3/10/90

I had the house to myself today, because Lauren took the kids to see her grandfather and I was too tired to go on that long drive. I received a few prank calls while she was gone, I'd hear breathing on the other end of the line for a few seconds and then the person would hang up. It happened about four times, each one longer than the last.

Speaking of phones, I decided to buy one of these new things on the market called "mobile phones". Finally they have been created, too bad they weren't around when I was working at the palace. I purchased one today – it weighs about half a kilo, so I can't exactly take it everywhere, but I'm sure it will come in handy some day. It's pretty big, much like a brick, black in colour.

Anyway, when they got back, I told Lauren about how the person kept prank calling me and she said, "It happens all the time."

Then I said, "Really?"

And she replied, "Yeah."

I thought it was strange that she'd never mentioned it before.

9/10/90

Well I got a new job, ironically as a bouncer at the same club that I worked at before it closed down. The new owners have brought it up to date with the times, so it should attract more business now. Lauren got a new job as well, except hers is during the day, she's a beauty consultant at the fancy make-up shop in the shopping center. I'm proud of her, she hasn't had a job in years.

27/10/90

I am so excited, my son asked me for love advice today. He came in when I was sitting in the lounge reading the paper and asked me if I'd take a walk with him. I said I would, so I finished off the article I was reading and put on my coat. We walked along the beach and he said, "Dad, I need to ask you something…"

"What is it?"

"Well, I was just thinking that since Catherine and I get along really well, we must be in love…"

I smiled and put my arm around his shoulder, "What is it you want to know?"

"How can you tell when you're in love?"

"Well, in the morning you don't need to drink coffee to force yourself awake because the promise of seeing her is more than enough to get you going, the smile on her face makes you melt inside, you can get lost in her eyes for hours at a time, breathing in her scent makes you higher than a kite…"

"Dad?"

"Yes, son?"

"I'm in love."

I kissed his forehead, "I'm so happy for you."

He picked up a seashell and threw it in the water, "That's not all I wanted to ask you."

"Really? Spill…"

"She asked me if I wanted to take the next step in our relationship."

"Which is?"

He gave me a strange look, "She wants to…to…"

"Make love?"

He couldn't say yes quick enough, "But I'm scared that I'll get her pregnant or I'll hurt her or something. We've been learning about it in school and it sort of put me off."

I laughed, "And did you also learn that if you act responsibly and use protection, the chances of impregnating her are slim to nil?"

"Yes, but we also learnt about what happens if it fails."

"Ah…well the odds of that happening are pretty low and even if you did happen to get her pregnant, I'm sure you'd make a great father."

He smiled, "I would?"

"Sure. Just like your old man."

"Thanks dad."

I kissed him again and walked with him to the car, "I think we should take a drive to the chemist."

"I think we should too."

It was only a four-minute drive to the chemist, but we still had a chance to talk further. He basically told me that he would talk to Catherine tomorrow and sort things out with her.

When we got to the chemist, I walked Sammy straight to the contraceptive aisle.

"Now these are what we call condoms, they're used to prevent STDs and pregnancy and are highly recommended, a 99 chance of success. Now these are large ones for people like me, so you'd probably be better off with these Little Champions ones."

I laughed and then looked at Sammy's face – he wasn't as amused as I was.

"This over here is what we call lubricant, it is used for easy insertion, but it won't prevent anything from getting through."

"Dad…"

"Here you have what they call a diaphragm, this is inserted into the woman's…"

"DAD!"

"Yes?"

"I already know all of this! Can you please just buy me some condoms and possibly the lubricant and take me home?"

"Of course."

The man at the counter gave me a strange look when I went to pay for the goods, I think he must have thought me and Sammy were…together…yuck!

We got in the car and drove down the street to another shop. I told Sammy to wait in the car while I went in, as he was too young.

I came out with a few copies of "Jugs", "Ralph" and "Hot Mamas". Sammy almost died of embarrassment when I handed him the paper bag and hopped back into the car, "Dad, I really don't need all this."

"Nonsense! All boys should have dirty magazines, just be sure to hide them from your mother."

He turned away from me and put his hand on his forehead, I started the car and drove us home.

28/10/90

I asked Sammy what happened when he went to school today, but he wouldn't tell me much, he just said that they'd sorted things out. He then asked me if she could stay overnight at our house tomorrow. My immediate answer would have been yes if my parental instincts didn't tell me to ask Lauren first, so I said, "You'll have to ask your mother."

"Aww…do you think she'll say yes?"

"If she doesn't, I'll take her on what she'll think is a second honeymoon, but is really a distraction so you can have the house to yourself."

"Thanks Dad, for everything."

I hugged him and sent him off to do his homework. I'm so happy for him, he's been so mature about his decision to sleep with someone he loves. If only I was like that when I was his age, sensitive, caring, in love. Oh well, you can't change your past.

29/10/90

Lauren thinks it's cute that Sammy's in love, as do I. She's given her consent to allowing Catherine to stay over. I asked her out to dinner so we could give Sammy some time alone with his girlfriend, so we went out, ate dinner, went to a dance hall, then came home at twelve. We left Blake with Penelope of course, but didn't give her any information as to what Sammy was getting up to when she asked us where he was.

Lauren and I came back to the house and made as little noise as possible, because Sammy and Catherine were obviously in bed sleeping...

We decided to take a bath together before going to bed. It was a nice relief after all the dancing we did. I lifted her foot out of the water and rubbed it with the sponge, she closed her eyes and smiled. I lifted the other one and did the same, then I tickled it which caused her to jump and splash about. We didn't make love because I could tell she was really tired, so I drained the water and led her to the bedroom. We went straight to sleep in each other's arms.

30/10/90

I woke up this morning feeling quite refreshed, so I got up and made breakfast, aware that Sammy and his girl were still in bed. I cooked bacon, eggs, sausages and tofu bacon because I wasn't sure what she liked to eat. They got up around an hour later and walked hand in hand to the kitchen. I noticed that their faces were red so I initiated a conversation, "Good morning, have a nice night?"

"Yes, sir."

"Please, Catherine, you can call me…Joe."

"And you can call me…Cat."

"Pussy? Haha."

"Ha, no, Cat."

I smiled, as did she before starting to pile the bacon onto her plate. She's quite a chubby girl, which goes to show that my son doesn't care about looks – a good thing. Her hair is brown as are her eyes and she has the cheeriest disposition I've ever seen. She seems like a very smart and witty girl, my son made the right choice in choosing her out of the whole bunch.

After she left, I didn't say a word to my son about his night. I didn't want to be one of those pushy parents who have to know every detail, I waited for him to tell me.

"Daddy, I am now a man."

"I'm very happy for you, son. How was it?"

He smiled, "It was the best feeling ever, seeing the expression of pleasure on her face, in her heart…"

I patted him on the back, "And you did use a…?"

"Yeah and the cream."

"Good, good. How many times did you two…?"

"Just once, I went for quality, not quantity."

"And you're still going to continue with the relationship?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, it's just that some men…"

"Dad, I'm not like you, not when it comes to things like this."

"I know, you're smarter than I was. I didn't wait for love to grow before I…"

"Yeah, I know. Listen Dad, if you're not doing anything later, do you want to go for a walk?"

"How can I resist?"

He smiled and walked off to the shower.

Okay, so it was just last night that I was thinking those thoughts. I've rekindled my love of writing this story...but maybe that's just how I feel tonight…uh oh XD