After twenty more minutes, we see Justin, Joy, and Charlie begin to head back slowly from General Hawk’s grave.
They walk around our home, but remain on the porch and in the walkway. When I see they’re not going up the ramp, I motion to Suzy and we head down to join them. Master Mind walks behind us.
“I think we’re not going to have an adventure today,” Justin says, sitting on the steps.
“Makes sense,” I say.
“Grampa,” Joy stands up. “From this day on, you call me Nestling!”
“ ‘Nestling’?” I don’t follow what she means.
“You, too, Grandma. You call me Nestling!”
“But, Joy,” I say, “Nestling, that means a young bird.”
“Of course that’s what it means,” she gets angry at me. “You call me Nestling! You, too, Dad!”
“You have always been my Nestling,” Justin nods.
“I don’t understand,” I say. “Why are you suddenly a–”
“Dad, Dad,” Justin talks to me in a mellow voice. “Cool down. She asked you to call her Nestling. You call her Nestling.”
“Am I supposed to call you Nestling?” Charlie asks.
“Nuh-uh,” Joy answers. “You don’t have Nestlings.”
This entire conversation is confusing me. I don’t–
“Dad,” Justin comes over and puts his arm around my shoulders. “Nestling is what General Hawk used to call her.” I look at him, still confused. “He was one of the hawk people. He was a huge bird man, remember?”
“I remember you were looking for him, but I never met him.”
“Well, Joy reminded him of his own Nestlings, and he called her Nestling. He loved her like a father.”
Oh. All right. I understand.
“Just like Red used to call Joy ‘Dragon Little’. She loved Joy like Joy was her daughter.”
“Mmmmmm” Joy moans, and Justin suddenly has a guilty look on his face, like he’d been caught cursing.
“You,” Joy points at Suzy, “call me Nestling. You,” she points at me, “call me Nestling. You,” she points at Justin, “call me Dragon Little. And I’ll call you Dragon Father. Charlie, you can call me Dragon Little, too.”
Justin sighs, then looks at me. “Got it, Dad?”
“I got it, I got it,” I say.
“Let’s sit down, then,” Justin says.
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt
Hashtags: Joy, Justin, Charlie, Master Mind, General Hawk, General Hawk’s grave, death, The Red Dragon