And Vice Versa
By Lauren Elizabeth
Prologue
"Grandpa!" Maria cried, colliding into Andrew's chest with a bang and a cry of joy. Thomas, as usual, said nothing, only held out his small, roley-poley arms with an enormous smile on his face, the kind that most human beings, and even some animals, couldn't resist.
So, of course, Andrew couldn't. Keeping one arm wrapped around Maria and pulling her against his rather large belly, he bent down and lifted little Thomas into the air. "There we are!" he said with a groan as his back cracked. "You're getting quite big! How old are you now?"
Thomas giggled and held out five fingers, his dark eyes crinkling a bit at the corners.
"Grandpa," Maria laughed. "You remember! You came to his birthday party."
Andrew paused, frowning slightly. "That's right, isn't it? Well -" He paused and lowered Thomas to the ground. "-when you get as old as your grandpa, things fall out of the back of your head sometimes."
The kids laughed and disappeared into Andrew's house. Andrew heard the car door slam and turned to see his daughter-in-law, Cassandra, stumbling down the walk toward him. The upper half of her body was completely obscured by two enormous suitcases, except for a patch of bright red hair right at the top. "Oh, Cassy, let me help you."
He took one of the suitcases and leaned down to kiss her. Cassy was a tall, graceful-looking woman in her early thirties, with a cascade of curly red hair falling down her back. She had once been beautiful, and still was in a way - the wrinkled corners of her eyes and the triangular lines around her mouth could not hide her large brown eyes or brilliant white teeth. They flashed up at him now, as she smiled and said, "Hey, Dad, how are you?"
"Oh, me?" Andrew closed the door behind him with one foot, dropping the suitcase on the couch in the large, open front room. "Fine, I suppose."
"Your back?" she asked, sitting down on a comfortable-looking chair.
"As irritating as ever - but then, so'm I."
She laughed, then hesitated. "Charlie... sends his regards."
"Does he, now?" Andrew turned away and stared out the window. He hated to talk about his son - it made his chest ache. "How is he?"
"He's fine. He... he got that job he wanted, the one with the sales company?"
"I remember. That's excellent. Tell him I said congratulations."
"Dad..."
"Don't." he said shortly. She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. "Really, Cassy, I mean it. I don't want to talk about this right now. Not with you, not with anyone. Charlie is a grown man now. He can do what he wants."
There was a silence. "Of course," she agreed reluctantly.
The uncomfortable silence continued, then melted as suddenly as it had formed. "Have any plans for the week?" she asked.
"Oh, the usual; horse-back riding, fishing, swimming. I thought I might let them help me with the plane, if that's alright with you."
"That's a great idea! Thomas will love it especially. He's really into planes these days."
"So was I, at his age."
"So you still are," she smiled. "How's that coming along? The plane, I mean."
"Wonderfully. I've just finished cutting the wings. They can help me attach them to the body."
She smiled. "That's great."
There was a pause, an easy one this time. Then she stood. "I suppose I should go now. Take good care of them, will you?"
He followed suit and gave her a hug. "I always do. Kids! Come say goodbye to your mother!"
"Coming!" he heard Maria cry, followed by a pounding of little feet as the two kids rushed down the stairs.
Cassandra scooped up the two little ones and planted a kiss on each cheek. "Aw, Mom," whispered Thomas, grinning and turning bright red. Maria, on the other hand, kissed her mother smack on the lips. "Love ya, Mom! We'll miss you!"
"I'll miss you, too," Cassandra smiled lovingly. After a pause, she put down the kids and grabbed her purse. "Alright, goodbye! Don't forget to take your medicine, Tommy. Maria, don't you lose your socks this time, Mama can only buy so many pairs. Don't watch too much TV, stay away from that poison ivy in the bushes, and... and take care of your grandfather!"
After a chorus of "Yes, Mom's", "Okay, Mom's", and "Goodbye, Mom's!", Cassandra finally slid into the front seat of her car.
"Don't worry, Cass," Andrew called. "We'll be fine!"
"I'm sure you will!" She blew each one a kiss. "Goodbye, Tommy! Goodbye, Maria! Goodbye, Dad!"
The car sped away, and the jumble of talking and voices faded into silence.
"Well," Andrew said, "Shall we go inside?"
Within the space of ten minutes, the blue, sunny sky had filled with clouds and rain poured down in torrents outside the house. Thomas sat on the floor, quietly crashing to miniature airplanes together. "Pshhh, pshhh... boom!"
Maria was curled up in an enormous red armchair, the seat of which was so big that it nearly enveloped her legs. It was placed next to a window. The curtains were drawn back and Maria watched each raindrop trickle slowly down the glass pane. "Grandpa?" she called.
"Yes?" Andrew's voice came from behind the rows and rows of bookshelves.
"Why do they do that?"
"Why does who do what?" He adjusted his suspenders and stepped out to see what she was talking about.
She pointed. "The raindrops. Look." Two raindrops fell slowly down. "See? They're racing each other."
"Who's gonna win?" Thomas asked from over Andrew's shoulder.
Andrew looked quietly, and then pointed. "That one."
"How do you know?"
"Look. Do you see how the one on the right keeps running into other little drops?"
They nodded.
"Those drops speed it up. Watch how every time the drops touch each other, they get a little bigger, and a little heavier -"
"And a little faster!" cried Maria.
"That's right." With a groan, he lifted the two siblings into his lap. "You know, this reminds me of an afternoon, a very, very long time ago."
"How long?" asked Maria, as Thomas stuck his thumb in his mouth.
"Oh... sixty, seventy years. I was only a few years older than you are now, Thomas. My friend and I were sitting in this same room, on this same chair, looking at the same window-and very possibly the same raindrops."
