10 days later
As luck would have it, our son Jake came down with a 102-degree fever and an agonizing sore throat hours before we were supposed to head up to Tahoe.
"Scott, maybe you should just go without me." Hailey's disconsolate voice sounded through the speaker of my cell phone. "Dr. Phillips is sure it's strep, but the earliest they can get him in for an antibiotic shot is 3:00 p.m. this afternoon."
"Fuck"
, I cursed under my breath. The entire week had already felt like an eternity. My excitement level had been off the charts and now I was faced with the likelihood of my plan falling apart at the last minute.
But I wasn't ready to give up.
"Honey, we could really use the time away. I still don't think my mom would object to taking them. She raised three of her own and me and my brothers were constantly bringing home every cold or flu known to man. Besides, as I recall, once they get the antibiotic shot, they're usually good the following morning, right?" I reasoned, even though I knew I was being selfish to suggest it.
"Yes...but I would feel incredibly guilty if your parents were stuck inside with sick kids all weekend. Especially over the holiday. Or worse, what if they get sick themselves?"
"I will call my mom to confirm, but I can assure you she will tell me to bring them over. And don't forget they're retired, so weekends are like any other day of the week to them. And knock on wood, my mom and dad are two of the healthiest people I know."
"If you're sure Scott...tell her we owe them big time if they're still up for doing it."
*****
5:00 p.m.
I looked at my watch for the umpteenth time. Jake was finally in with the doctor. Something had gone wrong with the medical office computer system earlier in the afternoon and messed up their schedule for the past several hours.
My plan of getting up to Tahoe by 4:00 p.m. and getting Hailey drunk before we got to the cabin was long ago out the window. And to make matters worse, my navigation app was already saying the typical four-hour drive was going take closer to six with Friday night holiday traffic.
I texted Darnell and told him the earliest we would make it up to the place after stopping for dinner would be midnight. He responded back with a black sad face emoji but encouraged us to drive safely. He said they made great progress and were confident they would finish getting all the new flooring down by the following afternoon.
I told him I was impressed they had finished so much and encouraged him to help themselves to anything they wanted from my bar for a job well done.
His response came back a few minutes later with a black thumbs-up emoji and a photo of a big bottle of Jameson with a couple of glasses next to it perched on the mahogany surface.
"Damn nigger. They ain't gonna make it up here till fuckin' midnight!" Darnell complained to his young sidekick.
"That's fucked up bro! I didn't even jack off this morning--I was saving it up to paste them big white titties! Now my nuts are all swollen and shit!"
Both men laughed.
"I'm witcha on that thin man. But if we're not gonna pound Scott's old lady tonight, let's pound his booze, test out his Jacuzzi and then head over to that titty bar we saw on the way in."
*****
One hour later
Hailey and I were sitting in traffic on Hwy. 580 heading over the Altamont Pass. "God Scott, your parents are saints. I hope we are half as good a grandparents someday. We are so lucky to have them. It sucks we lost out on today at the lake house, but I'm still excited to have three days without kids." She flashed a naughty gaze in my direction and bit her bottom lip.
"Oh yeah, what are you most excited about?" I asked with a hopeful grin while blatantly checking out the deep crease between her exposed cleavage.
"Hmm...we'll have to see..." She answered impishly before shimmying over and uncharacteristically rubbing my crotch. "Let's just see what pops up!"
"You do that for long and I'll do more than just pop
up
!" I laughed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but I might
actually
pop!"
Hailey giggled teasingly. "Then I better stop. I don't want you to pop
too fast
, mommy needs some of her own bubbles too!"
"That's a low blow. Where's your confidence in my legendary stamina hun?"
"Legendary?"
She questioned and this time we both erupted in laughter. She pulled away, but her playful interaction suggested she was feeling promiscuous without the kids around. I excitedly thought that while my plan hadn't gone as hoped today, I still had three more days for it to come together.
"So remind me again what their schedule is this weekend." Hailey asked.
"Who?"
"The installers, Darnell and...uh...what's the other guy's name?"
"Leon."
"Yeah Leon. What's their plan?"
"They arrived at noon today and ripped up all the old stuff. Darnell texted me earlier and said they made great progress and was confident they'd have the new wood down and sanded before they finish for the day tomorrow. They'll spend Sunday and whatever time they need on Monday applying finish coats of lacquer."
"I still think it's a little weird you invited them to sleep downstairs. Couldn't we just have rented them a hotel?"
I thought to myself,