As everyone sat enjoying and savoring every bite of their desserts, all of whichwere generously topped with the whipped cream Catherine brought, yes, itwould seem this feature was a definite hit, with all ages of the tunnel community.
Meanwhile, as Vincent cut his second serving of Blueberry pie, he smiled tohimself, as he overheard his Father telling the children a story from hischildhood.
And as he listened, he thought of how this story gave a little insight into hisFather’s midnight raid last night.
And so as the children sat around Jacob, with their plates of whipped toppingencumbered desserts, they held on to his every word as he reminisced, “AhMother was an extraordinary cook, but an even more noted baker! She alwayshad a sweet bread baking, or a berry pie cooling…however, the fluffy whitewhipped cream confection on which we are enjoying today…was nary to befound in our humble home.”
Jacob's eyes grew wide with excitement, as he relayed, “Well oneThanksgiving, we were invited to Aunt Genevieve’s home to celebrate thisNational Holiday. Oh and I don't mind telling you she was quite wealthy! Yesquite wealthy indeed! Well, we had eaten our dinner, and for dessert, set downbefore each one of us, was a thick slice of Pumpkin Pie, topped with this sweetfluffy cloud of cream! Oh I will never forget that first taste! I was only allowedone serving upon the instruction from my Mother, but later, as the adults sat inthe Parlor, smoking their cigars…”
Just then Kipper chimed in, and with a puzzled look, he quizzically inquired,“The ladies too Father?”
Because Kipper's question broke Jacob from his trance of memories, he shookhis head, and asked, “What my boy…oh my no, not the ladies! Ladies neversmoked cigars…”
Jacob chuckled a bit thinking of the changing times, and then added, “…notback then anyway!”
Scratching his chin, he gathered his thoughts and said, “Let’s see now wherewas I?”
With delight he continued, “Oh yes I remember, as the Gentlemen sat in theParlor smoking their cigars, along with the ladies, I quietly entered thekitchen…I opened the ice box, and there in a large clear bowl, were thewhipped cream leftovers!”
Jacob with a pranking note to his voice explained, “Well I must confess as asmall boy I did not have much restraint, so I took a spoon, and scooped out ahuge dollop!”
Upon hearing Jacob had a sneaky side, Samantha anxiously asked, “Did you getcaught Father?”
To which Jacob chuckled, and said, “Well I didn’t think so at the time, butyears later, Abbey the cook, told me she saw me from the vantage of thepantry!”
All the children laughed thinking of Jacob as a mischievous boy, realizing he wasnormal and just like them after all!
As Vincent secretly walked away smiling, Catherine asked, “Vincent…what isit?”
To which Vincent softly said, “I just heard Father telling the children a storyabout his childhood…and it gave me pause.”
He then tipped his head, as he thoughtfully observed, “The changes that havecome over Father lately…are so profound.”
Looking at Catherine he thoughtfully continued, “The story he told, was a storyabout himself as a young boy, sneaking an extra helping of whipped cream…itwas a story even I had not ever heard, just like the story he shared with youabout the dog he had as a boy.”
Catherine listened, and then lovingly surmised, “Maybe it is a softness thatcomes with age Vincent.”
Vincent shook his head no, and with intent passion he said, “Not because of ageCatherine…it comes with a change of heart, which occurred when you enteredour lives."
As they looked at each other, Catherine wanted to say something modest, likethere was no way she could take credit for something so dynamic, but she knewit would only start a barrage of debating, which would only seem like she wasfishing for compliments. So silently she sat looking at Vincent, simply enjoyingthe sights!
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Dining Hall, where everyone satvisiting, and the children sang a few Thanksgiving Holiday songs, under thedirection of Rolley.
And later on, they even put on a small impromptu play for everyone.
After that, most of the children stayed on, listening to the adult's conversations,while the others ran off to burn up some of their pent up energy from sitting toolong.
But one thing was certain, everyone enjoyed getting to know Catherine, andloved the story of how she had met Vincent. They especially loved hearing of allthe coincidences which surrounded, and aided in the uniting of this celestialtransverse couple.
Meanwhile, Vincent proudly sat back, and let Catherine answer all thequestions, adding only necessary points when Catherine turned to include him.
Then the conversation turned, to the interesting events of how Catherine hadmet Jacob.
And it was Mary who asked, “So Catherine do I understand correctly, you firstmet Jacob on the airplane?”
In reply, Catherine smiled, and said, “Well no, we didn’t actually meet on theplane, although that was where I had first seen Jacob.”
Jacob bashfully said, “Oh Dear me…I hope I had not made a spectacle ofmyself, as I was unwittingly observed. I was a little nervous as it had been thefirst time I had flown in decades!”
To which Catherine assuredly said, “Oh, not at all Jacob. I don't think I evertold you this, but on the plane, as I was drifting off to take a nap, I heard youtalking to the stewardess, and I thought to myself, what a pleasant voice thatman has.”
In response, Jacob said, "Oh I dare say, a pleasant voice uh?"
Jacob then shared his point of view, by inserting, "Well, speaking for myself, itwasn’t until we landed, when I had first seen Catherine. I was searching for thebaggage claim, when Catherine asked me for assistance on which way to go! Soalthough I knew she really did not need instruction from a hobbling old man,like myself, I allowed her rouse pretending not knowing where the claim was.”
As he looked her way, he said, “That way, I was momentarily able to save facein the eyes of a lovely young woman, by agreeing to look for it together.”
Puzzled about a detail, Rebecca asked, “Father, I don’t understandsomething…if you knew Peter knew Catherine, then why didn’t you realize shewas Vincent’s Catherine, when you met her?”
To which Jacob expounded, “Easily explained! T'was because her Fatherreferred to her as Catie!”
Helping his father's version of the story along abit, Vincent politely remindedhim, by saying, “Well in all actuality, t'was Cathy, Charles called Catherine byher shortened name, which is Cathy.”
In response, Jacob with umbrage, replied, “Yes, yes that’s what I said, isn’t it?At any rate Charles and I spent a good part of the evening talking about both ofour children, who were both suffering from broken hearts.”
It was then, William asked, "Now there you are mentioning a Charles again!Now who is this Charles?”
To which Jacob explained, “Catherine’s Father…Charles is Catherine’s Father.Now try to keep up William!"
To which everyone laughed, as William wiped his brow and said, "I am tryin'!"
As the laughter died away, Jacob continued, saying, "Well Charles,CATHERINE'S FATHER, is a very nice man. We have become friends, youknow. In fact, I have invited him here for a visit. He was quite fascinated by allI, err, rather all WE have accomplished here in the tunnels.”
Looking to Catherine, he raised his brow and instructed, “So Catherine as soonas your Father returns from Florida, you must let me know… so we can arrangethat visit.”
Promising she would, Catherine smiled as she said, “I will Jacob.”
Humorously, Jacob then added, “Oh, and one more antidote to our visit toFlorida is, Catherine ended up bringing Peter’s late Mother’s dog Bubbleshome! She could not resist adopting him!”
Hesitantly, Vincent softly corrected Jacob again, by saying, “You mean Noodlesdon’t you Father.”
A bit annoyed at his memory of late, Jacob knitted his brow and asked, “Yes,why? What did I call him?”
To which Vincent informatively told him he had said Bubbles.
This information caused Jacob to chuckle, as he relayed, “Bubbles? That wasmy dog’s name when I was a boy! Oh mercy me…Bubbles, Noodles, NoodlesBubbles, who can keep all these details straight?”
It was then Catherine tied up the story, by sweetly saying, “Speaking of keepingthings straight, as it turned out, luckily you did Jacob."
Catherine then shared with everyone, "It was because of Jacob, who knew allthe turns, twists, and misunderstandings, that Vincent and I were able to ironout all of our differences.”
Catherine then turned to Jacob and gratefully thanked him with a tearful smile.
Jacob’s chin trembled a bit, as he light-heartedly said, “Yes it is true…it nearlytook OLE’ Sherlock Holmes to unravel this tangled web of misunderstandings.Thank Heavens we did get to the bottom of it all!”
After sitting and talking for quite a span of time, Vincent himself began to feelrestless, so he turned to Catherine and invited her to take a walk with him.
As they stood to leave, Samantha excitedly said, “Don’t forget our Wampanoagstory Vincent. You still have to tell it to us!”
Vincent stopped, and tipped his head as he said, “Of course Samantha. It is stillearly, and when we return, I shall tell you the story as per tradition, and perhapsthen you can complete your friendship charms. We won’t be gone long.”
Vincent held out his arm for Catherine, and as she reached back, they walkedslowly through the tunnels, and it brought to her mind, the night they walkedthrough the city together on Samhain, on the night they first met.
Meanwhile, as Charles said goodnight to Peter and his family, he sincerelythanked them for a delightful Thanksgiving dinner.
As he prepared to leave, his thoughts traveled to how lonely he suddenly felt.He missed his late wife so much, and Catherine…well, he assumed he wouldn’tbe hearing from her now until morning.
How sad it would be to return to an empty quiet household on Thanksgivingnight.
And so as Peter retrieved Charles coat for him, he noticed his forlorn look, andhe himself, then looked around the living room, and saw how his own familywas beginning to one, by one, conk out!
It was then Peter began to consider, making a trip to the tunnels!
So as he turned to Charles, he asked, “Hey, do you really want to go home yet?"
To which Charles replied, "Ya know, I was just thinking how empty the housewould seem. So why, what are you thinking?"
With a smile, Peter responded, "Well, I was thinking maybe we could go to thetunnels, and you could see your daughter.”
In reply, Charles hesitated a moment as he finally lamented, “I hate to gounexpected.”
As Peter waved his hand, he said, “Nonsense…its not like that there!"
To which Charles replied, "I mean its getting kind of late...and..."
Peter then looked to his friend, and questionably asked, "And what? What otherreasons can you come up with Charles...or is it maybe something else? Maybeit's because there's something you are not ready to face?”