Chapter 15—
A/N: As promised this chapter will be the start of a chapter with an interaction with Jeremy and Amanda. Please keep the reviews coming. Thanks.
Denise and Jeremy arrived at the restaurant about 630p. After parking the car, she got out and when to the passengers side of the car to help Jeremy. As he was getting out of the car he hit his head on the door frame.
"Ouch." Jeremy said rubbing his head.
"Are you ok?" Denise asked like an overprotective mother.
"Yeah, I am fine… I have just have to get used being more aware of where things are." Jeremy said still rubbing his head.
"Ok, or there is another option…" Denise said, again trying to be sarcastic.
"What is that? Wear a helmet?" Jeremy could be just as sarcastic as his mother.
"Not actually what I was thinking, but that would work too. Beside you would never know if the helmet had hot pink flowers on it." Denise laughed and so did Jeremy.
"Mom, promise me something… that you would never let me leave the house with hot pink anything on." Jeremy said half kidding and half serious.
"I promise. Are you ready to go in?" Denise asked.
"Yeah, where are we?" Jeremy asked wondering what restaurant his mother had chosen for dinner.
"Well, I thought I would take you to one of your favorite restaurants… La Casa Del Taco." La Casa Del Taco was one of Jeremy's very favorite restaurants, he loves Mexican food. Jeremy carefully shook this cane open and then tapped it on the ground to stabilize it.
"Lets go, I am hungry." Jeremy said taking Denise's arm. As they walked into the restaurant Denise was still marveling at Jeremy's transformation and acceptance. She had seen her son angry, frustrated, depressed, and hopeless and yet he was now at least hopeful about the future. Denise also knew that Jeremy had come a long ways, but he still had a long ways to go; but at least he was going in the right direction.
They walked into a pretty busy restaurant, which made Jeremy a little nervous. The nervousness stemmed from not being able to see where he was going, and the fear of the unknown environment. He had spent the last few months in a very control environment at the hospital with people who were able and willing to help. Denise could feel the tenseness rise in Jeremy. The grip on Jeremy had on her arm had tightened considerably, so she knew Jeremy was feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Relax, you are doing fine." Denise whispered. Jeremy nodded, but he still felt very nervous. The hostess took Jeremy and Denise to a table, and seated them. The waitress handed Denise a menu, and then tried to hand a menu to Jeremy, but he missed the gesture. The waitress realized why when she saw Jeremy fold up the white cane and place it next to him. She then asked if a Braille menu was needed, and Jeremy's face got a little red, but he declined. The waitress stated that she would be back later to take their orders.
"I wonder where Amanda is?" Denise asked checking her watch.
"Mom, for a Colonel's daughter you would think that she would be on time… sorry it just does not happen." Jeremy laughed.
"She has always been very punctual with me, I guess until now." Then Denise looked up and saw Amanda walking up to the table.
"Mrs. Sherwood, I am so sorry that I was late. Dad, wanted to have one of his many father-daughter chats." Amanda said, as she put a small bag in front of Jeremy.
"Its ok Amanda, Jeremy and I were just talking." Amanda kept smiling at Jeremy. She too was happy to see Jeremy doing so well.
"Jeremy, I brought you something." She put the small bag in his hands, so that he could open it. He opened it, and he realized that it was a CD case.
"I hope you like it; it is that CD that you liked last week." Amanda said with a smile.
"Thank you." Jeremy said.
The waitress came back to take the drink orders. At this point, Jeremy wished he was 21, just because this was going to be a long dinner with two women and him. Jeremy was having a hard time following the conversation between Amanda and his mother. The waitress came back with the drinks and placed it right next to Jeremy's hand which he would have knocked over if it had not been for his mother had not moved it. The waitress took Amanda's and Denise's order first, and then turned to Jeremy and very loudly asked Jeremy what she could get for him. It was good thing for Jeremy, this was his favorite restaurant, because that also meant that he had favorite dish as well. Neither Denise nor Amanda explained the menu to Jeremy.
"I would like to order, the taco amigo plate please, with sour cream on the side, and no refried beans." Jeremy ordered.
"Will that be all, sir?" The waitress said in her loud voice.
"Yes, thank you." Jeremy replied as the waitress walked away.
"What was that all about?" Amanda asked suspicious about the volume of the waitress's voice.
"It is sometimes assumed that when someone is blind, that they cannot hear either. She is a twit." Jeremy said coldly. But Jeremy decided to blow off the situation, because it was nice to be out with his mother and Amanda, and also he was going to have get used to people's ignorance.
The food came, and it took Jeremy a moment to determine where things were on his plate. In rehab, he was taught to divide the plate up into a clock. Where at 1200 would be the Mexican rice, 300 o'clock would be the tacos, etcetera. Denise and Amanda watched Jeremy, they both wanted to jump in and help, but they knew that his would only embarrass Jeremy and that was the last thing they wanted to do.
"So Amanda, you mentioned that you and your Dad had a father-daughter talk…" Denise was trying to take the attention off of Jeremy.
"Yeah, Dad is trying to get me to decide on a major for when I go to school in the fall. I know that I have taken a year off, but I still do not know what I want to do." Amanda complained.
"Amanda, it took me years to finish my degree, and believe me when you find the passion for something it will all make sense." Denise said attempting to make Amanda feel better.
"I could just stay here a work, but I know that Mom and Dad would have a fit." Amanda said.
"Amanda, do not do that. You have so much more talent than that." Jeremy said, "Besides eventually I will be going to college as well. Of course it probably will not be in the fall, but I will go." Jeremy had been trying all evening to find away to tell his mother of his decision to eventually go off to college.
"Jeremy, that's great… I did not know that you were planning anything like that." Denise was even more excited about her son's future.
"Well, I have a lot more stuff to learn before I can go. I was talking to Steve today, and he mentioned that there was a place not to far from here when I can learn to read Braille and other stuff. Of course, I need more information. And I wanted to talk to you and Dad about it first." Jeremy was a little apprehensive about talking to his father about this, not because his father would not support his decision, but because their relationship had been so distant in the past.
"Well, you can tell your Dad and me the rest of this later, at home. I am sure that he will be thrilled as I am about your plans." Denise said as she finished signing the credit card receipt that was brought to the table while the three were talking.
"Are we ready to go?" Denise asked as Jeremy took her arm and maneuvered with his cane.
As they were walking to the cars, Denise asked Amanda to join them for desert later, as her parents would also be joining them. Amanda agreed.
When Denise and Jeremy got home, Frank was there finishing a sandwich. He saw them come in, and he looked at his son was amazed at the progress he had made. It still bothered him to see Jeremy so cumbersome, especially with the cane, but Frank was resigned to the fact that this was part of life.
"Hi." Frank said.
"Hi Dad… sorry we missed you at dinner." Jeremy replied.
"Yeah, I am too. I would have enjoyed dinner at that taco place." Frank actually did not like Mexican food, but that is not the reason why that he did not make dinner. There was an emergency meeting that he had to attend at the last minute.
Denise kissed Frank a hello. She walked to the refrigerator to take out a cake that they were going to have for desert. She then and made coffee.
"But at least I am going to able to make desert. I just love your cake." Frank said grabbing his wife from behind. Actually, Jeremy was glad that he could no longer see is father groping his mother. Umm… blindness does have some advantages, Jeremy mused himself.
"And besides you are going to have to wait until Michael, Claudia Joy and Amanda gets here. As I have invited them for desert." Denise replied.
"Well then, I am going to have to wait." Frank said as he watched Jeremy try to maneuver around the family room, with the cane. Frank really hated watching his son struggle. He walked over to try to help Jeremy, in what ever way he could, but Jeremy said,
"Dad, I am never going to learn this if you do it for me. I appreciate your help, but I have to do this." Jeremy said calmly, quietly and politely.
Before Frank could respond, there was a knock on the door, and it was Michael, Claudia Joy, and Amanda. After the hellos were said everyone retired to the family room. Jeremy sat in of the two recliners; Michael sat in the other one. Denise and Claudia Joy sat on the couch in front of the coffee table where there was tray of coffee, cups, and desert. Amanda pulled a chair from the kitchen table into the family room.
"Jeremy, it is very good to see you." Claudia Joy said. Then she got a little embarrassed, as she realized what she said. Jeremy also realized that Claudia Joy felt like she had made some sort of faux pa. But Jeremy had gotten used to some of it. But he replied very casually.
"Mrs. Holden is nice to see you as well." Jeremy half smiled. He knew that Claudia Joy meant nothing by the comment. In fact, he had always like Claudia Joy; she always had such a special grace. She outspoken, but gentle when she needed to be.
"So Jeremy, how is your knee doing?" Michael Holden asked, trying very hard to get out of the realm of embarrassment.
"Actually, it is get better. In fact, I was told today by the physical therapist, that I could start running again. He suggested that I not try marathons, but to take it slow." Frank was surprised; he had never given it any thought as to what Jeremy could actually do, as he was always focused on the here and now for Jeremy.
"That's great, may be you, Frank and I could run one morning very soon. Of course, after you get clearance." Michael said.
"That would be great, thanks." Jeremy said. By this point, Denise was handing out desert and coffee. Everyone always enjoyed when Denise baked; she enjoyed baking. Everyone continued chatting about the gossip on the post. When Jeremy excused himself to step outside, and he asked Amanda to come along. The two went for a walk, a there was something that he wanted to talk about with Amanda, and he had the opportunity to do so.