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We all met at an excellent Chinese restaurant, called 'Spring Garden.'. Natalie looked wonderful in her blue dress.
The server lead soon lead us to a booth seat, and we all sat down. The place had gentle green carpeting, and lanterns with drawings on them.
"They have the best sweet and sour shrimp." I told her, remembering that it was one of her favorite dishes.
"I just might have that!" she looked at the menu.
"So...how's work going for ya?" Don asked her
"Well, today, I actually had a small, pot bellied,pig come into my clinic!" she said.
"That's unusual." I commented.
"I've heard that pigs are at least as smart as dogs" Don added, while sipping some water.
"Yeah, I believe it" Natalie assented. "This one was."
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"What are you getting, buddy?" Don asked me after a few minutes.
"I dunno" I shrugged.
Soon, the server came to offer us drinks. We all ordered something, and then she left. Dad had his arm around Natalie.
"Mom always loved sweet and sour pork. I think that I"ll get that today" I commented without thinking.
Dad and Don both gave me looks.
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I resolved to have a talk with Charlie later. Didn't he realize that his mother wouldn't want him to act this way?
The server returned, and we gave him our dinner orders.
"Natalie and I are going golfing tommorrow" I commented. I had finally convinced her to try it.
"Sounds fun!" Don said in a supportive tone.
"We're teeing off at nine" I added.
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"Just don't let Dad talk you into betting" I warned Natalie.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Don!"She smiled
Finally, the food came.
Dad and Natalie shared each other's food.Charlie and I stole each others . It was a game between us.
"That's gonna cost you, buddy" I said, when I caught him taking some of my chow fun. So I got some of his sweet and sour pork from the serving plate with my fork.
After a bit, we started to do a swordplay with the chopsticks.
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"That's enough!" I said in a loud, firm voice and repeated a speech that I had said too many times. "A restaurant is not a playground! And there are too many starving people in the world to be fighting over food!" It embarassed me that Natalie had to see this.
"Dad! Come on!" Don protested.
"yeah dad!"
In the end, they stopped.
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I tried to steal Don's food again, but he gave me a 'stop it' look. It wasn't fair that we couldn't play our usual games just because Natalie was there. After some time, a woman, with large earrings came to our table.
"Hey Dr. Core!"
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"Hey Amy! How are you? How's Empress Fluffy?" I asked. She was another regular.Her cat was a persian, who was often in shows.
"Wonderful! Her ear mite problem is just about gone." she smiled, and continued. "My but this is the weirdest coincidence!"
"Really?" I asked.
"I'm also here with my father, and brothers!" she said, pointed to a trio of men at a nearby table. Alan looked uncomfortable.
"Actually, he's not my dad. We're dating, and uh...those are his sons" I explained, pointing to Charlie and Don.
She laughed. "Good one! You always did have an odd sense of humor"
"That's my sis!" Charlie piped up, as Alan glared at him.
"Seriously, though" I insisted. "This is my boyfriend."
She looked over her shoulder. "Looks like they're waiting for me to order. I'll see you at Empress Fluffy's next checkup" With that she left.
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When the check came, Natalie wanted to pay for the food, but Dad wouldn't hear of it.
"I invited!" he insisted. "Let me pay."
"I want to pay!" she argued.
"Why don't Charlie and I pay?" I suggusted. I wanted to show Dad that we wanted to make an effort in regards to Natalie.
"You two can pay next time" Dad promised. The thought of a next time didn't make me a happy camper.
"I'll pay next time" Natalie argued.
"You three can figure it among yourselves." Dad got out his mastercard.
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Eventually, we left the restaurant.Natalie left in her car, and Dad followed her in his.
"Looks like it's just us, Buddy" Don said. I could barely make out his face in the dark parking lot.
"Yeah..."
"I almost choked on my beer when you said, 'that's my sis!' " he admitted. "That was funny!"
"They must get that all the time!" I remarked.
"I'm sure they do."
"They'll probably be mistaken for father and daughter at the golf course" I said, then added, seriously. "Mom would not have wanted Dad to date someone young enough to be our sister!" Dad acted different around Natalie. He would have been cool with our horseplay tonight if it hadn't been for her.
"Mom, whereever she is, realizes that Dad has to make his own choices in the dating department." Don told me. "And that this relationship is not going to last"
"Did you know that men, who are widowed or divorced, remarry faster than women?" I asked.
"Charlie! Come on! Besides, look on the bright side.At least Dad didn't get himself one of those mail order brides! Now that would have sucked!" He joked, trying to cheer me up.
"He'll probably get a couple for us, one of these days!" I chuckled.
Don laughed heartiliy. Just then, he got a call.
"Eppes" he answered with a sigh, and listened. Soon, he hung up. "I'm sorry, man. I gotta go."
So, we both went our separate ways.
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I woke up around seven thirty to my alarm clock slash CD player blaring "Start me up" from the Rolling stones. With a groan, I pushed the sleep button. We had a late night.Two mintues later, Alan woke me.
"We tee off at nine!" He insisted. I reluctantly got up, and noticed that he was already dressed.
"Good morning to you too!" I sighed, and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, and wash my face.
"I'm about to make French toast" He said "Your favorite. I've already got the batter done"
"Is there coffee?" I asked.
"Yes"
"Good."
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I made the French toast as she dressed. With that and caffeine in her system, Natalie's mood improved.
"Did you feed Rocko and Layla?" she asked.
"Yes, Layla made it a point to remind me" I replied, and noticed how well Charlie's golfhat suited her. I had borrowed it and lent it to her.
After breakfast, we went to the course. It wassunny, but not too hot.
"Damn!" She said when we were near the third hole. Her ball hadn't gone very far.
"You're not hitting the ball hard enough, andyou'relifting the club to soon" I advised, and did another demo.
When it was her turn, she did a little better.
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Golf is okay, I guess. Though why in God's name did we have to Tee off so early? Alan really knows his stuff. He doesn't take him long to get the ball to the hole.
"That's better!" he told me at the sixth hole. " But curve your swing at the end a little more" Alan then showed me what he meant. He was quite a patient teacher.
"Okay" I said and made my swing.
"Great shot!" He said encouragingly.
At one point, I lost my ball. I went to where I thoughtit had gone, but it was nowhere to be found.
"Let's just drop another one" He suggested.
"Okay." I agreed after looking for another minute. He got another one from the package. I then asked. "How long have you been golfing?"
"Ten years" he told me. "My friend Art introduced me to it."
After golf, we had lunch, and spent a quiet afternoon at my place; Alan did crosswords, while I read a Vet journal.
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After a while, Layla started to meow at the front door, and Rocko barked. Both wanted to be walked.
"Now?" Natalie asked them from her couch. I sat in the recliner.
"MEE-U-Ah-eh!" Layla insisted.
Natalie got the cat's harness, and the dog's leash. I walked Rocko, and she walked the cat. We really couldn't do this whole excercise together because unlike dogs, cats can't really be lead on leashes. The way it works with Layla is that basically, being on harness and leash gives her a chance to explore the outdoors, so that's what she does. All Natalie can do is make sure the cat stays safe.
"Come on Rocko!" I got the leash, and we both took a brisk walk. He was a very friendly dog. After a while,I returned to Nat's house. She and the cat returned a bit later.
"How'd it go?" she asked, while taking off the harness from the cat.
"Great!"
"A squirrel was teasing her from on top of a tree" she chuckled.
"It's not dumb!" I joked.
Soon, we both returned to our respective activities.
TBC