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

mix it all together and I was thinking that since you’re the dentist maybe you should be the one who makes the toothpaste,” he said and Dr. Dennis frowned.
“Oh, I don’t know about that, I only clean teeth, I wouldn’t know anything about running a factory,” he said and Harry nodded. He paid his bill and took his kids home. Dr. Dennis was just another lazy bastard who wanted something for nothing. Mike and Davy offered to make the toothpaste and the kids built the factory which was a small one and Myla, Kate and Harry worked on the formula until it tasted great and all of their kids liked it. Then they went into mass production and by Christmas everyone had a dozen tubes of the new toothpaste they called Eden Mint and they all loved it.
“We’re working on a vanilla mint and a cherry mint for the kids next,” Harry told everyone at the Christmas party and they all were impressed. Carl grinned.
“Vanilla mint sounds yummy, I would brush my teeth with that,” he declared and his wife giggled.
“Carl loves his vanilla pudding and ice cream,” she said and they all laughed. Carl shrugged.
“What are we going to do about shampoo and crème rinse?” Shelley asked him. Harry grinned.
“Well, for that I’ve got that covered. I brought down a Dove factory and in the spring we’re going to build that. Billy and Bobby have said they’re going to operate it and everyone’s going to have plenty of shampoo and crème rinse. The best thing is that we have the formulas so we’ll never run out,” he told them and everyone cheered. Shelley frowned.
“You couldn’t have brought down a Paul Mitchell factory?” she complained. Harry shook his head.
“There wasn’t one of those on the Roosevelt, Shelley, I brought down all the factories that were there and the Dove factory was the only shampoo one so we’re lucky to have it,” he explained and she nodded.
“I guess you’re right, but that’s a damned shame, my hair is going to look a mess without Paul Mitchell,” she whined. Harry shrugged and went back to his table. Jake grinned at him.
“Some people are never satisfied, babe,” he said and kissed him. All their kids giggled.
“I wonder how many factories the little fishy freak brought down,” Max sneered to Charles who nodded.
“It seems no matter what crisis we have that little fagola comes up with a solution,” he complained.
“Just once I’d like to see him fall on his face,” Max said and Charles nodded. David looked at them with surprise. Didn’t they realize that if Harry didn’t have a factory to produce something they all needed, they wouldn’t have toothpaste or shampoo or something they needed? They two of them were nuts.


At the kids birthday party all the boys announced that they wanted dogs for their presents and Harry nodded. Fran groaned and everyone laughed. Shelley giggled.
“Oh, poor Fran, you can always move in with us if you want,” she told her and Emma and Cassie ran and climbed on Fran’s lap and hugged her.
“Don’t leave us, Fran,” Cassie shouted and Fran hugged her.
“Don’t worry, honey, I’m not going anywhere, we were just teasing,” she said and Cassie stuck her tongue out at Shelley who giggled. Kate rolled her eyes.
“Those kids think Fran is their mother for Christ’s sake, it’s ridiculous our own grandchildren see more of that woman than us,” she snapped. Harry sighed and reached in the freezer for another container of ice cream.
“They love Fran and Jake and I love Fran so you’re just going to have to stop hating her and get over it, it’s been thirteen years, Mother, how long are you going to sulk?” he teased and she glared at him.
“I’m a grown adult, I don’t sulk,” she snapped and took the ice cream he handed to her. He grinned and they walked into the other room where seven cakes were waiting. All the kids had picked out different cakes and all the kids were excited about blowing out the candles like they were every year. And all the granddads and grandmoms were present for the happy occasion. Harry had even invited David and Gloria for the first time since she whined and complained about not being a part of her daughter’s life but the two hadn’t wanted to be in the house with twenty-four little kids.
“Happy Birthday, dear, Jackson, Emma, Adam, Cassie, Ryan, Sean and Danny, Happy Birthday to you,” everyone sang and the seven kids all blew out their candles and giggled. Jackson helped Danny blow out his three candles and everyone clapped. Then the cakes were cut and ice cream was put on the plates with the cake and everyone sat around and munched.
“Oh, Fran, this is excellent cake this year, is that almond in the batter?” Shelley asked and Fran nodded.
“You must have one of Harry’s cakes then, he used almond extract this year instead of vanilla to be different,” she told her and Shelley grinned.
“I ought to try that,” she said. Harry grinned.
“You should try it in your French toast, I did and now everyone won’t eat it if I use vanilla,” he told her and she nodded.
“That sound interesting, Henry, I’m going to try that,” his mother Kate remarked and Sissy nodded.
“That does sound good, I would have never thought of that, almond instead of vanilla, I’m going to make that tomorrow, Jackson loves French toast,” she told them. Jake laughed.
“Dad loves everything you cook, Mom,” he teased and they all laughed.
“Hey, Jackson, if our cow has a female, your name is up on the lottery and you’ll finally have a white milk cow,” Harry told him. The man beamed.
“It’s about damned time, I’m so sick of green milk I could puke,” he announced and all the kids laughed. Danny giggled and blew bubbles in his green milk. His granddad laughed at him.
“You love your green milk don’t you, Son?” he teased and Danny nodded. Dr. Jackson kissed him. Sissy grinned.
“I can’t tell you how much I love my husband since the grandchildren came along; he’s like a different man. He hasn’t needed any of those anger pills George gave him in years and all the kids love him,” she gushed. Jake grinned and hugged her.
“Harry said years ago that all it was going to take was some grandchildren to take away his anger and he was right,” he told everyone and they all looked at Harry who grinned.
“I read that in this book, it was about this couple, a boy and a girl, the old man was a mean grumpy rich guy and the son fell in love with this waitress and the old man said if his son married her he would disown him but the young man didn’t care,” he told them the story. “They got married anyway and the young man went to law school while the wife worked in a diner to support them and when he graduated he got a job. The whole time the old man refused to talk to them but when the girl got pregnant and had a little boy, they named it after the old man and overnight he changed completely and became the girl’s best friend. He retired from the law firm and turned it over to his son and spent all of his time playing with his grandson and all the grandchildren that followed and him and the waitress that he hated became best friends.”
“That’s a wonderful story, Harry,” Shelley gushed with tears in her eyes. Dr. George laughed and handed her a hankie. Harry grinned.
“I know, darling, I cried when I finished the book too, it was so romantic,” he said and his mother Kate rolled her eyes while Barb wiped tears.
“That is romantic, Mouse,” she sniffed.
“How could you read such drivel, Henry?” Kate snapped. Sissy laughed.
“Well, the boy couldn’t read math books all the time, Kate,” she teased and they all laughed.
After the party cleanup Jake turned to Harry.
“Are we really going to give each of the boys their own dogs, babe?” he asked and Harry shrugged.
“Your sons want dogs, do you want to be the one who says no, honey?” he asked and Jake shook his head.
“No way, babe, I remember how disappointed I got every time I asked my dad for a dog and he kept saying no. There’s no way I’m doing that to my sons,” he said firmly. Harry smiled and hugged him.
“Danny’s too small right now so we’ll let him share Bo and Gertie but the other boys are old enough. Emma wants Martha and George so we’ll give her them and Cassie wants kittens so we’ll let Martha have another litter and give the extra’s away, everyone loves kittens,” he told him and Jake nodded.
“I just hope Gertie has four puppies and not three like last time or one of the boys are going to be disappointed,” he said. Harry shook his head.
“No, we’ll just let Sean and Ryan share a dog, they’ll be fine with that,” he told him and Jake grinned and kissed him.
“You’re brilliant, have I ever told you that?” he teased and Harry gave him one of his famous slanty looks that made Jake shiver.
“Ever made love to a brilliant man in a closet?” he asked in a husky voice. Jake grinned.
“Summer or winter?” he asked. Harry tilted his head.
“I was thinking the basement storage closet, they’ll never look for us there,” he whispered and Jake nodded.
“You’re right, let’s be quiet, you never know if they’re listening,” he whispered back and they sneaked downstairs. Fran saw them sneaking and giggled as she headed for her sun room and some view-screen. Those two were so funny. They had that nice king-sized bed and they still insisted on making love all over the house in the weirdest places. They were never going to grow up, God bless them.
“Don’t look; but I think someone’s following you,” Fran whispered one day in February. Harry grinned.
“He wouldn’t be adorable and three years old would he?” he whispered back and she nodded. They both glanced around and saw Danny his youngest sneaking around the corner of the food prep room where they were making yogurt. Harry laughed.
“You can come in, Danny,” he called out and the little boy raced in. The rule was that none of the kids could come into the food prep room unless they had an adult to supervise. There were just too many machines for them to play with and after Emma and Jackson tried to make ice cream one day in the butter machine and made a terrible mess, Harry and Jake had declared the prep room off limits to the kids. Harry bent over and picked him up for a kiss. Danny giggled and kissed him back. Harry put him on the table and went back to mixing ingredients. He handed a piece of mango to the boy who ate it with a smile. Fran laughed.
“He follows you around like a puppy,” she remarked and Harry nodded.
“Speaking of puppies, have you checked on Gertie recently?” he asked. She nodded.
“Nothing so far, but it should be any hour, second, minute, she’s in her bed in your closet, the kids are