Spring Eternal

Chapter 2
A Bumpy Start

Chapter Description: Iris' presence in the house makes a bigger impact than expected.

Iris’ mouth dropped open as she saw their new townhouse as Randall pulled up into the driveway to one side of their two car garage. As the guest, she was sitting in the front passenger seat, while Patrice sat in the back seat next to Calvin. Patrice smiled as she watched her mother’s reaction to their new home. It was one of the most expensive models in the new luxurious development. The entire development was professionally landscaped and maintained, emanating a melodious blending of the pastoral ideal along with offering all the modern amenities. Iris’ eyes glazed over with awe as she looked at the upscale two story four bedroom townhouse in front of her.

“Ooh! How lovely. I know you told me you moved, but I never expected something so affluent!” Iris breathed as her eyes danced over the front of the home.

“Yes, it’s thanks to Calvin. He had been saving up for a number of years and invested well in the market.” Patrice stated as she watched her mother duck her head to lookout the windshield. “He insisted that he provide us a new home, so we wouldn’t be crowded together in that old duplex. He even paid for the additional furniture to outfit the new living spaces. He was so kind.”

Patrice leaned over and stroked Cal’s leg was propped up in the car seat. Cal blushed at the intimate gester.

“Id wa nudeen. H pee t doo wit.” He responded. “I bal yew ow fawedjip.”

“What did he say?” Iris craned her neck and whispered to Randall. “I can’t understand him.”

“That’s okay. You’ll get used to it before long.” Randall responded as he patted her hand.

Over the next several days, it came apparent that the presence of Iris in the household was not going to go as swimmingly as everyone had hoped. Cal went out of his way to be patient with Iris as she tried to settle in with them. A number of times she had knocked him down in the kitchen or coming down the hall. She was very apologetic as she picked him up and set him on his feet again. She was just not used to looking down before she took a step, so she continually bumped into him. She would try to do better and remember a little person was living in the house.

Iris’s hearing was also on the decline, although she did not want to admit it. At the dinner table it became apparent when she did not respond to his soft baby voice request for her to hand him a napkin. He asked again, but Iris did not respond. Finally Patrice leaned over the table and handed him him a napkin without Iris even aware of the recent exchange. It seemed that Iris could not readily hear higher tones, which Cal’s register was suddenly stuck in. Cal made an effort to make sure he had Iris’ attention when he addressed her, but little successful communication was achieved. Cal’s words came across as muddled babble to her ears. She was so completely lost on trying to interpret Cal’s speech that she had to turn to her daughter to translate.

One of the things that Patrice and Randall found amusing about Iris’ stay was that every evening, almost like clockwork, as soon as she entered the living room, she would pick up Calvin from his spot on the sofa and place him in her lap. Cal froze in surprise when it first happened, but a quick peak at Patrice’s grateful expression made him bite his lip. As the family watched television, Iris would toy with the soft curls on the back of his head and give him an affectionate squeeze as she watched the program. It wasn’t that bad, Calvin thought, just a little inappropriate, knowing his rightful age. Anyway, it made Iris feel better and everyone else was happy, so who was he to complain. Cal looked around sheepishly after a few minutes, Randall grinning face caught his eye. Randall gave him a wink for his good natured forbearance.

As like anyone who had lived alone and had their own house, Iris had routines and certain ways of doing things that needed to be accommodated into their home. With good intention, she tried to insert herself in the workings of their streamlined household. The resultant consequence was that her good intentions usually just gummed up the works.

In appreciation for letting her stay, Iris tried to assist with the chores wherever she could, often to a negative outcome. Once, she had moved Calvin’s stool from next to the toilet to the cabinet under the sink. When Calvin later rushed into relieve the violent urgency of his bladder, he could not find it. He spun around, desperately yelling for it. By the time one of the adult sized inhabitants made it to the bathroom door, they were treated to the sight of an upset Cal standing there with a large wet spot on his pants. Iris had been incredibly apologetic when she realized that it was her attempt to straighten up the bathroom that allowed this incident to happen. Cal nodded mutely as he accepted her apology, as Patrice bent down to strip him of the wet pants and soaked oversized training pants. It wouldn’t have been a big deal, except the next day, it happened again.

It was during the afternoon of the fourth day, that a new irritant surfaced regarding the new houseguest. Iris was watching a daytime television talk show in her room while Cal went down for a nap. Although he might have retained the mind of an adult, his body demanded a respite in the afternoon. So, a minimum of an hour and half afternoon nap became part of his normal routine. He had retired to his room about thirty minutes before Iris also returned to her room where she turned on the television so loud due to her decreased hearing that it echoed across the hall into Cal’s room. The earsplitting harsh manufactured gaiety jarred Calvin from a deep sleep. The booming voices touting recipes and fashion tips accompanied by the energetic applause assaulted Calvin’s peaceful slumber, dragging him unwillingly back to consciousness. He woke with his heart pounding as if an alarm had been set off.

Realizing it was only the television from Iris’ room, he lay in shock on his bed, blinking up at the ceiling he wondered how much more his patience could take. In a fit of temper, he brought up his balled fists and rubbed at his eyes as a headache blossomed from being woken so abruptly. He finally pulled himself out of his toddler bed and stumbled to the living room with a frown on his face. He was out of sorts for the rest of the day, since his body had been shortchanged on sleep. For the sake of family unity, he decided not to bring it up to Patrice since he didn’t want to make Iris even more uncomfortable. Consequently, Iris went blithely along her day, having no idea of what her little television session had wrought on the small body in the house. That evening, Calvin was quiet as he methodically spooned up the small pieces of his dinner into his mouth. His eyes kept drifting half closed and he kept drifting into a daze before he became aware of a question being aimed toward him about how he was feeling.

“I mma d taw twyya ded sah see” Staring at his plate, Cal mumbled an answer, not noticing the garble of sounds that issued out of his mouth.

“Oh, okay. You know, I’m pretty beat. We don’t we all take it easy tonight?” Randall stated as he looked over at Patrice who nodded in agreement.

Later as he sat on Iris’ lap, his body crumpled back against Iris’s body. As he lay his head back against her breast, he drifted off to sleep a full hour earlier than his normal bedtime to Randall’s and Patrice’s puzzlement.

The next morning, Randall went off to his classes at the college, while Patrice and Iris decided to run some errands that morning. They loaded Cal into his car seat in the back of the car and tightened the straps. As they started the car, Cal had no idea that this day was going to take a hellish turn.