Laura's Big Win (31 page)

“Okay, I guess so, and I’ll pay back
all the money too, but I don’t make much so it might take a long
time.”

Jack’s last statement was a fast curve
ball no one saw coming; Ryan and Laura stared at each other in
wonder. What could Jack be talking about? They were about to see
the wonder and reality of young minds at work. Ryan pressed the
issue. “Jack, I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. Tell
me about the money; I don’t understand what money or what this has
to do with adopting you.”

“A kid at school said his mother told
him you paid a lot of money to my first dad and now you own us
kids, and mom told us he sold us out and wasn’t going to ever come
back; I don’t want anyone to own me or even my sister, so I’ll pay
you back but I don’t have very much.” Jack delivered the entire
sentence in one breath, the same way a bomb is delivered, one big
package. The misunderstanding was clear to the adults, not so to a
young mind hearing it without knowing all the facts. This needed to
be stopped right now before it did any more harm. Ryan took the
lead, while Laura tried to sort out what she would like to do to
the mother who talked about things of which she knew nothing.
Obviously the woman had seen something in the required publishing
of legal decisions, put two and two together and came up with
seven.

“Kids, it is true a sum of money
changed hands, but not the way you think. What you may think about
your ‘first dad’ is up to you, but here’s what really happened; I
don’t own you and you don’t owe me anything. I’ll keep it simple.
He came here because he knows your mother loves you very much and
would do anything to protect you; he used that to get money from
her by threatening to take the two of you away. I can tell you, he
wanted the money, not you, and I know that isn’t very nice to hear,
but it’s the truth. With some good friends of ours, we made a
simple business deal: for the money we gave him, he had to divorce
your mom because that’s what she wanted, and he had to give up all
rights to ever see or be around you kids again the rest of his
life. If you ever want to see him again, that’s up to you when you
get older, but for now, if he comes near you, he goes to jail. That
simple.”

“But, I don’t understand. How come you
spent all that money if you didn’ really get anything for it? The
kid told me his mom said you were getting plenty, but he didn’t
know plenty of what. What was he talking about?” Jack asked, still
trying to get his mind around all this.

“Jack, sometimes things just need to be
done because it’s right, not because you get something out of it.
This was one of those times, and I want you to remember it. I guess
in the long run, I will get something out of it, a family, but
that’s not why I did it. It just needed doing. Make
sense?”

“I guess so, if you say so. Is that
pond talk?”

“It is.”

“Then I think I want to be a kid
again.”

Ryan intended to seal the deal man to
man and started to extend his hand to Jack, but was caught by
surprise when Jack jumped up and threw both arms around Ryan’s neck
in a hug. Kid number two had signed up, and the wheels of progress
toward a wedding and two adoptions started moving forward again.
Both Ryan and Laura breathed a sign of relief; if business deal’s
took this much out of people, no mergers would ever be concluded,
but on the other hand, business partners seldom kissed each other
very warmly as soon as the kids went outside. And, the day was just
getting a good start.

Chapter 17 - Women’s
Work

Laura spent the next half hour on the
phone to her mother, and then to her sister, while Ryan was on his
cell to his parents. They had not yet even discussed a date, but
just the initial announcement was received with joy. Laura’s
parents were relieved that she had “found someone” to take care of
her and the kids, and they had welcomed Ryan with open arms at
first meeting. Nancy, on the other hand, was congratulatory but
could have been more so; she was coming to grips with the notion
that her older sister had managed to dump the bait and land the big
fish, while Nancy had managed to land a fish who had turned into
bait. Laura realized the comparison, but neither made mention of it
nor did she dwell on it for any time. In their younger days, Nancy
had been the campus socialite, while Laura lingered in the shadows;
today Laura was becoming the swan. All of the names, of course,
went on the invitation list, with many more to come.

The two betrothed spent the time before
lunch in some basic planning, but decided to join whomever had
signed up for lunch in the big kitchen, along with the kids. Those
already there were not particularly surprised when the four of them
came in. It had become a more and more familiar sight over the last
couple of months, but the glint of a large diamond engagement ring
fueled a minor riot as word spread. In the usual division, the guys
pounded Ryan on the back and shook his hand with vigor, saying
things like “Lucky dog”, while the women were less physical and
more vocal. In his wisdom, Ryan took a back seat when the talk
turned to the actual planning of the event. Earlier in a private
moment, Ryan had confided to her his feelings on the subject: “You
will never ever hear me say this about anything else in the world,
but weddings are women’s work; let me know if you need
something.”

Laura had taken his words at face
value, realizing this man said what he believed, and was grateful
for his candid approach. “Just promise me that when this is all
over, you’ll still be there for me. And I think we need to talk
money along the way, if you don’t mind.”

They had not arrived at talking about
the cost of a wedding as yet, but both had been through medium
sized weddings once, and knew prices had gone up. Laura needed some
idea of how big an affair he was willing to accept, and there
really was the matter of who was paying for what, all those mundane
but vital decisions. But first, there was lunch and a couple of
hours of the ladies chatting over coffee while the men and kids
went back outside; as he left Ryan confided quietly to his bride to
be: “Let me know when we can meet again. I can see you’re busy
right now.” and after Laura had started to get up, added “No,
really; enjoy this glow; you’re entitled. I’ll be here when you
need me, always.” The look she gave him said she was grateful for
his understanding.

By mid afternoon they were back in the
cottage with lists of things spread out all over the table. Ryan
had negotiated some major deals in his lifetime, but when he had
first married, he had missed most of this part. Mary and her
mother, and his mother to some extent, had done everything, proving
his point on it being women’s work. This time around it was
different. The two mothers were not close at hand, and the sister
was not really invited to participate much, but there was, of
course, Alice, and during the week Marie and Marcia and others.
Ryan was allowed to sit at the planning table as though he knew
what he was doing, while in reality he had little knowledge about
the flower arrangements having to match the color pattern selected
and things like that. It was a much more complicated evolution than
he had imagined, but he loved this woman and it was important to
him that everything be as she wished it to be. Turning back to the
guest list for a moment, Laura asked for his input beyond those
already listed: “Okay, I have your parents, and a few other close
relatives and friends, maybe a dozen all together; is that really
it? I mean, that doesn’t seem like very many. I don’t want to miss
someone and cause some hurt feelings.”

“That’s about it for now, really, but
for planning purposes, add twenty-five spots just in
case.”

“Twenty-five? Are you sure? What do you
mean, ‘just in case’. Is there someone you have in mind you haven’t
mentioned yet?”

“Call it an act of prudence. Okay, add
in everyone who works here, full and part time; for the singles,
add in an escort or partner or significant other or whatever
they’re called these days. Then add the 25 spaces.
Okay?”

“Sure, I’ll itemize all them later, but
can you at least give a girl a hint of what you’re thinking
about?”

“There may be some other persons who
hear about this who might want to attend. I think if we plan for
some last minute guests, it’s a lot easier than trying to add them
later. And we know you can handle disposing of excess food
supplies, especially the expensive stuff.”

Laura laughed at the reference to her
shelter escapade, but added 25 unnamed spaces, just in case. This
assemblage was starting to become sizeable all of a sudden, and she
started wondering about the cost. “Ryan, I don’t want to bring this
up, but I have to before this gets out of hand. We’re both adults,
we’re in this together, and I feel I should pay my fair share; I
don’t have a lot of bank yet, and a lot of what I do have is for
the kids education or in Windmere stocks I don’t exactly want to
part with. This is starting to balloon. I mean, look at what just
happened to the guest list, and we’ve been talking about not just a
reception but a dinner as well.”

“Do you love me?”

“You know I do, silly; what a question
to ask.”

“Then would you trust me to handle my
end if we sort of divided things up to get all this in
hand?”

“Of course I trust you; I’m about to
commit the rest of my live to loving and trusting you, but I don’t
want to be unfair about this.”

“Okay, here’s how we’ll do this. I
think better in terms of contracts and things, you know, the more
concrete aspect of things than color combinations for corsages and
whether I should wear my shorts with the big hearts on them for the
ceremony.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“I would, but who’d know? You could
find out, but there’s only one way!”

“I plan to, and that’s how.”

“I think we’re getting off track here.
Look, I’ll admit I don’t know much about weddings. Suppose I just
handle the financial arrangements, paying the bills and stuff like
that, and you do the planning. I’ll help with whatever, whenever
you ask, and I’ll show up when I’m supposed to. That way, you won’t
use valuable time on stuff I can handle.”

“How will I know when we go over
budget, or if I’m getting too far out in left field with something;
will you tell me, and honestly?”

“I will tell you, and honestly. If I
see things happening I don’t feel we can afford, I’ll say
something. Okay?”

“Yes, but, how will I know how big my
share is getting to be before I drown in it?”

“I will always be your life preserver;
count on it. But if you’re really worried about that, let’s set a
general limit right now. We already know what Richard got for the
kids, so they’re worth something, plus interest.” Leaning back in
his chair, Ryan openly eyed her from one end to the other, grinning
as he did so. “I’d say pound for pound, you’re their equal, so
we’ll double the basic worth based on that assumption.”

“Are you saying I’ve got a big rear
end?”

“No ma’am. I would never say that; I
don’t have any sort of death wish. Besides, it isn’t true, at least
not what I can see from here. I’ll let you know more about that if
things change. Anyway…..where were we before I was so pleasantly
distracted. Let’s see; 10 k-bucks for the kids, plus 10 k-bucks for
you, plus interest. Now, we add in the cost avoidance for a wedding
planner, because you’re already doing all the work, so add in
another 10 k-buck contribution, I expect there will be some
donations we can allow for so add 10 k-bucks for that, and I come
up with a total estimate of 40k, which I will gladly match if I get
to handle the money and you do all the hard work. Sound reasonably
unfair to you?”

“I don’t know how in the world you ever
got through school with math skills like that, but I see the
handwriting. Okay, that comes up to $80,000, which is a ton more
than I was thinking about. Are you sure about this? We could just
fly to Vegas?”

“Do you know how many people we would
tick off if we pulled something like that? Besides, I want the
world to see you in your dress and all that. What the hell; I’ll
admit I want to be seen with you, and seen going on a honeymoon
with you. Call it an ego trip, whatever.”

“Ryan, about the dress, now that you
mentioned it. I know you’re pretty traditional about a lot of
things. White dresses are for the first time around, at least that
was the custom for a long time. I’ve been around once, not that I’m
real proud of it. So, where are we with that?”

“The reality is, you have never before
been married to me. In fact, I’m not sure you were ever married at
all, the way you were treated, so I think this is like starting all
over again and you can wear whatever you want. Personally, I’d like
you in white, but whatever you feel comfortable in, that’s what I
want to see……I’ll get the door, okay?”

Ryan heard the tap on the door, and
actually felt a little relief at the break in planning. There were
just so many things to do, and some things he still felt he needed
to be quiet about, although he would not flinch from the truth if
asked. As it turned out, Alice Hamilton was at the door, and
looking like neither of them had ever seen her before. She had a
schoolgirl grin on her face, and the almost dancelike movement in
her gait said something was really going on in that
head.