I turned to face him. "Good morning to you, too, Hamilton." I turned away from him and looked back at my mother. "You're looking well, Mom. You, too, Dad."
Hamilton was on the verge of saying something more. His face was red and had nothing but rage on it. Mom laid a hand on his arm to restrain him, and my father glanced at him nervously. "I didn't know you were coming, Carling.", said Mom.
I didn't have to answer, since Suzie piped up, "I invited him."
Mom looked at her. "You should have mentioned something to me."
Suzie simply answered, a touch belligerently, "Carl is my brother, and he will always be invited to any family events with me."
Across from me, my father visibly winced at this, but his eyes never left Charlie. He half-whispered, "Is that..."
"This is our son, Dad. Charles Robert Buckman."
"We named him after both our fathers.", added Marilyn, unnecessarily, to my mind, anyway.
Mom was very tight lipped, but Dad was on the verge of crying. He looked good. His hair was totally white by now, and he had lost some weight, but he had it to lose. I guessed he was about 235, which was about 15 or more pounds down from the last time I had seen him, at the wedding.
He tore his eyes off his grandson and looked at me. It had been four years for him as well. He looked me over and eyed the cane. "What happened?"
I shrugged. "I made one jump too many. I'm out of the service now, Dad."
"Nice kid.", sneered Hamilton. "Who's the father?" Marilyn and Suzie looked daggers at him, and Mom tightened her grip on his forearm. I ignored him. I was on the verge of saying something to Dad, when the idiot had to pipe up again, he couldn't stand to be ignored. "I asked who the father was."
I looked over at my brother. "We heard you the first time, Hamilton. We're simply ignoring you. Now behave and let the grownups talk. Thank you."
Hamilton's face reddened further, but Mom kept a grip on him.
Dad looked over at Marilyn, who was now holding onto Charlie tightly. Charlie could sense something was amiss, and was clinging to her. "What do you call him?", he asked.
"Charlie.", she answered. She turned her face to our son and said, "Charlie, this is your grandfather. Can you say hello?" Charlie simply turned his head away and tried to hide.
Dad said quietly, "Charlie.", and then looked at Marilyn. "Can I hold him?"
Marilyn looked at Charlie, and then at me. She looked nervous, so I answered, "I think Charlie's a little shy. Maybe later, after he gets used to you."
Dad didn't like it, but he just nodded. He turned back to me and asked, "When did you get out?"
"About a year and a half ago. I had a bad landing, Dad, and blew my knee out."
"It was more than that, Carl.", interjected Suzie. She turned to Marilyn and asked, "Did you bring it?"
"I made sure to pack it.", answered my wife. I looked at Dad, and then the two of them, and wondered what they had cooked up. I didn't have a good feeling. Marilyn handed Charlie to Suzie, and then rooted around in his gigantic diaper bag, strapped to the back of his stroller. She pulled out a large package, wrapped with some gift paper, and my stomach dropped. She handed it to my father. "This is for you. It was from Carl's last drop."
"This is a mistake.", I said quietly.
My father looked at me for a second, but then turned away and opened the package. It was what I suspected it to be, a duplicate of the plaque that Marilyn had made for her family, the one with the photo of me getting the Bronze Star and the commendation underneath it. He looked at it and then looked up. "What is this?"
"That is from when your son was awarded the Bronze Star. Carl saved his men..."
Dad's head swiveled to me, and I interrupted Marilyn. "That's classified, honey. I can't say anything about it." I just wanted this to be over. This was just a horrible mistake.
"You won the Bronze Star?"
It was too much. I watched the rest of it like watching a car crash in slow motion on television. Practically screeching, Hamilton yelled, "You shouldn't be here!", and then grabbed the plaque out of my father's hands and dashed it to the ground, where a corner broke off. "GET OUT!"
Mom stared in shock. Dad simply roared, and backhanded my brother across the face, viciously. Hamilton went flying off his feet, as everyone around us turned to stare. Dad advanced on him and looked like he was going to kill him, with his arm brought back for another blow, and Mom blocked his path. "Charlie, get them out of here before they cause any more trouble!", she demanded.
I thought for sure Dad was going to hit Mom. He had never done this before, not even when he got Alzheimer's and got aggressive and lost his mind. He brought his hand back to strike her, and then stopped. Around us I noticed several men debating whether to get involved. "Shirley, I've had it with him and I've had it with you! They haven't caused any trouble. He has and you have!" He was pointing at Hamilton, cowering on the ground. "Thanks to you two I've lost a son, and now I've lost a grandson. I don't want to see either of you again." He turned on his heel and marched away.
Suzie was utterly dumbfounded, crying as her wonderful plans collapsed. Charlie was crying too, scared by what was going on. Marilyn tried to comfort him. I looked at the shambles, and kissed Suzie on the cheek. "I think it's time we left. Call us when you get home." I motioned Marilyn to start for the parking lot, and pushed the stroller away. I left my mother and brother behind with Suzie, and the broken plaque I left on the ground.
What a fucking disaster.
Charlie calmed down once we got him into his car seat. It took me several minutes to work my way out of the crowded parking lot, and get on the highway. Marilyn was crying quietly on her side of the car. Once it was safe to do so, I reached out and took her hand. Every fiber of my being wanted to scream out, "I TOLD YOU SO!", but I refrained. After a bit, Marilyn stopped crying, but she looked miserable and ducked my gaze. It was a long and silent drive back to Hereford.
We got home in the early afternoon, and while Marilyn made something for Charlie, I made something for Marilyn and myself. I simply did up a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches, and cracked open a couple of bottles of beer. We ate in the living room, which I normally was loathe to do. We had done that a lot in my first life, and I had learned my lesson. The dining room is there for a reason - use it!
I was half laid back in my La-Z-Boy, when Marilyn set her plate down and came over. I looked up at her and she said, "Move over." I smiled and she crawled onto my lap and laid her head on my shoulder, sighing as she did so. It wasn't romantic; she just needed a cuddle. Across the room, Dum-Dum spotted an opportunity and leaped into action, running across the room to stare at the remainder of my wife's sandwich, and then grabbing it before anybody could say anything. Marilyn sat upright and cried out, "Why you little ... oooh, nothing worked out today!" She lay back down against me. I just quietly rubbed her back.
Eventually she said, quietly, "You were right."
"Hmmm?"
"I said you were right, about the graduation."
"I heard you the first time. I just wanted to hear you say it again. It might never happen again in my lifetime.", I teased her.