TIME-TO-SEE-68
Jerome entered the boys' bed chamber, and seeing everyone gathered there, he asked, "Will we be making our trip to Dromoland today? I see that something of the greatest import has developed. Should I put the cars away?"
Murph and Jilder, never to be daunted, answered: "Well, not as far as we're concerned... How about you Nicky? And Sean, do you still feel like going to see the Castle Dromoland today?"
The boys were like so many cats, each exhibiting Nine Lives (or at least Nine Bursts of Energy beyond their Elders)-- and even Sean had begun to cheer up as the morning passed, and he received so much admiration and support from Murph and the other boys, and all of the dads-- all four of them.
"I be ready to go if Max and Brandy are," Sean volunteered.
"Hurray! Hurray!" the other boys cheered. We can go then... Let's go!"
Before everyone climbed into the town car, Brandy asked Jerome, "Say, Jerome, would you mind clicking a few photos of us using my cell phone camera?"
"Not at all, Sir. I'd be delighted..."
All of the bags were safely stowed in the sedan, with the exception of the puppy bed, bottles, and extra rags. The puppy bed was right between Sean and Murph in the seat just behind Jerome. Nicky got the shotgun seat. Jilder shared the side of the seat with Sean, and both pairs of dads sat comfortably in the rear and second-to-rear seats. It was a full house, to be sure, but everyone was happy and ready for the trip.
Driving across the southern part of the Emerald Isle in the summer entailed exploration of some of the loveliest scenery one can imagine. And green is no trite advertising slogan. Green meadows, quaint stone walls, and charming houses seemed to line the entire route Jerome drove from Dublin to Galway!
White sheep grazed on a rolling plane of green grass; yet another fence appeared made of piled stones, and a lovely blue sky stretched before them, where white clouds languished across the horizon.
"This island is gorgeous. And it's real!" Kevin remarked.
Max laughed at Kevin's remark, "Yes, indeed... it is real, Kevin..."
Jerome drove on steadily past yet other lovely clouds: these being pink and floating above gentle, green carpeted hills dancing with irregular profiles and sloping down to grassland meadows that cradled little ponds of clear, bright water. Low bushes and tall grasses ventured right into the waters of the ponds.
"Dad," Sean called. "I think I need to make some more formula for the puppy. He finished the last bottle almost completely. The next time he's hungry, I know I'll need more formula."
"Well, son, you have everything you need to mix it, don't you?" Brandy said.
"Yes, Sir. But I'm afraid I'll spill something on the car seats if we hit a bump or somethin..." Sean answered.
"Well, let's see. Perhaps it is time for us to consider stopping with our picnic basket," and Max turned to inquire with Hugo and Kevin.
"Oh, sure! Fine. I'm ready for some lunch." Hugo said
"Me too," Kevin concurred. "It was really nice of Matilda to prepare a picnic lunch for all of us."
"Matilda has a good heart, and she's just about the best cook ever, even if she does find it's a bit difficult to hear these days," Brandy commented.
"Fine. Then we're all agreed: we'll stop for some lunch and to let Sean mix more formula for his new puppy..."
"By the way, Sean. Don't you think that you should be considering names for the puppy? Everybody needs a name, even puppies," Max said.
"Yes. Sir. I been thinking about that, and I decided just last night that the puppy's name is Spirit, 'cause he's the spirit of love," Sean replied.
"My what a fine name you found,' Brandy said. "And how may I ask did you find that name?"
"Well, I been thinking about it for a few days, and then last night I spoke to papa, and he agreed that Spirit would be a good name too."
"Papa? I'm afraid I don't recall who that would be..." Max said.
"Uh. I didn't know him either until last night. He's Kevin's grandpa. He came to visit me with me mum and dad, and we talked and I decided that I wanted you and Brandy to be my new dads-- forever-- and I decided the puppy's name is Spirit..."
Max looked at Brandy, and Brandy looked back at Max, and they both sat not knowing quite how to respond to what Sean had just said.
Then, although stunned by Sean's candidness, Max said, "Well, Sean, I'm so very happy that you want Brandy and me for your dads; because we both certainly do want you to be our son-- forever," and he leaned forward in the car and gave Sean a kiss on the head.
Brandy reached up and squeezed Sean's shoulder and said, "I am really happy that you want us for your dads too, Sean. We'll try to be the best dads a guy could have..."
"Oh, you are! Brandy. You and Max are super! I'm always happy when I'm with you, and I know you won't hurt me..." Sean said.
"Oh, goodness, Sean," Brandy said, "We would never, never do that... And now we have TWO wonderful sons... Murph and Sean! We are two very lucky guys, aren't we, Max?"
Max smiled at Brandy and leaned over to plant a kiss on his mouth... "This has been our best summer yet."
Murph turned back toward Max and Brandy and said, "And don't forget me, Dad; I'm your son too..."
"Oh, my, Murph," Brandy responded, "How could we ever forget you... YOU have helped put our family together properly, ever since you came to visit this year... I don't know what we're going to do when you have to go back to America..."
"Humm?" Murph thought for a moment, his eyes turned up, then he said: "Maybe I won't go back to American. I don't want to leave my big brother." And he looked at Sean and smiled. Sean smiled back in appreciation...
"Well, we've got a lot of time before we have to deal with that," Max said. "Let's enjoy the summer, and then think about what we'll do after that..."
On the most beautiful of summer days, there can be a dark thunder cloud that wafts across the sky and tells us life must move on, inevitably. Life is new at every instant, however... Enjoy every moment, for the game changes, often when one is least expecting it.
Jerome announced, "Alright, gentlemen. I believe I've found a turn-off to that little lake over on the left, the one with a grove of trees on one side."
"That looks marvelous, Jerome," Max said. "Alright, boys, get your things together. We'll all be helping to set up the picnic lunch."
And the town car bounced comfortably over the ruts of a dirt lane that led from the main road to the lake. In moments the boys were jumping out of the car like popcorn out of a kettle.
"I need some warm milk to mix the formula," Sean said.
"Yeah. I sure hope Matilda and Jerome packed some..." Murph added.
And walking over to Jerome, Sean asked: "Jerome! Do you have any warm milk that I can use to make puppy formula?"
"Why yes, Master Sean, I thought about that before we left home. I brought 4 gallons of fresh milk, and some of it is warm. Go to the back of the towncar, open the lid-- it's unlocked--and sort through the containers; they're labeled."
"Oh, thank you, Jerome. You are a prize," Sean said, at which point he turned and hurried back over to the car. Just as he opened the lid and reached for the milk, the sedan rolled up behind him. The other driver, Jimmy, parked and let himself out to join everyone for lunch.
"Hi, Jimmy. You hungry?" Sean asked.
"Oh, I am a wee bit in need of food, yes, yes indeed" Jimmy replied.
"Good. We'll all have the picnic together. Before we start eating though, I'm going to mix some puppy formula," Sean said.
Then Jimmy commented, "My, but caring for that puppy is a major job for you."
"Yes, Sir. He eats all the time, when he's not sleeping. And that means he needs a lot of food." Sean answered.
"I'm sure you're right," Jimmy said, and then he walked over to where Jerome was spreading out the blankets and laying out the food. "Matilda fixed a LOT of food! Do you need any help?"
"Just put these cups and napkins around, and I think we can all sit down," Jerome said.
Meanwhile, the boys were focused on opening the tin of prepared puppy formula in powdered form and measuring the proper amount of milk into each bottle. Then Jilder spooned just the prescribed amount of powder into the bottles, Sean added the milk, and Murph screwed on the nipples and caps and shook each bottle. And Nicky began searching for an empty box to hold all the mixed bottles.
Sean then went back to the town car and picked up the puppy who was beginning to squirm and squeak, the signal that he was ready for lunch too.
Everyone settled onto the three blankets that Jerome had prepared, and Brandy began passing the food around, seeing that everyone had a chance to sample each of the dishes Matilda had prepared."
Nicky said, "How are you going to eat, Sean? It takes two hands to feed the puppy."
"Yeah.... Hum???" and Sean thought. "After you finish eating, would you mind feeding Spirit? Then I can eat too," he asked.
"We're callin him by his name now?" Nicky commented... "Sure. I like to feed him... Looooook at him, he sucking so hard. He must really be hungry,"
"Yes. Spirit seems really hungry all the time. And can you tell he's gotten a little bigger than he was in the pet store?" Sean asked.
"Yeah, but it takes a long time for a puppy to grow up," Nicky replied.
"Well, I'm hoping he'll grow up enough that he can start eating food out of a bowl, and I won't have to give him a bottle. This bottle feeding will be okay for a while, but all I do is feed Spirit!" Sean said...
"Yeah. Well, when he's a big dog, you don't have to do much. We just put food in our dogs' dishes and water in their water bowls, and they run in and eat it all up in no time... It's amazing how fast they eat... And our dogs will try to steal each other's food if we aren't careful. How big will Spirit get?" Nicky asked.
"Well, an Alaskan Malamute is a stocky dog with lots of muscles. He can pull sleds in the snow, and he loves to play out when it's cold. See how thick his coat is? When he's big it'll be really thick and warm..."
"And the pet store owner said he'll be really friendly and like to wrestle with me.... You notice that Spirit is almost entirely white. He has that little bit of dark fur on top of his head, between his little triangle shaped ears... Some Malamutes are almost all black but with a little white." Sean explained...
"How did you get to know so much about Alaskan Malamutes?" Nicky asked.
"I just listened to the pet shopkeeper. He knew a lot of stuff about Spirit, and he said I could bring him back when he was bigger, and he'd help me get Spirit his shots and de-wormed and stuff..." Sean said.
"How can he have worms?" Nicky asked? "All he eats is milk?"
"I don't know? But the pet shopkeeper said he had to be dewormed? I'll ask him," Sean said.
"We could go on the internet and ask Google," Nicky replied.
"We can?"
"Sure! I'll show you how" Nicky said.
"Oh, would you? That would be super. I could read a lot about Malamutes I bet." Sean speculated.
"Yeah! You might find a lot of interesting stuff you like, and probably pictures too...," Nicky reassured Sean.
"Boys! Nicky, Sean... you should be serving your plates... we won't be able to stay here forever... You need to eat." Max called over to them.
"Yes, Sir!" Sean answered. "Be right there." And then he turned to Nicky, "Would you fix me a plate along with yours, and then we can switch jobs eating and feeding Spirit... If you don't mind.."
"No. That'll work. Come on..." Nicky replied.
And the two boys went over to the blankets where the picnic was spread out.
"Jilder, will you pass me the bread," Kevin asked.
When lunch was finished, the boys were ready to play. Murph and Jilder ran down to the pond and began tossing stones to skip across the top of the water.
"Dad?" Sean looked at Max. "Would you finish feeding Spirit; so I can go down to the water with everybody?"
Max looked a little stiff, but there was no way he was going to turn Sean down. "Uh? Of course, son. Just show me how it's done. I don't want to hurt Spirit."
Sean said, "Here. Just hold the bottle like this; so that the milk is always in the nipple. And don't let him get any air! That will give him a stomach ache the pet shop owner said." And Sean passed Spirit to his dad and in a flash ran down to the pond with the other boys.
Jilder and Murph were in a contest to see who could toss their stones the farthest.
Nicky arrived and tried his hand, but his first toss fell far short of Jilder's last try. The smaller Murph was a close second to Jilder. When Sean arrived he very carefully selected a stone from the edge of the pond. He made sure it was flat, rather disc shaped, and he wound up his arm and let the stone sail out across the water easily besting Jilder's efforts.
Murph and Nicky cheered. "Wow! You're good!" Murph said. "How did you learn to do that?"
Sean didn't say a word but wound up and allowed a second disc shaped stone to sail out over the water, even exceeding his first shot. When the stone came close to the water's surface, it skipped and skittered across the surface finally sinking, and it was very nearly at the other side of the pond! That got everyone's attention.
Jilder said, "I don't know how you do that, Sean. How do you make the rocks sail so far?"
Sean remained silent and focused on his tasks of selecting smooth and disc shaped missiles and then positioning them just so in his right hand; then he'd wind up like a baseball pitcher and launch the stone.
"That is pretty astonishing, Sean" Max called down from the blankets where the adults sat. "Are you planning to play American baseball? With an arm like that, you could be quite successful, I'd say."
"No, Sir," Sean yelled back to his dad. "I used to toss stones in a lake near my house, and I was the best tosser in my school."
"Well, you certainly have one powerful right arm... Humm? Perhaps we should set you up with some tennis lessons when we get to Castle Dromoland. They have all sorts of entertainments for young people, and I'm sure they have sports pros to help out too."
"Tennis?" Sean yelled back..."I've never played that before. Don't we need a racket?"
Max replied from the distance, "Oh, I'm sure there will be plenty of equipment for us to use. Just save that arm. I think you'll be quite good at tennis."
Turning to Hugo and Kevin, "Have your boys ever played tennis?"
Kevin spoke up first, "Well, the short answer is no. But the longer one is that we have systematically tried to moderate their physical exertion because of the steel bars in the boys' chests. I know it sounds like a 'cop out', but really it isn't. The boys are doing remarkably well with the retainer bars in their chests, but there are limitations. And a few quiet months now will mean many active and robust times in the future. We just have to help the boys to be patient," Kevin said.
"Oh, my goodness, I forgot! Forgive me." Max said. "I didn't mean to aggitate them, but rather only to entice them with sport that I'm sure boys their ages would adore."
"Well, you're absolutely right, but I'm sure there will be some less strenuous activities that Nicky and Jilder can pursue, and leave the tennis and such to Murph and Sean. I certainly agree: Sean has an astonishing ability and strength in that right arm. I look forward to seeing him try tennis himself... Maybe I'll even play a set or two with him," Kevin said.
"Sir, I believe we ought to pack the car again and be on our way," Jerome said. "We want to arrive at Dromoland before dark, and although it isn't that far, we need plenty of time if the trip is to be leisurely."
"I haven't been paying attention to the time, Jerome. Of course, you're right. I'll walk down to the water and tell the boys we have to be on our way..."
And in no time at all the boys had finished their frolicking at the water and run back up to reclaim their seats in the town car. Sean went to retrieve the puppy from Max, and he found that Spirit was sound asleep (yet once again) having finished his nursing with his Max...
It was a refreshing break and would allow the youngsters to finish the trip without suffering.
In no time at all, both cars were packed and back on the road to Galway.
Next stop Castle Dromoland...