NB - A New Chapter - 3. ANC Chapter 3

As Mrs O’Malley grabbed her purse and room key, we stepped out of the suite, with me still carrying Alexander, who was surprisingly light, and I managed to fish out my mobile. “Guess what has arrived early?” the message read from the twins, and I sent a quick text back, “Yes I heard the horn blast, I am taking them down to look at it now”.

As we approached the main jetty, Mrs O’Malley gasped, “Holy mother of Mercy” she said out loud, and I smiled, “This is the family ship, called the Southern Explorer, she has spent the past seven years doing a supply contract, supplying a lot of the remote research islands in the southern oceans of the world, but the contract has ended, and I have had some changes made to make it a boutique cruise ship, with 19 guest cabins, a crew of 34, and plenty of luxury.

If you would like, you can join the rest of the family, as this is our mode of transport off the Falklands, and I have a feeling that Kyle will be joining us also” I announced. “Oh, I have always dreamed of going on a cruise, so yes please I would love to join you” Mrs O’Malley replied happily, “Good, that is settled then, we will be leaving on Wednesday morning” I replied, as we approached the ship, where I noticed a lot of activity happening.

As we stepped onto the gangway, leading to the main deck, all tenofficers in dress uniform, were standing in a line, at attention, to greet us. “Welcome back sir” the Captain Kingsley said to me, as we shook hands, “Thankyou Paul, it is great to be back. Captain and officers, may I introduce Mrs O’Malley, and her grandson – Alexander Hugh Devonport” I said making the introductions, and I heard a number of gasps from the line of officers.

“Unknown to us until very recently, Huon had a son, who will be joining our family permanently. Paul, the twins, Alexander and I, plus Mrs O’Malley, will be joining you for a cruise, destination unsure at the moment, leaving this Wednesday, and we may have Kyle joining us as well. Captain, you have my permission to give the crew some R & R for a few days.

Mrs O’Malley and Alexander will have the two executive suites, Kyle, the twins and I will have our usual suites, and on the off chance that Reverend Annette joins us, she can have the Royal suite” I announced to the captain, “Very good sir, I will leave you to take your guests on a tour” the Captain replied, and he dismissed the officers, and he headed inside.

“Now hear this, with permission from Mr Wagner, all crew have 48 hours shore leave, a reminder that all crew are expected to attend the memorial service tomorrow morning at 0900 hours, at the cathedral, that is all” we heard on the PA, and I smiled on hearing this, before turning to face Mrs O’Malley and Alexander.

“Before you start the tour, can you please call me by my Christian name of Josephine, I feel like an old granny when you call me Mrs O’Malley” she said to me, “Very well ma’am, but all the crew will be calling you by your formal name as it is company protocol” I replied, “huff, oh if they must, but for you and the twins, I insist that you call me by my first name, do you hear” Mrs O’Malley said sternly, “As you wish” I replied nervously, as I saw the twins approaching.

“We heard what you just said ma’am, we will do as you ask, but it may take a while, to get use too” Louis said, as they joined us on the main deck. “Right, I might start the tour, welcome to the Southern Explorer, a multi-purpose vessel, that has until now been used for resupplying remote islands. We are currently standing on the main deck, of which there are a total of 9 decks, two decks below us and six decks above” Joachim said.

“The very bottom deck is all ship engines, stores and so on, so let’s start on the next deck up, which is the deck below us” Sebastian added, as he began to lead the way indoors, before continuing. “This is what is called the beach lounge, one of the main lounge areas for guests, if you follow me, we will go down the stairs to the lower deck” Joachim said, as he started down the main spiral stairs.

I had no choice but to follow, as Alexander now had a firm grip of my hand, and I let my brothers take over giving the tour. “On this deck we have a guest gymnasium and change rooms, a conference room, and our movie cinema, with seating for 40 people, further forward we have crew work areas, and more of the ships operational areas, which we ask that you not enter either spaces, for safety reasons” Louis said before heading forward to the other set of stairs, and the main elevator.

Back on the main deck, we walked back a short way and stopped, before Louis opened one of the guest queen cabins, to allow Josephine and Alexander to look in. “This is one of ten, queen guest cabins, the remainder of the guest cabins are on other decks higher.

In here, is what use to be the main supply cargo hold, which has been remodelled recently, as you can see it is a recreation lounge with a shallow heated swimming pool, plus a spa pool and two changerooms, plus a new and bigger medical centre. Ahead of this is crew only recreation area, also off limits to guests, once again, we ask that you stay out of all crew living and recreation spaces” Joachim said, as we entered the elevator and went up one more level to A deck.

This level also has had some remodelling done, with a small library, and an additional 2 double and 2 triple guest cabins on this level. We also have the guest formal dining room, the second guest lounge area, and the second outdoor deck, with stairs leading to the outdoor deck on the main deck, where you stepped onboard” Louis continued. “Sebastian, which one is which, they both keep taking in turns talking, and they sound the same, and its confusing” Alexander asked me, which made me laugh.

“I know it is confusing cousin, because they are identical twins, they often take it in turns to talk, and it is worse when they are talking in German or Italian. The one on the right is Louis, the one on the left is Joachim” I replied, and Alexander looked at the twins carefully, then smiled, “Ok” he eventually said, which made me chuckle a little.

“Maybe you can do the rest of the tour for us Sebastian, as the twins back and forth is giving me a headache” Josephine added, and the twins chuckled this time. “We are sorry ma’am, we will go up to the storm lounge for a while” the twins said together, and quickly left.

After a few moments, I lead Josephine and Alexander to the elevator, to go up to B deck. “This is known as B deck, here we have the two executive suites, where you will both be staying, and the royal suite, there is also a private aft deck area, that has sliding doors to close it off, to make it indoors, but most of the time they are kept open, unless the weather is really rough.

On this deck and the four decks below, everything in a line past that set of stairs ahead of us, is crew area only, so its off limits to guests, and even the twins and I stay out of there, as it is their living and work area” I said as I lead them down the passage towards the rear semi outdoors living area.

“This deck and the decks above, are off limit to guest, except for you both, as this is your living and private lounge space” I continued, as we walked around the deck area, before heading back into the main passageway, and I opened the door to the first executive guest suite. “Wow, this is humongous, is this really all for me?” Alexander said as he let go of my hand and went to explore the suite.

“Yes cousin, this is all yours, and your grandmother has an identical suite right next door” I answered, and I could see tears beginning to build up in Josephine’s eyes. “This is so big, way too big for us, we would be happier with smaller cabins, like the ones on the next deck down” Josephine stated. “Only the very best for you dear lady, just accept it, and enjoy, you are now officially on the holiday of your lifetime” I replied, as I let them explore both suites and the Royal suite across the hallway.

“I’m afraid the last two decks are stairs access only” I said as I lead the way up to D deck. “Wait a minute, we were on B deck back there, and this is D deck according to that small sign, what happened to C deck?” Alexander asked me, looking quite confused, and I chuckled. “Very well spotted young man, the reason for that is that the forward crew areas on four decks, are a little shorter in height, making it possible to have a partial extra deck, which is C deck, which contains the officers living quarters. That doorway we passed, halfway up the stairs with the sign saying - crew only was the entry into C deck” I replied.

Alexander scratched his head for a few moments, thinking about what I had explained to them, and I chuckled at this, “You are so much like your father, it is going to be difficult to get use to having you here with us, but we will cope. Now this is the Company executive level, we have four suites here, accommodating the twins and I, and one spare, which Kyle uses, when he is on board, and this is what we call the Storm lounge, mainly because we have uninterrupted views of everything in front of us” I said as we entered the area.

There was no sign of the twins, so I guessed they were somewhere else on the ship. “Wow, what a view, and so far up above the water too” Josephine stated as she stood right up to the front window. “Yes, it is, and a little frightening at first, when standing there in the middle of a full-on storm, but she is a good and safe ship, capable of handling any conditions, no matter how big the waves are. Right one level to go, and that is the bridge, the heart of the ship” I said, as I turned and lead the way, going through the door at the back of the room, and up the stairs.

“Attention on deck” I heard an officer call out as I entered, “At ease Mr Kenworth” I said to the ship’s navigator, who was the senior officer in the room, with the chief engineer, chief steward and the doctor also present.

After a quick tour of the bridge, we headed back down to the Storm lounge, where the twins were fighting a battle on a video game, which caught Alexander’s attention, as he went to watch. Moments later one of the stewards appeared, which the twins noticed. “Two lemon lime bitters for us please” Louis called out, “I will have the same please, Josephine what would you like to drink? And would you like a snack?” I asked her.

“Just a cup of tea please, milk and no sugar, and maybe a biscuit or two thank-you” Josephine responded, “Alexander, what do you want” I asked my younger cousin, “Lemon squash please, and biscuits too please” Alexander replied, keeping his eyes glued to the screens, now that he had a game controller in his hand.

Once the steward had left the area, I turned to my cousin’s grandmother. “Josephine, I am sorry to do this, but I need to put a rush on some paperwork, as it is required as part of the family business. When we learnt about you both being on the island, I had my company lawyers looking into family law matters in your country, and I was sent the required legal documents, for custody of a minor.

If it is what you truly want, even thou you will be with us on the ship for a while, I have these documents for you to sign, turning legal custody of Alexander from you to me” I stated to Josephine, who hesitated for a few moments before she eventually nodded her head. “Yes, I think it is in the best interest of Alexander’s future, that he be in your custody, and I thank you for allowing me to continue to be in his life” Josephine replied, as she took hold of the documents, which had little “Sign Here” tabs on it, and with a quick glance over the documents, she signed and dated in the right places.

“These will be sent by express post to my lawyers in Switzerland, and they will make sure that it is properly processed in the courts on the Isle of Mann. As my brothers stated earlier, you will be getting a regular family income of £5000 per month for the rest of your life, and any money saved and not used, will go to Alexander’s trust account, which has already been set up for him.

Alexander has inherited all of his father’s wealth, as well as his father’s 10% share in the family company, so he is now a very wealthy ten-year old boy. He will not be able to touch any of his money until he reaches the age of 21, and the shares in the company, are held in trust, with the trustees being my twin brothers - Louis and Joachim.

Alexander will receive a monthly allowance equal to £3000, that he can use for almost anything he wants, but it will also be for the purchase of new clothes and shoes, when he needs them, so he gets to understand the responsibility of management of his money” I informed Josephine.

“That is a very sensible decision, and I had no idea that you were so wealthy, I can easily survive on half of what you are offering, so I suggest you put the rest into Alexander’s trust” Josephine, “I will not do that ma’am, it is your money to spend on yourself, and yourself only.

My brothers and I want you to live very comfortably and to enjoy life while you still can, even if it means you living out of a suitcase all that time, travelling around the world” I replied smiling. “Very well, if you insist” Josephine grumbled in reply.

“Now since the crew are now all on shore leave, we better leave and let the captain and officers have some time off, so let’s head back to shore, and return to the hotel suite, and I will organise a suite next to yours” I said to Josephine, “If there is room at the place where you are staying, I would really prefer that” Josephine said, which made me smile. “I will call Eric and Mary, to let them know they have two more guests arriving” I replied.

Once we had dragged Alexander and my brothers away from the video games, we returned to shore, where we stopped off at the hotel, and I paid their bill, while Josephine and Alexander packed their luggage, before we headed over to Laphone. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, with the Landrover now parked at the back of the accommodation, and the twins kept Alexander entertained, while I went for a walk around town with Kyle.

“So, my friend, what is it exactly that you are contributing for tomorrow morning’s service?” I asked Kyle, who smiled at me and shook his head no, and since I couldn’t think of anything else to discuss, we walked in silence for the next hour, till it became to cold to be outdoors any more.

After a wonderful dinner, which I learnt Josephine had assisted with, I retired to bed early, knowing that we had a very emotional day ahead of us tomorrow, and although it was soon after 9pm when I went to bed, it was well after 3am before I finally drifted off to sleep, and I groaned when I heard someone knocking on my bedroom door, what felt like just five minutes after I fell asleep.