The Castaway Hotel - 9 - 40. Chapter 40 - Wrapping Things Up

Sunday, our final group came in. It was Michael, Andrea and Megan. They would be staying until the following Saturday and then taking Jordan and Nicky back with them when they returned. They were going to see that Nicky got back safely to Marie, and take the responsibility from us, seeing we’d have to make sure Barry got home safely.

We did basically the same things for Michael and Andrea that we had done with Elizabeth and Tim, except we took longer and more energetic walks. After letting them get settled in on Sunday, we started Monday off with the 5-mile Trout Creek hike we had taken with the Flannerys. I did this because I knew Michael and Andrea were big with keeping fit and working out. I had a child backpack carrier for Michael to carry Megan in and they enjoyed this long and vigorous hike. We followed this activity with a watery workout in the lake, which I know they enjoyed as well.

After lunch, we took them on ‘The Princess’ boat tour from Seven Points. I thought it was a lovely way to get them started and give them a feel for the area, and then we took everyone out for dinner.

That night, Michael and Andrea spent time with Nicky and Jordan, since the boys had been with us for three weeks by this point. The rest of us left them alone, so they would have an opportunity to get reacquainted, and I think it worked out well for all parties involved.

Tuesday, it was raining again, so we took them to the Swigart Antique Car Museum first. I knew Michael would enjoy this and the entire family seemed eager to go back and check it out again. When we came out, after seeing everything inside, it seemed to have cleared up a little, so I took everyone to Gravity Hill, so Michael and Andrea could experience those odd sensations for themselves.

After lunch it was still kind of nasty, so most of the boys stayed home while I drove Michael and Andrea over to check out the Bellafonte Museum for Centre County. When we finished up there, it had cleared up a little, so Michael went fishing with Jake and some of the others.

Wednesday, I had a little longer hike lined up for them, and it was one we hadn’t done before. This time, I took them on the 7-mile Fire Tower Loop Trail. This trail is rated as moderate to strenuous, which was perfect for my fitness buffs, and it goes in a loop to the Fire Tower on Greenwood Spur. The tower was built in the 1930’s and is still in use to watch for forest fires. I had to admit this was by far the most challenging trail we had taken during this vacation, so afterward we went to the lake for a swim and then out to lunch.

Wednesday afternoon, we just hung around the cabins and played touch football. I think the boys had forgotten how competitive Michael can be when it comes to sports and Andrea is nearly as bad, so the game was for blood – well, not literally. It was just very competitive.

Once that ended, they also went canoeing for a while and then swimming again, and Michael was tossing and flipping Jordan, Nicky, Jesse, Andrew and Barry. Barry’s bulk almost did Michael in, since Barry was so much bigger than the others, but Michael did manage, so Barry wasn’t left out.

Wednesday night we relaxed a bit and the boys wanted to play Uno against Michael and Andrea. I guess their competitive nature was also starting to kick in and they wanted to take Andrea and Michael on again. It was very heated and the boys wouldn’t let Andrea and Michael play at the same table, for fear they’d team up against them. However, I think the boys ganged up on them. Michael, Andrea and I were talking later and they mentioned how determined the boys were to beat them. I was afraid they might be upset by this fact, but both merely thought it was cute that the boys were so intent on getting revenge for what they’d put them through during the football game. I was glad it hadn’t escalated into more.

Thursday, we started off by taking the two short hikes, back to back. We did the Hillside Nature Trail first and drove over and followed it up by doing the Dogtown Trail. We walked each loop twice, and because I suspected one trail wouldn’t be enough for my fitness buffs. Therefore, we did the two loops, doubled and back-to-back. That seemed to suffice, so we went back to the cabins and swam and canoed until lunchtime.

After lunch, Andrea started to get a migraine headache, so we opted to stay in until she was feeling better. They boys went swimming, while the rest of us took care of the little ones and waited on Andrea. She started feeling better by dinnertime, so we went out to eat and then came back to the cabins and played cards.

By Friday, Andrea was feeling much better, so we took them to Hershey Park. This is another amusement park, but it’s far larger and more extensive than Del Grosso’s, and there are several sections to the park, each featuring its own theme and assortment of rides. Luckily for the boys, all of them, including Nicky, Jesse and Jordan, were tall enough to go on nearly all of the rides. Unfortunately, Megan fell two categories below the others on height requirement chart and had to stay on the tamer rides. However, she didn’t lose out, since Nicky and Jordan chose to go with her on a lot of those rides and then Michael, Andrea, Jake and I split our time taking her on the others.

We pretty much gave the boys free reign today, as long as they stayed in groups of three or more, and the older boys agreed to help keep an eye on the younger ones. Joshie also spent most of the day with me, although Dion and Trey would come spend time with him at various points and made sure they didn’t ignore him completely.

Every now and then the various groups of boys would come looking for us, so they could drag one or more of us on a ride they’d found to be thrilling. In other words, they’d drag us off to go on rides they thought would scare the crap out of us. Andrea and Michael found this quite amusing and thought it was nice the boys wanted us to do this with them. Due to this special attention, the bonds between Michael, Andrea and the boys grew deeper as the day progressed. I don’t think Andrea and Michael had expected that any of the boys would want to do much with them, since there were so many others they could hang around with and because of the way Andrea and Michael had acted when we were estranged. That’s why they were so deeply touched when the boys sought them out too, even if it was just so my monsters could see if they could frighten them.

We had a great day and ate both lunch and dinner there. We did this because no one wanted to leave, seeing we were having such a great time. Even Joshie got to go on some of the rides, because Megan, Nicky and Jesse would take him on the kiddy rides with them. Joshie’s face would light up whenever one of them took him on a ride and his smile spread across his face, as the wind blew in his face. That led me to believe he had a great time too.

We ended up spending the entire day at the park and only left when it closed. I think some of the boys would have camped out there overnight, if they could have, since they didn’t seem to want to leave. Oh, to be young again.

Saturday was the final day of this vacation, since we’d all be leaving for our homes the following day. It had been a great retreat for my family, even if it was lower key than some of our past adventures, but it was nice to have the others join us at various times. We spent most of the day taking it easy, swimming, canoeing, sunning and taking short walks, and the only time we went out was for dinner. We took Michael and Andrea on the Proud Mary Showboat Dinner Cruise for the candlelight prime rib special, for our farewell dinner and a celebration of our time together.

Michael and Andrea seemed to really enjoy the music and entertainment, as well as the food, and turned out to be a wonderful finishing touch to their week with us. Since Jake and I were sitting with them, they apologized numerous times for our past misunderstanding and said they were glad things had worked out, because they really enjoyed their time with us. I did tell them they didn’t have to keep trying to make up for the past and we would just put it behind us, but they seemed to feel obligated to try to make amends for their past misgivings. Once we cleared the air, we enjoyed the rest of our time together.

The next day, we had a very difficult time saying good-bye to each other. It was especially difficult for Jordan and Nicky, since they had been with us for four weeks and didn’t want to leave Jesse and Andrew. They were even sad that Barry would have to go back home too, but in the end they reluctantly hopped into the car with Andrea and Michael. I kissed them all good-bye and told them I looked forward to seeing them at Christmas.

Once they had gone, we picked up our things and loaded them into the vehicles, and then I went through all four cabins for a final inspection. We dropped the keys off on the way out and then drove Barry to the airport, so he could catch his flight back to Chicago.

Barry also found it difficult saying good-bye, but most of all with Jesse and Andrew. Since he had spent time with all of us and we had been close, he also hugged Jake and me several times, while thanking us for the great time. I’ll admit, we were going to miss him too, but I told him we’d see him next St. Patrick’s Day, if not before.

Once his flight took off, the rest of us set out for home. It was time for us to get back into our normal routines again.

Shortly after we returned, I had to start planning our Fourth of July celebration, which would be closely followed by a 21st birthday party for Ricky on the weekend. It’s hard for me to believe the cute twelve-year old imp that came to live with me was now about to legally become an adult, in all senses of the word. Damn, I guess I am getting old.

The worst part is, I have many more of these events still ahead of me. Cole will be turning twenty-one in October, Vinnie and Shannon in December, and then Nick and Trey in February. Where has all the time gone? This means that twelve of the boys will now be twenty-one or older, which will leave me legally responsible for only Graham, Dion, Sammy, Little Ricky, Andrew and Jesse. Worse than that, Andrew and Jesse will be the only pair still at home, because they others will be away at college. Wow, time does fly.

Anyway, we’re having a big cookout for the Fourth again and we’ve invited both farm-homes to join us. I planned on having games again, since everyone seemed to enjoy it so much last year, but I hoped to change things around a little, to insure that everyone has a great time. The Fourth is on Tuesday this year, so that’s when we’ll hold that celebration, but since Ricky’s birthday is on Friday, we’ll wait and hold his party on Saturday. That way, the extended family will be able to come too, without having to take time off from work.

After talking everything over with my planning committee, which included Jake and the boys, we’ve decided to have three age groups this year. These various groups would be called the Teens, which will include everyone still in public school, the Tweens, which would include those in college and in their twenties, and then the adult group, with those thirty and older. The boys wanted to call this group the ‘golden oldies,’ or was that ‘moldy oldies?’ Anyway, I didn’t think this moniker would offend anyone in the group, so I went along with their suggestion.

The teen group would consist of Andrew, Jesse and a bunch of the children from the two farm-homes. The Tweens would include my college sons, Duck, Mark and their girlfriends, and then the rest of us would comprise the final group. Each of these groups would compete in the same events we held last year, plus a few new ones. We would hold the birdseed relay and the three-legged race, as well as the egg and water balloon tosses. However, this year we added a tug of war, across a kiddy pool filled with Jell-o, and a pass the apple, where each group has an apple they have to pin between their jaw and body and pass it down the line, without using their hands. If it is dropped along the way, that person starts it again, but the line shifts so that person is first in a new line. Those that had passed it successfully will now move to the end of their line and they start all over.

I won’t go into detail about the day, but I will say the food was plentiful and devoured greedily. The games were fun to play and elicited a lot of laughs as we competed. One game, however, might have been a little too much fun for some of the boys and I think I may omit the apple pass next year. This is because some of the boys from the boys’ farm-home got carried away rubbing their bodies against the young ladies from the girl’s farm home, while passing the apple. Some of it was obviously quite sexual, especially as some of the boys from the farm-home humped their crotches against the girls and rubbed their lips against their lips and cheek. Since I feared this might result in some problems, or even allegations of sexual harassment, I warned them whenever I saw it happening and decided to eliminate this game in the future.

The fireworks we went to see later were also spectacular. They were all of the aerial variety and the finale was exquisitely done. All in all, it was a nice ending to a very enjoyable day. This feeling was reinforced when the others stopped to thank us and confirmed they’d had a great time, before they returned to their homes. We were pleased and thanked them for coming, before we returned to our homes and prepared to return to our normal routines.

On Saturday, we had Ricky’s party and the extended family was there, including Jay and his parents. It was nice to see them again too and Ricky and Jay spent a great deal of time together. As I had with the others, one of Ricky’s gifts included my turning his account over to him and putting that money completely in his control. I will also do that with the others when they reach twenty-one, so they are positive about one gift they have to look forward to.

Ricky was his typical goofy self as he opened his other gifts and showed them off, but he always managed to bring a smile to everyone’s face. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when he’s not here any longer to give me his occasional shot of ‘Ricky joy-juice’ and I have to look for new ways to brighten my gloomy days. Well, not entirely, since Joshie’s smile has a similar effect on me.

The rest of July was fairly laid back. As it turned out, we weren’t needed to go out and help on the farms this year. The new equipment that had been purchased for them meant much of the work was done by machine, so our assistance wasn’t necessary. However, we did go out to do some skinny-dipping with the boys. They had reminded us over the Fourth that we hadn’t don’t that recently, so we told them we’d be out before the summer was over. Since we didn’t want to go back on our word, we made sure to keep that promise.

The boys from the home had become quite comfortable with my sons, so nearly everyone participated in this activity. I had also relaxed my objection to the boys doing anything sexual with each other, but I did limit their activities to mutual masturbation and oral sex. I also made it clear to my sons that the boys from the home would have to be the ones to initiate such contacts, but if they did, my sons were allowed to have some fun with them.

I was somewhat surprised that it was the younger boys at the farm-home who were most interested in messing around, rather than the older ones. It was later suggested to me that some of the older boys might have been abused previously and, hence, were unwilling to expose themselves to any sexual situations. I was saddened to hear this, but in a way it also made me feel better to know that we had been able to place the younger boys in a situation where they wouldn’t be forced to do such things.

As we entered August, we also began to get things ready for the boys to return to college and school. Since Danny and Brandon were both going to Pittsburgh this year, along with Dion, Trey and Shelly, they wouldn’t need the two vehicles they had been responsible for the previous year. Others were heading in that direction too, so I swapped vehicles and gave the Yukon to Danny. This gave him the larger vehicle and provided them with more room, and I kept his SUV to use at home. I let Ricky have the other SUV to use, so he could transport some of the others back and forth along Danny’s old route. Kevin would still have the 4Runner, to take him and Vinnie to Philadelphia.

As I mentioned earlier, only Andrew and Jesse will still be at home with Jake and me. Andrew will be a junior in high school, or in eleventh grade, and Jesse will be starting seventh grade. This meant I wouldn’t be doing as much running around, so I’m thinking about maybe doing some writing as a hobby. I think Robert got his ability from me, and we do seem to have very similar interests, so I’ll share some of my ideas with Robert and Trey first, before I discuss them with the others.

The boys’ transition to school went smoothly, but it was emotionally draining on me. The house seemed so empty and lonely now, and shortly after school resumed, Jesse became a teenager. This only reinforced my perception that the boys were getting older and would all soon be gone.

I threw a big party for Jesse and allowed him to invite some of his classmates too, since I was hoping he’d make other friends before Andrew left for college in a couple more years. He did invite a couple of boys, and it pleased me to see him spreading out socially.

Of course, the extended family also attended his party and we had a big cookout. I was vaguely familiar with a few of the boys he’d invited, since they had helped us with the haunted house the previous year. I also knew their families and approved of his choices. Jesse’s new friends seemed to have a good time and got along well with Andrew too, so I had a good feeling that the relationship they were building was going to last.

In September, Joshie celebrated his first birthday. I allowed Dion and Trey to come home for the weekend, so they could share this special event with him, and Shelly came too. It was a nice party, although a messy one for Joshie, because he smeared the cake all over his high chair and face. He also gave his fathers a nice present, when he started saying da-da. I think they both melted and felt like a million bucks after hearing him say it.

When October rolled around, the boys wanted to do the Haunted House again, but I told them it would be a bit much for just the two of them to pull off. They said they’d get some of their friends to help and talked Dustin and Cole into helping them too. Since they did that, I agreed. It ended up working out very well and helped Jesse become closer to a few more of his classmates.

Since I wanted to do something different this year, I dressed Joshie as Pinocchio, complete with a long, fake nose. I even tied string to his hands, feet and hat, before attaching the strings to a wooden ‘X,’ like an old-fashioned puppeteer might use. I then dressed up like Geppetto, the lonely woodworker who carved Pinocchio and then wished Pinocchio could be a ‘real’ boy. Jake dressed up as Stromboli, the evil puppeteer who kidnaps Pinocchio and makes him the star of his show. He also locks Pinocchio up when he’s not performing so he can’t escape, and I think everyone immediately recognized who we were.

None of my biological children and grandchildren, except for Joshie, was with us for Thanksgiving this year, but they were all coming for Christmas. It turned out to be a lovely day and we had a wonderful time, since all the college boys, except for Nick and Shannon, had come home to celebrate with us too. It was a bit strange for me though, since Jake wasn’t there. He had gone to celebrate the holiday with Shannon, Nick and Nick’s parents. To make up for it, they were all going to come here for Christmas, but that didn’t stop me from missing Jake.

As always, the extended family joined us too, and this included Mark and Jesse’s mothers, as well as the Novaks. It was truly a wonderful time and we had a fantastic weekend. I was thrilled to hear the house filled with the shouts and playful banter again and enjoyed every second of it, until the boys had to return to their campuses.

Over the next few weeks, I spent my time getting ready for Christmas. I cleaned the house, bought gifts, attended Jesse and Andrew’s school concerts and played Christmas carols for most of the day. Joshie was crawling now, so I had to keep a closer eye on him as I did all of these things, to insure he didn’t get in to anything he wasn’t supposed to.

At Christmas, we had a really full house. My entire family was there, except for Frankie. He had been sent to Afghanistan, after his tour was up at Guantanamo, and he’d probably be spending the rest of his enlistment there. I missed him and we all said special prayers that he’d return home safely, once his tour of duty ended.

My grandchildren were a riot to watch and Joshie was old enough to begin to appreciate some of the things that were going on. He was a little leery of Santa Claus this time, when we took him to have his picture taken at the mall, but he loved the colored lights and the music. The bright lights also proved fascinating for Lucas too and I spent a great deal of time singing Christmas Carols to both of them.

The O’Hara’s and the Lawrences also joined us, along with Shelly and her parents, which was really nice. This meant we had a very full house, but it was filled with love and good will. Unfortunately, Jesse no longer believed in Santa Claus, but Jordan, Nicky and Megan did, so Santa showed up right on cue, after I finished reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.’

Christmas Day was a little more relaxed and less hectic, since the boys were older now and not in a race to open all their gifts. Of course, my grandchildren were still quite excited about what they received, but for the most part, it was a fairly calm day.

Throughout the week, the boys caught up on what each other had been up to and reconnected with their brothers. Since they were all getting older, they also spent a considerable amount of time doing their own thing, which meant catching up with other friends and doing things on their own. It was inevitable, although still somewhat unsettling to witness, as various boys started to branch off and go their own way.

On New Year’s Eve, I rented out the Elk’s Lodge again, because everyone kept saying how much they had enjoyed the past two celebrations we’d held there. All of my boys showed up, along with their dates and some of their other friends, and we were joined by our extended family. This now officially included Susan and Alice, Mark and Jesse’s mothers, and the Novaks. We opted to enjoy a catered meal there as well, so I arranged to have this done by one of the best caterers I knew. We ended up eating, dancing and partying the night away, and stayed there celebrating until well after we had welcomed in 2007.

The boys and I spent the next several days enjoying the various bowl games, but mostly we relished the time we had together, until they had to return to college. None of us knew what the future would hold, but there was a good chance the boys would end up in various places, rather than staying in the local area. I gradually started to prepare myself for this eventuality, although it wasn’t a pleasant prospect.

The next few months seemed to grind by, since there were so few of us at home. Jake and I tended to grow even closer, since we had so much time alone, especially after Joshie went to bed. Andrew and Jesse continued to spend a great deal of their time together, although Jesse made sure to spend some of this time with his other friends too. It wasn’t that the two were growing apart, but Jesse was making sure he wouldn’t be totally alone, once Andrew left for college.

Except for when the boys came home for Easter weekend, the rest of the school year was pretty quiet. However, that changed in May, when Ricky, Jay and Pat graduated from their respective colleges. Yes, I included Jay, because we all went to his ceremony too. We held our typical graduation party for them and it was fairly well attended. It also brought us another step closer to the end of this story.

Shannon was supposed to graduate this year as well, but he had lost a semester’s worth of credits when he transferred to Oklahoma State. Therefore, he would finish his degree requirements in December, but wouldn’t receive his diploma until Nick did the following summer. At the same time, Vinnie and Trey would be graduating too, providing nothing unexpected happened in the interim. It would also be the same year Andrew would graduate from high school.

This was a bittersweet time for me, because as you can see, we have finally reached the point where most of the boys have finished their education and ready to begin supporting themselves. I am proud of their accomplishments and the fine young men they have turned out to be; yet there is a tinge of sadness in the realization that this wonderful period of our lives was coming to an end.

Being a baby boomer, it is not uncommon for our children to be called baby boomerangs, because they often moved back home. Yes, it is possible that some of the boys might come back home to live for a while, at least until they found jobs, chosen mates and moved into their own digs. Anyway, we were gradually reaching the end of a long and glorious journey, which has had its share of ups and downs. There were many moments filled with laughter, along with others filled with sorrow, but our home was always full of love, caring and sharing. I pray the boys will be able to spread those wonderful traits to the others that come into their lives and I hope I live long enough to witness this happen.

A/N: This, as you may have already guessed, is the End of Book 9 and the completion of the Castaway Hotel Series. Thank you for staying with me through this lengthy saga and I hope you have enjoyed the adventures of the Currie family and the journey they’ve shared, in order to reach this point. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all of you that have contacted me over the years and shared your thoughts, observations and critiques. It was much appreciated and many of those comments were incorporated when I completed the rewritten version of this tale.