Chapter 58

Amid many tears Sheila and the girls made their flight the next day. The pilot who had brought her in got a much different perspective. This woman, whose demeanor had said: MONEY when he had flown her in, now oozed with a different sort of energy. Now it was not only money, but some hidden power he didn’t even have a label for. The two women with her, actually a woman and a girl, were both outstandingly beautiful.

They had obviously never flown before and the older woman held their hands as he lifted off. Then after a while they were chatting away wildly in his headphones. Something about a family. Strangest family the pilot had ever encountered.

Four other girls and Mr. Stevens had seen them off. The pilot wasn’t about to cause trouble for him. Mr. Stevens was fast becoming one of his best accounts. Even if he did reschedule a lot. Besides, the pilot had never seen a happier family in all his life. The only thing that didn’t add up were their ages.

Mr. Stevens could have been five of the girls father. But not the two older women, or at least one of them. If he’d started young, he could have been the father of the mid- twenties woman. Neither of them seemed old enough to be the girls mother. One was in her mid twenties and the older one couldn’t possibly logistically have two seventeen year olds and three sixteen year olds. He guessed that it was some sort of combined families where each side had kids. Stevens was old enough to be father to them all except the older woman.

The pilot got confused thinking about it. He just wished he could find that much happiness in his own family.

When he set down at the airport, it was ahead of schedule. He shut down and helped transfer the bags. Then he turned to the woman.

“Excuse me Ma’am. I don’t mean to pry. It’s just that you’ve got the oddest family I ever saw. I don’t mean that badly, cause it seems to be the happiest one I ever saw too. But I can’t figure who’s who. You couldn’t be mother to them all, it ain’t possible.” he said.

“No. None of us is related by blood except the triplets. The kids are all adopted. We sort of adopted each other. You might say.” Sheila said, thinking fast.

“That’s great. I just wish I could make my family that happy. Any suggestions?” he asked.

“Yes ... First off. Love them. They are the most important thing in your life. Let them know that. Teach them understanding for other peoples points of view. Teach them self respect and self worth. The value of work and above all ethics. Let them grow at their own pace. Don’t try to mold them into what you want them to be. And again, love them.” Sheila said.

“That’s a pretty tall order.” said the pilot.

“That’s John Stevens.” she replied.

“And he cares for all those kids that way?” he asked.

“Every one of them.” Sheila responded.

“Wow. He ought to get some kind of award.” he said.

“No, please. Any publicity would spoil it. Some of the girls ... well, they came from abusive backgrounds, all of them in fact. But some of them have some not very nice people trying to find them. Any publicity would actually be dangerous for them.” Sheila said.

“I understand. But that kind of generosity should be rewarded.” the pilot said.

“Can you think of any better reward than the look on that girls face?” Sheila asked.