Aunt Carol

"Gail asked me to check your tank."

We walked with him to the property line where the tank sat. He checked it over and declared it safe.

"It's about half full, so you should probably fill it before winter. You should also paint the tank every other year. Fred had a shed under the house for all the beach toys and furniture. Did you guys tear that out?"

"There was no shed when we got here yesterday."

"Well, I guess all of that is blown out into the pines then. It's better to keep as much of that stuff inside when you aren't here anyway. We only have two township cops, and they only make it out here once a week or so. We didn't use to have much crime, but I guess everything changes. You should get some new stain on the siding before winter. My brother is a painter. I can ask him to stop by and give you a quote if you're interested."

"I guess it would be worth getting a quote. Thanks," said Brian.

We ate some burgers and had a beer sitting on the dining room chairs we brought out to the deck. It was nice with a soft breeze blowing in from the ocean. After a shower, I collapsed in bed and didn't wake up until morning.

First thing in the morning, we loaded the trash into Brian's truck, and he and Carol headed for town leaving Lisa and me alone for the first time. I was looking for some fun time, but Lisa had other ideas.

"You had your chance last night buddy. Anyway, we are here to work. I think we should gather the trash at the fence."

"But I was too tired last night. And, we don't have any bags for gathering the trash. Come on we haven't made love in four days."

"Work first and then play."

I sighed and walked to the fence. We made a pile every ten feet or so. We found that we could follow the fence to the beach. I estimated we would fill six trash bags with the stuff we had piled up. We made another three piles of junk we found on the beach. By mid-afternoon, I was wondering what was keeping Brian and Carol. The sun was getting hot and we were both covered in sweat.

Lisa winked at me and said, "Let's go swimming." She took off her shoes and started unbuttoning her top. I looked up and down the beach. There was no one in sight. I figured the water was too cold to swim but if Lisa wanted to get naked I wasn't going to argue.

Soon we were running up and down the beach up to our knees in the water which was indeed very cold. We were splashing each other and laughing when Lisa came up and hugged me and pointed up to the cottage. Carol was standing on the deck watching us. She saw me look and waved us to come back to the house. I gave Lisa a long kiss, and she made a vague promise about 'tonight' before we headed back.

Brian was already cutting the risers for the stairs, and Carol had a big lunch spread ready when we got to the cottage, so they must have been back for a while. I heard Carol whisper to Lisa that she had enjoyed watching us play in the surf. Brian never mentioned anything, but he did thank us for piling up the trash. They explained that Gail must have been talking because every person they saw in town had to stop and meet them and tell them a story about Alice and Fred. Their quick trip had turned into a four-hour expedition. After we ate, Brian and I filled eight bags with the trash we had gathered. And then we turned back to the stairs. After dinner, Lisa made good on her promise and wore me out in bed. I felt a little odd about it at first until I heard Carol and Brian's groans from downstairs. Everyone got another good night's sleep until late in the morning.

While we finished the stairs the next day, Lisa and Carol repainted the sign at the lane. Brian had suggested renaming the cottage to 'Carol's Corner' but Carol wouldn't hear of it. So the sign was repainted as Alice's Retreat. It would be known as AR in our family for the next thirty years.

Dennis's brother, Dale showed up and did a walk around which was just for show as I noticed he already had the quote written, laying in the seat of his truck. Brian told him he would give him an answer the next day. We sat on the deck and made a list of the remaining small chores that needed to be done.

"Dale said we should not reopen the trail down to the beach. It will just funnel the wind and blown sand to the house and accelerate the weathering." Brian commented.

"We could widen the path along the fence and use that."

"We need some deck chairs and a table. And maybe an awning," added Carol.

"Both decks need to be stained and you need some beach chairs and an umbrella," Lisa commented.

"I think we need a couple of hammocks to hang under the house," Brian mused. "We also need to fix that front shutter and check all the others."

Carol picked up her phone to call Gail and ask about Dale's work. At the same time, Lisa's phone rang. She looked at the number and she got up and walked into the house.

Carol talked to Gail for ten minutes and then turned to Brian and me.

"Gail says Dale does good work but is a little slow. If you make him give you a promised date he'll get it done but will be finishing up on the date he promised. He's a little high on his quotes, but he's the only local option for painting. She says he'll come back and fix anything we're not happy with, without complaint."

"Well, if we paint it ourselves, we can save about fifty to sixty percent off of the quote. But we'd need to ask Kevin to burn another week of his vacation. It would take us a week to prep and paint, even with a rented sprayer."

Carol and Brian gave each other a long look. Just then Lisa returned and held out her hand to me. I stood up and she told Carol that we were going for a walk down the beach.

Lisa and I walked holding hands to the fence and then down to the beach.

"What's up?" I asked.

"That was Amy on the phone. Do you remember when I told you that they wanted your sperm so they could get pregnant?"

"Yeah, you nearly caused a traffic accident."

"Well, they haven't forgotten, but when they talked to their doctor about in vitro fertilization, the cost was going to be over fifteen thousand dollars, and she couldn't guarantee success. They can't afford that. Their doctor suggested intrauterine insemination, which is like using a turkey baster, but in the doctor's office. That is a lot less expensive but still costly."

"Won't their insurance pay those costs?"

"Not the insurance we have at work. Justine doesn't have any health insurance."

"So what do they want to do?"

"They have already decided that Amy is the one to get pregnant. She was never crazy about the idea of in vitro fertilization, and she's not wild about getting inseminated in the doctor's office. She thinks it's just unnatural. They are wondering if you would be willing to do it the old fashion way." She squeezed my hand.

"They want me to knock up Amy?"

"Yes, they want to know if they can come over and talk to us about it."

"What do you think about it?" My head was spinning.

"I'm still digesting it. But I already know if you have a baby with Amy, I'm going to be so jealous of her. I haven't said anything, but after I talked to your mother my biological clock just started clanging and it hasn't stopped."

Good ol' Mom.

"So if Amy gets pregnant, you want to get pregnant now too?"

"I want to get pregnant now even if you say no to Amy." Lisa looked up at me and squeezed my hand. "Sorry."

We walked further down the beach. When we had gone far enough to reach the next cottage, I stopped and turned around. I pulled Lisa up next to me as we walked.

"What the hell. Let's make some babies."

Lisa squealed and pulled my face down for a kiss.

"You're going to make the best Dad ever."

She danced beside me all the way back. I counted to less than ten before Lisa pulled Carol aside and told her. I thought I saw Carol give Brian a look but they didn't say anything.

Shit, I wonder why Brian and Carol don't have kids. Maybe they don't like kids? Maybe with Carol's condition, they didn't want to deal with 'who's the father' issues? How's this going to change our relationship?

Lisa was too happy and excited to notice anything, but I watched Carol process the idea of having little kids around. She seemed to reach a decision and she went over and sat in Brian's lap.

"It will be fun having kids around the house. You can have them call me Aunt Carol and this is Uncle Brian." She leaned back and kissed him.

Next: Aunt Carol's Kids