Love Refound
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 35

The Hired Couple

As we were eating dinner, Cole announced, “I invited Denny and Collie to come talk to you this evening at seven thirty.”

Autumn was still concerned, “Where are they going to live if Denny is going to be working here?”

Cole answered, “Ms. Autumn, I’ve been thinking about that.  They can live downstairs where Jeff was living.  I think it still early enough that the building plans could be modified to make a nice apartment downstairs for them.  Collie could help with the cooking and cleaning.”

Nana Weaver frowned, “Cole, you shouldn’t be telling Mr. Doug and Ms. Autumn what they should or shouldn’t do.  We need to earn our keep around here.  I don’t need any help.”

Cole wasn’t about to stop, “Grandma, if Ms. Autumn has twins, the two of you are going to need all of the help you can get.  I can’t play football and get grades and do all the work in the stables.  Mr. Doug can’t afford to quit his job now that he and Ms. Autumn are going to have the biggest house in the county.”  He added, “Well almost the biggest house.”

I was laughing, “Cole, me thinks thou dost exaggerate.  Nana Weaver, Cole is right.  His primary job is to get his butt in gear and make good grades.  Both Autumn and I agree that your primary responsibility for now is to take care of Benji.  Autumn is going to need all the help she can get when the twins arrive.”

Cole and I were just finishing the cleanup when Autumn came and announced, “Denny and Collie are here.”

I had no idea what to expect, since I had never met the two young people, I was surprised at what the two people looked like.”

Autumn introduced me to the two visitors.  Denny was a big strapping lad whom I would estimate was about six feet four inches tall.  He was built like a body builder.  Colleen was a very pretty young woman who looked more like Cole and his grandmother.

After the initial introductions, I started, “Denny, Cole tells me that you might be interested in a job.  Do you know anything about horses?”

Denny was very nervous, “Mr. Christiansen, I have lived on a farm all my life.  We did have horses, but they were work horses.  I am the oldest of ten children and have had to work my bottom off since I was old enough to handle a pitch fork and milk a cow.”

I left him stewing.  “Colleen, do you think that you could handle cooking the evening meal and making sure the house  is clean while Ms. Autumn and I are working.  There may also be times when we would need you to help Mrs. Weaver with the children.  Would that be a problem?”

Colleen looked at Denny, and Cole was glaring at me.  She answered, “Mr. Christiansen, I have been working at The Shack for three years and have been helping in the kitchen after school, to help prepare the meals.  I do have two younger siblings. So I do know how to take care of children, as does Denny.”

Denny was almost defiant, “Before you ask, Mrs. Weaver and Cole can tell you that the two of us have been working at The Shack for over three years.  I did whatever odd jobs needed to be done.  I’ve washed dishes and cooked catfish and yes even waited tables if I was needed.”

Denny continued, “Collie and I became good friends.  One night when I was taking her home, we let our emotions take control and that is why Collie is pregnant.   My family can’t support the two of us and Colleen's parents are having a difficult time accepting what happened.”

Colleen expanded on what Denny had said, “My father is someone whom you will probably be meeting at the college, Dr. Christiansen, since he is on the governing board.  Anyway, Denny and I were married by a Justice of the Peace two weeks ago.”

Autumn asked, “Colleen, how far along in your pregnancy are you?”

Colleen answered, “I’m in my third month, or that’s what they said at the clinic.”

Autumn shook her head, “I’m going to make an appointment with my obstetrician, so he can check you.”

I made a command decision, “Denny and Colleen, how soon can you start working here at Summerhill?”

Denny looked surprised, “We can start tomorrow, but we need to find someplace to live.”

I nodded, “We have already discussed that.  We have a bedroom in the basement with it’s own bathroom facilities.  As you can see we are adding on to the house.  Cole has suggested that perhaps we could make an apartment for you down there.  Would you like to go see it?”

Colleen was excited, “You mean you are going have us stay here?”

I grinned at the two of them, “Well, if you stay here and we pay for your food, then we won’t need to pay you much money.  Let’s go look at where you could call home.”

Autumn and I took them to the basement bedroom and showed them the bathroom.  Denny had a big grin, “This bedroom is bigger than the one I shared with two brothers.  We only had one bathroom for the twelve of us so it got a little congested.  We’ll be here in the morning, and Cole can show me what I need to do before he goes to football practice.”

That was probably the smartest command decision that I ever made in my life.

Colleen went to see Autumn’s obstetrician and  he detected a problem.  He informed her, “Mrs. Coburn, I think that you are about to have a miscarriage.  I would suggest that you not do anything too strenuous for the next couple of days.”

The doctor had no more than said that than Collie went into labor.

Collie was rushed to the hospital which was adjacent to the medical building where the doctor‘s office was located.  The fetus was dead when it arrived.  Colleen and Denny were advised that they might never be able to have children.

Football season started and Nana Weaver and I would go to the home games to watch Cole.  The season ended and Cole made the all state second team at the quarterback position.  Not only that, he made the honor roll that semester for the first time and that was more important to Cole than any football accolades.

The contractors had the additions and renovations of the house finished just in time for Thanksgiving.

It was the day after Christmas when I received a call from Jeff, “Uncle Doug, please have Cole come get me so I can spend some time at Summerhill.  My parents are closing the restaurant for a week and are going to go visit my brothers in California and I don’t want to go.”

“Jeff, I’ll come get you, but things have changed, around here.”

“Uncle Doug, I know what’s been happening at Summerhill,  Trevor has been providing me a blow by blow account.  I understand that your house lights up the sky with all the lights that this mysterious Denny has put up.”

Cole, Trevor and I went to pick up Jeff.  Cole was in the front with me and the two 14 year olds were in the back.  When we arrived at Summerhill, Jeff blurted out, “Are you sure this is Summerhill?”

Trevor admonished, “Jeff, I tried to tell you that Mr. Doug and Ms. Autumn have the biggest house in the area.”

Jeff looked at me, “Where am I going to be sleeping?”

Cole turned around, “You will be occupying the extra bedroom in our trailer since Mr. Doug and Ms. Autumn’s parents are here for the holidays.  Austin and Derek are also staying at Summerhill too.”

The holidays were fun for everyone, but I still had to work to get ready for the next semester.  After all the visitors departed, Denny came to me, “Mr. Christiansen, would it be okay if Colleen and I took the weekend off?”

“Denny, why wouldn’t it be okay?  Is there a problem?”

“No, Mr. Doug, everything is fine.  We just want to get away before Miss Autumn delivers the twins.  I‘ve never really been anyplace.  I’ve only ever been to Atlanta one time.  Thanks to the Christmas bonus you gave us, we can do something fun.”

Autumn woke me on April Fool’s morning, “Doug, I need to go to the hospital now.  Go tell Collie and Nana Weaver that we’re leaving.  We made it to the hospital just in time, because Mark and Matthew arrived into the world almost immediately after we had arrived.”

We soon had parents descending on us like crazy.  It was a good thing that we had hired Denny and Colleen because there was no way that Autumn and Nana Weaver could take care of the three infants and do much work around the house after the parents had departed. 

Until Benji had his first birthday in May, we had three infants under one, in the house.  Cole would take Benji to the stable with him when he got home from school, which got a little tricky, especially after Benji started to walk.  Benji loved to be with Unk Co.

Jeff came to spend the summer with us, and the guys had Summerhill looking like a show place, and The King had to be the busiest stud in the area.

Cole had been elected senior class president, so when school started, he was not only busy with football, but with other school activities as well.

It was Labor Day Evening when Autumn dropped the next bomb, “Doug, I’m pregnant.”

 I looked at her in disbelief, “Is it twins again?”

She shook her head no, “The doctor thinks it’s a single embryo.”

I laughed, “I guess I’ll need to keep my penis in my briefs from now on.  Maybe I should have a vasectomy.”

Autumn giggled, “We have seven months to figure out what to do.”

Nana Weaver and I went to all of Cole’s football games whether at home or away.  The team went undefeated and won the state title for the school’s class.  Cole was selected as the first team quarterback on the all state team.”

He started to receive calls from schools in all parts of the United States, especially after he was named as one of the top twenty college prospects in the United States.  He was identified as one of the top three quarterbacks prospects.

Cole approached me, “Doug, I need your help.”

“What’s up, Cole?”

“I don’t want to go too far away to college.  I’d like to stay in Georgia.  Both Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia have invited me to come visit.  Would you please go with me on the visits?”

“Cole, you make arrangements for the visits, and I’ll accompany you.  Atlanta and Athens are both within easy driving distance.”

“Doug, that’s why I want to visit them first.  I would be able to get home, so I can be with my family and it won’t cost me an arm and a leg to get here.  If I were to make the football team, then you and Grandma could come to the games.”

We made the visits and Cole was impressed with both of the football programs and the coaches and the team members.  It was during these visits when I saw Cole naked for the first time in nearly a year and a half and he certainly was a well endowed young man.

Cole approached Autumn and me one evening, “I need to make a decision about which university I want to attend.  It has boiled down to a question of which football conference do I want to play in, SEC  or ACC, and what academic area I want to study.  I’ve decided that I would like to attend Georgia Tech.  It has less students and has a very good business school.  I’ve decided that the two conferences have pretty much achieved parity.  I’m going to call the coach tomorrow and inform him.”

Cole looked at us, “Do you think I made the right choice?”

Autumn answered, “Cole, this is something that you must decide for yourself.  It sounds to me as if you have studied the problem and made an intelligent decision.  What does your Grandmother think?”

“Ms. Autumn, Grandma is just thrilled that I am going to be able to go to college.”

Autumn hugged, “Cole, I’m so proud of what you have accomplished.  I would never have guessed that this would happen seven years ago, when I first met you.”

Cole giggled, “I was a real mess then, wasn’t I?  Quite frankly, Ms. Autumn and Mr. Doug, if it hadn’t been for the two of you, I would never had to make a decision like this.”

He hugged us both and announced, “I need to finish getting ready for tomorrow.  Thanks for everything.”

As Cole was leaving, I suggested, “Cole, you might want apply to both schools, to make sure that they will accept your request for admission.”

Cole grinned, “I already have; my guidance counselor has been assisting in applying for some other scholarships just in case I don’t get an athletic scholarship.  Wouldn’t it be cool if I were to get both.  That way I would have something to fall back on if I were to be injured?”

We were eating dinner the next evening when Collie announced, “After dinner, Denny and I are going to go visit our families.  We’re going to stop at the grocery store and pick up some items we need.  Does anyone need anything?  Cole, that means you and Benji are in charge of the dishes tonight.”

“Golly, thanks Miss Collie. I always wanted to be in charge of dishes.  Can I make them do whatever I want?  Don’t sweat it, I’ll have your kitchen so spotless that you won’t be able to see any of the finger marks  that your husband leaves all over the place.  I suppose you want me to clean your apartment, too?”

Everyone was laughing and Denny responded, “We thought we’d have you do that tomorrow night, since you can only focus on one thing at a time.”

Cole pouted, “Come on, Benji, everyone’s picking on me.  You have to help me.”

“Benji climbed out of his booster chair, “Okay, Uncle Cole, what do you want me to do?”

Cole handed a basket with a handle to Benji, “You get all the knives, forks and spoons while I get the dishes.  After we finish the dishes, I'll give you your bath and read you a story.”

Cole put Benji to bed, and Autumn and I were sitting feeding Matt and Mark when Cole came down the stairs.  He had a devious look on his face, “I’ve been accepted to both Georgia Tech and University of Georgia.  I’ve even received a Presidential Scholarship for Georgia Tech.  I guess I made the right decision.  The coach will be here tomorrow evening along with some media people to witness me signing the letter of intent.  I hope you don’t mind if I said it was okay for them to come here.”

Autumn looked up, “Where are you planning to do the signing?”

“I talked to the coach and he agreed that it might be most effective if I were to sign it in the trailer so that the media could pick up on the fact that poor boy makes good.  I would really like for you and Mr. Doug to be there with Benji.”

I was concerned, “Why do you want Benji to be there?”

Mr. Doug and Miss Autumn, “I almost feel as if Benji is the son that I will never have.  After all, it was me who found him and caused the two of you to get married earlier than you had planned.”

Autumn chuckled, “Cole, we’ll be there.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  My goodness, time flies when you're having fun.  Things are moving along pretty fast, aren't they. More than a year has gone by since they found Benji, and he is really doing well. He is really progressing, isn't he?  So is Cole, it would seem. It also looks like Doug and Autumn are progressing as well. At least they are keeping busy.  Denny and Collie seem to be happy as well.    I am also happy to see that Nana Weaver is doing well and is adjusting to being without he husband. 

I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 08/14/09