A Mother and Child Reunion

Mavis was almost beside herself with excitement. Brad was home! Her baby, her first-born son, her favorite--although she'd always had the good taste and breeding to try and keep that from Tyler. It was simply that Brad was so much like her while Tyler was so much like...well, she wasn't quite sure where Tyler came from although there was the faint possibility that he was more like the pool man they'd employed the summer he'd been conceived than anyone else.

Tugging Brad by the arm, she pulled him back to the table where Rosanne and Mike sat, their mouths slightly open as they watched Mavis and Brad approaching.

"Why, Brad!" Rosanne said. "I can't believe it! How are you? I didn't know you were coming back to Schuyler Square."

"Nonsense," Mavis replied. "People always come home again. It's practically genetically programmed. I always knew my Brad would be back. He couldn't stay away from us forever!"

"Right," Brad said in a slightly weak voice. He must be hungry, Mavis decided. Heaven only knew what kind of swill he ate for the past year. Probably disgusting items bought at gas stations, like breakfast burritos and those enormous cinnamon rolls that resembled large fannies.

"You sit next to me, Brad," Mavis ordered.

"Maybe we should go so you two can have a reunion," Mike suggested.

"That isn't necessary," Brad said, ignoring his mother's kick against his shin. "It's nice to see both of you again. I hear you've had some good luck."

Rosanne beamed. "Yes, we won the lottery. Isn't that wonderful? We're having the best time of our lives. Mike and I both retired and we're concentrating on each other."

"We do need to talk about some investment strategies," Mavis said, "but not now. Right now I want to catch up with my darling baby boy."

"Let's go, Rosanne," Mike said. "We can have dinner together some other time, Mavis. Thanks for inviting us."

"You don't have to leave," Mavis said in a most insincere voice, "but if you don't mind, I'd love to have dinner with my best guy."

"Not a problem," Mike assured her looking relieved. "We'll call you." Before anyone else could say another word, Mike whisked his wife out of the Schuyler Square Country Club.

"Well! I thought they'd never leave," Mavis said. "Now we can really talk. Brad, what are you doing here? You've been so terrible about keeping in touch with me. What's going on?"

Brad opened his mouth to reply but another voice spoke first. "Hello, Mavis. Mind if we join you for a drink?"

Mavis looked up and saw Bernard Morton and that horrible Mindy Cooper standing next to the table. Rats. Of all the bad timing. For once, Mavis didn't want to think about business. She wanted to talk to her son. But  on the other hand, she didn't like how cozy Bernard and that little tramp Mindy were looking. Oh, well, her talk with Brad with have to wait. After all, it wasn't like he was going anywhere.Now that her son was back in Schuyler Square she planned on keeping him there forever. "Of course!" she said as she managed to smile at Bernard and glare and Mindy simultaneously. "We'd love it!"

Mother's Little Boy is Growing Up

"Tyler, why would you want to work for a living?" Mavis looked at her younger son quizzically. "You have a perfectly nice job at Schuyler Industries, a job that isn't taxing in the least. You have an office, a secretary, a huge salary--"

"And nothing to do all day long," Tyler interrupted in a frustrated voice. "It's hard to go to work every day and know that the most challenging decision I'm going to have to make is whether to go to Burger King or McDonald's for lunch."

Mavis recoiled. "Tell me you aren't eating fast food every day! Do you have any idea of how fattening that is?"

"Mother, that isn't my point. My point is that I'm tired of having a job that was handed to me simply because I'm Tyler Schuyler, son of the owner. I want to make it on my own."

"Why on earth would you want to do that when you don't have to?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe to feel like a man instead of a little boy?"

Mavis laughed. "You are a little boy, Tyler. You're my little boy. And some day you and Brad will own everything that I have, lock, stock and barrel. It's beyond me why you'd waste your time doing anything as ridiculous as working for someone else. It simply doesn't make sense."

Tyler was silent. He should have known better than to mention his plans to his mother, a woman who had never worked a day in her life. He was just glad that he hadn't mentioned Mindy's involvement in his plans. If his mother knew that Mindy Cooper was working undercover at Kutrate Kemicals, he was sure he'd never hear the end of it. Finally, he spoke. "I'm sorry I bothered you, Mother."

"Does that mean you've come to your senses? That's my good boy. Now why don't you go and change into something nicer and we'll go to the club tonight. I've invited a new friend to join us for dinner."

The last thing Tyler needed was dinner at the country club with his mother and her latest fling. "No, thank you. I'm going out tonight."

"With that reporter?" Mavis questioned.

"Yes."

"Honestly, Tyler, a reporter? Can't you find a nice girl to date? One who isn't quite so nosy and who has better taste in clothes?"

Tyler left the room without saying another word. The only plus of talking to his mother about anything was that he usually knew what he wanted to do when the conversation was over--and it was almost always the exact opposite of what his mother wanted him to do.

Schuyler Square Day 51 Tyler Schuyler

"And that's my sister Breanna. She lives up north with her husband. And that's my brother Aaron. He lives in Iowa but he's coming home next week for Grandma's birthday party. She's going to be 81."

Tyler Schuyler stared at the large gilt framed photographed that dominated the small foyer of Jenny Sanderson's house. Jenny was Tyler's date for the Policemen's Retirement Ball, a fact his mother wasn't too thrilled by. Jenny's dad worked as a maintenance man at Schuyler Industries and her mom was a nurse's aide at Schuyler Square's sole retirement home. Needless to say, the Sanderson family didn't quite make the grade as far as Mavis was concerned. "Who's that?" Tyler asked, pointing at the fourth figure in the photograph.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "That would be my other sister, Natasha. She's the black sheep of the family."

"What did she do?"

Jenny lowered her voice. "She's a Republican. She only visits on major holidays and birthdays which is probably good thing. The last time she was here Daddy snapped at her and called her selfish. Natasha was so upset that she left before we had our dessert."

Tyler shook his head while envy surged through him. There really were normal families out there. There were families who spent holidays and birthdays together and who considered having differing political views to be a big deal. He could only imagine what Jenny would think of the members of his family--his father who drank scotch with his cornflakes and sometimes on his cornflakes, his mother who might be fooling around with another man and who might not be, his brother who had basically abandoned the family, Tiffany, his cousin who solved all of her problems with a bag of corn chips and then there was himself, Tyler Arthur Schuyler, 24-years old and clueless about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. How he'd love to have a family like Jenny's. Maybe then he wouldn't be so lost.

"Are you ready?" Jenny asked. "I can't wait to go. I've never been to the country club before."

"It's really no big deal," Tyler assured her.

"That's easy for you to say. You've been going there your entire life. Believe me, it's a big deal for me. Thank you for inviting me."

Jenny was so sweet. That was why Tyler liked her. It didn't hurt that she was gorgeous too with blonde hair, green eyes and a fantastic body. It would be nice to marry someone like Jenny. Then he'd get to go to all of her family events too.

"Are you kids leaving?" Jenny's father came into the hall. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and popping open a beer. Tyler knew his mother would call Jenny's dad "low brow" but Tyler liked him. Mr. Sanderson actually looked at him when he spoke to him, unlike his own dad.

"We're just about to leave," Jenny said.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," Mr. Sanderson said. "And you look nice too, Tyler."

Tyler's cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He'd wait until they were in the car to look at it. One of his many pet peeves was people who were always looking at their cell phones in the middle of conversations. Tiffany did that all the time. Come to think of it, his whole family had been doing it the last time they had dinner together. He couldn't imagine the Sandersons ever texting at the table.

Tyler checked his phone five minutes later. That was odd. It was from Tiffany. Why would she text him? As far as he knew, she had barricaded herself in her bedroom with the entire collection of Sex in the City and a large pizza from Dominoes. Well, whatever Tiffany wanted it could wait until he got home. He was on a date, for crying out loud. The first date he'd been on in ages and he wanted it to be perfect. Besides, knowing Tiffany she probably wanted him to spy on her mother and Officer Van Husen again. She could forget that. Tiffany didn't seem to be able to grasp that his mom and dad's marriage was perfectly OK and was going to last until death did they part.

Tyler just didn't realize that death had already done that.