The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - 57. Many Possibilities.

Once the boys returned to school, things quieted down for the time being. Noah’s soccer season ended and he’s decided he isn’t interested in participating in any of the winter sports. The reason for this is that he feels he’s too short and unskilled to play basketball, plus he has absolutely no interest in wrestling. Therefore, he came to the conclusion that he’ll just take the winter season off. Elliot, however, is still involved with the swim team until the end of January, so Jesse and I, along with Hayden’s mother, are still required to take turns picking that pair up after practice, as well as attending as many of their meets as possible.

Following their first practice after Halloween, Ian pulled Elliot aside for a couple of minutes, before they went to meet up with their rides.

“I really want to thank you for inviting me to help with the haunted house,” Ian told him. “I had a great time.”

“Great! Then you can help us next year too,” Elliot offered. “I’m pretty sure we’ll do it again.”

“I’d like that,” Ian confirmed. “I liked working with you, and I enjoyed being around your family. They’re all pretty cool.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you approve,” Elliot confessed. “Not everyone is as open-minded about my dads, grandfathers and uncles.”

Ian stared into Elliot’s eyes for a few seconds, as if he were studying him. What Elliot didn’t know was that Ian was trying to determine if he should say what he was thinking, but unfortunately he never got the chance to do it. Just when he had worked up the courage to speak, Hayden showed up and ruined the moment. This meant Ian just lost his opportunity to tell Elliot what was on his mind.

Hayden, on the other hand, had merely wandered over to get Elliot, so they could go outside and see if their ride had arrived. It was my turn to pick them up, but I hadn’t gone inside to let them know I was there, as I usually did. I had become distracted by a call I received on my cell phone just as I was pulling into the parking lot.

The call was from a friend who wanted to let me know that a mutual friend was very ill and had been taken to the hospital. After hearing this, I got really involved in our conversation for a few minutes, as I tried to learn all of the details.

Before I’d finished my discussion, the boys came out and spotted me. They didn’t seem bothered by the fact that I hadn’t come inside to let them know I was here. In fact, they both appeared to be in a very good mood, as they climbed in and buckled up.

“You guys look unusually happy. It must have been a good practice,” I acknowledged, after ending the call and noting their broad smiles.

“Yeah, you could say it was pretty good,” Elliot admitted. “I did a dive today that I’ve never been able to do consistently before, a back 3.5 somersault pike. Today I did it well all three times I tried. It has a 3.6 degree of difficulty, which is a tenth higher than the handstand dive I’ve been doing, so I’m hoping this new dive will help me improve my overall score.”

“Well, that explains YOUR mood,” I agreed.

“And Hayden knocked almost a half-second off his best time in the 100 m butterfly during a practice heat,” Elliot added, immediately after I finished speaking.

“That’s fantastic!” I exclaimed. “It must be the spirits from All Hallows Eve were pleased with your efforts on their behalf with the haunted house, so they decided to grant you a boon.”

The boys both looked at me rather oddly, before they burst into laughter.

“Yeah, the ghosts and goblins were chasing Hayden and that’s what made him swim faster,” Elliot teased.

“And they were helping Elliot when he did his dives, like a puppet on their strings,” Hayden shot back.

The boys continued joking around about their recent accomplishments, all the way to Hayden’s house. As I watched them interact, I was glad they were having such a good time and their hard work is paying off.

After we dropped Hayden off, we continued home. When we got there, Elliot leaped out of the car and raced off to find Jesse. Unlike my grandson, I took my time going inside and then merely resumed working on dinner. I didn’t see any of the boys again until we sat down to eat later.

After he bolted through the front door, Elliot rushed upstairs and went straight to Jesse’s room. He found Jesse doing his homework, and when Jesse looked up, Elliot began talking excitedly. However, instead of telling him about his diving milestone, he had something else he wanted to discuss with him.

“Ian pulled me aside after practice and thanked me for including him in the haunted house,” he began. “He said he liked working with me and being around our family, and thinks we’re all pretty cool. I think he was going to say something else, but Hayden showed up just then and spoiled the moment.”

“So what do you think Ian was going to say?” Jesse wanted to know.

“I’m not sure, but he was looking at me kind of strangely,” Elliot admitted. “I got the feeling that he wanted to ask me something, but then Hayden came over and said we should go outside and wait for our ride.”

“Damn, that was bad timing,” Jesse teased.

“Yeah, I know. Now, I’ll have to wait and see if Ian works up the nerve to say what he was going to,” Elliot mused, although he didn’t look confident it was going to happen now.

During dinner, when Danny and Brandon asked him how his day went, Elliot eagerly switched gears again and told them about the dive he’d pulled off that afternoon.

“Hey, how come you didn’t tell me about that when you came up to my room?” Jesse whined, while showing a mild pout.

“It must have slipped my mind,” Elliot replied.

“Yeah, right!” Jesse moaned. “You just forgot that you’d finally mastered a dive you’ve been working on the entire season.”

Elliot ignored Jesse’s protest, because he didn’t want to share the detail of the conversation they’d had with the rest of us. Instead, he turned back to his dads and told them about Hayden’s accomplishment too. He figured he’d explain this to Jesse later and tell him that thinking about what Ian might have said made him forget about the other stuff.

The problem was, Elliot found it difficult to find time to be alone with Jesse later, because Noah wanted to hang out with them after they’d finished their homework. However, once Noah went to bed, Elliot slipped into Jesse’s room and explained the oversight to him. Jesse just smiled and said he’d already figured it out for himself, but he liked watching Elliot squirm when he mentioned it at the table. In response, Elliot punched Jesse in the shoulder for putting him on the spot in front the rest of the family.

Fortunately, neither boy chose to escalate the incident into a crisis. In fact, they had a good laugh about it before they went to bed. I’m certainly glad they understand each other and get along so well.

The next day and a half went by fairly quickly and uneventfully, until we went to see Elliot’s next meet, on Thursday. During the competition, Elliot threw caution to the wind and did his newly perfected dive in the optionals, along with the handstand dive and the forward 2.5 somersault pike. Since the first two dives are both rated more difficult than the two dives he had done at the first meet we watched him dive, Elliot dramatically increased his chances to score higher than on his previous outings.

Even though Elliot executed both dives fairly well, the scores the judges awarded him didn’t fall into the exceptional range, so he still finished behind three of his competitors. On the bright side, his coach was extremely complimentary about his effort and pleased that he had attempted both of those dives today. He told Elliot that if he kept working on them and improving, then his scores would raise accordingly. Now, he just has to find a third dive that will compliment those two, so he can consistently place at the top of the field.

On Friday, after everyone arrived home from school, work and practice, we had to get ready for another big event. As quickly as we could, we loaded our suitcases into the Suburban and then hopped inside. We were now ready to drive to Allentown to pick up Frankie. This was the weekend he was going to be honored in New York City and we were eager to be there to support him.

We’d sent back our R.S.V.P. for this event as soon as the invitation arrived, because we wanted to be certain to let them know how many family members would be attending. A few days later, we received a letter back notifying us that the appropriate number of rooms had been reserved in our names, for both Friday and Saturday evenings. It also stipulated that the reservations were being paid for out of the mayor’s budget and all we had to do was provide our transportation to the hotel and check in.

Once we arrived in Allentown and met up with Frankie, he immediately told Noah how complementary the other troopers had been concerning his Halloween costume. He said they were all thrilled that Noah had chosen to do that and thought he looked fantastic in his uniform. They even framed the pictures and hung them on the wall just inside the main entrance. See, I told you Noah would become the Troop M mascot.

We planned to go out to eat first, before we continued our journey. Today also happened to be Noah’s twelfth birthday and this dinner was going to serve as our celebration with him. We had intentionally avoided wishing him a happy birthday earlier, to see if he’d say something, but now we began making a big fuss about this being his special day. I believe Noah thought we’d all forgotten about his birthday, but now he was grinning, ear-to-ear and it continued as we headed out to eat.

I’d previously asked Frankie to make reservations at the same restaurant where we’d celebrated with him, after he’d received his awards. On that occasion, the owner and staff had proven to be extremely friendly and very accommodating, the menu selections were varied and the meals delicious, plus the atmosphere was conducive to holding a family celebration. For those reasons, we felt it was the perfect choice for this special event too.

After enjoying a lovely meal, the wait-staff brought out the cake I’d had Frankie special order for the occasion. They even joined in singing happy birthday to Noah, along with the family, and clapped and cheered as Noah blew out the candles. One of the waiters then cut the cake for us, as the others served it, and once we’d had our fill, I told them to take a slice for themselves and then give a piece of cake to any other children who were dining here this evening.

Before we left, Danny and Brandon gave Noah one of his presents. It was a cell phone, so he’d be able to call whenever he needed a ride or have the ability to contact us if something happened. They had preset each of our phone numbers in it for him and Noah was thrilled with his gift. The rest of us told him he’d get his other presents when we got home.

It was getting late as we started out on the final leg of our trip, but we were all excited, especially once we were close enough to spot the lights from the Big Apple. Frankie, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves as he thought about what was going to happen and the attention he was bound to generate again. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to receiving this additional recognition, but he did feel obligated to attend. I think having the rest of us with him helped to calm him down slightly and he told me later that he preferred to think of this as a family vacation, rather than as another award ceremony.

Our reservations were at the Paramount Hotel at Times Square and we were blown away with how elegant the hotel and individual rooms were. After we each enjoyed a wonderful night’s sleep and downed our complimentary breakfast the following morning, we were taken to City Hall to formally meet the mayor.

After Mayor Bloomberg greeted our family, a member of his staff went over the itinerary they had scheduled for us. Once this briefing ended at City Hall, we were to be taken on a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park and then we would attend a matinee performance of one of the newer Broadway shows, “The Book of Mormon.” Incidentally, this is the first musical written by the creators of “South Park,” with the music provided by the composer of “Avenue Q.” Since this show had won nine Tony awards the previous season, I was looking forward to seeing it and I’m sure the others were too.

After those two activities, we were to be given some time to return to our rooms, so we could shower and change for the evening. Then we’d be taken to Gracie Mansion by limo, where Frankie would be the honored guest at a dinner ceremony to honor his heroic deeds.

The carriage ride in Central Park was relaxing, yet at the same time wonderfully stimulating. The temperature was cool, but not cold, and the leaves had previously changed color and were just beginning to fall, so it was also quite beautiful. I could tell Noah and Joshie were having a good time, since this was something they had never experienced before, and their enthusiasm ended up making this activity quite enjoyable for the rest of us.

“Wow, this is awesome!” Noah exclaimed. “This park is huge. I didn’t even know they had trees in New York City.”

“Even though most of it is pavement and skyscrapers,” Brandon replied, “the city managed to keep this area green and natural for the city residents to enjoy.”

“Papa, is this how you went places when you were little?” Joshie asked.

I immediately glared at his fathers, to see if they had prompted my grandson to say this, but they just shrugged their shoulders. I guess Joshie must have come up with his question without any assistance from anyone else.

“No, Joshie, there were cars when I was little,” I answered. “I think maybe my grandfather or great-grandfather may have traveled in a carriage or a wagon at some point though.”

That answer seemed to make Joshie happy, so he went back to looking around and trying to spot squirrels and other animals in the park.

Once our ride ended, we were then whisked over to the Eugene O’Neill Theater to see “The Book of Mormon.” This musical is about two Mormon missionaries who are sent to Uganda to covert the natives. I found the show to be hilarious and very enjoyable. I especially got a kick out of a comment one of the missionaries uttered after he first arrived and observed, “Africa is nothing like the Lion King.”

Not only was the dialogue witty and the songs catchy, but the sets were also excellently done. It was one of those shows that can be appreciated on several different levels, so there is something in it that each of us was able to enjoy.

Throughout the day, I’d noticed that Elliot was quieter than usual. He also seemed to be sticking closer to Danny and Brandon, instead of hanging out with Jesse and Noah. When we got back to the hotel, I pulled him aside as everyone else was crowding into the elevators to head up to our rooms.

“What’s up,” Elliot asked, once the doors closed and the others were underway.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” I replied. “You’ve been pretty quiet today and you’ve hardly let your dads get very far from your side.”

“Oh that,” Elliot replied, nonchalantly. “It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure?” I pressed. “It sure seems as if something is bothering you.”

“It’s just that I’ve been here a bunch of times with my dad,” Elliot admitted. “I guess being here just brought back some memories of when I was here with him.”

“I didn’t realize you’d been here before,” I responded, as I contemplated the mixed emotions he must be dealing with. “I’m surprised you never told us this.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Elliot stated. “Just sometimes when I wasn’t in school my dad would bring me here with him, when he came down on business. The job he had meant he worked with people and companies that are here.”

“Are you certain you’re alright then?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s nothing. Trust me, I’m fine,” Elliot assured me.

“Okay, if your sure,” I agreed, “but if you need to talk about it later, promise you’ll come see me or your dads.”

Elliot agreed to my request and confirmed that he would, and he also reassured me he was fine. I gave him a quick hug before we caught the next elevator, and when we got to our floor, I sent him off to get ready.

After everyone had cleaned up and changed, we still had some time to catch our breath, before the limo arrived to take us to Gracie Mansion. On the ride there, I noticed that Elliot was the only one of the kids who didn’t seem overwhelmed by our new surroundings. While Jesse, Noah and Joshie were totally engrossed by this new experience and eagerly exploring the various features and hidden compartments in the limo, Elliot merely stared out the window.

When we arrived at our destination, Elliot immediately got out with the rest of the adults, but we almost literally had to drag the other three out of the limo. They were so enthralled with their investigation of the interior that the only way we could get them to leave was to promise we’d let them continue this activity on the ride back. That seemed to work, because they jumped out and joined the rest of us.

When we went inside Gracie Mansion, Mayor Bloomberg greeted our family again and then introduced us to a variety of other dignitaries who had been invited to attend. After we had met the last of these important guests, we were led inside and shown to our table.

Once we’d been seated, the meal was served. It was an elegant affair and one that the boys weren’t accustomed to. Since there were items the boys had never tried before, we spent some time persuading them to take at least one bite of everything. Although they didn’t care for every item they tasted, they did at least try it, which we, as parents, were glad to see.

I also noticed that Elliot had instructed Noah to place his napkin on his lap and was helping all of the boys get acquainted with the proper fork and glassware. I often forget the background he comes from, given how well he’s adapted to our household. When we finished eating and the dishes were cleared, Mayor Bloomberg rose from his seat and moved in front of the podium, which was located next to his seat at the head table.

After a few words of greeting and a brief explanation about how Frankie had prevented the City from being targeted by another terrorist attack, he asked Frankie to stand and approach the dais. When Frankie got up, a very loud and lengthy round of applause greeted him. Once this died down, Mayor Bloomberg told those in the audience about the awards Frankie had received previously and then he re-presented Frankie with the ‘Key to the City.’ Frankie received a standing ovation from those in attendance as he took the key again, and although he was slightly embarrassed by this adulation, he managed to accept it with grace and dignity.

Once the ceremony ended, many people approached Frankie, so they could offer him their personal thank you and shake his hand, as well as to commend him for his actions. They also approached the rest of us and stated that we must be very proud of Frankie, while at the same time shaking our hands.

After nearly an hour of this, I thought it was becoming fairly obvious that Frankie was growing uncomfortable from all of this attention. I could tell he was eager to escape being the main attraction, but he also felt obligated to stick around. When I mention this to him, in a private moment, he told me he felt we should stay for another hour. I was fine with that, so he continued chatting with some of the others in attendance.

As soon as another hour had passed, we finally decided it would be acceptable and not appear rude if we excused ourselves. With that in mind, we made our way over to Mayor Bloomberg again and thanked him for the city’s hospitality. We then politely told him we felt it was time for us to head back to our rooms and explained that Noah and Joshie were tired and getting restless. After thanking Frankie once again and praising his diligence a final time, he bid us goodnight and sent word to have the limo pick us up in front of the Mansion.

After spending a second night in our wonderful hotel accommodations and enjoying another complimentary breakfast, we were taken on a brief tour of the City next. First, we were escorted to the observation deck of the Empire State Building and then we were given an unprecedented glimpse of the work being done at the former World Trade Center site. After we left that location, we were then taken for a VIP tour of the Statue of Liberty.

I will say that Mayor Bloomberg and the city went all out for us and we greatly appreciated everything they did. After meeting up with the Mayor and thanking him for everything he did for us again, we said our final goodbyes and made the return trip to Allentown. After we dropped Frankie off at his apartment, we traveled the final leg home, thus ending the whirlwind of activity and an extremely hectic, yet wonderful, weekend.

I believe we were all dragging a little throughout the following day, but we managed to survive. I’m sure that being a little tired also accounted for Elliot being caught off-guard when Ian approached him after swim practice.

“Elliot, there’s something I’d like to ask you, but I don’t want to do it here,” Ian began.

“Oh, okay,” Elliot replied simply. “Where do you want to do it then?”

“Would you mind if I called you tonight, so we can discuss it privately?” Ian followed.

Although Elliot wasn’t sure why Ian was being so formal and cryptic, he was also somewhat excited and eagerly agreed to Ian’s suggestion. After Ian left, Elliot was a bundle of nerves until after dinner, when Ian finally called.

“Elliot, I know this is probably asking a lot, but I really need a favor,” Ian began. “My parents are going away after Thanksgiving and I don’t want to go with them. They’re visiting my dad’s college, so they can go to a University of Florida football game. I’m not really interested in football and my parents will be going out after the game with my dad’s old college buddies. I’m sure they’ll be partying all night and I’ll end up spending the entire weekend in the hotel room by myself, which will suck. I was wondering if maybe your family might let me stay with you from Friday through Sunday?”

Elliot’s heart leaped into his throat when he heard this and numerous scenarios played out in his mind. After several seconds of delay, which kept Ian on pins and needles, Elliot finally found his tongue again.

“Sure, I’ll ask my parents,” he replied, “but I’m positive it won’t be a problem. What about your sister? Is she going to go with your mom and dad?”

“No, she doesn’t want to go either, so she’s going to be staying with one of her friends,” Ian replied. “I know it’s the holiday weekend and all, but you don’t think this will be a problem?”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Elliot responded. “We’re going to have tons of company anyway, what with everyone coming home for Thanksgiving, so what’s one more going to matter? Beside, everyone likes you. Papa is probably going to insist that you stay, once I explain the situation.”

“Are you certain?” Ian asked, concerned. “I don’t want to be a problem and mess up any of your holiday plans.”

“Trust me. You won’t,” Elliot confirmed. “I’ll check with my dads after I hang up and then I’ll call you back to let you know what they say. Okay?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Ian agreed. “Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Elliot assured him. “I’ll call you as soon as I get an answer and I’m sure we’ll have a great time while you’re here.”

Elliot was a bit tongue-tied when he first came down to speak with us, but eventually he was able to spit out his question. The four of us quickly agreed this would be fine and then watched, in fascination, as Elliot raced off to call Ian back. At this point, we didn’t fully understand the nature of their relationship, but after we heard Jesse making some catcalls, we suspected this might be more than just an ordinary friendship.

Once Elliot relayed our decision, Ian said one of his parents would call the following evening to confirm things with either Danny or Brandon. We thought this sounded reasonable and seemed like a wise precaution, to be certain the boys hadn’t just made this decision on their own. Therefore, Danny and Brandon looked forward to speaking with them, while Elliot spent his time walking around the house in a daze.

Since this discussion had reminded me about how quickly the days leading up to Thanksgiving were passing, I decided it was time to firm up our holiday plans. I knew we were going to have a larger turnout for this holiday, because the married couples were coming here for Thanksgiving this year and then going to their in-laws for Christmas. The only exception I knew of was going to be Shannon and Nick, who had somehow managed to get on the opposite rotation from everyone else.

When I mentioned this fact to Jake later, he decided to call the boys and mention it to them. Once Shannon and Nick were aware of this, they decided to alter their plans and get on the same schedule as the married couples. This way, they wouldn’t miss seeing the same people every year. Their decision was fine with us, but Jake told them they would need to call Nick’s parents and see if they would also agree to this change as well. Nick and Shannon agreed they would and then called us back later to say the Lawrences were fine with this arrangement too.

Over the next few days, while the boys were in school and their fathers were at work, I did my shopping and made certain I had everything I needed for the menu I’d planned. I also took time to confirm that the various extended family members were coming, so I could get a good grip on the number of people we will be feeding. When I spoke to them, they also informed me what they were planning to provide for the meal, so we didn’t duplicate our efforts.

Mark and Duck each confirmed that they and their wives would be coming for Thanksgiving as well, so they’ll be with all of us this year as well. This means everyone is going to be on the same schedule now, so we’ll be having a huge gathering for Thanksgiving and a much smaller crowd at Christmas.

Elliot and Noah are excited that their Grandpa Pat and Grandma Brenda will be joining us as well. Noah is anxious to meet them in person, but I think he is also just as excited about meeting all of his new cousins too, since my grandchildren are all going to be here as well. Elliot had told Noah about his cousins and Noah is thrilled that there’ll be others here who are around his age.

Jeff, Kevin’s friend, has already arrived in the area as well and is currently staying with Kevin and Vinnie. His mother didn’t come with him, since he wanted to get settled into his new job and be able to find a place for the two of them to live first. For that reason, she’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving with some of her friends back home, while he’s spending the holiday with us. We can tell Jeff feels badly about this, but he doesn’t want to travel home for just the one day, since Kevin and he will be needed to work both the day before and the day after the holiday, since it is such a busy time.

We are all looking forward to the holiday now, although I have warned Elliot and Jesse that they probably won’t be able to fool around with Nicky and Jordan while they are here. Not only will the house be more crowded than normal, which will mean it will be more difficult to find enough privacy to do anything, but Ian will also be joining us. Danny, Brandon, Jake and I talked it over and thought it would be best that neither Noah nor Ian accidentally discovered what the rest of them did when they were alone. Reluctantly, both Jesse and Elliot agreed to this stipulation. Now, all I have to do is figure out the room assignments.