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Stepping outside to take the call, terrified of the news that she might have, he leaned against the wall when she told him that Sen was in surgery and was expected to make a full recovery. After telling her what Lester had told him, the two of them cried a little for the things that the young couple had gone through.
“He told me that he loves her.” Cassie said that Sen had told her the same thing about him. “I hope they can get through this together. Who is with you guys now? Hopefully, her sisters. Luke has been lying on the bed with Lester, holding onto him. I think he fell asleep about ten minutes ago. Apparently, he loves the man too.”
“Good. They need something positive in their lives for a change. I like this man, Daniel. I don’t know what is going to come back on his background or even if there has been one made, but I hope the two of them can work this out, as you said. I think they’ll need each other to get through this. And having a good man in their family is something that they all need.” He agreed with her and then asked if she’d heard anything about Doug. She said so far as she knew that he’d been arrested, and that was all. “That’s good news. I think that everyone will rest easier knowing that he’s not out looking for them. We’ll keep each other informed about what we hear. Caleb and the others are making funeral arrangements for Milly. These two aren’t going to be fit to do it anytime soon, I don’t think.”
When he went back into Lester’s room, the nurse was just finishing up giving him something for pain. In addition to having a nice-sized cut on his face, one on the cheek and the other on his lip, he also had a broken leg as well as a few broken ribs. He’ll be down for a while, the nurse told him, as they were going to take him to surgery in a little while, and this was just to take the edge off his pain.
“The little one, he won’t be able to go, mores the pity. I think the little guy here is good for Lester. He’s been a lot calmer since he’s been in here with him. You too, doc, but that boy there, I think he’s about as much in love with Lester as his sister is.” She asked him how she knew that. “The young lady has been making sure that he is getting the best of care down the hall. When the surgery is over for the two of them, we’re going to put them in the same room. I think they’ll both heal a good deal better than worrying about each other.
Daniel picked up Luke and wasn’t surprised when he woke up suddenly with fists flying. After getting him calmed down a little, and hugging him when he started crying. When he was assured that Lester was going to be all right, he settled him in the other bed so that he could sleep. Again, Daniel was responsible for holding someone’s hand, and he couldn’t have been happier.
The two surgeries went well. After having their bones set, the two of them were put into a larger room together. As soon as Sen woke up, she asked about Lester and was glad to see that he was in the same room with her. Since little Luke couldn’t get into bed with them so soon after surgery, he was glad to be able to sit on the chair between them and keep an eye on them both. The others, all his family and Sen’s came in and out of the room to sit with them as well. It was nearly daylight when Lester woke and asked after Sen.
“I would like your permission to ask her to marry me.” He started to tell him that it wasn’t up to him when he dozed off again. Over the next couple of hours, he asked him again and again, telling him each time that he loved Serenity with all his being. At just after nine in the morning, the police showed up to talk to the couple but left when it was obvious that neither one of them was fit to have a coherent conversation. Daniel was happy for that. He thought that it would be terrible timing, with the two of them still in a great deal of pain, to ask anyone for anything right now.
“They’re going to both go home with the daughters. That was the plan anyway. However, I asked, with you being a doctor, if they could stay with us while recuperating. I don’t know what you think about it but I do think they’ll be pestered less with the sisters around all the time if they’re with us. I can imagine that they’d be hovering over them all the time. Can’t you?” He agreed, saying that while he was sure that they meant well, it wouldn’t help with their healing. “That’s exactly what I thought, too. Luke wants to stay with us. I think he’d be better off doing that, too. He’s never been so worried about anyone as he seems to be the two of them. I have a feeling that it’s not going to be long before they’re married and have their own family. What do you think?”
“He told me several times that he wanted my permission to ask her. At first, I wasn’t sure why he’d think that I had anything to do with him asking but he told me later that Sen had thought of me as her father figure that she’s never had. I believe we’re about the same age, so I wasn’t sure how to take that. But I did give him permission and am glad that I did.” She asked him if she would want a big wedding. “I don’t think that she’d want that but I have a feeling that her sisters will want to be bridesmaids for her. They might be a little pissed off if they can’t get all dressed up. Lester asked me to give her away already. I believe she’s going to ask you to be her matron of honor, too. We might even be asked to be grandparents to their children.”
“That’s wonderful.” He held her to his chest as they sat on their couch. The house was coming along well. They’d moved in a couple of days ago while the last of the renovations were going on. The house that Cassie had had was sold now and they’d gotten much more money than they’d thought they would. He remembered something that he’d been meaning to tell her for a few days. “I heard from the CIA. The ex-president has been put into a deep hole. I’m not sure if that’s a literal term or not, but they swear that we’ll never have to worry about him again.”
When she didn’t answer him, he realized that she’d fallen asleep, and he smiled a little. It wasn’t often that the two of them could nap anymore. Today was special. They had the entire house to themselves, and he was glad that they didn’t have any plans for the evening. It seemed that they’d been running full out since they’d met. Having something normal, like sitting on the couch in their own home, was something that he’d been missing. Closing his eyes, he was nearly asleep when he felt a presence in the room.
Opening his eyes and looking at Luke, he could tell the little man had been crying. Putting out his free arm, he was happy that he didn’t say anything but crawled up on his other side and snuggled with them. Daniel couldn’t have been happier than he was at the moment.
“Luke?” He answered the whispered question just the way that he’d asked him. “I wondered if it would be all right if I called you dad. I’ve never had a nice one before, and I really like Lester, but…well, he’s going to be my brother. So I’d like to call you Dad.”
“I’d be honored, Luke, but you should maybe talk this over with your sisters.” He said that he had and that Sen said that she thought he needed a father figure. “I believe you do as well. Do you think that Lester would fit the bill?”
“No. I mean, he’s all right, and I really like him, but no, I want you to be my dad. You see, we have this thing coming up at school where we have to bring in our fathers to look around the college with me. Moms can come too, but the professor said that it would be a good bonding time for the two of us. Even though I’m not going to be living on campus for a while yet, I’m taking classes online until I’m a little older. They said that I should know the buildings so that if I have to come in, which I will for testing, then I’d have a good idea where I was going.” He told him that he’d love to help him out with that. “Good. And I really do want you to adopt me, Dad. I’ll be a good big brother to your own kids, too.”
“If I adopt you, which I’m thinking that I will if Cassie is all right with adopting you too, then you’ll be my child as much as the one that we’re having too.” It took Luke a moment, but he sat up and looked at him, then at Cassie. “Yes, she’s going to have a baby. Don’t tell anyone yet. We’re going to keep it a secret for as long as we can. And being our son, you should know too.”
The rest of the evening after Cassie woke up was making plans for the holidays. Halloween was coming up quickly, and Caleb had decided to make a huge deal of it. He didn’t know what that entailed, but he was just as excited to participate as the rest of them were. It was going to be epic. He knew to have such a wonderful family getting together as one. Yes, he thought, it was going to be the best holiday he’d ever had. And he was looking forward to it with all his heart.
Chapter 8
Daniel waited as patiently as he could for word on the birth of his newest grandchild. It had been six years since the wedding of the century, as it was being called by anyone that had been invited, and Sen and Lester were the happiest couple he’d ever seen. They still acted like they were in a honeymoon mood and loved each other like they had hit the lottery every day of their life. He loved it.
“How many grandkids do you have, Daniel? I know it’s a bit more than Tabby and I have.” He had to stop and think a moment but it didn’t slow Caleb down in talking to him. He noticed that nerves made him do that. “I still can’t believe that you adopted Sen and the rest of her sisters when they were in their twenties. You were about their age, weren’t you?”
“Yes. Sen is actually only a few months younger than I am. And Alex is the same age as Cassie. When they asked me if I would, I thought they’d been joking. But they made the courthouse appointment for us, and I did it. It’s wonderful having so many children that really don’t need you as much as someone younger might.” He shook his head. “No, that’s not right. They needed me more than I think a younger child would need me. Plus, I’ve eleven grandchildren that are the same age as my two are. I couldn’t ask for a better family than the ones I have. You and all my brothers and all my sons and daughters. I think, however, that I’d like to have a granddaughter. Having all those little boys—and big boys is nice, but Cassie and I want to see just one little girl in this family.”
“I know what you mean. I have four daughters. To be honest with you, I think I’d be happier with little boys. They can’t be hurt by men like us when they start to date.” Daniel laughed and said that he was nuts if he thought that men could be any less hurt. “Yes, I guess so. See? That’s another reason that I’d like to have a son. Just so we can hang out together and do manly stuff.”
Daniel snorted at his brother and told him he was lame. “At what point did you ever do manly things? You don’t even plant the flowers around your house.” He said that he watered them. “You have a system hooked up that all you have to do is push a button. Christ, man, your button-pushing finger gets more exercise than you do.”
“What do you do that’s so manly?” Daniel told him that he’d never said he was manly. He had. “All right then, tell me what you did yesterday, mister smarty pants.”
“Yesterday, when the swing set arrived for the backyard, I put it together. I have learned, too, that reading the instructions is a vital part of putting something together. My wife taught me that.” Caleb said that instructions were for pussies. “Yes, for you, perhaps, but not for this guy. I love it when I only have to put something together—how many times did you have to put together and take apart the new grill you got? I think before we left to go and get something to eat, you’d done it about ten times.”
“Bullshit. It was only six. And I finally got it together, didn’t I?” He cocked a brow at Caleb and just stared him down. “All right, I didn’t get it put together, but Tabby did in only about twenty minutes. I’d been at it for six hours. It works really nicely. I’ll have to have you guys over again, but this time, there will be food.”
“Are you planning on cooking again?” Caleb said that it had only been the one time that he’d burnt the roast. “Yes, but how many times have you burnt the popcorn? Or, for that matter, made your kids some powdered drink and ‘accidentally’ used salt instead of sugar? Three times that I know of. How can you fuck that up so many times? It makes me wonder if you don’t need to go and get your eyes examined soon.”
He was saved by Lester coming out of the delivery area with scrubs on still. All of them stood up to wait for the information that he was about to tell them. From the grin on the man’s face, he was sure that everything had gone well.
“We have a son.” He laughed. “And two daughters. Everyone is healthy, Serenity is doing great, and we’re parents to triples. They’re the most beautiful babies I’ve ever seen.”
