Bart and Chris
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 30
We Need Time To Be A Family

I was awakened the next morning by someone giggling.  I looked up to see Chris and Farmer Bear standing there.  “What’s so funny?”

Farmer Bear spoke, “I think Dad Zack really needs to go to the bathroom.  Look how big his penis is.”

I climbed out of bed, “Farmer Bear, why don’t you wake him while I go to the bathroom?”

I started toward the bathroom and I heard Farmer Bear start to yell, “Chris, I think Daddy Zack is sick.  You better go get Doctor Tip.  Daddy Zack has this tree growing out of the middle of his body.”

I hadn’t heard Bart come into our bedroom.  He was standing behind me giggling.  “I’m glad to see that I’m not the only who gets terrorized by Farmer Bear.”

Zack grabbed Farmer Bear and  pretended as if he was going to lay on him, “Would you be quiet and stop bothering me?”

“Dad Zack, you better not hurt me or I'll report you to Humane Society.  Now get your butt out of bed, so you can go running with Chris, Bart and Dad Nano.  Move it!”

“Look, Farmer Bear, if you don’t stop bossing me around, I'm going to throw you out that window into the Briar Patch.”

“You do that and Chris will send you back to school without any food, and order another Dad from the catalog.”

I interrupted the proceedings, “Time out.  Farmer Bear, you need to take Chris to get ready to go running so I can get Daddy Zack ready.”

Chris came out of our closet, “Come on Farmer Bear, these people are no fun.  You gotta stay here while we go for a run to make sure that someone doesn’t steal Bart’s money.”

As we were running, Chris asked, “Dads, what are we going to do today?  Can we please just do something as a family?  I love everyone else, but I would like for just us to do something.  I don’t care if it is to just sit and watch the grass grow.”

As we were eating breakfast, Ty looked at the children, “We thought we would take you to the zoo, “How does that sound?”

His children were excited, but Chris didn’t respond.  Tip looked at him, “Chris, you don’t seem to be excited.”

“Uncle Tip and Uncle Ty, thank you for asking me, but I promised that I would spend the day with my Dads.”

After breakfast, I was looking through the cupboards to see what groceries and supplies we needed.  Ty came to talk to me, “Mark, is Chris upset about something?”

“Ty, I don’t know what is on Chris’ mind.  While we were running this morning, he just said that he wanted the four of us to do something as a family.  Quite frankly, I think both boys are on overload and just need time to be boys.  Think about the two times that they have had to be in court.  They have to be emotionally draining on the boys.”

Ty started to laugh, “This parenting business is harder than it looks.  Bobby lit into Tip and me last night, telling us that we were letting you assume our responsibilities.  He wanted to know when we were going to accept the fact that the four of them were our responsibility.”

After Ty left, I was trying to figure out what was happening.  I didn’t realize it, but Bobby was standing there in the doorway with tears in his eyes.  “Nano Mark, I heard you and Dad talking.  Please don’t be upset with me.  We love you, but our Dads need to realize that you shouldn’t need to take care of us all the time.  They need to spend time with us.  I can understand why Chris wants to be alone with just you and Uncle Zack sometimes.  We all need to know that we are important.”

I hugged Bobby, “Have you and Chris talked about this?”

“No, Nano Mark, but you are always so busy taking care of us, that Chris doesn’t get much individual attention.  Most of the time there is just one of you, and our two Dads are here almost every night.  You need to make them help more around here.  I know they work all day, but so do you.  What’s going to happen next year when you start working at the school?  You won’t be able to do everything by yourself.”

“Bobby, you sure do a lot of thinking for someone who is going to be twelve next week.  I don’t know how we’re going to be able to manage a birthday party for you and your Uncle Zack’s graduation on the same day.”

Bobby hugged me again, “Nano Mark, we can always celebrate my birthday later.  We need to get Uncle Zack home so he can help you, too.”

Our conversation was interrupted by my three guys bringing the dirty laundry from the apartment.  Bart and Chris started to sort it.  Zack looked at Bobby, “Why don’t you go collect the things from your bedrooms and bathrooms so we can save some time?”

The phone started to ring. Since everyone else was busy, I picked up the receiver.  “Jefferson and Washington residence, this is Mark Leavitt speaking.”

“Mark, it’s Beau.  Zack graduates next weekend, doesn’t he?”

“Yep, the ceremony is next Saturday morning at ten.”

“Great, would it be okay for Becca and me to come to Kansas City next weekend.”

“You’re welcome to stay here.  I was thinking of having party to celebrate on Sunday.”

“That sounds great.  Becca and I would like to spend some time with Zack at his office next Monday, so we can make sure that he has everything he needs.  We already have some jobs lined up for him to look into.  May I speak to him, please?”

I turned to the guys, “Please, go tell your other Dad that there is a phone call for him.”

Chris ran up the stairs and I hung up when I heard Zack pick up the extension.   Tip, Ty and the five young people came into the kitchen with the laundry from their bedrooms and bathrooms.  Ty announced, we're going to leave now.  Mark, don’t worry about fixing dinner for us, since you and Zack will be eating at the Debutante Ball.  We'll pick up some Kentucky Fried Chicken or something.  Chris, are you sure you wouldn’t like to go with us.”

“I’m sure, Uncle Ty.”

Tip, Ty and Ty’s children had departed when Zack returned to the kitchen complaining, “I haven’t even started to work yet and the boss is already on my case.  Beau said that you invited Becca and him to stay here next weekend.”

“Yep, now let’s go to the grocery store.  Come on, Bart and Chris.”

We made our way to the HyVee grocery store that had just opened not too far from the house.  It took us some time to find everything that we needed because we hadn’t been to the store before.  Everything looked so good that it was difficult trying not to impulse buy, but Chris kept us under control.  We did, however, stop by the deli and pick up some Chinese food to take home for lunch.

As we were unloading the groceries, Chris commented, “Now this is the way families are supposed to be.”

After the perishable grocery items were put away, I zapped the four Chinese selections in the microwave.  Since we had four different kinds of selections, we decided to serve them family style so we could each take what we wanted.  We had selected beef, chicken, pork and seafood meals.

As we were dishing up our own plates, Chris asked Bart, “Did we ever have Chinese food at our old house?”

Bart shook his head, no, “Our other father didn’t like anything that had sauces on it and he thought Chinese food was a waste of money because he didn’t like rice.”

Zack looked at me with his eyebrows arched, but neither of us said anything.  We did a very credible job and finished the food.  After we started the dishwasher and another load of laundry, I decided that we needed to go do something fun.  It was a beautiful day, so it needed to be something outside. 

Zack and I conferred and we decided that we should take the guys to play a round of miniature golf.  Chris questioned, “Where are we going?”

Zack answered, “That’s for us adults to know, and for you young people to find out.”

We heard this sound that someone makes when someone sticks out their tongue and blows, “Wrong answer, Dad.  Families talk about things and make decisions together.  The adults don’t get to decide everything.”

Zack was driving, so I could turn around and Bart was struggling to keep from laughing, but Chris was dead serious. “Chris, we thought you would enjoy playing miniature golf, since it’s such a nice day.”

Chris looked at Bart, “Have I ever played miniature golf?   What do we gotta do?  Am I gonna have fun?”

Bart took the questions one at a time, “Chris, I’m almost positive that you have never played miniature golf before because I only remember doing it once or twice.  You have this club and a little round ball.  You try to hit the ball into a hole.  You see how many times you have to hit the ball to get it into the hole.  It is fun, if you just let yourself relax and not get upset if everything doesn’t go as you like.  It takes a lot of practice to be good.”

After Zack had parked the car and we were walking toward the cashier and refreshment stand, Zack leaned over and whispered, “I bet you couldn’t have explained to Chris any better than Bart did about what to expect this afternoon.”

After I paid, the young man behind the counter handed me four different color balls and three adult clubs and a junior club.  I handed the junior club to Chris and had him choose the color of ball he wanted.  He chose the blue one, but he questioned me, “Why are all the balls different colors?”

Zack answered, “That’s so we can tell which ball is ours. It’s just like croquet.”

Chris and Bart both looked confused, Chris asked, “What’s croquet?”

Zack looked me, “Mark, help!”

“Guys, we’ll explain croquet later.  I think that I saw a croquet set at the house.”

We went to the practice green and I showed the boys how to properly grip the club. I explained that if they hit the ball too hard it would take off and go out of bounds and that they would lose a shot.  I showed them that if you just tapped the ball too softly, it would just dribble a short distance.

The scores on the first several holes were not very good at all.  It was about the third hole when Bart began to catch on to what he needed to do.  As we were  leaving the eighth hole, Chris looked at us, “Dads, I thought you said that this was supposed to be fun.”

Chris was to be the first on the ninth hole.  He approached the ball and it was if a light burst on.  He smiled and hit a perfect shot that went into the hole.  You would have thought he had won the Masters Golf Championship.”

He didn’t care that that was his only hole in one.  He played very competitively after that.

As we were turning in our clubs, Chris pointed to a sign that said, ‘Special Birthday Party Rates Available’ 

Chris looked at me, "Dad Nano, this might be a fun place for Bobby to have his birthday party.  That way you wouldn’t have to do so much work.”

We stopped to talk to the gentleman behind the desk and I asked, “Could you tell me about your special party rates?”

The gentleman nodded, “The special rate is $5.00 per person.  That includes a small drink, a hot dog or hamburger, small fries  and a round of golf.  We ask that the host provide a birthday cake which we would be glad to serve.  We would request that the party be limited to no more than 20 persons.”

I looked around, “I take it that fenced area is for the parties.”

“Yes, that’s why we like to limit the size of the party to 20.”

“What does the availability of the party area look like for the Saturday after next?”

The man pulled out a book, “As of now it is free.  Would you like to reserve it for then?”

I shook my head no, “I need to check with my employer and the person whom we would be honoring, to see if they would be amenable to make such arrangements.  Do you have a number that we could call?  We don’t live very far away.”

As we were walking to the car, Chris saw some people hitting balls on a driving range.  He stopped and watched, “Dads, that’s just the opposite of what we were doing right?  Those people are trying to see how far they can hit the ball aren’t they?”

I nodded yes.  “They are probably practicing so they can play a real golf match against some friends.”

Chris looked up at us, “Dads, could we try that sometime?”

Zack answered before I could, “Chris, that’s one thing I have never done, so I guess you’ll beat me.”

When we got to the house, we took the clothes out of the dryer and put the last load in the washing machine.  Bart asked, “Dads, may I please be excused so I can make sure that I’m ready for tonight.?”

Zack nodded, “We can take care of everything.  We need to think about getting dressed in our monkey suits, since it’s already five fifteen.”

Chris followed us to the apartment, where Bart was sitting on the floor singing.  Zack and I went into our bedroom and undressed.   I suggested that we take a shower together.

When we came out of the bathroom naked, Chris was lying on our bed with Farmer Bear, “See Farmer  Bear, that’s what I’m going to look like when I get older.  See how much bigger their penises are than Bart’s.  His will probably be just as big as our Dads' when he gets older.  Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you.”

Zack and I looked at each other and decided to say nothing and went about getting dressed in our zoot suits.  When we were fully garbed in the tuxedoes, Chris looked us, “Farmer Bear, aren’t our two Dads the most handsome men on the Earth?  We need to be good for them.”

Chris wasn‘t done, “Dads, thanks for making it seem like we were a family today.  Please, can we just do things by ourselves sometimes?”

Zack picked Chris up, even though he was dressed in his tux, “Chris, you need to tell us when you want us to spend time by ourselves.  We old people sometimes have a hard time remembering things.”

“Whatever you say, Dad.  Now put me down, before I go to the bathroom on your nice clothes.”

When we got to the kitchen, Tip, Ty and the children were coming in with a big bag from Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Tip looked at us, “Mark, I don’t know how you do it everyday.  We’re exhausted.  Have a good time and we’ll see you in the morning.  Ty and I will probably be asleep before the children.  Chris, did you have a good day?”

Chris answered, “Yep!” and that was all he said.

As Zack and I were driving to Mrs. Sweet’s house, I kept thinking, ‘Something weird is going to happen tonight, and I sure hope it has nothing to do our two boys.’ 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: I do wonder if Mark gets premonitions.  We already know that Chris has dreams that have a habit of coming true.  I certainly hope that nothing bad happens. 

Mark is almost always busy with one thing or another, and It is probably a good idea for him and Zack to have some family time with their sons. 

I am so impressed with Chris, well Bart as well,  Chris really loves his family, including his extended family, but I can understand how both he and Bart might want to spend some quality time with just each other, and their dads.

It was really nice that they got to try Miniature Golf. I also figured that Chris would eventually get the hang of it and do pretty well.

I think the Miniature Golf place will be a very nice place to have a birthday party. I am sure that everyone will have a good time there.

The Débutante Ball is going to be a very special event, for everyone involved.  They are usually very formal affairs, and I suspect that there will be some very important and wealthy people in attendance.   

It is going to be really nice to see Beau again.  I miss seeing him.  I had actually forgotten that Zack is going to work for Beau.  Beau will be a very good employer. I have a lot of confidence in his judgment, and I am sure that Zack will do a very good job for him.

Of course, I am already on pins and needles, waiting for the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/01/09