To Love, Honor and Cherish
Page 11
Chapter 11
Betty and the twins, Sara and Rebecca came home five days later. Joe and Mary had purchased an additional crib and other accessories for the nursery and Matt and the rest of the boys had made signs and banners for the front of the house to welcome their sisters to their new home.
Joe told Betty that he planned to put college on hold for a while until the girls were a little older. Betty told Joe that she would not allow Joe to drop out of college. “I want you to finish college and I know that your parents would want you to finish school as well. You only have a year and a half to go. I won’t let you give up on your dream.”
Then, Betty told Joe that while she was at San Francisco General, they had offered her a job there and after twelve weeks of maternity leave, she would begin working weekend-option. She would work from 7pm to 7am on Fridays and Saturdays and get paid for full time.
That way, Joe could finish school and be there on the weekends while she worked and Betty would be able to spend more time with the kids during the week.
Joe agreed to stay in school. If he took classes in the summer and extra classes in the fall, he could graduate in December, six months before his 19th birthday.
The house was turned upside down over the next several days until the family got set into the new routines, with two babies in the house.
The boys loved having little sisters and were very protective of them. Mary loved having more girls in a house of boys. She loved holding Sarah and Rebecca or Becca as she was now called, because Paul could not say ‘Rebecca’. Mary was a big help to Betty in taking care of them.
Matt’s twelfth birthday was the 2nd of March. Joe wanted to make it a special day for him, since he had helped his mom so much over the past several months and had no choice but to grow up and become the man of the house when his father left.
Joe had gotten permission from Betty to plan a birthday weekend for Matt. Betty was glad that Matt had Joe to look up to as a role model and that this was a chance for them to do some male bonding.
Matt’s birthday was on a Sunday, and since there was no school on that Friday, Joe made plans for a three-day birthday weekend. Joe and Betty kept this a secret.
Joe had the van packed and woke Matt up at 3am on Friday morning. He told Matt that they were going on a trip, but would not tell him where. As Joe drove, he let Matt get some more sleep.
At about 7:30, when Matt woke up, they stopped for breakfast and then continued driving. They arrived in Los Angeles at 10:00 am.
For the rest of the day, Joe and Matt did many of Matt’s favorite things. They played miniature golf, went to an arcade, and rode go-carts. For lunch, they had pizza and root beer. Joe even got candles put on the pizza.
Throughout the day, Joe took pictures with a digital camera that he had brought along. Occasionally, he found other people to take pictures of himself and Matt together. At around 3pm, they checked into a very nice hotel. After they got to their room, they changed and went swimming in the hotel pool for a while.
Later, at 5:30, they were picked up by a limousine and taken to the Staples Center Coliseum to see a basketball game. Matt was very excited because he was a big fan of the LA Lakers and he loved basketball.
Joe had connections. His lawyer knew someone in the Lakers organization who pulled a few strings. Joe and Matt were met by a team representative who escorted them to the team locker room.
Matt got to meet all of the players and got their autographs. Joe took pictures of Matt standing with the players. They presented Matt with a basketball signed by the entire team, a team jacket, and other autographed souvenirs as well.
Matt and Joe had seats right behind the Lakers’ bench. During halftime, a message flashed on the scoreboard, wishing Matt a happy 12th birthday. Then, the entire coliseum sang Happy Birthday to him, which Matt thought was very cool. Matt and Joe ate hot dogs and drank soda. The game went into double overtime, with the Lakers making the winning basket with seconds left to play.
After the game, Matt and Joe picked up his basketball, jacket and other souvenirs and rode in the limo back to their hotel. It was almost 11pm by the time they got there, but Matt was too excited to sleep. He and Joe stayed up until after 1am talking. They slept in until 10 a.m. and had breakfast delivered to their room.
Matt thought that his birthday surprise was over, but Joe told him that there was still more to come. They checked out of the hotel and then drove for a few hours, stopping only for lunch. Then, after driving for another 2 hours, they arrived at their final destination.
It was a secluded cabin near a lake located about an hour from San Francisco. Joe’s parents had bought the land when Joe was a small child and built a large cabin on the land. Joe and his parents used to go there 2-3 times per year.
Joe had not been to the cabin since his parents died. Matt helped Joe carry all of their gear into the cabin. Joe started a fire in the fireplace and then, from the cooler, Joe took out a couple of steaks and started cooking them in a skillet on the stove.
One thing that Joe liked about the cabin was that there was no television, no radio and no phones. After they ate dinner, they walked around the lake and when they got back to the cabin, they lay on the ground and looked at all of the thousands of stars in the sky.
Matt had never seen the sky so clear. Joe pointed out the major constellations and they just listened to the night sounds; the wind blowing through the trees, the fish jumping in the lake, the crickets singing and the owls hooting. Matt had never felt so peaceful before. By 10pm, they were sound asleep in the cabin.
At 4am, on Sunday morning, Matt’s birthday, they got up, and headed to the lake to go fishing. After three hours, Matt had caught five good-sized trout and Joe had caught six. When they got back to the cabin, Joe taught Matt how to clean and filet the fish. Joe cooked some of them over an open fire he had built outside the cabin. Matt was never a big fish eater, but those were the best tasting fish he had ever eaten. They wrapped the rest of the fish and put them on ice to take home with them.
After breakfast, since the weather was unusually warm for that time of year, Matt and Joe went for a swim in the lake.
While they were swimming, a few deer came up to the edge of the lake to drink. Matt and Joe stayed perfectly still. Matt had never seen wildlife this close before and was mesmerized by the deer.
Around 3pm, they loaded up the van, locked up the cabin and headed for home.
While they were driving, Matt was very quiet for a long time. Then, all of a sudden, he said; “Joe, this has been the best weekend of my life. Thank you for making my birthday so terrific.”
When Joe asked him what his favorite part was, Matt replied; “The part I liked the best, was spending time with you. You make me feel important, like I am somebody special. You are like a father, big brother and best friend all rolled into one.”
When they arrived home, Joe let Matt go in first. When he walked into the house, everybody yelled surprise. The house was filled with balloons and there were decorations everywhere.
The house was filled with people. There were over fifty kids from his school, boys and girls. All of Matt’s favorite foods were there including homemade macaroni and cheese, pizza and chocolate cheesecake. Matt had a great time at the party.
He danced with all of the girls including his sister Mary. After he had opened his presents and thanked everyone, the guests went home.
When everyone had gone home, Mary brought out the present from the family. It was a brand new ten speed bike. Matt was ecstatic. His old bike was too small for him. He had been saving up for a new bike.
Joe hooked his digital camera up to the computer and everyone watched a slideshow of Matt’s weekend. Later, Joe had them printed up and put them into a photo album for Matt.
That night, when the rest of the
family was in bed, Matt went into the family room where Joe and Betty were talking. Matt stood there silently and then trying not to cry, he said, “I want to thank you both for making this the best birthday I have ever had. I love you both very much.” Then, he hugged both of them and went to bed.