Chapter 78: Arriving Home

We took the two vans home and discovered that there was quite an accumulation of mail waiting. Beatrice had arranged for a neighbor to bring it in and drop it on the coffee table in the front room.

Becky ran over to the table and started sorting the mail. Most was bills, but as she got to the bottom of the stack she found one large manila envelope with my name on it. She tossed it to me as she continued to work.

"Is it a letter from mom?" Matti asked boredly.

"Don't you want to hear from her?" I asked.

Matti shrugged. "I know she's not coming back, and you are more of a parent than she ever was."

"But you don't really need me to be your parent anymore. You just need to be one year older so you can test out and then move on in life," I said.

"Not far," Matti said. "I'll just move into Jessica's bedroom."

"House, I hope," I said. "Once we are picked up, I don't have a problem living close to the rest of you, but I think I'll finally want a bit of privacy."

Jason put his arms around me. "You mean you don't want to repeat that passionate night we spent on the beach? Oh, I remember it still, your seeking lips, your agile tongue."

I jumped away from my friend. Everyone else in the room started laughing as Jason moaned piteously.

"Down boy," I said as if I was training a dog.

"Got you," Jason said. "Mark you need to relax. You are going to forget to open the letter."

Astonished, I looked down at my right hand and realized I still held the manila envelope. I looked at the return address, and it had a name I did not recognize. The city and the postmark both indicated that it had been mailed from a business on the far side of the city. "It's not from the testing center," I said.

"Local though?" Ashley asked.

I nodded and carefully pulled back the tape holding the envelope closed. It proved to be well sealed, and I finally resorted to tearing at the fold to get the package open. This resulted in the envelope splitting down the side. Dozens of small pieces of thick paper tumbled to the floor as I was left holding the torn packaging.

"What's this?" Erica asked as she started to help me pick up the papers. "It looks like a ticket."

Erica was holding one of the pieces of paper in her hand. It was about two inches wide and six inches long. The side I could see was white, but the ones on the floor had yellow and black on them. I was reaching to pick one up when Erica gave a screech of joy.

"It is a ticket! Mark, this is a ticket to see 'Cats.' Wait, what's 'Cats?'" Erica screamed happily.

I started gathering the pieces of paper. The first five I picked up were tickets to see Cats later in the evening. "This is for today's show?" I said.

Jason suddenly held out a piece of paper. It looked to be a piece of binder paper. I took it from him and examined the writing.

"Mark," it began. "You don't know me, but I heard about you from Vince Reed. I have to say if you are half the man Vince thinks you are, you should be able to walk on water. He told me that it was your idea to bring the touring company to the US. Well, it sounds like it was your father's, but you helped make it happen. The tour has been a big success. People love the show, and we're actually booked for at least two years of touring across the country right now."

"Wow," Ashley said. I realized I had been reading the writing out loud.

I looked up. "Shall I continue?" I asked.

"Oh, please do," Ashley said. "I've already kind of guessed the tickets were to thank us. Fortunately, we can still get there, its only one now, so we can clean up, change into nice clothing, and go."

"I'd love that," Miki said. "I can finally wear that evening gown we purchased."

"We all can," Becky said.

"Read on, MacDuff," Jason commanded.

"Bite me," I said as I looked back down at the paper.

"He does and he loses teeth," Lenore said as I resumed reading out loud.

"I'm sure you don't care much about the economics, but the tour is making good money. I don't know if you've ever seen a musical, but I figured I'd invite you to see this one. I heard you were on vacation, so I'm mailing the tickets in the hope you arrive back in time. This is for a Tuesday performance before we pack up and head to Albuquerque. I'm including a paper you can use to come backstage. There is almost always a party after the last show in a town, and I know that some of the cast would enjoy thanking you personally."

"Not too personally," Lenore said. "But it does sound like fun."

"The show starts at six," Beatrice said. I glanced up and realized she had collected the rest of the tickets as well as the backstage pass. Let's get into showers and start getting ready. I'll order Chinese delivered if everyone finds that acceptable."

"Angel," Lenore said to her daughter. "I know you are excited, but you'll need to take a short nap or you won't be able to stay awake through the show."

"Okay, but can Mark tuck me in?" Angelique asked as she started to walk to the basement door.

I smiled and winked at Lenore as I handed the letter to Ashley. "I hear a monster is coming to get you," I growled towards Angelique.

The young girl gave a happy shriek of pretend terror and sped up. I lifted my arms high and stomped towards her, making sure to say just out of arms reach so she could run away. Angelique continued to scream as she ran towards the door.

Just before she reached the door she tried to change direction and head for the kitchen. It was easy to grab her with my left hand and lift her up in the air. "I caught it!" I growled.

"Mommy!" Angelique cried out happily. "Save me!"

"No one can save you from the bedroom monster! I shall take you downstairs and chain you to the bed!" I roared as I carried Angelique to the basement door.

"Mommy!" Angelique cried again. "Don't let him take me away."

"You teased the monster," Lenore said serenely. "Now go take your nap."

I carried Angelique down the stairs. When I got to the bottom and began walking to her room I felt a presence behind me. I looked over my shoulder and found Erica there.

"I want to nap with her," Erica said. "And I can protect her from monsters."

"Erica! Nee-sama!" Angelique cried reaching over my shoulder and towards Erica.

"Nee-sama?" I asked as I opened the door to Angelique's room.

"Dear big sister, or at least that's what Miki told us," Erica said. "I think Angel just likes how it sounds."

"Works for me," I said as I strode into the former walk-in closet that had been converted into a bedroom for Angelique. The four-year-old squealed as I carefully swung her around and tossed her onto the bed. She scrambled under the covers as I looked around for the rabbit we had purchased. I found it on the floor at the foot of her bed.

"Usagi!" Angelique said, holding her hands out for the toy.

"Now I know she spends too much time around Miki," I said sotto voce to Erica as Angelique wrapped the doll in her arms.

Erica just giggled. "Angelique just needed a name for her favorite toy. She wanted to call it Mark, but Lenore said that there could only be one."

I shook my head. "I better go see what schedule we have for showers and such. Can you sing her to sleep?"

Erica giggled and pointed at the bed. Angelique was curled up on her right side. Her left arm held the stuffed rabbit against her chest as she slept.

"She was tired," Erica said. "Now I'll take a nap too. I'm looking forward to the show."

"Go ahead," I said with a gentle pat of Erica's head. She pouted for a moment, but then climbed into the bed and lay down next to the slumbering Angelique. I crept out quietly and closed the door behind me.

Lenore was standing at the bottom of the steps and smiling at me. "How is she?" she asked.

"Sleeping with her arm around her little stuffed rabbit," I said.

Lenore's face turned pale. "What would have happened if we had been picked up while in Florida? She didn't want it there because we always wore her out first, but when we are trapped in a small space?"

"Another thing to pack. I thought we had some large duffel bags that we were going to fill with special clothing and the games. We could make sure that her rabbit is in one of those when we go out," I said.

Lenore smiled. "I should have thought of that. The bags arrived just before we left for Florida. I think they are in the garage."

"Let's get them and start packing," I suggested. "Actually, I'll get the bags; you go tell Jason, Jessica, and Morgan what I am doing so they can join in if they want."

Lenore nodded and ran up the steps. I glanced back at the closed door to Angelique's bedroom and then followed up the stairs. As Lenore exited I could hear conversation going on in the front room.

"Cats?" Morgan was asking. "Do I want to go?"

"I do," Becky said. "I've never seen a musical, and this one did win a ton of awards and once held records for most performances on Broadway. I understand the record was broken by other shows, but its still supposed to be great fun to watch."

Beatrice giggled. "Do you think we'll find you less manly if you go?"

"No," Morgan said. "I just worry. We've been on vacation so much recently. Will we be ready to go back into training and a daily job? And what about you two? You should be giving birth soon."

"Three weeks for me, four for my dearest sister and lover," Becky said. "Hopefully we'll heal fast. I hate to deprive you of pussy for too long."

Morgan laughed. "Deprive me? Lady I'll be happy to have a short break from pussy. The two of you keep me well drained and happy."

I coughed and then finished walking into the front room. "Mark!" Beatrice said happily. "So are you ready to go?"

"I should probably dress a bit nicer," I said. "Shorts and a tank top aren't formal enough for a show."

"Comfortable on an airplane," Becky said as she grabbed the hem of her skirt.

"Until you climb into Morgan's lap and join the mile high club," Beatrice whispered. Or at least I think she did, it was so faint I couldn't be sure, but Becky was blushing furiously as she scampered out of the room.

"Oh, I asked Lenore to find Morgan. We left those duffel bags we got in the garage. I was going to start preparing some goodie bags for when we get picked up," I said. "Do you want one or two for your ladies?"