Chapter 10
Growing Pains
Four years later – Buffy and William are now 11
“But…well, all I’m saying is, is what with William being so clever with computers and that, rather than him just going to Sunnydale High, we should look into a technical college or something” Hank reasoned. Joyce sighed.
“Ok, ask him, but not in front of Buffy, she’ll flip” Hank nodded. Later on that evening, when they’d done their homework, Hank went into William’s room when Buffy was in the bath, sat on his bed.
“Listen son…you know it’s time for you to go to big school…well, how would you like to go to a technical college, one where you could study with computers a lot more than usual” William looked at his dad.
“Um…would Buffy be able to go?”
“No…but you’d see each other before and after school” William looked down at the carpet.
“Do I have to?”
“No, not if you don’t want to…I just thought you might like it better, that’s all. If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to. Do you want to think about it?” William looked up at his dad, and shook his head.
“No…I don’t want to go. I promised to stay and look after Buffy”
“But…ok then, son, you don’t have to, I know you love her but you mustn’t think that you have to look after her all the time…I’ll come up and say goodnight later, ok?”
“Ok dad” The bathroom door opened, and a pink scrubbed Buffy came running into William’s room. She was in her pyjamas, and had her dressing gown on.
“Buffy…you know big school…you DO want me to go with you, don’t you?” William asked, casually, not looking at her.
“What? Yes, you must, you promised!”
“I know…it’s ok, Im going with you…I told dad I promised.”
“Why…they can’t send you back to London!”
“No! Dad just wanted to know if I wanted to go to a computer school”
“But there are computers at Sunnydale High”
“I know”
“Promise you won’t go”
“I promise, I already said” he held her hand and she leant her head on his shoulder. Joyce smiled at them as she came into the room.
“You two ok?”
“Mom…daddy’s not making William go away, is he?”
“No darling. As William doesn’t want to go, he wants to stay and look after and be with you, so that’s that. End of story”
“Promise?”
“Promise” Joyce said.
“Ok, half an hour, and then bedtime, ok?” Joyce said, and went down.
“Way to go on making our daughter more clingy than normal!”
“Why?”
“Oh…she’s all angsty about William leaving now, despite all the promises” Hank rolled his eyes and
smiled.
“You know, the kid wouldn’t even think about it, he’s made a promise, and that’s it…that’s loyalty for you”
“That’s love and devotion too”
“Yes!” When Joyce went up forty minutes later, they were both in the same bed, fast asleep.
********************************
Two Years Later
“Oh Hank, I’m so proud of you!” Joyce hugged her husband and kissed him.
“It was me finally clinching the Sheraton deal that did it, although Chuck said he was going to bring me onto the board and make me number two…”
“So darling, come through to the kitchen, I’ll make coffee, tell me, what does it involve exactly, this promotion?”
“Well…nearly double in salary for a start!”
“Wow!”
“And a company car…decent too, I was thinking of something foreign…a Mercedes or something like that. Use of the company holiday homes in Hawaii and Toronto, and Chuck says that I can use his private beachfront home in Florida whenever I like, as long as he’s not there of course…and I also get to become a member of the Lakeside Golf and Country Club”
“What, you’ll learn to play golf?” Joyce smiled, knowing her husbands dislike of the game
“Not if I can help it…oh yes, and a really good health plan for you, me and the kids”
“Darling, this is incredible…look, as it’s our 16th wedding anniversary in two weeks, and William has done so well in his exams…lets push the boat out, have a really nice family party, what do you say?”
“I think that’s an excellent idea…we’ll have it at the Country Club!”
They invited friends and colleagues, and Hank’s brother came from Denver, with his family and his sister came from Georgia with her hers, Joyce’s mother Grace and her husband Tom was coming, and so was Hank’s mother Cynthia.
“Are we going to invite Susan?” Hank asked.
“No we’re not! I want to have a good time, and whenever we see Susan…I wouldn’t mind inviting Chuck though”
“He’s already coming, got to have the boss there” Hank said.
“No…Chuck, Susan’s ex”
“Will he come, all the way from Mexico, do you think?”
“Doubt it…but I’ll ring him, you never know!”
****
“He said he’d have loved to, but Conchita’s due to have the twins in about three weeks, and he’s got to look after Sanchez, Consuela and Rodrigo”
“Golly…he’s not giving up now he knows how to make kids, is he?!”
“He said these two were going to be the last…but, well, Conchita’s a Catholic, and she won’t let him, you know…use anything, and she won’t so…”
“Well, as long as he’s happy”
“So, got your outfit for the party?”
“Yes, treated myself, Vera Wang, no less!”
“Good, you deserve it…and Will and Buffy?”
“Don’t worry, they’ll look delightful…Buffy wants this sparkly blue dress she’s seen in town, she’s been banging on about it for weeks, she’ll have an excuse now for me to buy it, and I was going to get William a suit”
“Did I tell you, Chuck said that he’d take William on like a shot when he’s older”
“Did he? He’s such a clever kid, and the best part is, he doesn’t struggle, it all just seems to come naturally…I told him, never think that he’d let us down if he got a bad result, as long as he tried, well, that was good enough for us, he knows we’re immensely proud of him”
“That’s true…they’ll be in soon, shall we tell them?”
“I think so”
*****
“WOW – Well done dad!” William said. Hank beamed at his son. Buffy looked thoughtful, and said,
“Um…I’ll need a new dress”
“Yes, your mom said something about a sparkly blue one in town, that right?”
“Oh yes, you mean I could have it?” Buffy grinned, brows raised.
“Just this once, and William, you shall have a new suit, or trousers and jacket, whatever you want”
“Great, thanks, dad!”
The following Saturday, after a trip into town.
“What do you think, dad?” Buffy had on her new dress and heeled shoes, she was grinning.
“Wow…is that my thirteen year old daughter? – You look 16 at least!”
“And here’s William…I thought he looked so good in that leather jacket and the trousers can be lengthened, he’s growing so quickly, look Hank, he’s almost as tall as you!”
“You look great, son” Hank patted William on his shoulder, at thirteen, William must have been around 5’ 8” tall, and filling out nicely.
“Thanks dad” Buffy thought he looked really cool and couldn’t wait for the party.
With everybody enjoying themselves enormously, the lights were put up, and the buffet was offered.
The food looked beautiful, like something they’d do on a cruise ship. There was lobster and chicken, salmon and shrimp, giant crab claws and every type of salad that you could think of, fancy bread and cheeses.
“Think it’s going well” Hank asked Joyce.
“Marvellous my darling…this food is out of this world!”
After everyone had finished eating, Hank stood to say a few words, and thank everyone for coming. He concluded by calling upon his family, and called Buffy up first.
“This is my daughter, my beautiful princess…”
“Dad!” Buffy blushed, but smiled.
“This is my son…William, whom I am immensely proud of, come here son” William went up and hugged him, everybody said, ‘aww’ as after he hugged his dad, he went and stood next to Buffy, holding her hand.
“And last, but not least, my beautiful, beautiful wife, Joyce…can I have the…” One of the waitresses brought in a huge bouquet of exotic orchids.
“This beautiful woman has been married to me for sixteen years on Tuesday, I’d just like to thank her for making me the happiest man in the world…love you babe!” Joyce was nearly crying, and when she got to him and hugged him, he whispered,
“I love you…this is for you” he handed her a small box. She opened it, and took out the most gorgeous necklace a fixed shape Serpentine chain in white gold, with a heart studded in diamonds.
“Do you like it?” Hank asked
Joyce gasped and put her hand to her mouth, but she nodded rapidly.
“Good, happy anniversary, darling” Somebody called for three cheers, which were given.
“Can I see mom? – Wow…that’s beautiful” William said.
“Wow, like, way cool dad!” Buffy said. Hank had his arm around Joyce, and he said to her,
“Next dance is mine”
“Hold on, you don’t get away that easily…would you…” Joyce nodded to a waiter, and a huge cake with sparklers sticking in it was wheeled in, and Joyce said,
“This is for you, as I know you coveted your sons!” Joyce handed him a box, and when Hank opened it, it was a watch, a very good one too, the same make that Grace and Tom had bought for William as a gift for being best man at their wedding.
Hank grinned and kissed Joyce. He went to turn to show off to William, but he and Buffy were walking off.
“Hey, Will”
“Leave them” Joyce said.
“I was just going to brag, that’s all!” Hank said, taking his old watch off and putting on his new one.
“Um, mom, dad…this is for you, for your anniversary, from us” William gave his dad a card.
“What’s this…oh my goodness Joyce, look!”
“We remembered when we went to Disney world, how you said you’d always wanted to go in a hot air balloon” Buffy said. In the envelope was a ticket for a trip over the city and parks, a Champagne lunch and then in the evening a slap up dinner at a swanky hotel.
“Haven’t we got the best kids in the world!” Buffy and William were kissed and hugged.
“But how did you…this is amazing!”
“Don’t worry, grandma will look after us” William said, and as if on cue, Hanks mother came up and put her hand into her son’s.
“Don’t worry about Will and Buffy, I’ll come over the night before and stay over to look after them”
“Great mom…”
“I’m itching to get into your borders in the garden…and I can do some planting!” She was a great gardener, something that had totally passed Hank by…
“When is it?”
“Tomorrow week, we made sure it was ok for the Monday for you, that you’d got nothing important on as you’ll be late home” the music started up and people started to dance.
“How did the kids afford this?” Hank asked Joyce.
“I’ve no idea, this is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you!”
“You have smashing kids, Hank, Joyce”
“Thanks Chuck…we don’t now how they afforded this!” Joyce waved the envelope.
“I do…Saturday mornings, William and Buffy have come to the office, and Buffy has carefully cleaned all the computer monitors and key boards, something too specialised and fiddly for the regular cleaners, and William has written me a programme and sorted out my spreadsheet data bases…that kid’s a genius!”
“I wondered why you said you’d take him on…I’m amazed!” They looked up and saw Buffy and Will dancing in a circle with their two grandmothers, Tom and a few cousins.
“They told me what they wanted to do for you, what they wanted to buy you, and I said had they been saving their pocket money, and Will said that they’d just about got enough, and I thought I’d help by offering them a little job, well, William comes into the office, saw me struggling with the spreadsheets and he told me that there was a much simpler way to do things.
I said I’d pay whoever showed me $100 an hour, rash statement, and when he just taps a few things in, and…well, it was magic. He told me he’d do the lot, and I said I’d pay him. I asked Buffy if she’d like to earn too, and she said she was hopeless with computers, but I gave her this little vacuum suction brush, which she loved using, and she went around all the computers and did it.
William and Buffy came over.
“So Saturdays, you haven’t just been going into town then!” Joyce hugged William, and Hank held Buffy’s hand.
“Ah…he told you, well, it was in a good cause!”
“But well, you earned that money son, and you Buf” Hank said
“Don’t worry, there’s some left…I’m saving up for a 28 megabyte keyring so I can store extra files without having to carry discs around all the time”
“And there’s a Donna Karan handbag I want!” Buffy said.
“Oh…that cream one with the gold clasp?” Joyce asked
“That’s the one!” Buffy grinned at her mother.
They joined in the dancing, and everybody had a great time. The following week, Hank and Joyce went off on their ballooning day, and had a fantastic time! They phoned the children from the balloon.
“Gods…it’s so beautiful up here…so serene…oh my gods, there’s a bird… I could almost touch it it’s flying so close! – here’s dad”
“Hi…you should see the view…it’s incredible…and apart from the gas in the balloon, it’s so quiet…no traffic noise…oh, Joyce, look…look at the boating lake!” They said goodbye.
“Are they having a good time?” Cynthia asked.
“Yes gran…mom just said there was a bird flying right next to them so close she could almost touch it!” Buffy said.
“Right then, now, if you want me, I’ll be in the garden…I’ve made sandwiches for lunch, they’re covered in the kitchen, I’ve made a cheesecake, so help yourself when you’re hungry…are we ordering take out tonight?” Buffy nodded.
“Ok then, that gives me a good long run at these borders…I’ve got Hostas and some clematis I want to plant, and the pansies and crocuses will be moved…I’ll get on” Taking her kneeler, and her trowel and secateurs she went out into the garden.
Buffy went to the phone, and William went on his computer.
On their way back home, Hank said to Joyce,
“Let’s get the kids those things they want”
“That gizmo William wants you mean – do you know what it is exactly?”
“I can ask in the computer shop. I know he said a key ring that would allow him to carry around information so he didn’t have to carry discs all time, I’m sure they’ll put me right. Buffy wants a handbag, is that right?”
“It’s $150”
“HOW MUCH? Oh, go on then, they are good kids!”
“Well, there’s this one, which stores 28 MGB of information”
“How much is that one?” Hank asked the assistant”
“Um…let me see…(he tapped away at his computer) this one is $49.99”
“And there’s a bigger one?”
“Oh yes, sir. There’s a 56 Megabyte one, that’s um…$89, or then there’s 128 megabyte one, that will hold up to 500 files and –“
“How much?”
“$179.95”
“I’ll take it.”
“The biggest one?”
“Please…do you take American Express?”
“Certainly, sir…”
Hank sat in the coffee bar at the food court waiting for Joyce.
“Did you get it?” Joyce grinned.
“I did, and guess what? – It was in the sale! 1 got it for $75”
“Well, I’ve just spent $180 on William, so if we put $100 inside Buffy’s bag… what do you think?”
“I think she’ll be over the moon!”
**************
“Did you have a good time dad?” William asked after hugging his father.
“The best! – It was just…surreal. So quiet…I mean you can hear the gas and the flame burner and that, but no traffic, and the view…totally amazing!”
“Hi mom, have they been good?” Joyce asked her mother-in-law.
“Very. Not a bother on them”
“Good. Right, are you staying to eat with us?”
“Sure, I’ll stay tonight, go after lunch, if that’s ok with you, I just want to finish off the last border, by the fence”
“Here mom, I know these are your favourites!” Hank handed his mother a huge box of chocolates.
“And this is for you…and that ones for you” Hank handed his children their presents.
“OOH! Prezzies…me likey!” Buffy carefully opened the Bloomingdale’s carrier bag to reveal a smart designer bag with DKNY on the front. She went huge eyed and quickly opened it and saw the bag she was after
“WOW! Oh brilliant!”
“It is the right one, isn’t it?”
“What’s this…$100 too?” Buffy grinned.
“Will, look!” Buffy showed him the bag, and he smiled.
“What have you got?”
“A special keyring that’ll hold files…hold on – DAD!”
“What, is it ok?”
“I’ve only just realised it’s a 128 megabyte! This is brilliant, it’s practically five times as big as I wanted originally!” Hank grinned.
“Well, we figured that you were worth it!” William hugged his dad, and his mum.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
From here the story continues as they grow up – This part I call Growing Pains, although it will still be found under the main title of Nursery Blues