A Trip to Camp David
As Sebastian and Jenny headed out for a celebration lunch, across town Seth was putting the finishing touches to the lunch that he was preparing for himself and a visitor that he was expecting at any moment. When he had made the call to them the previous day, they had not been all that surprised to hear from him, and had agreed to his requests at once. He answered the door when the bell rang, taking his time to walk along the hallway, his legs still sore from the previous day, and the fresh spasms that had afflicted him that morning. He opened the door, then stood aside to allow Artie to wheel himself in.
"Something smells good," said Artie, as he slowly wheeled himself along the hall and into the living area, taking his cue on pace from the man following him.
"It's nothing special, just a bacon and egg pie; it's a recipe that Jeff suggested to me, although I admit that I bought the pastry rather than making it from scratch. It might look a little less than polished, for which I apologise; my hands were a little painful as I was making it…"
"Someone very wise once said to me that food looking less than perfect is not an issue. If it tastes good and is properly cooked, then nothing else really matters. After all, it will look a lot worse by the time that we are finished with it…"
"I guess that is true," said Seth with a smile.
"Now, would you like me to get it out of the oven for you? My hands are less painful than yours?" said Artie. Seth nodded, as his left hand was starting to spasm again. He knew that the man in front of him had been perceptive enough to notice, and he was grateful that he had not made a big deal out of it…
He felt calm, and that serenity allowed him to overcome his pain, and enjoy the meal before him, the cutlery not as much a battle as it could now sometimes be. The meal eaten and cleared away, it was then time for them to embark on the real purpose of Artie's visit that day. With a deep breath, Seth finally took a seat in the wheelchair that had been sitting in his home for a long time, ignored and unwanted. Now, with the help of a man that was used to being on wheels all the time, he began slowly but surely to take control of his own chair…
By the end of that first day, Seth felt that he had actually achieved something. Sure, it might not have been as easy as he might have hoped, as the worst of the spasms that affected his hands made it harder for him to grip the wheels' steering rims. However, he realised that all he had to do in those moments was pause, let them pass and then carry on. He was able then to quickly master the technique to drive himself around, and to brake sharply when he needed to. Cornering was just a little harder to master, and he almost toppled over on his side at one attempt. He did not let such minor setbacks stop him though; he knew that he had to master it as his future independence was rooted to being able to handle the chair unaided…
Artie was a good and patient teacher, letting his pupil get the feel for it all at his own pace. He had however brought one useful aid for his pupil; a pair of gloves with a good grip, similar to the ones that he used himself. Eventually he decided that he should call a halt to proceedings. He could see that whilst Seth's mind was more than willing to carry on, his body was much less so, and if he pushed him too far, then he might suffer another attack. Seth then asked him to stay for coffee, and he agreed, having plenty of time; Kitty had given him full backing for what he was doing, and his own work projects were all well in hand. As they chatted over coffee, his phone buzzed with an incoming message, and on reading it, he couldn't stop himself from grinning from ear to ear…
Seth noticed at once, and said, "Good news? I mean, you don't have to tell me exactly what is going on…"
Artie knew that much was true, but he decided to do so nonetheless. "I want to tell someone right now, but you do have to promise me two things. Firstly, you cannot tell anyone else what I am about to say, and secondly, and probably more importantly, you cannot ever let Kitty know that you knew before she did!" He lowered his voice then, which made Seth shake his head, and said, "So, you know all about the play a few years ago that J.K. Rowling wrote about Harry Potter…"
"Of course I have; we are all have expecting that Sebastian or indeed Mason will be involved in a revival."
"Well, there is finally going to be a film version. They have been hanging off, waiting for the right time, and that has come; by the time that filming is completed, they will all be in the correct age bracket again. The original cast have all agreed that they will take part and play those roles again, and it is highly anticipated that it will be the big film of 2025. Now, the author decided in her wisdom that she wanted it directed by someone that was good at their craft; not necessarily the biggest of names, although of course there are far fewer of those left after the quake in L.A. Whoever they chose would of course have to have an assistant, someone that would balance them out. So the director that they have managed to get on board is Greta Gerwig, and she has chosen her own assistant. Well, it turns out that she loved a little film called Dalton Boys, and that got her following my stuff, and so, she has asked me to be her assistant director on the project…"
"Oh my God! You are going to be working on a Harry Potter movie! Wow, that is so fantastic…"
"It is, but at the same time, it is a risk. If I fail to live up to her expectations, then it could be the finish of my career; fail in this, and I will never be offered the chance at something like this again. Succeed, and then who knows exactly what the future may hold for me…"
Seth knew he would keep Artie's secret, feeling that he had been entrusted with something very special by the young director. After all, the film that he would be helping to create would be an epic, a most fitting follow up to a series of books and films that had played a part in all of their lives. He did not dwell on it too long though, knowing that if he did, he would begin to wonder if he would still be around to see the finished result. Instead, he imagined how the others would react when they found out the news, and how many of them would hope that Artie might be able to get them in to meet the cast. Of course, they had already met Daniel Radcliffe, as he had appeared at Cooper's side one Monday evening at a gathering at Niff's place; his presence had silenced the room for a good few moments, and had left Nick and Jeff starstruck at the idea that he was actually there, in their home…
At that exact moment, the two young men in question were getting an early start on the packing that they needed to do for a very important weekend away. The trip to Camp David, where Jeff would produce his much awaited official drawing of the President, was a reason for both happiness, and a little fear. The work would go on display for all the world to see in the White House after all, and such an important setting for any of his work still made Jeff nervous. He had been preparing for the last two weeks, drawing up various photos that he had obtained of President Kennedy, so he could get a feel for the man. It would of course be an entirely different prospect in person; then there would be less room for error, no time to search for a different image to confirm what he saw.
Nick was worried too; he had after all to ensure that his husband stayed calm, that his son was entertained, and that he had the knowledge to answer any question that the President might pose him over the UN and its issues. All in all, it was not a holiday weekend at all for either of them; just work in much more rural surroundings than usual.
The last weekend of August in New York was set to be stiflingly hot, so when it came the time for the couple and Wes to leave the city on Friday night, it was a relief in some ways. They were not travelling without a fourth companion though; Caleb had been more than a little upset when he saw the bags being packed, and had expressed his displeasure with loud miaowing, fearing that they were about to leave him once more. His protests had ended up being so continuous that on Thursday evening Nick had been driven to head out of the house to find somewhere quieter that he could complete a report due the following day in, and had ended up joining Ethan, who was also hard at work, in the relative peace of his home along the street…
Little Wes had still managed to head to bed, able to sleep through all of the howling as he was exhausted by a busy day and the heat in combination. That had left Jeff on his own, the cat sat on his lap, trying to placate him and calm him down. However, no amount of stroking had any impact, and in the end, he sighed loudly, and spoke directly to the animal, knowing full well that he would not understand a word.
"I wish that you could understand what I am saying, Caleb, then you would know that we are only going away until Sunday night; in all likelihood, we will be away less than 48 hours. Mike has promised to come and check up on you, and we are going to let you stay here this time, where it is all familiar…" said Jeff in despair, and for a moment the cat was silent - then started howling again. "Look, I have to go, as no-one says no to the President - well, hardly ever. Maybe the best thing to do would be for me to go on my own, and leave Nick and Wes here, although that isn't really fair on either of them, but in the long run, your happiness is more important…"
Jeff stopped speaking as his cellphone started to ring, and he immediately recognised Trent's work number. He picked up the call, and at that precise moment, Caleb let out the most agonised of wails so far. "What on earth was that?" said Trent, with a note of surprise and indeed horror.
"Caleb. He has seen that we are packing cases for the weekend, and he isn't at all pleased. Probably he thinks that we are about to go away for months on end again…"
"Aw, bless him… I take it that phrases like Uncle Mike and catnip are having no impact either?"
"Nope. I think that I will just have to head to Camp David alone and hope it calms him somewhat."
"Well, I suppose that if you have to, you have to, but I do know that the President has a whole list of things that he is wanting to discuss with Nick too about the current situation at the UN…" replied Trent. After a pause, he asked, "I wonder… Look, has Caleb got past his explorer stage?"
Jeff chuckled, and replied, "I don't think that he ever really had one, if I am honest. He much prefers to just sit in one spot, close to warmth, food and humans that will spoil him rotten. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I happen to know that the First Lady loves cats; in fact, the whole family do. I also know that there are no cats at Camp David, and no dogs in the house either. Can you just stay on the line for a minute whilst I ask something?" Jeff nodded involuntarily, in the way that all humans did when they were on the phone, even though no-one could see him do it, and absentmindedly stroked his cat, who just responded with another self-pitying miaow. Then, he heard Trent's voice again. "Right, so I spoke to the President, and you have to pack another case; Caleb's. He is now on the official guest list for Camp David too…"
Nick was still finding the entire situation ridiculous on Friday night when he met his husband and son at Penn Station, straight after he finished work. Caleb was sitting in his travel box, a catnip filled toy pressed to his nose, wondering now if he should just have stayed silent and let them go, given the amount of dust in the station from the building works, the size of the crowds, and the noise; most of all, he resented the loudspeaker announcements, which to him were no more than a persistent squawk…
The fact that they were travelling with a cat also drew them some funny looks on the train heading to Baltimore, where they would leave the train for the car that would take them the rest of the way to their destination. Caleb had stirred as his box was placed on the table, and had taken a sniff of the air before wrinkling his nose in disgust. He was now even more certain that the whole concept of travel was not for him, but he realised that he was in a situation of his own making. He looked out of the window, the scene not the nice green garden that he was used to at home - and then the train began to move. As he watched, the lights faded, and it was dark, then eventually it was light once more. As the world began to flash by the window as the train speeded up, Caleb was fascinated. Maybe this part of the whole travel thing was acceptable, the world blurring into a haze of ever altering images…
In the end though, Caleb's natural instincts took over, and by the time that the train arrived in Baltimore and they headed out to the town car, he was sound asleep. The car was one of the new all electric models that the President had requested; it was a luxurious vehicle, and the ride was a smooth one, virtually silent too. The city was soon left behind them as they headed up into the hills of Maryland, into the place where generations of Presidents had found a retreat from the constant presence of government in Washington DC. Wes was sleepy by now too, but unlike the cat, he was fighting the urge to close his eyes and have a nap strongly, trying to take in all that he could see from the windows…
However, he ended up dozing off too, and his fathers allowed him too, only waking him up as they were driving up to the door of the main house itself. As he stirred, so did Caleb, his keen nose able to pick up the scents from outside being filtered in through the air con in a way that humans could not. He knew that this was not a city garden or park instinctively; this was the countryside proper, a place that held the scent of other cats, birds, and a myriad of small creatures. He shivered, and hoped that they would be going to stay in a proper house. He could cope with that; he needed the reassuring scent of furniture polish and humans…
Neither Nick or Jeff had anticipated that it would be the President himself that would come out to greet them as they stepped out of the car; they had imagined that it would be a staff member, or at most, his wife on her own. Wes was tired, but still recognised the man that was standing before him at once. That seemed to wake him up, and as he climbed out of the car he saluted, which made the President smile, then salute him back. "You, young man, must be Wes. I have heard a lot about you from your Uncle Trent."
"I am, Mr President. Uncle Trent tells me that your are very nice to work for, but he never tells me anything that you talk about, but that's because it is all top secret, isn't it?"
"It usually is," Kennedy replied with a grin. "Now I do hope that we can find enough things for you to do this weekend that you will find enjoyable. There are a lot of woods to explore, and plenty of wild animals to watch." He then turned his attention to Nick, who shook the hand that he was offered, and finally to Jeff. "I have to admit that I am quite looking forward to seeing just how you will immortalise me; we have all seen the drawing that you did of Queen Elizabeth, not to mention the honour that she then chose to bestow upon you. Now, this has to be our last minute fourth weekend guest…" he said gesturing to the carrier Jeff carried. The latter raised it up so that the President could get a better look at the cat inside; Caleb for his part let out a miaow as he surveyed the new human in front of him. "He is a handsome cat, with quite an amazing stoke of luck if Trent is correct…"
Jeff nodded. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time; now he would never fit into my satchel though. It was very good of you to let me bring him at such short notice."
"Nonsense. When Trent called you he was in the Oval Office with me, and despite the fact that his phone was not on speaker, I could quite clearly hear him voicing his opinion on this trip; in any case, the moment that the First Lady sets eyes upon him, she will be in love…"
The President's surmise proved to be correct; his wife was waiting inside in the hall to show them to the suite of adjoining rooms that they had been allocated for the weekend, and she smiled broadly on glimpsing Caleb. By the time that she had been greeted and they reached their rooms, their luggage was already there, with the case holding Caleb's bed on the top. There was a small sitting room with two bedrooms off it, and as the First Lady showed Nick and Wes the room that would be used by the latter, Jeff quickly opened up the case, and unpacked Caleb's bed, bowls and a selection of his toys. Then he placed himself right in front of the carrier, and spoke to his pet in his most firm voice.
"Right, so we are guests in this house, which means that I expect you to be on your very best behaviour. Now I can see that there is a litter tray already in place for you to use over there by the door, and I will place your bowls on the other side of the door, so they are close, but not so close you dislike it. The most important thing that you need to do is stay in the room, and don't wander off. The only reason that you would go out of that door is if me or Nick picks you up and carries you because there is an emergency, okay."
Caleb looked at his blond human, having not understood one word, and miaowed. He was just anxious to get out of his carrier, and settle down in his bed for a while before he was fed. When the door was opened, he allowed Jeff to lift him out and hold him in his arms. "I know that you will be wanting to go into your bed, but you need to greet our hostess first; please don't scratch her or anything if she tries to stroke you…"
Caleb looked up at the blond, and recognised the face that showed he was worried, so he gently rubbed his head on him to show that he loved him. It was as he was doing so that he heard the voice… "Oh, he is adorable! Do you think that he would mind if I stroked him?"
"No, ma'am, he shouldn't mind," replied Jeff. "He usually has no objection to meeting new people when he is with me…" Caleb felt a hand begin to gently stroke him, and he realised at once that this was a new one; he allowed the woman to carry on stroking him, and feeling content, he purred. That sound brought a delighted smile to the First Lady's face…
The weekend was therefore off to a good start; dinner was soon served, and Wes was delighted that he was invited to join everyone else at the table. This made him very content, delighted that he was being treated like a grown up by such powerful adults. As they ate, Caleb was fast asleep up in the room, content as the room was warm and had a comforting smell a lot like his own home. He had already been brought a glass bowl full of milk, which had been warmed a little, just as was done for him back home. It had been enough to satisfy his hunger for a little while, but he knew that there would be more food later; his keen nose had picked up the smell of the roast beef that was being consumed downstairs, and he had firm hopes that there would be a portion set aside for him…
Downstairs there had been a salmon mousse starter, then the roast rib of beef, followed by cherry pie, all of which was delicious. The meal over they all headed upstairs to watch as Jeff took food to his pet. He had taken Caleb's bowls to the kitchen, and now placed them back on the spot that he had indicated the cat would find them in; the moment he set them down, the cat woke up and came running, to everyone's amusement. In one bowl was a portion of salmon mousse, and in the other some off-cuts of the beef, covered in some of the meaty gravy. The sight of such largesse was enough to give Caleb cause to stop and stretch, then deal with a dilemma; which bowl to choose first. In the end, he headed to the mousse, ate a little, then headed to the beef, and did the same, before returning to the other bowl. He would force himself to clean both bowls, as he did not wish to cause offence to his watching hosts…
Nick couldn't stop himself from laughing as Caleb did just that, moving from one plate to the other until both were licked clean. The purring sound that came from him as he ate grew louder as he went on, which made Jeff blush bright red as he saw the amusement on the faces of their hosts. "He isn't normally so loud," he eventually said in an embarrassed tone.
"But he does love his food, and to be honest, we do spoil him; I honestly think that the only thing that keeps him from being too big is the fact that we live in a townhouse with a lot of stairs," mused Nick.
The President laughed at that, then watched as, the plates now clean, Caleb walked slowly over to Jeff, and rubbed himself contentedly on his legs. Then he looked up at Nick questioningly and miaowed.
"I'm afraid that there is no dessert for you today; you would not have like the cherry pie, although I did very much," said Wes all of a sudden, which made the adults laugh, even if both of his parents blushed at the frankness of his response.
"He really does not need any more food anyway," said Nick firmly, and Caleb recognised from the tone in which he spoke that his chances of getting a further helping of food from him were none. He had a sniff at the air, then decided that he might walk over and see if the two new humans were more forthcoming. He actually recognised one of them from the moving picture that was in a box back home. Jeff started to move to pick him up, but then he saw the First Lady kneel down, and before long, Caleb was allowing her to stroke him again.
"He is adorable; it pains me to think that someone could have been so cruel as to just have discarded him in the trash," she said, and her husband nodded in agreement.
"What is worse is the fact that we do not know how many brothers he might have had over the years that did not make it. We do know of two, who rejoice in the names of Elvis and Presley, because I rescued them a year or so later. They are of course much more famous, as they have graced the pages of Vogue alongside their owner, Isabelle Wright," replied Jeff. "All because they are unable to breed! It is despicable, and if it was a human being that was being treated in that way…"
"Animal welfare is an area of federal law that we could and should tighten up on," replied the President, as Caleb now began to rub on his legs. "We need to make this nation one in which every creature can feel safe, don't we Caleb?" The loud miaow that came in response at that point made them all smile once more…
The following morning, after a hearty breakfast, Nick and Wes headed out with the First Lady to explore the countryside around Camp David, whilst the President headed to his favourite room in the house to allow Jeff to begin with the task that had brought them there. As he had collected his art materials from the room, Caleb had begun to miaow at him, not wishing to be left alone, and with a sigh Jeff had lifted him up and placed him in his carrier for ease of transport. As he walked into the room, he saw the President raise an eyebrow, and he instantly began to apologise.
"I am afraid that Caleb is being particularly needy at the moment. He still likes to remind me that we left him for nearly a year, and I guess he might have a touch of separation anxiety. I mean, he loves his Uncle Mike, and he was well cared for, but well, Nick, Wes and I are his family I suppose, and he missed us."
"I do understand how that can be; when the children were younger they never wanted me to leave; now they are a little better, but the overseas trips can still be hard on them," replied the President. "Now, the doors and windows are all closed, and I gave strict instructions that we were not to be disturbed unless the future of the nation was at stake, so I think we can let him out to wander about and explore, or just jump up on the couch to have a sleep."
Jeff smiled, opened the carrier door, then began to set up all of his equipment. His easel was soon in place, a small table next to it for his pencils and his chair was at the right height. All of this he did whilst keeping half an eye on Caleb, who was busily exploring the room. That done, he looked up to see his subject looking at him expectantly for directions. "Okay, so I thought that we could draw you sitting in that armchair over there, with a book set open on the side table, as if you had set it down for a moment whilst reading to contemplate what you just read…"
The President nodded, and headed to the chair, and began to make himself comfortable. Meanwhile, Jeff searched for props, and to his delight found two. It was easy to obtain a suitably academic book, but by luck there was a framed photo showing the President's great uncle John and his wife Jackie. He picked it up, and on closer inspection, saw it had been taken in the same room 60 years ago…
He turned to the President, holding it up, and before he could speak, heard the man reply, "Now that is an excellent idea; showing the family linkage, just as you did for Her Majesty in The Happy Couple."
Jeff nodded, then headed back to set things up. He was nearly there when he saw something that made him freeze in his tracks. He watched as the President of the United States sat very still whilst a certain someone jumped up on his lap, padded it very briefly, then settled down on it, curled up, as if he was about to take his first morning nap…
