February 8th, 1999, Saturday:
Happy was sound asleep, buried deeply under the covers of her new bed. She'd never been so happy before. Yesterday Aunt Veronica took her to her new school and while some of the kids acted a bit like jerks to her because of her American accent she found that most of them actually were intrigued by her Asian features. She formed a couple of quick friendships with a couple of the girls who weren't wearing skirts or dresses. And she endured a couple of gibes as she fixed one of the boys' bikes when the chain had come off. But stood there smiling as they stared at her in surprise that she'd popped a link out of the chain and put it back on so it wouldn't come off so easily.
She smiled as she stood in the school office that morning with her Aunt and her Aunt arguing that Happy should be allowed to experience the shop classes as she had an aptitude for them. The auto shop teacher stood there red faced as he argued against a girl in his class. Finally the principal asked him to test Happy's knowledge. And they all stood there stunned as she rattled off every answer to his questions, sometimes even before he finished them. Mr. Johnson stood there scratching his head. When he smiled suddenly.
"I withdraw my objections to this young lady taking my class. But clearly by what she has demonstrated here, she is far beyond what our curriculum is set to teach. She could probably teach my classes. Happy, I'd be honored for you to sit in my class but I'm afraid you'd be bored. And I'm not sure what I could do for that." Mr. Johnson said apologetically.
The school counselor snapped his fingers.
"You know, the secondary school has a car club that works on more advanced things. Maybe we can work something out for her to attend those after school?" She offered.
Mrs. Dineen nodded.
"Well I understand the limitations of your classes here, but I'd appreciate it if you'd at least let Happy sit through a few and see what she wants. If we have too, we'll find a private tutor for her after school. I'm not too crazy about sending her to learn with kids that are so much older than she is." Veronica told them.
Suddenly Happy was awakened as something landed on her bed and nearly bounced her out of it. And then hands grabbed at her and began tickling her.
"Wake up, sleepy head!" Paige grinned as she continued assaulting Happy with her fingers.
Happy began giggling and laughing despite the fact she hated to be tickled and soon she made a mad dash out of her room and across the hall to the bathroom. Paige just sat there breathing a little harder and grinning.
The other door opened a few minutes later and Happy walked out in her pajamas and she smiled at Paige as she walked into the room.
"Good morning, Paige." Happy told her.
"Good morning, Happy." Paige told her and then shrieked as Happy jumped at her and began tickling her back.
Veronica and Paige took Happy with them shopping after breakfast. Happy had been surprised that Veronica hadn't tried to persuade her to get any dresses or skirts. Paige had brought one over almost as soon as they started shopping but Veronica quickly explained that Happy wasn't really interested in dresses and skirts. She'd been shocked as the first five outfits cost more than all of her previous clothes put together and they didn't stop. They walked out with sixteen outfits for Happy alone. Several new bed sets, throw rugs, curtains. They'd stopped at the hardware store where Happy was allowed to pick the colors she wanted for her bedroom.
Happy's mind had such a hard time adjusting to what was happening. She kept waiting for one of them to turn and laugh and tell her it had all been a big joke. But try as she might, she couldn't keep the wall up between her and everyone. Their seeming care and concern for her, their openness pulled at her heart. Her heart had been so desperate for the love she'd been denied. She went to sleep Saturday night looking at the stars in the sky and said a short prayer. "Thank you."
Monday morning 9 a.m. Dublin:
The buzzer on Ralph's intercom sounded as he was reading the Irish Independent newspaper.
"Yes Debbie?" Ralph replied as he pushed the button down to speak.
"Your sister is on line #3 Mr. Dineen, she sounds pretty upset." Debbie told him.
"Thanks Debbie." Ralph said as he dropped the paper and quickly answered the phone. "Jo, what's going on?"
"Oh Ralphie, Charles, they say he's brain dead. They're advising me to have life support removed." Jo nearly wailed into the phone.
"Oh Jo, I am so sorry. Has my friend Dr. Wantanabe seen him?" Ralph asked as a tear slipped his eyelid.
"Yes, he came in a little bit ago. He said if you have any questions to call at any time of day." Jo told him.
"Do you need me to come over to Japan and be with you Jo?" Ralph asked.
"Thank you Ralphie, no, you stay there with your sweet family and Happy." Jo told him.
"Well just to let you know, Happy is really getting along here. She misses you. Poor child kept thinking we were playing a joke on her and going to send her back to the orphanage. Do you want me to break the news to her?" Ralph asked her.
"My sweet Happy, thank you so much for watching out for her Ralphie. It might be easier if you can and let her know in person, I'll call later to talk with her." Jo told him. "I hope to be home by Friday, maybe then I'll fly over to spend some time with you and then bring Happy back with me."
"Well we'd love to have you. You're more than welcome to consider an extended stay, we got plenty of room, no rush. And all three of us love Happy." Ralph told her.
"Thank you Ralph, I just might take you up on that. I'll call later, around 9 p.m. your time." Jo told him.
"Make sure you take care of yourself Jo, we love you." Ralph told her.
"I love you guys too Ralphie." Jo said before hanging up.
Happy had been so happy coming home from school. She'd met up with Paige and Walter as they were coming out of school and the three of them journeyed home being followed by their protection detail. Happy still wasn't too sure about them but most of them were nice. As they turned off the road to walk up to their house they saw Ralph's SUV in the drive and Happy froze.
"Hey look, Dad's home early." Paige grinned and then looked at Happy and frowned seeing her face. "Happy? What's wrong?" Paige asked as she stepped over in front of her.
"It's never a good thing when someone is home early." Happy told her softly.
"Oh Happy, I'm sure everything is fine. Daddy does so many deals and stuff, he probably forgot something and came home early because of it." Paige told her and took her hand and gestured.
Happy shook her head slightly but took a step and they walked on up and into the house.
"We're home." Paige called out.
"We're in the family room." Ralph called back.
Happy froze. She knew that tone, that was a bad tone and she began shaking her head as tears ran down her face. She knew it had been too good to be true, she was going to be sent back to the orphanage. She cried out suddenly and ran up the stairs to her bedroom slamming the door behind her.
"Happy?" Paige said, shocked at her disappearing quickly.
"Paige?" Ralph asked as he stepped out to see what was going on.
"I don't know, Happy is upset about something because you are home early." Paige said as she started to move to the stairs.
"Go see your Mother, I'll go talk to her." Ralph said softly.
"Daddy?" Paige questioned as her stomach knotted up.
"It's not good sweetie, go see your Mom." Ralph said as he began climbing the stairs.
Paige had been squeezing Walter's hand harder and she looked at him and he gave her a wain smile.
"I'm here with you Paige." Walter told her.
Paige nodded before she hugged him and then they walked into the family room. She saw the tears on her Mother's face.
"Mommy?" Paige questioned fearfully.
"Oh sweetie." Veronica said as she held out her arms. Paige stepped up and hugged her with her one arm as she kept Walter's hand in her other. "I'm sorry baby, Uncle Charles is gone. They declared him as brain dead and they had him removed from life support."
"Oh no, Aunt Jo?" Paige cried.
"She's hanging in there. She's going to try and call later. She hopes to come over this coming weekend. Your Father has invited her to take an extended time here with us." Veronica told her.
"I'd really like that. Plus I don't want to lose Happy so soon." Paige nodded.
"Oh me either baby. That little girl has wormed her way right into my heart. I'd always wanted another child." Veronica told her.
Ralph stood outside of Happy's bedroom and he heard her crying and he sighed.
"Happy, may I come in?" Ralph asked as he knocked on her door.
He didn't hear a response so he turned the knob and walked in.
"Normally we don't enter someone's room without permission, Happy, but this is too important. I need to talk to you." Ralph said even as he crossed the floor to her bed and sat down beside her lying there crying.
"You're sending me back to the orphanage." Happy wailed.
Ralph smiled even as a tear ran down his face. He reached out and ran his hand back and forth across her shoulders.
"No sweetie, we're not sending you anywhere. But it is bad news. I'm really sorry to have to tell you but your Daddy, Charles, has died." Ralph explained.
Happy looked over quickly even as she sniffled.
"He's dead? You're not sending me away?" Happy asked.
"I'm sorry, he is dead, baby. But no, we're not sending you anywhere. Your Mommy will call later tonight. She hopes to be here next weekend. I've invited her to stay here with us for as long as she wants." Ralph told her.
Happy threw herself into Ralph's arms and hugged him fiercely.
"I was so scared. I love you and I thought you were sending me away." Happy cried.
"We love you too, Happy. You'll always have a home with us, baby." Ralph told her with a slight chuckle.
Happy sniffled as she pulled back and looked into his face.
"I'm sorry about Charles." Happy told him.
Ralph grinned and kissed her cheek.
"I thought maybe we could go out and have dinner tonight. Would you like that?" Ralph asked.
Happy nodded quickly.
"Okay, well get your homework done and then get cleaned up." Ralph told her after a quick swat to her butt.
Happy laughed and nodded as she grabbed her books and sat down at her desk. She paused as she looked at the posters she'd been allowed to get and put up.
"Thank you Uncle Ralph." Happy said as she looked at the picture Walter had given her Saturday of the shuttle's main engine outside of its housing. She smiled even though she felt some sadness for her family. She hadn't really known Charles so his death didn't really affect her. She'd been more worried about being sent away and unloved. She opened her books and began working.
February 13th, Thursday 12:00 p.m. Dublin:
Ralph was sitting talking with the Ambassador when the Ambassador's door opened and his secretary stepped in and handed him a folder marked confidential. The Ambassador opened it and read the paper inside and sighed.
"It looks like American Airlines lost a plane an hour ago." The Ambassador told Ralph.
"Not good. Where was this one?" Ralph asked.
"Over the Pacific, they've got search teams up, but no sign of the craft on radars. There was no distress call. No chatter and no one claiming any responsibility." The Ambassador told Ralph as he passed the folder to him.
Ralph's eyes skimmed the document and then locked onto the flight number.
"Jo." Ralph said quietly.
"What's that Ralph?" The Ambassador asked.
"M-My sister Jo, she was supposed to be coming back today from Japan with her husband's body. I'm sure that was the flight number." Ralph told him weakly.
The Ambassador grabbed his phone and hit his intercom button.
"Yes, Mrs. Defoe, see if you can get me a passenger manifest on this flight that has gone missing immediately." The Ambassador told her before hanging up.
Two days later:
"How you doing Ralph?" Sean asked as he stepped up to the right side of the large man and put his hand on his right shoulder.
"As well as I can I guess Sean, thanks." Ralph said as they looked off into the sky looking to the west of the Dineen home. "First we lost Charles and now my sister. And then to top it off the orphanage is making noise about us returning Happy to them."
"The devil you say? Well surely you aren't going to stand for that." Sean said angrily.
"I'm not sure what legal grounds we have. I mean sure we can petition to be her foster parents or even to adopt her, but in the meantime they could force us to return her. She'd just started coming around to this being real and then she lost…Charles, and now my sister. The poor kid has been through the wringer." Ralph told him weakly.
Sean stepped ahead of him and then turned and faced him and looked up into his eyes.
"You're Ralph Dineen, you're the US Ambassador to Ireland's right hand man. You broker deals between the mighty every damn day. Are you telling me that the man I've come to respect and admire is willing to let some bureaucrats take that sweet little girl from her family? That isn't the Ralph Dineen I know. You got grief man, I know grief. But you got fire and vinegar and more than that, you got heart and love. There is no way my friend and brother, Ralph Dineen, is going to let this slide." Sean told him while poking him in the chest.
Ralph looked at him for a moment as if he was crazy and then Ralph's massive arms reached out and yanked Sean in and hugged him tightly.
"You're damn right I am not letting this happen!" Ralph nearly yelled as he turned and flew into the house and into his den where he began making phone calls.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!
Railman - Well it certainly started off that way...Let's hope Ralph can turn things around!
Margaret - Glad you are enjoying how Happy's life is changing. Hopefully this latest curse is broken quickly! The story did talk about the ball joint and what happened but that doesn't happen until chapter 30'ish I think it was...Been a while since I wrote it. lol Not sure how or why I get so many stories running to me...But I'm not complaining and I thank God each day for it.
Guest - Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
Guest - Thank you! Callan has been a real treasure for me and I am so glad you guys are embracing it! Yep, Happy's world was seriously turned on its head!
Guest - I don't know if this will impact her making that video or not. That is a number of years away, more than 13. It might impact it. Maybe she'll make it in another country or a different language, maybe it will be more serious.
To the Adventure! -Tim