Hello everyone, I'm back with my next story. I would normally have a poll for this but because it's Christmas season I felt the need to give this one a rush handling. I've also felt that in my previous stories I've glazed over Lynn Sr. and Rita Louds (The parents) characters, so this story will have more focus on them in the plot. Enjoy the pilot chapter!
Lynn Sr. hung up his chef hat and apron as closing time approached. He'd lock up for the night before heading back home to his wife and kids. He began flipping off the kitchen lights as Kotaro and Grant walked in.
"Are we ready to close up for tonight?" Lynn Sr. asked.
"Almost. There's still one straggler in one of the booths."
"You guys can go ahead, I'll take care of him."
"Thanks. Have a nice night," they said as they walked out the back door. Lynn left one of the lights in the kitchen on before walking out of the kitchen and into the dining room. The walls were adorned with red, white and green streamers with wreaths spread about in intervals. The last customer was sitting by the door, wearing a light green suit with blue tie. Lynn waited until he was finished eating before moving in.
"You done with your meal?"
"Yes I am."
Lynn took the plate. "I'll be back." He put the plate on the counter connecting to the kitchen window before coming back. He placed the receipt on the table and the man handed him his credit card. He swiped it through the machine and handed it back to the customer.
"Before I left Mr. Loud, I wanted to talk to you."
"Why? Was there something wrong with the food?"
"No, no, quite the contrary. I've been to your restaurant a few times and noticed how you've run a tight ship."
"Thank you for saying so."
"I wanted to offer you a business opportunity of sorts."
"I'm listening."
"I'm the manager of Royal Wood's Spa. There's a temporary job opportunity as caretaker over the coming Christmas Break."
"What sort of job are we talking about?"
"Nothing much. You're pretty much waiting around in case anything needs to be repaired during the break. Whole place is your's while you're on the job."
That got Lynn's attention. "You don't say. Any chance I could bring my family along with me?"
"Of course. We got enough food to last a month. We also leave the heater for the inside pool."
"Well, I have to think about it."
"Alright then. If you want the job, come over to the resort tomorrow." He stood up from the booth and layed a twenty dollar bill on the table as a tip. "Have a good evening." He walked out of the restaurant.
Lynn placed the bill in the pocket of his slacks before walking back into the kitchen. He brought the dishes over to the sink and began to rinse them off. As he scrubbed it down he thought of this unique opportunity that had seemingly landed right in his lap. A scenic resort tucked away in the woods, all to themselves! The kids could be free to do almost whatever they wanted without fear of repercussions and he and Rita would be able to spend much more time together.
He placed the plate in the dishwasher and turned it on. He took his winter coat off the hook by the door and switched off the lights. He stepped out the back door and onto the snow powdered street.
It was about eight o'clock when he reached Franklin Avenue. He turned down the walkway to the house passing mounds of snow covering bicycles, jump ropes and other toys that littered the lawn. He stepped up onto the porch, pulled out his keys, unlocked the door and stepped into the house.
"Hey Dad," Luna greeted. She was on the couch strumming the tune of Jingle Bells on her guitar.
"Hi Lunes. How was your day?"
"Nothing special. One day closer to vacation!"
"Are the younger ones already in bed?"
"Yeah, Mom's tucking them in right now."
Lynn Sr. walked up the stairs to the second floor. He checked Lynn Jr. and Lucy's room first. He opened the door and a sliver of light from the hallway illuminated Lucy's bed. She was laying in the bed with her arms crossed over her chest as if in a coffin. He quietly stepped in, in case she was asleep. He could never tell when tucking her in if she was awake or not with her hair covering her eyes. He stood at the nearest post.
"Hey Lucy," he spoke softly.
"Hey Dad," she spoke in her monotone voice.
"How was your day?"
"I buried a hamster today. It died of hypothermia out in the snow."
"Well. That's…" he trailed off, not sure what to say about that.
"It was a good day."
"I'm glad to hear that. Have a nice rest." He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. He went to the next door over and walked in. Lana and Lola were in their beds with Rita standing over Lola's bed.
"Hey Honey, how was work?"
"It was usual for the most part. I'll tell you more later." He turned his attention to the twins. "How was your girl's day?"
"I took Hops down to the pond to hibernate for the winter!"
"I performed Swan Lake at the Christmas Pageant!"
"That's great to hear. Have a nice sleep."
"You too Daddy!"
He turned off the light and shut the door. Rita was waiting at the door to Lisa and Lily's room. She opened the door and they both stepped into the room. They walked over to Lisa who was covered up to her neck in the green bed covering.
"Good evening parental units," she said.
"Hey Lisa. Did you have a good day?"
"I did. It would be even better if I could stay up to make it last longer."
"I'm sorry Lisa but you need your rest," Rita said.
"But…" Lisa stopped to yawn, "I'm not tired. I could make a compound that would negate my body's need to sleep if you just let me stay up."
"Maybe tomorrow," Rita said.
Lisa's eyes began to shut. "Fine… you win."
"Good night Lisa," both he and Rita said. Lisa mumbled something in return before going silent. They turned their attention to Lily, who was curled up in her crib under her lavender blanket, calmly sleeping.
"Looks like sweeties all tired out," Rita said. Lynn Sr. looked down at his snoozing little bundle of joy. "Night night Lilster." He turned off the light and stepped out into the hallway with Rita.
"How was your day Honey?"
"I dropped Lola off at her pageant, as you already know. We had a rush of patients at the office, lots of kids with cavities from eating too much candy."
"I hope it wasn't too much."
"No, I just give them laughing gas, drill, fill and send them off. A bit monotonous really." They walked downstairs and Lynn Sr. turned to his room. He stepped in and nudged the door shut behind him with the toe of his shoe. He looked out the window and into the backyard. Lynn Jr. was skiing on a patch of ice she made using a hose. He closed the window curtain and changed into his nightwear. He got into bed and turned off the lights leaving only the lamps on the nightstand on.
Rita came into the room a little while later. She changed into her pajamas before getting in bed as well. He felt now was the time to tell her about the job opportunity.
"Hey Rita?"
"Yeah Honey?"
"At the restaurant I met the manager of Royal Woods Spa."
"Oh really? What'd you talk about?"
"He offered me a job as caretaker of the resort over the break. Said we could have the whole place to ourselves. I wanted to run it by you first."
"What's the job about?"
"Just to keep the place from falling apart over the whole of the break."
"I don't know. It seems like we'd be missing out on Christmas up there."
"No, not really. Think about it; we could just take some decorations from here and decorate the inside of the hotel. They can play in the snow and have fun, without any noise complaints from anyone. It'll be a dream come true for them! Plus we could use the pay to finalize Leni's college fund."
"Well…"
"You can even have the peace and quiet to really work on your novel."
"Oh, all right. Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Of course! Katora and Grant can easily run the place by themselves and we'll get someone to watch over the pets. Tell you what," he said in a sly tone. "We can go skinny dipping in the pool again, without getting kicked out."
"Oh you," Rita said blushing. "You've got me convinced."
"I'll go up tomorrow to get the position. We'll let the kids know on Friday."
"Sounds like a plan." Rita moved her hand to her lamp and Lynn Sr. did likewise.
"Night honey."
"Good night."
They flipped the switches, plunging the room into darkness. He turned on his side, laid his head down on his pillow and drifted off into sleep.
Lynn drove Vanzilla through the winding roads of Michigan's woods. The tops of the tree's were covered with modest amounts of snow and the roads lined out in asphalt stained slush. He had dropped Rita off at work before coming all the way out here.
The shining top of the hotel came into sight before he took a turn. The whole place came into view after he had gone around the bend. He drove past the now frozen over pond in front of the building and descended into the underground parking. He parked close to the elevator and stepped out of the car. He called down an elevator and stepped into it to take himself up to ground level.
The brass doors of the elevator slid open to reveal the shiny art deco of the lobby. He stepped out of the elevator and walked to the receptionist.
"Good day sir, how may I help you?"
"I'm here for the caretaker position."
"Mr. Loud?"
"Yes, that's my name."
"Mr. Jeffery's office is the first door to the left," the receptionist said as she pointed down the hallway. He said thank you before heading over to the office. He turned down the opening and into Mr. Jeffery's office. He was sitting at his desk writing away with a TV behind him playing a slideshow of the resort. He looked up as Lynn Sr. walked in.
"Ah, Mr. Loud. You're here for the caretaker job?"
"Yes I am."
Mr. Jeffrey gestured to the seat in front of the desk. "Please, sit down." Lynn Sr. sat in the chair. "I'd like to go into the details of the job a little more in depth than I did when we last talked. To keep the hotel from taking damage induced by the winter that could offset possible customers the hotel needs to be kept heated and such on a rotating basis. The job also entails repairing any damage. You'll be staying here from the twenty third up to January seventh."
"May I ask why you don't stay open through that time? It seems like with the holidays this place would get busy."
"The location is unfortunately in the path of nor'easters. Back in town it's kept in check but up here things get snowed in. Difficult to get to and from the hotel. We shut down to avoid any misplaced panic from being stuck here, people thinking they're going to be the next Donner Party."
"I see. Now what about accommodations?"
"You'll have the keys to the kingdom. You and your family can sleep in the rooms, we have an expansive kitchen with large food supplies, along with stuff for a Christmas Dinner for caretakers. With this key," he isolated one from the rest on the key chain, "you can open up the coin machines in the laundromat and reuse the same coins over and over."
"I see. Just make sure nothing goes wrong?"
"That's the long and short of it."
He extended out his hand and Mr. Jeffery shook it. "I'll take the job."
