CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

ANTHONY'S POV:

When Sophia said she wanted me to meet someone, I couldn't imagine who was left to meet. This week has been a busy one for me. I met my Grandma and my Grandpa, both Mean Edward and Mommy's Edward, the Fairy lady and Emmett, and Ms. Rose. And today, when I got back from the chocolate factory with Edward, I met Sophia's Daddy Jazz. That's a lot of people.

I followed Alice and Sophia down the hallway to their room. I hadn't been in their room yet, so I was excited about that as well as meeting new people. When we were outside the door, I could hear scratching on the other side. Huh? What was making that noise? I heard Alice laugh behind me. "Tony, you look so confused. I take it you haven't guessed whose on the other side of that door yet."

I shook my head no. The scratching noise stopped when Alice was talking to me, and then there was a bark instead. Then it all made sense. Sophia wasn't bringing me to see another person. She brought me to see a dog! I couldn't wait to get inside.

As Alice got her key out, Sophia turned to look at me. "That's my dog Shadow. He is my best friend. When we first got him, I thought he was a girl, and I wanted to name him Ariel like my favorite Disney Princess. But Daddy told me that it was a boy and that he wouldn't like having a girly name. He started out really small, but now he's starting to get bigger, just like me! Now he grows so fast!"

The door was finally unlocked, and Alice went to open it, but then stopped. She turned and looked at me over her shoulder. "You're not afraid of dogs, are you buddy?" she asked. I shook my head no.

"I LOVE dogs! I always wanted one, but Mommy said no. She says I'm too little, and that there is too many jobs that comes with the dog. Uncle Jake says she may give in when I'm bigger, but maybe now she'll change her mind when she hears about Sophia's dog." Pleased with my answer, Alice held the door open wide, and me and Sophia ran in ahead of her.

We didn't have to go far before I saw the doggy standing around looking at us. He seemed confused by who I was. I didn't want to scare him; Mommy says you can't just run up to a strange dog because they might get scared and bite you. I don't want to get bit, so I stayed back and watched Sophia go closer.

"Here Shadow. Come here boy. Come meet my new friend Tony," Sophia said. Shadow came over and sat down in front of us. He is such a good boy. Sophia took my hand, and put it by the dog's nose. She explained to me, "Before you can pet him, he needs to smell you. Daddy says that is the doggy's way of shaking hands." I sat still and let the dog sniff me. His nose was cold against my hand! It tickled too! I was surprised when the dog stopped smelling me, and came closer to me. He started to lick my face. His tongue was all wet and it made my cheeks sticky! But I liked that the dog liked me already! Maybe he could be my best friend too!

"Why do you call him Shadow? Don't people name dogs like Buddy, or Lassie, or Fido?" I asked. Sophia giggled at me. I didn't think my question was that funny, but then she described that when he was just a puppy, he would follow her around all the time. Her Mommy said that the dog was always behind her, like a shadow. At first it was just a funny comment, but Sophia started to like the name, and it just became what they called him. Now that I understood, I agree that it is a good name.

We played with the dog for a long time. I would never get bored around him. First we played catch; then we played some tag, where Shadow was always "it". He was really fast though; he always caught us before we could get to base. Finally Alice came back in the room and said that it was time to go back. She said that Uncle Jake misses me, and wants to talk to me! I forgot all about Uncle Jake; the puppy took over my brain!

I didn't want to leave the puppy alone in the room, but Alice said that the dog is used to being by himself. She said that I could always come to their room and play with him. But that wasn't good enough; I wanted more time with the puppy. I gave Alice the best puppy dog face I have. She laughed at me, and said, "Sweetie, I perfected the puppy dog face; it doesn't work on me."

"But Miss Alice, Uncle Jake hasn't seen the puppy yet. Can't we bring it over there?" I pleaded. Sophia came next to me, and begged as well. I guess the puppy face works if more people do it because Alice gave in.

I picked up Shadow, and followed Alice back to Grandma and Grandpa's room. Once the door was opened, I went running inside, and tried to find my Uncle. "Where's Uncle Jake? I want to show him the puppy! Mommy won't let me have a puppy, but if I could, I want this one. He's so cute!"

I looked around but didn't see Uncle Jake. I stopped looking when Emmett came over to see the puppy. I was going to introduce him to the dog, but he knew him already. "Hey Shadow. How you doing boy? Were you a good boy on the plane ride with Jazz?" Shadow liked the scratching; he started to pant and stick his tongue out. It was a funny face. Emmett stopped scratching, and then came closer to me, and whispered, "I want a dog too, but Rosie won't let me get one. She says they're too much work, and that I'm not responsible enough to be raising one."

I didn't understand why Emmett asked Rose. Don't you have to ask your mom for pets? Before I could ask him my question, I saw Miss Jessica and Uncle Jake come into the room. I pulled away from Emmett and brought Shadow over to them.

"Uncle Jake, look at my new friend. This is Sophia's doggy, Shadow," I said while holding up the puppy so he could get a good look. Jake smiled down at the puppy, and said "He's cute. And look, he's small enough to fit in my two hands. If you like him so much, maybe I could put him in my pocket, and we can make a run for it."

"NO Uncle Jake. We can't steal Sophia's puppy. She would be so mad, and then she wouldn't want to be my friend anymore. We don't have to steal it because Miss Alice said that we can come and visit him anytime."

"Oh great!" said Jake. Miss Jessica elbowed Jake in the tummy. That wasn't very nice, but Jake didn't get mad at her. Instead, he just said, "You can visit the dog anytime you want Tony; you can visit anyone here any time you want." He looked at Miss Jessica to see if he said the right thing. She nodded her head at him. Grown-ups can be so weird sometimes.

Uncle Jake and I sat down and played fetch with the puppy for a bit in the corner. Our game was interrupted when I heard Grandpa say, "Okay everyone, I think it's time to have a family meeting." Everyone in the room looked at Grandpa. This meeting must be important; no one complained about stopping what they were doing. Then, Grandpa looked right at me. Uh oh! Am I in trouble?

"Tony, can you come over here please? This meeting needs a leader, and I think you should be the leader. And, as the leader, you get a special seat!" Oh my goodness! This is so cool. I ran over to the big chair in the living room, and when I sat down, I sat up nice and tall because I wanted to be seen as a good leader.

Grandpa clapped his hands together to get my attention, and then began the meeting. "Now Tony, I understand that this week has been quite different than what you're used to. You've met a lot of new people this week, and you haven't been going to daycare with Miss Angela. And you're Mom is still asleep." Wow, when he said all of that, it made my week sound even more filled up than I remembered! I nodded my head and waited to see what else he had to say.

"Well, with your Mommy in the hospital, we need to figure out who is going to watch over you. The last time someone asked your Mom what she wanted to happen to you, she said that if she got hurt, you'd go with Poppa Charlie." I gave Grandpa a strange look because what he said didn't make sense.

"But Grandpa, I already told you. Poppa Charlie is gone away for a really long time." I know when you get old, you can forget things. But this was like only a couple days ago. Maybe Grandpa is losing his mind? That can't be good for a doctor.

"I remember Anthony. But that's the problem; Poppa Charlie isn't' around anymore to take you in while Mommy is sleeping. So, that's why we need to have this meeting. All these people in this room want to take you in, and act like your substitute parent."

"Everyone wants to have me?" I asked. I looked around at the people in the room. Uncle Jake, Miss Jess, Jazz, Miss Alice, Sophia. That's 5 people. Then there's Emmett and Miss Rose, Edward, Grandpa and Grandma. That's 10 people! That is a lot of people!

"Yup, everyone. They want you so much; everyone thinks they are the best choice for you. We don't want everyone to start…..oh, I don't know, fighting….over you. In order to avoid the violence, we want you to talk to everyone, and ask questions, and then you can think it over and make a decision. Understand?" When I agreed to be the leader, I didn't realize how important my job was going to be. It was like I was a king and everyone had to obey me. Wow. Okay, who do I start with?

I didn't have to decide because Uncle Jake came over to me, and said, "Listen Tony, you need to understand some things before you start this process. I have always been there for you. I've been there all your life. We are your family. Just you, me, Mommy, and Poppa Charlie. That should count for something. These people can't just come in here and take you. They are not reliable. Who knows how long they plan on staying before they leave you to go back to their home. Before they abandon you agai-."

"THAT'S ENOUGH BLACK!" Edward boomed. His loud voice scared me. I hadn't seen Mean Edward come out in some time. Edward walked right up to Uncle Jake, and pointed a finger at his chest. "Didn't we just say we were going to leave the decision up to HIM? Why are you trying to sway him before he can even make a choice?"

It looked like Uncle Jake was going to yell back at Edward, but Grandpa demanded their attention. "Gentlemen, really? Do we have to ask the both of you to leave the room? You are doing nothing but hinder this discussion. We are here for the boy, remember? You are doing nothing but airing out your personal laundry for all to hear; some of which should NOT be heard by certain ears."

Uggh, this was getting worse than when grown-ups talk with their eyes. Here they are talking about things and I just can't understand it. I was getting frustrated. But then I remembered that I was the leader, and I could control what goes on. So I decided to interrupt the men because they all interrupted each other for a chance to talk.

"Uncle Jake? Why do you hate Edward?" I asked. Everyone in the room turned to look at him. I guess I asked the right question because they all wanted to know the answer.

"Well, Tony….I hate him because he wasn't there when you...r Mom needed him. But now he just shows up one day, and we're all supposed to accept him as if he's a hero. I think he's a little too late."

Too late for what? Why was everyone talking in riddles? I moved on and asked him more questions. "But Mommy says it's wrong to hate people. So aren't your feelings wrong?"

"That's because Mommy's are always trying to make kids into better people. It doesn't mean that it is what they believe in fully themselves. I'm pretty sure that Mommy hates Edward as well." Jake retorted.

I disagreed. "Mommy doesn't hate him though. She always talks about her Edward. She says good things about him, not hate things."

I don't think Jake believed me though because he laughed at me and said, "Really now? And what non-hateful things does Mommy have to say about her Edward? Care to share with the class?" HUH?

"We're not in class though Uncle Jake. We're in a hotel. And I'm not even in school yet." These adults are seriously not acting very smart. Maybe I shouldn't stay with any of them if they can't even tell where we are now. That can't be safe.

Grandma came over to me, and said, "It was a figure of speech darling. Just ignore that part. But we would all like to know what Mommy says about Edward. Can you tell us please?"

"Mommy always tells me stories. It's our bonding time every day. When I started getting bigger, I didn't want to hear stories from books anymore. I wanted Mom to tell me real stories. So she tells me stories about all you people. That is why I feel like I know you all more than just a couple days."

"Mommy always had a lot of Edward stories to tell. She said she was closest to him, and told me that sometimes I would remind her of him. But instead of being sad about it, we would think of happy things. Like, that Edward had magic fingers that could play really fast songs on the piano. She said that sometimes when she was sad, he would go and write her a song and make her feel special. She even hums me her favorite song; it was nice."

"Umm, Mommy's Edward is polite and does nice things, especially for girls. She told me that even though I may not like girls now, that when I get real tall, I need to learn to be a gentleman like her Edward. She said that he would always hold open doors for her, and push her chair in when eating food. And, he was a protector of her, like when they are walking on the street, he would put her on the inside away from the traffic to keep her safe."

What else? Ohh, I remembered a new story Mommy told me soonish. "A little bit ago, she told me that I am really smart, and she says that if I pay attention and do good in school, I can maybe be something important; like a doctor, just like her Edward is."

I didn't continue with the stories because Uncle Jake spoke up again. "I've never heard her speak of this Edward. Are you sure it wasn't your Edward filling stories into your brain?"

"No. Edward is not someone I've spent a lot of time with. And the time we were together before…it was not with Mommy's Edward. But today I went to the Chocolate Factory with Mommy's Edward. And just like Mommy, I like this Edward too."

"This is unbelievable," Jake muttered. "I can't believe I came home to put up with this shit."

"Mr. Black, language please," Grandma said. I was shocked that Uncle Jake said a bad word. Mommy doesn't let him say bad words around me. She used to make him pay a dollar for each bad word he said; eventually he learned to not say them. He must be really really mad to make a mistake.

"Whatever. Have fun with your precious Edward. But just so you know, when they leave you little man, I will be the first person in line to say 'I told you so'." He went to grab Miss Jess's hand, but she let him go. That made him even more angry, so he just left without her.

Everyone was really quiet after Uncle Jake left. Even Shadow was not making any noise. Finally Miss Jess spoke up. "I just need to know: how long are you planning on sticking around? I don't know how serious this coma is, and I can't help but think that a more permanent setting would benefit Tony. What are you guys thinking? Another week? A month? What?"

I turned to look at Edward and the others. They got really quiet. I wonder what that means. Edward seemed like he was going to speak but Grandpa spoke for everyone. "I've been in communication with the hospital back in Chicago since we've been here. I've explained the situation, and they've administered a leave of absence for Edward, so he will at least be here until the very end." Edwards head shot up real quick when Grandpa said this. I don't think anyone told him the news.

Giving Edward a quick look, Grandpa continued. "As for the rest of us, we will stay for as long as we are needed, or that our jobs allow. But we're all not going to pick up and abandon a member of the family. The majority of us will always be here."

Jessica nodded her head at Grandpa, and then turned to go. Before she got to the door, she stopped and called out to me. I went over to her, and she kneeled down and said, "I'm sorry about your Uncle buddy. He's just really worried about your Mom, and we've had a really long flight to get back here. I think he's misplacing his anger on other people. I'm sure things will be better tomorrow. Or at least they better be. I'm not very happy with him either." She gave me a quick hug, and then said goodbye to everyone before leaving the hotel.

I went back over to the chair and sat down. I was tired. This had been a really long day. It started out all good, and I had fun with Edward; then things changed really quickly when Uncle Jake came. I don't like being mad at people, but I was mad at Uncle Jake. And I think if Mommy was awake, she'd be mad too.

Thinking over what Grandpa said about how long they were going to stay, I was confused about one thing. Turning to look at him, I asked, "What's a leaf of absent?"