Published: 26 Feb 2026
From the Previous Chapter:
Ken went down to his retreat wishing he could have taken Kate there with him. But he knew that wouldn’t sit well, with her mother there in the house. He told himself that he’d waited this long and another bunch of months would go by fast after they set a date.
The owner of The Cove, and newly engaged man, got himself ready for bed, and as he sat on the side of his bed, he thought about what the future will hold for him, Kate and the boys, both hers and his, and the fosters.
After turning off the lights, Ken Thomas didn’t stay awake very long, as he was tired from the very long day that he’d just had, but also from the wonderful thing had just entered his life – Kate. The Cove was full of love that night and everyone slept well.
Sunday morning, Ken Thomas woke up a very happy man. Kate had agreed to marry him and now he had a new focus, besides his ‘boys’ and his businesses. After getting out of bed, he did his usual things to get ready for the day. He then went out to the Kitchen Nook for his first cup of coffee and to read the Sunday morning newspaper.
“Good morning, Momma and Sophia, I have some wonderful news to tell you. Are you ready to hear it?” asked a mischievous looking Mr. Ken.
“Yeses, yesse, tells uses, pleases, Misyters Kens,” replied Momma Maria.
“I asked Kate to marry me last night and she said, yes!” announced Mr. Ken.
“Ohs that’s iss soss wonderfsfuls,” exclaimed Momma, who then went over to her employer and gave him a hug and a kiss.
Sophia also went over to the man and hugged him to congratulate him on /his engagement. The two women then went back to preparing what they had intended for breakfast for everyone. They also began talking to one another about what Mr. Ken’s getting married would mean to Momma Maria and her working there at Thew Cove.
The women had forgotten that Mr. Ken spoke a number of languages and as he heard them talking in Spanish, and even in hushed tones, Mr. Ken spoke up and yelled out. “Ah, y mama … todavía tendrás un trabajo aquí en The Cove. Sólo que tú tendrás tres bocas más que alimentar después de que me case y Kate y sus hijos se muden aquí.”
( “Oh, and Momma … you will still have a job here at The Cove. Only you will have three extra mouths to feed after I get married and Kate and her boys move here.”)
The women stopped talking after they heard him speaking in Spanish to them. Then they laughed remembering that he also spoke their language. Momma went back over to him and hugged him again.
“Gracias, gracias, Sr. Ken. Pensé que perdería mi trabajo cuando Kate viniera a vivir aquí y se hiciera cargo de la casa,” exclaimed Momma.
(“Thank you, thank you, Mr. Ken. I thought I would lose my job when Kate came to live here and take over the household.”)
“No, mamá, seguirás manejando la cocina, llenando la despensa y alimentándonos. Chris, él se encargará de la casa, pagará las facturas, cumplirá los contratos y todo lo demás que haga por aquí, como antes. Nada cambiará. Kate estará demasiado ocupada aprendiendo sobre mis negocios y cómo controlar a los chicos,” explained Mr. Ken
(“No, Momma, you will continue to run the kitchen and fill the pantry and feed us. Chris, he will run the household and pay the bills and service the contracts and everything else he does around here, as before. Nothing will change. Kate will be too busy learning about my businesses and how to control the boys.”)
“Mamá está muy feliz de saber que seguirá trabajando durante mucho tiempo, ¿no?” uttered Momma Maria, with a smile, who then went back to helping prepare breakfast.
(“Momma is so happy to hear that she will continue to work for a long time, yes?”)
Kate had come into the Kitchen Nook while part of that conversation was going on. So, after Momma went back to where Sophia was working on fixing breakfast, she asked her fiancé what that was all about.
“Kate, I guess one of the things that you will need to learn once you begin living here in the great State of Texas is Spanish,” teased her soon-to-be-wedded-husband.
Kate smiled and then asked again what that was all about.
“Kate, I told the women that I had asked you to marry me last night and that you had said yes and Momma … she was concerned that she was going to lose her job when you came and took over running the household.
“I assured her that she would still be running the kitchen and buying for the pantry and that Chris … that he would still be running the household and paying the bills and servicing the contracts, and doing everything else that he does around here, while you were learning all about my businesses and how to control the boys,” finished a smiling Ken.
“Oh, you,” was all Kate said, as she punched him on the shoulder. “Control the boys. Huh?”
The two then began to laugh.
“What’s all the laughing about?” asked Edith, when she entered the Kitchen Nook, looking for her first cup of coffee.
“Ken was teasing me about me having to learn Spanish and his businesses and to control the boys, when I move here, mom,” answered Kate.
Edith smiled and with a twinkle in her eye and replied, “And not just the boys, Kate, Ken too.”
Kate and Ken both looked at the woman with surprise at what she just said, and then they both burst out laughing, as though that was going to happen. Edith just smiled back at them.
All the boys came in the Kitchen Nook around the same time. Matthew and Darrin went about fixing Chief and Sarge’s first meal of the day and Rusty and Jessy wanted to help. So, the Cover boys told the two younger ones what to do.
Kate watched her sons wash the bowls out and then fill one with kibble and the other with fresh water and then add ice cubes to the water. The two young boys then carefully placed the filled bowls where they usually were kept.
Chief and Sarge watched two different people fix their morning meal and when the two boys were finished the two resident pets went over to Rusty and Jessy and began giving them a bunch of doggie kisses. The two boys giggled as they received their reward for doing what they did.
Momma then told the boys to go and wash their hands before sitting down to eat their breakfast. Jessy looked to his mother to see if he had to. Kate told him that Momma ran the kitchen and whatever Momma says goes.
Jessy and Rusty both ran to the half-bath to wash their hands. Matthew and Darrin went with them to make sure they did it right, all the way up to their elbows, as Mr. Ken would say, and they washed their hands, as well.
As everyone was eating their breakfast of hot off the griddle waffles with either syrup, butter, powdered sugar, cut up strawberries, or blueberries, along with bacon or sausage links and scrambled eggs, Mr. Ken talked about what they were going to do that day.
He reminded them that at least he, Ms. Kate, Phillip, Rusty and Jessy were going to Four Corners at twelve, noon, for Phillip’s band’s audition. He asked Edith if she wanted to go along and see the amusement park, as he didn’t remember if she had ever seen it. The woman said that she’d like to go there and see what the new park looked like.
‘Dad’ Ken then told the rest of the boys that their friends were due to arrive at twelve, noon, as they were leaving, and that he was sure that they were anxious to come, since they missed yesterday. He then told everyone that he wanted to take them all out for a nice dinner that night.
“Edith, I’m going to let you choose where we go to dine tonight,” began Mr. Ken. “There is the Marina Seafood Wharf& Steak House, where you can get seafood and, of course, a really good steak. Then there is the Four Corners Restaurant that has really good steaks, too, but they also serve other restaurant foods. And lastly, there is the Lakeside Hotel restaurant. There they also have great steaks and they serve other restaurant foods, but the atmosphere is better, as it overlooks the lake.”
Upon hearing where they could go out to dinner that night, the Cover boys, who’d been to all three, began telling Ms. Edith all about the three different places and what they perceived was the better of the three of them.
Edith listened to the boys as they told her the pros and cons of all three. She then told them that she would rule out the Four Corner’s Restaurant, as it would be considered standard fare, and that just about everybody has eaten at one of those.
The woman continued and explained that the seafood restaurant had an appeal to her as where they are from there aren’t any very good seafood restaurants around. Lastly, Edith opined that the Lakeside Restaurant sounded very good, too, as atmosphere is just as important as the food when you are going out for a fine dinner.
Ken, Kate and all the boys were all anxious to hear where Edith was going to select for them to go out that night for dinner. She could see that they were all waiting on here decision.
“Oh my, where shall we go. The Seafood Wharf& Steak House sounds so darn good, overlooking the marina and all those boats. But the Lakeside Restaurant, overlooking the lake, and eating a good steak, from what you boys tell me is to ‘die’ for, is making it a very difficult decision for this old woman to decide. Chief, as a woman, where would you go?” asked the woman, to the chagrin of everyone at the table.
“Moooom!” exclaimed, Kate. “We are all waiting to know where we are going to go to dinner tonight,” added the woman’s daughter.
“Yeah, come on, grandma, we all want to know,” added Jessy.
“OK, I think we should go to … to the Lakeside Restaurant. And maybe we can go out for seafood another time,” finally said Edith.
After breakfast, Ken and Kate sat in the Study talking. Kate asked Ken if he was truly OK with them getting married back at her hometown. Ken told her that if that was where she wanted to get married that he was on board and that he’d just fly everyone there.
Hearing that put a big smile on Kate’s face. They then talked about calling everyone they knew. Kate told her fiancé that she hadn’t called anyone back home yet. Ken told her that he hadn’t called anyone yet, either. The two laughed and then they began making phone calls.
Ken Thomas’ first phone call was to Dan.
“Dan … I just want to call and let you be the first to know. I asked Kate to marry me last night and she said, yes!” excitedly got out the man’s friend.
“Congratulations Ken. I was wondering if that would ever happen. So, when’s the wedding?” quickly asked Dan.
“Well, the wedding will be back at her hometown, but we haven’t even talked about a date yet. But when we do, I’ll fly everyone out there for it. So, make sure you have vacation time. Oh, and Dan … I’d like for you to be my Best Man. Will you do that for me?” sincerely asked Ken.
“Ken, I would be honored to do that for you. Thank you for giving me that privilege,” responded Dan Fischer, Sheriff’s Lieutenant, and Ken’s best friend.
After he finished that call, Ken called Wayne. “Wayne … a bit of news. Kate has agreed to marry me,” chuckled the man’s boss.
“That is so good to hear, Mr. Ken. Have you set a date yet?” asked Wayne Mitchell.
“No, Wayne, we haven’t but the wedding will be back at her hometown. But I will fly everyone that matters to me out there for it, though,” explained Ken Thomas.
And that was how Mr. Ken’s phone calls went up until it was time for them to drive over to the Four Corner’s Amusement Park for Phillip’s band’s audition.
As they were leaving The Cove, Mr. Ken talked to Bill and Robert and told them that they were in charge and that if there were any problems to call him. But he also told them that he didn’t foresee any because after all these years, their friends have proven to be straight up and responsible.
At Four Corners’, the nine band members met just outside the park entrance with Nelson Sanders, the parks operations manager, and Ben Walthers, the President of Three Finger Entertainment, who had their green jackets for them to wear.
Mr. Sanders told them to go ahead over to the picnic court where he had the drums, keyboard and sound system all ready for them. He asked them to hook everything up and tune their guitars and do what they needed to do to be ready to play, and that he’d be there to help with any connections.
The parents followed behind the boys and many guests wondered why there were these boys dressed in green jackets and carrying guitars walking into the park.
At the covered picnic court, Nelson Sanders already had the tables moved out so the boys would have a large enough space to assemble their band and get ready to play. The boys quickly moved the drums and keyboard where they liked them in their setup, and then they hooked up their guitars and then set out the microphones at all nine boys places.
The boys tuned the guitars while Mr. Sanders adjusted the sound system. Jeff tested the drums and Easton played some on the keyboard to get used to it and to make sure it was ready to play.
Nelson and Ben went to the boys and asked them if they were ready. Phillip looked to his band members, and getting a nod from all of them, he told the men that they were. Nelson asked them to start at any time.
“We are Pavilion, and we’re here to play some Holiday tunes for you,” announced Phillip. And with that, the band leader had the boys play their first song, We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
The band then continued to play song after song:
Deck the Halls
Jingle Bells
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)
Frosty The Snowman
I’m Gettin’ Nuttin’ For Christmas
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Gramma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
The band then played the five songs that Phillip asked them to learn:
Jolly Old St. Nicholas
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Up on the Housetop
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
The standing crowd only was enthralled by the young boy band and their playing ability and when Phillip announced that they were now going to take a break the people erupted in spontaneous applause. Ben and Nelson looked at one another and quickly talked and they both agreed that they needed these boys to continue to play some more that Sunday.
The Covers friends arrived at The Cove at noon, as they usually did, and the first thing their Cover friends told them was that their ‘dad’ was getting married. Eric already knew because Robert called him last night to tell him. But for everyone else, the Cover boys had decided to wait until their friends were all there on Sunday, before they would tell them.
Of course, the first question the friends had was if they were going to be moving away. Robert and Charles quickly told them that Kate and her two sons would be moving there, so they could stop worrying about them losing the best thing about them being friends.
The next question was when were the two getting married. The Cover boys didn’t have any idea because the engagement only happened last night, but they figured it would be sometime next spring, but definitely after spring break, they hoped.
The Cover’s friends then wanted to know where the wedding would take place. They asked if it would there like the one held there yesterday, or would they get married back east where Ms. Kate came from.
The Covers told them that they had no idea, as their ‘dad’ hadn’t talked to them about any of the details, since they just got engaged. The boy’s figured that they would probably get married back east, though, because Ms. Kate knew nobody here.
After the big announcement and the Q&A were over, the Covers’ friends then either called or texted their parents that Mr. Ken and Ms. Kate got engaged last night. The phone lines were filled up after that as the moms began calling everyone that they knew, who in turn called everyone that they knew and before long, Rene Vaughn, news reporter for KBLY TV, and who could be considered a fairly good friend of Mr. Ken, was at The Cove waiting for Ken Thomas to return, so she could interview him.
Nelson went to get the boys bottles of water, as Ben talked to the parents and Mr. Ken. He told them that the boys were what the park needed for the Holidays and that he and Nelson would like for them to continue playing for the rest of the day, if they could. The only two questions for them were if they had submitted the Application for Child Actor/Performer Authorization and if their sons could continue working today with them working in sets of four on the other days.
The boys heard the questions and began bugging their parents about letting them continue to play. The parents had two questions. They wanted to know for how long would the boys play for, as it was going on two o’clock, and what would the boys do for snacks, or something to eat if it got too late?
When Nelson came back with the bottles of water, he and Ben had to decide how long could they allow the boys to work, and what about providing the boys with something to eat along the way. Nelson told Ben that it would be absorbed as the cost of doing business, but after today they would be hired as a four-piece band.
After the boys’ break, Ben and Nelson had just four of the boys play the next set of songs. They allowed them to choose which four would play and when they did start there were Jeff on Drums, Phillip and Weston on guitars with Preston singing. The men felt that the four sounded good together, of course, not as good, or as strong, as when all of them were playing together.
After the first four played for fifteen minutes, Ty and Bryce were now on guitars with Easton on the keyboard and Bryson singing for the next set. Marshall was sitting out and Ben asked him why wasn’t he out there playing. The boy told the man that he and Jeffrey trade off on playing the drums, as Jeff’s parents weren’t going to allow him to play every night. At the start of the next song, Ben told the boy to join the group to see how they sounded.
Ben and Nelson liked it with the drummer playing along with the keyboard and guitars. They felt it added so much more depth to the songs. The problem they had was could the keyboard player be there all the time, or did they need to find another keyboard player, too.
After each performance the crowd applauded the boys and it didn’t matter to them whether it was with or without the drummer, or keyboard player. They told the men, as they walked away, that they enjoyed having the live Christmas music during the Holidays.
Mr. Ken stayed away from the two men as they discussed the band’s performance. He saw that they broke the band into two playing sets of four and then added Marshall into the second set. He also heard the people telling them how much they enjoyed the Christmas music after each set.
After the second set of songs, Ben and Nelson called all the boys together to tell them that they were hired. They also told them that they liked it when there were the drums and the keyboard playing as well, and wondered if the keyboard player could play every night, or was he relegated to only certain nights.
Phillip spoke up and told the men that originally, they thought that they would only be playing Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The young Cover mentioned that they have school, homework and tests to study for and playing every weeknight might not work for all of them.
The parents then began to speak up and mentioned that they appreciated that they recognized their sons were good enough to play at Four Corners, but their schooling had to come first. They all agreed that they would not let them work any later than ten o’clock on Friday and Saturday and nine o’clock on Sunday nights.
Ben and Nelson stepped aside to talk to one another, and a few moments later, Nelson came back and agreed that they wanted the boys to play those three nights. They asked the boys to schedule whomever they wanted to play and they asked if they could schedule a drummer and the keyboard player, but if not, they would understand.
The boys were all ecstatic that they had the job for three nights a week. The next question they wanted to know was, how much were they going to be paid. Mr. Sanders told them that they would be each paid the entry musicians’ pay.
Mr. Nelson then asked the boys that since they were all out of school that week if they wanted to work every night except Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, when the park would be closed, that week. The boys all excitedly asked their parents if they could. The question the parents had was who would schedule which boy, and what hours would they be working.
Everyone looked to Phillip to do the scheduling, as he was the leader of the band. The young Cover was shocked that he would be responsible to schedule the boys to work. Twelve-year-old bass player Bryce, and de facto band leader when Phillip wasn’t there, spoke up and told Phillip that he’d help him and that after they get it started it would work its way through.
Nelson then asked the boys to continue playing for the rest of the day. Phillip quickly asked the man if he wanted all of them playing or just them in small groups. Ben whispered to the parks operations manager to have all the boys play, since they were all there.
In the end, that’s what they agreed upon with the boys taking a dinner break between five and six. Everyone that is besides Phillip, who would be leaving for a family dinner for the remainder of the night.
Rene Vaughn had been waiting at The Cove for quite some time when she asked the guard at the Main Gate Guard House when they expected Mr. Thomas to return. The guard told her that he’d gone over to the Four Corners Amusement Park, as one of the boys was auditioning to play in a band there.
Rene and her KBLY-TV camera team hurried over to the Four Corner’s Amusement Park in the hopes they could catch him there for an exclusive interview about his engagement.
When she got there, she hurried over to where she could hear the music. There she saw a young boy band playing, and they were doing a very fine job of it. So, she had the camera crew take some shots of them playing in the hopes that she could somehow connect it into her interview with Mr. Thomas.
Then she saw the man she was looking for standing with an older woman and a very pretty young lady and two younger boys. Rene walked over to them and tapped Mr. Ken on the shoulder.
“Mr. Ken … would you mind if we did a short segment about your engagement? Word got to us early this afternoon that, you and I suspect this young lady here, just got engaged last night and I would love to be the first to break the news to the world. What do you say?” kindly asked Rene Vaughn.
Ken looked at Kate, who was shocked that word had already leaked out to the news media that they were now engaged. Ken told her that with him being in the limelight there, that he was prone to be subject to these types of interviews and if they don’t do this now the other news media outlets will be at the estate tonight or tomorrow. Kate begrudgingly agreed.
After getting some preliminary interview information, Rene was ready to do the taping for use during the six and ten o’clock news that evening.
“I’m here at Four Corners Amusement Park with our local well-known businessman, foster parent, philanthropist and ‘hero’ Ken Thomas, who we learned just earlier today ladies, that he is no longer available.
“Mr. Thomas, Mr. Ken, if I may, as that is what many people call you, I understand that you and this young lady standing next you just got engaged last night. Could you please introduce her to all of us.
“Rene, yes, let me introduce you to my fiancée Kate Partlunds, and yes, we did get engaged last night, and for your next question we have not set a wedding date, as of yet.
“So, Mr. Ken, how did you both meet, if I may be so bold as to ask?” was Rene’s next question.
“It was a chance meeting at one of my amusement parks. One of her sons fell and dropped his soda and in replacing it, my ‘sons’ then helped them ride some of the smaller rides. And, as they did, she and I walked and talked and got to know one another.
“So, how long have you known one another, Kate?” asked Rene.
Kate was surprised at the question, but she recovered quickly, and replied, “Well, I guess we’ve known one another about almost a year, or so, I say.”
“So, Kate, I understand that you have two boys of your own. I guess that with Mr. Ken’s sons and foster sons your two will fit right in?” was Rene’s next and final question.’
“Oh, yes. They already call Ken’s ‘boys’ their big ‘brothers’ and they love them as they taught them how to better ride their skateboards and Phillip … he was trying to teach my youngest how to play the guitar,” answered Kate.
“And I take it Mr. Ken that Phillip … he is one of the boys playing in the band that we hear playing in the background?” quickly asked Rene, finding a way to introduce the footage of the band into the segment.
Mr. Ken laughed and replied, “Yes, Rene, this past summer, Phillip, one of my fosters, put together this small band of his classmates and they were here auditioning to play Christmas music at Four Corners. They have succeeded at that and the people coming to my Four Corners Amusement Park can hear them every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.”
Renee Vaughn then did a wrapup to her interview and then the camera man cut away to tape some more of the band playing before cutting the camera off.
Rene thanked the newly engaged couple for doing the interview with her and she wished them a happy and blessed marriage.
Edith and the two boys had watched the interview unfold and when the news people left the couple, they went over to talk to them. Ben Walthers and Nelson Sanders also went over to them and Ben asked his boss, “What’s this I hear that you got … engaged?”
Ken then told Ben and Nelson all about them getting engaged last night, as they walked in the linear park. Ken then added that he proposed to Kate in the gazebo.
Nelson said that they needed to celebrate, and he had the best thing for that. VIP passes at all the rides in the park. Rusty and Jessy smiled at hearing that, as they were hoping that they could ride them while they were there.
Ken didn’t want to do that, as he didn’t want people to see him using his owner status to bypass the lines in order to ride the few rides that they had. But Nelson reminded him that he was the parks operations manager and that he could offer VIP treatment whenever, and to whomever, he pleased. Ben spoke up and told the boss to just go with the flow. And even Rusty and Jessy begged him to do it. And Nelson took the small group to all of the rides and they rode them.
Some people knew that Nelson Sanders was the parks operations manager and as he announced that he had VIPs with him the people kindly let him bypass the queue. Some people wondered who the VIPs were. Everyone soon learned that they were the owner of the park and his fiancée, who had just got engaged, and her two sons.
The four sat together on the Scrambler and the Tilt-A-Whirl, with Edith opting not to ride either. On the Speedway, Kate rode with Jessy, while Ken rode with Rusty. Edith did ride that one, but she declined to ride the Octopus, while Ken rode with Jessy and Kate rode with Rusty.
The boys were then allowed to ride the Helicopters, the Kiddie Swings, and the Frog Hopper, while only Jessy rode the Monster Trucks.
Ken then took the boys to try their luck on the Balloon Blast and Balloon Darts, where they each won a small plush prize. Then he took them to the Ring Toss on Glass Bottles where neither he, Kate, Edith or the boys won anything.
And then it was on to the Ball in the Cup game were Mr. Ken bought four buckets of 25 balls for them all to throw onto the grid hoping to get a ball into a Gold, Blue or Red cup to win a prize. And even with 100 balls they only got one ball onto a blue cup. The question then was who got the plush prize. Ken awarded it to Edith as a memento of that momentous week.
They stayed until five when Phillip was finished playing. They all had eaten along the way as they waited for the youngest Cover to finish his set at five, and then they went back to The Cove.
Upon their arrival, the boy’s friends all wanted to congratulate Mr. Ken on his engagement, so they hurried down to the house when they saw him drive down there.
Then at six o’clock when the boy’s parents came to pick their sons up, the parents also wanted to congratulate Mr. Ken as well. But the guards at the Main Gate told them that he wasn’t available to go up to there to talk with them, as he was getting ready to take his guests out to dinner just then.
The Covers did wait until everyone departed the Main Gate area before leaving for the Lakeside Hotel for their dinner reservations.
At the hotel, word had gotten out that the owner had gotten engaged the previous night, and the staff congratulated him as they saw him. And since they had reservations, the eleven of them were immediately seated.
Edith loved the atmosphere of the hotel and the restaurant. The restaurant manager had two waitresses and two busboys available to serve the table, so they were quickly taken care of.
Water, coffee, sodas, bread and butter were promptly brought out as their salad orders were being prepared. And it wasn’t too long after they had finished their salads and the table cleared that their meals were also brought out on hot to the touch plates.
The older boys helped Rusty and Jessy as needed, while Ken, Kate and Edith sat close together talking about the day’s events. It had been a full day for sure, and they knew it would undoubtedly get that way as the week progressed.
When they finished dinner, they all took a walk outside so Edith could see the landscaping and the overlook to the lake. She told Ken that she thoroughly enjoyed the lighting of the rocks and how it all just blended together. She also saw that there was outside dining, but at that time of year it got too cold to eat out there at night.
On the way home they did stop at Mr. Ken’s Kreamy Kone for ice cream, not only for them, but for the resident pets, too.
Rusty and Jessy were selected to give Chief and Sarge their cups of ice cream that evening. Matthew made sure he told the resident pets to “Sit” before they jumped on the young boys to get at their treat.
Once the young boys put the cold concoction down on the floor for the two pets, Matthew told them they could go and get it. Everyone watched Chief and Sarge lick at the vanilla ice cream and chase the cup around the Kitchen Nook floor until they had licked every morsel of the creamy cold treat out of the container. Edith was tickled-pink that the two resident pets did that.
After the show of the two dogs eating their delicacy, everyone retired to the Great Room where they talked about their day. Phillip was the first one to tell how his day went with his band being selected to play at the Four Corners Amusement Park every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night through the Holiday Season. He also told them that they would play every night, except Thursday that week. The young Cover had a huge smile on his face.
Robert told how their friends reacted to their telling them that their dad had gotten engaged last night and how they all then got on their phones and either text their parents, or called them.
“So, that’s how word got around to Rene and then she found me at Four Corners to do an interview,” spoke up ‘dad’ Ken.
“She did? Did she say when it would be played?” now asked Charles.
Kate spoke up and said she thought it would play at six and ten tonight. The boys looked at their watches and saw that it was going on ten o’clock and they all wanted to hurry and watch the news, so they could see what the segment looked like.
Ken told them to go to the Theater and he would have the signal sent in there on the big screen, so everyone could watch it at the same time. A few minutes later the KBLY-TV News came on the screen and everyone waited until the segment came up about ten minutes into the program.
After they watched it, the boys told their ‘dad’ they were happy with the way Ms. Vaughn handled the interview. Kate told everyone that she felt ambushed, but after Ken told her that he is often caught off guard to answer questions, she understood that she will have to get used to it.
Phillip told everyone, “Did you see and hear us playing in the background. And even ‘dad’ gave us a plug telling the people they could hear us every weekend at his Four Corners Amusement Park.”
“Yea, dad, you even got some free publicity out of the interview,” teased Robert. That had everyone laughing.
‘Dad’ Ken did send the boys up to bed after they watched the news. The three adults stayed in the Theater for a few minutes to give the boys some time to get settled. They then talked about what they would do for the next few days.
Ken mentioned that he wanted to take the boys down to SeaWorld and he thought that Tuesday would be a good day, after giving them some time tomorrow to relax and just be boys. He told them that he did need his boys to try on their suits to see how they fit, because he will probably be buying six new suits for Christmas that year. He then mentioned that they could go out shopping Monday night. Edith said she liked the sound of that.
Kate told her mother that they should sit down tomorrow and discuss when and where to hold the wedding, so they could focus on a date. Ken asked them not to choose a date during Spring Break. He continued telling them that was when he had already made reservations and had rooms reserved, etc., as they were all going to Disney World.
Ken then asked them not to breathe a word of that to any of the boys, as it was just too early for them to know and that things could change like a hurricane could destroy a good portion of Disney World, or something evil could happen, he added with a smile.
When the three adults went up the stairs, Edith went to her bedroom for the night, while Ken and Kate walked to the boy’s rooms. Ken went straight to Bill’s room. while Kate stopped to talk with Rusty.
Billy had a big smile for Mr. Ken and he again congratulated the man on his engagement. He did ask how things might change there once Mrs. Thomas and her boys moved in. Mr. Ken smiled and told the teenager that he shouldn’t see too much of a change other than Kate and the boys would be living at The Cove full time. Mr. Ken added that Momma would still cook and Mr. Chris and Mr. Wayne would still be employed to work there.
Billy asked about Mr. Dennis and Mr. Ken told the teen that the man would continue to work there, but more as the part-timer that he was originally hired for.
In Robert’s room, the teenager complained to his dad. “Geeze dad, my eleven-year-old ‘brother’ … he can work at Four Corners, but I can’t. That ain’t fair, dad!”
The teen’s dad grabbed him and hugged him and told the boy that life isn’t always fair. “Son … Phillip… had has other band members who can fill in for him when we go and visit my parks during the Holidays. I know you want to work, but … can you give it until after Spring Break?”
“But dad … I want to work now. Many of my friends … they are already working,” countered Robert.
“Son, there is no reason that you need to work. You have everything you need and I’ll be paying for your college, so you don’t need to save for that,” argued the teen’s dad.
“Dad … I have this internal drive, you could say, that is telling me that I need to be doing something with my time, my life, other than staying at home. I want to be out there with my friends. I don’t want them to see that I am dependent on you, dad. I want to work at Four Corners like my younger ‘brother’ is,” maintained the frustrated Cover teenager.
Dad Ken told Robert that he can’t do anything about that now and he’ll just have to wait until at least after the Holidays when they can sit down and have a serious conversation about it then. The two hugged and the dad went to his other sons’ room.
As soon as the dad entered Charles’ room, Charles said to him, “Robert talked to you about him wanting to go to work now that Phillip is working at Four Corners, didn’t he?”
Dad Ken and Charles then talked about that issue and the teen’s dad explained that he told his brother that he would have to wait until after the Holiday, when they could sit down and have a serious conversation about him doing that.
Charles told his dad that he didn’t want to work right away, but he did want to go out to Adventure Forrest and work with Jason when he was old enough. Dad Ken told his son that when that time came, they would sit down and have a serious conversation and not before.
Matthew was always the easiest one to deal with at night. But this night the pre-teen did ask him about whether or not if he talked to his lawyer about what he brought up to him. ‘Dad’ Ken assured the boy that Bill had never thought to consider what he had told him and that with the Holiday week upon them it would be slow going, but that he and his staff would definitely be working that angle.
And ‘dad’ Ken told Matthew that it was all due to what he told him about what his mother told him and what the Sheriff Deputies should have in their reports that Bill has hope that we can get a court hearing to challenge his mother’s right to his being reunited with her, when she is released from prison in four or five years.
Matthew hugged his ‘dad’ and thanked him for doing that for him. ‘Dad’ Ken told the almost-teenager that he loved him and that he was doing everything he can to be able to adopt him when the time comes.
Mr. Ken then went to Rusty and hugged him. He told him that when he marries his mom and he and his brother move there he will have to have his own bedroom. Rusty asked him which of his foster sons will be moved out so he and Jessy can have their own rooms.
Mr. Ken laughed and told the almost ten-year-old that there was enough room for him to build at least four more bedrooms over the garage and that his big ‘brothers’ were already claiming them and they weren’t even built yet. Rusty asked if he could see where they would be. Mr. Ken told him to ask about them tomorrow. The two hugged and ‘dad’ Ken moved onto Phillip’s room.
“I didn’t think that you’d ever get here?” moaned Phillip, when his ‘dad’ finally entered his room.
“You knew that I was coming, but your’ brothers’ … they had some issues that they wanted to talk about, and I had to talk to them about those before I could move on. I am sure you understand that, my ‘son’,” answered ‘dad’ Ken.
“Phillip … there is an issue I need to talk to you about, though. And it has to deal with your working at Four Corners. And just like Jeffery’s parents not wanting him working every night, you, my ‘son’, have to remember that you have responsibilities to the ‘family’ and wherever we go, you have to go, as well.
“I am looking to take everyone to SeaWorld on Tuesday. And that means that you will be going, too. So, you need to get with your band and plan around that. You could work tomorrow night and Wednesday and possibly Saturday, and that would be your three days of the six days your band would be working.
“Also, when we go to visit my parks during the Holidays, you will have to get someone to cover for you, as you will be gone for a number of days, then too. We might be gone twice, once before Christmas and once after. We need to talk about it after Kate and her family leave,” advised ‘dad’ Ken.
“Geez, I never thought about that, ‘dad’,” said a somber Phillip, thinking about all the playing time he will miss at Four Corners when he will be gone.
“We can discuss this after Kate and her family leave, OK?” asked ‘dad’ Ken as the two hugged.
Jessy was next for Mr. Ken to talk to and he told the youngster that when he and his brother move to The Cove, after he marries his mother, they will have their own bedrooms. Hearing that put a big smile on the boy’s face. The boy then asked the same sort of question that Rusty asked, and Mr. Ken told him to ask it again in the morning and that he can explain it better then.
The two shared a hug and Mr. Ken then left the room headed to Darrin’s room.
Darrin was waiting for Mr. Ken to arrive. He heard the man talking to his ‘brothers’, but he really didn’t know want they were talking about, as the conversation was somewhat muted or muffled.
When the two talked, Mr. Ken reassured the teen that until one of his extended family members came to claim him that he would remain at The Cove, that was, unless he did something stupid like use drugs or kill someone, teased the foster dad.
Darrin thanked his foster dad for saying that to him again. The teen told the man that he was still a bit unsure of his status there at The Cove, but now that he’d been told twice that he’ll be staying there until someone came to claim him, he felt somewhat more relieved.
Mr. Ken told the teen to continue to do well; to be a part of the ‘family’ and that everything should continue to work out for him. The two then hugged and Mr. Ken joined Kate out in the hallway.
Ken walked Kate to her bedroom and the two talked some about their busy day and what they needed to talk about tomorrow, especially about the boys having their own bedrooms. The two then shared a few passionate kisses and hugs before Ken went down to his retreat.
After getting ready for bed, Ken Thomas sat on the edge of his bed and thought some more about the day, and what his son, Robert, talked to him about. He really didn’t want the boy to work, but the teen had this internal desire to work, and that he will probably give in to him because of what his dad, his biological dad, did to him.
He also knew that Kate wasn’t too keen on her boys showering with the older boys, but he could always make Phillip’s bathroom, her boy’s bathroom for them to use, which should alleviate the problem of the two much younger boys having to see the older naked male bodies.
Ken then thought about his finally getting to marry the woman he’d been after for the longest while. He started to think about where did he want to take her on their honeymoon and for how long. He also knew that he needed to establish some level of parental oversight on the boys so he could make decisions for them in Kate’s absence. He knew that was only one of the many issues they had to address before they married.
Ken Thomas finally turned off the lights in his master bedroom, and he crawled under the covers. He lay there still thinking of the, too many, things they had to do and before he knew it, he was fast asleep. And as he slept, so did the whole household full of people. There was not a sound in the house, as they all slept well.
The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com
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