Sorry about the length of time it's taken to update. Lots has gone on and just didn't get it edited like I'd wanted.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything but my plotline.
Chapter Seven – Surprise!
As Auggie approached the main lobby of the facility, on his way to the center's small gym, he heard voices raised in anger. A few more paces down the hall and he recognized his father's unmistakable baritone. He seemed to be arguing with the center's receptionist.
"Why will you not let me see my son? I've flow halfway across the country to see him!"
"As I've told you, you are not on his approved visitors list."
Oh, crap was his first thought. His second was to turn around and head for the library room. He wasn't ready for this; and he simply wanted to hide. Why he didn't fully understand, but that was his immediate gut reaction. Before he could turn and disappear, he heard his mother exclaim, "There he is Fred!"
With as much air of confidence as he could muster, Auggie continued towards his parents, cane clearing the way before him. He paused near one of the couches scattered in this area of the building and braced himself for whatever was to come.
"August," his mother said as she approached, "how are you?" He could hear the sorrow in her voice. He'd wanted desperately to save her from that. She was a strong woman, had to have been to have successfully raised five lively boys; but she could be squishy on the inside, too. He knew that seeing him like this was tearing her apart. He was broken, and no amount of motherly attention could make him whole again. Not this time
"I'm fine, Mom. I'm fine," he said with as much conviction as he could gather as he slightly bent his head and kissed the top of her head as she wrapped her arms around him. At the moment he was anything but fine. He'd hoped for more time to prepare for this meeting. He'd known that he could not avoid it forever, but he'd wanted more time to get comfortable in this new world of his before he had to face them. On a very base level he was afraid of how they would react to him now. Would they reject him? Hell, if they were going to do that they wouldn't have flown halfway across the continent to see him. And, he did not know what he would say if his mother insisted on his coming back to Glencoe permanently. He'd just gained a little bit of independence back, and he did not want to relinquish that hard gained progress.
"Auggie," his dad boomed as he clutched him in a firm embrace.
"Hi, Dad. How did you know where to find me?"
"Alan finally told us what happened and where you were."
Auggie let the sigh of exasperation escape. He would deal with Alan next time he saw him. "How long have you known?"
"We had a feeling something wasn't right with you for several weeks. It wasn't like you to not be in touch with one of us for this long without letting us know that you'd not be in a position to contact us. Alan finally fessed up three days ago." Alfred whispered into his youngest son's ear, "Don't be too hard on him. He did not give you up willingly."
Auggie finally extracted himself from his father's bear hug. He flinched slightly when yet another set of arms surrounded him. "How's it going, bro?"
"Adam? Who else is here?" Auggie asked with growing apprehension.
"Just me, Auggie," his sister-in-law Olivia said as she wormed her way in to wrap her arms around him, too.
Christ. Auggie thought as he felt four pairs of eyes studying him. He was not at all prepared for this much family all at once. He wished he'd had a bit of warning that they were coming. He did not like this kind of surprise. Never had; and especially not now.
"Is there somewhere where we can all go to sit down and talk?" his father asked firmly. "How about your room here?'
"This is the visitor's lounge. My room is too small to hold all of us. And the resident's lounge is not available at the moment."
"Are you allowed to leave here?" Adam asked suddenly.
"I – I guess so," Auggie stammered. He choked down the wave of panic that suddenly wanted to engulf him. "I've never been out without one of the trainers with me," he stated flatly. He didn't really know what to say. Or do.
"That settles that," Adam said confidently. "We're going to take you out to dinner, and have a nice long talk."
Auggie was cornered and he knew it. "Give me a few minutes? I've got to go freshen up a bit. Have a seat and wait for me here. Please," he added the please more as a plea that out of politeness. As he left the lobby, he once again felt four pairs of eyes following him. Halfway down the main hall, he passed Marissa's office – not her training room, but her private office. With a fervent hope, he stopped and knocked on her door.
"Yes," he heard her say from beyond the door. A small bit of relief swept over him.
"Marissa. It's Auggie. Can I talk to you for a minute? I've got a huge problem that I'm not sure how to handle."
The door opened. "Come in Auggie. There's a chair just there to your right."
Auggie located the chair and sat. Without waiting for her to ask what he needed, Auggie's words tumbled out, "My family's here and they want to take me out to dinner. I'm not sure what to do. Can you help? Please."
"Okay. Who's come to visit you?" He felt her reassuringly touch the hand resting on his knee.
"My parents. My eldest brother and his wife. They want to take me out of here to dinner and to have a talk. I'm nervous about the whole deal. If I know them, we're not going to the local diner, but to one of the nicer places in town. I have no freakin' idea what to do here. I don't want to make a damn fool of myself."
"Auggie, calm down. It's not the end of the world. You have the basic skills you need to handle yourself in this situation." She paused for a brief moment then added gently, "You wouldn't be this flustered if you'd included them in your re-training from the beginning."
"You might be right, but when I made my decision to come here rather than closer to my family, I had my reasons. I'll admit that maybe I wasn't exactly thinking straight when I made that decision, but, once I was thinking clearer, it still seemed to be the right thing to do. And now they're here." He took a deep breath and slowly let it out through pursed lips.
"Would you like me to give them some pointers on your care and feeding?" Her words might have seemed lighthearted, but there was sincerity behind them.
"Would you? I've got to go and change into something more appropriate than these fatigues."
"Of course. By the time you get back to the lobby they'll know basic sighted guide technique and how to appropriately let you know where things are on the table and your plate. Will that be enough?"
"Gawd, I hope so," he said fervently.
"Oh, did I give you a folding cane to try yet?"
"Yeah, if I can remember where I laid it down I was going to use that."
A short time later, after he'd changed into his jeans and a polo shirt, Auggie was once again making his way down the main hall toward the lobby, and his waiting family, when Marissa stopped him.
"Auggie."
"Marissa. Did you talk to them?"
"Yes. They were very receptive to what I had to say. It seems that they're just as nervous about this meeting as you are," she said firmly. "Adam understands sighted guide concept the best and I think he'd be the least likely to allow you to smack into something unexpected. But I urge you to use your skills and keep yourself safe. Don't let any of them just take your hand to lead you. Tell them you need to take their arm instead."
"I will. How do they look?"
"Your mom is clearly anguished. Your dad is upset, too, but there seems to be some anger there, also. Your brother is concerned, but he seems to be the one in charge. I couldn't read your sister-in-law."
"Olivia has always been hard to read, except when she's mad. Takes a lot to get her angry, but if you do, you'd better look out," he smiled at the remembered vision of an irate Olivia. "Yeah, Adam's always been the take charge kind." He knew that his mom would be upset – a mother would be. He didn't quite know what to make of his father's anger. Like Olivia, he was slow to anger, but a force to be reckoned with when he was.
"Auggie, you can do this." Marissa straightened his collar as she spoke. "I have confidence in you. Remember, they're family. I have no reason to believe that they'll treat you with anything other than care and respect. Your file indicates that you come from a stable and loving family. Do you have any reason to suspect that they would do anything to deliberately harm or embarrass you? Is that why you didn't want to include them in your rehab plan?"
"No. Adam may have tormented me unmercifully when we were kids, but since we've become adults he's mellowed a good deal. I have no reason to think that they would do anything to deliberately embarrass me. I'm just afraid that I'll embarrass them."'
"You can do this. Now take a deep breath and go have a good time with your family."
He took several deep breaths to steel his nerves and proceeded into a different sort of unknown.
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