Yuri and Jessica had finished their homework. They came down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. Each took a soda out of the refrigerator, and they sat down at the kitchen table.
Robbie and Mitch were running in and out the back door to his room and back. They both got some water and stood at the kitchen island, strategizing how they could make their skateboards go faster. Yuri motioned for them to sit down and he’d help them.
Gini and Debbie emerged from the garage after grocery shopping. Robbie immediately went to help bring in the bags from the garage.
There he met Robert just pulling in. The two of them got the rest of the food and brought it in. Robert kissed Gini when he got to the kitchen and they both sat at the table.
Alyssa came through the front door, followed by Kensy. Kensy went up behind Debbie at the sink and hugged her. Debbie turned, they kissed, and then the three of them started preparing dinner. This was a typical night at the Young house.
The one person missing was Pastor Daniel. Alyssa had become part of the Young family. She adored the kids, and each had respect for her. Jessica had often asked her questions when she was in middle and high school about what Aly would do in certain situations. She was like a second mother, sister to Jessica, and the kids’ taxi service. Alyssa loved every day of her job.
Aly and Daniel had dated for almost fourteen years. Everyone thought eventually he and Alyssa would be married and have a family. But he had never asked her. There was not even any discussion.
Daniel knew the Youngs needed Alyssa to take care of the children. If they married, she would no longer live there, and he wasn’t sure she would ever agree to marriage, at least not until Robbie was older. And he didn’t want to be the one who interrupted the smoothly running life at the Young house. Dating worked for him. They could see each other every day. But when there was a buzz that he was going to get his own church, he wanted her to go with him.
Robert had told Aly she needed to be with him if that’s what she wanted. The kids were older, and he had felt sure he and Debbie could handle taking care of them and getting them from place to place. But Alyssa felt committed to taking care of the children. When Daniel hinted he wanted her to go with him, she said she had a job and it was in New Haven. Perhaps that commitment was the reason Daniel left for his new church in Maine without her—never asking her to go or to marry him. Aly continued to be active in the church and volunteered when needed. It seemed like a different place without him. No more did she hear his rich baritone voice echo through its halls.
Once he settled in his new church, he realized how much he loved her and relied on her wisdom.
The New Haven congregation missed him dearly, but not as much as Alyssa. They talked on the phone some and through the internet, but she was guarded, not wanting to be hurt any further.
Robert was totally out of the medical part of the medical center, working in Administration with the CFO and the hospital’s finances. The hospital had grown until there was no place else to build, even after buying a small part of the park for their new wing. The fertility clinic was the best in New England, and the neurology department was known across the nation. John was semiretired, working only to train the new head of the department. And since Robert was working office hours rather than doctor’s hours, he was home by five and had plenty of time to enjoy his growing family.
Jessica was very connected to her mother and spent many hours with her. She was in the line of Gini caregivers. They planted in the raised garden in the backyard. Jessica styled Gini’s hair, did her nails and makeup, or they just sat and talked, mostly with Gini using sign language. And of course, the whole family, including Debbie and Alyssa, played braille cards a lot.
Now closing in on Jessica’s senior year in high school, the talk was of college, careers, and her leaving home.
“Robert, you could get Jessie into Harvard with the flick of your finger since you are an alumnus,” Debbie said after dinner one night.
“I don’t want Daddy to help me. I want to be accepted on my own merit. Besides, even though I’ve applied at Harvard and Yale, John Hopkins is my first choice. They’re number one in neurology.”
“Be, fah, from, hoe… um.”
“I know, Mama, but we can video talk, and I’ll come home when I can.”
“School, im… port—”
“Important,” Robert echoed the word. “You’ll need to focus on your studies, not worry about us here.”
“What about you and Yuri?” Debbie asked. “Where’s he going?”
“Harvard, John Hopkins, or Stanford. We’re just waiting to get our letters of acceptance.”
“Whoa, Stanford, that’s a long way from here.”
“I know,” Jessica said.
“How’s that going to work out?” Debbie kept pressing.
“Work out?”
“Being so far from each other.”
“School is the most important thing for both of us right now.”
“Yes, yes, im…pore…tent.” Gini smiled. “Too, ong, for, boy.”
“Oh, Mama. I know you like him.”
By October, both Jessica and Yuri had been accepted to Harvard. Then Jessica got a yes from Yale, but still nothing for either of them from John Hopkins. Gini secretly wished for Harvard, but she knew that wasn’t the school Jessica had her heart set on.
And then the big day arrived. Both received
