ARROW - 231. Chapter 231

Our home had the noise of children. To me, it was better than a symphony.

That night in bed, “Colin, with our boys getting married, we can expect more grandchildren. It would be nice if they lived closer. I enjoy the children,.”

“Don’t worry, I believe this house will always have children running through it.”

He was right. The children who didn’t have school spent the morning with me. We camped out on the living room floor. Colin’s sleeping bags were used for nap time. When school left, the older children stopped for a snack, or so they said.

Between the grandchildren and the boys and girls at the Home, my day was full. I did a little painting at the Home. Mostly the children dressed as various chapters from the stories I would read to them. Stories in the living room, games in the playroom and special cartoons. Not all of the discs were cartoons, there were discs on animals, trees, and plants. So, I painted animals with the children's faces, trees with their faces, and the girls flowers with their faces. When a painting was finished, I gave it to the child. Someday they will be amazed at the value of that painting.

Carla had a baby boy. The cock of the walk was Carl. He took over, Carla said he feeds him, bathes him, and carries him as he paints. When Carl brought him to the house when he was painting, I was allowed to hold him. I would sit in the living room in my rocker and rock him. It seemed every 15 minutes, Carl would yell down, “Is he okay?” I just laughed.

It seemed funny but Colin and I discussed a lot of business in bed. I attributed it to the only place where we were alone, Tonight’s subject was setting up a financial program for the Home. “Colin, what do you think about the interest from our savings account and the dividends from my investment account, being provided every quarter? His response was, “Great, get Richie to set it up. Go to sleep, I have a lot to do tomorrow.”?Actually, I discussed it, and he agreed or added some words to the effect of having one of the boys handle it. This was the only time we were alone. I wanted to talk, he wanted to sleep. He did listen to me, and made a comment that ended with ‘go to sleep.’

Now I wondered what he did that made him so tied at night, in the morning. I made a doctor’s appointment for him. “I made doctor’s appointments for us. Luis will stop by the house and check us out.”

Smiling, “It’s nice to have a doctor as a son.”

It was nice, not only did we see him and his wife, we caught up on their news.

Nine months after Luis’s visit, I found out why Colin was tired when he came home.

“Armand, come and take a walk with me.”

Holding hands, we headed for the path to Richie’s and Ronnie’s homes. I thought we were going to visit them, but we kept on walking. When Charles finished building Ronnie’s house, he planted some trees at the north edge of the property. He said it would provide privacy for the boys since no one knew who would buy the property north of their property. Now holding hands, Colin and I headed for those trees.

Walking through the trees, I saw two apartment buildings. I looked at Colin, “You wanted our family near us. So for the last three years, I had these apartments built. The one on your left is a two-bedroom apartment and the building on the right is a three-bedroom apartment. Come, I’ll show you the model apartment.

I just looked at him. I couldn’t believe he did this so I could have my wish concerning the boys living close by. Mary Ann was settled at the Home and I knew where Louise was sleeping.

Holding hands, I followed him into the first apartment building. Sitting at a desk in the back of the hall was a man. “Armand, this is George. He is one of the security personnel. This box contains all of the phone connections he needs. Push button labeled one, and he connects to the police. Button two connects him to the emergency ambulance service. The other buttons connect him to utility services, He has a secondary phone that connects him to the apartments.”

I smiled as Colin pulled me to a door marked, Model. Walking into the room, I noticed the floor was carpeted, a sofa and matching chair with end tables and a coffee table were the only furniture. The room looked comfortable.

The next room was the dining room, the floor was carpeted, and a table with six chairs and a sideboard against one wall. There was a door on the left. Walking straight ahead, was the kitchen. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I was home. The kitchen was a copy of our kitchen at home.

“Where are the bedrooms?”

Walking back into the dining room, the door I saw, he opened. There was a small hallway leading to the master bedroom. Walking back toward the dining room, we passed the bathroom and the second bedroom.

“How many of these apartments are there?”

“There are four to a floor and there are six floors. Follow me.”

We took the elevator down into what would have been the basement. I followed him into a room with washers and dryers. Then followed him across the hall to another room which he said was the meeting room.

“Is the other building like this?”

“Yes, except there are three bedrooms and the living room and dining room are a little larger. The kitchen is the same size in all of the buildings. Do you want to see the model?”

“Do you have a guard sitting there also?”

“Yes, and I think today Pete is on. Come on, you need to meet him.”

I couldn’t say no to Colin. I knew why he built these apartments. It was my statement when I was told about Louise’s death. “I never want my children to live so far from me.”

That evening walking back home, I held on extra tight to Colin. If I ever needed proof that he would go to the ends of the world for me, I had it now.

Lying in bed, I held Colin tight. GG came and smiled.