|
|
Nick Foley maneuvered the car up the long driveway towards his house. It was almost six o'clock and he'd hoped to leave his office early today. But being the boss of Foley Foods meant that he was almost always the last to leave.
He pulled up behind a Mustang convertible parked in front of the door. The car belonged to his daughter, Patty, back from college for the long weekend. Patty's return from school was one of the main reasons Nick wanted to be home early. He missed her. Actually, Nick missed all his daughters when they were away. Some had already married and entered the working world, and even though intellectually he knew they were adults, they would always be his girls.
Entering the house, he put his briefcase down on the hallway table and tossed his coat on top of it. He turned towards the grand staircase as he heard a small voice call to him happily.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, you're home!"
He spied his little grandson at the top of the stairs. Quickly, to forestall the mad dash and a possible tumble, Nick took the steps two at a time and met the boy in the middle. Little Nicky had numerous bumps and bruises from just such occurrences.
"Slow down, pal," Nick said lovingly, as he hoisted Nicky up and held him in his arms. "What's the big rush?"
Nicky was a tow-headed four year old, with big brown expressive eyes. So like his mother's, Nick thought, but the rest of him is all his father.
The boy had never known his father. Jacob Michaels, Jr. had been killed in Vietnam before Nicky was born. It had been a great loss for both families, but most especially for his daughter, Rose and for little Nick.
He carried the child down the stairs and walked into the living room, skirting around a number of toys littering the carpet. He sat down on the couch and placed Nicky next to him.
"So now, tell me, Nicky... what's up?" Nick asked him again, almost hoping he didn't already know the answer.
"Mommy and Aunt Patty got into a big fight," Nicky informed him solemnly.
"I was afraid of this," Nick muttered under his breath.
J.J. had been buried at his family's ranch in New Mexico and Rose soon realized that Nicky would never get a chance to visit his father's grave. Rose wasn't welcome there by Jake Michaels, Sr., nor would Nick ever allow his daughter near that man again, let alone little Nicky. So this weekend they were planning a memorial ceremony for Nicky's father at the V.A. in Westwood.
Nick felt his grandson move against him and crawl up onto his lap, absently playing with his tie. It had been a new learning experience for Nick to have a baby in the house. When he adopted his daughters they'd all been school age. Even Mickey, the youngest, had been six years old. It had taken a bachelor like Nick a few years to accustom himself to having children around, and especially teen-age girls, but he'd never regretted his decision. They had brought more joy to his heart than he could have ever imagined.
But then Nicky had come into their lives. A baby had entirely dissimilar needs than older children and they'd all had to adapt their lifestyle. It had been very hectic at first, but Nick wouldn't have changed it for anything. He doted on his little grandson and now couldn't wait for more of his daughters to marry and have children.
Nick looked down at Nicky. "What's wrong, buddy?"
"Why are Mommy and Aunt Patty mad at each other?"
"Well, they're sisters and as much as they love each other, they sometimes don't always agree on certain things." Nick tried to put it on simple terms for his grandson even though the real explanation couldn't be rationalized to a four year old child. Nick knew very well the reason for the fight. That was why he hoped to be home early enough to stave off the problem.
Patty had been involved with some of the anti-war demonstrations at Berkeley. Nick was all too aware of this. He'd ended up bailing her out of jail a couple of times after sit-in demonstrations.
He'd never mentioned any of this to Rose, which was unusual in itself. Rose was the eldest, and he'd always discussed family problems with her. But since Jake had been killed in Vietnam, Nick hadn't wanted to let her know what Patty had been up to in school.
"But...?"
"But what, pal?"
"I heard my daddy's name," Nicky revealed, confused. "Why would they fight over my daddy?"
Nick was nonplussed for a moment. What could you say to a four year old about war and all its ramifications -- something that would be totally beyond the current understanding of his small world.
"There you are, my sweet boy."
Nick was grateful to hear the British voice of Clapper breaking into the conversation.
"I've just made of batch of chocolate chip cookies."
"Oh, boy." Nicky quickly slid off his grandfather's lap and ran over to Clapper. The previous conversation forgotten with the child's short attention span. "Where?"
"In the kitchen of course. Go and ask Molly."
"Okay." Nicky headed out of the living room at a run.
"Slow down, pal. They're not going anywhere," Nick laughingly pointed out to the running little boy. He then turned his attention to his friend and confidant, and sighed. "Thanks, Clapper. I wasn't sure how to explain to little Nicky the whys and wherefores of war. How bad was it?"
"Well, Guv, keeping Rose in the dark might not have been the wisest thing we've done lately."
"I think you're right. But hindsight is always 20/20, and it's too late to repair the damage now."
Nick got up from the couch and started to head out of the living room. He paused in the doorway and looked at Clapper. "I'll go see Patty first and then talk to Rose."
At Clapper's nod of agreement, Nick trotted up the stairs. He found himself in front of Patty and Mickey's room, noting that Rose's door was also closed. Over the years Nick Foley had heard many slammed doors, especially when one or another of his girls had disagreed with one of her sisters. But Nick realized that this division could be much more serious than some fight over a boy or borrowing a sweater without asking.
Nick knocked lightly.
"Who is it?" Nick could still sense the trenchant anger in his daughter's voice.
"Nick."
He heard the scraping of a chair, and then the door opened. Expecting to see an angry face on the other side, he was pleasantly surprised by the warm, welcoming expression.
"Hi, Dad." Patty reached to be enveloped in a hug from Nick. Nineteen and beautiful, Patty had grown to almost six feet. She was nearly as tall as her father.
"Hi, sweetie, how's school?"
"Oh, school's great."
"It's home that's the problem?"
Patty turned around and headed back inside. Nick followed.
The room that his two youngest daughters shared had changed little over the years, except for the posters on the walls. This year Mickey was into anything dealing with space.
"I should have stayed at school instead of coming home and making everyone miserable."
"Patty... we do important things as a family, even if we all aren't agreeing about something. You know that."
"I know, Nick... but I just made Rose so unhappy. I really didn't mean too."
"Did you tell her that?"
"No." Patty looked sheepish. "I was too angry to think straight. And we were too busy yelling at each other."
"Yeah, I know how that goes."
"I should go talk to her, huh?"
"I think that would be a good idea."
Patty left her father and went down the hall to her older sister's room and tapped lightly.
"Rose, it's me. I want to apologize."
Patty waited a few seconds.
"Try again." Patty turned and saw her father standing in her doorway. He gave her an encouraging smile. Patty gathered her resolve and knocked again.
"Rose, please, let me in."
This time Patty's pleas were answered. The door opened and Rose stood there.
"I'm sorry, Rose. The last thing I wanted to do is hurt you... especially this weekend."
Rose acknowledged her sister's words with a nod and a sad smile. "I guess I just can't understand how you could protest against what Jake gave his life for."
"It's the war we're protesting, Rose."
"Yes, but that war is being fought by men... men like Jake. How do you think they feel when you call them baby killers?"
Patty cringed. "Rose, I know Jake wasn't like that. I'm not against the soldiers... just the war."
"You can't separate the war from the men who are fighting it."
Nick quietly interjected his own opinion into the debate before it got out of hand again. "Everyone gets hurt in war... the innocent along with the those fighting."
Patty looked up at her father. "But that's why so many people are opposed to what's going on there."
"I know that, honey, and so does your sister. But we can't forget our men who did what their country asked and went to war."
Patty looked at her sister. "If you don't want me to go with you to the memorial ceremony tomorrow, Rose, I'll understand."
"Patty, I want you to go." Rose looked earnestly at her younger sister. "Can we put aside the politics for just one day and remember Jake?"
"I want to."
"Good, because I want us to do this as a family. For Jake... but most especially for Nicky."
The day was unexpectedly cloudy for a Memorial Day, but Rose knew the dreary June weather of Southern California occasionally started early. She looked around the V.A. cemetery. These grounds in Westwood had been here as long as she could remember. She often liked to walk here when she found a free period during classes, and had spent many afternoons wandering through the gravestones. The cemetery was almost right on top of the UCLA campus.
Every war was represented in this spot, including some soldiers from the Spanish American War and World War I. That was how old the park was. The gravestones all stood at attention like good soldiers on a parade ground -- white marble in perfect rows, all facing the same direction.
She was glad that Zeke Anderson had suggested this. He and a few others who'd served with Jake in Vietnam had wanted to honor him. Zeke had arranged the tribute, with help from Nick and some of Bravo Company. She knew this would help her deal with her feelings, but she wanted this especially to help her son to remember a father he had never known.
Nick and Zeke had found out about a place in part of the cemetery that had memorials to soldiers from all the different wars side by side.
It was a simple ceremony. The gravestone had already been laid a few days before. The engraving on the stone was modest.
Rose stood with her sisters, her father and her son, listening as Taps was played. The mournful sound brought back painful memories of Jake's funeral in New Mexico.
Zeke Anderson hadn't been able to make that service in Glorieta because he'd been so severely injured in the same fight that had taken Jake's life. He'd asked for leave from his current tour of duty to come. Now, in full dress uniform, this was his chance to also remember his friend and comrade.
The other men standing there had been with her husband too. Some had come from all over; some, like J.R. Jones already lived in L.A. Robert McCall had been unable to attend since he was out of the country at the moment.
Nicky had finally gotten restless waiting for the short service to finish. Rose's father had picked him up and was now holding him in his arms as the memorial came to its conclusion. Nick had given the boy a small flag to hold, and Rose marveled at how good her father had become in handling his grandson. She was grateful to him for trying to be sure that Nicky always had a father figure to help him through the rough spots.
She watched as Nicky got down from his grandfather's arms and, with the help of his Aunt Patty, placed the little flag in front of the stone. Patty also added the flowers she'd been carrying.
Rose caught sight of a man she didn't know standing off in the distance, as if he was there for the proceedings, but still a little away from it all. All she could tell was that he was a tall man with dark hair.
"Zeke? Do you know who that is?" she asked Anderson.
"Who?"
"That man over..." When she looked again, he was gone. "I thought I saw someone. Guess I imagined it."
Zeke shrugged, dismissing it as one of those things.
Rose stared at the place where the man had been standing. Strange, she thought, she was sure she'd seen someone. Whoever the man was, he'd only stayed long enough for the ceremony.
Her father had arranged a reception at their home. but Rose stayed back with Nicky for awhile, for one final good-bye to the husband she knew she would miss for the rest of her life. But she was also thankful Jake had left her with the greatest gift of all -- a child who would always be there to remind her of the man she loved.