The Peter Charles - 12. Chapter 12

Monday morning I told Travis to stay with the boys. I filled one of the small chests with fish, shrimp and lobster for the judge. Arriving at work, I gave Marge her fish and the small chest. She knew who it was for, “If there isn’t enough let me know. I’ll bring more tomorrow.”

Walking into my office, “Mr. Donaldson would like to see you before you start.”

“Did he say what he wanted to see me about?”

“No, just to tell you as soon as you arrive.”

In the elevator I figured it had to do with Travis. “You wanted to see me sir?”

“Yes, Kevin, I want to know your perception of young Travis.”

“We found him to be a very nice young man. The boys have fully accepted him as one of them. He shares a painting interest with Scott, my oldest son. He can even cleaned fish, and did a fine job. I don’t understand his father, any man would be proud to have a son like Travis.”

“Could he stay the summer with you?”

“Yes, I’d need a medical release and a statement authorizing Glen and I as temporary guardians.”

He looked at me and smiled, taking a manilla envelope from his desk he handed it to me. It was addressed to me, I opened it and there were the signed papers I just requested. “These are signed by his mother.”

“Yes, and she’ll be here this week-end along with her husband.”

“Does Travis know?”

Looking at his watch, “I expect he does now.”

I was about one hour into my work, when my phone rang. “Hello…good morning Nicky, is there a problem?”

“No, someone here wants to talk to you”

“Okay put Travis on” I heard ‘he knows it’s you’

“Hello”

“Hello Travis great news, yes?”

“Sir, you know?”

“What, you staying for the summer?”

“Yes”

“Of course, I know, it’s great. Now you need to find a place to sleep, but not my bed.” He laughed, “Have Scott help you. I’ll see you tonight and have fun crabbing.”

As he handed the phone back to Nicky, I heard ‘how does he know we’re going crabbing?’ “Everything is okay Nicky, we’ll see you tonight.”

Glen brought lunch, I told him about Travis staying, showed him the documents.

“She‘s to arrive next week-end.”

“Does Travis know this?”

“Yes, she called him this morning.”

“I’ll bet he’s happy.”

“He is”

“Did you sell any fish?”

“Only to Jim, the fish market said it was too expensive. I think they were just to lazy to clean it. Last week I dropped them off at St. Mary’s orphanage and I think that’s what we’ll do.”

“You need to get Sister Ann to commit to letting the boys go fishing with us. I think Father Damian will want to go as well, he’ll need a break.” Saying goodbye with his promise of picking me up, he went back to work and so did I.

It was six thirty when I looked up and there was Glen with a smile on his face. “You’re intense when you work.”

“I’m intense when I make love as well.” That brought a kiss, “Let’s go. I wonder what kind if man his dad is?”

“My guess, he was a jock in high school, had a following and was a bully. He met his wife in college, he recognized he had to be a gentleman, I’d say she had money. He continues to be a bully only now his son who must pay. I’d bet he’s an alcoholic.”

“How do you know that?”

“Social studies in college. I was interested in knowing how people operate, how they made decisions and what influences they had that pointed them in a certain direction. My basic interest was in what motivates people to do what they do.”

“You continue to surprise me Glen. Is that what took you so long to agree to marry me, you were psychoanalyzing me?”

Laughing, “I think we continue to surprise each other.”

Arriving home, “Do you smell that?”

“Yes, Nicky is cooking again” Imagine our surprise when we saw Scott and Travis cooking.

“Where’s Nicky? We thought he was cooking.”

“No, I wanted to make these meat pies that my grandmother use to make for me. I liked them and so I thought maybe you would like them as well. My grandmother was a great cook and she taught me a lot. The table is set so we we’re waiting for both of you to change.”

Beside the meat pies, they had a salad which went very well with the pies. “Glen, we have two more cooks. Looks like we won’t have to cook anymore.”

The boys gave Scott and Travis a hug as they left. Clean up was done by the boys. Then they headed to the rec room, Peter insisted we go also, we had to say hi to Gus. Peter had to show us his stash of crabs to feed Gus. I looked at Glen, he smiled.

“Travis, is your dad coming with your mom?”

“I don’t know.”

“We’re planning a dad’s fishing trip. If you get a chance ask, Glen’s dad and I think Andy’s dad are coming. Nicky, you should check with Jamie and Johnny, see if their dads want to come as well. Travis, if your dad is coming and wants to go out, he needs shorts and a t-shirt.”

That night in bed, “Do you think Travis’s dad will come?”

“Hard to say, if he does it’ll be Travis’s mom who’ll make him come.”

Thursday I went with Glen when he went to check if the boys from the orphanage would be going with us. Sister Ann wasn’t sure until Father Damian showed up. He told her he was going as well. She said that the four older boys could go but she thought the youngest was too small to go. I looked at the boys on the porch, they had mixed expressions on their faces.

The one called David, “I’m not going Sister Ann. I’ll stay here and take care of Adam.” Then the other three boys put their heads together, then Joseph one of the twins came down to the truck.

“Sir, we appreciate the offer of a fishing trip, but we’ll stay here and help take care of Adam.”

I knew this was wrong, but I knew now what I must do, these boys have shown what type of men they will become. Father Damian went and spoke to Sister Ann, but she wasn’t budging. “Kev, what will she do if there’s no fish on Monday?”

“I don’t know, we could sell the fish but it’s a shame that people get their nose in a snit because they feel the power, better question is what would God say to a position like that. The boys would be safe, Peter wasn’t much older when he sailed with us. I wonder if there’s something else that’s bothering her.”

Father Damian came back, “It’s okay, all five boys can go.”

“Thanks Father, it’d be a shame for them to miss out on this. We’ll think about something for the girls. Father, we now need to take the boys to get them outfitted. All of the seamen on my boat must be in uniform. Send one of the boys to get the cook. I think I have something that might help.”

The cook came out, “This isn’t Monday, David said you have something for us.”

“Yep, where’s your pan.” We laughed as she headed back inside, she returned with Bessie May and two pans. I opened the chests, they were filled with shrimp. When she saw that you could see the wheels turning, ‘what can we do with this’. I knew there would be a surprise for dinner tonight. Sister Ann handed us some papers concerning the boys.

The boys piled in the truck, Adam had the middle seat in front and we headed for Jim’s. “Kev, have you ever notice how Jim smiles when he sees us coming in with new boys?”

“You mean like now.”

“Junior”

Junior came and started to take measurements, then he started to pile everything on the counter, Jim began to ring it up and place it in bags. Glen took Joseph and Johnathan to help carry the packages out to the truck. I paid for everything and went back to work. I got a sandwich from Marge and a coffee, that was my lunch.

Making up for a long lunch hour, Dad came by and said he would drive me home. Glen took the truck and the boys home. I enjoyed the ride with him, we never really had an opportunity for just the two of us to chat. “Are you ready for your inaugural fishing expedition?”

“You know when I first knew that Glen was going fishing on week-ends I was a little puzzled as to why he’d want to do that. Then Nicky, I told Anna that you must be hypnotizing the boys. But Nicky especially, he has mature more in the last six months than he has over the year. So yes, I want to know what’s magic about fishing that has my boys so enthralled with the idea.”

“You’re aware that it’s the charm and magic of the mermaids that are responsible.” He looked at me as if I was crazy. “Before, you say it, Nicky is in love with one of them. Maybe you’ll meet her at the wedding. I have it on good information that they’ll be at my wedding. Can you imagine being blessed by mermaids?”

“I think you’re crazy and maybe that’s your charm. I’m very glad for Glen, Anna and I would never pick a man for Glen but we always knew he wasn’t into girls. We’re very glad he found you or did you find him?”

“It doesn’t make any difference, we found each other and I couldn’t be more happy than I am right now. For the first time since I lost my parents, I feel complete and happy. That’s all due to Glen, I guess you and Anna have done a fine job raising two men.”

“Glen said you bought a car for Nicky.”

I wondered when this would come up. “Yes, Nicky is very important to Glen and me. I call him my first mate but he’s actually more. I trust him with my boys and boat. He needs something special and I do have a major interest in a car dealership. And in a few weeks so will Glen.”

“You both are spoiling him.”