The Castaway Hotel - 5 - 39. Chapter 39 - Wrapping Things Up

A little over a week after Mark arrived, I saw my friend, his mentor, and he told me that Mark was doing extremely well with his responsibilities and was catching on to things much more quickly than my friend assumed he would. He then assured me that the foundation’s funds and my personal accounts were in good hands with Mark taking care of them.

He also tried to fill me in a little about Mark’s girlfriend and told me she was a sweet, intelligent girl, who came from a good home, and he thought they made a nice couple. I thanked him for his interest and input, and then I thanked him for working with Mark. I told him I was sure he had had a great deal to do with Mark’s growth and success, and that all of his effort and help, both for the foundation and for Mark personally, was greatly appreciated.

He then spoke to me about the superintendent’s position and asked how the search was coming, so I tried to explain the circumstances to him. When I finished, he had a suggestion of his own. “Josh, I think you should just accept the position full-time. I’ve spoken at various times with others from the community who feel the same way. We all hope that eventually you’ll reconsider and just accept the job full-time.”

“I appreciate your support, and that of the others,” I replied, “but my family has to come first.”

“That’s never been a problem in the past,” he countered, “as I seem to recall, you always found plenty of quality time to spend with your sons, so I don’t see why it would be any different in the future. I don’t see any reason why you can’t still be effective as both superintendent and as a parent, just as you have in the past, when you were a principal and a parent.”

“I appreciate the advice and thank you, again, for your support, but being superintendent is a lot more complex, stressful and time consuming than being a middle school principal. I’m just not sure if I want to deal with all of those issues.”

“Then surround yourself with quality people and delegate,” he urged. “Let them do the work and you only oversee what they’re up to. That way you’ll be able to do both, with no more work or hardly any change in the level of responsibility than you had before.”

“I’ll consider what you’ve told me,” I agreed, before we parted company. He certainly had given me a lot to think about.

When I got home, I decided to distract myself from such considerations by checking my email and was glad I did. As soon as I opened my mailbox, I discovered I’d received another email from Ricky, filled with more tales of what he had been up to.

Hey Dad,

Things are really going great over here. School has been interesting, maybe because it’s so different from what I’m used to, so it’s really kind of neat and I love listening to everyone’s accent. The way they talk is just soooo cool that I could listen to them for hours. Well, I guess I do. hehehe Peter has been really great too and he’s introduced me to most of his friends and includes me in on everything he does, even if I don’t know what I’m doing. We’ve played a little soccer here, and yes they do call it soccer, but Peter is trying to teach me about footy right now, that’s Australian Football, or what we’d call rugby. It’s kind of strange, at least to me, but he’s working hard to make me understand and like it. His favorite team is something called the Parramatta Eels and he said they got their name cuz the players are as slippery as eels and can’t be tackled. I don’t think that’s it though, as I was thinking it might have something to do with the eels in their shorts. hehehe

Peter’s parents took us on another short trip this past weekend and we had a really great time. I tried to pay for as much as I could, but they wouldn’t let me. That made me feel kind of bad, cuz I know they don’t have that much money either, so if we go again, I’m going to tell them I’ll only go with them if they will let me pay for things this time. I think that’s only fair.

Well, they took me to Sydney Saturday, because they said they had some things to do there. I think it was just so I could see some of the city. It was really neat, especially when they let Peter and me do the bridge climb. I bet you didn’t know they actually let people climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge here. It was so kewl. Peter’s parents didn’t go with us, cuz they said they had done it before, when they were younger, and they were too old to do it again. I think it was just because it cost so much. I paid for both Peter and me, so they could go if they wanted to, but they still didn’t do it.

Well, Peter and I had to take a breath test before we could climb, kinda like the blood-alcohol tests the police give people back home, but it is just to see if we had the lung strength for the climb. Then we had to do a practice climb on the Climb Simulator, just to make sure we could do it okay. Once that was done, they had a guy tell us what it was going to be like and then he showed us a video, to make sure we still wanted to do it. After that, they gave us fleece jackets, hats and gloves to wear, cuz it’s winter here, and then they gave us these special clothes to put over what we were wearing. We also got things to communicate with and safety harnesses, so we couldn’t fall off.

Well, we started by crossing this catwalk to the archway, and then we climbed up to the top of the Eastern Arch. From there we climbed up the outside of the bridge, to the very top. It was really awesome up there. You could see all around and in every direction. It was a clear day, so we could also see way far. It was amazing. After that, we crossed to the other side of the bridge and then we climbed back down the Western Arch. Man, that was way kewl.

After that, they took me on a tour of the Sydney Opera House. It’s a interesting looking building from the outside, and it’s the one they show on TV every time they bring up Australia, other than showing the outback or kangaroos. The outside almost looks like the a replica of a space alien costume from the old movies when you were a boy, just after they had the first talky (jk), but it does seem to fit in better than I thought it would. Well, we took a tour of the inside too, and there is a concert hall AND an opera hall there. I didn’t know there were two halls inside until then.

Well, we had a good time and then we went out to eat. They’ve been really great to me and I appreciate all of it, but I want to be able to do more for them too. Let me know if you have any suggestions about that.

Say hi to everyone for me, and I’ll send each brother a short email too. I love you all.

Ricky

I sent Ricky an email back, asking him to call me, so I could get his bank account numbers from over there. Once I had those, I’d wire transfer him some more money, so he could do more for his host family. Ricky has never asked for much and this was a very special time for him, so it wouldn’t hurt to give him a bit more right now. I told him I wanted him to enjoy his time there and to do nice things for his host family, seeing they were going out of their way to take good care of him. I knew I didn’t have to tell him that, but it was my way of letting him know that I agreed with what he wanted to do.

Oh, yes. Jake and I made some joint decisions during this time too. First of all, it had to do with our wills. We had talked about amending them to make each other the guardian of our son(s), should anything happen to us. We also made a commitment to stay together as partners, of sorts. We weren’t going to go as far as getting married, or anything like that, but we both knew we enjoyed each other’s company, shared many interests together and most definitely enjoyed our time alone too. We did call the boys together one afternoon to discuss this fully with them, before making any kind of announcement, and it was quite an interesting meeting.

“Boys, we want you here so we can discuss something that will affect all of you,” I began. “Uncle Jake and I have talked this over and we are going to make each other the legal guardian of you, should something happen to the other one.”

“Nothing is wrong with either of you, is there?” Kevin asked, looking concerned.

“No, there’s nothing wrong,” I assured him. “We are just taking a few precautions.”

“You wouldn’t be trying to protect us, by not telling us if there were, would you?” Danny followed, worried that what I said had been merely subterfuge.

“No, you boys are old enough now not to have to be protected from the truth,” I told them, hoping this would defuse the concerns. “If there was something you should know, we would tell you.”

“I think you called us here for more than that, didn’t you?” Pat wanted to know, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

“Well, yes, there were a few other things,” I confirmed.

“Like what?” Sammy interrupted, not giving me enough time to continue.

“Well, I think Uncle Jake and I are going to be staying together for more than just until you boys grow up, if you know what I mean.”

“Great!” shouted Shannon, as he leaped up from his chair. “I knew it was going to happen.”

“You knew what was going to happen?” his father asked him. Shannon blushed, but eventually answered.

“That you two would fall in love and stay together,” he said with a grin.

“Are you going to get married?” Andrew asked us, also smiling broadly.

“No, Andrew, we’re not planning on getting married yet, but we are definitely going to stay together,” I confessed. “We did discuss marriage, but neither of us thought people are quite ready for that yet, especially after what happened in court. I hope that will change by the time any of you decide to make a commitment of that nature, and I think it’s moving in the right direction, but we were afraid of the repercussions. We felt if we took it that far, there might be others who would also question our fitness as parents, and it is more important for us to be here for you right now, than for each other.”

“Well, I hope you can do it some day,” Pat added. “You both deserve to be happy.”

“Thank you and that was very sweet of you,” Jake told him, “but the reason we wanted to bring this up was to see if any of you had any objections to it.”

“I don’t see any problems with it,” Trey announced.

“Yeah, as long as we don’t have to start calling one of you Mom,” Frankie announced, with a grin.

“Well, I think we can avoid that,” I told him. There was some murmuring in the room, as the boys talked this over, and then Dustin spoke up.

“Then I think I can safely speak for all my brothers and say, GO FOR IT!” Some of the boys began to repeat this phrase, while the others just let us know we had their approval. I did this while Mark was at work, as I wasn’t exactly sure how he’d feel about discussing this topic in his presence but I was sure he’d hear about our decision eventually. Then I’d let him make up his own mind about our situation, but I wouldn’t force the issue.

Time flew by quickly and before I knew it, we were at the end of June and the family was getting ready for our next series of activities. First of all, we were all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Nigel and his boys in a few weeks, and I’d been busy firming up all the arrangements for our mini-trips with them, plus our special little surprise. The only things Nigel’s boys have been told is that they will be coming here, staying with us and we will take them on several short trips while they are here. Of course, they know they will be spending a great deal of time around my boys, and after our trip to England, I think most of them suspect that might include some sexual escapades. Even though they know Nigel and I will be keeping it to a minimum and making sure it’s protected, I’m sure they are looking forward to whatever might be allowed.

On the professional front, I was very involved with the selection of the new superintendent and running the school district in the meantime. The search committee and I have continued to be slightly disappointed with the quality of the applicants at this juncture, but we are hopeful more qualified candidates will emerge now, seeing we’ve extended our original deadline. I will continue to run the district and prepare for the reopening of school in the fall, because I doubt very much that we’ll have anyone in place in time to perform those functions. With some luck, though, we’ll have selected a candidate and have him onboard early in the school year, and then I can go back to focusing on my boys.

Speaking of the boys, Nick and Brandon have contacted us and let us know they are enjoying their time with their parents. However, both have talked their folks into letting them come back by the very beginning of August, so they’ll be able to spend at least two weeks with Nigel’s group. Everyone is so anxious about their coming that the pair had to work hard to convince their parents to let them return a little earlier than originally planned. I’m sure their parents weren’t thrilled about those requests, but they did give in, knowing the boys wouldn’t be much fun to have around during the extra week, if they thought they were missing out on something fun here.

Then there is Ricky. As you know, he is currently an exchange student in Australia and seems to be enjoying himself and doing well there. It even sounds as if he had met a girl that he might be interested in. I’ll take a ‘wait and see’ approach about this, however, as it was only the end of the first of his eight-month stay there. I know he will do well, but his being so far away still gives me some concern about his welfare. I’m sure he’ll be fine, but I won’t be able to rest again until he is safely home with us. We did send out a package with the things he requested, plus a couple of surprises for his birthday, and we all look forward to hearing from him again, soon.

Trey also has some interesting times ahead of him as well. His English teacher has submitted his play and video to two different competitions, one for writing and the other for novice filmmakers. I don’t think Trey had any hopes for the competitions, but I think he was pleased when his teacher asked his permission to submit them on his behalf. I think that was honor enough for him. But that is not all Trey is involved with.

Trey is also part of the new driving group, along with Nick and Vinnie. Although Nick is away for a short time, he will return and take his place with the other two. I think they are hoping to have their licenses by late fall, so they can take their place as rotating drivers in our daily caravan to school, even though I’ve told them I probably won’t let them take their road tests until next spring. I think they’re hoping to sweet talk me into moving this up, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to stick to my guns on this one. I want to do that so they can practice their winter weather driving skills with me, before they actually have their licenses and begin to think they already know it all.

We are also getting ready to send three more boys off to college at the end of the summer, as Danny, Brandon and Kevin will be leaving for their freshman year. I know Frankie and Dustin will give them a few words of advice about this over the summer and all three are more than ready to go. Even though they are eager, it will leave another hole in my heart, as three more of them depart. I guess this fall might prove to be a quiet time at the house, with six of them away at various places, but I’m sure the others will more than make up for their being gone. It sure isn’t easy watching your kids grow up.

Speaking of kids, I have to sit down and have a private discussion with Vinnie. He has been here for a while now, so I guess it’s getting near the time when I have a talk about whether he wants to be adopted or not. I mean, I know he loves living here and all, but I’m not sure if he’ll see the adoption as a betrayal to his parents. Besides, I’m also not sure if he would want to use the Currie name, even if he does want to be adopted, or if he’d prefer to keep the name he has. Well, I’ll have to have this chat sometime soon, just to see what his thoughts are concerning this. I wouldn’t even think of initiating the adoption process without his input and approval.

And finally there is Nick’s new ambition, about becoming an exchange student himself. I’m sure we’ll be spending time together to prepare for this, as long as he doesn’t change his mind in between, but I have a strong suspicion he won’t. I don’t think I’ve seen Nick this serious about anything before, so I’m sure he has thought this through and I think it’s a very positive sign about his increasing maturity. We’ll see if this continues, once school begins.

No matter how much has happened over the past year and how much our lives have changed or improved, I still have to cope with doubts that I am doing the right things for the boys. I guess I’ve always dealt with these doubts, from the day I first took Ricky in, but I suspect my brush with mortality has made me take these doubts more seriously than I had in the past. I think about how my actions affect the boys, directly or indirectly, and what might happen to them once I’m gone. Sure, I know Jake has promised to be there for them and they won’t have to worry about suffering through financial woes, but am I really doing what’s best for them? How will I ever know the answer to that question?

Well, that’s the point where Graham came to my rescue. I have been worrying about all of this since my heart attack and after losing Brent the way we did. Suddenly, I began to doubt nearly everything and wondering whether I might be doing more harm than good, no matter how well intentioned I was. That was about the time Graham came to me and told me he had a message to deliver.

“A message? From whom?” I wondered.

“The other side,” he replied, very matter-of-factly. “Brent is bringing a whole bunch of people through with him.”

“Really, and who would that be?” I challenged, as I had no idea whom he might be including.

“Well, it’s a lot of different people, but mostly ones we have heard from before,” Graham confirmed.

“Like whom?” I pressed, still unsure.

“Well, I see Vinnie’s, Trey’s, and Sammy and Andrew’s parents there,” he informed me, “and Dion’s grandmother is there, as well as a woman I don’t recognize. She has a really big smile and is standing in front of our house.”

I had my suspicions, but I wanted to confirm them, before I jumped to conclusions. “What does she look like?” I asked.

After he told me, I was sure I knew who that was. “I think that’s my wife, Graham,” I explained. “I’ve been wondering if I was ever going to hear from her again.”

“She’s a very nice looking lady,” Graham told me, “and she has a bouquet of pink roses, so I think they are for you.” At that moment, I could feel a tear break loose from the inside corner of my left eye, and that was followed closely by one escaping from the other eye.

“You said they had a message for me,” I questioned him, trying to get to the point of all this.

“Well, Brent did let me know this was for you and only you,” he confessed.

“Okay, but what’s the message?” I wondered, since I hadn’t heard one yet.

“I’m not sure, but they’re all standing in front of our house, and they are smiling and giving a thumbs-up sign,” he told me. I didn’t think I had to inquire as to what this was all about, but I did have one more question for him.

“Even my wife?” I pressed, wondering if she might have some reservations about what I had been up to.

“Well, she’s doing something a little different from the others,” he began, and I started to worry she didn’t approve of what I had been doing with these boys or my relationship with Jake. That’s when Graham continued. “She’s giving a double thumbs-up sign.”

Hearing that, the tears really started to flow down my cheeks. I guess if I had any doubts about whether I was doing the right thing, they were now laid to rest, as the other side came through to let me know they approved of my efforts. I guess now I can put my worries behind me and focus on taking care of business as usual.

THE END OF BOOK 5.