A Sense of Symmetry Pt. 07

"Since three? Why?"

"I had another nightmare. Well, I guess it wasn't really a nightmare, just kind of strange."

"Was it Ben again?"

"Yes, it was definitely Ben." Dani pushed past him and picked up the clock radio. "Did you fix this yesterday?"

"No," said Jason. "I didn't have a chance before work. Why, does it work again?"

"I thought I heard it this morning."

Jason took it from her and examined it. "You must have been imagining it," he said. "It isn't even plugged in." He sat down at the table. "The kids aren't up yet?"

"Melanie was," Dani said. "I heard her a few minutes ago, but I wanted to finish the dishes. I don't know about Anna and Sean. Maybe they're sleeping in."

"Any trouble getting them to bed last night?"

"I let them stay up to watch one of the Christmas specials. So that would explain it."

She had no sooner said this than they heard what sounded like a herd of elephants coming down the stairs. Anna and Sean appeared, both still in their pajamas. "Mommy! Daddy! There's a dinosaur in my room!" Anna shouted.

"There a alien in mine!" Sean added.

"A dinosaur and an alien?" Dani said. "Sounds like we're being invaded. Is Melanie awake yet, Anna?"

"No, she's sleeping. But that dinosaur's gonna wake her up if we don't get him out of there!"

Jason looked away, hiding his laugh behind his hand. "Here's what you do," Dani said to the kids. "Anna, you go tell that dinosaur that if he's going to stay here, I want money from him to buy his food. He'll leave, because he doesn't have any money."

"What if he does?" Anna asked.

"He won't, because dinosaurs don't have any pockets to keep their wallets in. Sean, you go tell the alien that if he doesn't go away, Mommy's going to put him in time out."

"I did," Sean said. "He say he like time out."

"Then tell him I'll call his Mommy," Dani said. "Then he'll leave, because he took the spaceship without asking, and his Mommy will get real mad if she finds out about it."

"Come on, Sean!" Anna said. "Let's get rid of 'em!"

"Where do you come up with that stuff?" Jason asked Dani as the kids thundered back upstairs.

"I'm a Mommy. I have to have an imagination."

"You have to be weird, you mean."

"That too."

"You'd better get going," Jason said. "You're going to be late for work."

Dani hadn't realized what time it was. She had only forty-five minutes to get to work. It was a half-hour drive, and she wasn't dressed yet. "Can you handle the troops?" she asked Jason.

"Sure. I'll just wait on my shower till you get home. Are you coming home right after work?"

"I might go see Martin Franklin."

"The lawyer? What for?"

"We're going to launch a pre-emptive strike," Dani said as she headed upstairs to get dressed.

"A what?"

"I'll explain later."

* * *

As soon as her shift was over, Dani phoned Franklin. "I was expecting you to call," the lawyer said.

"Why's that?" Dani asked.

"Strange as it may sound, I had a dream. Something about a 'pre-emptive strike.' I'm not usually a superstitious man, but-"

"But something wouldn't let you ignore this," Dani finished for him.

"Exactly. So what can I do for you, Mrs. Sheridan?"

"Help me with that pre-emptive strike, Mr. Franklin. My husband and I are tired of just sitting around, waiting for Julie to sue us for custody of Sean. We want to make the first move. We'd like to adopt Sean."

"There will have to be a hearing. There's a lot more involved than you might think. Julie would have to sign over her rights, and I doubt that she's likely to do that."

"So do I," Dani said. "We want a hearing. Julie has called us twice that we're aware of. The first time, she left a message that I didn't respond to. The second time, she was drunk and threatened me. Her mother has also threatened that they'll take Sean away from us. But we haven't heard anything other than those threats, and we don't want to wait around anymore till they decide what they want to do. If Julie won't sign over her rights, it will go to court. If it goes to court, Julie either shows up or forfeits her rights, is that the way it works?"

"She'd have more than one chance to show up, but that's essentially the way it works, yes," Franklin said.

"Good. So we hope she doesn't show up. If she does, the court will either give her custody or terminate her rights based on the testimony. Either way, at least we won't be sitting around waiting anymore."

"Mrs. Sheridan, should I assume that this will be another case of your husband going along with your wishes? I get the sense that you haven't fully discussed this with him."

"I'm not sure what gave you that idea, Mr. Franklin, but you're right. Jason and I have agreed that we want to adopt Sean, but I haven't spoken with him yet about taking it to court before Julie does."

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you call me without speaking to him about it?"

"Mr. Franklin, I had a dream last night very similar to yours. Unlike you, I am normally a superstitious person, and I know better than to ignore dreams like that when I have them. I know Jason will agree with me when we do discuss it, but I wanted to get in touch with you as soon as I could so we could get the procedure started."

"All right, Mrs. Sheridan. Unfortunately, I'm booked for the rest of the day, and most of the morning tomorrow. Can you and Mr. Sheridan be at my office tomorrow afternoon at two?"

"That would be perfect, Mr. Franklin. And please, call us Dani and Jason."

"Then please call me Martin. Since we're going to be working together on this, I think last names are too formal."

"All right, then, Martin," Dani said. "We'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

It wasn't until just before Jason left for work that Dani finally told him what she had done. "I thought we were waiting for Julie to make the first move," Jason said.

"I thought you wanted to adopt Sean," Dani replied.

"I do. But-" Realization, born of five years of marriage, dawned. "Dani, how much does this have to do with that dream you told me you had?"

"Everything." She hesitated. Even after five years, she could never be sure how much Jason would be willing to believe. "Jason, after I woke up from that dream, I came downstairs. You'll probably say I was still dreaming, but I wasn't. The phone book opened up to Martin Franklin's name, and that clock radio that wasn't even plugged in came on and a newscaster or something said, 'Pre-emptive strike.' Ben, or God, or someone, wants us to start fighting for Sean before Julie does."

"Dani, I know about your dreams-"

"That part wasn't a dream, Jason!"

"All right, all right. Anyway, I know when you tell me stuff like this, there's a reason for it. But are you sure this is the right thing for us to do?"

The Oldsmobile was warming up in the driveway, and Jason, as usual, had the window open and the radio cranked. As soon as he asked Dani this question, the radio started playing a song called, "I Wanna Be There." Ben had quoted this song to Dani many times. The fact that it was a rock song, and the Oldsmobile's radio was tuned to a country station, did not escape Dani's notice. "I'm positive," she told Jason.