Chapter 26 Getting to Know You

After Judith had left, Bobby checked his watch. 8:30; still early. He retrieved the newspaper from outside his front door and returned to the kitchen. He fixed a bowl of cereal and took it, the newspaper and his coffee over to the table. His headache was lessening some, but he could tell it was still going to be a rough day.

When he was done eating, he cleaned up the kitchen and took a shower. After dressing, he slipped his wallet, keys, switchblade and some loose change into his pocket. He had something he needed to do before he met Trey for lunch in Chinatown, so he made sure he left plenty early.

Bobby arrived at Mr. Chang's in Chinatown about 5 minutes early. The place wasn't open yet, but he was such a regular loyal customer, that Ming, the owner's wife, let him in early with a smile.

"Good morning, Ming," Bobby told her. "I'm meeting someone for lunch, a young man, so could we have a quiet table, please?"

"Ah, sure, Mister Goren," Ming replied graciously. The tiny elderly Chinese woman gave him a small bow and led him to a table.

"Will this do," she asked graciously.

"It's perfect," Bobby answered, choosing a seat so that he could face the door and spot Trey when he came in.

"Would you like a drink," she asked him next.

"Water, please. Thank you," Bobby smiled.

Beaming, Ming hurried off to get his drink.

Bobby spotted Trey when he entered, and stood and waved him over to the table. Trey seemed a little uncomfortable when Ming spotted him and made a beeline for their table, her enthusiasm over the young man effusive.

"Bobby," she chided, slapping him on the shoulder with her towel. "You never told me you had son! And such a fine looking one, too. Just like his father."

Bobby blushed with embarrassment and noticed that Trey was blushing uncomfortably, too. He leaned towards the older lady and whispered conspiratorially into her ear, "Shhh, it's a secret."

She shot him a look that said she didn't believe him, then turned to Trey. "Hello, I'm Ming; I always take good care of your father when he come in here. What you want to drink?"

"Water for me, please," he told her politely.

"Would you like your usual, Mister Goren," she asked Bobby next.

"Yes, please. And can we get some dumplings, too, please?"

She nodded, bowed to the two men and disappeared into the kitchen.

"You must come here a lot," Trey told him. "She likes you."

Bobby just smiled at him. He knew he needed to tell Trey the truth about yesterday, but wasn't quite sure how to start. Ming returned just then with Trey's water, so he waited until she had left before bringing up the subject.

"About yesterday," he began.

Trey cut him off with an elegant wave of his hand. "No need to apologize. I was out of line. You're free to make your own decisions and do your own thing. It's not my place. Like I said on the phone earlier, I'm just used to protecting Mom. If anything, I owe you an apology for yelling at you like that over the phone."

"Apology accepted. Now, can I finish, please?" Trey nodded and Bobby continued. "Judith was at my place this morning." He sighed and noticed Trey's stunned reaction.

"Look, I had no idea. I got up after we got off the phone, went into the living room, and there she was, asleep on my couch. Fully dressed, I assure you, and very hung over, like I was. Seems she came up to sign my copies of her books, I offered her a drink, and we finished off an entire large bottle of Scotch and a large pizza while having a great discussion about her books, then we each went to bed. She assured me that nothing else happened." Bobby studied Trey intently as he processed what he had just been told.

"Let me get this straight, you have copies of her books and she went to your apartment to sign them?"

"Yes. I'm a huge fan. I actually met her briefly at a book signing on Market Street ten years ago."

"And nothing happened?"

"Other than getting very drunk and eating too much pizza, no," Bobby assured him.

"Wow, I cannot believe that Judith was in your apartment and nothing happened. She can be very persuasive, you know," Trey said wryly.

"Oh?" Bobby tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yeah. I had to tell her to leave me alone because I loved her sister too much and that if she didn't start being more careful she could end up getting really hurt."

"What'd she say to that," Bobby asked him.

"Nothing; it was almost like I had stood up to the school bully or something. She's been a good friend and a staunch supporter ever since." Trey looked like he wanted to continue, but Ming appeared at their table just then. She was carrying a large tray with several plates piled with steaming food on them. Behind her was another server with a plate of steaming dumplings and a bowl filled with aromatic amber liquid. The two servers placed the plates on the table and left.

"How's your Mom," Bobby asked casually. The two men were busy filling their plates with steaming food, which gave Trey time to carefully frame his answer.

"Mom is Mom," Trey said cautiously.

"She seemed angry that I was at the funeral."

"She was; she was angrier at your partner later."

"I wasn't happy with her about that, either. I know she has my back and wants to protect me, but this is my problem, not hers," Bobby said, barely concealing his anger and frustration.

"It should never have become your problem," Trey said wistfully.

Bobby looked at him questioningly.

"Mom should have told you," Trey said forcefully. "This isn't fair to any of us. I could've had you around while I was growing up. You could've met Laura," Trey choked off a sob and Bobby could see the tears form in his eyes.

Bobby suddenly had an overwhelming urge to reach out and hold Trey, to comfort him as a father should comfort his hurting child. He wanted to be able to go back and undo all the pain and hurt that had been inflicted upon this young man over the last ten days. The feeling was not altogether unpleasant, but the strength and suddenness of it took Bobby by surprise. He had only known about his son for four days and yet he already felt protective and at the same time weak and helpless. He wondered if his mother ever felt this way about him and Frank; maybe early on, in the beginning, but it was hard to tell in later years and especially during the last painful six months of her existence. He recalled that they were having a fight, another bitter discussion over Frank not being there and who was his real dad, when she died.

Bobby reached out and gently squeezed Trey's forearm. "I wish she had told me, too. I wish I could've been there as well. I'm sorry I didn't know. Where do we go from here?"

"More good meals together like this one would be fine with me," Trey said, smiling sadly. "This stuff is delicious! I've lived here all my life and never knew about this place. How did you find it?"

"One of the perks of being a cop," Bobby grinned back at him. "You meet all sorts of people all over the city."

Bobby suddenly had an idea. He wasn't sure if it was a good one, but he impulsively decided to go with it. Pulling out his wallet, he pulled out two faded, worn photographs and slid them across the table to Trey. One was of a young boy, about 18; the other was of a woman in her late 20's wearing a black and white hounds-tooth check suit with a matching pillbox hat. She was posing and smiling happily for the camera.

Trey picked up the photos and looked at them. Then he took a sip of his water, swallowed and looked up at Bobby.

"Who are these people," Trey asked curiously. "Are they family?"

"Yes. The young man is my nephew, your cousin Donnie. He's had a bit of a run-in with the law lately; I'm not really sure where he is right now. The other one is my mother, your grandmother. She died last year."

"She's very pretty," Trey commented as he took in the news that he had more family he didn't know about.

"Yes, she was. I prefer to remember her like that, young and beautiful," Bobby said wistfully. "She died of cancer last year and it wasn't pretty. I don't like to remember her like that, all weak and tiny and helpless. The woman in that picture could conquer the world and raise two little boys at the same time." Bobby gave a sad smile as he remembered his mom in her better days.

Trey laid the pictures back down on the table and looked up at Bobby. The same sadness was mirrored in his eyes as he spoke. "We both have someone dear to us that we'll never be able to introduce to each other. I would have liked to have known my grandmother."

"Would you like to meet her," Bobby asked Trey.

Trey looked askance at his father, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I go to the cemetery every Sunday afternoon to visit her grave. Sometimes I take flowers. Would you like to go with me and meet her? It's not always an easy visit for me to make; I could use the company."

"Sure. Why not," Trey agreed impulsively. "I have to call the house and let Christy know. I usually take Hudson out after his nap on Sunday afternoons. We go over to the park and I let him chase the pigeons," Trey chuckled. Bobby smiled at the image of his little grandson running around in circles trying to catch birds.

"We could take him with us," Bobby decided. "That would give me a reason not to stay very long. I usually end up depressed after our visits." Trey looked at Bobby in silent question, and Bobby decided to press on and share more about his mother with his son. "Mom's life became very difficult when I was seven. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia then and got divorced from my dad when I was twelve. She spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital over many years until I finally had to put her in a home. She was never happy with me about it, but I couldn't take care of her with my crazy work hours. Visiting her always brings up bad memories; I think having you and Hudson along will make today's visit easier for me. What do you say?"

"I say yes," Trey told Bobby. "I would love for the three of us to spend more time together now that we know about each other."

"What about your mom?"

"What about her," Trey echoed. "I'm a grown man, Bobby. I make my own decisions. If I want to spend time with you, I will. I can't get Mom to tell me what she's so upset about, anyway. It's still a mystery to me why she never told you; why she was so scared. You don't seem like the kind of man who would have dumped her over the news."

"I wouldn't have," Bobby said softly. "A month after she left to go back to college, before she found out she was pregnant, I had already decided I couldn't live without her. I was going to propose to her when she came home for Christmas. Her dumping me was the worst thing that could have happened; I was crushed. It was also the best thing. I put even more of myself into my work and learned all I could about solving crimes, forensics, reading evidence, all of it. When Declan Gage began his studies and articles on criminal profiling, I was hooked. I left the Army for an opportunity to learn from him and study under him. Then I entered the NYPD Academy and worked my way up to the Major Case Squad. I've been there for ten years now and I love every minute of it. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I would have loved to have had your mother beside me all these years."

"It would have been a lot of hard work, though," Trey told him. "Mom travelled so much after college. Her grandfather had decided he wanted to turn his Utica estate into a winery during her senior year. They hired a nanny and took me along. Mom and Great-grandpa went all over Europe visiting wineries, studying grapes, grape farming, soils, what would grow in upstate New York, all of it. They took classes, tasted wines and even spent time at several wineries picking grapes and processing them. It was quite extensive. Eventually I reached the point where I had to be in school, so I came back here and lived with my grandparents and my nanny. You've met my nanny, in fact," Trey said with a mischievous smile.

"I have," Bobby said questioningly. Trey continued to smile so Bobby thought hard about who in Trey's life he'd met recently. Understanding dawned and he smiled back at Trey. "Mrs. Mitchell?"

Trey nodded. "Yes. By the time I turned twelve, I realized I didn't need a nanny anymore, and I announced so to my family one night over dinner. She wasn't really much of a nanny to me anyway by then, but had become more of a housekeeper, so we asked her to stay on as our housekeeper. I can't imagine not having her around. She's practically family."

Bobby smiled warmly. "Sounds like it worked out perfectly." Trey smiled back and nodded in agreement.

"So, now you're poised to take over the winery, I understand," Bobby said as he reached for his glass of water.

"Yes. Although I'm torn, actually." He paused as one of the employees cleared their table of its empty dishes. He continued after the young man had left. "Part of me wants to continue Laura's work with the Trust. She had so many great ideas for the money. Ways to invest it to make it grow larger, groups she wanted to give the money to. She was really inspired by what Grams and Pop had started and wanted to continue it, to make it bigger and better; to really make a difference, you know?" He took a deep steadying breath, and Bobby could sense the sadness of his loss behind the pride of what Laura had done.

Bobby decided to change the subject. Something Trey had said earlier that morning had been bugging him and he decided that, since they were being so open with each other, he could ask Trey something else that was on his mind. "Earlier this morning, when you were talking about Judith, you mentioned that Laura hated her. Yet, when I spoke to Judith at my apartment before she left, she had nothing but kind words and pleasant memories. What went wrong?"

Trey swallowed his drink, place his glass carefully back down on the table, and scrunched up his face as he searched for the right words. "I guess 'hate' was too strong a word; I was just so upset that you had left with her last night…" his voice trailed off as he continued to gather his thoughts. After another deep sigh, he pressed on. "Laura and Judith are ten years apart in age, but it might have been a lifetime. They were never very close growing up, but Laura admired her. After Judith started writing in college and had her first book published, things began to change. The family wasn't terribly impressed with her chosen career, even after she became very famous and very popular. Her writing has won many awards, as I'm sure you're aware of, but for some reason, her family has never been thrilled with having an author in its midst. Then there's Judith's promiscuity and her apparent flightiness, her unwillingness to "settle down properly and raise a family", as Leslie likes to hold over her. Somehow, that attitude towards Judith rubbed off on Laura. After Judith came onto me, Laura really hated her, but after Judith came to our rescue during Laura's PPD, things were getting better. Now this. I really feel like, had they had more time, Laura and Judith were on their way to becoming close, to really being sisters. I know they loved each other deeply; they just didn't like each other very well. It's sad, really. I never had a sibling, and Laura had two, but wasn't really close to either one."

"I had wondered where Denny, Jr., was yesterday. I saw a picture of the three of them at the Edwards' house yesterday and Judith told me who he was," Bobby explained to Trey's questioning look.

"Denny is in Iraq with the Marines. He was crushed when he got the news. The Navy tried to get him back here for the funeral, but it didn't work out. He'll be here in three weeks, though. That was the soonest they could pull him out and get him back. His work is very specialized, almost secret, and it's very difficult for someone of his specialization to just up and leave. They had to find someone else who could replace him for a period of time. It'll be fun to see him again; I really like him. He's four years older than Laura; it's tearing him up not to be here right now." Trey fell silent and stared at his hands as his emotions welled up and washed over him.

Bobby sat quietly and watched the play of emotions over his son's face. Once again, he felt compelled to take him away from all this, the sadness, the loss, the pain. He knew Trey would be a stronger man for going through it and took comfort in knowing that he wouldn't have to go through it alone. Bobby also realized suddenly that he would no longer have to go through his grief alone. He could share it with Trey and hopefully with Amy.

Amy. Now there was another problem. What to do about Amy? Bobby knew he wanted to continue to get to know Trey, to be involved in the lives of his son and grandson and was pretty sure the feelings were mutual. His son's mother was another matter however. One that would require much thought and much soul searching.