Sunday October 27, 2018
“Mom, can I talk to you about something?” Fang asked as he walked into the living room from the stairs. Willow was sitting in the living room reading a book. “Sure, what is it sweetie?” Willow asked sitting the book down. Fang sat down holding a few sheets of paper in his paw.
“We’re running out of space in the house. Laika is going to need her own room in the next year or so. She’s been sleeping in our bed since she out grew the crib and we don’t want to buy a bigger one.”
“Yeah, that is true. What about putting her with Onai and Luna?” Willow commented.
“The room is too small for a third bed and all of the furniture. You know that. We’ve talked about it in the past, but kept putting it off.” Fang stated.
“Yeah. So what do you suggest? Kicking me out of my room?” Willow joked.
“Actually yeah. You can sleep in the playhouse.” Fang joked with a smile. Willow gave Fang a push on his arm and chuckled.
“I figured you would kick me out at some point.” Willow replied with a smile.
“I’m only joking. I do have a plan though. Vapor is okay with the plan. She’ll be down in a bit after she’s finishes drying Laika off from her bath.” Fang replied.
“What’s the plan?” Willow asked.
“Remember last year, I think it was, when I asked if I could draw up house plans?” Fang asked.
“Yes. I’m guessing that you did?” Willow commented.
“Uh huh. Been working on them ever since then.” Fang said as he handed the papers to Willow. Willow looked through the papers for a few minutes.
“Well, this is a large house. Rooms are laid out nicely. Lots of space.” Willow complimented.
“Yeah. It’s taken me months to do and get to something that Vapor and I like. What do you think, mom?” Fang asked as Vapor walked down the stairs. She sat down in a chair next to Fang, with Laika in her arms.
“I like it. But where would it go and how would it be paid for?” Willow asked.
“We talked about it and agreed, that if you agree, to use the money that we’ve made from Wolfe and Fox to build the house. It would be on my old house land. But we would need to buy the fenced field next to my property as well.” Vapor explained.
“It feasible. We would have to see who owns that field though. They might not even want to sell it though. What then?” Willow stated.
“I can adjust the house to be deeper and not as wide. It would be weird though I think. Or we could, umm… well, knock down this house and build on your land.” Fang replied.
“We are not bulldozing my house, sorry.” Willow replied.
“I figured as much.” Fang replied.
“Are you two sure you want to use that money?” Willow added.
“Yes.” Vapor and Fang replied simultaneously.
“Are you okay with this mom?” Fang asked.
“Well… As you said, and have been said in the past, we need the room.” Willow stated.
“Would you find out who owns that field?” Fang asked.
“Of course. I’ll call city hall on Monday.” Willow replied.
“I’m glad that you like the house. Fang made a pile of trash working on that house.” Vapor said with a laugh.
“Yeah it looks nice. I think you have a future in architecture, Fang.” Willow said.
“I don’t know. That was hard work trying to figure out how to layout rooms nicely. Those stairs were a pain as well.” Fang replied.
“I bet.” Willow replied.
“Let’s keep this a secret for now please.” Fang added.
“Hungry” Laika mumbled out.
“Okay. Let’s get you something to eat.” Vapor said picking Laika up and headed into the kitchen.
“Sure. It probably would be best to keep it a secret for time being.” Willow stated.
***
The following week Willow called City Hall and found out who owned the field. After school, Fang and Vapor arrived back home. Once they entered the house Willow called out to them to sit down.
“Fang, Vapor. I know who owns that field.” Willow stated.
“Who?” Fang asked.
“You really want to buy that land?” Willow asked.
“Yes.” Both replied.
“Come on, we’ll go meet him.” Willow stated as the door bell rung. The door opened up and Abby walked in.
“Hi Abby. Thanks for coming on short notice.” Willow stated.
“Not a problem.” Abby replied.
“How’s the internship coming?” Fang asked.
“It’s going well. I’m off this week for school. Thank you again for giving me the opportunity.” Abby replied.
“Anytime Abby. Shade and Pepper are in their room. They’re still grounded. No TV or electronics. Board games are okay though. Onai and Luna are in their room as well.” Willow stated.
“What about Laika?” Abby asked.
“She can come with us.” Willow replied.
“Okay. You four be safe then.” Abby replied.
Willow, Fang, Vapor and Laika got in the car and left. They headed through town and towards Orion city. Half way between their town and the city.
“Where are we going mom?” Fang asked.
“You’ll find out soon.” Willow stated.
Thirty-five minutes later Willow pulled into a drive way, stopping at a large tall gate. She pressed a button on a keypad. A voice cracked through the speaker.
“This is Willow Wolfe. I have an appointment this evening.” Willow stated to the speaker. The gate opened up and Willow pulled through and followed the long driveway. A minute later they arrived at a large house and stopped the car. Fang and Vapor got out of the car and Vapor took Laika. The pair of them stared at the house. It has four floors with castle style architecture. A large garden out front with a large water fountain in the middle.
“Whose house is this?” Vapor asked mystified from the size of the house.
“Come on. Let’s not keep him waiting.” Willow stated.
The four of them walked up and pressed the door bell. A butler answered the door.
“Welcome, Ms. Wolfe and young Wolfe’s. Come in please” The butler stated.
The four of them stared at the large marble pillars, stairs and architecture inside the house.
“This way please.” The butler stated.
They followed the butler down a hallway and turned a couple of corners.
“Here we are. Sit down please. Can I get any of you a drink?” The butler asked.
“Coffee for me, please.” Willow replied.
“Soda will be fine for us.” Vapor replied.
“Very well. I’ll be back soon.” The butler stated.
The four of them sit down in the large room. The furniture was all antique. One wall lined with pictures and one wall filled with books from the floor to the ceiling. Vapor handed Laika to Fang and walked over to the tall built-in bookshelf and looked at the books. She pulled one out and opened it carefully.
“WOW!!! This book is a first edition from 1749.” Vapor exclaimed as her tail wagged happily while she carefully flipped through the pages.
“Vapor! Put that back it’s not yours. Don’t be so nosy, it rude.” Willow scolded her.
“It’s a good read Vapor. And you’re welcome to look through my library.” A voice stated. Vapor closed the book and spun around. Standing there was Mr. Fox.
“Mr. Fox? You own this place?” Vapor asked.
“Yes ma’am.” Fox replied.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude on your library. I love reading and lost my mind for a moment.” Vapor apologized.
“No problem at all Ms. Wolfe. Would you like to borrow that book to read it?” Fox asked.
“Could I? It’s so old though?” Vapor asked.
“Of course. Just be careful with it.” Fox replied with a smile.
“Thank you!” She exclaimed. She took the book and returned back to the couch next to Fang. She sat the book on the table next to the couch.
“Welcome to my house Wolfe family.” Fox stated.
“It’s a nice house. Thank you for inviting us.” Willow stated.
The butler walked back in with their drinks and then left the room again.
“So, I understand that you two want to buy some property?” Fox asked.
“Yes sir. A small field next to Vapor’s land.” Fang replied
“Yes, that’s what Willow told me.” Fox said.
“Do you own that Mr. Fox?” Vapor asked.
“Yes I do. However, I wasn’t planning on selling it though.” Fox replied.
“Oh okay.” Fang replied sadly.
“However, I think we can come to an agreement.” Fox replied.
Fang perked up and twitched his tail.
“Do you know anything about property and land value?” Fox asked.
“No sir.” Fang replied.
“Fair enough.” Fox replied.
Fox explained the gist of property and land value to Fang and Vapor for the next fifteen minutes.
“Do you think you understand all of that?” Fox asked.
“Maybe, it’s quite a bit to learn in a short amount of time.” Fang replied.
“It is. But that is the main information about it all. Now my question to you Fang and Vapor.” Fox paused for a moment taking a drink. “That property that you two are interested in, it’s six acres including the woods. How much would you offer me for the entire property? Take your time and talk with each other before answering.” Fox commented.
The two of them talked quietly between each other.
“I think I remember the lawyer saying that my house and land was around $580,000. $250,000 for the house payoff. That would leave $330,000 for the 2 acres of land that I have. So each acre is around $165,000.” Vapor explained.
“Mom. How much is our land valued at?” Fang asked.
“Hmm, I have 2 acres I think around $150,000 per acre.” Willow replied
“Mr. Fox has six acres there, so if we ask for $160,000 per acre that would be $960,000.” Vapor explained.
“That’s a lot of money just for the land. I’m sure the house would be a few million. I don’t think we’ll be able to do it all.” Fang replied a bit sadly.
“It is, but remember it’s got all those trees and that large pond or lake or whatever you want to call it. The water would add a lot of value by itself. I would have to say 1.2 million for the land.” Vapor explained further.
Fox sat there listening to Fang and Vapor go back and forth with each other. He watched both of their expressions as their estimates got higher and higher. After almost twenty minutes they stopped and looked over at Mr. Fox.
“Okay Mr. Fox. I think we’ve come up with an acceptable price. I hope.” Fang commented.
“Okay. Your offer?” Fox asked.
Fang looked over at Willow, unsure about their answer. Willow nodded and motioned for him to speak up.
“We would offer you $1,200,000 for the six acres. $160,000 per acre and an additional $240,000 since it has all the trees and the lake.” Fang suggested.
“A very generous offer indeed.” Fox stated as he sat his drink down on the table next to him.
“However…” Fox said pausing for a moment and looked at the two.
“You’re offer is too much. It does indeed have three acres of trees and the pond, but they don’t add much to the value. Your offer is about $500,000 more than what the last audit provided.” Fox explained.
“How so?” Vapor asked.
“It’s good land, but do you know why there is a fence surrounding the land?” Fox asked.
“No sir. We’ve always been told not to go into it since we were pups.” Fang replied.
“I’m sure you both know what grass burrs, poison ivy and poison oak is right?” Fox asked.
“Yes sir. Grass burrs spread easily and they grow fast and everywhere. Poison ivy and oak will cause rashes on skin and is really annoying. I’ve had poison ivy before.” Vapor explained.
“Yes. That land is filled with all of those and other stuff. To remove it all, the land would have to be excavated including the top 2 or 3 inches of soil.” Fox explained.
“Oh. Sounds expensive.” Fang replied.
“It is, if nothing is going to be built there. If a house were to be built, the land would be leveled out and all the brush removed anyway.” Fox explained.
“So if we buy it, all that would be removed?” Fang asked.
“Yes, except what is in the woods. Grass burrs usually don’t grow in those woods anyway.” Fox explained further.
“Mr. Fox, would you accept $700,000 for the six acres?” Fang asked.
“Yes I would. If your mom agrees to the price as well.” Fox replied.
Fang and Vapor looked at Willow. A few moments passed by, Willow stared at the two cubs, emotionless.
“Hmm.” Willow stated.
“Will you sell the mineral rights to the six acres?” Willow asked.
“Yes, of course.” Fox replied
A few moments passed by while Willow thought about the situation.
“I agree.” Willow commented.
“YAY!” Fang and Vapor exclaimed.
“Very well. I’ll contact my lawyer and real estate agent to draw up the papers.” Fox replied standing up.
Mr. Fox walked over to the two cubs and extended his paw out. Fang and Vapor stood up and shook his paw, Willow followed suit.
“It’ll take a few weeks or so to complete. I’ll contact you Willow once it’s all done and go from there.” Fox stated.
After visiting and talking for another hour the four of them got up to get ready to leave.
“Don’t forget the book Vapor.” Fox commented.
“Oh yes. Thank you very much for allowing me to borrow it. I’ll keep it safe sir.” Vapor replied.
Fang picked up Laika and the four of them left the house and headed home.
“Are you two sure that you want to go with this? It’s going to be expensive and wipe out a few million?” Willow asked.
“If you’re okay with it and agree, yes.” Fang replied.
“It’s not my money. It’s yours and Vapor’s. I only oversee it to make sure it’s not being used inappropriately.” Willow replied.
“Well are we using it inappropriately” Fang asked.
“Yes and no. It’s for a house which can increase your worth. But it could also decrease in value.” Willow explained.
“So, yes or no? Do you agree, mom?” Fang asked.
“Yes. We need a larger house.” Willow replied.
“What will you do about the current house?” Vapor asked.
“I could rent it out, or once you two become adults I can move back into the current house.” Willow replied.
The four of them arrived at home after the long drive back. Abby was in the living room playing with Onai and Luna on the ground. Pepper and Shade was laying down on the couch, looking bored.
“Hi Abby, how was everything?” Willow asked
“The cubs were great. Pepper and Shade helped out with them quite a bit so I allowed them to watch TV for half an hour. These two are a handful now, running around getting into everything.” Abby replied with a laugh.
“Yes they are. Need to put them on a leash.” Fang said with a laugh.
“No daddy! Bad!” Luna shouted out.
Fang patted Onai’s head as the others laughed at Luna’s comment.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.” Abby stated.
“Thank You for watching them on such short notice.” Willow stated handing Abby some money.
“Anytime. You know I don’t mind.” Abby said as she left the house.
***
A couple of weeks passed by, Shade had his birthday party. Fang and Vapor waited patiently for news on the land. Willow rushed into the house on a Saturday afternoon. Everyone was in the living room watching TV.
“Pepper, Shade, you two are still grounded, why are you watching TV?” Willow exclaimed.
“They helped with the cubs baths, I let them. Sorry.” Fang replied.
“Eh, it doesn’t matter right now. Come on everyone, we have an urgent meeting at work. We need your input. Pepper and Shade will be joining, along with the three pups. All of you go put on nice clothing, don’t worry about the cubs, just make sure they have clothing on.” Willow stated.
The four of them headed up stairs and got dressed in nice clothing and headed back down stairs. They piled into the vehicle and took off heading for Wolfe and Fox.
“What’s going on mom?” Fang asked.
“There’s a hold up with your plan for the daycare, two director’s are holding back. We are going to use your pups along with Pepper and Shade’s help to push it through. So when we arrive in the room, Pepper and Shade, I want you two to play with the pups and try to get them to be loud but not too loud.” Willow explained.
“Devious.” Vapor replied.
“Is Mr. Buffateose one of them?” Fang asked.
“No, he’s for it.” Willow explained.
“Then who?” Fang asked.
“Mrs. Zarin, the rhino and Mr. Rorschach, the bear.” Willow explained.
“I didn’t think those two would cause issues.” Fang replied.
“They usually don’t cause issues. But they don’t have cubs of their own, so they don’t understand why a daycare would be necessary there. We’re going to show them why.” Willow stated.
The rest of the drive they talked about what has went on in the past two months at Wolfe and Fox. Over an hour later they arrived at the front of the building.
“Okay. We need to get all of you temp passes. Hopefully Mr. Snappy won’t mind all the extra work.” Willow said with a slight laugh.
The family walked into the building. Sitting at the security station was Alfred.
“Hi Alfred.” Fang and Vapor exclaimed.
“Well, hello there kids. How are you this fine Saturday afternoon?” Alfred replied.
“Here for a meeting with the entire family. These three are our pups. This is Onai-Sköll, Onai for short. This is Luna and this one is Laika. These two are Pepper, my sister and Shade her mate.” Fang explained to Alfred.
“Your pups are beautiful. Love their fur colors. Nice to meet you Pepper and Shade.” Alfred replied.
“Sorry to cut it short but we’re on short time.” Willow said.
“You all be safe now.” Alfred replied with a smile.
“Come on everyone follow me.” Willow stated.
Willow escorted everyone to the security room and got the temp badges for the pups, Pepper and Shade. Willow handed Fang and Vapor their badges from her purse.
“Sorry about all the extra work today Mr. Snappy.” Willow stated.
“Not a problem Ma’am. It was nice meeting the entire Wolfe family.” Snappy replied.
“Come on, lets get up to the meeting room.” Willow stated.
The family headed to the elevator and went up to the meeting room floor. They entered the room, all the chairs were filled except for Willow’s and two additional chairs on either side of Willow’s.
“Shade, Pepper, take the pups over there. Try to keep them quiet.” Willow stated with a wink.
Willow, Fang and Vapor walked to the end of the table and sat down.
“Sorry for bringing the entire family, but with no babysitter today, I had no other choice.” Willow stated.
“Where’s your babysitter at?” Ms. Zarin asked.
“Right here.” Abby stated.
“No one else?” Mr. Fox asked.
“No Mr. Fox. The other family on our road are elderly. Being a Saturday, daycare’s are closed.” Willow stated.
“Good afternoon everyone. Lets get this meeting started. I have other business to deal with today.” Fang stated.
“So who doesn’t like my idea of a daycare here?” Fang asked.
“Me.” Zarin and Rorschach spoke up.
“Why?” Fang asked.
“Why? We don’t need kids running around the building.” Rorschach spoke up.
“That’s why I said dedicate a single floor to the daycare.” Fang resounded.
Luna and Onai started giggling and playing loudly with Pepper and Shade.
“And that’s why you shouldn’t bring your pups to work, Mr. Wolfe.” Zarin stated.
“This is why we need a daycare. If we did, my pups wouldn’t be interrupting the meeting.” Vapor replied crossing her arms. Shade walked up to Willow.
“Willow, I need to use the restroom. I really can’t hold it, I’m sorry,” Shade whispered.
“We’ll be back. Fang and Vapor continue please.” Willow stated as she stood up.
Willow and Shade left the room. Fang continued explaining the pros of having a daycare in the building. A few minutes in Laika started crying. Vapor walked over to Laika and picked her up, giving a wink and smile to Pepper, and walked back over and sat down next to Fang.
“Dammit, just agree to the daycare. I’m sure you all have better things to be doing today instead of being here. I’m sure my pups would rather be watching cartoons. I know I’d rather be watching cartoons with my pups.” Fang commented.
“We don’t have the money for it.” Rorschach stated.
“Mr. Fox. What was our last quarterly profit?” Fang asked. Mr. Fox tapped on his tablet for a moment pulling up the information.
“More than fifteen billion dollars last quarter. This quarter future estimate is, let’s see, twenty-five billion.” Mr. Fox replied.
“And in our bank?” Vapor asked.
“Over six hundred billion dollars.” Mr. Fox replied again.
Willow and Shade walked back into the room.
“I call bullshit Mr. Rorschach, we have far more than enough money to spend a twenty to hundred million dollars to make a daycare here. Stop holding back. It will be done. If you don’t agree, the door is over there, feel free to leave our company.” Fang commented.
“I guess you are right. Okay. I’m for the daycare.” Zarin replied as Onai and Luna started laughing loudly.
“Can you keep those pups quiet?” Rorschach asked harshly.
“They’re pups, you can’t keep them quiet.” Vapor replied.
“Then don’t bring them here.” Rorschach replied.
“Well, if we had that damn daycare, they wouldn’t be in here. Agree to the daycare, unless you want them to be here for all future meetings. I’ll make sure that I come to ALL meetings until the daycare is approved.” Fang stated.
Onai jumped off the couch and ran around the table. He stopped at the bear and looked up at him.
“He’s scwary looking, mommy” Onai said running away.
“Back to the couch Onai.” Vapor stated.
“FINE!!! I agree. Just don’t bring them back!” Rorschach exclaimed loudly.
“Everyone agree to the daycare?” Willow asked.
“Yes.” Everyone replied.
“Good. Sign the paper’s so I can get back home and watch cartoons with my cubs.” Fang stated.
A few minutes later the directors and stockholders left the room. Mr. Fox stayed behind along with Abby, Willow and all cubs.
“You planned that didn’t you, Ms. Wolfe?” Fox asked.
“What EVER do you mean, Mr. Fox?” Willow replied with a smile.
“Good work all of you.” Willow said to everyone.
“Yes, good work. Well done Vapor and Fang.” Fox said.
“So this is the entire Wolfe family, huh?” Fox asked.
“Yes sir. You’ve meet Laika a couple weeks ago. This is Pepper, my sister. This is Shade, Pepper’s mate. This is Onai and Luna our two other pups.” Fang stated.
“So Abby here is your babysitter?” Fox asked.
“Yes. She has been since these two were still in diapers.” Willow replied.
“How are you liking it here so far, Abby?” Fox asked.
“It’s great. I’m loving it. The internship is amazing. I’ve improved my grades in school since I took the job. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.” Abby replied shaking Fox’s paw.
“Anytime Abby, you’ve been an amazing employee.” Fox replied.
“Willow, do you want me to take Pepper, Shade and the pups with me? You seem to have something else you need to discuss.” Abby asked.
“Yes please. We have some business with Mr. Fox before heading home.” Willow stated.
“Okay. We’ll see you all at home then. Come on Pepper and Shade, help me with Onai and Luna.” Abby stated as she took Laika from Vapor.
The group left the room a moment later. “Sit down you two, please.” Fox stated then pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.
“Come on in please. Room 4289.” Fox said over the phone.
A few seconds later a knock at the door sounded and Fox walked over and opened it. Two furs carrying briefcases walked in and sat down opposite of Willow, Fang and Vapor.
“This is the Lasko brothers. My real estate agent and lawyer.” Fox stated.
“Are you two ready to finalize the land purchase?” Fox asked.
“Yes sir.” Vapor and Fang replied.
“You have the check?” Fox asked.
“Yes sir.” Willow replied.
For the next ten minutes the group talked about all that is involved in the sale and transfer of the property.
“If you agree, just fill out the check and sign your names.” Willow stated to Fang and Vapor.
Fang and Vapor looked at each other and nodded. Fang signed the check and then Vapor. The brother’s pushed over papers and pointed out where the two needed to sign at. After another ten minutes the brother’s took the papers back. Fox took the check in his paw and handed over the deed to the land.
“Congratulations. You own six acres of land. I hope you enjoy it.” Fox stated shaking paws with Fang, Vapor and Willow.
“Actually eight acres, with Vapor’s land. With my mom’s land it’s ten acres.” Fang stated.
“Quite a large area. You building a mall?” Fox joked.
“No sir. A house actually.” Fang replied back.
“Sounds like it’ll be a nice large house with that amount of space.” Fox replied.
“Yes sir.” Fang replied.
“Well when it’s built, I’d love to visit you and see it for myself.” Fox replied.
“Of course. We’ll let you know.” Vapor replied.
“Oh yes while I’m thinking of it. Vapor, How are you enjoying that book?” Fox asked.
“It’s amazing. The author was a genius. So many idea’s that he came up with and many of which are in use today. I’m not very far into it yet though.” Vapor explained.
“I’m glad that you’re enjoying it. Keep the book. Consider it my house warming gift to you.” Fox replied.
“Are you sure? It’s an expensive book.” Vapor asked.
“If I didn’t want you to have it, I wouldn’t have told you that you could have it.” Fox replied with a smile.
“Of course. Thank you sir.” Vapor exclaimed.
“Now then, I’m sure we all have better things to be doing instead of sitting here at work on a weekend.” Fox stated standing up.
The Lasko brother’s stood up and said their goodbyes and left the room. Fox walked over to Willow, Fang and Vapor and shook their paws again.
“Fang. Vapor. You have a very beautiful family. As do you Willow.” Fox stated.
“Thank you sir.” They replied.
Fox left the room leaving the three of them behind.
“Well you two now own that land. What do you want to do next?” Willow asked.
“Have the house built of course.” Fang stated. Willow smiled at his comment.
“Come on lets go home.” Willow stated. The three of them left the building and headed home.
“Willow, when can we get someone to start building the house?” Vapor asked.
“It’ll take a while. We have to get permits, find a contractor and it most likely won’t be started until spring. The ground gets too hard during winter and then there’s the snow and ice.” Willow explained.
“Okay.” Vapor replied.
“It gives me time to make sure the house plans are good and that we all like them.” Fang replied.
“You need to finish those soon. We’ll have to give them to an architect to turn them into proper blueprints and for him to draw up the electrical grid and all that stuff. He’ll have to draw up the house exterior as well.” Willow stated.
“Okay. Let’s look at them in a week.” Fang stated.
They arrived home and relieved Abby from babysitting.
“Fang. You’re going to be a good leader one day. You too Vapor. You both handled those two quite well.” Abby complimented.
“Well it helped since we brought everyone and told them to interrupt the meeting a bit. Don’t tell anyone that by the way.” Willow stated.
“Of course not. So where will that leave me for babysitting?” Abby asked.
“You’ll always be our babysitter as long as you want to do it.” Willow replied with a smile.
“Thanks.” Abby replied with a smile.
“You all be good. See you all later.” Abby added as she opened the door.
***
A few days after Christmas, Willow knocked on the door to Fang’s and Vapor’s bedroom.
“Come in” Fang yelled.
Willow walked in to an empty room. Tilting her head she walked to the open bathroom door and entered it. Fang, Vapor, Onai and Luna were all in the hot tub.
“You put them in the hot tub?” Willow asked.
“Yeah. First time. They’re enjoying it.” Vapor replied.
“It fun!” Both Onai and Luna shouted out splashing the water.
“Just be careful, you know the water goes above their head.” Willow warned.
“We’re not letting them out of our laps.” Fang replied. “Was there something you needed?” Fang added.
“Those blueprints of the house. We need to take them to the architect today. You all get ready.” Willow replied.
“Okay. We’ll be ready in about twenty minutes. Fang replied.
Two hours later they sat in a lobby, waiting for the architect to call them in. After waiting for fifteen minutes an armadillo walked out and walked up to the family. After introductions they all headed into his office.
“So Mr. Wolfe, you want to have blueprints checked and finalized for electrical, plumbing and other necessities, correct?” Amarillo asked.
“Call me Fang, please. Yes I would.” Fang replied.
“May I see the house plans?” Amarillo asked.
Fang handed over the sheets of paper and sat watching the armadillo look at the first sheet for a short time before flipping to the next one.
“You drew these up yourself?” Amarillo asked.
“Yes sir.” Fang replied.
“Hmm…” Amarillo sighed out.
Amarillo traced his claw over the papers, tapping his claw occasionally, deep in thought. He flipped through the pages a few more times. Another few minutes passed before he shuffled the papers into a clean stack. He stood up and walked over to a large copier and placed each sheet in one by one. He returned to his desk and sat down. He cleared his throat and looked back at the copied blueprints. He took a pen and wrote on them occasionally. After about twenty minutes he stacked them up and cleared his throat.
“There’s quite a few issues on the plans. No wall thickness, no measurements for cabinets, ceiling or floor heights, some doors and windows aren’t in optimal locations, among quite a few other things.” Amarillo stated.
“Oh.” Fang replied looking at the papers on the desk.
“Cheer up Fang. They aren’t perfect, but no one is on their first blueprints, nor their second, third or even their twentieth. Architects are forever learning new things. Give me a couple of weeks to work on them fix the issues. I’ll transfer them to proper blueprint sheets. I just need to know a few things first.” Amarillo stated.
“Thank you. I worked hard on those.” Fang replied with a smile.
“You’ve planned a lot of bedrooms. Twenty bedrooms each with their own bathroom, with a large shower and a hot tub.. The four master suites are even larger. The making of a very nice mansion.” Amarillo stated.
“What? Twenty bedrooms? Fang you added more to the house?” Willow asked shocked.
“Yeah. I thought about it and if we just stick with the ten bedrooms, they would be filled before we know it. With only ten rooms, there would be three empty rooms.” Fang replied.
“Twenty rooms? That’s quite overkill Fang, don’t you think?” Vapor asked.
Fang looked over at Vapor then to their pups, over to Pepper and Shade. Willow and Vapor followed his eye movements.
“Maybe you’re right Fang, but twenty rooms is still a lot though.” Willow stated.
Fang shrugged and smiled. “You can remove a few if you think it’s better. I was just thinking of the future.” Fang stated.
“It’s your money and house. It’s your decision.” Willow replied.
“Okay, We’ll keep it at ten bedrooms plus guest room on the first floor. Bathrooms, with hot tub, in each room. The fourth floor can be removed. However Let’s just keep the attic open to further expansion in the future, so we can remove the attic and add a fourth floor if needed.” Fang replied.
“Will do.” Amarillo stated writing notes down.
Amarillo asked a series of questions and wrote the answers down on the house plans that Fang had created. They spoke of the overall size of the house, adjusted a few rooms, balconies, windows, doors and fixed many other issues with the plans. Amarillo created a copy of the plans and handed the originals back to Fang.
“How much will the plans cost?” Vapor asked.
“Between $18,000 to $25,000. It will take me about one to two weeks to finish it.” Amarillo replied.
“God damn! Why so much?” Fang asked surprised.
“Fang, language!” Willow snarled at him.
“Sorry.” Fang replied.
“Well, I’m transferring your design to blueprints. I’m going to have to fix the issues, resize rooms, add in all the electrical connections, plumbing and more. I’ll draw it up in 3D CAD so that we can virtually walk through it together before we finalize the plans.” Amarillo replied.
“Gotcha. Thank you for explaining it all to me.” Fang replied.
“We pay you when you finish, correct?” Vapor asked.
“Yes that is correct.” Amarillo replied.
“Will these be sold to any one else?” Willow asked.
“No, unless you give permission. We would setup a commission price for your part.” Amarillo replied.
Another fifteen minutes passed, the family shook paws with the Amarillo then they left.
***
On the morning of February 9th, Fang and Vapor was woken up by Luna and Onai. In the background faint beeping could be heard. The pair quickly got dressed and went downstairs, their cubs in tow behind them. Willow was putting a jacket on to head outside. Fang and Vapor put coats on the three pups and themselves and headed outside. They walked down the road to see the construction vehicles starting to clear out the mostly empty field. Once they arrived at the location, the foreman, a lion, walked up to them stating that kids weren’t allowed here, including teens.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Fang Wolfe. My wife and I own this land, not my mom.” Fang stated.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” The foreman stated. “Nice to meet you all. We’re preparing to remove all the bush and the pond.” The foreman replied.
“No! The pond is supposed to stay.” Fang exclaimed.
The foreman flipped through the work order “Oh yes, you’re right. I’m sorry.” The foreman stated. “We just got this new work order layout a couple weeks ago and I’m still trying to get used to it.” He added.
“The woods are not to be touched either.” Fang commented.
“Yes, of course.” The foreman stated. “Any questions?”
“How long will it take to clear everything out and get the pond cleaned up?” Vapor asked.
“With weather permitting and no major issues with the land, two to three weeks.” The foreman replied.
“Seems like a long time to do that.” Fang replied.
“Yes due to the way the land is laid out. Where the pond starts is a levy, basically a hill but it flattens out after just a few feet. The land itself due to all of the grass burrs, poison ivy and oak and other weeds, we have to be cautious not to spread any of it. It’s noted that you want the land to remain as natural as possible, so we’ll bulldoze the land down four inches, except the levy, to clean up all the crap out there. Then we’ll have thousands of tons of clean dirt brought in, laid out and flatten it out and build it back up to what it is now.” The foreman explained.
“Jeez a lot of work.” Fang replied.
“Yes it is.” The foreman replied.
They asked a few more questions before heading back to their warm home.
***
A bit over a had month passed. The land has been leveled out for the house and backyard. The land around the pond was raised slightly higher so that in case of heavy rains it won’t flood the house. After coming home from school, Fang and Vapor stood in front of the land, watching a fur in a large excavator finish digging out the holes for the basements. One hole is twenty feet deep and the other is fifteen feet deep. The twenty foot deep basement was being prepared for the sub-basement level to be dug out. The second basement is under the kitchen and part of the garage. Twenty feet from the left of the house location another hole was being dug. This hole is around twenty-five feet in length, twelve feet wide and deep. A 15,000 gallon tank will eventually be placed in it for catching rain water from the gutters, walkways and any overflow from the pond. In three days, the basements will be framed for the concrete walls and pillars. The week after that the main house foundation would be poured. Two weeks after that the house frame would start going up. From the paperwork, more than one hundred workers will be on the land building the house.
***
The beginning of April saw the house exterior walls standing and secured. Pipes sticking up out of the concrete ready to be ran to what they would be connected to. The house taking shape, albeit as a skeleton. Over the next two weeks the remaining interior walls had been raised and the exterior had bricks being placed. The roof only had a few sections left to place before the roof tiles were to be started. The gables for the attic jutted out. The only openings in the house at this time was the windows, doors and the exterior walls that didn’t have bricks placed yet.
***
May 17th was the start of summer break for everyone. Willow pulled into the driveway, Fang and Vapor shuffled the pups out of the car while Pepper took Laika in her arms. They all walked to the near finished house. They stood in front of the house, looking up at it with its three floors.
“Damn Fang, this house is huge.” Willow stated.
“Language Mom.” Fang joked. Willow nudged him with her hips causing him to almost lose his balance. He quickly recovered as the foreman walked up and greeted them. “Want to see how it’s coming along?” he asked.
“Yeah. We haven’t been able to see it since the storm damaged the attic and third floor.” Fang replied.
The first and second week of May had severe storms with wind gusts up to one hundred twenty miles per hour, a potential tornado but was still unconfirmed. The storms had sustained winds of sixty to eighty miles per hour. It busted out windows and completely destroyed the roof with large grapefruit sized hail.
“All the repairs from that are fixed. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as it looked. We replaced all of the water damaged dry wall on the third floor. Every window was replaced with new window technology, called gorilla glass. It’s very expensive, but it’s shatterproof and bulletproof. Just so you know, the smaller windows are $10,000 each. The large ones are $20,000 each. So the cost went up a considerable amount, more than $500,000.” foreman stated.
“That’s fine, we planned for an extra two million dollars in the budget.” Vapor replied.
“What about the roof?” Fang asked.
“We placed the half inch thick stainless steel sheets as you requested. They were fastened to the rafters in the attic. The entire roof was replaced over top of that. I don’t think anything will be busting through the roof anymore. It’s a shame, that tree was nice.” foreman replied.
“Sounds good to me. Yeah it was a nice large tree. Would have been great for shade in the summer and climbing.” Fang replied.
“How much was the steel sheets?” Fang asked.
“Another half million dollars.” The foreman replied.
“Jeez.” Willow replied.
“Shall we walk through the house?” The foreman asked.
“How did that rain catch tank work out?” Fang asked.
The foreman walked with Fang over to an electrical junction box on the side of the house and opened it. Inside was a panel with two gauges, two circuit breakers and other various items and electronics. Fang looked at the gauges and smiled.
“It’s a quarter full already just from those storms.” Fang commented.
“Uh huh. Worked well it seems. Your design is quite nice. I’ve never seen a house drain system handle that much water in a short amount of time.” The foreman stated.
“Well it is using eight inch inner diameter pipes for the main drain pipe.” Fang stated.
“Ah yeah. I forgot that you wanted that outrageous size pipe.” The foreman laughed.
“Hey, it works. I wouldn’t call it outrageous after those two weeks of hellish storms.” Fang replied.
The drain system connects to all gutters on the house. Wherever there are flat roof lines is a gutter. Those gutters head down the wall at certain points. Once at the ground, they go underground to the eight inch PVC pipe that surrounds the house. The main pipe is angled down to the 15,000 gallon underground rain catch tank. Behind the house, where the pond is, on top of the levy is a series of drain covers which most overflow from the pond will funnel down to the rain tank as well. Fang was happy that the drain system worked. They all headed inside to the third floor and attic where the damage took place.
This was Pepper’s and Shade’s first time inside the house. Walking up the stairs, their eyes were wide as baseballs, muzzles opened in awe.
“I can’t believe that my brother designed this house.” Pepper said to Shade.
“Yeah it’s really nice. It’s so large. We should go find our bedroom and claim it.” Shade replied.
“Don’t go wandering off you two. It’s still unfinished and dangerous. Each floor has thirty to forty workers working on it with saws, nail guns and more.” foreman stated.
Pepper and Shade stiffened up at his comment and blushed from being over heard. They finished walking up to the third floor and they were shown the repaired areas. After they inspected the third floor and attic, Fang was happy about the repairs.
“Fang, your sister, I assume, said that you designed this house?” foreman asked.
“Yes sir, for the most part. Once we took it for proper blueprints, they made some changes due to errors that I made. Bad placement for windows and doors and other stuff.” Fang said recalling some of the errors that he had made.
“It’s a nice house. You did a great job on it.” foreman stated.
“Thank you sir. It was a fun learning experience.” Fang replied.
After the inspection and a bit more talk, they left the house and returned home.
During the rest of May and half of June it had rained most days. Some days it was just misting rain while others were heavy down pours. The weather had been very unusual. During May they got more than triple the yearly average of rain and it continued into June. Now sitting at more than 15 feet of rain in just a month and a half. Luckily, the house exterior was completed and all the remained was interior work. The garage was large enough for semi’s to back trailers up to and offload the material and machines.
On June 28, the house had it’s final inspection. The inspector went room to room with the foreman, Fang, Vapor and Willow following. After twelve hours the inspector signed off and welcomed the Wolfe family to their new house.
Friday June 28, 2019
