After dinner, Miranda sat down with her parents and grandparents to talk wedding date. “Callan and I were talking as I was getting ready to come over here and we were thinking about an early spring wedding”, she said.
“Did you have a date in mind?” Malachai asked.
“Grampa’s birthday, if we can swing it.”
David chuckled. “You want to get married the day I turn 85 and name the baby after Gramma. I love it.”
“You’re ok with Callan and me getting married on your birthday, Grampa?”
“Yes Miranda Jayde. I’m ok with it. Now, you might want to talk to Matt and Connie to see if they would be upset about it while Connie is still here. I’m sure they won’t be upset, but March 13th isn’t just my birthday, dear.”
She smiled. “Ok, Grampa. I wanted to let everyone know what I was thinking before we set the date.”
“That’s fine. I would love it if you and Callan got married on my birthday. When is the baby due?”
“Early to mid- April.”
“So you two will get married just in time for the baby to be born.”
“And to pack us up to get ready to move to San Diego. I’m going to sell my loft to Kent and his boyfriend privately and call it good. Callan and I will get married, I’ll move to San Diego with him until he gets his orders for Japan.”
“Is it for sure that he’s going to get the Japanese command?” Brie asked.
“He’s pretty confident. We should know by the time he comes out for Hanukkah.”
“He is coming for Hanukkah?” David asked.
“Yes Grampa. He’s being given Hanukkah and Christmas off. We’re planning to go to Texas to meet his so that I can meet his folks before we get married.”
“Do his parent knows who you are?” Amanda asked her daughter.
“Yes, they know that my Dad is Malachai Draiman and my Grandfather is David Draiman. His father is ecstatic to meet me. Talking to the man the few times that I have he thinks I’m the cat’s meow.”
“What does his mother think?”
“She seems to like me. She’s excited that she’s finally getting a grandchild from her oldest son, that’s for sure.”
“Does she know about the other circumstances?” Brie asked.
“Yes. She’s told me that she’s very proud of Callan for doing what he’s doing.”
“Have you and the other girl been talking?”
“Oh yeah. We’re trying to devise a way to warn other girls to stay away from you know who. She’s going to go after him for child support.”
“Smart girl”, David said. “You should really go talk to your cousins about what you just asked me. Tell them that if they still want the traditional dinner with Gramma and Grampa, we can do it a day or so before the wedding.”
“Would you mind doing it in San Diego? We’re thinking a beach wedding. It would be so romantic.”
“If you set the date and location as March 13th in San Diego, your Gramma and I will be there. You need to get details to us as soon as you can, Miranda. We’ll be more than happy to show up and watch your father give you away but you need to get us all the details. As for the date question, talk to your cousins. If they want to still have dinner with me and Gramma, we can discuss doing it before the wedding.”
“You want me to go do that now, Grampa?”
“It might be wise seeing as Uncle Marc leaves tomorrow to head back to LA.”
Miranda laughed as she pushed her nearly six months pregnant self up from the chair she was sitting in. She hadn’t gained a lot of weight, but she was getting big. She wondered how her mother did it twice and how her grandmother had done it three times. The one time she was doing was unpleasant. She felt like a hippo, not a rock star- though she’d heard that her performance in RENT had gotten her nominated for a Tony award for supporting actress. There was no way she was going to attend the award show as pregnant as she was. Kent had said he would accept it for her.
She walked through the huge house and knocked on Seth’s door. She was almost positive that that was where Matt was. He and Seth were pretty close. When she didn’t get an answer, she went carefully back down the stairs to go through the kitchen to the game room. If they weren’t in Seth’s room getting caught up on holiday homework then they were in the game room whooping each other at video games. And if it wasn’t that, they were getting ready for the football game. Apparently, the Bear were playing that Thanksgiving and Grampa wanted to watch the game with his sons and grandsons. They wouldn’t be going home until after the game, but Miranda was cool about that. She understood that it had been a tradition for all of the boys to watch football with her grandfather since her father was a boy.
She peeked into the game room to see the boys playing the newest UFC game before heading up to help with the snacks for the game. It was a championship match- Matt was the reigning champ. She laughed. “As soon as you’re done whipping Seth’s ass, Matt, can I talk to you?”
“Sure, let me knock this loser out really fast and we’ll talk Miranda”, Matt said as she played with the buttons and toggles on the controller in his hand. “Knock Out!” she heard the game say. “IN YOUR FACE, BITCH!” Matt said to Seth. “Better luck next time, Seth. You shouldn’t challenge me when you know I’m going to stomp a mud hole in you.”
Seth laughed. “I bow to the Champ. Eventually, I’m going to unseat you and take that title. Now, see what Miranda wants so that we can get ready to watch the game with Grampa.”
Matt handed the controller to Seth so that he could put it away and he turned toward their older cousin. “What’s up?”
“Two questions; one- do you know where Connie is? And two- would you be upset if I got married on your birthday?”
“Connie is in Miri’s room helping with the critters before the game and no. I think it’s cool that you want to get married on my birthday. How does Grampa feel about it, seeing as it’s his birthday too?”
“He’s elated.”
“As long as Connie is cool about it, we can bump dinner with Gramma and Grampa that night in either direction. Where are you and Callan thinking about having the wedding?”
“On the beach in San Diego.”
“Cool. Pass it by Consuela and if she’s ok then I’m ok. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Seth and I need to go help our dad and uncles- as well as other cousins- prep for the game. Go BEARS!”
“WHOO!” Seth said as they walked past. Miranda followed and went up to Miri’s room. “Miri, is Connie in there with you?”
“Yes, you need to talk to her, Miranda?” Miri called back.
“Please?”
“No problem.”
Connie came out the door. “What’s up, Miranda?”
“Would you mind if I got married on your birthday?” Miranda asked.
Consuela thought about for a moment. “What do Grampa and Matt say?”
“That it’s cool.”
Connie nodded. “What’s in it for me? I mean, since I was little, Gramma and Grampa have taken me and Matt out to dinner one our birthday. You get married that day and that’s not gonna happen. So, what do I get out of this?”
“Grampa said that he would discuss having dinner early with you two.”
“I want more than that or I’m going to say no”, Connie said with a grin. She was messing with her pregnant cousin. She was a bit of a con artist, but it was all in good fun. She didn’t really have a problem with Callan and Miranda getting married on her birthday.
“What do you want?”
“I want a dance with your groom at the wedding. He has to save me a dance or you two have to pick a different date.”
Miranda looked at her cousin. “You’re screwing with me.”
“Totally. But, I would really like a dance with Callan. I know he’s your fiancé and all but he’s hot stuff.”
“I got lucky, huh?”
“Sure did. If only I were older.”
“Never in your wildest dreams, Pilar Consuela. He’s mine.”
“I know. No need to bust out the full name. But, if I didn’t mess with you just a little bit, Miranda, would you think I still liked you?”
“No. I’d be seriously concerned.”
“And that’s the way I like it.”
---------------
“AWW, COME ON, REF!” James Draiman shouted at the screen with several of the other men in the family. “THAT CALL WAS BULL SHIT! THE DAMN PACKER WAS FACE MASKING!”
“Dad”, young Gabriel said, “what’s face masking?”
“You see that guard on the front of the players’ helmets?” James asked his youngest child.
“Yeah.”
“That’s call the face mask. If another player grabs that it’s called face masking.”
“Did you ever have that called on you when you played football?”
“No. I was the quarterback. I was the person that called the plays and threw the ball to where it needed to go. I got sacked- or tackled while I was holding the ball- a few times, but I was never penalized for face masking.”
Gabriel grinned. “That’s cool. Will you teach me about Football, Dad?”
“All you have to do is ask questions, Gabe. I’ll answer whatever you want.”
A couple of turnovers later and the family erupted again, this time in cheers of encouragement. Montenegro- the Bears’ Running back- broke away and was about to score a touchdown. “GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!” they all yelled. When he jumped over the goal line into the end zone, all of the men that were physically able to jump up and cheer did so. Shouts of elation filled the air. A few of them even broke into dance, doing the Robot and several other outdated dances. When the field goal kick sailed between the uprights, the cheering started again.
Once everything settled down again, Gabe tapped James on the knee again. “What were we cheering for?”
“Our team scored.”
“Then they kicked the ball between the fork thing?”
“Yeah. It’s called an extra point or field goal. The fork thing is called the goal post.”
“Oh, that’s cool.” The thought for a moment. “Maybe I’ll save my questions for the game Sunday at Uncle Malachai’s house.”
James laughed. “Might be smart but with Gramma and Grampa here, we’ll be watching the games here until they go home.”
“Ok, this is obviously the more important game, so I’ll cut out the questions.”
Hunter patted his little brother’s head. “No bro. This is about us getting together as a family and cheering on our team- the Chicago Bears- as they face their arch rivals- the Green Bay Packers- on Thanksgiving.”
“Why are the Chicago Bears our team?” Gabe asked.
“Because they’re Grampa’s team and he raised a bunch of Bears fans in Broncos’ territory. That in itself is dangerous. Anyway, baby bro, we grew up in Chicago. It only makes sense that we’re Bears fans.”
“What if I want to cheer for the team in green?”
“Then you better run”, David said to his youngest grandson. “The Packers are our rivals. I won’t have Packers fans in my family.” Of course he was teasing the boy, though he hated the Packers. He wanted his grandson to think for himself. He might have been teasing, but it was a test.
“Well, Grampa, I can’t do that. If I want to cheer for the Green Team, I’m going to.”
“Do you have a good reason to cheer for the rivals of the team I’ve been cheering on for decades, Gabriel William?”
“When they’ve been desperate, they’ve been keeping the ball low and not throwing the ball and praying that the Bears don’t get it.”
“You mean because they’re not getting desperate and going for the Hail Mary pass, you want to cheer for them?” James asked his son.
“No, I’m just saying that it seems smart.”
“The point is that they’re losing and will eventually go for the Hail Mary, Gabriel”, James said. “The Bears are ahead by 24 points. We are wiping the field with them.”
“So I should cheer for the Bears because they’re winning?”
“No. It’s a loyalty thing”, Hunter said. “We’re from Chicago. Grampa was raised there; Dad raised us there. Being a Bears fan is in our blood. We bleed Blue and Orange.”
“I thought we bled red.”
“It’s a figure of speech”, Hunter said. “It means- like I said- we were born to be Chicago Bears fans. We were raised to be Chicago Bears fans. This being as it is, the Packers are our rivals. That’s just the way it is. It’s been that way for a very long time, I’m sure.” He looked to his their grandfather. “Am I right, Grampa?”
“Yep, longer than any of you have been alive”, David said. “That includes your parents.”
“Wow”, Gabe said. “That’s cool. Ok, I think I get it now. It’s a matter of family pride that we’re all Chicago Bears fans.”
“Pretty much, Gabe”, David said. “That’s it in a nutshell.”
---------------
The game had everyone exhausted, especially David and Brie. “Mom and I need to go chill for the rest of the evening”, David said to Jake.
“Do you want the golf cart or do you want someone to take you out there?”
“I couldn’t drive that golf cart right now, Jacob. I’m rather tired.”
“Ok, I’ll have Ira take you out there.” Jake poked his head through the door to the basement area where the game room, gym, and studio were all located. “IRA BENJIMAN!”
Ira came to the entry to the game room. “Yeah Dad?”
“I need you to take your grandparents out to the cottage please.”
“Let me grab Levi and we’re on our way.”
“Make it fast Ira”, David said. “I’d like to get a cup of tea or something before trying to get a little bit of sleep for the night.”
Ira and Levi were up the stairs in no time. “We’d drag Tony along too but he’s locked in an epic battle on Ground Zero: Apocalypse with Hunter, Seth, and Matt. Can’t interrupt the killing spree”, Levi said.
“I remember when the Ground Zero series started”, David laughed. “That was a fun game.”
“It’s still a fun game Grampa”, Ira said. “And just what we need to decompress from the semester. Those professors are going to be the death of me.” He grabbed the keys to the golf cart and his jacket.
“That bad, Ira?” Brie asked as they got in the cart.
“Gramma, it’s worse than I’m letting on. I have homework that I haven’t touched since I’ve been home and I really don’t want to but I need to. It’s for the big project for the class. Good news is that after next semester I’ll have my Bachelors’ degree in Computer Programming.”
“There’s always a silver lining to every storm cloud.”
He chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind, Gramma. Thanks for that. Strap in. I’m going to book it out there and book it back. I want to get back in time to see Anthony lose his ass in Ground Zero.”
“Same here”, Levi said with a laugh. “Tony thinks he’s so bad ass at that game.”
“Little does he know but Matt and Seth have been practicing together.”
“He’ll learn soon enough”, David said. “I’ve always told Tony not to underestimate his younger cousins.”
“Well, he’s gonna learn it the hard way”, Levi said. “To be honest, I’d hate to be in his shoes.”
Ira drove them out to the cottage as Levi got their grandparents caught up on what he was up to and how classes were going. He told them about the fraternities that had shown interest in him, and how the Poly Sci program was driving him insane. The periodicals that he had to read for the class were the worst. Most of them were articles from the Utopian Conflict. He even had a professor that had asked if there were any way for him to get his hands on the old monologues his grandfather had done during that time. “You’d have to talk to Uncle Marc about that, Levi. I believe that he’s the one that has all of that”, David said. “He was the one that put the video homage together for my induction into the Kennedy Center. I think he was the last person to get his hands on a lot of those.”
“Thanks Grampa. I’ll have to ask him about that before we leave to head back to school.”
“Yeah, for all of a week”, Ira said offhandedly.
“Do you have a lot of finals to take?” Brie asked.
“I don’t”, Ira said as he stopped in front of the cottage.
“I do”, Levi said.
David got out of the back of the golf cart first, then offered his wife a hand out. “Good luck to you both. Do your best. Study hard, and Ira- get that project finished.”
“I will Grampa. Have a good night you two.”
“Good night boys”, David and Brie said in unison as David pulled the key to the cottage out of his pocket. Once they were sure that the boys were gone and Brie had started the water for them to have tea, they talked about the day as they got settled in for the night. David checked the heater as he started the conversation. “Overall, not a bad holiday. Wouldn’t you agree, love?”
“I most certainly would”, Brie responded. “It was peaceful, we watched the game. To this day, I don’t understand the point behind the sport, but you and the boys have all bonded over it so I don’t have much to complain about in that department.”
“And James is trying to pass that same love of the Bears on to his boys and Gabe is being a little boy and being inquisitive.”
“I thought his argument in favor of the Packers was pretty sound for a ten year old”, she said with a laugh.
“I have to agree, but James’s theory proved true because they did, eventually, go for that Hail Mary pass.”
“I know I’ll never forget my first football experience”, Brie laughed. “I asked my dad why they called it a Hail Mary. He said, ‘They call it a Hail Mary because as soon as the ball leaves the quarterback’s hands he’s saying his Hail Mary’s’. I didn’t get it until I took a comparative religion class in college and learned what a Hail Mary was.”
“Was your father Jewish?”
“Hell no. He was Irish Catholic. I went to mass with him a couple of times and it felt wrong.”
“Ah. I see. So, you took Comparative Religion and learned what Hail Mary’s were.”
“Yeah. It was an interesting conversation with my father that night, needless to say.”
“I can imagine.” He carefully lowered his aching body to the couch. “God, I feel old tonight.”
“You? Old? Never”, she teased as she set his tea on the coffee table and carefully sat down with her cup in hand. She sipped the oolong and sighed contently. “Ah. Perfect. Warms your body and soul.”
David chuckled. “Is it that good?”
“I think so, but I made your green tea as usual and put a couple of ice cubes in it too cool it enough to drink. I had to do the same with my own.” She took another sip and spoke again. “So Miranda wants to get married on your birthday and name the baby after me. Why?” she laughed.
“I don’t know. Maybe she feels that it’s her turn to honor us. I don’t know. I don’t pretend to understand our grandchildren much like I don’t pretend to understand our children.”
“Or their obsessive need to keep us around as long as they can.”
“I’m glad that we’ve had a little peace since we got here the other day”, he said as he reached out and grabbed his tea. “I’m very glad that Delilah put her foot down and told them to get over themselves.”
“At least we know that Jeremiah understands that taking a side is pointless and that James is of the opinion of we go when we go. It’s not a big deal.”
“Of course, that means that when we are gone, it’s going to be more difficult for the ‘keep Mom and Dad around as long as possible’ camp because they’re not going to be allowed to fret over us until we finally pass on.”
“Unfortunately. But, they want us to have peace in death, so they need to keep the obsessive fretting to themselves.”
“Agreed.” He sipped his tea again. “We should get Delilah something special for Hanukkah for telling our children that they have to keep the anxiety to themselves while we’re here.”
“But when are we going to be able to get away to do any Hanukkah shopping?”
“I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about that. We’ll get for the grandkids, Delilah, and each other. That’s it.”
“I don’t need anything other than you, David. I’ve told you that a million times if I’ve told you once.”
“I’m still going to get you something because you’re my wife and that’s what I want to do.”
She laughed. “Ok. I’m not arguing with you. I know better. I’ll lose this one. If I haven’t learned better than to argue with you over this point over the forty- seven years we’ve been together then I’ll never learn.” She sipped her tea. “And you call me stubborn.”
“Yes, I’m stubborn. If I weren’t would you still love me?”
She laughed. “Probably not. You have to be stubborn in order to put up with me for as long as you have.”
“I don’t regret a moment of it.”
---------------
Miranda relaxed against her pillows for the night, hugging the large body pillow she’d taken to sleeping with since she started getting big. It help to have something to hold on to. When she’d gotten home, her Aunt Kenna had made her soak her feet in a warm salt soak to help with the swelling. Apparently, it was supposed to help aid in getting her circulation up so that the lymph- whatever that was- would circulate out of her feet and back up to the heart so that it could be mixed into the blood again and re-oxygenated.
As Miranda clutched at her pillow, she recalled the conversation she’d has with Callan before she went to bed. “Well, March 13th is a go. We got the green light from Grampa”, she said.
“Great. I think that’s all my CO needs so that he can sign off on the swords. I told him who your grandfather was and he about shit himself”, Callan laughed.
“Did you also tell him that my great- uncle was the infamous Master Guns?”
“Oh yeah. He then told me to get a date so that he could approve it.”
“Well, I want March 13th. That’s it. That’s THE DATE.”
“You got it, baby. What about a location?”
“Can we do it on the beach?”
“I don’t see why not, baby. If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want.” She laughed as she recalled it. She’d laughed when she said it as well.
“Then that’s what you’ll get, beautiful. Do you know what your dress is going to look like?”
“I have a few ideas of what I want, I’m not sharing them with you because it’s bad luck.”
“Who told you that lie?”
“My grandmother. Are you going to tell Brie Draiman that she lied to me about it being bad luck for a man to see his bride in her dress until they’re at the alter?”
He chuckled. “I suppose not. If your grandmother said it, then it has to have some kind of merit to it.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“So, did you pass on my message to your parents and grandparents?”
“Of course. They said Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.”
“Cool. So, you’re going to have to give me a quick crash course in Hanukkah with the Draiman family. What do you guys do?”
“Usually, Gramma and Grampa get gifts for all of the younger grandkids and each other. My dad gets something for us kids and for and vice versa and all of my aunts and uncles’ families are the same way. And my dad and my aunts and uncles’ all try to get something for Gramma and Grampa.”
“What about the Menorah?”
“The past few years, that’s been left to Uncle Jake. And yes, the head of the family sings the prayers every night at the at sunset for the duration of the festival. Before that it was Grampa. Occasionally, Grampa would let Great- Uncle Ben do it.”
“How long has it been since you’ve seen your great- uncle?”
“Years. I’m not sure if he’s passed on or not. I don’t believe he has.”
“Who’s older, Uncle Ben or your Gramma?”
“Not sure. I think they’re the same age.”
“Cool. So, what do you want for Hanukkah or Christmas?”
“You to get your promotion and to get the assignment in Tokyo.”
“Me too”, he chuckled. “But, it’s not Tokyo, it’s Okinawa.”
“Whatever. It gives me an excuse to learn Japanese.”
“Same here.” He looked at something off screen. “Baby, I’ve got to hit the rack. It’s getting late here and I’ve got to be up early for PT.”
She smiled sadly. “Ok. Call me when you have a chance to tomorrow?”
“When I have a free moment, you know I will. I love you, Miranda.”
“I love you too, Callan.” A tear trickled down her cheek as she drifted off to sleep. She missed her fiancé dearly and she needed him to hold her. Thankfully, he would be there in a couple of weeks to do just that. The time she would be without him would only last a little longer, then they would have a month together.
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