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

what the bills and coins would look like and Violet wanted to scream at all of them. All of this ‘Harry is our hero’ crap was beginning to get on every one of her nerves.
Harry deposited twenty million in the depository and several witnesses, Max and Charles among them counted the gold and he locked it up. Then he, Steve and DJ went to work turning the special paper, copper, silver and yet more gold into currency and coins. In secret they minted sixty-seven special quarters with the faces of the survivors from their Roosevelt colonist I.D. cards from March, forty-one forty-five when they first came aboard and prepared to sleep on the front and a picture of the Roosevelt on the back. They put them together in a commemorative set to hand out at the opening of the bank and had two for every man, women and child to keep for eternity.
The bank opened and everyone lined up to open their checking accounts and buy some money. Cindy Campbell had some teller experience and they put her to work so they had four desks working and everyone was very patient. David looked most impressive in an Armani suit from his store. Harry wore a suit also to lend an air of importance to the affair but inside he was laughing his ass off.
Carl and Jenna were his first customers and he typed in their information correctly. They lived at Number 3, Farm Two Drive, Edenville, Eden, and since they had no post office, there was no postal code. Harry expected them to ask for a post office next. They deposited two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and he showed them the safe where the money would be kept and locked up and they were very impressed with it. Then he threw in a lifetime safe deposit box for free and they accepted and he took them through that routine and handed over the little key for them to keep safe. He knew that people loved those little keys just like they loved putting their important papers in the safe deposit box at the bank. It made them feel secure.
They picked out antique checks with a fancy ‘W’ and he gave them two checkbook covers for free and said their checks would be delivered when they were printed just like their statements would come on the fifth of every month and be delivered to their house. Then they wrote out a cashier’s check for cash and withdrew some money and Harry took them to his window and handed them freshly minted bills and rolls of coins which made them very happy. Then he took them back to his desk and showed them the commemorative quarters and they gushed over them. He handed them theirs, two for every member of their family and they couldn’t have been happier.
“Thanks, Harry, this is a wonderful bank you have here,” Carl gushed and shook his hand. Harry smiled and thanked him for his business and informed them that their ATM cards would be delivered by end of day tomorrow. They loved hearing that and he was ready for the next customer. And that’s how it went for the rest of the day until he and his team had seen every single person in town.
Tammy, Amy, Susie and Violet were different customers; they just came in with gold and wanted to buy some money. They didn’t have any stores and their parents wouldn’t give them one of theirs and they didn’t have enough money to open checking accounts. Harry solved this little problem by giving them each two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and opening a checking account for them. They all couldn’t have more surprised, especially Violet.
“But I thought you hated me,” she said and looked at him. He shrugged.
“I don’t hate you, Violet, but I really wished you’d stop flirting with my husband,” he told her and she flushed red with embarrassment. “I know you girls don’t have any stores so you don’t have an income so Jake and I decided that you should have some money of your own, so we’d like to do this for you.”
“You could give us one of your stores,” Violet said with a sly grin. Harry shook his head.
“The point is to give you some money so you’d be like everyone else who has money,” he informed her. So he opened their accounts and sent them on their way.
The next day he and Steve put all the data into the computer and it shot out all of the ATM cards and they tried them out to make sure they worked and then put them in envelopes and delivered them personally to everyone in town. As soon as they left they knew everyone would be heading for the next ATM to try them out. For everyone’s convenience they put one in every farm by the craft house, by the hospital and Mill, and all over town. Harry had no idea what they were going to spend all that money on but it was there for when they needed it.
When Steve and Synta made the next toilet paper run they put Harry’s twenty dollar bill on green toilet paper as a prank and everyone laughed hysterically and then fought over it, everyone wanted it for their bathroom. They had to make another batch to meet the demand. Harry grabbed a case of it for his house and he and Jake giggled every time they went into the bathroom.
“I feel bad wiping my ass with your face, babe,” Jake said as he climbed into bed. Harry laughed and rolled over to face him.
“I bet Max and Charles get a real kick out of going to the bathroom, Linda and Myra must have to force them to come out,” he teased and Jake laughed.
“I ought to go kick Steve’s ass for putting your face on the paper,” he said and Harry grinned.
“I think it’s a funny joke, in a hundred years or so, he’ll get tired of making toilet paper and then we’ll get even and put his face on some,” he said and Jake grinned.
“I like the way you think,” he said and then he turned to the door. “Did you hear that, I thought I heard something,” he said and got out of bed. Opening the door he was surprised to find their youngest sitting on the top of the stairs.
“Danny, I thought you went to bed hours ago, did you have a bad dream, angel?” he cooed and picked him up. The little boy snuggled in his neck. Jake looked at Harry. “I’ll put him back in okay?” he said and walked from the room. He returned a few minutes later and hopped back in.
“Poor little tyke,” he said. Harry smiled and kissed him.
“You’re such a good dad,” he told him gently. Jake kissed him and they began to make love, slowly at first and then more passionately and a little louder. The little boy standing outside their door listened to the sounds and smiled. Then he turned around and went back to his bed. Bo hopped up on the bed and soon they were fast asleep. He just needed to make sure that his world was secure and it was so now Danny could fall asleep.
During the summer break they all drove up to the cabin by the lake to go camping and with seven kids and six dogs in the Jeep it was a fun ride. They had to pull a trailer with all of their stuff but they had fun and Harry lifted everything to the cabin which made all the kids laugh.
“When do you think I’ll be able to do that?” Jackson asked. Harry shrugged.
“I don’t know, if you keep drinking white milk then probably never, you have to drink green milk to develop your telekinesis,” he told him and Jackson frowned. Adam laughed and patted him on his back.
“Don’t worry, Jackie, I’ll lift stuff for you,” he teased and Jackson frowned at him.
“My name isn’t Jackie, you idiot, don’t call me that or I’ll smack you,” he yelled and they started to wrestle. Jake walked by and picked up one in each arm and they laughed as he juggled them.
“Two little boys want to get dropped in the lake I think, what do you think; babe?” he asked and Harry nodded.
“I think you’re right, honey, they’re all fired up and need to cool off, a nice refreshing dip ought to do that,” he said and both boys began to yell as their father started walking towards the lake.
“No, don’t throw us in Dad, please Dad, save us,” Jackson yelled. Jake laughed and put them down.
“Help us unpack instead of beating up on each other or in the lake you go,” he told them and the two boys nodded and laughing walked back towards the trailer, their arms around each other, best friends once again. Harry and Jake grinned at each other.
“Who wants a canoe ride?” Harry announced when they were all unpacked. Seven hands went up and the dogs barked so they all put on their water wings and raced towards the boat house. Harry and Jake walked and they took the two long boats out of storage and they all climbed in. Harry took Danny, Emma and Cassie while Jake took the four boys. Harry had Bo and Gertie and Jake had the other four dogs, it was fun watching them steer in the water. Harry giggled.
“I think you have one dog too many, honey,” he called out and Jake laughed.
“You think?” he teased and all the boys laughed. Then Zap saw a fish and barked, jumped in to catch it and all the other dogs jumped in and almost cap-sized them. All the boys screamed and Harry used his powers to level them.
“Lucky’s going to drown, Dad, do something,” Adam screamed, tears coming to his eyes. Harry lifted the dogs back into the boat and all the boys cheered and hugged their precious pets. Jake grinned.
“That stupid Zap, Sean; that dog is crazy, did you drop that dog on his head?” he teased and Sean giggled.
“He wanted to play with that fish,” he defended his puppy. Jackson giggled.
“He wanted to eat that fish, I’m starving, can we have lunch?” he asked and then went to shore and Fran had lunch ready. They all pigged out and then played quietly in their rooms. Only the three little ones would sleep, the four older kids were too big for naps and would spend the time reading and doing puzzles and games. Jake stretched out on the couch and snoozed and Harry made potato and macaroni salads for dinner. They were going to barbecue and he made hamburger patties with chopped onions in them the way they liked them. Then he made ice cream cookies for dessert and put them in the freezer and chopped up a bunch of fruit for breakfast and took sausages out of the freezer for breakfast. Fran had made eight loaves of bread so they were set for bread.
When the kids got up they went outside and played while Jake fired up the grill and Fran and Harry set the picnic table and brought out all the food. The kids helped and soon they were all eating and enjoying the