The Journal of Phillip Grant - March 19

Two houses next door to each other. A total of 6 teenagers, 3 per house. There is a lot of teen hormones everywhere. Veronica has been spending a lot of time at the Kane house the past few days.

She's really fond of James. She thinks about him often. At least since he lives next door, she doesn't have far to go and it doesn't usually take long to find her.

I asked Stephen to come met me at The Corner Pub. It's not a bad little joint; professional bar, lots of tables, stereo.

"So Stephen, what do you think of the place?"

"Well Dad, it's small but comfortable. But why did you ask me here?"

"Cause it's yours. Well, right now it belongs to the family but it will be yours when you leave home. You'll owe your sisters rental payments for what will seem like forever."

"Mine? Wow, Dad. I thought you said the family couldn't afford it?"

"We had to sell our interests in two businesses and dip into the family funds. But your mother gets nearly 10,000 a week in royalties so it won't take long to build the bank account again. If I can bring myself to sell a few paintings, it will be faster."

I shook a finger at him. "Mind you, boy. This is it for you. You'll have to make money quickly or throw a cot in a back room somewhere because we aren't buying a house for you."

"Dad, you and mom are the greatest."

As I said, Ronnie has been in James's company quite a bit lately.

So much so, that she's asked him to be her boyfriend.

There is a problem. James is very nearly an adult. Will he be moving on or will he keep this promise? Only time will tell. I'd hate to see my girl broken hearted but he'll have a very long wait for her. I couldn't blame him if he did move on.

Penny sometimes hangs out with Nicolas.

She definitely doesn't dote on him like Ronnie does with James. I think she just wants to show that she's keeping up with her sister.

Our last butler grabbed his pay for the week then vanished. So we asked the agency to send a new butler. Do you still call them butlers if they are women?

Third ever use of the hot tub and it broke. Hot tubs break?

Took awhile but I managed to fix it.

Vanessa spotted Kari at the park again. This time, she didn't try to be nice to Kari. There just doesn't seem to be a point to being nice.

But she says that our first grandchild is definitely on its way.

Kari may be unpleasant to us, but Vincent is looking fine and quite well fed these days. He's in the music business these days and doing well.

Stephen brought home another girl from school today. Don't ask her name, I'll try to remember if she shows up a few more times. Stephen and Penny are definitely playing the field a bit.

Vanessa went over to check our new property. This gave me an idea.

You see, today is Vanessa's birthday. So I decided to have a party.

But we are not having a birthday party. Any male my age knows better than having a birthday party for the love of his life unless she asks for one.

Still, there were party horns and a lot of cheering for Vanessa when the time came.

Poor Vanessa. She's already worried about if she should dye her hair or what.

I told her she could dye it pink and purple, black and blue or white as a sheet. She'll always be my love.

I had a chance to dance with the hottest lady in town. Grey hair shouldn't stop anyone, just slow them down a little.

-----

Emerald was actually home once. That was different. She's not home nearly as often as the rest of the family.

And as a complete and utter contrast to any Shrimp Grant story, Shrimp seems to mainly be a househusband. Almost every time I find him, it's at home with the toddler.