Jake called out to the cottage to see when and if his parents would be ready to come into the house for the day. When his father answered his phone, he could hear the sleep in his voice. “Sorry to wake you, Dad. I was just checking to see if you and Mom were ready to come in?”
“No Jake. Neither of us slept very well last night. We’ll call when we’re ready to come up there. Mom’s asleep and I was there as well before you called.”
“Again, I’m sorry to wake you. I was just seeing when you wanted me to send someone out after you.”
“Not for a while. Now, I’m going back to sleep, son. I’ll call when we’re ready to come in.” His father hung up and Jake chuckled. That was his father. If he didn’t want to be disturbed, he was sure that he wasn’t. Knowing his parents, they would both have their phones off until they were ready to come in. He had no idea when they were going to pass on, but he knew that it wouldn’t be long. He would be vigilant, but he would heed the warning of his uncle from the night before.
He sat at the table and sipped his coffee as he looked over the newspaper. There wasn’t a lot going on in the news. State elections were going in, but those weren’t really of a great deal of importance to him. He’d still vote, but they really didn’t matter. It wasn’t like the Governor of Colorado affected the state of the economy of the nation or anything like that.
Jeremiah walked in and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Man, what a night”, he said with a sigh.
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“I had the weirdest fucking dream, that’s what I mean.”
“You didn’t happen to see Uncle Ira too, did you?”
“So he did see you too. That’s a relief. If he visited us that means that he visited Maddie and Jessi as well. What did he tell you?”
“Let’s wait on our sisters to arrive before I go there, ‘Miah. I’d like to confirm with them that they spoke with the long lost uncle we never knew as well. I’m tempted to talk to Mom to find out if she was contacted or not, but I really don’t want to bother her.”
“Change of heart after last night?”
“Something like that. Uncle Ira had some interesting things to say.”
“I know the feeling. Anything you feel like sharing that doesn’t involve Mom and Dad?”
“He told me to just let the son I named for him find his way himself, and to be patient with him.”
“He told me to be a little more patient with Rina and her little temper.”
“I wonder what he said to Jessi and Maddie.”
“I’ll tell you what he had to say to me”, Maddie said as she walked into the kitchen. She’d heard the last little bit of their conversation. “He told me to keep an eye on Asher for reasons he couldn’t share and he gave me some interesting news about Mom and Dad.”
“We’ll talk about the Mom and Dad news as soon as Jessi gets here, Maddie. Just chill out for a little bit.”
“What I want to know is what’s going on with my son. I’m perfectly fine with the news about Mom and Dad. I want to know what’s going to happen to my boy.”
“Ask God?” Jeremiah said. “Prayer never hurt anyone.”
Maddie looked at Jeremiah and flipped him off. “I’ve been doing that since I woke up and found myself crying.”
“You could always consult Albert the Shaman about it”, Jake said with a shrug as he sipped at his coffee. “We all need to just chill out and just wait for Jessi to get here so that the four of us can talk about the message we got about our parents. I’m sure that there is nothing wrong with Asher, Maddie. Chill out.” He went back to reading his paper, looking at the different stories in the periodical. There was a home invasion in which the owner killed the kid that tried to steal from them. The DA wanted the death penalty but the defense was invoking the Cartwright- Tuchman Acts. The defense would hopefully win. They had the legal footing as long as there wasn’t any evidence proving otherwise.
Jeremiah had tuned their sister out as well as she ranted. He looked at his email from the school on his iPad. He was torn between Mac and PC. He could really have cared less about which one was better. He liked them both for his own reasons.
The emails were about different things. He was hearing from students that they weren’t going to be in class for one reason or another, or they were sending in the project that had been due the day before he went on vacation for Hanukkah. He wasn’t surprised. He was going to have to knock points off of all of their grades for sending in the project late. He didn’t tolerate tardy papers. He couldn’t tolerate them. As much as he wanted to give them full credit as though they had turned them in on time, he couldn’t. It just wasn’t in the cards and it wasn’t fair to the others who had turned their papers in on time.
He made a note in the notepad app on his iPad that told him whose papers were late and how late they were so that he could count off the proper amount of points. Any normally ‘A’ students that had turned in their papers that day had better plan on taking the class again so that they would pass. Hanukkah was five days in and for major papers- everyday it was late meant that 10 points came off. His classes would either make an honors student or break them. Either way, he really didn’t care. If they didn’t want to put forth the effort to turn in the paper on time then their perfect GPA’s weren’t his concern. He never turned a paper in late. He couldn’t accept his students doing it either.
In the back of his mind- as well as those of their siblings- there was a question. Would their parents be on the Earth for another year or would they be burying them before 2058 was out? Only time would tell.
---------------
Ira sat in his room with a couple of his cousins and his older sister younger brother, discussing the topic of dreams. “I can’t shake what I dreamed last night, you guys”, Matt said to his cousins. “It’s just bugging the hell out of me.”
Miri looked at Matt. “What did you see?” she asked.
“Gramma and Grampa’s funeral.”
“Funeral?” Ira asked. “Singular? As in one funeral for the two of them?”
“Yeah, Ira. That’s what I saw. It’s a little freaky to know that Gramma and Grampa aren’t going to see this time next year.”
“I know”, Seth said with a sigh. “They won’t make it to your birthday, Ira.”
“Well ain’t that a bitch”, Ira said with a sigh. “What about Uncle James, Uncle Jeremiah, Aunt Meagan and Aunt Makayla’s birthday?”
Miri shook her head. “Couldn’t tell you. I can tell you that I got to have a chit chat last night with the great uncle you were named for and the great- grandmother I got my middle name for. I wish I could tell you all what I learned, but I was sworn to secrecy.”
“Don’t you hate it when that happens?” Asher asked.
Ira looked from his siblings to Matt and Rina, to Asher, then to Abigayle- who was also in the room but hadn’t said anything. “Hold on, I’m feeling just a little left out here. Something tells me that I’m the only person in the room that doesn’t get to have these prophetic dreams of warning and shit like that- though I’ve listened to Dad, Uncle ‘Miah and Aunt Jona, as well as Mr. Mason talk about similar things my entire life- and I’m usually pretty good at giving a literal meaning to the symbolism. This is rather freaky and I’m feeling a little left out of this conversation. You’re going to have to slow down and let me process this shit real fast.” He took a deep breath. “So far, what I’m getting is that Gramma and Grampa won’t see my birthday next year, and Miri has other insight that she can’t share about something. Abby hasn’t spoken a word since we all convened in here and Ash seems to know something that he’s not sharing.”
“The only thing I know that I haven’t shared and that hasn’t already been shared is that I’m going to fuck up my knee somehow and my Mom’s going to flip her fucking lid. But, it’s not something I need to worry about right this minute. It won’t be until I’m joining the ranks of the Draiman’s that have attended Loyola; which- just a side note- I have gotten my acceptance to and a full ride to attend next fall in basketball and baseball.”
“Woo- hoo!”, Miri said as she clapped. “Go Asher! So you’ll be joining me at Loyola?”
“Yep. Where is Hunter going to be?”
“Law School then he’s going into the military as an officer to be a JAG attorney.”
“Go Hunter!”, Seth said. “Now, can we get back to the topic at hand. I’m sure that Aunt Maddie and Aunt Jessi are freaking out if they got news on any of us. Why don’t we get back to the dreams we’ve had and I saw a few things that maybe Ira can help me figure out.”
Abby nodded. “I know I’m the one of the babies in the room, but I know that the fact that I saw people all over the world talking about Grampa and how he was such an influential person kinda scares me.”
“Abby”, Miri said, “it’s going to be ok. It’s a normal part of life for people to say that about Grampa David. You get used to it.”
“I’ve never had anyone tell me that Grampa David was influential.”
All of her cousins in the room gave her a look out of the corner of their eyes. “Your last name isn’t Draiman either”, Ira said. “You have no idea the standard that has been set for us because of who our parents and grandparents are.”
“I guess I don’t. I’m confused.”
“Have you ever been out in public with Gramma and Grampa?” Matt asked.
“Not really. I was riding with them one day to meet my Dad because they were in town and it was easier for Dad to meet them after he got off of work than for to pick me up at their house. They had to go to the market for something. I don’t remember what, though.”
Rina spoke. “Those of us who haven’t already graduated high school or started applying to colleges don’t really know what you’re talking about. How was Grampa David so influential.”
“You’d have to take an advanced American History class to know at your level, sis”, Matt said. “Have you heard of the Utopian Conflict?”
“No.”
“There was a time when Gramma and Grampa were around Aunt Jessi and Uncle Marc’s age that the country broke out into a second Civil War. Now, to make a long story short, Grampa was a very outspoken character during this eight year period in the country- so much so that he earned the nickname ‘The Voice of the Resistance’. He spoke out against the country was being run, basically. He wanted a world where we were all free to speak our minds without fear of being thrown in jail or something like that. They wanted to kill Grampa for it”, Seth explained. “Since then, Grampa has been seen as a very influential person. He was even asked to serve as the Vice President when the government was being rebuilt.”
“Did he do it?” Abby asked.
“No”, Miri said. “He was more focused on raising his family and making music. He’s even quoted as saying that he wouldn’t sell his soul for politics.” She looked around the room. “Now, can we get back to the original topic?”
Rina and Abby exchanged a look. “Can we leave? This is really over our heads.”
“And below your ears”, Ira mumbled. “Yes”, he said aloud. “Go play girls. Let us talk.” The girls got up and left as the older kids went back to talking. “So, back to what we were talking about. Seth, what did you want to talk about? You said you saw something that I might be able to help you with?”
“Not really. I wanted to run Abby and Rina off. Love them both, but they really don’t get these little meetings we have. My problem is that I had no idea who I was speaking with last night when I saw what I did.”
“What did they look like?”
“Uncle Malachai.”
“That was Great- Uncle Matt”, Matt said. “I was named after him from what I understand.” He shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s what I was told.”
“How do you know that’s who it was?” Miri asked.
“Well, I’ve seen a few of the pictures from Gramma Brie and Grampa David’s wedding. He was a Marine. He was actually wearing his uniform in the photos. Uncle Malachai looks a lot like Great-uncle Matt did. Plus, I’ve actually gotten to talk to him in my dreams. He was pretty kick ass.”
Seth nodded. “Huh, that’s why he said that he was an uncle that shared a name with one of my Dad’s brothers and a cousin. Makes sense, but which of Dad’s brother’s shares a name with Uncle Matt?”
“Uncle James”, Miri and Asher said together. “Uncle James’s name is James Matthew. Uncle Matt’s name was Matthew James. I’ve heard Gramma and Grampa talk about it a lot”, Miri continued.
“My mom has talked to Uncle Matt a lot in her dreams. He visits her a lot. I’ve walked in on her taking a nap and in the middle of a dream. She mumble about Uncle Matt. I finally got sick of wondering and finally asked who she was talking to and she told me the story of Uncle Matt. It was actually rather fascinating”, Ash continued.
“I wonder if our parent have had dreams?” Seth asked.
“Oh I’m sure if they have, we will be hearing about it soon”, Matt said. “My Dad’s never been on to keep that he’s having visions to himself and now that I’m older he tells me after he’s told Mom and Uncle Jake- sometimes even Grampa Skyler.”
“Well, do you guys think that those of us who’ve had dreams should tell our parents?”
Ira shook his head. “Nah. I don’t think you all should weigh down the adults’ minds with more worry. If I heard correctly, they all had eventful nights of their own and they have plenty to think about. Don’t trouble them unless you absolutely have to.”
---------------
“I just need some time to clear my head before we go inside, David”, Brie said when she and David got up later that morning. “I’m still trying to process it all.” She’d been making them something to eat for the morning.
“What happened after we finally went back to bed last night?” he asked from his seat on the couch.
“Nothing. I did have a chat with my mother as we were watching that dumb movie last night, though.”
“A chat with Bekah Cartwright, huh? And what did your mother have to say last night when you dosed off on my shoulder?”
“Nothing of too much importance, really. She did finally give me her two cents on you and how she thinks you’re a pillar of human kindness.”
David laughed. “She seriously said that?”
“No, I’m paraphrasing. She adores you though. But, you already knew that. She made her opinion of you known to the entire city of Nashville. ‘My son in law is a rock star! He’s the front man for Disturbed and he’s AMAZING!’ Remember that?” She handed him his plate then sat down next to him so that she could eat.
“Oh yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever blushed so hard in my life as I did when we went to dinner with your parents the night we picked up Malachai”, he said as he laughed. “Fond memory, that one.”
“No kidding. Your face turned so many shades of red it wasn’t funny.”
“I remember. I said, ‘Please, Mrs. Cartwright, don’t make this harder on me than it has to be. It’s already difficult for me to be in public. Do you want our meal to be interrupted by Disturbed fans asking for autographs?’.”
“Dad thought that was funny. ‘Don’t tell me, David, that you’re shy. You can’t be shy to be a singer for a band.’ I couldn’t breathe.”
He laughed. “Yeah, you were laughing too hard. All I wanted was for the Earth to open up and swallow me at the moment. I was so embarrassed.”
“But, you made it out alive.”
“I have thanked God every day since that we had a peaceful dinner and that I wasn’t asked a million times for my autograph. That would have made things worse.”
“No kidding. Then, what did she do in the mall?”
“She got up on one of the benches and shouted out, ‘ATTENTION PEOPLE OF NASHVILLE: DON’T FUCK WITH ME! YOU MESS WITH ME AND I WILL SICC MY SON IN LAW ON YOU. HIS NAME IS DAVID DRAIMAN AND HE’S THE LEAD SINGER FOR A ROCK BAND CALLED DISTRUBED. HE’S A BAD ASS. MESS WITH HIS MOTHER IN LAW AND HE WILL MESS YOU UP!’ And, I wanted to die.”
“I did too. I asked Daddy to put a stop to it and he said to me, ‘If the boy is embarrassed, he should have to stones to say so.’ I told him, ‘Look at my husband’s face and that should say it all. Put a stop to this or we’ll strand you here’.”
“Did your mother have a lot of moments when she would go overboard like that?”
“Only all the time. My mother was not demur and quiet like she looked. She didn’t have a filter between her brain and her mouth. If she thought it, she said it.”
“I gathered that much when she said, ‘Well, this isn’t fair. I can’t keep anything from you. Not only are you perfect, handsome, and talented, but you speak fluent Hebrew. It’s utterly maddening’.”
“I tried to warn you that my little Jewish mother wouldn’t hold her tongue. If she didn’t like you she would tell the world she didn’t like you. If she liked you, the world would know that too.”
“I thought you were kidding because you have the filter your parents obviously didn’t.”
“At least they liked you, though, David. Better that they embarrass the hell out of you because they like you than they embarrass the hell out of you because they think you’re an ass.”
“Did we ever do that to any of our kids or their significant others?”
“Not that I recall, but it is possible. Doubtful; but possible. We’d have to ask the kids.”
“I really don’t feel like dealing with the kids right now.”
“I don’t feel like dealing with the drama right now. I love our children, but I just can’t deal with that right now. I’m sure that there’s something going on inside and I can’t handle it.”
“Well, I did tell Jake that I’d call when we were ready to come up. I’m sure he’ll call to check on us soon, but we can stay out here until sunset of you like, love. It’s completely up to you.” He set his empty plate on the coffee table. They’d both been eating as they talked and trying not to choke on their food.
She set her plate on top of his and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. I don’t have the patience to deal with our children right now. One of them would say something and I’d snap.”
“We can’t have that, now can we?” he said with a grin. “And you’re supposed to be the patient one.”
“There are times when even the most saintly of us mere mortals loses our cool and wants to knock someone out.”
“And when that happens, that’s what I’m here for. I’m here to anchor you.”
“And I thank and love you for all the more for it.”
---------------
“Revelations about the kids be damned!” Jake said over his arguing sisters. He was meeting with Maddie, Jessi and Jeremiah in his office to talk about the dreams they’d all had the previous night. “I want to know who you spoke to, what was said about Mom and Dad, and what was said about you. That’s it. Any warnings about your children is personal and none of our business”, he said once he had silence, and then looked at Maddie. “You first, Jade.”
“Probably the same thing you saw Jake. Uncle Ira looking like he was about the quads’ age and a lot like Jay, saying that Mom and Dad won’t see the end of next year and told me to help those who still freak about them passing on to adjust to the idea of having to live without them. As for me he warned me to stop worrying so much about other things because my blood pressure is already in bad shape. If I’m not careful I’m going to give myself another ulcer. If I can’t control it then I should let it go was his counsel to me.”
Jake nodded. “Ok, to keep this meeting short; who saw Uncle Ira last night?” They all raised their hands. “Who was told that Mom and Dad don’t have much time left on this Earth?” All hands stayed in the air. “And who was charged with helping everyone else cope?” Same response. “Now that that’s been handled, why don’t we get to the other news? Jessi, did Uncle Ira warn you about anything to do with you and you alone? Nothing about Abby. That’s for you to deal with as her mother.”
“Nothing major really. I’m going to get a promotion and a raise soon. That’s it. I’ve put in for an aide’s position to the Ambassador to the United States. I guess I’m going to get it.”
“Good luck to you none the less”, Jake said. “‘Miah, anything for you?”
“An explanation for my back pain”, ‘Miah said with a sigh.
“You too, huh?”
“Yep, but I’ve known it was starting to happen for a while. Genetics are a bitch.”
“I know. Diabetic, remember?”
“You two inherited Mom’s back issues?” Maddie asked.
“Yep, apparently”, Jeremiah said. “It sucks, but at least we know.”
“Messed up”, Jessi said, shaking her head. “I’m grateful I don’t have a lot of health issues. “Allergies are my biggest problem.”
“Mine is blood pressure which I get from Dad. And I’m starting to have the carpal tunnel issues that Mom has”, Maddie chimed in.
“Scars you to think of the things you may have passed on to your own children, doesn’t it?” Jake said. “I know I passed the visions on to Miri and Seth, and Samantha is diabetic. Ira seems to be developing his own vision problems. He has an astigmatism we’ve recently learned. We have no idea where that came from.”
“Ira also has an interesting gift of his own, though”, Jeremiah added. “He can interpret rather well.”
“Interpret what?” Jessi asked.
“Dreams”, Jake and Jeremiah said in unison.
“How long have you know about that?” Maddie asked. “I’m around rather often and I didn’t know that.”
“We’ve known for a while”, Jake said. “Miri had come to me a few years back with a confusing dream that she had no idea what it meant. Neither did I. Ira had overheard and said, ‘That’s actually pretty easy to understand’, and proceeded to explain the symbolism to his big sister. I asked him how he knew and he said he just did.”
“That’s crazy. I had no idea”, Maddie said in shock. “Do Mom and Dad know?”
“Oh yeah. They know. Ira told them a while back.” Jake sighed. “I guess we all need to come up with a game plan for easing the rest of us into the transition of losing our parents so that when it happens it doesn’t hurt as bad.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “This is going to suck, you guys.”
“Yeah. No kidding”, Maddie added. “I guess we just help Delilah enforce the ‘Don’t Fret Over Mom and Dad’ rule. It’s the best I can think of.”
“Well, there is that, but we also need to be supportive”, Jeremiah said. “Offer an ear to listen should something be bothering them.” He looked at Jake. “It’s your call, Jake. I’m just offering my two cents US.”
Jake nodded. “I know.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Give me a day or two to consider all of the options and we’ll put together a plan. For now, I need to take care of some household business so if you’d all be so kind as to step out and I’ll see you all for gift exchange and the lighting of the Menorah tonight.”
They all left Jake to his thoughts. He booted up his office computer so that he could take care of some business. Even though it was Hanukkah, he had to deal with is stocks and other wonderful stuff like that. And, as always, there were bills to be paid. He wanted to get a jump start on the credit card bills that had been wracked up as he and his wife bought Hanukkah gifts for everyone.
As he sat and glanced over the paper that was emailed to him every day, he thought about the task at hand. What do I do to ease everyone’s mind without tipping them all off that Mom and Dad won’t see next Hanukkah? A question he wished he had the answer to.
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