A One-of-a-Kind Family

He frowned a little. “What if I goof up?”

“Remember what I said yesterday?”

He nodded vigorously. “If you spill the milk, you’ll wipe it up. If you drop the cookies, you pick them up. If you make a mess, clean it up,” he parroted.

“That’s right. Everyone makes a mess sometimes.”

“But not Liam—he’s smart.”

“Even Liam. Even me. Even Aunt Betty.”

Colm laughed as if she had to be teasing him. “Nuh-uh.”

“Everyone, Colm. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has accidents and makes a mess. All you can do is do your best to clean it up and fix it afterwards.”

“But I make lots of mistakes.”

“Hey, it might take you a little longer to learn something, but you learn it. We’ll keep going over it until you know it.”

“Even if it takes a lot of times?” he asked.

“Even if.”

“And you won’t get mad?” he checked.

“Not even a little.”

Quickly, he engulfed her in his arms. “I love you, Anna.”

She hugged him back.

“So, how did it go?” Liam asked, approaching them.

Colm let go of Anna, turned around and immediately hugged his brother. “It was good, Liam. Anna’s teachin’ me to do stuff for myself, but it don’t matter if I make mistakes, ’cause she says we’ll clean it up, right, Anna?”

She wasn’t sure why, but watching Colm hug Liam and prickly Liam return the hug, Anna had a Hallmark-commercial reaction. A warm, mushy, on-the-verge-of-tears sort of feeling. She kept it at bay, sure that Liam would disapprove. “Right, Colm, we’ll clean it up.”

Liam clapped his brother on his shoulder. “So, bud, you’ll have to show me what you learned today after Anna leaves.”

“It’s better stuff than I learned in school. See ya tomorrow, Anna.” Colm waved then ran up the stairs.

Liam watched Colm disappear, then turned to Anna and asked, “What do you suppose he’s up to?”

“If I were going to guess, he’s making his bed, again. He mentioned he was going to like going to bed tonight because he’d have made the bed himself. And if his enjoyment goes up incrementally each time he makes it, he’s going to officially have the best night’s sleep ever.”

“He can make his own bed?”

She nodded. “He’s a special man, Mr. Franklin. I’ve left you some papers to read through about my teaching strategy for Colm. Goals. The criteria for taking new steps. It’s all there. If you have any concerns, let me know. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

Liam stood in the doorway and watched Anna Chapel get in her car. For a moment, she stared wistfully at the house, and he wondered what she was thinking. Then she started her tiny gray car and took off down the road.

Liam paused, letting the knowledge that Colm was upstairs making his bed sink in.

It sounded like such a simple thing, but it wasn’t simple at all. Now, Liam speculated as to what other kinds of things his brother could do. Things he’d never been given a chance to do because no one had thought he could.

No one but Anna Chapel.

ANNA AND COLM fell into an easy routine over the next few weeks as April progressed and spring settled more firmly into place. A couple of hours a day, three or four times a week if she was able, she and Colm practiced tasks together. Only it wasn’t really a job in Anna’s mind, it was a delight. Anna truly enjoyed all her clients, but Colm soon became a very special one. He was always open to trying something new, and found such joy when he’d mastered the skill. This week’s goals involved cooking.

Since pouring those first glasses of milk, Colm had been building a set of kitchen skills: making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, getting snacks, rinsing dishes. The man who’d never been encouraged to do kitchen work had discovered he loved it. So this week, they were trying actual cooking.

Colm’s first solo meal was spaghetti. Anna sat on a stool and offered advice and listened as Colm’s excitement bubbled over. “Liam’s gonna be surprised, huh, Anna?”

“Very surprised.”

He wiped his hands on the front of the apron he was wearing, then opened a cupboard and took out a large bowl.

“Liam liked my waffles the other day. But ya don’t really cook those.”

“Hey, you used a toaster,” Anna reminded him.

“That’s toastin’, not cookin’.” He shook his head as if he was surprised that Anna didn’t recognize the difference.

“You’re right, toasting’s not cooking.” She scootched her stool a little closer to the stove.

“But today, it’s really cookin’ ’cause there’s a flame.”

The timer rang and Colm clapped his hands. “Are they done?”

“Let’s see,” Anna said. “Carefully use the spoon and pull one noodle out.” She watched proudly as, with the care of a surgeon operating, Colm lifted a noodle from the pot with painstaking slowness.

“Now, you have two options for seeing if it’s done. You can taste it, and if it’s not hard, it’s done, or you can throw it on the wall and if it sticks, it’s done.”

“Throw food at the wall?” Colm’s voice was filled with what might have been shock, but he wore a smile that said the idea was intriguing.

“I don’t recommend throwing food as part of your regular cooking technique, and you do have to wipe the wall off when you’re done, but if the noodle sticks, you know it’s—” As she squeaked out the word, done, Colm threw the noodle at the wall with such force that Anna worried that it was going to leave a permanent mark.

“Done!” Colm announced.

“I see that. Okay, now we need to get the noodles out of the water, so—”

The sound of the front door being opened and closed could be heard, soon Liam came into the kitchen and his eyes immediately honed in on Colm. “Hey, how are things, bud?”

“I’m cookin’ dinner tonight. Aunt Betty, she went home early ’cause me and Anna are cookin’, and I threw food on the wall, only it’s okay ’cause I’ll clean it after, but now you gotta go so I can finish. Go. Go.”

It was a long sentence that Colm somehow managed to get out in one breath.

“I can take a hint,” Liam said, laughing. The laughter died though as he glanced Anna’s way. He gave a brisk nod of greeting and said, “Call me if you need help, Ms. Chapel.”