Chapter 26

"So you're going to become Dr. Carter?" Eddie asked while watching his brother pack up his books.

William looked over at his little brother. The boy was turning into a good looking young man. His short black hair, piercing grey eyes, and subdued Native American features gave him an exotic look. William knew that it wouldn't be long before the girls started following his brother around town. Pulling the roll of tape over the top of the box, he answered, "Yes, if I ever manage to get out of here and write my Dissertation."

The young man bent over and put his hand on his back while holding his other arm as if supporting himself with a cane. Trying to sound like an old man, he said, "My Winnebago is acting up. What should I do?"

"I'd get a dictionary if I were you. It's lumbago, not Winnebago," William answered with a grin. He picked up the box and added it to the pile of boxes by his desk.

Eddie straightened up and smiled at his big brother. He went over to the couch and took a seat while he said, "It's been fun hanging with you this week. I don't get to see you very often."

"I know. When we move to Arizona we'll get a lot more time together."

"You bet. Dad and I have been out to your new place a couple of times. Pop even went out there with us once. There are lots of good rocks on your place."

William didn't need to ask which father to whom his brother referred. Eddie called Ed, Dad, and Leroy, Pop. Dan was the lucky recipient of the informal, Pappy. Dan complained, but actually appreciated that Eddie had taken to him like a father. Of course, Eddie usually called him Pappy with one eye scrunched and his lips twisted as if he were Popeye. He replied, "It's good to know that you'd come out there for the rocks at the very least."

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know. I'm just teasing you."

Eddie relaxed in his chair and watched as William opened his file cabinet. Looking at all of the papers within the drawer, Eddie asked, "Did you read all of those papers?"

"Yes."

"Wow. You're going to win a Nobel Prize just like Pop and Daddy John," Eddie said. He spent hours in the library looking at the two medallions displayed in the trophy case that Kelly had installed there. He was quiet for a moment and then asked, "Why didn't they make a big deal out of Daddy John's Nobel Prize?"

"Daddy John and Daddy Leroy earned their Nobel Prizes in different ways. Daddy John felt like he was serving the Goddess when he did his research on the Fusion Well and couldn't really take too much credit. He didn't even tell the family when he won it. Mommy Kelly heard about it on the television. She sure was mad at him for not telling the family.

"On the other hand, Daddy Leroy earned his through years of hard work and thoughtful study. I was so proud of him when he went up there to receive the prize. You were there, but you weren't more than six years old at the time."

Eddie remembered the event very clearly. He nodded and said, "I remember that. Pop had this real funny expression on his face."

William laughed his agreement. Leroy had been so happy that his smile went from ear to ear. At the same time, he was so overwhelmed by the honor that there were tears in his eyes. Remembering that moment reminded him of what Kelly had observed. He said, "Mommy Kelly said that Leroy proved two things that day. The first was that science for the sake of humanity was more honorable than science for the sake of money. The second thing Leroy proved was that a man who reached for the stars was capable of catching them when supported by a loving family."

"Mom Kelly is almost as philosophical as dad."

"You're distinguishing the mothers by name?"

Eddie shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Do you realize how hard it is to come up with four different names for mothers?"

"You're smart. I'm sure that you came up with a good half-dozen words that mean mother."

Eddie grinned at the comment that he was smart and said, "I tried giving them each a different name like I did with the fathers. It went well until I called Mom Claire, Mammy. Apparently that is not a good thing to say to a black woman. Dad and Pops came down hard on me for that one. I decided it was just easier to call them all Mom."

He could understand why Claire would object to being called Mammy. He asked, "Did you figure out why they were upset?"

"Yes. I didn't realize that it was an insult to black women. I heard the term in one of the old black and white movies that dad has and thought it was just another way to refer to a mother. The movie didn't use it in an insulting manner."

"I like Daddy Ed's old movies," William said. The visits to the house in Arizona always included a number of hours watching old movies with his father on the couch. Some of the films, by modern standards, were totally politically incorrect and contained content that would be considered racist, sexist, and overly religious. They could show a black saying, 'Massa, ' and men giving cheesy pickup lines to their secretaries, but the film couldn't have a kiss that lasted too long. He commented, "There are lots of things in those old movies that wouldn't ever appear in a modern film."

"I made him promise to leave you the old westerns while I get the Sci-fi," Eddie said with a wink. He knew how much William enjoyed the old grade B sci-fi movies.

"You hate Sci-fi," William replied.

"I don't hate them. I just love Westerns even more. There are enough old Westerns out there that you don't have to watch Sci- Fi."

For the rest of the time that William packed for his trip, he and Eddie discussed various cowboy actors. For the most part they agreed, but William had always been partial to John Wayne while Eddie liked Clint Eastwood. It was the kind of conversation that two brothers who didn't see each other very often might have. William felt bad that he didn't have more time to spend with his little brother.

Their conversation came to an end when Tim came home. William watched Eddie and Tim get out the radio controlled cars. After finishing his packing, he picked up a box of his papers and carried it to the Hugger. It took several round trips to get all of the books and papers into the back of the Hugger. He arrived back in the house in time to hear his father say, "That's a real wicked course you've laid out there. Are you sure that the cars can go through some of those arches?"

"You bet," Eddie answered. He had set up the gates with one of the cars in place. Looking out the corner of his eye, he knew that William wasn't going to pass up this chance to play.

Ed leaned over and examined the starting line. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "You've got four cars set out here. There's you, Tim, and me. We are all ready to play. Who's the fourth one for?"

"Oh, I set that one out just in case someone wanted to play a little before going off to the wilds of Arkansas to write," Eddie answered. Shaking his head, he added, "Of course, William would never consider playing with us after looking at this course. He'd never be able to get through all of the traps we've put here."

Tim grinned when he realized what Eddie was doing and said, "I don't think that William is good enough to run this course."

Laughing at the obvious attempt to sucker him into playing, William said, "Just one run and then I have to pack my clothes."

It was two hours later that Lucy came home and found the four of them seated tailor fashion on the floor guiding their cars through an extremely complex obstacle course. She fought to suppress a laugh upon seeing the identical expressions of concentration on their faces as they maneuvered their cars. Each of them had the tip of their tongue out as they worked the controls. She had teased William that he should invent a tongue controlled car because he moved his tongue in the same way he moved the little lever on the radio controller. Trying to sound like a mother who has just returned home in time to catch the kids trying to shave the cat, she said, "Boys!"

Her outburst caused Tim to lose his concentration and his car ran into William's car. The pair of them brought down the stack of blocks that had been the gate through which they were to guide their cars. Ed and Eddie both tried to take their cars over the pile created by the collision. Their two cars collided and brought down more blocks. All four of them groaned at the situation.

Ed sat back and, after glancing at Lucy, said, "I don't think we're getting out of this one."

"I thought you were going to let William pack today."

William solemnly nodded his head with wide eyes and said, "I tell you, it was a conspiracy against me. I didn't stand a chance."

Lucy laughed at the expression on Ed's face and replied, "Right."

William glanced over at Lucy and winked. He had warned her that they were going to end up playing with the radio controlled cars after Tim came home from school. He replied, "I've got all of the books and papers loaded in the Hugger. All I've got to do is pack my clothes and I'm ready to leave."

"That's not all you have to do. I've got bags and bags of stuff for the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom out in my car. You need to load that into your Hugger, too."

"Bags and bags?"

"Yes, bags and bags."

"Have I told you lately that I'm goo-goo over you?" William asked.

"Every day. Morning, noon, and night."

A puzzled look came over Eddie's face. He asked, "Goo-goo?"

"That means madly, deeply, and truly interested," answered William with a wink at Lucy. The word had come to mean so much more than that to the two of them.

Lucy waited for Eddie's response. Instead of what she expected, he said, "I thought that was gaga."

William hugged his little brother and said, "You just might be right."

The interaction between the brothers brought smiles to the faces of Ed and Lucy. Ed was happy that the two brothers got along so well. He was worried that with Eddie being the youngest, that he would be left behind by his older and more talented siblings. Eddie adored his older brother and thought he was the smartest person in the world. Beth and John were a little more distant from their brother, but they were also almost ten years older and busy with their careers.

Enjoying the attention, Eddie said, "I'll help you load the car."

William stood and said, "Come on, Eddie. I'm sure that working together, we'll be done before you know it."

When the pair had left the house, Lucy said, "William really loves Eddie. He's such a good kid."

"Yeah, William's something else," Ed said knowing that she was actually referring to Eddie, but he felt the description applied equally well to all of the Carter kids.

Lucy laughed and said, "I'm not the best judge of that. I'm goo- goo over him."

"Let me guess, Doug was the one who invented that term."

Surprised, Lucy answered, "How did you know?"

"I know the young man. He's a good one. William was lucky to find him," answered Ed. They had several discussions since their first meeting and Ed had come to like the young man very much. The one thing that impressed him the most about Doug was that he had that same sense of protectiveness towards his country that Ed had towards his town.

"He's coming over for dinner. He wanted to say goodbye to William before he left for Arkansas."

It was a large crowd that gathered around the dinner table. Ed and Doug were seated across from each other, a configuration that was sure to produce considerable discussion over the meal. William and Lucy sat side by side, as did the pairs of bodyguards. Tim sat next to Cole feeling honored that the Druid would pay attention to him. Ken and Lisa looked around the table having a sense of family. They viewed William to be their son more than their employer. They were sad to see him leaving for three months.

Ed sat back after finishing his meal and asked, "So Doug, why haven't you gone into politics?"