Hey Pappy, Too

This is a follow up to HEY PAPPY, when that story ended I was widowed by my second wife. My first wife had left me and returned after I had remarried. Both wives became the other's best friend.

I was seriously dating another woman and my first had found a man who interested her too.

I will try to make this stand alone, but if you have not read Hey Pappy it will help you understand some items I might leave out.

Thank you for the nice comments on Hey Pappy.

My first wife, Sophie, left with no warning and did not return for over 6 years. By that time I had divorced her on the grounds of desertion, and had remarried a wonderful woman named Donna. I knew her from a place where I got breakfast for years.

Donna had sold me a delightful puppy a few years before we were married; I now have that puppy's great, great granddaughter living with me, as well as my other dogs. The current dog, Lovely, is as good a cuddler as all her ancestors that I have owned; I think there is something in their line.

Donna died last year from a reoccurrence of cancer. I still miss her and can not bring myself to sleep in our bedroom. She thought that Sophie and I would get back together; something was missing and it just didn't happen.

Since then I have been introduced to Martha. She is a beautiful strawberry blond and a bit younger than me. We are dating and considered a couple around town. I love her and someday might marry her. I need to be sure she can deal with the ghosts of 2 wives, one of whom lives 800 feet behind me and is a regular part of our family life. There is also the consideration of our age differences; I am not worried about that. I doubt I will wear her out too soon.

Meanwhile I am working on building an addition to my little red house, Shrimp, my first grandson, has been working with me and is learning quickly how to do the job correctly. I told him "Learn how to do the job well, then as you get more experience you will become faster. Anyone can do a bad job fast; the key to getting jobs and making money is to do it once the correct way. Every time you need to correct something, it costs time and materials."

The original dining room is too small for the size of my family now. There will also be a new bedroom with a large window overlooking the valley below and the sunsets that I love. The new addition will not interfere with the large back porch and the swing that Donna and I loved so well.

Martha and I are continuing the tradition of spending a great deal of time in museums, parks and other local attractions as well as supporting the musical and sports programs at the local schools.

Over the years our family has rebuilt and maintained the grandstands and snack bar at no cost to the school. Shrimp and my son, Billy, now do most of the work. To honor the length of time of our family tradition; the school board has named them "Pappy's Place." We were awarded lifetime passes to all the activities; they are framed along with the proclamation and both hang on the wall of my small office. We still pay for every seat we use and everything we consume from the concession stand too. We still cheer louder than anyone else, especially for the family and special friends. Remember that is what family is for; to support and cheer for and embarrass the hell out of the ones they love. We do it well.

Martha has no real living family any more. The only living relative she has is her mother's brother; he is old, senile and very feeble now. I take her to visit each Sunday afternoon. She divorced her first husband before they had any children. My family has accepted her and she loves to spend time with us. She asked to take her turns doing child care and is called on often.

We were having a late warm spell in the fall and were walking around the lake holding hands after another family picnic. As Martha and I approached the waterfall at the end of the lake we sat down and talked for a while; as we always do. I held her hand and turned to look in her eyes; they shone and sparkled. I could see her love for me. She went give me a kiss on the cheek, I turned my head and we kissed on the lips for the first time. She blushed for just a moment and we did it again. This time was longer and we hugged too. When we broke apart I held a ring in the palm of my hand, she gasped and held her hand over her mouth.

I said "I love you with all my heart; I have a special place in it for you and would love it if you would consent to marry me."

She held me tightly and whispered in my ear, "Yes." Tears ran freely from both of us. We sat for a bit and then slowly walked back to the family.

After we sat down to dessert my daughter Loretta looked at the ring on Martha's hand and screamed, "When did it happen?"

Everyone else had a puzzled look for a moment and then Sophie saw the ring too. She hugged Martha and told her she was a lucky woman. "Don't let him get away like I did."

We were married 3 weeks before Thanksgiving. When we returned from our honeymoon we moved into the new bedroom together.

It was the week before Christmas when Martha thought she had caught a case of the flu. I took her to the doctor; he ran some tests and told us it was nothing to worry about. She would be fine in almost no time. Martha asked how long until she should be over it; she did not want to ruin the holidays.

Doc said "You should be feeling much better by then, but you won't be over this for a very long time." He was facing me and smiling as he said it.

Needless to say Martha was confused, she saw us grinning at each other and said "What do you mean by that comment?"

I walked over and gave her one of my best hugs and a good kiss. "We are going to be parents." I whispered to her.

She fainted.

It was a good thing I had hold of her at that time. Doc and I sat her in a chair.

She came out of her faint quickly. She looked puzzled. "How did it happen?"

I replied "The usual way."

She hit me.

"Well at least I didn't say doggie style."

She hit me again.

The doctor told her since she was over 40; this was considered a high risk pregnancy. He wanted to see us every other week, if there was anything of concern we should call or come in.

We decided to wait until she showed to say anything to the family.

Christmas and the rest of the holidays were wonderful, our secret stayed safe until the end of June. We were at the park for another picnic when Loretta did the hand over her mouth number again and whispered to Martha.

Martha smiled.

Loretta screamed.

Why does she always do that?

The family came running. We all sat down at a table and the questions began. No one could hear anything for the cacophony of noise; it sounded like rush hour in Manhattan. Someone did not like the noise and started to kick vigorously.

As it all died down I finally spoke, Martha is due to give birth to our son around the beginning of August. Then there was more noise and more kicking.

"Everything is progressing well; we have seen the doctor every other week since she felt ill just before Christmas. We will be going to the doctor once a week, starting in the next month. We have not decided on a name yet."

The next month and a half were busy, and there was always someone dropping by to make sure we were doing well and help out as needed.

One evening we were relaxing in bed, I was caressing her body and wishing that there was not a huge watermelon in our bed. She leaned over to kiss me, after she moved away her water broke. I called the doctor and we headed out for hospital. As I drove she called Billy to let him know. He was to call everyone else.

When she was off the phone she smiled and said "Now maybe, you will stop talking to Sophie about when she was pregnant."

I just looked at her, completely lost.

She said "For the last 6 weeks you have been talking to Sophie in your sleep about when she was pregnant, sometimes you talk to Donna too."

We were at a red light; I said "I'm sorry. I did not know."

Martha giggled and said "I think it is cute. They were both very lucky to have you for the times they did, I am even luckier. When I divorced my first husband, I thought I would never be a mother, now my fondest wish is coming true."

Horns honked behind us. We drove on to the hospital.

After 12 hours of labor Joseph Patrick was born. He was 7 pounds exactly and had the reddest hair I ever saw. The first thing Martha did was count the fingers and toes, at least 4 times. When we were in the recovery room she nursed him for the first time, he knew what he wanted and dug right in. He had a healthy appetite.

We came home on the second day, the doctors wanted to hold them both for an extra day since Martha was older than the normal mother; and it was her first. The family all welcomed us home and then left to allow us time to settle in. Enough food to feed an army of nursing mothers was left behind.

Each day one or another of the children, and their family, came over to help around the house if needed. Sophie was there almost every day to cook and help while I was out to work, not that I was gone long at any time. Martha and Sophie are becoming best friends now.

Shrimp graduated from high school in June. He was in the 3rd in the class of 240; they were from all over the county. The family is proud of his accomplishments. After Sunday supper he and I went for a walk around the property. I asked what his plans were.

His answer left me speechless; "I want to work with you; to continue the tradition of your company; good work at an honest price. I was going to ask you today."

I told him about the money we had saved to send him to college and how he could make so much more money with his degree.

Shrimp told me he would go to school in the evenings; he had already signed up for the first classes. "But, I love doing the work you have showed me to do. I feel completely at ease doing it and love to see the finished results. People trust you to do a good job and I want to continue the tradition. The classes I want to take will allow me to manage the company; I just need the practical skills to do the job correctly. Right now there is no one in the area that does what you do, as well as you do. Those customers who cannot hire you need to bring in someone from out of town to work on their places. Or they hire some of the local guys who just do not care; their work looks ok when they are done but it is not done to your standards and never holds up. They also charge more than you."

I had to agree; a good part of our business was fixing the other's errors.

When we returned to the house I called everyone together and announced "There is now a new company in town. We will be calling it Pappy and Shrimp Construction. As of Monday morning Shrimp will work with me and learn how to do build houses correctly."

Everyone was ecstatic that the company would not die off when I got too tired to work anymore.

Shrimp and I started to take on more and more jobs. Word got around that he was almost as good as me; even with his help there was more work than we could handle. Later, when I was sure he was doing well on his own, we hired other workers for him to train. I believe one of the ways to train someone is to have them teach someone else; to teach they need to think of why they do everything, not just do it. I still continued to work but mostly just to be sure the job was done correctly. We now have 5 guys working with us making it a total of 6 workers and an old fart hanging around. The company still can't keep up with the requests for work.

About 2 years later.

Martha was feeling ill again. When we went to see the doctor he ran the tests again. This time when he came back in to give us the results he was shaking his head and smiling.

Martha turned bright red and said "OH, NO! Not again."

He looked at me and said "How do you do it at your age?"

"Just lucky I guess. How far along are we?"

"About 3 months I am thinking. You know the drill. We will see you every other week until the last month, unless I see something that needs to be monitored more closely."

This child was born slightly premature, she was 5 ½ pounds. We named her Sally Marie after Martha's grandmother. The child is a real fighter; she came home the day before her original due date. What can I say; she hit the ground running and has never looked back.

Sophie helped Martha with both children while I was out working. When I came home Joey was always the first to great me at the door, then Lovely, Martha and Sally followed by Sophie. Sophie always held back, but she was always there.

Fast forward another15 years.....

Pappy and Shrimp Construction is going great guns, we now employ 32 people. Shrimp hires only the best candidates and trains them personally. He now has specialists in plumbing, electric, rough and finish carpentry and some who just do small jobs like replacing doors, windows and doing siding. We also have a subsidiary company that only does painting, wallpapering and that sort of thing. Anyone who does not do the best work is let go and a replacement is found. The employees are paid top wages and have the best benefits available. We have only had to let 2 people leave. The family, the employees and their families all get together at the park for a potluck picnic 3 times each summer. We play softball, volleyball and many other games. One of the favorites is the hillbilly horseshoe contest, the horseshoes are toilet seats. We save all the old ones from our remodels. Winning teams are responsible for the next picnic.

The Christmas party is always the best around. The company covers the cost; everyone gets a gift chosen especially for them. The employees all get their bonus checks at the end of the evening.

Joey graduated this year, he was the valedictorian, there must have been 400 graduates. He is the newest employee of Pappy and Shrimp; he has worked with us since he was old enough to keep clear of trouble. I believe he was 16 when he was allowed to drive his first nail. That does not include the times he helped me with projects at the house, or worked with his brother, Billy, on the grandstand at the school; yep we still do that too. He mostly did gopher work around the sites until he turned 18. The next Monday he was a part of the crew.

Sally is a junior next year; she is top in her class too. She always helps me work on things around the house. She especially likes to help with electrical stuff. She wants to be the first female on the crew; if she has her way it will happen. She took her turns as the gopher too.

Martha and I spend a lot of time in the swing watching the sunsets over the valley. The bedroom Donna and I shared is now a guestroom; I rarely go into it. It remains much the way we shared it. Joey and Sally always had the 2 smaller bedrooms.

Sophie still lives in the house behind us, she and Martha are best of friends. When the family goes to events at the school we make sure we take her. Out of the entire family she cheers the loudest.

I am retired completely now. Every now and then I show up at the sites with Martha on my arm and boxes of doughnuts or pizza for the crew. We do not stay long.

Last year Shrimp had to deal with his first customer complaint. We went out to look at it together. It was not really a big deal; but the customer was right, we did not get it right. The next day Shrimp called a meeting of the crew that worked on that job. He told them the schedule was tight, they would need to fix it on Saturday. They would be paid overtime for their efforts.

Late Friday evening the customer called Shrimp to say he was satisfied.

It turns out the entire company showed up to fix the issue and also did a lot of other projects around the house for our customer. He said the response was a little more than he expected. The crew dug his garden, planted and mulched a large flower bed for his wife, washed all the windows and painted all the trim on his house. The only thing he had complained about was a dimple on one wall in a new addition. Each of the men shook his hand and apologized for the error when they were done. The costs were contributed by the crew.

The next day when the entire crew showed up for work they were told to call their families and tell them to come to the park that afternoon for a picnic; no potluck, all company paid. Most of the wives brought dessert, just because.

Just after New Years Sophie had a stroke; it was not really bad but she could not stay by herself until the doctors cleared her. Martha insisted that Sophie move into the guestroom. Sophie insisted she should not do that; Martha won the little squabble. I think Sophie wanted her too.

Sophie is doing much better, but she walks with a slight limp. Before she moved in; Shrimp sent a crew to build ramps on the little red house so there was no problem getting her in. They also put grab bars in many places and a new larger handicap equipped shower in her bathroom. The crew worked almost 14 hours but they swore they only worked for 8. The entire company, and their families, came around and supplied a picnic dinner the day she returned home.

Sophie, Martha and I were talking the other evening. We are very pleased with how our families turned out; including Donna's brood. They are always included at each family activity. In fact, Shrimp has hired 5 of her grandsons. Two of them are crew leaders, the others will most likely get there too, when they get the seniority.

Martha is now 65; Sophie and I are in our 80's and know that we are lucky to have had the lives we did. Sophie never found another fellow, and every now and then tells me how sorry she is for leaving me as she did.

I jokingly tell her in a stern voice "Will you stop that!"

Then everyone giggles

Sally graduates from high school next month, she will be valedictorian. The next Monday she starts on the electrical crew as an apprentice. She couldn't be happier.

We now have 5 great grandchildren, the youngest is in kindergarten. We expect another group in the next few years when Joey and Sally start their families.

Joey married his high school sweetheart last year and Sophie sold them her home for a song. They don't have any children yet. They do have Lovely's granddaughter. She is called Sunshine; she is a great cuddler too.

Sophie now lives with us permanently. She has her own swing on the back porch now and she frequently joins Martha and me as we watch the sunsets.

If there are any more incidents worthy of reporting we will be sure to let you know.

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Thank you for taking the time to read the story, I hope you all enjoyed it. If not, oh well. I have been working on this since I submitted Hey Pappy; if I was not pleased it would not have been submitted. Obviously, I decided I like it; as you just read it. Be kind with the remarks, any well thought-out comments are appreciated, attacks are not.

PTBzzzz