The Doctor Gets a Visitor
by: E Walk

(Copyright 2007 by the Author)
Editor: Radio Rancher
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

 

Chapter 26
The Family Arrives

As Jeff was coming down the stairs, the doorbell rang and he opened the door. Three young men rushed him and hugged him. The rest of us all went to see what was happening.

Jeff turned to us and said, "You guys line up by age over here." He turned to his family and said, "You all line up over there."

Then he started the introductions. "This is my stepfather, Mr. Eric Smith." He gave him a big hug. He moved to his mother and said, "This is my mother, Mrs. Linda Smith. He gave her a big hug and a kiss. He moved to the oldest boy and said, "This is Sammy the Twit Smith." He hugged him and said, "Looking good, brother."

He moved to the young teenager and said, "This is Mickey Tweedledee Smith." He held and kissed him on the cheek. Finally he went to the youngest son and picked him up. The boy held him tight and put his legs around Jeff. "This is Teddy Tweedledum Smith." Jeff announced.

"Jeff, where is your Dad and who are all of these good looking guys?" Teddy asked.

All six of us standing there started to laugh. I walked over and took Teddy from Jeff. Teddy asked, "Are you Jeff's brother or something?"

"Teddy, I think you are special. I am Jeff's father." I said, as I put him down and shook his hand.

I moved to Mickey and said, "I assume you are Michael. I am so pleased to meet you sir."

He shook my hand and said, "Could you call me Mick, sir? That way I will know who you are talking to."

"Absolutely, my friend." I moved on to the other son and said, "Now, I know your friends do not call you Sammy and I can't imagine them calling you Twit. So what would you like us to call you?"

"Sir, most of my friends call me S. S." Sammy answered.

I stood back and took his hand and said, "Welcome, S. S., please call me Doctor Jack or Doctor Wilson." as I shook his hand.

I moved to Linda and simply said, "Welcome, Linda. It has been a long time." I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

I moved to Eric, "Nice to meet you Eric. You and Linda have some wonderful looking sons. You have done a wonderful job training them to be gentlemen, but I don't understand how you could have let Jeff become so bossy." I laughed, and shook his hand.

"Okay clown, back in line." Jeff ordered and then he moved to Toby and said, "I'm going to introduce these gentlemen in the order I met them. First, Toby the Terrific Thompson. We adopted each other on Christmas Day."

He moved to Drew and said, "This is Drew, the Punk, Washington. I met him the day after Christmas."

He moved to Kenny and said, "I met Kenny, the Kid, Hendrix the day when he came with his Dad to survey our construction projects. He has been here more than he has been home ever since."

Standing next to Tyler, Jeff said, "This hunk is Tyler, the Stud, Knight. He started as a craftsman and wound up in charge of the construction crew here at our house. So if you find anything wrong, blame him."

He put his arm around Spencer and said, "I would like to present Spencer Tiger Knight. I met him on Wednesday. He and his brother will be staying with us until I tell them they can leave."

He whispered something to Spencer and Spencer moved to greet Jeff's family and the rest of the guys followed. When they were finished greeting everyone, Jeff ordered, "I want the seven youngest people here to go bring the luggage in from the van. Dad, Pops and Mother probably need a high ball after being cooped in the van with the three guys. You take care of that while Tyler and I get the snacks."

Tyler followed him to the kitchen and they came back with healthy snacks. When the others came in, Jeff started. "Toby and Spencer, take Teddy and Mick and their things to the back bedroom upstairs. Drew and Kenny take S. S. to the middle bedroom upstairs."

Everyone left and Jeff and Tyler picked up the remaining bags and took them to the downstairs guest bedroom. When they returned, Jeff yelled, "Snacks are ready."

The guys quickly came bounding down the stairs and Tyler took them to the kitchen, while Jeff stayed and visited. They announced, "Gotta' go finish dinner. We will be eating early at 5:30 since I have to be at the church by 6:30."

Jeff left and the Smiths indicated that they need to get cleaned up, so I showed them to their suite. I hadn't seen it but it looked very comfortable and clean. "This is absolutely charming, Jack." oohed Linda. "It is so inviting and makes me feel like I need to lie down and enjoy it."

"I'll see you at 5:30 since the boss has issued his edict." I laughed as I left and went into the kitchen where Jeff was issuing the next orders.

"Twit, I want you to go downstairs and hook up the new television to the cable and then make sure that the play station is hooked up correctly. Tyler, you take the three guys home. Mick, set the kitchen table for nine. Spencer and Teddy make a big tossed salad. Dad, you go take a shower and get dressed for church and the party." Everyone left.

When I came down, everyone was assembled and Jeff said, "Now, let's eat.

It isn't real large since there will be lots to eat at the party." Everyone sat down. There was a large tossed salad that already had a dressing on it, a big bowl of corn chips and two casseroles of chili and rice topped with melted cheese.

Everyone dove in and there was absolutely nothing left when we finished. "I have to go, guys. I want this kitchen spotless when we get back from church." and he was gone.

"Does he ever slow down?" I asked.

Eric laughed, "Jack, you'd better get use to it."

Tyler took Jeff's role and organized the clean up detail and then sent every- one to get dressed. When everyone reassembled, we left for church, taking three cars since we didn't know who would be bringing who home.

When we arrived at the church, Jane and Stan were ushering and took us to the front, where Mrs. Tillison, Aunt Cora, Drew and the Robinson's were seated as was the Greg Thompson family. The Baxter's were on the very front row so Mrs. Baxter's leg wouldn't be in anyone's way. Tyler and Spencer and I were shown to that pew also. We were quickly joined by two more ten year olds. I was sitting there with Tyler on one side and Spencer on the other.

Norm and Nancy joined us with the twin and Kenny. It was interesting watching the young people maneuver so they could sit with the persons of choice. I looked around and was surprised at how full the church was for a New Year's Eve service.

When the processional began, everything got silent and the service proceeded routinely until time for the Special Music. Father Gilbert announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jeff Wilson has agreed to sing tonight. He asked permission to sing whatever he wanted. I told him that the music was his problem, not mine."

Jeff came to the front and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am dedicating the music tonight to two wonderful young men who lost their parents in a tornado last summer. Guys, this song is to let you know that your parents are in a much better place, where they are watching out for you."

I felt both Spencer and Tyler tense and move closer to me.

He turned to Anne and the music started and he sang Beyond the Sunset and when he finished it was deathly silent. Jeff looked up and said and now I have put together a selection of songs that are not necessarily religious but they do have a message for the two young men and all of us, as we go into this New Year."

He started with I Believe and then went right into You'll Never Walk Alone and ended with The Impossible Dream. There wasn't a sound in the entire church. I looked at the two guys and they had tears in their eyes. I put my arms around them and held them closer. I looked at Mrs. Tillison and she was wiping the tears from her eyes.

Father Gilbert got up and went to the pulpit. He was wiping the tears from his eyes. He finally composed himself and said, "Please show your generosity tonight as we get ready to start the New Year. Half of your giving tonight will go to support the food pantry."

When he came back to the center, he blessed the offering and started his prayer for those in need and then the prayers of thanks and finally closed asking that we be able to attain some impossible dreams. He approached the pulpit again and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Jeff has said everything in his songs tonight that I was going to talk about in my sermon. He sang it much more eloquently than I could ever say them."

"I would like to close this service tonight with Jeff singing the Lord's Prayer." he announced.

Jeff looked surprised but stood and he and Anne did a very professional job.

The processional began and Jeff slumped down in the choir loft. I went to him and pulled him close and asked, "What's wrong, son?"

"I Think I screwed up Dad. I took over the service and I really didn't mean to." he sobbed.

Tyler was standing beside him and said, "Knock it off brother. You were wonderful and you don't have time to go into melt down. We are going to have people at the house, clamoring for food."

Jeff looked at him and said, "I guess because you are two years older than me, you know more. Let's go." He grabbed him and gave the biggest hug and then he turned to me and did the same thing. He went over to Anne who was locking the organ and hugged her.

She said, "Thank you, Jeff. I didn't do anything. You made it work."

We started to leave and Father Gilbert came and hugged Jeff and said, "That was absolutely magnificent, Jeff. You made this New Year's Eve service the most memorable since I came here 30 years ago."

He surprised Jeff and everyone else when he pulled Jeff close and kissed him on the cheek.

Suddenly we were joined by a different voice, "I saw that, Andy. I guess I had better talk to you and this young man privately."

Father Gilbert was stunned, "Bishop Lancaster, what are you doing here? Why didn't you let me know you were coming?"

"To be honest with you, I didn't know we were coming either. We were on our way home from visiting our grandchildren and something seemed to tell me to stop here for the service. Jeff, Aggie asked me to your party, but we really have to get moving. All of our children are coming to celebrate New Year's Day at our house. I just had to tell you that I thought your songs were so poignant and I hope I can remember to use them when I am giving my sermons for next year's New Year's Eve service." He then hugged Jeff and said, "I think you should think about becoming a clergy person." He left.

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:

Did you jump out or your seat like I did, when the Bishop told the minister and Jeff he wanted to talk to them privately? That was a good one. It was also interesting to see Jeff lose his composure ever so slightly, and it was beautiful that it was Tyler that helped him get it back together. I keep finding wonderful new aspects to this story in each new chapter. I love Jeff's first family. They are adorable. I have to get to the next chapter. That isn't because there is a deadline, since as I read this, Chapter 14 is going to be posted tomorrow. I have to get to the next one because I have fallen for this story hook line and sinker, and Lock stock and barrel, and any other catch phrase you can come up with.

Darryl
AKA The Radio Rancher




 

Posted: 04/10/07