Year 3 with Jane and Tony Pt. 02

I looked at Barb and said, "You were on your own for such a long period of time. She has had you from the beginning to rely on. As I said before, you were a rock at a very difficult time. If Jane had to go through her grief the way you did she would be a quivering mess. Thank you for being there, for both of us. Now, if you would like to have that cry with me now it would really make me happy."

Barb and I clung together and cried for a good long time. When we had finished, we kissed and then looked at poor Alice. Barb got up and went to Alice, hugged her and explained what that was all about. Alice smiled in relief and asked if she could get us anything. I told her I wanted something sweet. She came back with a huge bowl of jelly beans saying they were prized by the folks that usually flew in the plane. I grabbed a handful and found they were just the thing I needed.

While in the air, I called Axel and Barb called Jake to let them know we were on our way home and not to wait up for us. Jane and Judy came back out about an hour before we were due to land. Jane sat next to me and said, "Judy is a very passionate woman! We did, however, manage to sleep for quite a while." She then kissed me and then looked into my eyes and said, "Have I told you how much I love you lately?"

I replied, "You don't have to say a word. I can see it in your eyes, feel it on your lips and in your touch, that you love me almost as much as I love you!"

Jane kissed me again and then said, "I think this week I love you more. You have been wonderful this whole week through this ordeal. You and Barb. Also, I never got to thank you for my New Year's treat. I can't wait to see the movie!"

When we landed, it was clear in Chicago which meant it was very cold. The Captain said it was 10 below zero Fahrenheit just before we landed. As we deplaned we thanked the entire crew for all of their help. Ernesto was waiting for us as planned. He helped the first officer with our luggage and gently laid the box with the urns in the trunk. During the drive home, Judy informed us that she had tendered her resignation with Global and informed Jo that she intended to work with us.

Judy said, "Jo told me that he hoped I would do exactly what I was doing. He told me to start immediately with you and that he would give me six weeks' severance pay. He also said the memorial is set for the Hilton on South Michigan at 1pm on Saturday. He said to tell Ernesto how many cars you would need to transport all of your friends."

Jane and I listed all of the probable people and came up with 21 plus and infant and told Ernesto. "Can you handle that many people, Ernesto," Jane asked?

"Si, we have, if you don't mind it, a very nice coach that will carry 35. Mr. Schultz says he wants Jane and Tony to ride in my car with three others and the rest can ride in the coach, if that is agreeable." Ernesto said.

Jane replied, "If it's all the same, can we all ride together in the coach? We are a big family and we would all like to ride together."

Ernesto smiled and said, "I understand. I will personally drive the coach." We thanked him just as we pulled in front of the house. As we got out both households emptied to greet us. Jane was touched by the fact that everyone stayed up to welcome us home. I was surprised to see the Mother Superior, Sister Elena and Sister Maria coming from Barb's house.

The Nuns walked up to us and hugged us both while expressing their condolences. Astrid said, "They arrived yesterday and Jake kindly offered them rooms at their house. They are all such wonderful ladies and were very easy to work with."

Ernesto grabbed our bags and the box. Axel, figuring out what was in the box took it from Ernesto and took it into the house. Jake grabbed Barb's bag while Sofia, Cindy and Astrid grabbed Jane's, Judy's and mine. Jane asked Judy to stay with us and then we would either go to her parents' house later today or tomorrow. Judy said she was relieved she didn't have to go to her apartment tonight. Jane, Judy and I hugged Ernesto and said we would see him Saturday.

Since it was so late, we told everyone to meet at our house for lunch. When we got into our house we hugged Astrid, Axel and Evan and introduced them all to Judy. We told them it was too late to talk now but we would tell everyone what had happened tomorrow when everyone came over. We all wished each other goodnight and then grabbed our bags and told Judy to follow us. Jane said, "I hope you don't mind but you get to sleep with us. Usually, Barb has lots of room at her place but the inn is full with the three Nuns there."

As we undressed, Judy asked, "Who are those Nuns, anyway?" I explained my upbringing in the orphanage and told her that they were the people who raised me. Sister Elena taught me Italian, Sister Maria taught me French and the Mother Superior taught me how to be a person. There were more Nuns. One taught me German, one taught me Mandarin Chinese and another taught me Hindi. Judy then said, "Wow you speak 5 languages? I thought I was doing well with three!"

I laughed and said, "Actually, I speak 7 and a half! Astrid and Axel taught me Swedish and Jenny is teaching me Vietnamese. What languages do you speak?"

Judy replied, "French and Spanish. I have a smattering of Italian, but that's it."

"Well," I said, "We should probably try and get some sleep so we can get back on a normal schedule." We took care of our teeth and bladders and all crawled into bed. Judy insisted that Jane should sleep next to me, so Jane was in the middle of our sleeping threesome.

I awoke at my normal hour in the morning and felt, surprisingly, good. When I arrived in the kitchen, Axel had already made the coffee. He expressed his condolences regarding Jane's parents and then asked about Judy. I explained that she was Stan's assistant and that Jane and I hired her to manage what was soon to be Jane's wealth and estate. I told him about our plans for Mrs. Gallagher's place and some of the other stuff we had discussed in Hawaii.

Axel said, "I saw Barb's lawyer over there the other day. I wondered what was going on. How much do you reckon Jane is going to inherit?"

I replied, "I really haven't a clue. Quite a bit I think, maybe around $50 million. They own some nice property and I would suppose they had lots of stocks and what not. Jane and I aren't prepared for this sort of thing so that's why we have Judy to work with us."

A little while later, Astrid came into the kitchen and gave me a big hug and kiss. She said, "Jane seemed to be in a much better frame of mind than I was expecting. What happened?"

I smiled and said "It was a combination of Barb, Judy and three friends in Hawaii. You two are going to have to come with us at spring break! Julie, Alika and Kaholo are three of the most amazing people I have ever met! You'll love them. You are going to love Judy as well!"

When Jane and Judy made it downstairs, Astrid said she would make pancakes. We told Judy she was in for a treat. A few minutes later Evan came up from downstairs. Evan hugged Jane and told her how sorry he was for her loss. She thanked him and gave him a kiss. We had an enjoyable time at breakfast as everyone got to know Judy. Jane then asked, "What do you all think I should do with the urns containing my parents' ashes?"

Astrid said, "I know the perfect thing. Follow me." Astrid led us into the living room and pointed to a nice built in oak book case that had some knick-knacks and a few books on it. "Will they fit here," Astrid asked pointing at the middle shelf? I opened the box and pulled out both urns and set them on the shelf. There was plenty of room between the shelves. Astrid said, "Now, all you need is a nice framed picture of them to put between the urns. Your parents will always be with you."

Jane hugged Astrid and said, "This is perfect. Thanks!"

By 11 people from next door began drifting over. We all got dressed remembering the Nuns were with them. Everybody hugged Jane and I and expressed their sorrow for Jane's and my loss. We told everyone to grab a chair and while I stood I explained everything we found out in Kauai about Stan and Bettina's death. The Mother Superior sat with Jane and held her hand as I talked. I told them about the wonderful things that Julie, Alika and Kaholo did for us while there. Lastly I told them about Barb's and my discussion about how there was no way that Jane and I were remotely prepared to deal with her parent's estate now and in the future and how Barb suggested we ask Judy to work with us. I then told everyone that Judy had graciously accepted our offer and was going to manage our resources. Next I told them that we were making an offer on Mrs. Gallagher's house next door and that we wanted to remodel it as a place to work and live for Judy. Everyone chattered amongst themselves at all of the news.

Judy was looking out the side window at Mrs. Gallagher's place and said, "That place is huge! What would you all think if we made it available for everyone's use. Maybe a place to study or a fitness area or something. I certainly don't need all of that!"

Sofia stood up and said, "We...Jenny, Cindy and I could use a place to train, so a fitness center would be nice. I'm pretty happy with the study areas we have now."

Sue said, "It would be nice to have places for visitors and family to stay. Somewhere nice and cozy and comfortable for the sisters or my Mom or Jenny and Cindy's parents."

Jane smiled and said, "I like all of those Ideas, what do you think Jake, since you get to do all of the work?"

Jake thought and said, "Almost anything is possible. These old houses are very solid. We could excavate the basement floor to give more headroom for a fitness area, the ground floor could be designed to have a bedroom and office area for Judy and the upstairs could be designed with 4 good sized apartments for visitors."

Barb then said, "You know what I would like? I would like an enclosed heated and cooled walkway between our houses so we wouldn't have to put on coats and boots just to walk 30 feet to visit!" Everyone cheered for that!

Jake said, "We could figure something out. I would have to check with some engineers about a subterranean connection. Above ground would be a piece of cake but hard to keep cool in the summer."

Everyone began talking amongst themselves about the possibilities that were developing. My phone rang and I saw that it was Bob Malkus, so I stepped into the dining room and answered it. "Hi Tony," he said. Can you talk or should I call back?" I told him to go ahead. "I've been doing some preliminary estimates on Jane's and your inheritance and thought I could share it with you. Are you guys free to talk today or tomorrow?"

I told him, "If you come over now, we can feed you lunch and you can have us all afternoon." He told me that would be great and he would be over in about 20 minutes.

I told Jane, Barb and Judy that Bob was coming over and that I promised him lunch. Barb told everyone that Jane and I had business to discuss with our lawyer and that everyone should return to her house for lunch. Jane asked Barb to stay as well as Jake, so Barb asked Sofia to organize things. Sister Elena said, "We know how to feed a hungry horde. We will take care of everyone." Jane hugged her in thanks.

Astrid and Axel said they would prepare lunch for us. I helped until Bob showed up. It turned out that Judy and Bob were well acquainted. Barb hugged Bob as did Jane. Jake and I shook his hand and then the 6 of us sat at the dining room table.

Bob said, "Jane I'm terribly sorry for your loss. I really loved your parents. They were the nicest and most generous people I ever met. What they did for Barb alone was incredible and they did stuff like that for many people." Jane thanked him and said that it meant a lot to her. Bob then continued. "As with Barb before, I know that you would much rather have you parents then money. However, your parents have left you and Tony in a position in which you will be secure for the rest of your lives. From everything I have put together, you should receive in the area of $250 million in cash after taxes. That doesn't include the stocks and bonds or the properties they owned. You father had about $35 million in preferred stock with Global. Besides their houses in Winnetka and Kauai, they also own a luxury apartment on the Gold Coast that Judy currently resides in. They recently bought a palazzo at Lake Como after your trip there and another large place above Nice. All totaled, you should be getting, if you sold all of the houses and cashed in the stock, in the neighborhood of $540 million dollars."

Jane and I looked at each other in open jawed shock. I then said, "You said Jane and I."

Bob smiled and said, "Stan and Bettina changed their will the Monday after you two got married to include you, Tony. So, with that, I really think you need to hire somebody to help you get through all of this. You'll need accountants to deal with the taxes and I would suggest a manager of some sort."

Jane smiled and said, "We have a manager. We asked Judy to work with us and she graciously accepted."

Bob smiled and said, "You've made an excellent choice. Stan was very impressed with you Judy as was I."

Jane then said, "We would really like it if we could retain your services in the future to, Bob. What you did for Barb was wonderful and my Dad always spoke highly of you. Do you think you can?"

"Your needs are greater than what I alone can provide, but my firm would be happy to work with you, Tony and Judy."

I then said, "I heard that you spoke with Mrs. Gallagher. Is she planning to sell the place?"

Bob smiled and said. "She is and she is very pleased that 'you kids' want to buy her place. She spoke very highly of you because you were friendly, helpful and quiet. She's going to have her place appraised and will set an asking price later this week."

Jane said, "If you wouldn't mind, when she sets her price, could you counter with an extra 10%? She's a sweet woman and could use the money. Hell, make it 20%, okay?" Bob smiled and said that it would be his honor. Jane then asked, "When will we receive everything?"

Bob said, "Probate will take some time but your parent's put $10 million in trust for you both. The terms were for when you turned 21 or their deaths, whichever occurred first. So, that money is available immediately. I will give the details to Judy. I realize classes are starting soon, but we will need to get together fairly often as things unravel. I will try and work with Judy as much as possible but there will be many instances when all three of us will need to get together.

"Now Barb, you may want to hire Judy as well. I think she would be in a position to better serve your needs than I am. I have many clients which interferes with my ability to spend as much time on your needs as I should like."

Barb looked at Judy and Judy replied, "I would love to work with you. I'm going to need an office area real soon."

At about this time Astrid brought out a plate of sandwiches, a bowl of fruit salad and two pots of tea. We all dug into the food and started hashing out where Judy's office could be. Astrid said, "I think we can sacrifice the study room upstairs. I think I spend more time studying on this table then I do up there."

Axel said, "I agree. I don't really need that area anymore because I'm getting an office at the University. Besides, I need to start working on my dissertation and I need the Universities resources."

I looked at Jane and said, "That works for me." Jane agreed. I asked, "So, Judy. You'll need to make a list of what you'll need and then we'll go shopping!"

When we had finished eating and finished with Bob he left. Barb and Jake headed to their place while Axel and Astrid tidied up the kitchen. Jane and I took Judy to our study room and sat down with her. She looked around and said, "What a nice study room you guys had. This will work nicely for now. We will need the fastest modem speed possible because there will be a lot of large files being transferred. I'll need filing cabinets for both you two and for Barb. I would like to get the largest screen Apple desktop with the fastest processor and maximum memory. I should get a separate cell phone just for your business. The one I have now belongs to Global. My laptop belongs to Global as well, so I should get another one of those.

With so much to do, we postponed our visit to Jane's parents place. The next day Judy and I took my camper van and went downtown to the Apple store. We bought Judy a desktop, a laptop, two iPhones and an iPad, just in case. We setup both phones and the iPad before we left. On the way home, we stopped at an office supply store and bought 2 filing cabinets and a good quality chair to be delivered. While we were gone, Jane, Astrid and Axel cleared out all of our materials, leaving the room for just Judy.

After hauling all of Judy's new hardware into her office, I headed over to Barb's to spend the afternoon with the Nuns. I invited Amy to join us as we talked about our hometown. I also told everyone about the arrangements that had been made regarding the memorial service for the next day. I told the Mother Superior that I wanted to start a scholarship program for kids in the orphanage, "I was lucky, in that I managed to get a full scholarship because of my grades. But others who, who may not get great grades may not get to go to college because of a lack of funds. There are also kids who may want a more vocational education that they may not be able to afford. I want all of those kids to have a chance."

The Mother Superior said, "That's a wonderful thing to do. I also want to thank you for the donations that will come in the form of bequests in Stan and Bettina's names. The money that they donated 2 years ago has gone a long way to improve our facilities and the service we can provide the kids. Someday, we hope that you and Jane will come and visit us and see the changes that have been made since your departure."

"I would love to," I replied. "Honestly, I sometimes miss the place. All of you were so kind and I learned so much from you all, beyond school. I'm happiest about being taught all of the different languages. I've managed to learn Swedish from our roommates and have started with Vietnamese from Amy's roommate."

I decided to head back home for dinner and told Jane about my talk with the Nuns. I told her about my desire to fund a scholarship program for kids in the orphanage and that I thought it should be in her parent's name. Jane thought it was a wonderful idea. She then told me she had an idea for a scholarship as well. She wanted it for students who wanted to study Literature and she wanted it named after Pearl. Judy, with omnipresent notebook made copious notes. After a while Judy asked who Pearl is.

Jane replied, "You'll, probably, meet her tomorrow. She used to live in Barb's house and was a Lit professor at our school. She's a wonderful lady and was a fantastic neighbor."

Judy and I did the dishes after dinner. She told me that she thought the creation of educational scholarships were wonderful ideas. Judy continued by saying, "I was thinking, once I get a handle on yours and Barbs estates, I thought I would like to get my MBA. Since we're so close to campus and this University has a top program, that I should take advantage of the situation. What do you think?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea. We could pay for it since it will be a direct benefit to our interests," I replied.

Judy responded, "That's very generous of you, but, I think I can afford to pay for my education." After a while Judy asked, "Do you think we can have another roll in the hay tonight."

I smiled, and said, "I think there's an excellent chance of that, as long as you don't mind Jane joining us."