1974

At Langston, Greg and Reilly were in all the same classes. They sat together, ate together and studied together in the large, quiet library. Reilly joined the Junior Varsity field hockey team and Greg joined the JV lacrosse team. They spent Saturday mornings in the music room practicing piano and talking. They occasionally went into the local town to buy records and mail letters to Blythe and the McGraths. Sometimes their roommates, Hilary and Tom, joined them but for the most part, Greg and Reilly stuck together.

When they left for Christmas break, they joined their families on a base in Rota, Spain. John greeted Greg and then left him alone for the remainder of his stay. They spent Christmas Day with the McGraths. As they opened presents, Blythe sat down next to Reilly.

"Your academic advisor wrote to us," she said quietly. Reilly looked over at her. "He said you and Greg haven't really made an effort to make new friends."

Reilly looked down at the sweater her mother knitted for her. "It's just easier. Most of the other kids come from rich families. We just don't have a lot in common with them."

Blythe waited as they were both handed presents. "Are you and Greg dating?" she finally asked.

Reilly snorted. "No way. He's Greg. He's my best friend and I love him but I don't love him love him. You know?"

"Okay. Doctor Allen wants the two of you to broaden your social circles. Maybe get to know some of the other students. You might have more in common with them then you realize."

Reilly shrugged and smoothed her hand over the jeans in the box on her lap. "I guess," she said and then looked up. Greg sat with her brothers helping them put together their new toys. "It's just I get homesick and being with Greg is like being home."

"I understand that."

"But, you're right. We need to make friends and stop being so dependent on each other."

"We don't want you two to stop being friends," Blythe told her. "Going to Langston is a wonderful opportunity and we want you both to make the very best of it."

"Did you tell Greg this?" Reilly asked.

Blythe laughed ruefully. "I thought it would be best coming from you. He trusts you."

"Sure. I'll talk to him about it."

Blythe took her hand and squeezed it. "Thank you."

They finished opening presents and Reilly helped clean up while Greg went outside with the children. Once everything was cleared away, they went into the kitchen and finished cooking the Christmas dinner. Reilly made bread sauce while her mother fried potatoes in goose fat. A huge turkey cooked in the oven. Blythe set the table then began pulling down the serving dishes. Finally everything was ready and they all sat down to eat. The meal was loud and festive with everyone asking and answering questions. John even asked Greg how school was going.

"You keeping up with the piano?" Gil asked him.

Greg nodded. "The teacher is okay but she's not like Mom."

"I completely agree with that," Reilly chimed in. "Aunt Blythe is a much better piano teacher. Miss Olney is more interested in the boys she teaches than she is in teaching."

"A grown woman is making eyes at young boys?" Meara questioned with narrowed eyes. "She should be fired."

"She just graduated from college, Aunt Meara, and she flirts a little with the senior boys," Greg told her.

"Still," Meara said as she helped herself to more turkey. "She better not get any ideas about you, boyo."

Greg laughed. "She won't."

"Well, when you graduate and join the Marines, you won't have as much time for music," John told him.

"I'm not joining the Marines," Greg said quietly.

"Of course you are."

"No. I'm going to be a doctor."

"And just who's going to pay for that?" John asked. "This private school is expensive enough. I'm not paying for college and medical school when you can serve your country and then go to college on the GI Bill."

"I'm not going to be a Marine. I'm going to be a doctor. I'll get a job and loans to pay for it if you won't."

"You're just going to throw the House tradition of service out the window?" John demanded.

"Yeah, I am," Greg told him looking him in the eyes. "I want to practice medicine."

"Well, you can't always get what you want," John informed him coldly.

"John, just let it go," Gil said quietly.

"In fact," Greg continued. "I think you're jealous. You're jealous of the opportunities I have."

Color flooded John's face. "I'm not jealous of you. You'll never be the man I am."

Greg wiped his mouth with his napkin and put it beside his plate. Standing up, he smiled grimly. "Believe me, I'm forever grateful for that fact," he said and then walked back to his room and shut the door.

"Damn your eyes, John House," Meara said. "Ya have a fine boy there and all you've ever done is belittle him and treat him like he's somehow less. He's smarter than you or me or Gil or Blythe." She threw her napkin down. "I'm ashamed to know ye. Ashamed." She stood and stomped to the front door. Flinging it open, she left.

Gil put his knife and fork down. "Thank Aunt Blythe and Uncle John for dinner, children," he said as he stood.

The children stood, quietly thanked them and followed Gil out.

Blythe looked at the food on the table. "You're pushing him farther and farther away. One of these days, he won't come back home. Then what will we do?" she asked her husband.

John resumed eating. "Nothing," he told her.

Greg and Reilly graduated from Langston in 1977. Reilly was the valedictorian and Greg was the salutatorian. They were going to Harvard in September. Both received full academic scholarships.

As Reilly packed up her dorm room for the last time, a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," she called out.

Greg entered and slumped into her desk chair. "How come your mom isn't helping you with this?" he asked as he tossed a small box on her bed.

She picked it up with a smile. "Because she has five kids to keep track of and I'm more than capable of doing it myself," she told him.

Sitting on the bed, she opened the box. Nestled in snowy cotton batting was a delicate silver caduceus on a thin silver chain. Greg got up and took it out of the box. He unfastened the clasp and put it around her neck. She lifted her fiery red curls so he could fasten it.

"It's beautiful," she breathed. "Thank you."

He shrugged and sat back down in the chair. "Well, you got me the watch. I know you had to work a lot of overtime at the bookstore to afford it."

"I wanted you to have it," she told him. "Are you ready to go to Ireland?"

He nodded.

"Aunt Blythe still okay with you spending the summer there with me and my grandparents?"

He nodded again.

Reilly got up and resumed packing. "So, you and Dylan Crandall are going to be roommates at Harvard?"

"Someone needs to keep an eye on him. Besides, he has a car."

"Well, that's what I look for in all my friends," she teased.

"Eh, he'll be married before the end of the summer. So, I'll need to find a new friend once I get to college since you don't have a car."

"You're still a meanie," she laughed.

"Did you break up with What's-His-Name?"

"No," she sighed. "He broke up with me. I didn't want to sleep with him so he called me a cock tease."

"He's an asshole," he told her.

"You did try to tell me."

"You should always listen to me," he told her with a grin.

She laughed and closed the lid on her suitcase. Snapping the clasps closed, she picked it up and put it beside the door.

"Wanna go down for dinner one last time?" he asked.

"Yeah," she smiled.