A Child's Haven - 77. Chapter 77

I hoped he would make the right decision, but some of what I said was for the other boys’ ears as well. Murray and O’Shea also hoped he would make the right decision. We all left, some went back to the activity floor, and others went to the amenities rooms. I got ready to go back to my office, Murray and O’Shea left, but I knew they would be right outside. As I was about to open the door, I heard a sniffle. I turned, and Nick was crying. Lifting him into my lap, “Nick, why are you crying?”

“Now you won’t let me stay here.”

“Nick, that’s your decision, not mine. If you want to stay, you can, but you can’t go walking around without telling us. There are mean people out there that I’ve helped to put in jail. Stay and talk to the kids, listen to what they tell you. Now dry your tears and go and make some friends. You’ll find it’s really easy here. I’ll see you for dinner.” I saw Pat and Bubba listening from Bubba’s room. No sooner did I leave, I knew two boys would latch on to Nick.

Dinner that evening was something else. Mario made an English plum pudding. I met his intended, she was a charming woman, and I knew Mario had struck a gold mine with her. We did look at the catalog where she had marked her selections. I questioned each selection, and we did change some. I gave the catalog to Tony, telling him to order the ones with my initials on them and ask them to do Mario’s apartment first.

Abe did show me where the hall sprinklers were. Now the balconies and the fire escapes need to be finished. The next month we were busy buying suitcases for the new kids, getting beach wear, shorts and t-shirts with the logo. New sandals for everyone, arranging for a stock of fishing rods delivered to the island, finishing off the camp pavilion, erecting more cabins, and building a landing strip. Abe and Tony, in conversation with Peter, laid out the landing strip with lights. Mario didn’t know it, but he’ll be the first to use it. Food had to be stored, and the kitchen in the camp building had to be finished. Abe wanted to go and check everything out. I called Peter and told him that Abe and Mario needed to fly to the island. When we told Mario, he was excited and somewhat tensed about flying.

The flight went very well, and the landing strip was perfect. “Tony, what do you think about flying the guests and kids to the island rather than reserving one large plane.”

“It’d be expensive to fly the boys there. You could fly the staff there in advance, Aaron could set up a clinic, and Mario could stock up and get the kitchen ready. Murray and O’Shea could get the security team in place. I think we can get the same boats for deep-sea fishing and probably the same lifeguards.”

“That makes sense, that’s what we’ll do.”

“How’s your mother doing on shopping?”

Laughing, “She and her friends are having a ball. Picking up shorts, sandals, and beach towels, I think the merchants smile when they see them coming.”

Time seems to pass quickly when you’re busy. We did meet with Ocean and settled on a design. Abe was a great help, and by removing the existing below deck cabins, we were able to make sufficient kids cabins along both walls to handle the kids. We made the rooms large enough to accommodate a maximum of eight kids. Bathrooms were a copy of the bathrooms we used in the quads. The kitchen was expanded to provide additional ovens, dishwashers, steam tables, and large refrigerators. The room under the kitchen was used as storage. There was a large walk-in freezer as well as shelving to hold cases of food. On the opposite end to the kitchen was the machine room, which was located right over the propellers. The keel contained fresh water and wastewater; a double-wall separated the two areas. The guest cabins on the top deck looked great with their balconies. In the center was a large dining room with a small stage at one end. A swimming pool was in the front section of the top deck.

When Tony and I did the final inspection before acceptance, we were amazed. I had the Captain with me, and he was surprised at the ‘new ship’. “I can’t wait to sail this beauty.”

I looked at Tony, and he smiled, nodded yes. “Captain, our family, is on the island. They’ll be ready to return home within two weeks. Can we sail the ship there in that time?”

“Show me on the map where your island is located, and I can tell you. Looking at the map, I think we can do that easily. We’ll have to go through the Panama Canal, but that could be exciting.”

“Ok, let’s get some provisions and gas up. Oh wait, we haven’t hired a crew, and Captain, you need to sign the contract. Flags, we need flags.”

“Brad calm down. We can have everything done before the weekend. First things first, Captain, here’s your contract, if you approve, you need to sign two copies, one for you and one for us.”

The Captain looked it over. “This says I have the option of staying on the ship full time or having a place to stay at Sanctuary. What’s Sanctuary?”

“Tony, you stay there, so why don’t you tell him. I’m going to look around some more.”

Wandering around was impressive. Behind the stage was a small dressing room. There was a gym on the deck in one corner, and across the hall was an infirmary. I wonder how I missed that. The staterooms were first class. I knew Mom and Dad would love them. While I was dreaming, I heard my name. We have an intercom. Arriving on the bridge, I had a big smile on my face. Tony showed me the Captain had signed the contract, and two of the additional men who brought the ship to the dry dock signed on as well. I got the feeling they had worked with this Captain for a long time. I told the Captain that the men could occupy two cabins on the bridge. This left two cabins empty. I looked at Tony, and he nodded yes. He’s getting good at reading me. Checking out the cabins, they were also first class. I was surprised. They weren’t as large as the first-class cabins on the deck, but the difference was small, and for Tony and I, there were perfect.

“Tony, let’s go shopping. When we left the ship, we didn’t have to go far when the shipyard manager introduced us to a company that provided ships with provisions. Tony looked over the list and started to mark the list. The provision manager called the order in, within 4 hours, they were loading the ship. The Captain checked all the food against the order. The mates helped stowed the food away. The fuel truck pulled up and filled the fuel tanks.

“Tony, what happened?”

“When I got the news that the ship was ready for its maiden voyage, I told him if the inspection showed no problems, you’d want to sail ASAP.”

“We can’t leave until we get the flags.”

Tony pointed to the top of the mast above the bridge. On the top was the US flag, and under that was the Sanctuary logo on a flag. There were a series of pennants that evidently were necessary. I’ll ask the Captain about that later.

“Tony we need clothes.”

He pointed to the car, I opened the trunk, and there were two suitcases. I grabbed Tony, and he got his third kiss on the lips. I took both suitcases and boarded the ship. Tony had to pay everyone before he could board. My excitement mounted as the motors started, the Captain slowly eased the ship from the dock. I waved goodbye to the manager in the yard. Tony said I had a smile that reached the back of my head.