Failings of the Fathers: 41

"I'm here, at the hotel, but I think I might have called you at a weird time.  I can't keep track of the time changes."  Todd said, putting down his bags.

"It's okay.  It's eleven in the morning here.  I'm up around the clock anyway, with Jewel," Blair said.  "You must be tired."

"I slept on the plane, most of the time.  I feel fine, actually."

"Good.  We have a problem, though."

"What problem?  All the kids okay?"

"Yeah, it's that the groundskeeper is moving.  He gave me very short notice yesterday, and he's leaving tomorrow."

"Hmf, that's tough.  With the thaw, and the way things are going, that place is going to need attention this week.  We'll have to hire someone."

"Yeah, we do.  Not to be selfish about this, but I really want those flowerbeds and that small herb garden we talked about.  The roses need help as well, and I don't have time to do this with the baby, and all."

"No problem.  We'll just hire someone else.  It's nothing to worry about."

"Okay.  Just let me know what you want me to do next."

"I will.  Maybe it can wait a day or two as I get settled here?"

"Yes, that's fine."  She was holding Jewel who had fallen asleep.  "She's out like a light, here."

"She's like her Mommy.  She can sleep through just about anything."

"Yeah, I guess so," she smiled.  "I love her so much, Todd."

"I know.  Me, too."

"So, did you see anyone yet?"

"No.  I came here to get settled in, drop off bags.  I'm on my way, soon.  I don't look forward to seeing this mess, or if it got worse."

"I'm so sorry.  I hope he's doing well."

"I'll find out soon enough.  How's Jack?  Sam?"

"They're fine.  They're off to school."

"Good."

"And Ray's running us ragged of course.  Shaun's moving in later today, as you asked."

"More good.  Except for the running ragged, but that's Ray."

"Yep.  That's him.  His father's son."

He smiled to himself.  He loved how she loved everything about their children, and about him.  "Well, Road Runner will calm down soon.  He's getting toward school age."

"Not sure he'll ever stop.  He's so full of energy.  He's adorable, though.  Today he asked me where you were.  When I said you had to go away for a few days, he said, 'No, Daddy home, right now, Mommy.  Tell him.'"

For some reason, he flashed on his mother's art again, as she spoke.  He shook it off, and said, "That's cute.  I miss him, and the other kids, and you, Mrs. Manning."

"It won't be long, but we miss you, too."  She put Jewel down.  "Hey, give my love to Dad, Aiden and Tina."

"I will.  Love you."

"I love you, take care of my man."

He smiled to himself as the call ended.  He was off to the hospital to see his brother.  

When he said it to himself, it still felt strange.  What grown man gets adopted and has a new brother, but you, eh, Todd Manning?  Let's hope you still HAVE one by the time you get there.

***

The journey to the clinic was uneventful and dull.  Todd passed out to sleep, again, in the back of the taxi.  When he arrived, he overpaid the taxi driver and got out.  The clinic still gave him a strange feeling when he looked at it from the outside, and he paused, expecting visions of his father, and none came.  "Guess that's a done deal," he said aloud, and headed in.

Signing in was simple, and he walked by the lobby statues and arrangement of chairs, and headed to the room Aiden was in since the start of it.  It seemed so long ago, a lifetime, now that Jewel was part of his world, and he'd settled back in to life with Blair, the times in Ireland and the past.  The past.  Your thoughts, Manning, no one else's.  The past.  It's going to stay there.

He turned through a few hallways, and finally came to the door he was familiar with, and went in.  Tina didn't look up, she was sleeping with her head on Aiden's bed, sitting in the chair.  Timothy, head hanging back, was sitting in a chair, also sleeping.  Aiden was awake, and Todd didn't even know it at first, until he quietly raised his head.  "Malcolm?" he softly said.

"No, try again."

"Todd!" He whispered, and turned his head toward the door.  Todd saw him reach his hand out, and he took it, and stood on the opposite side of the bed.  

"Yep.  It's me."

"Brotha, that's a long way to come.  Ya have a new daughter, bless her.  And y'ar here."

"I am.  She's fine.  How about you?"

Aiden attempted to push himself to sitting, and as he shifted his weight, Tina stirred.  Looking up, she said, "Todd, hi," and sat back in the chair, trying to stretch her back into shape.  "I must have fallen asleep right here."

"Yeah, it seems that way.  You okay, Sis?"

"I'm . . . okay.  Your father is dead tired.  He's not left here in a day and a half."

"Aiden, what about you?"  Todd was concerned.

"I'm what I am, I say.  Nothing more.  I can't see ya, so don't expect me to compliment y'ar boyish good looks, Pal."

"I wouldn't," Todd said, feeling a lump form in his throat.

"On medicine.  To stop the bleeding and swells.  Hoping it works."

"I'm sure it will," Todd said.  But will it?

Tina said, "Thanks, Todd.  For coming here.  I know you had to leave my new niece."

"I'll see her soon," he said.  "Blair keeps me up to the minute with photos."

"She is beautiful.  I remember the pictures Pappy showed."  Aiden said.

"She is." Todd said.  "She was born early, I delivered her.  The power was out, Blair had a little accident, her water broke, and Jewel was coming.  Nothing we could do but let her show up.  She weighed only four pounds, but she was healthy.  A perfect, tiny person."

"Yes, perfect," Aiden said, and Todd noticed his expression change, as he set his head back down on the bed.

"Aiden, what's wrong," Tina said, and Timothy finally came to in his chair.

"Nothing, I'm fine.  Just tired."

"Ah, my neck, what was I thinking sleeping like that?" he sounded gruffly aggravated.  He stood and went to Todd, embracing him.  "Ah, y'ar a father again.  Congratulations, Me Boy.  She's a real gem."

"Thanks, you all right?" Todd asked, after the hug ended.

"Fine.  Bridgette?"

"She's perfect."

"As always, especially in y'ar eyes."

"So, what's next here?"  Todd asked, looking from one of them to the other.  Aiden had fallen asleep.  "I'm glad he knows I'm here."

"The doctor should be in, momentarily, about the medication.  To give us a report."  Tina said.

"Yes.  And we're hoping for some positive news."  Timothy said.

"I need to eat," Todd said.  "It's been more than 8 hours since I last did.  Heck, it might be almost 12 or longer."

"All right, we can hit the cafeteria, then," Timothy said.  As they headed to the door, they were met with Dr. Vigo, carrying a clip board and harboring a grim expression.

"Good morning," he said.

"This is my other son, Todd Manning, from the United States."

"Todd Manning?" Dr. Vigo said.  Todd was studying his face.  "You have been here, before, haven't you?"

"Yes.  I was here before.  It was about a month or so ago, when we first brought Timothy here."

"No, I meant to say, Mr. Manning, if you'll excuse me, you were here, as a patient, years back, weren't you?"

Todd swallowed, "I was, yeah."

"The scar.  It gives you away."  Dr. Vigo said.  "I was a young resident then.  Not sure you remember me, but I remember you."

"I don't remember you," Todd said, puzzled.

"Well, back to the matter at hand.  Mr. O'Farrell is suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage.  We've given him the proper medication, and I'm sorry to say, it's not working as we'd hoped."

Todd's heart sank, but he could also see Tina almost deflate like a balloon, and his father grasp the bed rail.  "Which means?"  Timothy asked, gruffly.

"It means, we have no choice but to operate to try and arrest what's going on."

Tina's throat worked, and she turned away.  Aiden had fallen asleep again, and Todd thought it was probably better that he did.  Timothy said, "What's the prognosis?"

"I couldn't even say.  There's no way of knowing, only time will tell.  He should have surgery soon.  When he wakes, let him know, and then contact me," he said, leaving them all in the silence of the room.

***

"Is Shaun going to sleep in my bed?"  Sam asked, as Shaun carried in a few items from his cabin.

"No, he's going in Grandma Bitsy's room," Blair explained.

"Well, he could have my bed, if he wants it, but he might not fit."

Shaun stopped what he was doing and looked at Sam, arms folded.  "What are you trying to say, Little Man?"

"Nothing, really.  Just sayin.'"

"Well, it's kind of you to want to share," Blair added.

"I just didn't want him to break my bed, Mom," Sam said.  "To be honest."

Shaun made a pretend angry face and picked Sam up, threatening to throw him into the pool, parts of which were still covered with snow.  "No!  NO!  Put me down, you big old monster!"

"I'm not a monster, but if you want me to be, I'll pretend you're a nice little tasty elf."

"No!  Help!  Jack!  Mom!"  Sam was laughing so hard, he could barely get the words out.  "Help!  The big monster has me!"

"Make sure you spit his bones over here," Jack said, ignoring Sam.

"Clean up after yourself, Monster," Blair said, going into the kitchen with Jewel.

When she was out of earshot, Jack said, "Hey, Runty, go get those new comics you wanted to show Shaun."

"Yeah!" he yelled out, as Shaun put him down.  He went to the stairs.  "I gotta find them in my whole collection!"  His feet made running sounds up the steps.

"You wanted to get me alone," Shaun said. 

"Yeah, I guess.  Runty's been having bad dreams again.  He didn't want to tell Mom."

"What bad dreams?"

"About the bear, and Dad not coming home."

"Ah.  Makes sense."

"They started after the bear thing, I think.  Since then, he's missed a lot of sleep, and so have I.  He comes to my room after."

"All right, thanks for telling me, but your Mom really should know that."

"Can you tell her?  I don't want Sam to feel bad that I told, because he asked me not to."

"Why would he do that?"

"He was worried that Mom is so tired all the time, and it would make her sad.  He's a goofy little kid."

"He might be goofy, but he loves his family."

"I know.  Just wanted someone to know about this.  The kid acts all happy and perfect, but he's scared all the time."

Shaun didn't like how that sounded.  He said, "Really?"

"Yeah.  Really.  He's been scared a lot since Dad came back, but this last few months, he's just scared all the time.  Since he jumped off that roof, I think.  That's when it got really bad.  Sometimes, he cries really hard.  Two nights ago, he cried so hard, he barfed."

"Jack, you did the right thing telling me about this.  That's a lot of stress on the little guy.  I'll take care of it."  

Sam rounded the corner with his comics, and said, "See?  Here they are!  These are the new ones, Dad bought me.  He said when he comes home he will buy me another one.  I really want the newest Spiderman one that just came out."

"Your dad's pretty cool, huh?"  Shaun asked.

"Yeah, he's the best dad ever."

"Ever?"

"Ever, and I'm glad he came back."

"Well, he's coming back this time, too," Shaun tested the waters.

Sam's face faltered a little.  "Yeah."

"Come here, Sam."  Shaun said.  Jack took it as a signal to take Ray and go to the kitchen with his mother and sister.

Sam jumped up on Shaun's knee, after the man took a seat in the family room on the chair.  "What's bugging you, huh?  You know you can tell your old monster."

"I don't like when Dad goes away."

"I don't either."

"I always think he's never coming back."

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, a long time ago, when I was littler, he went away and he almost died and he was gone so long.  That's when the bad man was going to cut him up, and Jack told me."

"I remember that.  But the bad man didn't get your Dad.  He made it."

"Yeah."

"And this time, he's not with a bad man.  He's with Grandpa Timothy and Aunt Tina, and Uncle Aiden.  You know who they are, right."

"Of course, they're my family."

"Right.  So Dad's not in danger.  Uncle Aiden is very sick.  But your Dad will be home, and he'll be home very soon."

"I'm just scared.  He almost died one time."

"Yeah, but your Dad's tough.  See how he ran from that bear?"

"The bear isn't scary.  She just wanted to save her babies, like Mom and Dad do."

"Really."

"Yep.  But . . ."  the little boy fidgeted.

"What is it, Sam?  You can tell me."

"I don't want to make Mom cry, please, Shaun?"

"I won't make Mom cry.  I promise she won't."

"I snuck into Grandma Bitsy's room before she went away.  To the nuthouse."

"That's not a nice way of saying that, Sam."

"Well, Dad said it, so I copied.  Anyway, I snuck in there and looked through her drawings, and she had some that scared me."

"Tell me about them."

"The scariest one was a big man, with big hands, he was going to beat a boy with a bat.  Why did she draw that?"

Shaun swallowed a moment, and tried to compose himself the best he could.  "Well, take this comic right here."  He opened it and showed Sam a picture of Spiderman fighting with a villain.  "Why did the writer draw that?"

"He wanted to make us interested in it.  Or else, he was just doing his art.  Or maybe telling a story."

"Right.  All three.  So that's what Grandma Bitsy did.  She was just showing her art."

"But her pictures are scary.  The tall man is mean."

"He's mean.  So is the Green Goblin, and The Sandman, right?"

"Yeah, but they're not real."

Shaun knew where it was going.  Somehow, Sam had gotten the idea that the man in Bitsy's drawings was a real person, and Sam was damn right.  "And neither is the man in Grandma's drawings.  It's just a picture."

"Okay," he said, a little unconvinced.

"Sam, believe me, it's okay.  The man in Grandma's pictures is not around.  You don't have to worry."

"Yeah, but, there were a lot of them.  He did a lot of bad stuff in the pictures."

"Just like Green Goblin.  Is he real?"

"No.  I used to think so, but I know he's not.  Dad told me."

"I'll tell you what.  Tonight, you can ask your Dad on the phone if the man in those pictures is real.  As a matter of fact, maybe you can Skype him and see him and ask."

Sam was excited and jumped off Shaun's knee.  "Really!  I could?"

"I think so.  Your mom Skypes him all the time!"

"Yay!  Okay, well, I'm going to put my comics back.  I know I shouldn't have snuck in Grandma's room.  Jack said that's what I get for going in there," he said, running off.

Shaun went to his cell phone to prepare Todd for his next session of Skype with the family.

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