Grandfather II - 13. Chapter 13

It took me a little over an hour to reach Disney. I looked at Akela, as soon as he saw the Disney signs, he got excited, which got the other three excited as well. “Billy, we going to Disney?”

“Yes, we'll be at Disney for a week. This park will be different from the Disney we went to in California.”

When I drove into the Polynesian Resort, we were met by a lady dressed in a sarong, with a lei around her neck, Akela’s eyes lit up. She had a lei for each of us. The bell boy also wore a sarong and sandals, like the ones I had bought for them at Chaz’s. He took our luggage, I went in to register. The bell boy came and took our key, with the cart holding our luggage, led us to our room. Disney may be expensive by some standards, but the amenities, the politeness of the staff and their willingness to assist their guests, make the extra costs worth while, at least I think so.

Upon entering the room, the boys had to test out the beds. I always wondered why people did that. “Do you think they are comfortable enough for you?” Their answer, smiles. For the next 6 days, we spent at Disney. They must have visited each kingdom at least twice and some three times. We had to go back to take pictures, so they said. I was glad I had a big car, we had a lot of souvenirs and Disney brand clothes to take back with us, this I expected.

Checking out of Disney we headed to our hotel at Universal Studies. This was a new adventure for the boys. After checking in, we headed to the park for lunch. Then we started to walk around, I said we need some time to let our food settles, actually this was my first time at Universal and I wanted to get a feeling for the layout. Unlike Disney, Universal had three parks which required a paid admission to each park.

Reading the literature, the boys decided they wanted to go to Vulcano Bay, the water park. I was glad they had shorts on since it was a water park. I sat on a bench while I watched. I had their shirts and sandals. I think they rode each ride at least three times. When they were finished, they said they were ready to get a snack. That word they learned very quickly, we had a lot of snacks.

We went back to the hotel, they took a shower and dried their hair. We watched tv while I braided the hair. The tv was showing shots of Wizarding World. That they didn’t understand. I was going to explain it to them, then I thought, I’ll get a dvd and let them watch it.

“I’ve got an idea, why don’t we rest for a while, I’ll get a dvd which will explain the Wizarding World.” That was okay if I could buy some snacks.

When I returned, they were sleeping. I put the dvd in the player, called Captain, catching him and Moe up on the week. I called Dad, telling him when I would be arriving home. I didn’t tell him about the boys.

When the boys woke up, I showed them the dvd. I could see the excitement in their eyes. “Billy, that isn’t true.”

“No, it was a story written by a woman for her children. I don’t think she thought that her stories would become a book and a movie.”

“Billy, can we get something to eat.” I looked at my watch, it was dinner time.

“Do you want to eat here at the hotel or at the park.” They chose to eat at the hotel. We had dinner in the Polynesian room. The boys looked at me when they saw the menu. I didn’t have to help them, they understood enough of the menu to order.

As I watched the boys eat, by their smiles, I knew I did the right thing taking them with me. We spent 5 days at Universal. Leaving in the morning of the 6th day, I drove to Sea World. We spent an afternoon there, then headed for Grandfather II.

I phoned Captain and Moe to meet us at a restaurant on the beach. I said hello to them, then never said another word. The boys took over, by the time we were finished eating, I don’t think there was a story not told twice.

Arriving back on Grandfather II, it felt like home to me. The boys unpacked everything, I was wondering if the closets would hold everything. In the morning, we sailed for home.

Epilogue

Dad knew about the time I would dock, so as soon as he saw the Grandfather II from the house, he was escorted by the General to the dock. Captain blew the horn as he saw Dad coming. The boys were all lined up on the stern, and yes, in their sarongs.

As we got close to the dock. Moe and I tied up Grandfather II. We were home. As soon as the General saw us, he was one me. I scratched behind his ear and a wet tongue licked my face. The boys laughed until the General decided to welcome them as well. I laughed as the boys ran for the boat. I took the General by the collar and introduced him to each of the boys. They didn’t get their face licked, but he did licked their hand. A few scratches behind the ears and all was well.

I had to check on my Cellar and Angelo. Gene and the investment business, I was fairly up to date, but I wanted to spend some time with him. So for the next two months, I was busy. I did find time to take Kana to my doctor to see what could be done to erase the scars. He spent several weeks in the hospital erasing those scars. I knew that the scars in his mind would take longer, I was determined to replace every bad memory with a good memory. I think the General helped, Kana became close to him.

My Cellar and Investment business was located in the garment district of New York City. The Cellar was on the first floor, in the basement I had constructed a temperature controlled room for the storage of my wines. I had a several small wine cabinets in the shop from which Angelo could sell my wine by the bottle. On the second floor were the offices of my investment business. The third and fourth floor were apartments where I lived when I was in town.

I took the boys to the City, they were amazed. Coming from the Islands, New York was very intimidating to them. We were tourist for three days. The best lunch, hotdogs at a hotdog stand. In fact that was where they ate lunch all three days.

I spoke to Dad about the gold chest the boys found. He suggested I rent a lockbox in the bank that handles our accounts. I thought that was a good possibility. I also wanted to set up bank accounts for the boys. “Dad, what do you think about selling some of the gold. I’d set up bank accounts for the boys.”

“Billy, talk to Richard at the bank. I’m sure he’ll know how and what to do it. Keep the chest, that might be worth a few pennies in the future.” I laughed when Dad said to keep the chest.

That was great advice from Dad. I took a few coins and made an appointment to meet Richard. At our meeting, he suggested I meet with some of the museum staff and see what they would offer for the coins. He said his bank could buy the gold at the current rate.

I did what he suggested, the Administrator of the National Museum couldn’t believe the amount of gold we had. He arranged for one of his main investor to buy the complete lot, except for the coins I removed for the boys. I wanted to have necklaces made with a gold coin for each boy.

It was a little over a year when we returned for the wedding. The boys were happy to be back, they had to check out their old home. And yes, I did get a supply of what I called Akela’s fruit. Chaz was surprised to see all four boys. He knew Akela and Liko, he was surprised when they told him about Kana and Malo.

On the way back home, we stopped at the Big Island. The boys renewed their acquaintances and we had hamburgers at the Cafe where we first ate with Malo. Malo surprised everyone, he met with his former friends, the boys who helped me shop when I first met Malo. We invited them for lunch at the Cafe, Malo had to tell them all about his experiences.

I had made contact with Kevin and Glen, so we stopped there on the way home. We stayed three days and then we headed for the Panama Canal and home. And you’re right, we had to stop in Mexico for tacos, so the boys said.

Two years later Moe decided to retire. I set him with a nice investment plan that would satisfy all of his financial needs for many years. The boys miss him, and whenever we are in his neighborhood, they go to see him. On occasions, he sails with us, as a guest.

Captain talked about retiring but since the boys have shown an interest in learning how to captain the boat, he has decided to stay and teach four boys to be captains.

Malo has turned out to be the one who keeps us laughing. You can’t help but love him.

Our next adventure, according to the boys, is to sail around the world, ending at the Islands. Who knows what adventures we’ll have doing that.

The End