Ian 2
Chapter 45
To avoid limiting the seating for family and friends of the students, Ian's school had rented a movie theater for graduation, rather than holding it in the auditorium. Rick and Kate arrived early to assure themselves of a good view. Jacqueline and Roger Clary joined them, fifth row, center. Long before the ceremony started, almost every seat was taken. Rick and Kate sat patiently through the principal's speech, holding hands. The department heads were next, handing out awards and certificates of merit to high achieving students. Pride showed on Roger Clary's face, and Jacqueline's mouth held a slight upward tilt when Fleur received the social studies award. The art award was last. Rick and Kate both clapped loudly enough to redden their hands and Kate whistled as Ian climbed the stairs from the student section to the podium to accept it. He shook hands awkwardly with Mrs. Belkin and returned to his seat as quickly as he could, grasping the miniature brass easel. The valedictory speech was mercifully short. From the way that the young lady who was giving it shuffled behind the podium, Castle couldn't help wondering if she needed a trip to the ladies' room.
The two couples met up with their triumphant student awardees after the ceremony when to the surprise of Ian and especially Fleur, Roger proposed dinner at a nearby restaurant. After Kate made a call to Mrs. Mays to check on Amelia, she, Rick, and Ian agreed.
"Rick, I am curious about the progress of the studio that you've been constructing for Ian," Roger said after the graduates had been toasted with iced tea.
"Just about finished," Castle replied. "I still have a carpenter coming in to finish some built-in storage, but Ian can tell you about it."
Ian pulled at his collar, made uncomfortably tight by his unaccustomed wearing of a tie. "It's great. You probably saw when you came for dinner, that side of the loft has great windows, so I have a lot of sunlight for drawing and painting. Sun glares on the screen of the computer, so there's a partition around the workstation to keep that from happening. And there's a table that's anchored to the floor so the large format printer I bought with my Dark Force money won't shake. And I have a drawing table and a stool that goes with it that go up and down electrically. There's another stool too, for Fleur or anyone else who works with me. And when the shelves and cabinets are finished I'll have room for all my supplies."
"That's all that will be in there?" Jacqueline asked.
"That's all there's room for," Ian replied. "I didn't think it was fair to take any more space away from the great room. Dad and Kate have guests in there, and dance."
Kate flushed, and Rick could see a wistful look flit across Roger Clary's face. "Jacqueline and I used to dance when Fleur was younger, and I was working myself up from being a teller. We haven't done it in a long time."
"You are welcome to come over and trip the light fantastic anytime, Castle replied, "or at least anytime we're not using the floor to walk Amelia."
Roger smiled. "Ah oui, the baby blaster. Opportunities present themselves in the strangest ways sometimes, don't they? My bank is financing a start-up for a man who got tired of hunting for toys his dog had buried around his yard and lost, so he made some with chips molded inside that could be tracked on a phone or tablet. He used crowdfunding to produce prototypes, and the response was huge, so we are underwriting the project. Voila! An annoyance turned into what could possibly be a very profitable venture."
Ian finished chewing a spicy shrimp and swallowed. "Fleur and I have been talking about a way to turn something that's supposed to be evil on Martinique into a superhero." He gazed appreciatively at his girlfriend. "She can explain better than I can."
Fleur turned to her parents. "You know the stories of the dorlis who can change into an animal or become invisible, then goes to women and - you know."
Jacqueline crumpled her napkin tightly in her hand as her eyes narrowed.
Fleur continued hurriedly. "Ian and I have come up with a good dorlis, one that hates evil and uses its powers to protect people. It's in conflict with its own kind and has to fight to protect itself as well as the humans it guards. Ian and I will be working on the stories together, and then I'll help him get all the details right about what things look like on Martinique."
"Sounds exciting," Castle said. "Using legends is good. They're public domain and can be adapted in all sorts of ways. I've done that in several of my Moses Shannon stories. Mythology touches something very basic in the human psyche. In any case, Kate and I are more than happy to have Fleur around. One or the other of us is almost always there with Amelia, and even if we aren't, Mrs. Mays, a retired nurse-midwife who lives in the building, is. She's with Amelia now. She's very good with her."
"Having help you can depend on can be priceless," Roger commented.
Castle's eyebrow rose, expecting that there was a story behind Roger's words, but Fleur's father didn't elaborate.
Castle sighed as he climbed into bed next to Kate. Her fingers lightly brushed his arm. "What's wrong? I thought our unexpected outing with the Clarys went very well."
"It did," Castle agreed. "And I gotta say, after all the times we've been out with your guys from the precinct, I'm not used to having someone else pick up the check. It was kind of nice. The sigh factor comes from a text I just got from Sheila Blaine. It seems she was at Ian's graduation. She never confirmed she was coming, so with that crowd, I didn't save a good seat for her. Turns out she was up in the balcony. She claims she could hardly see and didn't get a good picture when Ian got his award. She said she tried to find us afterward and had no luck. So, she's in a snit because she didn't get to congratulate Ian in person. She also wished he'd been able to win something better than an art award, something academic."
Kate rolled her eyes. "She could have called to find us."
"Of course," Castle agreed. "but I'm sure it was more fun to complain about it, along with getting to imply that it is my fault that Ian didn't have some more exalted achievement - as if he didn't work his ass off to do as well as he did."
Kate pressed herself against Castle's side. "Ian wasn't the only one who worked his ass off, Rick. I don't know how you could be a better father or have supported him any more than you did. The prisons are full of semi-illiterates who had problems that were never acknowledged, so they never got the help they needed to pursue decent lives. In addition to being talented, Ian is a very lucky kid, and it's my guess that Sheila Blaine knows it. She's just not willing to admit it. But it's been a fantastic day. You can't let her get to you."
Castle pulled Kate close, pressing his lips to her hair. "I know. And in the nicest possible way, the only one I want to get to me is you."
