Laura's Big Win (44 page)

“Mine? Really? You’re kidding, right?
Did you buy this for us? Oh, wow! Kids, see our van!”

As excited as Laura was, the kids were
equally elated at having a ride of their own, something they could
leave books in and video’s and toys, all the things that kids need
to feel comfortable. Laura quickly moved it closer to the luggage
heap, which Ryan dutifully loaded into the back of the van, then
took his place in the passenger’s seat while she familiarized
herself with the myriad of controls. Everything in go condition,
the guard opened the gate for them and off they went, Laura
fiddling with the seat controls on the door as they went, and
asking a ton of questions in the process.

“How did you know I liked this series?
They’re great for kids, and look at all this extra stuff. My old
van didn’t have all this. And, I love the color; how did you know I
liked this shade of blue? You are just such a smarty, you
are.”

“I cheated. Fred Dawson did a little
research for me through some people he knew, so I could get
something you were familiar with. I have to tell you, I ordered it
out before you agreed to marry me, because you deserved it, but
since special orders take a little longer to produce, it only came
in a couple of weeks ago. I thought this might be a nice surprise.
I sent in a color picture of you, a copy of the one taken for your
Windmere ID card; the final paint coat was mixed to match the color
of your eyes. So, I gather you like it?”

“No, I love it, and if I weren’t
driving…..well, never you mind. Too many people present, even if
they are distracted at the moment. Tonight, you get repaid for
this. Vitamins for supper?”

“Deal. So, what would have happened
tonight if I didn’t get you the van?”

“Same thing, but that doesn’t mean I
don’t love the van anyway.”

In a few minutes, the big front gate of
Windmere came into sight. Ryan indicated which console button
remote operated the gate, and they rolled closer to home. Normally,
they would have stayed slightly to the left, rounding the big house
on the east side to drive past to the cottage area, but Ryan would
alter their course at just the right moment.

“Nope, not left. Bear right
here…..little farther…..now turn right, slow down, hit the center
button on the console, try to not go through the back
wall…..and…..stop. Welcome home, Mrs. Williams.”

“Ryan, this is the White House; we just
went into the garage. What’s going on?”

“Like I said, ‘Welcome home, Mrs.
Williams’. We live here now, mostly in the upstairs. I had
everything moved from your cottage and my room in the big house
while we were gone. The luggage will wait a minute or two. I know
you saw the great room for the reception; I want to take you for a
personally guided tour of the upstairs. Ready?”

“Yes, you crazy man. You knew this all
the time, didn’t you, and you just kept telling me you ‘were
working on a house’ for us. Come on kids; we need to see what your
dad has done this time.”

Ryan nearly stumbled getting out of the
van; for the first time, Laura had just casually referred to him as
“your dad”, and the very thought made his knees weak. The kids had
made their own choices for addressing him, Amanda switching to
daddy as the easiest thing to do for her, Jack still using “Sir” a
lot, but reverting on occasion to the less formal “dad”. Even more
importantly, for Laura to recognize his role as a matter of fact,
that was the capstone, the crown he so wanted. At the moment,
however, there was a house to tour.

“First things first. We’re going in
through the door here in the garage to the mud room. In case the
door is locked, here’s how it works. Amanda can do this first, then
Jack. Okay, Mandy, push the button, and when the little light turns
green, say ‘Amanda says open’. Okay? Push the button,
Mandy.”

And push she did, as directed. No
sooner had she pushed, than the little light turned green, and
right on cue, “Amanda says ‘open’.” The sound was almost inaudible,
just a slight ‘snick’ somewhere in the vicinity of the door, but
the light turned red before extinguishing again. Ryan reached for
the knob, turned it and easily opened the door. Again pushing the
button, he said “Ryan says ‘lock’”, and as the light turned green
again, the same slight sound was made. Ryan indicated to Jack to
try the door, which was indeed locked, then had Jack order it open
again. The kids were fascinated by the system, but Ryan explained
that while it was fun, it was somewhat expensive for a play toy;
the real reason it was there was for security, and so they didn’t
have keys to carry around on their person.

“All the outside doors on the house
work the same way, voice recognition locks. But, let’s continue the
tour. The other door goes more directly into the great room, and we
only use it for meetings and things. Anyway, there are two ways to
get to the upstairs, the front staircase you saw last week, and
this back one that comes from this hallway. That way, if we have to
use the great room for business or something a little more formal,
you kids can still sneak down here for ice cream bars when you’re
supposed to be in bed, if you mom doesn’t catch you.”

“Some kind of example you set; what
kind of parent are you anyway?” Laura asked in laughing tones,
knowing he was putting them at their ease in a place that was new
and possibly strange to them.

Un-phased, Ryan continued the tour,
heading up the back steps toward the sleeping quarters. The kids
were right on his heels, excited at the new adventure.

“Okay, you kids see if you can decide
who goes with which room? Ready? Go. And you, Mrs. Williams, can
come with me please.”

A few steps down the hall, Ryan and
Laura came to a set of double doors, and opening one leaf, entered
into what clearly was their bedroom, complete with king sized bed,
an assortment of chests and dressers, night stands, dressing table,
and several easy chairs as well as a desk and settee. The décor was
obviously well thought out, elegant but understated, with
everything the lady of the house could need; adjacent doors opened
into his and hers bathrooms, while a third door opened onto the
veranda over the porta cochere, yielding access to the hot tub and
a screened outdoor sitting area. Laura stood in the middle of the
room and took it all in, unable for the moment to speak.

Ryan broke the silence, to tell her
something she needed to know before she had to ask: “Just so you
know, this is all leased furniture, rentals. None of the original
furniture is here. This is our room now, yours to decorate as you
like. I hired this done solely because I find making love on the
floor is hard on us older folks, and I didn’t want to bring you
home to an empty room. Okay?”

Laura appreciated his answering the one
question she had about all this: where did Mary fit in, and it was
obvious that while Mary and Ryan had designed and built the house,
he intended for it to be his home with Laura. Mary was gone, a
wonderful memory, but a memory nonetheless. Putting both arms
around him and holding him close, she could only quietly say “Thank
you. I love you so much for taking care of me.”

Their reverie was short lived, however,
as two wild eyed kids bolted into the room, excited to the point
they could hardly talk at all. Both wanted Laura and Ryan to come
see the other rooms, the rooms they believed, with accuracy, were
theirs. Jack’s was the closest, and he pointed with pride at the
NASCAR designed bed, masculine details in the furniture, and all
his things neatly arranged on shelves where he could see them, plus
a computer desk, with all the necessary equipment. Amanda was next,
anxiously showing off her French provincial furniture, with a
canopy bed, her dolls all in a row in a display case, and the doll
house on its own stand; her room also had a fully equipped computer
system, and very feminine décor. And best of all, each child’s room
had its own bathroom, which would become their responsibility to
keep clean. Something struck Laura suddenly, and she looked closer
at the doll house; it was true, what she had perceived. The rooms
in the doll house matched the rooms in the real house, including
the décor to some extent. Such a love Mary must have had for this
place, and Laura resolved in her own heart that she would always
honor that memory by also loving this home, and the man that came
with it.

But the tour wasn’t quite over. There
were three more rooms in the upstairs they had not yet seen. The
first was a sitting room, mostly for the family to gather at times,
maybe work on home work or to play a game or two, watch television
together. The other two rooms were bedrooms, but just like the
dollhouse, they were unfinished beyond the primer painted walls.
Laura looked at Ryan, understanding the implied intent of these
rooms. “Tricycle motors. But please, I don’t know how well things
are working; I don’t mean there’s anything wrong; it’s just that,
well, women don’t really have much say on when things happen or
they don’t. I mean, we can sort of help things along, but if
nothing happens for a while, please understand. I want this for
you, and for me; there is nothing I want more than to carry your
child, nothing, but I don’t know if or when it will happen. Please
understand.”

“I do understand, and I know sometimes
things just don’t work the way we would like them to. Believe me, I
know all about that.”

“Oh, Ryan, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean
to bring up hurts; I just want you to know how much I want this for
us.”

“That’s okay; I understand. That’s in
the past. Today we start the rest of our lives, which, by the way,
could include some food, if you care to visit the kitchen and
browse around a bit. Or we can go to the big house; your
choice.”

“I choose home; that would be here,
with you. Come on kids; let’s go find food.”

With that, the rest of their life
started. Monday morning the routine set in again for the most part,
kids off to school, Ryan and Laura into their respective offices to
oversee their growing business empire. In some respects, things
were a little simpler, now that the soap opera issue of “would Ryan
marry Laura” was settled, and while everyone knew Laura was half of
the duo of majority stockholders, she would never, in the years she
had yet to work, ever mention the fact. That was for Ryan to deal
with. It was not a matter of disinterest; that would truly be
abnormal for a human being, but in fact she married the man; his
wealth just came along with him. The good things it could bring she
appreciated, but she appreciated even more that no amount of money
could have found her a man she cared about so dearly.

In mid-February, with a chill still in
the air, Laura felt a little under the weather one early afternoon.
Ryan was in Conyerville meeting with the senior accountants and
would be gone most of the afternoon; the traffic through the office
had slowed down a little with the usual February national holidays,
and Laura had a few moments in the afternoon in which nothing was
very pressing. She told Marcia she was not feeling well and was
going over to the White House to lie down for a bit; maybe this
would pass quickly. Laura disliked not being up to speed, whether
it was for business, her kids, or making love with her husband. A
nap should help.

Laura walked slowly to her beautiful
home, which she had come to love so much, and up the front
staircase. It would be several hours before the kids came bounding
in from school, just enough time for a recuperative nap. Entering
the master bedroom, she paused to look in the mirror for any sign
of illness, and was for some reason not surprised to see a
reflection of someone standing in the doorway. Turning, she looked
directly at the person, a question on her lips that was answered
before she asked.

“Hello, Laura; I’m Mary. Please, don’t
be frightened of me. I am just who I seem to be, and I mean you no
harm. I need to tell you some things, and then I’ll go and you
won’t see me again.”

“Hello, Mary; I feel as though I know
you. Welcome to my home.”

“Yes, it is your home now, not mine. I
had my time, and although I don’t know why it was cut so short,
that’s how things are. I came to tell you three things, and I have
to hurry. I am not allowed much time for this. First, you aren’t
coming down with anything; you are with child, children really,
fraternal twins, about six weeks along. Secondly, I hid the remote
for the flat screen in the Ficus plant so Ryan couldn’t change it;
I needed him to see the local channel when he came home. It was the
only way I could get him to see you, and I wanted so very much for
him to see you and your children. He deserves so very much that
which I could not give him, and which you are now in the process of
doing, whether you know it or not. And finally, please tell him
there is a letter for him in the secret place.”

“Please, can I ask something of
you?”

“I have only a brief moment
left.”

“How many children? Can you tell
me?”

“We are not allowed to see the future
directly; too much temptation I think; it’s a little hard to
explain how things are on this side. When I learned of your
pregnancy, I saw a table with eight chairs; I don’t know if that
means anything or not, but I believe this will not be your last
pregnancy. I have to go now.”

Suddenly it came to her to ask the
unanswered question: “The car; were you at the car?”