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- 10/06/2022
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
ARROW - 102. Chapter 102
Over the next few days, we took the kids Christmas shopping. Colin took all four to pick out a Christmas tree for the club. He arrived with two. A large tree was tied to the roof and a smaller tree was in the boot. He took my car letting me drive his two seater.
Now we needed ornaments and lights for the trees. Off they went again returning with not only ornaments and lights, but stockings as well. “Colin, didn’t we buy Christmas stocking for the boys when we bought those for the orphanage?”
“No, I only had Mom buy enough for the orphanage. Now we have our eight.”
“Eight?”
“Yes, the boys, James, Marcel, yours and mine.”
“What about the two boys that work in the kitchen?”
“Marcel takes care of them. I think we will be losing one of those soon. He is moving back home.”
“I thought they all lived here in New Haven.”
“No, the oldest boy met Marcel when he worked in the City. He was on the street and approached Marcel for a job. Marcel hired him and when he came here, he brought him with him. The other boy he found raiding the garbage bin, cleaned him up and hired him,. He will stay here until he finishes night school.”
“Where do they live?”
“With Marcel.”
I looked at Colin. My respect for Marcel just took a major jump.
That evening on the roof, “Having this plastic bubble makes the roof still comfortable.”
“It was a good thing you thought about doing this. Now we can be here all year.”
“Have you any ideas about what to get the boys?”
“They will need larger suitcases for our vacation and probably new suits. I don’t think Ivan has a suit so he will need one. We need to check out if the boys suit still fits them.”
“I think we may be able to pass them down, Tommy is the smallest and will be the one who always gets the hand-me downs.”
“No, if we get the boys a new suit, he will get one also. He can still wear any pass me downs if he chooses, otherwise they will go to the orphanage.”
“Maybe we should not think about pass me downs and instead think about the boys at the orphanage.”
“I’m concerned about the the future of the orphanage. We need to help them. I don’t think Pat has been looking and if she has, I con’t think of any building large enough for all of those kids.”
I hadn’t told Armand that our delay tactic has allowed us another 6 months. Now we had a ten plus months.
“Colin, what if we find a place outside of Connecticut. Maybe upper New York or Pennsylvania.”
“They will probably lose any money they get from the city.”
“Doesn’t the State pay something?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find out. If the state pays and not the City Council, then no matter where they go within the state, they would still get their monthly check.
On Christmas Eve, I had a gift for Armand. “Armand, want to go for a ride?”
“It’s the day before Christmas, why do you want to go for a ride.”
“I want to show you your Christmas gift. Come with me.”
“Alright but not too long okay?”
We drove out of the city limits. Stoping on a quiet country road, “Let’s get out I want to show you something.”
Getting out of the car, “Look there” I did but all I saw was an old barn.
“It’s an old barn.”
“What if I told you it is hiding a secret. Let’s go and find out what that secret is.”
We got back into the car, drove about a quarter of a mile, came to a fence and gate. Colin got out opened the gate, got back into the car and drove until he was in front of the barn.
“Come on, let’s see what the secret is.”
Walking into the barn, he switched on the lights. The barn was empty except for carpenter tools and electric saws. I looked at him, he smiled as he picked up a roll of drawings. Spreading them on the table, “Look. I think this is the secret the barn is hiding.”
I looked at the drawings, they were just lines to me. Look at this page. Looking at an artist sketch of the finished project, I was puzzled. Colin pointed to the title, ‘HOME’
I looked at the title and the artist’s sketch, it took a few minutes before it clicked, “This is the new orphanage.” Now I was crying.
Colin pulled me into his arms, “I know how much that orphanage means to you. I bought this land. These tools are Charles’s.”
I knew Charles was my carpenter friend.
“Let me explain these charts to you. This is the first floor. Here will be Pat’s office and a secretary. This space behind the office will be a girl’s dorm. Here will be an infirmary, doctor’s office and nurse’s station. Examinations room and bathroom. Next page, this is the living room, dining room and kitchen.”
“What is that?” Pointing to a series of doors in a corner.
”This is a door to the outside, this is a porch. This door is to the second floor, and this door is to the basement. I’ll show you those drawings.” Taking the set of drawings for the second floor. “This area is for the girls dorms. This is staff apartments on the left. On the right are the boys dorms. Each dorm will have a bunk bed, two desks, a closet for clothes and a bathroom. This door leads to the rooms above the kitchen. This is where the cooking staff will have a bedroom suite, there are four suites and at the end is a living room. On this side is two suites for the cleaners and this is the closet space for cleaning supplies and equipment. This drawing is for the third floor. Again there are dorms on the right side, this section will have the senior dorms. Walking up to the attic, and here will be a skylight where someone who would like to paint will have a studio.”
I looked at Colin, “When did you start this?”
The day after Thanksgiving. A lot of planning was necessary, land had to be bought, drawings made and Charles had to line up contractors. We broke ground, so to speak, the day before we took the kids to the City to see Santa Claus.”
“How long will it take to build this?”
“When we come back from our vacation it will be finished. It will take a 4 to 6 weeks to move in. During that time we will need to purchase furniture, stock freezers, get the grounds ready, install fences.”
I just kept looking at Colin while he was talking. “Colin, this must cost a fortune.”
“Dad said you have more money than the bank.”
I smiled, “You can have all my money. This is the best Christmas gift you could have ever given me. I love you.”
Driving home, I felt as if a new world opened up. I knew that Colin loved me, I didn’t need tangible proof, now I knew he cared for the kids of the orphanage as well.
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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