Meanwhile, Arthur was convinced that if his wife spent the whole day before coming, that Louis would not move the car away from the vestibule. So, he quickly gave her a call and informed her of his presence.
“Hello, Nichole. We are in the vestibule.”
Nichole laughed softly when she heard 'we' before she responded, “Okay, dear. I will be with you shortly.”
“Mrs. Bailey, your husband is around,” the janitor, who just walked in, informed her.
“Yes. Thank you, Rachael. Kindly inform Zoey that I have left and that she should find her way home,” Nichole hurriedly requested from the janitor as she was walking briskly to join her husband and unpredictable son.
“Consider it done, Mrs. Bailey,” the janitor responded.
Just like she undertook, she joined them shortly. Then, she looked at her husband's face, which was void of any expression, and greeted, “How was your day, hubby?”
“Fine. And yours?”
“My day was splendid.”
When the driver did not recognize her presence before driving off, she kept her cool too, and concentrated on her husband. Soon, they were at their native home. Then, Arthur gave Phil a call. When he picked, he greeted cheerfully.
“Hello, father. How may I help you?”
“Hello, Phil. If you will not be busy after work, I would love you to come over. You will take me somewhere.”
“All right, father. What of about Louis, I hope that he left early enough yesterday?”
“No, He is still around, and he had confiscated all my car keys. This boy is something else.”
Phil laughed heartily, but his father-in-law was unfazed. Then, he reminded, “Yes, father. I will not be busy after work, but I wonder who Louis took after.”
Now, Nichole, who was listening to their conversations, burst into strident laughter. Arthur was infested by it when he remembered that his son was as stubborn as he was.
“Phil is right, after all,” Nichole teased, and Arthur laughed softly.
In a little while, Phil arrived, primarily for catching fun with the drama that would be going on in the house. When he got into the parlor, he met Louis busy with the janitor in setting the dinner table for lunch. Then, he greeted, “Brother In-law, good to have you around.”
“Thank you, Louis, I never knew that you are still around.”
“I would be around until after the Award Ceremony of Denise.”
“It is all right.”
Now, he was through with the setting of the dinner table, and took his seat on the couch, but Phil noticed that he had not informed the parents that lunch was set. So, he inquired, “Have you informed mom and father that the lunch is ready?”
“No. When they wished to eat, they would come for it.”
“I see. What about you? Aren’t you famished?”
Now, he pouted his lips and responded, “I am, but I will wait for them.”
‘No wonder Angel slipped off your hands,’ Phil thought to himself. Since he was starving too, and would not wait for whenever his parent’s in-law would come for the lunch, he gave them a call. When, his father-in-law picked, he informed, “I am around, father.”
“It is okay. I will be with you shortly.”
After a few minutes, Arthur and his wife came to the parlor with their casual outing wears. They settled down at the dinner table, and had their lunch silently. Meanwhile, the food tasted better than what the janitor used to serve. Then, to provoke Louis into saying something, his mother, who was aware that he must have prepared the meal, teased, “This janitor has improved greatly, today’s meal tastes better.”
Now, Phil, stole a glance at Louis who wrinkled his face and he smiled inwardly. Then, to rub it in, Arthur chipped in, “Yes. He is a good learner. I have been giving him some cookery tutorials. Phil, ask the janitor to get more.”
“It is all right…”
Before Phil could call out for the janitor, the real cook got up abruptly, walked to the kitchen and brought the pot of the food and turned it into the chaffing dish and dropped the pot on the floor. As he expected, no one acknowledged his gesture, and he was not bothered. They ate silently, and at the end of the meal, Nichole pointed out, “If we continue to eat like this, we would certainly put on weight.”
“I thought as much. Let us go, Phil.”
Before Louis could process what his father said, they were already outside the house and heading towards Phil’s car. Quickly, they were already in the car and ready to move. Then, Phil asked, “Where are we going, father?”
“To the mall. I want to get some wears for Louis. From all indications, he may stay until the Award Ceremony.”
“You are right, Hubby. If not, he may be repeating the same suit every day.”
They laughed heartily at Louis’s character. Soon they were at the mall, and they walked straight to the clothes section. Phil was doing the selection for Louis, and his mother-in-law pointed out.
“What if we buy clothes for everyone against the ceremony?”
“You are right, Wifey.”
Now, Hon. David, who saw the team walking in, walked up to them to say Hello.
“Hello, Arthur. How are you?”
“I’m fine, Honorable. How is your family?”
“My family is good. I cannot stop appreciating you and your wife. Thank you so much.”
“You are welcome. Parenting has its challenges. All we need to do is to be patient with them.”
“You are right.”
As usual, everyone would think that Phil was Arthur’s first son, so he addressed him as such. But he corrected him and Hon. David concluded that he was so close to his son-in-law that he even take him on a shopping spree, and he planned to do that for Henry. Afterward, they visited their regular spot and bought Louis’s favorite delicacies. Then, they returned home with different bags of clothes. Subsequently, he carefully removed six bags for his parent’s in-law, Louis and Max with his family. He took along with him three bags for his family and three bags for Denise, Olivia, and Tim.
“This is for you, Louis. Father and mom, bought them for you,” Phil announced when he got into the guest room and met him working on his desk. Now, his face beamed with smile when he saw the beautiful trolley bag. Then, he got up swiftly and grabbed the bag.
“For me?” He asked with excitement.
“Yes. For you.”
He opened the luggage, looked at the clothes one after the other, and ran out of his room like a teenager. He met his parents on the couch, with the delicacies bag on the center table.