The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 3 - 19. The Wearing of the Green

We stopped to collect Revin on our way to church the next morning and he seemed very eager to join us. “I really like doing this with you guys, cuz I get to be in the same Sunday school class as Tristan.”

“I think he enjoys having you in his class as well,” I agreed.

“Don’t you like the Sunday school class at your church?” Brandon followed.

“It’s ok, but I don’t have any friends there.”

“Don’t some of the kids from your school go there too?”

“Yeah, and I know some of the kids in the class, but I’m not friends with any of them.”

“Then you’re more than welcome to keep coming with us,” I offered.

“Thanks, cuz I want to keep doin’ this.”

When we got to church everyone went off with their age appropriate Sunday school group, and after the class ended I got to speak with Tristan and Revin’s teacher before the church service began. “How are the boys doing in your class?”

“They’re doing very well and Tristan’s friend seems to really enjoy his time with us. Revin listens intently and is eager to offer a response whenever I ask a question. He’s a very likeable young man.”

“Yes, we think so too, and I’m glad he’s fitting in.”

I also watched Tristan and Revin during the church service and noticed that both boys were listening to everything the minister was saying. As I glanced around at the other congregants, I noticed that many of the other children weren’t quite as attentive. Some were whispering to each other while others were fidgeting in their seats or interacting with other kids, such as elbowing each other or writing notes back and forth. I’m glad these two weren’t behaving that way.

When the sermon ended, we said goodbye to our friends as we made our way out to the SUV, and then we headed over to the diner for brunch. While we were eating, I decided to say something to Tristan and Revin.

“I saw your Sunday school teacher earlier and he said you boys are doing very well.”

“Yeah, I like him and I’m learnin’ a lot.” Revin replied.

“Me too,” Tristan agreed.

“And you boys were very attentive in church too. I’m very proud of both of you.”

“Thanks, and I really like this church.” I think an appropriate translation of his comment was that he liked being able to attend church with Tristan.

After we finished eating, I dropped him off at his house and waved at Becky as she greeted him at the door, and then we returned home. As soon as we got there, we all went to our rooms to change, and then Brandon and I started doing our chores while the boys entertained themselves or each other.

The rest of the day and the next week were fairly uneventful, except for the fact that I had a feeling that Dad was up to something. I had no idea what it might be, but he seemed more excited than usual and wouldn’t answer my questions when I asked him about it. Then, to top it off, on Wednesday UPS delivered a medium size package addressed to him, but he wouldn’t tell any of us what it contained – not even Jake. He merely told Jake “you’ll see” when he asked what was in the box, and I wondered when that might happen.

Nothing more was said about it, and on Friday, Revin rode home with Tristan and the others so he could spend the weekend with us. Wyatt appeared to be as excited as Tristan that Revin was here again, and the trio spent nearly all of their time playing games against one another. I was pleased to see they were taking turns so each of them got to play against the other two and they weren’t just interacting with Revin.

When it was time to get ready for bed, the three wanted to shower and sleep together, so I merely told them to be careful in the shower. I didn’t want anyone to fall and get hurt, and they promised they wouldn’t fool around. When we went up to tuck them in later, they were all in their PJs and nestled in bed together, but this time Revin was in the middle, not Wyatt.

“Revin’s the samich now, and me and Tristan are the bread,” Wyatt announced when we entered the room.

“So we see,” Brandon concurred.

“Yeah, cuz I wanted to sleep next to Revin too,” Tristan explained.

“And Wyatt had to tell us why that made me a sandwich,” Revin added with a grin.

“As long as you’re all comfortable and get plenty of rest, we don’t have a problem with this,” I confirmed.

After tucking the blankets around them, Brandon and I kissed each boy on the forehead and wished them pleasant dreams, and then we slipped out of the room and headed downstairs.

“I suppose they’ll probably do the same thing when they stay at Revin’s house next weekend,” Brandon stated. “I hope Becky doesn’t have a problem with it.”

“I doubt she will,” I replied. “She seemed to be very understanding about the situation with Tristan and Revin, so I doubt it will be any different with one more.”

“Yes, you’re probably right,” Brandon agreed.

The next morning, Dad wanted us to wait for breakfast until the boys came down to join us. “Then we may not eat until noon,” I joked.

“I don’t think they’ll sleep that late,” Dad countered. “I told them I was going to have a surprise for them in the morning.”

“What kind of surprise?”

“You’ll see,” was his cryptic reply.

When the boys came downstairs about forty minutes later, I was surprised to see them all together. Ryan and Noah didn’t seem quite as alert as the younger trio and merely staggered to the table like zombies following a warm body or a loud noise.

“We woke them up, cuz last night Grandpa Josh told us we were all gonna eat breakfis’ together,” Wyatt explained when he saw us staring at the older pair.

“And they weren’t very nice about it either,” Noah grumbled.

The three younger boys giggled and then Tristan explained what Noah had alluded too. “We just pulled the covers off him.”

“And he was sleepin’ bare-naked,” Revin added with a titter.

“Yeah, and my room is colder than it was under the covers, so it wasn’t a very nice way to wake up,” Noah added while glaring at the younger boys.

“I agree, but I wasn’t totally naked,” Ryan chimed in. “I wore my underwear to bed, but it was still really cold and not a fun way to wake up.”

“Quit complaining and sit down at the table,” Dad told them without showing any sympathy for their situation. “I’ll be bringing the food in shortly. Danny, would you please pour the drinks and Brandon, will you start making enough toast for all of us? I’ll take care of the rest.”

We did as he asked, and several minutes later Dad was carrying in two platters, one with bacon and the other with sausage links, while Brandon carried in another stacked with toast. Dad then returned to the kitchen and came back carrying a very large bowl filled with scrambled eggs.

“Why do the eggs look funny?” Ryan asked as he started to scoop some onto his plate.

“That’s because it’s St. Patrick’s Day and I added green food coloring to the mixture before frying it up,” Dad explained.

“Then how come we’re not having ham too?” Tristan followed.

Dad gave him a puzzled look before he responded. “Why do you think we should be having ham with this?”

“Cuz my mom used to read me this story about green eggs and ham.”

The expression on Dad’s face was priceless, and Tristan’s reply caused the other boys, and even some of the adults to laugh when they heard it. They all knew he was referring to the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham, and Dad smiled before he spoke again.

“That’s a very sweet memory of your mom and I’m sure you’ll always cherish it, so I’ll try to remember to add the ham when I do this again next year.” This appeared to satisfy Tristan, so Dad went back to the kitchen. When he returned, he was carrying two large jars.

“And here’s some mint jelly to put on your toast.” He then set the jars that were filled with a green substance on the table.

“I’ve never had that before,” Tristan commented as he stared at the jar. “Will I like it?”

“Try it and you’ll find out,” Dad shot back.

“Just put a little on a corner of your toast to start, and if you like it then you can add more to the rest of the slice,” I suggested.

“Ok, I’ll do that.”

We passed around the food and took what we wanted, and then we began chowing down. “The eggs don’t taste different,” Ryan observed.

“No, the food coloring merely changes the appearance, not the way it tastes,” Dad confirmed.

“And this green jelly tastes really good,” Tristan followed.

“Yeah, I like it too,” Revin agreed.

“I had a feeling you would,” Dad replied with a grin.

Dad got up from the table before he finished eating, and when he returned he was carrying the box that UPS had delivered earlier in the week. He set it down on his chair, opened it, and pulled out an item from inside. It was green and he held it up.

“I have one of these for each of you,” he said as he displayed a green tee-shirt.

“What’s on it?” Wyatt asked after looking at the design on the front.

“You’ve probably seen black tee-shirts before that looked like the wearer had on a tux…”

“You mean those shirts that make you look like a penguin wearin’ a suit?” Benny interrupted.

“Yes, I suppose some of you might look at it that way,” Dad agreed, “These shirts are along the same line, but they are designed to make each of you look like a leprechaun.”

He was right. The design gave the impression that you were wearing a green leprechaun jacket, with a green vest, white shirt, and green bow tie underneath.

“We’re pretty big to be leprechauns,” Joshie quipped.

“Yeah, we’re gonna look like the Hagrid of leprechauns,” Benny added with a giggle. “And you guys are gonna look like his brother Grawp.”

“That we are, laddie, but I doubt the wee folks will mind,” Dad replied using his best Irish brogue.

He then checked the label on each shirt to see the size before handing it to an appropriate size recipient. He continued doing this until we all had a shirt.”

“We aren’t even Irish,” Joshie pointed out as he waved his mocha colored arm about.

“Au contraire. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of the black Irish,” Dad teased. “Besides, Brandon is at least partially Irish, because O’Hara is an Irish surname. That would also make the boys who chose to use the hyphenated O’Hara-Currie last name part Irish as well.

“Oh, yeah, I see now,” Benny chirped as a light flipped on in his brain.

“And the rest of you many not technically be Irish,” Dad continued, “but on St. Patrick’s Day nearly everyone wants to be Irish, at least for the day.”

“So why do people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?” Revin asked.

“Didn’t anyone warn him not to ask questions like that?” Noah groaned. The rest of us realized why he didn’t want Revin to ask that question, because he knew Grandpa Josh was now going to recite the history of St. Patrick’s Day.

“St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and it’s believed he lived sometime between 450 and 500 A.D. He was a Christian missionary and bishop whom the Irish called Padraig, the Irish form of his name. He is credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland, and he was the first one to be identified with the shamrock, a three-lobed clover leaf. He used it to demonstrate the Holy Trinity, or what you boys would know as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, when he was converting the Irish to Christianity.”

“That wasn’t too bad,” Noah sighed when Dad finished, “but from now on Revin, don’t ask questions like that. You may not know this, but Grandpa Josh started out as a history teacher and he likes to ‘educate’ us.” Noah made air quotes as he said educate.

“Ok, I’ll try to remember,” Revin agreed.

“But why do we celebrate it on March 17^th?” Benny followed, as if he hadn’t heard Noah’s previous warning.

“It’s supposed to be the day on which St. Patrick died,” Dad answered simply, and then he stuck his tongue out at Noah. “And when you get dressed I expect you to wear those shirts.”

“Can we wear it like an undershirt and put another shirt over it?” Ryan quickly followed.

“I suppose, but people will be wearing green today and I’d think you would want to blend in.”

“I don’t mind blending in, I just don’t want to stand out,” Ryan quipped back. “I’m afraid my friends would rag on me if they saw me wearing this shirt,” he added as he held it up.

“Ok, but I don’t think anyone would try to humiliate you for wearing it.”

“You obviously don’t know my friends,” Ryan added in a barely audible whisper.

“NBC is going to broadcast the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade at 11:00, and I thought we could all watch it together before lunch,” Dad continued as he pretended not to hear Ryan’s comment.

“And after lunch I thought we could take you boys to see a movie,” I added.

“Can we go see Death Wish?” Noah immediately wanted to know.

“I suppose you and Ryan could, but I thought the other boys might like to see Sherlock Gnomes instead.”

“What’s that about?” Benny asked.

“It’s a take on the Sherlock Holmes character, but this time he’s a gnome.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” Tristan and Revin shouted, nearly in unison.

“Yeah, I want to see that too,” Wyatt concurred, and then he thought about it for a few seconds before adding, “What’s a gnome?”

“A gnome is a kind of dwarf,” Brandon replied.

“Oh, ok,” Wyatt agreed as he tried to picture one in his mind.

“Do you remember the Travelocity commercial on TV?” Benny quickly followed. “They used a statue of a garden gnome in them.”

“You mean the guy with the pointy hat?” Wyatt countered.

“Yeah, he wore a pointy hat and had white hair and a beard.”

“K, I understand now.”

We had all finished eating long before this discussion ended, so we cleaned off the table quickly and then the boys got ready to head up to their rooms to get dressed. “Grandpa Josh thanks for buyin’ me one of these shirts too,” Revin said before taking off.

“You’re welcome, and you’re the only one polite enough to thank me for it.”

“Thank you, Grandpa Josh,” the others yelled from various locations after Dad’s less than subtle dig.

“You’re welcome,” he hollered back, since some of the boys were already heading up the stairs.

“Yes, thank you, Dad,” I added, with Brandon, Dion, and Trey quickly chiming in.

“You’re welcome, but it’s just a little something to make the day fun and special.”

We all came together again when Dad announced the parade was about to begin. It was interesting and featured quite a few bands, including one made up of bagpipers, and some of the color guards were carrying Irish flags. Many in the crowd were wearing green as well, and some of them were also sporting a shamrock in one form or another. Some of the shamrocks were designed into their hats, while others wore a shamrock pin on their jacket, and others were wearing shamrock glass frames. Many of them were also waving small Irish flags.

“After seeing what some of those people were dressed like, I guess the shirt you bought us isn’t so bad after all,” Ryan relented. “But I still think my friends will make fun of me if they see me wearing it.”

After the parade ended, we had lunch together, and then I had the boys get ready to go to the cinema complex. Even though we’d asked Dad and Pop to join us, they decided to stay home. Dad said he needed to remain there because he was fixing a special dinner for tonight, which made me wonder what he was cooking up.

“Ok, we’ll see you later then,” I said as the rest of us headed out the door and piled into the vehicles so we could take off.

While we were standing in line to purchase tickets, Trey and Brandon could tell from the discussion that Dion and I were having with the older boys that we wanted to see Death Wish as well. Seeing they were loving and understanding spouses, they urged us to go with Noah and Ryan and said they would take the other boys to see Sherlock Gnomes. Dion and I merely thanked them before purchasing the tickets, and before we headed to the appropriate theaters I bought everyone a drink to take with them.

When we emerged from the theater a couple of hours later, Brandon asked how it was. “I think we’re all familiar with the original 1970s version staring Charles Bronson,” I began, “but this one seemed to be a lot bloodier than I remembered.”

“I agree. Trey and I saw the original on DVD before,” Dion chimed in, “but this one seemed much more violent. I think I could understand the Bruce Willis character wanting justice for what happened, but he went a lot further than purely justice. What he was seeking was revenge.”

“And it made me think the director must be an NRA (National Rifle Association) member and this was his version of a good guy with a gun. How was your movie?”

“It was cute, but definitely geared toward the younger crowd,” Brandon responded.

“I’ve seen worse, but I think the kids enjoyed it,” Trey added.

“Yeah, Gnomeo and Juliet got Sherlock Gnomes to find out why all the garden gnomes were disappearing,” Revin explained.

“I liked it,” Wyatt confirmed.

“That’s all that counts,” I concurred as we headed out to our vehicles.

The younger boys told me more about the movie during the ride home. However, I was grateful when we reached the house, because it got them to stop talking as they hopped out of the SUV.

“What’s that smell?” Joshie asked as soon as he entered the foyer.

“That would be dinner,” Dad explained from the kitchen. “I’m fixing a traditional Irish meal for you. We’re having ham and cabbage, along with boiled potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables.”

“I hope it tastes better than it smells,” Noah muttered.

“It does, and I want you to give it a try. I’m sure you’ll find plenty to eat whether you like the cabbage or not, because I know you all like ham. You also have enough time to wash up first, but don’t dawdle because I’m about ready to dish things out and take them to the table.”

The boys raced upstairs to get ready, and when they returned a few minutes later Dad had nearly everything on the table. “Sit down and dig in,” he urged.

To our surprise, he’d also made green Kool-Aid for the boys and had green beer for the rest of us. “Can I have a beer instead?” Noah asked when he saw the two beverages. “I’m eighteen.”

“Since you won’t be going anywhere afterward, you may have one glass of beer,” I agreed.

“How about me?” Ryan quickly chimed in. “I’m sixteen and a half, so can I have a beer too?”

“Since you’re sixteen and a half you may have half a glass of beer,” I conceded.

“But I’ll need more to drink than that,” he argued.

“Then the rest of your meal will have to be washed down with green Kool-Aid, water, or milk,” I replied, disappointing him.

“I guess half a glass is better than none,” he grumbled.

“Yes, it is, so be satisfied that you’re getting even that much,” Brandon urged.

“I am,” Ryan confirmed somewhat unconvincingly.

The boys ate the ham, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables without complaint, and each of them tried the cabbage, although only a third of them seemed to like it. That was ok, though, and they all ate enough to tide them over, and when we were done Dad brought out the deserts.

“You probably don’t have a lot of room left, so we’ll only have green Jell-O with whipped cream and cupcakes for now,” Dad said as he set a huge bowl of Jell-O on the table beside a container of Reddi Wip. Jake followed behind him carrying a tray of cupcakes. “This should do for now, and then I’ll make a Crème de Menthe Parfait for each of you before bedtime.”

“What’s that?” Wyatt asked.

“Its green liquor that he pours over vanilla ice cream,” Noah explained.

“Not a liquor, but a liqueur,” Trey corrected.

“What’s the difference?” Ryan quickly followed.

“A liqueur has sugary substances added to it so it’s sweeter than common liquor,” Trey explained.

“So I’m gonna have more alcohol?” Ryan asked amazed.

“A little, but your grandfather won’t be putting that much on the ice cream, just enough to flavor it and make it look Irish,” Brandon eagerly chipped in.

“Oh, ok.”

The cupcakes were chocolate with white icing, and there was a green-icing shamrock in the middle of each one. “It must have taken quite a bit of time to add the green shamrocks,” Dion commented as he studied the cupcakes.

“It did, but it was worth it,” was all that Dad offered.

After we finished those items, Dad herded everyone into the family room to watch the DVD of the Disney classic, Darby O’ Gill and the Little People. He’d obviously purchased it along with the tee-shirts especially for today, so we all found someplace to sit and enjoy it.

“That was pretty good,” Revin commented when the movie ended.

“Yeah, it wasn’t bad at all,” Noah agreed. From him, that was a high compliment.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Dad said with a huge grin.

“Now it’s time for you boys to get ready for bed, because we have church in the morning,” I told them.

“Don’t go yet, because they have to have their parfaits first,” Dad countered. “Jake and I will go fix them and the boys can eat theirs before heading upstairs.”

After consuming another dessert, which I was afraid would put all the boys on a sugar high before bedtime, they went upstairs to shower and change.

“That was good,” Joshie told Grandpa Josh when he finished his parfait.

“Yeah, it was,” the others all agreed.

“Thanks, Grampa Josh,” Wyatt said, which encouraged the other boys to follow suit.

Tristan, Revin, and Wyatt showered together again, slipped into their PJs, and climbed into the same bed. They looked comfortable when we went in to say goodnight.

“It’s a Tristan samich tonight,” Wyatt giggled, since Tristan was in the middle this time.

“Yes, it is,” Brandon and I agreed.

“And thanks for today,” Revin added when we bent down to kiss them all goodnight. “I never did this much with my mom on St. Patrick’s Day.”

“We don’t usually do quite as much either, but obviously Grandpa Josh wanted to make it a special day.”

“Yeah, and it was fun,” he agreed.

“Ok, now get some sleep. Sweet dreams and we’ll see you in the morning.”