Rocked To The Core - 20. Going Home, Night Terrors, and Party Plans

"We should celebrate. The current job has a tight schedule, so I could only get a couple hours off this morning. We can do dinner tonight, but maybe you can put together something for the weekend, Derek?"

"Great idea. Sure, I can handle that."

"Cool. Invite everybody you can think of. Definitely Mrs. Perch. We really blew it not thinking of her for the wedding."

"Yeah, good point. She'll be my first call. Although she'll probably be at work. I'm not sure what she does though."

"I hate to use these words, but I don't remember. OK, I gotta jet. Text me when you have an idea about the time and date. I'll touch base with Al. Win probably wouldn't be able to come down, but I'll try him anyway."

"K, see you later. Love you."

"Love you too."

We kissed each other quick, which elicited an 'ewwww' from Adam. Got one of those at the wedding too. That'll be a fun discussion. I mentioned dinner to mom and dad, asked them to tell Frank. Then Adam and I headed home. Damn, that sounded good. Adam and I headed home. Sorry, just had to say it again.

"Do you have everything set up in your room like you want it, Adam, or do need help with some of it?"

"If you can help me with putting my books and toys on the shelves. This room is bigger, so I have more space. Not as much needs to go in the closet."

"OK. Let's do it."

I help Adam put a few more things away and open the kissing conversation.

"So, Adam. Just curious, why did you say eww when Uncle Jeremy and I kissed?"

"Coz kissing is gross."

"It wasn't because we're both boys, was it?"

"No. You both said I love you, so it's OK for you. I just think any kissing is gross."

"But you've been OK when I kiss you goodnight."

"But that's on the cheek, or sometimes my forehead. It's on the lips that's gross."

"Yeah, I felt the same way when I was younger."

After putting things away I ask Adam to play quietly so I can make some phone calls to set up a party for the weekend.

"But feel free to come get me if you need anything."

"OK."

Like I told Jeremy, I made Mrs. Perch my first call. It went to voice mail, so I left a message that we were throwing a party this weekend and wanted to know her availability. She's probably at work and I'll hear back later.

Call number two was to the Judge's office. I spoke with Leslie.

"Judge Ridge's office, Leslie Banks speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi Leslie. Derek Arriens."

"Didn't you just see the judge? She's still in court."

"Yes, but I wanted to invite her, and you, to a celebration we're planning for the weekend."

"Oh, that's nice. Do you have a time set?"

"Not yet. I'm checking people's schedules first."

"Well, the judge has a dinner out with her husband planned for Saturday evening. Otherwise, she's free from 4:30 Friday."

"And you?"

"You don't need to invite me."

"Yes, we do. We wouldn't have any decent pictures from our wedding without you."

"Well, thank you then. No, I don't have anything concrete. Housework mostly."

"Good. Well, your husband too."

"I don't know. We'd have to bring our children."

"OK. Bring them, how old are they?"

"Kevin is almost six, Kelly just turned four."

"Perfect. Adam turns five on the first. They can keep each other busy."

"Well... If you're sure."

"I'm sure. I'll call back with where and when later, or worst case in a day or so."

"OK. Thank you, Derek."

"You're welcome. Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

Next up is Brenda. I think she's off on Mondays. She answered.

"Hey Derek. How's it going?"

"Really good. Sorry you had to miss the wedding because you were working, but I want to make sure you're available for a celebration."

"OK, celebration for what?"

"We got custody of Adam today."

"Oh, that's awesome. When is it?"

"This weekend, but I wanted to check schedules first."

"I was going out Friday night, but that can be switched to a party instead."

"And the rest of the weekend?"

"Not looking too good. I work until closing Saturday. 6:00. Sunday until 1. But I'm volunteering both evenings."

"So, Friday evening or Sunday afternoon?"

"Yeah, Sunday afternoon would work too. I don't need to be at the hospital until 6."

"I didn't know you volunteered. Which hospital?"

"St. Vincent's."

"Wow. I'll be starting there as a nurse-trainee next week."

"Awesome. Had enough of riding in an ambulance?"

"Yeah. Since the shooting last month. That was my last day. I just couldn't go back."

"Uncle Derek?"

"Hang on Brenda... Yes, Adam. Do you need something?"

"No. I was just lonely; can I sit here with you?"

"Sure, you can."

"That was sweet. Back to the party. I started seeing someone a couple weeks ago, could I bring him?"

"Sure. The more the merrier. Do I know him?"

"Yep. Brad Bailey."

"Three-bees-ley? No way."

"He still hates that nickname."

"That's why I always used it. It was just so obvious. Bradley Bentley Bailey? Come on. It was just begging to be made fun of."

"It was funny watching him cringe every time you said it."

"OK. I think Sunday afternoon will be best. Friday night might get too late. There will probably be two other kids there six or younger."

"Cool. I'll let three-bees-ley know."

"Hehe. Great. I'll let you know the exact time and place when I get it."

"K. Bye."

"Bye Brenda."

"What other kids might be there?"

"Do you remember the lady who took pictures at the wedding, Adam?"

"Yes."

"She'll be bringing her two kids, Kevin and Kelly. Kevin is almost six and Kelly is four."

"OK."

Adam sits quietly looking at a book. Like I told Brenda, the more the merrier. I'll give Mrs. Linden another chance.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mr. Linden, Derek Arriens."

"Hi Derek. How are things going?"

"Just great. Jeremy and I got married, and we just got custody of my four-year-old cousin."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks. But the reason I'm calling is we're having a celebration Sunday afternoon. You were so nice to us when Jeremy moved out, and having known him so long, I just had to check if you'd like to be there. Mrs. Linden too, if she'll come."

"She has mellowed a little since Jeremy moved out. I'll try to convince her."

"Great. I'll let you know the exact time and place within the next couple days."

"Thanks. And I'll let you know how successful I am with Shelly."

"Good. OK, goodbye."

"Bye Derek, and thanks for thinking of us."

"Ready for lunch, kiddo?"

"Yeah."

"PBJ as usual?"

"Please?"

"Of course. What flavor jelly today?"

"Apple?"

"Apple it is."

While we're eating lunch together, my phone rings. It's Mrs. Perch.

"Hi Mrs. Perch."

"Hello Derek. Thank you so much for thinking of me."

"Well, I do have to apologize, we totally messed up when we overlooked inviting you to the wedding on the 4th."

"August 4th? I would have missed it anyway. I took an extra day off to go visit Bill junior. Congratulations by the way. So is the celebration related to the wedding?"

"Sort of. My cousin and most of her family were killed about a month ago. Jeremy and I just got custody of the last remaining child, Adam. He's four."

"Almost five Uncle Derek."

"Almost five. I've been corrected."

"That's wonderful. You're both such nice boys, I know you'll make wonderful parents."

"Thanks. So based on other people's schedules, Sunday afternoon is the best. Do you think you can make it?"

"Yes. I'm free Sunday and I'd love to be there."

"Awesome. I have to find a place now and the time may depend on where we go, but I'll let you know those details as soon as I do."

"That will be fine. And thank you very much for including me."

"It wouldn't be right not to. OK, I'll be talking to you soon."

"Thank you, Derek. Goodbye."

Next, I called around and was able to locate a pretty nice place that could accommodate us. I figured on around 20 people. The Farmhouse is a converted barn that was turned into a banquet center. There are two banquet rooms, and they were able to put us in the smaller of the two from 2:00 to 6:00, which should be plenty of time. I've been to one occasion there and it was really nice. But I'll be getting another look when we head over there to give them a deposit. That's next on the agenda after sending Jeremy a text with the current status.

Meanwhile, at the Linden's.

Randall is trying to convince Shelly that they should go to Derek and Jeremy's celebration.

"I just don't know if I can face them after seeing, well, THAT."

"Shelly, you need to learn to live and let live. Granted it would have been nice if they told us they were gay, but really, that was none of our business anyway."

"But they didn't have to do that out in the open."

"Out in the open? They were in the privacy of Jeremy's apartment. Which would have been more private if you put a thicker curtain up, like I suggested. That way you would have had to knock. So, it's at least partially your fault. And it's not like they're going to have sex in the middle of their party, and especially not in front of a four-year-old child. And come on. We've watched movies where sometimes there were two men together."

"Well, but that was always just before we were going to make love. Seeing that as a surprise..."

"Again, was partly your fault. So, forget about it and let's go to the party. They're good kids, and it was nice of them to think of us after you, OK, we, forced him out."

"Oh, all right. It would be nice to see them again. With their clothes on, anyway."

"Thank you."

Back with Derek, Monday evening, Jeremy is home from work.

"How was your day?"

"Good. Busy. Like I said, we've got a tight schedule on this job, but I think we'll finish on time, maybe even a half-day early. How was yours?"

"Great. On the phone a lot, Adam and I took a ride to the Farmhouse. I think it'll be just great. I invited the Lindens too. I figure they were good to you for a long time. The ending of your time there wasn't the greatest, but I guess she's over it because when I called back, Mr. Linden said they'll be there."

"That's good. We can take her aside and apologize, close things out on a high note. So, who all is coming?"

"Big list. Us, of course, my parents and Frank. He started seeing a girl a couple weeks ago, so he'll try to bring her. Judge Ridge and her husband. Her assistant Leslie, and her family, they have two young children close to Adam's age. Mrs. Perch. Oh, and she was out of town when we had the wedding, so she wouldn't have been able to go anyway. Let's see... Brenda and her boyfriend, and Al and/or Win if they can make it."

"Nice. I texted both of them. Al is pretty sure he'll be there, and Win will come. I had to promise him a room for Sunday night. Not that it matters, but what's the damage at the Farmhouse?"

"Not too bad. $14 a head, the three kids will be free. I picked out a decent selection for food. Oh, plus an open bar that we'll get the bill for at the end of the party. And the room was a hard thing to promise your brother, I bet?"

"Yeah. What's the third bedroom for if someone doesn't use it once in a while? I guess it's a good thing I'll be turning 21 on Thursday. I'm not sure it would have been OK for us to technically be buying the alcohol."

"It would have been OK; mom or dad would have taken care of being the official purchasers. Do you think you can get home a little earlier on Thursday? I don't mind going to dinner a little later, but we'll have to wait for a table if we don't know ahead of time."

"I think I can. I'll definitely let you know sometime Thursday afternoon so you can get a reservation somewhere. What about tonight?"

"6:30 at Enzo's. Mom insisted we go informal since we're doing the party on Sunday."

"That's OK. They have good food. Let me jump in the shower so we can get there on time."

"I'd join you, but like you said, we should get there on time."

"Hehe. Yeah, if you joined me, we wouldn't get there at all. Where's the midget?"

"In his room, reading or coloring."

"K. I'll be ready in a few, after I pop in and say hi."

Dinner went well. Frank was able to bring his new girlfriend. I kind of remember her from school, but since she was a freshman when I was a senior, we didn't really have any contact. Not that it matters, but it kind of surprised me that he's dating a Hispanic girl. Rosa Cruz. He did pretty well for himself. Dark hair, dark skin, pretty much a knockout. I hope it works out for him. It was a long and pretty stressful day, so Jeremy and I just traded hand jobs while making out a bit. In hindsight, it's a good thing we didn't stay up late. Around 1 AM Adam woke up from a nightmare screaming.

"I'm here, Adam. What's wrong?"

"Daddy was shooting me again."

"You're OK. It was just a bad dream. Your daddy is gone. He can't hurt you anymore."

"It was so real. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. He was definitely dead when I took you out of your house."

"Then how was he here? I saw him at the end of my bed."

"Sometimes dreams can seem so real, that you think it's really happening. But there's no way he was here."

"I don't want to sleep in this bed anymore. Can I sleep with you tonight, Uncle Derek?"

"OK. But you have to stay quiet when we go in there. Uncle Jeremy needs to get his sleep for work in the morning."

"I'll be quiet."

"OK. Come on."

I picked him up and carried him to our room. Jeremy woke me up in the morning and asked what happened. I told him Adam had a nightmare and we could talk about it when he got back home.

Tuesday August 15

Adam slept a little later than usual this morning, which was good since I didn't fall back asleep right away after his nightmare. He settled down quickly, but I stayed awake watching him for the longest time. I was in the kitchen having a coffee when he came looking for me.

"Good morning, Adam. Was the rest of your night better?"

"Yes. Daddy couldn't come into your room. I think he recognized my bed, because the bedroom is different. That's the only thing exactly the same."

"You do know your daddy wasn't really there, right?"

"I know it, but I don't believe it. Does that make any sense?"

"Yes. Because your dream seemed so real, it's hard for you to believe it didn't really happen. But believe me. It couldn't have been real."

"Maybe it was only his ghost?"

"Nobody's really sure if ghosts exist or not, so I'll say it's possible. But if it was a ghost, his body wasn't here, so there is no way he could have hurt you."

"I know it was the bed he recognized. Can I get a new one?"

"If that will make you feel safer, yes. I think that's something we can do."

"Can we get a bigger one, like I slept in when I stayed with Uncle Alex and Aunt Cindy?"

"Were you comfortable in the bigger bed?"

"Yes. And besides, I'm almost five. I think that's a good time to have a bigger bed."

"OK. That's a better reason than thinking your daddy's ghost recognized the one you have. That may be true, but we wouldn't want to scare the people at the bed store. If they knew the beds they sold might someday be haunted, they might not be able to sell many beds."

"OK. It can be our secret."

"Just the three of us. Uncle Jeremy needs to know everything that's going on with you too."

"That's OK. Besides, I bet the man at the bed store would laugh at me. Uncle Jeremy won't."

"I guess that's possible. Let's get you some breakfast, then we can get dressed and go bed shopping."

"Cool. Can I have Eggos?"

"Anything breakfasty that you want."

After I got Adam dressed and while I was getting dressed myself, I texted Jeremy and told him we were going shopping for a bed and why. He responded that he checked the balance in the checking account and Adam can get whatever he wanted. God, I love that man.

The furniture store couldn't deliver the new bed, mattress, and accessories until Thursday. Adam was upset about having to sleep in his old bed any more nights, so I told him he can use the guest room until his new bed arrived. He was happy about that. Since we were out, we stopped for lunch and got him a Wendy's kids' meal.

Wednesday August 16

Adam and I took a ride over to his old house so I could look for important papers. Ideally, I would find life insurance policies, my aunt and uncle's wills, social security numbers, and banking information. The banking information would allow me to set up a savings account for Adam. If he was entitled to any survivor's benefits, I wanted him to get that. The life insurance and anything else specified in their wills would go ito a trust account to put toward college. It seemed strange thinking about college for an almost five-year-old, but if you don't plan ahead, there will never be enough for things like college, getting a financial head start at adulthood, etc. I wanted to make sure we did everything possible to help Adam, both now and in the future. Fortunately, Aunt Janice was very organized. There was a file cabinet that contained all that and a lot more items that may be useful in the future. I brought the whole file cabinet home. It was only two drawers.

Thursday August 17

The bed store took away the old bedroom set. Adam and I had emptied out the dressers and stripped the bed yesterday. We spent a bunch of time today putting his room back together with the new bedroom set. They had kids' beds, with toy-based themes, but Adam wanted something more like Jeremy and I had. I figured that was fine, we wouldn't need to get another new one because he outgrew toy story or something like that. We took Jeremy out to dinner at a really nice restaurant. After we got home and got Adam settled in his new bed, we made love to each other. It was a pretty good birthday, if I must say so. I know Jeremy enjoyed it too. I just hope he didn't enjoy it too loudly. Hehe.

Next Up - "Judge Ridge's Ire, Celebration, and the New Job"