B&C III - 57

Brian and Christine
Book Three
Saint Jane's
Part 57


“Let’s have a night cap and drink to it” said Brian. He made a couple of drinks and returned.

“By the way” said Wendy. “If this adoption goes through, and it looks like it will with Tom on the case, after we’re married we will both be responsible for Christy.”

“Mm. That’s true.”

“I was thinking that we have to make sure she goes back to school. She’s missed a whole semester. We should find a good summer school for her so she can catch up.”

“Well there’s a very good school, I’m told, two blocks down the street. It’s a junior high and high school. It’s private. No nuns.”

“That sounds good.”

“Yeah, but the thing is I think we should make sure she goes somewhere where she can get some formal art training. I think it’s important and I think she would appreciate that.”

“Can we check out that school, see if they have a summer session and find out about art classes?”

“I’ll look into it tomorrow. Wendy, thank you for thinking about that. It’s been so long that I’ve been any where near a school it didn’t occur to me that she should be getting an education.”

“I guess it’s a typical Mom’s concern” sad Wendy.

That made Brian smile. Mom and Dad, he thought. 70 years old and I finally have a family of my own.

Wendy spent the night but was up and out early in the morning. When Brian woke and came down for his morning coffee, he found Christy in the kitchen dressed in her swim suit with a grin on her face. After the good mornings were done he said to her, ”Is somebody going for a swim?”

“Yup” she said. “We are.”

After some breakfast Brian got into his swimming trunks and joined Christy at the pool who was sitting on the edge splashing the water with her feet.

They spent a couple of hours together. Brian taught her a few more strokes and then had her try holding her breath under water. She finally managed to do it for almost a minute.

“That’s very good” he said. “Next time you can try swimming under water.”

“Okay.”

They were sitting on the bench next to the pool drying off. Brian said “Wendy and I were talking about you last night.”

“Me?”

“Yes, and we both agreed that you should go back to school.”

“Uh huh.”

“Would you like that?”

“I don’t know. I guess so.”

“There’s a school down the street here. I don’t know anything about it, but it’s a junior high school,”

“I was in the sixth grade.”

“But come September you would probably qualify for the seventh grade if you took some courses in summer school.

“I guess so. Maybe. I don’t know.

“Would you like to go and have a look at the school to see if you might like it, and see if they have a summer program?”

“Okay” she sighed.

“You don’t sound enthusiastic about it.”

“No, it’s just that I’m glad to be back here with you, learning to swim, and my drawings are getting better and everything.”

Well, but Christy, it’s only spring. You’re here with us for a few months until summer. And then, if the place is any good, you’ll just be down the street.”

“Yeah.”

“Christy, you’re not having the same feelings about it as you did about Saint Jane’s, are you?”

“No.”

“Why don’t we go have a look at it and then see what your intuition tells you?”

“Okay.”


(To be continued.)