4 The Prodigal Sons (1/2)
Malcolm was woken up the sound of the door bursting open and feet stomping in through the main door. That could only mean one thing; Kimmy and her brood had arrived and were going to slowly infest the place until it was entirely consumed. Kim met her husband Dan when she was in college and as a result she never graduated and instead went home and became a stay home mom to a family that could almost fill an infield. Malcolm never had to worry about the family's legacy because even if Dick managed to torpedo his career like Pete Rose or Barry Bonds, Kim had so many kids that one of them was bound to do them proud. The odds were in the favor especially since Dan wasn't a dummy and offered some decent genes into the equation. Malcolm was wearing just jeans and a white t-shirt as he descended the stairs to greet the new arrivals. He waved to the few kids he could see as he came down.
”If you're selling cookies, I don't want any!” he called as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
”Uncle Mal!” one of them called out as he ran over and gave Malcolm's leg a bear hug that couldn't be broken with the jaws of life.
”That's quite a grip you got there,” Malcolm said as he tried to shake him off. ”Have you ever considered getting into Olympic wrestling or rodeo?”
”No,” the young boy said.
”You should,” Malcolm replied, ”You might excel in that.”
”Yeah!” the young kid said as he ran off.
”Don't encourage him.” Kim said to Malcolm once he was out of earshot.
”The only thing I encourage is rational thought,” Malcolm informed her, ”A habit of mine since that's what I do for a living.”
”Is that so?” a voice called out, ”And here I thought your job was to crush the dreams of young kids trying to get a quality education.”
”No, that's just a benefit.” Malcolm replied as he watched Kim's husband Dan walk in with a few more suitcases. ”When I make tenure I get the ability to consume their souls.”
”Whatever.” Kim said as she strolled out of the room.
Malcolm looked down at all the luggage. ”Are you guys moving in or did you spit out a few more rug rats since the last time we talked?”
”Oh no,” Dan said with a laugh that was as phony as him, ”No more for us. Six is more than enough. Four boys and two girls is more than enough to keep her busy. Where's Dick and David?”
”They're still inbound.” Malcolm replied, ”They'll both be in before supper.”
”And have we any plans for that?” Dan asked.
”I was just going to order a dozen pizzas and a few pounds of wings.” Malcolm said with a shrug. ”That should do it, right?”
”Yeah, I guess.” Dan said as he went up the stairs with the suitcases he had.
Malcolm left the ones he took from Kim and walked into the dining room to see one of his nieces sitting at his laptop. ”What are you doing with my computer?”
”Trying to check my email.” The girl replied.
”You can't,” Malcolm answered, ”That computer has no internet connections.”
”Why?” the young girl asked as she was surprised by his response.
”Because it's my writing computer,” Malcolm answered, ”I only use that for writing. I have other computers to connect online for.