"I don't think it would be fair to Jilder to hold him back just because Nicky won't be ready to go back to classes for another semester." Kevin said.
Hugo was sketching at the kitchen table while Kevin was cooking. Hugo answered, "So you think Jilder should start this August when we originally planned for both boys to begin....?"
"Well, yes... unless you can think of something that I didn't think of..." Kevin said.
"Maybe it will be better if Jilder begins on his own and develops his own identity at school without the connection to Nicky developing right away," Kevin added.
"Well, I don't think that would have been any particular problem," Hugo answered.
"Neither do I, Babe, but I'm just trying to think of Jilder. He needs to move along at his own rate, whether Nicky can keep up or not. It would ultimately be destructive to those two if we gave the impression that we thought they had to do things alike or even together... unless it works out comfortably for them to do something at the same time.... Don't you think?" Kevin asked.
"Oh, I see what you're gettin at. I'd never really thought about it, but I suppose you're right. In my own mind I don't think of them as being competitors, but--on second thought, them being boys-- they'll probably INVENT ways to compete. We won't need to encourage that sort of thing... especially in school," Hugo said.
"Well, then it's okay if I go ahead and submit Jilder's paperwork for the Fall and tell Nicky that we want him to stay out for another semester?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah! I agree. Just let me know what I'll have to sign, okay" Hugo said.
"Good. We're on the same page then," Kevin said as he stopped by the table on his way to the sink and gave Hugo as quick kiss on the forehead.
"But what will we do with Nicky? You can't stay home with him. Your semester begins in just days, and I suppose I ought to ask Dr. Kavenaugh whether it would be okay for me to go back to work too," Hugo said.
"As for Nicky, I'm thinkin about taking him to campus with me and entering him in the University School that's is run by the University's Department of Education, where he will get schooling, but he won't be in a big class, maybe 3 or 4 other kids, whoever they have as guinea pigs this semester. It'll be more like home schooling, except I won't have to do it, and he'll have a transcript to carry with him to Summerdale when we do transfer him.
Kevin explained further, "He'll be on campus with me while Jilder is at school himself. Then when the second semester rolls around, we can transfer him into Jilder's school.... Do you think that would work, Babe?" Kevin asked.
"I don't know, Kev. Have you checked to see whether the dates work out? I can imagine coordinating the two boy's schedules with yours would be a nightmare... Ya think?" Hugo stopped again to look at Kevin.
"Well, you've got something there. But we've got to try to do something with Nicky until he can go to regular school. I can't stay with him myself, and you need to concentrate on your life too... We just have to work it out somehow..." Kevin said.
"Anybody home?" Jake called over the fence through the kitchen window.
"Yeah! We're here." Kevin shouted out to Jake.
"We really ought to get Jake his own keys to the house. Good God. The man is nearly a family member..." Kevin said to Hugo as he headed to the door into the garage where he would let Jake in...
"Oh, my goodness. They're all here!" Kevin called in to Hugo.
"Yep! The whole tribe..." Craig replied.
"Doggie.... (jabber, jabber...)," from Dillon.
"You bet, Tiger," Kevin said as he went over to Jake and gave Dillon a kiss on the nose.
"He's been driving us nuts talking something about "doggie"... God only knows what he's trying to say..." Craig said
Kevin said, "Okay, you guys know the way... Feel free to take Dillon out in the back yard. All the dogs are out there now... Whatever you wanna do... Hugo is in the kitchen doing some sketching, and I'm with him cooking and driving myself nuts thinking about what we're gonna do with the boys now that Nicky can't go back to school with Jilder..."
Jake commented, "Oh, yeah! I knew that problem would develop inevitably... One thing in your favor, both of those boys are bright and flexible. I think they'll be ready to do whatever you suggest is best for them right now."
"Doggie.... (jabber, jabber)" Dillon added, animated waving his hands and nodding his head...
"Okay, Kev," Jake said. "I think I gotta go out back with Dillon or we'll hear about doggie all night until we do..."
"(jabber, jabber...)" Dillon said as he ran to the back door that lead out into the backyard...
"Craig, would you take a look at these preliminary sketches and let me know what you think," Hugo said.
"I was talking again to the VP of Advertising for the National Museum of Marine Biology, and he said that they wanted mega art to display in the atrium of the mall." Craig returned.
"What do you think he means by mega art?" Hugo asked.
"Well, if you recall the atrium of that mall is maybe 4 stories high. I know that he's thinking something suspended from the ceiling hanging down 3 or 4 stories," Craig said.
"Hummm? And the theme of the event is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, is that still right," Hugo replied
"Yeah! And their budget is around $40-50,000." Craig added.
"Do you think they'll want to own the artwork?" Hugo asked.
"I can't say at this point. That hasn't been discussed so far," Craig answered.
"Well, maybe you can help me decide what we can do... Here... look at these sketches" Hugo said.
Hugo went on, "Here are some possibilities... Let's say we create a gigantic submarine out of Styrofoam and light wood framing. We could suspend the sub in a diving mode, nose slanted down toward the floor. Then we could create a bright purple and yellow Styrofoam octopus or giant squid with some of its tentacles wrapped around the nose of the sub and others dangling down further toward the floor. Maybe some schools of smaller, colorful, luminous fish (fuchsia pink and lime green and bright turquoise) lighted with twinkling lights and in clusters suspended at various levels around the sub and the octopus. Then we'll have two divers slowly rising and falling, jabbing at the squid, complete with diving suits and air bubbles escaping from them... We can use bubble machines to generate the bubbles almost non-stop. Then as the bubbles float down to the floor the children will have something to catch. And we can suspend the divers on invisible cables that constantly raise and lower them near the giant squid.." Hugo suggested as he leafed through his sketch book.
"And just where in the hell will we build those monstrosities? I can't imagine where we could construct all of those figures, as large as they would have to be..." Craig responded.
"Yeah. I don't have a solution to that one just yet, but we could make them in sections and then assemble them in the atrium before we hoist them up into position," Hugo said.
"And what if those fucking things fall! We're screwed," Craig said.
"Well, yeah... but can't we just make them secure enough to eliminate the risks-- or at least minimize them?" Hugo asked.
"Of course we'd have to... I just have never constructed anything, much less something as extensive as these figures would be..." Craig said.
Hugo went on, "Now, we could fabricate long columns--maybe from ropes 60 feet long-- of seaweed looking vegetation built around the ropes that hang from the ceiling all around."
"Craig, Down at near floor level, you could incorporate real vegetation and flowers that emulate underwater vegetation. The tables in the bar and restaurant would be decorated with these same flowers and seaweed sprays. And the entrances to both places could be decorated with a normal sized diver in a diving suit, some vegetation, and maybe an open trunk with simulated jewels and gold bullion strewn around it..."
"Good, God! Hugo. You really are extravagant... First we do things so BIG I can't imagine where in the hell we'll do the work. Then you plan floor level decorations that alone will take weeks to create..." Craig said.
"It's awesome, but I just wonder, Can we do it?" Craig said...
"I don't see why not," Hugo said clearly deeply immersed in his drawings of every facet of the whole affair: details of the schools of fish, diving suits, treasure chest of gold and jewels, table decorations with sprays of simulated seaweed and brightly colored sea anemones, and, of course, the immense submarine which would be lit with myriad twinkling lights like those seen in typical Christmas decorations.
It was a magnificent concept.
"Yeah... but they'll want to feel like they're gettin their fifty-grand's worth..." Hugo said.
"You can be sure of that," Craig said. "Now I go along with everything you've proposed, except I cannot buy it as a practical matter until we come up with a location to do the construction..." Craig said.
"Yeah. This is a problem," Hugo conceded...
"Let me think about that one," Hugo said.
"Okay, But we really can't take too terribly long putting together our proposal... Maybe two weeks?" Craig said.
"Oh, sure. I understand," Hugo said.
"Hugo!" Jilder shouted as he burst into the kitchen from the backyard.
"The dogs went pee pee all over Dillon!" and he doubled over laughing as he fell into the breakfast booth.
"What??" Hugo said... "You're kiddin?" as he hurried over to the back door himself only to see Jake carrying Dillon rather gingerly at arm's length out in front of him as he headed back to the kitchen door.
Dillon was smiling from ear to ear flailing his arms and telling anyone whose attention he could get, "Dogs pee pee... dogs pee pee"
Clearly he didn't feel that he was being treated poorly. On the contrary, he was delighted to be able to report on the bathroom habits of our dogs...
"Yuk! Did we bring a change of clothes, Craig?" Jake called as he walked in dangling Dillon out in front of him like the kid would drip on him if he were less careful.
"Oh, sure, Hon. Let me run to the car. I didn't bring anything in, but I brought plenty," Craig said.
"You can put him down on the floor, Jake, or directly in the bath tub," Hugo said. A little dog pee on the floor won't kill any of us. When you're finished I'll just freshen the place up with a little soap and water. We'll live. Dog pee won't kill you...
"I just didn't plan on this one," Jake said.
"Who the hell plans on ANYTHING their kids get into?" Hugo answered back. We sure didn't plan on Nicky doing a swan dive at the whale pool on a tile floor... You just do the best you can..."
Dinner was finishing up and everyone was migrating into the family room. Jilder had taken over watching and playing with Dillon. The two of them were just delighted with each other.
"I'll be serving organic blue berries in flan in the family room in just a few minutes. Who wants coffee, Craig? Jake? Hugo?" Kevin called from the kitchen.
"Coffee for me, please," yelled Jake. "Me too," Craig said. "Kevin, can I come in there and give you a hand with anything?" Craig asked.
"Oh, no. I have it all under control. Hugo, Do you want coffee?" Kevin called again.
"Yes, Hon..." Hugo answered.
"Just berries with no flan for Dillon. I think he can handle them better with his fingers sitting on the floor," Craig called back to the kitchen.
"I'm on the way..." with that Kevin rolled a cart with a huge bowl of fresh blueberries on the top, a large bowl of chilled flan, and a pot of coffee with serving bowls, and cups and saucers stacked on the bottom shelves. He had two glasses of lemonade for Jilder and Dillon.
"Here, Dillon, you can eat these," Jilder said as he put Dillon's berries in front of him on the floor. Jilder even wrapped a kitchen towel around Dillon; so he could drop the berries without messing himself up.
Everyone was served and sitting around eating and talking... Jake and Craig sat together on the sofa, and Jilder fussed over and entertained himself with Dillon on the floor.
"Babe, did you and Craig think of a place where that new project can be constructed?" Kevin asked Hugo.
"No, we haven't. But I'm not writing it off. I really haven't gotten started searching..."
Jake said, "Hugo. Do you remember that old warehouse where the hospital kept supplies and small furniture items? It's the one over on Winston Street two block from the hospital."
"Yeah, sure. I've been there a dozen times," Hugo answered as he shoveled blue berries into his mouth.
"Well, the hospital is in the process of emptying that structure because they intend to remove it and replace it with a larger warehouse for all hospital supplies and equipment," Jake said.
"Yeah?" Hugo said.
"I think that it will be empty for about a month before the new building begins; so you might be able to rent that place to construct your props for this next project. Now I don't know, but I'm sure they would certainly give you priority consideration, given your celebrity status and the fact that you'll be returning to work there eventually," Jake said.
"Hum? I've got to look into that. It would be perfect for creating the submarine and stretching out the sixty foot ropes to create the seaweed, and all the other things... Yeah. Come to think of it, that would be a super place to work." Hugo said.
"Hugo?" Craig asked.
"Yeah?" Hugo looked up as he spoke.
"I just realized that the tattoo that you used to have on the back of your neck is gone!" What happened, Craig asked enthusiastically.
"Well, duh, I had it removed," Hugo said.
"With so much going on, I hardly noticed that it was gone," Craig said. "I think you look very handsome without any ornaments on your body... Unless Kevin had you tattoo some little things on your balls that we don't know about!" Craig kidded him.
"Okay. Okay!" Hugo replied smiling.
"No, it was a private thing for me. Just before the operation to see whether Dr. Kavanaugh's team could have me hearing again, I really wanted to hear. But I thought about my life, having Kevin and the boys, and I knew that I already had a perfect life, whether I could hear or not. I told God that I understood that He had blessed me more than I could possibly have asked or dreamed for. I told Him that whether or not He allowed me to hear, that I wanted to say thank you for the wonderful life I had... I told Him that I understood that I'd gotten the tattoo when I was mad at Him for allowing my parents to go back to Mexico and leave me and Jilder here alone. But I wasn't mad at him any more, and I felt foolish for acting so childish when I was in pain; so I told Him that I was having the tattoo removed to say thank you, whether the operation was successful or not. I just made good on my promise, Craig, that's all." Hugo explained.
"Oh, Hugo, I don't know what to say..." Craig replied.
"You don't have to say anything, Craig. I'm happy you noticed. That means God must have noticed by now too..." Hugo said displaying his happiness.
Jilder walked up to Hugo, picked up his hand and whined out a request, "Can we go to the hospital now? I miss Nicky," Jilder said.
"It's almost eight. I can leave the dishes for later," Kevin said. "We can all go over to the hospital in one vehicle."
"Sure, little one," Hugo kidded Jilder... "If you're ready, we are too. Just give everybody time to get organized and into the car. You ought to think about going to the bathroom first too... I don't guess we can interest Dillon in a bathroom break yet, right?" Hugo turned his head and asked directly of Jake.
"Nope. Sorry, not yet... I wish...believe me..." Jake replied.
"You don't mind me transferring some of our Dillon support gear from our car to yours then?" Craig asked.
"Of course not, the car is unlocked. You can open the main garage door to go out to the Bronco any time you like," Kevin said.
In very short order everyone was piling into the SUV, Dillon jabbering and pointing nowhere in particular while he yelled "Doggie, Doggie?"
"No. Dillon. We're not going to take the doggies. We're going to the hospital to see Nicky now. The doggies have to stay at home." Jake told Dillon.
And in what seemed like only minutes everyone was pilling out of the SUV into the parking structure and then heading toward Nicky's hospital room.
Of course Jilder was the first to burst into Nicky's room, with no attempt to be quiet or announce our visit with a request to come in... Nope, Jilder gave it the old Jilder-One-Size-Fits-All-Occasions approach...
"Hi! Nicky... How're you feelin?" Jilder was saying before he had even entered the room entirely.
"Hi, Jilder." Nicky said, "I'm OK..." not particularly convincing, but no acute suffering was evident.
"Aw! Nick. I hope you'll be feelin better soon. Are you gettin enough sleep?" Jilder asked.
"Thanks Jilder. Yeah! I sleep when I feel like it. It's just that my sides are really sore, like more than the last time. I think it's just going to take a little while to heal some more," Nicky answered.
Jilder leaned over Nicky in the bed and gave him a kiss on the forehead and a gentle hug touching both of his shoulders.
"Hi, Nicky," Kevin said right behind Jilder with another kiss and a hug and a brush of his hand through Nicky's ever billowy red hair. No one would say such a hurtful thing, but Nick's hair made him look like a candidate for the Ronald McDonald role in the TV ads.
"We were missin you tonight at supper. Everybody wanted to come to see you..." and Kevin looked up at Jake who was carrying Dillon... "Well, maybe Dillon would have been just as happy to stay at home with the dogs..." Kevin said smiling.
Jilder interrupted, "Nicky! The dogs peed on Dillon, and Dillon thought it was funny! He didn't cry or do nothin at all..." and Jilder doubled over laughing.
"Did they, Dad?" Nicky asked Kevin?
"Ohhhhh! Yeah. They soaked him for sure. And Dillon did laugh and think it was great fun," Kevin said.
Nicky started laughing and then stopped himself, "Ohhhh! It hurts to laugh... Which Dog peed on him?" Nicky asked.
"It was Hugo's dog!" Jilder yelled and pointed at Hugo as though Hugo were some how culpable.
"Wait a minute! Don't look at me... I didn't pee on Dillon, and I didn't tell the dogs to do it either. They thought it up on their own!" Hugo said.
"No fare, Hugo... YOUR dog did it. You are responsible. You tell US that we're responsible if the dogs tear something up; so YOU must be responsible too..." Jilder was super delighted to catch Hugo in an exception to his "responsibility mantra."
"Well, yeah. If you KNOW that the dogs might do something, you have to think ahead and prevent them from doing it. But, JILDER, did you ever think the dogs would PEE on Dillon??? Or on ANYBODY, for that matter?" Hugo tried to defend himself.
"Doggie pee pee" Dillon interrupted the conversation waving his hands and smiling...
Hearing Dillon, Nicky bent over in his bed, buried his head in his pillow, held his sides and laughed as much as he dared... "Oh, oh, oh, ..." Nicky sputtered trying to laugh without hurting himself..
Kevin put his hand on Nicky's back and rubbed him lovingly, patting him, saying, "Don't hurt yourself, Nicky... There's plenty of pee left for you when you get out..."
And that did it, Nicky laughed even harder and if there were any truth to the maxium that laughter is the best medicine, Nicky was getting a double dose tonight. There just couldn't be happier families in San Diego County tonight than these two couples and their children.