CHAPTER 168: HOLY SHIT, HE BOUGHT WHAT?

Constantine walked up to the main house thinking of every possible way to talk to Mr. Zach to tell him what he had been weighing on his mind. Zach was sitting in the swing and surprised Constantine by speaking first.

"So that didn’t take you long. What is your decision—are you going to carry them, or did you tell him no?"

"Sir, since I met him today at breakfast, I felt something deep inside of me stir, that intensified at lunch. Tonight at the diner we spoke about our futures and what we both wanted. Jake is an amazing man—yes, he’s older than me and yes, he’s human, but he is a good man and would be a great provider for any child born into the relationship. But I also know that you told me I had to wait until I could conceive a child." Constantine took a breath. "Mr. Zach, I’m asking you for your permission to pursue a relationship with Jake, and when I go into my next cycle, that it’s okay for me to conceive and birth his son. If you tell me yes, I would appreciate it, but if you tell me no, I definitely understand. I may not agree with it and it may not make me happy, but I will honor your agreement with me."

"Constantine, have a seat beside me. Are you happy when you’re near him, and does he treat you with respect?" Zach asked gently.

"Sir, the first time he kissed me tonight I tingled from the end of my nose to the tops of my toes, and my vent started to itch, so I guess you could say I am very happy to be around him. And as far as respect—he purchased 5 acres of land from Ed Hawthorne which butts up to your place in front of our cottages in that section. He is coming over with plans tomorrow with a contractor so that he can start on my home for me and my family. My brothers will have room in our home. And if anything happens to him, full ownership of the property is mine and any children which I might have birthed. In fact, the property already belongs to me and is deeded out to Constantine Freeman Traylor." Constantine’s voice grew tender. "He’s already given me his name—that’s how much he cares for me."

"Well Constantine, I’m not one to stand in the way of true love, and I think Jake Traylor was finally bitten by the bug—he fell in love with you. I could see it in his eyes the first time he caught a glimpse of your red hair, so yes, you have my permission to consummate a relationship and conceive a child, or as many children as the two of you want to have. And if you want to take his name, that’s even better. You can drop the Freeman name if you want to—that’s totally up to you. I wish the best to both of you," Zach smiled warmly.

"Mr. Zach, we also have someone coming in who’ll be helping out and working for Traylor Corp. He’s from the community and he’ll be here tomorrow for a meeting about a business venture that we’ve got going on. I’ll let you know more on that after I talk to Donnie, Chas and Stephen."

"The young man is a contractor by trade—an electrician and plumber—and he can do it all. His name is Malcolm Stirling. He seems to be a very high moral person who’s had a rough go of it after the death of his father and the economy took a downfall, forcing his mom to the city. He is a hunk—you better watch out because some of these Genmen around here will be trying to get all over that. He is very muscular, blonde hair, blue eyes, great tan, and resembles a well-bred Genman, but he’s pure human," Constantine explained.

"I’ll tell the guys to be careful—let them know that he’s not a Genman so don’t try to tap him, and not start nothing with him because he’s liable to tap them instead," Zach chuckled.

"I think he’s got better morals than that, Mr. Zach. He’s a very well-mannered, well-spoken, courteous young man. I really wish that Richie could’ve found someone like him, and don’t get me wrong—Doug’s okay, he’s just not my first choice for my brother, especially when he balked at the last minute when he was needed most," Constantine said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, Constantine. There was no other interested party—I just hope he’s kind and gentle with Richie," Zach replied.

"Mr. Zach, I’m going to the house for the night, and tomorrow we will have some meetings—Jake and myself along with Malcolm who’s going to be here about 2 o’clock. He has directions how to get to our cottage, but if you see a good-looking blonde hunk walking around like he’s lost, please help him out."

"You can count on that, Constantine. I won’t let the boy get into no trouble," Zach assured him.

Constantine went to his cabin where Chas was sitting on the couch waiting along with Eli. Rusty had already gone to bed.

"Okay, give it up. We need the dirty details—what happened? Did he try anything with you? He may be old, but I bet he’s still tough," Chas said eagerly.

"Well let’s see, Chas—he held my hand, we talked, he gave me a kiss in the speeder when we pulled over, and he told me all about myself, so he was a bit surprised he’d already talked to someone, so there was no great big surprise. We had the milkshake, we ate supper which I prepared for the whole entire diner along with a couple of assistants. He bought me the diner and the Plaza and the travel stop and the motor lodge—just things like that," Constantine said casually.

"He did what? What the fuck did you just say he bought you, Constantine?"

"I said that he bought the entire Plaza which has three empty buildings, Sonja’s place, the ice cream diner, the 65-unit motor lodge next door and the travel Plaza across the road, and it’s a pre-wedding gift," Constantine replied matter-of-factly.

"Holy shit! Wait until dad hears about this—is he crazy or what? Wait a minute, you’re pulling my leg. He’s not that rich, he’s just trying to get into your vent, talking some sweet stuff hoping that maybe you’ll feel sorry for him, spin around and give him a little bit of the tight stuff," Chas said skeptically.

"No, Chas, he is not trying to get into my vent. He wants to wait until our joining night before we have our first time. You know how we wanted to know what’s going on with the property next door? Well that’s 5 acres right there that was marked off that belongs to Jake—he bought it for me. He’s building the boys and I a home, so when we have our first child, he can grow up in it. And just to let you know, I spoke to Mr. Zach. I didn’t tell him about the restaurant or anything on the Plaza or anything else—I asked him for permission to accept Jake’s proposal when he makes it, and he said yes. So when he asks me, I will say yes." Constantine pulled out some papers. "He showed me the preliminary sales contract and it’s listed with the owner as Constantine Freeman Traylor—the property belongs to me as of 12 noon tomorrow with the backing of Traylor Corp., which is wholly owned by Jake Traylor. And Chas—he’s the third richest man on the planet."

"Congratulations, Constantine. If anyone deserves it for all that you’ve gone through and holding your family together, you do," Chas said sincerely.

"Thank you, Chas, but hold off telling your dad please, because I want to get everyone together when I tell them. Just think—this place is up and running and with a little bit of repair it can be perfect. Your dad, me and yourself can give it a test run before Donnie’s Place opens up in the new Museum area. Just think of it, plus get this—two of the buildings are going to be made into a market area so we can sell off the extra vegetables from the gardens here to bring in more money for the Z1 and the programs that we do here for the community. And with all the people we’ve got here working and running over each other, the new contractor for the place can utilize Genmen and pay them scale wages so that they can earn even more money to buy some nicer things that they want," Constantine explained excitedly.

"You mean we can cook at this diner some of our great recipes and people would eat it?" Chas asked.

"I made seasoned fried starbird with mashed potatoes and gravy and greens with fresh biscuits tonight, and I sold out of everything that there was in the kitchen. The old man that owned it had never had anything like that—he ate the meal and congratulated me on it. The people that ate could not believe how good it was. Rangy old starbirds—we got our hands full of them, we raise them by the thousands and use their eggs everywhere. Potatoes we grow, the greens grow out here like stink weeds—yes, it’s an instant hit. We just have to convince your dad to help us out before he births," Constantine said enthusiastically.

Constantine couldn’t wait until the next morning so that he could tell everybody the great news about the diner, and then he and Jake could share their news with everyone.