Green Lizards

My best friend died yesterday.  It apparently was a horrible crash on route 91 south on the stretch of the highway just at the Holyoke –West Springfield line. There is an exit there going to Riverdale Road, a popular shopping destination, lined with shopping centers, movie theater complexes, car dealerships, you name it, I bet you can find it there.

Charlie was headed to Springfield, just about five miles further down the highway when a young woman on her cell slammed into the rear end of his car as she tried to make the Riverdale Road exit, apparently running late for work. The crash sent Charlie's car over the embankment of the exit and down a three hundred foot embankment, slamming into the concrete pillions for the highway overpass at the bottom of the hill. The time was 8:46 AM. Charlie was on his way to my work, in Springfield, to drop off his 4 year old son for me to babysit for the weekend.

Charlie was a single father, of the straight variety, who had been widowed when his young wife had a bad spill off her horse at their farm in Granby, about 18 miles away. She had broken her neck in the fall and died instantly, leaving Charlie without his bride of 2 years and their son Jay(Jason),then 1, without a doting mother.

The state patrolman who contacted me at about 10AM that day told me that little Jay kept calling for Uncle Ray, as the paramedics were stabilizing him for transport to the nearby medical center in Springfield just about 5 miles from the accident site. They checked Charlie's wallet and there, taped to his driver's license were my name and my cell and work numbers, just as I had his contact information on mine. We had first done this when we returned home after my dad took us both for our road tests to obtain our licenses when we were 16.

You see, my parents worked for Charlie's parents. His parents owned this huge estate in Granby and my parents were employed by them as their housekeeper and estate foreman. The two couples were very close, and there never was a sense of my folks being employees. When the two ladies found themselves pregnant for the first time in their forties the two couples were ecstatic and they shared everything, doctors, home nurses, and due dates. Charlie was born about an hour and a half before me. When Charlie's parents passed while we were in high school, and mine while we were in our sophomore year in college, we both felt the losses deeply, as each of us had lost their second pair of parents.

The state trooper who called my cell informed me he had to speak to me and I knew there was something terribly wrong at that point. I informed him I was at the medical center in Springfield, and he informed me he was too. I told him I was in the main entrance waiting room, and anticipated a friend dropping off his young son, so I'd wait there for him. He told me he'd be right there from the trauma/emergency department. He was at my side in 5 minutes and he urged me to take a seat, as I was pacing, just knowing something terrible had happened. He guided me to a far corner with no one else sitting there. He had to guide me by placing his hand on my scrub covered shoulder and he re-addressed me as my name tag and hospital ID indicated, "Doctor McKenzie, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your friend, Charles Brainard, was killed in a crash on 91 just a short time ago." I crumpled in my chair, like someone had stomped on my stomach and hit me over the head with a two by four at the same time. I looked up at him through my tears and asked about my nephew, Jay, where was he? Was he alright? The officer assured me he was fine, just scared, and asking for his Uncle Ray. He was currently being checked over in the emergency room.

I jumped up and started to move quickly away, and I turned to make sure he was following me. I led him to a hidden staircase and led him through the medical center's hidden back halls and to the emergency ward and asked him which cubicle Jay was in. He told me and we made our way to the cubicle and there little Jay was, bruised and battered, eyes open in complete terror, but bursting into tears and his little arms reaching out for me as he spotted me rushing to him, tears streaming down my face. We grabbed each other and he hugged me tightly as he told me his Daddy didn't wake up after the crash.

Jay and I sat sobbing, both of us hanging on to each other for dear life. It must have been 5 or 10 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. Eventually a nurse appeared and asked in our own coded means of communicating if my patient needed a rest and I just nodded. She returned with a very mild sedative and I asked Jay to swallow the pill. He did and shortly he dozed off in my arms. The nurse filled me in on his condition and passed on her, and the entire staff's condolences, telling me both Jay and Charlies records show both were family of mine and under my primary care. After I was assured there was not anything wrong with Jay, other than the trauma he was experiencing as he undoubtedly knew his daddy had died, the fright from the accident, and the bumps and bruises evident, the state trooper took me aside and explained the devastating accident and asked me to please identify Charles' body.

I was numb by now and just nodded my head and led the way to the morgue. There the staff approached me and offered their condolences and I numbly accepted them as they guided me to the gurney holding Charlie's remains.

It was him alright. My lifelong friend, my brother, my last adult link to our common upbringing. The best friend a gay guy could ever have. I felt my legs finally giving out and felt myself falling. That's all I remember until a short time later and I was on a gurney myself, with a doctor and a nurse fussing over me. The doctor I knew from my several tours of duty on wards he saw his own patients at. He was a family practice doctor, Dr. Hays, Jim Hays. He asked me how I felt and I tried to joke that I'd felt better, and he said he bet I had. Jim explained that the trooper caught me before I hit the floor and he had picked me up and placed me on this gurney. I was surprised, as the trooper was about 4 inches shorter than my 6'4", and he didn't look excessively muscular. Jim, no slouch in the height department himself, said that the trooper was quite the little fireplug, and I had my first chuckle of the day, but then reality slammed into me and I told Jim about the accident and that I had to get back to Jay. He told me that when he was walking past the doors to the morgue and saw me collapse he checked me over and the trooper had filled him in and he had gone to check on Jay for me and he was sleeping comfortably. He said a member of the emergency room staff had assigned a student nurse to sit with him in the cubicle until I returned. I thanked him for that and he said it was the least he could do for one of his favorite residents on his last day of duty before graduation.

You see, this was my last day as a resident in this hospital, as of Saturday I was graduating and would be a full-fledged doctor, a doctor whose specialty was family medicine. I told Jim I really appreciated his help today, and in the past, and he responded that he would have liked for us to have practiced out of his local office, but he understood my desire to take over from the local family practitioner in my hometown. He told me that if he could ever be of any help to let him know. We shook hands and he left me to go check on Jay, after I made a call to our funeral parlor in Granby and asked them to please pick Charlie up here at the morgue as soon as he was released and prepare him for burial at our town cemetery, in the family plot. You see, Charlie's family were town founders and our families were always close, even back then, around 1768 or so. It was our families that founded the cemetery and we shared a large plot, and now Charlie would be reunited with his loving parents, my parents, his family and mine, for generations. He would be buried next to his wife, lost so tragically just a year after giving birth to Jay.

I finished my call and informed the staff at the morgue what funeral home would pick up Charlie and then went to check on my little buddy. Jay was awakening when I returned to his cubicle and I asked if he was ready to go to my house. He had his sad face on, as I bet he could tell that my smile for him was a fake one, but he nodded and held his little arms up to me so I could pick him up. He held the hug for a minute or two and then he asked if we were going to live at my house. I told him, as I helped him re-dress in the not too badly messed up clothing the nurses had removed from him when he was brought here, I told him that I thought we would for at least tonight, and maybe tomorrow night as well, but we might go to his house tomorrow because he would need more clothing (and I thought I'd have to pick up something for Charlie to wear for his wake and to be buried in). I had to stop getting so emotional, I thought as I started to tear up again, or I wouldn't be much help for Jay. We walked out to the front desk of the emergency ward and I signed Jay out. We then went to the residents' locker room and I gathered the two duffel bags I had already packed and I signed myself out for the last time. We went to the doctor's parking lot and I tossed the bags in the trunk, secured Jay in his child seat in the back, and we left for my apartment in the Kimball Towers building in downtown Springfield, on Chestnut Street. I parked in the garage and we went to the main entrance and took the elevator to the penthouse, on the roof.

My penthouse condo had been a college graduation gift from Charlie when I announced I'd be spending at least 7 years of medical school and my residency combined in Springfield and he didn't want me commuting out to Granby, about 30 miles away. I had put the condo on the market last week, and the realtor thought she might be able to sell it within the month. I'd had it freshly painted and the parquet floors refinished just before listing it and I knew of 3 showings in the last week. It really was unique, it was the only one on the roof and it had patios and raised flower beds surrounding the two bedroom unit.

Storm proofed sliders were on both sides of the open kitchen, dining area, living room combination room, and also on the end, where the master bedroom was and also the smaller 2^nd bedroom/den was. The two bathrooms were down that end as well, one in the hall for general use and one adjoining the master bedroom. The pantry, coat closet, and the laundry were at the other end, behind the kitchen. All very neat and modern, with a few antiques here and there just to make it feel a little more homey.

There wasn't anything to settle Jay in with, as his little suitcase with his stuff hadn't survived the crash, so I took him into the kitchen area and I showed him what I had planned for dinner. As I prepared the chops for grilling I had him shred some lettuce for our salads, as he watched the small kitchen TV turned to the cartoon channel. I had made sure of that, as I didn't want to risk him seeing the local dinnertime news and possibly see an account of the accident. I figured that after I got him settled in for the night I'd watch the late edition and then cry myself to sleep after. We weren't the best of company for each other that night, but we both seemed to be making an effort for each other's sake. Jay was no dummy though, as we were cleaning up he told me how bad he felt when his little dog got hit by a truck making deliveries at the farm and had to be put down, since the injuries were so severe, but he told me that didn't hurt him as much as it did to lose his father, but he was glad he still had me to take care of him.

I knelt down in front of him, so we'd be a bit more eye to eye, and I wrapped him in my arms and told him I loved him and I'd take care of him for the rest of my life, even until he was an old man like me, and even if he still made stinky poops in his pants like he used to when he was little. He blushed and held me close. We finished in the kitchen and we settled in to watch one of his DVD s I kept at my house for him, as watching him overnight, occasionally, was not an unusual occurrence.

About 8:30 p.m. he was ready for bed so I got him settled in the twin bed in the den and he was out like a light. He's always been a sound sleeper, so I didn't anticipate any problem until he awoke and reality set in. Just as I sat to eject the children's movie from the player the house phone rang. I snagged the phone from the cradle on the coffee table in front of me. It was the lawyer for Charlie and my families. He had handled the legal business for our families for decades. He expressed his condolences and asked after Jay and myself and then hit me with the business end of all this mess. He told me that Jay and I were the only beneficiaries of Charlie's will. Trust funds in the millions had been set aside for Jay, and I was left all the physical property owned by Charlie and a neat sum of 2 million free and clear, as long as I stuck to our agreement and kept Jay to raise, as we had discussed many times, even before Jay's birth. I asked if there were other bequests and he rattled off a few that I had suspected and some Charlie had talked to me about over the years since our parents had died.        

By 9:30 p.m. our call was completed and I felt a little more at ease, knowing that Charlie had loved both Jay and me enough to request that I continue his position as Jay's caregiver and guardian. He respected that except for the condo, I had no place to do that job, and that he was providing a place for me to do that, in surroundings Jay and I were already familiar with, his own home. He had made me financially secure, I wouldn't have to worry if my future practice didn't provide enough to support us in the near future, and we were both provided for.

I still cried myself to sleep that night.

Jay was still asleep when I dragged myself out of bed in the morning. I quickly shaved and showered, then dressed in casual clothes and packed my graduation suit and gown and dress shoes in a duffel along with some toiletries and my mortarboard. I went next door to the den and Jay was just starting to wake. I sat on the side of him on the bed and when he was awake I asked if he was ready for something to eat. He stretched and yawned and nodded his head, so I told him to hit the bathroom and by the time he was done I would at least have the eggs ready and his juice poured. He asked if I still had a "gradiation" today and I told him I had waited 7 years or more for today, and after we went home to change he would come to the University with me, and I'd figure everything else out when we got there.

We got to the ranch in Granby and we both got dressed in our "good" clothes. Jay looked so cute in the little suit his dad had bought him that I had to take a few snaps of him on my phone. My graduation regalia went on a hanger and it didn't look like it got messed up in the duffel bag. We drove off, not mentioning his missing father, and I drove to the assigned lot we were supposed to use. As we were getting out of the car another graduating pair walked up to us. It was friends of mine from the hospital, a couple that had survived their residency and were also receiving their doctorate today. They were Beth and Carl. Jay had seen them many times, both at my condo and when we went to Charlie's for cookouts and parties over the past years. They knew about the accident and quietly spoke their condolences to me and then asked how we were going to carry this off with Jay with me. Since they were alphabetically a few removed from me I asked them if they would watch Jay while I walked and got my diploma, and I would hurry down and retrieve him before they had to go up and walk for their diplomas. We all agreed on this and I explained it all to Jay so he would know what was going to happen.

He was such a little man. He clapped for each graduate and when it got to two before my name I handed him off to Beth and Carl. I was not prepared for the noise as I started to walk across the stage to receive my diploma. Over half of the graduates were standing for me, as the other half was struggling to their feet. Even the Deans of the different medical branches were standing and applauding. I received hugs from all of them and finally had the diploma in my hands. My tears were streaming down my face and I couldn't tell if it was the total feeling of relief I had graduated from med school and I had fulfilled my obligations to become a practicing doctor. There was the memory of Charlie in every step I made, the memories of us growing up together, the memories of our friendship all through elementary, middle, and high school, the memories of every holiday spent together since we were born, the memory of his wedding, the memories of our parents funerals, the memory of his wife's funeral. Then the memory of the birth of Jay, and his four birthdays to date and every holiday between those birthdays. By the time I reached the stairs to come off the stage there was an underclassman usher to guide me to my seat and then I had Jay in my lap again, and he was holding me tight and kissing my nose.           

After the ceremony was over Beth and Carl asked us over for a cookout to celebrate our diplomas, but I begged off, telling them we had to go to the ranch and make sure every building was secure, as we were going to my condo in Springfield for the night. We also had to visit with Mr. Green and assure him his job was secure and we would keep him on as the ranch caretaker.  I thanked them profusely for their kindness today and I told them that as soon as I knew the particulars I would inform them of any services we held for Charlie. They each gave Jay a smooch and me a hug and they were on their way.

Jay and I returned home, well, to the only home we had known our whole lives. We went to the farm. My parents were Charlie's guardians after his parents had died while we were in high school, my folks and I had moved into the big house with him, as his parents had asked. Now I was going to be returning and taking care of Jay.

I told Jay to go up to his room and get into some more casual clothes as I did the same. I went up with him and went to my old room and stripped off my good clothes and put on some jeans and a polo and went to check on Jay. He had removed his suit and was hopping around, trying to remove his good shoes, while standing. I was chuckling watching this and then I went to him and I told him he might find it easier to do if he sat in the chair to do that.  He had pulled out a pair of jeans and sneakers and once he was dressed we left the house.

We left the house and went looking for Mr. Green, the manager of the ranch. He lived in the caretakers' cottage my family and I had lived in during my younger years. Mr. Green was in and I sent Jay over to the swing set and the sand box in the corner of the yard while I talked to Mr. Green on the back porch, so I could keep an eye on him. I explained as best I could what had transpired Friday and what the lawyer had told me on Friday night. He was shocked about Charlie and it was all I could do to keep it together myself. I told him I'd be moving back into the big house to care for Jay and that I wanted him to know that his job was secure, if he wanted to stay on. He admitted he wasn't sure he did, as he had been waiting until I had moved back after graduating to talk to Charlie about retiring to Arizona where he had a daughter living that could use some help. I knew he was about to turn 70 and had been employed by the farm since I was a kid. He'd always been real nice to Charlie and me, and I had been hoping he'd be staying on. He did tell me that if it would make things a bit easier he would stay until November and go to Arizona then. He'd interview a replacement for himself and show whoever was hired all they had to do and keep records of. I thanked him for that, and I told him I'd let him know as soon as I could, what arrangements had been made for Charlie's funeral. I gathered Jay up and we returned to the big house to get something to eat, as I was hungry by now and I knew Jay was too.

After I put a simple meal together for our dinner I cleaned up the kitchen and Jay and I took a stroll around the farm. Jay wanted to go see the horses and I was eager to do so too. I'd always loved to ride and I think we were just a little older than Jay when our parents first put us up on ponies we had at the farm. As we got older, horses were ridden and we became pretty good horsemen.

We had a nice walk and Jay asked a lot of questions, and I tried to answer them as honestly as I could. We discussed that his dad had died and what would happen next. I explained that one night soon we would go to the funeral parlor and a bunch of people would meet us there to say goodbye to his dad, and the next day we would go to church and ask God to take care of him and help him find his parents, and mine and Jay's mother up there so he wouldn't be all alone up there.  Then we would go to the cemetery and the nice men there would bury his coffin alongside where his mom was buried, next to his grandparents. He had been to the cemetery with us plenty of times and heard our stories about funerals and burials many times, and when he had asked if his Daddy wasn't coming home just like his puppy hadn't I knew that at some level he had a concept of death and would eventually be OK. But for right now we both were hurting.

We ended our walk in front of the big house and Jay asked if he was going to have to move somewhere and I told him no, that I was going to move in here with him and we would live here together. He thought that was a good idea. My cell rang at that point and the caller was our lawyer. Jay went to play in his room and I sat on a bench, in the hall outside his room, and spoke with the lawyer. He said he had filed my custody paperwork for Jay and all was approved by the court and then he went on to say that the arrangements for the wake and funeral were set, and I jotted down the information. He told me an announcement would be placed in tomorrow's paper and that he was going to attend both events and we'd talk a little more then. I thanked him for all his help and then I went to Jay's room to make sure he had enough clean clothes for the next few days. While we watched some TV, all snuggled up on the family room couch ,the washing had finished and I got up to put the load of cleaned clothing into the dryer and then fixed us a little snack.

We had a little bit of a rough time during the night. Jay had a bad dream, and I was thankful I had put the monitor in his room last night or I never would have heard him whimpering in his sleep. I got up and made sure I had a pair of pajama bottoms on and I went into his room and lay down on top of his covers and I held him as he calmed down and returned to a peaceful sleep. In the morning he must have woken up first, because he was sitting up, running his little hand through my hair, I guess he was trying to tame my bed head. I don't know if he knew how much that tickled me, both physically and emotionally. Either way I woke up in a good mood and I snatched him up and we went to prepare breakfast. We took turns using the downstairs bathroom and by the time we were a bit more presentable the egg casserole I had put together, with his help, was done baking and we settled in to eat.

A few minutes into our meal the front door bell gonged. I got up to answer the door, wondering who would be here, and at such an early time of the morning. I answered the door, with Jay holding onto my right leg, and there was the trooper we had both met at the hospital. He had a small battered suitcase in his hands and I recognized it as the one Jay would bring with him when he stayed at the condo with me. Mr. Trooper was in his uniform and this morning,  I finally noticed how muscular he was and how form fitting his uniform was. He was, as I've said, a bit shorter than I, but a lot of people are. He looked up at me with a nervous expression, his baby blues blinking in the sunlight.

"Dr. McKenzie, we've finished with our investigation and I thought young Jason would like his travel bag back, I also retrieved a few other things for you", he managed to get out, as I noticed him glancing up and down from my crotch to my bare chest and back. Jay spoke first, thanking the officer and telling him we were having breakfast, did he want some eggy stuff? We chuckled and I did ask him in, and then we all went into the kitchen. I prepared him a plate and had him sit down to eat with us. He'd told us he was off duty and on his way home to Belchertown and thought he'd drop off what he could and save us from having to go to the Sheriff’s impound and go through the mangled car ourselves. When I asked he explained he had only been on the state police force for six months and he had found an apartment in the next town up a month ago, but he had lived in Springfield before that. He told me that he'd tried to call me at my condo, as that was the address listed on my license when he tried tracking me down, but after no answer after a few tries another officer reminded him that I had been listed as Charlie's emergency contact and there was a toddler involved, maybe I was with the boy, so he had looked up Charlie's address in their file and tried me here, since it was on his way home. I thanked him for thinking about us and for going above and beyond what anyone would expect, and he got all shy, as he was eating, and I thought I heard him mutter that we were about all he could think of.

We progressed to first names while eating, and Angelo (he told both Jay and I to call him Angel, like his Italian mother did), so we became Angel and Ray as we ate breakfast with our 4 year old buddy.   

When we had finished cleaning up, (well I cleaned up, Jay just had to explore Angel's uniform and all the paraphernalia attached to it, I just wished it was me, well, maybe after Jay and I get totally settled down here) Jay parked himself to watch some Sunday cartoons and Angel and I went over the other things he had brought us from the car. There was the usual stuff from the glove box, some pairs of sunglasses, the extra parking permit placard for my parking garage at the condo, Charlie's cell phone, retrieved from the holder in the armrest in the center console, and other odds and ends. I thanked him for doing this and he then said how sorry he was that I had lost my partner in such a freak accident. I stuttered and sputtered, digesting what he had said and I sat down and told him that Charlie wasn't my partner, we were more like brothers. I told Angel about us, and how we were raised, and about how I was Jay's godfather and because we were the closest thing to relatives each other had, Jay had always called me Uncle.

Angel sat for a moment, deep in thought, and then asked if after everything settled down could he ask me out. I told him I'd like that a lot and if I thought he was taking too long to do so, I'd just have to ask him out. We spent a little more time with me further explaining my friendship with Charlie and he told me he had a partner before going to the police academy but when he finally realized Angel was going into the police field he backed away from their relationship of 3 years. It was getting close to the time Jay and I had to get ready for church and Angel bid his goodbyes and left to get some much needed sleep.

The mass was special, because the priest celebrating it used the Brainard family and their devotion to the community as an example of living a good Christian life. He ended his talk with the news (for any one present who hadn't seen today's paper) was that Charles Brainard had died in a terrible crash, caused by a teen on her cell who was late for work and driving recklessly.

As we were leaving church the priest and I confirmed the arrangements the lawyer had made and he assured me he would be at the wake on Monday evening to say prayers for the dead. I thanked him and Jay and I returned home. I took Jay for a horseback ride on the property after lunch and we talked some more and we even had a bit of fun along the way. As he was playing with the kittens in the barn I stood in the doorway and looked around me, awed that this beautiful property now belonged to me, to have a place to raise Jay into adulthood, and beyond if need be. The thought of Mr. Green retiring was scary. He coordinated the upkeep of the house and grounds, he managed the farm and it's 30 or forty fields, He saw to the feed for the horses, cows and chickens, the dogs and cats that lived in the barns. He handled the leasing of the fields and making sure we got our share of the harvests according to the lease agreements he had arranged, all a big reason the families had assured him a generous retirement fund. He would be missed and there would go another link to my past.

That afternoon there had been scheduled a meeting of the staff of my new family medicine practice. I didn't exactly relish calling the other three doctors and 15 nurses and staff members to cancel, so, not having a sitter for Jay,  I packed us up a few necessities (just in case, I've learned it is best to be prepared with a four year old around) and we drove over to the medical offices I was taking over at the end of this new week.

We all arrived about the same time at the converted school building that was now a miniature medical center, founded by Dr. Chris Sargent and his husband, Noah Major, the local real estate man. I had been a patient here for most of my life and now here I was, about to take over the office of one of the founding doctors  with offices right next to Dr. Chris as he told me to call him some 15 or 20 years ago. I scooted in front of my group and went to open the office doors so we could all enter the office itself. This space was quite large. It had started out as two offices for the two other doctors who opened their practices with Dr. Chris. Over the years those two had combined their offices and one had passed on. The other was retiring at the end of the week and I had put almost everything I had into purchasing the practice and now I was combining the existing staff and one of the junior practitioners with two of my fellow grads and a few staff I had lured from the Springfield Medical Center. Jay and I were immediately met with commiserations as soon as we all gathered in the main office, the only space that would hold all of us. I told them everything already planned out would remain on track and I asked if everyone who had moved for their job had settled in, or would be before our take over at the end of this week. I was assured that everyone had done so (mostly new staff and Beth and Carl, the new doctors I had just graduated with).  I asked Beth and Carl to explain their individual specialties to the group and they in turn introduced two of the new nurses who would be working closely with them. I reiterated that the staff I had taken on from the previous doctors had my complete backing and respect, which was why they were hired for this new venture, and I opened the floor for questions and suggestions. There wasn't much said or asked, and I assured them not to hold back at next month's meeting after we all had a chance to work together. All us newbies were introduced to the office manager who would arrange work schedules and be in charge of the practice paperwork and the issuing of pay checks, a very popular woman. I then encouraged the new people to mingle and to get acquainted with the exam rooms and their office and staff. I took Jay and he got to see my private office for the first time.

There on my desk was a framed picture of him and me his dad had taken and he was very pleased to see it there. I took a framed certificate from the wall and slid my diploma into it and replaced the frame on the wall. I had just hung up my shingle, so to speak. We said our goodbyes and I told all we'd be seeing them at the end of the week (or possibly earlier, depending on how many attended the wake or funeral). Beth and Carl were coming for dinner so we'd see them a little later and Jay and I went to get some fresh vegetables from a farm stand not so far away, but on our way home.

We got home and I grabbed the bag with the corn and green beans I had bought in one hand and took Jay's hand with the other. We walked to the house and I marveled again that this beautiful home was now mine, and Jays. It was a large brick colonial, 20 rooms in all with I think, 8 or nine bathrooms and a few half or ¾ baths. There was a huge portico entrance with columns reaching to the roof line. There were terraces off each side and French doors giving access or egress to the house. Along the back there was a huge patio with an outdoor kitchen at the end nearest the house kitchen. The patio opened onto the apron of the large in-ground pool with a double car garage transformed into a pool house with two shower rooms and two changing rooms. All this on manicured and landscaped lawns, worthy of an English manor house.

Jay and I prepared a nice sit down dinner for Carl and Beth. I had seen a standing rib roast at the store the other day and had brought it with us when we left the condo. Jay said he was in charge of the corn and he struggled with those ears until he had two clean enough for the pot. So I asked if he'd shred the lettuce so we could make a nice salad and I quickly shucked the other six ears as he was occupied with the lettuce. I pulled some dinner rolls out of the freezer and set them in a smaller oven to thaw and brown. There were a lot of containers in the big freezer and I found one with winter squash written on it and set that into the microwave to thaw and cook. As things started to come together Jay told me that we made a pretty good team. I hugged him and ruffled his hair. I was too choked up to verbally respond, as I had heard his father tell him that a million times.

I pulled out from cabinets and drawers what we'd need to set the table so I took the plates and three stemmed goblets with me to the big family style harvest table that separated the kitchen from the family room and then asked Jay to bring over the placemats and once the four were on the table I placed the plates and goblets and Jay went and gathered the utensils from the counter. He and I both placed them at the place settings, and we were just about ready for company, we just had to get rid of all the corn hairs from our shirts and when we were done, our company had arrived. 

Carl and Beth were a married couple and had been for the last 5 years. They really wanted a family, but had waited until after their graduation to try and conceive. I greeted them at the front door, with my new leg ornament clinging to me, but when he saw it was Beth and Carl he jumped up for his hugs and smooches as we walked to the family room. Our greetings over we settled into the family room for a few minutes to talk a little shop and we compared notes about our first staff meeting. I knew Jay was starting to get a little bored so I asked him to tell Carl and Beth about the new kittens at the barn while I plated the roast and put the corn on a platter and the veggies in bowls and we sat down for our salads after Beth had asked Jay to help her pick out a kitten for their new home. With dinner over (it was a great success) Jay offered to take us all on a walk to "doption" a kitten for Beth.

Thank God she liked the kitten Jay ended up picking out for her, I think he would have been crushed if she didn't. We supplied her with some of the dry food the litter had started to eat a few weeks ago and told her that for the next few weeks, water and milk combined, then just water alongside the dry food. She told Jay she was going to name the little male after him, Jay. He was so happy I thought he had to go pee, then I recognized it as his happy dance, something I hadn't seen all weekend. Carl and Beth told us both thank you for the wonderful meal and the kitten. They told us they'd see us the next night at the wake and we both got hugs goodnight before they left.

Jay and I went indoors and settled in front of the TV and he talked about Beth and Carl for a while, and he told me all about the kitten he just gave them, and when his words trailed off I looked down and he had dropped off to sleep. As I had stated earlier, once asleep he was asleep for the night, so I picked him up and took him to his room, got him undressed and into his PJ’s and all tucked up in bed, with a kiss on the forehead to boot.

The wake the next evening went as expected. I would have liked to have seen Charlie one last time, but I was told beforehand there was too much damage, as I had seen myself when I had identified his body for Angel, the state trooper, in the hospital. Toward the end of the calling hours the priest from our church arrived to say the prayers for the dead and with him was Angel and a middle aged woman, obviously related to Angel. Father Brown introduced his sister, Rosa, and his nephew, Angelo. Jay piped up and took Angel's hand saying, "Hi Angel, did you come to see me and Uncle Ray?"

He blushed real good for someone with Italian heritage. He stooped over to pick up Jay so they could speak face to face. He told Jay that he wanted to see him again and to say a prayer for his father and he brought his mother so she could meet him, since he was all he had talked about for the last two days, only he was looking right in my eyes when he said that.

His uncle, Father Brown went to the closed casket and said his private prayers and then turned to the room and led us through a couple of well-known ones. After that Angel told me his mother wanted to talk to me (Already? We haven't even dated yet!). Mrs. Maroni took my elbow and guided me to the side as Angel, still with Jay in his arms took Jay to look at all the flowers. Fr. Brown was talking with the funeral director and there were no people left in line, just about 25 left in the room. We'd had about a hundred through the last two hours and all that were left were Mr. Green, Beth and Carl, some friends from high school and their wives, or husbands, and our lawyer.

Mrs. Maroni told me she knew of a good woman who could cook and clean for us, and since she was alone now she would be able to stay over and take care of Jay while I was seeing patients, or if I got called out for an emergency. I hadn't been giving that enough thought, but her idea sunk in. This would be a person I could trust, I mean, if she was recommended by the Italian mother of a hunky state trooper, what was there not to trust? I stammered out that that sounded to me like a great idea, and I asked when I could meet this marvelous woman and she chuckled shyly and told me I had, it was her!

I asked Rosa when we might sit and talk about this and she said that was why she had come with Angel tonight, she had to be out of town for two days, settling the estate of a cousin that had passed three months ago. The estate's probate had finally passed and she had to fly to Florida, as the executrix, to settle the conditions of the will and Angel wouldn't have to go with her, as she would be able to handle anything left to him as she held his power of attorney. She had wanted to meet the man that had her son all worked up, and to meet the little boy who he spoke so highly of yesterday. She told me she didn't need the job, she wanted it. So we could finalize everything on Thursday if that was OK with me. I told her that would be fine and I gave her one of my cards with my cell number on it so she could call and tell me when exactly I would be hiring her. That's exactly how I felt, I couldn't say no to her, even if I tried.

Comments appreciated at Art West