Chapter 1- Old Dog, Old Tricks
If Mildred could see me now, she would be rolling in her grave. My name is Oscar. Oscar Wildman. And, true to my name I was a wild man back in my heyday. I met my wife in high school. I didn't know it then, but, still, that's when I met her. I was a junior and she was, can you believe this, only in the sixth grade! A five-year age gap. It doesn't mean anything when you're forty-eight and forty-three. However, when you're seventeen and twelve it suddenly means a world of difference. Of course, our great romance didn't start until she was sixteen and I was twenty-one.
Were we sexually active? Well, all I'll say is a gentleman never kisses, and tells. What I will say is that we got married the week after she graduated high school, and our marriage lasted twenty-seven years until she died three years ago of cancer.
I miss her dearly.
Mildred. My beloved Mildred is survived by me, and our five sons. Indeed, nine months after we were married Mildred gave birth to my oldest son, Carl. Three years later she gave me Wyatt. Three years after that she gave me Franklin. And two years after that she gave me two sons, Jasper and Holiday.
I love my sons dearly, but, Mildred and God as my witnesses, I have always wanted daughters and I didn't even get one!
Mildred and I raised our boys well though. We did the very best we could. They are all hard workers, and as far as I know, they are all relatively good men. However, they do have a few major failings, and one of them is that all of them are obsessed with gaming. Now, I am not saying that recreation and entertainment are bad. However, they take it to the point where they are neglecting all their domestic duties. Things they could help me out with since they're living here in my house rent-free. They don't associate with anyone, except their mother when she was alive. And most grievous of all, they completely neglect their wives and girlfriends. Other than that, if they have any other major flaws, then those are ones only their wives and girlfriends know about, not me.
It's a shame too, because all five of them have amazing women. Every one of those young women somehow reminds me, in some strange way I can't quite put my finger on, of my beloved Mildred. And yet, my five doofus sons come home every day from work, march down to the basement, plop their behinds in chairs or on a couch, and game while also watching whatever sporting event is on from three to four in the afternoon until twelve to three the next morning.
How could I possibly know this, you might be wondering? Well, that would be because they are all living with me. All five boys, along with their wives or girlfriends.
Carl and Jenny were the first to move back home. At the time he was twenty-five and she was twenty. They had already been married for two years by then. They had a home and all the toys, which included every gaming console ever made. And, they were just about to the point where Jennifer felt they were ready for her to start trying for a baby when the economy tanked.
Wyatt and Bridget were the second to come home. At the time he was twenty-two and she was twenty-one. They were also married for two years when the economy tanked. They were renting an apartment at the time, and like his older brother, Wyatt had every gaming console ever made.
Unfortunately, those consoles and games didn't help them when their mortgage and rent skyrocketed. Those games didn't help when food prices, gas prices, utilities quadrupled, and more. Those games and consoles didn't help at all when they could no longer afford--anything!
Franklin avoided moving back home simply by being nineteen and the fact that he was still living at home while he was going to a trade school. Then, one day after his brothers moved back with their wives, he came home with Heather who was seventeen at the time. He didn't say much to anyone else but he did talk to his mother about it, and then Mildred talked to me. What I was told was that he was rescuing her from an abusive stepdad. To everyone else, she was simply his girlfriend and moved into his room with him.
Jasper and Holiday didn't even have a chance to move out before the economy crashed. They were seventeen and still in high school. Still, after watching Franklin bring his girlfriend home, they decided that they could bring theirs home as well. Of course, there was a string of girlfriends. A short string thankfully before they finally found two girlfriends who stayed despite being ignored most of the time. Charlotte and Kelly.
They moved in two years ago. A year after Mildred passed away. Jasper and Holiday were twenty while Charlotte was seventeen and Kelly was sixteen. I'm not sure how it works between those four since Jasper and Holiday have always shared a room, but I imagine it is cramped.
Now, I must say, Mildred and I cautioned the boys about living in debt, however, they didn't listen. They never listen. So, when the economy tanked they lost their toys and then their homes, and then their credit scores. With nowhere to go Carl and Wyatt called Mildred and begged to come home just to lick their wounds and save up some money and pay off some debts. That was five years ago. Thankfully, none of my sons and their wives and girlfriends had any children at that time. I guess it was good, in a way, since they had two years with Mildred they otherwise probably wouldn't have had, and in those last two years Jennifer, Bridget, and Heather really helped me out a lot with caring for Mildred. I couldn't have done it without them.
After Mildred's death, a lot of things changed and nothing has changed. The boys spend more time than ever gaming. Her death didn't spark any epiphanies that life was short and every moment should be meaningful to them and the ones they love and to those who love them. No. Well, actually, yes they did have an epiphany of sorts. It just wasn't one any of us outside their little gaming circle hoped for.
They barely bathe. The basement smells like something died in it. They go to work, but that's all they do. They don't try to connect with their wives and they certainly don't try to connect with me. That leaves Jenny, Bridget, Heather, Charlotte, and Kelly very very alone most times. Sure the ladies have each other for company, but come on, they got married or have boyfriends for a reason, you know?
I, on the other hand, spend a lot of time keeping the property maintained which is about a hundred acres that my grandfather owned, and his father before him. I make a tidy side profit by cutting and baling hay for the local cattle and horse farms. When I'm not doing that, then I am tending the gardens. And when I'm not baling hay or tending the gardens, I'm out in the barn working on my truck or my tractor. And, of course, I'm fifty-three so I'm nowhere near retirement age so I also still have work full time. Man! I wish Mildred was still here with me!
"Good evening Daddy!" Kelly purred as she came into the barn, held the door open for Charlie, and then closed the door softly behind her before following Charlie into the barn.
Charlie was holding a tray with a napkin to cover the food. Beneath the napkin was a lunch prepared by Jennifer. Something grand by the smell of it, and it was making my mouth water already.
"How's the tractor Daddy?" Charlie asked as she set the tray down and walked over to look at the tractor with interest.
The boys call me 'dad' and used to call Mildred 'mom'. That was always expected and encouraged. So, it was strange at first, but welcome, when, by extension of their relationship with our boys, Jennifer, Bridget, Heather, Charlie, and Kelly started calling me 'dad' or 'daddy' and Mildred 'mom'.
