Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 25

As they approached it, they were happy to see that all the lines to it were connected, and working properly.

Stephano put in the security code, open the front door, and walked in after Patty. She turned on all the lights and started walking towards the rear of the bus, and came to an abrupt halt. She turned, waved at Stephano to join her. She pointed to their bed. Laying there, in peaceful slumber, were Bonnie, and Brad.

In a voice loud enough to wake them, Stephano said, "I guess his mother couldn't find them here."

Brad's head popped up from the pillow, looked at his tormentors, and said, "Oh fuck, they are back."

Stephano said, "Funny finding you two here. Is this your personal escape pod?"

Bonnie rubbed her eyes, and said, "Hi how was your honeymoon?"

Patty replied, "Very penetrating; extremely deep and thoughtful. Also, I'm pregnant."

Ever the optimist, Brad said, "You can't possibly know you're pregnant. It's way too soon to be sure."

Patty laughed; looked at Stephano, "Do you want to ask him or me?"

"Since you already own him, it's only right that you do it."

"Brad, I have a three-part bet for you if you are willing. I have to be right on all three parts to win. You only have to be right on one to win."

"Those are the kind of odds I like. What are we betting?"

"First thing in the morning, you will drive into town and buy two early pregnancy tests, made by different manufacturers. I will prove to you I'm pregnant. The second part will take a little longer to prove. I'm going to have twins. The third part is they are both going to be girls. Are those parameters tight enough for you?"

"Yes, what do you want from me?"

"Are you in love of Bonnie; and is she in love with you?"

Brad looked at Bonnie and said, "Yes, I am." Bonnie's reply was the same.

"Have you asked her to marry you?"

"No.

"You will on Christmas Eve, and marry her in April, to the delight of your mother and grandmother."

Bonnie's eyes glowed.

"You love your Corvettes, don't you?"

"Yes, it is a car that shows status."

"You will never buy another sports car again. You are going to be a family man, from Christmas Eve on. That is part two.

Brad said, "I knew I hated both of you from the instant I met you."

The third part is, "You will design and build a safe room underground, and as inconspicuous as possible between, the house and the garage. I will give you the specifications. It will not show up in any of the city files. It is to be totally secret. If people get to curious, tell them it's a bomb shelter."

Brad looked at them. "I have a feeling if I take this bet; I am going to be fucked again?"

"What is your answer Brad; yes or no? If I have one wrong answer you can name your price. What would you like from me?"

"Oh my Lord, the list is so long, and I have to choose only one thing. Can I wait until after you lose?"

"Absolutely Brad, take all the time you want. Dream up anything you'd like. Remember what it is, because you're not going to get it."

"Patty, I hate you so."

Stephano patted him on his shoulder. "At least you didn't piss her off this time. She is pregnant, she is going to have twins, and they are going to be girls. Trust me; you have already lost the bet."

"Can I finish the house first?"

"You'd better; otherwise you will see one pissed off woman."

"Do you want us to get out of your bed now?"

"No, we just came in to get some clothes so we have something to wear tomorrow. You two go back to sleep. We will meet you at the construction site in the morning."

"I think you will be very pleased with the progress we made in three weeks. I've had people crawling all over each other to get the house sealed in before the weather turns rainy and cold."

"Brad, remember, you don't have to please me; you have to please her. If you do that, you will be on top of the world."

******

The next morning, when Patty and Stephano exited their temporary dwelling, there were four horses saddled and waiting outside to take them to the building site.

Patty smiled. "Timeless!" The mare trotted over to her, nuzzled her face, as Patricia scratched her ears.

"I am happy to see you too, girl. Has Brad been giving you your oats?"

As if the horse understood what she had been asked, she nodded her head in affirmation.

"Shall we go for a ride?"

Again, the horse nodded its head, and turned sideways so Patty could climb into the saddle.

Brad said, "One moment please, you have to put this on first." He gave her a pair of blackout blinders, so she could not see.

"Why do I have to wear these?"

"If you want to see your new home, you have to put those on. It is not a request, it is in order."

"Are we getting a little uppity this morning, Brad?"

"Uppity or not, if you want to see the house, you're putting those blinders on."

Patty looked at Stephano, who shrugged his shoulders. "Do it, what could it hurt?"

Patty climbed onto Timeless', put on the blinders, and said, "Now what?"

"Now we will ride to the new house, and when I tell you to, you can take your blinders off."

"Okay, let's go, I want to see what you accomplished in three weeks."

Brad said, "Give me the reins, and I'll lead you to the house."

Patty said, "Timeless, house."

Stephano laughed as Brad muttered, "I hate that fucking horse."

Timeless led the way, with the three other horses trailing behind her. She came to a stop in front of the building site, and waited for the other three horses to join her.

Patty asked if it was okay to take the blinders off.

Brad asked her, "Are you sure you don't want that fucking horse to take it off for you?"

Stephano smacked Brad on the back of his head. "Are you sure you want to piss her off?"

"Yes, Patty, you can take the blinders off."

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she was amazed. She looked at Brad and said, "The construction crews did all this in three weeks?"

"Organization, Patty, all it takes is organization. Threats always help too."

"The outside of the house is nearly finished."

"Yes it is. We are waiting for the windows, which are three days late. Your friend with the solar panels is a week late. That's why you see all the copper plumbing coming out of the shingle roof. The house has hot and cold running water. The roof is sealed, and watertight. The Natural Gas Tank and lines are all underground, waiting to be hooked up to the meter and into the basement. The windmill is hooked up and generating electricity to the grid, and the house. That's what we are using for the hot water tank. The solar panels on the barn are hooked up to the grid, and the hot water heater there. You are making money off those two investments already. Until the cold weather sets in, and we have to heat the barn to keep the horses comfortable, that money will keep coming in. Would you like to look at the inside of the house?"

"Brad, you have amazed me already, anything extra would be over the top."

"In that case, hold onto your panties, you're about to be amazed."

"Who said I was wearing panties?"

Brad glared at her, while Stephano laughed.

Brad gave each of them a hard hat to wear, before entering the building. He asked if she wanted to look at the blueprints to remind her of what she was looking at.

She said, "No, I have the plans memorized."

Brad kissed her, and said, "I hate you Patty. Tell me what you see."

The first thing she noticed was that all the exterior walls were spray coated with insulation, between the one by twos nailed to the poured concrete wall's. She walked around the great room and said, "This room is 3 feet shorter than it's supposed to be."

Brad said, "I hate you more than any other person on this planet; but I'll explain why it is shorter than we planned later."

She walked down the hall to the room where she and Stephano would argue until they had sorted everything out. The studs were not 2"x 4". They were 2" x 8" to accommodate the extra soundproofing. She walked into the children's bedrooms, and knew there were too many of them. Her mother said she would only have two children, but she could always adopt other less fortunate children and give them a happy home. As she was roaming around the house she was very pleased with the amount of work that had been accomplished. She told Brad she was very impressed.

Brad said, "Patty, you never looked up."

She knew the staircases were in, at both ends of the house were framed in, but they were still covered in construction paper. However, there were no handrails, or ropes to grasp onto. Carefully, she climbed the stairs, and stepped into the giant loft that ran the full length of the house. The trusses were made of manufactured wood, which is 100 times stronger, then you genuine article. They were tied in to the roof using the steel rebar from the poured concrete walls, and hurricane resistant steel supports. This roof was going nowhere, unless it was hit directly by a tornado.

Brad took a knife from his pocket and cut a long thin strip along the protective paper covering the floor. He pulled it aside to show Patty that the lofts floor was completely installed.

She looked at him and asked, "How did you do all this?"

"Actually, you did it. You made me realize I enjoy being an architect. Once I figured that out, I wanted to see if I could organize a group of people and get a house done, in less than five months. If I can do this house in less than five months, I can do 90% of the houses I design in less time and build a normal house in less than nine months."

"Brad, you've done all this work in three weeks. What do you have to do in the next four months?"

"Patty, I've been spending your money like water. I can't do that with everyone. I will have to stick to a budget. I can't have 70 and 80 people working at one time. If someone wants me to get a house in in five or six months and is willing to spend the money, I can do it. Most people cannot do it. For those people it will take nine months to a year to build a house. There is still a lot of work to do inside your house; a lot of tedious, time-consuming, work to do. For example, electricity: you want triple redundancy, and that is going to take a lot of time to do because we will not run it by one pathway. We will run by three separate pathways. You want cable, satellite, computer, and microwave transmission facilities. Again that is time-consuming work. You have an assortment of specialty items on your list and these people have to be brought in from the outside to do it. It is not cheap, and it is very time-consuming. All of this work has to be done in the basement, before it is weather sealed. That fucking electronic door at the north end of the house is being made by the same company that makes bank vaults. All the money in the world cannot rush them, using the specifications you gave them."

Patty hugged him, and told him he was a genius.

Brad rarely got a compliment like this from Patty, and his chest swelled.

As she was walking away from him, she said, "Brad, you have done great work, and I am extremely proud of you. Your mother must be on cloud nine. I have one more thing to say to you before I leave, 'You have two months to finish my house. I don't care how much of my money you spend; just get it done."

"Patty, I can't do it. It's not possible. These people aren't available. Patty, it can't be done. Listen to me...."

Patty climbed aboard Timeless, blew a kiss towards him, threw him her hard hat, and said, "I move in in two months and one day. Don't disappoint me Brad; I still own you for five months. You don't want me to get upset, do you?"

As she rode away, Brad screamed, "I hate you Patty, I really, really hate you."

She raised her hand, waved at him, and continued riding Timeless away.

Stephano mounted his horse, threw Brad his hard hat, and said, "I think you pissed her off; no, I'm sure of it, Brad. I would have the house ready in two months, or you may not be able to propose to Bonnie, on bended knee Christmas Eve."

"Stephano, have I said lately that I hate your wife. I hate her with every fiber of my being. She is the most infuriating woman on this planet. Between her and that horse, I'm not sure which one I would shoot first."

Stephano laughed at Brad. "If I were you, I would shoot Timeless first. Otherwise, if she saw you threatening Patty, the horse might shoot you."

******

105. The Test and Other Results

It was 8:59 AM, on Tuesday morning, at the University of Maryland at College Park. The Economics Test results had been delayed one week, because of the professor's illness. Now, two freshmen sat in front of their computers waiting for their test results. They studied extremely hard for the test, and made a bet to go along with it. Cindy and Sandy waited as the countdown continued. Finally, the computer read 9 AM. The exam scores popped up. They scrolled down to their names, and they screamed, "No, he can't do that to us. It's not fair. I'll kill him. I'm going home, and I'm going to kill him. I am going to hit him over the head with this damn computer, and show him how well I did," screamed Cindy.

The line next to their test scores said, "Exam result withheld at the request of the parent."

The chimes on their computers rang, indicating they had emails waiting for them. They already knew who it was from.

"Hello children, how did you do on your exam? We wait to hear from you with bated breath. Dad"

Sandy ran to hers and started to answer his query.

Cindy was way ahead of her. Since they were not in the presence of their mother and father, they were using words they were not allowed to use at home.

Fred responded in his lawyerly tone. "Such vile language, from such young, beautiful, brilliant, and vibrant college students. You have accused me of withholding your grades. Legally, I cannot do that, because I am not your parent, yet. I try to treat you like adults. I teach you manners and how to comport yourselves in proper society. I see now that I have failed you. You still jump to conclusions instead of ferreting out the facts. I was going to rescind your punishment, and allow you to come home this weekend. However, I see now that you have not learned your lesson. Thanksgiving is several weeks away, and hopefully by then you may have learned something about family, and about yourselves. Your sisters and your mother miss you very much. It would have been very nice to see you, and I must admit I am truly disappointed in your actions. Grades mean a lot. They meant everything to me growing up. You must learn that family means more than anything. Dad."

Message from Cindy and Sandy to the dolt lawyer in the family.

As usual, you misconstrue our anger. We were not angry with each other, and we were not angry over the possibility over winning or losing our bet. That was settled the day we returned to school. Neither of us was going to punish the other. We talked it out as sisters; not older sister, or younger sister, but as sisters. As usual, it was you who jumped to a conclusion. Our anger is directed at you, and your belief that you know everything about everything, and everyone. Well, you don't. It may come as a shock to you, but we do have minds of our own. We use them to settle our own problems, even though sometimes they have to be pointed out to us. We will stay at school, until Thanksgiving, Christmas, or until the end of the school year, if that's what you want. Just know that we were angry with you, because you withheld something we worked very hard for. We have been working hard since we have returned to school. We help each other as we always have, and nothing will ever change that, not even you.

Cindy and Sandy

The bell on their computer rang shortly afterwards, and they knew they had received a reply. Neither one wanted to see what their dad had to say. They wondered if they had crossed an invisible line, and gone too far.

From the lawyer in the family to Cindy and Sandy:

It's about time you two stood up for each other. It has always been Cindy did this, or Sandy did that. It has never been 'We.' You may have thought of yourselves as sisters, twins, or cohabitants in a single room, but you never used the words 'We' when it came to you two as a pair. 'Separate but Equal,' is inherently 'Unequal.' It took the Supreme Court of the United States more than two decades to figure that out. It only took the two of you to 19 years. Just think you are faster than the Highest Court in the land. When your school week is over, if you so desire, you may come home. You may also open the attachment, and find out what your grades are, including the extra credit portion. If I find out you fought about it, I will leave welts from my belt on your backsides ½ inch deep. Dad"

Cindy looked at her sister and asked, "How do you want to handle this?"

"I'll go over to my computer, and when I'm ready, we will count down from five, and open the attachment; when you're ready, will scroll down to our names. Okay?"

They did exactly what they said they would do, and when they reached their names there were little happy faces with an arrow that said, "Double Right Click."

Cindy asked, "Are you ready?"

"On the count of five; 1, 2,3,4,5. They double right clicked and the screen exploded with confetti, and signs saying, "Fooled you." "Ha Ha!"

Cindy yelled, "I'll kill the rotten bastard when I get home. How could he do that to us? He sets us up for a fall. I feel like cutting his dick off."

Sandy said, "Let's not get irrational over this. There are other ways to get even with him, without cutting off one of the things we love about him."

"We could always get boyfriends."

"Are they going to be as good to us as he is?"

"Do you have to be so logical at a time like this? I'm angry with him."

"So am I, so let's tie him up and take advantage of him."

Cindy said, "On the way home, let's stop at a hardware store and get some big cable ties. They are easier to use than rope, and they're quicker."

"What are 'Cable Ties?'?"

"It's in that new book, 'Fifty Shades of Grey."

Sandy asked her, "When did you have time to read it."

"Please, it's such an easy read and any fifth grader could do it. It took me two and one half hours to breeze through the whole thing. Anyone who starts out with a premise that a young woman never touched her clit by the age of 22, and is still a virgin, is a lying bitch. Then she falls for a billionaire that's really heavy into BDSM. She says to him, 'Oh sure I'll let you do anything you want to me, because I love you.' Lady, give me a break. No one is going to cane me, trap me in cable ties, suspend me on an 'X' cross, and a bunch of piercing toys he wants to use on me, and have me say, "Okay, have fun. I'll lie down and take it, because I love you." 2 ½ hours of absolute nonsense. I gave the book back to Roslyn. She even thought it was trash."

"Why didn't you let me read it?"

Cindy replied, "I'll get it for you if you want. I just thought it was so awful; it wasn't worth your time."

"Get it for me please. I'd like to make my own decision on it."

"Let me call Roz, and see if she's in. If she is, I will get it now. You'll finish it before our 1 o'clock class."

Sandy asked her sister, "What do you think we should do about dad?"

"We are not going to answer him. It will drive him crazy. I think there's another way we can get our grades. We can go to our guidance counselor and tell her we want to retake Economics 101, because we don't feel were doing that well. We feel by our parents withholding our grades, they are trying to keep us from being disheartened. We just want to be prepared to fail the course, and have a spot reserved for us next semester. She will have to look it up on her computer, to find out what's going on with our grades, maybe we can sneak it by her that way."