Normal Too?

Perhaps because I’ve been so vocal with my praise of Stephen Mulrooney’s first novel, Normal?, I was graciously offered an advance review copy of its sequel, Normal Too?. Although I sincerely looked forward to the continuation of this gripping, heart-wrenching story, I admittedly approached this one with the same degree of caution I do with all sequels. I felt like the author had really struck gold with the first book, and I feared the possibility of a repeat performance was about as likely as being struck by lightning.

One thing I didn’t anticipate, though, is that lightning often does strike the same place repeatedly. And wow, about halfway through this novel, I realized this was exactly the case.

Normal Too? is Chris’s story. It’s a story of love, family, redemption, and hope. As with book one, it’s very emotional. It had me laughing and crying, and at its conclusion I realized I loved this unconventional family even more than I did at the end of book one.

Normal Too? is not an ordinary, normal fictional novel. Like its characters, it’s wonderfully abnormal and memorable, and a welcome addition to the all-time-favorite shelf of my library.

— Jeff Erno, Author

*****

NORMAL TOO?

By STEPHEN J. MULROONEY

Copyright 2013 Stephen J. Mulrooney

Smashwords Edition

*****

Published on Smashwords by Busterfly LLC

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

This is a book of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

*****

Dedication

NORMAL TOO?, like the book that preceded it, and just about every amazing thing that has happened in my life, is the direct result of the tremendous love and support of my husband, Jerome P. Van Wert, to whom the book is dedicated.

During the thirty-two years that we have been together, Jerome has opened my mind, my eyes, and my heart to a world of love that I had only dreamed existed. He is more than the publisher of my books; he is the author of the love that went into them. It is my hope that you find that love, and him, in the chapters that follow.

This book is also dedicated to Madeleine Hogan, who has been a constant source of love, support, and encouragement for Jerome, me and the books. You’ll find her editorial expertise and attention to detail throughout the story you are about to read. Together we have become a literary trio that has been an absolute joy.

Finally, this book is dedicated to a dear friend, Anne M. Triolo (Skippy), who recently passed away. If you love Mother in the books, and it’s almost impossible not to, you would have loved Skippy. She is one of the finest people you never met.

*****

Acknowledgements

I am truly fortunate to be surrounded by an amazing group of talented individuals whose expertise has transformed a simple Word Document into a thing of beauty.

My publisher, Jerome P. Van Wert, who also doubles as my husband, has tirelessly labored in designing and nurturing this story since its conception. It would still be lingering on my PC without him.

Elizabeth Anderson and Madeleine Hogan are exceptional editors. It took almost as long to work through their edits as it did to write the story. Hopefully it’s because they are that good, not because I’m that bad.

The beautiful work of Jamie Rich and Antonio Miras Neira is evident on the front cover where they elevated a simple concept into a brilliant work of art.

Finally, no book is complete without a great book design. A great book design requires a great book designer. I am fortunate to have the best, Clark Kenyon.

Thank you all for making my dream come true. And thank you Jordan Ashley Hocker for once again lending your talent and magic to my book.

*****

Jordan Ashley Hocker

Jordan Ashley Hocker is an amazing young poet and street performer who wrote a poem for me last year about my inability to put my ideas into print. The next day the dam burst and my first book flowed forth. A copy of that poem can be found in the back of that book, NORMAL?

When I finished writing the sequel, I asked Jordan, who had just moved back to Kansas City, if she would be interested in writing a poem for the new book. Only this time I asked her if she would write a poem to introduce the story that is to follow. She agreed.

True to her amazing intuitive ability to get to the heart of what’s in the heart of her clientele, with little or no information, Jordan wrote the perfect introduction to the following story without ever having read it. When you have finished reading all that follows, please return to her poem and see if you agree.

*****

Table of Contents

Praise for NORMAL TOO?

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Jordan Ashley Hocker

Poem

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Conclusion

About the Author

Praise for Stephen J. Mulrooney’s previous book, NORMAL?

Prologue

Sometimes it takes a village to raise a child. Sometimes, as in our case, that village looks more like The Village People. And sometimes, it is not the village that raises the child, but the child that raises the village … often to heights they never imagined.

My extended family is one such lucky village. As a family, we may not exactly be at the tip of typical. We’re more like at the top of topical. We like it that way because we’ve stepped up to and raised the bar on acceptance. The Twilight Zone is within our comfort zone. Our definition of family has no Outer Limits. There are no strings attached to our Family Ties. We’re the Real Deal.

Real family is a study in change. It evolves and grows out of necessity, desire, and understanding. Mostly it changes out of love. Step by step, my family has been raised to new heights in heart and soul through the simple, yet constant acts of love and compassion of one of our own, though often not the same one of our own. In every case, it is in the eloquent way in which he or she lives their life that they have taught us … that at the heart of the matter, it is the heart that matters. Where better than in the art of the heart to find the definition of family? Where better to practice it?

This story about my family is particularly about my brother Robbie, who is the greatest embodiment of family virtues I have ever come across. It is a story of love and kindness. The type of love and kindness you only read about in books, the type you sometimes experience in reel life, but seldom in real life. This is a story about how a child raises a village, and how it can happen more often than just once upon a time.

Robbie’s life was at a crossroads before he joined my family. The wrong hand on the shoulder of that young boy on the day he arrived in New York City might have vastly diminished his life. But Robbie was one of the luckier souls who arrives in the City every day. It was the right hand at the right time, and it opened his world, and ours, to a lifetime of kindheartedness. Everyone who knows him agrees, he is literally a kindness waiting to happen.

Nobody understands Robbie’s love and kindness more than I do. There are many heroes to my life’s story, but none more significant than Robbie. When we were young teenagers, Robbie was my knight in shining amore, the object of every desire that was awakening within me.

I was just under thirteen and Robbie was over fourteen when he joined our family. Puberty hits you rather quickly when you have a catalyst. Robbie was a catalyst and a half. I spent years trying to bring our relationship to the next level. Robbie spent those years keeping me firmly in place. I was his little brother, Gene. No amount of effort or fantasy on my part was going to change that. Robbie truly understood that we already had the most important relationship that two unrelated boys our age living under the same roof could have. His wisdom has given me a lasting brotherly love that I could not possibly have understood at the time.

Robbie’s understanding of family reached well beyond our brotherhood. From the beginning, he respected the fact that Mother and Dad had opened both their home and their hearts to him. He would never have done anything to make them regret that kindness. Mother, who is actually my Uncle Ben, and Dad, who is actually his husband Tom, were Robbie’s champions. He grew to love them, me, and our younger also adopted siblings, Chip and Dale, so dearly, that he now carries our surname, Poole-Hall.

Carrying the weight of that name alone should prove how deep his love is. Even as an adult he had to keep the forename Robbie because if he used the more grown-up first name, Rob, it sounded like a crackhead’s to-do list … Rob Poole-Hall.

Robbie extended our extended family a few years ago when he met Mark. They actually met when Mark tackled him on the last play of a football game. The tackle broke Robbie’s arm and Mark’s leg. Those were the only breaks in their romance since then. They are now happily married with an adopted two-year-old daughter, Madeleine, and live in Upstate New York. They own a large piece of property that not only has three houses, but also houses my entire family, save me and my husband, John.

We are all so close that I can only imagine that someday there will be no save for John and me. Robbie and Mark have already offered to build another house on their property so that John and I can cultivate another offshoot to our family vine. (We refer to our family tree as a vine because so few of us are related by blood that our family, like a vine, tends to extend more outward than in any other direction. Mother and Dad have always been the roots of our family vine, but it is through Robbie and Mark’s love and kindness that it continues to grow.)

Robbie’s latest expression of love and kindness happened on the day he was returning to his home in Upstate New York after visiting John and me in Manhattan to celebrate my birthday. Robbie was feeling a little melancholy as he waited for his train to arrive in Grand Central Station. He always felt that way when he had to leave us. As much as he missed Mark, Madeleine, and the rest of the family, he and I always had this special connection that left us disconnected whenever time and space managed to creep in between us. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen often. We still manage to text and to call each other a few times a day. Nothing happens to one that the other doesn’t know about. We are that close, and more, which explains why I’m able to tell you so much of this story in detail.

*****

Chapter 1

John had invited Robbie to spend the weekend with us to help celebrate my twenty-third birthday. It might not sound like a major occasion, but it was to be my first birthday in memory away from the entire family, and John must have sensed how much I was going to miss it.

My birthday was on Saturday. Both John and I had commitments on Friday, and I had a meeting early Monday morning. We decided it would be a little too difficult to make the Saturday trip, as it would take up a good part of the day and there was but one early morning train back to the City on Sunday. Much to my disappointment and theirs, the family celebration that Mother was undoubtedly planning would have to wait at least another week. My birthday candles were in the City, but in many ways, the flame was miles away.

John knows well enough that a birthday celebration with him was all I really needed, but he also understood that Robbie’s visit would be more than icing on the cake. And just to be sure the icing was rich enough, he also bought us play tickets to Les Miserables. John knows there are many ways to light the candles of a birthday celebration. I had never seen the play and had long wanted to, so I was very excited. I had heard so much about it, and had read so many positive reviews of this production, that I couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate.

Robbie generously treated us all to a wonderful dinner at an Italian restaurant in Times Square to start the evening off, complete with