(It Was Almost) The First Time in Forever

By Ginny

Ch 11


Katie drops Ned off at 7:15. Charlie is still asleep and it's all I can do to keep my little guy from bolting up the stairs and waking his grandfather, probably by jumping directly on him.

By 8:00 I give up and send Ned up to wake his grandfather, after he promises to do it nicely. I know Charlie wants to spend some time with him before Chris comes to pick him up at 11:00.

Ten minutes later the two of them pad back down the stairs. Charlie, who is still in his pajamas, doesn't exactly look wide awake.

"Did he at least wake you nicely?" I ask as I glance at my youngest grandson who is looking more than slightly guilty.

"So of," Charlie smiles as he ruffles Ned's hair.

"What can I get you boys for breakfast?" I have a pretty good idea what the answer will be.

"Waffles," they answer together.

And I was right.

Charlie pours some coffee for himself and makes Ned some chocolate milk while I get out the waffle iron. They turn to television to ACN and sit at the island while I whip up the batter. The boys share a banana and Ned reads some of his book to Charlie. He's rather advanced, having learned how to read before he started Kindergarten last September. School ended Friday and Ned is thrilled to be spending his first day of summer vacation with us.

By the time the waffles are ready the book has been pushed aside and Ned is chattering a mile a minute about the plans he's apparently made for the summer. Sounds as if Charlie needs to retire immediately if he's going to have time to do all these things with Ned.

I can't help but smile at the two of them sitting side by side. Both have a stray lock of hair sticking up, Charlie's from sleep and Ned's quite possibly from maple syrup. They each have one eye on their plates, the other on the television. Ned does have a little fat lip from his mishap on Saturday, but he wears it as a badge of honor, having gotten the chance to play with the "big boys".

When breakfast is done I send Charlie up to shower and I get Ned to help me clear away the dishes. He reads a little to me before I hear Charlie's voice floating down the stairs.

"Hey Ned, come help me pick out a bowtie," he calls.

Ned gets a big grin on his face, slides off the stool and runs up the stairs. I imagine there are not too many 6 year olds who would go running to pick out a bow tie. What can I say, Ned and Charlie have a special bond.

By 9:45 the two of them come back down. Charlie's in a blue shirt, tan pants and a striped bowtie. Ned's hair has been combed and his face washed. He's carrying Charlie's tan suit jacket which he sets, more or less neatly, over a kitchen chair.

"Poppy showed me how to tie a bowtie," he says excitedly. I've actually been looking for a real bowtie for him, but the only ones I can find in his size are pre-tied ones. Maybe I can make him one out of the scraps from his quilt.

"How did you do?"

"Not too good, but I'll practice," he assures me. "Poppy do you have time to do Legos?" he asks hopefully.

"I do, go grab them and take them into the den. I'll be there in a minute," Charlie answers as he sits in a kitchen chair to tie his shoes. He pours himself another cup of coffee and heads for the den.

The two of them are deeply involved in the creation of some sort of spaceship when Chris knocks on the door. I invite him in and get him a cup of coffee as I don't think Ned is ready to let Charlie go. Chris goes into the den and admires the work for a minute or two. I offer him one of the leftover waffles which he accepts happily. He comes back in the kitchen to eat, leaving Charlie and Ned to have a few more minutes together before they need to leave.

At 11:30, half an hour after Charlie usually leaves, I kiss my husband good bye. "Love you," he whispers in my ear.

"Love you too, see you later," I whisper back.

Charlie and Ned walk out to the car. I watch from the porch, giving them a few minutes alone. Ned's carrying Charlie's briefcase and he puts it on the back seat for him. He shakes Chris' hand before Chris slides into the driver's seat. Charlie leans down and kisses Ned goodbye. I hear him promise to wake Ned when he gets home tonight. I'm guessing it's not going to be a late night tonight. That's fine with me.

"Love you, Poppy," Ned calls as Charlie climbs into the car.

"Love you too, Buddy," Charlie answers before closing the door. Ned waves as Chris drives off. We head out back to water the plants and make some plans for the rest of the day.

We work on sprucing up the planters on the front porch railing. Ned helps plant some Gerber daisies and he pulls some weeds out of the flower beds along the front walk.

When our gardening is done I set him up with a DVD while I shower so we can go out for a late lunch.

Luckily Ned has a more sophisticated palate than most 6 year olds so I am spared lunch at Chuck E Cheese or McDonalds. He picks a little BBQ place near the house, it's been a family favorite for years. We've gotten to know the owners and they make a big fuss over Ned. He's in his glory with a kid sized portion of ribs and baked beans.

Charlie calls while we're eating. Sounds like he's having a crappy day so far, and he's only been there for 2 hours. I let him grumble for a while, making appropriate comments as I eat my pull pork sandwich.

"Nancy are you really listening?" he asks.

"Sorry, Ned just asked me something," I mutter as Ned shoots me a look. "Is the devil around today?"

"He's around every day, unfortunately. Going to try and see if I can talk to him later. If not I'll actually make an appointment for tomorrow. I have half a mind to just tell him I'm done now," he sighs.

Okay, that's surprising and I have to admit, a little alarming. But who am I to argue.

"Honey it's up to you. I will stand by you no matter what. I love you."

"I know, love you too. I'll talk to you later."

He hangs up with a promise to eat something soon.

When we're done eating I ask Ned what he wants to do this afternoon he states, without hesitation, "bake chocolate chip cookies."

That I can do.

We stop at the store to pick up some supplies. As I'm pulling out of the parking lot heading for home my cell rings. It's Mac and she's beside herself excited.

Will is coming home!

We chat for a few minutes and I assure her I will let her tell Charlie. But she has to tell him soon. I can't keep this news to myself.

By the time we get home, my cell is ringing again, it's Charlie. I hand Ned the bag of groceries and he takes them in the house while I stay on the porch and talk to Charlie.

The excitement in his voice is music to my ears. He hasn't had much to look forward to lately. We start to make plans for a party next weekend.

Ned comes back outside looking for me. Obviously he is eager to get started on the baking. As we walk into the house I hand him the phone so he can say "hi" to his grandfather. He chats for a minute, pacing around, just like Charlie does when he's on the phone.

"Don't forget to wake me up, Poppy," he says before hanging up.

"Go wash your hands," I tell him as I get out the eggs and butter.

An hour later, Ned is running around, sugared up on cookie dough and actual baked cookies.

I send him and his energy outside to run around for a little while. He finds the soccer ball in the garage and he runs around for a good hour while I watch him from the deck. He eventually wanders up to the deck where I'm reading and asks me the question I've been waiting for all day.

"Can I go swimming?"

"Sure, your backpack is in the guest room upstairs. Kick your shoes off out here, they are a little muddy. Grab a towel from the laundry room."

"Are you going in too?" he asks.

"For a little while," I agree. It has been quite warm for the past week and the heater has been running so I suppose I can go in for a bit. I can always hit the hot tub when I get chilly.

We swim for well over an hour. Eventually I climb out and get in the hot tub while Ned continues to practice his nearly acquiring diving skills. He joins me to warm up in the hot tub chatting on about his plans for the summer vacation. Apparently Charlie and I will be very busy with him over the summer.

"What's for dinner? Ned asks as he pulls his hands out of the water to inspect his completely wrinkled finger tips.

"We have leftover chicken from the BBQ on Saturday. Do you want some of that?"

"Sure. Can we eat outside?"

"Of course. How about we get changed, work on your quilt and then get dinner? I'm still full from lunch, what about you?"

"I think I'm full from cookies," he admits with a grin.

"I'm sure you are. What do you think about inviting Beau for dinner? I think he gets off work soon."

"We can invite him. But he won't stay over will he?" Ned asks, apparently concerned over having to share Charlie tonight.

"I don't think he's interested in staying overnight," I assure him.

We head inside and Ned goes upstairs to put his clothes back on. I text Beau and he answers right away that he would love to come over and eat. He's practicing with his band at 8:00 so I tell him we'll eat about 6:30.

Dinner with my boys is just lovely. Beau is in a chatty mood, so is Ned, but then again, he's always chatty. Beau talks about the gigs his band has lined up for the next few weeks. The band is really getting quite good and they have some dates at a few area coffee shops coming up. I promise to come hear them.

After dinner the boys go out to the driveway to shoots baskets while I clean up. Beau heads out at 7:45. I still can't get my mind wrapped around the fact that he's driving already.

Ned begs for a few more minutes outside. I sit on the porch and watch him try to hit the backboard. Katie calls to say that she got home and her meeting was a success. She thanks me again for keeping Ned overnight. I assure her it is no problem, we had a great day and Ned and Charlie are looking forward to some late night bonding which I am sure will include fresh baked chocolate cookies.