Clarion - 25. Chapter 25

“The boys want to go back to the pub where we ate last night. They said they wanted to try the steak and kidney pie.”

“Unless you like kidneys, my advice is to stay away from that. I would suggest Sheppard’s pie or steak and ale pie. Both English traditional pub food. Maybe for lunch we can find a fish and chips place. I’ll ask at the desk.”

“Is you business finished?”

“I think so, the British are a little strong headed at times. They are buying back their stock in such large quantities that the stock price keeps going up. They are over their head in debt. Dave will document our meeting, I’ll meet him for breakfast in the morning. If there is no change, then he will go back to New York.”

Before I could say anything else, 4 boys landed on our beds. “How was your day?”

The jumble of voices all trying to tell me how their day was, one could only get a snatch here and there. I started to laugh and when I had a chance, “Are you hungry?”

That stopped all the talking and I had 4 boys ready to go and eat. I washed my face and we headed downstairs. I made a move to go to the dining room, Nels grabbed my hand, “Dad, we wanted to go back to the pub we ate at last night.”

The next morning I met with Dave. He told me he talked to Robert last night. Robert suggested he call the CEO and asked if after their meeting had they changed their mind or are they going to pursue their interest in buying their stock back. “I’m going to call them at 9 and see what they said.”

The guys came down for breakfast and I indicated they should join us. We had no more business to discuss until after 9. “What is on your agenda for today?”

“Museums”

One answer and it covered a lot. There are a lot of museums in London so I knew they would be busy. “Cody, be sure to take you cell phone with you. I might be able to meet up with you some time today.”

I saw the boys head to the buffet. “Didn’t they like their English breakfast?”

“They were ok until they tasted the black pudding.”

I just laughed. Not everyone likes the black pudding. I certainly didn’t like it.

The boys said good-bye as they got ready to go to the museums. Dave and I talked till 9 when he called the client. He talked for 25 minutes with the CEO. Shaking his head I knew what their answer was, they would continue buying their stock. I called my broker to check if I had any of their stock in my portfolio. It turned out I did own 1000 shares, I told my broker to sell it as soon as possible. The profit on the sale of the stock was more than the expenses of this vacation. I’m sure my broker knew something was up and I’d bet he advises his other clients to sell as well.

“I’m going to pack and head back home. They aren’t going to change their mind.”

I called Cody and told him I’d join him at the museum, they were at the Firepower Royal Artillery Museum. While I was riding in the taxi, I got a call from one of the employees of the company we had visited. “Alan, I saw you yesterday but didn’t have a chance to talk to you. I thought you were going to come back today. What happened?”

“Ambrose, I’m sorry we didn’t have a chance to meet. Your company is buying up their stock and I’m afraid they will be bankrupt by the end of the year. A lot of companies buy back their stock, but they do it a little at a time. The way your company is going about it, they are paying a premium as the price keeps rising. So I’m sorry, I’d like to catch up but I’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

I knew if Ambrose had any stock it would be sold within the next few hours. I arrived at the military museum and started to look for Cody and the boys. I found them at the Museum checking out the artillery equipment that had been developed over the years. Nels proceeded to tell me about the various pieces of equipment, when it was used and how they were shot. I just listened and smiled at his enthusiasm. I was surprised at how fast the time passed. “Dad, I’m getting hungry.”

I looked at my watch and it was 12:30. I couldn’t believe we spent that amount of time in the museum. “Cody, I think the boys are getting hungry. I’d like to find a pub that serves a Ploughman’s lunch. This is a typical English lunch and I think the boys would enjoy it.” On the way out of the Museum I asked the ticket booth attendant if he knew where I could get a Ploughman’s lunch. He said there was a pub one street over that served a Ploughman’s lunch. I led the group to the recommended pub. Want to guess who was holding my hand as we walked to the pub. We went to the counter and I order 6 Ploughman’s lunch with the pickled eggs. I had a hot tea and Cody and the boys had orange juice. When I brought the plates to the boys, they looked at me as if to say, ‘what is this’. I explained to them that is called a Ploughman’s lunch because in the old days when the farmers where plowing their fields, this was their lunch.

As I started to eat, they watched and then they dug in, I could see the smiles on their face. I had to go and get another one for the boys. The server laughed when I told her growing boys need a lot of food. When lunch was finished, we took a tour bus, the conductor pointed out the various government buildings and Buckingham Palace. We got off at the British Museum and looked for their exhibit on Egypt. I let the boys wander around with the understanding I could be found at the Egyptian sarcophaguses. I found a bench and sat down waiting for them to return. They were gone for quite a long time, I phoned Cody and told him I’d be at the gift shop. I picked up a book on ancient Egypt, it seemed interesting so I bought it. There was a bench outside of the gift shop, I sat there and started to read. I’m not sure how long I sat there when I noticed someone sitting down next to me. “What are you reading Dad?”

“It’s a book on Egypt. They have a lot of different books, go and pick out one if you want.”

I watched as Nels went into the gift shop and then I noticed they were all in the shop. I think it was the stomach rattle that told them it was time to eat. We left the gift shop with a souvenir for each kid and I guess I had one as well. I hailed a taxi and asked for a fish and chips shop. He told me where it was, I told Cody to take some of the boys and I would follow in the next taxi. When I arrived at the shop, the boys were waiting for us. Entering the shop, I order 6 orders of fish and chips. I told the clerk we would be eating them here. She still wrapped them in a newspaper and said we could use the counter in front of the shop. We had to stand but it was ok. I sprinkled vinegar on my fries. Nels looked at me, I gave him one of my fries and he followed suit. Soon all of the boys used the vinegar on their fries. “Dad, why does this taste different?”

“It’s the vinegar, its called malt vinegar which is different from the vinegar we have at home. When we go home, I’ll try and buy some.” I had to order 4 more fish and chips.

That evening in the hotel, the boys were busy writing about their day and reading their books. About 8, I order pie and ice cream for everyone. When it came, the boys’ eyes lit up. It didn’t take long for them to finish it off. “I think we should get to bed, we have an early flight tomorrow.”

Saying goodnight we went to bed. I left a seven am wakeup call and when it came I wasn’t quite ready to get up. I was on vacation and I wanted to sleep. Well, forget that. Cody got up and soon the boys were up as well. Getting dressed, suitcases packed, we went for breakfast. On the way back to the room, I paid our bill and asked that taxis be ready to take us to the airport.

Gathering up the luggage, we made our way to the taxis. We were on our second part of our trip, Spain here we come. We spent five days in Spain, had a lot of regional dishes. The boys liked the paella, they said it was the best.

Our next stop was Rome. Flying into Rome was an excitement in and of itself ‘Rome the heart of the Roman civilization’. I had planned on spending 4 days here and then on to Pompeii and finally Venice. We followed a tour guide so we took in the Coleosseum, the Sistine Chapel, Saint Peters and Palatine Hill. Going to Pompeii, we tour the buildings. I explained that this city was destroyed by a volcano. Then to Venice where we had to take a ride in a Gondola.

After Venice, we took a train back to Rome where we boarded a cruise liner to Greece. We spent the rest of our time in Greece, visiting the many archeological sites. The boys took a lot of pictures and Cody was taking pictures of them. In every country, we ate the native food, expanding our tastes.

At last our summer vacation came to a close. We boarded our flight to New York and then to Pittsburgh. Driving home, the boys were busy talking about the trip. “I have a lot of pictures and notes so when they asked what you did this summer, I will stun them with what I did and I have the pictures to prove it.”

“Andy, you know you have to keep this quiet. If Jeff found out you had a lot of fun and he had to work he might not be happy.”

Andy thought a while, “Jeff will be happy I had the chance of a life time. He won’t be angry.” As strange that may sound, he was right. Jeff would not be angry or hurt; he would be glad that Andy had a good time. Andy and Rich stayed over and Cody took them home the next morning after breakfast. I just relaxed with my cup of coffee. James and Nels were busy printing their photos and making albums. They made a copy of Andy’s before he left so they could write a short paragraph under each picture. That afternoon, Miss Brown stopped by to see how the trip went. The boys captured her attention for 2 hours showing the pictures and of course, each picture had a story.

“I see and hear that they had a wonderful vacation. What are you going to do next year?”

“I think they did have a great time and they were a joy to have on a trip. Next year we have many opportunities, Egypt, South America and Central America. There’s Japan and the many islands even Hawaii. They will be adults before we are finished.”

“You have given them a chance of a life time.”

“They deserve it. The boys are good and help out without anyone telling them. They are doing well in school and making a lot of friends. I'd really like to adopt them but I’m not sure if that would be a possibility.” I noticed James and Nels ears picked up when I mention adoption.

“I think that might be possible with the ages of the kids. I’ll talk to the judge about it and see what he says.”

“If you do that Miss Brown. I’ll take you on our next trip.”

The next moment two boys were sitting next to me, “Miss Brown, if that is possible we'd love to be the sons of Dad and Pop.”

She smiled and winked. “Dad, would you really want to adopt us?”

“ In a heartbeat, you are two great kids, anyone would be blessed to have you as their sons.”

I wonder how long before James mentions it to Cody. That night after dinner and blackberry pie with ice cream, James sat beside Cody, “Pop, if you have chance to adopt Nels and I would you do it?”

“In a heartbeat.”

That night as we lay in bed, “Alan, why did James ask me about adoption?”

“Miss Brown was here this afternoon. The kids were showing pictures and telling her all about the trip. I told her if it was possible, I’d like to adopt the kids. They heard and asked me if I was serious, I told them in a heartbeat.” I knew that Cody would make a great father. I didn’t tell Cody that Miss Brown mentioned she would speak to the judge about the possibility.

School was to start in a few weeks and the kids would need new school clothes. Some of James school clothes would fit Nels but they both needed new shoes and coats. So a trip to Erie was planned. Mary asked to go along so she could buy clothes for Andy. Jeff was off to college, Brian would go with him to buy him school clothes, as well as furnishing his dorm room. Will miss having Jeff around, but kids grow up and that's to be expected. Andy was still around training Nels to be our permanent staff.

James and Nels told everyone about their summer vacation, showing the pictures they took. Their friends weren’t jealous, it seems the teacher explained what foster children were and that Cody and I were foster parents. They continued to have good grades, we were proud of them. For Halloween, we decided they could invite their friends for a Halloween party. The big room was decorated, I locked Andy’s room as I didn’t want the kids going into that room. Andy had a lot of his personal things there, no use tempting anyone.

Cody had a tub of water with apples on the patio for dunking, I had bowls of candy and the grill was ready for grilling hamburgers. James and Nels hung skeletons, spider webs and floating balloons in ghost costumes. Mary, Brian and Andy came over to help. We stayed in the kitchen and chatted while the kids were in the great room and on the patio. Cody was the overseer in that area. He was dressed as death in a costume that he found on the web site. He even had a mask that looked like bones. I wasn’t sure who had the most fun, the kids or Cody. While we were in the kitchen, drinking coffee, I got out bags of candy and Halloween bags for holding the candy. Drinking coffee and filling bags, “Alan, this is a lot simpler than having to hand out candy as they come to the door, also safer for the kids.”

Nels came into the kitchen, “Dad we are getting hungry. Can we start to grill the hamburgers now?”

“Ask your Pop, if he's ready, the hamburgers are in the refrigerator along with cheese and condiments.”

He came back and said Pop said give him 5 minutes. “Here, take the paper plates and napkins out to the patio table. Then come back and take out the catsup, mustard, tomatoes and sliced onions. When the grill is ready, you can come and get the hamburgers and cheese.”

“You know those kids will be on the patio as soon as they see the paper plates going out.”

“With their nose, they will smell it before they see it.”

Nels came back in with another boy who he introduced as Johnny. Mary knew him and asked how his mother is doing. He said she was much better and is home from the hospital now. Johnny helped Nels carry out the food for the grill. I had a very large bowl that I filled with chips and when Nels came back, I gave him the bowl to take out as well. “You know the chips will be gone before the hamburgers are done.”

“I figured that so I have more chips in the pantry. Maybe if they fill up on chips they won’t eat many hamburgers.”

“No chance of that happening,” as they all laughed.

As soon as the burgers were ready the kids began to slow up and get serious. Food was available and so it was time to eat. They kept Cody busy grilling and I replenished the chips bowl twice before they seem to slow up. When they all said that they could eat no more, I brought out the apple pies with ice cream. There were no moans as they polished off the desert as well.

With dinner over, their parents began to show up to take them home. As the kids left, I gave each one a bag of candy. I didn’t want them to lose out on tricking n' treating all together.

Andy, James and Nels pitched in to clean up the great room and patio. Cody cleaned the grill and brought in a hamburger for each of us adults. “Nels, you and James can take down the decorations tomorrow. Don’t worry about them tonight, just relax for a while.”

Cody took off his costume and came in to eat with the adults. “How did the grilling go?”

“It went ok, the kids were very polite. Hardly anything to clean up. They were nice kids.”

The kids came home from school saying their friends really like the party. “They told me they can’t wait until next October.