Chapter 23—
A/N: thanks for all the reviews, please keep them coming.
Stephanie had come to enjoy dinner with the Sherwoods. She valued the time that was spent. Stephanie loved the stories that Frank would tell about the Army; she loved the wittiness of Denise; and she liked being around Jeremy. She had to admit that he had come a long way in a very short time. Jeremy still had days that he struggled to cope with his disability but those were becoming fewer in number. However, Stephanie was dreading tonight with her parents. Stephanie was hoping that Beth would check her snide comments at the door when they arrived at the Sherwoods.
Frank had opened the door when Stephanie and her parents arrived. The house was immaculate as always, and there were a number of bouquets of fresh flowers. Stephanie did the introductions, and Bill and Beth were very pleasant when they met Frank and Denise. Jeremy came down stairs as Bill and Frank were shaking hands. Jeremy looked good, as he had just gotten out of the shower. His hair was combed back, and he was wearing a light green polo shirt, and a pair of jeans. Stephanie could tell by the look on Jeremy's face that his knee was causing him great pain and agony this evening, but he still had a smile on his face, when he introduced himself,
"HI, I am Jeremy." Jeremy said shifting his cane from his right hand to his left hand so that he could shake Bill's hand.
"It is good to meet you Jeremy… Stephanie has told us a lot about you." Beth said coldly… as Stephanie had not told them much about this boy.
"It is nice to meet you as well… did you have a good flight?" Jeremy asked trying to start a conversation.
"It was a little bumpy, but it was ok." Beth replied.
"Well, it is going to be a few more minutes until dinner is ready… so why don't we all have a seat in the family room?" Denise said walking out of the kitchen. Everyone made their way to the family room. Jeremy took a hold of the handle bars on Stephanie's chair and whispered, chill it will be ok. Stephanie smiled at Jeremy's attempts to calm her nerves.
"Frank, Stephanie mentioned that you are an officer in the Army… A Major right?" Bill asked with the attempt at starting the conversation.
"I am a Major… and I have been in the Army for twenty years." Frank said.
"Jeremy, how was PT today?" Stephanie asked.
"They said my knee is getting better slowly." Jeremy said.
"So Jeremy, Stephanie mentioned that you were also injured in Iraq. You are so young how did you end up in Iraq? I mean what about college?" Beth asked fishing for anything she could jump on and make an issue of.
Jeremy thought for a minute as he sensed that he did not want to give too much information, as Stephanie had warned. "Well, I was accepted at West Point, but turned down the appointment, and was planning to go to college to be an architect; then at the last minute I chose to enlist in the Army."
Jeremy knew that he could have phrased that better. He could just feel Stephanie's eyes just staring at him in disbelief, because he had just opened the flood gates for Beth's inquisition. But what saved Jeremy was Denise. Denise said,
"Jeremy, could you help here in the kitchen?" Jeremy got up and opened the cane and maneuvered his way into the kitchen.
Bill turned to Frank and said,
"You must be very proud of your son for following in your footsteps?! But it also must be hard to watch him struggle to re-learn how to live."
"Denise and I are very proud of Jeremy. And yes, it is very difficult to watch Jeremy struggle. But I am sure that you and Beth can say the same thing about Stephanie." Frank replied.
"Yeah, we are very proud of her. She may not always believe it, but we are." Bill smiled at Stephanie and patted her on the shoulder.
Then Denise came out of the kitchen, and invited everyone to the table. The table was beautiful Stephanie thought. Denise had put a lot of work into dinner. It smelled wonderful.
"Denise, you have out done yourself… this looks great, and smells wonderful." Stephanie was delighted.
"Why thank you…. I hope it tastes as good as it looks." Denise said.
"I am sure it will be." Stephanie said reassuring Denise.
The table was relatively quiet until Jeremy broke the silence.
"Steph, I did not tell you the good news… I signed up for classes today at the local college. I only signed up for two for now." Jeremy said beaming.
"That is great. Which classes did you sign up for? Underwater basket weaving?" Stephanie was thrilled that Jeremy had made such a huge step.
"Ha ha… very funny. Actually I signed up for English literature, and military history." Jeremy replied.
"that's great… when do your classes start?" Stephanie asked.
"In about 4 weeks… this will give me enough time to finish up the Braille stuff at the center." Jeremy replied.
"I do not mean to sound naïve… here but how do you expect to go to college when you cannot see? You cannot seriously expect other people to do your work for you?" Here we go Stephanie thought. Mom has not said much since we got here, but here we go.
"Mrs. Sanders, I agree that there will be challenges, but there are many options that I have at my disposal. The college is providing me with people who can read for me. I have a computer that is voice activated, and I am finishing learning Braille. Again it will not be easy, but I need to get an education so that I can get a job." Jeremy replied very eloquently.
"Plus we are planning to help Jeremy is whatever way we can." Frank answered.
"But someday you both may not be here, how do you expect him to live without sight?" Beth continued.
"Mrs. Sanders, I realize that I have a lot to learn… but I have come a long way. And believe me I never planned to screw up my knee or loss my sight… but now that it has happened, I have to live with it."
"I guess I will never understand people like you and my daughter… faced with adversity; you both think that life is going to be ok, well I hope you are right." Beth said getting more annoyed by the minute.
"Hold on… what is your issue with the kids? Personally, I have seen soldiers who are perfectly able do nothing, and they expect the world owes them something. Jeremy and Stephanie are making the efforts to better themselves, and create a life. I have watched your daughter overcome several obstacles with very little support from anyone. She deserves a lot credit." Denise spouted back.
"My problems with the kids are that they do know how the real world treats people with disabilities. The real world will only care so long that they were wounded in Iraq. They will not always get to play the wounded hero." Beth spouted.
"Mom, what is eating you so bad that you are ruining this wonderful meal that Denise worked so hard to make?" Stephanie said; as she was reaching her boiling point.
"Look I am sorry that I am ruining everyone's meal… but I just do not see a future for you two, especially if you two become a couple." Beth was shooting blanks again.
"Mrs. Sanders, I do not know what you are talking about Stephanie and I are just friends, nothing more, nothing less. I am sorry that you feel differently. I value her friendship… as she has helped me to realize that I still have potential. She is the reason as to why I have the confidence to try." Jeremy's words were very touching, and were finally breaking Beth's nastiness.
"Mom if you want to be part of my life, you are going to have to give up the idea that I am helpless and let me live my life. If you are not willing to support that then I am not sure there is space in my life for you. As much as I do not want to say that…" Stephanie replied as she took a sip of iced tea.
"I do not mean to change the subject, but would anyone like some more iced tea?" Denise asked. And every one said no.
The rest of the dinner was finished in silence. Denise suggested that they all move to the family room for desert. When Denise went into the kitchen and to prepare desert Stephanie followed. Stephanie said,
"I owe you and Frank a huge apology for my mother. You put so much time and effort into tonight for it to be ruined by her. I am sorry."
"Steph, you do not need to apologize, your mother clearly has issues. You warned us about her, so do not worry about it. If you need anything while they are here, you know that we are here." Denise said trying to help Stephanie feel secure and safe.
"Here can you manage to carry this tray of plates?" Denise asked.
"Sure". They carried the desert and coffee into the family room, where the men and Beth were talking. It seemed like there was a cease fire of words for the moment. Beth sat quietly next to Bill on the couch. Denise served the desert, and everyone enjoyed the rich chocolate cake.
"So Stephanie, what are you and your parents planning on doing tomorrow?" Denise asked.
"Well I had not planned that far… as I was not sure as to how tired Mom and Dad were going to be." Stephanie admitted.
"I have an idea… I am not working at the hospital tomorrow. Why do not all of us ladies go shopping? And Frank, Jeremy and Bill can go find something to do." Denise offered knowing how much Stephanie would appreciate the support.
"Yeah, I would like that… how about you, Mom?" Stephanie really did appreciate sharing the wealth of her mother's insults with someone else.
"I like that idea… I would like to get to know Denise a little better." Beth said.
"And what about us?" Bill asked, gesturing at Frank and Jeremy.
"Well, Bill do you play golf?" Frank asked.
"Why yes I do… but I did not bring my clubs." Bill admitted.
"Actually Mr. Sanders, do not worry about it, you can use my old clubs. They are not great but you are certainly welcomed to them." Jeremy offered.
"Yeah that sounds great… but Jeremy what are you going to do?" Bill asked not wanting to exclude Jeremy.
"I thought I would drive the golf cart." Jeremy said laughing.
"You are going to drive the cart, how?" Bill was not sensing Jeremy's sarcasm.
"Mr. Sanders I was kidding. No I will ride along with you both, and make fun of Dad." Jeremy smiled.
"Ok… what time?" Bill asked.
"How about 0930? Is that too early?" Frank asked, as sometimes he got so used to the Army doing things so early that he lost sight of the non-military world.
"That sounds good." Bill agreed.
The rest of the evening at the Sherwood's went well, for the most part. Beth still had a number of issues, but she realized that this was neither the time nor the place to continue to address them. She was actually looking forward to going shopping with her daughter and Denise. As it was not very often she got to go shopping with her daughter. Beth was proud of her daughter even if she did not show it. The Sanders family got back to Stephanie's apartment about 2300. Beth announced that she was tired and was ready to go to bed, but Stephanie and Bill decided to stay up and talk. Stephanie transferred herself from her wheelchair to the couch and Bill sat in the recliner.
"Stephanie… I am sorry about your mother. I thought that she was going to be ok, and not be so insulting." Bill admitted.
"Dad… thank you for the apology but I need to hear that from Mom. I personally feel like she was very rude to the Sherwoods tonight. Denise put a lot of effort into dinner and mom…. You know opened her big mouth." Stephanie said with a sigh.
"I know. But here is the really important question… how are you really doing? Medically? Physically? Emotionally?" Bill asked like a concerned parent.
"Medically I am doing well. I exercise daily. Physically, I am doing better than ever. Emotionally… it's good. It has really helped that I have found Jeremy and his family as friends. They are very nice. They have been very supportive of me wanting to go to medical school. Since Denise is a nurse, she has helped me to study for my MCAT, which it looks like I am going to take the exam in about weeks." Stephanie said reassuring her father that she was ok.
"I am glad… you are going to make a good doctor. Honey, I am very proud of the way you are handling yourself. If your mother will not tell you that… I will." Bill said with a sigh.
"That means a lot. SO how are Alan and Sarah doing?" Stephanie had not seen her brother and sister in over a year; and she had not spoken to either of then in a couple of weeks.
Bill and Stephanie finally called it a night about 1230a. It was a good conversation. Stephanie felt better about her parent's visit now that she felt like she had her Dad's support. She just wished she could get through to her mother… but time will tell. The idea of shopping with her mother was not a favorable one, but at least Denise would be there.