Home Away From Home - 38. Chapter 38

When Puppy finished his internship, we took a two week vacation. We flew to Hawaii to spend the time at Rita’s new spa and resort. We caught up with Chet and he introduced us to his wife. He married a lovely Hawaiian girl. We stop at Joe’s gallery, there were many pictures that Mario had taken off the shores of Guam. Joe had even painted a few and showed them side by side with the photographs. I looked at the prices and figured Joe and Roy were doing ok.

About three days after our arrival, we were eating in the dining room when there was a call for Dr. Wyman over the music system. I looked at Puppy, “Who knows we’re here. You better answer it might be a medical emergency.” He got up and told the waiter that he was Dr. Wyman. The waiter led him to the phone, he came back laughing.

“It was Roy. He and Joe are here and heard we were here, he said they were having a brother syndrome.”

“What is a brother syndrome?”

“They miss us and want us to come over to their apartment tonight. I explained that we were eating, they said they would pick us up in 30 minutes. I was really scared that someone knew we were here. We didn’t bring any security.”

“We didn't need our security. Look around, every one of the staff is security.”

I watched Puppy’s eyes as he noted the size of the waiters. “Really?”

“Yes, Dad provides security because of Rita. After our bouts with the bad men, Dad took no chances. We are very well protected here.”

“But, if we go to see Roy and Joe there won’t be any security.”

“Roy and Joe are our brothers. Part of the family. We’ll be covered don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you. I love you too much to take any chances.”

He smiled, I got a southern reaction, we finished dinner and waited for Roy and Joe. “I wonder if they make Iced Rita’s here?”

“Order one and see what happens.”

I called the waiter over, “I’d like an Iced Rita to drink.”

“I’m sorry sir, all we have are Hawaiian Ritas, would that do?”

I looked at Puppy and nodded to the waiter. He brought me the iced drink with a very slim piece of pineapple in it which gave it just enough of a hint of pineapple. It was good, I let Puppy try it and he agreed. “I wonder if this was Chet or Rita’s idea.”

Then we heard, “Calling Dr. Wyman.” When we looked there was Roy and Joe. We grabbed them into a hug followed by a four way hug.

“Hey you guys look good for being so old.”

“May we remind you that you are a little older than us. It’s good to see you both and you look well.”

“Come on, we can have Hawaiian Rita’s at home. We got into their limo and left for their apartment.

“You must be doing pretty well to afford a limo and driver.”

“Your dad provides this as well as our apartment. He said he’d feel terrible if anything happened to us.”

I knew about the security but not about the car. I was glad dad was taking care of our friends. “We went to the gallery today, very impressive. I like your seascapes and I see Mario’s influence. Have you heard anything from him. We get a few letters, but they seem to be getting further apart. I think he’ll be the first to lose track of us and us of him.”

“We don’t see much of him. He’s very busy and he has been going on those ocean studies. He does some diving, taking samples of the various life forms. Takes beautiful pictures which he sends to us. We print them and sell them, send him his share. So our contact is through the mail .”

“We were impressed at what he shoots. We bought a few for the house. We’ll hang them in the bedrooms. Speaking of the house, when are you planning on coming home?”

“We thought we’d wait till Doug graduates, then we’d all be coming home.”

“Wow, time flies. Doug graduates this year.”

“Yes, top of his class.”

“Do you know what he’s going to be doing?”

“It’s our understanding you’ll decide that?”

“Why me?”

“Your dad hasn’t told you. He’s going to work for you.”

“No, he hasn’t, strange.”

“Maybe he wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, if he did, it’s too late now.”

“Just don’t tell him we let you know. Doug told us in confidence.”

“I won’t and we’ll see how long it takes him to tell us.”

“Oh I forgot, Doug has confirmed he has a boyfriend and they are serious.”

“Do you know who he is or anything about him.”

“Not a lot except he is a music major and likes to write. That is it.”

“I hope I get a chance to meet this guy, if Doug is going to work for me, I want to be sure his boyfriend will fit and be happy, otherwise it may not work out.”

“From what I have been told, this kid follows him around like a puppy dog. Hey, maybe there will be another puppy at the house.”

“No, there is only one Puppy at the house and he’s mine.” I got a kiss on the cheek for that. I told them about Dan getting married and wanted us to go along with them. “He’s like a new guy. He isn’t the Dan we first knew.”

We continued to catch up, told them about Doug and Vic, Dad’s new project and of course Al and our base boys, who started to spend their days off at the house.

“Pretty soon you’ll need to build a barrack there.”

I thought yes, a good idea. With the boys dropping in and the family coming, we won’t have room in the house for them all.

We had a good time with Roy and Joe. We left that evening after making plans to have dinner on the following evening. Once in our room at the resort, Puppy and I relived that first night we slept as a couple in the resort where I was a pool boy. Two happy men slept well that night.

Vacations never last long enough or so it seems. Soon we were on the plane and heading home. Except that wasn’t what happened, “Carlo, Tony wants us to stop and pick him up. I told him that would be ok. It is ok?”

“Yes, it’s fine. Dan, have you set a date?”

“Yes, June 3rd, that’s ok right?”

“Yes, just make sure that Charles has it marked on my calendar and keeps the day before and after clear.”

“I think he may have already done that.”

“Anxious is he?"

Dan just nodded and pointed to himself. Puppy whispered in my ear, “I think Dan is more anxious.”

We did stop and pick up Dad. And as I suspected he told me about Doug and why. The why was unexpected but nice. He now decided to split his business into two parts, North, Central and South America he will handle, the rest of the world is mine. This was a big load to carry. I’ll probably need more than one helper. “I know this is a big territory, Doug will help, he basically took the same courses as you. After you get your feet wet, think about an agent in each country, they can be your eyes and ears on every project.”

I agreed and told him that I thought that the idea of agents in the countries would be a great idea. But I’d need help picking the agents. He said he’d help me. But the first thing is to get Doug situated.

“You know I’m going to have to enlarge the house. I’ll not have enough rooms to accommodate everyone.”

“Doug may stay at his parents.” I thought no way will that happen. “But maybe enlarging the house isn’t a bad idea. I’d like to have a permanent residence there. How about I send an architect over and see what he can do. You have plenty of land.”

“That would be a great idea.”

“How are Larry and David doing? Do I need to replace them?”

“I think Larry and David would like to adopt. Larry doesn’t think being in the security business would be a good idea if they adopt. David does a fine job as head chef. Larry likes the place a lot, but he has these concerns. They are like family to us. When you realize how long they have been with us, they are family.”

“I was wondering how long before they would want to leave the security business. If you kept David as your cook, what would you have Larry doing?”

“I’m not sure. But if you agree of removing him from the security detail ,I’m sure Puppy and I can come up with something. Let us think on it and get back to you.”

“The four of you developed a very close friendship. I’m happy with them staying with you, only you’ll have to pay them.”

He was laughing hard. The truth of the matter, I had no idea how much money I was being paid or how much money I had accumulated. I just spent and it seemed it was always there. “I’m also retiring the plane. I want it for my personal use, I’m buying you another one. Do you want to keep Tom and Jerry or get a new set of pilots.”

“We should get their input. They both have family stateside and I know you’ll be stateside. So let me ask them and I’ll let you know.”

When we landed, the bus was there. We had several prints from the gallery with us so we had to be careful how we handled them. We would get them mounted in Japan, then we'd hang them in the bedrooms. “Puppy, I thought we only bought 6, there are 7 here.”

“I’m not sure how many we bought. Once they are framed, we can see what we bought and who bought the seventh.”

Tony stayed a week going over the new territory with me. By the end of the week, I knew without a doubt I needed Doug and the agents. Dad already had some agents he used and advised me to stick with them. He said he’d look for new agents for territories that didn’t have any and let me choose. I agreed with him, I wouldn’t have time to hire new agents or replace the old agents.

“I have asked Tom and Jerry what they wanted to do. I explained about you taking the plane stateside and using it for your travel. They agreed that if that's the case, they would like to stay with the plane.”

“Good, I’ll fly home with them and send a new plane with pilots back. I’ll take Dan with me and he can crew the new plane back. That will give him a chance to familiarize himself with the new plane.”

Two days later dad left with the plane and Dan. “Puppy, we need to build another office for Doug.”

“No, he can use my office. I can use yours. Most of my medical records will be at the hospital. If after I start working at the hospital, we need another office, we can build one.”

I thought I wonder how much work I’d get done if he was in my office. “What would you do if you decide to open an office or clinic here instead of working at the hospital.”

“I don’t think I want to open an office or clinic, at least not right now. Being a resident doctor at the hospital will keep me on my toes. Once you get into your own office, you tend to forget somethings and have to do a lot of catching up. At the hospital you are constantly learning and besides, we could not afford all of the equipment they have. I’ll be able to admit patients, so in affect, I have the best of two worlds.”

“As long as you’re happy. That’s all I care about.”

The new plane arrived and Dan couldn’t stop taking about it. We all had to tour the new plane. It was larger than Puppy I but Dad had explained that the new plane would be more comfortable for long trips. “What are you going to name this plane?”

“Puppy II, of course.”

The base had an artist among their recruits and he volunteered his services, later we found he had signed the paint job by putting his name on the dogs collar. “Puppy, wait until we go to pick up Joe and Roy. They'll be surprised.”

“When are you going?”

“We’re going for Doug’s graduation. Brenda and Doug Thornton will fly with us and Roy, Joe, Doug and his boyfriend will fly back with us. The Thornton’s will stay as guests of Mom and Dad and Dad will fly them home.”

“Have you given any idea about expanding the house?”

“I don’t think expanding the house is a good idea. When I was flying, I picked up a magazine for the Tahitian Islands and they showed something like a hut. I think with the help of our Japanese builder, we could build several of these on the property. They would contain a bedroom, a small kitchen and a room that would lead to a lanai which would face the pool. What do you think?”

“I know that Dad wants his own place here.”

“He’ll probably retire here eventually.”

“Let’s see what the builder can come up with.”

I contacted our builder and set a meeting to discuss what Puppy and I talked about. I told him what I wanted. He walked over the property and suggested that we could put a modified barrack building behind the garage over looking the ocean. He suggested that we build a two story building to hold 6 rooms, 3 down and 3 up. If we need more we could add them in a modular fashion. I like that idea and signed off on it. Then I told him about a place for our parents. He suggested that we adopt a Japanese style home for them. He said he would drop off some ideas tomorrow when he brought his construction crew to start on the barracks.

At dinner that night, “I’ve contacted our builder and he made a suggestion concerning additional rooms since we have a lot of the single guys from the base taking short leaves here. He suggested that we build rooms behind the garage, two high and 3 wide. Each room would hold two beds and a bathroom. What do you think?”

“I think that would be a great idea. It would relieve the cramp space here when the bedrooms are full and they end up sleeping on the floor. How soon are they going to start?”

“Within a week, but there is another problem. Security, there will be a lot of contractors on the grounds and we need to be alert.”

“Maybe we could augment security with the base boys who spend time here.”
“That’s a possibility, Ed, maybe you could check that out.”

“Dad wants his own place here as well. We need to select a place where he can build his house or apartment, which ever he wants. Any ideas?”

“Is there enough space on the other side of the pool, the right side? Depending on what he wants, he could either have it facing the ocean or pool.”

“I think I need to get a better idea of what he wants. I was thinking about building something like Tahitian huts for the relatives. Nothing fancy, a bedroom with bath, a small kitchen to make coffee or tea and a small lanai facing the pool. Any comments on that?”

“Is this for Vic or Doug when they visit?”

“Yes, and others of our gang.”

Then the discussion drifted to what is happening with Mario. I sorted drifted out of that discussion thinking about Tony being here. And then in all probability, Mom and Dad moving here as well. This may turn into a conclave. “Larry, how about thinking what it would take to place a fence and gate around the property. I’d want it very secure, with a controlled gate or gate station.”

“Do you think we’ll need it?”

“Might, if Tony moves here. We haven’t had any issues since the last scare, but I’ll rest easier and feel safer. If anything happened to Puppy, or you guys, I would declare a war and take it to them. So if I can prevent that, all the better.” I smiled as I said that.

David told me that one of the men from the base asked him if I was serious. He said that he told him he would do everything possible to protect the house and all within it.