A Second Chance, Part III -- Life Must Go On
By: Tickie
(© 2007 by the author)
Co-Author & Editor: Radio Rancher
 
The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...


Chapter 18

Julie arrived early as she does most mornings, knowing that the family was back home and sleeping a well deserved rest after the so-called camping vacation. She noticed that all the vehicles were home and that everything was unloaded but not yet put away. She also saw that the horses were frolicking around the pasture, playing. They were all having fun with Dotty, and the little colt was having a great time. Julie entered the house and she felt like she was home again, with all the family sleeping, it just felt so right, like home should feel. She had missed all of them, after having to leave the day before they did, and her spirits were down, what with the bad news, she had received in the mail when she got back. She started the morning’s meal by brewing a large pot of fresh coffee, and then she started on her homemade biscuits soon to be followed with her fabulous sausage gravy. She was planning on bacon and ham plus fresh eggs as well.

The smell of fresh brewed coffee drifted throughout the house, causing a few people to begin to stir in their sleep. Soon Matt woke up. He needed to use the bathroom. He tried to sneak out of bed, without waking up the rest of the family. Of course, that didn’t work so well. By the time he slid his legs out of the bed, Colt reached out, grabbed him around the waist, and pulled him back for a quick but loving kiss.

Matt said with a giggle, “Stop it, silly, or I’m gonna pee myself and the rest of the room as well; I have to go so bad.”

Colt laughed out loud and said, “You do, and you’ll have to clean it up cutey pie. God I love you!”

Matt just looked back at Colt, and gave out with his sexiest, 'see you in a minute' smile. Colt got out of bed, followed Matt into the bathroom, and they both turned on the shower and got in together.

The sound of the shower running woke up JC. He leaned over and kissed Mike, saying, “Good morning, love. It’s nice to be home again. Want to join the boys in the shower?” He was grinning with a 'come on sexy let’s get with it' smile.

Mike got up, sporting quite a nice woody, and headed into the bathroom to join his sons, with JC in tow. Saying, “Look who just woke me up with a sloppy wet kiss!” He chuckled, looking at Colt and Matt.

Colt started laughing and looked at Matt, saying, “You think we have room for them in here?” He kissed Matt on the nose, giggling, all the time.

“You'd better have room for us!” JC snorted, as he and Mike squeezed their way past the two young hunks, into the shower. Both of them were sporting huge steel rods that the boys soon took care of, without any hesitation. They were each in turn working their dads to a wonderful release of morning nectar.

After they finished showering and got dressed, they headed out to the dining room, where they found Julie, looking pretty much down in the dumps, sitting there, slowly drinking a cup of coffee. She didn't quite look like her usual cheery self. JC said, “Good morning, Beautiful lady. How was your trip home, yesterday? You don't look too happy.”

“It was okay; it’s just that I got some bad news in the mail when I got back.” Julie said, looking worried.

“What was that?” JC asked, with concern etched in his voice, and a frown on his face.

“Well, JC, it seems I have to find a new place to live, and I have to move out pretty quickly too. Seems the place I have been renting was sold and now the new owner is going to build a fancy, posh, development there.” Julie told JC, with a tone of disdain, not looking at him, she was almost in tears, and she didn’t want him to see her like that.

JC shook his head and said, “Don’t worry, honey, you will always have a place to live, right here on the ranch, and it won’t cost you a damn thing. You are part of this family, now, so don't even think of looking anywhere else. I mean it. You can move into the guest room for the time being, until we can get a cottage built for you.” He was smiling from ear to ear at her.

Julie turned on her heels, and started crying, as she went to JC, and hugged him, saying, “JC, you guys don’t have to do that for me.”

"That's right, Julie, We don’t have to, I want to, and so do the rest of the others. I don't even have to ask them. I know they all love you like you were their grandma. So you are going to live here, and that’s all there is to it. Now stop the crying, and get our meal ready.” JC said, giggling at her, with a wide grin on his face. About that time, Colt and Matt looked at Julie with shock, thinking and looking at each other.

Colt grabbed Julie, pulled her into a hug, and said, “Grandma, you will never have to worry about a place to stay. For God's sake, you belong here. We'll have Bill and Janet have a contractor out here today to start building a cute little place for you. You can let him know exactly what you want in it and any special features that you would like.” He kissed her and so did Matt.

Matt just said with a cute smile. “We all love you grandma, so please don’t worry about anything, anything at all. You will always have a home here.”

Julie simply smiled and said, “Thank you all. You have no idea how much I love all of you. That news had been worrying me all night. I'm afraid I didn't get much sleep, because of it, so I'm not quite up to my usual speed yet. Now I feel so much better, just knowing I have a place to call home.” She wiped her eyes and looked over at the family that had gathered. She continued to speak, saying, “You know, I had a wonderful time, I really enjoyed that little camping trip. Thank you for inviting me to come along. All you guys are so cute and handsome, it makes this old gal wish she was young again, with different plumbing, if you know what I mean.” Then she broke out into a huge laugh. Which was so nice to hear, after her bad news was taken care of.

Richard and Andrew walked in together and sat down; they both looked at Julie and could see she had been crying. Andrew spoke first, saying, “What’s wrong Julie?”

“Nothing, now, Andrew, I just had some bad news in the mail yesterday, but JC and the boys have taken care of it for me, now, and I couldn’t be happier.” Julie said, with a warm smile and a twitch to her step. It was so damn cute to see her so happy, and the ranch would never be the same.

Richard said, “Good to hear that, I was afraid someone had hurt you, hon?” He truly felt what he was saying.

Earl and Jack were the next to enter the dining room, both spoke, saying, “Good morning all!” You could tell they had been taking care of each other, by the glow they had on their faces. It was so darn cute, they couldn’t hide their love for each other anymore, then you could hide an elephant in a phone booth.

Colt got up and went into the kitchen to help Julie, as he always did, this time Jack followed him in, saying, "It's time I started helping in the kitchen too." Smiling at Colt and Julie, then he reached over, picked up some of the food serving dishes, and headed back into the dining room, placing them on the table. Then he returned to the kitchen for more food or whatever needed taking out into the dining room.

Julie smiled at Jack, and said, "Thanks for the help, son!" Looking directly at Jack when she said that.

Colt just smiled at Jack and said, "Welcome to the world of helping grandma!" Punching Jack in the arm tenderly.

Jack pulled back saying, "Oww, that hurt!" Laughing at Colt.

“Oh mister tough guy are you!” Colt chuckled back at his very best friend.

Soon all the food was on the table and everyone dug in with gusto. It wasn’t long before the meal was devoured and there were a bunch of stuffed oinkers sitting around the table sipping their coffee when the phone rang.

Colt just reached over and pushed the button on one of the new phones that had been installed while the family was camping. Yes, Matt had lived up to his word, and had a local company come out to the ranch and install a brand new phone system. It was very much improved from the days when I used to own it.

Yes there were now four phone lines running into the ranch, one was a private number that was only for the family and very close friends. The other three were for company business; one for the ranch itself, and the other two were for Lambert, Lambert & Andersen, Inc.

The communications company had also upgraded the high-speed Internet connection. They had installed an OC3 line into the head end that fed all the data lines on the ranch.

I do manage to get ahead of myself, don't I? Anyway, as I said, Colt answered the phone.

“Hello, this is the Lazy L, Colt speaking.”

“Hi Colt, this is Kevin, I was hoping you guys were back from your camping trip.” He was happy and seemed to be quite excited.

“You are on our new speaker phone, bud, and everyone is sitting here, even Andrew.” Colt chuckled.

“Good, is JC there too?” Kevin questioned.

“Sure is,” Colt said, as JC spoke saying, “Yep, son, I’m here, along with the rest of the family.”

“Well, good, what I wanted to say is that Jerry and I would love to work for you at the Lodge in Canada, if that’s still available?” Kevin stated with a hint of question in his voice.

“Sure is, son!” JC said quickly.

Colt just said, “You heard him, Kevin.” Then he started grinning at Andrew, who was now smiling at the thought of his friends going to work for the family.

“Thanks for the jobs, you guys. We really do appreciate it; we only have a couple of problems on this end.” Kevin stated nervously, from the sound of his voice that was clearly shaking now.

JC spoke, saying, “What’s the problem guys? Can’t be as bad as all that, now can it?” chuckling at his own remarks, that I was sure made Kevin even more nervous.

Kevin stammered out, “Well, it’s going to take us about a month or so to get everything settled here. What with giving notice to our present bosses, and all, I am under a contract and Jerry is just working at a regular job that will only require a two-week notice. The other problem is the lease on our apartment won’t be up for about five weeks now.” He took a deep breath, and then continued, “Will that be a problem, JC?”

“Not at all.” JC stated, and then continued, “In fact, that makes me even more sure that the boys have made the right decision, in hiring you both. You guys take all the time you need. Just let us know when you will be arriving.”

“Thanks, so much, JC, we are looking forward to moving to Canada, and from the fliers Colt sent us, I think we will both love that place.” Kevin said, with warmth in the sound of his voice.

“That’s no problem Kevin; in fact if you need help, I’m sure I know a few guys sitting around this table here, that would love to come help you move. On the other hand, we could send a plane down there, and fly you up to the ranch here in Casper. Then we can ship all your stuff to you, at the lodge.” He paused for a few seconds then continued speaking, “In fact, I think we will fly you both up from the ranch, when the time comes, if that’s okay with you?” Again, JC paused waiting for an answer.

“Wow, that would be great, JC.” Kevin answered.

Andrew couldn’t hold back any longer, and said, “Sorry to butt in, but I am so damn happy for you two, buddy. You don’t know how nice it will be working for this family. I mean it really is a big wonderful family. It isn't like being an employee; it is like we are part of the family. Heck they just told Julie she is going to get a new house built for her right here on the ranch.” He was so happy you could hear it in his voice, as he told them.

“Thanks Andy, oops, sorry, I forgot you don’t like being called that.” Kevin said with an apologetic voice.

Andrew just said, “That’s okay Kev, I don’t mind it that much.” He had a cute smile on his face that let you know he meant what he said.

“Okay, I’ll try to remember that bud.” Kevin said.

“Okay Kevin, you and Jerry can start as soon as you want.” JC stated with a smile, as he looked at Colt, then at Matt, shaking his head, then mouthed to the boys. “You should be the ones doing this.” Then he smiled at them.

Colt took the hint and said, “Kevin, what dad just said goes for both Matt and me as well. Welcome to the family, any friend of Andrew's is a friend of mine.” He looked a Matt, nodding for him to speak up.

“That goes for me as well. Tell Jerry he is part of the family too!” Matt jibed in with a chuckle. Then looked at his dads with a loving smile.

“Jerry just said, ‘Thank you all!’” Kevin stated, then continued, “I want to also thank you all for the jobs and the warmth you’ve shown us both.”

“No problem bud, we are excited about you both coming.” Andrew said warmly.

“Again thanks, I’ll let you all go, see you soon.” Kevin said, as he hung up the phone.

Matt reached over and pushed the button hanging up the phone. Then said, “I’m sure glad I had that new phone system installed.” Then he looked at his pop and said jokingly, “That’s something you should have done a long time ago dad!” Everyone began laughing, except JC. He just gave Matt an evil little grin.

Colt said, “I’m going into the office to call Bill about Julie’s new cottage. Anything special I need to ask him about?” He was so cute, taking on the responsibilities of the job without being asked.

“Just make sure it has two bedrooms, she might have a guest sometime, and make sure it has a small sitting room for her private time.” Mike said, as he looked at Julie, who was smiling her cute grandmotherly smile at the family.

JC just shook his head and smiled at his oldest son, then he said, “You make me proud of you, the both of you do.” He then got up and went into the living room, with Mike following close behind him.

Colt got up and headed for the office, followed by Matt, who wanted to have a little say in what was about to happen. He didn’t want to be left out of this important addition to their family.

Once in the office, Colt picked up the phone and placed the call to Bill at the office in town. He called Bill’s private number, hoping he was there.

“Hello, Lambert, Lambert, and Andersen, Inc., Bill speaking.”

“Hi Bill, Colt here.”

“Hi Colt, how was your camping trip?” Bill asked.

“It was great, and everyone had a grand time, even Julie went with us, and she enjoyed herself.” Colt said with a little giggle.

“Good to hear that. What can I do for you today, or is this just a social call?” Bill asked, with and open mind.

“Well, it could be both!” Colt chuckled, then continued, “But right now, Julie has a problem. She is being evicted from her rented house. Therefore, we want you to contact our builder and have him come out and see us today, as soon as possible. Can you do that for me, Bill?”

“Sure will, has JC okayed this?” Bill asked, then thought to himself, ‘Crap! Why did I ask him that? The boys are equal owners now.’ Then he continued, saying, “Oh my, I’m sorry Colt, for asking you that. I forgot for a second that you guys are owners of the company now. Please forgive me, Please!” He was indeed sorry for saying that.

“It’s okay Bill, we all forget now and then.” He chuckled on the phone so Bill could hear it, then continued in a joking manor, “Just don’t let it happen again, or I’ll have to turn you into one of our kind.” Then he and Matt both broke out in a huge laugh that was even heard by their dads, in the living room.

“Thanks guys, I’m really sorry about that. By the way, while I have you on the phone, who is going to fly me to Germany today, for my meetings?” Bill asked as he apologized to the boys.

“Earl and Jack will be your pilots, and I think John will be your cook, but that might change, if something comes up. However, count on Earl and Jack as the pilots. Is that okay with you?” Colt asked, then waited for his reply.

“That’s just fine, I sure like those two guys; they are a bundle of fun to be around. And again, I'm really sorry about before, and I’ll have the builder call you as soon as he can.” Bill said with relief in his voice.

“No problem bud, all is forgiven, and have a good trip.” Colt said, as he hung up the phone. Then he pulled Matt into a warm hug, and kissed him passionately, saying, “God, Matt, I do love you so very much! Let’s go tell Earl and Jack about the trip, they will be surprised, I’m sure.” He was grinning at Matt as he turned to walk back into the dining room.

JC and Richard were sitting in the living room talking about the new runway that was being installed at the ranch. It was going to allow them to keep Cowboy and Buckaroo there, on site, instead of at the Casper airport. It was something that had been planned, and the work was going to be completed very soon. It took some doing on Richard’s part with the FAA, to get the airfield approved for private use only, and of course it had to be made available, in case of emergencies; for others to use the runway. It was completely automated, with lights controlled by radio frequencies which were assigned for that purpose. In fact, it was so near to completion, that the boys were going to land there the next time they were away on business for the company. There were underground fuel tanks already installed and two new hangers were already built for the big birds. In addition, there were two new snowplows for the winter, already on hand and ready to go. The boys were so excited about their new airfield, that they wanted to just ferry the planes over, but Richard convinced them to just wait, and the next time they were gone, they would have a new experience landing at home.

Colt and Matt not finding anyone in the dining room walked into the living room and overheard the conversation. Colt spoke up and said, “Really, is the runway that close to completion?” He was grinning with excitement.

“Really Richard, is it that close?” Matt questioned, with an excited look on his face.

“Sure is guys, it’s ready now, but they need to paint the markings on her, then it’s a done deal.” He was very pleased with his efforts, and you could see it in his expression and smile.

Matt went over and hugged him saying, "That's just great, I could kiss you for that." Then he pulled back, kissed him on the lips, and giggled. "Hey you're a good kisser. I love you; you know that, don't you?"

Colt didn't say a word he just hugged Richard, and kissed him the same way. Then he looked at JC and said, "Thanks dad, I know it was your idea, and it was a great one too." he then went over and hugged his dad and kissed him too.

"Yes Dad, thanks so much. That will make coming home, really coming home." Matt giggled, and then kissed his pop too.

Colt excused himself saying, "I need to go find Earl and Jack to let them know they are flying Bill to Germany today." Then he turned and left the room.

Matt said, "I'm going out to make sure the hands get all the camping gear cleaned up and stowed. You need me for anything guys?" He looked at his dad, then at Richard, waiting for a response. Both just nodded so Matt left for the barn, looking for Mike.

Mike and Andrew were in the barn, working on ranch business when Matt showed up with a grin on his face. Mike said, “You look happy! What’s up?” He just liked seeing his boys smiling, they were always happy kids, all their lives, and he was so pleased and proud of them.

“Yep! I sure am, the new runway is almost finished, and that means we will land Cowboy and Buckaroo at home, from now on.” Matt was bubbling over with excitement as he said that.

Andrew said, “That’s great, I thought it would take a lot longer than it did. But those contractors seem to know their jobs really well.” He grinned at Matt, then continued, “That should make it much easier for all you pilots in the family. I just don’t know how the horses and cattle will like it, when you come home. They will probably stampede on us!” He broke out into a huge belly laugh, which was catching, because Mike and Ben were also laughing so hard they began to complain about their sides hurting.

Matt even had to laugh about it, then he thought, 'Actually, I never thought of that. Maybe we need to keep the noise down as much as we can, when we takeoff and land. I'll have to remind the others of that.  I'm sure glad we had it extended to 15,000 feet.'

James and I watched and we were so pleased at all that was happening today, we knew Julie was going to be happy, and the rest of the family was enjoying themselves. We just sent warm loving thoughts to them all.

The rest of the day was not so hectic, Earl and Jack left the ranch at about 2:30 PM for the Casper airport, they were going to take Buckaroo, and be gone with Bill for almost a week in Europe. When they come home, they will be landing Buckaroo at the ranch on the new runway. They were happy to hear that.

Bill had called the builder, he came out, and talked to Colt and Matt, so JC left it up to them to plan and set the plan in motion. The plan was for a very nice two-bedroom pre-fabbed log cabin style house, about 1300 square feet. With a fireplace, a sitting room, a nice kitchen with all modern appliances, living room with a state of the art entertainment system. Julie was consulted as to what she wanted, but she was so flabbergasted that she couldn’t believe her ears. The boys were so cute, the way they asked her about every room and how she wanted it. She was helpful in what she told them. By the time the builder left, he had the location staked out and a small crew already getting the place ready for the new house. He said it would take about six weeks to complete with a standard crew. Therefore, the boys said to speed it up if possible. He said he would do what he could, maybe he could cut the time down to four weeks, but that depended on the delivery of the house. So he called and ordered it and, surprise, it was in stock and would be delivered in two days. He said that he would do his best to have it ready in four weeks. The boys thanked him and he was on his way.

Julie just said, "God boys, you are so wonderful, I don't know how to thank you both." She was smiling with tears in her eyes.

Matt just got up from the table, brushed the tears from her eyes, and kissed her, saying, "You don't have to thank us, we need to thank you, for all you have done for Colt and me, over the years, Grandma." He had tears in his eyes as he spoke to her.

"Really grandma, you have done so much for us, it's the least we can do for you." Colt said, as he too had tears running down his cute cheeks.

Julie walked over to Colt, gave him a grandmotherly hug, and brushed his tears away saying, "Thank you so very much." Then she went into the kitchen and brought out a pot of hot chocolate and enough cups for the family, along with a plate of fresh cinnamon buns.

JC and Richard came into the dining room when they smelled the hot cinnamon buns; they couldn’t resist the aroma of Julie’s homemade goodies. JC just said, “You don’t need to yell, the smell is enough to bring the dead for a snack.” He was giggling like a schoolboy coming home from school.

Richard smiled and said, “I’ll take one of those, please! And a cup of coffee, I’m not much for hot chocolate. God, those smell so good, Julie!” He pointed at the cinnamon buns and made growling sounds like that bear. "Colt, did you ask that bear if he did what everybody always asks?" Everyone laughed.

Mike and Andrew walked in about that time, Mike complained, “How come no one told us there were homemade cinnamon buns ready.” He chuckled, then grabbed a bun and a cup of hot chocolate, sitting down next to JC.

Andrew smiled and took two buns and a cup of hot chocolate saying, “Don’t mind this pig, I just love these things, if Julie made them.” Grinning at Julie, then he said, “Thanks Julie, you are the greatest!”

The rest of that day was uneventful, everyone was home, and things were great, lots of problems were solved and the family was happy and content.

That night JC, Mike, Colt and Matt, decided on going to a movie in town. Richard and Andrew just wanted to stay home and relax with each other, alone. Julie went home to start the job of packing her things for the move to the ranch, and she was happy about that. When the time came for the real move, the boys all would be moving her, they had already told her that.

Richard and Andrew went to bed early, and of course, they made mad passionate love. They were happy to be alone once more. It was fun being with the whole family, but their love was more special to them alone. They were very happy together, and had been for some time now. They talked about their relationship with each other and were happy with the way everything was working out for them.

James and I knew the entire family felt the same way as those two did, and we encouraged them all to feel the same way. Planting those ideas was so easy for us, for they all felt them before we thought of them.

Those two soon fell fast asleep in each other’s arms, and were softly snoring when the Andersen family came home from the movies, tired and ready for bed. They quietly entered their bedroom, quickly undressed each other, and headed into the Jacuzzi for a relaxing soak and some much needed loving. They were also happy it was just the four of them again.

Colt said, “You know something, it was nice at camp, making love with everyone in the family, but at home, I think it’s so special for it only to be us four together.” He was smiling so sexy and honest, that JC and Mike began to cry.

Mike reached over, pulled Colt into a hug, and said, “That’s exactly how I feel. I love the others too, but it’s a different love than I have for the four of us. Do you know what I mean?” he was looking a Matt and JC as he held Colt.

Matt just said, “Yes poppa Mike, I do, I too love the others, but it’s not the same love I have for you all!” He had tears in his eyes too, whether it was from seeing the others or because of the moment. Nevertheless, he too was thinking, ‘This love is so much different than what we had in camp.’

JC looked at all of them and thought for a few minutes before saying, “I know what you all feel, and yes this love is different, our love for each other is much… much… deeper than anything we had on the camping trip. I think what we shared up there was a deep love of friends, the love we share here, in our home, is deeper, it’s a love that hurts at times... it’s a love that we depend on... it’s a love of our souls... it's a love that has no limits... it’s a love of will last forever... It’s so hard to put it into words. I think you all understand our love of each other.” He was so… so… serious about what he was saying that everyone of the family knew and understood him completely.

They all just got into a big mutual hug, and cried on each other's shoulders, then they kissed one another. Finally, they got out of the Jacuzzi, dried each other off, and headed for the bed. Once in bed they all made passionate love, changing partners often, and totally gave of themselves to the others. James and I joined them, and knew exactly how they felt, and knew they were home at last, and in control of their love for each other, as were James and I.

Soon the Andersen's were cuddled up in a loving embrace, spooned up with each other sleeping peacefully.

To be continued...

Editor's Note:

This was quite an interesting chapter. I am glad that Julie will be living on the ranch now. I always worried about her driving home and back to the ranch. She is such a nice person, and she loves everyone a lot. She has become like a grandma to the whole family. Earl and Jack now have a family too, and now Kevin and Jerry will be a part of the family as well.
 
Darryl
AKA The Radio Rancher