“Tracy thinks I can get a child car seat into the back of a Mustang.”
“Okay.”
“We can get one?” she asked and looked me in the eye.
“For you … anything,” I confirmed.
If girls ever learned that if they gave their guys great sex and then asked for stuff, they would always get it … I would have to beg Pam not to share that tip with the other baby mamas, or I would be in trouble.
◊◊◊
Chapter 18 – Quarter Beers Saturday February 18
Duke and I came back from our run to find Fritz drinking coffee with my parents. Peggy had taken the boys to Greg’s, where Angie had agreed to watch them so Peggy could go to a study-group session. When I’d heard about it, I was amazed that college kids would get together that early in the day on a weekend. I suspected she might be meeting a guy for breakfast, but decided not to say anything about it.
“I don’t know why we don’t just go ahead and plant trackers in their little butts and be done with it. If any of them turn out like their father, they’ll be running off naked,” Mom said.
“Naked?” Fritz asked me.
I ignored them and began to make breakfast. According to my mom, I’d been an exhibitionist, starting at an early age.
Fritz had been working on finding GPS trackers for the little ones. We figured it was only a matter of time before one of them got lost or kidnapped, God forbid.
I heard the back door open. Duke, our trusty guard dog, raised his head and then flopped back down to continue his post-run nap. When I saw his lack of reaction, I stuck my head back into the refrigerator because it was probably Cassidy.
“What are we making?” Cassidy asked as she came up behind me. She peeked over my shoulder to see what we had to use for breakfast.
“We could make a frittata. It looks like Melanie roasted some veggies for us to use this weekend.”
I was starting to be a fan of roasted vegetables, which intensified the flavors. I especially liked tomatoes done that way. Recently, the ones at the grocery stores weren’t that great. I expect it was because they didn’t get a chance to ripen on the vine, robbing them of flavor.
“That sounds a little complicated. I should probably get your dad to show me how to make it,” Cassidy decided.
My dad had been teaching her to cook like he’d done for Greg and me. Far be it from me to interfere in that. Dad was a good sport and took my place while I made myself a cup of tea. When it was ready, I joined Mom and Fritz at the table. He had three little watches laid out.
“These would be better for Greg’s kids because they’re older. You download an app on your phone, and you can see where they are. The watch has an ‘SOS’ button that allows the child to call you if needed,” Fritz explained.
“If Kyle and Mac figure that out …” I left the rest unsaid.
Their idea of an emergency and mine were probably different. Fortunately, the call would go to either my brother or his wife and not me. I envisioned getting a call from Mac saying she needed to go ride her pony.
“It also allows you to create what they call ‘security fences.’ You can designate safe areas, like their daycare. If they leave the area, you’re alerted,” Fritz explained.
“What about mine?” I asked about my five younger ones.
“Coby has been a problem,” Fritz said, shaking his head. “He seems to figure out how to take them off.”
Fritz had been testing ideas. If it survived my son, we would have our winner.
“As I said, we should just shoot a tracker into his butt,” Mom suggested again.
“I’m not sure that would be safe,” I said to voice my concern, once again, on the matter.
“Maybe we put one in you to test it,” Cassidy said to offer her unwanted advice.
“Nope, not happening.”
Fritz reached inside his bag and pulled out two different trackers. The first looked like security tags you saw on clothes so they couldn’t be shoplifted, and the second was a baggy full of rice.
“This one has a magnetic lock that takes a special tool to remove. Coby won’t be able to puzzle it out,” Fritz said proudly.
We’d see.
“What’s the rice?” I asked.
“Backup. These are tiny trackers that we will sew into their clothes, jackets, backpacks, shoes, and the like. If one of them is kidnapped, the kidnappers will remove any obvious tracking devices. These rice-like ones are unobtrusive and unlikely to be noticed. But they don’t have the range and features of the larger models.
“Another advantage of the snap-on one is that, unlike the others, it uses a satellite phone system, so you don’t have to rely on cellular service for GPS tracking. It also lets you listen in, like a baby monitor, so you can check up on them,” Fritz explained.
I foresaw that Carol would need this when she discovered boys so I could monitor her activities. Hopefully, that discovery wouldn’t happen until she was thirty and out of the house.
“We need to clip one onto David,” Dad said.
“Stay out of this, Old Man,” I shot back, suddenly seeing the downside of the eavesdropping device.
