“Mom, Dad; I don’t like you two traveling like this”, Jake said as his parents rolled their suitcases into the house from the cottage when Seth came out to pick them up that morning.
“Jacob, get over it”, David said to the medical doctor of the family.
“Who’s going to keep an eye on you two while you’re gone?”
“Trevor’s coming out of retirement briefly for this trip to New York for Miranda’s play”, Brie said as she made herself a cup of tea for the morning and fixed her husband a cup of coffee.
“He’s going to play security?”
“No”, David said sarcastically. “He’s coming along for the ride to see the sights. Like he hasn’t seen them already. Apparently, there’s a new memorial of some sort that’s been erected that he wants to see.”
“Thanks for that, Dad”, Jake laughed. “You do know that sarcasm is the refuge of the weak minded.”
“Are you saying that I’m weak minded, Micah?”
Jake laughed in exasperation. “Is there a right answer?”
“Yeah. The correct answer is, ‘No Dad, I don’t think you’re weak minded. I’m just being a dumb ass’.”
“Then, no Dad. I don’t think you’re weak minded. I’m just being a dumb ass. I still don’t like you two traveling like this. Guess there's nothing I can do about it. So, how’s Trevor been doing, anyway? Will and Travis don’t speak of him much.”
“He’s good. He’s been dealing with a few health problems, but that’s about it.”
“Like what?”
David looked to his wife. “What did he say was the problem?”
“I don’t remember. He said some vision problems and some issues with his grip. He’s being treated for them, but that’s all I can really remember”, Brie said as she carefully walked from the island counter to the table with the hot drinks.
“Is your memory starting to go, Mom?” Jake teased.
“Yes, just a little. So is my hearing and my vision. I think I’ve taken good enough care of myself through life and I think I’m blessed that things have taken this long to go downhill. Eighty- one years of age and things are just now starting to do south? I’m doing good.” She took a sip of her tea and let out a sigh of contentment. “Ah. Perfection.”
Malachai and Amanda came into the room. “Are you two ready to go?” Malachai asked his parents.
“No, Aaron, we’re not”, Brie said, setting her cup down. “We just got settled in at the table to enjoy our morning pick- me- up. We haven’t even had breakfast yet.”
“Do you want me to make you some breakfast before I head to the clinic for the morning?” Delilah asked.
“If you don’t mind, Delilah. My hands just won’t let me this morning. I can’t feel a couple of my fingers right now because of the carpal tunnel. I did good to make Dad’s coffee and my tea without breaking things.”
“Have you thought to have the looked at, Mom?” Jake asked.
“You wanna check it while I sit here, Micah, be my guest.”
She held her hand out to him and he examined her wrist, palpating the tunnel where the nerves became compressed. “Why don’t you ask Maddie or Delilah to work on this while you’re here?”
“I have an appointment with Damien when we get back from New York, bossy. I’m going to give acupuncture a shot. I trust Damien to put needles in me to get my hands to act right. There’s another kid up there that was on the verge of begging when I was talking to Damien about it and he told her she was out of her mind. ‘Mrs. Draiman is a family friend and the reason this clinic even exists. She’s a VIP and I will be handling her treatment personally. You don’t have near the experience I do and she would never let you touch her.’ I felt so bad for the little girl that I told her that it was nothing against her, but I trust Damien just like if I need a massage I would only go to Delilah or Maddie because I trust them.”
“Not because we’re family, right?” Delilah said with a laugh.
“I could care less that you’re my son’s wife. If you can’t give a massage, you don’t touch me. Just like if Maddie couldn’t give a massage she wouldn’t touch me. The fact that she’s my daughter has nothing to do with it.”
“Good to know. So can I have Bethy put you in the book for an hour when you get back?”
“Yeah, have her put me down for Maddie and you can work on stubborn ass over here”, she said, nodding her head in her husband’s direction.
“What if I wanna work on you both?”
“The put us down for consecutive, I don’t care. I just said put us both down so that we could have a couple’s massage. I think we deserve it.”
Delilah smiled. “You certainly do. I’ll do that when we get into the clinic.”
----------------
After eating and finishing their drinks, Malachai and Amanda took David and Brie to the airport with them. They were all off to go see Miranda star in RENT. Brie had been quietly humming “I’ll Cover You” as they rode to Denver. She had her arm looped through David’s and her head on his shoulder. Malachai looked in the rearview mirror at his parents. “Mom, what’s going on in your head?” he asked.
“Oh, not too much. I’m really excited about seeing this play”, she responded.
“She’s back here humming something”, David added.
“I’m humming ‘I’ll Cover You’, the Angel and Collins duet. It’s one of my favorite songs.”
“How well do you know this play?” Amanda asked.
“I know the movie version of the play and I know there are songs that the movie left out. I look forward to seeing the play in its entirety.”
“You do know that Miranda’s not in that scene, right?” Malachai asked.
“Yes son. I know. She’s playing Maureen. She has a duet with Joanne, a solo and she belts with the company. I know how it goes.”
“Ok. Just making sure.”
Brie went back to humming her song as they drove. “Why don’t you share the music with the rest of us?” David asked.
She laughed softly. “Nah, I’ll hum thanks.”
“Are you going to sing along with the songs while we watch the play?”
“No. I might lip synch, but I won’t sing aloud.”
“Ok. Just wondering.”
“Are you looking forward to this?”
“Well, yeah. It’s our granddaughter. I’m excited to see her perform.”
“Well, once I park this beast we’ll be one step closer to achieving that goal”, Malachai said. “She’s been excited about us seeing it and was hoping that the two of you would be in the country when it debuted.”
“Well like your mother told her the night Ira and Levi graduated, the only thing that would keep us from this would be death itself. We’re still breathing, so we’re there.”
“She’ll be happy to see you too.” Malachai found a parking spot in the parking structure and they unloaded. “Shall we get underway?” he asked with a smile, waving down the shuttle from parking to the airport.”
The driver recognized both David and Malachai right off, even though David was in his 80’s. “Wow, this is an honor”, he said.
David looked at him. “What’s an honor?”
“Having you and your son on my shuttle, as well as your darling wives. My dad’s going to have a heart attack when I tell him that I met you both.”
Malachai helped his mother into the shuttle, giving the 20 something year old a dirty look. “You know who we are?”
“Well, yeah. You’re Malachai Draiman; guitarist for Reckless Disregard. The older gentleman is your father David Draiman, formerly the vocalist for Disturbed.”
David chuckled as he got situated in the seat next to his wife. “Wow, kid, you know who we are. You had to be about 5 or 6 when Disturbed retired.”
“I was, but my Dad is a huge fan. He’s somewhere in his 40’s. I don’t know how old exactly. I know every Disturbed song starting with your first record, ‘The Sickness’. I know every Reckless Disregard song starting with your first record, ‘Civil Disobedience’.”
Brie chuckled softly. “Sounds like the kid is a super fan.”
“I am, Mrs. Draiman. Both bands have pulled me out of some dark holes in my life.”
“Sixteen years after we retired, and Disturbed is still relevant”, David chuckled. “That’s awesome.”
“Well, yeah. I know there’s no hope for another record or a tour because the other guys have passed on, but even after you’re all gone you’ll still be saving lives with your lyrics, Mr. Draiman, sir. Your words and Jordan’s have kept a great many tragedies from happening over the last few decades, I’m sure. I know in my life you’ve saved me. I know there’s a song on one of the Post- Occupation records that you wrote for your wife. It helped me to keep faith that there is someone special out there for me.”
David smiled. “I’m glad it could help you.”
“So, to check in, I assume?”
“Yes”, Malachai said. “We have places to be today.”
“Right away.” The young man took off after everyone was in the shuttle and took the two couples to airport check in to check their bags. He had a million things he wanted to say to both men, but he didn’t want to seem like he was being obsessive or unprofessional. He had a job to do, but when they got to the airport he’d ask if it would be possible to get a picture with both men so that his father would believe that he’d met them. That was the only prayer he had of getting one up on his old man and he knew it.
---------------
They took pictures with the young man when they reached the main gate to check their bags. They didn’t even have to stand in line to have their bags weighed. Malachai and David’s infamy- as well as David and Brie’s ages- got them rushed through the line.
The wait for the plane was the worst part of the whole thing. David and Brie did what they always did and read different books or periodicals as they waited. Malachai, however, spent the entire wait talking. He talked about the break that the band was taking and how it felt weird to be home so much after so long. They’d taken breaks before, but never indefinitely. It felt strange. As he spoke, Brie started rubbing her temple gently. She was getting a headache from how much Malachai was talking. She finally looked up and snapped at him. “Malachai Aaron, I love you until the end of time but do you ever shut up?” she asked impatiently. She reached down and grabbed her carryon so that she could get some Tylenol.
“I’m sorry Mom. I thought you’d want to know how weird this feels for me.”
“It’s not that we don’t want to hear it, Malachai”, David said, “but you keep going on and on and it’s giving us both migraines.”
“Oops. I’m sorry. It’s really weird, but I’ll contain the weirdness for now.”
“Very good idea”, Brie said. “Don’t you have a book of something to keep you occupied?”
“I think I finished my puzzle book the last time I was flying.”
After getting a couple Tylenol to kill the headache to kill the headache she had, she handed him her android tablet after pulling up the puzzle app. “Here, Malachai. You can choose what kind of puzzles you want to do. There are logic problems, crosswords, word finds, Sudoku puzzles; you name it. Occupy yourself before you drive me to the brink of insanity.”
He chuckled. “Yes ma’am.” He took the pad from her hands and started doing puzzles as they waited for the boarding call. Finally, they boarded the plane and they were off.
The flight itself was relatively short all things considered. David and Brie both caught naps while they were in the air, making Malachai and Amanda both smile. He looked at his wife. “I think I’m going to have to talk to the rest of the band about possibly retiring soon. We should be grandparents soon and I’d like to enjoy any grandkids our children give us for a long time.”
She smiled softly. “If that’s what you want, Daddy, then do it. I’m sure that Logan will agree with you. I don’t know about Caleb and Jordan, but I’m sure that Logan will agree. Dani and Heather are both hoping you guys will retire soon, I know.”
Malachai nodded. “Yeah. Logan’s been hinting that it would be nice.”
“Well baby, why don’t you talk to them when we get back home? I’m sure it will be a welcome conversation. I mean, thirty years is nothing to sneeze at.”
“I want to go at least as long as Dad did, though.” He sighed. “I don’t know, Mandy. I’m conflicted about it.”
“Well, talk to the rest of the band about it. That’s my advice.”
He smiled softly at her and kissed her temple. “What would I do without you, babe?”
“I have no idea, love. You’d certainly be lost.”
---------------
After landing and checking into their hotel rooms, David set up the dinner reservation while Malachai checked with Will on when they would be out of rehearsal. Everyone was looking forward to seeing Miranda and watching her performance. They wanted to hear about how rehearsals went with her ex being in one of the starring roles along with her. Will informed Malachai that he’d met with his older brother and father to discuss the protection of the family that was present.
Once Malachai was finished on the phone he looked at his father. “What time is the reservation for?”
“Eight.”
Malachai gave a sigh of relief. “Good. Miranda doesn’t get out of rehearsal until 6:30 or 7:00. It all depends on how nice the director is feeling.”
“Well, we’ll see her then. Your mother and I are going to rest and relax until we need to get ready. You need to go to your room and do whatever you please as long as you’re not in here.” David bent down carefully to unlace his shoes so that he could lay down in the bed in the suite he was sharing with his wife.
Malachai chuckled. “Alrighty then, I know when I’m not welcome any longer.” He left without another word. David and Brie both stretched out and relaxed, choosing a movie to watch. During the hours of down time they had, they enjoyed each other completely before getting ready to go to dinner with their granddaughter and her parents.
Brie wore a simple dress without sleeves with a matching jacket. It was elegant enough that it was fit for not only the restaurant, but if she had chosen the play the following night. Her once nimble hands carefully applied her makeup and wound her hair into a claw clip. She couldn’t do a lot with her hair anymore. Her hands just wouldn’t allow for it. Arthritis and Carpal Tunnel made her hands scream in protest every time she did more than they wanted her to do.
She walked out of the bathroom from where she was getting ready and received the same reaction from David that she always received. He coughed and thumped his chest lightly. “Do you ever stop amazing me?” he asked once he relearned to breathe.
She smiled. “The day I stop amazing you will be the day you and I need to file for divorce”, she laughed.
He laughed as well and shook his head. “What would be the point? We’re both too damn old to look for anyone else.”
She smiled. “Well, what about you, David? Where do you get off looking so devilishly handsome?” she asked, remarking in the coal gray suit and black dress shirt.
“Well, if you’re going to look nice, then so should I. I have to look like I should be in public with you.”
She chuckled softly. “I thought that was my line, Mr. Retired Rock star.”
“It used to be; now it’s mine.”
She slipped her shoes on and reached for her purse. “We need to get downstairs to the lobby. Malachai and Mandy are waiting on us to come down and we’re picking Miranda up in the limo on the way to the restaurant.”
“Then why don’t we head down there.” He held his hand out to and led them toward the door once she’d taken it. They met their oldest child in the lobby and were shortly thereafter ushered into the waiting limousine. A stop at Miranda’s studio apartment to pick her up then they were off to dinner. Morbus and his sons were in a car following the limo. From there it wasn’t a long drive to the restaurant. When they made their way in, David spoke to the host. “Draiman, party of 5.”
The young man smiled and grabbed the menus. “Right this way, Mr. Draiman.” He walked them back to their table- which was private- and let them get seated. A bottle of wine was ordered, but Miranda didn’t partake. She wasn’t much of a drinker.
She smiled at everyone. “I’m so happy to see you all here. I can’t even express how happy I am.”
“We’re glad to be here”, Brie said. “So, tell us dear; how have rehearsals been? Has Zachary given you any trouble since things started back up?”
“He did the first day, but the director took care of that. He was fired.”
“Good for your director”, Malachai said. “What did he do?”
“He hit me in the head a couple of times and talked trash about the family. The director apparently knows Uncle Marc and he told Zack that if he kept talking trash he was fired and if he hit me again, he was fired. This was after the first time. I think he’s going to be black balled.”
“I hope so”, Mandy said. “No one should treat you the way he did.”
“Well, I did meet a rather nice young man that same day and I think he would meet approval.”
“Oh?” David asked. “Who might that be?”
“His name is Callan Maguire. He’s a Marine. He’s in Venezuela at the moment on deployment.” She sipped at her water, her nerves evident.
“Miranda, what has you so nervous child?” Brie asked her granddaughter.
“Gramma, Grampa; Mama, Daddy- I have something I need to tell you. I don’t know how you’ll take it.” She looked at her hands as she spoke.
“Well, come on”, David said. “Out with it, dear child.”
She nodded slowly, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves and looked at them all. “Mama, Daddy; Gramma, Grampa- I’m pregnant.”
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