A Series of Unfortunate Events
Chapter 32
One week later...
Andy, Sharon, the kids, and her parents had spent the morning going through all the boxes of pictures, knick-knacks, and miscellaneous items . Then after dusting them, they put them up on the walls and various shelves. They had left that task for Sharon to do with them, knowing she'd want to be involved with that. After lunch was through, seeing that Sharon was tired Andy convinced her to lay down with him on the sofa and take a nap.
When Sharon fell asleep in his arms, proving to Andy that she needed the rest he snoozed too, for about an hour, but he was woken unceremoniously by a loud knocking on the door. He slid out from under a still sleeping Sharon to answer it. As he opened the door he was immediately attacked by two small bundles of energy that were his grandsons, Ryan and Ian. "Grampa Andy, we awe back!" Ian cried happily as he and Ryan ran into Andy to hug him.
Andy lifted them up above his head. "Yeah, I can see that and boy am I glad! Gramma Sharon and I have missed you both sooo much!" Andy said, hugging both boys and giving them each a kiss on the head. Then he put them down again and gave Nicole a hug, a kiss, and shook her husband, Dean's hand. "Hi, Sweetheart. Hey, Dean, glad to see you're back."
"Hi, Dad," Nicole said, hugging him back and grinning.
"Hey, Andy. Glad to be back," said Dean.
Ian stood beside Andy's leg and tugged on his pants. "Gwanpa, wheah is Gwanma Sharon? I want to show her the pictuahs of ouah twip and we bought you somfin too. We went all the way to Souf Kota, Gwampa! On a big plane! We saw Indians… uh, the Lakota Sioux people, tepees and danced wif em, and they helped us make dweam catchahs. I want to show you both what Mommy and Daddy got us. They said it was fwom you and Gwamma Shawan," said Ian, who was about to turn six. His hair was red and cut short in a curly cap on his head, with a mass of freckles all over his face and body. His eyes were aquamarine , and danced with joy and mischief. His nose was slightly tip-tilted. He was tiny for his age having been born prematurely. His brother, Ryan was two years and five months older than him. At eight and a half, Ryan looked similar to Ian only his hair was dark auburn with brown eyes and his freckles were darker. Both boys were in ballet and had been since they were toddlers. They had enjoyed it so much, they had continued. They got their love of ballet naturally. Their deceased mother had been a ballerina but had diagnosed with breast cancer early in her last pregnancy. She'd opted to forgo the chemo to allow the fetus inside her to have a chance to grow. Unfortunately, the cancer grew also and she died giving birth to Ian when she was thirty weeks pregnant.
Dean was left alone with a two and half-year-old and a preemie newborn. Nicole had come into their lives when the boys were three and seven months. She and Dean had married when Ryan was almost four and Ian was 14 months old. Ryan narrowed his eyes. He hated it when his brother lisped. "It's South Dakota dummy and they're dreamcatchers, not dweam catchas," said Ryan age nine and a half looking disgusted.
"Ryan, how many times have I told you not to call your brother a dummy? He's has a speech impediment but that doesn't mean he's dumb. He just has problems with some sounds. You used to not be able to say your L's or your R's. How would you have felt if Ian, who adores his big brother, by the way, had been your big brother instead of the other way around and called you a dummy for that?" Asked Nicole. "What does Gramma Sharon always say?"
"Be safe and be kind," quoted Ryan rolling his eyes.
"Were you being kind to your little brother?" Nicole admonished.
"No, I guess not. Sorry, Ian," Ryan mumbled.
Ian looked up at his brother with adoration. "Dats okay. I fowgift you," he said hugging his big brother.
Waking up at the sound of the boys, Nicole, and Andy talking, Sharon slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. She was enchanted by Ian and found his lisp to be adorable, but she tried hard not to laugh at him, at least not to his face. As far as Ian was concerned the sun rose and set with Sharon and the feeling was mutual. Although Ryan was a little more reserved in showing it, he adored her as well. However, Andy was his hero. Sharon waited.
"Gwamma Shawan wheah awe you?" asked Ian peering around Andy's legs.
"Over here my darling, on the couch in the living room. Come show me what you brought." Sharon patted the couch beside her. "I'm so excited to hear about your adventures at the reservation."
Ian ran to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and several other places on her face. "Oh Gwamma Shawan, I'm so glad you are betteh and not at the hopsbittle. You ah betteh awent you?"
"Yes, I'm getting better every day. I was just resting. We were unpacking and I got a bit tired." She gave him a hug.
"Emphasis on the word was," Andy said ruefully wishing she'd had more time to rest. He was a bit overprotective of her, having come so close to losing her, multiple times.
Nicole sighed and patted him on the arm. "Give it a rest, Dad. She needs to see us and we needed to see her."
"I know. I just worry." He reluctantly agreed with his daughter.
"Well, she'll not thank you for over-protecting her or treating her as if she doesn't know her own limitations."
"You're not wrong, but I've almost lost her multiple times and I worry about her," Andy said and reached for Charlotte, his seven-month-old grandbaby. She was petite like her mother with a great deal of mahogany colored silky curls that framed her little face. Her eyes were almost black with long eyelashes, she had a button nose and a rosebud mouth. She had four tiny pearl-like teeth, two on the top and two on the bottom gums. She had an olive complexion like her mother, as well. She wore part of her beautiful mahogany colored soft silky curls in a cute little pony-tail on top of her head with the rest of her hair down around her cherubic little face. A pink ribbon was tied around the ponytail and was tied in a bow. The pink of the ribbon matched the pink dress she was wearing. It was a polyester cotton jersey dress that had the face of a cat on the bodice and a white cardigan that had kitty cats all over it. It had a round neckline that sported a tiny pink bow. She wore pink socks that had a print that made them look like she had tennis shoes on them.
"Hey, Charlie bug, come see Grampa." The baby girl on Nicole's hip leaned away from Andy and hid her face in her mother's shoulder. Andy's face fell.
Nicole laughed a little and shifted her daughter Charlotte onto the other hip. "Don't be offended, Dad. Charlie is at that stage where she has stranger anxiety. She hasn't seen you for awhile. She'll warm up soon enough." Then she watched as Ian and Ryan showed Sharon the pictures of their trip and everything they had brought them." Nicole nodded towards Sharon. "How is she though, Dad?"
Andy rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, she's good, but she's been through a lot. Even more, than you know yet. She's still got some recovery time ahead, mentally, physically and emotionally, but she's getting there. It's just that she gets tired easily still and she gets mad at herself for it. There's so much to do since we've moved into our new home and she's eager to be involved in the whole process. Luckily we have Olivia to care for, that distracts her and keeps her focus on something else besides what she is currently not capable of doing."
"Ohh that's right, you have Olivia, Rusty's baby sister now. Wow, that was a surprise! Although, I could have sworn Rusty said her name was something else." Nicole asked confused.
He nodded, "it was, but believe me when I say we had a very good reason to change it."
Looking around for the baby Nicole asked, "Where is she?"
Andy looked around too, then heard the sound of the heater going in the hall bathroom and the murmur of Emily and Eileen's voices as well as Olivia's baby noises along with the splash of her beloved bath. She was very vocal during them, in spite of her hearing loss. "Eileen, Sharon's mother, and Sharon's oldest daughter, Emily have her in the bathroom, and are giving her a bath, I believe."
Nicole was excited. "Oh, I can't wait to meet her and Sharon's mother. The boys will be very excited to meet a real live ballerina. How old did you say Olivia was?"
"She's four-months-old, almost five but like Ian, she's tiny for her age and a little behind in some areas of development, and ahead in others." He was still trying to get his granddaughter to look at him.
"It's kind of neat that Charlie will have a playmate. They're only three months apart." Nicole turned the little one so she could see her grandpa but still feel safe in her arms.
Andy smiled. "That's right, but you know, she'll be Charlie's and the boy's aunt. That should be interesting and quite confusing." The three of them laughed. Suddenly Andy realized they were still standing in the doorway. He gestured in and closed the double doors, then he led them through the house, walking towards the living room, he asked, "Would you like a tour?"
"Yes, we'd love it." Nicole and Dean agreed.
Andy took them on a tour of the house, starting with the kitchen. A nice large room with a breakfast-nook on one side of the room facing the pool, and the cooking area on the other end. It had state-of-the-art appliances with stainless steel finishes except for the refrigerator which had the same finish as the cabinetry. The cabinets were dark honey colored oak with dark granite countertops. There was a matching island that had a sink and a great deal of workspace. The back-splash behind the cabinets and counters was a gold tile. The floors were done in laminated flooring. It was his dream kitchen. The dining room had Sharon's table from the condo with the high-backed soft velour chairs.
He took them through the bedrooms and baths, pointing out the over large shower stall with a bench, two shower heads, and the big jacuzzi tub for two in the master bath. The vanity had dual sinks and the granite countertops were gold. The laundry room was adjacent to that bathroom but was also accessible from the hallway. Then they moved to the baby's room that just had the bassinet and a couple of plastic bins with drawers to hold the baby supplies. The old Jenny Lind changing table had managed to be cleaned sufficiently to be used until the new layette arrived. He explained what had happened and that they had ordered new furniture and a new layette that had not arrived yet and that Sharon and her father were working on a mural and had just started painting. They ended up back in the living room getting ready to go out on the patio so he could show them the pool. Nicole smiled as she watched Sharon with the boys, "oohing and ahhing" over the pictures and other things they'd brought to show her. Although she was animated with the boys, Nicole sensed a fragility about Sharon and that word was not one she would ever have thought to associate with Sharon Raydor.
Sharon looked up and greeted them both standing up awkwardly to hug them. Nicole and Dean hugged her back. "Hello, Nicole darling. Dean, so glad to see you both."
"Glad to see you too. Dad and you were very much on the boy's minds during the whole trip. As I'm sure you can see," Nicole said indicating the picture album, slippers, baskets, and other paraphernalia she had been surrounded with. Not to mention pictures they had drawn and school reports they had written.
She laughed at everything that was surrounding her. "Yes, I had noticed. That's so sweet. They're such dear little boys. You have a lot to be proud of and look at Charlie bug, she's grown so much!"
"Yes, she has but now she's going through stranger anxiety," Nicole said apologetically.
"Well, that will pass. She just has to spend more time with us again. Now that we have Olivia she'll have someone to play with," Sharon said reassuringly. That said, she started limping toward the couch. Her knee, actually her entire body got stiff if she sat or stood too long at a time. Dean tried to give her support to go back and sit with the boys when they were done greeting each other, but she waved him away wanting to do it herself. Once she was seated again she looked up. "Let Andy show you the patio and everything out there and I'm sure you have lots to catch up on," Sharon said knowingly. "We'll be here waiting for you when you come back. Won't we boys?"
"Yeah, we'll take care of Gwamma Shawan until you come back," said Ian nodding his head.
Nicole smiled at him. "You do that Ian bug and Ryan bug," Nicole said using their nicknames.
Once they got out on the patio, Nicole turned to her dad. "I'm glad Sharon's getting better," Nicole said with relief. "The boys have missed the two of you so much and they, well we were all so worried when she was in the hospital. I was so glad that she got out before we left. As I told Sharon, the boys wanted to make everything for you two. Dreamcatchers, baskets, and slippers. It didn't matter what it was they had to make it for you. They kept saying they wanted to make you both feel better. They love you so much!"
"That's sweet. We love them too and we missed them. We've just been in the midst of some really scary goings-on. So we haven't been able to keep in touch while you were away. I'm sorry." Andy frowned at thinking of everything that had happened.
Nicole set her hand on her dad's shoulder as she said, "Don't be sorry. As it turns out, the cell service was spotty out there. So the most you could have done was text or called the reservation office and ask for us, but there was no guarantee you would have gotten a hold of us."
Andy placed his hand on hers. "Well, there was one time that I really wanted to call you, needed to talk to you, but it turned out that what I was going to tell you was thankfully not true after all. So it's just as well that my call was not allowed and the text came back unsent. I ended up deleting it."
Nicole's eyes narrowed and her face showed concern. The last time she'd actually spoken to her dad, other than this morning, about them visiting, had been right after Sharon had come home from the hospital the first time, after her bout with pneumonia. Once they realized Sharon was going to recover, she and Dean had pulled the boys out of school so they could take them with them to tour the various Native American reservations in South Dakota. They had used the tours as an educational tool for the boys and as a business trip for them. The owner of the company they work for was a very nice gentleman who had familial ties to the Lakota Sioux Nation and wanted to improve their quality of living through donating to the Northern Plains Reservation Aid outreach program. He had asked Nicole and Dean to assess their needs from a financial standpoint. In any case, they'd been traveling a great deal, so they had no idea about Sharon's and Andy's ordeals in the desert.
"What do you mean, dad? What happened?" Nicole asked with concern.
"You go over to the furniture around the fireplace grill area and have a seat. I'll be right back out. Would you like a drink? Ice-tea or water or coffee or hot-tea?"
"Water, please. Thank you," both Nicole and Dean said.
Andy nodded and went into the kitchen. He got several bottles of water from the refrigerator. He then handed them out to Sharon and the boys. He also gave Sharon a handful of pills. Mostly vitamins and supplements, along with a few others the doctor had prescribed, that were meant to keep bodily functions running smoothly. She looked down at her hand and looked ruefully back up at him. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. She knocked the pills down her throat all at the same time and drank almost all the water in the small bottle he gave her. Then she gave Andy a triumphant grin. He rewarded her with a kiss from him and an actual Hershey Kiss for her and one each for the boys. She narrowed her eyes at him as if to say, "what am I a child, that you feel like you have to reward me for good behavior?" Andy gave her a cocky grin back as if to say, "if the shoe fits wear it, my love." Sharon couldn't help but smile. They could say volumes without even speaking. He winked at her as he pointed outside and raised an eyebrow at her again. She nodded and blew him a kiss, he blew one back at her and went outside to talk to Nicole and Dean.
Once back outside he walked the short path to the fireplace/grill area to found Nicole and Dean sitting at the glass-topped patio table in the bamboo chairs that went with the table. The umbrella was up and they'd put a sleeping Charlie's car-seat under it, to protect her from the afternoon sun. Andy gave them each a water and kept one for himself.
Before he could sit down, Nicole asked, "Sooo Dad, what's the big mystery? What happened?"
TBC...
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