I stood up to make coffee, turning my back not to separate myself from him, but to gain a few moments’ worth of space in which to think. I turned eventually, holding out a cup for him and taking my own into the family room. I slid into the lounge chair in front of the fire. He joined me momentarily, sitting on the sofa nearby and putting his feet up so he, too, was reclining.
“So,” I began in a quiet, less animated voice, “where does that leave us?”
“How do you mean?” he asked, and I could hear a tinge of fear in that question.
“Not us, as in you and me and our marriage. That’s a given. We’re together, for good. No, what I mean is where does all this leave us in terms of how we relate to life, as we’ve been given it. What do we decide to do about Ford? About the foundation? About this estate? I can’t disregard all I said or felt about the condo. I enjoyed my life there, Worth, I really did.”
“Sweetheart, I may have a wall full of diplomas, but that doesn’t mean I have all the answers. We are unique; everyone is unique. The best we can do is to decide what’s best for us and let others have that same right.”
“So,” I began, “what I’m hearing you say is that the best answer is to empower people. Let them make the decision for what is best for them and we’ll do likewise. Is that right?”
“I think it’s right. It’s the best answer I can give you.” Worth was generous in his humility.
“Then let’s take this one step at a time. Tomorrow, Bernie is going to drive up and bring Ford back for Christmas. He’s been there for a semester now, so the homesick part is over with. Let’s be a real family over the holidays. Let’s spend time together and be respectful to one another. Then, at the end of the vacation, we’ll ask him if he’d rather be at school, or be here. If he chooses school, we agree, right now, you and I, that we’ve allowed him to make the best choice for himself and we won’t interfere. We won’t let it hurt. We will have given it our best shot. If he chooses to come home, then we make him finish out the term, just for the sake of self-discipline, and he can begin his next year at a school closer to home, whether private or public.”
Worth gave this some thought and finally nodded. “Agreed. We’ve only explored two options so far, neither of which has worked perfectly. There’s always room for something that will fit him better. In fact, although he’s young, he is still also relatively unaffected by peer pressure or hormones, so his judgment will be pretty sound.”
“Okay, then we’re agreed on this point. Now, as for my moving back in here, in order for us to have a complete family, we have to legitimately be complete. Yes, I learned some things about myself being alone, but you make an excellent point about it being at the expense of others. That was selfish of me. So, for now, I will move back here. When I say ‘for now,’ I only mean until you and I decide where we want to live permanently. That brings us to the third big decision about the foundation. Do we want to do it? Are we capable of doing it well? Will it damage our family life? Are there options we haven’t considered?”
“Boy, you’re sort of on a roll here, aren’t you?” Worth laughed.
“Well? Why not talk about all this at the same time? It’s all sort of linked, you realize?”
“I think that we should deal with family first and foundation last. Let’s have your things moved back here, but we’ll keep the condo open and furnished. It can be our ‘in town’ nest. When the weather is bad, particularly, or if we have meetings for the foundation, being already in town could be a nice arrangement to have. As for the foundation, let Brandon finish up the paperwork because if we don’t do it the way we’ve discussed, we’ll adapt and the foundation will still be necessary. I suggest that maybe after the holidays, you and I take a trip and visit some of those neighborhoods, get community leader input and visit some other similar camps around the country. We’ll stick to a southern route for the best weather. It would be good for us to get away, don’t you think? Then, when we have the best information, we can make the best decision. How does that sound?”
“Like a man who knows what he’s doing. I’m proud you’re my husband, Worth. I truly am. If you’ll follow me into the bedroom, I’ll show you just how proud!” I smiled wickedly.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Worth
Ford pounded in the entry door shouting, “Mother?”
“Ford!” Auggie shouted from upstairs and skipped down the staircase toward him. He was beaming at her; apparently so glad that she was back to normal. She hugged him and lifted him right off his feet in pleasure. “Glad to be home?”
“You bet! You know, there were a couple of guys who couldn’t go home for Christmas. Their families lived too far away and couldn’t afford it.”
“Oh, no, really? Could you invite them here? We’d be glad to have them.”
“I don’t think so, Mother. It’s too late. You’d need written permission from their parents and everything.”
“Oh, that’s so sad. Next time, maybe we can plan ahead. I’m so happy you’re here, though. We have so much planned to do!”
“Hello, son,” I said and Ford looked up to me and extended his hand.
“Hello, Father.”
I was a bit taken aback by the cool formality, but wrote it off to the military discipline he was subjected to. I decided to overlook it.
Auggie was peeling off his jacket and telling him to put his things away. “Come down to the kitchen then and help me bake some cookies, will you? I just can’t seem to tell if they taste okay. I need a professional tester.”
He nodded enthusiastically and ran up the stairs to his room. Auggie’s personal effects had already been moved back into our bedroom and he noted that as he passed by our open door. I saw him pause and sort of nod with approval. He came back down and asked, “Mother? Are you home for good?”
“Home for good.” She smiled and handed him a fresh cookie. “You think there are too many chocolate chips in that one? Shall I cut back a bit?”
“No, no, Mother, it’s perfect. In fact, you could even up it a bit and I wouldn’t complain!” His face was so full of joy. I felt complete.
“When you two are done in the kitchen, we have a little tree-picking to do. I thought we’d use one of our own this year. There’s quite a few beyond the track and naturally we had to wait for you to come home to select just the right one,” I said. This seemed to meet with his approval because he hurriedly asked Auggie how many cookies they were baking.
“Just enough for right now, I think,” she said. “We can bake a few more batches before Christmas, though. I thought you might like to take some over to Grandma and Grandpa’s.”
“Aren’t they coming for Christmas?” he asked.
“Oh, yes,” I answered. “They’ll be here. They’re looking forward to seeing you home again,” I added, hoping I wasn’t prejudicing his eventual decision about staying at school or moving home again.