“I don’t think that’ll be too difficult. And with our plan, I’m sure we’ll succeed. I heard from Eli and Marianne, and they’re flying in on Friday night.”
Claire watched the flakes of snow swirl in funnels near the street. Neither she nor Tony had had much to celebrate in the last few years. She thought about Tony being alone in prison on his last two birthdays. Though Tony didn’t talk about his prison experience much, Claire knew. She knew what it was like to be alone. She didn’t want that for either one of them, ever again.
“Oh! Tony will be so excited to see them.”
Courtney went on, “So that’ll be Eli and Marianne, John and Emily, Tim and Sue, Jerry and Meredith, Caleb and Julia, and the four of us. Can you think of anyone else I should invite?”
“No, that sounds good.”
“Good?”
Claire shrugged. It surprised her when memories would hit. For some reason, the thought of Derek Burke popped into her head. She’d only met him once and she’d never met Sophia, but nevertheless, Claire had a momentary flash of how nice it would be to have them among their circle of friends. Pretending the thought hadn’t occurred, Claire replied, “I just realized I’ll be seeing Julia and I can’t say anything about her pregnancy. That’ll be so hard.”
“Tell me about it! I’d have one of those giant yard signs announcing my grandchild to all of our guests if Caleb and Julia would let me. They just want to wait until she’s further along to tell people.”
“I understand, besides…” Claire leaned closer. “…they might be afraid you may be a little over the top?”
“Me? Not at all!” Courtney laughed.
Where there is love there is life.
—Mahatma Gandhi
TONY’S BIRTHDAY BASH was a huge success. Though he wasn’t surprised to have a party, having Eli and Marianne there made it extra special. The next morning, Tony, Claire, Nichol, and Eric, Phil, Taylor, and Shannon, traveled to Phoenix. Tony had business there for a few days and since his actual birthday would fall during his trip, he wanted his family near. Claire couldn’t have been happier. Not only was she thrilled to get a reprieve from the Iowa winter, she was happy to do her best to make his fifty-second birthday one he’d never forget.
It seemed that traveling with only the three of them was no longer a viable option. Having Eric, Phil, Taylor and Shannon with them was becoming a natural extension. Claire didn’t long for the days of solo travel, with just her and Tony on their plane. She’d willingly come to terms with their new normal. Though Rudolf was no longer a threat, he proved to both Tony and Claire that they could never take their safety or Nichol’s for granted.