sighed.

“The gondola guy who kept goin’ ‘round in confused circles. We musta seen that same block fifteen times. I told you we shouldn’t have picked the cheapest guy.” His scowl softened into a smile. “It was one of the best nights of my life.” He blew a kiss at Rebecca, who ‘caught’ it with a giggle.

“Do you have a penny, Daddy?” Molly said. “I wanna try my bank boat out.”

“Penny...penny...” Baloo said, rummaging around in his shirt pocket. “Yup, here’s one.”

Molly took the coin from his palm, put it in the mouth of the miniature gondolier, and ‘rowed’ the oar that he held, causing the tiny man to swallow the penny. She waited breathlessly as the penny clinked its way down into the bottom of the ship. “Neato!” she cried, clapping her hands.

“Pretty nifty, huh?” Baloo poked around in his pocket again, but all he came up with was his pilot’s license and a piece of lint. “Sorry, Kit-boy,” he said with an apologetic shrug. “I’m all tapped out.”

“That’s okay,” Kit said, smiling wanly. Even though he wasn’t surprised at Baloo’s lack of cash, he still felt slightly excluded. He silently chided himself. What did one penny matter? After all, Molly was a little kid and he was a teenager. He had lots of pennies in his room with which to try out his new coin bank. He shouldn’t be so selfish by denying Molly her enjoyment.

But the penny wasn’t the problem. It was something else. Something about the way Baloo and Rebecca were exchanging intimate glances while Molly chattered about what had happened during their absence made him feel as if he was missing out on something.

He told himself that that was ridiculous. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Baloo and Rebecca loved him. Why, didn’t the fact that they were going to adopt him tomorrow prove that?

However, no matter how hard he tried to push that ‘left out’ feeling aside, it persisted in encroaching onto and ruining his happiness.

Just then, Baloo’s booming, “Well, don’t that beat all!” broke into his train of thought.

Half-heartedly, Kit joined in on the laughter over the amusing anecdote that he had missed during his musings.

Looking at Baloo, Rebecca, and Molly, he wondered: if he had gained the family he had always wanted, then why did he feel as if he had lost something very special?

End of part 1

No Time Like the Present
part 2

Wednesday Night

Kit was curled up in bed, staring through the darkness at the ceiling. The quick tick, tick, tick of the alarm clock on the night stand and an occasional muted ship’s horn from the harbor outside subconsciously intermingled with his musings of that day’s events.

It had started out wonderfully. After all, his adoption day shouldn’t have been anything but wonderful.

Even a mundane thing like breakfast had been great with Molly chattering brightly about being adopted and Rebecca sharing smiles with him over Baloo’s lame jokes. He could barely choke down a few bites of his Cheery-os. He had been so excited.

After breakfast, the foursome had dressed in their Sunday best and traveled downtown to the adoption agency. There, he waited for what seemed like hours with Molly in the reception area. If the hard bench wasn’t bad enough, Molly almost drove him crazy by repeating ‘Molly Elizabeth von Bruinwald’ over and over and over. He had been a little embarrassed when the motherly secretary had given them candy. As if he were a little kid who needed candy to keep him occupied! But in order to avoid hurting her feelings, he had accepted it graciously.

But all of the discomfort had been forgotten when their parents- hisparents - had emerged from the office, adoption papers in hand.

Baloo, grinning from ear to ear, had boomed, “Gather ‘round, von Bruinwalds!”

He remembered the rapture of being caught up in Baloo’s warm embrace with him saying, “I’m afraid you’re stuck with us, son.” The tears in the pilot’s eyes had mirrored his own.

His joy overflowed when Rebecca hugged him close to her, whispering, “Nownothing can take you away from me.”

Then, Molly’s wondering, “What’s everybody crying about?” had made himself, Baloo, and Rebecca laugh.

However, their tears were short-lived. They had all disappeared by the time they had returned to Higher for Hire.

Home, Kit thought, smiling to himself as he snuggled further down under the blanket.

Then, his smile faded as he recalled what had happened next.

When they had walked into Higher for Hire, they had been greeted by faint scraping and rustling noises.

“What’s that?” Rebecca whispered, clutching at Baloo’s arm.

“Sounds like it came from in there,” Baloo murmured. He gestured towards the kitchen.

Thinking it could be mice, Rebecca shivered with fear.

“Danger Woman’ll check it out,” Molly proclaimed, starting towards the kitchen.

“No,” Rebecca said firmly, grabbing her daughter’s hand. “Baloo will check it out.”

“I will?”

“Youwill,” Rebecca replied, giving him a pointed look and a little shove in the direction of the kitchen.

“Okay.” Baloo gulped. “Here goes.” He crept to the door and put his ear to it. “Don’t hear anything now.” When he pushed open the door, he was hit in the face with a bunch of balloons.

From the kitchen came Louie’s raucous guffaws. “You shoulda seen your face, fuzzy.”

Baloo swatted the balloons away impatiently. “Why? How’d it look?”

“Ugly, as usual.” Louie smirked.

“Hey!”

“What’s going on?” Kit asked as his eyes moved from the streamers and balloons draped around the walls to the treat-laden table.

“It’s a jamboree for the new fam’ly,” Louie proclaimed with a big grin as he ushered them into the kitchen.

Wildcat blew his noisemaker. “Happy New Year!”

When they had gathered around the table and had been served chocolate cake and Louie’s famous Lemon Sludge punch, Rebecca looked at Baloo, “Should we give the kids their you-know-whats?”

“What, Mommy? What you-know-whats?” Molly asked.

Rebecca bent down to wipe her daughter’s chocolate-ringed mouth with a napkin. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Through a mouthful of cake, Baloo said, “The you...? Oh, yeah. Sure, why not?” He took a swig of the punch and turned to Louie. “So, get this, innkeeper. Me an’ Becky were sittin’ at this outside café in Gay Pearee just down the street from the Eyeful Tower. One of the things on their menu was pain, no jive.”

“Stomach pain from eatin’ frog legs?” Louie interjected.

“No, meaning ‘bread’,” Rebecca clarified. “And it’s pronounced ‘pan’, darling.” She exited the kitchen to get something from the office.

“You say ‘pain’. I say ‘pan’. Bo-bee-bo-bee-do. Let’s call the whole thing off,” Louie sang.

“Anyhoo, I asked the gar-con if it was swift or slow pain, an’ do you know what he said?”

Between bites of cake, Molly and Wildcat chimed, “What?

Baloo scratched his head. “Actually, I ain’t too sure about that part.”

“You sure do know how to tell a story,” Louie chuckled. “Badly.”

“I thought it was pretty funny, Papa Bear,” said loyal Kit.

Completely ignoring Kit’s comment, Baloo scowled at Louie. “It wasn’tthat bad.”

“It wasn’t that good, neither.”

Just then, Rebecca came in, a small package in each hand. “I hate to break up this riveting conversation, but I have something important. Adoption presents for Kit and Molly. From your father and me” She gave one to each cub, then sat down between Kit and Molly to observe their expressions.

Kit tore the ribbon and wrapping off of his package to reveal a small rectangular box. Inside that box was a pocket watch nestled on a bed of blue velvet. From the tiny circular filigree of interlaced leaves engraved on the outside of the 14K gold-plated lid, Kit surmised that it hadn’t been cheap. When he carefully removed it from the box and opened the lid, he noticed an inscription on the inside. It read: To our son Kit. Lots of love from your parents. June 15, 1938

“Wow...” was all Kit could say. Deeply touched, he read and re-read the inscription. He was seeing it, and he still couldn’t believe it.

Rebecca pointed at the watch face. “See, it even has a second hand so you can time your track races if you want to.”

Kit’s eyes met hers and he nodded. “Thank you,” he whispered, blinking back tears.

Rebecca, her own eyes misty, enfolded him in her tender embrace. “I love youso much, Kit. Never, ever forget that.”

Hugging her back, Kit silently nodded and breathed in the subtle sweet scent of her perfume. He had never been happier than at that moment.

“Mommy, can I wear mine now?” Molly asked.

“Sure, honey,” Rebecca sniffled. She gave Kit one last squeeze and went to help Molly with the clasp of her gold locket.

Kit smiled broadly at Baloo, who was sitting on his left. “Thanks, Papa Bear. This watch is great.”

Baloo gave him a brief, one-armed hug and a light noogie. “I told Becky you’d like a watch better’n a pocket knife.” Swiveling in his chair to face Louie, he loaded another large slice of cake on his plate before saying, “Lemmee tell ya about the time me an’ Becky were in Italee...”

An hour later, Kit, squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. As he looked around the kitchen, everyone seemed to be having such a good time. He was the only one who felt bored and excluded, partially due to the fact that, at thirteen, he was too young to truly participate in the grown-up conversation, yet was too old to wrap himself up in streamers and play ‘mummy’ with Wildcat and Molly.

Everyone’s obliviousness to his plight only added to his misery.

As the adults’ laughter filled the kitchen,

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Next page