The next morning he started a plan for the near future. He wanted to stay very close to his boys and not be in an apartment away from them. He contacted a realtor after outlining his housing goal with Thomas Wilkes. His intention was to purchase property near where his former residence was located but outside the 1000 foot barrier outlined in the protection order. He would make sure that Bev knew exactly how far away he was living and how she could avoid contact but the boys could easily come to him instead of needing their mother to drive them.
Luckily there was a house for sale in the right distance from Bev's house and was not in a spot to interfere with her driving to and from her house. Thomas, at Chuck's direction, put in a bid on the house and then the realtor and Thomas visited the owners of the houses on either side of the house for sale and backing it. Within a few extra days the offer had been made sweet enough that Chuck would buy two adjoining houses.
The money put a good dent in the first money that he had gotten from the sale of his patent but Thomas had been in conference with other brands and they were all very interested and already discussing dollar amounts so any money he invested in a house and the outbuildings he was thinking of would be recouped in a matter of months.
After purchasing the properties he went to an architect and started to design the dream home that he and Bev had discussed when they were still loving together. This house would be large enough for the boys to each have their own room. It would have live-in quarters for a number of staff if needed. The garage would be huge as Chuck wanted to have a modest car collection. There would also be a pool, thus explaining the extra real estate needed. Part of the house would cover a lot of the pool during the winter and inclement weather conditions. There would be indoor and outdoor basketball area along with a huge media room where movies and games could be experienced in decadent comfort.
It was truly a dream home. Since the pool was to be a spa, hot tub, water park, with a grotto and a waterfall it was expected to run into the millions for the whole project. He pushed to get the project started as quickly as possible.
A few short weeks later things seemed to be becoming routine. He would visit with his in-laws on Wednesday evenings for a short time while playing with the boys. Then he would take them to his apartment or to some kind of event, usually involving exercise of some kind. They loved laser tag so they went at least every other Wednesday night to the local laser tag venue and had hours of fun. They would eat a good meal and then be back at their grandparents by 9:00. Chuck usually didn't stay long then as Bev would come very soon and take the boys home.
William and Gayle had re-opened a line of communication with their dastardly daughter. While not forgiving what she had tried to pull on Chuck, they had at least put it behind them enough, especially on Gayle's part, to be able to allow her into their home again. William reported to his son-in-law that he still had a hard time talking with Bev but he usually only had to speak with her a few minutes on Wednesday night when she picked up the boys since he wasn't home when she dropped them off. He did tolerate her some on the weekends when she picked the boys up after they had been with Chuck but she usually would keep her head down and keep conversation to a minimum. She spoke with her mother on the phone occasionally.
William did get the information through Gayle that Darcy was now living with Bev. Somehow Darcy's parents had gotten wind of what had happened, Chuck denied ever talking to them, and had banished her from their home. Gayle related to Chuck that they had left her a way home if she would just denounce Bev and refuse to have any contact with her but that Darcy was too involved with Bev at the moment to see any sense in her parents' reasoning.
Chuck just nodded when told this. The boys had already let him know that Darcy was there all the time now and sleeping in the master bedroom with their mother. The boys were still pretty innocent and didn't know about any other activities. At least Bev was trying to keep her sexuality behind closed doors right now.
Chuck shrugged his shoulders. He figured the boys probably already knew other kids their age who had two same-sex parents so it was not going to be that big of a deal when they figured it out. Their immediate concern was still why he wasn't living at home so they could be with him every day.
Then came the surprise visit from Darcy to his office. Chuck had decided to continue working for the foreseeable future so that Bev couldn't claim that he had hidden income if a divorce was filed. He now was not under any stress caused by needing to punch a time clock every day. He was more relaxed and actually more productive for the company now that he didn't have to work.
Anyhow, one afternoon the receptionist paged him to the lobby for a visitor. He fully expected Bev to have violated the protection order since he had not spoken directly to her since that fateful weekend at her parents. He was surprised to see Darcy waiting nervously at the front desk.
Since he had no idea what she wanted from him Chuck decided to take her to a small conference room where all proceedings were routinely recorded both audibly and visually. The company had found that they had a lot less contract hassles when video could be shown that laid out exactly what had been negotiated.
