K-PAX III the worlds of prot by Gene Brewer

Author:Gene Brewer [Brewer, Gene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Psychological, sf, science fiction, fiction
ISBN: 0747557837
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2002-08-25T23:00:00+00:00

Session Thirty-nine

This year Thanksgiving happened to fall on my birthday. Abby and her family came for the occasion, along with Will and his fiancée. They arrived early, Abby bearing the turkey (much to my surprise—she’s a devout vegetarian), and Dawn helped with the preparations. I played a couple of games of chess with the boys (I could still beat them, though not by much), but it only reminded me of Ward Two and the slow-moving matches in the game room, which led to thoughts of prot and his “temporary leave” from the hospital.

I was still preoccupied with that dilemma when my son Fred, who had finished the tour with Les Mis, and daughter Jenny, all the way from California, made an unexpected appearance. It was the first time in years the whole family had been together.

Both of them hugged me, but all I could think to say was, “What are you two doing here?”

“It’s Thanksgiving, Daddy, remember?”

“And Mom’s retirement,” Freddy added.

“And your birthday.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise.” They each handed me a package.

I wasn’t surprised—I was dumbfounded. “I suppose your mother put you up to this.”

“Well, she was in on it, but it was actually prot’s idea,” Fred replied.

“Prot?”

“He came to see us last month.”

“Last month??”

At that point the kitchen contingent burst in, there was another round of hugs and kisses, and we were soon on our way to the dining room, happily accompanied by our other guest, Oxeye Daisy. I won’t go into detail about the dinner, except to say that it was the most beautiful, and also the first, soy turkey I had ever eaten.

None of us has ever been much on public (or private) speaking, but I thought I should say something on the occasion of my sixtieth. So, after we were all completely stuffed, I rambled awhile about the delights and significance of having one’s family around, how this becomes more and more meaningful with the passage of time, and so on. “For this I guess we have prot to thank,” I added. “And I thank all of you wonderful people for being here.”

Perhaps to shut me up, Freddy now raised his glass and said, “To prot!” and we all clinked ours against those within reach.

After the usual chitchat about the year’s events, the strange weather, and the football standings (Abby’s husband Steve toasted the Jets, who were still in the running), Will stood up. Across the table, Karen gave me a huge, knowing smile. We had both been waiting for them to select a wedding date. “Dawn and I are going to be parents!” he announced.

There were cries of joy and more clinking. Far too diplomatic to press them on when they were planning to tie the knot, “Grandma” asked our daughter-out-law when the baby was due.

“In June,” Dawn replied cheerfully.

Jenny raised her glass. “To June!”

“To the new baby!” Abby chimed in.

“Happy birthday, Dad,” Fred added.

“Have a great retirement, Mom,” offered Will.

“To Oxie!” cried Star.

“La chiam!” Rain shouted. Clink. Clink. Clink.

I don’t know why, but sad, happy tears began to roll down my cheeks.

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