The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 3 - 35. A New Routine

Holly was already in the kitchen talking to Dad when we came down for breakfast. “Good morning,” we greeted both of them. “And Holly, we’re glad to see you’re up and ready to go,” I added.

“I’m really excited about doing this and I even came out in time to say goodbye to Grandpa Jake before he left for work.”

“Wow, you are an early bird then,” Brandon teased.

“Ok, I want the three of you to grab whatever you want to drink and then go sit down at the table,” Dad told us. “I’ll bring your food in shortly.”

Holly filled a glass with juice while Brandon and I poured ourselves a cup of coffee, and then we headed into the dining room. We were chatting when Dad brought the food in, and then he sat down with us.

“I ate with Jake, but I’ll sip my coffee while you eat.”

We all chatted until we finished our meal and were ready to leave, and then we said goodbye to Dad before heading out to the car. “Oh, you’re not taking the other one?” Holly asked.

“No, we drive the car back and forth to work and only take the SUV when we have the boys with us,” Brandon explained.

When we got to the health center, I told Holly I’d give her a quick tour of the building after I introduced her to my staff.

“Did you forget that you used to be my doctor and I’ve been to the health center before?” she asked as she grinned at me. “I know it was a few years ago when I came to see you, and when I got older I started going to the doctor over there,” she said as she pointed toward the gynecologist’s office.

“Yes, I guess I did forget about that, but come in and see my staff anyway, because you were much younger and smaller the last time they saw you.”

After she said hello to each of my staff, I led her down to the daycare center and introduced her to the women in charge there. I told them that Holly was living with us and that I’d agreed to let her work with them during the summer, and they smiled and thanked me for the extra help. Before I left her with them, I told Holly that Brandon and I would come get her for lunch, and then she could tell us how she made out during the morning.

When I returned to my office, my staff members expressed that it was nice seeing Holly again and they thought it was wonderful that I was letting her work at the daycare center. I explained that I’d done this because she was going to major in early childhood education in the fall, so it would give her a chance to see if working with children was what she really wanted to do. It would also allow her to save up some money to further her education once she graduated with a two-year degree.

Later, when we met up with Holly for lunch, she had a lot to tell us. “I got to work with the older children today and I had a blast. I played games with them and read them a story. I’m going to start making some things at home that I can bring in so I can teach them about numbers and colors. I might even be able to teach them the sounds for the letters and how to recognize some basic words.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Brandon agreed, “and it will give them a head start for when they begin school.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for, and the women who work at the center are really nice too.”

“Yes, I think we have a very good staff there.”

After we finished eating, we all returned to work and she was just as excited when she met up with us later, as we were getting ready to go home. “I had a wonderful day and I can’t thank you enough for letting me do this.”

“You’re helping us out too, as well as helping the parents who work at the health center and utilize the daycare facility, so it’s not just us helping you.”

During dinner Holly continued to bubble over with excitement and enthusiasm as she told the others about her day. Everyone smiled and listened politely, and then they told her how happy they were that it was working out so well for her.

As soon as she finished, the twins told us about their day next. “We played in the house all morning,” Hunter began, “and then we got to go in the pool again in the afternoon.”

“Yeah, and after we batted a beach ball around for a while, Grandpa Josh put the slide up so we could slide into the water,” Hayden added.

Thankfully, what they didn’t mention was that they did this without wearing their swimsuits this time, since Holly was at work. Dad and the other boys had reminded them multiple times that they couldn’t tell her about swimming naked, and they agreed they wouldn’t say anything.

Once the twins finished telling us about their day, Tristan spoke up next. “It’s gonna be great having Revin here all summer, but he kinda scared me when he first got here, cuz I didn’t know who was crawlin’ into bed with me.”

“That’s partially my fault,” Brandon explained, “because I told him he could go back to sleep when he got here. I just expected that he would use one of the other bedrooms or sleep on the sofa in the family room, but maybe I should have suspected that he’d want to sleep with you.”

“It was ok, and now I know he’s gonna do that so it won’t scare me no more. It just surprised me when he did it this mornin’.”

When he finished telling us about this, Noah addressed us next. “When I was talking to Jesse at my graduation party, he asked what I was going to study at college. When I told him what I was going to major in, he said I should come to the health center with you and spend the day with him so he could show me what he does.”

“And you want to do that?” I asked.

“Yes. Even though I won’t be doing the same thing that he does, I think it would be good to see how it all works. I think the information might prove valuable in my work later. I was gonna go with you this morning, but I was out too late last night and didn’t want to wake up early enough to ride in with you.”

“Yes, it was fairly late when you arrived home last night, and I don’t have a problem with you spending the day with Jesse, as long as you just observe and don’t interact with the patients,” I agreed.

“Ok, I’ll just watch how he does everything, but I’ll also get to see the results too. He’ll explain everything to me as he does it, and I think it will be good for me to know how each of those devices work. It will be kind of like an unpaid internship.”

“That’s fine, as long as you don’t attempt to operate anything, and you can ride in with us in the morning.”

“Just make sure you get up in time to eat first, because we won’t have time to wait around for you,” Brandon added.

“Yeah, I know, and thank you. Oh, and I think Uncle Dion and Uncle Trey want to tell you about something that I did with them.”

“Yes, we have some news too,” Dion agreed. “Trey and I took Noah down to see Cole so he could select the car he wanted, and while we were there we went car shopping too. We found an SUV we liked and signed the paperwork to purchase it. It’s almost like the one you have, but ours will be silver, not blue like yours.”

“Congratulations! That’s great!” Brandon quickly responded.

“When are you picking it up?” I followed.

“We were told we could pick it up on Thursday,” Trey replied, “and that’s when Noah will be able to pick up his car as well.”

“Fantastic, and now we should be able to fit everyone in just two vehicles,” I added. “So what did you decide on, Noah?”

“Uncle Cole showed me a bunch of cars and told me all about them, and then I picked a 2014 Honda Accord. It’s red and kind of sporty looking, and it’s got room for my friends to go places with me, and I’ll also be able to fit everything in it that I want to take with me to college.”

“It sounds wonderful and I knew Cole would help you find something appropriate.”

“So does this mean you won’t be going in with us on Thursday morning?” Brandon asked.

He looked at Dion and Trey before he spoke. “What time are you gonna pick up your SUV?”

“I suppose we could do it any time,” Dion answered.

“How about we do it in the morning, and then I can drive to the health center afterward?”

“Sure, we could do that,” Trey agreed.

“And do you plan on driving to the health center every day?” Brandon wanted to know.

“Nah, just on Thursday. That way I can show Jesse my car too, and I might also go next door and show it to Uncle Kevin.”

“That’s sound good. I just wanted to know what your plans were.”

“Yeah, I’ll use your gas to get back and forth while I spend time with Jesse,” he replied with a smirk.

After dinner, everyone was busy making plans and getting ready for the next day before they turned in. During that time, Elliot and Pop came to speak with Brandon and me.

“Grandpa Jake has offered to help Noah and me work on the old tree house, but with Noah and Grandpa Jake working every day we’ll only be able to work on it on the weekend.”

“That’s fine and there’s really no rush. I’d prefer it was done well, rather than quickly,” I replied.

“Ok, I just wanted you to know that we haven’t forgotten about it.”

On Tuesday and Wednesday Noah and Holly rode into work with us, and on Thursday it was just Holly. Each day they would also meet us for lunch, and during that time Brandon and I noticed that Noah and Holly were spending most of the time chatting with each other and talking about their day. This was probably due to the fact that they were closer in age and had more in common, but we wondered if it might be more than that. We decided to keep an eye on them just in case, so we could see if something else might be going on. For the most part, though, Brandon and I left them alone and only paid attention when they spoke directly to us, but it was nice to see they were getting along so well.

On Thursday, when Noah got his car, he wanted to show it to us after we closed up our offices for the day. He showed it to Jesse too, and then he drove it next door so he could show Kevin. When he arrived home later, he wanted to take Brandon and me out for a ride in it, so we went with him first, and then after dinner he took Dad and Pop out for a spin. It was a beautiful vehicle and in immaculate condition, so it should serve him well over the next four years. I knew Cole would take very good care of him.

During dinner on Thursday, Holly asked a question. “Would you mind taking me to my old house tomorrow after work? I want to help my mom set up things for the sale.”

“No, that will be fine,” Brandon answered.

“And I’ll stay there tomorrow night and Saturday night too, because it’s going to be a two day sale.”

“That’s fine as well,” he agreed. “I know you’ll have the twins’ old bed to sleep in tomorrow night, but I hope there is somewhere else you can sleep if she sells the bed.”

“If that happens, I’ll just sleep on the floor. Either way, I’ll be fine.”

Her announcement changed my plans too, because I was planning that when we tucked the boys in on Friday I would remind them that they’d have to wear their swimsuits over the weekend. However, now that apparently wasn’t going to be a problem and I’d merely have them get out of the pool when we left to pick her up – that is if they were still in the pool at the time.

When we got out of work on Friday, we drove Holly to her mother’s house first, and we also went in with her to see if there was anything we could do to help.

“No, I’m good,” Julie assured us. “My friends… helped me get… everything ready… during the week.”

“Ok, we just wanted to make sure. Holly, you can call us when you’re ready to be picked up on Sunday.”

“Ok and thank you.” She then walked over and gave us both a hug before we bid them both goodbye and headed home.

When we arrived at the house, Revin was already there and all of the boys were out in the pool, totally bare-assed when Brandon and I went out to say hello to them. “We knew Holly would be at our old house so we’d be able to do this,” Hayden explained.

“And I like swimmin’ this way better,” Revin added.

“I’m not sure you’d feel that way if your mother was here,” Brandon joked.

“She’s seen me with nothin’ on before,” he answered nonchalantly.

“Recently?” I asked.

“No, just when I was younger.”

“So would you still want her to see you naked now?”

He thought about this briefly before he answered. “Nah, I guess not, cuz I’m not a little kid any more.”

“Ok and it’s almost time for dinner, so hop out of the pool, dry off, and come inside to eat.”

“Can we eat like this too?” Revin wanted to know.

“No, go upstairs and shower quickly, and then slip something on. We wouldn’t want you to drop anything hot onto a sensitive area.” After thinking about this briefly, the boys began to giggle. “Oh, it might seem funny to you now, but it wouldn’t be a laughing matter if that actually happened to any of you.”

“K, we’ll shower and put somethin’ on then.”

After dinner, the boys played games until it was time to go to bed, while the rest of us watched the news and a couple of shows on TV in the living room. When we went up to tuck them in later, each of the twins made a comment.

“We love our sister, but we’re glad she won’t be here this weekend so we can swim with nothin’ on again,” Hunter told us.

“But we know she’ll be here from now on, so we’ll have to start wearin’ our swimsuits again,” Hayden added.

“Unless you don’t mind if she sees your bare butt and willy,” Brandon teased.

“What’s a willy?” Hunter asked confused.

“It’s what British boys call their penis,” I explained. “We made some friends when we were there on vacation one summer, and they came to visit us the next year, so we picked up some of their sayings.”

“Oh, and you’re right. We don’t want Holly to see those things,” Hayden quickly replied once I’d finished my explanation.

The boys spent most of Saturday in the pool too, which allowed us a chance to do other things. Brandon and I used the time to get things ready for the following weekend, because it was when we were going to take advantage of our birthday gifts. When the twins saw what we were doing, they wanted to know why we were packing a suitcase.

“The two of us are going on a trip next weekend, because the boys, Grandpa Josh, Grandpa Jake, Uncle Trey, and Uncle Dion gave us special gifts for our birthdays. They paid for us to do a bunch of different things and have a weekend away. We’ll be going on that trip next weekend, and you’ll be staying here with them.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Hayden muttered.

“Will I still be able to go to Revin’s house, because it’s my weekend to stay there?” Tristan asked.

“Yes, you’ll still spend the weekend with Revin and his mom.”

“I don’t want to go,” Wyatt quickly snapped. “I want to stay here with Hunter and Hayden.”

“That’s fine too, and I’m sure Revin and his mom will understand,” Brandon told him.

“Good, cuz I was afraid I’d still have to go.”

“In the beginning they included you because Revin likes you too and he was worried that you wouldn’t have anyone else to hang out with, but that’s changed now. I’m sure they won’t have a problem with you staying here.”

“K and thank you for not makin’ me go.”

When I went downstairs, I called Becky to give her a heads up in case Wyatt’s not being there changed her plans for what she was going to do with them or how much she’d have to fix for their meals. She didn’t have a problem with it either and merely thanked me for letting her know in advance. She also said she’d pick up Tristan at the usual time next Saturday.

We woke the boys up early the next morning and had them get ready for church. As I was driving them there, the twins let us know how they felt about doing this. “We didn’t go to church when we lived with our mom, but I like going to the Sunday school class,” Hunter told us.

“I do too, but the part we do upstairs later is kinda boring,” Hayden chipped in.

“Yes, I suppose it is, because the minister is gearing his comments toward the adults, so it’s not as interesting for you as your Sunday school class,” I agreed. “I just want to let you know that we’re very proud of you and appreciate that you don’t cause a fuss or create a problem during that time, even though you don’t really enjoy it.”

“Yeah, we just whisper about what we’re gonna do when we get home,” Hayden added.

“I haven’t heard you boys whisper during church,” Brandon said in surprise.

“That’s cuz we taught Wyatt how we do it when we don’t want anyone else to know what we’re doin’,” Hunter explained, and Wyatt nodded in agreement. “We just use certain words and don’t say everything, like we do when we’re talkin’ with you.”

“That must be a twin thing,” I observed, “but it’s ok as long as it doesn’t create a problem.”

We picked up Becky on the way there, and after the Sunday school classes and the church service ended we went out to brunch. “Where’s Holly?” Becky asked once we were inside.

“Oh, that’s right. I doubt anyone told you. This weekend her mother is having a sale to get rid of the things she won’t be taking with her, so Holly is staying there to give her mom a hand.”

“Oh, that’s really sweet of Holly, but I miss having her around. It’s nice when I’m not the only female in the group.”

“She should be with us every other Sunday until she leaves for college,” Brandon stated next.

Although Revin wanted to go back to the house with us, we dropped him off at home with his mother. I hated having to say no to his request, but his mom wanted to spend some time with him as well.

When the rest of us got to the house, the boys took off the clothes they’d worn to church and then streaked through the house on their way to the pool. Just like they did the day before, they spent most of the day in the water, but when Holly called just before dinnertime, I had them get out, shower, and get dressed while I went to pick her up.

“So how did the sale go?” I asked when she answered the door.

“It went great, and I’m glad I was here to help out.”

“Me too,” Julie added. “We sold… nearly all… of the things… I put out. Only some… of the clothes… didn’t sell… so I’ll donate…those things.”

“Then it sounds as if it was a success. So when do you move into your new home?”

“On Thursday. My friends… will help… me clean … up the house… before then… and my lawyer… will take care… of selling… the house.”

I took a business card out of my wallet and jotted down Brandon and my cell numbers on it. “Just have Mrs. Rivera call and let us know when you’re settled in and if you need anything.”

“Thank you. I will.”

I then drove Holly back to the house as she closed this chapter on her old life and continued the transition to her new one.