Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 25 - Good Times

The Abernathy family, minus Matthew, plus Mr. Simms stood in line at the airport in Burbank on March 4th, a Friday afternoon, for a weekend trip to Oakland. It would be a quick trip to the Bay Area, only two days, but it would enable Susan, Jessie and Melody to attend Cindy's baby shower on Saturday afternoon. Everyone would be attending synagogue services with Greg's family for the Sabbath before the party on Saturday morning, and they would all fly home again on Sunday.

"Are we staying at Alan and Cindy's house again, Papa?" Jessie asked as they stood in the security line.

"Not this time, Jessie. There are too many of us," Greg told her.

"Did you stay with them before?" Zack asked.

"Yeah. Papa and I shared a room," Jessie told him.

"This time we are staying in a motel," Susan told her. "They have more beds."

"I hope you didn't get a room for me, Susan," Mr. Simms told her. "I really do need to get home."

"Why, Grandpa?" Jessie asked.

"I have a doctor appointment on Monday," he told her.

"You mean you aren't coming with us to the party for Cindy's baby?" Jessie asked.

"That's only for girls, Jessie," Zack said. "We're not going."

"What are you going to do while we're at the party?" Susan wondered.

"I intend to spend time with Alan," Greg said. "New fathers can always use a little support."

"What are the two of you going to do?" Susan asked curiously.

"We plan to put together their crib," Greg told her. "Apparently they bought furniture for the baby's room a month ago but have yet to assemble it. Cindy suggested we could do that while the women are at the party."

"We can do that," Zack agreed. "We just re-did Melody's a couple of months ago."

"As soon as she started climbing out of it," Susan agreed. "It's a good thing the crib we bought can be used as a toddler bed. She's not quite big enough for the extra bed in Matt's room yet."

Their family was next in the line for security, directing their attention to the steps necessary to get their belongings through the scanner, helping Mr. Simms with his, and one by one walking through the X-ray machine ... all except for Melody, who Susan was allowed to carry. Mr. Simms's artificial hip set off the alarm, even though they told the agent about it ahead of time, necessitating additional screening steps before they would allow Greg to return the old man's cane and let him pass.

Greg sighed. "I read an article recently suggesting passengers above a certain age should be exempt from going through such intensive screening."

Mr. Simms arched a brow. "What? You mean the government has finally figured out that a man in his nineties is unlikely to be a terrorist?"

"Apparently they are at least considering the argument," Greg remarked as the family made their way to the gate.

The flight to Oakland wasn't very long. The family gathered their luggage at the other end. Susan put Melody into her stroller while Zack and Greg found them a luggage cart for the rest of their belongings. Then they all headed for the car rental office to pick up a car for the weekend. They loaded everything into it, and Greg drove them in front of Alan and Cindy's house, parking their rental car in the driveway an hour before sunset, getting them there in plenty of time to join Alan and Cindy for their Sabbath meal.

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"Welcome," Alan said as he opened the door to let them all in.

"Thank you Alan. It is good to be here," Greg said sincerely.