Plans Change The Story Continues 9

The fact the twins had actually been able to sleep in their own beds during the last two weeks at least some of the time was not lost on me but as if to let me know fate sometimes had a twisted sense of humor they both decided it was time not to sleep.  Once outside on the porch sitting in my lap they went back to sleep as did I but that sleep was short lived as the sun began its slow climb over the horizon.  I was aware even before my walking fur rug who now was actually cleaned up alerted me to the fact there were vehicles approaching.  I noted them and knew what they were; so much for my honey moon.  The man who stepped out of the first dark colored Expedition was already taking in the details of the layout; I knew his type and guessed he had been a specialist or Sergeant during his military career.  With two infants in my arms I approached him slowly and asked if I could be of assistance.  He spotted the overpriced vehicle and as he walked over he told me he found what he was looking for; I knew his next move was to send the men and women who had climbed out behind him looking through buildings.

I informed him very quietly that maybe I had not been clear in my question and would like to know how I could be of assistance or should i rather give the sheriff a call and tell him to please remove the trespassers on my ranch.  Right then Carrie Ann woke up letting out a scream.  When she realized she was in my arms she quieted down and I told the leader of this troop that he had woken up my daughter who I barely got to sleep again after spending an few hours trying to comfort her.  He was about to say something until an older man closer to my age stepped forward and whispered into his ear.  The leader asked if I happened to be the owner of this establishment; I told him actually it was not an establishment but a private residence and at the moment he was trespassing and being that I neither knew him or invited him and I was in for a rather busy day I did not have time to entertain him or his friends but if he would like to come back later in the afternoon after calling first I was usually available for a chat around three.  I had while talking to him planted myself on the porch of the cabin where my guests or rather my wife's guests were sleeping.  I saw Christina start to come out before ducking back into the house, when she came back out she was fully dressed.  She headed toward the barn and one of the men headed that way and shaking my head I told Carrie Ann that maybe they did not speak English so maybe I should try French or maybe Spanish since we were so close to the border.  My very large dog had planted himself in front of the member of this security detail and smiled.  When the fellow asked if the dog was smiling I told him yes he was as he liked it when new chew toys came over to play.  The leader told me he was not hear to start trouble and I told him he was still trespassing and as of yet since he has not given me any details as to why he was hear I could only assume it was not for very nice reasons.  During the distractions with the dog one of the women had opened the door and took Carl from me replacing him with my cane.  I walked out among the group and told the gentlemen that I was sorry if I seemed rude but being that this was also my honeymoon he could understand why I really did not need visitors and with twins both teething I really did not need salesman or looky loos poking around.

The man asked if he might give me his card and I told him that would be more appropriate and he should tell his firm before barging onto a property to make sure it was not under contract to another firm and if his client did happen to be here she was in good hands and if he left his number I would be glad to let him know when she was leaving.  Someone said gate and I told her know my property line ended at the paved road and if they hurried they could get out before the sheriff made his rounds.  It was not the sheriff who pulled up behind them but the state troopers who asked how my morning was going; I told the officers if they had not heard I got hitched a weak or so ago and between that and both the twins teething I was not getting much rest and was having trouble explaining the directions back to the motor inn, out by the highway where they fed you those frozen eggs and the waffles in the morning.so if he could have someone show these fine folks who seemed a bit lost how to get back there  The leader of the group nodded and everyone climbed back into their vehicles and with me blocking their way from going forward to turn around they had to back up.  The state law officer told me he heard about my spill' I asked if he wanted to see her; he looked at my dog and eyed him and I told him I still had not come up with a name for him since they sent him to me.   He told me he heard at the training academy they called him Beast Jr.  I looked at him and told the dog he was about as big as Beast when he barked it got Carrie Ann to laughing.  When the dog barked again the officer told me he would follow my visitors out, I told him not to be too hard on them as I think they might actually have a client visiting us.  As he left I knocked on the door and it as opened by my handler who asked what that was all about;  I shrugged and told her I did not invite them and they did not seem interested in talking to me so my guess they were looking for someone else someone who probably did not tell her security detail she was stepping out.

I told her she could give me my son back now, she told me he was not there at the moment; nodding i asked if he just walked out and she sneered and told me don't be silly Christina came and picked them up.  I asked who was they and when she opened the door to so I could see the only other person was Miriam just getting out of the shower; I turned away but not quick enough.  Momentarily my nightmares came back causing me to grab the rail on the porch and wait till it passed.  I saw Christina walking toward me as I got to walking toward the barn.  She looked worried and asked if I was okay, I told her I was fine and would get a nap when I was done with the chores.  I told her she could tell her friend to come out now and she told me she had wanted to pet the horse.  I looked down at Beast Jr and told him to go and he went running With the cane I could move fast though it was a bit rocky which had Carrie Ann laughing.  I found a very frightened actress breathing hard and told her she should learn to listen and maybe I should call down to motor inn and tell her security detail where she was and they could come babysit her because at the moment my hands were full.  Standing up she told me she did not need babysitting; I waited for a moment to calm myself down and asked if last night she heard me warn her about the horse in the round pen.  She told me she did not try riding her.  Smiling I told her in the future if she was to visit to please first tell her security detail to call ahead and then if a gate was shut please do not open it and when I tell her not to try to ride a horse please understand I probably meant not to even get in the pen with the horse which she should probably never do unless she actually knew the horse.  Christina got into my face and told me she was not a little girl' I told her no she was not and yet still someone felt she needed babysitting or they would have not sent the knight in shining armor into save her.

She told me that man had never backed down before and I told her then today she got to see a first.  When she blurted out it was like having prison guards twenty four hours a day I told her, welcome to my world.  She looked up and told me I was one of him and I shook my head and told her no at one point in my previous life I had arranged for men like him to do their jobs but I was not like him.  Handing Carrie Ann to her I told her for now she had a reprieve and she could start her day getting to know those who mattered most around here.  For the next several hours I cleaned the stall of the horses that were currently being trained and began letting them out into their paddocks.  After checking on the mares I would be artificially inseminating I saddled up The Beast and after changing the twins I mounted the stallion and had Christina hand me the twins.  I really had no need to check the fences as not only were they electric but if they broke someone somewhere would know and a team would be sent out to fix it.  Today only confirmed my suspicions but like I had told Christina I was planning on ignoring the restrictions of my life now when I chose.  As that had been my first day riding with the twins alone since my fall, I took advantage of the alone time and as I sang some of the range songs the Marshall's had come up with I did some thinking and decided  Christina had a pretty good idea.  When I got down to the creek after a solid afternoon getting off the Beast seemed to be something that was not going to happen holding two infants.  I had been teaching him to lay down to pick up a wounded rider and figured he could lay down to drop off a rider as well.  The fact it worked surprised him but it did take him hopping out of the way waking up both children.  When he heard Christina ask what the hell was that he did not even look up when he told her it was called a dismount.  He had never even seen or heard the six by six she was driving come up and realized she must have come out to have a picnic when he saw the basket.  He apologized if he interrupted her; she asked what he was talking about and he nodded toward the picnic basket sitting next to her.

I looked around and she told me they were not here as she had come alone knowing I was in a foul mood.  I told her I was not and she laughed and getting out told me it had been our lunch but since someone stood her up some really big dog stole it and she drank the wine, but she managed to save the baby food.  Shifting the children to one arm I pulled down the blanket and saddle bags which I used as a diaper bag.  Christina watched as I spread out the blanket which I supposed needed to be cleaned soon.  The huge dog showed up and was thankfully not muddy and while I took care of the back half he kept the children occupied Today it was his teeth and tongue that amused them.  Once I finished that I let the twins play with their favorite toy as I took off the saddle and planted it on the blanket, removing the head stall I let the stallion run.  Christina asked how I was going to get back; looking up I told her the nice thing about that horse is he always knew when it was time to go back.  Setting the children up against the saddle I pulled out their afternoon meal.  When Christina came over she plopped down on my lap which did not bode well with my leg and told me she was going to feed them,  My first thought was not that she was drunk even though that was evident I pinned her arms while I fed the twins very aware that the bikini she was wearing only enhanced her attributes.  Then she started crying. Then I watched Carl lean forward and drag himself to her, I told her to take a look at that she asked what through her tears, I had to turn her head down where Carl was playing with her feet which were normally very sensitive.  I asked her how much did she have to drink; she bit her lip and did not answer.  I told her okay I am sorry for being late for our picnic; she told me I was not late.as she stared at Carl.  I asked if she ate anything and and she shook her head and then held her mouth.and mumbled something about being sick.  I told the dog to watch the children and he crawled in between them. Carl rolled over and grabbed the dogs paw I managed to get up and then pulled Christina up and holding her on my hip spun her toward the bushes and let her do what she needed to do.  Carrie Ann leaned forward and grabbing onto the dog pulled herself over and hearing Christina throwing up started pulling herself over.  When I went to let go of Christina she told me if I left her with the children alone again it was over.  Picking them both up I told her actually I wasn't planning on leaving them with anyone, but I could use some help sometimes now that they were crawling.

Christina tried hard to get me into an argument with her until she finally finished paying homage to the god's of wine.  When she seemed like she could stand well enough I asked if she could go sit in her little toy and hold at least one of the twins while I picked up.  She looked at the blanket and I told her no she needed food and supposedly a large dog stole what was in the basket; grabbing onto my arm she half smiled and told me she had been mad when I did not show up and gave the sandwiches to the dog.  I kept an eye on her as she held both of the twins as I got everything put into the back. When I finally got in Carl had her bikini top in his mouth while Carrie Ann was trying to get to the back seat where the dog had decided it was a good place to lay down..  I had to dig under Christina to find the buckle and told me I was like a man trying to take advantage of her when she was, and looking down at Carl she smiled and told me someone beat me to it. Buckling her in, I decided to hold both children as I drove.  It proved only a minor challenge but by the time we got back my leg was hurting.  Christina looked like she had seen a ghost.  To make matter worse my guest from earlier was pulling up.  Thankfully, three women were there to help me get Christina and the children inside.  Christina asked who the cute guy in the truck was as she was looking at me.  I told her when I found out I would get his number for her.  He made sure I saw his side arm as he put in his holster.  I asked if I could help him now and he said he was just doing his job and tried to walk around me and I told him today was not a good day to try to barge into my house. He told me he checked and the ranch was owned by a company out of Vegas, smiling I asked if he checked to see who owned the company and if he decided to push the issue I would introduce him to the Beast.  Smiling he told me he could handle a dog; looking down at the dog now sitting waiting I shook my head and said that was Beast Jr and gave a quick whistle.  From behind ran up the horse and I told him to please introduce himself to the nice man who wanted to turn him into dog food.  Walking over he nudged the man and pulled his sidearm out of the holster.and shook his head.  He handed it to me after a minute and then I walked over to the man's truck and seeing he was alone I tossed it inside on the front seat.

I told him let me start over and I would like to welcome him to my current home and latest hobby and could I interest him in a cold beverage or glass of water.  He was still shaking his head as the horse nudged him from behind.  He asked how the horse got his name and I told him I had never been good at picking names and after adopting this fellow stopped by and tried to shoot me and shot the state trooper instead and then tried to steal that horse and he decided he was having nothing to do with that and thought if he could see if he could ride the poor disillusioned fellow. I told him to wait on the walkway as I hobbled over to the house, I knew he had tried to head to the car and found out what it was like to get nipped by a horse as the dog barked.  Stepping in Christina was just coming out of the restroom and I told her I was sorry this fellow had not yet given me his name but I was working on it.  Her face went white so I smiled and told her I would just ignore her wanting to meet him.  Grabbing a couple of bottled waters I used the bathroom and then grabbed my cane and hurried out to meet the waiting gentleman who had resigned himself to waiting  I then looked up and saw the actress and waved her out.  As she was making her way down I looked around and noted there were a couple more cars down by the cabins.  When she walked out I asked if this was the gal he might be looking for.  When he stared at me I told him as he could see she was very safe and my guess he probably noted the officers posted up at the diner.  When he nodded I told him that that was the only access to my road as the paved road dead ended but he probably new that as well as well as the construction trailer on the far side of the cattle guard.  As if on cue up came a pickup truck and I was not surprised to see my ex marine driving it and with her was John who besides being an engineer had been a soldier first.  Shortly after them came the sheriff deputy.  Christina now dressed with her hair still wet came out and carrying Carrie Ann who was not actually screaming but crying.  Handing her to me I asked how she was feeling and she told me better and thanks for listening and as soon as I was done with my guest dinner was waiting.  My Ex Marine was a little more direct as she asked him as soon as she walked up to let her see some ID. John was already looking in his car and telling her the make of the piece on the front seat.  She told him he was either an ex seal or possibly force recon.  As he pulled out his ID he eyed the sheriff deputy who was petting the dog and then watched as he replace his sidearm with an apple.  The Beast went over and nudged him and reached down to get his apple before shaking his head and then looked at me; I nodded my confirmation and he ran off with the apple into the barn.  I heard his daughter with her attitude and then she whinnied.  I excused myself and nodded to the deputy he followed me through the barn to the round pen where we saw my angry little filly eating the apple.  I handed Carrie Ann over to him and he asked if I was nuts as I went and pulled out a couple of carrots.  I told him I still needed to check her leg as she would not let the vet get near her.

I let her dad walk in with me and handed him a carrot and he walked it over and dropped it next to her she eyed me as if she wanted to rush but The Beast stepped in her way and pawed the air giving a snort.  I told him to back off.  I waited until she ate the first one and then held the second one out for her.  I found I had a crowd and Christina asked if this was not the same horse that tried to kill me, I told her no she just had not wanted me to ride her and if she would be so kind to hold her questions until after the evenings presentation I would be grateful.  It took me almost two hours to get her to the point where I could walk up to her and another three before she let me touch her leg and gratefully nothing was broken.  I told her we would try the whole riding thing another day but since she had been so cooperative I would let he run with her dad.  I noticed there were several more deputies and asked if they minded clearing the aisles and getting the gates.  When I was informed they were done I went over and opened the round pen, dad nipped her to get her moving and she at first was hesitant and then cantered out before turning on the speed and heading out the back of the barn.  I hobbled out to watch as the stallion caught up and passed her as they headed out to join the herd.  One of the deputies asked what I thought and I told him after I let her build up her strength we were going to go a little slower and try it again but this time I was probably going to have her run alongside the Beast and then get onto her.  Christina raised her eyebrows, and gave me that we will see about that look.  Catching up to her I asked if she new she was cute when she was mad; she told me that would not be mad she saw but did have a killer headache starting and next time she decided drinking two bottles of wine by herself to remind her how much it hurt.  Pausing she stepped in front of me and told me while I disregarded anything she may have said while under the influence I should go get my daughter before she hooks up with one of the deputies.  It was one of the senior members of the department who had her and was walking over with her keeping her laughing.  He too was direct when he told me he heard a rumor I might be moving;  I nodded and told I had just married; nodding he told me he supposed he should be congratulating me but something told him he might want to wait and see how it turns out this time.

He then told me if I was moving and wanted to sell he had mentioned the property to the Boy Scouts and I told him they could come and use it as long as they called first but it seemed my new wife had this idea of bringing some of the wounded vets she worked with out here with their families and wanted me to leave a some of the cattle and horses.  He looked out at the barn and said horses the boy scouts could take care of as well as cattle.  Nodding I told him it would not be by tomorrow as I would have to find another suitable property, preferably with more grass as hauling hay or having it delivered was a bit costly but like I said have the boy scouts come out and we could work something out and at the moment my lawyer was actually here. Nodding he told me he would be in touch.  I figured the boys scouts would need a pool but hated the idea of a boring blue pool and where to put it.  The pizza was a bit overcooked so I passed and Christina told me she knew I had not eaten at all that day.  I told her she was right but I preferred my food to have a little less carbon and not look like charcoal on the bottom and right now was more tired and sore than hungry but if she wanted me to eat I was sure there was a banana or an apple as I know we bought a bag of mixed fruits and a few bananas the other day.  Miriam said they ate them earlier and share the apples with the horses but only with the ones that were not on special diets as per their charts on their cages.  I told her those were stalls and she told me they looked like prison cells for horses.  I smiled and told her those horses were glad to be in those cages when there was a cougar around.  Christina asked if I seriously had let the twins sleep outside with cougars around; smiling I told her don't forget the rattlers or the scorpions and coyotes, which got a calf about two months ago and I did not see why we were fighting over children whose care she had no say over and their mom and grandpa liked the idea they were not growing up in the city.  When an ex marine walked in she stepped between us and told me I had had a long day and probably had stopped taking my pain medicine long before I was supposed to and then she looked at Christina and told her she had from what she had counted in that basket at least three bottles of wine and should probably eat something and drink plenty of water as she had also been out in the sun.  Looking at me she told me to go get my shower and when John came back with dinner Christina and I could sit down while she enjoyed the company of her god children and yes they were both very happy we had invited them to make use of one of those cabins so they did not have to get stuck sleeping in that nasty old construction trailer.  As i walked into the living room and realized there were not only the seven women who I had mistakenly drove to their hotel but a few more like the pastor's wife from the mountains.  I went upstairs grabbed my clothes and told my new prison guard I would be showering in the barn.

What was my wife thinking, was all I could think as I used the barn's shower. and as I went to the front of the house to watch the grass grow from the front porch.  I realized it would make a great place for a pool, rec area and playground.and my leg said hot tub.  Walking back inside I grabbed a pad of paper and pen and went back out and sat down.  I had planned on sketching out some plans but ended up writing a letter instead to Christina.  This was by far not my longest but was also not my shortest.  I was pondering how to tell her if she ever felt trapped I would not hold her to our marriage covenant when she asked what I was thinking.  I had noted the lightening in the distance and smiled and told her to be honest I had come out to sketch up plans for the pool area, play ground and rec center but had to tell her about my last two weeks and of course today as I figured she ought to know I met this gal down at the creek in a bikini who just showed up as if she had just magically appeared.  Walking out she asked if she knew her and I told her I had never asked her name as well I had to fight it out with my son who decided he liked what he saw.  She put her feet up on my lap and asked if there was anything else that stood out; I told her besides talking to the sheriff about the boy scouts using this place and trying to decide where to put my livestock not much.  She told me it was interesting someone mentioned girl scouts; I told her before she said yes to that she might want to research them a little further.  When she asked what might she find; I told her she might find a CEO who made eight figures a year off the backs of thousands of little girls selling her cookies.  Christina told me she would have to look into that; I told her the boy scouts also had programs for girls.  When she told me she was a girl scout I smiled and asked what they had taught her and she told me okay she might not be the best example.  I pointed inside and told her to go ask her girlfriends how many of them were girl scouts and then ask the nice young lady watching my children if she was in the girl scouts and then ask who was say in the 4-H which by the way a couple of the horses in the barn belonged to children in 4-H and the FFA.  Christina told me it seemed like I had something against girls scouts and I shook my head and told her not against the girls just in how the program was managed and how the management let the consumer of their product believe the money from the cookie sales stayed with the children.  She asked if I had met said management and I told her I had designed several security systems for several of their office facilities around the country and the estate of the lady in charge of that whole racket but that was neither hear not there as they could also let the girls and their moms come out and help muck stables.

She told me I would also need a place for people to eat and that was why she came out in the first place and my dinner was probably once again looking like a hockey puck; and I should really change out the oven.  I told her it worked for what it was and rarely used it, or the rest of the house for that matter.  She told me after I built that big old bed she could not believe it.  Smiling I told her until I was thrown I had not used it since the day she left. When she asked why not I told her it had felt empty.  Walking in she looked around the room she spied Miriam and asked her when she had hooked up with that really cute fellow she was telling her about where did they sleep.  Miriam looked at me and turned red; all the other women were looking at her and then me and finally my ex handler asked me when did this happen.  I shrugged and told her while down in Florida seeing to some business someone offered to show me around the keys and then offered to show me around South Beach and then offered to show me around the inland waterways in Texas on her father in law's or rather her ex father in law's sail boat.  When someone asked how big the boat was I  told her that was privileged information.and anything else they wanted to know about details was none of their business and if they wanted to go their I could start asking them some questions and we could all go to bed hating each other or leave the past behind us and move forward but for the record Miriam and I are still good friends and we talk quite often and do so without digging into each other's bedroom lives and if they all did not mind I was tired and sore and did not mind them spending up all night and they would find on the far end of the equipment shed a kitchen of sorts and picnic area screened in which had a television, ping pong table, pool table and a poker table and if the Marshall's did not completely clean it out there was probably something to help them all go to sleep which they may want to do early as tomorrow about sunrise I would be firing up the iron and starting on the new rec center, pool and play ground so there would be some very loud noises like the chain saw when I fell two of those trees out front.  Christina asked if I could do that all by myself and I told her John was here and he could run any one of those pieces of machinery and when it was time I knew some concrete guys and carpenters.  When John came in I asked if he was here to just play prison guard.

He handed me the twins and told me he was going to ignore that question and I told him good because tomorrow we were going to start turning up some dirt for the new pool area, rec room, and play ground so we should probably drag that old trailer over and park to make it look like it belonged.  Eyeing me he said he supposed since he had not heard of this before no one had seen the plans; I raised my hand and said I had and thankfully I was the foreman on the job as well as the hired help.  Nodding her told me to get some rest and while he fired up everything maybe I could take a moment and borrow crayons from my kids and draw him a map like maybe where the water lines were; gas lines, phone lines and any other buried lines and point out where any sacred burial grounds were as he would rather not have natives trying to scalp him, again. He said just so I knew they had cleaned out that little dining area and hoped i did not mind they poured out the fire water.  I told him it had not been mine and I would rather not some child walk in there and find out what pain and misery could be at such an early age.  I told him good night and he nodded and told Miss Christina it was good to see her happy again.  I eyed her as I went upstairs.  I changed the twins and then after getting myself ready for bed I got them out of their beds as they were talking and brought them back to my room.  That night instead of reciting poetry I started reciting some of Mark Twain's work.   When Christina came in she told me she liked that kitchen I put in. I told her that was not me though I did pay for it and design it.  She asked who put it in; I smiled and told her a couple of my prison guards had been planning on remodeling their kitchens so I held a little class on functional engineering meets design for the do it yourself and save all that money while avoiding the pitfalls of I do not have the slightest clue what I am doing.  As she lay down she eyed me and told me she was hoping I would show her how to get rid of a headache.  I told her first in her case it would have to pass but she might want to learn how to avoid that headache and if she was cool with it I would get back to my story.   She told me they were sound asleep and I told her I know but I was not and neither was she.  Smiling she told me to save my place, leaning over she kissed me and I could still taste the wine or as I kissed her I knew it was champagne.  Three bottles of what was she thinking, of course I could also taste her toothpaste and her.

The fact was I liked champagne, I liked the minty taste of toothpaste and had been known at times in the field to carry a tooth brush and toothpaste just to brush my teeth to get the taste of dirt out of my mouth or oil and of course the taste of the smoke in the later years.  Crazy how things make you jump back in time and tonight it was the toothpaste, champagne and the smell of my wife.  The memories of earlier years which I had to recently go through as I had to detail out my life as an engineering contractor which also included civil engineering on a massive scale and that included the social aspects of society.  Along with the aftermath of war and sometimes even the going in in anticipation of that war to help design plans to limit catastrophic infrastructure damage when possible I had seen the good side of people and tonight as she lay there as I studied her face I knew I was seeing Christina's good side which like her side that had caused me so much pain over the years was not one single thing it was an intricate interlocking of the various aspects of her life, my thoughts broke when she whispered whatever I was doing was working.  I had looked down and watched as she was moving her legs.  I sighed as I looked at the children and she told me Eskimo families as well as other indigenous tribes she recently had learned still all sleep in the same room. and after taking off her robe she looked at me and then shook her head and smiling told me it was just too bad I had so much self control and needed to get up before the crack of dawn.. When I moved the twins in between us and rolled I could feel my leg complaining.  She waited until I got it comfortable and told me if I ever needed to she could kiss it and make it all better.  Smiling I told her then when we started the dozing and playing in the sand box she could sit in my cab and kiss the entire time as it would be doing as much work as me arms.  She told me she got to look at one of those machines when I built her the riding trail or rather my company built it for her and she liked those joysticks and how easy it was to make things move.  Her hand was inside my waist band and told me she liked the feel of the power surging through her fingers.  She had gotten my pants down and was holding on when her lawyer who I guess was my lawyer was standing in the doorway asking if she could use my bathroom as the others were all in use.  Christina put her finger to my mouth and told her we charged by  the hour so she had to make it quick,  I told Christina we had twenty four cabins all with bathrooms three in this house and four in the barn, one in the equipment shed.  Christina told me it was okay and being she just got here this evening and none of them new about the one in the equipment shed and probably did not realize there were even bathrooms in the barn or that the cabins were all unlocked even though they were all in use.  I told her time out and asked how many people did she bring to our honey moon.

Smiling she told me that ended last night or rather early this morning when those men with guns showed up and would have ended this evening as everyone arrived.  I asked who everyone was as I did not see my son or daughters out there, or mom or Steve.  She told me Beth was here as was Maria; Ben's wife.  I shook my head and she told me they had gotten here earlier but like me were leery of her behavior around some of these women so had stayed down in their cabins and helped clean up the dining hall.  Grabbing her hand I pulled it up and held as I placed my hand over the twins who immediately grabbed onto it.  I asked how many and she asked if she got it right did she get to play; I sighed and shook my head.  Smiling she told me accounting had never been her strong suit which is why she guessed Beth would not let her take care of her own check book.  I lay there watching her as she watched the twins and finally asked when she had to be back to work.  She sighed and said she wished she did not have to go back but on Monday she had several consultations and one was a very nasty piece of business as she had to reverse the damage by a fly by night doctor who probably got their license out of their cereal box.  I had started to doze when she asked when I had to be back to work.  I told her officially I was now retired and now worked more or less as a consultant.  Sitting up she told me I owned the company and I pulled her back down and told her some of the companies we now owned but they more or less held my shares of the security consultant company and the engineering and development company and though on paper I might be the boss I no longer received a pay check and did not have a say in the day to day operations.  She was getting mad when she said I built the company and I put my finger to her mouth and told her actually the two companies which actively pursued business had been built by Steve, Beth and Carlos on the one hand and the Colonel and her three one time caretakers ran the security company but she should not worry her self over it as I still owned the larger percentage and they let me design some of the projects.  Christina was going to talk all bight until I rearranged the sleeping layout with her tucked in front of me and the twins in front of her.  I was half awake when her one time lover and friend walked out in her silk kimono style robe.  I awoke early and had planned to be out but there was a stream of women who had to use my bathroom.so I stayed where I was holding Christina and the twins.  I finally asked Miriam when she came what was up and she told me that the boys were out and and rerouting the water to the cabins so they had no hot water or any water.  I told her I would trade her a massage for the use of my shower first.  As she sat on the bed she looked at Christina and told me she looked happy again.  I told her I hoped she was.  I was in and out as I was thinking about the septic system which was no designed to take this much water and then realized it would have to be moved as well.

I was glad i got my shower when I did as the water in the house went off and my lawyer came out of the downstairs shower just as I was headed out the back her hair was still sudsy and she was naked; I pushed her back into the bathroom as the back door was open and told her once she had some clothes on she could rinse her hair in the barn as it was fed by a different well.  Beth was outside in a hard hat and i pulled it off her head and asked what she thought she was doing and she told me she had taken a look at the land and figured where I would most likely put the pool, playground and rec center and some of the boys were down from Alaska so she called them and they traced the water main and found it was leaking because of those huge trees as was my septic system.  Smiling I told her in the desert that was the secret to lush green grass and huge shade trees but that did still did not explain what she was doing as I did not hire her to do any work on this property which was owned by a company completely owned by me.  She told me actually it was only half owned by me based on the state where I secretly got hitched and my better half knowing I would be stubborn asked her to find some help and up to now all they were doing was working on the water system which would not support any more.  She told me the funny thing was the barn was on a different system.  I told her it was because we had four wells on the property but were only using three.  I told her first thing she needed to do was tell the women my house was off limits until further notice. As women made there way to the barn she told me she thought that one was already understood.  I told her even after the water was turned back on.  When the sheriff came walking up along the trench where new pipe was going in he nodded and as he approached me I told him we had a bit of a water leak and pointed to the trees.  He looked up and I told him the septic was also going to need to be replaced.  He asked if I was going to get my permits and I said as soon as I got town.  As he watched the women walking back and forth I told him I was only guessing but the misses who did not get her bridal shower or her bachelorette on the account we had the justice of the peace sign his name on the paper had invited a few friends out for a honey moon is over party.  As I walked with him he hit me up on the boy scout idea and I told him I was keeping that in mind with the swimming pool, play ground and rec room I was putting in.  I watched how as soon as the new pipe was rolled in they were already trenching to the outbuildings. and I could tell they were using ground imaging to find a good place for a new septic system.  When I noticed the trailer had been backed into the equipment shed I smiled.  That thing had to be the oldest and ugliest piece of equipment left over from my early years and it never failed it ended up where I happened to be running a job site.  Now Steve and Carlos provided nice large, climate controlled portable offices that needed their own temporary foundations.  I told Beth that thing could never be dragged onto another job site again and we should think about finding a place to bury it.  Christina with her a mess told me absolutely not; I asked why and she told me it had sentimental value and she wanted it turned into her temporary hideaway wherever I decided I was going to sleep outside.

Looking back as he headed toward the barn she said the only exception was it could not be parked in her driveway.  Nodding to the sheriff I motioned for him to walk across the lawn which was already painted to show where the old septic tank was as well as the old water line.  I told him if those boy scouts wanted to see something he should bring them out later when I dropped those two trees.  I told Beth I needed some drawing paper and crayons.  She eyed me and asked would a paper place mat do.  I told her even better and we walked to the Marshall's hangout and there I sat down and free handed my drawings and penciled in my measurements.  I told her that was for John and I would like some of the flag stone in the water fall to be actual flag stone as well as the coping.  I then used my borrowed crayons to color a set of finished concept drawings.  Beth went and scanned them into her computer and then printed several copies out.  She handed he originals to John who told me it would be added my to his collection of design on a bar stool.