Page 16 of Conri

“I’ll give you twenty bucks to mow the lawn and not take anything off your dues.”That wasn’t want he wanted either.“Look, I could just order you to do it, Carl, but I’m willing to pay you to do something for the pack.It’s up to you.Either do it and get paid now or have it taken from your dues.”

“I guess I’ll take the money now.But I don’t think it’s fair that I have to use my own mower.Why don’t the pack just buy a mower?That would be even better.”He told him how they’d done that once before and how it had been used by some of the pack so much for their own yards, it wasn’t worth doing it again.Not and have a mower for everyone to use.“I remember that.It was sure nice having that rider when I had to mow my own lawn.You should really think about buying another one.I’d surely like that.”

“I’m sure that you would.But I’m not, so mow the lawn out at the ceremony field and think of it as paying for the other mower that you and the others wore out when you didn’t want to buy your own mower.”He, of course, thought that was a bad idea and said as much.“Look, Carl, I’m having five of you mow the lawn on the same day.I could just have you do it and take it all afternoon.Do it, and stop bitching about having the pack paying to have a new mower.”

“I still think it would be great to have one around all the time.Mine isn’t going to last forever having to mow the—All right, I’m going.”The low growl had him leaving the pack meeting hall faster than he’d come into the hall.

He was making a list of people who would be responsible for the lawn when the phone at his desk rang.He was in no mood to take any calls, so when he answered it, he knew he was a bit short with the person on the other end of the line.

“What a way to answer the phone.I raised you better than that.”Of course, it would be his mom.And she’d not understand what was going on at the office today.“What is going on there?Has someone dirtied up your day already?”

“You have no idea.”He told her about his day so far.“Then the phone rang, and I insulted you.I’m sorry, Mom.I hadn’t any intentions of taking anything out on anyone else today, but you can understand this.”

“Your father would have bought the mower and still not had the field mowed.Then wonder why.You’re a good leader, son.”He thanked her.“The reason that I called was I’ve been trying to get in touch with your wife.She’s been putting me off.I don’t know that she likes me all that much.”

“Her dad is ill, Mom.You know that.And they’re in Columbus today, getting a second opinion on his brain tumor.I hope it goes well.They’re going to be there just about all day.”Mom said she’d forgotten about him being ill.“Yes, sometimes I do as well.He looks so good otherwise.”

“He does.Oh my, I feel so bad now.I’d forgotten about him dealing with all that.I should havebeen there for her.You tell her when you talk to her if she needs me, all she needs to do is to call me, and I’ll be there for her.”He told his mom that she could contact her.“I will when she returns.Poor thing.I just love her family to pieces, Conri.You got yourself a good mate in her.”

“I agree.She’s been helping me with the pack stuff lately, too.She’s the one who suggested that I get some of the members to mow the lawn out there.Except for the bitching today, I think it’s going to work out well.”She asked about other projects.“She’s hired a firm to go over the books.She told me that she didn’t think everyone was paying their dues on time, and most of them weren’t paying them at all.We do have a few, very few, who pay by the year.I mean, it’s not all that much to pay.But I believe she’s right.Dues aren’t being paid.And the ones that aren’t are the first ones in line when we have something to give away to the groups.”

“I don’t believe I’ve paid mine now that I think about it.”Conri told her that she didn’t have to because she was the mother of the alpha.“Well, that’s nice.Thank you for that.Do your brothers pay theirs?”

“No, they work for the pack in different ways, and that’s why.When I need them, they’ll run around gathering things up or checking things out for me.Also, Kendrick is my second, though he doesn’t care for the job.With him being a doctor, it’s hard on him to go with me and knock a few heads around.He told me that he ends up having to take care of them once he’s knocked them around.”Mom laughed just as he had hoped that she would.“I’m thinking that I need to get one of the others signed up on it.Rette said he’d do it.I guess he’s got all his things ready for his art show now, and he has some free time.But once he gets started again, it’ll be difficult to pull him away.”

“I have a hard enough time getting them to pay me any mind when they’re in the fight or flight mode.I didn’t realize that they had another show coming up.I need to get with them on a calendar so that I can keep up.”He didn’t know what to say about that, so he didn’t.But his mom wasn’t finished talking yet.“I called you to get in touch with Cass.I’ve done that already.I guess I should let you get back to work.I do miss having you boys around more often.I don’t suppose you’d like to have lunch with your poor old mother today, would you?”

“I’d love that.I was going to get with Yanick, but he can join you and me if he behaves himself.When he’s bored, he tends to get a little out of hand.”She said that she would love that.“Well, it’s about noon now.Do you want me to pick you up and bring you into town, or you drive yourself?”

“Pick me up.Oh, this is wonderful.I get to have a nice lunch with two of my boys.”He was going to have to make more time with his mom if she was this excited about having lunch with him.All of them needed to do it more often.“I’ll meet you in front of the house.I’ve got myself a grocery list too going on, and I’ll just walk home with those little bits of things.”

“I’ll bring you back home.There is nothing on my desk that has to be done right away.”There were actually ten things on his desk that needed his attention today, but his mom was very important to him.Getting his suit jacket—wearing a suit to work at the pack meeting house was something that he’d been doing since taking over—he made his way to the door while reaching for his brother.

“We have to make more time for her.”Yanick beat him to saying it.“Yesterday, when I was in town, I saw her talking to herself.Wondering where her boys were when she needed them.I was going to suggest we meet with her all together at least once a week and then by ourselves on another day.It’ll be good for her.And us.”

“Maybe we can convince her to do Sunday dinners again.Those were so nice when we had them.We could all get together and talk.”Yanick agreed with him.“Also, you might not have thought of this, but we really need to get together for Christmas this year.Find out what we’re going to be doing.In the last few years, we’ve done nothing but pack stuff, and I miss having a tree up.”

“You’re only saying that because you have a mate.And possibly children soon.So when are you going to make me an uncle?Soon, I hope.I’d love to see a little version of Cass running around.”He thought that he would as well.“I’m hoping you’re going to be making an announcement soon.Or even at Christmas.That would be epic, big brother.”

“I don’t have any announcements as yet, but I won’t let you know when I do.”They both laughed.“I’m about to pick up Mom.I hope you’re at least almost to the restaurant.”

“I’m there now making reservations for the four of us.Rette was in town, so I invited him too.You think Mom will care?”Conri told his brother that she would love it.“All right.I’m getting her now.I’ll see you in a few minutes.

His mom was so excited that he felt twice as bad about not taking her out more often.Just because they all had jobs, they shouldn’t be neglecting their mother.He’d hate it if his own kids, whenever he had them, did the same to him.

Not only were Yanick and Rette at the restaurant but so were Lamar and Yuri.Kendrick sent his best wishes to their mom as he was still in Columbus with the Warmer family, but having the five of them together, his mom couldn’t have been happier.At one point, she did cry a little, her love for them shining through her tears, she told them.He was just glad that she’d called him today so that he could spend some time with her.

Lunch was a lot longer than he thought it would be.It was nearly three when they started off to the grocery store to pick up her few things.Never once did he allow himself to look at his watch, and he noticed that his brothers hadn’t either.When they were finished, he asked if they would meet with him and Mom once a week so that she’d not feel so bad about them not coming around.They all agreed that they’d love to have a nice meal with them once a week.Or more, as it turned out.

There were a few people in the grocery store that spoke to his mom.She always made sure to tell them that they’d all just had lunch together and that they were going to pick her up to join them once a week.He felt like a heel when a couple of the women told her that it was about time, but mom ignored them in favor of being proud about having him shopping with her.He even pushed the cart around for her while she gathered up things that he was sure were at home in the cabinets.

By the time he got her home and the things brought into the house, he was sure that he felt better than he had even a few days ago.Something about having someone proud of you made you feel like you could take on just about anything.He realized, too, that at some point, his headache from earlier was gone, and he wasn’t grinding his teeth so much.Yes, there was a lot to be said at having lunch with your mom, he thought.

Getting back to his office at five-thirty, he’d heard from Cass twice and Kendrick once.They’d have the test results in a few days, but things didn’t look as badly as they were told.

“The tumor hasn’t grown at all since the first cat scan.And not only that but in a few places, it looks as if it’s shrunk in size a little.Right now, I’ll take a quarter of an inch over it growing that much.”He said that he was glad for them all.“Dad is trying hard not to get his hopes up, but you can see it in his eyes that he’s excited about the extra people looking into it.”

“I bet that he is.I know that he sounded excited about it when I spoke to him last night.”She was telling him about the doctors being so nice when he was packing up to leave for the day.Everything on his desk would be there tomorrow, he thought.Today had been totally worth being behind another day.“I love you so much, Cass.I’ll see you when you get home.”

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