It was raining in Milwaukee. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Richard Cunningham was in his office at the Milwaukee Journal when he got a telephone call. It turned out to be his mother, Marion Cunningham.
"Richard, you'll never guess what happened!" Marion said.
Richie could guess that his mother sounded excited for some reason.
"What, Mom? You sound excited," Richie said.
"It's about your father, Richard."
"What about Dad, Mom? You can tell me," Richie said.
"Your father got something in the mail, asking to be on television," Marion told Richie.
"No kidding, Mom? What would Dad to on TV?" Richie asked.
He knew Howard had never been on television before.
"Have you ever heard of that show "Tool Time?" Marion asked.
"Sure, Mom. Lori Beth and I watch it," Richie said.
He mostly watched Tool Time more than Lori Beth did, so he knew the show.
"Your father got asked to go on that show," Marion said.
"Does Dad know any details on this?" Richie asked.
"Sure he does, Richard," Marion said.
"Let me talk to him," Richie said.
"He's at the hardware store," Mrs. Cunningham said.
"This is news, Mom. I can't talk longer. I have to get back to work," Richie told his mother.
"All right, Richard. Come to dinner tonight and bring Lori Beth, Richie Jr. and Sarah with you and we'll talk more about this whole TV business your father has going on. See if Arthur can make it," Marion said.
"I don't think we can make it tonight, Mom. Sorry. We've got plans with the Malphs tonight. We were already asked to eat at their house," Richie told Marion.
Marion understood that her son had plans.
"All right, Richard. We'll talk about it some other time, but this news is exciting," Marion said.
"I bet it is, Mom. Listen, I really have to go now. I'm in the middle of working on my column. I'll chat later. I'll pass it on to Ralph and the others," Richie said and he and Mrs. Cunningham were finally off the telephone.
Later that evening, Richie and his family were at the Malph residence and the adults were chatting while the children were in the playroom downstairs. Richie Jr. was the oldest, so he was in charge of the young ones. "Ralph, my mother called me at the paper today," Richie said.
"What did Mrs. C. call for today?" Ralph asked, starting to get an interest in the conversation.
"Yeah, Cunningham, do tell," their best friend Arthur Fonzarelli said.
"I'm getting there, Fonz," Richie said.
"Is it something I haven't heard yet, Richie?" Lori Beth asked.
"I don't know if you know or not yet, Lori Beth," Richie said.
"Then tell us, Rich, then she'll recognize the news or not," Ralph said.
"Okay, I'll tell," Richie said.
"Here's the news: Mom said Dad's going to be on that one show "Tool Time," Richie said.
"That's cool. I've seen that show," Fonzie said.
Ralph also thought that was cool as well.
"Imagine, Fonz. Mr. C. going on TV!" Ralph said.
"Tell Mr. C. congrats for us, Cunningham," Fonzie said.
"I will, Fonz," Richie said.
Karen got up from the dining room table and went to the playroom to check on the children.
"Don't worry about the children, Sweetcakes. Richie Jr. is a teenager, you know. He's in charge, remember?" Ralph reminded his wife.
"Still, Ralphie, he had that DUI a while back. That's why I'm still going to check on the children anyway," Karen said to Ralph.
"All right," Ralph said and watched his wife head to the playroom.
"So, Lori Beth, have you heard that news before about Mr. C. going on television?" Ralph asked to keep the conversation going.
"No. This is news, Ralph," Lori Beth said, finding it interesting herself.
Fonzie had his steady girlfriend, Beverly Nelson with him as well at Ralph and Karen's house. At the time, Karen had been pregnant for four months now. For a long time she couldn't get pregnant, but they now are on their way to getting their first child. Ralph and Karen had to adopt two children from an orphanage in California that needed a home NOW, so they did. Karen had to do the adopting on a weekday, so Ralph was out of the question to take the children with her back to Milwaukee that one day because he was busy teaching his piano class at Jefferson High School. They now have two adopted boys a thirteen – year – old named Norman and an eight – year – old named Jay. So far they haven't been any trouble for Ralph and Karen since Karen had brought them home.
Fonzie and Beverly are on their way to getting engaged, so that would be a while from now. They will be living in a house that his niece, Kylie Blake and her husband, Danny will be leaving him once they leave for Los Angeles. She is a lawyer, but recently got a partnership job with Perry Mason. Danny is a landlord, but their three daughters, Claudia, Heather, and Daphne will be staying behind in Milwaukee with their families and children. Daphne is the youngest of the three and is a minister and is happy with the church she is preaching for. Claudia doesn't have any steady work of her own yet, but she goes from job to job when called on. She even does her daddy's work from time to time in his apartment building he works for. She might be the next landlady when he and Kylie move to Los Angeles. Heather is a hairdresser and enjoys her job with hair. She is the second oldest in the Blake family while Claudia is the oldest.
Karen came back to the dining room and joined Ralph and the others.
"Anyone up for dessert? It's cheesecake," she said.
They were up for it, all right. Lori Beth got up to help Karen put the dishes in the kitchen. Even Beverly helped while the men stayed in their seats and chatted about the TV business that Howard was about to do.
"That is cool, Cunningham. Your father going to be on television. Who knows, maybe he will take us along for family audience?" Fonzie said, making the conversation interesting.
"I don't know, Fonzie. That is a thought. I don't know how Tim Taylor does his audience seating," Richie said.
"What if Mr. C. gets nervous? He might need advice from the Fonz," Fonzie said.
"Dad nervous? Nah. You know Dad hardly ever gets nervous, Fonz," Richie reminded his best friend.
"True, Cunningham, but it could happen," Fonzie pointed out.
Richie knew Fonzie was right. Fonzie usually was always right, even when they were best friends from the time when he, Ralph and a best friend of his were in high school and college in the old days. Now it is in the 2000's and he, Ralph Malph, and their best friend Potsie Webber were married and Fonzie was on his way to getting engaged to a beautiful girl and on his way to a wedding. Fonzie even asked his minister niece if she could marry him and Tiffany, which Daphne had fallen for.
Richie knew Daphne was a few years older than his son, but married and had children of her own. Richie remembered the time Daphne had married her parents, which wasn't very long ago, but her parents were single when she and her two older sisters were younger. Richie and Ralph watched their friend kiss Tiffany. He and Ralph could tell they were on their way to an engagement all right.