Adam Blake - 154. Chapter 154

Sitting at the table, a young lady brought in an antipasto. I looked at Gerry, and he started to laugh. Hans went and brought Moma into the dining room. I couldn’t believe it. I had to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Moma, this is a big surprise. How long have you been here?”

“Gerry, oh excuse me, my Prince, I keep forgetting who you really are. Gerry brought me here a week ago to teach his staff how to make Italian food. I’m going back with you.”

Looking at Gerry, “You were serious about Moma coming here to cook.”

“Yes, and now she’ll be here for the wedding. Then she’ll be famous all over Europe.”

Moma couldn’t eat with us. She had to go back to the kitchen to help prepare our meal.

Dinner was excellent, I miss Gerry, and I guess it was evident. Diane asked if we were close. I let Gerry answer, “I call him Father because all of the boys who didn’t have a family were adopted by him, and they called him Father. The other boys called him Dad out of respect. But to us five, he was our Father. When my Dad was dying, he placed me in his hands. It was the wisest thing he ever did. To me, he’s my Father, and if you ask my brothers, they’ll tell you the same thing. You’ll get to meet them at the wedding.”

“When is the wedding?”

“In June, just after the fair.”

“But here at the Palace, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good, I’ll just plan on staying until you get back.”

I stayed two more days; I had the chance to check out the runners. In the morning, Hans and I started to run, and then I noticed boys joining us as we ran. “Hans, any good Olympic material here?”

“Yes, take a look at the boy right behind you. I run with him each morning.”

“Have him run up here with us. I want to check out his style.”

Hans yelled something, and the lad kicked it up until he was alongside us. He looked good. I dropped back a little to see how he was doing. He had potential.

Finishing at the Palace, I watched him cool down. “Hans, you been teaching?”

“Yes, what do you think?”

“He has potential, and I’d like to take him back with me and have Billy look at him. What do you think?”

He spoke to the boy. He looked at me and then Hans. He asked Hans if he would also be going. Hans told him no, he had to protect the Prince.

“Son, come with me, and I’ll guarantee you that you will run in the Summer Olympics. I want you to meet Billy, the last Olympic champion.”

He looked at Hans. Hans nodded his head yes.

“Hans, go with him and get his parent’s permission. I’ll also need a paper giving me the right to provide medical care if necessary. I’m leaving in two days so he’ll have to be ready. He doesn’t need to worry about clothes. I’ll provide some for him.”

After taking a shower and getting dressed, I met with Gerry. “There was a young man who ran with us this morning. He has potential, so I’m taking him back and getting Billy to work with him. Hans is getting his parent’s permission slip now. You know my Prince, we may have another Olympic runner.”

“I think Hans mentioned it and was hoping you had a chance to see him run.”

“Well, I did, and he has potential. I’ll bring him back when I come to cover for your vacation.”

“Vacation, I’m not going on vacation?”

“Honeymoon, that is like a vacation.”

Hans came back that evening. “You don’t know what you started. That home is so excited, they have told their relatives and the neighbors. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the newspaper.”

“That’s putting a lot of pressure on the lad.”

On the day we were leaving, Moma was packed, I was in my USA clothes, I had the authorization paper, and I was ready to go. I always hated leaving Gerry, but I knew he was in good hands, and I had my family at home.

“Hans, we’ll stop on the way to pick up the lad.”

Saying goodbye is always hard. There were tears in Gerry’s eyes and mine, “I’ll let you know how we’re doing on the expansion hopefully before Richard.”

We drove to the boy’s home. “Hans, what’s his name?”

“Stephan Weber”

When we stopped, I went to the door to let Stephan know we were here and ready to leave.

We had to have tea, “Stephan, are you taking anything with you? If you are, get it now, and we can leave as soon as we have our tea.”

Hans patted him on the back and smiled. His parents couldn’t do enough for us. “You have a potential gold medal winner. I’ll work with him until I come back for the wedding. He will come back with me.”

“Saying goodbye and thanking his parents for the tea, we left.

On the way to the airport, Hans spoke to Stephan while I talked to Moma.

I don’t think Stephan fully understood how we were going to get to my home. When he saw the plane, he began to talk to Hans very rapidly. I was only able to get some of what he said.

The co-pilot took his bag and Moma’s bag, stowed them in the luggage compartment, then we boarded.

Hans came on board, spoke to Stephan, hugged him, and left. Moma just watched. She opened her bag and put some cookies in front of Stephan. I knew they were her almond cookies, the best cookie I ever ate.

“While he was eating the cookie, we started to move. I went and sat next to him. “Relax, this will be fun. By the time you come home, you’ll experience a lot of flying and new experiences.”

At flying altitude, the copilot served a light dinner. I laughed. Stephan looked at it, and I know what he thought. “Is this dinner?”

“No, it’s an appetizer.”

I notified the copilot to serve dinner to the young man. Moma and I were okay with the lunch.

When the copilot picked up the empty plates, he brought Stephan’s dinner. There was a smile.