I think on it for a second and she's right there are a few first between the girls and this one is all hers. I smile and we relax on my bed, not even talking, just holding and feeling a shit ton better now than an hour ago. The day doesn't get away from us as dinner time rolls around and we make sure we're decent to sit with the family. We get done and the girls clear the table while Dad pulls me to the gym, as soon as we're in the envelope.
"It is a rental receipt and a reservation on the night of the homecoming, it's not super fancy but it's not a motel. Those are yours for the night, don't tell Mom," Dad tells me with a big smile.
"Dad I could just ask Loretta for this, she's rolling in cash," I tell him and I watch his face go from happy to lesson time.
"I'm your father and I'll be dead, burnt and scattered before I let someone else, especially your birth mother, do everything for my son. Loretta and I talked and if she ever wants to be in this state with you at the same time she's going to stand back and let me be Dad," He tells me before giving me a smirk.
"Dad I have to ask something about Liz and Kyle," My words have him pause," She thinks she's getting away with sex. She really doesn't seem to realize that you know when it's happening."
"Like you and Katy this afternoon while we were shopping," Dad informs me and I chuckle," Son at this point the only thing I'm worried about when it comes to your sister and Kyle is birth control. I tell her not to fool around with him and she'll get stupid and do stupid shit. Then she's pregnant and we're on a damn talk show about pregnant teens. Fuck that nonsense."
"Alright Dad but the saying is fuck that noise," I tell him and he looks at me.
"Nonsense is a better word," Dad states as we rejoin the family in the house.
We joke and rejoin the family with my secret in my back pocket, we're still weeks away from the dance and I'm going to do my job as a leader at school and continue doing my college courses online. It's a bit of a trick but if I'm really good about it I'll have some solid work done on my degree before I ever set foot on a campus. I hop on to my computer and bring it back online before sending a message to Loretta. We talk a little and she's happy we're still communicating and I promise there will be more talks to come since I'm looking at a college in between both homes. She'd like me in Texas and Dad wants me in Washington but I need to be there for both. I don't want to look right now but I plan to do so after the New Year comes.
Sunday morning I'm sleeping soundly, it's my day off from everything and yet someone is trying to sneak into my room. I'm quiet and calm as I feel someone crawl up on my left, as a joke I roll away mumbling.
"Heather I just wanna sleep a little more, go tell the kids to put their games away," I grumble and hear a sharp gasp before wheeling around and scaring Imelda," HAH, you thought you were sneaky!"
I pull her in bed and tickle her with a little mercy before we start rolling around and laughing. It's a nice wakeup and I miss her since she has a job and it keeps her busy like nobody's business. Apparently if a woman works at a mechanics shop men flock to the business and while she doesn't play the token hot chick, she could mind you; Imelda does her job like everyone else. We talk and cuddle when she tells me something that I didn't expect to hear.
"I want a second baby after Kori," Imelda informs me and I look at her with concern.
"Well Kori does have 'dibs' as it were but I thought you were the one other than Matty that wanted to wait," I ask, gauging the situation.
"I did, then a woman came into the shop and as I was bringing her van in the loading bay she forgot to clean it out and her baby was in the back seat. I took everything out and brought the baby in the office with her, she was grateful mind you but then she asked me if I wanted to hold her daughter," Imelda tells me and I can see her start to well up," Honey I cried, this baby smiled at me and now I'm feeling all mushy and I want a baby. As in I want one this year but we need to wait and I don't know."
She's got baby sickness; I'd find that out later from Mom. For now I hold Imelda and we talk, we actually do a little planning on the baby front, we both agree that a girl would be best so she can be pretty like her mommy. It's a nice feeling to actually go through the planning portion of this now and think about it without any real stress or outside tension. We stop when my stomach rumbles and I get to have breakfast with two of my girls. Katy and Imelda hug and immediately start going into tough girl subjects which has Dad and I listening but Mom and Liz wondering about Vaseline on knuckles for a bitch fight in a bar. Most of my remaining Sunday is giving Imelda some personal time and that means we ride, I take Black Sunshine and we spend so much of the day going down the roads and freeways. I haven't rode this much in a bit. Usually we stop after an hour or two. Instead we set off at noon and I'm home at nine with a happy Latina on her way home aka Kori's parent's home.
I'd like to say that Monday and Tuesday were fun and productive days but I would be lying. What I can say is I'm not having any problems with people and school is running itself happily save for one thing, dance committee. Apparently there is a budget we have and they, the five females came to us with their plans and what they 'expected' us to pay for. Mercifully the voting was four to one and they were trounced out on Monday only to return on Tuesday with a slightly less offensive list and again they were burned out unanimously this time. I think the voting aid, not sure what he actually does but the guy contributes, is hard for a date and five pretty girls makes a man desperate. We adjourned on Tuesday and I'm sitting in the room since I have nothing to do till the end of the day when I get a knock on the door and find one of the five, the ringleader, on her way back in to talk to me.
"Guy I was wondering if I could have a word about the homecoming budget," she asks plainly.
I take note of her, about 5'8" with a lean build, not big up top or in the rear but not a stick. She's mixed. I know that much is white and black , which is pressed flat and around her ears. And she's dressed conservatively with a button up shirt and a nice pair of capri pants. They remind me that Kori is sick and I need to visit her today.
"We can have several words about the homecoming budget…," I didn't bother to remember her name because she'd been annoying me for two days now.
"Tania," She injects her name tah-NEE-ah in the right spot.
"But what you and your friends are asking for is going to kill at least three club budgets that have been approved and while a lot of people don't think chess is very trendy or cool half of the people in it are tutors and they don't usually ask for much," I explain and I can tell she's trying to listen.
"Okay but this is the senior dance, it sets the tone for the rest of the year," she tells me trying to explain her point.
"And what precedence are you trying to set? That we can overspend and kill day to day clubs that have merit and worth to make the year shiny and pretty at a few points," I'm not 'trying' to be mean but entitled people bring it out of me.
"Guy listen, I voted for you last year. A lot of us did, we thought you were going to break the rules and do shit in a fun way," And now comes the appealing to my inner rebel," but you talking about a budget is really a downer I mean we're just talking a couple grand for the first big dance of the year."
"Well now that you got it out of the way I can tell you that you're fired," I state and proceed to start checking names off the list for the dance committee," Oh and tell the little group of friends that they are off the committee too."
"What?! What do you mean I'm off the committee, I built this committee," Tania yells at me getting up from her chair.
"Yes you did, and it failed. I'm grateful for you voting for me last year but I never, not once, asked for anyone to vote for me. I'm here now because I do things for the people, all of them. If that means I plan this fall dance myself then so be it but I will not screw the rest of the school to tend to the whims of five girls, just not going to happen," I tell her firmly but calmly.