Chapter 54

When Christmas vacation arrived I packed us all up in the rover and we headed south to Springfield.

Brenda had completed the fall semester with all A's and only one B. The B came from math. Ashlee and I were surprised, but not devastated. She would graduate and that would be fine by us. The RV was going to be done for the summer travel season, so we could travel the US learning how to drive fast and how to win.

The trip to Springfield was typical for Missouri in December. Cold and no snow on the ground. I had grown up in Illinois as a child so snow on the ground for Christmas was normal. Now I get down here and no snow. Neither of my kids had snow on the ground when they were alive for Christmas so they didn't know what they were missing. I know what I'm missing and it is tough to have no snow on the ground for Santa Claus and his reindeer. Ha Ha Ha

I pull into my parent's driveway and honk the horn. Dad opens the garage door and mom comes dashing out and starts the hugging. "Oh Ashlee, so good to see you. How is my soon to be daughter in law?"

"I'm good Jill, thanks for asking." More hugs. Mom finds Brenda and gives her a big old hug.

"How's my one and only granddaughter?"

"I'm fine grandma. Can I call you grandma before the wedding?"

"Oh honey, you better call me grandma." she jokes and more hugs.

I climb out, go to the back and let Caesar out. His nose goes to the ground and he starts sniffing around for anything interesting. I pick up our suitcases and head for the door.

"Hang on Paul. You aren't going to get past me without greeting your mom." She comes over and I put the bags down and give her a squeeze. She tries to carry a case, but doesn't like the weight and she puts it down with a grunt. "What in the world do you have packed in there?"

"Clothes and stuff mom. Don't worry, I can get it." She leads us inside and dad is there welcoming us home.

"Ashlee don't you look wonderful." He gives her a hug and then sees Brenda. "My granddaughter, you are a sight for these old eyes."

He gives her a hug and they say Hi Mark and Hi grandpa as they come inside. I drop the bags and Caesar comes inside after not finding whatever he was looking for and mom gets down to greet her grand-dog.

I go back out to get the sack of gifts that we brought along and when I come back in, mom is dishing out hot chocolate to everyone and I gladly take one. "Thanks mom. This is really good."

"I do what I can for my son. And for my future daughter in law." She makes a joyful noise then goes back to Ashlee. She gives her a one armed hug and it is during that exact moment, that Ashlee's ring glints in the light of the kitchen and it catches' mom's eye. "Holy smoke, would you look at the size of that ring!" Yes, she really said that. I was almost surprised that she didn't cuss, but being a church going woman, I would be very surprised if she did.

Mom takes Ashlee's hand and studies the large diamond on her finger. "It's a bit big isn't it?" Ashlee says while mom takes a look at it moving it this way and that.

"Mark, come here and see this ring you son bought."

Dad comes in from stocking the fireplace to join us. Mom holds Ashlee's hand out to him and he gets one look at it and has to put his glasses on. "Wow, that thing is huge! Paul, where did you get such a big stone?"

"We were in New York at the time. We went to Tiffany's and found the stone among their collection. Do you like it?"

Dad looks at me over the top of his glasses, "Paul, it is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. And the biggest. How many carats is that?"

"Five dad. It looked the best on her hand. Not too big and way above average in the size department. It makes a statement if you ask me."

"It sure does." He looked at Ashlee, "you are so lucky honey. It's beautiful."

"Thanks dad. It is ok if I call you dad isn't it?" she said with a little hesitation.

"Sure thing honey. You can definitely call me dad."

"Thanks dad. I was blown away when he got it for me. I never thought we would get something that large, even though I prodded to get it for me."

"Well it certainly is. Take good care of it." He was looking it over and then finally said, "You may want to find something smaller for everyday wearing and save this for special occasions. We have a second ring for Jill that she used to wear when she was doing dishes or giving baths or working outside with me."

"Where is it now dad? I haven't seen mom wear it in years."

"We put it away. She doesn't really need it anymore, so it's in her jewelry box upstairs."

Brenda moved over next to mom, "where is the bathroom grandma?"

"Right this way honey." They went down the hallway.

"Hey, that reminds me, this is your first trip here. I owe you a tour."

"Ok. Lead the way." I took Ashlee on a nickel tour. We left the kitchen and entered the dining room. Mom had it set for dinner which by the smells in the kitchen would be any time now. From the dining room you enter the living/sitting room. "I never went in here as a kid. It was always an 'off limits' area of the house. You know?" Ashlee understood. I then got to the front door and I took her upstairs. The stairs were brand new, dad and a hired hand redid them and the whole front entry way. All hardwood, new front door and the big closet in the front was taken out to make more room for guests coming in. Upstairs was mom and dad's room. I flipped on the lights but didn't bother to take her in there. Not unless mom and dad invite us in. The upstairs bathroom was next and I showed off the redone bathroom. The sink and counter and mirror were all new and the whole room had been painted since I left home. I then showed her my childhood room and luckily mom, had the beds made up for guests.

"This is nice, seems small, but nice."

"Yes, I had one bed over against that wall under the window. During the summer I would sit in that window and watch the neighbors have parties in their backyard. One night I even heard a girl peeing right down there." I pointed to spot next to tree in between my parent's house and the neighbors. "They had a party back there and while I was sitting up watching, I heard a drunk girl and her friend stumble over and then I heard water splashing on the ground. I could only assume that she was peeing right down there."

"What did you think about that?"

I smiled at the thought. "At the time, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. I was a raging horn dog and a virgin to boot, so at the time it was exciting."

"Ok, but now, you've seen me pee all the time."

"Sure, the mystery is gone." I fake pouted. She just slapped my arm and then hugged it.

"Where is your sister's room?"

"This way." I lead her out of my bedroom and then turned right and to my sister's room. It was still painted a pale pink with now a king sized bed in it. My sister and I both had twin beds growing up, but since my grandparents have died, other family members have passed on, their beds get left behind and my parents made use of one of them to create a king sized bed.

Ashlee looked the place over, "whose corvette is that on the wall?"

She had found the water color that dad had done when he gave her a C4 body style Corvette some years ago. It was really well done. I'm glad they kept it even after they sold the car. "That was mom's car some years back. Dad bought it for her and gave it to her a Christmas gift. She couldn't drive it for several days due to the weather. Which was funny considering how badly she wanted to drive it."

"Really. I would never have pictured your mom as a corvette person."

"She actually has a lead foot. At least she did when she was younger. I think being a mother broke her of that habit."

"Oh, now I have to hear this story. Will she tell me about her misspent youth?"

"Probably."

We finished out tour upstairs and then I took her to the basement. "Down here is the basement that never gets used." At the bottom of the stairs was mom's store room for food stuffs, wrapping paper and other art projects that never got done. Around the corner was the utility room and dad's wood turning work room." The smell of wood filled our noses and we both took a deep breath upon entering the room. Go ahead and laugh, but every time you walk into a hardware store where fresh wood is being sold, don't you take a deep breathe and smell the wood? I do.

I showed her the main downstairs room which is where dad does so much of his wood turning and finishing. The carpet has been taken up so that cleaning was easier and his current project were scattered all over the place. "How long has your dad been doing this?"

"For several years. He started it after he retired because he was bored. He found that he liked this and was good at it so, here we are." She looked at a few of the finished pieces and marveled at the different woods, the different shapes and the skill of the work.

"Is that a wet bar?" Ashlee asked pointing to the bar at the end of the room. We walked over to it and looked it over and when you consider all of the dust and sawdust on it, you can tell that it has never been used.

"Ya, but as you can see it hasn't ever been used." Ashlee wiped a finger through the saw dust and rubbed it between her fingers. "No kidding" was all she said.

we went back upstairs and then I took her past the toilet and she jumped in and used it and I went back to the kitchen. "Honey, would you set take the water to the table for me?"

Mom always has me help with the prep for dinner. Dad took the pasta dinner out of the oven and mom started serving.

We sat at the table and after mom said grace, Brenda was the first to get a bite of food into her mouth and was the first to exclaim, "Oh this is so good! What do you call this?"

Mom answered her with a smile, "Casserole Men Love is what I call it. Nothing special. Paul should have the recipe; I know I gave it to him."

"You did mom, but remember that I lost everything in the fire."

"That's right. I'm so sorry that I forgot. I'll have to write it down for you again. Don't worry Brenda, I'll make sure you know how to make it when you get home." Mom patted her on the arm and we continued through the meal and if you take the little talking there was, it must have been good for everyone.