Life after the Lottery Ch. 77

"You wouldn't want twins?" Dawn asked.

"We don't care! I just need to make plans if she is!"

"I think it would be cool if she were having twins," I added to fuel the flames.

"Shut up, James!" Linda exclaimed at me.

Everyone laughed at Linda.

"Dawn? Is she?" Linda asked.

"No...Rachel Is not having twins...this time."

"What do you mean this time!" Rachel exclaimed.

We all laughed.

"Dawn! What did you mean this time?" Rachel repeated.

"Damn, you two are uptight!" Dawn replied and laughed.

"Dawn? Do you know when my babies will be born?" Angie asked.

"Sorry, Angie. I do not. I know when ours will be born because it was part of my Spirit Journey. Ours and Linda and Rachel's babies will be born on Christmas day."

"I hope all of you don't have the same doctor," Ann added.

"We do," Rachel said.

"We do, too," Dawn said. "But, I told her we would spread out ours during the day. I'm not sure what Linda and Rachel are going to do that day!"

"What did your doctor say to that?" Mom asked.

"She laughed and said it didn't work that way."

"It doesn't," mom said.

"You know...I am going to start taking bets on this!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Why?" Mom replied.

"I will deliver Christmas about lunchtime. Amy will deliver mid-afternoon, and Sam that evening."

"Dawn! You can't know that!" Mom exclaimed. Dawn rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You're right, honey. You should start taking bets," Ann said.

"I think I will start a pool and make sure we pick those times!"

"Dawn? Seriously?" Angie said.

"Okay! That's it! I'm taking bets! I have $100 on each of ours. Mine near lunch. Amy about 3:00, and Sam about 6:00! Who wants to bet against me!"

"Okay, smartass! I have $300 that says you are wrong on each of them!" Mom exclaimed and laughed.

"Me and Brian too!" Angie said, laughing.

"What are you all betting on?" Charlie asked as he came in with Amy and Samantha.

"Dawn! She says she knows when she, Amy, and Samantha will deliver on Christmas Day. She put $100 on each of them. I covered it because it doesn't work that way!" Mom exclaimed.

"I think you have a sure win, honey!" Dad told mom.

"Honey, if you need help covering your bets, I'll help you cover them," Ann said.

"I'll hold you two to it!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Ann...she can't know that!" Mom said.

"Honey, what time did I say Dawn would be born?" Ann asked Charlie.

"Three in the afternoon."

"And...what time was she born?"

"3:10."

"What?" Came from Angie and my mom.

"Sue, that was a sucker bet," Ann said.

"No way!"

"Oookay," Ann replied.

"How the hell can you pick when you have a baby?" Mom asked Ann.

"Usdi adanedi nvwoti," Ann said.

"What is that?" Angie asked.

"Loosely translated...Baby Delivery Medicine," Dawn said with a smile.

"Oh no! You are kidding?"

"It makes scheduling a delivery time better than a C-section," Dawn said. "One dose, and you will deliver in three to four hours."

"Is it safe?" Mom asked.

"The only side effect is the baby's ability to predict the future," Dawn said straight-faced and sat there. Ann giggled.

"Damn, why don't doctors use it then?" Angie asked.

"Same reasons they won't use any traditional medicines," Dawn said.

"Suckers..." I said.

"Did you know about this, James?" Mom asked.

"Mom, I don't ask questions like that anymore."

"Does your doctor know?" Mom asked Dawn.

"I told her. She laughed at me. She is going to owe me $500!"

"Linda? Are you and Rachel going to plan your delivery times?" Ann asked them.

"Hey. Christmas Day is close enough for us!" Rachel said.

"Mom, you are going to be there, aren't you?" Dawn asked.

"We don't want to impose on you. We will come after you three deliver."

"Mom! You have to be there! You know that!"

"Honey, that is an old tradition. I'm sure you four what to name your own children."

"Mom!" Dawn exclaimed and looked seriously upset.

"Okay! We will come the day before. But I'm not going to name your baby."

"Mom! You have to!" Dawn exclaimed, now visibly upset.

"Honey..."

"The grandmother always picks the baby's first name. Great grandmother picked yours, grandmother picked mine...you have to. We can't wait seven days anymore."

"What is your Cherokee name?" I asked Ann. "I have never asked."

"Behita."

"What does Behita mean?"

"Loosley, The Beginning of an Event."

"You didn't get a long name like Beautiful Morning Dawn?" My mom asked.

"Igvyi Uleyov Saquu. Great grandmother gave me that name," Ann said.

"What does it mean?" I asked.

"First One to Wander...basically," Ann said.

"Oh..."

"Great grandmother knew I would be the first to not want to follow the traditional ways," Ann said.

"You follow some," I said.

"Not all of them. That didn't end up on my birth certificate, only Behita."

"Mom...please think about it. Talk to grandmother," Dawn said.

"Okay, honey. I'll talk to my mom. I'm sure she will talk to great-grandmother."

"Thank you, mom."

Ann smiled at Dawn, and they both seemed happier.

"I have a question?" Samantha asked.

"What is that, honey?" Dawn asked.

"Will mine and sis's baby get a Cherokee name?"

"What do you two want?" Dawn asked.

"Well...I think it should? What about you, sis?"

"I just thought they would?" Amy replied. "I mean...after the ceremony...I just thought they would."

"If that is what you two want, you would honor me by allowing that," Dawn said.

"I think we should," Amy said, looking at her sister.

"Of course, we should," Samantha said.

"Then they can have a Cherokee first name if that is what you want. A name like I have, and mom has. Ahyoka and Behita. What about that? I'm sure mom or grandmother can pick a perfect name for each."

"We want that!" Amy said, and Samantha agreed.

"Mom, you have more work to do!"

Amy and Samantha were happy.

"An appropriate first name only! You pick the middle names!" Ann exclaimed and laughed. "Dawn, you will need to tell me if they are boys or girls."

"You have to wait like everyone else!"

There was a lot of conversation about this all the way through dinner. Before we all went to bed, I saw Dawn and the girls talking to Ann.

*****

While we were eating breakfast outside Sunday morning, the realtor called me again.

"They said $8,500,000 was okay," she said.

"Do they want to try for $8,300,000? We said $8,400,000," I replied.

"Oh...uh...well...they'll take 8.4."

"Thought so. Set it all up and let us know where and when to bring the check. Also, asked them if it comes with the furniture and everything. Maybe for 8.5."

"Maybe. I think they bought it that way. Thank you, Dr. Smith!"

I hung up.

"You're learning..." Linda said as she ate while she and Rachel sat naked with Dawn and me on the patio.

"Do you all want something to drink?" Lieke asked as she walked out naked.

"Just some more juice," I replied.

"Okay."

"And Lieke, we just bought this house."

"What!"

We explained everything to Lieke. She couldn't believe it.

"Tell everyone else when you go back in."

"I will!"

A minute later, Amy and Samantha came running outside.

"You bought it!" Samantha exclaimed.

"We bought it. You two owe me."

Samantha jumped in my lap and sat.

"Deal!" She exclaimed.

"How much is it going to cost us?" Amy asked.

"How much do you want to own? I own half of it."

"I never thought I would own even part of a house in Hawaii," Samantha said.

"We want to own 10% of what you have!" Amy exclaimed.

"Then you two owe me $210,000 each. I'll sell you 10% of what I have. That will give you 5% of the whole place."

"We don't have that much!" Samantha exclaimed.

"I'll work out a payment plan!"

"We can sell them 10% of all of it. We will split the other 90 percent," Linda said.

"Then you two owe me more!"

"How much?" Samantha asked.

"$420,000 each now."

"That is a lot we don't have."

"We'll put it in your trusts."

Samantha smiled at me and kissed me.

"I think you two are going to be great investors!" Linda told them.

"We already own one house," Samantha said.

"You do?"

"Yes. We bought the house our mom is living in."

"If you got a deal on it with the market down, you did well."

"We did! James banged the real estate agent and got us a good price!"

"Hey! I had to bang her husband!" Dawn exclaimed to laughter.

"By the end of the year...we could probably pick up some deals on real estate," Linda said.

"I don't want to become a landlord," I replied.

"You may if I find some deals on commercial property. We can buy it and then lease it. That will let you reinvest that capital."

"It could save me on taxes."

"I know. Me too."

Linda talked to the two of them about setting aside a portion of what they made from their trust each year to invest in other things. Amy and Samantha were actually interested and listening.

"So, for an $840,000 investment in this house, we can clear about $50,000 a year?" Amy asked.

"At least. That is nearly a 6% return a year, not counting the profit from the house growing in value," Linda told her.

"Is 6% good?" Amy asked.

"Right now, it is great. You'll do well. Also, real estate is always a good tax write-off, so you really earn more than 6 percent. More like 10% overall once you count what you get to take off on your taxes. And you can come here each year to check on it and write off the trip too."

"Cool!"

Samantha slid off my lap and sat with her sister next to Linda and was getting more investment advice from Linda. I could tell Linda was enjoying teaching them.

Lieke came back out to check on us.

"Lieke, are we still on for tomorrow?" Linda asked.

"Sure."

"Can I borrow one of the Escalades tomorrow? I am going to Lieke's farm to look it over and talk business," Linda asked.

"Of course, you can...if I can drive the Lambo," Dawn said.

"Sure. A local attorney is meeting us there with all the maps we need. Her cousin, the one with the helicopter, is going to fly us around."

"So, what are the plans?" I asked.

"Just fact-finding this time. That way, I can write off this trip. You have a shit load of money now. Do you want to invest in this?"

"I don't know. You need to show me it will make money," I teased Linda.

"Don't be an ass! I may not ask you again! What kind of return are you going to get on all the cash?"

"Joseph said he could put most of it in tax-free bonds and get at least 6%."

"I will get at least a 6% return on the resort, plus the tax write-off. Did you get all the trusts set up?"

"They are still working on it, but most of it's down on paper. We are still working on how to pass things down to each generation."

"Well, investing in this will help assure that, James. Having a huge tax write-off in the trust can really help out also."

"But that won't be ready by the end of the year for me to move some into a capital re-investment."

"Sure, it will. I'll create an investment fund for us. You need to talk to my tax people more about this."

"Uh...Linda? What type of return are you expecting on it?" Amy asked with a smile.

"You are learning!" Linda replied. "On this type of investment, 7% a year...maybe up to 10%. But the net is much higher because of the tax advantages."

"How much will you invest?"

"It will not be just me. It will be a small group. Well North of $500,000,000."

"Damn! You are talking about $35,000,000 a year in returns!"

"At least, but with the tax write-off, it will be a much larger return."

"I want in!" We all laughed at Amy.

Lieke had gone back into the house.

"James, I haven't told Lieke just how big I plan for this to be. After we see everything today, my people can start the designs. This is not going to be just a hotel or resort. This is going to be a vacation destination. Hotels, stores, a harbor, affordable apartments for the workers, everything."

"That sounds like a lot of money, Linda."

"I have had some discussion with some other people. We could be looking at a billion dollars."

"Fuck!" Came from Amy.

"Don't tell Lieke that," Linda said.

"Wow."

"Building on the islands is very expensive," Linda added.

"I bet it is. I don't think that is something I'll have enough to get into."

"We'll see. After I get all the maps, my people will have a better idea. Probably by next summer, they will have some initial designs and estimates for us to present to Lieke's family. After that, we will see who else wants to build on it. We will put up good faith money for Lieke's family before the end of the year."

"And the state will let you do all this?"

"They will now. My attorneys had a lot of fun with them. Since all the land will be leased instead of purchased, it makes things even easier."

"That should help her family keep the farm and keep producing goods from it."

"They will be producing exclusively for the resort. Fruits, vegetables, meat, everything. My people are working with Lieke on estimates so she can make expansion plans. They will need to expand the farm's operations."

"That is great. How much will you hold on the resort?"

"Around half, I think. I just sold another overseas company and need to reinvest some money. I am going to talk to some of the other people that own a few of the big hotel chains. I don't think more than one of them would want to invest with other resort owners. Maybe 30% to them and break up the rest to some venture capitalist I know well. Some have dumped a lot of real estate this year and need to park the money by year's end. I won't have any trouble getting another half a billion dollars."

"That is a lot of money. I don't know if I can play in that kind of deal," I said.

"Whether you put in 1 million or 100 million, you still get the return. You and I can talk to my tax people. This may be a good way for you to get out of a lot of taxes this year. You could put in more than you want to hold before the end of the year to save on taxes. Then, next year, sell part of what you have to the investors. You could break it up between all the trusts for a great future return, James."

"You are making my head spin," I told Linda.

"Trust me."

"Okay. We will look into it."

"What are the estimates for your taxes this year?" Linda asked.

"At least $100,000,000."

"Oh no, we can get that way down."

*****

Samantha walked into the kitchen later after we finished breakfast with Linda and Rachel. They were getting ready to go to Lieke's farm with her. She had on a short white sun dress unbuttoned all the way down. She came over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"You have clothes on. Are you going somewhere?" Dawn asked.

"Sis and I are going to follow Linda and Lieke to her farm?"

"In the Jeep?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you just ride with them? I asked.

"We may not want to stay all day."

"Okay. Be careful...and button your dress up at least a little," Dawn teased her.

Samantha started to walk off.

"Hey, honey. Come here a minute," I said.

She came over to me, and I slid my arm inside her dress and pulled her to me.

"Be careful in the Jeep. They don't handle like a car."

"I will."

I kissed her.

"Don't forget to take some money and your license."

"Okay."

She left the kitchen. Lieke and Kalea had come back into the kitchen.

"Lieke...why does she really want to go to your farm?" I asked.

"She wants to meet my cousin."

"Which one?"

"The one with the big cock!" Lieke said and laughed as she left the kitchen.

"Keep an eye on them, please!" Dawn said.

"Kalea? Are you going?" I asked.

"No. I need to go to the store."

"Kalea? How big?" Dawn asked.

"A little bigger than your husband's!"

"Emmm! Maybe I should go!" Dawn replied, and they laughed.

"Is this the young one?" I asked.

"...emm..."

"Kalea?" How old is this cousin?" I asked.

"He just turned eighteen."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. They had a big party for him...last month..."

"Geez..." Dawn replied.

"What did you get him for his birthday?" I asked.

"Off!" Kalea exclaimed and laughed.

A few minutes later, Lieke came back ready to go. Samantha and Amy were behind her. Amy had her camera bag.

"Amy..."

She walked over to me. She had on a sun dress also, unbuttoned.

"You two, make sure this cousin is really eighteen, please."

"He is...at least Lieke said he is."

I pulled her to me and kissed her.

"Bring me back some pictures," I teased her.

"Do you two have sunscreen and your hats?" Dawn asked.

Samantha rolled her eyes and went back down the hall.

"Grab some T-shirts too!" Dawn yelled at her.

"Lieke, make sure they don't get burned," I said.

"I'll keep an eye on them," Linda replied.

I looked Linda over. She had on a peasant top and some skimpy shorts.

"Who is going to make sure you don't get burned?" Dawn asked.

"I will," Rachel said with a big smile.

"We'll be back...eventually," Linda said.

"All right."

They all left the house.

Dawn and I went for a walk on the beach. Everyone else had gone shopping.

*****

Amy and Samantha returned about 4:00. Samantha and I were walking on the beach before dinner.

"How much will I get a year from my trust?"

"For the next four or five years, about 6% tax-free."

"How much money is that?"

"Your and Amy's trust now has $20,000,000 in each..."

"What!"

"I added some more."

"Why?"

"I just did. So, that is about $1,200,000 a year. Why are you asking?"

"I was talking to Dr. John and Keith last month after I helped with a surgery. They had been talking about Keith buying into John's practice."

"They were?"

"Yes. John was telling Keith that if he bought in and they made it a partnership, Keith would make more money...and John thought that would be fair for Keith."

"Was Dr. John talking about selling Dr. Keith half of the practice?"

"I think it was more like 25 percent."

"What kind of dollars was John talking about?"

"A million. Keith seemed to think that was a fair price, but I know he doesn't have that much money."

"Banks will always loan money to doctors for things like that if it is a good investment."

"After Dr. Keith left, I went to John's office. I asked him if that would be a good deal for Keith. He said it would be a very good deal for him, and he would be able to get his investment back in five or six years."

"That is a good investment then for Keith."

"I thought so. So...I asked John if I could buy 25 percent?"

"What did he say?"

"He told me that once I was practicing with him and Keith, sure I could."

"Well, if you are sure that is the type of doctor you want to be, I think it would be a good idea."

"But that is at least eight years or more away. It probably would cost me more than a million by then."

"Honey, where are you going with this?"

"That is what I want to do, and I want to work with John and Keith."

"Then tell them you will want to buy in down the road. Did John say what he wanted the money for?"

"He wants to get their offices out of the medical pavilion and have their own building. I heard Keith and him talking, and they were discussing what it would cost to do that. They were also discussing renting out a lot of the new building to other doctors."

"When doctors have extra money, that is the type of thing they invest in to make more money."

"We talked about that in the medical business class I am taking. It sounds like a good idea."

"I am sure it is, but building something like that and furnishing it costs a lot. I'm sure the practice will have to borrow a lot of money."

We walked for a bit quietly.

"What are you thinking about, Sam?"

"If I am going to get around a million a year...and after I pay my tuition each year...I'll still have at least $1,000,000 a year left..."