"So where're we going today?" Jack asked. Each couple had their own cab so there was currently six cabs all heading in the same direction.
Claire turned her head from the window to glance at Jack for a moment before turning back to watch the city. "Uh…first we're going to take a boat out to Ellis Island and visit the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island, then we're coming back to the mainland for lunch, then we're thinking about walking around a bit- seeing the malls, central park, maybe." She looked back and smiled. "That okay?"
Jack nodded his head, "Yeah, sure!" He said enthusiastically. "I've always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty- up close."
"Really?"
"Yeah. My grandfather used to tell me stories about it when I was a kid." He leaned back on the chair, reminiscing. "He said when he was crossing over from Ireland, the moment he saw the Statue of Liberty and he stepped foot on Ellis Island, he knew he was free."
"Free from what?" Claire asked.
"Poverty, hunger…" Jack looked at her. "The potato famine had left our family homeless and hungry, and they only had a enough money to send one family member through for passage to America. They chose my grandfather because he was the eldest child and the strongest." Claire looked at him and found that same look she had found the night before- the look of deep sadness. She took his hand, entwining her fingers with his, and urged him to continue. "He uh…he found a job as a fisherman for this New York fishing company, or something, down at the harbor. It was easy for him, though, because he did a lot of fishing down in Ireland." Jack turned his face away from her and looked out the window on his side of the car. "It took him two years to raise enough money to have his whole family brought here to America. It was worth it, though." He turned back to her and looked her in the eyes. "When they came, they brought with them a homeless girl the family had taken as their own." A bright smile graced his features, "Once she and my grandfather met, it was like love at first sight, you know?" Jack smile was infectious and Claire soon found herself smiling. "It took another few years but she and my grandfather were able to raise enough money to get married, move to Minnesota, buy a cabin by a lake, and live the rest of their life in peace."
"Happy ending?" Claire asked.
Jack broke their gaze and instead turned to look at the floor. "Not really." He muttered, almost to himself. That's it. Claire thought. Something happened to his grandparents. She came to the conclusion that that was where that sad look came from. Sensing some lonesome vibes coming from his direction, she opted to changed the subject and reserve that discussion for another time.
"So…" She jerked at his hand gently to get him to look at her, "…is there anywhere specific that you want to go? After we return to the mainland?"
Grateful at the change of subject, Jack contemplated for a minute. He purposely made a funny face while thinking just to get a laugh out of Claire- which worked, obviously. "Dork!"
"Nerd!" He retorted. Then addressing her question, he answered, "No, not really. Let's just walk around."
"Okay!" She responded, like a five-year-old.
The next eight hours were spent buying tickets for the ferry over to the island, actually going to the island and touring the area, checking out the Statue of Liberty, and buying souvenirs. Michael and his girl Lexa were, obviously, shooting video and taking pictures all over the place, while the rest of them just walked around and enjoyed themselves. Jack and Claire were the only ones who braved and endured the twenty-two-story climb to the statue's crown. Once they got there, the view was spectacular! Jack was able to coax Michael and Lexa into giving him several roles of film so he and Claire spent about an hour at the statue's crown taking pictures of the Manhattan skyline and each other. Once they reached the ground again, the two of them decided to do some shopping at the local gift shops. After about an hour of purchasing whatever they wanted, they went to take a tour of the Immigration Museum. During the tour, Jack was actually able to locate his grandfather in one of the pictures that was hung up on the wall.
"Look! There he is! He's the eighth one from the right in the bottom row." He pointed out a young man in the picture that looked a lot like him. Claire pointed out the likeness,
"He looks a lot like you."
"I know. Isn't he handsome?" Jack said, a smug look playing across his features.
Claire smiled and cuffed him on the shoulder. "Shut up!" She said with a laugh. She took the picture's picture and then took another one with Jack in it. He crouched low to the ground so that his head was next to his grandfather's picture. Claire thought it was the perfect shot. After the tour concluded, She and Jack once again went souvenir shopping only for about half an hour this time. At about 3:30, everyone met up at the ferry dock and they all took a ride home.
"Damn, Jack! You didn't have to buy the whole, freakin' island you know?" Chris commented when he saw the number of bags Jack was carrying. "Or are you just trying to get more money off of Tommy?" He asked with a smile.
"Naw!" Jack yawned and shook his head as he slumped against the seat. "Half of these are my girl's." He put the bags on the floor, stretched the left side of his body, then picked them up again. He couldn't quite stretch the right side of his body considering Claire was dozing off on that shoulder.
"Tired?" Michael asked from behind the camera as he approached.
"Hell, yeah!" Jack answered wearily. "You would be too if you climbed twenty-two stories of stairs to the top of one tall-ass statue!" Michael, Chris, and Claire all laughed. "It was worth it, though." He said quietly. Claire nodded slightly into his shoulder, eyes still closed.
Once they returned to the mainland, they decided to quickly drop off all their stuff at the hotel before heading to a local bar and grill for lunch. As soon as all of them had had their fill, they started walking around the city. While they were still at the hotel, Michael and Lexa took the opportunity to refresh their load of film- for both the video camera and the still-shot camera. Now, they were working their film with a vengeance.
As the group made it down Sherwood Ave., Jack pointed out the construction site to a rather gigantic building. "Look!" He exclaimed, pointing to the mass of steel and concrete being assembled, "Monkey bars!" Claire laughed into his shoulder.
"Think you can climb those things, Jack?" Michael asked him, armed with the camera.
Jack turned to face him. "What are you crazy?" He answered with a smile. "And besides…" He looked into the camera, "In case you're too dumb to notice- I'm not a monkey!" He raised his voice during the last part.
"Sure ya are!" Tommy broke in, putting his arm around Jack's shoulder.
"Really?" Claire interrupted in Jack's defense. "What kind of monkey knows fifteen volumes about space?" She asked as she threw Tommy's arm off and replaced it with her own.
"A spacemonkey!" Rick answered, raising his finger as if he had just discovered something amazing.
Claire laughed and said to Jack, "Hey! That's cute!"
"What?" He asked.
"Spacemonkey." She answered. Sliding in front of him, she put her arms around his hips, and gave him the sweetest face possible. "Can I call you that?" He shook his head. "Please?" He continued to shake his head. "Please? Jack, please??"
"No!" He said like an embarrassed five-year-old, with a sweet smile on his face, but turning red nonetheless.
"Dork!"
"Nerd!"
The whole group laughed at the cute couple.
"Really, now…" Lexa aimed her camera skyward and took a picture of the enormous giant. "What are they building over here?"
"I think there's a sign around here that gives some info." Tommy said as he started walking aimlessly, staring at the wall for any indication of what these people were building. "Here it is- found it!" Everyone walked over to where he was standing. There, set up as part of the barricade, was a picture of the finished product. "Due to be finished in the year 1973, blah, blah, blah…" Tommy started reading aloud, looking for the name. "Do they have a name for it? Or is it just gonna be some big office building?" He continued to scan the banner.
Claire looked at the bottom and spotted it. "Here it is!" She bent down to read it. "It says they're building something called the World Trade Center."
"World Trade Center?" Jack echoed behind her. He had his hands on her hips and was- literally- reading over her shoulder. "Where's it say that?" Claire pointed to the spot where she read the name.
"Wow," Jack commented, "It says once construction is finished, it's gonna be one of the tallest buildings in the world!"
"Two." JJ broke in. Everyone looked at him.
"What?"
"Two of the tallest buildings in the world." JJ pointed to the picture then down the street. "Look at the picture. They're building the second one a couple of blocks down."
"Wow! That's gotta be a first." Chris said.
"I gotta shoot this." Michael said and soon he and the camera were walking down the street to the second tower. Meanwhile, Lexa whipped out her still-shot camera and was taking pictures of individual couples in front of the banner and the construction site.
Jack stood behind Claire with his arms around her hips. She had her fingers entwined with his and was leaning back on his shoulder. He lazily slung his head on hers and soon both heads were leaning on the other. With closed eyes, they both enjoyed the moment. That's how Lexa took their picture, and that's how they stayed until Michael returned. The rest of the day was spent lazily walking around Lower Manhattan, then finally returning to the hotel for dinner and a few friendly games of poker, which the girls mostly won.
