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

Bentley to come down and look at the old man.
“What did you say happened?” he asked the son solemnly. The son answered just as solemnly.
“I took my father to see Father Harry at his bargain warehouse store and he healed him, he’s a wonderful young man and he didn’t charge me a penny,” he boasted. All of the doctors looked shocked.
“Who is this Father Harry?” Dr. Bentley snapped at Dr. George who had been called down for consultation. Dr. George looked uncomfortable.
“Father Harry is a Catholic Priest who sometimes has a healing power but he’s a bit of a flake so we don’t use him often, he’s a Dolphin,” he informed him. Dr. Bentley looked intrigued.
“What is a Dolphin?” he asked. Dr. George grinned. He loved showing the alterian doctor new stuff.
“A Dolphin is a man who can bear live children. Harry and his five sons have a uterine sack and an ovary with five eggs, although Harry has used his eggs to have his five children,” he informed him. All three doctors looked amazed.
“We must have them in right away to scan them, this is fascinating,” Dr. Bentley gushed. Dr. George nodded and said he would send Father Harry an email right away and asked him and his sons to come in.
The emails were sent and all five men rushed to Harry’s to discuss the scans and they all agreed when Harry said he’d go in for a scan because it would give him a chance to see this Dr. Bentley up close and personal and judge for himself the man’s character. Jackson, Sean and Ryan decided they didn’t want to be scanned but Danny and Adam thought it would be interesting.
“Of course if Dad thinks it was good idea, you know Danny’s going to do it,” Jackson remarked and all the boys began to make sucking noises. Danny just gave them the finger and they all laughed. The three men flew over to Medford the next morning which was safer than driving there because the alterians were horrible drivers. Having been warned by Dr. George that Dr. Bentley expected to see a Roman Catholic priest, Harry borrowed a costume from Kathleen’s store and wore it and the boys had the best time teasing him.
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” Adam intoned and Harry sighed.
“I’m going to bless your ass if you act up in the hospital,” he warned him and both boys looked sheepish. Danny rolled his eyes.
“Okay, Dad, I mean, Father, we’ll behave,” he panned and they both giggled. Harry sighed.
“I guess I should be grateful Ryan and Sean didn’t volunteer for this little duty,” he said and they all laughed thinking of the jokes those two clowns would have told. Dr. George was waiting for them and rolled his eyes at Harry’s get up.
“Where in the hell did the alterians get the idea you were a Catholic priest?” he asked Harry as they walked into the hospital. Harry shrugged.
“Actually Danny just introduced me as his father and before we knew it everyone was calling me Father Harry,” he explained. “You’re the idiot who told them I was a priest,” he said. Dr. George sighed. Then he introduced the three men to the team of doctors who were going to be examining them and they took off their clothes and got to work. They were fascinated with the uterine sack and ovary and took tons of pictures and Dr. George and Harry described labor and the delivery of the baby in detail. Then one of the doctors looked at Harry and frowned.
“I thought you said you used the five eggs that you had in your ovary, Father,” he said and both Harry and Dr. George nodded.
“I had five eggs and I had five sons,” Harry informed him. The doctor pointed to the screen.
“Then what are those in your ovary?” he asked solemnly. Everyone looked. Harry gasped as he saw five eggs in his ovary. Dr. George gasped too.
“Oh, my God, Harry, your eggs have grown back,” the older man exclaimed. Harry felt tears come to his eyes and he touched them on the screen in wonder.
“I must have healed myself one of those times when I rubbed my belly,” he said softly. Both of his sons hugged him.
“Wow, Dad, now you can have five more sons; think of all the Dolphins and the new DNA we can have,” Adam boasted. Dr. George grinned.
“All of your sons can have brothers, if these are the same eggs you had before, this is a wonderful miracle, this is marvelous,” he gushed and they all smiled. Dr. Bentley nodded.
“You didn’t expect this to happen?” he asked and both Harry and Dr. George shook their heads.
“This is new to us, but this is fantastic,” Dr. George said with delight. “Harry is the most valuable man on the planet, well, he can,” Harry put his hand over the older man’s mouth to prevent him from saying too much.
“Dr. George, please you’re embarrassing me,” he teased him and the older man laughed and got it. Both of his sons got it and laughed. The alterians looked disappointed; they had wanted to know what Father Harry could do. The three men completed their exams and left very excited and Harry was extremely happy, he wasn’t the barren empty shell he had thought he was. Now he could have more children, maybe not with Jake but with someone, not right now, but some day and that was more than he thought could ever happen.
“What do you mean your eggs grew back, eggs don’t grow back after you use them, Henry,” his mother Kate declared when he told her the exciting news. He grinned and hugged her. Barb burst into tears and he hugged her too.
“Oh, Mouse, that’s terrific,” she said and wiped her eyes. Kate was amazed but he showed her the scan the doctor had given him and sure enough, there were five eggs in his ovary.
“I must have healed myself one day. This means there’s no end to how many children I can have. Once I have the five, I can just heal myself and five more eggs will pop back in,” Harry boasted and they both looked surprised and then laughed.
“Think of all the Dolphins you could make, we could fill this planet with men who can have children, old Max would piss himself blue,” Kate giggled at the thought. Harry giggled too.
The kids all got together and discussed how they thought this news would affect their other dad.
“Jake wouldn’t like Harry having children with another man, not at all,” Adam informed them. They all agreed. Emma sighed.
“But how do we tell him about it, we just can’t call him up and tell him,” she said and they all agreed on that too. Jackson grinned.
“I know, Danny and Adam can tell him about the scans and mention it to him really casual like,” he said and they all agreed that was a good plan. Sean laughed.
“And if they did it in front of old Violet that would even be better,” he declared and they all agreed that would be even better. But how could they do that? Then Cassie giggled.
“I’ve got it, we all need to be invited over to the grandparents for dinner and the boys can tell them all at the same time,” she said and they all thought that was the best plan they ever heard and then they all looked at Jackson who sighed.
“Why does everyone all look at me when we talk about the grandparents?” he complained. Adam reached over and pinched his cheek.
“Because you’re grandmom’s little precious boy, that’s why, angel,” he teased and everyone laughed while Jackson rolled his eyes. He took out his cell phone and held up his hand for silence, he put it on speaker phone so they could all hear. Sissy picked up the phone on the other end.
“Well, Jackson, angel, how wonderful to hear your voice, how are you, angel?” she seemed so glad to hear his voice he felt guilty for not calling her more. It must have shown on his face because Emma patted his hand.
“Hi, Grandmom, I’m fine, busy with the stores but I’m free Friday night and I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner, my treat,” he asked cheerfully. Sissy laughed.
“I’ve got a better idea, why don’t you and your brothers and sisters come over here Friday night and I’ll invite your Dad and we’ll have a nice family dinner, won’t that be lovely, I’ll make a nice roast beef, that’s your favorite,” she said as he knew she would.
“Oh, Grandmom, you don’t have to cook for all of us, that’s too much work, we can eat out,” he said and she made a clicking noise.
“No, we cannot, not when I can just make us something nice here, now I won’t take no for an answer, angel, so I’ll see all of you at six on Friday and tell your sisters to wear a pretty dress, they look so nice in dresses,” she declared and they said their goodbyes and hung up. Cassie stuck her tongue out at the phone.
“I should wear overalls and hiking boots for that, you old bag,” she retorted and Adam took her hand and kissed it.
“Now, Cassie, we want them in a good mood, so you’re wearing a pretty little dress and behave,” he warned her and she stuck her tongue out at him but grudgingly agreed. Emma giggled.
“Does Mike know what you do with that tongue, Cas?” she teased her. Cassie made a rude noise.
“He not only knows, he likes it,” she declared and all the boys groaned.
“Oh, man, we didn’t need to know that,” Ryan said and they all laughed.
Friday night came and Violet came home from the store tired and in a bad mood, she wanted to go out and have a drink and was surprised to find Jake putting on a fresh shirt and tie.
“Oh, good, you’re getting dressed, where are you taking your lovely wife for dinner tonight?” she gushed and freshened up by spraying on some perfume. He made a face behind her back.
“We’re going to my Mom’s house, the kids are coming over, remember?” he asked her and she pouted.
“I’m tired Jake and I’ve had a hard day, I’m really not in the mood for dinner with your folks and your freaky children,” she snapped. He shrugged.
“So don’t come, call David and Gloria and go out with them,” he told her. “I’m going to my folks and have dinner with my family.” He walked out of the bedroom whistling and leaving her slightly shocked. He didn’t even try to convince her to go with him and that wasn’t like him at all, usually he pleaded and bribed her with promises of presents and treats. She was mystified. Violet walked into the living room where he was taping the ball game. She tapped her heels so he would turn around to look at her.
“I mean it, Jake, I don’t want to go,” she repeated. He shrugged again and that irritated the hell out of her.
“I heard you the first time, Violet, so don’t go, I’m not forcing you, go out with your friends. I’ll sleep in the spare room so you won’t wake me up