Life's Illusions - Chapter 14 - Weddings and Christenings
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Pip and Ramon's wedding had been arranged for the 1st February at the same church we had married in and it was the week after Beth, Pete and Pauly were due to be christened there.
This was a busy time, two weeks after Ramon and Pips wedding Billy and Julia were to be married in New York on 14th February Valentines Day.
We'd called in at the church to speak with the priest about our children's christenings but our nerves were frayed.
We were about to ask the priest for guidance on the subject of sponsors or God Parents.
We wanted to nominate eight people who we trusted with our lives and the lives of our children, people who we had faith would guide our brood through the difficulties of life if we weren't around, to counsel them on the need for living a good and honest life.
But, and this time the but was more of a 'BUT', two of the sponsors we wanted to nominate were Josh and Bryan, and this was the Catholic Church so we had good reason to be nervous.
When we'd first met the priest at our homecoming welcome evening he had appeared laid back, a modern priest who we immediately felt a liking for but right now we were preparing to ask for something even he might have no option but to refuse.
After the usual greetings, or maybe not quite so usual, when he greeted us with, "Hi guys, great to see you, park your butts, I'll be with you in two shakes of a gnats do dahs, just need to go kick some choirboy ass".
We could hear the conversation in the vestry and it was evident that certain choirboys were actually being threatened with the physical ass kicking of the year if they were caught smoking in the church again.
By the time he returned Lenny and I were almost laughing.
"Well I'm glad to have been of service already".
Lenny and I looked puzzled.
"You came through that door looking like you had an appointment with my boss's adversary, you know 'The Big D', so I thought a little light entertainment whilst I tried to save the church from being burnt down might be in order".
He was smiling and we knew he had our number.
"So spill it guys, you obviously have something on your minds which you think I'm going to refuse to accept and which will devastate your plans, how am I doing so far?".
We were almost laughing, he was an absolute breath of fresh air and so full of energy and enthusiasm.
He went on, "Okay I'll make a deal with you, if I can hit the nail bang on the head, not almost get it, it has to be bang on the head, you buy us an overhaul of that knackered church organ which currently sounds like an old bird of 80 whose been smoking 60 a day for far too long, deal?".
Now we were laughing but we agreed.
I did ask, "So does that mean once you've nailed our problem it gets approval?".
He smiled.
"Whoa there cowboy lets get to the nailing it down bit first, I reckon anything else should be good for twice what it costs to overhaul that knackered old organ, now let's see, PJ Thorn, Heir Apparent to Woodruff Inc, at one time openly gay partner of Josh Hartnett who currently lives with Bryan Fielding, cousin of William Fielding, President of Fielding International, how am I doing so far?, give me a minute I need to think this through, I'll get us some drinks".
And he was off singing as he went, 'I'm in the money'.
It was like being participants in a comedy sketch, I swear if I ever had a bad day again I was coming to see this guy, I'd bet he could raise anyone's spirits.
He came back with fruit squash which was really welcome.
"Okay where were we, ah yes we have your children in for their christenings next week don't we?, so it must be to do with that and unless you two are committing some horrible sin, okay strike that, those looks tell me that's way off, didn't really think that was a goer, I don't believe either of you knows how to do that, commit a horrible sin I mean, so its sponsors, yep that's it you either want Josh Hartnett or Bryan Fielding or both,to be sponsors and right now your expressions tell me you're bricking it because you think I'll tell you no and banish you from the church, ok how close am I, did I get the old lady an overhaul?".
We were dissolving into absolute laughter again but Lenny replied, "You could have been a hundred miles off and the old lady would still be treated to a full pampering and if she don't scrub up so well you can have a new one, but seriously you are right on the mark, we want to have both of them as sponsors".
I jumped in here, "It's true I did live with Josh in New York and we did live openly as partners but something went wrong, something I couldn't forgive, something which although not illegal, I considered immoral, I couldn't be with him after that, but I have forgiven him and I think, no scrub that, I know he has learnt from the wrong he did. I trust him to guide our children through the difficulties of life but still counsel them on the need for living a good and honest life, I would trust him and Bryan to lay down their lives for me and mine and I would willingly do the same for both of them, I don't believe there could be a greater show of faith than that".
He was staring at us and obviously mulling something over.
"You two are strange, oh don't take that the wrong way, I just mean I'm used to families here in Spain structured with the Patriarch as the decision maker and no other would ever dare to challenge that role, yet when I asked for funding for our organ you gave your approval Mrs Thorn and you Mr Thorn didn't even blink, I sense a union so well balanced it is a joy to see, but I have strong argument against that picture".
He appeared to be thinking.
"You are or were Gay, I don't understand, is this a marriage of convenience?".
His expression told me he was embarrassed to ask this question but it wasn't an accusation, he was genuinely confused, I felt I owed him an explanation just as I'd done for Gramps.
"I won't pretend it's not embarrassing to discuss this with you, I'm not a gay man though in the past I have lived that way. It depends on the situation, you see, where love and sex are concerned I don't know if I'm abnormal, I know I'm gods child, he made me this way, why would I question him, maybe I'm just some sort of an anomaly because it doesn't matter to me about the bits of the body a person has or doesn't have it's the person, what the person has inside is what I link with and fall in love with, the male or female label doesn't really figure, when I came here I was fleeing from a nightmare, I was broken, I admit that, I had thoughts of ending my life, but I met a wonderful soul who healed me, helped me care again and taught me to love again, I love her with all of my heart and I would strike down anyone who questioned that".
I hadn't realised that Lenny was holding my hand, she must have reached for it whilst I was mid explanation, I didn't remember, but it told me she was with me.
And then he shocked the shit out of us.
"Thank you for your honesty, I have never had so frank an explanation before and it gives me much to ponder on with my boss, the one upstairs not the one who pays my meagre wages, but I believe he would agree with me when I say I don't have a problem with your nominations, though I suspect there will be some who would not see it as I do, but they have to get past me and once your sponsors are noted in the records there is little they can do".
We left the church still not believing what had just happened but elated just the same.
That evening I spoke with Pip and asked her to find the best people to look at the church organ and to make them aware that the church were never to know the cost.
I called Billy as well and recounted our meeting with the priest, he was so impressed he asked if he could invite him to their wedding, he knew his cousin Tom who would be conducting the wedding would immediately take to Father Sanchez.
I agreed I'd like the opportunity to get to know this guy better.
On the day of their christenings they were being little devils, well that's not strictly true, Pete and Pauly were being little devils, they were all over the place, Beth was happy being preened until Lenny lost it, " I swear Beth, your brothers are pushing me to the limit".
At that point Lenny had burst into tears and Beth had fixed a stare on her brothers which could easily have incinerated someone, and it worked, both boys stopped dead in their tracks and crawled towards Lenny who before she knew it was being cuddled by three obedient, loving children.
"I don't know how you do it Beth but thank you, sometimes they just wear me out".
Beth just smiled.
At the church Father Sanchez spoke personally to each of the sponsors and when he got to Josh and Bryan, Lenny and I were almost in hysterics.
"Oh lord, it's the sinners, now for you two I've got some special advice, whatever you do behind closed doors is not my concern, just make sure you keep it behind closed doors and never do it in public, I have two questions, would you try to guide these children in the best possible and most honest way, through whatever life throws at them, would you help them choose the right and honourable path irrespective of how that impacts on any interpretation of the churches teachings?".
Josh responded with Bryan holding his hand.
"Without doubt, irrespective of any individuals interpretation of the churches teachings we will endeavour to lead them only down the honest and moral path".
Father Sanchez wasn't at all fazed he just smiled, "Okay, I think that went well, so let's get this show on the road".
After Father Sanchez left the room Josh and Bryan burst out laughing.
"I like that guy", Josh said, and we all agreed.
The service was beautiful, Beth went first and never made a murmur, the boys were watching intently like ninjas ready to pounce if their sister even murmured any discontent, but they followed Beth's lead and when their turn came each accepted the soaking as the priest poured holy water on their heads without complaint.
We held the afternoon celebration party at SPECTRUM and because it was a sunny calm day most of the guests congregated out on the the front cocktail terrace it was a wonderful day.
During the afternoon Father Sanchez asked if he could have a moment and we sat with him and enjoyed a quiet conversation, he was troubled and wanted to tell us why.
"On reflection following our discussion last week I was concerned that I was quite fact driven and I feel I probably came across too harshly because of the answers I was trying to uncover".
He paused for a moment.
"I've always been the same, I get a line of questioning going and I sometimes forget the subject can be difficult to discuss, I'm sorry I was so brutal, I never mean to be, it's just a drive to obtain the truth which causes me to be tactless at times".
We told him we were not upset by our discussion, okay it was a little embarrassing but at the same time, there was nothing other than fact discussed and we came away absolutely elated.
He was completely enthralled with the story of our so called twins high fiving on the scan and was convinced we were exaggerating until Lenny showed him the scan photo which she carried with her, he was just as skeptical when we told him they refused to be separated until one of the nannies took Beth inside to change her nappy and he was treated to a pair of wailing and squirming boys eager to get loose and follow Beth.
I saw the nanny coming back with Beth and said, "Watch now".
As Beth came out in the arms of her nanny she picked up on the boys distress and a short unintelligible sound from her had both boys silenced immediately.
Father Sanchez was mesmerised.
He thanked us for getting experts in to look over the old organ and asked if we could tell him yet what the final bill was likely to be as he expected there was going to be a hefty amount he would need to try and raise.
Lenny answered him, "I believe I promised a full pampering and if the old lady couldn't or wouldn't scrub up a new organ and that's exactly what is going to happen. The company we have engaged are experts in renovation and installation of large church organs and they have instructions to not disturb the character of the building. We should have their preliminary report in the next couple of days and once we have that you can decide what you want to happen".
He was completely blown away that we would shoulder the full cost and thanked us profusely.
I explained for him.
"Father we are extremely fortunate in both life and finances, we support a multitude of charities and good causes though we would both prefer that fact stays between us, so going forward we would beg you to come to us if you feel there is a cause we can help you with, if by any chance we are not available and it's urgent speak to Pip, she has the authority to approve most anything".
At that point we were joined by Ramon and Pip, Billy and Julia, Leo and Rosa, Raul and Reya were off in the distance playing with the other kids.
They all shook hands with the priest and he asked Ramon and Pip how their nerves were holding up.
Ramon told him he couldn't allow himself to be confident until Pip said 'I do' in church, so ask him again next week, we all laughed.
Billy pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Father Sanchez, "I know it's very short notice but we, Julia and I, would be honoured if you could be at our wedding, it's two weeks to the day after Ramon and Pips".
I could see Father Sanchez was touched by the invitation though his reply caused a stifled giggle from most of us.
"That is so kind of you and it happens that I have no weddings or christenings that weekend so I should be able to take a day out and join your celebrations".
Father Sanchez picked up on our giggling and asked, "Okay you lot, I sense I've just given you all a good laugh, though I don't for the life of me see why, which church is your wedding venue?".
Billy trying to suppress his laugh told him it was at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan and the service would be presided over by his late fathers cousin, The Archbishop of New York, so you may need a little more than a day off, possibly a week.
Father Sanchez was gobsmacked, he was totally blown away, but we could see the disappointment in his face,"I'm sorry Billy but I'll never swing a week off, my Bishop is non too pleased with my liberal ways and he wouldn't consider a request like that, I haven't been granted any time off in over two years, it's such a pity but at least on your day I can offer a prayer at the exact time you marry so it'll be almost as if I were with you".
Billy was not about to be thwarted and pulled out his phone dialling as he spoke, I think I may have a solution, "Is that my express check in clerk for Heaven?".
He was laughing at the response and we were only getting one side of the conversation so Billy asked if he could put his second cousin on speaker.
"Okay Tom I'm hear with a whole group of friends, there's one particular reprobate you know well and I believe he's right behind me on the list of 'who can I screw money out of this week'.
Tom could be heard chuckling.
"Hello PJ, don't believe him, I always come to you first, I know you've got a lot more money than him so you'll need to buy a whole lot more forgiveness before you're getting through the pearly gates".
We were all laughing now including Father Sanchez, Billy replied.
"Tom you old con man, you always told me I was top of your list. Anyway I've got a favour to ask, we want a young priest, Father Sanchez from the Church of San Miguel in Torremolinas Spain to be at our wedding but apparently he's rather like you, a bit of a rebel and it's doubtful his Bishop would grant him a week off to attend, I don't suppose you could ask to borrow him could you?".
"Oh I would love to, I have a particular score to settle with that crusty old grump he calls a boss, leave it with me, is he there with you, if he is I hope he's listening because he'd better bring his gear, it's not everyday you get to conduct a wedding in a Cathedral, consider it done Bud, got to run, see you all soon".
The line went dead and of all of us Father Sanchez was the one most in shock.
"Billy looked at Father Sanchez, "Sorry looks like I just lumbered you with a wedding service to do, but that's just like Tom, it saves him brushing up on the service schedule".
We established Father Sanchez was Louis, but he was panicking about how he would arrange a flight and how would he know if his Bishop would approve his leave, where would he stay, how much would it all cost because he had very meagre savings, he was a bundle of questions.
I stepped in, "You'll fly out with us on our plane, you'll stay with us at our New York Apartment, you are expressly forbidden from spending anything, and I'm betting you'll get a call before the afternoon is over instructing you to attend an audience with the AB of New York, what Tom wants Tom gets, every time. What worries me is that he'll teach you how to extort even more money out of us".
Everyone was laughing and it was no surprise when Louis phone rang, it was his Bishop stuffily telling him he had arranged a visit to New York for Louis at great cost to himself and he expected Louis to be grateful and conduct himself well, the details would be emailed to him with dates etc, he should expect to be away for up to a month, a stand in would arrive in just over a week to take up duties whilst Louis was absent, at this with no niceties or goodbyes the call was ended.
Louis was amazed but he thanked us, promised Billy and Julia he would give them a wonderful ceremony and as he left us he could be heard singing 'I'm in the money', we were all laughing loudly as he waved goodbye.
Pip was a little solemn the week before the wedding and I knew why, her parents had been alcoholic junkies who had slowly poisoned themselves to death while Pip was in university.
She'd supported herself through college and university, graduated, and on her graduation day left the ceremony early to bury her mother, her father had followed her mother about 3 months later.
She was all alone in the world living in a tiny bedsit but she'd secured a job at Woodruff and as soon as she met and stood in one day for Celia,my Grandfathers PA, she had been earmarked for a rapid rise.
Celia had immediately taken to Pip, nurtured and trained her, turning her into a first class PA, for me, and I'd been grateful to Celia every day since.
She had no relatives and the invitations had brought it home to her how large Ramon's extended family was and what she'd missed all these years.
We'd had a slightly teary moment when she asked me to give her away and I had to say no because only a few minutes earlier I'd agreed to be Ramon's best man, she seemed to deflate and just walked away before I had a chance to say anything more.
I'd called Ramon and explained, and he said very little except, leave it to me I'll take care of it.
She was at her desk a little later, looking dejected when Philipe walked in.
"And how is my beautiful soon to be daughter in law today?".
Pip looked up and promptly burst into tears.
Through tears she told him she was a mess, she had no one to give her away and it looked like she'd be walking down the aisle on her own.
Philipe wrapped her into a hug, "How wrong you are my beauty, if you could possibly consider me adequate I would be honoured to walk you down that aisle, I'd be giving you away into the arms of my wonderful son and then a few minutes later I'm doubly blessed because I get you back as my daughter in law, a part of my family".
Pip was crying as she kissed his cheek and thanked him.
Lenny took it upon herself to make sure Pip had the wedding dress to knock everyone sideways, they apparently had great fun playing off three fashion houses in Paris to see who could produce the most fantastic gown and have it ready in 7 days.
I used the one week before Ramon and Pips wedding to concentrate on getting the new plane sorted.
I'd made an offer, it was identical to our current plane with the exception of the internal trim colours which were varying greys as opposed to varying beiges in our current plane.
The offer was accepted and following Bens input I'd asked him and Charles, my grandfathers chief pilot, to put out feelers for the five additional pilots we'd need.
Bens suggestion had been to have 8 pilots, 4 on each plane which he admitted would make the rota of hours working opposed to time off a little tight but should be workable.
On reflection I'd decided I didn't want the flight crews to be stretched I wanted them as happy to be working with us as our present crew had always been so I agreed we would initially operate the two planes once we had our quota of eight pilots but we would continue to look for a further two recruits to bring us up to our optimum operating number of ten.
I'd spoken with Lenny and Leo and they agreed with me, the cost of two extra staff was negligible in the overall cost of owning and operating the planes and the feeling of safety and security it gave us was more than worthwhile.
Besides the pilots we needed, I'd decided that Pip needed a dedicated office and at least two assistants.
Lenny agreed and suggested we convert the two bedroom apartment below us into an office for Pip.
Lenny's and my lives were becoming more and more difficult to manage as time went by and Pip was spending immense amounts of time just on our travel arrangements alone.
She had so many other things to manage including our charitable donations I wondered constantly how she coped.
I'd spoken to Pip and given the usual brief about Lenny and I having to like whomever she chose then left her to set up interviews.
Leo as usual was tasked with investigating any potential employees who would be working in close proximity to family members.
Charles had suggested that we take Gramps crew and allow Gramps to use one of our planes whenever he wanted to travel.
His suggestion centred around the fact that Gramps now 86 years old only traveled on average once every month and as Charles put it his crew felt bad about taking wages for doing very little work.
Gramps called Charles in and explained, he'd been served well by his crew for many years and he thanked Charles for his concern over the cost but as an immensely wealthy person it was of no consequence and he preferred to have his plane available just as his limousine was.
I suggested that for an interim we borrow two of Gramps pilots whilst we searched out our full quota and Gramps agreed.
The conversations I'd had with Charles and later with Gramps about his plane had served to raise my awareness of Gramps increasing frailty and I found myself inventing reasons to initiate conference calls to Gramps.
It was as if I would get this panicky feeling and only seeing him would bring me back to reality but deep down I wanted to be physically near to him.
I talked to Lenny about it and she surprised me when she expressed the same feelings about her parents but she went much further, "PJ I want us to either spend more time in The States or we bring them all with us when we travel, either way we need to spend more time with them before it's too late".
I was absorbing what she'd said and almost didn't hear her next bit of news.
"PJ I've been agonising over how to bring this up, I didn't want to raise false hope and upset you if I was wrong but I got some news yesterday which is going to affect our lives and it's something we need to discuss and soon".
I knew Lenny and Rosa had been for their annual physical exams yesterday and my mind immediately went into meltdown, life had been too good we'd used up all of our credits we must be due for some bad news.
Lenny saw my expression and immediately jumped back in with, "Okay PJ, drag yourself back out of that dark pit, it's not bad news, I'm hoping you feel the same as you did the last time we were presented with this same news though this time we may be a little more prepared".
I stared at her, not understanding, trying to fathom what on earth she was talking about and then I noticed her hands were spread across her belly and she was smiling.
It was like a bolt of lightning, my mind seemed to flash back and forth over recent events, she'd been sick a couple of times, she'd refused wine at dinner, she'd been tired............, my face lit up into a massive smile with the realisation.
"You're pregnant"
Now she was almost laughing.
"PJ you defy logic, for someone who can spot a problem in business before it develops, analyse it and solve it, you don't see what's in front of your face at home, but in your defence, neither did I, it was the kids who made me think, they knew before I did".
By the time she was finished talking I had her wrapped in my arms smothering her with kisses, I couldn't believe we were so blessed and of course the questions were flying out of my mouth in a constant stream.
"Slow down I can't concentrate with all the questions so sit back and be prepared to be shocked".
I was confused until she explained.
She'd noticed it first with Beth, every time Lenny held her she squirmed her way down to lay her head on Lenny's belly and she would giggle, then the boys started to do the same thing but it hadn't registered until about a week ago when she was with Rosa up on the roof and Beth had been on Rosas lap and she'd done the same thing, she snuggled down and laid her head on Rosas belly and giggled.
Rosa was amused until Lenny said, "That's funny they all keep doing the same thing to me, it's as if they're listening to something".
Rosa and Lenny locked eyes and like a bolt of lightning realisation struck.
It was Rosa who broke the silence by saying it all fitted now, why she'd been feeling queasy and tired, Lenny had just nodded, acknowledging the same symptoms.
Both girls had done a pregnancy test and both came up positive but yesterday it had been confirmed at the clinic, Rosa was almost 4 months and Lenny was a little over 3 months.
By then I'd wrapped Lenny up in a big hug and was kissing all over her face as she laughed out loud.
"Can I take it you're okay with this bit of news then Mr Thorn?".
"You can be assured that I'm over the bloody moon Mrs Thorn, but this time no surprises let's find out how many of the little devils you are incubating in there".
She laughed at my statement reminding me that even when we thought we knew there were two of the little devils last time we were still fooled.
Lenny told me that right then in their apartment off to the side of ours Rosa was telling Leo the news.
We had been talking about the follow up Anti Natal Clinic next week when there was an ear shattering 'Yes, yes, yes, Whoooo Hooooo' coming from Leo and Rosas apartment.
Within minutes they were out of their apartment with Leo carrying Rosa who was laughing fit to burst at the antics of Leo as he twirled her around our lounge.
He ended his charade by kissing her full on the mouth and depositing her on the sofa next to Lenny, his next move was to pull me up from the sofa into a man hug, before he leaned down to plant a smacking kiss on Lenny's cheek.
There were tears streaming down his face but he was bubbling with laughter, I got two beers and two soft drinks from the wet bar and we toasted each other's good news.
I suggested we invite friends and family for an impromptu get together that evening so that we could tell them all the good news at the same time and everyone agreed.
During the afternoon I called Gramps and Lenny called her Mum then her father to share the news, Esther was all for flying out immediately but Lenny put her off insisting we would be over to see them soon for Billy and Julia's wedding assuming we had the okay from her obstetrician and we hoped to be able to find out if it was one or more this time.
Gramps had been overjoyed and asked to speak to Lenny, after a couple of minutes she had tears running down her face and I heard her say, "Oh Gramps there's no thanks necessary he's a very easy person to love".
Before ending our call Gramps asked if we could have a get together in the next few weeks as there was business he wanted to speak to me about which would be better done face to face.
I agreed I'd ask Pip to contact Celia (Gramps PA) and we'd try to set aside a few days, but I got a slight shiver and that awful feeling that something wasn't right was back.
Lenny knew as soon as I ended the call that something was wrong but she didn't press me to explain and I brushed it off with a smile but it didn't leave me.
The impromptu gathering that evening, being a Friday saw everyone who was important to all of us turn up.
Part way through the evening I asked everyone who was on the quieter balcony accessed through our lounge to join us up on the roof terrace to hear the announcements and once everyone had gathered I called for quiet.
"Thanks everyone for turning up tonight this is a joint affair and two of our gathering have something to share with you so I give you".
At this Leo and I made expansive gestures to usher forward Lenny and Rosa who proudly posed back to back already showing slight bumps.
"Yes guys Leo and Rosa along with Lenny and I are proud to announce we are expecting another child. So I'd warn anyone on water to watch how much you drink because it appears to have a magical quality in this building".
There was general laughter and plenty of congratulations.
Ramon and Pips wedding was a wonderful day.
Ramon was a complete bag of nerves waiting in the church for Pip to arrive.
When Father Sanchez indicated for the congregation to stand and the organ blasted out the wedding march, Ramon turned and there were tears in his eyes as he saw Pip, his Pip, a beautiful vision in white coming down the aisle towards him on the arm of his own beaming father.
Walking before Pip and Philipe was Raul carrying a cushion on which rested two rings.
Behind them were Lenny and Rozel and two of Ramon's young nieces as bridesmaids then two of his nephews as page boys.
The ceremony was beautiful and very moving.
Lenny and I agreed we appreciated their ceremony more than our own because we were observers who could witness every aspect, we realised now that on our wedding day we had been so fixed on getting things right we had missed a lot of the key points, this time we could relax and take it all in.
The afternoon celebrations were again at SPECTRUM and attended by around 200 guests.
Originally they had intended to have a second party in the evening but both confided they wanted to get away from that, so in our plane they flew out to Lanzarotte in the early evening.
The first ten days of their honeymoon was to be just the two of them at our home in Lanzarotte.
It had come about in a way which surprised us all.
We had been enjoying an evening at our apartment and we were all up on the roof chilling with the children playing happily together when Rosa pointed out there appeared to be a little Pow Wow going on with Raul, Reya, Zach, Lisa, Anton and Analee.
We watched discreetly and finally all four put their hands together as a sign of unity and Raul came over to where Pip and Ramon were seated.
"Poppa, you know how you said I was going to the Christmas house with you after your marry day?".
Ramon and Pip looked skeptical, hoping this wasn't him feeling rejected somehow after the Christmas episode but Ramon nodded in agreement.
"I don't want to go".
Ramon and Pip, in fact all of us were surprised, Raul always wanted to be with his father and lately he seized on any chance to be with Pip as well.
Pip leaned over and pulled him onto her lap, "Okay number two, (referring to his membership of 'Team Perez') what's this all about?, we want you with us".
Raul was leaning into Pip looking really relaxed, nothing at all like the bundle of nerves he had been in the Christmas episode and we were all still puzzled until he looked up at Pip and spoke again.
"Yeh but I'm always with you so this time I should stay here with Uncle PJ and Aunt Lenny and I'd like a brother but if it's a girl that's okay as well".
To say we were all gobsmacked would be a fair statement but Pip pushed on a little further, "Well if you don't want to come it would be alright but we'll miss you terribly you know, and what's this about a brother or sister?".
Raul wasn't fazed at all with the conversation though most of us were having a hard time keeping a straight face.
"When I decided I wasn't going with you, I asked the others what they thought and Zack reckons you might come back with a baby so I thought I'd tell you what I wanted but it doesn't matter which it is really cus I'll still have a little brother or sister, or both, that would be reeeeally cool".
At that he climbed down from Pips lap and went off to play with the others as if a totally normal conversation had just occurred.
It took about ten seconds before we all burst out laughing.
Casey and Phil had started to apologise for Zachs input but Ramon held up a hand, "Stop right there both of you, Zack has done more for Raul's confidence in the short time they've known each other than anything I could do, I don't believe they were discussing anything inappropriate, I think it was simple child logic in action and I suspect part of the wanting to stay here is because he has a support network of friends for the first time in his life and I, we, couldn't be happier".
And so it was agreed Raul would stay with us whilst Ramon and Pip spent their honeymoon in Lanzarotte.
I'd decided I would base myself in Lanzarotte for that time partly because I was a little nervous that Raul would suddenly reverse his decision once Ramon and Pip were out of sight, and partly as Lenny observed because I was bouncing off walls at the thought of our playing all sorts of games.
I indignantly reminded Lenny I was not a child to which she replied, "Only in your eyes lover, only in your eyes".
It's true I was buzzed at the thought of spending time with all of the kids and most days Phil relented to the pleading and allowed the older kids off early from lessons.
Once lessons were over the kids and I could be found up on the roof playing all sorts of games, we even had Beth, Pete and Pauly included and they had a whale of a time, so much so the nannies had us in stitches at dinner one night when they offered me ten percent of their combined wages to be entertainment manager for the kids, who had been sleeping like logs since I'd been running the rooftop fun camp.
I was completely bowled sideways toward the end of the week when Phil shared something with me.
Once a week he asked all of his pupils to give their take, their understanding, of something topical to that week.
It could be something in the news, something one of them had mentioned, anything really and this week the subject was, 'Why is everyone so eager to escape lessons each day to play games with PJ'.
I couldn't believe the answers Phil was given, some thought because I was good fun, some thought I had great ideas for new games, but the one that shocked me was apparently a collective agreement, I was honest, fair, they could trust me.
I couldn't believe it, I was devious, sometimes told not blatant lies but certainly not exactly the truth in meetings and I lost my temper if people were stupid and didn't get what I was trying to explain.
Lenny put her arms around my shoulders, "That's with adults PJ, with kids you revert to type, you're back to being a kid, no falseness, no lies, no anger just enjoyment and they can see that, it's why every kid loves you, and part of why I do too lover".
Ben Caple our Chief Pilot was taking the plane which we had agreed to call Number One to pick up Ramon and Pip and deliver them to London where we planned a couple of days with Mr and Mrs Albright who would be joining the party flying on to New York for Billy and Julia's wedding.
Plane Number Two piloted by Jimmy Rand would take our party from Malaga to London.
Raul was especially excited to be joining his father and Pip in London.
Father Sanchez was in awe of both the plane and our London home and was constantly thanking us for our generosity to the point that Lenny finally called a halt by threatening to reduce every donation he asked for in the future by ten percent each time he thanked us, (in truth she said she'd probably add ten percent because he was such a genuine and humble person) but at least it put a temporary stop to the thanks.
In London everyone wanted to experience the London Eye so I booked 21 passes but with a difference.
I'd decided for the children's benefit we would enjoy a Thames Cruise before we boarded The London Eye.
A call to the concierge, Peter Newton, of, The Woodruff London and I was assured he could make the arrangements including the special requests I'd asked for.
On the day before we left for New York everyone was told to dress warmly and be ready to leave the house at 11am, we piled into four black Range Rovers and travelled the short distance to the Thames Embankment, site of our river cruise boarding point.
Peter had done us proud, we boarded a glass topped river cruiser for the site seeing tour along The Thames.
As soon as we were on board I asked everyone to humour me and all the girls including Beth to go to the upstairs level and for all the boys including Pete and Pauly to stay on the lower level.
The moment Nanny moved towards the steps with Beth and the boys could see they were not following they started to raise a ruckus.
I called to Beth, "Beth honey, tell the boys it's okay for me would you please, it'll only take a moment and it's all in fun".
Beth gurgled something unintelligible but both boys immediately relaxed and were happy.
Once the girls were upstairs I addressed the boys, "Okay guys this is where we show how romantic we are, everyone knows it's Valentines Day in two days so I've arranged a little surprise for our ladies, each of you gets a red rose to present to someone special with a box of chocolates so collect your gifts and let's impress".
We all filed upstairs to the viewing deck and the girls were impressed as each of us presented a red rose and a box of chocolates to our someone special.
In the case of Father Sanchez he presented his offering to the nanny with a hilarious speech, "This is meant to be a symbol of love and devotion and whilst I love all of gods children and devote myself to their wellbeing you should not read anything more into it than that".
Most of us were falling about laughing at this point, and we roared even more when we saw Beth who was supposed to be presented with a sugar paste rose from both Pete and Pauly however no one had noticed them slowly devouring their supposed offering so that Beth was finally, after much persuasion, given two green chewed stalks with not a flower petal in sight, but it didn't seem to matter to her, they were presents from her brothers, that was enough to please her, and anyway she promptly handed them back, whereupon the boys greedily devoured the remainder.
Whilst we had been presenting our gifts the crew had set up the table in a banquet format and we were served a really nice meal whilst cruising the river and being given a commentary of the various places of interest.
Arriving back at the embankment we left the cruiser and again loaded into the Range Rovers for the trip to The London Eye.
I'd requested a private cabin for security and as we boarded each adult was served a glass of champagne whilst the children were served orange juice.
The rotation of the Eye which took around 30 minutes was absolutely awe inspiring, the weather had been kind, it was a crisp, cold, but perfectly clear day and for once the children were speechless, taking in all of the wonderful sights.
It was around four in the afternoon when we arrived home and everyone was beat.
Most of the adults were relaxing in the first floor lounge when Pip took a call from her office, I could hear her asking what the name of the person was and what the nature of the call was and nodding, "PJ, the office have a guy called David Phillips holding, he's asking to speak with you, he says you told him to call if he ever needed anything and you gave him an envelope containing 1000 Euros in Lanzarotte just after you bought your own plane".
I thought for a few moments then it came to me, Dave Phillips was the lead pilot of the Gulfstream V charter we used to shuttle the girls around before our wedding and to take us on our honeymoon.
"I'll take it, he's a great guy, tell them to redirect him to my phone".
A couple of minutes later my phone beeped indicating an incoming call.
"Dave is that really you, it's great to hear from you, how are things?".
Dave greeted me and apologised for disturbing me but I'd told him if he ever needed anything to call and he did have a need.
Apparently due to cutbacks he and the rest of the crew we had used were being made redundant and he was wondering if I knew of anyone who was in the market for any flight crew members, he outlined the qualifications of each, there were three pilots and one cabin crew who had just started his course to obtain his pilots license.
I couldn't believe our luck yet again, I asked where they were and if the group consisted of the same guys who we met originally and he confirmed they were all the same except the youngest member who was just starting his training but he was a really good hard working guy with a promising future. I nearly laughed out loud when he told me they unfortunately weren't near us (he was expecting us to be in Spain) they were at the base operations depot in Gatwick England.
I asked Dave to let me have a few minutes and I'd get back to him, so to stay by the phone, he agreed and thanked me.
Ending the call I turned to the others, "You guys will not believe our luck, That was Dave Phillips chief pilot with the flight crew of the Gulfstream V we used before we bought our own plane, they're available if we want them, there's one change you would need to check out Leo, but if no one has any objections I think we should grab them up before someone else does, I'll give you his number Leo, then if you're okay with them all pass him back to me".
It took Leo around 45 minutes to confirm the original members were still okay on a security sweep but the new guy raised flags.
Thomas Green had been accused but not charged with theft of an auto or motor vehicle as they called it in England, but Leo had a feeling there was more to the story when he explained the vehicle in question had been registered in Thomas's name so he couldn't be stealing it.
Leo couldn't find any other problems but that one needed answering so he suggested that as an interim bring the guy along and he'd interview him in person.
I called Dave back and asked their status, what notice would they need to work out with their current employer.
Dave told me they had a week left on their notice period but their employers were being fair and would let them go immediately if they could secure anything to their advantage.
I asked him to gather the full crew and travel up to London, I gave him the address and told him he would be met there by friendly faces, and be prepared to stay over, he said they could be in London in about two hours if that was okay and we said our goodbyes.
Leo used the time to contact a pal in Scotland Yard who gave him the full rundown on young Mr Green, apparently his father had tried to have him charged with theft of a vehicle for which his father had stood as guarantor, there was no evidence of wrongdoing, it was summed up as a vindictive move by the father and no charges were ever brought against him though the father had apparently received a police caution for wasting police time.
Almost to the minute, two hours later the crew arrived at our London house and were shown up to the lounge by Mr Albright.
As they entered a massive smile was evident in Dave's face, "I told these guys there was something fishy about wanting us to come up to London but I never guessed you would be here, it's such a pleasure to see all of you guys again and thanks for hearing us out Mr Thorn".
I was just as pleased to see them and I recognised all of them except the new guy Thomas Green.
"Guy's make yourself comfortable, Leo has one thing to complete, that's an interview with young Mr Green and then we can get down to business, Leo use my office".
Thomas Green looked absolutely terrified, Dave put an arm around his shoulders and I heard him whisper, "The full version remember, all of it and don't spare any details, Leo's a fair man, he'll make an honest judgement call and he'll only disclose what he feels is necessary, now, chin up".
Leo led Thomas away to my office and we chatted catching up on how we had all been for around an hour until Leo led a much happier looking Thomas back into the lounge.
Leo looked at me, "Complete pass, I have no concerns, you're good to go".
Thomas started to say something about shouldn't I know, but I held my hand up to stop him.
"Leo has told me what he feels is necessary, anything else is not my concern, that's good enough for me, now let's get down to business. I've had Pip prepare contracts for all of you, take a moment to read through them and I'm open to questions then Leo will run you through the security measures though I suspect most of you will remember them from when you were with us before. Thomas you will see your contract includes that you will continue your training which will be financed by us, when and if you qualify you will earn a significant increase in wages so you have something to work towards, make us proud".
Lenny asked Mrs Albright to have the staff prepare four rooms on the top floor for our new crew members, however a very red faced Dave looked at Thomas who was also blushing deeply before he corrected her.
"We only need three rooms, Thom and I share if that's okay".
Lenny smiling said, "And why wouldn't it be, three rooms it is then Mrs Albright".
The following day I came down to breakfast to find all of our crew chatting animatedly getting to know one another.
I asked Ben what time we should be ready to leave for New York and he told me they would precede us and have the planes warmed when we boarded so if we aimed to leave the house at around 2pm it should see us safely into Teterboro around 6pm local time allowing for a 30 minute stop over to stretch legs and refresh at Halifax on the way.
Another problem had been solved in finding the new flight crew members.
We were off to New York anticipating a wonderful time at Billy and Julia's wedding, life was so good, or was it?.
Life's illusions, things aren't always what they seem and they have a way of bringing you down to earth with a bump.
TBC
Constructive comments, good or bad to cfgw2000@aol.com please, headed "Life's Illusions" in the subject box.
Thanks for giving your time to read this.
Author ARB