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

and he fixed breakfast for him and then Jake got up and took the dogs for a run on the beach which they all enjoyed. Bo and Gertie loved to run and this kept Jake in top physical form. Then the Jake would leave for work and Harry would do some housework and fix dinner. He would leave for the stores and opened them and spend the day doing paperwork and helping the managers stay on top of everything. He barely had time for his own lunch and ate at his desk at whatever store he happened to be at. He took the dogs with him during the day and they followed him everywhere.
After Harry closed the stores he would hurry home and heat up dinner and Jake would come home and they would talk and laugh and then sit on the couch and have a quiet evening or sometimes a friend would come over. This went on for five years but Harry grew increasingly unhappy with running two stores and wanted to try something different, the only problem was, he didn’t know what.
Then the kids all came to Harry complaining about their empty stores and he felt sorry for them so he decided to fill them by using some of the extra stores he had over in Sherwood. In fact, he decided to fill everyone’s stores and sent them all an email telling them that he had extra stores and would fill theirs, maybe not with the exact stuff their stores had, but with as close a match as he could get.
Emma and Cassie helped him pick out the stores and they flew with him to Sherwood to get them.
“This is really nice of you, Dad, what put you in such a good mood?” Cassie teased him. Harry shrugged.
“Its not that I’m in a good mood because I’m not really; I hate managing two stores. I want to close your dad’s store and just keep Macy’s open, actually I don’t even want to reopen it,” he admitted. “I want to try something new but I don’t know what, I’m bored to tears selling crap to Alterians.” Emma patted his shoulder.
“Well, try something new until you fine something you like,” she suggested. Harry shrugged.
“That’s the thing; I don’t know what I want to try. I want to travel and go exploring, maybe over to Savannah to look for crystals or mountain climbing in Sherwood but your dad is so busy at the clinic and I really don’t want to go alone. I guess I could take some day trips and walk along the coast of Savannah, that might be fun,” he said, more to himself than to them. They both exchanged a worried look.
Harry filled everyone’s stores and informed them to try to make it last because he wasn’t doing it again. Since he didn’t know what to do with himself and day trips to Savannah by himself sounded lonely, he filled Macy’s and began work again. When Jake found out he didn’t fill the Sporting goods store he got a little pissed so Harry filled that and once again found himself bouncing from store to store trying to juggle both.
Dr. Jackson yelled at Morris one too many times and they lost him, he just walked out one day and refused to come back no matter how much money Jake promised him. They hired four more people who didn’t last and failed another inspection before they hired a woman who was deaf and for an incredible amount of money put up with Dr. Jackson yelling and giving her the finger. Luckily she didn’t understand what that meant, a fact Jake was extremely happy for and things settled down for a while.
Harry became increasingly unhappy with running both stores and started to snap at Jake who didn’t understand why he didn’t like running the stores and if he didn’t why didn’t he just close them and find something else to do. It didn’t occur to him to sit Harry down like Harry did with him and ask him what he really wanted to do.
Another reason for Harry’s increasing unhappiness was the sick and accident reports in the Alterian newspaper they got. All of those sick and dying children and he couldn’t do a single thing to help. Dr. George, Dr. Blake and Dr. Dennis all insisted that his healing powers wouldn’t be understood or wanted by the Alterians and the humans would be ostracized or worse if Harry began healing people. While the intellectual part of him understood, the emotional part died every time he read that a sick child did. And he didn’t want to share this with Jake because he didn’t want him to worry about him, so he kept his pain a secret.
Jake looked at his ‘in’ box and frowned, this couldn’t be right; this couldn’t possibly be the paperwork for a new patient from his father. He had told his father just last week that they couldn’t afford for him to take on anymore cats; they didn’t have the time or the energy to do the paperwork. This meaning of course that he didn’t have the time, his father barely kept the files up-to-date. He got up and took the file into his dad’s office. Dr. Jackson was getting ready to leave.
“Dad, what’s this, I thought I told you we can’t take on any new cats, I’m not doing this paperwork,” he told him. Dr. Jackson grunted.
“That’s not a new patient,” he informed him rather smugly. “One of my old patients had kittens and the owner kept two, that’s their paperwork and it has to be in tomorrow and I can’t do it. Your mother is taking me to dinner tonight to celebrate her birthday, I can’t miss that, you know that, Son.” Jake sighed.
“No, you’re right, why didn’t you do the damned paperwork yesterday when you saw the kittens?” he demanded. Dr. Jackson’s face got flushed.
“Don’t you tell me when I have to do things, you’re not the boss of me, you stupid idiot boy, you’re not even a real Vet like I am. Now do the stupid paperwork and get out of my face,” he yelled and stomped out of the office. Jake stood there and rushed back to his office and sat in his chair, this was too much. He didn’t have to take this. He called Harry but didn’t get an answer as usual, just the message machine. He slammed the phone down and stared out the window. Violet smiled and walked into the office.
“Jake I’ve brought some pasta salad from home and there’s enough for two if you’d like some,” she offered in a pleasant tone and smiled. He turned around and it was just the thing he needed, a smile and some pleasant conversation.
“Well, thank you, Violet, that would be lovely,” Jake declared and she brought it in with two Dr. Peppers, his favorite of course and they sat down and had a really fun time, laughing and talking and after, she helped him with the paperwork and they left together.
“Goodnight, Violet, thanks for listening to me whine about my dad,” he said and she laughed.
“Oh, Jake, you didn’t whine silly,” she teased and they both drove home. He smiled all the way but lost it when Harry was in another crappy mood.
“Dinner’s late and I’m really sorry, that stupid manager I hired locked me out of the store and couldn’t get himself out and we had to break the glass door and then I had to wait for the man to come and replace it,” Harry complained when Jake walked in the door. Jake smiled and kissed him.
“I’m sorry, babe, I had a shitty day too, maybe we need a vacation,” he teased and Harry laughed.
“Let’s take a decade off Jake, I’m serious, let’s take ten years off and go to Savannah and explore the Dark Continent and don’t come back until we find some crystals,” he said solemnly. Jake smiled and shook his head.
“You know I can’t leave my practice for ten years, Harry, be serious,” he told him. Harry sighed and he put dinner on the table.
“I am being serious, those animals will be fine without you, there are more Vets, you’re not the only one on the planet and if your dad fails inspection and has to quit work, he still has three stores to fall back on,” he said. Jake shook his head.
“But I like being a Vet, babe; it’s what I do,” he said and Harry sighed and kissed him.
“You’re right, honey, I’m sorry, I was just thinking of myself and that’s selfish,” he apologized and they ate dinner and cleaned up and snuggled on the couch. Then they made love and went to bed.
The next morning Jake got up early and took the dogs for a run on the beach. When he returned Harry had already left for the stores but he had left a nice breakfast on the stove, a packed lunch and a note that said, I love you. Jake smiled and started his day.
That was the way a typical day in the life of Harry and Jake went for the next years. Harry would leave before he came back from his run with the dogs or Jake would leave before Harry got back from his run. Jake would work late and grab a bite to eat with Violet who always brought food from home and was nice enough to share it and Harry thought it funny that Jake didn’t eat as much as he used to but put it down to stress at work. Harry continued to snap at Jake because he hated the stores and Jake began to work later because Harry was never home. Some nights they even went to bed without making love, something they had never done before.
Then Jake began defending Violet, something that confused Harry. He would laugh and ask him what did that big tittie gal do today and Jake would frown and say that Violet was really a changed person and Harry really should get to know her better and he’d like the new and improved Violet. She was really a nice, sweet person. Harry confined in Kathleen that Violet was really started to get on his nerves.
“I don’t know, Kathleen, but whenever I mention Violet to Jake, he gets all defensive like she’s his new best friend when before he used to make fun of her. I just don’t understand; why doesn’t he see she’s just playing some kind of game down at the clinic, trying to be all nice and friendly to fool him?” Harry said wearing a big frown. Kathleen sighed and wondered if she should tell Harry she saw Jake and Violet having lunch at that little Chinese restaurant in Medford last Saturday when Harry said he was having lunch with his mother. She decided to mind her own business like Steve suggested.
“I don’t know, Harry, men can be so blind when it comes to women and Jake is a gay man, he has no experience when dealing with women, but the more you complain about Violet, the more you’re going to drive him to her side,” she said wisely and Harry decided to keep his mouth shut and stop making fun of the stupid Violet and try to pay more attention to his husband.
Eight years after she started working for the two veterinarians Violet finally succeeding in one of her goals.