Chapter 9: Parenting, Pranks, and Prom

When the next royalty check rolled in, Tanya decided to buy the little ones a new toy chest full of toys.  She never expected to walk out of her room to find Brent playing inside the chest!  He seemed to have more fun climbing in and out of that thing then with the actual toys it held.

She just couldn't believe how many hours of enjoyment he got out of that chest and hoped that Chase would find it just as much fun.

One of Anderson's teachers found out that Tanya was a published author and assigned him an extra credit assignment to write a short story.  She wanted to see if he had the same natural talent that his mother did.  Anderson groaned about it at first but once he got started he found the he did enjoy writing and thought it might be neat to eventually illustrate his own novel one day.  As an extra bonus, he found writing could be a source of spending cash.

Since Anderson had been helping out so much around the house and was doing well in school, Tanya thought a night out would be a great treat for him.  He heads out to the local nightspot where he runs into his father, Connor.

The two spend a bit of time catching up before Anderson hits the dance floor.  He wanted to practice a few new moves before prom, which was fast approaching.

The next week was Chase's birthday and Tanya organized a little party for him.  She was so excited that Grady was able to come.  He had been such a great father, not just to Chase but with all the boys.  He treated the older two as though they were his own.  Tanya was a little worried though, that Anderson and Brent might start to resent the fact that Chase's father was still around when their's weren't.

Grady tried to spend as much time with the kids as he could.  He would stop by during his lunch break and help Tanya clean up and play with the kids for a bit before heading back to work.

He tried to come by after work at least a couple of times a week.  Grady loved the way Chase would snuggle into his chest while he held him.  He just adored his son and loved being a father.

Grady even taught Chase how to talk so that Tanya could read to Brent most evenings.  Being an author Tanya knew how important it was to read to her children.  It would give them a leg up when they got older, and it allowed them to use their imagination.  She hoped they never lost their sense of amazement and wonder at the world or the belief that they could do anything they wanted if they applied themselves.

Chase and Brent soon became inseparable and loved to play together.  They played several games together but they tended to favor the activity table.  Brent preferred to build things with the blocks and Chase was soon becoming a budding artist.  Tanya wondered if they'd grow up to be a team; an architect and a construction contractor building great buildings for Sunset Valley.  She smiled to herself at the image in her mind.

Grady and Tanya worked on their relationship as well.  Tanya explained to him that she really did assume that she and Chris had broken up because he wouldn't take her calls and seemed to be avoiding her.  Tanya surprised him one night with a bouquet of flowers and a home-cooked meal as a thank you for all he had done for her and the kids.  She told him just how lucky she felt to have him in her life.  Not just for the kids' sake, but for hers as well.  He made her want to be a better person.

Before she knew it, prom had arrived.  Tanya just couldn't believe how grown up Anderson looked in his tux.  He hadn't worked up the nerve to ask the girl from math class out yet so he decided to go with a group of friends.  They all chipped in and took a limo to the dance.

Tanya couldn't wait for Anderson to get home and tell her all about the dance.  He promised to be home by curfew and she hugged him before rushing him out the door.

Anderson was so excited when he finally got home that Tanya had a hard time understanding him.  His words were rushed but she finally calmed him down enough to understand he had been crowned Prom King!

As if that weren't enough, he had impressed Kay enough with his dancing that she made the first move.  She figured he'd never get around to asking her out, though she had caught him staring at her enough to know he was interested.  Tanya was so happy for him!

Her happiness with him was short lived.  Tanya walked by the window and was shocked to see a police car out front with Anderson inside!  The officer explained that he had been caught letting thousands of frogs loose in the school.  She was livid! Anderson explained that he did it in protest because they were going to be dissected and it was just cruel.  Tanya told him she understood why, but that was not the right way to handle it.  He was grounded for two weeks!