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I won the scrabble game by about thirty points.
"You only won because I kept getting crappy letters!" Natalie scoffed. "And you got all the question marks!"
"Someone's jealous" I teased.
"Enough scrabble. Let's see what's on TV" she suggested.
"Sure"
Soon, I was massaging her feet as she channel surfed. Her television was a twenty four inch, and the couch was very comfortable...
"Make up your mind! I'm getting dizzy!" I complained after a bit.
"There's nothing good!" she insisted.
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I came home, the following Friday to find two small bunnies hopping around in the living room, as Dad read the newspaper.
"Hey Charlie! I made meatloaf. It should be ready in a few minutes." He put down the paper. "I hope you don't mind...a friend of Natalie's got sick, and needed someone to take care of her baby rabbits."
"Couldn't Natalie take them in?"
"They're so small, that she's afraid that her dog and cat would mistake them for food" he explained.
"Hey!" I noticed that one of the rabbits was chewing on some papers I had left on the couch when I came into the house. "Shoo!" Scared, the rabbit hopped away like a bullet.
"Look what it did!" I angrily showed Dad the damaged paper. "These are from FBI files that Don gave me!"
"Rabbits like to chew things." he told me. "I guess I should have warned you"
"How am I going to explain this to him?" I asked dad
He chuckled." This reminds me of when your brother was a baby, and he drooled on some blueprints I had brought home."
"I need to work! Couldn't you put them in their cages?" I had noticed a couple of cages, as well as two litter boxes.
"Natalie told me to let them, as much as possible, roam around the house." Dad insisted. "Just watch your stuff"
"How can I do anything if I have to worry about my stuff being messed with?" I demanded.
"Your mother and I managed for years, when you and your brother were little." Dad rolled his eyes.
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"Close the door, Don!" Dad admonished me when I came in. What was going on? Charlie seemed annoyed. I noticed an odd smell.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I'm taking care of a couple of baby rabbits for a friend of Natalie's." Dad explained.
"And as it turns out, they like to chew on things" Charlie snarled.
"Oh..." I could see why Charlie was irritated. He now had to worry about his work getting chewed up.
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The damned rabbits stayed for a whole week. They liked to hide, and whenever I tried to get one of them, I'd be scratched to high heaven. Then, the house smelled! And they liked to chew on electrical wire. I hoped that Natalie didn't make it a habit to turn the house into a pet day care center.
"Charles, are the rabbits still here?" Larry asked me when he visited the day after they finally left.
"No. they're not."
"Good! I was getting tired of having chewed up papers" He muttered.
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"How are you?" My sister asked as we talked over the phone on Friday Night. Alan was due to come in a while.
"Great! Busy, but great!" I told her.
"Seeing anyone?"
"Yeah, in fact, I am." I said. I figured that Alan and I had been seeing each other long enough to mention him to my sister.
"Is it Rick?" she teased, referring to one of the Veternarian assistants, who worked at the clinic.
"No. He's a planning consultant" I explained.
"What does that mean?" She asked.
"See, he's a retired city planner, so he uses his experience to help architects and engineers with building stuff up to code." I explained Alan's work as I understood it.
"Okay...that makes sense...wait..how old is this guy?" she asked me. I guess the word retired caught her ear.
"Early sixties" I told her. .
"That's not like you!" she exclaimed. "The most you've gone is like ten years older, and you've even gone younger!"
"I know, but he's a great guy; very sweet, smart, and a great sense of humor" I explained.
"Does he have grown kids?" she asked with concern.
"Yeah, two sons. One is in the FBI, and the other is a math professor"
"FBI? How does your guy cope?" she asked in a sympathetic tone. I guess the thought of one of her kids getting into law enforcement scared her enough to change the subject.
"He worries alot, but figures that his boys were raised well enough" I explained.
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I came to Nat's place only to find her on the phone. Soon, she got off it and gave me a kiss.
"How was work?" I asked.
"Busy. Carl had to leave early, so I had to take over a bunch of his appointments" she sighed wearily. "And then a Siamese breeder kept insisting that one of her cats had a rare disease, that only affects dogs. She claimed that maybe the virus mutated itself to infect her little Gigi!"
"Did you convince her at all?" I asked. I knew what it was like to deal with difficult people.
"No, she decided to go to another clinic. " she sighed. "so how was your day?"
"Relatively light" I said. "I had lunch with Don in my office."
"That's nice." she said.
"That reminds me. Next week is Don's birthday, and we're all going out to dinner, with a few of his friends. Would you like to come?" I asked. "Two of Charlie's friends are coming too"
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I wasn't sure. What if Charlie did another round of that bullshit he pulled at dinner? How was Don going to feel about this? He seemed nice when I met him, but he is in the FBI, and so would know how to hide any dislike he had.
"Is Don gonna be okay with this?"
"Yeah of course. He even asked me if I was going to bring you." Alan said, then assured me. "And don't worry about Charlie. I'll take care of him"
"I'll be there" I said, if only to please Alan. "What should I get Don?"
"Don't worry about it. Just buy him something simple" Alan reassured me.
He spent the next day, which was Saturday, with his boys, so it left me free to get Don's gift. I had decided what to get right after drinking my coffee, which didn't taste as good as when Alan made it. I wonder why?
So, I went to the L.A country coroner's office, which had a gift shop, and I bought a towel, that had a a large depiction of the chalked tracing of a dead body. A friend of mine, who dated a cop had one just like it. I figured that being in law enforcement, Don would see the humor in the towel.
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"I can't believe that you let Dad invite her to your birthday dinner!" I sighed at Don. Dad was cooking in the kitchen. Spending a week with those rabbits didn't exactly endear her to me.
"It meant a lot to him. Just be nice to her!" Don warned me.
"I hope she gives you rabbits as a gift" I gave him a look.
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The evening of the birthday dinner came. To my chagrin, I was the last one to come, as I had to deal with a dog that had suffered from a porcupine attack.
"Hey hon!" Alan greeted me at the entrance of the restaurant. The walls were filled with pictures of the old West, and had a dark, rustic, frontier feel to them.
"I'm so sorry! There was an emergency."
"Don't worry! Don's an FBI agent. He'll understand." He kissed me.
"Where's the birthday boy?"
"Over there" He pointed to a large table. Balloons were tied to chairs, where unfamiliar faces sat. I walked to where Don was
"Happy Birthday!" I gave him the box. The gift wrap had kittens wearing birthday hats. "Sorry I'm late!"
"Don't worry! We've only had drinks and appetizers" He reassured me, and introduced me to the various people. A few of them were fellow agents, while the rest were friends of Charlie's from Cal Sci, where he taught. I sat between Alan, and one of them, named Larry
"So...Alan tells me that you are a veternarian?" He asked me, as I served myself some appetizers. The guy was rather twitchy.
"Yeah I am." I said.
"Here's a menu" Alan gave me one. "Order whatever you want. Charlie is paying."
My petty side wanted to get the most expensive item on the menu.
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"What are you getting, Don?" David asked me.
"I'm still lookin' " I told him. I hadn't been blind to the secret looks of admiration that he and Colby had given my dad.
"This looks good" Colby murmured, he seemed to be pondering the possibilities that he had, now that someone else was footing the bill.
"What does?" David asked.
"The Owner's special."
"That's what I'm getting" Charlie piped up. He was sitting between me and David.
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"Is it true that cats can survive long falls, Natalie?" Larry asked me suddenly.
"Yeah, they instinctively adjust their bodies to decrease the impact of the fall" I replied
"That's amazing!" Amita said as she took a bite from the shrimp cocktail. "It's almost like they have a built in knowledge of physics."
"I often get that impression when I see them jump" Larry said, as he looked at his menu. "Now... what should I get...?"
"This looks good" Alan showed me his menu, as he pointed to a dish. Then he put his arm around me.
"Sure does!" I agreed.
Time passed, and it was time for Don to open the presents. The table had been cleared by the waiters for this. Charlie gotten him a baseball card. Alan explained to me that it was a rare one.
"Thanks Buddy!" He grinned at his brother, and showed off the card. One of the other FBI agents whistled in admiration.
"He was always one of your favorite players! "Charlie observed. I saw lots of affection between the brothers.
Soon, Don was opening the next present "Thanks Dad!" he said . Alan had gotten one of those chair covers, that massages your back.
"I figured you'd need it, considering your line of work" Alan said, being the thoughtful man that he was.
Finally, it came time for Don to open my present. I hoped that it would go over well.
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"This is very cute gift-wrap" I told her lamely just before I opened it. Soon, I tore off the gift wrap, and opened the box, only to find one of those towels from the Coroner's office, with the chalk drawing of a dead body. Diplomatically, I said, "Thank you! It's very appropriate!"
In truth, I never really wanted one of these. Why did she assume that I would like it just because I was in the FBI? I knew the necessity of humor, but I don't need to dry myself with the drawing of a dead body.
"Glad you like it" she told me. Dad had his arm around her.
As soon, as I finished up the presents, Charlie brought out the cake. Everyone sang Happy Birthday. It was great to be surrounded by friends and family. Like last year, I missed hearing Mom in the chorus. The song just wasn't the same without her tender voice.
"Wish you were here, mom" I thought, just before blowing out the candles.
TBC