what is happening.' When I returned, everyone else was there and Bart, Luke and Pete were setting the table and the five older men were sitting having a cocktail. I walked into the kitchen and Ms. Sweet had all five of the youngest children doing something and Chris was very carefully making sure the fish fillets were done just so. I was told to disappear.

At precisely 6:00 we were asked to please take our seats at the table and it was as if the young people had been practicing forever, because we were served our meals of fish fillets, home fries and cole slaw. They brought in hot hush puppies and their plates and after a blessing the food just rather disappeared. When everyone was finished, the three teenagers cleared the table and Chris and Grandma Sweet went to get the dessert. Luke and Pete came and took drink orders and they appeared as Chris, Bart and Grandma Sweet brought everyone a piece of warm sweet potato pie with real whipped cream."

Troy looked at us, "I hope that you don't eat like this all the time. Otherwise you're going to have to roll you down the street.

Chris looked up and didn't even crack a smile, "General, we only eat like this when I cook. The rest of the time we have stone soup. I guess I'll just have to go fishing more often."

Chip looked at Chris, "Chris, the fish was outstanding. In fact the entire meal was superb. You did an excellent job."

Chris nodded, "Thank you, Sir, but I had a lot of expert help. Bart, we cooked, so you, Luke and Pete can take care of the clean up. I have some homework I need to do."

Ms. Sweet carried the bottle of wine into the living room. The adults were sipping wine except for me. I just didn't feel like any and I was full. We could hear the three teenagers in the kitchen and the youngest five were in the family room, watching a special T.V. show.

The adults were visiting when the doorbell rang. I went to answer it and a young lady was standing there. "Is this where Bart Leavitt lives?"

I responded, "Yes, and you must be Tory. I'm Bart's Dad, Mark. He's expecting you. Won't you come in and I'll get Bart for you? He's finishing the dishes with his friends."

I took Tory to the living room and announced, "Ms. Sweet and gentlemen, this is Tory. She has come to see Bart."

Tory stopped and was almost frozen, "Grandma, are you following me or what?"

"Victoria, how could I be following you when I have been here for over two hours conducting cooking school. What are you doing here?"

The three guys came in from the kitchen and Bart asked, "Who was at the door? Has Tory arrived yet?"

Ms. Sweet being herself, "Mister Bart, listen and listen well. My Granddaughter isn't going to be seen with anyone who doesn't bust his ass when I tell him to do something. Now show Victoria what a gentleman you are and introduce her to the other people here. I won't permit my granddaughter to associate with no slobs."

Luke and Pete were laughing so hard I thought they were going to hyperventilate.

After the introductions, Troy announced, "People we have to go. Today has been fun. It has reminded me of some the things that happened 15 or 16 years ago. Come on Luke and Pete, you're the designated drivers. Your other Dad and I are going to sleep for the trip home after all of the wine that Ms. Sweet poured into us. Guys, we'll have to get together again, soon."

Ms Sweet started to stand, "Mark and Zack, I think you better take me home. I think I'm a little unstable from the good food and company. Mark, you drive my car. Zack and I will follow to make sure you don't get arrested."

Tory was laughing, "Guys, be careful. Grandmother is liable to do anything to be seen in the company of two good looking guys."

Ms. Sweet turned to Bart, "I'll be here at 9:00 in the morning to start your instruction. I expect that you will be in appropriate attire and have a pot of hot coffee ready for me. Do you have any questions?"

Bart snapped to attention and saluted, "I understand, General Sweet, and no, I don't have any questions."

As I was driving to Ms. Sweet's house, I was thinking, `There can't be too many more action packed days like this can there?'