Life after the Lottery Ch. 81

"I think we can have it all delivered before next weekend, except the two mowers. The mower should be here before Christmas. We'll have to teach you how to work it and put it together and break it down. We can schedule a day next week to come by and show you how to hook it all up and run it all."

"That would be perfect. Deliver it as you can next week, and can we set up next Friday for you to come out and show it all to me?"

"Sure. You can use the bush hog to knock everything down before Winter and that will help keep a lot of it from coming back up in the Spring."

"Also, add anything I'll need for maintenance and anything other odds and ends. Dale, make sure I have all I need and any options that would be good."

"I have most of that already on the list. I'll add some extra 5-gallon buckets of fluids. We'll show you how to check all your fluid levels. It is super important you check hydraulic fluids often. Do you need some 5-gallon diesel cans?"

"How much does the tractor hold?"

"Fifty gallons, and you can use it all week on that!"

"The gas station is only about 4 miles from the house, but get me two 5-gallon cans just in case. I also have 1,800 acres down Old Country Road, about 15 miles. I may want to try and clean it up some next Summer. What is the best way to move the equipment?"

"Do you have a 3 or 4-ton truck?"

"No."

"Then the best thing would be to have us move it for you. We have a big truck and trailers to do that. You'll see them when we deliver it. What is on the 1,800 acres?"

"Nothing. I got a good deal on it that will be a good investment. I was thinking that if I knocked everything down that I could get to in the Spring, it would help. We are not sure what we will do with it. I want to clear off a mile-long rifle range first."

"We can move things around for you then. That is a long rifle range?

"I shoot competitively some. Oh. I forgot to check something. I have an aircraft towbar that has a pin hitch on the end. Does the tractor have a place to hook it up on the back or the front?"

"Just a regular Clevis Pin Hitch?"

"Yes."

"There is one on the front and one on the back. Are you going to be towing a small plane? You said you have a hangar?"

"Helicopter. Need to be able to move it in and out of our hangar."

"A helicopter...sure, it can do that."

"Good. Now I am thinking that this will be far too big for mowing around the house."

"Is the grass around the house well finished?"

"Yes. It has been seeded, and smoothed,and fertilized for two years."

"How much acreage around the house is like that?"

"Just a little over 6 acres. After they built the house, they made a nice lawn around it. The drives and sidewalks run through it. That is what I am going to expand on."

"If it has been well manicured...the big tractor tires can be hard on it. What do they use to cut that now?"

"Looks like a big riding mower with a deck."

"Probably a zero turn. For that much acreage...a 60-inch deck would be the best. If it is a zero-turn, you will be able to easily trim around trees, flower beds, drives, sidewalks, and other things. You could keep the landscapers to cut that lawn."

"How long would it take to cut that much with a 60-inch mower?"

"An afternoon."

"That is about how long it takes the guy now. Does Kubota make one like that?"

"Sure. Runs about $9,000."

"Add one of them."

He looked at me and wrote it down. He spent a few minutes adding everything up.

"Okay, James. For everything you decided on...the total is $279,458.27."

"That includes delivery and everything?"

"Yes. That is everything. The larger tractor, the big finishing mower, the heavy-duty implements you picked out, the reel mower, plus all the other accessories and equipment. You'll have one great set up!"

"That is what I want! Oh, I have a question. My wife brought up keeping the leaves cleaned up so they don't blow up into the helicopter. I know that small riding mowers can pull a leaf vacuum behind them. Is there anything big like that for a tractor?"

"Yes and no. Anything that will be wider than 8-feet gets really expensive and honestly, I am not sure they are worth it. They are a mechanical nightmare. The big ones start around 20 grand. The golf courses don't use them because of that."

"What about mulching them with the mower?"

"Probably the best idea. Don't run the reel mower through many of them though, it will dull the blades. The finishing mower can handle that. If it Is not a huge area...that riding mower will tow one that would do a heck of a job."

"Is it made for that mower?"

"It will connect to the output on the mowing deck and it sucks the leaves up into a container. We sell a few...DR makes the better ones."

"How big do they come."

"For the riding mower you are getting, I wouldn't get one any bigger than can handle 800 pounds. Bigger than that, and it is a lot for one person to handle, even with the dump on it."

"And you can show me how to connect it?"

"No problem."

"Great. Add that."

"They are about $3000...I'll add it."

"Okay."

He flipped through a few more books, and we finalized everything and some extras.

"Okay, Mr. Smith. The new total is $288,989,87."

He looked at me oddly when I pulled out my checkbook and began writing.

"Is a check okay?"

"Sure."

"I know if I put it on my America Express card, they will eat you alive for their cut."

I wrote the check, signed it, and handed it to him.

"Here you go, Dale. Do you make a commission on all this?"

"Some."

"Good. You should for all the help you have been."

He took the check and looked it over.

"Dale? Who can I call about setting up a 400 or 500-gallon diesel tank for the tractor?" Maybe burying it?"

"I can hook you up with a guy. Do you have a way a tanker can deliver the fuel?"

"Yes."

"If you want to bury it, you'll need power for the pump."

"Not a problem. There is a concrete drive back to the hangar where they deliver the 2,000 gallons of AV gas every few months."

"Oh. Okay. Mr. Smith, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What do you do? I'm curious why you have a helicopter?"

"I am retired more or less. The helicopter belongs to my wife. She uses it to fly between the house and the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina. She is a Medicine Woman."

"Your wife flies it?"

"I have another wife that flies it, and I fly it. We got it this Summer. Dale, it will make more sense when you deliver everything," I said with a smile. "Make sure you come."

"Oh, I will! Thanks, James, for the business."

"I'm sure we are not done yet."

He gave me the information for getting a diesel tank set up, and I left. I drove back to the house and went inside.

"Did you get to look around?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. I went ahead and got what we needed. He said we needed to turn the ground for the garden over by winter to help kill all the weeds, so I just got it all. We need to mark where we want the garden. They will deliver it next week and then come Friday and show me how to use it all."

"I guess you made someone's day."

"It was a bit funny. I pulled up in my Vette and looked around. A young guy finally came out, and we had a good talk about everything. It was nearly $290,000."

"That's all?"

"That's it. We can mow, bush hog, garden, dig, the works! I even got a small trailer for hauling things. I have a contractor to bury a 400 or 500-gallon diesel tank. I also got a big riding mower for around the house...that you three can use!"

"I drove a tractor for a neighbor for a few Summers," Samantha said.

"Doing what?"

"Discing his land and bush hogging."

"Good. I'll have you as the expert!"

"How big is the tractor?"

"125 horsepower. It is even air-conditioned."

"An air-conditioned tractor..." Dawn said.

"That is the way it comes. It has a glass enclosure...and a serious stereo!"

"You should be set then."

"Did you get a front-end loader and a box blade?" Samantha asked.

"Yep. Eight-foot implements and an 16-foot mower. He said to mow over 50 acres, it would take one that big."

"We just need to get you some overalls and a straw hat now!" Amy said and laughed.

"We need to figure out what we want in our garden," Dawn said.

"You have all Winter for that. I told them maybe an acre or two for the garden. We'll have to see what we can take care of. I was thinking down by the lake," I said.

"I love fresh vegetables. We keep that roadside stand busy all Summer. We can make our own organic baby food. We need to think about growing things for Linda and Rachel also."

"We have plenty of land and can use the water from the creek and lake if needed. What all are you planning on growing?" I asked.

"A little of everything. Corn, squash, beans, carrots, spinach...everything," Dawn said. "We will have to grow extra for the critters!"

"You three do the research on what we may need to augment the soil with."

"This will be fun!" Samantha exclaimed.

"We'll see after you help mow the lawn a few times!"

Everyone discussed the garden for a while. It was getting bigger and bigger. Once they added melons, I knew with the corn, we were over 2 acres easy. After I told them about the leaf vacuum I added, Dawn started talking about a big mulch pile.

*****

After we finished dinner, I was sitting in the den with Dawn when Samantha came down with her computer and sat next to me.

"Have you seen these yet?" She asked.

"What?"

"The new pictures on our store's website."

She turned her computer to me so I could see. They had posted ones of Dawn in "pregnant" lingerie I had taken a few months back.

"They finally put them up?" I said.

"What is it?" Dawn asked.

"They put up the pictures I took of you all in the pregnant lingerie. Let me see the rest."

"They only used the ones of Dawn and sis."

"Why didn't they use yours?"

"I talked to Sherri and Brenda, and they felt I looked too young to be showing photos of me in pregnant lingerie."

"That sucks," Dawn said.

"I agreed with them."

"You do look about sixteen! Show me the rest," I said.

Dawn came and sat next to me as Samantha scrolled through the photos of Dawn until she got to the ones of Amy.

"They look great," Dawn said.

"I like the ones of you," Samantha added.

"No one wants to see my 38-year-old pregnant body!"

"Dawn! You are sex on a stick! I hope I look as good as you do when I am 38!" Samantha teased her.

Dawn did look hot in the lingerie. Amy did, too.

"Oh. They didn't use the ones of us together?" Dawn asked.

"Oh, yes, they did." Samantha scrolled further down.

I had taken a few shots of Dawn, Amy, and Samantha together. Nothing risqué.

"I like this one," Samantha said.

They had used one of Dawn standing with Amy in our bedroom studio. Dawn was stroking Amy's face.

"I'm surprised they used it," Dawn said.

"Why not? There is nothing wrong with it," I said.

"Well...there is an innuendo."

"Dawn, I think everybody in the country and the world knows about us," Samantha said. "I like the photo. It is sensuous without being overly sexual."

'

"You're not bothered by it, are you?" I asked.

"Of course not!"

"Sherri and Brenda wanted to use that one. I told them it was okay. Sherri was all for it," Samantha said.

"I like them," I said as Samantha scrolled through a few more of Dawn and Amy.

"Guess what else they posted. We talked to Eurocopter, and they let us use some of the photos they took where we are wearing our lingerie," Samantha said as she scrolled.

She got to the photos of the three of them posing with the helicopters while they were wearing lingerie we sold. The ones of Dawn were hot, and they had several of Amy and Samantha having fun and posing.

"At least they used the one where you three had clothes on!" I said and laughed.

"Well..."

Samantha scrolled to a couple of more photos. One was of Amy in her cut-off T-shirt and just her red thong. The other was of Dawn standing on the skid, just wearing her black thong and her hair covering her tits.

"I love those photos," I said.

"Dawn, don't you ever say you don't look hot!" Samantha scolded her.

"Did Amy see these?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. She is typing."

"What all comes with a tractor like that?

"All the implements and attachments. Some odds and ends. I can drive it to the interstate to fuel it up, but I got some extra 5-gallon cans. They are bringing extra buckets of oil and fluids I'll need."

"Sounds like you are going to need a pick-up truck, too."

"I was thinking that. I can get something basic for hauling crap around."

I spent the rest of the weekend putting things outside away for Winter. There was always a lot of work to prepare for cold weather, and I didn't have any help this year.

*****

After Amy and Samantha left for school Monday morning, I talked Dawn into letting me take her monthly photos.

"Turn a little toward me," I told Dawn as she stood naked in front of the black backdrop.

I took a couple of photos as she held her belly. Dawn still looked hot and sexy even though she was eight months pregnant.

"That will look good. Can I get you to lay on your back?"

"If you can get me back up."

I helped Dawn down to the floor. I had more photos of her lying on her back each month. I liked the way her body looked lying down. Her now very full tits looked good. I took more photos of her as she looked at me, then had her use her arms to pull her tits up and took some more.

"I think that will do it, honey."

"Help me up."

I helped her stand back up.

"That is probably the last one of me lying on my back."

"I like those. The profile of your body looks great. I'm not sure you are 100% okay with photos of you and Amy on the website."

"I'll quote Linda. I don't give a fuck!"

"Okay."

"One day, our children will get to see those. I need to run to the store. Will you take me?"

"Can I go get whatever you need?"

"No. I need you to take me to my supply store."

Dawn's supply store was a little shop in town that sold a variety of spices and other plants she used.

We went back upstairs to the kitchen.

"Let me go put something on."

Dawn went to the elevator and upstairs while I dropped all the film in my study. When I came back out, she was getting off the elevator.

"Okay. I'm ready."

I looked at her and smiled. She had put on an oversized silk shirt-like thing she had picked up in Hawaii. It was really a shirt that was even big for me she had bought. The front of it was unbuttoned down to the top of her big stomach.

"What?" She asked as I looked.

"Nothing."

"I told you I wasn't going to wear underwear anymore. A bra only irritates my tits."

"I don't care. You look comfortable."

"I am..."

"I'm not sure your big tits would stay in one anyway!"

We walked out to the Escalade, and I helped her in. When she slid into the seat, I saw that she also meant she wasn't wearing any underwear as I looked.

"What?"

"Nothing."

I walked around and got in, and we drove off.

"What do you need from the store?"

"Sheep fat."

"For what?"

"I am going to use that for the mixture we are putting on our stretch marks."

"No eye of newt?"

"I have plenty of those..."

Dawn could get mad at me when I teased her.

"Are you going to be rendering it?"

"Of course."

"You stunk up the house the last time."

"That was beef fat."

"If it is going to stick, do it on the grill, please."

"Ooookay."

"The stretch marks don't look very bad. I think they will go away," I said.

"I hope so."

I drove for a bit until we were in town. The store was in a small strip of older stores in an older part of town. There were some very interesting stores here, even a couple of head shops. Some were more ethnic and very interesting.

I walked around and opened her door, and she slid out. Her shirt thing slid up to her stomach, exposing her pussy. I giggled at her.

"What now?"

"Nothing!"

I followed her into the store.

"Hello, Ms. Dawn!" The older lady who owned the store said.

"Hello, Nora."

"Hello, Dr. Smith."

"Hi, Nora."

"Do you have it?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, I do. I'll go get it."

"Special order?" I asked.

"No...fresh."

Nora came out with a plastic container.

"I went ahead and rendered this last night."

"Thank you, Nora. I won't need to then."

"I think this will work better than the cow fat you have been using."

"That is working great," Dawn said and lifted up her shirt to show Nora her belly. Nora ran her hand over it and looked.

"Ms. Dawn, your mixture is working wonderfully! Will you show me how to make it?"

"Sure. You have everything here. I write it down for you and email it. I want to switch to sheep fat for our boobs. I think it emulsifies better."

"How are the girls doing?"

Dawn pulled the front of her shirt open to show Nora her tits. Nora moved one with her hand and looked.

"Excellent. The sheep fat will make your mixture smoother and not smell as much."

"So far, they are doing well, but I am afraid once our milk comes in, there will be more weight."

"There will, but you have very firm breasts."

"My wives are not as firm."

"They will do well. How are they doing?"

"Irritable."

"Yep," I added.

"I bet. Have you been down to Damera's store lately?" Nora asked.

"Not for several months."

"You need to go see him. He asked me for your phone number because he has something special for you."

"Okay. We'll walk down there."

Dawn browsed and picked up a few more things and had me pay, and then I followed her out and down the sidewalk.

"Did you get your wing of bat and chicken lips?"

"You are asking for it today."

I laughed at her, and she giggled as we walked. Damera was the owner of what I called the Voodoo store. Dawn said he was Jamaican. I wondered because he was a very interesting fellow.

We came to the store, and I opened the door for Dawn. There were several island-looking men in there talking to Damera. They all had long dreadlocks.

"Ahhh! Ms. Dawn! I wanted to talk to you!"

"That is what Nora said."

"Come in! Come in!"

The other men in dreadlocks looked at Dawn closely as she walked to Damera, and he hugged her.

"How much longer?" He asked as he put his hand on her belly.

"About five weeks. Christmas Day."

"Very good! I have something special for you."

He walked behind the counter and picked up a small box, opened it, and pulled out a cord with a small dark stone on it.

"This is for you. It will bring much good fortune to you and your baby."

Dawn took it from him.

"Thank you, Damera."

Dawn went to put it around her neck.

"Oh, no. You wear that above your belly and let it hang down over the baby."

"Oh...okay."

Dawn didn't hesitate in unbuttoning the few that were closed and pulling open her shirt. She took one end of the cord, reached behind her back, and grabbed it. I looked at the other two Jamaican fellows as they looked over her naked body. Dawn brought the ends together and tied them, then moved the stone to the front so it rested on her belly.

"Just like that. When it is near your baby, it will bring him comfort and good fortune."

Dawn looked down and fingered the dark stone.

"What kind of stone is it, Damera?"

"Ohhh, it is a very special stone only found on my island. They are very, very rare."

"Oh, Damera, let me pay you for it then."

"Oh, no! You cannot buy this stone. That will bring bad luck. I had it sent here from home. It is only presented to a priestess so her babies will inherit her powers. Since you are a priestess, you can wear it. When your baby is born, it will take in all that good energy, and then you bring it back to me. I keep it for another priestess."

"She is a priestess from the islands?" One of the men asked in a heavy accent.