Chapter 10 #3
“I don’t either.” They talked about the next charity foundation, and he was glad that he wasn’t going to be that big a part of it.
Mostly, it would be Grayson and Denver as they were the only two full-time people who worked it from the family.
He’d be asked to train some people, and he was all right with that.
But he didn’t want to get involved like he had when they first opened their doors.
“I was thinking that this is going to be a lot of work for Grayson. Will you guys be able to be apart for that long? I know that after a few hours without Molly, I’m really missing her. ”
“We’ve gotten used to being able to go for a couple of days without each other.
I’m not saying it’ll be easy; it won’t be.
But we have a strong marriage and are great at pulling the weight of the other person when they’re not around.
It also helps that we only have one child.
You and Molly must have your hands full with six and one on the way. She looks ready to pop.”
“She said she feels that way sometimes.” He looked across the yard at his mate and love of his life.
She was currently holding one of their other children and talking to Grayson.
“She only has about six weeks to go, then we’ll have our child.
I’ve never been so happy to be a dad when they all gather around me. It’s like my own slice of heaven.”
“I know what you mean. I might only have the one, but it’s great when she’s around. I feel complete.” He told her that was exactly how he felt. “Good. If you get any more complete, you’re going to have to get a bigger house.”
“We were actually talking about adding onto our home. It wouldn’t be that hard.
And I think before we’re finished, we’re going to need the extra room.
I don’t know how many kids she wants, but I’m happy to help her along with that.
The more the merrier, she tells me all the time.
” She laughed so hard that people turned and looked at her.
“Only you would think that’s funny. Most people would admonish me for saying something about sex. Not you.”
“I know how babies are made.” She leaned back in her seat and looked around. “Do you ever regret coming out here? I don’t mean about you not meeting Molly, but I’m talking about the move. It was so much. And I don’t think that without the help of the Fosters we could have made it in one piece.”
“Sometimes I think about what we left behind. The friends that we had. The house that we all grew up in. I wonder at times if it’s still standing and if a big family is enjoying the foundation that the house gave us.
But then I think about meeting Molly and being so close to all my family, and I think it was well worth it.
I doubt very much I would have had my own practice if we’d have stayed there.
” She nodded as if she understood. “I do like the weather out here better. It’s wonderfully cool year-round. ”
“I met Grayson at the other house, so it holds a bit more for us than it would for you. I loved the old house, too, and miss being able to call it home. The house that we had when we first moved here was all right, but the home we have now is so much more. We got to pick it out for ourselves, and I’ve learned that makes a huge difference in how you feel about a place.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved the other place, but where we are now means so much to us that it’s doubtful if we ever move again.
” He told her that was the way they felt about their home.
“You did so much to the house to make it your own. It must have cost you a fortune to have all the rooms done the way that they are.”
“We had a little help from Molly’s grannie.
” He told her about finding the money in the walls and the letter from her grannie.
How she’d won the lottery so many times that she’d been able to put away all the cash from it so that Molly would have something to work with when it came to upgrading the house.
“Well, aren’t you lucky. You never told me this before. ”
“You’re the first person that I’ve told in all these years of finding it.
Don’t say anything, please? I don’t want anyone coming back on us to take it from us.
” She asked if Molly’s brothers were still alive.
“They all three are. Her dad, William, ended up getting four life sentences for his part in three murders. Not to mention his involvement in the Social Security scams he had going on. Both of her brothers got life each without any chance of parole. But you never know with the court systems if someone will actually stay in prison or not, just because they have life sentences.”
“No, you don’t.” He thanked her for being there for him. “We always were close, the two of us. I hoped that it had to do with the fact that I was so much older than you are, but I don’t know anymore. I’m enjoying just hanging out with you.”
Dinner was called, and Margo ended up sitting next to him and Molly.
Grayson was still talking and missed his chance to sit next to his mate.
Oh well, Grayson could make friends anywhere, and with this family, he was always able to hold his own in a conversation.
Before they were set to eat, Denver called them all to order by gently hitting his fork next to his glass.
He cleared his throat and was told to get on with it; they were hungry. Everyone laughed.
“It’s been nearly fifteen years since we moved here fresh out of our home state.
I wanted to say that it’s been wonderful being here with all of you and how much I appreciate all the time you’ve given to the foundation.
” There was applause, and someone said it was all because of him.
“I would like to take credit for that, but we all know that it wouldn’t have been possible without the two people that we’ve lost. Grannie and Grandda.
If they had not been on board and as supportive as they had been, none of us would be here today.
” Another round of applause, and Denver started to sit down, but stood up again.
“I almost forgot something. The next foundation is going to be called the LouCinda and Hudson Charitable Foundation. After the two greatest people I’ve ever known. ”
People patted him on the back when he sat down the second time, and he wanted to hug his brother for what was going to be done for their grandparents.
As soon as dinner was being set on the table, he got up and hugged his brother tightly.
Crying a little, the two of them held onto each other like they hadn’t seen each other in a while.
When it had only been an hour since they were talking about the meal.
Kayce did end up bandaging a couple of knees and one cheek. The kids were roughhousing but having fun as kids did. Once he told them that they were going to live to fight another day, he sat back down but kept his bag close. He knew that his brother Ethan had his around as well—just in case.
When dinner was over, and the kids were playing in the large pool, he continued to sit with Margo and enjoyed himself. They had been close all their lives, and she was the one who had bandaged his knees when Grannie hadn’t been around to do it.
Just as he was thinking it was time to get his own kids home and into bed, he thought that he saw ghostly figures.
No one else seemed to see the two of them, but he knew it was his grandparents.
Then he saw that Shawn was looking in the same direction.
She turned and looked around and spotted him looking at them too.
Raising her glass up, she tilted it in his direction, and he felt his heart expand with love.
They were there, and he had to wonder if they had been to every meeting of the family when they got together and saw no reason to believe that they’d not be there.
Wanting to go to them and touch them somehow, he watched as they faded away.
Just as it should have been, they made sure that they were all right before moving on.
He would treasure this memory forever and knew that he’d been given a special gift.
“Did you see them?” Instead of answering his brother, he hugged them.
“I can’t believe after all this time they showed up to see us.
And on a night when we’re all together.” He’d forgotten that Ethan could see ghosts, too, and hugged him again.
“I’ve never seen them before at other gatherings.
It was special that they were here for this one, and they showed up. I’m so happy I could bust.”
After getting his kids home, he told Molly what he’d been able to see. She cried when he told her they looked just like they did when they’d been alive, and she hugged him tightly. Molly had only gotten to spend a few years with them, but she said that she made every moment count.
Going to bed himself that night, he thought about all the years that he’d been living here.
All the things that he’d seen had changed with the years.
After holding Molly for a few minutes, he got up and went to each of his children’s rooms and hugged them gently.
He was a happy man, and nothing in this world could take that away from him.