Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Dean sat back in his chair, closing his eyes a little. He felt sleepy, and contented. The surgery had gone well, and he was at home, recovering.
He took a few deep breaths, enjoying the feeling of being in his own home and able to rest. He’d been plagued with anxiety in the weeks leading up to his surgery, and now that it was in the past, he felt significantly better.
He felt peaceful and at rest, despite the fact that his body still hurt a little from the procedure.
He opened his eyes and looked around his living room.
He smiled when he saw the flowers and box of chocolates that his mother and sisters had brought over for him earlier.
As a man, he didn't feel that he needed flowers, but he had to admit the aroma of the bouquet was pleasant.
It gave a feeling of summer to his living room, which he had to admit was ordinarily a little bit stuffy due to the fact that he was a bachelor who was seldom home.
Hazel had brought him the flowers, and he felt a surge of gratitude for his twin sister.
She always seemed to know what was best for him, as if she understood his needs better than he did sometimes.
He smiled when he remembered the fun, affectionate conversation he’d had with the women in his family.
They had been intensely protective of him, making sure that he felt all right and that he had absolutely everything he needed.
He thought to himself that Noelle fit right in with their caring, loving hearts.
They had also brought over a slew of food for him to eat.
There were sandwiches, made with homemade slices of bread, and a box of cookies from Hazel.
There was potato salad and coleslaw from Julia, and mason jars filled with pasta and curry and rice dishes from Alexis.
Vivian had outdone all of them, bringing over five delicious casseroles that could barely fit inside Dean's refrigerator.
Dean grinned when he thought about how happy Noelle would be to see all of the food.
He knew that the Owens women had let her know that they intended to help feed him while he was recovering, but she would be just as delighted to see their generosity as he had been.
He felt very loved and taken care of, and he was almost surprised by how deeply touched by their kindness he was, in the midst of his vulnerable post-surgery state.
He turned on the TV and watched one of his favorite shows for a while.
It was something that he usually enjoyed very much, and although he was feeling pleasantly entertained, he also felt a little restless.
He kept glancing to a window that looked out onto his front yard.
It looked like a sunny, beautiful day outside.
Although he knew it was too hot for sitting outside and that he was better off relaxing in the air conditioning, he wished he was up for doing something constructive.
He felt a little too lazy, sitting in his chair and doing absolutely nothing.
He knew he'd earned it and that it was important for him to recover, but the hope of feeling well soon seemed to be making his mind more eager than ever for some work.
He wished that he could stroll down to the auto repair shop and help his guys with putting the cars together.
He was excited about tinkering with vehicles again.
I know it'll be a long minute before I'm up for that kind of work, he thought to himself with a wry smile. But I still wish there was something I could do today. It would be nice to meet up with Noelle and plan the wedding a little bit more. I just feel like doing something.
He sighed, closing his eyes again. He knew that it was important to keep his spirits up, but he felt a rush of wishing that he didn't have to deal with any of it at all.
Why couldn't he simply have had a normal life, and had his wedding without any delay?
Why couldn't he simply have gone to work day after day like most men, without having to deal with unusual amounts of pain and fatigue?
He shook his head, determined to push away those thoughts.
He would rather have had different circumstances, it was true, but there were still many wonderful blessings in his life, and he knew that in the long run, he was luckier than most people on earth.
He was determined to keep a brave face on his situation and focus on the joys in his life rather than the difficulties.
At that moment, there was a knock on his front door.
Feeling curious, he craned his neck a little, trying to see who it was through the window that was placed near the front door.
To his surprise, he saw a few people standing there, but he couldn't see their heads.
He frowned in confusion when he saw that one of the people was wearing a shirt with large orange circles printed all over it.
“Come in!” he called, a little dubiously, since he didn't know who was standing on his doorstep.
A moment later, the front door to his house was pushed open and five men stepped inside. Dean burst into laughter as soon as he saw them.
It was Ryan, Jacob, Cooper, Grayson, and Tom Norris, who was one of the chefs at The Lighthouse Grill and a good friend of Dean’s despite the fact that he was much older.
Dean stared at them in disbelief, unable to believe what he was seeing.
His five friends grinned back at him, looking pleased with themselves and somewhat gleeful.
“Guys,” Dean said, shaking his head. “It's not Halloween. What on earth are you wearing?”
Jacob was dressed up like a clown, wearing the shirt with orange circles all over it, a rainbow wig, and a bright red nose. Dean wanted to cry with laughter every time he looked directly at him. He could hardly believe that Jacob would put on something that silly just for him.
Grayson was dressed as a train conductor from the 1800s, with a bright red neckerchief, a cap, and striped overalls.
He looked as though he was ready to break into a tap-dancing number, which was so out of character for the reserved and highly professional Grayson that Dean felt no end of amusement whenever he looked at him.
Ryan was wearing a full plastic suit of armor, looking somewhat ridiculous but also slightly impressive at the same time. A metal broadsword, presumably an imitation of something from one of Ryan and Faith's favorite fantasy movies, was hanging at his belt.
Tom was decked out in full tourist gear, looking as though he had just stepped off a cruise ship on a trip to Hawaii.
He was wearing a brightly colored shirt, neon green swim trunks, flip-flops, and three rainbow plastic leis around his neck.
The finishing touch was a pair of giant hot pink sunglasses that he had somehow managed to keep perched on the top of his head.
The funniest one of all, however, was Cooper.
Somehow he had gotten his hands on an adult-sized cow onesie, complete with a hood that had ears and a tail.
Dean crowed with laughter when he looked at him a second time, feeling grateful that his respectable brother-in-law was willing to look so silly for the sake of cheering him up.
“We’re getting ready for your bachelor party,” Cooper said with a grin. “I don't understand why you look surprised. We're just trying out possible wardrobe options.”
“Did you have some kind of theme in mind?” Dean asked them, trying to figure out a correlation between the outfits. “Are we going to pretend to be a variety of individuals kidnapped by aliens?”
“Yes,” Ryan said, and he could do a deadpan expression better than any of them so the effect was hilarious. “You’re going to be the alien.”
Dean was practically chortling with amusement by that point, and the rest of the guys were cracking up as well.
“Actually, we're trying to see what costume theme that you like best.” Grayson tipped his cap to Dean. “I was thinking we could sneak onto a train and pretend to be clueless time travelers who didn't realize that it wasn't actually our train. We should be able to ride for free that way.”
“Sounds like a smart move,” Dean said with a laugh.
“Don't you like my costume the best?” Cooper asked. “I think we should all go on a day trip dressed like cows. Sounds like the perfect bachelor party to me.”
“Only if we go to a farm,” said Grayson with an impish grin. “We'd fit right in there.”
“Oh no,” Cooper said. “We definitely need to go to a town. Preferably a big town. Maybe even a city. We should get ice cream while we're there and complain that we didn’t get paid enough for our milk.”
Dean threw back his head laughing, so amused by the thought of all of them parading around a city in cow costumes that he started to actually cry with mirth.
“Tom and I have the same theme,” Jacob said serenely. “We’re going to have a battle between the tourists and the clowns, using pool noodles.”
“What?” Dean said.
“And my idea was that we should get hobby horses and dress up as knights and then gallop through as many fast food drive throughs as possible,” Ryan said, grinning.
“Yes,” Dean said. “I’d do that.”
They were all joking, but Dean felt excited about whatever they would actually end up doing for his bachelor party. It would probably end up being fun and ridiculous, and he felt grateful that he had such supportive—and funny and creative—men in his life.
“There’s a box of cookies from Hazel in the kitchen,” Dean said. “And there’s some beer in the refrigerator. You guys want to grab those? I’d get them for you, but –”
“We got you.” Jacob grinned. “I’d never pass up an opportunity to eat Hazel’s cookies.”
He and Ryan went into the kitchen and soon returned with the box of cookies and a six pack of craft beer. Soon they were all sitting around in a circle, chatting and laughing, and Dean felt a surge of happiness that his afternoon had turned out like this.