Chapter 54

When Maddie and her family came over, she looked like she was about to pull her hair out.  She looked at her children and tried to remain calm.  “Asher, Dahlia- go find some of your cousins to hang out with or something.”

The children looked at their mother and nodded, saying, “Yes ma’am”, as they walked away.

Maddie sat down in one of the arm chairs, covered her face with a pillow, and screamed.  “WHY THE FUCK IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!?!?!?!”

Her parents looked at her from where they sat on the couch.  “What in the world seems to be your malfunction?” Brie asked her daughter.

Maddie uncovered her face and looked at the couch.  “Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.  What do you need to know?”

“How did you do it?”

“How did I do what?”

“Run a business for almost twenty years out of the house?  How did you manage the logistics on top of having 5 or 6 six people in and out a day and raising kids?”

Brie laughed and pointed to David.  “Talk to him.  He was the one that handled the business end of things.  He made sure that the bills were paid, supplies were ordered, and any and all other business that needed to be handled was handled.  If there was something that needed signed for he signed for it.  If I needed something from town and I was busy he ran into town and picked it up for me.  He was the co-signer on the bank account.  Hell, he was the person that provided the principle capital for the business.  He was even the one that made sure that my taxes were done properly and that any and all deductions we were entitled to were covered.”

“What?”

David nodded.  “Yep.  There were household expenses that were taken out of your mother’s business taxes as business expenses.  When Mom had appointments away from the house the gas was deductible.  There were even portions of the grocery bills that were deductible as well as the expenses of getting tables and chairs for you and Delilah once you were both certified so that you could travel for your appointments and the gas for those trips in the vehicles you took.”

“I didn’t think you knew a damn thing about massage, Dad.”

“I knew what I needed to know and first and foremost, I was a businessman.  I learned what I needed to know about running a massage business from your mother and took the reins from there.”

“Even when you were on the road?”

“Yeah.  The only thing I couldn’t do was sign for deliveries because, obviously, I wasn’t here.  But I still took care of all of the business needs of your mother’s business.”

“How did Mom teach you what you needed to know to, basically, be a silent partner in her business?”

“I did own and operate a successful massage clinic outside of my home before I met your Dad and did all of the logistical stuff on my own”, Brie said, sounding just a little insulted.

“What happened to the clinic?”

“Well, after my alter ego was declared dead control of the clinic and all of the responsibilities thereof were transferred to my then receptionist- Trisha Benton.  From what I understand the place is being run by her daughter in law and it’s one of the best clinic/spas in Denver.  Makes me proud to know the legacy I’m leaving behind both here and in Denver.  Body and Soul Massage Therapy was my heart and soul.  When Dad and I met and we moved everyone back here after the War, I wanted some form of normalcy so we sat and talked, deciding to call the business something similar.  Body and Soul Massage Therapy became Body and Soul Holistic Health LLC.”

“Did you guys include the billing services for your midwifery practice as well?”

“Oh yeah.  That shit was a business nightmare.  Charging insurance companies, fighting that bureaucratic bullshit with all of their red tape.  Nothing gave me more headaches”, David said with a shake of his head.  “But, making sure that your Mom had everything she needed for that was a blast included in all of the expenses.  Mom had to keep all kinds of stuff that I don’t even want to think about anymore.  And there was a LOT of deducting gas expenses.  Thank GOD for our accountant!”

“That’s crazy.”

“Now, Maddie, what seems to be the problem on the business end you’re having?”

“I’m just having trouble finding the time to pay all of the bills and order other things that we need.”

“Why don’t you divvy them up between all of the partners?” Brie asked.  “You take care of some of the responsibilities, Delilah, Jona, Damien- all of you take a little of it.  From what I understand, Jona orders all of her herbs and all of the other stuff she needs to make her herbal concoctions and Damien orders all of her needles and things that he needs.  Delilah takes care of the stuff she needs for her Body- Mind practice because it’s not all massage oriented.  The only thing you need to worry about is the things you need and the general stuff like sheets.  Everyone should have their own stones that needs them and that’s a personal expense- not a clinic one.  Everyone I’m sure has their own mud recipe for mud wraps and herbal wraps depend on the problem, I’m sure so different recipes are needed for that.  Everyone does salt rubs differently.  That’s not stuff the clinic should be buying in bulk.”

Maddie nodded.  “Try explaining that to all of the spoiled little bitches that work for us.”

“If you can’t get it through to them then you need to get the partners in your business together and create a memo explaining all of that to them”, David said.  “And outline that failure to provide the certain items for themselves could result in termination.”

Maddie nodded.  “I’ll talk to everyone later.  I’m too stressed out right now.  Ash’s knee is giving him fits for some reason that I don’t understand and neither does his orthopedist.  They think it might be a meniscus problem, then again it might be the ACL, but then it may be tendinitis.  They have no idea until they do a CAT scan or something.  It’s pissing me off and I’m about to ask Jake for some phone numbers.”

“Ask him for what you need”, David said.  “This is his nephew you’re talking about.  He’ll do whatever it takes to help out and you know that.”

Maddie continued to nod.  “I know Daddy.  I’m just about to pull my hair out.”

“Take a few deep breaths, Madison”, he said.  “Everything will be ok.  You just need to learn to put your foot down with your employees the way you do with your children.”

---------------

Dinner came and went.  After Maddie’s near meltdown no one else had issues.  David took his usual seat at the head of the table with his wife on his right.  As dinner was passed around the table, David spoke.  “Ok.   Now that I have the six of you that are in town in one place as well as most of your families, does anyone else have something that they might want to share?”

“What do you mean, Dad?” Jeremiah asked he said as he fixed his plate.

“Well, it seems that half of you have had something that you needed to ‘talk’ about today, so I’m wondering if the other half or any of the grandkids have things that they need to unload on Mom and me?”

Malachai laughed.  He knew about James’s conversation with their parents from earlier in the afternoon.  “Not me”, he said.

Jake just shook his head.  “Lilah and I are fine.  Miri’s doing well in school and has already made plans to come out for the wedding.  She wondering what she should wear.  Just update stuff that could have waited until after dinner.”

“I can only echo Jake.  Jona and I have nothing.  The only news from our family is the Mason side and Skyler and Kaylian already know because it was Damien’s news.”

David nodded.  “Ok.”  He looked at all of his grandchildren that were old enough to have huge things going on.  “Miranda, any news on the wedding or the baby?”

“Not really.  There is a baby pool on the base that the Captain has asked that I extend to the family if anyone’s interested.  The wedding is pretty much together.”

“Is he going to wear his dress blues?” Brie asked.

“Yes.  He just got his new ones with his Gunny stripes.  He was afraid that he’d have to marry me wearing his Staff Sergeant’s stripes.”

“So, Gunny Maguire got his stripes.  That’s good.  Remind me, he was able to get the sword arch, wasn’t he?”

“Yes Gramma.  Now all we’re doing is waiting.  If you ask me, March 13 can’t get here fast enough.”

David laughed.  “Miranda, dear, I’m in no hurry to turn 85.  I understand that you’re ready to get married, but I’m not in a hurry to be another year older.”

“I would imagine not”, Eli said with a chuckle.

“Ah, so you finally decided to join the conversation, Eli.  What news for you and B?”

B looked at Eli.  “You wanna tell them?”

Eli laughed.  “If you want me to, I can.”

“Well, they are your grandparents.”

“What’s going on you two?” David asked.

Eli laughed.  “My balls finally dropped and I’ve ask B to marry me.  Obviously, he said yes because he’s sitting here.  We’re not starting to plan the wedding yet.  We want all of the hype from Miranda’s wedding in March and Isaiah’s in September to blow over before we start planning anything.  After we are finally married, we’re going to adopt.”

“Really?”

“That’s the plan.  As awesome as it would be for one of us to father a child with a woman and raise it together, we both fell that we should open our home to a child that is less fortunate.  Anyway, it will be nice to have a munchkin running around while I paint or sketch.  Maybe I can pass on the passion for art.”

David and Brie both smiled.  “Good for you, Elijah and Brandon”, Brie said.  “I know I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I think that it’s a wonderful plan, but you shouldn’t discount one or even both of you finding a woman that you trust to be a surrogate and father children of your own.”

“Look at me and Levi”, Jasmine said.  “We have the same father but two different biological mothers.  It’s the same principle, I would think.”

“My advice it that you make sure that you both get along with the girl in case she wants to be a part of the children’s’ lives”, Jordan said.  “Such wasn’t the case with myself and… my ex wife.”  Even after ten years, Jordan had trouble calling the woman she had been married to for a decade by name, whether her new lover was present or not.  Ronnie was pretty understanding, but it just didn’t feel right to call her by name when they hadn’t been together for so long.  Last Jordan had heard, she was still in prison.  She’d been denied parole the last time she was up and was still rotting in the women’s’ prison in Pueblo.

“Thanks for the advice, Aunt Jordan”, Eli said.

“We will certainly keep that in mind”, B added.

“B, what is exactly that you do?” Brie asked.  “I know you’re from an affluent family, but what did you go to school for?”

“Marketing, which is why I’m so good at managing Eli”, B responded with a smile.

“And that’s exactly what he does.  He manages me.  He manages my moods, he manages the logistical side of being an artist; in essence, he keeps my head screwed on and keeps everything straight?”

“Are you working on anything right now, Eli?” David asked.

“A few commissions, but no originals.  What I really want to do is take a damn break.”

“Then why don’t you?” Brie asked.

“Because the commissions are for a couple of my future in laws”, he said through gritted teeth.  “The only people in B’s family that I can stand are his grandparents.  I hate his parents, I hate his brothers and sisters, I loathe his aunts and uncles, and don’t get me started on his cousins.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“My family is very different from your, Gramma Brie”, B explained.  “My parents are both from money and believe that you should be a certain way.  Eli’s not like them and they tend to talk a lot of shit if you’re not snooty like them.  I’m the black sheep of my family for several reasons.  One, because I’m a grounded person not a prick.  Two, my parents didn’t really raise me; my grandparents did,  My grandparents thought I would be better taken care of by them rather than my alcoholic father and surgery and pain med addict mother.  Being raised by my grandparents means that I learned from them how to be.  I don’t really want to get into all of the other reasons.  Then I bring Eli home, who is also from an affluent and well known family, and they expected him to act like them.  When he acted like a normal person they started to gossip and Eli was having none of that.  After laying into all of them, using words none of them had ever heard and no saying a single curse word, he met my grandparents and apologized if he offended them and flipped everyone the bird and told them all to fuck off as we left.”

Everyone laughed.  “NICE!” Jordan exclaimed.

“All I did was show them that you didn’t have to be a royal ass to be high class.  Then I showed them what it meant to be a Draiman by letting them ALL know that I didn’t give a fuck what they all thought of me”, Eli said with a shrug.

“I find it hard to believe that you didn’t swear once”, Miranda said.

“God’s honest, sis.   Not one until we left.  I turned to the parlor full of jack asses and said, ‘It’s been great, it’s been fun, it’s been great fun; but alas I need to take my leave.  As for your hospitality, here’s what I have to say: Thank you, thank you, thank you… AND FUCK YOU!’ flipped them off with both hands and we left.”

“My grandparents asked us back for tea the following afternoon”, B said.  “Grandfather said, ‘He showed us in true Draiman fashion what it means to have true class.  Shades of his grandfather were written all over it.  Come over for tea’.”

“Oh I love that”, David said.  “True Draiman fashion.  Was I really that opinionated as a younger man?”

Brie laughed.  “Oh David, don’t get me started.”

--------------

Everyone stuck around until David and Brie were ready to go out to the cottage for the night. When they voiced that they were ready Jake assigned Seth and Ira to take them out. "No", David said. "Actually, Eli and B, would you two mind coming out to the cottage for a little while with us? We'd like to talk a little more in depth with you."

Eli and B exchanged a look and shrugged. "Sure Grampa", Eli said.

Ira looked at his father. "Give Eli the key to the golf cart, Ira", Jake said with a shrug. "Grampa still has veto power to use at his will", Jake responded with a shrug.

Ira handed over the key as Eli assured his parents that he and B would be home soon enough. Once all that was done and good nights were said, Eli and B went out to the cottage. When they walked in and flipped on the lights, David and Brie both let out an audible sigh. "Be it ever so humble", Brie said.

"There is no place like home", David answered. "He looked over his should at his grandson and his lover. "Come on in boys. Elijah, help your grandmother in the kitchen. Brandon, have a seat and make yourself comfortable."

The boys walked in and did what the patriarch instructed. Eli went to the kitchen and B came in and sat with David as tea was made. "Grampa David, would it be possible to get a drink?" B asked.

"What would you like?"

"Something from the liquor cabinet, please."

David pointed over to the liquor cabinet under the bar to their dining nook. "You're an adult, B. If you want a drink, grandson, get one."

B was startled. "Grandson?"

"You are engaged to my oldest son's second born boy, aren't you?"

B grinned. "I am."

"That makes you my grandson. Now, go get your drink."

B smiled. "Would you like something while I'm over here?"

David shook his head. "No thank you. I don't touch the stuff anymore."

B took a seat after making his drink. "Mind if I ask why?"

"No. My wife's a diabetic. After we both retired we traveled and we'd have a night cap every now and then when we didn't have grandkids, even though she really shouldn’t drink. About five years ago we finally lost the taste for it. We started drinking diet soda with our meals when we'd go to dinner."

"What do you mean you lost the taste for it?"

“We were in Italy and ordered a glass of Chianti each - no kidding- because we both knew that we wouldn’t finish the bottle.  We toasted, took a sip, and looked at each other.  She flagged down the waiter and asked the vintage which was fine.  It was a great year.  We tried and tried to figure out what the problem was as we ate.  Then when we got home, we both had a drink to unwind from our flight.  Again, we toasted and again it didn’t taste right.  We checked the bottles and everything was fine.  We concluded that we just couldn’t drink it anymore.  It didn’t taste right to us.  We had a bottle of wine when we went out to dinner with Miranda in New York, but Malachai and Mandy ended up drinking more of that than we did.  We might have nursed a glass throughout the meal as well as a few glasses of water.”

B nodded.  “I think I understand.  My grandparents were the same way.  Just out of nowhere they stopped drinking.  They do the same thing when they hold events.”

Eli and Brie came back into the room with a tray for mugs.  Eli looked at his man.  “Having a nightcap, love?”

“Yeah, just the one though.  To relax.  I have a feeling I know why we were asked out here.”

“Why do you think that is?” David asked as he took a sip of his tea.  It seemed that all he drank anymore was water, tea, diet soda, and occasionally coffee.

“You want to know more about my relationship with my family.”

“Yes and no”, Brie said, setting her tea on the table.  “Yes we’d like to understand more about why your family is the way it is, but we’re also interested in why Elijah is doing these commissions for your family if he doesn’t like your family.”

Eli sat down on the loveseat next to B with a sigh as he sipped at the glass of ginger ale he’d poured himself in the kitchen with a sigh.  “Well, as much as I can’t stand any of the ones I’m working for, they are paying me a very nice amount of money to put these pieces together.  They’re going to be one of a kinds.”

“What are they of?” David asked.

“The family’s sky cabin in Aspen- which I’ve been to and it’s gorgeous.  I’m doing that one for one of his asshole uncles and his bitch wife.  I’m doing one of one of his bitch cousins who’s about to get married to some heir to some fucking oil fortune.  And the last one is special for his grandparents- whom as you know I adore.”

“What is the one for his grandparents?”

“It’s similar to the one I did for you.  I snapped a picture of them and I’m doing a portrait for them but it’s going to be in charcoal rather than oil.”

They nodded.  “So you’re just doing this for the money?” Brie asked.

“Yeah.  The ones I can’t stand tried to put my one a deadline.  You can probably imagine how well that went over.”

“What happened?”

“I told all of them that were trying to put him on a deadline that genius can’t be rushed and since they were stupid enough to pay for the painting in full up front, they would get them when they got them”, B chuckled.

“I told his grandparents that as soon as I got my new charcoal from the art supplier I get all of my stuff from, I’d get theirs done.  His uncle started to bitch that he purchased his first and I told him straight out, ‘Look, monkey boy, you’ll get the water color of the cabin when I’m damn good and ready to get it to you and not a moment sooner.  As for the little bitch that calls herself your daughter, that pastel can wait as well.  If you ass monkeys don’t like it, you can suck my big toe or find a different artist for the commission but I guarantee you that the quality won’t be nearly as good as mine.  And you can kiss a refund of your money goodbye. All purchases are final and there are NO REFUNDS!’ Needless to say, he shut the hell up.”

They laughed.  “Sounds like you gave him an earful and then some.  Good for you, Elijah.”

---------------

They all sat out in the cottage for hours.  The longer they sat, the more relaxed Eli and B became sitting with Eli’s grandparents.  B had a couple of drinks and once they figured it was too late to get into the property at Malachai’s place, Eli started drinking a little himself after asking his grandparents if they would be too objectionable to them taking the spare room for the night.  “It’s open, Eli.  All we ask if that you don’t fool around.  We don’t want to hear it”, David said.

Eli laughed.  “Oh, you know how it goes though, Grampa.  They do something that lights that spark and it’s just so hard to say no.”

“Exercise a little self-restraint, Elijah, or take it to the bathroom and do whatever you want with the water running.  Just don’t get any louder than the water”, David chuckled.

Eli and B looked at David in shock.  “GRAMPA!” Eli said in shock.  “What?  Did you seriously just say that?”

“I’m an octogenarian, Elijah.  I’m shocked at your disbelief that I would be so candid.”

Eli sipped at the vodka cranberry he was drinking.  “True.  You are soon to be 85”, he laughed.  “Wow.”  He and B chuckled for a little while longer then sighed.  “So, can you believe that your first great- grandchild is going to be here in two months?”

Brie giggled.  “I think it’s about damn time.  Hell, your brother and sister are pushing 30.  It’s time for them to settle down, I think.”

“What about you and Grampa?  You two didn’t settle down until he was nearly 40.”

“But separately, we were looking for that person that we could share our lives with.  Little did either of us know that we were looking for one another.”

“May I ask a personal question?” B asked.

“Go on”, David said.

“There are so many different stories out there on how you two came to be a couple.  Is there any way possible that I could get the real story of the two of you?”

They sighed and exchanged a look.  “He wants the real story, not that line we feed everyone”, David said.

“Me or you?” Brie asked.

“You.”

She laughed.  “Ok.”  She looked back to the boys.  “Eli, get me a diet soda out of the fridge please.”

Eli stood and went to the fridge, grabbing his grandmother a Diet Sprite before going back to sit with his fiancé.  “Here you are, Gramma.”

“Thank you, dear.”  She opened the soft drink and took a sip so that she could tell the story.  “Ok boys, here’s the truth of how we met 47 years ago.  I was at work.  I owned and operated my own massage practice in Denver.  Have you heard of Body and Soul Massage Therapy?”

B nodded.  “My Uncle Gino and his family usually stop there to get massage when they’re here for business.  You used to own that place?  I thought the original owner’s name was Irian Cartwright.”

“My birth name, Brandon, is Irian Nicole Cartwright.  That’s the name my father gave me on June 22 of 1976 when I came out of my mother womb screaming and yelling at the world.”

“So that means that…”

“My Dad’s not biologically a Draiman and neither am I”, Eli said.

“Wow.  How many people know this?”

“The family”, David said.  “The guys in the band knew as did their wives and her late brother, but that was about it.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Gramma Brie.  Please continue.”

Brie smiled.  “It’s ok.  You didn’t know.  Anyway, I was sitting in my office reading the newspaper in after an appointment when I hear.  ‘Excuse me’, so I looked up and put on my professional poker face.  I introduced myself, but he apparently already knew who I was.  We talked and he was all cryptic and shit, then left after giving me a card that had an address on it that I was supposed to be at by, what?  7, wasn’t it?”  She looked at David.  “Right?”

He shrugged.  “I don’t remember.  It’s been 47 years, love.  I couldn’t tell you.”

She shrugged as well and went back to the story.  “I think it was 7.  Don’t hold me to it.  Well, after he left I went out and talked to my receptionist then left.  Got out to my car and there was a reminder.  So, I get Malachai, who was 5 at the time, settled in with a friend’s house and went to see what was going on.  Well, to make a long story short, they told me that they could protect me… blah, blah, blah.  Well, being the stubborn ass that I am, I turned down the offer and went home after picking up Malachai.  Next morning, I went about my routine.  Got up, worked out, got Malachai up for school, got a shower and got dressed for work.  I had an appointment with an elderly gentleman that morning at his home.  He always tipped well.  I remember that.  Anyway, when I came in Trisha told me that I had an appointment a little later that morning with a man named David.  My morning had been shit so I didn’t exactly put get 2+2=4.  I had other business to deal with so I took care of that after setting up my room for the massage.  When the time came I walked out and saw him sitting in my lobby and said, ‘I gave you my answer last night’.  He looked at me like I was insane and said, ‘I’m just here for a massage.’  Well, I gave him his hour and left the room so that he could get dressed.  Next thing I know, I see him come running out of the massage room shouting, ‘Get Down’ before he tackles me right as the glass to my building is shot out.  Meanwhile I can help but notice how nice it is to have such a masculine chest pressed into my back, but I digress.”

David cut her off.  “Seriously?  You thought that?”

“Yep”, she said with a nod.  “I sure did.  May I return to the story now?”

“Be my guest.”

“Anyway boys, he gets off of me and has me combat crawl out the back after telling me not to call the police and to wait for him next to my car.  Finally, he comes out and orders me to start my car and get in the passenger seat because he was driving.  He took me home to get a few things for myself and Malachai.  As I was getting in the car I turned to look one last time at my house and it blew up.”  Both of the boys were shocked.  “Yes you heard me right.  My house blew the fuck up.  Well, Malachai was sent to my parents’ house in Tennessee because I was declared dead.  If you hear me refer to my alter ego, that’s what I’m referring to.  I’m referring to my life as Irian.  Anyway, he brought me here, to this very house.  At the time is wasn’t nearly as big but it was nice.  That night… was our first time together.  The next day, I became Hannah Brielle Draiman, which is the name I bare to this day.”

“So, how is Malachai’s name not still Cartwright?” B asked.

“After the people I was working for got her a new identity we started the wheels turning for me to adopt Malachai”, David explained.  “Technically, David and Brie Draiman adopted Malachai Cartwright but when we went to Tennessee to pick him up he knew his mother right away and asked if he could call me ‘Daddy’.  He’s called me ‘Dad’ since that night and I raised him as my own.”

“So, why is it that Uncle Jake is the one to step in and fill your big shoes with the family and all that?” Eli asked.  “I’ve always wondered that.”

“When your Dad turned 18, I sat down with him and your Uncle Jake and talked to them about which of them would fill my shoes.  Your Dad is my oldest son, but Uncle Jake is my first born son.  That’s why I sat down with them both and gave them a choice.  Your Dad was the first to speak up and say that he wasn’t interested, sticking Uncle Jake with it.  From that point, I groomed Jake to fill in in my stead while I’m not here or once I’m gone.”

“So you two have pretty much resigned yourselves to the fact that you don’t have much longer?”

“For the most part”, Brie said.  “Both of our health is starting to take a nose dive.  So, instead of fighting against it, we’ve come to terms with it.  It was the logical thing to do.”

“I noticed the change when you guys came back for the Super Bowl.  I have to admit, I’m relieved but saddened at the same time.  I’m glad you’ve made your peace with death, but I kinda don’t want you to go just yet.  I know it’s a long shot, but it would be nice if you two stuck around to see us get married and have kids.”

“If we’re so blessed, Elijah, then we will certainly count ourselves lucky”, Brie said.  “If not, then we will still be watching from the other side and we’ll be proud of you both for giving a home to a child that otherwise wouldn’t have one."