Picket Fences! Part 45

Picket Fences! Part 45




Over at Arlene and Jimmy's place . . .



It was time for their son David's first birthday.

Jimmy brought a very happy infant to his birthday cake.



He helped David blow out the candles.



Invited guests Larry, Kevin, Nancy, Emily . . .



Nathan, Joy and Sam twirled the clappers and blew the birthday horns.



Jimmy did the "baby toss" and David returned to his arms a cute toddler.



David has black hair, brown eyes and medium skintone like both his parents.





Larry played with his grandson most of the afternoon. He was able to teach David to walk.



"Your dad looks so cute playing with David", said Nancy.

"Yeah, he's taken to being a grandpa like a duck to water", said Kevin.



"Do you like being married?", asked Nathan.

"Yeah, I'm happier than I've ever been", said Jimmy.

"I'm thinking about asking Julie to be engaged", said Nathan.

"That will be great. Her and Arlene are best friends. We can all hang out together", said Jimmy.



When the party ended the guests left to go home.



Over at Rhys' place when he got home from Claudia's house, he told Noah and Ryan to sit down. He had something important to tell them.



"Boys I know y'all and Kevin are best friends, which makes what I'm going to tell you a little easier to swallow. You see, Kevin's your brother."



"Wow, that's cool! I got two big brothers", said Noah.



"Why didn't you tell me before now?", asked Ryan.



"Kevin didn't know until now. He asked me if I was his dad and I told him the truth. I couldn't tell you before him."



"That don't change nothing. We're all still be best friends, right?", said Noah.



"Sure", said Ryan.



"It's cool with me", said Noah, "Can I tell Mom?"

"She already knows", said Rhys, "You better head on home, she'll be waiting for you."



Noah said his goodbyes and left to go home.



Meanwhile over at the church . . .



"YOU, you're my father! I'm a preacher's son?", said Ryan.



"I loved Grace and she loved me. It was only on that one occassion that things got out of hand. She didn't tell me when she discovered she was pregnant. She went away that summer supposingly to stay with an aunt who was ill. We remained friends when she returned to Buford Falls, but we never talked about what had happened.



"Let's go over to the parsonage. There's some other things you need to know."

"Alright preacher", said Ryan.

"You can call me Joseph", he said.



"As I said before Grace never told me about you. I didn't find out I had a son until my grandson moved to town", said Joseph.

"Rhys . . . he lives here in Buford Falls?", asked Ryan.



"After Grace died her lawyers contacted Rhys and told him he was Grace's heir. She left everything she owned to the boy", said the pastor.



"Yes, I imagine she would since she believed I was dead", said Ryan.



"Why did you let everyone, including Grace, think you were dead?", asked the pastor.

After Rhys' mama died I had a hard time dealing with it. I started drinking to forget. Rhys was just a toddler and I wasn't able to care of myself, much less him. Things got pretty bad and social services came and got him. I got help with my drinking problem, then I joined up with the crew that was building the Hoover Dam. Many of the workers were killed during it's construction, so I just thought at the time, it was the best thing for everyone to believe I was one of the many. That way I could get a fresh start", explained Ryan.



"I figured Rhys would have been adopted by a nice couple who wanted a child. He was an extremely beautiful little boy. I wonder why he stayed in the orphanage all those years", said Ryan.

"I don't know, but maybe after Grace heard you were dead, she wanted to keep Rhys where she would know where he was. I guess by leaving him her estate she was trying to make it up to him. Nobody but Grace will ever know for sure", said the pastor.



"You also have three grandsons here in town", said Joseph.

"Really, so Rhys is a family man. I'd love to meet my grandsons and his wife. Do you think Rhys would want to see me?", asked Ryan.

"He's a pretty forgiving person. Even after I told him about Grace and me, he and I became friends", said the pastor, "Oh, theres something else you should know. Rhys isn't married and never has been. He has the three boys with three diffent women in town."



Rev. Woods went over and picked up the telephone.

"Hello Rhys, can you come to the parsonage. There's someone here who wants to see you."



"Sure Grandfather, I'll be there in a few minutes", said Rhys.



When Rhys arrived his grandfather told him that Ryan was his father whom he believed was dead.

"Where have you been?", asked Rhys.



"I'll try to explain that to you", said Ryan.

"Sure, start explaining", said Rhys.



Then Ryan told Rhys the same story he had told Joseph.



"I know saying I'm sorry doesn't change what happened, but I hope you can try to understand", said Ryan.



"I always wished my dad was alive and now you are. I don't want to lose you again. Ain't nobody perfect", said Rhys.



Then Rhys gave his dad a hug.



"Thank you Joseph. I appologize for what I said in the cemetary", said Ryan.



Then he gave his father a hug.



"Come 'mon with me to my place. We got a lot of catching up to do", said Rhys.

"Thanks", said Ryan.



Then Ryan left to go home with Rhys . . .



And arrived soon afterwards.



"Ryan, I got someone I want you to meet". said Rhys, "This gentleman is Ryan Sawyer, your grandpa."



"Hey Ryan, I'm glad to meet my namesake", said Ryan Sr.

"Glad to meet you, too", said Ryan.



While the two Ryans were getting to know each other, Rhys called Delivery and ordered a pizza.


The pizza delivery girl arrived in just a few minutes.



Ryan accepted the delivery.



"Now that I've finished work, do you want me to stay and hangout?", asked Marie.

"Sure, come join us for lunch", said Ryan.



He took the pizza into the kitchen.



"Where's Grandpa been all these years?", asked Ryan.

"It's a long story. I'll let him tell you", said Rhys.



"Well, I came here with the intention of seeing my mother. I guess I should have expected she'd be dead by now. I didn't realize so much time had passed", said Ryan Sr.



"I remember Grace. She was a nice lady. She would always give me a generous tip", said Marie.



"We got a guest room, if you want to stay with us for a few days", said Rhys.

"Thank you, I believe I will", he said.




"You certainly grew up looking very well", Marie told Ryan.

"Thanks, I'm glad you noticed", he said.



"We got a hottub out on the patio. You want to go get in?", asked Ryan.

"Sure, not too many people around here have one of those", she said.



Ryan got in the hottub and . . .



Asked Marie to join him.



"You been delivering pizza to our house for a lot of years. How well do you know my dad?", asked Ryan.

"Not as well as I know you. When you were a kid, you would always accept the delivery", said Marie.

"Yeah, I remember", said Ryan.



Then he asked her to cuddle.



She gave him a tender kiss.



They madeout.



He asked her to do woo hoo and she said YES!



Woo Hoo!



"That was incredible", they both agreed.



"Thank you for a wonderful afternoon", said Ryan.



"I got to go", she said, jumping out of the hottub.



Now he understood what his dad ment when he said "Being goodlooking makes it easier. It only took one look and Marie was like putty in his hands".



Rhys and his father were chatting in the livingroom when the telephone started ringing.



Rhys answered it . . .

"Hello!", he said.



"Rhys, can you come over?", asked Regan.

"Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes", he said.



"I got some important business to take care of, I'll be back as soon as I can", Rhys told his dad.



He met Ryan coming down the hall.

"I got to go somewhere. Entertain your grandpa while I'm gone", said Rhys.



Then he left to go to Regan's place.





He arrived in just a few minutes. Regan greeted him with a romantic hug.



"What's wrong with you Beautiful?", he asked.

"I'm pregnant", she said.,"I can't have a baby. I want to be a model. It's no way I can fit a baby into my schedule."

"Let's sit down and talk about it", said Rhys.



"Listen, you've been given a precious gift that's non-returnable. You'll make time in your schedule for it once it's born", said Rhys.

"I guess you'll right", she said.



"Rhys, I didn't intend for this to happen", said Regan.

"Yeah, I know. Me either", said Rhys.



"Don't worry, everything will be alright", he said.


Then he gave her a romantic kiss.



"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything. Just have us a beautiful, healthy baby", said Rhys.

"Alright", she said.



To be continued . . .