My niece, Sarah is about 5'2", slender, very attractive with strawberry blonde hair and freckles, soon to be twenty two years old.
It had been years since I had come to visit, my wife had passed a little over five years earlier, and I just hadn't been in the right frame of mind to visit anyone. Luckily, her brother Jack and his family had given me the space I needed. We hadn't seen each other for quite a long time until I had taken Becki to Jack's BBQ place. I had promised them I'd come visit again sometime. They lived in a really rural part of the state, so visits to or from had to be planned.
I had gone over to Jack and Donna's house for lunch one Sunday and the subject of Sarah going to college was the primary topic. She had gotten most of her general education classes taken care of in the local community college in the town I live in which was probably about thirty to forty minutes from their house. The only college that had the major in Logistic she wanted, was easily another forty-five minutes past my house.
Both Jack and Donna were concerned about Sarah making at least an hour and half drive one way every day and that they couldn't swing the costs of the dorm. Sarah had suggested that she could get a part time job to help pay for an apartment, but her parents wanted her focus to be on school. She had argued that since she was almost twenty-two, she was more than capable.
I said, "I have an idea. I have an unused spare bedroom, Sarah is more than welcome to use that, and it'll cut her commute by over half each way. Also, I'll be close by in the event she needs anything. No rent, just clean up the room and any messes you make." I winked at her, "I'll clean up my own messes. The added bonus is that I have some experience in Supply Chain Management and some of the methods and technologies used, not to mention quite a few books on the subject, also all free. Plus you guys know exactly where I live, so you can drop by anytime you want."
Jack and Donna began to use all the normal excuses about not wanting to inconvenience me. I assured them and said, "It would be my pleasure to help out. And, if I'm being perfectly honest, it'd be nice to have another person in the house, plus Butch is tired of looking at me all the time."
Jack asked me to speak with him on the patio. "Jamison, are you sure about this? She thinks she's a grown woman, but she's still got plenty of kid-like traits..."
I smiled, "Jack, trust me, Kelly and I raised Kimberly and she went to the same school, so I'm more than familiar with all aspects of what to expect. Plus, I know you guys were worried about her getting an apartment and I completely understand that. When Kimberly got to her apartment, I didn't sleep for a month, just waiting for the call to drive down there and kill some boy."
Jack started laughing. "Jamison, I trust you and the fact that my sister trusted you, well, that's good enough for me. I want to talk this over with Donna though and get her thoughts on it, okay?"
"Jack, all you guys, Sarah included, have to be the ones to agree to this. I am just making the offer."
He walked in and asked Donna to come speak with him. Sarah walked out to the patio and said, "Thank you so much for offering me the use of your spare bedroom. I promise I'll be a good house guest. Plus, I've not seen Butch in years and miss him."
I laughed, "Butch may not remember you, but I assure you he still misses you." Sarah began to laugh. I pulled out my phone and showed her some recent pictures and videos of him being his normal annoying self.
She said, "I had forgotten what expressive, bright blue eyes he had. It's like he understands what you're saying to him!" We were both laughing at the pictures when Jack and Donna came back to the patio and asked what was so funny.
I showed them the pictures and videos of Butch and pretty soon they were laughing too. Donna asked, "What type of dog is he?"
I said, "Officially, Pomsky, part Pomeranian and part Husky, but between us, he's a hound, an attention hound." Everyone was laughing at that.
Jack and Donna asked to speak to Sarah and I left them on the patio and went inside and got a glass of water. I imagine they were asking Sarah what she thought of the idea and based on what she said, I think she liked the offer.
Jack had motioned for me to come out onto the patio. He said that they were very appreciative of the offer but still wanted to pay some money towards rent.
I smiled and said, "We can discuss that later. When do classes start?"
Sarah had said that, "Classes start in two weeks, but there is a new student orientation next week, Wednesday. "
I asked the obvious question, "So when do you want to move in? I don't think there's much I need to do to get ready, but I would like to wash and change the linens first. Maybe clean the hall bath."
Sarah quickly said, "I have my own linens and I can clean the bathroom as well. Is this weekend too early?"
I laughed, "not too soon at all. I have my truck with me, so I can take a load down tonight and have it in the room for you when you come down."
Jack asked Sarah to go check her room for anything I could take down. She had a huge smile and almost ran inside.
Donna said, "Jamison, thank you so much for offering to help us out. Sarah's a good girl, but sometimes she'll still act like a kid, so feel free to correct her as you see fit. We'll make sure she understands that as well and that she should treat you with the same respect she does us, okay?"
"You guys raised an awesome young man and young woman, they are both well behaved and well mannered people. While I don't expect any childish behavior from her, I'll remind her if I notice anything."
Jack shook my hand and almost seemed a bit misty eyed. I smiled, "I promise to only maim any young men that get out of line, so that you can finish them off." Both he and Donna began to laugh.
Donna said, "We're not fully convinced that she likes boys."
I laughed, "Then I'll address any unwanted advances and promise to only hurt them badly until you guys get here."
Donna asked, "Jamison, are you okay with the fact she may like girls?"
"Donna, we don't get to decide what makes our kids happy, they have to figure that out on their own. All we can do is support them and set good examples for them and Sarah could not hope for better examples of what a healthy relationship looks like than you and Jack." She gave me a big hug and I reached for Jack as well.
"Bring it in, big brother!" I heard the door open and Sarah ran out and joined the hug.
She said, "I love you guys! Thanks Uncle Jamison, I promise to be a good house guest and I also promise you'll never hear me."
We broke the family hug and I said, "Well that won't work, I'd like to chat with you whenever you want and I'll also be available for anything I can help with for your major. I may even cook us dinner occasionally, although I'm pretty sure that I will not be able to compete with your mom and dad, they are far better cooks than I am."
Everyone got a good laugh at that. I said, "It just hit me, I don't think we have a dresser in that room. So if you have one, I can take that down tonight. Also, please grab your phone and I'll give you my number. Here is the condition, you can call me whenever you want and if you need me, no questions asked, I'll drop everything and get to you as soon as humanly possible, fair?"
Sarah smiled, "That's better than fair, almost like I don't deserve this."
I smiled, "Don't think that way. If you were a different person, perhaps not, but you're good people, family even. Ready for my number?" She nodded and dutifully entered me as Uncle J. It almost appeared that everyone was a bit misty.
Jack snapped out of it. "Sarah, let's go and see what we can do to find a dresser."
