When they got back to the hotel, they barely had the presence of mind to change for bed before they collapsed. They were both exhausted. There wouldn’t be any making love that night. They just didn’t have the energy.
Once they curled up in the bed next to each other, David sighed. “Baby, it’s over.”
“What?” she asked sleepily. She had just started to doze off.
“My career is over. It feels weird.”
“You’ll get used to it. Good news is that you’re all mine now. All I have to do is say, ‘I wanna go to Argentina’, and we’re buying plane tickets to Argentina.”
“Yeah. You’ve got me to yourself now. I’m yours and yours alone. What do you plan to do with me now?”
“Well, first things first, we need to head out to Israel to finish paying off the house. While we’re there, we could have Abe draw up the papers to sell the house to Jake and Delilah.”
“How long do you want to stay in Israel before we go to Australia?”
“About a week, maybe? We should stay long enough to unpack and make sure we have what we need in the house before we take off.”
“Yeah. We probably should do that. It might be a good idea to buy the necessities before I take you to the land down under.”
“Something else I suggest is having Jessi house sit for us while we travel. Her assignments will have her in Israel and she’ll probably move out there for good because of David Adam’s citizenship.”
“You think she’ll apply for Israeli citizenship?”
“If she does move out there permanently.” Her stomach grumbled. “Baby, I love you so much, but we need to do one of two things right this moment.”
“What?”
“Either order room service or go to sleep. I’ve got the munchies something fierce.”
He laughed. “And let me guess, that’s why you don’t smoke weed, either.”
“Yep. I get sleepy and/ or I get the munchies. The munchies reek hell on my blood sugar. Hell, I just sat next to you while you smoked with Mike, Jake, and Marc and I ended up with a contact high.”
He chuckled. “Do you want me to order something from the kitchen?”
She thought about it for a moment. “If I can get a burrito without refried beans, then that sounds like a plan to me.”
David laughed as he reached for the hotel phone. He called down to the kitchen and ordered them both something to munch on. He was starting to get the munchies himself. They got up and dressed to wait on their food. “I was thinking that we’d just head out tomorrow or the next day to Israel take care of the house.”
“I like that idea. We can stay there for a week while you unwind from the show tonight, come home, sell the house to Jake, pack our shit and leave the country.”
“It should take long for everything to finalize, either. I give it a month. We can spend that month packing.”
“Maybe we should stick around the US so that Miss Miri can get one more birthday with Gramma and Grampa before we leave the country for good.”
“Or we could just come back. There are some sights in the States that I have yet to take you to explore.”
“Like?”
He grinned. “Have you ever been to the Alamo?”
----------------
Jordan and Davina sat up after putting Levi in his room in their suite. “I can’t believe my Dad’s retired”, Jordan said.
“You didn’t think he was going to perform until the day he died, did you hon?” Davina asked.
“Well… kinda.”
“Jordan Hannah Draiman. I cannot believe that you’re saying that.” Davina stared at her wife slack jawed.
“Well, I thought they’d realize how foolish the thought of them retiring was and say, ‘April fools. We’re not retiring after all’.”
Davina gave Jordan a look that said clearly what she was thinking. “Now who sounds foolish, Jordan. You know better than that. Your parents have been talking about moving to Israel for almost two years now. They finally put a down payment on their house in Israel six months ago. They’ve been talking about moving out there for almost two years.”
Jordan sighed. “I’m not entirely sure how I feel about them leaving the country.”
“Aren’t they entitled to have time to themselves? Time to be together as husband and wife and not have to worry about kids and grandkids?”
“They do. They’ve been parents for so long that they deserve a little time to themselves. But that what all the travelling was supposed to be, I thought.”
“Jordan, baby, you know I love you but you’re being childish. I know that you love your parents. I love your parents too. And I’m sure that Levi’s going to miss Gramma and Grampa. But, baby, you have to let them go on with their lives. Your father’s pushing seventy. Your mother’s not far behind him. They deserve the ability to move out of the country into quiet retirement. It will take some adjusting for everyone, but it’s not your choice”, Davina chided.
“I know, Davi, baby. I just… I can’t imagine going over to my parents’ house and NOT seeing them there. I can’t imagine that house going to some asshole who can’t appreciate the memories my family has there.”
“Are you saying that Jake won’t appreciate the memories the Draiman family has made in that house?”
“Jake’s buying the house from Mom and Dad?”
“Yeah, Jordan. Your twin is buying the house.”
“But what about Miri and little Mattie? They share a birthday with those babies.”
“I’m sure that your parents will find a way to make it back to celebrate with their birthday grandbabies. You don’t need to worry about it. Leave dealing with that to their parents. Hell, I’m sure that Miri’s getting tired of celebrating her birthday with Gramma all the time. And Matthew won’t even remember that he and Grampa share a birthday. Any way about it, it’s not your problem.”
Jordan sighed. “I guess I’m just not ready to accept that Dad’s not going to be there anymore.”
“Be there for what?”
“There has to be a reason that Disturbed retired today other than it’s been forty years, Davi. I think Dad’s sick.”
Davina fought off a laugh. “Are you serious, Jordan?”
“It’s not funny, Davina. I may be losing my father.”
“Don’t you think your parents would have told everyone by now if either one of them is THAT sick?”
------------------
“Wow, Dad’s finally retired”, Jake said in shock.
“Why are you surprised by that, baby?” Delilah asked.
“I’m not surprised. I’m relieved. They’ll be out of the country by Mom and Miri’s birthday. They’re selling us the house. We’ll be able to move out of the guest house.”
“You gonna boot your brothers and sisters out of the house?”
“No. Marc and Mercedes are going to find a place in California so that Marc can get more work. Jessi’s moving to Israel because of her job with the US consulate in Jerusalem. Meagan’s moving to Houston to do her work with NASA. Makayla’s going to stay here in Chicago. I offered Jeremiah the little guest house we’re in now. James is going to move back here to Chicago to help Justin with Intoxication. Everyone else has already moved out of the house.”
Delilah smiled. “It’s good that Mom and Dad are going to finally get to be alone together. Mom needs time with Dad alone. It will do them both some good.”
“I agree. Mom and Dad have been there pretty consistently over that last 30 years. They’ve gone through a lot together. It’s time they got time to truly relax. I just hope that one of my sisters doesn’t start to act a fool and think that something is terribly wrong with one of them. It might warrant them a cussing.”
“Jacob, my love, I’m sure that if one of your sister’s acts stupid about this that one or both of your parents will put them in their place. You’re parents are pretty good about things like that.”
He sighed. “I just hope that Miri’s not too disappointed when she doesn’t get to spend time with Gramma on her birthday.”
“I’m sure she’ll get over it. Speaking of Miri, I was thinking about getting her a pet. She’s become rather responsible.”
“What is the one of her animal facts that she won’t stop talking about?”
“That Koi fish thing that Jona told her a while back.”
“Didn’t Jona offer to buy her one once we said she was old enough?”
“When she comes back to work I’ll talk to her about it. I just want her to enjoy Matthew for a little while.”
“I agree. I’m just glad that our work schedules are so flexible or we’d have to put Ira in day care or something after Mom and Dad leave the country.”
“The ONLY drawback to them leaving the country.”
“No kidding. But, as long as their happy that’s all that matters. My parents being happy and my family. My siblings can all take care of themselves.”
----------------
The next morning at family breakfast, Jordan seemed on edge. David and Brie couldn’t help but notice. “Jordan, what’s wrong?” David asked.
“I could ask you the same thing, Dad”, she said.
David looked at her like she was out of her mind. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“How long have you known?”
“How long have I known what, Jordan?”
“How long have you known you’re sick, Dad?”
David and Brie exchanged a look. “What makes you think I’m sick, Jordan?” David asked.
“There has to be a reason you guys retired yesterday, Dad.”
“It can’t be just because I’m tired and I want to spend time with your mother, huh?”
“You say that, but it’s a cover up.” She looked at her mother. “Mom, how bad is he. Level with us. We’re all adults.”
Brie looked at David and asked him with her eyes if she could smack Jordan upside the head. He gave a slight nod and she reached over and smacked their oldest daughter. “Jordan Hannah, your father is not sick. It was just time for Disturbed to call it quits. Forty years in the business is quite enough. It’s MY turn to take up all of his time. It’s MY turn to be a selfish bitch and occupy all of his time. Now, you and any of your siblings that have a problem with that need to grow up and act your ages. I’m not going to coddle you anymore and neither is your father.”
Jordan looked shocked. Davina looked at her. “I told you, Jordan, that you were being ridiculous. I told you that you were being stupid and childish. You’re going to have to accept eventually that your parents will die, but it’s not going to be any times soon. Now, Jordan, I love you but you really need to give it a rest.” And with that, everyone continued their meal as Jordan recovered from the egg she wore on her face.
No comments:
Post a Comment