Chapter 4

“Paul, what if my father...”

“Jean don’t do that. What ifs are a rotten way to go through life. My father always told me what happens, happens. What if doesn’t make us who and what we are. How we deal with what happens is what’s important.”

She kissed my cheek again and we walked to the breakfast nook. Where we both stopped in our tracks at the sight of my mother and Jean’s father in an embrace. My mother was stroking Mr. Carlesetti’s back as he cried on her shoulder.

We stopped in the doorway and after a few seconds, I coughed, startling both of them. Our parents quickly broke apart.

“Hi Mom,” I said calmly.

“Hi Paul. We were just talking,” she answered looking just a little guilty.

“Looks like more than talking, Daddy,” Jean added.

“Kids,” Mr. Carlesetti said quietly. “Joyce made me realize how wrong what I said was and I’m so sorry, Jean. I guess I haven’t been as good a father as we talked about.”

“Oh Daddy, yes you have.”

Jean let go of my hand and ran the few steps to her father and wrapped him up in her arms. I walked to my mother and put my arm around her shoulders.

“Looks like we were on the same mission, mom,” I said quietly.

“Looks like we were both successful, son.”

“Oh! So is Mr. Carlesetti taking you to Prom?” I asked as a joke.

“Actually, yes, he is.”

“What?” I said too loudly.

Mr. Carlesetti and Jean looked at me.

“Do you mind, Paul?” Mom asked quietly, sounding very worried. “Am I being unfaithful to your father?”

Jean and her father returned their attention back to each other. I turned towards my mother and saw the tears forming in her eyes. I hugged her tight and after a few seconds of thought, I spoke quietly.

“No Mom. I don’t think Dad would mind at all. I think he is proud that you honored his memory as long as you have and that you raised me the way he would have wanted.”

Mom hugged me a little tighter and then kissed me on the cheek.

“Thank you, son.”

Then I got an evil idea, “Are we gonna double date? Will I have to keep yelling “Hand Check”?”

“Paul!” Mom gasped as Jean and Mr. Carlesetti looked towards us again. “No, we are not double dating. No, there will be no need for hand checks. Leo is a good man.”

I walked us the several feet to the Carlesettis and offered Jean’s father my hand.

“Well then, you have my blessing,” I said.

He took my hand and my mom and I stood and watched the rift between father and daughter seal itself shut. After some time, Mr. Carlesetti let go of my hand, released his daughter from his other and looked over at my mom and I.

“You guys want dessert?” He asked almost jovially.

We all laughed at the complete non-sequitur and sat back at the table.

“Lois!” Mr. Carlesetti called out and his aide wheeled out a cart holding a huge chocolate cake. She cut into it to reveal seven layers of rich cake separated by an equally rich chocolate mousse. Lois put a big scoop of chocolate ice cream on the plate next to the cake. After placing each plate in front of us, Lois smiled and left the room.

“Leo, did you bake the cake also?” Mom asked.

“No, Joyce. Lois is a fantastic baker and I know my limitations in the kitchen. I wish I’d known that before I opened my big mouth with my daughter.”

“That’s over and done, Leo,” Mom said. “Now eat your dessert and then we need to take a tour of this wonderful house.”

“I can’t wait to show you my favorite part of the house,” Jean said with a mouthful of chocolate cake.

Everyone laughed with chocolate brown teeth. We all finished and put all the dishes and utensils in the sink. Then my mom took control of the situation.

“All right! First things first. Everyone go and brush their teeth. Then meet back here.”

We all did as my Mom ordered and about fifteen minutes later, we were all back in the breakfast nook. Before I knew it, Jean was holding my hand and Mr. Carlesetti was hold in my mom’s. He began the tour.

“You’ve already seen the bedrooms upstairs. There are six of them and they’re all the same and nothing else is up there. Out this way,” he led my mom, Jean and I followed, “is the formal dining room. We have had up to twenty-four guests in here for a meal. There is a door over there that leads to the breakfast nook and that door,” he pointed to the other side of the room, “goes to the wine room. It’s at a neutral temperature and Lois keeps it stocked with a nice selection of wines.”

He led us back out and mumbled something about the living room, which they seldom used. Then he led us to his den.

“This is my den. It has a wonderful sound system and I spend my quiet times in here reading and listening to music. I spent a lot of time in here after we lost Sandra. Because of that I almost lost Jean,” he smiled sadly at his daughter. “Before, if I was in here with the door closed, I wasn’t to be bothered. Now, Jean can come in anytime. While you’re here with us, Joyce, that goes for you and Paul too.”

When he said that, I could see him squeeze Mom’s hand and look her in the eyes.

“Does Jean have a den?”

“Actually, I do. Come on and I’ll show you.”

Jean took her place as leader and led us back out through the breakfast nook to a short hallway that led to a small room that was simply decorated. She pushed a button on the wall and after a few seconds a door slid open revealing an elevator. It was big enough for the four of us if we were really friendly. I was going to let the three others go up, or down, and I’d catch up, but Jean grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug while her father did the same with my mom.

The door slid shut and Jean pushed one of the two buttons and we went up. After almost a minute the elevator stopped with a slight jerk and the door opened. Jean led me out into a small corridor and at the end of the corridor was a round room. There were several pieces of electronic gear on the walls, but the main item in the room was a large telescope in the center.

“This is my observatory. I come up here and look at the stars and planets and listen to music for hours. I record anything I think looks cool. And no, I can’t see into anyone’s bedroom windows! The telescope doesn’t depress that low. It’s hooked up to a computer and that gives it an electronic zoom. On a clear night I can see two of the moon landing sites.”

“Wow! I used to drive up in the hills and sit in the car with the top down and look at the stars and count the falling stars.”

“I’d like to do that with you sometime, Paul.”

“Me too,” Mr. Carlesetti said with his arm around my mom’s waist.

“Um ... Mom ... you and Mr. C seem to be a lot closer than you were a few minutes ago.”

“I know. Something just clicked while you were talking to Jean. I like him and he likes me. After talking to you, I’ve decided to see how much we like each other.”

“Daddy?”

“What? You have been after me to find someone. I think I maybe, might possibly have found someone. We’ll find out at Prom.”

“Really? Well that makes Prom even more interesting.”

“Paul, I’ll bring you up here and give you the full tour in a few days. The sky is supposed to clear up.” Then in a very quiet whisper meant only for me, Jean whispered to me, “I like to star gaze naked.”

We crowded back into the elevator. I was feeling much less self-conscious about Jean rubbing against me and for the very first time I turned towards her and she could feel “it”. As the elevator dropped, Jean looked into my eyes and passed her arousal on to me with her gaze. I was trying, by a force of will and thinking about one of the uglier teachers at school, to shrink my erection and make it go away before the elevator hit bottom when I saw the very same expression on the face of Mr. Carlesetti. Wow.

The elevator door slid open and Jean led me out, blocking the view of my hard on from our folks, where she stopped me and gave me a kiss on the cheek which I returned. Our parents got off after us and, to my surprise, Mom did the same thing to Mr. Carlesetti. He then led my mother out a door, with Jean and I in tow, and onto the deck at the back of the house. The deck surrounded the rear portion of the house and extended out to the swimming pool, the large hot tub, and a small building set behind and between the two pools.

“This is our pool. It’s heated so we can swim year around. The hot tub is obviously heated. And that small building is a sauna. In the winter, we go in the sauna and then run out and roll in the snow. It is very invigorating.”

Jean leaned over and whispered to me again, “Especially when Daddy’s gone and I’m naked.”

I silently smiled and nodded and thought about that ugly teacher. We walked around the deck and found another entrance to the house on the other side of it at a place that overlooked a good sized garden.

“This was Sandra’s favorite place,” Mr. C said softly. “Jean and I try to keep it going, but we struggle. Neither of us has much of a green thumb.”

“My mom loves our garden,” I offered. “It was the only part of the farm she was sure to bring with us when we moved to the city.”

“Joyce? You like to garden?” Mr. C asked.

“Yes, flowers and vegetables.”

Mr. Carlesetti held my mother a little closer and I heard him tell her softly, “This keeps getting better and better.”

We walked back into the house through the garden door, as Jean called it, and found a room where anyone working in the yard could take off their muddy shoes before entering the main body of the house.

“This wet room leads to the far side of the breakfast nook, next to the pantry.” Mr. Carlesetti said as he led us through the inside door and back to our starting point in the breakfast nook. “The only thing left is the basement which has our root cellar and a modest game room. That is where we go to watch TV or movies. And that concludes the tour. I don’t know about you three but I’m tired and I still need to get some work done today.”

Leo Carlesetti looked at me like he was asking permission and I nodded. He kissed my Mom on the cheek, then did the same to Jean and shook my hand before he headed off to his den.

Jean and I got our homework and went out onto the deck and spent the afternoon alternately doing homework, talking about us and about our parents budding relationship.

“Jean can I take you to Prom if you’re my sister? Would that give us a stigma for the rest of our lives?”

“No, you big goof. Beside they can’t get married that fast, even if they wanted to.”

After a nice dinner and some time in the basement watching a movie on TV, Mr. C, as I had begun to call him, began to yawn.

“It has been a long and crazy day. I’m going to go to bed.”

“Thank you for taking us in, Leo. Paul and I will try very hard not to be a disruption. I’ll see you in the morning,” and with that, mom kissed Mr. Carlesetti full on the lips and gave him a tight hug.

He blushed slightly before coming and giving Jean a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“You all can stay up and talk or you can watch more TV or shoot pool. Remember tomorrow is still a school day.”

“Not me,” Mom said. “You are right, it has been quite a day. I’m going to shower and go to bed. You two kids be good and don’t stay up too late. Jean thanks again for the hospitality,” Mom said before giving Jean a kiss on the cheek. “Paul, tomorrow we need to see about getting the perishable foods out of the house and over here after school.”

“OK, Mom. Good night,” I answered. “I love you.”

“I love you too, son. Good night, Jean”

“Good night, Joyce,” Mr. C said, turning to Jean. “Good night, dear. Sweet dreams. I love you.”

“I love you too Daddy. Good night.”

He turned to look at me and I said, “I would rather not kiss you, Mr. C.”

I held out my hand and he gave it a good solid shake. Jean and I watched Mr. C and Mom walk away and when they were gone, Jean wrapped me in a tight embrace and gave me a passionate kiss.

“Wow. That was nice,” I said.

“I know. I figure I better get as many of those as I can before you become my brother.”

“Brother? What do you ... really?”

“Oh yeah. Your mom looks at my dad the same way my mom used to look at him and vice versa.”

I had to digest that statement for a bit. I still had Jean in a nice hug as I thought about it.

“You really think your Dad is that serious?”

“Paul, my dad is a great guy, but he was stoic about losing Mom for about three years. Then he began to look at women in the grocery store, but he would never ask a woman out on a date. About two years ago, around my sixteenth birthday, he started to look really lonely. I could see him looking at couples and get sad. I’ve been after him to date, but he says he doesn’t have time for a relationship. I think his time has come. After you saved me the second time, and that red car was at your house, my dad started to talk about keeping you and your mom safe. I don’t think he had any idea that your mom would hit him like a bolt of lightning.”

“My mom has been the same way. Her behavior tonight was a real shocker.”

“Do you mind?”

After a very few seconds of thought, I admitted, “No. While you and your dad were making up, she asked me if I thought she was being unfaithful to my dad. I told her no. So they both can have a guilt free Prom.”