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

and obviously he was the guest of honor.
“I didn’t know we were having a party or I would have invited a few friends of my own,” Harry remarked casually and took the one empty seat in the room across from the crowd. Jake smiled as the rest frowned. Reverend Milo cleared his throat.
“We’re not here to gang up on you, Harry, we’re just here to see that Jake gets his fair share,” he said. Harry shrugged.
“He’s already gotten two million more than his fair share of the money by closing the checking account yesterday,” he informed them and Jake looked uncomfortable.
“I did that before I saw all the money in the bin, Harry, I wasn’t sure about how much money we had or how you’d divide it,” he tried to reason his actions. Harry shook his head.
“After ninety-eight years you have the nerve to say that to me, Jake Talbert, I don’t know you anymore,” he said sadly and Jake looked just as sad. David cleared his throat.
“Well, then, shall we begin,” he said too cheerfully. “Since you’ve brought up the subject, let’s talk about the money. Harry you say that you divided it equally, how much did you give Jake and how much do you have left?” he asked. Harry sighed.
“I gave Jake sixty-four million, he took two million, I have forty-four million left, plus the twenty million in the depository,” he replied and everyone gasped. Violet gave a little squeal.
“Jake, we have sixty-four million dollars, we’re so rich,” she said and they kissed.
“Plus two million,” Harry reminded them and Jake flushed red. Dr. Jackson grinned.
“My son is a rich man, he can afford a new house,” he declared and Sissy hushed him. David cleared his throat.
“Let’s talk about houses, you two have two houses don’t you?” he asked and they nodded. “Well that’s easy to divide; you’ll each take a house.” He grinned.
“We want the log cabin,” Violet said quickly. Harry stared at her.
“That’s my house, you can’t have my house,” he told her. She glared at him. Jake patted her knee.
“I told you, sugar, that’s Harry’s house, we’ll take the beach house, it’s near all of our friends and you like it,” he said and Harry realized he was going to lose his wonderful beach house where they had spent all of those wonderful years with the kids and his heart felt like it was breaking. Some of this must have shown in his eyes because Violet and Gloria both smiled.
“Fine, we’ll take the beach house,” Violet said with satisfaction. Jake smiled at her. Reverend Milo shook his head, she was too happy with Harry’s obvious pain. He wanted his daughter to be happy but at the same time, he hated to see a good marriage end in pain.
“Now we come to the stores,” David said with glee. Harry sighed.
“What about the stores, he owns the Sporting World, I own Macy’s,” he said. Violet smiled.
“What about the Jeep Dealership?” she asked sweetly and Harry gasped, he had forgotten about that one. Gloria smiled also.
“And the Bank and the Depository, lets not forget them,” she added just as sweet. David giggled. Harry smiled; an actual smile.
“You can forget about the Bank and the Depository, Jake has nothing to do with those, I own those,” he informed them with a trace of smugness and they all frowned except for Jake who had known that.
“What do you mean; aren’t you and Jake are business partners?” Violet asked Jake who looked at her and shook his head.
“Not in the Bank or the Depository, sugar, those are Harry’s businesses, he brought those down on his own and used his own money to put in them, that’s why I have twenty million more than he does,” he told her. They all looked confused.
“But you’re married; don’t married couples have joint property?” Sissy asked. Harry shook his head.
“You’re thinking about straight married couples, they have joint property, but gay and lesbian married couples don’t, they have what is referred to as, what is yours before we got married stays yours and what is mine before we got married stays mine and what we build together is ours,” he informed them. “Whatever was mine before Jake and I got married like all those extra houses and stores and bins are still mine, he has no claim on them so now that we’re divorced, they’re still mine and he can’t touch them.” Violet gasped.
“That’s not fair,” she exclaimed. Harry shrugged.
“That’s because gay people want it that way, they did it that way because they have the highest divorce rate and they wanted to protect their assets so Jake doesn’t get any of the Bank or the Depository,” he told them. Jake shrugged.
“That was always your business, Harry, I never had anything to do with that,” he said. David frowned.
“But think of all the money you’re giving up,” he said. Then Harry grinned.
“But the law is very clear, David, and you can’t argue with the law,” he stated and David sighed.
“You’re right, I can’t argue with that,” he said. Gloria smiled.
“But there’s still the Jeep Dealership, Macy’s and the Sporting World we can deal with,” she said and Violet nodded.
“We’ll take Macy’s and the Jeep Dealership,” Violet said firmly and Jake laughed.
“We can’t take Macy’s, that’s Harry’s store,” he told her. She shrugged.
“Fine, we’ll take the Sporting World and the Jeep Dealership,” she said. Harry hated her guts.
“You can have Macy’s and the Sporting World,” he told her and she beamed.
“Fine, we’ll take that,” she said and she and Gloria exchanged a pleased glance. Then Sarah spoke for the first time.
“Wait a minute, sweetie, those stores are practically empty now, just like all of our stores, they’re worthless, the Jeep Dealership would be worth more,” she advised and Harry wanted to kill her. He sighed.
“Fine, I’ll fill the stores for you,” he told them and they smiled. Sarah smiled. Sissy spoke up.
“You know, Harry, all of my stores are empty too,” she said. Harry shrugged.
“Everyone’s stores are empty, Sissy, but I don’t have enough to fill everyone’s stores over and over again, you’re all going to have to find something else to do with your time and money except sell everything you have to the Alterians,” he said firmly. Violet glared at him.
“That’s not a very generous attitude,” she snapped. Jake looked at her with surprise. She smiled at him.
“He was being mean to your mother and treating her with disrespect,” she said and Jake glared at Harry.
“You have a lot of stores, Harry, you could fill my mother’s stores if you wanted to, you’re just mad at me and taking it out on her,” he snapped and Harry wanted to cry.
“Fine, I’ll fill her stores too,” he said through clenched teeth. Violet smiled.
“Sweetie, ask him about the new house now,” she said to Jake who nodded.
“If it’s possible, Harry, we’d like to pick out a new house, Violet and I want to move to Farm One to be near our friends David and Gloria,” he told him. Harry nodded.
“I’ve never denied anyone a house, you know that,” he said. Dr. Jackson cleared his throat.
“We’d like a new house too, Harry, we’d like to move to Farm One too to be near our new grandchildren,” he said proudly and Harry felt his heart break a little more.
“Of course,” he said. Reverend Milo cleared his throat.
“Of course, Reverend,” Harry said before the man could speak. He took his computer out of his bag and opened up the file for the houses he knew didn’t have any food in them, he might have to give them a house, but he didn’t have to give them any goodies. They all picked houses and he said he would have them delivered by tomorrow.
Then David printed the official documents and he and Jake signed them and the two older men witnesses them and he was handed his copy and Harry’s marriage of ninety-three years was over. Harry looked at the beige document and then folded it and put it in his bag. Then he turned to Jake.
“You can come by for the dogs any time,” he told him and Jake nodded. Violet frowned.
“What does he mean, come by for the dogs?” she asked. Jake smiled at her.
“Harry’s letting me have Bo and Gertie, sugar, isn’t that wonderful,” he gushed. She shook her head.
“Oh, no, Jake Jackson, we can’t have those two dogs in the house, I’m allergic to dogs, isn’t that right, Daddy?” she said and turned to her father who nodded.
“I’m afraid so Jake, both Amy and Violet are allergic to dog dander and those golden retrievers have very long hair and she would be deathly sick all the time,” he informed him. Jake looked confused.
“But you never said anything and you worked at the clinic all those years and you wanted to be a Vet,” he said. Violet smiled and patted his arm.
“I had to take a shot to work at the clinic and I was going to work with cats like your father; I’m not allergic to cats, sweetie,” she said with a little laugh and everyone laughed. Jake laughed.
“Well, I guess we’ll have to get a couple cats then,” he declared and Harry wanted to kiss her for the first time in his life. He turned and began to walk away and remembered he was now divorced from the only man he had ever loved. He felt like crying but that would only make them all very happy so he held it together and just stood up to leave. At the door he paused and looked at David who looked entirely too happy. Well, Harry thought to himself; that was something he could fix.
“David,” he said and everyone looked up. “As of today you’re fired from your position at the Bank. I find that your advice in helping Jake clear out our checking account totally inappropriate for a bank employee. Brian is clearing out your desk and your stuff will be delivered to your house so there’s no need for you to show up there unless you have personal bank business.” He turned to leave.
“You can’t do that, you’re not my manager,” David yelled at him. Harry grinned.
“No, but I’m the owner of the bank, you idiot, didn’t you stop to think about that?” he asked him. Jake shook his head.
“This is completely unfair of you, Harry,” he said. Harry shrugged.
“So was cheating on me for two years and stealing a million dollars from me, Jake, but who’s counting?” he taunted him. Jake flushed with embarrassment and Harry walked out the door. He held it together until he was in his garage and then he laid his head on the steering wheel and cried like his heart was broken because it was.


Chapter Eight

Harry sat in his Jeep for the longest time crying over the lost of his husband until the crying of his dogs finally reached his consciousness and he opened the door. Gertie and Bo jumped up on his lap and whined and he petted them.
“Jake’s gone, Gertie, Bo, he’s not coming home again, he’s left you and he’s left me and now we’re all