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Inside the airport, Jasmine spotted a well-dressed chauffeur holding up a sign that read "Jake Catchings". Jake and Jasmine each carried a medium sized carry-on suitcase; they were staying just the weekend.
They bypassed the luggage area and went straight through the airport and out the front. There, still running at the curb, was the limo. Inside the temperature was toasty. Jake noticed the temperature control for the back seat was at 72°. He took his coat off and stretched his legs out as if his body was saying "It doesn't get any better than this!"
Jasmine snuggled up against Jake. They were going to meet someone who would become part of their new world, a world different than anything they had ever known before. They both felt a range of feelings stirring inside -- a mixture of excitement, nervousness, strength.
Philadelphia was drab, but after fifteen minutes, they were surrounded by beautiful countryside. Another five minutes and the limo turned off the country road onto what appeared to be a little well-kept road lined with trees. After a 30° turn in the road, Jake and Jasmine both leaned forward and looked ahead in awe. Suddenly appearing before them was a mansion so massive that the large mature trees around it looked like smaller, young trees. The Danish design was made of brick and layered sheet rocks. Several "A" shaped peaks, each the size of a large custom home, rose across the front of the mansion. As the visitors got closer, their senses shifted from the massive size to the rich detail. Beige-tan-and-brown sheet rocks rose from the ground, beautifully staggered with sections of deep red bricks in an almost artistic, interlacing design. Neither Jake nor Jasmine had ever seen anything like it. When coming closer still, their senses refocused from the beautifully built house to the resort-like grounds and gardens that surrounded them and made them feel as though they were visiting royalty in England, forgetting they were just a few minutes outside of Philadelphia.
"You'll stay here, at Mr. Rodriguez's home," the driver said, smiling at the college kids' reaction.
"Wow," Jasmine said in a whisper. She was wondering how many rooms were in that edifice.
The driver pulled under the covered carport, at the front doors, which opened as if on cue. A friendly looking woman in a housekeeper uniform stood in the doorway to greet them.
"I'll be here whenever you need me," the chauffeur said as Jake and Jasmine got out of the car. Then he took Jake and Jasmine's suitcases and walked inside.
"Guest Room 12", the friendly woman said, then turned to Jake and Jasmine. "I'm sorry, would you like two rooms?"
"That won't be necessary," Jasmine said. She was a conservative girl who had only one boyfriend before she met Jake. But she was also a person who knew what she wanted, and she knew she wanted Jake. They had been together once, but her decisive choice to stay in one room with him made him feel really good. He was falling in love with her, too.
"Wonderful," the friendly lady said, not missing a beat, "Welcome to Mr. Rodriguez's home. My name is Mrs. Green; please ask me for anything you might need. ...Did you have dinner yet?"
"No...we're starving," Jake said, feeling right at home. His eyes were ricocheting around the huge entryway, not so much admiring the mansion as he was hoping to see its owner. Jake could barely wait to meet Rico Rodriguez.
"Perfect!" Mrs. Green said as if solving a little scheduling mystery. "Mr. Rodriguez will be home in about 15 minutes, and you'll have dinner with him."
Jake and Jasmine followed Mrs. Green through a plush hallway lined with watercolors to Guest Room 12. I bet those are expensive paintings, Jake thought, feeling a little ashamed that he would not recognize famous art. Inside, Jake and Jasmine felt as if they had checked into a luxury suite.
What a change from that dump Rico grew up in, Jake thought, remembering what Angie had told him about Miss Annabelle's visit to Rico's childhood home. Jake realized Rico's edifice was concretization of the power of the Neothink mind.
Since stepping inside Rico's mansion, all five of Jake's and Jasmine's senses were working overtime. The couple were quiet, letting themselves observe and absorb. The ceilings were twice as high as anything they had been seen before; the rooms were at least twice as big as rooms they had been in before. The accessories and furniture themselves seemed oversized. Everything seemed bigger than life. And Jake noticed how bright and cheerful everything looked. With the help of inset ceiling lights and skylights, all corners were well lit with very few shadows, even as the afternoon sun set. Standing inside, one wouldn't guess the outside Danish design wore a quality, dark tweed look in layered bricks and stones. The inside was very open with light and colorful walls covered with art...beautiful, whimsical art. The natural and artificial lighting illuminated the colors of the paintings and made the walls glow like a gentle rainbow. The furniture was pleasantly contrasting whitewash with French curves and rich European cherry wood.
"It's beautiful," Jasmine was thinking out loud, "but it's not afraid to be lived in. No, it's asking to be lived in. It's a warm, loving home."
Jasmine loved going through the inside of nice homes. A few minutes after admiring the room they were staying in, Jasmine sought out Mrs. Green to ask if it would be alright to look around the house.
"Yes, of course, dear!" Mrs. Green chuckled even before Jasmine finished asking, anticipating her question. Every guest must ask her that question, Jake thought.
Jasmine led the way. She left the entryway at a 90° angle from the hall that took them to Guest Room 12. Jake thought they were walking East, toward the back of the house. They were not walking through a hall, but through a long, beautiful room decorated with a lot of gold objects and fabrics. At the far side of the room were French doors. The awestruck college students walked through the glowing room. Jasmine opened the French doors, and they stood looking into another long, beautiful room full of dark green and burgundy fabrics, dark red drapes, and lots of books. "Maybe this is the library," Jasmine said as she walked in. "You know, each one of these beautiful rooms has a purpose."
Just then, the French doors on the far side of the reading room burst open. Three children went running across the dark, redwood floor in a gleeful gallop. The littlest one, a cute dark-blond boy about two years old, kept yelling, "Yay, daddy's home! Yay, daddy's home!" as he struggled to keep up with his older brother and sister. They ran right past Jake and Jasmine without breaking stride. The oldest was a gorgeous little brunette girl with big brown eyes, fair skin, full lips, maybe six or seven years old. She reached the next set of French doors a step ahead of the middle sibling who was midway in height between the little lady and the little golden boy. She threw open the French doors Jake and Jasmine had just closed, and the little stampede vanished into the distance. A moment passed, then Jake and Jasmine heard "Daddy!" "Daddy!" "Daddy!" followed by squeals of laughter as each little member of the charge reached its destination.
Jake heard Rico's deep, loving voice, and Jake shivered in disbelief for a second. This is the same Rico, he thought, the same Rico in third grade on the tapes.
Jake and Jasmine followed the path the stampede had just blazed. After what seemed like an unusually long walk to the front door, they saw him. He was kneeling on his right knee. The little one was sitting on his daddy's left thigh; daddy's right arm was wrapped around the lovely little girl; the other arm around his other striking son who looked like a little Rico. Rico gave full attention to his children. They were telling him about the highlights of their day.
Jake and Jasmine stopped before Rico saw them. They instinctively did not want to interrupt this special moment between father and children. The look of complete contentment on the children's faces, especially that little two-year old who could not talk much, but who quietly savored his moment on daddy's lap, struck Jake. He did not know much about children, but he knew that look of complete contentment was something very special.
Rico was a handsome man about 6 feet tall. His Latino looks, thick 5 o'clock shadow, and a noticeable scar just under his left eye gave a clue to his tough-guy roots. Obviously, the man could be intimidating if and when he needed to. His strong looks made his gentleness with his children something beautiful to watch.
"Living poetry," Jasmine whispered to Jake.
Rico heard the whispering and looked up, straight at Jake and Jasmine.
"Hello Jake," he said, standing up to shake hands, scooping the 2-year-old up with his left hand and extending his right.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Rodriguez," Jake said, walking over to shake his hand. "This is my girlfriend, Jasmine." Jake and Jasmine both felt a surge of joy by their first use of the term "girlfriend".
"Call me Rico," he said, shaking Jake and then Jasmine's hands. "And these are my most precious treasures Rosa, Rico II, and little Tony," he said raising the little boy with one hand, like toasting a glass of wine. The three children, even the koala-bear imitation hugging his daddy's arm, said a sweet, yet strong "hi".
"Two of my most precious treasures are missing. Mrs. Green, where's my Monica and my Olivia?"
"They're upstairs, sir. Monica's on the Internet." Mrs. Green seemed to know everything that's going on, Jake thought. "Dinner's waiting for you, sir."
As they went inside, Jake noticed that Rico's skin was surprisingly light complected, contrasted against his dark hair and dark brown eyes. He was born with strong features and was very handsome with prominent eyebrows resting over his exceptional eyes that were windows to his strong character within. He was a man of strength, yet tenderness. He looked healthy, strong, refined by success. A tough guy, no mistake. But a refined man who lived by his mind and no longer relied on his tough roots.
A few moments after arriving in the dining room, an adorable ten-year-old girl and her beautiful mother entered.
"Ah, my other precious treasures," Rico said jubilantly. "Jake and Jasmine, meet my wife, Olivia, and my oldest, Monica."
The ladies were striking if not stunning. Olivia moved gracefully across the room toward Jake and Jasmine. Her blond hair rested on her small, bare shoulders. She was tall for a woman, with long limbs like a model.
Monica, her daughter, looked so much like her mother, except that her hair was two shades darker, that Jake had to look twice to realize Monica was just a girl. She was several inches shorter than her mother, but the mature expression on her pretty face and her poise made her look years older.
"You have beautiful children," Jasmine said to Rico and Olivia.
Through the dinner, Jake felt moved by the joy, the love, that filled the room. Jake could not forget the look in those children's faces as they raced to see their father: nothing else in the world mattered. ...What an incredible love they have for each other.
Jake witnessed how rambunctious the 2-year-old was throughout the dinner and could not get over how still little Tony sat in Rico's lap earlier.
Rico had everyone at the dinner table laughing over a most endearing story: two weeks after school had begun, he had called Miss Annabelle at her house to ask her out to a movie, for she was his first crush. Rico was a good storyteller, and he elaborated on his embarrassments to his children's and wife's delight.
"Jake, when you walked into my house, you must've brought my memory banks with you. I haven't thought about that crazy story in twenty-five years!" Rico said. That statement seemed to challenge his memory. He began to remember names and ask Jake what they were doing now.
With some help from Jake, Rico remembered all eleven classmates. Jake told him everything he knew and promised Rico to fill him in over the weekend on the handful he had not yet read about.
Something changed in Rico's expression. He became quiet. Jake studied Rico's expressive eyes; they were aflamed. Everyone at the table stopped and looked at Rico. His kids and wife had seen this look before. They knew some big idea was coming. Jake and Jasmine wondered, what thought is brewing inside that handsome head?
Finally, Rico released his thought for all to share: "We must have a reunion!" Yes! Jake thought, that's exactly what I want to do.
Rico was a man of action. Once he made up his mind to do something, nothing could stop him. "Jake, I must have that PI report tonight. Give it to Mrs. Green after dinner, and she'll make a copy for me. We will have a reunion. I'll draft a letter tomorrow, and we'll send it out by Federal Express."
Jake nearly leaped out of his skin. It was really going to happen. What could possibly match the thought of meeting and being among these people?
*
Later that night Jake and Jasmine, both in the middle of reading the PI report, decided to take a break and walk through the mansion.
The edifice was big, the rooms were big, yet there seemed to be no end to the number of and purpose to the rooms: they came upon a big and open gymnasium room, a huge play room, an indoor swimming and jacuzzi room, an indoor tennis court "room", an arts and craft room, computer room, office, lots of guest rooms, library room, movie room, gallery room, conference room, study room, workshop room, a place that looked like a "museum" room, and other mysterious rooms they did not know the purpose of, along with big, "normal" rooms of most houses. The design of the house was obviously well thought out for maximum effectiveness for the leader of an empire.
During their journey into the lifestyle of the rich and famous, Jasmine opened the French doors to yet another large room. A slight breeze of warmth wafted by Jasmine and Jake, caused by the six-foot high stone chimney crackling with a fresh fire. A burgundy leather chair off to the side slowly swiveled around. It was Rico. He held the PI report, opened about halfway.
"Excuse me," Jasmine said, genuinely sorry for intruding on someone so powerful and busy, for at that very moment she thought of her father and how busy he once was and how much he needed his privacy. Instinctively and apologetically, she retreated.
"Jasmine, you and Jake come on in here," Rico's tone was warm; he was naturally paternal.
Jasmine and Jake stepped down into the cozy, sunken den and sat on the burgundy leather couch directly across from Rico, perpendicular to the chimney.
"I want to thank you very much for bringing the turning point of my life back to me." Rico paused to collect his thoughts. Jasmine took the opportunity to clarify that Jake had done everything and that she would help him write the story.
"Thank you, Jake," Rico continued. "You know, this report is very moving to me in many ways. Everything...everything is coming together from my starting point 27 years ago in Miss Annabelle's classroom. The love my teacher and my classmates felt in there was...so different, like the love my family feels when we're all together. Not until I met Olivia fifteen years later and we had our children that I felt those feelings again."
Rico paused, and he seemed to drift off as would someone rediscovering his past and rethinking his present. He said, "I'll tell you a little story to attempt to describe this love." He paused again to find a starting point.
"I was at the park with Monica the other day," Rico exhaled, his eyes looking inward at the memory, "and she finally said the words I'd been dreading for two years. She said, `Daddy, let's not go here anymore, it's boring." Rico grimaced and dropped his head involuntarily. Jake sensed something rare in Rico's emotions. How could a man so powerful and strong be so moved over a simple comment of a growing, little girl?
"I'd been taking her there since she was two. I can still see her trying to climb up the stairs to the slide. I remember teaching her what lightning and thunder was and how far away it was as we sat on the monkey bars one night and watched a distant storm. Ever since she was two, she always wanted me to join her on the swings or going down the slide. And then her sister and brother came along. She loved playing with them, and she was so protective of her siblings. I love that about Monica. Sometimes, I'd just take her alone to always keep that special bond we formed when she was a toddler, when she was still our only child. It was Monica who made me discover my endless love for having children. I never knew. I grew up in a family with an angry, drunken father who hated me and a mother who was always stressed out and yelling. Imagine what a beautiful surprise it was for me when I felt my love for my child grow inside me and root into the very deepest places in my heart and soul. I'll tell you, I had no idea, but I first discovered that love at the park with Monica, and it's been growing ever since. ...But I knew, even before she said she didn't want to go there anymore, that she'd outgrown the park. That precious part of our lives was over. ...I realized that our life together as Daddy and my little girl was over, forever. We've been going to that park since she was two, and we had so many beautiful times there. But the time went by in a flash. Pretty soon, our life together as father and child will be over. Then...then one day my life will be over, and we'll never see each other ever again."
Jasmine was overwhelmed, but fought back her emotions. She felt strong parallels to the love between herself and her father, and she became aware that her own father had struggled with these same feelings as she grew up...and moved off to college.
"Watching my children grow has made me acutely aware of the finite nature of life. Sometimes it's so hard to stay at work and not spend the afternoon with my kids. I've cut out everything from my life outside my work in order to spend evenings and a good chunk of my weekends with my kids. I cut out golf; I turn down invitations to social events and clubs. My work and my family are my life. And for a man in my position, I squeeze out an extraordinary amount of time to be with my family. I know how frickin' fast time rushes by. What's more, it's those phases of life -- only a few fast years to an entire phase -- and then that precious experience is over forever, like Monica being my little girl."
Jake was beginning to realize that Rico's love for his family went beyond any parent's love Jake had ever witnessed. Rico's love went to a new level. Jake was in awe as he realized this new level of love was the level of love felt by the God-Man. Caring for children has always been a measurement of evolution -- the more evolved, the more love and care for the children. Now, Jake was realizing this unusually strong family love was actually an indicator, a gauge, of the next evolution of man.
"My kids love to be with me. Whenever I leave to go to work, they beg me to stay home...or to take them with me. I started taking Monica to the office with me on weekends when she was 6. She'd get so excited. Now, I take Monica and Rosa. They play computer games; Monica does her homework. But if they have somewhere to go and can't come with me, I miss them so much that I'm actually not as productive. I can't wait till Rico is a little older...and, of course, little Tony."
Jake saw that little face again sitting so still and content on Rico's lap just after tearing through the house like a little terror. A high-energy little two-year-old sat still as a statue on his dad's lap. Jake could see that these children so much wanted to be with their dad that they would rather be with him on Saturday mornings at the office than out playing with their friends. Jake was fathoming the power of this new level of family love. Jasmine swallowed hard; her eyes were glassy. She was hanging on every word of Rico's story.
"Last year I had a small stress-related heart attack that turned out to be a warning but not life threatening. During the heart attack, I could only think about the devastation my children would go through if I died. As I grabbed my chest and my secretary called 911, I discovered then that my fear was not for me, but for my children not having me if I died. I love them more than I love myself. I just can't bear the thought that someday I will die and will leave my kids...and never be with them again."
Olivia walked into the room so quietly that no one noticed her until she slipped her hands over Rico's shoulders from behind and leaned over to kiss him. Her blonde hair flopped over her face; Jake admired her beauty. She looked up at Jake and Jasmine and said "hi". Jake saw the same love on her face for her husband he had seen on Angie's face for Jessie. Rico rested a hand over his wife's hand.
"My wife is my soul mate," he said. Olivia's timely presence may have saved Jasmine from breaking into tears. "I realize now that it was my experience in third grade that made me know that no woman before Olivia was right for me. And my experience made me know that I was in love with Olivia. With this report, I'm remembering now how special I felt in Miss Annabelle's class, and how close I felt to her and my classmates. I didn't feel so special or close to anyone again until I met Olivia. I guess that's why it's so easy for me to shut out socializing with others. I only feel close to Olivia and my family. ...And now, reading this PI report, I'm remembering special feelings 27 years ago I'd forgotten all about. Those were my only true friends before Olivia and my children."
Whereas Rico was rediscovering his special feelings from 27 years ago, Jake had been discovering those feelings for the first time since this adventure began. He was looking forward to sharing those feelings with Rico...a comrade in a special world different from the rest.
"Did you, back then, sort of feel like you were your own little civilization, completely different than civilization around you?"
The faraway thoughts behind Rico's eyes came back to the conversation at hand. "Yes...yes Jake," he said, realizing that Jake had entered this other world. "Yes, that's it, Jake. We were a civilization of our own. We were meant to be together. Jake, we must get my classmates, Miss Annabelle and Mr. Melbourne together again. We're going to have that reunion...a GREAT reunion! Olivia, we'll be the host of the great reunion!" Rico was looking up at his wife, "Darling, I know you've always wanted to hear about my childhood, but I never talk about it. Tonight, I will talk. I'll tell you everything. Thanks to Jake, I now recall where my life began."
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