ADAPTING... three is enough (Part 95a)

I’d forgotten how much work a baby could be. It’d been 3 1/2 years since our last one. Actually, because I’d been working with the horses and put in such long hours I didn’t spend all that much time, at least while I was awake, at home. With Elle not up to “par“ I’d been very involved with all three of them. Truthfully, it was an eye opener for me and gave me some appreciation for all that Elle had to do. It was about mid May that Elle was up and about but not at full strength but it was enough for me to get away for the police agility exam that had been postponed by a week and the day was perfect for it.  

Because of the large number of applicants who had passed the written portion the location was split between two schools with about 350 for each. Each prospective patrolmen had to do five different physical events with the cumulative score deciding who passed and who didn’t. It was a long day. I was a bit worried about Elle and wanted to bring her a present. One of the things that she really liked was fresh strawberries. It had been a surprise to find out that Rick’s family grew them on their farm. I thought all they grew was vegetables. On the way home I took a quick trip up to their farm stand. An added treat (at least for me) was seeing Rick's sister who manned the stand. While there I ran into Bags who was getting some for his mother. He asked how I was coming on getting my car ready for opening night. I told him how I’d gotten behind because of Elle’s operation and the new baby. I didn’t think much about our conversation but that night I got a call from him. He said that he could get some of his crew together the following day and would come and help me get the car ready. I was excited.

Elle, more or less, knew that I’d be spending time working on the car so it wasn’t a complete surprise to her when I told her where I was going.  After taking my grandfather to the hospital on his usual Sunday visit I headed East to Crash's house. Bags brought three of his pit crew and we finally got the car to Crash’s house. I took a lot of ”grief“ from them because of the ratty condition of the car. I’ll admit it looked worse in daylight than at night at the track. It didn’t take long to switch out the motors what with four of us working. I was really excited when we started the motor for the first time but I’m sure the neighbors didn’t appreciate it though. When we were cleaning up Bags suggested that I tow it to to Ricky’s barn. He’d seen some broken welds and was concerned. I’d been hoping to get home at a reasonable hour not wanting to tax Elle's strength too much. But Bags was right and safety was important.

At Rick’s I had to put up with more ”grief“. Rick was willing to do the welding (for free) and after he’d finished he made a comment that bothered me. He said that the car wasn’t really worth the effort. In my heart I knew he was probably right but when you don’t have much money you do with what you have. Today it would be... It is what it is... The guys asked if I was going to go to the open practice the following Sunday. I still needed tires and had deftly hidden away about $40 of the money that my grandfather had given me at Christmas. However, running practice laps would only wear them out. I didn’t even know about it and told them I’d think about it.

It was after 6pm when I got home. Marge greeted me telling me that Elle and the baby were sleeping and she’d fed the kids. I knew I was in for a little ”heat“ when she woke up but I rationalized it by knowing that the car was basically ready to race with the exception of the tires. I sucked it up and thanked Marge profusely. As she went down the steps I took a good look still hoping for at least a VPL. No such luck!

As it turned out I wouldn’t have been able to have gone to the practice. As mentioned earlier, my grandfather was starting to fail. One of the things he liked to do in the Summer was to go to ”The Cottage“ (it was what he called my parents house), sit in the shade and get cooled by the breeze off the bay. He hadn’t done it yet this season and when he asked if I’d take him after seeing my grandmother I didn’t have the heart to say no. When we got back to his house I didn’t expect to see Jan’s car. She’d done one of those split shift deals and didn’t have to be back at the hospital until 4pm. Initially, I was concerned about taking him because of his ever increasing limitations. Upon seeing Jan I impulsively asked if she go with us thinking she'd be my "insurance" if he had a "spell”. Jan had never seen my parents house and I knew she’d love seeing the beach and the water. I had to persuade her but wore her down. She did make a point of the fact that she absolutely had to be back at the hospital by 4pm. I promised she would. I told her to get her bathing suit and couldn’t believe it when she said she didn’t have one. I thought of going home so she could borrow one of Elle’s but time was getting to be a factor. I’d lose a total of one hour going and coming and as it was we’d only have about 2 hours so skipped the bathing suit. I did tell her that she couldn’t wear her uniform though. That got a smile out of her.

I called Elle and my parents and told them of the plans. I thought Elle might have a problem with it but she thought it was a nice gesture for both Jan and my grandfather. My mother was pleased to see us and quickly made up some “treats” as my grandfather called them. Jan was really impressed with the location and made a comment that now she really wished she’d had a bathing suit. I did too... but for a different reason. If she’d brought one there was the chance to inspect her panties.

To be continued...