Insert 16: Reunion
Written by Rosey Collins
Eduardo was mooching around at JFK Airport and watching the information boards when he suddenly caught sight of someone he knew doing exactly the same thing. He spent a few moments deciding whether he could be bothered to go and talk to her or not, then he decided that he could.
'Hi, T'Keyah,' he said.
'Eduardo, hi!' said T'Keyah, clearly surprised to see him. 'You're not meeting Roland too, are you?'
'No, I'm meeting Garrett and Max.'
'Oh. Are they getting in now? That's weird. It's not the same flight, is it?'
'Can't be. Garrett's coming from Orlando.'
'Yeah?' said T'Keyah. 'I seem to've lost track of you guys since... well, you know. So, what's Garrett been doing in Orlando?'
'Just catching his plane actually in Orlando,' said Eduardo. 'He's living in Sarasota; he works at that big basketball academy that's down there.'
'Oh, that's perfect for him!'
'Yeah, it sounds like he's pretty happy.'
'He's not regretting taking on the kid, then, huh?'
'Of course not. He got a good one – you'll see. You haven't met Max before, right?'
'No,' said T'Keyah, 'but I guess that's him.'
Eduardo followed her gaze to where Garrett and a twelve-year-old boy were looking vaguely around. He waved to attract their attention; the boy saw him first, then tapped Garrett on the shoulder, and within moments they were at Eduardo's side.
'Hi, T'Keyah,' said Garrett. 'Long time no see.'
'Hi,' said T'Keyah. 'I'm meeting Roland and the kids. You'll see them if you stick around.'
'Cool,' said Garrett. 'By the way, this is Max,' then he turned to Max and continued the introduction in sign language. When he had finished, T'Keyah immediately began signing as well.
Max smiled, signed hello and shook her hand, then turned to Eduardo and said, 'Hi, Eduardo.'
'Hi, Max,' said Eduardo, taking care to look straight at him. 'Nice to see you.'
'Why don't the three of us go get something to eat while T'Keyah waits?' said Garrett. 'Then when Roland gets in with his baggage, they can all come and join us.'
'Hey, don't call them that!' said T'Keyah, laughing. 'Now I remember what you're like, Garrett.'
'More fun than a barrel of monkeys, T'Keyah,' Garrett grinned at her. Then he turned to look at Max. 'Come on, you guys, let's go to Dunkin' Donuts.'
'Hi, T'Keyah,' he said.
'Eduardo, hi!' said T'Keyah, clearly surprised to see him. 'You're not meeting Roland too, are you?'
'No, I'm meeting Garrett and Max.'
'Oh. Are they getting in now? That's weird. It's not the same flight, is it?'
'Can't be. Garrett's coming from Orlando.'
'Yeah?' said T'Keyah. 'I seem to've lost track of you guys since... well, you know. So, what's Garrett been doing in Orlando?'
'Just catching his plane actually in Orlando,' said Eduardo. 'He's living in Sarasota; he works at that big basketball academy that's down there.'
'Oh, that's perfect for him!'
'Yeah, it sounds like he's pretty happy.'
'He's not regretting taking on the kid, then, huh?'
'Of course not. He got a good one – you'll see. You haven't met Max before, right?'
'No,' said T'Keyah, 'but I guess that's him.'
Eduardo followed her gaze to where Garrett and a twelve-year-old boy were looking vaguely around. He waved to attract their attention; the boy saw him first, then tapped Garrett on the shoulder, and within moments they were at Eduardo's side.
'Hi, T'Keyah,' said Garrett. 'Long time no see.'
'Hi,' said T'Keyah. 'I'm meeting Roland and the kids. You'll see them if you stick around.'
'Cool,' said Garrett. 'By the way, this is Max,' then he turned to Max and continued the introduction in sign language. When he had finished, T'Keyah immediately began signing as well.
Max smiled, signed hello and shook her hand, then turned to Eduardo and said, 'Hi, Eduardo.'
'Hi, Max,' said Eduardo, taking care to look straight at him. 'Nice to see you.'
'Why don't the three of us go get something to eat while T'Keyah waits?' said Garrett. 'Then when Roland gets in with his baggage, they can all come and join us.'
'Hey, don't call them that!' said T'Keyah, laughing. 'Now I remember what you're like, Garrett.'
'More fun than a barrel of monkeys, T'Keyah,' Garrett grinned at her. Then he turned to look at Max. 'Come on, you guys, let's go to Dunkin' Donuts.'
Once they had been to Dunkin' Donuts, they took their purchases to some plastic chairs where Max and Eduardo sat opposite each other at the end of the row, and Garrett positioned himself beside Eduardo.
'Who did you call what back there, Dad?' asked Max.
'Sorry, sport,' said Garrett, and he signed a few words as he spoke. 'I called Roland's kids baggage, and I think T'Keyah protested too much, as it were. Right, Eduardo?'
'She barely said anything about it,' said Eduardo.
'It was in her body language,' Garrett said knowingly. 'She can't be too happy about taking on four kids, right? That was the whole reason they split up in the first place. Well, that and the distance. She wouldn't even be marrying him now if there wasn't a big, important job waiting for her in California.'
'What does she do?' asked Max.
'She's an audiologist,' said Garrett. Then he added distastefully, 'She'll probably have more than a little to do with that so-called “cochlear implant centre” they have over there.'
'It is a cochlear implant centre,' said Max. 'You sure do have some opinions on her, Dad.'
'Oh, I like her, Max,' said Garrett. 'I do, really... from what I can remember. I haven't seen her in, like... wow, eighteen years!'
'So then you don't even know what she thinks about cochlear implants,' said Max.
'Guess I don't,' Garrett admitted. 'Anyway, I suppose she and Roland are doing the right thing by getting married. After all this time, they must really want to. I mean they must want to because they want to, not for some other reason like the last time.'
'Are you saying Roland and Hilary only got married to have kids?' Max asked sceptically.
Garrett considered. 'Well, maybe not... or not for her, anyway. Remember, Eddie? Hilary was kind of like, “Who cares about love? I'm having a wedding!”'
'You haven't said anything for ages, Eduardo,' said Max. 'What do you think?'
'I think it's none of my business,' said Eduardo.
'Oh,' said Max, deflating a little. 'Well, I guess it's not mine either. I'm just interested in stuff that happened before my time, is all.'
'Roland and Hilary barely even happened in Conchita's time, remember,' said Eduardo, 'and you guys really didn't miss anything. But you'll find out with the rest of us what happens when Roland marries the love of his life.'
Max smiled at this, while Garrett said, 'You think she is, then? The love of his life, I mean.'
'Sure, why not?' said Eduardo. 'Like you said, if they love each other enough to want to get married twenty-two years after they met...'
'But not enough to stay together for that entire time,' said Garrett. 'I mean, you'd have followed Kylie anywhere, wouldn't you? Or she'd have followed you... maybe. And you definitely wouldn't have split up over not wanting to have kids at the same time. You'd have compromised.'
'None of that was ever an issue,' said Eduardo. 'Neither of us had anywhere else we wanted to go, and the kids just kind of happened when they happened.'
Max laughed. 'I'm gonna tell Rosy you said that.'
'Happy to give you something to talk about,' said Eduardo. 'Oh, look, here they come – we'd better stop gossiping.'
T'Keyah had now met up with Roland and his four children: a boy of fourteen; dizygotic twin girls of eleven, who were hanging back and talking to a handheld video camera; and a boy of six, who was allowing himself to be dragged along by his older brother and looking distinctly peeved. They reached Eduardo, Garrett and Max, and the group exchanged a large number of greetings between them, on the outside of which T'Keyah waited patiently.
The twin girls pointed their camera at Max, and one of them said, 'And here's our friend Max – we love him! We didn't know he'd be here! Some of you've met him before. Say hi to our online family, Max!'
'Hi,' said Max, waving and smiling bashfully. 'Over a million subscribers, right? Let's get them to two million by Christmas, guys!'
'I'm hungry!' the little one shouted over the chatter, and clambered onto a chair.
'We'll get in another round of snacks, then,' said Eduardo. 'Come on, Ro, you know what they like.'
Roland followed Eduardo to the end of the Dunkin' Donuts queue, saying as they went, 'Hilary doesn't like them to have too much sugar.'
'Hilary ain't here,' said Eduardo. 'Anyway, look at the poor kid – he's tired and bored and probably stiff from sitting on the plane for all that time. Some sugar'll do him good.'
'Hopefully not too much good,' said Roland, looking doubtfully at his younger son.
'What do you mean? He's not as bad as Casey used to be, is he?'
'Casey was never as bad as you guys made out, Eduardo.'
'Fine,' said Eduardo, 'but what about Dylan right here, right now? It seems like he's either about to drop out of that chair or go rampaging around on a sugar high. The other three probably want to chill out somewhere too, and I'll bet your check-in isn't 'til three, is it? You can come home with me if you want.'
'Oh, you don't have to do that,' said Roland. 'We were just gonna go to T'Keyah's apartment.'
'You wouldn't all fit. Anyway, Kylie's keen to see you.'
'Well... I do want to see Kylie. And Rose could keep Adam entertained, couldn't she?'
'Could she?' Eduardo said doubtfully.
'I'd have thought so. They are about the same age.'
'That doesn't mean anything, man.'
'It's only what you did with Oscar and Kevin all those years ago,' said Roland.
'Well, yeah, but that was different.'
'Why, because they were both boys?'
'No. It's just that I know the kids in my life. Kevin was always very open and friendly and happy to help, whereas Rose is... well, she's...'
'What,' said Roland, 'closed-off and hostile and never helps anyone if she can avoid it?'
'Of course not,' said Eduardo. 'She'll do what she can. I just don't think it's much good hoping your son and my daughter are gonna end up like Kevin and Oscar.'
'I'm not thinking anything of the kind, Eduardo,' Roland said airily. 'They're just kids.'
'Who did you call what back there, Dad?' asked Max.
'Sorry, sport,' said Garrett, and he signed a few words as he spoke. 'I called Roland's kids baggage, and I think T'Keyah protested too much, as it were. Right, Eduardo?'
'She barely said anything about it,' said Eduardo.
'It was in her body language,' Garrett said knowingly. 'She can't be too happy about taking on four kids, right? That was the whole reason they split up in the first place. Well, that and the distance. She wouldn't even be marrying him now if there wasn't a big, important job waiting for her in California.'
'What does she do?' asked Max.
'She's an audiologist,' said Garrett. Then he added distastefully, 'She'll probably have more than a little to do with that so-called “cochlear implant centre” they have over there.'
'It is a cochlear implant centre,' said Max. 'You sure do have some opinions on her, Dad.'
'Oh, I like her, Max,' said Garrett. 'I do, really... from what I can remember. I haven't seen her in, like... wow, eighteen years!'
'So then you don't even know what she thinks about cochlear implants,' said Max.
'Guess I don't,' Garrett admitted. 'Anyway, I suppose she and Roland are doing the right thing by getting married. After all this time, they must really want to. I mean they must want to because they want to, not for some other reason like the last time.'
'Are you saying Roland and Hilary only got married to have kids?' Max asked sceptically.
Garrett considered. 'Well, maybe not... or not for her, anyway. Remember, Eddie? Hilary was kind of like, “Who cares about love? I'm having a wedding!”'
'You haven't said anything for ages, Eduardo,' said Max. 'What do you think?'
'I think it's none of my business,' said Eduardo.
'Oh,' said Max, deflating a little. 'Well, I guess it's not mine either. I'm just interested in stuff that happened before my time, is all.'
'Roland and Hilary barely even happened in Conchita's time, remember,' said Eduardo, 'and you guys really didn't miss anything. But you'll find out with the rest of us what happens when Roland marries the love of his life.'
Max smiled at this, while Garrett said, 'You think she is, then? The love of his life, I mean.'
'Sure, why not?' said Eduardo. 'Like you said, if they love each other enough to want to get married twenty-two years after they met...'
'But not enough to stay together for that entire time,' said Garrett. 'I mean, you'd have followed Kylie anywhere, wouldn't you? Or she'd have followed you... maybe. And you definitely wouldn't have split up over not wanting to have kids at the same time. You'd have compromised.'
'None of that was ever an issue,' said Eduardo. 'Neither of us had anywhere else we wanted to go, and the kids just kind of happened when they happened.'
Max laughed. 'I'm gonna tell Rosy you said that.'
'Happy to give you something to talk about,' said Eduardo. 'Oh, look, here they come – we'd better stop gossiping.'
T'Keyah had now met up with Roland and his four children: a boy of fourteen; dizygotic twin girls of eleven, who were hanging back and talking to a handheld video camera; and a boy of six, who was allowing himself to be dragged along by his older brother and looking distinctly peeved. They reached Eduardo, Garrett and Max, and the group exchanged a large number of greetings between them, on the outside of which T'Keyah waited patiently.
The twin girls pointed their camera at Max, and one of them said, 'And here's our friend Max – we love him! We didn't know he'd be here! Some of you've met him before. Say hi to our online family, Max!'
'Hi,' said Max, waving and smiling bashfully. 'Over a million subscribers, right? Let's get them to two million by Christmas, guys!'
'I'm hungry!' the little one shouted over the chatter, and clambered onto a chair.
'We'll get in another round of snacks, then,' said Eduardo. 'Come on, Ro, you know what they like.'
Roland followed Eduardo to the end of the Dunkin' Donuts queue, saying as they went, 'Hilary doesn't like them to have too much sugar.'
'Hilary ain't here,' said Eduardo. 'Anyway, look at the poor kid – he's tired and bored and probably stiff from sitting on the plane for all that time. Some sugar'll do him good.'
'Hopefully not too much good,' said Roland, looking doubtfully at his younger son.
'What do you mean? He's not as bad as Casey used to be, is he?'
'Casey was never as bad as you guys made out, Eduardo.'
'Fine,' said Eduardo, 'but what about Dylan right here, right now? It seems like he's either about to drop out of that chair or go rampaging around on a sugar high. The other three probably want to chill out somewhere too, and I'll bet your check-in isn't 'til three, is it? You can come home with me if you want.'
'Oh, you don't have to do that,' said Roland. 'We were just gonna go to T'Keyah's apartment.'
'You wouldn't all fit. Anyway, Kylie's keen to see you.'
'Well... I do want to see Kylie. And Rose could keep Adam entertained, couldn't she?'
'Could she?' Eduardo said doubtfully.
'I'd have thought so. They are about the same age.'
'That doesn't mean anything, man.'
'It's only what you did with Oscar and Kevin all those years ago,' said Roland.
'Well, yeah, but that was different.'
'Why, because they were both boys?'
'No. It's just that I know the kids in my life. Kevin was always very open and friendly and happy to help, whereas Rose is... well, she's...'
'What,' said Roland, 'closed-off and hostile and never helps anyone if she can avoid it?'
'Of course not,' said Eduardo. 'She'll do what she can. I just don't think it's much good hoping your son and my daughter are gonna end up like Kevin and Oscar.'
'I'm not thinking anything of the kind, Eduardo,' Roland said airily. 'They're just kids.'
Kylie looked completely overwhelmed when she found herself standing in the middle of a living room full of Eduardo, Garrett, Roland, T'Keyah and ten minors; these were her own two daughters, Roland's four children and Max, as well as James, Isabel and another boy their age.
'I told Chita she could have them because Rose is having a friend over,' Kylie told Eduardo.
'I'm sorry, babe,' he said. 'I wasn't expecting to meet Roland just then, but I did and I knew you wanted to see him, so I invited him back. I didn't know Chita'd have three friends over.'
'Yes, well,' Kylie said distractedly, 'she couldn't decide between James and Isabel, and then Harry just kind of... appeared.'
Meanwhile, Rose and Max quickly found each other in the crowd and she signed a greeting, to which he replied, 'Hola, cúmbila,' and they hugged.
'At least we don't have to feed anybody,' Eduardo said to Kylie. 'We went to Dunkin' Donuts.'
'Is that why Dylan's crawling around under the sideboard?'
'Um... I don't know. Is that what kids do these days when they're on a sugar high?'
Just then, a loud and vicious hiss became audible from underneath the sideboard. When they turned to look, Eduardo and Kylie noticed two yellow eyes glaring out from the darkest corner.
'Oh crap, he's bothering Merida,' said Kylie. 'How do we stop him?'
'Roland should be stopping him,' said Eduardo, looking around, and seeing Roland in conversation with Garrett, T'Keyah and the twin girls. 'He's not paying Dylan any attention!'
Kylie sighed and said, 'I don't feel comfortable telling other people's children not to do things.'
'Me either,' said Eduardo.
Rose, meanwhile, had picked up on the distress signals coming from her beloved pet and was looking around for a solution. Seeing that her parents were obviously going to be useless, she targeted Adam, who had retired into a corner and was caressing the screen of his tablet.
'Hey,' she said.
Adam looked up and smiled. 'Hi, Rose. Hi, Max,' as Max appeared at Rose's side. 'How are you?'
'I'm fine and Max is fine,' said Rose, 'but my cat is being tormented by your little brother. Don't you think one of you Jacksons ought to be stopping him?'
'Oh, yeah, I guess one of us should,' said Adam, taking in the scene underneath the sideboard. He glanced over at Roland, then said, 'I'd better do it, then, huh?'
'If you don't, I will,' Rose said menacingly.
'I sure don't like the sound of that,' said Adam, exchanging a comical look with Max as he went off to deal with Dylan. He grabbed his little brother by the waist and pulled him out of the dark space, saying, 'Come on, kiddo, the kitty's not friendly.'
Dylan immediately roared with indignation, silencing everyone else in the room.
'What's going on?' Roland demanded, rushing over to his sons.
'Dios,' said Rose, barely audibly, then she mouthed at Max, 'How old is that kid?'
'Six,' Max said quietly, 'but he's just tired from his flight. He's not like that when you visit him at home.'
Roland had been joined by T'Keyah and Conchita, and they were all trying in vain to pacify Dylan when suddenly James asked, 'Does he like mice?'
'What kind of mice?' Roland asked suspiciously.
'Pet mice,' said James. 'He can come to my place and play with my mice if he wants... so long as you're gentle, kid.'
'I am gentle!' Dylan proclaimed. 'Daddy, I wanna play with the mice!'
'Okay, well... thanks, James,' said Roland. 'So... I guess we're going to Carl and Beth's, then.'
'You don't have to go, Roland,' said Kylie. 'Dylan will be fine with James, and... well, Chita and Isabel and Harry would probably like to go too,' she added hopefully.
'I don't know...' said Roland.
'I don't mind going to take care of Dylan, Dad,' said Adam.
'I'll take them in my car,' said T'Keyah, 'as Dylan's tired, and then I think I'll go home. There are a few things I need to do, and you guys must want to catch up.'
'Oh, that makes me feel terrible!' said Kylie. 'You're more than welcome to stay, T'Keyah.'
'Thanks, but I won't,' said T'Keyah. 'I'm moving all the way across the country in a few days, don't forget – I really do have stuff to do. Oh... but all those kids won't fit in my car.'
'Me and Chita and Harry and Isabel can walk,' James said brightly.
'Either you or Chita will have to go in the car, Jim,' said Kylie. 'We can't ask T'Keyah to just show up on your parents' doorstep after twenty years with two kids they're barely even aware of.'
'I'll go with them, Mom,' said Conchita. 'The boys can walk – I want you to come with me, Izzy,' and she linked arms with Isabel while James and Harry made for the front door together, both looking very happy with the arrangement.
Roland and T'Keyah, meanwhile, kissed each other au revoir in the hallway until Roland's twin daughters started making comedy sick noises, at which point T'Keyah left with her entourage.
'Well, that's a relief,' said Kylie, when she had shut the door on Conchita and six of their guests. Then she looked doubtfully at Rose, Max and the twins. 'What would you guys like to do?'
'I'unno,' said one of the twins with a shrug, her demeanour now in complete contrast to her enthusiastic filming at the airport. 'I guess we could just watch a movie.'
'Good idea, Lucie,' said Eduardo. 'Does that sound good to the rest of you? Movie?' he added, looking directly at Max, who had evidently got a little lost.
'Sure,' said Max, smiling gratefully at Eduardo.
'Let's watch Mr Bean's Holiday,' said Rose, earning an approving look from Garrett, as Eduardo went over to the shelf of DVDs and Kylie escaped with Roland to the kitchen.
'Who's Mr Bean?' asked Lucie's twin.
'You're about to find out,' said Garrett. 'You'll love him.'
'Wow, Laura, they still have DVDs here,' Lucie said to her twin, as Eduardo put the film into the DVD player.
'You got a problem with that?' said Rose.
'Rose,' said Eduardo, 'se amable, por favor.'
'There's no problem, Rose,' Laura said reasonably. 'We're just not used to DVDs, that's all.'
'Y'know, you guys,' said Garrett, 'your father was one of the first people ever to own any DVDs.'
'Right,' said Eduardo, laughing, 'when DVD players were still ridiculously expensive and nobody had one. He used to watch them on his PC.'
Both twins looked thoroughly confused, and Lucie asked, 'How?'
'Don't tell me you've never seen a desktop PC,' said Garrett. 'They still take DVDs, don't they? You must have them at school.'
'We use tablets at school,' said Laura.
'Seriously?' said Garrett. 'Does everyone do that? Max!' He waved to attract Max's attention, then signed a question to him, which Max answered with a nod. 'I thought so! Max's school has desktop PCs. Does yours, Rose?'
'Yes, hundreds,' said Rose, who had picked up the DVD remote control and was skipping through the trailers and copyright information. 'But sometimes they make us use tablets as well.'
'We were lucky if we had one computer in the whole school, weren't we, Gar?' said Eduardo.
'Right, right,' Garrett laughed, 'with a giant monitor and a black screen with green text on it.'
'Excuse me,' said Rose. 'I think you'll find the dinosaur reunion is happening in the kitchen.'
'She's right, y'know, Eddie,' said Garrett.
'Yeah, she is,' Lucie said irritably. 'Are we gonna watch this thing or not?'
Eduardo and Garrett exchanged a look, then Garrett said, 'Are you okay, Luce? You don't seem your usual chirpy self.'
'You can't expect me to be like I am on YouTube all the time, Garrett,' said Lucie. 'I'm fine.'
'You are such a liar,' Laura told her twin. Then she looked at Garrett and Eduardo. 'She doesn't like Dad marrying T'Keyah.'
'I do like Dad marrying T'Keyah!' Lucie said indignantly. 'I like T'Keyah. It's just... I don't know what it's gonna be like having her actually in the family, that's all. None of us do.'
'I'm sure it'll be fine,' said Garrett. 'We always used to like her back in the days of the dinosaurs.'
'I like her too – I just said that,' Lucie said sulkily. 'But nobody's perfect, right?'
'What's wrong with T'Keyah?' asked Max, who had been watching Lucie's lips.
'Nothing much,' said Lucie. 'Just small things that don't even really matter, like... well, she always asks me if my clothes are new.'
Eduardo, Garrett and Max all laughed at this, while Rose and Laura smiled in amusement.
'How annoying,' Garrett sympathised. 'And I'll bet she doesn't do it to any of the others, does she?'
'No, never!' said Lucie, laughing as well now.
'You know what, Lucie?' said Eduardo. 'I'll bet when T'Keyah's living in the same house where you spend half your life, she'll be able to keep better track of your clothes.'
'Yeah... that makes sense,' said Lucie, looking pleased with this idea. 'So anyway, are we gonna watch this movie now?'
'Yes,' said Rose, and she started the film playing, so Garrett and Eduardo went into the kitchen.
'Just in time,' said Kylie, who was pouring out four mugs of coffee. Eduardo moved two dining chairs to make room for Garrett's wheelchair, and they all sat around the kitchen table.
'Are you sure you want to be here, Roland?' said Eduardo. 'Don't feel you have to stay – you can go after T'Keyah if you want to.'
'Why wouldn't I want to stay?' said Roland.
'I think,' said Kylie, making a face at Eduardo, 'Mr Romance here expects that you'll want to go to bed together.'
'Oh,' said Roland. 'Well, I expect we'll do that later.'
'Jesus, we are getting old,' said Garrett.
'After I meet up with T'Keyah again today,' said Roland, 'I intend to spend the rest of my life with her, but I hardly ever get to see you guys.'
'Hey, you know what we should do?' said Garrett. 'We should all go to the firehouse and annoy the current Ghostbusters by taking their calls and insisting that we're better than them. We could turn it into a tradition.'
'That could get complicated,' said Eduardo. 'There's always at least eight Ghostbusters employed at any one time now, not including me, and you never really know who's about to leave.'
'It's funny that you're the only one of us still there, isn't it?' Garrett said to him. 'I mean, you would've walked out on the whole thing after two seconds if I hadn't called you a daisy.'
'What?' said Kylie. 'I don't remember this – where was I?'
'You were busy being possessed by Achira, babe,' said Eduardo. 'Y'know, Garrett, those kids wouldn't like to hear that you'd used terminology like that. Especially James.'
'Yeah, he's not very tolerant of people from other time periods,' Kylie said with a wry smile.
'We just did it so unthinkingly back then, didn't we?' said Garrett. 'Especially me. I don't think I meant to imply that not wanting to be a Ghostbuster made you gay or anything... or that there was anything wrong with being gay. I just, y'know... thought it'd be funny to call you a wimp, Eddie. But obviously I don't say things like that now. I mean, I try not to. It's so easy to say something wrong by mistake these days, isn't it?'
'Rose was right,' said Eduardo. 'This is a dinosaur reunion.'
'That girl's a diamond, you guys,' Garrett said with an abrupt change of tone, looking from Eduardo to Kylie and back again. 'I mean, they both are. You probably hear about how great Conchita is all the time because it's so easy to notice, but I noticed Rose suggesting Mr Bean's Holiday for the benefit of everyone, including my boy. Who else would think of that?'
'James?' Roland suggested. 'It sounds like he's on top of that kind of thing.'
'I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'James'd probably pick any old movie and be hyper-aware that he had to get up the subtitles, but Rosy thought of watching something that transcends language. Genius.'
In the living room, the four kids were laughing raucously at the antics of Mr Bean.
'Sounds like my two are enjoying it, anyway,' said Roland.
'How long before they start getting bored and pull out their tablets?' Kylie asked teasingly.
'They'll stick with it if they like it,' said Roland. 'Y'know, I'm especially glad to hear Lucie laughing – she's been a little subdued. I kind of thought maybe she wasn't okay with me remarrying.'
'Oh, she's fine with it,' Garrett said dismissively. 'It's not like she thought you and her mom might get back together or anything. Those kids of yours are about to go through a big change, Roland, but once you're all settled back in California, everyone'll be fine.'
'I guess what's happening with us is nothing compared to what Max went through, huh?' said Roland. 'Sorry, Garrett, I shouldn't have mentioned it.'
'Don't be stupid,' said Garrett. 'We're all worried about our kids, Roland. If I thought Lucie really had a problem, then I'd help you with it all I could, but she's honestly fine. Me and Eddie just talked to the four of them in there, and they're all perfectly happy and normal.'
'Normal, Garrett?' said Kylie, raising her eyebrows. 'Why, what ever do you mean by “normal”?'
'Normal?' said Garrett. 'I didn't say normal. They're all perfectly happy – that's what I said.'
A well-timed bout of laughter erupted from the living room.
'You know what?' said Roland. 'I sometimes wonder what would've happened if I'd come back here after I got my doctorate. I'd definitely see a lot more of you guys,' looking at Eduardo and Kylie, 'and a little more of you, Garrett. And I might have stayed with T'Keyah... but actually, I don't think I would've. She was talking about having “maybe” one or two kids in no less than ten years! I know a lot of people didn't think my marrying Hilary was the smartest move, but I did love her in a way, and now we're genuinely good friends. And neither of us would change our kids for anything.'
'Who the hell cares what “a lot of people” think?' said Eduardo. 'You gotta do what feels right, man.'
'You got what you wanted out of it, Rolster,' said Garrett. '“Kids” is what you said; “a whole bunch of 'em”, if I remember correctly.'
'How many make a “bunch”, Roland, in your opinion?' asked Kylie.
'Oh, I don't know,' said Roland. 'A minimum of four, I suppose.'
'A minimum?' said Eduardo. 'Are you loco? You're supposed to have two.'
'Preferably seventeen years apart, right, babe?' said Kylie.
'Not necessarily,' said Eduardo. 'Sometimes that works out well and sometimes it doesn't.'
'I think you mean a maximum of two, Eddie,' Garrett said pointedly.
'No,' said Eduardo. 'Everyone knows that only children get spoilt.' He was prepared for the playful pummelling he received on either side from Kylie and Garrett.
'You got what you wanted too, Gar,' said Roland. 'Didn't I say you'd have a son who could walk?'
'You said I might,' said Garrett, laying off Eduardo, 'and I do still love him, like I said. But y'know, when I hooked up with the adoption agency, I found myself insisting on taking one of the kids with a need.'
'Is that what we're calling it now?' said Eduardo. 'A “need”?'
'Yes, of course, it's obvious,' said Garrett. 'Didn't you pick that one up from your nephew?'
'No,' said Eduardo, 'but me and Kylie are experts on gender and sexual orientation thanks to him.'
'Ah, poor Kylie,' said Garrett, turning to look at her. 'You never did get to travel the world with a handsome, intelligent man, did you?'
'That's all you know,' said Kylie, squeezing Eduardo's hand under the table.
'Thanks for not running with him on that one, Ky,' Eduardo said gratefully.
'Sweetie, as if I would,' said Kylie.
'I don't think you told us what you wanted that night, Eduardo,' said Roland. 'What was it?'
'I don't know, man,' said Eduardo. 'I was a kid back then.'
There followed a reflective silence, which was filled moments later by the sound of children's laughter coming through the wall.
'I told Chita she could have them because Rose is having a friend over,' Kylie told Eduardo.
'I'm sorry, babe,' he said. 'I wasn't expecting to meet Roland just then, but I did and I knew you wanted to see him, so I invited him back. I didn't know Chita'd have three friends over.'
'Yes, well,' Kylie said distractedly, 'she couldn't decide between James and Isabel, and then Harry just kind of... appeared.'
Meanwhile, Rose and Max quickly found each other in the crowd and she signed a greeting, to which he replied, 'Hola, cúmbila,' and they hugged.
'At least we don't have to feed anybody,' Eduardo said to Kylie. 'We went to Dunkin' Donuts.'
'Is that why Dylan's crawling around under the sideboard?'
'Um... I don't know. Is that what kids do these days when they're on a sugar high?'
Just then, a loud and vicious hiss became audible from underneath the sideboard. When they turned to look, Eduardo and Kylie noticed two yellow eyes glaring out from the darkest corner.
'Oh crap, he's bothering Merida,' said Kylie. 'How do we stop him?'
'Roland should be stopping him,' said Eduardo, looking around, and seeing Roland in conversation with Garrett, T'Keyah and the twin girls. 'He's not paying Dylan any attention!'
Kylie sighed and said, 'I don't feel comfortable telling other people's children not to do things.'
'Me either,' said Eduardo.
Rose, meanwhile, had picked up on the distress signals coming from her beloved pet and was looking around for a solution. Seeing that her parents were obviously going to be useless, she targeted Adam, who had retired into a corner and was caressing the screen of his tablet.
'Hey,' she said.
Adam looked up and smiled. 'Hi, Rose. Hi, Max,' as Max appeared at Rose's side. 'How are you?'
'I'm fine and Max is fine,' said Rose, 'but my cat is being tormented by your little brother. Don't you think one of you Jacksons ought to be stopping him?'
'Oh, yeah, I guess one of us should,' said Adam, taking in the scene underneath the sideboard. He glanced over at Roland, then said, 'I'd better do it, then, huh?'
'If you don't, I will,' Rose said menacingly.
'I sure don't like the sound of that,' said Adam, exchanging a comical look with Max as he went off to deal with Dylan. He grabbed his little brother by the waist and pulled him out of the dark space, saying, 'Come on, kiddo, the kitty's not friendly.'
Dylan immediately roared with indignation, silencing everyone else in the room.
'What's going on?' Roland demanded, rushing over to his sons.
'Dios,' said Rose, barely audibly, then she mouthed at Max, 'How old is that kid?'
'Six,' Max said quietly, 'but he's just tired from his flight. He's not like that when you visit him at home.'
Roland had been joined by T'Keyah and Conchita, and they were all trying in vain to pacify Dylan when suddenly James asked, 'Does he like mice?'
'What kind of mice?' Roland asked suspiciously.
'Pet mice,' said James. 'He can come to my place and play with my mice if he wants... so long as you're gentle, kid.'
'I am gentle!' Dylan proclaimed. 'Daddy, I wanna play with the mice!'
'Okay, well... thanks, James,' said Roland. 'So... I guess we're going to Carl and Beth's, then.'
'You don't have to go, Roland,' said Kylie. 'Dylan will be fine with James, and... well, Chita and Isabel and Harry would probably like to go too,' she added hopefully.
'I don't know...' said Roland.
'I don't mind going to take care of Dylan, Dad,' said Adam.
'I'll take them in my car,' said T'Keyah, 'as Dylan's tired, and then I think I'll go home. There are a few things I need to do, and you guys must want to catch up.'
'Oh, that makes me feel terrible!' said Kylie. 'You're more than welcome to stay, T'Keyah.'
'Thanks, but I won't,' said T'Keyah. 'I'm moving all the way across the country in a few days, don't forget – I really do have stuff to do. Oh... but all those kids won't fit in my car.'
'Me and Chita and Harry and Isabel can walk,' James said brightly.
'Either you or Chita will have to go in the car, Jim,' said Kylie. 'We can't ask T'Keyah to just show up on your parents' doorstep after twenty years with two kids they're barely even aware of.'
'I'll go with them, Mom,' said Conchita. 'The boys can walk – I want you to come with me, Izzy,' and she linked arms with Isabel while James and Harry made for the front door together, both looking very happy with the arrangement.
Roland and T'Keyah, meanwhile, kissed each other au revoir in the hallway until Roland's twin daughters started making comedy sick noises, at which point T'Keyah left with her entourage.
'Well, that's a relief,' said Kylie, when she had shut the door on Conchita and six of their guests. Then she looked doubtfully at Rose, Max and the twins. 'What would you guys like to do?'
'I'unno,' said one of the twins with a shrug, her demeanour now in complete contrast to her enthusiastic filming at the airport. 'I guess we could just watch a movie.'
'Good idea, Lucie,' said Eduardo. 'Does that sound good to the rest of you? Movie?' he added, looking directly at Max, who had evidently got a little lost.
'Sure,' said Max, smiling gratefully at Eduardo.
'Let's watch Mr Bean's Holiday,' said Rose, earning an approving look from Garrett, as Eduardo went over to the shelf of DVDs and Kylie escaped with Roland to the kitchen.
'Who's Mr Bean?' asked Lucie's twin.
'You're about to find out,' said Garrett. 'You'll love him.'
'Wow, Laura, they still have DVDs here,' Lucie said to her twin, as Eduardo put the film into the DVD player.
'You got a problem with that?' said Rose.
'Rose,' said Eduardo, 'se amable, por favor.'
'There's no problem, Rose,' Laura said reasonably. 'We're just not used to DVDs, that's all.'
'Y'know, you guys,' said Garrett, 'your father was one of the first people ever to own any DVDs.'
'Right,' said Eduardo, laughing, 'when DVD players were still ridiculously expensive and nobody had one. He used to watch them on his PC.'
Both twins looked thoroughly confused, and Lucie asked, 'How?'
'Don't tell me you've never seen a desktop PC,' said Garrett. 'They still take DVDs, don't they? You must have them at school.'
'We use tablets at school,' said Laura.
'Seriously?' said Garrett. 'Does everyone do that? Max!' He waved to attract Max's attention, then signed a question to him, which Max answered with a nod. 'I thought so! Max's school has desktop PCs. Does yours, Rose?'
'Yes, hundreds,' said Rose, who had picked up the DVD remote control and was skipping through the trailers and copyright information. 'But sometimes they make us use tablets as well.'
'We were lucky if we had one computer in the whole school, weren't we, Gar?' said Eduardo.
'Right, right,' Garrett laughed, 'with a giant monitor and a black screen with green text on it.'
'Excuse me,' said Rose. 'I think you'll find the dinosaur reunion is happening in the kitchen.'
'She's right, y'know, Eddie,' said Garrett.
'Yeah, she is,' Lucie said irritably. 'Are we gonna watch this thing or not?'
Eduardo and Garrett exchanged a look, then Garrett said, 'Are you okay, Luce? You don't seem your usual chirpy self.'
'You can't expect me to be like I am on YouTube all the time, Garrett,' said Lucie. 'I'm fine.'
'You are such a liar,' Laura told her twin. Then she looked at Garrett and Eduardo. 'She doesn't like Dad marrying T'Keyah.'
'I do like Dad marrying T'Keyah!' Lucie said indignantly. 'I like T'Keyah. It's just... I don't know what it's gonna be like having her actually in the family, that's all. None of us do.'
'I'm sure it'll be fine,' said Garrett. 'We always used to like her back in the days of the dinosaurs.'
'I like her too – I just said that,' Lucie said sulkily. 'But nobody's perfect, right?'
'What's wrong with T'Keyah?' asked Max, who had been watching Lucie's lips.
'Nothing much,' said Lucie. 'Just small things that don't even really matter, like... well, she always asks me if my clothes are new.'
Eduardo, Garrett and Max all laughed at this, while Rose and Laura smiled in amusement.
'How annoying,' Garrett sympathised. 'And I'll bet she doesn't do it to any of the others, does she?'
'No, never!' said Lucie, laughing as well now.
'You know what, Lucie?' said Eduardo. 'I'll bet when T'Keyah's living in the same house where you spend half your life, she'll be able to keep better track of your clothes.'
'Yeah... that makes sense,' said Lucie, looking pleased with this idea. 'So anyway, are we gonna watch this movie now?'
'Yes,' said Rose, and she started the film playing, so Garrett and Eduardo went into the kitchen.
'Just in time,' said Kylie, who was pouring out four mugs of coffee. Eduardo moved two dining chairs to make room for Garrett's wheelchair, and they all sat around the kitchen table.
'Are you sure you want to be here, Roland?' said Eduardo. 'Don't feel you have to stay – you can go after T'Keyah if you want to.'
'Why wouldn't I want to stay?' said Roland.
'I think,' said Kylie, making a face at Eduardo, 'Mr Romance here expects that you'll want to go to bed together.'
'Oh,' said Roland. 'Well, I expect we'll do that later.'
'Jesus, we are getting old,' said Garrett.
'After I meet up with T'Keyah again today,' said Roland, 'I intend to spend the rest of my life with her, but I hardly ever get to see you guys.'
'Hey, you know what we should do?' said Garrett. 'We should all go to the firehouse and annoy the current Ghostbusters by taking their calls and insisting that we're better than them. We could turn it into a tradition.'
'That could get complicated,' said Eduardo. 'There's always at least eight Ghostbusters employed at any one time now, not including me, and you never really know who's about to leave.'
'It's funny that you're the only one of us still there, isn't it?' Garrett said to him. 'I mean, you would've walked out on the whole thing after two seconds if I hadn't called you a daisy.'
'What?' said Kylie. 'I don't remember this – where was I?'
'You were busy being possessed by Achira, babe,' said Eduardo. 'Y'know, Garrett, those kids wouldn't like to hear that you'd used terminology like that. Especially James.'
'Yeah, he's not very tolerant of people from other time periods,' Kylie said with a wry smile.
'We just did it so unthinkingly back then, didn't we?' said Garrett. 'Especially me. I don't think I meant to imply that not wanting to be a Ghostbuster made you gay or anything... or that there was anything wrong with being gay. I just, y'know... thought it'd be funny to call you a wimp, Eddie. But obviously I don't say things like that now. I mean, I try not to. It's so easy to say something wrong by mistake these days, isn't it?'
'Rose was right,' said Eduardo. 'This is a dinosaur reunion.'
'That girl's a diamond, you guys,' Garrett said with an abrupt change of tone, looking from Eduardo to Kylie and back again. 'I mean, they both are. You probably hear about how great Conchita is all the time because it's so easy to notice, but I noticed Rose suggesting Mr Bean's Holiday for the benefit of everyone, including my boy. Who else would think of that?'
'James?' Roland suggested. 'It sounds like he's on top of that kind of thing.'
'I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'James'd probably pick any old movie and be hyper-aware that he had to get up the subtitles, but Rosy thought of watching something that transcends language. Genius.'
In the living room, the four kids were laughing raucously at the antics of Mr Bean.
'Sounds like my two are enjoying it, anyway,' said Roland.
'How long before they start getting bored and pull out their tablets?' Kylie asked teasingly.
'They'll stick with it if they like it,' said Roland. 'Y'know, I'm especially glad to hear Lucie laughing – she's been a little subdued. I kind of thought maybe she wasn't okay with me remarrying.'
'Oh, she's fine with it,' Garrett said dismissively. 'It's not like she thought you and her mom might get back together or anything. Those kids of yours are about to go through a big change, Roland, but once you're all settled back in California, everyone'll be fine.'
'I guess what's happening with us is nothing compared to what Max went through, huh?' said Roland. 'Sorry, Garrett, I shouldn't have mentioned it.'
'Don't be stupid,' said Garrett. 'We're all worried about our kids, Roland. If I thought Lucie really had a problem, then I'd help you with it all I could, but she's honestly fine. Me and Eddie just talked to the four of them in there, and they're all perfectly happy and normal.'
'Normal, Garrett?' said Kylie, raising her eyebrows. 'Why, what ever do you mean by “normal”?'
'Normal?' said Garrett. 'I didn't say normal. They're all perfectly happy – that's what I said.'
A well-timed bout of laughter erupted from the living room.
'You know what?' said Roland. 'I sometimes wonder what would've happened if I'd come back here after I got my doctorate. I'd definitely see a lot more of you guys,' looking at Eduardo and Kylie, 'and a little more of you, Garrett. And I might have stayed with T'Keyah... but actually, I don't think I would've. She was talking about having “maybe” one or two kids in no less than ten years! I know a lot of people didn't think my marrying Hilary was the smartest move, but I did love her in a way, and now we're genuinely good friends. And neither of us would change our kids for anything.'
'Who the hell cares what “a lot of people” think?' said Eduardo. 'You gotta do what feels right, man.'
'You got what you wanted out of it, Rolster,' said Garrett. '“Kids” is what you said; “a whole bunch of 'em”, if I remember correctly.'
'How many make a “bunch”, Roland, in your opinion?' asked Kylie.
'Oh, I don't know,' said Roland. 'A minimum of four, I suppose.'
'A minimum?' said Eduardo. 'Are you loco? You're supposed to have two.'
'Preferably seventeen years apart, right, babe?' said Kylie.
'Not necessarily,' said Eduardo. 'Sometimes that works out well and sometimes it doesn't.'
'I think you mean a maximum of two, Eddie,' Garrett said pointedly.
'No,' said Eduardo. 'Everyone knows that only children get spoilt.' He was prepared for the playful pummelling he received on either side from Kylie and Garrett.
'You got what you wanted too, Gar,' said Roland. 'Didn't I say you'd have a son who could walk?'
'You said I might,' said Garrett, laying off Eduardo, 'and I do still love him, like I said. But y'know, when I hooked up with the adoption agency, I found myself insisting on taking one of the kids with a need.'
'Is that what we're calling it now?' said Eduardo. 'A “need”?'
'Yes, of course, it's obvious,' said Garrett. 'Didn't you pick that one up from your nephew?'
'No,' said Eduardo, 'but me and Kylie are experts on gender and sexual orientation thanks to him.'
'Ah, poor Kylie,' said Garrett, turning to look at her. 'You never did get to travel the world with a handsome, intelligent man, did you?'
'That's all you know,' said Kylie, squeezing Eduardo's hand under the table.
'Thanks for not running with him on that one, Ky,' Eduardo said gratefully.
'Sweetie, as if I would,' said Kylie.
'I don't think you told us what you wanted that night, Eduardo,' said Roland. 'What was it?'
'I don't know, man,' said Eduardo. 'I was a kid back then.'
There followed a reflective silence, which was filled moments later by the sound of children's laughter coming through the wall.
