Mike and Bart talk

“Well there goes the rest of my day! I’m gonna shower here. Daddy, can you keep Mikey OUT of trouble while I go clean up?” Stephanie asked as she finished washing her plate.

“Not sure I can keep him out of trouble, but I’ll damned well try to get him INTO it!” Bart laughed.

“UGH!” Stephanie screamed as she walked down Mike’s hallway towards the bathroom.

“So boy, you ask for her hand yet?” Bart asked when he heard the bathroom door close behind his daughter.

“You know she’s going to hit you one of these days, right?” Mike asked the older man sitting across from him.

“Yeah, but that’s part of the fun. So have you yet?” Bart continued to tease.

“No sir,” Mike informed.

“Damn Mike! You move slower than dog turds. You better get to it before someone steals her away from you!”

“I’d love to see her happy, but we both know I’m not the guy for her,” Mike shrugged his shoulders.

“Bullshit! You’re exactly the guy for her. You have been since the day you were born. I don’t know why you haven’t at least talked to her about dating. All kidding aside, you two deserve each other, and I ain’t the only one who thinks so. If you don’t want to date my daughter, that’s fine. At least date someone,” Bart pleaded.

“I don’t know, Mr. Taylor—" Mike started to speak.

“It’s Bart, dammit!”

“Sorry. Bart, it’s just not a good time for me to be involved right now,” Mike tried to explain further was interrupted by his friend’s father.

“Who you kiddin’? It’s a perfect time for you to be dating right now. You’re a good lookin’ kid. You’re stable. You got your own place. I’d be hip deep in pussy right now if I was your age and in your situation. What the Hell you waitin’ for?” Bart grinned.

“Don’t know! Wish I had an answer for you,” Mike chuckled at Bart’s nagging. “But anyway, Tommy and I are going fishing tomorrow morning. You want to join us?”

“Thanks for the invite boy, but I got things to do. You know, Married Man stuff. The type of stuff you would be doing if you’d been born with any stones!” Bart winked.

“Oh, you mean like moving the couch, vacuuming the rug, washing the windows? Al the stuff she tells you to do, right?” Mike laughed.

“Yup!” the married Bart admitted.

“That’s funny because Tommy’s married and he’s going fishing tomorrow morning. What’s that make him?” Mike smirked at his mentor.

“That makes him a married man who doesn’t have kids yet. You’ll see: Once that baby of his comes along, bye-bye Sunday fishing for Tommy. At least, until the kid is old enough to join you guys,” Bart informed the younger man.

“So you’re saying Tommy and I should enjoy these little excursions now?”

“Yup!”