The next morning at breakfast, neither Dana nor I made any inquiries about the conversation Sean had with his father the night before, as we didn't want to pressure him. We were waiting for him to open up, but he needed to attend to the massive hunger that afflicted him and Jake each morning.
"What happened to all the muffins you made, dear?" I said, as I looked at the empty basket on the table.
"You weren't quick enough. I guess I should have made a dozen," she said, looking at the two boys, who now had sheepish looks on their faces.
When Sean finally finished, he leaned back, looked at Dana and me and said, "I guess we need to talk."
"I'll take my cappuccino into the living room," Jake offered, as he got up to take his dishes to the dishwasher.
"I'm ok with us talking about this as a family," Sean said, as he motioned Jake to sit back down.
He told us that Seamus and he had made small talk for the first couple of minutes until Sean's emotions boiled over.
"I asked him why he abandoned me."
Apparently Seamus was surprised at Sean's forceful reaction and he apologized profusely to him. He told Sean again how he tried to make contact with his mother but she wouldn't let him see him. Sean didn't buy his explanation, as he didn't think it was sincere enough.
"I was really mad and I told him what it was like being poor and living with my mother."
Sean told him if he had really wanted him he would've fought harder. Apparently he was overwhelmed at Sean's response, and his emotions got the best of him. That's why when Seamus came back upstairs after their talk he wanted to leave rather than stay for dinner. When he finally pulled himself together, he admitted at the time that he hadn't wanted to be a parent, which was something he now regretted.
"I told him that he gave birth to me, but he didn't earn the right to be my dad. He said that he realized that his chance to be my dad was gone forever and he was really sorry about that. At least he was finally honest with me."
Sean softened after that, as he realized that he wasn't the awful person he had imagined in his mind all those years. He also realized that Seamus had grown up and was trying to make amends for his behaviour and the hurt that Sean had endured over the years.
"You guys looked like you were getting along pretty well last night," Jake said.
"After I got that off my chest, I realized that he wasn't really that bad a person. I can forgive, but for now I can't forget."
They talked about some of the things that had happened over the years in their lives and in the course of the conversation Seamus had mentioned that the mother had lost a baby when Sean was two years old. His father had kept in touch with one of his friends in town after he took off and he told him about the birth.
"My mother never said anything about another baby and neither did my grandparents. That would've been my sister," he said, with a wistful look.
Dana and I looked at each other, because we hadn't told him of that detail that the private detective had uncovered when he was investigating the mother's welfare fraud. He was an intuitive young man and picked up on our reaction and asked whether we knew about the birth.
"I didn't think you were in any shape to hear that at the time, Sean. What else did your father tell you about it?" I asked.
"Nothing. Why?" he said, with a puzzled look.
When I told him the full story of how his mother had deceived the welfare department for all those years after his sister had died, he became visibly angry.
"She always made me feel guilty when she said she only got a little bit of extra money to raise me. She always had money for booze, drugs and going out with her boyfriends."
He was also a little upset with Dana and me that we had kept this a secret.
"Mom and dad were only trying to protect you. Don't get mad at them; get mad at your mother. She was a piece of work," Jake added.
"You've moved on with your life, Sean and we thought that knowing about this wasn't important," Dana said.
"We were wrong and please accept our apologies," I added.
"We sometimes forget that both of you are young men now, not young boys," Dana said, as she got up and put her arms around both of them.
He didn't give us too many more details of the conversation, but he did say that they had come to some understanding. He regarded him as a big brother and he had really no desire to establish any close bonds with him. He was however, interested in learning more about his paternal grandparents.
"I really want to meet them, but only if you're ok with it."
I put my hand on his arm to reassure him and said, "Of course we are, Son. From the sound of it, they seem like nice people."
It was now up to Seamus to make the contact and get the ball rolling which we hoped would happen soon.
For the next couple of days, Sean wasn't quite himself, as this had taken a toll on his emotions, despite his denials. We didn't make a big deal out of our observations but we weren't going to let him go too long before we suggested intervention. Thankfully, that wasn't necessary. Between being able to confide in Jake and Garth's bubbly effervescent personality and his many jokes after school, he was soon back to normal.
Despite Sean teasing Garth about his jokes, which was done in good fun, he really enjoyed his antics and always laughed either at the joke or Garth's delivery. However, one night after school, Garth told a joke that none of us laughed at.
"Did you hear about the unfortunate seamstress? She couldn't mend straight," he said, as he started into his usual giggle and laugh.
"Oh oh, Garthy," Glen said, as the older boys looked at each other, then Dana and me.
When he realized no-one was laughing he stopped and asked, "What?"
Dana and I looked at each other to see who would tackle the problem.
"Who told you that joke, Garth?" Dana asked.
"Ronan did at recess."
"I guess he didn't tell you what it meant," I said.
"He didn't have to. I figured out what a seamstress was. It's like a lady tailor," he said, proudly.
My first thoughts were to let John and Susan handle this, but Dana decided we needed to address the situation and started the conversation. We took turns giving him a brief ten year old sex education lesson and while this was happening Glen, Jake and Sean had big smiles on their faces as they watched us explain what the punch line really meant. They were delighting in our impromptu lesson as we sputtered our way through it.
"So I think your mom and dad need to talk to you about a few more details than we've given you, Garth," Dana said, after we decided we had given him enough information.
"Good job, you two," Jake said, as the boys clapped when we were finished.
"You guys are really enjoying this, aren't you," I said, as Dana and I chuckled. "Just you wait until you have children and the time comes for 'the talk'."
When we dropped Glen and Garth off at the loft before dinner, we told Susan what we did and that John and she needed to do the follow-up.
"Well, we should have some interesting dinner conversation tonight," she said, as she looked at Garth and smiled.
Since it was almost June, there were a lot of end-of-year assignments that were coming up, which were major contributors to the boys' final marks. From time-to-time, the boys would ask for our advice, usually when they were stuck for an idea. Sean came into the living room after dinner one evening, when Dana and I were reading. He sat down close beside me, without talking, which was a clue that he wanted something.
"Are you here to spend some quality time with your parents, or is there an ulterior motive involved?" I asked.
"I have to do this major assignment on 'Romeo and Juliet' for English class, but I don't know what to do. I was pondering whether thou would'st aid me in this task, kind sir and madam?"
He was getting into his Shakespearean mode and for some reason he had taken a liking to the medieval language, as well as the love story aspect of the play.
"Please tell us that it's not due tomorrow," Dana said, as she put down her book and looked over her reading glasses.
"No," he said, as he frowned. "Of course not."
"So when is it due?" I asked.
He hesitated and said, "Friday."
It was Wednesday.
"And I suppose that your teacher just popped this assignment on your class today," I said.
He didn't respond, but had a guilty look. He explained that he had a choice of creating a radio advertisement or an advice column based on the story. There was a stipulation that whatever he chose had to be aimed at teenage boys and the girls in the class had to gear their assignment to teenage girls. I smiled at the inventiveness of his teacher, who was trying to keep her students' interest by giving the assignment a contemporary flair.
"I can't figure out how to do the ad, because radio wasn't invented yet. The story's so old even you guys weren't born," he said, with a twinkle in his eye.
He tried to move away from me before I could get him, but he was too late and I tickled him. He was getting too big and strong for me to keep it up very long, though. He was having trouble focusing so Dana and I suggested some things for him to consider.
"Find a good fight scene," Dana said. "Blood is always good."
"I'm going to go get the book. I hope I didn't leave it at school."
"Don't worry. We have a couple of complete Shakespeare anthologies hanging around," Dana said, with a smile.
"Really? I wouldn't have guessed," he said, with a cheeky look as he got up to get his book.
"You're lucky I'm not closer, mister, or I would've swatted you," Dana said, as he disappeared.
He came back in with his book and plopped himself down again. We helped him with a few ideas and he finally decided that the radio ad was too difficult for him to do.
"I guess I'll have to do the advice column. This is going to be real dumb," he said, as he sighed.
He couldn't figure out how that would work, so we gave him some more of our expert input.
"You could pretend you're some old wise advice columnist and Romeo or Juliet could ask a question," I said.
"You could make the question something about love and relationships. You're an expert on that," Dana said, as we both chuckled.
He rolled his eyes and went to his room to get started. A half hour later he came back and had the preliminary draft mostly done.
"I decided I'd have Romeo write in to this column called 'Ask Will'. He's asking about Juliet and the feuding family thing and how he's giving up a lot for a girl."
"Are you going to talk about the unhappy ending?" Dana asked.
"What?"
"You know, when they end up dying," I added.
"They die?" he said, as his eyes opened wide. "I haven't got that far yet. Now you've spoiled it for me."
"I didn't know I was supposed to do a spoiler alert on a play that's over 400 years old," I said, as I chuckled.
"Maybe you should finish reading the play before you go any further," Dana added, with her famous 'the discussion was finished' look.
By the time he was ready for bed he had finished the play and had most of the assignment written, but he wouldn't let us see it.
"You'll have to wait until it's ready to be published," he said, with that coy smile of his.
When we finally did see the finished work it was well done. Dana and I pointed out a couple of spelling and grammatical errors that he easily corrected on the computer, but we left the creative elements alone. He was getting much better with his literacy skills, which was evident in the English mark of 75% that he got on his mid-term report card.
With school almost finished the boys had their summer activities already lined up. Jake tried out for the Canadian Opera Company's summer youth program in Toronto and was accepted. He was going to be very busy for the two week stretch in August and he was staying in Toronto with Katie and Marty during the week and coming home on the weekend. Because of this and the voice lessons he was taking from Erin Brady, the choir director, he decided to just play house league soccer once again. Lou, the house league coach, was disappointed he didn't try out for the under 18 Ontario soccer team, but he was ecstatic that he would still be on the team again. Jake was also going to Italy in July to be with his uncle and aunt, as he had done the summer before. We tried to get them to come to Canada, but they weren't ready to do that.
"I think that they're concerned about the cost and they're too proud to tell us," Dana said, after we had finished making arrangements with them.
"Maybe we'll have to be more insistent next year," I said. "Jake would love to have them here, to show them around."
Glen was going to be playing soccer again with Jake and he was also going to be taking lessons at the school of art, as well as helping instruct in the summer children's program. Susan and especially John, were very happy at Glen's turnaround in attitude and he was becoming a very responsible and motivated teenager.
Garth was now in Little League baseball and was going to summer theatre school, run by the local professional theatre company in the city. Derek was also going and they were very excited because they were putting on a production at the end of the four weeks in July, as well as getting dance instruction. Their friend, Mandy, was also going, but not her friend, Charisse, who was enrolled in a summer hockey school.
"Now you won't have to make up your own dance steps and they'll expect you to dance like they show you," Dana said to Garth, knowing full well of his penchant for improvisation.
"I know, but I can still make up my own dances when I get home," he said, with a big smile.
"I hope the instructors are patient. Garth will give them a run for their money," I said, after Garth had left to go downstairs.
Sean was not playing baseball, but instead he was concentrating on golf. He was becoming very good and he decided that he wanted to see how much he could develop his skill. We enrolled him in the RCGA's (Royal Canadian Golf Association) summer program. He had to try out, as they only accepted twenty kids his age, but he easily made it. He was in the top ten kids trying out and was very excited about it. The program was given at Glen Abbey, the site of the Canadian Open for many years. He was also taking private violin lessons from the director of the school strings program that he had participated in.
One morning near the end of the school year we got a call at 7:10 in the morning and the call display said it came from Tom Davis in Calgary.
"Good Morning, Tom?" I said, wondering why he was calling at this time of the morning.
"Good morning Al, I guess you have call display. I'm sorry to disturb you this early in the morning, but I think you can help us with an emergency that's popped up here at the ranch. My brother Andy is our legal counsel and he's here now."
"A problem already? Can you tell me about it in ten words or less?" I said, jokingly.
By now Sean, Jake and Dana had crowded around the telephone to see what was going on. They knew it was Tom and they were hoping it didn't involve anything bad happening to Josh.
"It has to do with child custody. We've drawn up an agreement, but none of us are experts in the field and there is the possibility of complications," he said.
"This sounds very serious," I answered, with concern. "My niece Katharine is very good at dealing with those circumstances and I know she's dealt with something like this before. If she can't, she probably knows someone who can."
I gave him Katharine's cell number and he was going to call and consult with her. He hadn't told me any details and I didn't want to pry. He told me that he would let us know what was going on when he had more information. Sean and Jake were giving me anxious expressions so I asked him if it involved Josh.
"No, but it does involve someone who's become close to our extended family that is at risk," he said.
"It's not Josh," I said, after I hung up.
I told them what Tom had related about whom it was and that he would let us know when he had more information to share.
"I hope it's not Michael," Sean said.
"Mark would be a basket case if anything happened to him," Jake added.
I don't know how Sean came to speculate who this involved, but he seemed to have some intuitive insight. He must have sensed some issues when he was out in Calgary the last time with Josh and the family. Dana and I tried to allay their fears and told them not to jump to conclusions.
"Whatever it is, Tom and Bryan are more than capable of taking care of the problem. I told him we would be more than willing to help out any way we can," I said.
"If things get too complicated I'm sure Mr. Mueller would be more than happy to lend his legal expertise," Dana said, with a reassuring tone.
Dana suggested I call Ray anyway, but I told her we should wait to see what transpired. The boys felt better, but they were going to Skype Josh after dinner that night to find out what was going on. That evening they found out from Josh that it did involve Michael and a very nasty situation involving his parents. Josh told them that things were under control and that Katharine had been very helpful.
"Josh said that they had a plan in place and that all going well Michael was going to become one of the family," Sean said.
"We told him Melissa's mom might be able to help them," Jake added.
They were very concerned and we were pleased that they were thinking of their friend's well being. Despite some normal teenage behaviour sometimes, they were turning out to be pretty good kids with a lot of empathy for others.
They were also turning out to be good students, as were Garth and Glen. The end-of-year results were very good for all of the boys. Sean had once again excelled in Math and Science and his Math mark was the second highest in the grade. He also had a respectable placing in the University of Waterloo Cayley math contest. Melissa had also entered the competition again and place slightly higher, much to Sean's chagrin. Jake had another excellent year and had the top mark in English as well as History. He was a well rounded student and didn't have a weak mark in any of his subjects.
"This is a very good English mark, Sean," Dana said, as we looked at his report card.
He had managed to get 78%, which was an excellent result, given where he was when he first started to live with me. He told us that the 85% that he got on the ending 'Romeo and Juliet' assignment had help bring his mark up.
"I think Shakespeare wrote some more love stories. You could take one of the anthologies we have and that could be your summer reading," Dana said, with a big smile.
He was going to make one of his cheeky responses, but he thought better of it and just laughed.
"You're learning, son," I said, as I patted him on the back.
Glen's results had improved and along with his fine Art mark, he had managed to do quite well in most of his other subjects, including the computerized graphic design course. His interests and talents were certainly obvious.
Then there was Garth. He had an excellent year with his teacher Diego and he had made great strides in math and literacy. Of course he loved the music and drama opportunities Diego provided the class throughout the year. Diego had put a comment on Garth's report card that he was a real livewire, destined for a career in show business.
"Mr. Mendez says I should be a stand-up comedian, but I told him I'm not always standing up when I tell my jokes," he said, with a somewhat serious look on his face.
"And what was Mr. Mendez's reaction to your comment?" Dana asked, as we chuckled.
He didn't know why we were laughing and before Dana could explain, Jake piped in.
"C'mon Garth. We'll explain it to you," he said, as the three older boys took off with Garth to the media room downstairs.
The beginning of the summer was turning out to be hectic, but we were able to make time to have Susan, John, Glen and Garth over as much as possible. Glen and Garth spent a lot of time at our place during the week while Susan and John were working. During the weekends, we usually had them over at least once.
We were having lunch at the house by the pool after the contemporary service one Sunday and Susan, John and the boys joined us along with my niece and her family. Garth had a new joke that Derek had heard, but he needed to share with all of us.
"I hope this isn't one of Ronan's jokes," Dana said, as she looked at Garth.
He blushed a little and said, "No. I understand this one."
It was longer than we were used to from him and it involved an older man and a kid who were ice fishing together during the winter. The boy was able to catch all sorts of fish and the man couldn't, even though his hole in the ice was only a few feet away. The man finally asked what his secret was.
"The kid said 'Roo raf roo reep ra rums rrarm' and the old guy didn't know what he was saying," Garth said, as he paused to snicker, along with Derek.
"Don't stop now," Dana said, as she was chuckling at Garth's funny face that he made as he delivered the dialogue.
"The kid spit out what was in his mouth into his hand and said 'You have to keep the worms warm'."
"Ooh! Gross," Sean said, as he started to laugh.
We all joined Sean and broke out in laughter, which fuelled Garth's infectious giggle.
We had just finished eating when a call came in and I didn't recognize the area code on the call display. It wasn't a 1-800 number so I answered it.
It was a woman's voice, with a Slavic accent and she asked, "Is this Mr. Burger?"
I was a little guarded in my response as I thought it was another of the numerous telemarketing calls we got, even though we registered for the do-not-call list.
"This is Tatania O'Connor, Seamus' mother."
I was surprised and put her on speaker phone and called Sean out of the pool. She told us that Seamus had arrived in Halifax and came to spend some time with them as he had a week of shore leave. He told them about his meeting with us and that Sean was interested in seeing them.
"We were thrilled to hear his news. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said.
Her husband, Fin, which was short for Finley, was on the other extension and they sounded excited at the thought of talking to their grandson. Sean was smiling and when they asked if they could speak to him he started talking. We decided that he should have some privacy, so we disconnected the speaker and he disappeared with the portable phone through the patio doors to the media room.
Dana noticed the concern on my face and she said, "Things will be fine, dear. I'm sure they're not like the other side of Sean's family."
After about twenty minutes he reappeared and gave me the phone.
"They want to talk to you about getting together, " Sean said.
I gave him an inquisitive look and he understood that I was asking whether he was ok with this. He smiled and shook his head yes.
"You don't know how happy we are to finally get to meet our grandson, Mr. Burger."
We made arrangements for them to come and visit. They were going to stay in a hotel in town, despite Dana's insistence that they stay with us. It appeared by their demeanour that they were being respectful of the relationship we had with Sean and were not barging in. I was relieved, but still a little apprehensive about how this would play out.
"They apologized to me for my father's behaviour and they said that they had tried very hard when I was born to adopt me."
Sean had a pretty good filter when it came to judging people and he appeared content with Fin and Tatania's sincerity. He told us some more details about them and I asked where his grandmother was from.
"She came over to Canada from Moscow in 1955. Her father was this classical music star."
"Well, it appears that you've inherited some of those genes," Dana said, with a smile. He didn't say anything and returned her smile.
He joined the boys in the pool and he was telling them some of the details of his conversation with his newly discovered relatives. After twenty minutes, another call came in and it was from Erin Brady, the choir director.
"I figured I could find you all together here," she said.
She wanted to extend an invitation to Sean and Jake to audition for the upcoming amateur theatre production in the fall that she was directing, which was to be the musical 'Oliver'.
"I was able to get a hold of Stéphane and Charles and they're interested," she said.
We called the boys out of the pool and put her on speaker phone. She explained the audition process and she thought that they should try out. They were looking for some boys for the chorus and some of the lead roles. Both Jake and Sean were interested and she gave them the details of what preparation they should put in beforehand.
When she was finished with the Sean and Jake, she chuckled and asked, "You wouldn't know any young boys that would be interested in trying out for the lead role, would you?"
"There might be little waif in the pool over here that would fill the bill," John said, with a smile.
We called Garth out of the pool and he was a little puzzled at what was going on until he heard Erin explain things to him. He was a little concerned about the audition process, but Erin patiently explained the same instructions to him that she had just given Jake and Sean.
"There are two songs on the theatre company's website that you need to prepare."
He was very excited and after we had hung up he wanted to go inside to a computer to see what he would have to sing. The boys were also excited, as well as Glen, who Erin had asked to help design the sets. They all piled into the house to go to the website and look at clips of the musical and film. She also extended the invitation to Derek, as they were looking for younger boys for the chorus.
"Well, I guess that's the end of swimming for the afternoon," Susan said.
The next day we had to take Barney to the groomers, to get his hair clipped. When we went to pick him up he was in a cage when we arrived and as usual very happy to see us. His whole body was shaking in time to his tail and when the cage door was opened he bounced from Sean, to Jake and then to me. His coat had been cut shorter than usual and the boys were laughing at him, as he looked a little funny.
"He had a lot of tangles and rather than fight with him as I brushed him, I shaved him a little closer this time," Nicole, the groomer told us.
The boys had been busy and had slacked off a little on his grooming and she showed them how to make sure they were getting the tangles out when they brushed him.
"That's not always an easy task," Jake said, as he had picked up Barney and was now getting licked to death.
"Sometimes it's pretty dangerous," Sean said, as he gave Barney a look.
When we got him home, we were all laughing at how short his hair was and how funny he looked. He was not happy and he had his head down, as if he was embarrassed.
"I swear that dog is part human," Dana said.
"I guess we shouldn't make fun of him," Sean said, as he picked him up.
Barney wouldn't look at him or give him kisses. Despite his combative nature he was a very sensitive dog.
The week before the auditions the boys were practicing the songs that they were going to sing. Garth had a choice of 'I'd Do Anything for You' or another song that wasn't related to the show. He decided that he would do the song from the show and he had the boys help him rehearse in the studio. He was really getting into this and Sean and Jake had to spend a couple of hours on two different days recording and coaching him.
"He's getting pretty good," Sean said, when their last session was over and Garth had gone home.
"And is he getting lots of guidance from you two?" Dana asked.
"Well, you know Garth. He always likes to improvise," Jake said, as the two boys laughed.
Finally the day for the auditions arrived and when we got to the rehearsal studio, Garth was there with Susan and John. Glen had come along to lend moral support and to also meet with the head set designer. Garth had on his grey dress pants white shirt and a hat that looked like one from the show.
"We had to go to the east end of the city yesterday to get that hat in a costume store. He was insistent," Susan said.
Derek arrived with my niece and Garth and he went off to one of the vacant rooms to get in some last minute rehearsal time. The auditions were in the theatre auditorium of the boys' high school and the parents got to watch. The two producers, music director and Erin were judging the talent. Each person had to give a brief overview of their performing background and then say a couple of lines from the show so the panel could judge their acting ability, since the musical involved a lot of dialogue. The last thing they had to do was sing.
Sean, Jake, Stéphane, Charles, Derek and Charles' boyfriend, Ronald, all did very well when it was their turn. Ronald was a surprise, as we didn't know he could sing, but he did a very credible job. He was looking to be in the chorus, as his performing background wasn't that strong and also, he and Charles wanted to be involved in a common activity, for a change. He looked a little out of place physically, as he was 6' 3", which is one of the reasons he was a star of the school basketball team.
Jake excelled in all aspects of the audition, as he was not a shy and retiring person and we all knew he could sing. Erin was smiling after he was finished and from the reactions of other people on the panel, it looked like they were impressed. The last auditions were for the lead role and there were four boys trying out. We all stayed to give Garth some moral support. The other three boys were a little older that Garth and they had a fair bit of experience in amateur theatre and choirs. It was a very competitive process, which surprised us.
When Garth took the stage, the boys whistled and clapped loudly. The panel asked him to outline his performing background and he gave his answers using an English accent.
"He's been practicing that on us for a week now," John said, as we all smiled.
Finally it was time for him to perform. Not only did he sing, but he started off doing some of the dialogue from the show that preceded the song, all with the English accent.
I looked at the boys and Sean said, "That wasn't our idea. You know Garth."
He did a great job, but we were afraid that they were going to go with two of the older boys, because of their experience. We knew he was good enough and we were hoping that Erin could convince the others on the panel to pick him.
"Well, all of you boys should be very proud of your efforts today," I said, when we were in the foyer afterwards.
Glen had a good meeting with the head set designer and he had a lot of notes written down. He was excited about the project and from what he told us he had been given a fair bit of responsibility over some of the design. The results of the auditions would be made in the next week and then communicated to the successful actors. All the boys were content that they had done their best and that they had a chance at making it.
As well as the potential work for the production and the boys other activities, Sean and Jake were asked to be part of a string ensemble to play at Melissa's grandmother's wedding in August. Anne had decided to marry the man we had met the last time we were in Naples at the house.
"Charles and Stéphane are part of it too," Sean said.
"How can it be a string ensemble with Stéphane and his keyboard in it?" Dana asked.
"String or whatever. Charles, Rachel, Melissa, Stéphane, Sean and I are in it," Jake said.
"We have all these pieces we have to learn before we rehearse. Jake and I can hardly play and Melissa's picked out all this really hard music. This is going to be embarrassing," Sean said, as he screwed up his face.
"Well I'm sure things will be just fine. You two always come through when the going gets tough," Dana said, as she smiled and put her arms around the two of them.
It was a small wedding that was going to be in Anne's backyard in Toronto. The 'ensemble' was going to play while the guests were assembling before the service and then when they were coming down the aisle, as well as a short time at the reception.
They told us the song list and I said, "Pachelbel's Canon in D Major isn't too difficult."
"I know, but this German one we have to play at the reception is," Sean said.
"You mean 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik'? I think Mozart was Austrian," Dana said, as we chuckled.
With all the work in the choirs, string performances and their band, the boys were becoming seasoned performers. We weren't too concerned with their initial doubts about their competence and we were confident that with my help and their music teachers that they would be just fine.
The next week after the auditions we got a call from Erin Brady and she wanted to speak to Sean and then Jake. I answered and handed the phone off to Sean, who then gave it to Jake.
"I made it and they want me take the part of Charley Bates, the Dodger's friend," Sean said, with a smile.
Jake was also happy as he told us after he got off the phone, "They want me to be the Artful Dodger."
They told us that all their friends were successful and were in the chorus. I took the phone as I wanted to tell Erin that I would do the Front of the House for the production, which is something I had done for the theatre company when my girls were in the productions and Dana had volunteered to do makeup. While we were talking, Susan was at the door and Garth and Glen were with her. They were coming for the afternoon to swim.
"I should talk to Garth, since he's there with you," Erin said.
I couldn't make out from her voice what the decision was, but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be good news. He took the phone and we all looked at his face for a clue. As she talked he had a furrowed brow, so we were a little disappointed. Finally, he was finished and as he handed the phone back to me, he threw his hands up in the air and had the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face.
"I made it! I'm Oliver."
University of Waterloo Math Contests
I'd Do Anything for You - Oliver