WE GATHER TOGETHER by Edward L. Woodyard

We Gather Together Chapter One Hundred Two

Drew McCulloch was holding a mug of coffee in one hand and a remote in the other as he turned on the TV over the mantel in his living room. Courtney was sitting on the couch in a leotard so that she could dance along with performers she saw on TV during the parade.

Once Drew saw that Courtney was settled and happy, he returned to the kitchen and poured more coffee into his mug. Cara had started baking the lasagna she would take to her in-laws' and was feeding a scrambled egg to Lindsay in her highchair.

"Remember that we will need to take the highchair with us."

"I didn't forget."

Cara detected a sharp tone in Drew's voice. "You're still upset about Scott. There's nothing we can do now."

"I'm going to call him and let him know." Drew felt a loyalty and duty to Scott; they had shared a room together during high school, Drew moving in with Scott when Drew's room became Ben's nursery.

"Drew, it's only six in the morning in California."

"Then before we leave for Mom and Dad's."

"Do you think that's wise? It might set him off."

"I want to do something for him."

"You want to do something for yourself." Cara wasn't wrong. "No guilt, Drew. No remorse. It's Thanksgiving and your daughter wants to dance with you. She also needs a bath before we go to your parents."

Cara heard her cell phone ping. Drew retrieved it from the kitchen table and saw who was calling, "It's your mother." He handed her the cell phone.

Drew knew that their conversation could go on for quite a while. They would recount in detail everything that had happened in each of their lives since the last time they had talked. He wondered if it was a mother-daughter thing or a sister-sister thing. Men, on the other hand, didn't chat, per se, but got to the business of the reason for the call and then got on with their lives. Cara went on about making the lasagna, resulting in a short debate with Celeste when Cara referred to "sauce" and not "gravy" and what was on a label of a jar; it ended with Celeste saying, "The store-bought is sauce. The homemade is gravy." The conversation then shifted to the anxiety in Albany about meeting Angelica's new boyfriend.

While Cara talked with Celeste, Drew took on his Dad duties. He wiped Lindsay's face and hands, then lifted her out of her highchair. Cara cleaned the highchair with a sponge as she continued to talk on her cell phone.

Drew then sat on the couch in the living room next to Courtney, holding Lindsay in his lap and checking her diaper. Courtney snuggled next to him as they watched on TV a high school marching band from Indiana perform in front of the Macy's store at Herald Square in Manhattan.

Cara entered, asking, "Drew, did you want to talk with my dad about the expansion?"

"It can wait until Monday. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone there."

"He said he talked with Kyle Rosenberg about the practicality of using reinforced concrete." When Cara saw Drew preoccupied with his daughters, she let her parents know that it could all wait until Monday. "Have a great Thanksgiving and we'll see you at Christmas."

With a spatula, Cara examined her lasagna in the oven; she then folded the highchair and put it aside to take to her in-laws' later. She smiled seeing Drew on the couch holding Lindsay and Courtney.

She knew that Drew was troubled about Scott. She also knew that he had been upset that Scott had shared what happened with Brian Gardner and not with him, and for making Brian swear to tell no one in their family about Wendy. Scott hadn't even told his family that he was married. Drew was asking himself why Scott had felt he could trust a friend and not his brother with his most aching and intimate moments.

While Drew was glad that Brian might help Scott alleviate his despair, he also thought that he needed to be with Scott, that he'd go out to San Francisco to see him. They didn't really need to talk about anything since they both knew basically what they were going to say. He just had to listen if Scott wanted to talk. They needed to get together again and laugh. Maybe that was how Drew could help Scott the most.

Cara saw Courtney jump off the couch to dance to "Seventy-Six Trombones" being performed on TV by a Broadway cast revival of The Music Man. Courtney was marching around the coffee table in the living room, pretending to be one of the actors. Drew stood up and held onto Lindsay as he followed Courtney around the room, knees up, elbows angled. Cara used the remote to turn up the music, took Lindsay from Drew, and handed him her spatula.

Drew suddenly became Professor Harold Hill with a baton leading his wife and daughters around the downstairs of their home, past the kitchen, through the dining room, down the hallway and back into the living room, "thundering, thundering, all along the way."

Could life be any better?