Chapter Nine
Happy Birthday To Everyone
Ed and Penny had made a special trip to Hartford to find something extraordinary for a gift for them. Their birthday was close enough to Christmas; they felt they had to work hard to make their birthday even more exceptional. They got Andy a new suit and Candy a new party dress. Both of them would probably serve as clothes to wear to Johnny and Chrissy’s wedding, too, but they would still be enjoyable. They got a Leap Frog Learning Game for each of them, a reading one and one for math. If things went the way they hoped, they would put the twins in kindergarten next fall and they didn’t want them to be behind the other kids who had gone to head start. Their other gift was a hand held electronic game that Chrissy suggested. Penny had to go into the library and lock the door in order to be sure she didn’t get caught wrapping them. Ed had made each of them a beautiful toy box, too, to keep all their toys in. Penny had them all locked up in the library so they would be a surprise. The toy boxes would set at the ends of their twin beds as the hope chest Ed had made for Chrissy’s birthday set in her room.
Of course, the kids were up early and got dressed without being told. It was almost nine o’clock when Johnny drove up out front with Grandmother.
They brought out all the gifts and let them see them. They were thrilled with all their stuff. Andy made noises about the “monkey suit” but he did look cute in it and he knew it. Candy looked like a real little princess in her pretty dress and Penny took pictures of the two of them in their new outfits.
They liked their toy boxes, too. Candy said her toy box was going to be her hope chest like Chrissy’s. Johnny and Chrissy showed the kids how to play their games and then it was time to take off for McDonald’s. They took their Leap Frog games along to play with on the thirty-minute trip.
They decided it would be handier to ride in the big Buick Rendezvous because they would have three rows of seats. Ed and Penny would ride in front; Grandmother, Johnny, and Chrissy rode in the second seat, and the twins had plenty of room in the back. They spent some time deciding what they were going to eat when they got to McDonald’s. Andy said he wanted a Big Mac, large fries, a Coke, and a large chocolate milkshake to finish up on. Candy decided she wanted McNuggets, fries, an apple turnover and ice cream.
“As we told you, you can eat whatever you want, but you eat all of whatever you order before you start playing,” Chrissy reminded them. “And, Grandmother, you remember not to overload your stomach or you might get sick going down the slide later." Everyone laughed. The kids toned down their orders considerably when they understood they couldn’t play until they’d eaten. They still hadn’t told the kids they were going to the movies or the mall. That was still going to be a surprise.
It was almost two-thirty when the kids finally decided they were tired.
“We are tired but we’re still not ready to go home." Andy didn’t want the fun to end.
“May we sit here for a little while and maybe have some ice cream or something before we leave?" Candy didn’t want the day to be over, either.
“Well,” Grandmother winked at Johnny, “I guess we could go see a movie or something, couldn’t we, Johnny?”
“Oh, oh, oh, could we; could we?" The twins were especially thrilled about that.
“Well, I guess we could go see, “Herbie: Fully Loaded." Isn’t that what’s playing, Chrissy?”
“It sure is.”
“Man, oh, man! What a birthday!" Andy could hardly believe it.
Neither could Candy but she was delighted. It was a Disney cartoon movie and everybody laughed until their sides hurt. Grandmother Lydia insisted it was the funniest thing she had ever seen.
“Well,” Penny said, “I guess we could go over to the mall for a while.”
“Shopping?”
“Yuck." Those were the little one’s reactions.
“Well, you never know. We might find something interesting." Ed couldn’t keep the grin off his face.
“Well.”
“Okay." The twins reluctantly agreed.
The traffic was at a crawl when it was moving at all on Frederica Street out near the mall most of the time, but it seemed even worse than usual tonight. The huge parking lot was full to overflowing, too. Ed circled and circled and was about ready to give up when a parked vehicle indicated that it was leaving by putting the car in reverse and the back-up lights came on. Ed had barely enough room to sit still while it backed out and let Ed slide right into the vacated spot. It was fairly close to the door, too, which was wonderful because of Lydia.
They managed to get her inside the mall and luck was still with them. Someone was waiting to return a wheel chair and Johnny rented it quickly for Lydia. She tried to insist that she didn’t need it, but she was already breathing hard from walking in from the parking lot.
“It’s still almost two weeks until Christmas. I wonder what all the crowds are about." Chrissy remarked innocently. But when they got to the center of the mall and the kids could see through the group of people gathered around, their eyes got as big as saucers.
“Look, Candy! It’s Santa Claus."
“Yeah, that’s why there's a bunch of people.”
“Can you believe we’re getting to see Santa? This birthday gets better and better.”
“You knew this all along, didn’t you, Johnny. You all planned this, right?”
“Yeah, we confess. We thought seeing Santa would be a special event for your birthday celebration. We told you about the trip to McDonald’s so you’d have something to look forward to but we also wanted to surprise you. The movie and mall visit we kept a secret for you. Are you happy? Has your birthday been a happy one?”
“It’s been terrific." “Fantastic!" They both shouted.
“You’d better get in line if you want to tell him what you want for Christmas,” Lydia teased.
“Do we really have time to do that, too?”
“I thought just seeing Santa was our surprise. Oh, dear, I didn’t think to bring my wish list, but I think I can remember most of it. Let’s get in line, Andy.”
“Yeah, Sis, I’m with you. Man, this is great!”
“Grandmother, do you see any stores you’d like to visit while we’re waiting for the kids?" Chrissy wanted Lydia to have a good time, too.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do, Chrissy. Could we go into J.C. Penny’s and look around some.”
Chrissy wheeled her in and Lydia went crazy shopping. She bought a new Christmas tablecloth, napkins, placemats, a bunch of decorations and a new dress for herself. Next, she went to the clothing section for children and bought a new Disney sweatshirt for each of the twins.
“You didn’t have to do that, Grandmother." Chrissy didn’t know if Lydia could actually afford to do that or not.
“Don’t you worry about that, girl. I do what I want to. It’s been a long time since I had a chance to spend any money, I’m afraid it might evaporate if I don’t use it." Lydia chuckled again and the sound still thrilled Johnny. “I’d like to come back before Christmas, maybe just us ladies, and get a few more things.”
“Absolutely, Grandmother, we’ll make plans to do that. I still need to do some shopping for Christmas and I’m sure Mom does, too. Have you heard from Mom and Dad O’Reilly whether or not they will be able to come for our wedding? Johnny said you had called them several days ago.”
“Oh, I’m surprised he hasn’t told you. Yes, they do plan to be here and several of the others, too. I am looking forward to their visit. I haven’t seen my daughter for more than twenty-five years. I have two grandchildren I’ve never seen and it’s all been because of my stubbornness. However, I’m sure planning to make up for all of it that I possibly can. I’m all through sitting up there on that hill and feeling sorry for myself. I still have a lot of living to do and no one knows how long they have to do it in; and it’s all because of your love, Chrissy. I’ll always be grateful to you for that.”
“I’ve been blessed with a bunch of new people to love and
the first and foremost, of course, is Johnny; but you sure do come in a close second. I know I’ll love the rest of his family, too, and I hope they’ll like me." They hugged each other and got out the Kleenex.
“We seem to do a lot of this these days, don’t we?" Lydia was smiling through her tears.
“And it’s great!”
The twins were asleep almost before they got out of Owensboro after they talked to Santa. It had been a wonderful day and everyone seemed to have enjoyed it tremendously. Actually, though, Lydia was asleep almost by the time the twins were. With the two kids and Lydia all asleep, Johnny and Chrissy almost had the back seat to themselves and they enjoyed the ride home as much or more than the rest of the day.
After everybody got home and everybody was asleep—everybody, that is, except Johnny and Chrissy—Johnny called Chrissy and he repeated the news that his parents were planning to be at their wedding. Then he told her the even more wonderful news: they were planning to come for Christmas, too.
“They’re planning to arrive on Christmas Eve and stay until Valentine’s Day and our wedding and probably for another week or two while we’re on our honeymoon. I am especially grateful that they’ll be here with Grandmother while we’re gone. Grandmother will be so thrilled to have them and we won’t have to worry about her being alone while we’re on our honeymoon!”
“Oh, Baby, you said the magic word, ‘honeymoon.’ I can hardly wait. Do you think there’s a way we can slip off before Christmas when your folks arrive? I want to make love with you again. You’re a fantastic lover, Johnny! I love the way you hold me and kiss me and touch me tenderly in all the most erotic places.”
“If you don’t stop talking like that, one of two things is going to happen. I’ll have to hang up and go take a cold shower or put on my clothes and run down over the hill to your house and make wild, passionate love to you on the couch in the family room with your folks just upstairs.”
“Well, while I like the second idea much better than the first, I guess we’d better hang up and get some sleep. We have a lot of things to do in the next few weeks. Probably the most important will be ordering our wedding invitations. We need to start making out a list of people to send invitations to so we’ll have an idea how many to order.”
“You’re right, but if we get started on that now, we won’t get any sleep at all tonight. I guess we’d better say goodnight. I love you so much, Johnny.”
“I love you, too, and I just wish our wedding was yesterday. I mean, I’m looking forward to it but—well, okay, goodnight, Sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow—or actually, later today. It’s after midnight, Hon. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. Okay let’s hang up.”
“You hang up.”
“No, you hang up.”
“Okay, we’ll hang up together. One, two, three, hang up.”
“You didn’t hang up.”
“Neither did you.”
“Oh, for the love of Pete, Johnny, we’re not thirteen.”
“Now wait a minute, are you in love with Pete or with me.”
“What?”
“You said, ‘for the love of Pete.’ I just wanted to know which one of us you’re in love with.”
“You, Johnny. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight." About a half hour later, they finally hung up and went to bed. But Johnny did take a cold shower before he could go to sleep.
The Ghostly Hideaway Page 17