Chapter 28: Impromptu Family Gathering

"Looks like that's it, how'd I do, gramps?"

"Not bad, kid. Though I think we could have roughed him up some before we let him go."

"Yeah, I wanted to give that scumbag a kick for good measure. I'm sure the miners would've appreciated it." Alice added.

"Well, maybe next time. I'm sure we'll encounter more than a few pieces of garbage in the future, so there will be plenty of opportunities to dish out physical punishment."

"I'll keep you to it." My gramps said.

"Okay, now that we got the keys for the place and the paperwork, let's go check out the collapsed section of the mine and see what the molemen are doing."

Getting a nod from the two, we strolled through the place going in the direction of the mine. After a number of minutes, we reached the mine entrance and began heading into it, and within a short period of walking, we arrived in front of a literal wall of collapsed rock.

Reaching our destination, I crept up to the rubble. In the blink of an eye, I detected the same two molemen I had found last time I was here. However, instead of standing guard like they were doing previously, they were instead resting, leaning up against the walls of the mine tunnel with their respective weapons lazily strewn about beside them.

I stayed in my current position for another minute and when nothing else of note occurred, I quietly backed away from the rubble and said. "The same two molemen I discovered last time are still there, though this time both of them are resting with their weapons beside them instead of guarding the collapsed section."

"Hmm, I guess they're not placing too much importance on guard duty. If they were, I guarantee we would've seen an increase in the number of molemen stationed there. They also wouldn't be lazily lounging about if they were that concerned, either." Gramps figured.

"I suppose so... Anyway, I'll still prepare the necessary defenses to cover the mine in the meantime while I begin making my preparations to get rid of them."

"Of course, you can never be too careful with those rats."

Since the molemen didn't make movements and actually relaxed their security to an extent, we didn't need to adjust my pre-existing plan. So with nothing else needing to be taken care of here at this very moment, we just up and left the facility and traveled home.

A not-so-long drive later through the concrete and metal jungle that was the undercity, the three of us arrived back at the house. Back at home again, Alice and I got to studying while gramps plopped himself down back on the couch and watched TV once again, presumably until dinner time because there was nothing else that required his attention.

A couple of hours flew on by before my parents eventually returned home from a long day's work. When they did, they were somewhat surprised to see the old man just chilling on the couch half asleep when normally he goes home after training Alice and I.

"Hey Mom, Dad, gramps is staying for dinner. Do you want to call Grandpa and Grandma to see if they want to come over to eat, too?"

"Of course, I'll make the call." My mom said excitedly before quickly hurrying off to do just that.

While my mom was off making the call, dad came and sat down in the living room with the three of us and asked. "So how was your day, son?"

"I had a productive day, and you?" I replied back, as he began retelling a good portion of what he did managing the company.

Following that, mom returned and informed us that my Grandma and Grandpa Henry would be joining us shortly, so before they got here, she, Alice, and I moved to the kitchen to begin preparing dinner for the impromptu family gathering we were having.

Several minutes into cooking they showed up and as soon as they came in through the door, my Grandma Emelia joined us in the kitchen, fastening the pace of our preparations even further. The four of us all working together, made short work of the task at hand and had all the food prepared in record time. 

Thus, with the meal preparations made, we swiftly delivered the assortment of piping hot dishes to the dining room table, sat down, and had quite a festive dinner. When everything was eventually eaten up and the mess was being brought away to be cleaned, I pulled Grandpa Henry off to the side and handed him the papers needed to acquire the property.

Upon seeing the documents I handed him, he gave them a peruse, and after giving them a closer look, he was very surprised with the content they contained, especially the price that was going to be paid for the property.

"That's the best I was able to do, Grandpa. I hope it's enough."

"I have no idea how you managed to get a 75% discount for that facility. Nevertheless, you did great. I'm proud of you, Dom."

I smiled brightly at my grandpa's praise and asked. "So, when do you think all the procedures will be handled? I really want to get working on the ideas I've come up with over the years."

"I would say no later than lunchtime tomorrow. Mr. Birch is extremely efficient at his job."

"That's honestly impressive."

The two of us talked about a few other topics when I decided to wrap things up to go help with the cleaning.

"Okay, Grandpa, I'm gonna go help clean up. Thanks again for all the help."

"No problem, Dom, anytime." My Grandpa Henry said last before I raced off to the kitchen to contribute to the cleaning alongside my family, Alice, and the Miss Maid robot my parents bought years ago.

...

Nice, everything is cleaned up. Let me pull my gramps downstairs and see if he can't help me out with all the equipment I need.

Needing an assortment of machinery, equipment, and numerous other tools and materials for the many things I wanted to manufacture, I pulled my gramps aside. Right as the two of us made it downstairs, I informed him of when the property would officially be mine.

Upon filling him in on that, I asked him if he could help me out with getting the different manufacturing machines I was going to require to start manufacturing the plethora of items I required for my plans.

He asked a few questions beforehand about the types of machines I required as well as their estimated costs, but as expected, I got a yes in the end. My grandpa John ready to help me out again tomorrow, the two of us went back upstairs and rejoined the family for a movie before my grandparents took off for their homes.

Following my grandparents' departure, the rest of us quickly got ready for bed and turned in for the night shortly thereafter.