Himalayan Home - 9. HH Chapter 9

“Grace, it is good to finally catch up with you, we have a very urgent family matter to discuss… who is this? Not your son? Maybe nephew? Does my brother have children? Where is Christopher, I need to speak to him urgently,” the man said to Aunty Grace, and it was then that I suddenly realised that his man in front of me was my Uncle Jake.

“Hello Uncle Jake, I have heard only a little about you and all of it just recently, and none of it was good,” I said angrily, “Now, now nephew, mind your manners, he is family after all,” Aunty Grace said to me, just as Jake staggered, and battled to stay upright, and it was then that we realised that he did not look at all well. “Are you ok Jake? Actually, you don’t look at all well?’ Aunty Grace said, as she assisted my uncle to a row of vacant chairs nearby.

“If my brother or you had bothered to get back to me, then you would have known that I have terminal Leukemia and that I don’t have very long to live,” Jake responded, which shocked both Aunty Grace and me. “Are you ok, Daddy, do you need your meds?” a new voice said close by, and we saw a boy standing next to Uncle Jake, who just looked like him.

“Daddy? You have a son, Jake?” Aunty Grace asked. “Yes, I have a son, and it is why I have been desperately trying to find you both, so that one of you can take legal custody of my boy before I go,” Uncle Jake replied, as Aunty Grace squatted down, “Hello young man, I am Grace Alpike, I am a sister-in-law of your Uncle Christopher, what’s your name and how old are you?” my Aunty said to the boy, who looked to be about 11 years old.

The boy looked to Jake who smiled and nodded, before turning back to look at me and he frowned, before facing Aunty Grace. “My name is Palden Jake Nima Hamilton, but I’m know at Alden at school,” the boy replied. “His name means…” Uncle Jake began before I cut him off.

“Yes uncle, his name means Spontaneously Accomplished, and Sun in Tibetan, I understand the Tibetan language very well,” I said to my very shocked Uncle and 1^st Cousin. “What? How?” Uncle Jake said after a few moments of silence, and this is when Aunty Grace laughed.

“Think for a moment Jake, if your nephew knows the Tibetan and Dzongkha languages, as well as two others not including English, is dressed in non - western clothing and has very short hair, where do you think he has just arrived from?” Aunty Grace said and I smiled. It took a few moments, before Uncle Jake realised what my Aunt was saying.

“Tibet? You have been living in the Himalaya’s all this time?” Uncle Jake asked, and I chuckled, “Yes in the Himalaya’s but in the Kingdom of Bhutan, I was actually born here in Tasmania, and we moved to Bhutan when I was two years old.

I was attending a private school here in Tasmania, until recently due to a major bullying issue, that was not going away, so I returned home to Bhutan a few months ago,” I said before turning to my younger cousin, “Hello Cousin, my name is Dechen Christopher Yeshe Hamilton, and you have another first cousin, my younger brother, his name is Kalden Christopher Hamilton,” I said to the boy as I held out my hand, and he shook it nervously, before rushing towards me and wrapped me in a hug.

“Well, this is all quite a big surprise… Grace and Dechen, can we go somewhere to talk please?” Uncle Jake asked, and Aunty Grace smile, “Yes, I think that we do need to have a long talk, lets get Dechen’s luggage, and we can go to a café or a park close by,” Aunty Grace said.

“I don’t drive no more, I got a taxi to the airport,” Uncle Jake said, “Very well, we will go in my car, Aunty Grace said, and twenty minutes later, we were sitting at a café in Montague Bay, across the river from the city.

“Where are you and your son living, and where is your wife or partner?” Aunty Grace asked, once we had ordered and the waiter had left. “Not very far from home actually, in New Norfolk, where we have lived since Palden was born. My partner is no longer alive, having died of cancer two years ago, and Palden is the result of a surrogacy agreement, and she no longer lives in Tasmania, and has never been part of Palden’s life,” Uncle Jake replied.

“I see, so that means that there is just us left as family?” Aunty Grace asked, “Yes, that is right, Christopher is the only adult blood relative left, but it is good to know that Palden has cousins too. I have visited home a number if times, it is looking very good. I am guessing that it is still owned by the family?” Uncle Jake asked, which had me confused, as Aunty Grace glanced over to me.

“Yes, the family still owns the farm, which has been on a long-term lease, and a few other properties around town too,” Aunty Grace replied, and I looked at my Aunty in surprise, “Farm? What farm?” I asked, just as I had finished dialling a number on my phone and putting the volume down to low, and pressed the call button, keeping my mobile out of sight.

“The family farm that has been in the family for four generations, when our folks run it,” Uncle Jake responded, as I glanced down to see that the call had connected and I could hear a quiet sound. “So, Uncle Jake, what do you want to do with your son, now that you know that my parents are away overseas, how long does the doctor say you have left to live?” I asked.

“Well, I still would like to speak to your father… my brother, I would like him to have custody of my son as soon as possible, and Palden and I have discussed this in great detail, so he knows what to expect to happen, and I hope that he is ready for new life with the rest of his family, now that we know that Christopher is doing well and has two boys of his own,” Uncle Jake said.

We heard Aunty Grace’s phone ding with a notification, and she retrieved it and looked at the screen, before looking at me and showed me the message. “Grace, please ask my son to put his phone on the table with it on loud speaker, so we can be part of the conversation, Chris & Anne”.

I nodded my head before revealing my mobile and I pressed a button, “Ok Dad, you are on loud speaker,” I said clearly, “Thankyou son. Hello Jake. So, this is why you have been trying to contact us? You are dying?” we heard Dad asked.

Uncle Jake sighed loudly, “Yes bro it is, I have Leukemia and I am in the final stages. Look it will take some time to explain, so I will just say that you are the last adult blood relative, and as such, I am asking… no pleading that you take custody of my son as soon as possible…. it is good to finally hear your voice again, after such a long time.

Please forgive me for what I did, just after you were married, I was one very mixed-up young adult… my son knows about this so I guess I better tell you… I was so mixed up because I was not sure about my sexuality… I am gay,” Uncle Jake announced, which made Aunty Grace gasp in surprise, then she looked over to me, with a look of concern, which confused me a little.

“So, what you were saying before?” Aunty Grace asked, “Yes, my partner - Henry, he died of Prostate cancer, and we had been together for nearly fifteen years, before he passed away. He was a very successful lawyer, and left me and Palden with enough for us to live a comfortable basic life. I am a qualified Paramedic, and up until I became too sick, I was working part time, to supplement our income.

Like Henry, I have a life insurance policy, that will take care of Palden’s high school and university education, and our home is mortgage free, and is already in his name under a trust. Now that I have made contact with you both, I will be making you Christopher and Grace, my son’s trustee’s,” Uncle Jake announced.

“Come on Palden, lets go for a walk along the river, so the adults can talk about this some more, we don’t need to hear all of the details,” I said to my cousin, who looked over to his father, “Yes, wonderful idea, thankyou Dechen and nice to meet you,” Uncle Jake said to me, as I stood up and nodded to my aunty, before we exited the café.

During our 45-minute walk, I learnt that my cousin Palden was actually twelve years old, and that he was attending public high school, and that he had heard all about the bullying troubles in the first term of the school year at my former school, but he was lucky enough to have a number of existing close friends, who he attended primary school, that are in his school year at his high school, and together they have managed to stay clear of any bullies.

I also learnt that Palden’s biological mother follows the Buddhist lifestyle and this is why he has Tibetan first and middle names, as well as an English name, and that his father – Jake does his best to allow Palden to learn as much as possible about the Buddhist traditions.

When we returned to the café, Uncle Jake and Aunty Grace were sitting outside on a park bench chatting, and as soon as we arrived, Aunty Grace returned my mobile phone. “Hello boys, did you have a good walk and chat?” my Aunty asked us. “Yes, thankyou Ma’am,” Palden replied, which surprised Aunty Grace and me, and we smiled at how polite my cousin is.

“We will see you tomorrow, Grace at the family farm as agreed on by you and Christopher,” Uncle Jake said, “Yes Jake, we will see you both tomorrow, have a good trip back to your place, bye for now,” Aunty Grace replied, and I remained silent and waved to my cousin, as we watched them walk away, and wave down a taxi cab to take them home.

“So, how did it go Aunty, what did my folks have to say?” I asked my Aunty, “Much better than I expected, and nice move with calling your parents and having your mobile on silent so they could listen in to the first part, I wondered at the time why you had spoken a little too loudly,” Aunty Grace said to me and I just smiled, and nodded my head.

Once in the car, I dropped off to sleep, and Aunty Grace woke me up when we had arrived at her place, and after carrying my backpack into the spare room that I use, I headed to the kitchen, where Aunty Grace was making an early light dinner, so that I had some food in me before going to sleep.

I was in bed and fast asleep by 5 pm Tasmanian time, and I woke up just after 7 am the next day, listening to the sounds of the Tasmanian suburbs, of early morning traffic, birds calling and the wind lightly blowing, and I smiled.

Remembering that it was still a school day in Tasmania, I turned on my mobile and found a number of messages from Lenn and Giles. “Hey Buddy, hope you had a safe trip to Tassie, let us know when you have arrived so we can update you on our plans, L & G.”

“Hey Mate, still haven’t heard from you, I presume you have a bad case of Jet Lag… rest for now and we will chat when you are ready to chat, Lenn.” I smiled when I saw these messages, and I dialled Lenn’s mobile number.

“Hello, this is the Himalayan Travelling Salesman, would you like to buy some of my wares?” I said when Lenn answered the call and he burst out in laughter in response. “You are such a … well I don’t know what you are, apart from being a good friend… how are you buddy? Caught up on enough sleep?” Lenn asked once he had recovered.

“Hey Lenn, yes thanks mate, Aunty Grace and I had an unexpected meeting with my Uncle Jake, my Dad’s younger brother, who I knew very little about before coming back to Tassie.