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

stopped, he swore those bastards were lying in wait for him. He showed them his license and they grudgingly let him take the dogs on the beach for their run. After that it became a sort of game between him and the cops and a couple of times he forgot his wallet and had to fly home for it. This pissed him off and caused them extreme laughter because by now they knew who he was and yet they continued to ask every morning for the damned thing.
This pissed Harry off so he went to Doug’s with Gertie and Bo and had their picture taken. This he took it to his mom’s printing store and had it blown up to seven feet and incased in plastic and glass and he then mounted it in a steel frame. He took this with supplies to the beach. The two cops watched with interest as Harry brought all the tools and supplies and right under the sign that read: Harry Talbert Beach, he dug two holes and put two steel poles in cement-steel. When they harden, he welded the steel picture frame; the picture was covered so they couldn’t see what it was. Next he welded the black steel letters above the picture, they read: Harry Talbert with Gertie and Bo. The cops smiled because now they had a clue as to what the picture was. Harry uncovered the seven foot picture and the cops burst into laughter. Harry grinned at them and cleaned up his mess. Under the sign of Harry Talbert Beach was a seven foot picture of Harry Talbert and his two golden retrievers Gertie and Bo. Harry would never have to flash his damned driver’s license for the cops again.
“Have a nice day,” Harry called to the cops and he and his friends ran up the shore line. The two cops laughed and admired the picture. Jake, who was watching the whole scene from his helo a half mile away through binoculars, wondered what Harry had just put up and why the cops were laughing. He waiting until everyone left and flew down to see. Then he laughed until tears came to his eyes. It was such a typical Harry thing to do. He had seen the cops harassing him every morning asking for his driver’s license and he knew it irritated the hell out of his ex and wondered how long it would take for Harry to figure out some way to stop it and now he had.
Jake ran home and got the camera someone had given him and Violet for a wedding present and came back and took several pictures of the picture and printed them out on the tiny printer that came with the camera at his office so Violet wouldn’t see. He put one in his wallet in the back and one in his desk drawer so he could look at it between patients. He missed his dogs so much his heart ached and he missed Harry so damned much. He took a picture home and hid it under the mattress of the spare bed in the room he slept in; he knew Violet would never lift the bed to look there. Sometimes he would look at it and kiss Harry’s perfect smiling mouth.
The buildings were all finished at the end of April and all the kids insisted that their telekinesis was ready for whatever Harry had to show them. He made them all demonstrate their powers and was pleased that Cassie was able to lift him off the ground. He grinned and took his children, their better halves and his moms to Sherwood for the great unveiling along with tables, chairs and food. He also brought his animals because he took them with him everywhere. Everyone seemed excited and wondered what the great secret was.
“Okay, we all know how telekinesis works” Harry began as he addressed his family. He had his hat in his back pocket and his goggles in his front. They all sat on chairs in front of him and grinned. He waved his finger to Emma who stood up and grinned at him. He lifted her off the ground and everyone laughed. Then he lifted her to him and kissed her on her cheek and lifted her back. Everyone laughed again.
“Now, let me tell you a little story,” Harry declared and pointed to the mountains in back of him.
“I was climbing that peak there with Gertie and Bo and we were almost to the top, when I was finished filming my show for the day. Now in order to put the camera back in my backpack I had to unhook my harness, take it off; put it in; put the pack back on and the hook the harness on,” he explained. Danny frowned.
“That sounds dangerous to do when you’re climbing alone, Dad,” he told him. Harry nodded.
“It is, Danny and I had done it a million times and nothing had happened,” he said. “Except for this time, a big, purple eagle had a nest nearby and she didn’t like me climbing so close to it.” All the kids gasped and his mothers looked worried.
“She swooped down and attacked me just as I was putting the pack back on and I slipped and fell from the cliff and, of course, right off the edge,” Harry told them. Everyone looked shocked. Kate stood up.
“You mean to tell us, Henry, that you fell off the mountain,” she asked weakly. Harry nodded. He flipped his body so he was lying in the air and they all gasped with surprise. He grinned at them.
“There I was falling a hundred feet a second, approximately, of course,” he added. Adam laughed.
“Of course, Dad,” he remarked and they all laughed.
“And just for a moment, and only a few seconds mind you, I was relieved. I thought to myself, at least if I died this way, it would be an accident and I wouldn’t hurt or miss Jake anymore,” he confessed and he could see that they understood. Then he grinned and looked at the two grinning dogs.
“But then I thought of poor Gertie and Bo stuck up there on that ledge and they would die up there without me so I had to find someway to save myself so I pushed with my mind and stopped myself from falling and I found myself just like this about a hundred feet off the ground,” he explained and they all looked shocked again.
“You came that close to dying, good heavens, Henry,” Kate exclaimed. Both of his daughters had tears in their eyes. Harry smiled.
“Now, of course, I have to figure out a way to get back up to the dogs before they tried to get down off that ledge to find me,” Harry explained his next move. He reached behind him and put on his crazy looking hat and goggles. Everyone looked confused.
“Now, I figured that if I could stop myself from going down, what was to prevent me from going up, so I pushed with my mind and went up a few inches,” Harry said and he went up a few inches and they all gasped and a few of the boys, Danny and Adam who were brighter than the rest got it first and giggled. Then Harry put himself in a standing position, off the ground, waved at them and took off for the sky, very quickly as they all watched with amazement. They all stood up and gasped.
“Holy crap, Dad’s flying,” Jackson shouted. Everyone started cheering and clapping, waving and hollering, everyone starting hugging one another. The dogs started barking and jumping on people and Kate’s mouth was wide open in shock. Harry flew around them, did some acrobatic moves and flips and then gracefully landed in front of him. They all rushed him and hugged him. He laughed and grabbed at them.
“Dad, you rascal, why didn’t you tell us you could fly,” Emma demanded, her forehead making that little wrinkle when she was mad. He laughed and kissed her.
“Emma, darling, you wouldn’t have believed it unless you saw it,” he told her.
“Do you think we’ll be able to fly?” Adam asked him. Harry nodded.
“I don’t see why not, you’ve all be drinking your green milk haven’t you?” he asked and they all grinned. Harry passed out hats and goggles. Sean, the fashion conscious frowned and Harry smacked him on his arm.
“The wind will dry your eyes out and tear your eardrums up without protection, so don’t even think about flying without these,” he warned him. Ryan laughed at his brother.
“Get over it, Ace, just put the damned things on and learn how to do your Peter Pan impression,” he advised him. Sean laughed and put the damned things on. Then Harry smiled at Emma and held out his hand.
“So, Emma, darling, how would you like to take a little spin with your old man?” he asked her and she nodded and grabbed his hand.
“You bet your fine ass I would,” she retorted and everyone laughed.
“How do we do this?” Jackson asked. Harry shrugged.
“Just push up and see how it goes, bend your knees a little, that helps, and jump,” he told them and they all tried. Danny, who had been drinking green milk all of his life was the first to take off and the other boys weren’t going to let their little brother beat them at any thing soon followed.
“Oh, my God, look at them, aren’t they beautiful,” Kate gushed as she watched her Dolphins swim in the sky. Barb hugged her and her eyes filled with tears.
The men came down and took all of their partners for a flight, Harry took both of his mothers and, of course, the dogs barked for a ride and the kids all laughed because the dogs really enjoyed flying. The cats didn’t appreciate the kids trying to fly with them and they hissed at them so laughing and cooing at them, the kids left the felines alone.
“You’d better not let the alterians catch you flying or they might want to burn you at the stake,” Harry warned them as they sat down to lunch and milk shakes made from ice cream made from green milk. They all grinned and gobbled them up, even Jackson who swore he was never drinking white milk again.
“Hey, Dad, Jackson wants you to make him some ca-ca,” Ryan teased his brother who shook his head.
“I didn’t say I was going that far,” he protested and they all laughed. Harry giggled and Kate thought it was the loveliest sound she had ever heard. She was glad to see him back in the land of the living. She smiled across the table at him; he looked so great with his short hair so curly and that stupid mustache gone.
“It’s so nice to see you back among us, Henry, and not hiding out on Mykonos,” she remarked and all the kids rolled their eyes. She would have to bring that up on such a lovely day. Harry rolled his eyes and she made a face.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, young man, its rude,” she snapped. He winked at the kids.
“So are your comments, Mother, why can’t you just enjoy the day and keep your lectures to yourself for once,” he told her