That event filled day began to wind down as everyone except Rosie and grandpa Frank left for their business and the usual quiet ambiance of their home returned. After tiding up the kitchen Rosie felt tiredness overpowering the metal and physical vigor she always had. She looked at the clock on the microwave and realized it was just 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Carolina--the candidate for part time house maid job was not due for another two hours. She went to check on Frank and found him comfortably sleeping. Children had gone to neighbors and Pascue was not expected to return for at least an hour. Exhausted with the family drama created by her in laws, she headed for her bedroom to take a nap.

One of the perils of being an empath and a professional care giver is that the subconscious mind wreaks havoc when the conscious mind reacts to the adverse body conditions and plans a remedy. Rosie closed her eyes and was about to go into that relaxing REM sleep cycle and it all began all over again. A stray thought popped up from nowhere and began demanding attention to a pressing issue which had been floating around in her mind and was held in the deepest area of her psyche.

"Pascue has been under the stresses without help and handling them all by himself at the moment. You have lost the telepathic communication link with him woman!"
Her subconscious had released those issues she had tethered to the floor of her mind's lake named 'Tranquility'. They began surfacing like a dead body that floats when the gas builds up within to make it buoyant and it carries weight attached to it to the surface. With that intervention the adrenal level went up and she began mulling over the data stored in her mind.
"How did I let this happen to me? My precious love and husband is taking it on the chin and I am acting like it is not my problem." The first of the many self blaming thoughts erupted in her tired mind.

"I must make efforts to bring closure to this sordid business at once or I am going to regret it for all my life. This saga that began in Goa long time ago is of Indian origin and I have to find a Brazilian solution to end it before everything I value perishes along with the actors who are in it." She began exploring the options.

"Should I demand expulsion of the in laws who brought this to my life as mother wants me to do?" The first thought rose out of Agnes' constant chiding of her handling of the affairs but she brushed that aside as quickly as it came to her.

"Oh mother; I can't and won't do that you know. Stop badgering me with such unkind suggestions; think of Pascue's reaction and my image in the children's mind. Besides, their grandpa is a sweet and delightful man who asks for practically nothing from us." She began dialogue with her mother. Then she came to her senses and said:

"Oh my God! I am becoming irrational; talking to my mother as if Agnes is sitting in front of me. Get your faculty in control Rosie." She admonished self, sat up in her bed and began organizing her thoughts and took control of her conscious mind. Frank must stay with us; we need him more than he needs us is the reality. Part time housekeeping by a stranger is not same as having Maria--a trusted nanny living with the family. Someone must be home to supervise children entering in the age when they are vulnerable to misguiding influences. What can be better than a grandparent doing that? As far as their estate and ownership business goes; honest disclosure of fact would be the right course and Pascue would have nothing else but the fair play for all. It is the Frank Menendez's family wealth and it is up to him to dispose it off as he sees fit. We don't need anything beyond what we have already earned and then, I have my parental estate to inherit and Pascue and I are making substantial amounts to get what we need to have a comfortable life." She reasoned it with her conscious and subconscious self, but changed the direction of her thinking to more practical matter and addressed the next batch of dialogue to self:

"However, I am going to insist that this business must be brought to a quick and effective closure whether all parties involved come to an agreement or not. If they do; it will be good for all and we will celebrate but if they don't, then they have to get out of my house and find settlement in a lawyer's office or Frank's dwelling in downtown. I will make my home unavailable for any squabbles, arguments and planning that goes on before the legal battles. I know my Pascue will understand my feelings and support the stand I am taking."

With that she closed the discussion with herself, got out of bed and headed for the bathroom to freshen up. Carolina would be ringing the bell shortly she reminded herself. As she was descending the steps to come down, it occurred to her that Frank was in the house. Out of sight as he was, checking on him had slipped her mind. Quickly she reached his room and called him out:

"Frank dear; are you awake? It's time for the afternoon medicine. Can I come in?"

"Come in my lovely daughter in law." Frank responded.

She found him in the upright position resting against the pillows and his bed was covered with documents. It looked like he got out of bed and had pulled them out from his sailor's trunk.
"Oh my God! Looks like you did not rest at all. Why did you not wait until Pascue came home to get you the trunk? You had a serious episode Papa." She addressed him with affection and hugged him gently.

He planted a kiss on her cheek and said, "If you pamper me like this, it's going to be hard on me to return to my home."

"Why would you wish go Papa? Don't you want to live with the family? Pascue and children will be so disappointed and I will feel guilty for not making your stay with us a happy one. Did I fail in taking care of you properly or Francis said anything?" She was genuinely alarmed by his remark of returning to his pad in the rundown section of Sau Paulo downtown.

He gently squeezed her hand and with deep appreciation and affection he spoke softly:

" Minha; you have given me so much love and respect in a short stay, that my family did not give me in my entire life. I know how much you, Pascue, and children want me to stay but I just can't live here. I don't belong to the society you live in. I am a humble unsophisticated sailor man who spent his life with the common folks living an ordinary life. My wife was ashamed of me, my father and his friends did not think much of me and I am used to that. I would be a huge embarrassment to you and Pascue. Besides that, I heard Maria speaking to your mother about my lowly upbringing. It is best we love each other from a distance and be happy to spend time together some time but not all the time. Children grow up and their world grows bigger and bigger with them. They will get tired of my stories and will move on to their own interests. You and Pascue are busy with raising them and working. It is but natural that I would be alone at home and lonely. I have my life among the people of my class and we share that world just the way you share yours here in the upper class neighborhood. It is easy to visit in privacy and depart unnoticed than live among the folks you do not know how to. Just don't make it hard on me to leave and don't be hard on yourself either. Francis is searching something he doesn't seem to know what and he too doesn't belong to your or my world. He too will not fit in here as a part of your or my society. He is happy with the native young men from the tribes. He meets them in the downtown cafes and is edgy when he is in the civilized society. Each of us have a place in this world that the destiny has chosen for us where we are happy, even though life appears to be harsh and less civilized to others who watch it from a distance. I have no demands on anyone; never had one in all my life and I don't want to make fresh ones now when my voyage is just about ending soon."

He fell silent staring at his old Indian passport lying on the bed in front of him.
Rosie had not expected this revelation coming out of Oldman's heart and was stunned. The silence in the room lasted for few seconds but she felt like hours had elapsed. Her professionally trained mind always came up with a scheme to defuse a tricky situation, came empty this time. It seems a birth in an aristocratic society often becomes an embarrassment when such a person comes face to face with the bourgeois life.

In Rosie's situation, even though she lived a professional clinicians' life that required her to deal with individuals from all walks of life, and she fell in love with a commoner, she remained acutely aware of her family titles, birth and upbringing under Agnes's watchful regime. Any ordinary person would have taken Frank's statement about returning to his world as a practical desire to be in the place of choice and moved on. But, Rosie took it upon herself a load of guilt as if Frank made the decision because of lack of warmth and acceptance in her household. It was quite an irrational feeling she had carried in her subconscious ever since Alice questioned her if she had caused their grandpa to leave them. Rosie was not convinced that her efforts to erase that feeling from her daughter's mind had succeeded. Fortunately, the sound of garage door opening gave her the way out of that mental Tundra and she said to Frank:

"Oh; that's Pascue; let us have the afternoon tea with him if you can make it to kitchen Papa and the new housemaid will be arriving soon. May be you can talk to her also; she will be looking after the kids when they return." In tacit way she let the Oldman know that she accepted his decision of leaving.

Frank accepted her arrangement with an affirmative nod. Pascue had reached the foyer connecting the garage to kitchen and announced his arrival by calling her out.
" I am with Frank and coming out shortly; giving him his afternoon dose." She replied. Pascue simply walked into the room and greeted Frank.

"How are you feeling dad? Are you ready to move into the living room? I will give you support if you need one."

"You go get ready for the tea and that woman will be here shortly for the job interview; I will bring him out." Rosie replied her husband's questions to Frank. Pascue just turned around and left.

Rosie administered the medicine and together they walked to the kitchen with Frank leaning on her. That was a very special moment for him when he, for the first time was enjoying intimate episode with his daughter in law knowing that he was going to walk away from all that family love he had missed in entire life. It is a mystery indeed! What makes people to give up paradise they have never had hopes to see when they have at last reached to its gate? What is it that frightens them and makes them to run back to the life they had lived in the relatively miserable state? Prince Gautama, upon receiving the enlightenment and reaching the Buddhahood, which qualified him to enter the spiritual world said to have stopped in his track at the gate and stood there for seven days before turning away from it for the benefit of humanity. He chose a path in the mortal world so he could show the sentient beings how to live there in with tranquility and happiness. That is the story of an enlightened being; what could be Frank's reasons? A Psychologist may have answers to these questions and perhaps, they did rise in Rosie's mind and fortunately her husband was one expert on the subject available to her at home.

The remaining hours of that day passed without any extraordinary or unplanned events in the lives of Mendez family. Carolina the candidate for the par-time housekeeper job came on time and got the job after all concerned adults and children checked her out. Frank spent some time with his grandchildren and eventually retired for the day. The weekend had wound down and the shadows of upcoming week had fallen on the actively engaged folks of the household. When Pascue and Rosie got in the bed, the tail end of the Frank's situation got revived. Rosie needed the closure desperately; she couldn't live with the emotional baggage that was getting heavier every day and then, she had her professional obligations as the Director of Nursing (DoN) towards the patients. She opened the topic with a statement that surprised Pascue.
"We have known each other intimately for more than fifteen years my love--I mean, as lovers and then husband and wife. Did you ever felt that my personality lacked empathy?"

Pascue had subconsciously planned a comfortable way of ending that tumultuous week by doing something romantic and relaxing that he thought would make up for the stresses they had endured. He thought of announcing to her that he was planning to take her to New York for a week if she would trust kids with Carolina and Frank in about ten days when he was attending a seminar there. Before he could come to that moment, she had preempted him with her question and made him realize that the troubles boiling in the pot appeared to have come to cooling stage, was still full of harmful heat. He sat up and looked at her and saw in her eyes that desperate look--one often seen in the eyes of our pets when they are hurting and can't convey in any other way but looking at us in a doleful way.

"Oh my precious darling, whatsoever is making you doubt about your love for others is an aberration perhaps caused by the events over which you had no control. I fell in love with you not on first sight but only after getting the opportunities to know your noble soul. I adore you for who you are; a perfect soulmate. Perhaps, I failed to adequately express my feelings to you about this aspect of our intimacy."

He then reached out her and held her head to his heart and asked:
"What cause this line of thinking to develop in your mind? Can you share with me all that has happened in one afternoon?"

Rosie controlled her silent weeping and buried her head in his chest. He held her gently and allowed her to compose so she could organize her thoughts. In few minutes she came around and narrated the encounter with Frank and his discourse. To that she added Alice's impression of her being the cause of grandpa's previous abandonment of their home.

"I am worried that now he will be going for good and children may harbor the image of me; one close to that of their grandma Agnes. I don't want to be remembered like her when I am gone Pascue; I can't make him want to stay with us. We are strangers to him."

Pascue did not reply right away. She had a point there that needed more than a pep talk; she needed to seek professional help and as a rule he should not be giving it. As a highly respected professional he had detected in her the unfulfilled desire to be one with the universe; the very rebellious force that had made her to disobey her mother and become a nurse rather than a high society debutant was playing on her psyche. She wanted Frank and Francis to love her as a part and parcel of their Goan heritage and not treat her as a Brazilian outsider who is kind to them. These were her subconscious needs that had no basis in the reality of practical world. Both Frank and Francis treated her with respect and admiration and were incapable of expressing that unique sort of love we all seek from our neighbors, friends and even the strangers; all unconsciously and rarely get it. Not because it does not exists, but such feelings are perceived in the daily intercourses and not sensed through subliminal means.

He began addressing her concerns and the tone of his voice changed to a professionally cultivated rhythm:

" Your concerns are legitimate Rosie and they must not be taken lightly. We do have a problem that needs a carefully crafted solution. It is not a switch on or off situation. I assure you; we will find the right solution. Meanwhile you need to seek advice from a professional therapist who will help you to reach the basis of your thinking. I as you know cannot do that but I will be involved with you in finding a way to make Frank's decision palatable to all of us. I suspect there is something hidden in his decision that he is not ready to share with us. We will have to accept that as the present reality. Let us take time off for few days. I am going for a three days conference in New York in few days, you join me when it is over and we could spend the weekend to recuperate from the damage done to our body and mind by the stresses we have been experiencing lately. I will ask Dad to stay until we return and Carolina will do the rest. She seems to get along with all of them rather well. Now take 2 valiums if you feel necessary and let us wake up tomorrow with a fresh approach to all these issues popping up unexpectedly. We will put everything to order in a short time. I love you and children have nothing but admiration, love and devotion to both of us. That is a blessing. "
They fell asleep holding each other in the embrace that assured them a bright morning.