"Seeing you in your own environment this last couple of weeks has been a real eye-opening experience," Juan told Dave and his daughter. "We should've visited sooner, instead of you visiting us."
"It's not like we mind visiting you dad," Penelope said.
"I think your father means that when someone is a guest in another's home, they are always on their best behavior," Dave told his wife. "Your parents have never visited us in our home before, though they're always welcome. Seeing us in our own home is different, from seeing us in theirs. Yes, it's where you spent your childhood, but you moved out a long time ago, so it's totally different, even if you're familiar with the house, because you grew up there."
"I understand," Penelope said not having thought about it along those lines before. "I hadn't thought of it quite like that before."
"Dave is right though, honey," Juan said, impressed with his son-in-law's reasoning. "As Dave just explained, when someone is visiting someone they are always on their best behavior. Seeing you here in your home is totally different, as most people act normally, because they're comfortable."
"Which means if I was the bastard, I would act like one here in my own environment," Dave told Penelope with a wink. Penelope giggled.
"Which you definitely are not," Penelope said.
"No, he's not," Juan smiled watching the comfortable interaction between his daughter and his son-in-law.
Dave treated his daughter with respect and love and that was all one could ask for. He worried about her constantly and had tried to get her to stay in bed the day after she had given birth, but Penny being Penny had refused. That was not Dave's fault nor his responsibility as Penny was free to make her own decisions. It was also clear he adored his children and Aaron's and Emily's too.
The relationship between Dave and Aaron was interesting, Juan thought. It was clear the two were very close, as he had seen them interact enough times by now. He had known that intellectually of course, but seeing them interact with his own two eyes was different. They really did treat each other's children as one big family and there was nothing wrong with that at all. Of course, Juan didn't see Dave, Aaron and their wives moving in together if they weren't really close, and from what Juan understood this house they had bought was split equally between them, which would seem to indicate they did indeed think of each other as brothers.
"See dad you and mom can quit worrying about me now, I'm perfectly happy with my family," Penelope told her dad in a teasing tone.
"I wasn't worried honey," Juan told Penelope honestly. "I knew very well that if Dave didn't turn out, like you thought, you would've kicked him to the curb a long time ago. It's your mother that worries, not me."
This was true Penelope reflected, but her mother would probably quit worrying now.
"It's nice to know that I'm not going to be kicked to the curb," Dave said amused.
"It's a good thing you're a nice guy then and that I love you very much," Penelope teased right back.
"I suppose so," Dave said smiling, kissing his wife on the cheek.
"We'll be sorry to see you go dad, but we do understand," Penelope told her father.
"They can always visit again and they're always welcome," Dave told Penelope and Juan.
"We will, though we're getting a bit old to be traveling too much," Juan admitted.
"You're still in good health though," Penelope said and Juan nodded.
"Yes, we are, but traveling is for younger people honey or at least people with more energy," Juan said. "Traveling such a distance can be tiring, even if you fly instead of drive. Your mother and I, are just getting to old to travel so extensively, though I admit that it's easier than it was decades ago. Traveling long distances has gotten much easier and faster than it was when your mother and I were children."
Penelope had to acknowledge the point, because her parents were in their early 70s."
"We'll just visit you then," Dave promised. "We've been doing that anyway and we certainly don't mind."
"That might be best," Juan admitted. "It doesn't mean we won't come visit you a few times honey, just that your mother and I aren't as young as we used to be. Now that your mother knows you're absolutely happy with Dave she'll quit worrying about you and be content when you visit us instead.
"She worries too much," Penelope said.
"It's only because she loves you, sweetie," Dave told her gently and Penelope looked ashamed of her words. "When you love someone you're going to worry about them whether they need to or not. This is a concept you should understand very well."
"I do," Penelope agreed soberly. "I hate to see you and mom go dad, but I do understand."
"You'll have Dave's parents to deal with in a couple of days honey," Juan reminded her.
"You can stay an extra week if you and Ivy cared to, as we don't mind if you do," Dave mentioned. "We certainly have the room."
"No we need to get home," Juan said shaking his head. "A friend of your mother's granddaughter is getting married and Ivy won't miss the ceremony."
"Anybody I know?" Penelope asked.
"I think you did meet your mother's friend at least once," Juan said. "You might not remember though, because you were young."
Juan told her the name and Penelope nodded slowly. "I think I vaguely remember her, though I probably wasn't anymore than 12 or so."
"You might've met your mother's friend, but you've never met the granddaughter," Juan said. "She's at least 10 years younger than you are, maybe even a little more. It's unlikely you've crossed paths."
"Well, you and mom have a good time at the wedding. Do you need help renting a tuxedo?" Penelope teased her father, remembering how much discomfort her father had been in when he'd had to wear a tuxedo to her wedding years ago.
"I'm hoping I can get away with just a regular suit," Juan said with a grimace.
"I doubt that mom, will let you get away with just a good Sunday suit, but maybe she will," Penelope said.
"I certainly hope so," Juan said. "At least if I get it dirty they can't charge me an arm and a leg, for having it cleaned."
"Yeah, those places really rake it in," Dave said.
"So you had to rent a tuxedo before," Juan asked him and Dave nodded.
"A few times," Dave agreed calmly. "They go out of style every few years, so what's the point of owning one? Unless, of course, you go to a lot of events that require them. It seems like such a waste of money otherwise, even if you have plenty of it, what's the point if you're only going to use it a few times before it's out of style. I never saw the point of buying one, because I don't go to many events that require them."
Juan was nodding in complete agreement.
They talked for a few more minutes before Juan went to find his wife.
"You okay sweetie," Dave asked his wife seeing she was looking rather sad.
"Yes, it is just hard to realize that my parents won't be around more than another 10, 15 years tops," Penelope explained. "They might get to see their grandchildren mostly grown and then they'll be gone."
"This would be true, even if you weren't immortal now," Dave told her very quietly and Penelope nodded.
"I know, but I'm going to miss them when they are gone and also my brother," Penelope said.
"So will I, as I like your parents a great deal, but unfortunately, that's life sweetie, as they aren't immortal like mine are," Dave told her gently, but quietly.
"I know," Penelope agreed soberly, "I know."
~~~The Immortals and the Businessman 3~~~
"It's good to see you mom, dad," Dave greeted his parents a couple of days later.
"It's good to see you too son," Jacob said smiling. "So your mom has been anxious to see the newest addition."
"Yes, I have," Rebeca agreed without shame. "We were actually hoping to arrive before Penny gave birth, but it just didn't work out that way."
"Well, she was a bit early," Dave admitted. "A couple weeks. You can't really predict where a woman is going to go into labor. Her water broke late in the afternoon and there was no stopping it after that."
"No, you really can't," Rebecca agreed.
"Ivy helped her daughter give birth, so they're both just fine."
"So what did you name your newest addition?" Jacob asked.
"We decided on Ivory after Penelope's mother. It was as close as we could come to her mother's name without actually using the same one. Maybe in the future after they've passed away, we can actually use Ivy."
"Yes, I see Ivy doesn't really have any nicknames, not like Rebecca," Rebecca said.
"Exactly," Dave agreed. "Now come inside, your room is all ready for you."
"It's nice to see you so happy son," Jacob said, "and Aaron too of course."
"It's nice to actually be happy, dad," Dave told his father who nodded in understanding. "That's not to say, I wasn't happy before I met Penny, but having somebody to love is a whole different level of happiness."
"I can certainly understand that," Jacob agreed gravely. "I still remember what it was like before I met your mother, though at least you had Aaron."
"That's true," Dave grinned. "I didn't meet Aaron for hundreds of years though, so I had no one until then, except my family. Sure, I made friends with tons of people, but they also died when it was their time. It's certainly easier to see people I care for die now that I have a family of my own."
This was true, Jacob acknowledged silently.
"So what kind of activities do you have planned while we are here?" Rebecca asked.
Dave told his parents what they had planned, and they seemed to be looking forward to all the planned activities. His mother in particular was looking forward to the shopping just like Dave knew she would be. His parents certainly had money now unlike when he was growing up as they had invested just like he had when money had become more common. Gold coins were quite valuable nowadays, and you could get up to $300 dollars for just one coin, sometimes more depending if he sold it to a collector. It also depended on what type of gold coin it was. Selling those gold coins had been the start of his parents fortune, Dave knew. A 1000 dollar investment back when his parents had started their fortune was quite a lot, not like nowadays where it took much more money to invest.
"I'm looking forward to the balloon festival," Jacob said. "It's supposed to be the largest festival in the world and we've never had a chance to go."
"Perhaps we can even rent a hot air balloon and have someone take us up," Dave said. "Here in Albuquerque is certainly the place for it."
"Now that is an idea," Rebecca said brightening.
"It's something we'll have to look into," Jacob agreed looking at his wife adoringly.
Dave watched this smiling and then lead them to their room in the new section of the house.
"It's something Penny and I haven't tried yet, though we are planning to at some future date. It's a good thing that neither one of us is afraid of heights though."
"Yes, it is," Jacob chuckled. "A fall from such a height won't kill you though, unlike if you were completely mortal."
"True," Dave agreed. "Still, it would break at least most of our bones, if not all of them and that's something I'd rather not experience, thank you, as even an immortal would be a long time in healing and we'd be in extreme pain until we did."
"True," Jacob agreed.
Dave left his parents in the guestroom to unpack and told them to come into the main part of the house when they were ready.
~~~The Immortals and the Businessman 3~~~
"Good morning," Dave greeted his parents, as he was in the kitchen preparing breakfast just like he normally did. This morning there were fresh pastries and cinnamon buns that had been bought at a bakery that was close by. The bakery opened at 7 AM, so Dave had made a quick trip to get a bunch of things for breakfast while everybody got ready for the day. "It's pastries, donuts and cinnamon rolls this morning," Dave told his parents.
"That's fine with me, as it's not like we can have heart attacks or strokes from eating too much sweet stuff just because we gain weight," Jacob said.
"That's one of the great things about being immortal," Rebecca agreed with her husband. "I don't think eating this kind of thing one morning is going to do us or the children any harm.
"We're out of a lot of the normal breakfast foods, which is one reason I took a quick trip to the bakery close by. The housekeeper will go grocery shopping later today so that we'll have things like eggs, orange juice and milk. With Penny's parents here I cooked more than I normally do for breakfast, which is why we're out or low on several staples."
"Hey! Pastries is OK with me," Rebecca said patting her son on the back. "I'm sure they'll be OK with everyone."
"Definitely," Dave said smiling. "Eating the same stuff all the time can get rather boring, so this will be something of a treat for the kids as well as the adults."
There was a sound of rushing feet and the kids came barreling into the room taking their usual places. "It's pastries and donuts this morning," Dave told all the children. "Only one item per child until everybody has gotten some then whatever's left you all can gobble down."
"Aw dad, Uncle Dave," complained the children.
"Save some for Emily, Aaron and Penny that still aren't here," Dave told all the children firmly.
"Where are they this morning?" Jacob asked.
"They're probably upstairs feeding the youngest children, which always takes awhile," Dave said. "The children that can't use utensils yet, are up in the nursery, as it's just easier that way, then trying to feed them down here while the adults are trying to enjoy their own breakfasts. I'm sure they'll be down shortly."
"Seems like a sensible system to me. You have to make certain accommodations when you have so many young children in one household," Rebecca said, as she chose a pastry that had cherry filling and bit down into it."
"Once they can use silverware they'll be allowed to eat down here with everyone else," Dave said, even as he bit into a donut he had chosen.
The children bit into their own pastries and made sounds of pleasure as they chewed.
"Too bad Ivy and Juan couldn't stay so we could get to know them better," Jacob said.
"They apparently had a wedding to attend and Ivy didn't want to miss it, as its a friend of hers granddaughter. They would've liked to have stayed a little longer but the wedding they were going to attend as soon as they got back prevented it. Really, they are getting to old to be traveling much, as they're not immortal like everybody else and they won't be around in another 10 or 15 years at a maximum."
"You'll just have to go up and visit them then," Rebecca said, even as she finished her cherry danish.
"We've been doing that anyway," Dave said. "Penny's mother was worried that I was an abusive bastard. When you're visiting someone you are always on your best behavior, but here in my own environment if I was abusive I would've acted like my true self."
The tone of amusement in Dave's voice was clear to his parents.
"So Ivy is something of a worrier then," Jacob said understanding that way of thinking very well, because when you loved a child you would worry that their spouse was abusive if they were married.
"Yes, Penny thinks she'll quit worrying now that she's had a chance to visit and see how we interact in our own home," Dave said.
"So Juan wasn't worried about that," Rebecca as she bit into her second pastry. The pastries were just so good they were hard to resist.
"No, Juan knows that Penny would have divorced me if I was abusive," Dave shrugged. "Also, he taught her how to protect herself if necessary."
"Which you'll never have to experience," came Penelope voice as she entered the kitchen. "Good morning Rebecca, Jacob."
"Morning," the elder Rossis, greeted their daughter-in-law.
"I wondered why I didn't smell food cooking," Penelope said when she saw all the pastries that were spread over the counters.
"We are running low or totally out of some staples that are used for breakfast, so I went to that bakery that's close to here while you were getting ready," Dave said. "The housekeeper should go shopping sometime today to buy some things."
"I don't think eating pastries and donuts for one morning is going to do anyone any harm," Penelope said, as she took a seat after selecting what she wanted. "Besides, things like pancakes, waffle, bacon, sausage, toast and eggs can get a tad boring, even if you fix it differently sometimes."
"I made sure I got a lot of different things, so they should last for several days," Dave said, as Aaron and Emily finally made it into the kitchen.
"Not with the way this lot is demolishing them they won't," Emily said she surveyed the children who were eating the pastries at a rapid pace.
"If they don't, they don't," Dave shrugged and having finished his donut took a apple danish out of one of the boxes. He took a humongous bite and looked very satisfied as he chewed.
"They should last at least another day since Dave got a lot," Aaron said, as he ate his own donut.
"On purpose, I knew we would all devour them, since it's something of a rarity, that the children at least, get pastries for breakfast. I was gone only about half an hour as they were just opening up when I got there. I cleaned out what was already in the front cases. They were very happy with all the money I spent. They were refilling the cases from stuff that had just come out of the oven when I left. They told me to come back anytime I wanted to clean them out again."
"No wonder you spent a lot of money so they probably made their payroll for the day and they had barely opened when you did, so they can close up and go home early if they want," Jacob snorted in amusement.
"Next time we're out of breakfast essentials I'll probably do the same thing as that's cheaper than all of us going out to eat or us ordering from a restaurant and having it delivered."
"Like money matters to you," Rebecca told Dave. "Don't penny pinch."
"He's the farther thing from a penny pincher," Penelope told Rebecca, as she finished her pastry. "We are however, trying to teach the children how to spend their money responsibly. You, as his mother should know that."
"That's a good lesson for them to learn," Jacob told Rebecca seriously. "It's better to start such lessons early so it just becomes natural for them. We did the same with our children and look at how they turned out."
"You also didn't have very much money back when I was born," Dave said. "I know you do now, but that was then this is now."
"Money wasn't common back then it was mostly trade. Money did exist, mostly gold and silver coins and it was mostly only the wealthy that used actual money to purchase things," Jacob agreed.
"Things are different now though," Emily said. "I remember back in my first life when Aaron and I were very poor. It was hard to live on so little, but we certainly weren't spoiled with possessions."
"No just with love, affection and kindness," Aaron agreed, kissing his wife's cheek as he finished the pastry he had been eating. "I don't miss being poor, but in a way, it was a simpler, less complicated time and life. On the other hand, it's nice to know that I now have the money to take my children to the doctor just as an example if I needed to. Since we're all immortal though, that's not going to be necessary, but that doesn't mean that we can't spoil our friends and family like Emily and I couldn't afford to do before."
"Absolutely!" Emily agreed empathically.
"So what's on the agenda for today," Rebecca asked Dave.
"Shopping for you, Emily and Penny," Dave told his mother. "The men though, will be bonding over pool and beer."
"That sounds fun," Jacob said relishing the challenge. Jacob, Dave and Aaron were all experts when it came to playing pool but more than half the time Jacob, who had many years experience and a ton of talent beat them, even if it had been years since he had played. Jacob had been around when pool and other games involving balls had been invented, like pong pong or even bowling.
"The balloon festival is on the weekend and we still have a couple of days before that event," Penelope added. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Even Dave and I have never been to see it."
"Dave already said something about that when we first arrived," Jacob said as he took a bite out of yet another pastry.
The group continued to discuss it for a few minutes before they cleaned up from breakfast and turned the children over to the nanny for a few hours before heading for the activities that had been planned for the day.
~~~The Immortals and the Businessman 3~~~
