After dinner, Randall and Juliana, strolled through the gardens arm and arm talking about various things. That became the norm for the next few days. The five women meeting in the afternoon and Juliana and Randall walking through the gardens after dinner. Very subtly Juliana held Randall’s arm tighter and gradually moved it so it was against her breast. It was a signal that she was very attracted to him. Both enjoyed the sensation.
At one of the meetings Randall’s mothers found that Juliana’s sixteenth birthday would be in a few days. At sixteen she could become betrothed. At the end of the meeting, Rosina said. “I believe we need to talk with our son about this. What’s your opinion?”
Juliana was the one who replied. “That would be most appreciated.” And she smiled. The four other women joined her and went their separate ways.
Randall found himself summoned to his mothers’ quarters; he had a good idea what they wanted to talk about.
When he arrived Rosina once again took the lead. “Have a seat son. What do you think of Juliana?”
“I like her a lot, she intelligent, easy to talk to and very easy on the eyes. I find myself very drawn to her.”
The two women smiled, and Rosina continued. “We agree with you and she’s going to turn sixteen in a couple of days. A nice present for a sixteen-year-old girl would be a betrothal. What do you think Randall?”
Randall was expecting something to do with Juliana, but a betrothal was not something he’d thought of right away. He sat and thought and then said. “Well I would like that, and I think she would like it as well. What about her family and father?”
“As to her family, we’ve been talking to her and her mothers. We all seem to be in agreement that it would be a wonderful idea. As to her father, I’m sure that his wives have informed him and since there has been no impediments put in the way, he must be happy with it. As to your father, we’ll handle him.” Rosina smiled at her co-wife and continued. “When do you think you should ask her?”
“We always take a walk after dinner. I’ll ask her then.” With that a nervous Randall left their quarters.
Before dinner, the four wives met, and Rosina said. “I believe that you may have a very excited daughter sometime tonight.”
Portia replied. “We made sure that Leo is in a receptive mood. I’m sure that there will be no problems.” The four women laughed gaily.
At about the same time King Leo took Fredricke aside. “Fredricke, you know that there is something serious going on between my daughter and your son.”
“Leo, I know that they’ve spent a good deal of time together, how do you see this going?”
“I think there is a betrothal soon, maybe tonight. My wives made sure that I would be in a good mood and I am. I’ll of course approve it.”
Fredricke laughed. “I’ll approve and then take my reward.”
The two men went to the table and as they sat down, Harold leaned over and quietly asked. “Is there some chance that I may have great grandchildren on the horizon?”
Both Leo and Fredricke smiled. “Yes, it appears that way. Who let you in on the secret?”
“Well your mothers and I have eyes, so we’ve been very happy to observe what’s going on. Also, my granddaughter is very observant and a chatterbox. She’s been talking to me and her grandmothers about it. She’s excited and is wondering what part she’ll play in the wedding. But let’s pretend that we don’t know anything.” The three men smiled and raised their glasses in a silent toast.
During the dinner both Randall and Juliana were both nervous, and they could tell that the other was on edge. After dinner they took their usual walk into the garden. As they came to a bench Randall said. “Let’s sit here, if you please Juliana.” After they were seated, Juliana turned towards Randall and he started off. “Juliana, I’ve come to realize that I’m very attracted to you in so many ways. I was hoping that you would agree to be my wife.”
Juliana looked at Randall and said “YES!” and then she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a full kiss on the lips. The kiss lasted for a long time. When they finally broke, she smiled gaily. “Now we just have to get our parents’ permission. This is the best present I’ve ever gotten.”
The two walked out of the garden and split up to see their respective parents.
Juliana already knew that her mothers approved and assumed that if they approved that her father would as well. She wasn’t disappointed. Leo wrapped his daughter in a warm embrace and gave her his heartiest congratulations.
Randall was also sure that he would get approval. He doubted that his mothers would urge him to ask Juliana if the way wasn’t clear. When he told his family they all congratulated him. His sister Alania let out screech and then hugged her big brother.
Two days later was Juliana’s sixteenth birthday. After it got started both kings stood up and announced that Juliana and Randall were betrothed. There was a round of clapping and congratulations. It was somewhat anti-climactic, as almost everyone was already aware of what was going on. After dinner the two walked out into the garden and found a seclude spot. Juliana gave Randall a look he hadn’t seen before and she said. “Now let’s see what we’ve got here.” For the next half hour, the two young people enjoyed each other. When they were done, Randall was most relaxed, and Juliana was smiling and holding on to him.
This went on for the next few days until it was time for her party to leave. It was agreed that she would return three months before her seventeenth birthday and that the wedding would take place the day after. Both Morton and Randall accompanied them to Great Falls. During the trip, Juliana and Randall took advantage of any opportunity so that they could spend private time together. As this was normal for betrothed couples, her parents and the rest of the party gave them plenty of opportunity.
On the way back Morton could tell that his friend Randall was missing Juliana. He let Randall work it out for himself and by the time they reached Nordport, Randall was pretty much back to normal. The truth was that he couldn’t wait for the time for her to return to come around.
Three months before Juliana’s seventeenth birthday found and anxious Randall waiting at Great Falls for her to arrive. Finally, Randall was told that Juliana’s carriage was approaching the ferry. He went down to the courtyard and rode the landing to meet her. Duke Billum looked on with gentle amusement.
Randall welcomed Juliana with a warm hug and kiss. He was then introduced to the two members of her household that had accompanied her, Sebastien and Noria. Randall immediately realized two things. First, he would be evaluated by these two, who obviously cared for Juliana and that they would be in his household for years to come. He welcomed them as well. He was sure that Sebastien was both a butler and a protector. The woman was probably a lady in waiting type and a confidant. His royal family didn’t have such people, but he thought it a good idea.
Juliana was just as glad to see him as he was her. After dinner she and Randall spent time alone together. “Randall, I believe that my next fertile period will come soon after we are married. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I became pregnant then?”
Randall laughed. “Well we’ll just have to try very hard.”
“Yes, you’re right. And before we’ll just have to practice a lot.” Replied Juliana with a lascivious look in her eyes.
They took the queen back to Nordport and Juliana was given a set of apartments that would be the family’s once she and Randall were married. There were enough bedrooms for everyone, quarters for Sebastien and Noria, a dining room and a large sitting room.
Once there she and Randall dined with Morton and his new wife. The two women hit it off immediately and soon were in conversation about the upcoming wedding and getting used to married life. The two men were both pleased and talked about things that interested him.
Time seemed to fly by and soon King Leo, his wives and other prominent nobility arrived for the wedding. It was held in the great hall at the palace at Nordport. Juliana had made sure to visit b
oth the nobility and prominent families before the wedding as well as stopping to greet common people on the street. Most everyone was very pleased with her and the whole city had a celebration to mark the wedding.
Mike’s new school
In school, the teachers didn’t notice a problem with Mike. He was a well-behaved little boy in Kindergarten. He took his naps, was learning to share and interacted well with the other children in the class. He didn’t bite anybody or hit any of the other kids. If one of the other children tried bullying him, he didn’t back down. They attributed that to him having much older siblings. A five-year-old didn’t intimidate you if you were willing to have sibling arguments with a fifteen-year-old. Since there wasn’t as much emphasis on academics, Mike’s advanced skills weren’t noticed. That he knew his numbers and letters was put down to him being the youngest of four very bright children in a privileged household.
The bottom line is that nobody really thought much of it. The teachers didn’t send home notes about poor behavior or performance. Quite the contrary, on parent teacher night, which Mary attended religiously, and John tried to make as often as he could, the reports were nothing but what a great young boy Mike was. This was a relief, with four children they had enough to worry about. Jack and Julie were in high school. They knew that they would soon have the teenage melodrama, which was more vocal in girls than boys. Plus, they had to worry about sexual activity, possible drugs and all the other issues facing modern parents. John was clueless about this and let Mary take the lead. He’d back her up to the hilt. Also, the girls were starting to fight with their mother, as all girls do. Jack was fighting with his father, nothing serious. Jack was just doing what all teenagers do, trying to carve out some space for himself. While John only had Jack to deal with, Mary had two of them to contend with. Mike was quiet and while he played with the other kids in the neighborhood, he really liked puzzles. What they didn’t know was that by second grade Mike was reading well above his grade. His favorite thing to do was to get the encyclopedia and read one of the volumes. Mary thought that he was just looking at the pictures. In reality, Mike was reading it. Not perfectly, but well enough. He also was able to memorize most of what he read. At the dinner table, Mike would surprise everybody with some of the odd facts that he knew.
While his parents might not have noticed how Mike was coasting through school, his teachers finally started to catch on. Mike was in fourth grade and the academic difference between he and his peers was obvious. He was reading at an advanced level and was also very good at math. He was visibly bored during class and was always the first one finished with an assignment. Despite this boredom, he still got straight ‘A’s. They wondered what they had, so they contacted Rutgers and were directed to Dr. Stevenson. After some brief conversations, he asked the school to send him Mike’s records. After reviewing them, he talked with his teachers. At the end of all this he told them that they may have a brilliant child on their hands. However, to be sure he needed to be tested. He arranged to have one of his assistants go to Montclair and administer therm.
The teachers arranged for some ‘tests’ of the students, but basically they wanted to figure out exactly what they had with Michael Mulvaney. Mike didn’t coast through tests. He took them as a challenge, nothing different than solving a puzzle. Mike wasn’t outwardly competitive, but inside he was a fierce competitor. So, when the tests came along Mike went all out. The results were more startling than the school had imagined, but in line with what Dr. Stevenson suspected. Mike was well into the genius category and was excellent in Math. They all realized that he was wasting his time in fourth grade and needed more of a challenge. So, after some research and talking to senior educators they had some recommendations for his parents.
His teacher gave Mike a note to give to his parents. The teacher assured him that he wasn’t in trouble. They’d got the test results back and wanted to go over them with the different parents. It was a ‘white lie’, and Mike gave his mother the note. The note asked Mary to call the teacher to discuss the results of Mike’s tests. Mary was a little surprised, but she called. What she was told that Mike had done exceedingly well on the tests and they wanted to discuss the results with her and her husband. Mary made an appointment for a time that she was sure John could make it. After diner Mary talked to her husband. Neither could figure out what it meant.
When they arrived at the school, they were ushered into the principal’s office by Mike’s teacher. In the office was the principal, Mrs. Ramon, and a tall thin man. The man stood up and introduced himself. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Mulvaney thank you for coming. I’m Ed Stevenson, I’m a professor at Rutgers and my specialty is gifted children. Your Michael is one of those children. The tests show that he’s well into the genius range. He is cruising through school right now. Eventually that will cause problems because he will become board. We’ve got a delicate dance here. Being exceptionally smart has its downsides. Mainly to do with social development. There are some different options and I’d like to discuss those with you. Once you make a choice, we can discuss how to mitigate the downsides.”
Mike’s parents were a bit stunned. For the next hour they and Dr Stevenson discussed the situation. At the end they were left with two options. The first was to assign him to a much higher grade than he was currently in. The downside was that he’d be with much older children without anyone his age. He’d be an outlier in the class age wise and socially. That would put Mike in an awkward position that would be difficult to deal with. The second was to send him to a school that had children like Mike attending it. That would reduce that age difference. It wasn’t the total answer. First, those children also had to grow up socially. This wasn’t an idea environment to do it in. It was good but not ideal. Then Mike would eventually have to take classes with people older than him, because he would probably enter college in his very early teens. There was such a school at Seton Hall University. It was on the university campus and not associated with the Prep, which was few miles away. Seton Hall’s education department administered the school and did a good job. John and Mary had a lot to think about. They got Dr. Stevenson’s number and they agreed to talk with him further about it.
When they got home, they decided to wait until the next night to talk about it. Jack was coming home from Penn for the weekend and since Julie lived at home while going to Columbia, they could then get the family together on Saturday. Friday evening, Mary started off. “I don’t see Mike doing well as the ‘little’ kid in a class of much older kids. I would have found that to be very uncomfortable myself. Seton Hall sounds like a good option. What do you think?”
“I agree with you dear. There are always class bullies and picking on a much younger, brainy kid would be hard for them to resist. The school could watch out, but that has to many holes. I’m leaning towards Seton Hall as well. You talk to the girls and I’ll talk to Jack.”
Mary went upstairs and found both her daughters in Julie’s room talking. Asked if she could talk to them and then went in and shut the door. She laid out the whole thing, how smart Mike was and what the options were. Sharon was the first to react. “I knew the little shit was smart, but that smart? You’ve got to send him to Seton Hall. There are some real jerks in school, and they’d pick on Mike for sure. At least he’d be with kids more his own age. But some of them could be weird.”
Julie agreed with her sister. Mary told the girls that they were leaning strongly towards Seton Hall, but to keep it quiet. John took Jack aside when he got home. After explaining it all to him, his reaction was the same as his sisters. Mike should go to Seton Hall. Now everybody except Mike had heard what the options were, and they had all agreed that Seton Hall was the best bet. John and Mary decided to wait until they had a chance to see the school.
On Monday, Mary called Dr. Stevenson and he agreed to arrange a visit to the school. Later in the day he called back and Mary agreed to go to the school with John on Wednesday. When the day rolled around, John and Mary
drove the 30 minutes to the University. There they met with Dr. Morgan, the head of the special school. He gave them a tour of the school and explained how it worked. There were just a few classrooms. The students were grouped by age so that they could more easily relate to their classmates. The curriculum was highly individualized, and each student was presented with material suitable to their level. The students were all highly intelligent and concentrated on Math and the Sciences. They often went through two or more levels each year. Dr Morgan had carefully reviewed Mike’s test results and had some preliminary conclusions that he’d discussed with Dr. Stevenson. He felt Mike would move on to college at around 14 or 15. He noted that there were numerous high-quality institutions in the area that Mike could attend. If they decided to send Mike to the school, he would undergo extensive testing to see where he was and provide the information needed to develop his individual plan. He noted that the school was heavily subsidized by the private donors, so tuition should not be a problem. He invited them to bring Mike back the next week to tour the school.
Jack had agreed to spend another weekend at home. John and Mary felt that Mike would look to his big brother for some guidance. Saturday morning, both of them sat down with Mike. John started off. “Mike you did really well on those tests you took at school. So, well in fact, that they think you should go to a special school, where you can learn at your pace, which is a lot faster than the other kids in your class. We realize that this is a big shock, but we think this is the right thing, so do your brother and sisters. Your mom wants to show you the school on Monday. We’d really like you to think about this.”
Through the Gate: The Chronicles of Cornu Book 1 Page 7
