Just a brief note to say - Bonus day!

Its over 50k. 

Doesn't the cat look so excited?

But, in celebration, here's a snippet -

“But what are you going to do if something happens to your parents?  Have you thought about that?”

“I did.  Not a lot I can do.  If something major happens, Paul’s family is here in town to help with that.  Something minor happens, they’d let me know, but other than that, not a lot I could do either way.”

“It just seems selfish to me.”

“I can see that.  But from my point of view, it’s no different than what your dad did back when he went to Iraq as a contractor – except that if something really bad happens, I won’t be able to make it back home for a funeral.”

“That’s another thing – your grandparents are really getting up in age. . .”

“Jesus Christ Rose! Leave the boy alone.”  My grandfather Brumbar wandered over from where he had been holding court, spoiling the hell out of his great grandchildren.

“Father.  Language.  You’re going to teach the kids . . .”

“What?  Some of the most common words in the English language?  For fucks sake daughter, leave the boy alone.  He’s earned the right to make his own decisions.”

Aunt Rose flounced off, and my grandfather sank into the chair beside me.  He leaned his cane against the side of the chair, then pulled out his pipe.  Loading it, he stoked it up and looked at me.

“Ya know, she’s never really forgiven me for that trip I took to Iraq when she was four.  She’s enjoyed the hell out of the benefits she got from the money I made, but she’s always been more than a little pissed that I was out of her life for five years.”

“Yeah, and then coming home and having dad probably didn’t help either.”

“Oh hell no.  She was a bit of a princess by the time she was nine.  The baby really ground her gears,” he said pausing to draw on his pipe.  “So, you ready for this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”