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Chapter 1: Its the Hanson Way
Walker Hanson opened the front door and laid his briefcase gently on the hall table. It was a far cry from his usual entry into his home. Usually, it was all he could do to get inside the door and toss his briefcase before he heard thundering footsteps and was besieged with little bodies flinging themselves at him all wanting attention and hugs and trying to out talk one another, all vying for his attention. But, it was after ten p.m. and he had worked late. His boys were in bed sound asleep by now.
Walked sidestepped around the packing boxes and furniture that was out of place, awaiting the movers to be placed in storage. He found his wife Diana in the dining room where the boxes were neatly stacked and tagged. These were their personal belonging that they would take with them overseas.
He slipped up behind
her, shifted a thick blond braid out of his way and kissed her on the back
of neck. “Still twenty-two pounds overweight?” he asked with a smile.
Diana returned
her husbands smile but hers was a little tight. She had been under
a lot of stress lately worrying about the impending move.
“We’re down to
seventeen now,” she reported. “I just don’t know what else we can
leave behind.”
“Honey, we can
always pay for the excess poundage,” Walker suggested referring to the
freight weight that they were allowed to ship to South America.
Diane threw her
husband a look of disbelief. “Don’t you mean pay the extortion,”
she responded. “At fourteen dollars a pound I’ll figure out a way
to match our weight allotment. The heaviest items left are the keyboard
and the stroller. We need the stroller for Jessica but if I leave
the keyboard behind, I won’t be able to begin to teach the boys’ piano.
I would really hate to put that off for a year. Ike has such a beautiful
voice and loves music. Choices, Choices!
Are you hungry?”
Walker shook his
head, “No, we had sandwiches sent in. Are the boys asleep?”
“They should be,
I kept them up as late as I could,” Diane explained with a little censure
in her voice.
Walker gave his
wife another hug. “Sorry, it’s just that I have to explain everything to
the guy who is going to take my place and there are a lot of details to
go over.”
“If you’re needed
so much, why are they sending you overseas to begin with,” Diana lamented
softly.
“Honey, we’ve been
over this before. It’s just part of the executive program.
Kind of a trial by fire situation. If you make it through the overseas
assignments you’re on your way up the excecutive ladder. Once the
overseas stint is over we’ll be able to settle down permanently.
And, with the differential pay, we’ll be able live off of the overseas
allotment and put my salary away for a large down payment on a house when
we get back.”
“I keep thinking
about that,” Diana said wistfully. “Provided though, that I ever
get the poundage down enough for us to leave in the first place.
Have the passports come yet?”
Walker nodded his
head, and pulled an envelope from his suit pocket.
Diane took the
small green packets and looked the tiny pictures embossed with the national
seal. It seemed a little ridiculous for a three year old to have
a passport, but there was Zac’s little face peering out at her. Her own
passport was taken with baby Jessica. So was Walkers, so that either
of them could go through customs with the infant. These five little
packets meant that they were really going. There was no backing out
now. The finality of it hit her and she clutched the packets tightly.
“Why don’t we call
it a night?” Walker suggested gently. Even though they had been preparing
for the overseas assignment for months he knew it was hard for his wife
to accept that she was leaving the country, even if it was only for a year.
He knew he was asking a lot of his family, but it was for his career and
for the security of their own futures that he had decided on this plan.
With their family expanding so rapidly, and with college loans to still
pay off, it was nearly impossible to save any money from his salary.
If they wanted a home of their own, this was the best solution. They
could live well in South America on his overseas allotments. The
company provided the housing, and the facilities within the compound were
well planned to keep the employees and their families comfortable.
The company compound was self contained. There were laundry facilities
and a company market, a small theater, and recreational buildings and playgrounds
for the children. Once he fulfilled his overseas commitment he wouldn’t
be asked to do it again. In a year's time, they would be able to
purchase the home of their dreams and settle down permanently.
“I have to give
the baby her last feeding, and then I’ll call it a night,” Diana responded.
Walker nodded.
“I’ll go see if the boys are tucked in.”
Walker opened the
door to his boy's bedroom and smiled. It was a small bedroom, only
furnished with a set of bunkbeds and a dresser. His oldest son, Ike,
at eight occupied the top bunk, his five year old, Taylor and three year
old, Zac were sleeping head to toe on the lower bunk. He straightened
the covers on his youngest son and retucked him in knowing the little whirling
dervish would kick them off in a matter of minutes. Even in his sleep,
Zachary was continuous motion. He kissed him on the cheek and moved
up to the upper end of the bed. Second son, Taylor was sleeping face
buried down in his pillow. Walker pulled the blankets down from his
head and heard a suspicious sniff. He turned the boy over and Taylor
opened his red, tear soaked eyes and reached up for his Daddy.
Walker sat down
on the lower bunk, bending forward so he wouldn’t hit his head on the upper
bunk structure. He pulled is son into his lap and hugged him close.
“Hey now, what’s the matter with my blue-eyed boy?”
“He thinks you
guys are gonna leave us behind,” eight year old Ike explained hanging head
down from the upper bunk.
Taylor sniffed
and buried his head into his fathers chest.
“Hey, hey, now
don’t start crying on me,” Walker admonished. “Where on earth did
you get the idea that we would leave you behind?”
“On account of,
Mrs. Michael’s came over to visit mom and she said you and mom shouldn’t
be dragging us kids off into the jungles. She said, that you should
leave us behind with Grandma and Grandpa where it’s safe,” Ike explained
still hanging off the edge of his bunk.
Walker motioned
his son down and Ike flipped over the edge of the bed and landed on his
feet with the agility of a boy used to climbing up and down from his upper
bunk. He sat down on lower bunk beside his dad and brother.
“Something tells
me you guys were listening to a conversation that you shouldn’t have heard,”
Walker said and Ike ducked his head in anticipation of a scolding.
“Mom didn’t tell
us to go out or anything,” Ike said. “Dad, you’re not gonna leave us behind
are you?”
“Okay,” Walker
said accepting his son's explanation. “Lets get this straight right
now. Isaac and Taylor, listen up. Where Mom and I go, you go.
It’s as simple as that. We’re not leaving anyone behind, because
that isn’t how we do things in this family. We are Hansons, and Hansons
stick together, no matter what.”
“You promise?”
a voice somewhere below his chin asked.
Walker looked down
at the watery eyes of his son and he hugged him close and pulled Ike into
the group hug. “I promise. This family is always going to stick
together. By the end of the month, we’re going to in Venezuela, as
a whole family. I would never take you any place if I didn’t think
it safe. There will be a lot of kids there and you’ll make all kinds
of new friends and go to new schools and there will be a whole lot of stuff
for us to visit and see. This is going to be an adventure.”
“A Hanson family
adventure,” Taylor said softly.
“That’s right,”
Walker said and he bounced his son up on his knee to get a smile out of
him. “The Hanson family sticks together! Are we okay now?”
Taylor nodded his
head and his father stood up and swung him up in his arms. “Okay,
if that’s all settled, then you boys had better get back to sleep.”
“Maybe we would
sleep better if we had some ice cream?” Taylor said with a grin.
Walker laughed
and shook his head. “Nice try, but I don’t want any stomach aches
tonight. It’s straight to sleep for you guys.” He dropped his
son back in bed and then with one swoop he lifted and tossed Ike up into
the upper bunk causing him to giggle. He tucked his oldest son in,
kissed him on the forehead, and then bent back over the lower bunk and
did the same for Taylor and then gave one last check on Zac who had already
kicked his covers off and was still sound asleep. This was one of
Walkers favorite times of day--bedtime. He left their room with one
last look behind to make sure they were okay and left the door slightly
ajar.
As he stepped into
the hallway he found Diana standing just outside the door, apparently doing
her own eavesdropping. She gave him a look of pure confidence, kissed
him on the cheek and handed him a bundle that was his only daughter.
With one arm looped around his daughter, he draped the other one over his
wife’s shoulder. Walker knew what he had was special, and he was
going to work very hard to keep it that way.