The Doctor Gets a Visitor
by: E Walk

(Copyright 2007 by the Author)
Editor: Radio Rancher
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

 

Chapter 40
Meet Gigi
 

Spencer arrived at the house 5:15 and immediately started clearing the sidewalks and driveways again.

We all arrived at the Tillison house about the same time with our newspapers. Even Aunt Cora had her own copy. Jeff walked us through the paper and finally said, “I think that pretty much takes care of the paper. I think we read enough details to know that driving is serious business. I hope you two guys learned some valuable information today.”

Both Kenny and Drew nodded their heads yes but Drew said, “There was one more item that caught my attention that shows the consequences of what a bad drivers can do to families. Everyone turn to page four of the Midlands section of the paper and look at the last item in the obituary section. It read, ‘In memory of my dear beloved husband who was robbed of life by a driver impaired by alcohol more than 60 years ago, denying him of the opportunity to see his great grandson making something of his life.’”

Aunt Cora started to cry. Drew got a very confused look on his face and started to hug her. “What’s wrong, Aunt Cora?”

“Drew, I think Aunt Cora is really your great grandmother. Now take her into the kitchen and get her a nice cup of tea while you talk.” Kenny coolly said. Kenny turned to us and said; “Now people, I think we all learned more here today than we could have by watching all 10 of those ridiculous tapes. Since tomorrow is Friday, we won’t be meeting. Mr. Baldwin, you can tell us what our next assignment is tomorrow at swim practice.”

We got up to leave and Jeff asked, “Kenny, do you have a video camera at home?”

“Yep.” he answered.

“Could you bring it tomorrow so we can use it at swim practice?” Jeff turned to Mrs. T. and asked, “Grams, do you have one we can borrow?”

“Sure do.” She went and got it with all its accessories to charge it. “It has been a long time since it was used, so you may have to change the batteries.”

“Kenny, one of us will pick you up at 9:00 and take you home.” Jeff said, as he kissed Mrs. T. Matt, Jeff, Tyler and I got into our separate vehicles and went back to my house. Spencer was just putting the snow blower away when we got there. We walked in. Matt had brought a backpack with a change of clothes to work in and bag with Jeff’s clothes neatly folded. We had just hung up our coats when Mark arrived.

He also had a bag of clean clothes which he handed to Jeff. Jeff left to check on dinner and came back and said, “We have ten minutes to change clothes. Spencer, you take Mr. Bressler and get the drinks on the table. I’ll have lemonade and there is milk or iced tea.”

“I’ll have iced tea.” I added.

Matt said, “I would like a glass of milk.”

The three of us went upstairs and quickly changed. Matt showed no hesitation in shedding his clothes this time. When we went downstairs, Jeff asked me to round everyone up. He went into the kitchen and when everyone was seated, he, Tyler and Spencer started bringing in the food.

They brought in a large platter of meat loaf with a tomato sauce, oven hash browns and a baked corn casserole cut into square sized servings. Jeff went back and got a huge spinach salad with mandarin oranges and with almonds and freshly sliced mushrooms. Everyone started eating and Matt said, “Mrs. Smith, this is wonderful.”

“Don’t look at me. All I did was to follow the instructions as to put what in the oven when.” Linda laughed,

Spencer looked at Jeff and said, “There is a taste in the meatloaf I can’t seem to identify. I know there is parsley, onion, bread crumbs, egg and milk but there seems to something giving it an extra zip.” He took another bite and said, “There’s Parmesan cheese in it, right?”

“Yep Tiger. You won the right to help me with the dishes.” Jeff laughed.

Everyone was eating and Eric said, “We would like to leave in the morning to go back to Minneapolis and get the house on the market and make arrangements for the movers. The company wants me to start to work on February 2. So I guess we will be leaving immediately after breakfast.

“I’m not going!” announced Teddy. “If I go, my teacher will give me all sorts of homework and I won’t be able to relax. On second thought, if I go, I won’t have to listen to any monster or dog jokes.”

Everyone laughed and Jeff said, “Pop and Mother, the guys can stay here and Dad and I can boss them around. I won’t have to do any dishes or cleaning. Besides, Dana and Georgia would probably become hysterical if they left now.”

The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. “Hi Tony, good to see you. Did you and your family enjoy your vacation?”

“The kids loved Disney World and we loved the cruise. Sandy’s parents certainly gave us a wonderful Christmas present.” the guest said. “The reason I came over was to thank the young man who cleared our walks and driveway today. The twins said they thought it was Spencer.”

“Come on in and let me introduce you to everyone. This is Tony Martinez our next door neighbor to the south.” I introduced all of the people to him and he already knew Mark. I deliberately saved Spencer and Tyler until last. When I introduced Spencer, I said, “This is the young man that did your walk and driveway.” Spencer stood up and shook his hand and said, “Good to meet you, Sir. Are you Juan and Jose’s father?”

Tony shook his head yes and then Spencer said, “They are really neat young guys and are really good readers and their classmates really respect them. They help me every time I go to work in their classroom as a student assistant.”

Tony was looking flustered but finally said, “The reason I came over was to thank you for clearing my walk and drive twice today. It sure saved me a lot of time and made for an easier day. I just wanted to give you this.”

He handed Spencer an envelope and asked, “You don’t baby-sit do you?”

“I would love to sir, but I haven’t had the proper training. I can handle children, as long as there is a qualified adult around.” Spencer answered.

Jeff stepped in and said, “We do have a person who has completed the Baby Sitter Training course and he is also CPR certified.”

Tony said, “Sandy and I have been invited out tomorrow night and her parents have a commitment, so if you tell me who has those qualifications, I would appreciate it.”

Jeff motioned for Mickey to join them. “Sir, Michael here is a qualified babysitter and if he agrees to take the job, I’ll make sure that Dad is available in case something serious happens.”

“I would like to sit with the boys sir.” Mickey said.

“Okay Spencer, why don’t you and Mickey go home with Mr. Martinez and you can introduce him to the boys so Mickey won’t be a stranger when he goes to baby-sit tomorrow night.” Jeff said.

Tony looked like he didn’t know what hit him, but he took the guys home and called his family. Jose and Juan came running and when they saw Spencer, they both hugged him.

“Hi, my friends, I want you to meet this cool guy who is going to take care of you tomorrow night. I want you to be good for him. If you aren’t good, he’ll tell me and then I will have to find someone else to be my special helpers when I come to your class. Now come give Mickey a special hug.” Spencer said.

The guys went to Mickey and he sat on the floor and started talking to the twins. Spencer went to Tony and Sandy and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Martinez, I think the boys will be just great with Michael. He takes his responsibilities very seriously. It was really nice to meet you but I want you to know that I didn’t clear your walks and drive for money. I was trying to be neighborly.”

Spencer turned to the guys and said, “I need to take Mickey home. He has work to do and I think it is time for two seven year olds to get their bath. Now come give me a hug and a kiss and I’ll see you tomorrow at school and Mickey will see you tomorrow night.” He turned to Tony and Sandy and asked, “What time do you want Michael here tomorrow night?”

“Would six be too early? I will fix dinner for him and the boys.” asked Sandy.

“I’ll be here ma’am.” Mickey said.

The two guys hugged the twins and came back to the house. When they came in, Spencer said, “I’m sorry we left before the dishes were done.”

“No sweat young man.” I assured him. “Jeff is waiting to take you to the Baxter’s house.”

Jeff came in and asked, “Do we have two entrepreneurs in the house?”

Spencer looked at him and asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means thriving businessmen. You and Mickey are both making money.” Jeff answered.

“But I didn’t clear the walks to make money; I was just trying to be helpful.” Spencer sighed.

“Come on dude, we need to get going. Dad is going to stay here and make arrangements with Pop and Mother so the guys can stay with us. Let’s go. Here, hold this and don’t spill it. It’s your dessert for tonight.”

They walked into the house and Spencer said, “Grandma Baxter, the guys are having a difficult time calling you Grandma or Grams so I have been thinking of something everyone could call you. Would it be okay if we called you Gigi like in the movie where the old man sings that song to a beautiful young woman?”

“I wish I could look like Audrey Hepburn and if Maurice Chevalier sang to me, I would probably faint. I would really like to be called Gigi.” she said.
“Now Mr. Spencer, I have an envelope for you. Mr. Olson brought this over for you. He really appreciated what you did this afternoon.”

Spencer stuffed the envelope in his pocket and said, “Okay Jeffrey my man, we need to help the clowns. Otherwise we will never be ready for Mr. Snyder on Saturday.”

Before the guys could join the construction crew, the doorbell rang and Spencer answered it. Spencer led an older lady into the room. “Hi Gracie, I just wanted to give this to the young man who did our walk and drive. We really appreciate what he did.”

“Louella, this is Spencer Knight. He is the young man who did your walks and drive.” Mrs. Baxter told her.

She handed an envelope to Spencer and he said, “That’s not necessary ma’am.”

“Nonsense my young man, my husband and I really appreciate what you did. My husband was so thrilled when he came home and didn’t have to shovel.”
she said. “I’m Louella Jenkins.” she said, as she leaned down and kissed Spencer.

Spencer kissed her back and said, “This cute looking guy is Jeff Wilson. He is Doctor Wilson’s son. Can you sit down?”

“I really need to get home and do some work to get ready for my grandchildren tomorrow.” Mrs. Jenkins said.

She left and the two guys went to join the other four guys. “It’s about time you two prima donnas got here.” Mark laughed.

Tyler looked up and asked, “Would you two guys take all the trash and put it in my truck?”

Jeff and Spencer worked steadily for an hour. Not only did they take all of the trash to the truck, but they vacuumed the room and dusted the furniture. Finally Jeff said, “Okay Tiger, go fix dessert for you and Gigi and when you are done, I’ll take you home.”

“Wait a minute.” said Kevin. “How did you get the snow blower started?”

Spencer looked at him, “I cleaned the spark plug and tightened the connections, but Tyler really needs to check it and I think it probably needs a new spark plug.”

Spencer left and when he came back he said, “Okay Boss Man, I’m ready to go. Remember Monster Dog, you owe me a kiss tonight.” He handed Jeff his coat and said, “I’m ready.”

“Dessert is waiting for you guys at the house, so I’ll see you when I get there, and remember Gigi wants to go upstairs at 9:00 and you guys do need to work tomorrow.”

Jeff and Spencer picked Kenny up at the Tillison’s. Kenny drove to his house and Jeff reminded him to bring his video camera tomorrow. When the guys came in, Spencer came to me and said, “Doctor Dad, I can pay you for my lunch tickets now.” He took out his envelopes and handed me “90.00.”

“Spencer we need to talk about this.” Jeff said, as he handed the money back to Spencer. “Now go take your shower or bath and yes you can do it in our room.”

“Okay Doctor Dad, we’ll talk about this tomorrow and make sure Monster Dog and Mighty Mouse come to say goodnight to me when they get here.” Spencer said as he left. He turned back and added, “Jeff, I think that maybe they would be more comfortable if you and Doctor Dad came with them.”

Jeff and I looked at each other. Linda came in and said, “Jack here is a check to cover the guys’ expenses while we are gone and also money for Teddy’s lunch ticket. I sure hope the guys can learn something from Spencer and Tyler while we are gone.”

Just then Mark and Matt came in and said, “We’re going to skip dessert and get home.”

“Well, you can’t leave until you talk to Spencer.” Jeff reminded them.

The four of us went upstairs and Jeff knocked on the door. Spencer told us to come in. When we went in, he was sitting in Jeff’s robe. “Okay Mr. Bressler, you owe me a kiss.”

Mark shrugged his shoulders and kissed Spencer on the forehead. Spencer said, “That wasn’t a kiss, it was like a pat on the head. Now Mr. Baldwin let’s see what you can do.”

Matt gave him a kiss on the cheek. “That was better at least I could feel it but it didn’t make me feel like I was needed. Doctor Dad, would it be okay if Boss Man here showed them how it should be done?”

I shook my head yes and Jeff pulled Spencer onto his lap and hugged him and gave him a kiss on the lips. Spencer hugged Jeff and kissed Jeff again and he then he turned to Matt and Mark and said, “See how Jeff made me feel loved. I want you two to practice on each other and I’ll check you out to see how you are progressing. Now I have to go bed, so I can get up early and finish my homework in the morning.”

We went downstairs as Tyler was coming in. Jeff took us all to the kitchen and fixed us all a piece of the sheet cake with ice cream. The guys finished theirs and put the dishes in the dishwasher. As the they were leaving, Jeff asked, “Mark, do you have video camera at home?”

“Yep.” Mark answered.

“Could you bring it to swim team practice tomorrow and take some videos?” Jeff asked.

Mark said yes and everyone left and Jeff and I locked up and went to the bedroom. When we got there, he just dropped his clothes on the floor and crawled into bed. I did the same and he pulled me close and gave me a long loving kiss. We just lay there and Jeff said, “Dad, I’m so glad I have you.” He went out like a light.

To be continued...
 

Feedback always welcome:     

Editor's notes:

I still have a hard time believing how much I have bought into this wonderful heartwarming story. I am going to make sure that they know they are part of my extended family. It would be nice if Jeff would be a little less demanding sometimes. He doesn't use the word please very often, but every so often I notice a 'please' accidentally slip out, in a few places. That is very sweet. Spencer is definitely very smart, not only smart for his age, but just plain smart. He has the soul of a very wise old man. You can just tell that he has so much love to give to everyone. He is precious. Okay, lets hurry up and read the next chapter.

Darryl
AKA The Radio Rancher


 

Posted: 05/04/07