CHAPTER 11

Robert stayed home on his birthday. True to what he said, he took a walk with Isis in the early morning, took a shower, and had breakfast. He read a bit after lunch and by 3:00 PM started baking two pans of peach cobbler. No major surprises, except for a family dinner that Mary organized, and that was how he liked it to be.

He drove to the restaurant at the appointed time. Mary, Matthew, and George were already there. Rosamund followed. Cora went straight from the gallery. To his big surprise, Tom and Sybbie arrived with Edith. He embraced his children, son-in-laws, and grandchildren who greeted him with much love and respect. Granny Violet who was stuck in York with a cold sent her birthday greetings to her son in a video call. "Thank you, Mama." Robert replied a little bit overcome with the outpouring of love from his family. Cora remained quiet with Sybbie and George trading places on her lap. Rosamund gave a toast for Robert.

Afterwards, they sat on their seats.

"Time to bring in the cake!" Mary enthused.

"Make a wish, Papa." Edith reminded him before he blew out the candles.

The antipasto and the main course were great. As the family moved to dessert, Matthew felt the need to keep the conversation going. "So, any future plans that you want to share to us, Robert?"

"Ah, I'll be 60 sooner than Chronos could apprehend time."

"Goodness, Papa! You sound so poetic." Robert responded to Mary's teasing with a chuckle and continued.

"I'm thinking about a semi-retirement." The family was speechless. That was unexpected.

Once again, he looked straight ahead at his future past Cora who was seated opposite him.

He continued. "Matthew and Mary, you can take care of the company until George is old enough to manage it; Tom, you take care of the estate and of Sybbie. Edith, you take good care of your business and of the sanity of the whole family; Rosamund, you take care of Mama..." Robert chuckled as he paused for effect and Rosamund glared at him. The family laughed.

"...and yourself, most specially. I want to spend my remaining active years seeing the places I dreamed about going when I was younger; I want to do the things I put out doing because I allowed myself to be pre-occupied over some other things." Everyone in the table cheered at him.

"Goodness! Papa is going back to pottery classes again!" Mary attempted to diffuse the now heavy atmosphere at the table.

Robert chuckled again. "And shall send you a regular share of pots, vases, mugs, and cups," which sent the family laughing even more.

Then, Roberts' eyes caught Cora looking very solemn. His life plan involving Cora was the hardest to outline and execute. Since he learned about Mr. Bricker until last night, he had been weighing what to do with his life and Cora's. He knew that he no longer stand a chance with her the day she filed for divorce. He played a big part to her sufferings. This was the very reason why despite his unwavering love and desire for her he never once made an attempt to win her back. He wanted her to be happy even if meant to be without her. He was never really good with communicating his emotions and that partly destroyed his marriage. It seems to him that the longer he kept from Cora the assurance that he could make her happiness his own, the more he hurt her. He could no longer afford to make her feel guilty about loving someone new while he is still alive.

So, he turned to the only love of his life. "And...Cora...it might be a little late to say this, please forgive me for my lack of courage...I want you to be happy and free, darling." Robert blinked the tears that was threatening to flow.

Silence filled the air followed by a series of sniffs from his daughters and older sister. Cora was crying now. Robert stood, went to her and gathered her in his arms until her crying abated.

Robert glanced at his eldest daughter wanting to say, "Your little experiment did not work, darling. But who knows, something good will come out of it even long after we folded the towels."

Then, he turned to his younger daughter and the look he gave her spoke a lot. "Oh, darling! We always wanted things to work favourably for us. But, in the end, they are just pipe dreams, aren't they?" Robert kissed the top of Cora's head and returned to his seat.

Since almost everyone had to work the following morning and the children were already sleepy the family disbanded early. Tom and Sybbie were to stay in a suite that Violet paid for and Edith conducted them back to their hotel.

Meanwhile, Robert drove home with a very quiet and still sniffing Cora.