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"I hear you've been taking in some golden showers..."
I laughed out loud at that. "Yeah, not quite the greeting I had in mind when I went to court. I survived, but my pride was severely wounded."
"I'll bet. I guess it's true what they say -- better to be pissed off than pissed on."
I snorted at that and we laughed for a moment. "Hey," I said when the laughter passed. "I'm alone with Sophie today while Kate goes to court to hear closing arguments and thought it might be a good day for us to visit. What do you think?"
"That sounds wonderful. I'm here all by my lonesome while Elaine is out at the shops, but she'll be back in time for lunch. Why don't you two pop on over and have lunch with us? I think Elaine was talking about her famous turkey melts and soup or something."
"Sounds fantastic. We'll be there by noon. We're just finishing up watching Finding Nemo."
"That again? She watched that the last time we were there."
"I know," I said with a laugh. "It's her favorite. She calls him Momo. From the time she gets up in the morning until bedtime, it's Momo."
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"Back in my day, we had to amuse ourselves with Saturday cartoons, or reading comics or actually playing outside. Kids these days -- who can imagine what they'll be like as adults? Bored to tears, most likely."
"You sound ancient, old man."
"Watch your tone, young man!" Ethan said in reply to my good-natured ribbing. "See you soon."
"See you."
I hung up and smiled to myself, looking forward to speaking with him and having lunch with the two of them. They'd get to indulge themselves in Sophie and I'd get to enjoy watching them.
On the television, the final credits for Finding Nemo were rolling and so I went and turned it off. Then, I got out Sophie's jacket and boots, as well as her toque and tiny heart sunglasses. We got all bundled up, and soon, we were going down the stairs. John met me outside and opened the door to the vehicle. Since Ethan and Elaine moved to Brooklyn into a more residential area, it was more of an adventure when we went to visit. We drove across the bridge to Brooklyn and finally arrived at the townhouse just before noon. I got the stroller out and the diaper bag, and finally, Sophie herself and together we trundled into the small entry way to the yard. Elaine was waiting at the door, smiling, her arms open to take Sophie from me.
"There you are," she said, hugging and kissing Sophie. "We've been so excited to see you. Both of you. "
She glanced at John, who remained on the street beside the vehicle.
"Come on in, " she asked, jerking her head to the side. "What about your bodyguard?"
"John's happy to stay in the car and listen to audiobooks. He tells me it's why he took the job." I grinned at her.
"That's good. Come on in. Ethan's in his study, of course, on the phone with someone from his club, talking politics as usual."
We went inside and removed our coats and boots and hats and heart sunglasses. I put Sophie down and she ran off, looking for grandpa. Then, Elaine and I went down the hallway to the back of the main floor where Ethan had his study. He was seated in his wheelchair behind his huge mahogany desk, Sophie sitting on his lap, examining the items in his desk drawer.
"You two have a chat while I get lunch ready," Elaine said. "I hope you like vegetable noodle soup and turkey melt sandwiches on panini bread."
"Sounds fantastic." a drawer and
Before I could say anything, Ethan offered Sophie a lollipop, which she happily took.
"Grandpa spoils you with those," I said, shaking my head although I wasn't truly mad.
"That's what grandpas are for, aren't they Sophie?"
She smiled around her lollipop.
We spent some time chatting while Sophie played with a set of toys we kept at Ethan's.
"You really don't want to listen to the news about closing arguments?" Ethan eyed me from over his reading glasses.
"Honestly? No," I replied, shaking my head. "I heard opening arguments, and I heard the evidence. I don't need to hear them summarize what they've already said. In fact, if I didn't hear another word about it, I'd be a happy man. There is something I want to talk to you about though," I said, deciding to broach the subject of Michael's offer with him.
