Chapter 57

Thanksgiving crept up on everyone. The kids all got their requests for pies into their before she and Kaylian went shopping. They got strange looks at the store much like Jake, Jeremiah, and David had when they bought four 30lbs turkeys. "What do you need all of these baking supplies for?" the cashier asked as they checked out.

"I have a rather big family", Brie laughed as she and Kaylian unloaded their cart.

"How big is big?"

"Well, I'm the mother of ten, nine of them are either married or have a significant other. They've all given my husband and me a grand total of 25 grandchildren and one on the way for 26."

"There was an older gentleman in here a few weeks ago that told that same story. The two with him said that they were his sons."

"That was probably my husband. Did either of the boys argue with the man about who was paying for it all?"

"They both kept telling him to let one of the two of them pay for it. Finally, he stopped arguing and the shorter one with glasses paid."

Brie laughed. "Those were my boys. They're always trying to convince us to let them pay for things. The taller one with glasses insisted that I bring his credit card so that we our bank account wasn't depleted any further. Am I going to use it though? Not without him here. If he's so worried then he can have the money transferred from his account to ours ."

"That works", the manager said as she walked passed. She looked at Brie. "Haven't seen you in here in a while, Mrs. Draiman. Where have you been?"

"Israel. Mr. Draiman and I moved there about 5 1/2 years ago."

"No wonder we don't see you. You aren't even in the country anymore." The cashier was told to move so that the manager could take over the transaction. "Do you still have your preferred members card?"

"No. I haven't needed it in five years."

"You know what? Don't even worry about it." The girl pulled her own card out and scanned it. "That takes care of that." She gave Brie the total and Brie handed her the credit card. "Denise, you really didn't have to do that."

"It was my pleasure, Mrs. Draiman. Tell Mr. Draiman I still think he's a sexy devil, even if he is old enough to be my grandfather."

Brie laughed hysterically as she and Kaylian started to walk off. "I'll let him know." One of the store sackers followed them out and loaded the trunk of Jake's Porsche. Once they were in the car and on their way home, Brie looked at Kaylian. "They're unbelievable in there aren't they?"

"They're all a great bunch of kids. Has she always flirted with David when you two would go in there?"

"Oh yeah. She started working in there right as the guys were planning their final show. It was honestly right about six years ago because we were buying things for Thanksgiving dinner. She got in her line and when he finished putting the groceries on the belt, she started flirting hard. He looked at her and said, 'Child, how old are you ? She said, 'I'm about 15.' He responded, 'Girl, I am old enough to be your grandfather. My oldest grandchildren are around your age'."

Kaylian laughed. "That sounds like David. So, have you gotten either him or Jake to back off on the forced breaks every few pies?"

"Nope. They're both worried about my back. If I over work it they don't want me in the hospital. I have Spondylosis in my lower spine. That was what the surgery was for.  It was to correct a fusion of L4 and L5.”

“OUCH!”  Kaylian said and subconsciously rubbed her lower back.  “I can’t say I blame them for making you take breaks then.”

“To be perfectly honest with you, it’s why I haven’t been doing any cooking for the holidays the last several years.  I understand that they don’t want me to overdo it, but what I’m saying is that they need to trust me to know when enough is enough.  That’s what I keep arguing with David.  He’s being a hard head and not listening.”

Kaylian laughed.  “Isn’t that always the case, though?”

Brie chuckled and nodded.  “In my case, yeah.  It usually is.”

---------------

As soon as Jacob, James, and Jeremiah had the bags in for the women, Kaylian and Brie were baking fools.  David decided that he was going to sit and play supervisor.  “After this one, baby, I think you need to sit down and take a break”, he said as she rolled out the homemade pie crust she insisted on making.

She blew a lock of hair out of her face.  “David, I love you but I’m fine.”

“You’re overdoing it.  Take a break.”

“I’m not overdoing it.  I know when I’m overdoing it.”

He sighed.  “Can you just humor me please and sit down after you make that damn pie?”

She laughed.  “David, how long do I have until Thanksgiving?”

“A week.”

“And how many pies do I have to make?”

“Thirty some odd.”

“Even with Kaylian helping me, there’s not much of a chance in getting them all done in time if I’m taking a break every five pies.  I’d like to get them all done over the next few says so that you and the boys can worry about marinating the turkeys and stuff like that before I take over the kitchen the day before to make Challah and bake these damn pies, which I will be sitting down quite regularly during.”

“So, you had a plan to begin with?”

“When don’t I have a plan, Michael?  Seriously.  You act as though you haven’t been with me for nearly forty years.”

He laughed.  “Well, how the fuck was I supposed to know?”

“Uh… you could have asked.  Instead when Jake decided to say to me, ‘You’re sitting down every five or six pies’, you just jumped and back him.  I know when I’m pushing myself too far and I know when I need to stop.  That’s what I’ve been trying to impress upon you and your son for the past two weeks.”

“Hey, you helped.”

“Well, when you two start in on me about not pushing myself too hard, he’s yours.  When he’s after you about doing stupid shit, he’s mine.”

He laughed and sighed.  “Fine, but if I suspect that you’re pushing yourself too hard and too far to prove a point, I’m gonna sic Jake on you.”

“I ain’t afraid of Jake.”

“You ain’t afraid of who?” Jake asked as he walked in.

“You.  Last time I checked, I was your parent, not the other way around.”

“How many pies have you done?”

“Four.  Kaylian and I are working on a new batch of dough and once that’s done, I’m going to sit down.  Don’t like it, get over it.  I know my body and I know my limits.”

Jake looked at his mother crookedly.  “I seem to recall a certain woman at about 60 having to have a vertebral separation done because her two of her Lumbar vertebrae were fusing together.  Now, Mom, as much as I love you, I don’t want to go through that again nor do I want you to have to go through it again.”

“Jake, I don’t see myself living long enough to have to undergo another spinal surgery and if I do, I probably won’t live through it.”

“Are you saying that your fighting spirit has given out?”

“No.  I’m saying, Jacob, that it’s a highly dangerous and delicate procedure, and at my age the chances of surviving something like that are slim.  Anyway, no Ortho in their right mind would cut my back open again to do that procedure at my age.  I’m 70, Jacob.  I heal just a lot slower than I did when I was 58.”

“All I ask is that you sit if you start hurting, Mom.  I don’t want you in the hospital.”

“Me either, Brie”, David chimed in.

“And I will sit down when I need to.  And you two say that I worry too much.”

“Mom, I always worry about you and Dad.  You’re getting older and we never know when we’re going to lose you; either of you.  I just want you to be careful so that we don’t lose you before your due time.”

“And just when do you think that will be?” David asked.

“Hopefully when you’re both centurions and have gotten to witness the births of several great- grandchildren; maybe even a great- great- grandchild or two.”

David and Brie laughed.  “You have high expectations of us, don’t you?” Brie said.

“Yes, I do.  I would really like you both to live long enough to see Miri and Ira graduate high school.  That’s why I want you both to take it easy.”

“Jacob, I hate to break it to you but once we’re called home we’re called home.  We count every morning that we wake up to all of your smiling faces a blessing.  Maybe instead of trying to keep us around as long as you can, you should leave it to fate and count every day that you see our faces or hear our voices as a blessing.  Now, if you’ll both do me the tremendous favor of getting the hell out of the kitchen so that I can prep these pies without the peanut gallery, I’d extremely appreciate it.”

David and Jacob both exchanged a look and David stood.  They both walked out and left Brie and Kaylian to make their pies.

---------------

“How did it go, Jord?” Reece asked when Jordan came in from her appointment.  He asked the same question every week when she came in.

“Good.  We explored a few new things today.  We talked about my resentment toward Dad for his order for everyone to gather at homestead and that I couldn’t leave the house without an escort and my misunderstanding of the order.  And if I hadn’t disobeyed I wouldn’t have a rod in my leg, but if I hadn’t the PSUS would still be operational.”

“That was in the news not long ago, wasn’t it?”

“Yep.  The information made it to the FBI and they started arresting people once the US attorney started filing charges for treason.  The plan was to forcibly take to country over again and eradicate anyone who spoke out against them.  I was actually first on the list.  There was information that Marc found that the FBI ‘tripped over and found’.  There are so many charges being leveled against everyone that is still breathing and loyal to the cause that it’s not funny.  None of them are going to be able to keep their heads above water.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I’m glad that it’s done.  I don’t have to deal with it.  From what I understand from Morbus, the Director of the FBI wants to shake my hand.”

“So, the FBI knows that you killed this man and they don’t want to arrest you?”

“Nope.  They want to commend me.”

“That’s crazy.”

“I know.  All I want to do is just kinda hide under a rock and recover from this.”

“Given any thought to going back into the studio?”

“After the holidays, maybe.  I’m gonna ride some asses to get back into the studio.  We’ll have two albums of material to take on the road at one time.”

“What kind of tour are we looking at for that?”

“Hell if I know.  Depends on James and Justin with the label.  Hopefully they’ll book us some good dates and venues.  They’ve been doing well since Dad and Uncle Danny turned things over to them.”

“So, over all, do you think that this therapist is helping?”

“Overall?  Yeah.  She’s helping me a lot.  I’m getting in touch with issues I didn’t even know I had.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“Yeah, I supposed it is.”

---------------

The holidays were closing in and Davina was still in jail. She had no idea when her trial was going to be. Her parents kept their promise and visited her daily to keep her spirits up while they were out trying to get the money together to bond her out. They were hoping to have the money together by Christmas.

Meanwhile, the firm that handled the custody dispute between her and Jordan also handled her defense. They were on retainer so they really had no choice. They weren't even sure if they were going to have much of a defense considering the evidence that had been provided to the defense by the Draiman's guard. There were even pictures of the wounds on Levi's back when they were fresh.

The prosecutor, Sydney Osbourne, was feeling generous and decided to pay Davina a visit before Thanksgiving. "Hi Davina. I take it you know who I am."

"Yeah. You're the bitch trying to lock me up for the rest of my life. What do you want?"

"I'm actually here to offer you a deal. We know that if Levi Draiman takes the stand you're toast. His testimony combined with Morbus and the jury will lock you up and throw away the key."

Carson Riley, Davina's attorney, spoke. "What are you offering? "

"Assault with a deadly, 15 to 30. It's either that or we proceed to trial and we ask for life."

"How about assault on a minor, 5 years. She's out in two."

"Mr. Riley, your client maliciously beat a nine year old with a cane. A child that belongs to her now ex- wife. Five years hardly seems like it's enough. Fifteen to thirty or trial. You don't get a better deal than that. Take your time and think about it. But keep in mind that either way around it, the inmates are going to have so much fun with you. They don't like it when you hurt a child. Many of them are mothers themselves."

"So you're going to lock me up for fifteen to thirty? I might not make it out alive", Davina shouted.

"Ms. Kealoah, any way around it, you're going to be someone's girlfriend or punching bag. I just want you to realize that. I need an answer by the end of the day or we prepare to go to trial. I really would like to spare little Levi the trauma or having to testify in open court. That's the only reason that I'm offering this plea. Personally, I'd love to see you buried under the prison. No woman should subject a child to the abuse you subjected your own children to and get to see the light of day. And you'll be lucky if they have the forethought to put you in PC." With that, Sydney Osbourne called to the guard so that she could leave. She was confident that she would be hearing from them by the end of the day. Fifteen to thirty was better than life. Better than life by far.