The weekend of their "big event" arrived. The weather was acceptable, though Laura and Robbie did have a back-up plan to have their party at their place. They picked up the food early and had all of the other necessities, including a first aid kit stuffed in the car.
It was going to be a mix of friends and family and there were always surprises when you had this potpourri of people. But that was the fun of it.
Robbie's daughter Lynn had driven down the night before with his grandson and stayed with her dad and Laura, in the guest room. Things were peaceful in their family reunion.
When Robbie and Laura arrived at the picnic area, with Lynn and her son coming in a separate car, the crowd had already convened. Lizzie, Tony and Nell, James' sister, were all looking at something sitting in a large box on a picnic table. James had brought along fishing polls, his guitar and this mystery item in a large box. James figured that Robbie might find the mystery in the large box interesting, he was not so certain how Laura would react. James also figured that Robbie's grandson would love it, but James was not so certain how the boy's mom would feel about it. James like Lynn, she was like her dad in many good ways.
James put out the cigarette he was having while waiting for everyone to get there. He was tense about how he and his sister Nell would keep up a positive channel of communications while his extended family, with no blood-ties, was around.
James and Tony helped Robbie removed the picnic items from the very packed car. Laura was a master of packing things into tight spaces. There has to be some pathologist talent related to that, he'd never seen anyone pack like she could. There was plenty of food and beverage for all tastes. Also dishes, napkins and cutlery. Laura had thought of it all and told him how to help her pack it and later unpack. Robbie knew when to submit to authority, especially where Laura was concerned.
Robbie's grandson was enjoying meeting all of these grown-ups. He was having a great time running around. He had his mom, grand-father, step grand-mother to look over him. In a broader context he had three officers of the law and a doctor and a nurse to look after him and monitor his play time. What fun could the poor kid have? A great deal of fun. James always had cool toys and was very inventive and interesting. He liked to play practical jokes, especially on his grand-father, which the boy found very funny.
They all had a pleasant lunch together. Tony had to leave early for work, but Lizzie stayed to see what James had up his sleeve as some kind of a trick to play on Robbie. She also genuinely enjoyed the company of this group of people. Robbie and James helped her to learn the proper use of a fishing pole. James was a bit lacking in patience with fishing, but Robbie showed her how to do it, and Lizzie caught a few which they released. Lizzie decided that she might learn to like fishing, but Tony was going to have to learn how to properly clean and prepare the fish for cooking.
While Lizzie and Robbie were exploring the finer points of fishing and Nell and Lynn were guiding Robbie's grandson in playing some new games, Laura was watching James confidently go over to the mystery box and open it. Laura decided she needed to explore what James was doing.
James, smiling and very pleased with himself, had obtained a drone to bring to the picnic and to fascinate and entertain everyone. Or so he hoped.
Laura took a look at the object as James laid it out to prepare it for a flight. "James, is that one of those drones?" James looked up at Laura with a confident smile on his face and answered "Yes, clever of you to recognize it."
Laura was momentarily angry "It's not hard to recognizing a piece of technology that almost killed you and Robbie."
"In my hands, it shall be a tool of peace and entertainment, Laura. This is for good, I promise." James pronounced to Laura. She responded "Good, I hope so." Laura proceeded over to where Robbie and Lizzie were fishing. Just seeing one of those drones made her think about Robbie's injuries from a few weeks prior. She needed to clear her mind of the negative thoughts.
Robbie heard Laura approach from behind as he and Lizzie continued to fish. Laura informed Robbie and Lizzie that "Don't look now but D. I. Hathaway is going to entertain us with his skillful piloting of a drone. That's what was in the large box he has been guarding so closely."
Lizzie was not sure what to say. She looked at Robbie and at Laura.
Robbie observed "You'd think that lad would have had enough of drones wouldn't you? But then with his fascination with tech toys, it makes sense he'd be drawn to drones."
Laura added "And at times James has been known to drone on about some things." Robbie and Lizzie both laughed at Laura's pun.
[Thank you to Muffinzelda for the idea of James with a "friendly" drone. ]