“I think I got it from here,” he said, as she looked away nervously.
“I’m so, so sorry,” she pleaded. “I really didn’t mean to do it.”
Henry smiled at her and could tell she was truly sorry. “It’s ok, don’t worry about it,” he said. He now held the cloth and soda water. “Can you point me to the bathroom so I can see if this will come out?”
Gwen showed him to the bathroom. She waited outside the bathroom while he got the stain out.
Henry emerged with the pen mark gone but a giant water stain right in his crotch, and proclaimed, with a resounding tone of confidence and accomplishment, “I got the stain out!”
Gwen smiled at his look of accomplishment and then glanced down at his pants and smirked, holding back an entire laughing fit. She responded, half laughing, “You did,” in recognition of his accomplishment.
Henry realizing, her sympathetic acknowledgment, got a little angry. “Listen, I wouldn’t look like this if you hadn’t…”
But he was interrupted by Gwen, who, still laughing, said, “I’m sorry, this won’t do. Wait here. I have a pair of my brother’s pants in my room that should fit you. I’ll get them.”
She returned with the pants and took his other pants, saying she would return them washed for him, which she did two days later and forwardly asked him out. A year later when Henry met her family, it turned out she did not have a brother, just another funny layer to an already funny story. Henry loved Gwen and knew she was his equal in every regard. Henry never said it, but Gwen and the family all knew he was proud of the quirky situation that led them to meet. Just like his father, he had a story to be told over and over again.
Lee, just like his brother, was over six foot, but he excelled at debate and was heavily involved in theater all through high school and college. He even played varsity baseball but rode the pine as a backup catcher. He enjoyed sports and sporting activities. He did not hang out in the same circles as his brother in high school but there was no animosity, and when their social circles did intertwine, it was not weird or forced. They loved and respected each other and enjoyed each other’s company. When Lee attended the same college as Henry, there was a feeling that Lee wanted to separate himself from Henry, plus he didn’t like the social construct of fraternity and knew he’d be very busy with theater and he would not have enough time for fraternity. He, therefore, didn’t even rush, which upset Henry a little bit, but he understood. Either way, Lee was a constant at some of the fraternity parties and was always accepted by the members when he came around to see his brother. Lee was in the debate club through college and even competed in the national debate championships in Washington DC in his senior year, which Umma, Pop Pop, Henry, and Gwen, who were young newlyweds, attended. He did not win but was respectably placed seventh, considering it was a national competition. While they were in university together, Henry would go to all Lee’s opening night theater productions.
Lee dated on and off through high school and college and was quite popular with the thespian ladies. He was never serious about his relationships, though, and was more concentrated on the next play or debate, but, like most college students, had time for social interactions with the opposite sex. He was very determined to become a lawyer. He knew that was his calling from high school and was accepted into every law school he applied to. He finally chose to attend the University of Michigan Law School, which was a little controversial, considering his undergrad from Michigan State, but it was the best opportunity. He would always root for State when their teams played each other.
Lee met his wife Linda through a mutual friend and they were not romantically involved for many months, even though Linda complained she basically had to throw herself upon Lee. They did not indulge in a quirky meeting story, maybe because neither was competitive and didn’t feel they needed to prove their relationship’s authenticity, but mostly because they just met organically and not during some time-stopping event. This did not bother Lee; he was not competitive and didn’t care about how he met his wife. He only cared that he loved her deeply, which he did, especially when he saw how wonderful a mother she was to his three children: Jeffery, eight, Peter, six, and Eve, three.
Neither son was closer to their parents than the other. However, Henry did take after his dad more and Lee after his mother more, but their similarities did not endear them more to their similar parent; if anything, it did the reverse. If favoritism was to be noticed, then Henry got along with his mother and Lee with his father. Regardless, their family was very close, and what little favoritism was shown did not cause animosity, jealousy, or distrust. This attitude was instilled in all of the Harpers, and even the grandchildren got along well, with Henry’s and Lee’s children playing together regularly, and Henry’s son Paul and Lee’s son Jeffery even declaring the best friend status of their relationship several years back. They had been inseparable ever since. They were rambunctious together and Pop Pop egged them on, often getting the boys and himself in trouble with the wives. Lisa, now 13, was getting too mature for her younger brothers and cousins and often felt left out when they would play guns and “boy games,” especially when Pop Pop would so eagerly play with her brothers. But, just as he had never done with his sons, Pop Pop never showed favoritism towards his grandchildren. Each was special. He was even very gentle and enthusiastic with the youngest, Eve, at three.
Pop Pop had started to spend a lot of time with his grandkids after his wife’s death. He hated to be alone in the house, so would drive over most days to one of his sons to babysit/play/supervise. He would eagerly volunteer to babysit and even force Lee and Linda and Henry and Gwen to go on “date nights,” even going as far as buying concert and theater tickets so the sons would be obliged to leave and use him as a babysitter. The family knew how lonely he was after Emily’s death and gladly embraced his eagerness to be around. No one ever complained, because Pop Pop was helpful and cheerful and never complained.
Henry and Gwen would often take advantage of Pop Pop’s eagerness to babysit, Gwen doing errands, and Henry playing golf with his good friend Nigel. During one of Nigel’s and Henry’s golf matches after Umma had died, he tried to console Henry on the links by finding misjudged similarities.
Nigel commented, “Good on you for indulging in your father after his loss,” to which Henry responded, in confusion, “What are you talking about?”
“You know, it must be tough to spend so much time with him now.”
Henry, still confused and a little annoyed with the comment, said “Nigel, I don’t dislike having my dad around. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have played golf today or….” With a smile on his face, he stopped.
Nigel looked intrigued. “Or what?”
“Fine, I’ll tell you.” Henry paused for dramatic effect and said, “… wouldn’t have gotten head from my wife in a hotel last weekend.”
“Wow, a non-birthday or anniversary blow job. That is amazing!”
Right at that moment, Henry got a call, which made Nigel look up in disgust, as it was his backswing to his putt. Henry looked at the caller ID while apologizing for the call. Usually, he would never take a call on the links, but the caller ID was his home and his father was the only one home with the kids and would never call him on the golf course.
He answered, “Hey, Pop Pop, what’s going on?” However, it was Lisa on the other end. “Hi, honey, what’s going on?”
Lisa was crying and hysterical. “Daddy, Pop Pop has fallen over and can’t get up!”
“Honey, stay with me.” He put his hand over the phone and told Nigel to call 911. “Is Pop Pop breathing?”
Lisa was crying but getting it together now that she knew her dad was there. “He is