Chapter 10 #2
While Amber was back seeing Guy, he made a few calls to have the house put back together.
It was nothing for him to call in several crews to get the work done quickly, and he did that.
The first thing he was going to do was find out what sort of work it was going to need, then he’d go from there.
The office was a mess, and he was glad that he’d be able to help them out.
Sen was upset with him because she had not thought of getting it done for them.
“You’re the best brother.” He said that Guy would do the same for him. “I know that. Any of you would do that for each other.”
“Yes, you’re right. We’ve been all we had for most of our childhood, so we had to rely on each other to get things squared away.
” He looked around the room at all the family.
“I wonder if they’ll be around like this when he starts to feel better?
I know that I’m going to be spending as much time with him as I can from now on. ”
“You should. He’ll close himself off while he’s writing, but that’s his thing. You and the others should spend as much time as you can while you have each other. This has been a wake-up call for me in spending time with the others, too. “I work too hard.”
“I wasn’t going to say that, but you do. I miss you too.” She lay her head on his shoulder and told him that she loved him. “And I love you very much.”
They sat like that until they said that they were going to move him to another room.
They’d be able to see him more, but they still had to be careful not to overwhelm him.
He was going to be sore for a while yet, and they didn’t want him stressed out on top of the pain.
It would make it worse. He knew that too.
“I’m thinking of selling my clinic.” She just stared at him. “I want to be a stay-at-home dad and be around the kids more than I am right now. I think that I’d enjoy just being at home all the time. Especially if you decide to cut back on your hours, too.”
“I’m going to do it too. I’m not going to sell the business, but I know that I can have anyone run it so long as I trust them.
That doesn’t mean that I’m going to just stay away, I don’t think I could do that, but I will be at home more.
Like this has given me a new outlook on life.
That it’s too short to be working all the time.
” He kissed her. “Also, I’d like to have another baby with you. How do you like that?”
“I love it if you’re sure.” She said that she was, and he smiled. “I love the way your mind works. We’ll be parents again by Christmas if you want to start right away.”
“I do. That would be lovely.” They talked about how the kids they had now and that they weren’t too old to have a baby in the house.
The two of them were looking forward to it so much that he wanted to get started on it right away.
But she wasn’t ovulating yet, so he’d have to get in enough practice so that when the time came, he’d be ready. He did love his wife very much.
~*~
Devlin couldn’t believe that his mother was finally dead.
He wouldn’t have known but for the fact that she’d visited Guy right before he’d been hurt.
They had a deal with the prison that they weren’t to be notified.
They were just to bury her in the plot that they’d paid for and be done with her.
If he’d been in charge, which he supposed he’d had a vote in, he would have just had her buried in the field of other unclaimed bodies at the prison. He hated her that much.
Lisa sat down next to him and took his hand into hers.
She would do that when he was stressed, just come along and hold his hand.
It made him feel better, and he would balance out.
He didn’t know if that was what it was called, but that’s the way that he felt when she did it.
Just like everything was all right with the world, and he could handle it.
He took her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
“He’s going to need to stay in the hospital for a few days. I wonder if we’ll all be here until he’s released?” He told her more than likely. “I thought as much. You guys are very close, and I love that about the six of you.”
“We were all we had for a long time.” She nodded and told him that she loved him. “I love you as well. We’re going to have to get things going when he gets home. Someone will need to relieve Amber so that she’s not stressing about everything. I know that I would be if that had been you.”
“We’ll get him taken care of.” She was sure of that. “The doctor was really good about telling us that he could shift in about a week. If I know Guy, he’d be trying to shift as soon as he got home. Once again, he’d be too weak and hurt both himself and his wolf. He’s going to have to take it easy.”
“He won’t unless someone holds him down. I know that you’d be the same way if that had been you.” She tightened her fingers around his hand. “I don’t want to lose you. Not ever. You and the kids are the only thing in the world that I love more than life itself.”
“We’ll be here for as long as we can, love.
I’m not looking forward to having any of them leave me.
” He thought about their lives and wished on some level that he could make it so that they lived forever.
But that wasn’t something that could happen to them, so he’d have to live each day like it was his last and enjoy anything and everything about it.
“Do you suppose that once we get older, we’ll still be this close? ”
“I believe that you’ll be close beyond the grave.” She told him that she didn’t want to talk about that anymore. “Let’s talk about the family. Not about us dying. I don’t know what I’d do if you were to leave me. But enough of that.”
He agreed with her, and they talked about the upcoming holiday.
Fourth of July was their favorite holiday because of the fireworks and the way that there was so much food.
There seemed to be food at every event they had, even if it was just taco day at the local restaurant.
They would celebrate with gusto at every event.
“I’ve been thinking about a vacation. Everyone else is going to be taking one.
We’ll have to wait until they all get back so that there will be someone here to watch over Guy, but we should get in the camper and travel.
” She asked him where he wanted to go. “I don’t know.
Up North would be good. We’ve not been there in some time now. ”
“I’d love that, especially with school being out right now.
The kids won’t have to miss anything, and they can still have fun learning while we’re gone.
I love it when you plan educational vacations.
Especially with the kids around to go with us.
” He said that he’d work on that. “Good. When you get it all set up, we’ll tell the kids so that they’re not too anxious when it’s taking so long to go.
I know they’re going to be worried about Uncle Guy, too. ”
He only did work for the family now. He didn’t take on cases that would take him from home.
He also worked only three days a week and was home the other times.
It was working out well for them all, so he was happy that she wanted to go on vacation.
It would take him away from the grind of the workday and get him out of his head.
Sometimes when he had lots of contracts to go over, he’d be in the office for hours.
Lisa loved it when he said that he was going to go down to even fewer days a week when they were talking last month, and she was going to do the same for her job.
He thought that they’d make good partners in being stay-at-home parents.
Maybe they’d have another child by being home more.
He thought that would be nice, but he’d have to wait for Lisa to decide.
It was her decision whether she wanted to have another child or not.
He thought about the day that he’d met Lisa and couldn’t believe his luck.
She’d been his rock and foundation since they’d gotten together.
Once they decided that they were suited for one another, it had only taken them a little bit of time to have the time of their lives in getting to know one another.
Now they would finish sentences for each other and were usually on the same thinking path when they were together about things. He thought that he had the most perfect marriage and wife of all times. He’d even say that he had it better than his brothers.
Not that he’d say that to them. They’d have to figure out a way to beat him, and he was going to let them think that they had the best. For all they knew, he didn’t have the best of lives with his mate, and he didn’t care. They were happy, and that’s what he wanted out of life.
When it was his turn to sit with his brother, the others went to get dinner.
They would bring him back something to eat, too.
Amber didn’t want to go, but they made her go so that she could get a meal into her before she got sick.
That would be terrible if she were to wear herself down before Guy got to go home. They’d have to keep an eye on her, too.
“How are things going with me?” He asked him if he knew where he was. “I do. The hospital. I’ve been thinking about what had happened, and I think that Mom was destroyed by George. I don’t know what it did to him, but I’m almost positive that it hurt her. I can still hear her screams of pain.”
“What do you think happened? I mean, other than he destroyed her.” He said he didn’t know, but he thought that whatever he did cost him. “Do you suppose that he’ll be back?”
“I hope so. He’s become a good friend over the years. Sometimes he can bring me out of a funk better than Amber can.” He told him that was good. “I know. It’s nice to have a friend who’s not related to you. I can bitch to him, and he doesn’t tell me to get a grip or even tease me about it.”