Jerry, who gave
a little grunt of disgust before stabbing a cherry tomato in his salad.
The Danforths
took their places at the table and ordered their meals, and while everyone ate,
the subject of shipboard relationships never came up again, the conversation
jockeying between Edward Danforth's years in the Army, and Charlie Danforth's
memories of growing up as an Army brat. Fond memories, it seemed. Their waiter
had just cleared the first course, when the Danforth's son, Ned, turned to his
father, and said, "Dad, when we dock in Nassau the Robinsons are going
snorkeling and Jimmy asked if I could go with them. Can I?"
Charlie Danforth
hesitated for a moment, then glanced at his son, and replied, "We don't
know the Robinsons, so no. Not this time."
Ned looked at
his mother. "Mom, talk to Dad. Get him to let me go."
"You heard
your father, Ned. The answer is no."
Ned, seeming to
drop the subject, continued eating.
Andrea sat
silently watching the boy, but she could almost feel Jerry's response to the
interchange between the boy and his parents. Bafflement. Just as she was
feeling. With Scott, there would have been an exhausting argument, and if he
didn't get his way he'd play one parent against the other. Invariably, one of
them would cave, and Scott would put that victory in his arsenal of parental
manipulations to use during the next confrontation.
Ned never
brought up the subject of snorkeling again, but as soon as they were finished
desert, he asked to be excused. After he'd gone, Andrea said to the Danforths,
"Your son is so well-behaved. You must be very proud of him."
Lillian
laughed. "He's a work in progress. And yes, he's pretty much the focus of
our lives. As you must have noticed, we're on the old side to have a
fourteen-year-old boy. After we'd tried every fertility drug on the market, and
followed all the usual... methods, the doctor told us to stop spending our time
trying to get pregnant and find a place to just relax and enjoy each other. Two
days later we flew to a resort in Nassau, spent six days beachcombing and
snorkeling, and being with each other and remembering what it was like when we
just let things happen, and it worked. Nine months later, Ned was born."
"But he
doesn't seem in the least bit spoiled," Andrea said, wondering if there
was another side to the boy, a side he hid when in public. "He accepted
your refusal to let him go snorkeling with his friend without question."
Lillian
laughed. "He knows better than to try. Charlie and I vowed when I finally
got pregnant that no matter how much we might disagree on how to handle our
child when issues came up, we'd always present a united front to him."
"But what
if you'd disagreed with Charlie earlier?" Andrea asked.
Lillian
laughed. "Charlie already knew I agreed with him. We have this signal
system with nudging and blinking. One nudge or blink means I agree completely , two means absolutely
not , and three means let's talk about
it and let him know later . We've been using it since Ned was old enough to
understand that what Mommy and Daddy says goes." She looked at her husband
and smiled. "Believe me , Charlie and I have
disagreed many times behind the scenes, and Charlie's had to give in to me as
much as I've had to give in to him. But when Ned gets his answer from us, or is
given his punishment for bad behavior, Charlie and I always appear to be in
agreement."
Charlie tipped
his wine glass toward his father, who was smiling at him. "That guy across
the table from you showed me the way," he said, affectionately. "He
and my mother were a formidable pair when they said no. Thanks, Dad."
The old man
beamed. "Your mother would have been proud to hear you say that."
***
Alone in the
honeymoon suite that night, Jerry lay stretched on the bed, his mind divided
between what might be going on in Alessandro Cavallaro's stateroom, and the
exchange at the table with the Danforths earlier. At the moment, he was mulling
over the Danforths and their
a little grunt of disgust before stabbing a cherry tomato in his salad.
The Danforths
took their places at the table and ordered their meals, and while everyone ate,
the subject of shipboard relationships never came up again, the conversation
jockeying between Edward Danforth's years in the Army, and Charlie Danforth's
memories of growing up as an Army brat. Fond memories, it seemed. Their waiter
had just cleared the first course, when the Danforth's son, Ned, turned to his
father, and said, "Dad, when we dock in Nassau the Robinsons are going
snorkeling and Jimmy asked if I could go with them. Can I?"
Charlie Danforth
hesitated for a moment, then glanced at his son, and replied, "We don't
know the Robinsons, so no. Not this time."
Ned looked at
his mother. "Mom, talk to Dad. Get him to let me go."
"You heard
your father, Ned. The answer is no."
Ned, seeming to
drop the subject, continued eating.
Andrea sat
silently watching the boy, but she could almost feel Jerry's response to the
interchange between the boy and his parents. Bafflement. Just as she was
feeling. With Scott, there would have been an exhausting argument, and if he
didn't get his way he'd play one parent against the other. Invariably, one of
them would cave, and Scott would put that victory in his arsenal of parental
manipulations to use during the next confrontation.
Ned never
brought up the subject of snorkeling again, but as soon as they were finished
desert, he asked to be excused. After he'd gone, Andrea said to the Danforths,
"Your son is so well-behaved. You must be very proud of him."
Lillian
laughed. "He's a work in progress. And yes, he's pretty much the focus of
our lives. As you must have noticed, we're on the old side to have a
fourteen-year-old boy. After we'd tried every fertility drug on the market, and
followed all the usual... methods, the doctor told us to stop spending our time
trying to get pregnant and find a place to just relax and enjoy each other. Two
days later we flew to a resort in Nassau, spent six days beachcombing and
snorkeling, and being with each other and remembering what it was like when we
just let things happen, and it worked. Nine months later, Ned was born."
"But he
doesn't seem in the least bit spoiled," Andrea said, wondering if there
was another side to the boy, a side he hid when in public. "He accepted
your refusal to let him go snorkeling with his friend without question."
Lillian
laughed. "He knows better than to try. Charlie and I vowed when I finally
got pregnant that no matter how much we might disagree on how to handle our
child when issues came up, we'd always present a united front to him."
"But what
if you'd disagreed with Charlie earlier?" Andrea asked.
Lillian
laughed. "Charlie already knew I agreed with him. We have this signal
system with nudging and blinking. One nudge or blink means I agree completely , two means absolutely
not , and three means let's talk about
it and let him know later . We've been using it since Ned was old enough to
understand that what Mommy and Daddy says goes." She looked at her husband
and smiled. "Believe me , Charlie and I have
disagreed many times behind the scenes, and Charlie's had to give in to me as
much as I've had to give in to him. But when Ned gets his answer from us, or is
given his punishment for bad behavior, Charlie and I always appear to be in
agreement."
Charlie tipped
his wine glass toward his father, who was smiling at him. "That guy across
the table from you showed me the way," he said, affectionately. "He
and my mother were a formidable pair when they said no. Thanks, Dad."
The old man
beamed. "Your mother would have been proud to hear you say that."
***
Alone in the
honeymoon suite that night, Jerry lay stretched on the bed, his mind divided
between what might be going on in Alessandro Cavallaro's stateroom, and the
exchange at the table with the Danforths earlier. At the moment, he was mulling
over the Danforths and their
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