"So can I help?" Dave asked Ivy, as she started to prepare dinner. "I'm quite a decent cook, as Penny can tell you."
"Oh, no, you're a guest," Ivy protested.
"I certainly don't mind," Dave said smiling a little. "I enjoy cooking."
"Well, since Penny can't cook to save her life, it's a good thing you can," Ivy told him smiling, chalking up mental point in Dave's favor. "Otherwise, you'd have to eat out all the time and that can get expensive."
"We could eat out all the time if we wanted, money doesn't matter, as I have plenty of that," Dave commented causally, causing Ivy to immediately chalk up another mental point in Penelope's fiancé favor, as Dave was apparently very financially solvent. "Still, it's not very healthy. Besides, I enjoy cooking and I will enjoy it even more now that I'm about to get myself married."
"So any children in the immediate future?" Ivy asked.
"No, as we've been careful not to get Penny pregnant until after the wedding. I wouldn't want accusations of the only reason I'm marrying her is because she's pregnant instead of the real reason," Dave said and Ivy nodded at this, as she could easily see people making that accusation. Of course, those people wouldn't know anything about the situation nor see that Dave and her daughter were truly in love, but would still offer their opinions whether or not it had been asked for or wanted in the first place. Some people would miss all the signs of Dave and Penny being soppily in love, as it was as plain as the nose on her face that the two were deeply in love with each other.
Ivy chalked yet another point in Dave's favor and thought he was gaining points on the fiancé scale quite rapidly. Penny had apparently found the perfect man for her and Ivy was very happy for her daughter.
Of course, Dave didn't tell Ivy the real reason and that was, and that was that his fiancée, wasn't quite immortal yet. She was close, but not quite there and it would be at least another few weeks before she was like he was so that they could start having those children, something he was definitely looking forward to and he knew that his mother definitely was.
"Still, we both want children, as soon as possible, so I suspect that she'll likely get pregnant during the honeymoon," Dave hinted.
"I certainly won't mind if that happens," Ivy grinned.
"I know you won't," Penelope said coming into the kitchen. "I know you want more grandchildren then my brother has provided. We'll probably have at least 4 or 5 depending. If we do that though, we're going to have to have them relatively close together."
"It would be great to have that many grandchildren," Ivy said dreamily.
"We'll get started on that after the wedding," Dave promised. "I certainly won't mind having 4 or 5 children running around. I know that Aaron plans on having at least four because of the Prentiss family statutes, but I won't be surprised if they have more than that. I've always known that Aaron wanted a large family."
"So how did you and Aaron meet?" Ivy asked interested.
Dave told her a partly fabricated story with just enough truth mixed in that it was believable, about how he and Aaron had originally met. It's not like he could tell her the complete truth, as Ivy would never believe it. "We've been close ever since," Dave finished. "Really, he's closer to me then my brothers and I provide the same function for him, except he's an only child."
"They're nearly always together," Penelope said. "I suspect though, that while that was true before, now that Aaron has met Emily that he'll be spending a lot of his time with his bride now that he's married."
"That's the way it should be, sweetie," Ivy said.
"I don't mind, as Aaron and I will still spend plenty of guy time together," Dave said. "I would never be so selfish as to deny him his chance at happiness. Besides, Aaron getting married gave me incentive to find someone for myself. Mom has been wanting me to settle down for years, as you know, so me proposing to Penny made her extremely happy. She's really looking forward to the wedding and then those grandchildren. She'll be happy if we have 10, though I don't think we'll have that many."
Ivy chalked up yet another mental point on the fiancé scale in her head and thought that Dave seemed just a little too perfect. He had to have some faults.
"No, there's no way I can have that many unless I have twins every time," Penelope agreed. "It's not that I wouldn't want that many, just that I'm getting old when it comes to childbirth. We can probably manage four maybe five before we stop so then that'll be it."
"Still five grandchildren," Ivy said looking dreamy again.
"We'll see mom," Penelope cautioned. "It depends on how each pregnancy goes and especially the birth. Things do go wrong sometimes as you know."
"That's true," Ivy acknowledged soberly. "You don't expect things to go wrong, but a lot of times they do. Five children are going to be expensive to raise though."
"Don't worry so much Ivy," Dave told her warmly, kissing her cheek. "I have plenty of money to raise a dozen kids. Aaron and I have supported a friend of ours on several of his building projects and the returns on them are very nice indeed. Money is one thing we don't have to ever worry about."
"I've met Taro and his wife and they're very nice older couple," Penelope added. "We met at the wedding of Emily and Aaron."
"Yes, they're very nice and one thing that Aaron and I definitely appreciate is that Taro is completely honest in his business practices. A lot of businessmen or woman for that matter are not, you know," Dave said.
"So you invested in your friends project and you're making a more than a decent return from it," Ivy said and Dave nodded.
"We had to have the money before we could invest in anything, so we both already had fortunes before, but the projects we have invested in have just increased that fortune substantially. Unless Penny and I are massively stupid then we are never going to go broke. One of the reasons that Taro, Aaron and I became such good friends is because he's completely ethical and honest. He likes to oversee all the details personally, to make sure that no skimming or using substandard materials is taking place. The project that he's working on now will provide a lot of jobs for the poor of Chicago. It's a shopping complex and hotel. The jobs it will provide might not afford a lot of luxuries to the people that are going to be working there, but at least it will give them a living wage."
"Now, that sounds really ambitious," Ivy said appreciatively really liking what she was hearing.
"Taro has always been interested in helping the poor," Dave said, "as he comes from a poor family himself. He's the only businessman I've ever met that remembers his past instead of just forgetting about it or at least pushing it to the back of his mind, though it probably has something to do with the fact that he's Japanese, as they tend to be honorable. He uses his knowledge to help others in a similar situation and that's something that Aaron and I can definitely appreciate and respect. It's one of the reasons we've both supported several of his other projects and the money we get it it from it is just a secondary consideration."
"That's only if you doesn't get himself killed," Penelope mentioned.
"What do you mean killed?" Ivy questioned her daughter.
"Taro was nearly killed in a drive-by shooting several months ago," Dave explained calmly. "The project is only in the beginning stages, so we hadn't even done more then discuss plans and surveyed the sight, when a car loaded with goons shot at all of us, Taro, me and Aaron and his other two associates. One of the other men, Daiki, was killed, while the other one was in surgery, but survived, though he was a longtime recovering. Anyway, Aaron shoved Taro out of the way and managed not to get hit with a bullet and Taro only got a flesh wound. He would've been dead if Aaron and I hadn't spotted the car of goons just before they fired. Taro was so grateful that Aaron and I stayed with him and his wife for over six months, until Aaron got married to Emily actually. We felt we had abused their hospitality for long enough so left after that."
"I'm sure they wouldn't have minded you staying longer. After all, you did save this Taro's life," Ivy suggested.
"No, they wouldn't have, but it was time for us to leave," Dave agreed. "I mean Emily and Aaron were going on a honeymoon, so I basically, moved in with Penny until they came back. I could've gotten a hotel room I know, but she offered and I wasn't about to turn her down."
"I did, as we had already been dating for quite sometime, so I knew what kind of man Dave was," Penelope admitted blushing at her mother's look. "I was actually hoping he would propose and he did a few weeks later."
"So your friend is okay?" Ivy Ashton Dave nodded.
"Yes, he is. He was very lucky and he's well aware of it," Dave said. "That's why he was so grateful to Aaron and I as Aaron could've been killed. He came within an inch of being so."
This last part wasn't true, as there was no way Aaron was going to die from even a hundred gunshot wounds, but he would certainly be in a lot of pain, until the bullets were removed and the wounds had healed.
"Aaron was determined that Taro was going to get back to his wife, who he adores. They are very happy together. He has eight grown children, although the youngest two are still in college and numerous grandchildren. Both Aaron and I were determined he was going to live, so he could be there for his family for as long as possible. The world needs more people like Taro Kurosawa, but I know very well he's a rare and nearly extinct breed."
"Someone who wants to help others and has the money to do so," Penelope explained what Dave meant. "The fact he comes from a poor family himself, just gives him a different perspective on the poverty problem."
"Yes, I see what you mean," Ivy said thoughtfully. "Your friend is indeed a rare breed, but then, so are you, since you and your friend Aaron have supported him on several different projects that I am assuming are helping a lot of poor people."
"Yes, they are," Dave agreed. "I know it's unrealistic to eliminate poverty completely, but we can at least put a dent in it."
"So are you going to continue the plans for that shopping complex or is it going to be abandoned because of what happened?" Ivy asked.
"Oh, Taro's determined to see it completed, even if it gets him killed," Dave said with a shake of his head at his friend's determination. "Aaron and I won't always be around to protect him and he refuses to hire bodyguards."
"You can't really blame him for that," Penelope mentioned.
"I don't, as I understand why he doesn't want to," Dave saying when Ivy looked for an explanation he said, "It's simply that the bodyguards might prevent him from doing what he feels he must, stop him from building this complex with the hotel alongside."
"Why does he feel like he has to? I mean I would think he'd be more concerned about getting killed?" Ivy questioned. "I certainly wouldn't do something that was likely to see me murdered."
"Because Taro wants to relieve poverty as much is he can while he's alive to do so. As you know, he comes from a very poor family himself, so he knows what it's like to feel like he's starving, because there is never enough food. Where you have to make the decision to either have heat and air conditioner or put food on the table, where you're wearing second or thirdhand clothes, because you can't afford better. Where you are bullied because you don't fit in, because of your secondhand clothes."
"I never thought about it like that," Ivy admitted thoughtfully.
"Almost nobody ever does," Dave said. "I come from a poor family myself, with the exception that we always had enough food and decent clothes to wear, but we certainly didn't have the money for anything extra and the clothes were homemade by mom and my sisters once they were old enough to sew a decent seam, not store bought."
Dave didn't bother to tell Ivy the reason the clothes hadn't been store bought was there hadn't been any stores back when he was born and least not where he had grown up.
"I understand very well a lot of what Taro is feeling, which is one reason we get along so well, as we have similar pasts."
"So Aaron..." Ivy said.
"Has a very similar past to my own until we found each other. I helped him build the foundation for his own fortune and he has paid me back long since. I believe, just like with Taro, that is one reason that Aaron and I get along so well. We know what it's like to go hungry, to not have meat, because you can't afford it. To live off mostly vegetables and bread. Sometimes my family could find truffles in the forest though," Dave smiled as he remembered. "When we did it was a special treat, as it didn't happen very often and of course, depended on the season. My sisters became very good truffle hunters."
"I can't imagine growing up like you're suggesting," Ivy said.
"It wasn't bad really, none of us knew what we were missing after all," Dave said looking nostalgic, "since there was no money for extras things. It's only makes me appreciate having so much now though, which is one reason I don't mind helping Taro out on this project and not for the money it brings in, but because it will be helping those with less than I have now and Aaron agrees with me. You never forget being half starved, even if it's not conscious thought."
"But you never starved you said," Ivy said.
"No, I didn't, but Aaron described the sensations to me, as he was often half starved until we met, simply because his family couldn't afford any better. I might not have been as full, as I would've liked, but me and my siblings never actually missed a meal, even if it was something simple like soup. I still enjoy tomato and vegetable soup to this day, though I've never been able to fix it as good as my mom's. Tomato and vegetable soup were staples in our house along with hot fresh bread."
"Your mother had a garden, didn't she?" Penelope asked, if only to relieve the rather strained silence.
"Yeah, she did, quite a large one," Dave agreed. "She grew every kind of vegetable imaginable. Tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini and lettuce, even spinach. We even had some fruit bushes near our house in the woods, so we had different kinds of fruit depending on the season. It might've been a simple existence, but at least it kept us from getting spoiled like so many children are nowadays, because they have every advantage and their parents don't teach them how to give to others that have far less than they do."
"Well, Penny, it looks like you really caught the perfect man," Ivy said finally, smiling, chalking up yet another point in Dave's favor. "He is generous and kind if the way he's talking is any indication. He helped out his friend Aaron when he didn't know anything about him at the time other then he was trying to make a living."
"You can tell a lot about someone just from talking with them for a few minutes," Dave told Ivy. "After 10 minutes of conversation I knew that Aaron was struggling to make a living and that he was more honest considering his circumstances, then a lot of those who had more than he did a lot of times. I also learned that he was to honorable to ever consider stealing from someone else, especially since all of his neighbors were in the same kind of circumstances he was, just struggling to make ends meet. He also shared that he helped several of the other poor folks that he was living near when he didn't have to. That told me he was honest and honorable two of the traits that my family holds dear. Those aren't traits you find very often anymore."
"That's true," Ivy agreed soberly.
When Penelope and Dave left to go into the den while Ivy continued fixing dinner, Dave left a very thoughtful older woman behind.
~~~Dave and Penelope~~~