The Kids Grow Up by Trish Hanan (novel24 .TXT) 📖

were the last to arrive so he shut the doors behind them.
“Dinner will be served soon; why don’t you walk through the displays,” he said and they did. Gloria screamed when she saw a picture of herself at sixteen standing in front of the sign that read “Gloria Lane.’
“Oh, my God, where did Harry get that picture, I lost mine years ago, I must have a copy,” she demanded. Jackson grinned.
“Just send Dad an email, I’m sure he’ll send you a copy,” he told her. She nodded and they moved to the next set of pictures. Violet frowned at a big picture of before her transformation into a goddess, her small breasts obvious.
“He did that on purpose, putting me up there, I hate that little shit,” she muttered. Jake grinned and moved on to the next picture which showed him and DJ lifting a log and moving it to the saw mill.
“The Saw Mill 5000, I remember that day, my stupid Dad stuck his hand in the machine and set off the alarm, then he punched out the machine and Harry had to calm him down,” he told them. Violet yawned like she was bored. Emma rolled her eyes.
“You should have gone to bed early last night, Violet, or are we boring you, dear?” she asked sweetly. Violet glared at her.
Finally they reached the main room where the tables had all been set and fresh flowers from Hawaii were everywhere and the room looked wonderful. The china was lovely, the glasses were all crystal and the silverware was the finest quality. Everyone gushed over the place settings and found their seats. Then the waiters in the matching uniforms brought out the food.
For dinner there was shrimp cocktails, cracked crab legs and oysters on a half-shell with salads with buttermilk dressing that was slightly greenish and everyone realized that it had been made with green milk. Little pamphlets on the tables informed everyone that they were being transferred back to forty-two, forty-eight and tonight’s dinner would reflect that time in history.
“What does that mean; reflect that time in history?” Violet snapped. Linda giggled.
“We had no white milk in forty-two, forty-eight, remember, all we had were green cows and that powered milk that no one would drink,” she said and they all laughed. Violet made a face.
“Well I’m not eating this crap, I hate green milk,” she snapped. Gloria nodded in agreement. Harry walked by their table, looking very handsome in a gray/blue Armani suit and they flagged him down.
“Harry, come here for a minute,” Gloria called and he smiled and walked over.
“Harry, we loved the pictures and the tables are beautiful, when did you get back to town?” Myra gushed. Harry smiled at her.
“Last week, I’m glad you are all enjoying yourself,” he said. Violet made a face.
“I’m not, I don’t like green milk and I refuse any green milk products,” she informed him rudely.
“Me either, Harry, you know I detest green milk,” Gloria snapped. Harry nodded.
“Well, for tonight it is forty-two, forty-eight, ladies, so in keeping with the theme for this evening, I’ll send history’s equivalent to green milk over to this table. I hope you enjoy your dinner, its lobster and filet mignon,” he told them.
“Mm, I love lobster,” Max exclaimed and they all laughed. Harry smiled and walked away. Violet looked puzzled and turned to her husband.
“What did he mean by history’s equivalent?” she asked him. Jake shook his head.
“I have no idea, sugar,” he told her and his eyes followed Harry’s movement across the floor where he stopped and talked to a waiter who nodded and went to the kitchen. A few minutes later he came out with a silver tray and approached their table.
“I have for your pleasure history’s equivalent to green butter and bottled dressings,” he announced and handed Violet and Gloria bottles of fake liquid butter that had been a staple in the colonist supplies when they first landed and three different kinds of bottled salad dressings. All the people at their table laughed.
“Oh, my God, I remember that stuff, how dreadful it was and how much Steve complained about it, how much Max complained about it,” Linda said and giggled. All the women giggled. Gloria looked furious. She looked at the waiter.
“I want butter, real white milk butter, not this liquid crap and not green butter,” she demanded. David looked embarrassed.
“Now, princess, we didn’t have real butter in forty-eight, all we had was green butter or the fake stuff,” he told her. She glared at him and stood up.
“I’m talking to Harry, this is ridiculous,” she declared and walked away. They saw her approach Harry who took her into the back. Several minutes later she returned and walked back to the table and sat down. They all looked at her. She shrugged.
“Just for tonight, the green will be alright,” Gloria said calmly. David smiled and hugged her. She smiled and kissed him. Everyone wondered what Harry had said to her but Gloria wasn’t saying a word. Violet stood up.
“I don’t care what he said to you, but I’m not taking this crap,” she declared and walked over to where Harry was standing. He didn’t say a word but opened the door and she walked through. Before she could say a word he held up his hand.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told your friend, this is the Centennial celebration that should have happened on the Hundredth Anniversary but you bitches ruined it for everyone. Now you can just sit up and shut up or you can leave and I don’t particularly care what you do and in your case, Violet, I really don’t care if you stay or leave so either go back to your table and enjoy the party or get the hell out. But if you leave tonight, don’t bother showing up tomorrow for the wedding because you won’t be let in the door and you know I mean it,” he spoke calmly and firmly and she knew he meant it. She turned around but at the door she paused.
“I hate your guts you stupid little faggot,” she snapped. He shrugged.
“Fake tittie bitch,” he called her back and she flushed. Then he walked past her and out of the room, when he got outside he wore a big smile. She pasted a big one on her face and walked back to the table. Everyone looked at her and she smiled and picked up the fake liquid butter.
“This stuff will be fine,” she said calmly. Jake held his napkin up to his mouth and grinned. He didn’t know what Harry said but he was sure it was something Violet hadn’t liked.
Dinner was fabulous, everyone raved about the bacon wrapped filets and the lobsters served with drawn butter. Violet ate hers without because the fake butter was dreadful. The rolls were crispy and light, the potatoes were served with bacon bits and green sour cream and green butter and were fantastic. Everyone ate like it was going out of style. And for dessert there was cheesecake, chocolate cake and homemade yogurt. When Jake heard that choice his eyes lit up.
“What kind of yogurt?” he asked. The waiter smiled.
“Blueberry, cherry and strawberry-mango,” he informed him, and added, “And they were all made by the host Harry Talbert.” Everyone looked impressed. Jake could have kissed him. Harry always made the best yogurt and strawberry-mango was his favorite. He asked for that and had two servings.
After dessert and the dishes were cleared away, Harry gave everyone a little break and let them get a drink from the bar and go to the rest room and then he cleared the room of all the alterian waiters and he took the stage. He had a beer in his hand and everyone cheered and clapped their hands. He took a little bow and began to speak.
“I was having the most lovely dream,” he began, and the whole room went crazy. Kids began stomping on the tables and hollering and cheering and Harry grinned looking very much like his old self. Jake wanted to rush the stage and kiss him. He had gotten rid of that ridiculous mustache and his mouth was back to its perfect cupid bow. Harry continued.
“I was running through a field of high yellow-green grass,” he said and took them all back a hundred and twenty-five years ago when he had just been a boy of fourteen on his way to Galileo with his mothers on board the Federation Colony Ship the Eleanor Roosevelt. Everyone was silent as he took them wakeup and they laughed when he told about two-head alien space spiders and waking up his mother Kate and going down on her. Kate laughed and her face got really red while Barb giggled.
Then they went to the Crew’s Lounge and found the dead crewmen and then through the ship and finally engineering where they found the accident and realized how long they had been asleep. Then up to the Bridge and finding the planet and Harry launching the probes and then waking up the first family, the Jackson’s. Dr. Jackson beamed and then frowned when Harry shouted like he had. All of his kids giggled because Harry sounded just like their dad. When Harry mentioned shaking hands with Jake for the first time, when he had always said it was love at first sight that had made their hands spark, now he laughed.
“Now that I think about it, with all that dust and the vacuum running, it was probably static electricity,” he said and everyone laughed. Jake was stunned. He wanted to jump to his feet and shout.
“No, it was love, Harry, God damn-it, we were in love, that meant something to me, to us, don’t laugh it away; we were in love.”
Instead he pasted a smile on his face so no one would see the pain he was feeling inside and Violet’s big laugh made him want to smash her face in. The story took a couple hours to tell and like before everyone jumped up and told their wakeup story and it was a great evening. No one noticed that Jake didn’t get up.
“Now tomorrow’s the big event so be sure to drink a glass of warm green milk before you go to sleep tonight so you don’t wake up with a hang-over and in case you don’t have a glass of green milk to drink, don’t worry, we’re going to give you one as you leave,” Harry informed them all and wished them all a goodnight. They all stood and cheered and clapped and the evening was over. Everyone gushed about the great food and the great time they had had and no one noticed how quiet Jake was. He was silent on the way home.
“That was the most boring party in my life, I can’t believe Harry had the nerve to tell me to shut up and sit down or I couldn’t come to the wedding, Jake I want you to have a few words with him, he can’t talk to me that way, I’m your wife, I deserve some respect,” Violet went on and on, all the way home and Jake nodded but he didn’t hear a word he said.