Chapter 7

“So what’s up, baby girl?” Jake asked his oldest child.

“Well, during the last semester at school I started seeing this guy at school in the nursing program.  His name is Shane Jackson.”

Jake nodded.  “Ok.  What’s going on with this Shane dude?”

“Last night we were web chatting and he was really excited about coming out… until he figured out who Grampa was.  I was gonna have him talk to you and see if you would be okay with him coming out and meet everyone while Gramma and Grampa were still stateside.  After he figured out that Grampa was the front man for Disturbed, oh my God he freaked out.  I told him that I was going to give him a day or so to sink in so that he can talk to you like he’s got some sense.  I said that if he didn’t impress you, then we were more than likely done.”

Jake nodded slowly, stroking his chin as he considered everything his daughter had just told him.  “Is he in class right now?”

“No.”

“Call him.”

“You sure?”

“Call him, Miriam.  Let me talk to him.”

Miri ran up to her room grabbed her phone, dialing the boy’s number as she came down the stairs to the hallway where she and her father had been talking.  She began the call and handed the phone to her father.  When the line picked up, Jake put it on speaker.  “Miri!  Oh my God, I thought I wasn’t going to hear from you for a couple of days.”

“This… is not Miriam, young man.  This is her father.  She said that you wanted to speak to me”, Jake said sternly.  He’s turned on the asshole doctor that had gotten him a LOT when he was the Chief of Medicine at CSMC- or Memorial North- and St. Francis Hospitals.

“Wow.  I’m so sorry, Mr. Draiman.”

“Mr. Draiman is my father.  I’m Dr. Draiman.”

“Again, I’m sorry, Doctor.”

“Can the crap, Mr. Jackson.  I have little to no time for it.  I’ve had a hell of a day and it just seems to be getting worse.  Why don’t we just cut to the chase here?  What are you intentions with my daughter?”

“I…I wanna be with her.  She’s brilliant, beautiful, and sweet.”  He was stumbling through the sentence.

“Stuttering is a sign of extreme nervousness.  Do I intimidate you, son?”

“Well, yes sir.  Just a little bit sir.”

“And if you’re stuttering while you’re on the phone with me what makes you think that you’re ready to be in my house with my family?  I’m eating you alive over the phone.  Imagine what my father would do with you in front of him.  Miriam is his first biological grandchild and she shares a birthday with my mother.  She has a whole slew of cousins- not to mention two brothers- that would chew you up and spit out your bones.  And her Uncles and me?  The only person that would keep any of us from ripping you a new ass would be Miriam’s grandfather.  You don’t have the mental fortitude for us to grace you with our presence.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your life without my daughter in it.  Lose her number, lose her email, all of that good shit, because as of this moment you’re finished with my princess.  Good bye, Mr. Jackson.”  Jake hung up the phone and handed it to his daughter.  “He’s been taken care of.  If I were you, I’d tell Grampa about what him and what just happened and let him handle Mr. Jackson should he call again.  If he was intimidated by me, he’ll be flat out scared of Grampa.”

Miri laughed.  “I know.  He even said that Grampa has a reputation for being crazy.”

Jake busted out laughing.  “He has no idea, but if he calls again he’ll find out.”

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Miranda, Isaiah, Elijah, and B all went out to dinner to have a chat.  Miranda and Isaiah wanted to get to know the man that had won their little brother’s heart.  “So, B, where are you from?” Isaiah asked.

“New York state.  Albany area.”

“How long have you been out?” Miranda asked him.

“Oh Lord.  As long as I can remember.  I met Eli at an art show where some of his work was being showcased.  Your brother is a real artist.  His pieces are so moving and thought provoking.  I struck up a conversation about him about the piece he called, ‘Darkness’ and that was the end of that.  We’ve pretty much been inseparable since.  He told me he lives in Chicago; I moved in with him.”

They looked at Eli who just nodded.  “WOW”, Isaiah said.  “You must be seriously committed to him.”

“I am.  I love your brother, Isaiah.  Eli is my missing piece.  I want nothing but his happiness.  I will do whatever it takes to make him happy.  Hell, my family is sponsoring an exhibit for him once he gets his newest collection done.  They’ve bought several of his pieces and display them in our home.”

“You come from a wealthy family?”

“Kinda.  My family is old money.  Centuries old.  I don’t even know where the money begins, it’s that old.  My parents are a little extravagant.  But, when I told them about Eli’s work they jumped on it because they know I have good taste.”

“What does your family think of Elijah?” Miranda asked.

“They fucking love me!”, Eli said.  “They think I’m the greatest thing to happen since sliced bread.  They thing that my last name being Draiman is epic.  The love it.”

They all laughed.  “Feeling left out, Eli baby?” B asked.

“Hell yes.  You’re talking about me and I’m sitting right here.”

B leaned in and kissed his man.  “I haven’t forgotten about you.  You know I love you.”

Eli smiled and brushed his knuckles against B’s cheek.  “I know.  I love you too.”

“Then just chill.  Everyone seems to love me.  Let your brother and sister get to know me.”

Eli did just that, he let his older siblings talk to his man and get to know him.  If he had something to add, he would but for the most part, he kept his mouth shut.  His hand reached over and he absent mindedly started rubbing B’s thigh.  There was a million other things he would have rather been doing, but those required skin to skin contact and doing things that were inexcusable in public.

B sat and chatted with Isaiah and Miranda like they were old friends.  They talked about music and other things, even bringing up how talented an artist Eli was.  When they started talking about his painting and drawing, Eli turned several different shades of red.

Overall, dinner was awesome.  B was feeling like he was a part of the family and it was a pretty awesome feeling.

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Miri told her grandparents what she’d told her father and brother earlier, informing them of what her father had said to her now ex-boyfriend.  David grinned wickedly.  “Oh, please let me know when he calls again.  Let me have a piece of this pipsqueak.”

Miri giggled.  “Grampa.  Seriously?”

“Miriam, questioning your Grampa in this is futile.  If the boy calls again, give Grampa the phone”, Brie said with a laugh, then looked up at her husband.  “Don’t be too hard on him, love.”

“I’ll be nice, but he’s gonna know I got ahold of him.”

Brie gave him a doubtful look.  “Sure you will, David.  This is your Grandbaby we’re talking about.  You wanna try and run that by me again?”

He laughed.  “You’re right, she is my grandbaby and I’m gonna be just as damn vicious as I would be if it were one of my girls.”

"And now, I'm going to put the final nail in the coffin that holds their relationship."

"David, please. I know you better than that. You're going to scare the daylights out of the boy."

As David laughed Miri's phone started to ring. "It's him."

David held out his hand for the phone. Once in his hand, he answered it. "Hello?"

"Who is this?"

"Ian Moone. What can I do for you?"

"I'm Shane. I'm looking for Miri."

"Miri isn't here and doesn't want to talk to you. So, what's this I hear you think her grandfather is crazy?"

Shane started to stumble and stutter again. "Well, I didn't mean it to be offensive. I was just stating what I've heard in rumor about Mr. Draiman."

"Have you ever met the man?"

"Well no."

"Well, David Draiman happens to be a close friend of mine and I know for a fact that he's not as crazy as people think he is. I, however, am that crazy. If you come near Miriam Draiman again, I will see to it that they make a stew with your flesh and a stock with your bones. Why? So that I can have you with a nice Chianti. Fuck the fava beans. Stay away from Miriam Draiman or become the meals that keep me warm all winter." He hung up. "If he gives you any further problems let me know."

"Grampa, can I ask you a question?" He nodded. "Who is Ian Moone?"

"It's a word jumble. I AM NO ONE."

She smiled. "That's cool. You're no one."

"That's right. He shouldn't bother you again. If he does, remind him of Ian's threat."

She smiled. "Thanks Grampa. I'm gonna go check out the barn that's being put up. See the progress."

"Isn't it one of those instant jobs?" Brie asked.

"It's a shell that they're adding power and everything like that to so that the horse is comfortable."

"Ah. It's been too long since I've been on a horse."

"Have you ever had to rehab one?"

"I have, but if you're asking me to come out and help you with the horse, I'm going to have to decline. I can't do it anymore though I would love to."

Miri smiled. "It's ok Gramma. I understand."

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Jake was excited to set up the family portrait. He couldn't wait to get the entire Draiman family together for a picture. It was going to be awesome to see everyone together for something so momentous. They hadn't had a family portrait done since the quads graduated from high school. Now that everyone was older and they all had kids- many of which were teenagers- it was time to have a new picture taken.

He thought for a moment about including the Masons. They were as big a part of the family as they could be. He ran down the stairs and asked his parents. "Hey Mom and Dad. As I was upstairs looking for a photographer to come take a bunch of pictures of us, I was thinking. Maybe we should invite Skyler and them to join us. They're as big a part of the family as the rest of us are."

David nodded. "It's a good idea. Let them know. And if they want one of just their family, including Jeremiah of course, then they can do that at that time.  Make sure that the photographer knows that he’s going to be here all day.”

“Sounds good, Dad.  I’ll be sure to let them know.”

“Are you trying to book it now?” Brie asked.

“No, Mama.  I’m trying to find a good one that won’t make the pictures look like shit.  I’ve found a couple promising ones, but they have to be available for a full day with the size of our family.”

“Do any of them have a schedule up on their sites?” David asked.

Jake scoffed.  “I wish!  That would make this a million times easier!  No, they have it posted on their sites to call the office for schedules.  Problem is that most of the time that they have office hours is when I have my office hours and I have patients to see.”

“I have nothing to do during the day, Jacob.  I could do it”, Brie said.

“No Mom.  You’re retired.  I’m not.  It’s my job to make sure that this comes together.  Anyway, it was my idea.  We haven’t done a family portrait since the quads graduated high school.  It’s high time it happens. I’ll mess with it tomorrow during my lunch hour.”

“And what time will that be?” David asked.

“I always take my hour an hour before everyone else in the world.  I have myself on a schedule and I cannot deviate.”

“Your endocrinologist tell you that?” Brie asked.

“Yes.  If I have another episode like I did 15 years ago, my ass is in trouble.  She will put me on insulin and make me check my sugar at every meal.”

“Good for her.  Now, get out of our hair- well, your mother’s hair seeing as she’s the only one of us to have any- and go help your wife with dinner.  Miri is checking the progress of the barn and will be back in shortly.  Ira and his cousins are bothering Jordan for money for their road trip.  They just found out that they can gamble legally and they want money to blow”, David said with a laugh.

“So Levi said, ‘Let’s go ask my mom for money’?”

“Pretty much.  They seem to think that they should only ask me in a move of desperation.  I’m tempted to tell them no if they should come asking.”

“David, you and I both know that you won’t tell those boys no”, Brie said with a chuckle.

“That’s funny though, Dad.  You keep thinking that, and I’m gonna go out back and talk to Jeremiah to see if he can find the time to help me out with this family portrait project”, Jake said as he walked into the kitchen.

“GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN JACOB MICAH!!” Delilah shouted.

“I’m just walking through to go out to your assist’s place to see if her husband will help me with something, baby doll.  Calm down and I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.”

All David and Brie could do was sit back and laugh.  “Oh Lord, I remember those days.  Don’t you?” she asked him.

“Oh yeah.  Kinda hard to forget them when they seem like they were yesterday.”