The Village it Takes

The Village it Takes
On the day of Iris's wedding, Paul had the privilege of escorting their mother down the aisle. Serena, looking so damn perfect in a tight dress that hugged her curves nicely. It was a pink shade, the color of champagne. She looked innocent with a hint of vixen. She walked in with the best man, which Paul was told was the groom's brother. And finally, his beautiful little sister appeared at the church entrance looking radiant as she walked down the long aisle to The Wedding March. Her eyes zoomed in on her groom and her lips broke into the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face.

She could not contain her giddiness.

George wore a tuxedo. His receded hairline was brushed back and slicked. On this happy day, Paul could still feel the man's internal demons torturing him.

When the bride finally joined the groom at the altar, Paul fought a dam of happy tears that were desperate for released. He was elated to be back home with his family- able to witness this important familial occasion. Throughout the ceremony Ellen held on tight to his hands. She kept turning his way, stroking his cheeks with that tenderness in her eyes that was always there when she looked at him.

He stared at his mother each time returning the visual look of love. He brought her hands to his lips and whispered, "I love you, mom."

Paul felt Serena's stare on him then. He looked up to see her standing by his sister, holding on to Iris's bouquet but looking at him with a loving smile and glistening eyes.

The reception took place at the Apple Bay Inn courtyard. They rented a tent large enough to fill the space, and lots and lots of heaters since winter was officially days away and light snow had already started to fall.

The party was a success. Everyone laughed and danced and ate and imagined what Goose and Midge would be doing at any given moment. Paul danced the slow songs with Serena, sitting down to talk to his mom when the fast-moving dance songs came on. He enjoyed seeing his love enjoy herself with his sister on the dance floor. Paul lamented missing that friendship develop into what it was today because it looked like one hell of a party.

Alas, too soon, the day ended and the following Monday, it was back to business as usual.

Paul was in the kitchen wearing a black chef's jacket, finishing a lunch rush for a few guests that had booked the whole week to experience Christmas in Apple Bay. He plated the final dish and rang the bell.

His heart practically burst with love as he stared at the dish: a sourdough bread bowl filled with roast beef and butternut squash soup. This was a recipe Midge had taught him once upon a time when he was just a broken teenager desperate for acceptance. He had never been fond of the flavors himself, but it had always been a popular request during the winter seasons. Paul was convinced it was because the diners could taste the love she pulled right from her heart when she made it.

Mel, the first server he met when he returned to Apple Bay all those months ago walked inside. "Mr. Worthington is here asking to speak to you," she said as she grabbed the plates from the pass.

"Is my mom with him?" he asked, doubting George would be here on his own.

Mel shook her head. "Just him, should I tell him you'll be out to see him?"

Paul shook his head and walked behind her. He saw George at reception holding a large box. As soon as the two men made eye contact, Paul motioned for George to join him in the kitchen.

"What can I do for you, George?" Paul asked as he held a swinging door open out of courtesy.

"Well," he squeezed as best he could with his box. "Ellen wanted me to stop by and make sure you're taking care of yourself. May I?" he asked pointing to the small table in the corner.

Paul motioned with his hand, noticing George still could not maintain eye contact with him. "Go ahead." He walked behind him. "What's in there?"

George pulled the lid off the box. "Just a little care package from your mom and me," he responded in a low voice as his gaze remained fixed on the contents.

Paul took a step forward to look inside the box when the other server working the dining room stormed in.

"Oh! My! God! Do not get comfortable! Sophia just sat down a party of twelve that wandered in from the Bay View Manor!" They said dramatically.

Paul winced. "What? twelve?"

Jordie nodded, "Uh-huh. And they told me to tell you to start sending the bread out because they have not had a decent meal in 24-hours. They said the restaurant at the manor serves food inspired by the 1970's." Jordie was about to walk out when they halted. "What's aspic by the way?"

Paul cringed at the word and began walking to the counter. "You have a phone. Google it." He grabbed his own phone and rang Serena. "Oh, hey Jordie, can you make sure they also have a menu from the Tea Shop?"

Jordie nodded and walked back into the dining room.

Paul had no issue serving twelve people at twelve different tables, but this was one party, and all plates would have to come out at the same time. That would be a challenge. When Serena picked up, he asked if she could come lend a hand. When she greed, he saw George. "Can you wait? Do you want me to make you anything? Maybe help yourself to coffee?"

George nodded. "That coffee sure smells good. I don't mind waiting."

Serena arrived as Paul was washing his hands and George was making himself a cup of coffee with cream and sugar.

"George!" Serena rushed to the old man and hugged him. "Missing Iris aren't you, that you have to come and see what your stepson is up to?"

Paul was popping a few trays of small bacon cheddar and chive biscuits in the oven for warming. He flinched at the word she had used. If there was one title he had never assumed, it was this man's stepson. He gave George a quick glance. The man was nodding slowly.

"Yeah," he whispered in agreement to Serena's comment.

Serena hugged George and kissed his cheek with her usual energy. "We're glad to see here," she told him as she washed her hands and donned a plain white bib apron. She walked to Paul and pecked his lips. "What do you need me to do?"

Paul smiled at his love. He wanted to steal a moment before they allowed chaos to take this moment away. "I'm beginning to see why Goose chose to build the diner across from the Inn."

"Oh?" Serena prompted.

"Proximity to the love of your life," he rested his forehead against hers. "It only took you twenty seconds to walk through that door."

She smiled. "I love you."

He returned the smile. "I love you."

The oven dinged marking the arrival of said chaos. Paul immediately got to work. "Can you bring me six bread baskets and six butter baskets?" He asked her knowing she knew where they were stored.

She ran off for the requested items and was back at once. Paul grabbed little butter packets form the refrigerator and began arranging the bread in the wire baskets with the white napkins that served as liners. Serena began filling the butter baskets just as Goose and Midge used to. He rang the bell and Mel and Jordie immediately came by for the bread baskets. Sophia left the host station to help as well.

They got through the service in a seamless manner with an unexpected assist from George, who apparently worked food duty in the military back in the day. He pitched in where he could, including with the clean-up.

The group was relieved when the diners requested dessert options from The Enchantment Tea House and Serena went off to get that order done and delivered as swiftly as possible.

With a sigh, Paul placed a hand on the back of George's neck and steered him toward the corner table.

"Hey, man, thanks," Paul waved his hand. "That went a lot smoother thanks to you."

The two men sat down at the table.

George's lip shook. "Thank you, Paul."

Paul frowned. "For what?"

George sniffled and Paul noticed he stared at him a few seconds longer than he was accustomed to.

George pushed the box toward Paul, who stood up to look inside. He immediately saw two photo albums in there. He reached for the first one and sat down to flip through the pages. There were pictures of Goose and Midge through the ages.

Before he knew it, Paul found himself smiling at his pseudo parents, especially when he reached the point in the album when he joined their service. There were pictures of him with them in there. And picture of him, Serena, Goose and Midge. "These are great," he said as he looked through the album hungrily.

The last page displayed a picture of a young Goose and a young Midge and just below it was the last picture they had taken together. He placed the album on the table, leaving it open to that page.

He stood and picked up the second photo album. "Is this part two of their story?" He asked as he sat down.

He opened the cover and gasped at the first picture.

It was picture of his father.

Paul's eyes filled with confusion as he stared up to look at George, who would still not look into his eyes.

"Ellen kept the phones I destroyed, and she had saved negatives of the older pictures," he explained as he rubbed his neck. "I was able to find a guy that could pull the pictures the from broken phones."

Paul's eyes returned to the photo album. He rifled through the pages full of his father's slightly familiar face. The man's features giving new life to long ago forgotten memories and breathing life to the feeling of a boy being loved by his father.

By some miracle Paul felt the younger version of him being validated, loved and protected. Tears began to fall when he came to the section in the album that included pictures of him and his dad. In each picture where the father looked at his son, his looks were full of pride, awe, or love.

Paul smiled as he cried.

George shifted in his chair. "I had a chance to have a son," George whispered, "But I blew it time and time again."

Paul was stroking his father's face, noticing he resembled him a lot. He slowly pulled his eyes away from his real father to the man that he had once hoped would be able to take the place of a man who loved him so much but fell so short.

George covered his face with his hands. "I was so jealous of a man's ghost, that I was a monster to his son because that was the only thing I could do." His voice broke. As he pulled his hand from his face, Paul noticed George was crying. "I'm sorry, Paul. I have been sorry every day without fail from the morning of your eighteenth birthday." He wiped his faced with his sleeve.

Paul quickly stood and grabbed a box of tissues from the back office and brought it back, handing it to George. The older male quickly took the box and pulled tissues from the cardboard box to wipe the moisture from his face.

George looked at Paul. The white of the man's eyes were now red. "You deserved so much, Paul. You needed a father, and I failed you." He began to sob. "After you left, the severity of my cruelty toward a helpless little boy hit me, my conscience began torturing me, telling me I've been a bad man that deserves to burn in hell." He reached for Paul's arm as he continued to weep. "I don't want to be a bad man, Paul. This burden is killing me," he rubbed his chest. "I wish to high heaven I could take back the past and be as good a father to you as your real Pa was."

George looked at the pictures of Goose and Midge. "Those two will always be remembered with love and when I'm gone, I'll be the child abuser. A grown man that beat the crap out of a little boy nearly every day."

He looked at him briefly. "I hope you can forgive me someday, even just a little," he said. "And when you and Serena have kids, I hope you'll allow them to see me as their grandpa."

Paul nodded. This meant a lot to him given neither his nor Serena's father lived. "We would love that." He agreed. "And I forgave you the day Goose died, George. I don't want to carry anger and resentment into this new beginning." He looked at the pictures of the loved ones he lost. "Life is too short to throw away the promises of the future with tainted feelings from the past," he pointed to the pictures of Midge and Goose. "This is what I want in my life with Serena, and I knew I wouldn't be able to attain it until I let go of all that was holding me back."

Paul extended a hand to George. "We'll rebuild slowly and hopefully by the time those kids you mentioned arrive, we'll be at a place where we don't feel pain when we look at each other."

George stood and accepted Paul's hand before pulling him into a tight embrace.