Page 49 of Heart of a Hero

“Daddy, look,” Lizzie said, showing Conrad the puppy. He took him, and when the little one licked Conrad’s cheek, he melted like butter. “He’s so cute.”

“Yes, he is. I wonder where Santa got him.”

His mom cleared her throat. “I hear that Santa gets his puppies from the shelter outside of town to make sure they get good homes, and when Santa gives a puppy, it comes with pet insurance and neutering.”

Forrest grinned at her. “Way to go, Santa.” He loved the idea of Conrad and Lizzie with a puppy. They both had so much love to give. Conrad nodded and took the puppy outside.

“How old is he?” Forrest asked as Lizzie hurried off to introduce her new doll to the others.

“About ten weeks. He was part of a litter that the shelter got in. All the others were adopted, and he was the last one. I just couldn’t resist.” Not that Forrest could blame her.

When Conrad returned, he put a blanket on the sofa on the other side from where Forrest sat, and the little guy curled up right next to Conrad and went to sleep. The puppy may have been a present for Lizzie, but it was clear to him that the pup was already bonding with Conrad.

“Can I open more presents?” Lizzie asked. Forrest was asked to hand out gifts, and he distributed them one at a time. He was happy that Conrad liked his gift—a Lego building set of NASA’s new rocket system. And Forrest was tickled that Conrad got him a blanket big enough for them to snuggle under, and another tall box that Conrad handed to him gently.

“Open it carefully,” he said, and Forrest deliberately removed the paper and opened the side of the swing-open box.

“It’s me,” he said with a grin and carefully lifted the Lego model out. Conrad had dressed him in bright colors along with Lego pencils and crayons. He had really managed to get a likeness, and Forrest couldn’t help grinning like an idiot. He had never thought of himself as a Lego model. But the care and the love that it had been made with blew him away.

“Look, I got Legos too,” Lizzie said, and Forrest pulled his gaze away from Conrad’s and used the distraction to wipe his eyes.

“You okay?” Conrad whispered as Mom handed Lizzie a gift from her.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He sniffed slightly and hugged Conrad. His life had changed so much since he’d met a frightened Conrad in the grocery store. That incident still made him smile sometimes. “I’m just happy.”

Conrad turned to him with a grin. “Me too.” Conrad kissed him, and the puppy decided he wanted some love. He climbed onto Conrad’s lap and put his front paws on Conrad’s chest, stretching to lick his chin. They both laughed, and Forrest held Conrad close, receiving a gentle caress across the cheek that drew him nearer. What more could he possibly want? He was warm, happy, and loved… best day ever.

Epilogue

CONRAD COULD tell that Forrest was nervous the night before the build at the Lego show in Philadelphia. But excited as well. “Sweetheart, it’s all planned out.”

“I just don’t know if we can do it all,” Forrest said as they sat at the table in their hotel room. Lizzie was asleep in the next room with Mom.

“I get that. But remember, I’ve done this before and I know the rules… and I planned for this. The first rule is that we have to use the model we submitted and brought with us. Which is perfect. Because we will use all of it.”

“But this is so much,” he said, looking at the drawing that Conrad had prepared. He shook his head.

“Okay. Remember just after the first of the year when we finished Sobek?” He looked amazing and was a work of Lego art in and of himself. Forrest had done an amazing job on all the accessories. His torque shimmered in the right light, and his waistcloth was an intricate pattern of color that looked like cloth with the way it waved and how Forrest had thinned it at the waist so it actually looked like it was being worn. The jewelry was also stunning and didn’t look like it was attached as much as being worn. And the headdress with its disk and horns was flawless. The entire piece had almost no visible studs.

“Yeah, I remember. We spent hours making the background piece with the pyramids.” Thankfully Lizzie loved her Lego and had been blown away when Conrad had shown her his collection. As part of the competition, they were allowed to bring an assistant—someone who could get them things but wasn’t allowed to actually build. Lizzie had asked if that could be her. So she was their gofer. “How could I forget? We spent hours building it so it would curve and stand seven feet tall.” He rolled his eyes.

“And we’re going to make it two feet higher in the center and taper it down along the sides. On the left side of the addition, we’re going to put in the sun.” He showed Forrest the design. “Remember that piece I built where the outside went left and the inside went right? I’m going to rebuild it, and we can use that for the sun. Right above the reinforcement that’s just below the cap.”

“If you had all this planned, why didn’t you tell me?” Forrest asked.

“I didn’t… until I did. Remember we were going to build another figure, another god? I liked that idea, but I didn’t love it. This idea came to me while we drove over.”

Forrest shook his head. “I should have known better than to let you loose with a piece of paper and a pencil.” He chuckled. “What did you come up with?”

“Okay. We put the sun into the background. The rays in back need to be thin, with alternating gold and orange rays. In front, we make the yellow dish with yellow rays, and when we turn it on, the darker colors and lighter colors will alternate, and it will look like the sun is shining. We’ll put that in the expanded background. The rest of the work there will be to just make it higher. So basically, once the sun is in place, you lay as much brick in shades of blue, weaving in lighter shades the closer to the sun, until the background looks right. Then you stop. I expect three hours for that.”

“Jesus, you have this timed out as well, don’t you?” Forrest bumped his arm, and Conrad paused.

“Maybe it is too much,” he said, but Forrest slapped his shoulder. “Okay. The new figure we have to add is the sphinx. What we’ll do is make it come straight out of the background, full-on frontal and slightly to the right, where the background curves. I’ll need to build so it comes right up to the background and sits flush. Then we’ll make cats coming out of the sphinx, getting bigger as they approach Sobek. The first one will be a mummy on legs, and as they get closer, they look more like real cats. I’ll even make one in midair like he’s jumping on an unsuspecting Sobek’s back, while our existing one goes for the tail, with the others following.”

“Oh my God, we could build a thought bubble. The sphinx could be saying, ‘I’ll teach you to call me a pussy.’ Are we allowed to do that?”

“The only words we can use are in the title. We can’t make a thought bubble, but that’s what we can title the piece. The effect will be the same.” He smiled and set aside the drawings.