Colleen – chapter 03 – part-11

In late October of that year, Colleen greeted me at the door when I came home from the office. She does this every day but there was something different about the way she hugged and held me before taking me by the hand into the livingroom.

“Christopher called me this afternoon to tell me that he’s coming home tonight.”

There was nothing unusual about this except none of the kids ever called to tell us, they simply showed up, spent the weekend and went back to school. Then Colleen continued.

“Patricia is coming with him.”

“Oh?”

“She said that she hadn’t seen Uncle Bobby and Aunt Colleen for a long time and wanted to come visit.” She saw the expression on my face and said, “It’s ok Bobby, I think it’s time.”

I didn’t ask her to explain that last statement. This was making me apprehensive but Colleen was smiling.

“Are they going to be here for dinner?”

“No, he said they had to take care of something in Santa Teresa this evening and would be here late tonight.”

Christopher and Patricia didn’t walk through the door until almost 11:30 that night. They both looked exhausted so we didn’t try to keep them up. Colleen hugged them both and said, “Patricia you can stay in Brigid’s room. Let’s all go to bed and we can talk in the morning.”

I closed up the house and turned off all the lights for the night before heading to the bedroom myself. As I walked down the hall I noted that the door to both Chris’s room and Brigid’s bedroom were firmly closed.

I was lying on top of Colleen after we finished making love when Colleen whispered, “Quiet…listen.”

I didn’t move and could faintly hear footsteps in the hallway and a hushed voice say, “Sh-sh-sh…” followed by a door being closed as quietly as possible.

I looked Colleen in the face and saw her half smile. She wrapped her thighs around my hips and pulled my head down until my ear lay next to her lips.”

“Bobby, I need you to make love to me again…”

I was happy to oblige her request.

The next morning Colleen and I stood in the hallway and looked at both doors. They were closed tightly so we shrugged our shoulders and went into the kitchen to start breakfast. Colleen was just taking a coffee cake out of the oven when Chris stumbled in. He staggered over to the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee then kissed his mother on the top of her head and sat down at the kitchen table.

Just as Chris was sitting down, Patricia walked in. She was wearing a pair of flannel boxers with the logo of Christopher’s high school and one of his t-shirts.

“Morning Uncle Bobby.”

She gave me a quick hug and then one to Colleen before getting her own cup of coffee and sat down next to Chris. It was clear that the two of them were still tired and sleepy so the conversation at breakfast was sparse and limited to one or two word answers from their side of the table.

After we had finished eating Colleen cleared the plates from the table then poured everyone a fresh cup of coffee and sat back down. Everyone was quiet, Colleen looking over the top of her coffee cup, first at the two of them across from her then at me. I could only raise my eyebrows in a questioning look as she looked back at Chris and Patricia. Colleen cleared her throat before she spoke.

“So…have you two picked a date for the wedding?”

Christopher’s face turned white as the blood began to drain from his face. He slowly started to slide down in his chair and I had the distinct impression that any minute I would look under the kitchen table and find Christopher on the floor curled into a fetal position.

Patricia gently placed her hand on Chris’s arm and he stopped his descent. She had her own version of that half smile on her lips when she answered.

“Christopher is done with his semester finals on December 15th, that’s a Wednesday, and my school gets out the next day for the winter break so we thought that Saturday the 18th is best. That way we could have two, almost three weeks before we both have to go back to school.”

Patricia had a serene look in her eyes as she bent over and kissed Chris on the cheek before looking back at us. For his part Chris had stopped fidgeting and clamed down. The expression of love in his eyes when he looked at Patricia was an emotion that I was very familiar with. We sat in silence until Colleen asked her next question.

“Do you know yet when the baby is due?”

There was a look of absolute panic and terror on Chris’s face. He started to stand up and run for the door when Patricia moved her hand to his shoulder and he sank back down into his chair. The look on Patricia’s face was the same expression I had seen so many times before on Colleen’s face. Her other hand had unconsciously slid down and was gently caressing her lower stomach.

“I just went to the doctor for the first time this past Monday and so far the due date is June 11th. That works out pretty good for us. Chris graduates the end of May and my school gets out for the summer the following week. That way I won’t have take any time off from work. And Daddy said that Christopher can go to work for him full time once the baby comes.”

Colleen reached over and took both Christopher’s and Patricia’s hands and gently squeezed with a smile.

“I’m glad you two didn’t take as long as Bobby and I did. We’re very happy for you. I better call Sharon so we can plan another wedding.”

Colleen and Patricia got on the phone together and called Sharon and Mike. I wandered into the living room with my coffee secure in the knowledge that Colleen would let me know when my input was required…probably never.

After a couple of minutes Chris came into the livingroom and sat in the chair opposite from me with a look of uncertainty on his face. He sat biting his lip and then started to speak. I gently stopped him before his words could come out.

“Son, I only have one thing to say to you. What ever you do, don’t ever let Patricia get more than twenty feet from a bathroom or you will live to regret it.”

Chris’s face changed from a look of trepidation to one of confusion when he said, “That’s the same thing Uncle Mike said last night.”

There is nothing in this world that Mom likes more than to be surrounded by her grandkids and great-grandkids. Mom was telling this to Colleen and lamenting the fact that they had all scattered away in every direction with their own families, their own lives. Mom and Colleen called Sharon and Mi Lin and together they planned the first ever all family reunion. Rio Linda is a large regional park about half way between San Miguel and Santa Teresa so last summer on the Fourth of July the entire O’Conner clan came together in the same spot. All of our family plus each one of Mike and Jimmy’s kids and their spouses and children came.

Lunch turned into an orgy of food and we all committed the sin of gluttony. After we had finished eating and things were put away, everyone spread out to spend the rest of the afternoon having fun. I was sitting on a picnic table that was in the shade with my feet on the bench in front of me watching my family. Mom and Harold were sitting in lawn chairs in the shade of a tree with Colleen, Sharon and Mi Lin resting on blankets that were spread out on the ground next to them. They were all talking and I could hear laughter and squeals from every direction as the afternoon went on. Occasionally Colleen would look at me then smile and wave or blow me a kiss and go back to the conversation.

Some of the group was trying for an afternoon nap while the rest were playing in the meadow, running until they out of breath and collapsing from exhaustion. Years ago Meghan and Molly had taught all of their cousins how to play Dog Pile on Daddy. From the number of little children that were running around, I think they had figured out how to play Dog Pile on Mommy all by themselves.

Mike and Jimmy came and sat on the table next to me. We were probably thinking and feeling the same things as we sat and watched our families, not speaking. There was nothing to say out loud; watching our children and grandchildren was enough.

Six years ago Jimmy was elected County Sherriff in a landslide. Two years ago he was re-elected for a second term. Mike’s construction business has tripled in size in the last five years and he is making money hand over fist and works hard for every penny of it.

It was Jimmy who broke the silence.

“I don’t think there is anyone in this world that is luckier than we are. I wouldn’t trade this family for anything.” He was quiet for a moment then turned his head and looked at me.

“Way back when you and Colleen got started, I thought you were a complete bonehead and I was ready to kill you. I meant it when I told you that, and I would have if you had hurt Colleen in any way…but I think you and Colleen are the best thing that has happened to each other. Looks like you two are going to make it last after all.” This last part was said with a smile and genuine affection in his voice.

Mike had been sitting on the other side of me during this with an expression on his face that told me he had something on his mind. I waited and let him tell it in his own time.

“Jimmy has two more years left on his term of office. We’ve always said that we would retire together so when his time is up, we’re both done.” He looked at me with a grin and continued.

“This year for Chris and Patricia’s wedding anniversary, I’m going to make Chris a full partner in the business and when I retire, I’ll sell him my interest in the company for a dollar.”

This was a huge surprise.

“Good lord Mike, are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, Sharon and I have been talking about it for a long time. Chris is practically running the business by himself anyway and my other kids are terrified that I will make them take over the business. They’re all a bunch of doctors and lawyers and will never need the money. Besides, Chris is the hardest working guy I know and has earned it. He works hard at the company and works even harder to make Patricia happy. A father can’t ask for any more than that. It’s the right thing to do.”

Mike paused for a moment in thought, and when he spoke it was more to himself than to me.

“It will still be O’Conner Construction. I like that,” then he fell silent.

“Have you told anyone else?”

“No, Sharon and I want to keep it a secret until their anniversary.”

After a few minutes Mike and Jimmy got up and started to walk across the meadow to try and organize a softball game. Mike put his arm around Jimmy’s shoulders and said something that made him stop and raise his face to the sky in laughter.

When Colleen saw the twins walking away, she got up and came to sit next to me. Like her two brothers she sat in silence, her arm around my waist and her head on my shoulder as we watched our family.

These days it is difficult to get our kids and their families together at the same time so we were enjoying it while we could. The other members of our extended family were there also.

The two Sara’s came with their kids and SaraJane’s brother Ryan. Ryan had finished med school and Harold called in a favor to get Ryan into the residency program at San Miguel Memorial Hospital. After that he opened his own family practice in town. As a low paid intern, Ryan had moved in with Sara and Sarah and never left.

Sara and Sarah now have four kids.

Mrs. Lopez came too. Ray passed away the year before and we all mourned his not being with us but we celebrated his memory and laughed at the stories each of us told about him. All five of our kids call their Aunt Connie at least once a week to make sure that she is ok.

John Gordon and his wife Diane were there. John retired the year after Harold and he and his wife bought a house on the beach in Santa Teresa. For the first time in thirty-five years, Harold and John lived in the same town. Mom had become close friends with Diane and they generally referred to their husbands as “The Rover Boys,” or “those two goofballs.” John living in Santa Teresa was a direct benefit to me. I no longer had to be the fourth man when Harold and the twins played golf.

Let there be dancing in the streets.

Mom and Harold are in their eighties now and still going strong. Mom is just as beautiful as she always has been. If she is any indication of what Colleen will look like at Mom’s age, I am a very lucky man. The only sign of age in Harold is the arthritis in his right knee. For the past year he has had to use a cane and had to give up playing golf. He still goes out to the course with Mike and Jimmy but now he rides in the golf cart and yells out words of encouragement and tips from twenty yards away.

Meghan and Molly took their roll as protectors of their baby siblings seriously and it has shaped their lives every since. Today they are both registered nurses and work at San Francisco Children’s Hospital. Besides being sisters they are such close friends that it was inevitable they marry two brothers. I believe that God is out there watching over children and fools. I also firmly believe that he has an endearing sense of humor. The whole family enjoys the quirk of fate that Meghan and Molly O’Conner would end up marrying James and Michael O’Conner from Victoria, British Columbia and live in houses next door to each other. Their husbands are both doctors; Michael is a cardiologist and James specializes in pediatric oncology at UCSF Med Center. They have given Colleen and I two grandkids each.

Noelle inherited the teaching gene from her grandmother and teaches the second grade. She is married to Robert Kwan, her Aunt Mi Lin’s god-child. Robert is a high school principal and they live in Crowley. Crowley is a small community about thirty miles off the main highway between San Miguel and Santa Teresa. Very few people actually live in Crowley. It is in the center of a large agricultural area and most of the people are farm laborers and only come into Crowley to go to school or shop at the grocery store. Last month Noelle and Robert announced that she is pregnant with their third child.

Brigid is the only one of the five kids to get any of Colleen’s artistic talent. Just last month she and her mother finished their first children’s book together that will be published next spring. Colleen has turned over all of her illustration work to Brigid and now only paints when she gets the inspiration.

Keith, Christopher’s buddy from next door, graduated from UCST and was taken seventh in the first round of the NBA draft. He had the sweetest three-point shot as any you could ever hope to see. He stunned the sporting world two weeks later when he announced that he would not be seeking a professional basketball career for personal reasons.

Brigid Fiona O’Conner and Keith Alan Martin were married on August 28th at the First United Methodist Church in San Miguel. Two weeks later Keith entered the Pacific School of Religion. Three years later after his ordination, Keith was appointed by the bishop as pastor of the church in Crowley. When Brigid and Keith first moved to town there were twenty parishioners but now Sunday morning services average about four hundred and they are fundraising to build a new sanctuary that will seat nine hundred. Brigid and Keith have two children and are talking about a third.

What can I say about Christopher and Patricia? They are so special to Colleen and I. Chris’s sisters continue dote on him but his wife and the gang of four are still ready to tell him to stop acting like an idiot. Patricia is taking a leave from teaching junior high but will return as soon as the last of their kids is in kindergarten. Patricia was now seven moths pregnant with their fourth child and while we were eating lunch, Chris said, “If Dad can have a basketball team, I’m going for a soccer team.”

Patricia was not smiling when she said, “Christopher, we really need to talk.”

Colleen and I continued sitting there on that picnic table, not saying anything, just watching our family at play. I slipped my arm around Colleen’s shoulders, pulled her a little closer and whispered into her ear, “I love you wife.”

Well, that’s pretty much our story, the story of Colleen and Bobby. It’s been thirty years since I moved from Chicago to San Miguel. After five kids, eleven grandchildren with three more on the way I can honestly say that I am more in love with Colleen today than I was the day I got off the plane and saw her standing there with Meghan and Molly with their red balloons.

We had quite a scare a few years ago when Colleen discovered a lump in her breast. It turned out to be benign but we spent a couple of terrifying days while we waited for the final report from the lab. The lump was removed at the hospital as an out patient procedure but the celebration that night was not as joyous as you would think. We had dodged a bullet this time but we are painfully aware of the possibility of it reoccurring, or worse. Colleen goes in for a checkup every three months and so far we have had five years of perfectly clear results. We thank God every day for the time we have had together and treasure every moment and every memory. We hold each other a little closer and a little longer each night when we go to bed. We will probably be one of those couples that you read about in the newspaper. One of us will die and the other will die the next day of a broken heart.

But we are nowhere close to being at that stage. That is unless one of the grandkids asks us to read “Curious George” for the ten thousandth time and make our head explode. But we’ll take our chances and read it to them anyway.

We celebrated Colleen’s sixtieth birthday last week. After the party was over and everyone had gone home, Colleen and I made love slowly and sweetly. I was still lying on top of her gently kissing her forehead and cheeks when she held my head in both of her hands and looked me in the eye.

“Bobby, enjoy this while you can. Once I turn ninety I’m not going to be doing this any more.”

“What?”

“I said, after I have my ninetieth birthday party, I’m not going to let you fuck me anymore.”

“But what about me, I’ll have three more years before I turn ninety. It’s not fair.”

“Sorry pal, it’s not your call.”

I thought for a moment.

“But what about birthdays?”

Colleen scrunched up her eyebrows in thought.

“Well…Ok, we can make love on birthdays, but that’s it.”

“Just ours? Do the kids count too?”

“Of course they count. We can’t celebrate their birth unless we celebrate the conception.”

“How about the grandkids?”

“We didn’t have anything to do with their births, but I love them so much, so all right, I guess we can include them too.”

“What about Jimmy and Mike? What about all the nieces and nephews? They’re family too you know.”

“All right Bobby, you can fuck me on any birthday you can find, but it has to be family. I’m not celebrating a total stranger’s birthday.”

I paused to kiss her on the lips before I continued.

“Holidays?”

“What?”

“Can I make love to you on the major holidays? You know…Christmas…Thanksgiving…Fourth of July…Arbor Day, Ground Hog Day…”

“Ok, birthdays and holidays, but I’m drawing the line there.”

Again I kissed her.

“What about special days?”

“What special days?”

“Well, every morning that I wake up in bed with you is special.”

“Yeah, mornings in bed are pretty special so mornings are ok too.”

“What about nights? You know how I feel about watching you take your panties off at bedtime, that’s special to me.”

“Well, if we’re going to do mornings we might as well include nights.”

“Evenings? What if I want to take you to the Bluffs some evening?”

“Yeah, going to the Bluffs is fun, but I will not allow you to take me to the Bluffs more than twice a week. I’ve got my reputation to think of.”

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