The Kids Grow Up, Trish Hanan [books you need to read .txt] 📗

took Jake away from him and got her revenge. She walked away from the room and stomped out of the Center and drove home. After watching that tender scene, she was in no mood to be playing with any of the stupid boys tonight.
Everyone took their kids home and the next day a team showed up at the Center to clean up after the party. Harry and all most of the kids showed up of course. Little Miss Violet didn’t of course, she never showed up when there was work to be done, only when there was free food or booze.
In January everyone packed up their barns and Harry flew the whole town to Hawaii for the rest of the winter. The kids loved no school and winter vacation and Fran watched the kids while the two men unpacked the barn. When everyone was settled in they walked into the house and all the kids cheered and clapped. Harry grinned.
“Who wants to go to the waterfall and go swimming?” he asked and six hands went up. Then Jackson lifted Danny’s hand up and the little boy giggled. Harry grinned.
“Well, let’s go find our suits, we can unpack our clothes after,” he shouted and they all cheered. Jake grinned and they all rushed to their rooms. Because this was the beach house and not their own house, the two girls shared a room, Jackson and Adam shared a room and the three younger boys shared a room. Fran had the study as her bedroom and used the bath down the hall.
Once everyone was in their swimsuits and had their sandals on, Harry filled a basket with goodies and Jake carried the towels and Fran carried a basket with other stuff and they were ready. They marched out of the house and met up with Steve and Kathleen and their bunch heading in the same direction. Kathleen grinned and waved.
“Waterfall, right?” she shouted and all the kids cheered. All of her kids cheered and joined their best friends. Synta and Joon caught up and Martin joined hands with Jackson and everyone was happy.
When they got to the waterfall Jake and the other men spread out blankets and Harry took off sandals and hopped in the water to test how cold it was. It was nice and refreshing and not too cold. Then the kids giggled and lined up so he could lift them one by one and drop them in which made everyone squeal and laugh and have a great time. He made sure to drop the little ones near their parents so they could get caught quickly and not get scared of the water. All the older kids four and five could swim like little dolphins and had little rings and rafts to play with. With fifteen kids in the water all screaming and laughing and six adults it was a noisy affair. Fran sat on the blanket and read her book which she swore she loved to do; nothing could get her off the blanket. Bo and Gertie jumped into the water with Didi the Irish Setter and all the kids had a ball playing with the dogs who loved the water.
Eventually all the little fishes ran out of energy and sat on the blankets and ate the snacks that Harry and Fran and the other mothers had packed and drank Kool-aide which they all loved. Harry made it with half the sugar it called for and no one noticed and the kids didn’t get hyper from all that extra sugar.
“This is great, I love winter vacation,” Kathleen gushed. Joon nodded.
“Me too, I look forward to this all year long,” she said. Harry sighed.
“It is lovely here in Hawaii,” he gushed and Danny came over to sit in his lap. He smiled and hugged him. Kathleen smiled at the little boy causing him to giggle.
“You don’t have to look far to find that one do you?” she asked and they all laughed. Harry shook his head.
“This is my buddy, aren’t you, darling?” he asked and Danny nodded. Harry gave him a string cheese to nibble on.
“He looks so much like you, he’s going to be a lady killer,” Kathleen declared and Harry laughed.
“If he’s anything like me and Simon, he’ll be a man killer,” he bragged proudly and both women shook their heads.
“You’re the only man in the world who hopes his son is gay,” Joon said with a giggle. Harry grinned.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being gay, is there, darling?” he asked Danny who shook his head and they kissed. Kathleen laughed and kissed the little boy’s feet which made him giggle again.
“Well, he’s a happy kid,” she stated. Steve walked over and dropped Cameron in her arms.
“I think he pooped his suit, Kathleen,” he said making a face and Kathleen frowned.
“Well, why don’t you change him, I brought him an extra suit,” she said and he shook his head.
“No way, he’s your kid too,” he said and walked away. Joon giggled and Kathleen sighed and reached into the diaper bag.
“Why is he always my kid when he shits his pants and his kid the other times,” she said crossly. Harry laughed.
“Don’t look at me, darling, I’d beat him if I were you,” he suggested and Danny giggled. Cameron giggled too and Kathleen blew bubbles into his neck and made him giggle some more. She took care of his suit and put a diaper on him and he was all cleaned up. Danny looked at Harry.
“Poop, Daddy,” he said clearly and Harry nodded and stood up.
“Okay, darling, let’s go use the potty,” he said and walked him over to the toilets they had set up for the kids. Both women were amazed that a one year-old was already potty trained.
“How on Earth does he do it?” Joon asked and Kathleen sighed.
“I don’t know but none of my kids were crapping in the toilet until they were almost three,” she admitted and Joon nodded. They watched as Sean and Ryan, two and three raced over to the toilets and went into one together. Joon sighed.
“Face it girlfriend, the man is a miracle dad,” she declared and they both laughed.
The next afternoon they all sat out by Harry and Jake’s and the kids played in the play area that the boys had put up for them while the women and Harry sat on lounge chairs and watched drinking iced tea with the babies playing in the sand by their feet. They all had little toys and were sharing nicely. There were nine one year-olds, five women and Harry and everyone was having a ball. Jake and the men were off jet-skiing and it was another day in paradise.
“Look at them, pretending to sunbathe and they have to pick that spot to do it when there’s a whole beach to choose,” Nyla said and they all laughed at Violet and Susie with their tops off just a hundred feet away from them. Harry laughed.
“Jake says he’s tired of her flashing her itty bitty titties at him,” he told them and they all laughed. Kathleen snorted.
“I’m tired of her flashing them at me, for Christ’s sake, do we have to put up with this every single year! It’s ridiculous, hasn’t she learned by now, Jake is gay, Harry is gay, has anyone ever explained to her what that means?” she snapped. Joon giggled.
“Maybe she thinks because her breasts are so small that Jake or Harry won’t notice that she doesn’t have a woo-hoo,” she said and they all laughed.
“Oh, I think they’ll notice that,” April declared. Harry looked and saw that Noah was going to dump a pail of sand on top of his sister’s head so he lifted the pail out of the way and it dumped on his feet instead and the little boy looked confused for a minute and then giggled. Nyla saw this and laughed.
“I wish I had that talent, Harry, it would come in so handy with three children, I don’t see how you and Jake do it with seven, even with Fran to help, it can’t be easy,” she said. Harry shrugged.
“It’s not hard as long as you stay organized,” he said and everyone rolled their eyes. He giggled.
“Okay, okay, so I’m obsessive compulsive but you have to admit that’s a handy thing to be with seven children,” he teased and they all laughed. Then the men came marching in all laughing and the kids all squealed and ran towards them. Jake hugged his girls and carried them over to the blanket. He flopped down and kissed Harry.
“Did you have fun, honey?” Harry asked. Jake grinned.
“Oh, man, DJ’s ski stopped and a big-ass shark kept bumping him and scared the crap out of him, he climbed on the back of mine and we towed it in to look at it,” he said and all the girls shuddered.
“And I bet you jerks will be out there again tomorrow too won’t you?” Grace said shaking her head. DJ grinned and kissed his daughter Cheryl who giggled.
“Hey, it was just a little baby shark, right; darling?” he teased and blew kisses on her neck. Harry rolled his eyes. Jake looked over his shoulder and laughed.
“Hey look, little itty bitty is back and she’s got a friend,” he said and all the men looked. DJ whistled.
“Yeah, but her friend looks all grown up,” he remarked and all the women rolled their eyes.
“You are such a pervert,” Kathleen told her brother who grinned.
“I know but you love me anyway,” he joked and they all laughed. Harry looked at his watch. Jake looked at him.
“Time to go in?” he asked. Harry nodded.
“Almost lunch time and I’m sure Fran could use a hand,” he told him. Jake nodded and they stood up. He reached for Danny and put him on his shoulders which made the boy giggle and hold onto his hair. Jake laughed. Harry picked up his bag and the other women picked up their stuff and everyone called their kids and went inside. Violet frowned.
“Where are they going, Jake just got here, that Harry made him go inside because he doesn’t want him looking at me. See I told you, Susie, he’s threatened by me,” she said smugly. Susie nodded; it looked that way to her.
After lunch the kids all lied down for their naps and Jake lied on the couch and watched a little view-screen and Fran went to Edna’s for a while. Harry baked a chocolate cake for dessert and made chicken and dumplings for dinner and did a couple of loads of laundry and cleaned up the patio.
“Let’s have everyone over tomorrow for a barbecue and play some games,” he said to Jake as he walked through the living room. Jake nodded and reached out and grabbed him. Harry giggled and let himself be grabbed. He sat on the couch next to Jake and played with his chest hairs.
“Was poor DJ really scared today?” he asked softly and Jake nodded.
“He turned white he was so scared, but I went back for him quickly and chased the shark away,” he said. Harry smiled.
“You’re my hero,” he declared and bent down to kiss him.