Chapter Twenty-Three – Rick
Rick’s eyes were so dry. He looked over at the navigation screen.
He was coming up on Knoxville. Not bad. He’d only been on the road for just over four hours.
Almost halfway home. Christ, he didn’t want to be making the drive for this.
He wanted to be making it with Coop sitting in the passenger seat, teasing him about his music choices, and watching Coop be nervous about meeting Rick’s parents.
Driving like a bat out of hell to get to his mother’s bedside because she was dying?
Yeah, not on his bucket list. Should’ve made more time to—nope.
He wasn’t going down the should’ve, could’ve path.
Rick was doing exactly what his parents wanted him to do.
Grow up. Live his dream. Live his life. Find a partner.
His ringtone blocked out ABBA singing about the winner taking it all through his speakers.
Quick glance. Drew. How did he know that he needed Rick to ground him right now?
If Coop couldn’t be with him—and he was adamant that Coop go to Michigan this weekend—then Drew was his second choice.
That thought made Rick pull his foot off the gas pedal.
Whoa. Somehow, when he wasn’t looking, Coop knocked Drew to second place on his favorite people-who-weren’t-family list. Wait, hadn’t he learned from Drew’s family that family was what you made, not what you were born with?
Rick pushed the button on his steering wheel as he looked over his shoulder to change lanes. “Hey, Drew.”
“Coop called. Are you okay?” Drew asked without pulling any punches. Maybe it wasn’t such a great thing that the two of them got along so well.
“He did, did he?” Look at Rick avoid the question.
Another glance at the navigation and then the road sign.
He had 30 miles to the next rest stop. A check on his gas level.
Yeah, he’d be fine until then. He shifted in his seat and re-engaged the cruise control.
Now that he was talking with Drew, he didn’t need to focus on his speed to keep him from worrying.
Drew was going to make him talk it out anyway.
“Yeah, he did. He wanted me to understand why he wasn’t going with you. Coop thought I knew about your mother,” Drew said, accusingly. “So why don’t I know about your mother? Care to share with the class?” Oooh, sounded like Drew was a bit pissed.
Rick blew out a breath. “I just hadn’t called you yet.
I know that you and Brody have been covering night shifts for the past month.
Didn’t want to interrupt your sleep. Figured I’d call you in the middle of the night when the thoughts were overwhelming and I knew a bit more than Mom’s sick and dying. ”
He heard some papers shuffling over the line. Hmm, Drew must be at the office already. Looking at the time on the dashboard confirmed that. Almost 2100. Drew’d been at the station long enough to get report, and check on everything before calling Rick.
“How’s things in San Antonio? You’re completely recovered now? Brody letting you do filthy things to him in the bedroom?” Okay, he wasn’t sure where the last question came from because he really didn’t need to know anything more about his friend’s sex life, except that everything was consensual.
“Going to avoid the elephant in the car with you? Okay, fine. I’ll bite and then you will be answering my questions. Things in San Antonio are fucking hot. It’s like the doors to Hell down here right now. Why did I put Texas on my list when I hate the heat?” Drew’s complaint made Rick laugh.
When he got his laughter under control, Rick said, “No chance of any kind of jumping? No planes. No helicopters. No flying. Ring a bell?” A little ribbing was good for Drew. Rick still, after almost five years, didn’t comprehend how Drew thought he was a fuck up.
“Yeah, yeah. Anyhow, arm’s still a bit stiff—” Rick snorted, interrupting Drew.
“If the peanut gallery is under control now, my arm is a bit stiff when I don’t do my stretches but I haven’t lost any mobility and my strength is back.
Brody made sure that I didn’t skip any appointments.
Amazing what having a nurse as your lover can do for recovery from surgery.
As for filthy things? Do you really want to know what happened after a text thread I got from the group? ”
“I want to hear about the text thread. Was Julia on it?” After traveling to Coop’s race with Julia and Drew, she was like a sister to him. And the sense of humor that woman had was this side of degenerative.
“On the thread? She started it. Shit, I didn’t send it to you.
Wait…” Rick heard Drew mumbling, then his phone pinged with an incoming text.
“Sent. Had to remember which group chat it was. You might want to wait until you’re home or Coop is with you before watching the clip.
To say that I had a reaction to the video is putting it mildly. ”
“She sent porn to everyone? I knew Julia had a warped sense of humor but…” Headlights passing him highlighted the sign for the rest area. Shit, he needed to get over. “Drew, let me call you back. I need to stop for gas.”
“If you don’t call me back in fifteen minutes, you know I’ll be speed dialing until you answer. Be safe,” Drew said and ended the call.
Rick pulled into the rest area. He got out of his car and reached for the sky.
Two beats later, he was dropping his hands to the ground, the stretch up the back of his legs felt good.
He really hadn’t cooled down after the ruck march.
It was surprising that his legs weren’t protesting the drive after humping seven miles.
Quick pit stop to use the bathroom before grabbing the largest coffee they had and a questionable-looking donut or three, and Rick was back in the car, moving to the gas pump.
Just as he was pulling back onto the interstate, his phone rang and he answered without looking at the screen.
More important to watch the traffic he was merging with.
“I know it hasn’t been fifteen minutes. It didn’t take me that long to piss,” Rick said as he accelerated into the speeding cars.
“Richard?” his mother’s voice came through the speakers. Fuck! She sounded so frail.
“Mom, why aren’t you sleeping? I’ll be there soon.
We’ll have coffee and muffins in the morning.
Blueberry for you, cranberry orange for me.
” Rick was going to keep it together even if he had to bite his tongue off.
He was not going to yell at his parents for keeping this from him.
He wasn’t going to throw a fit to end all fits that his mother was dying.
Okay, maybe that was a lie. He was probably—okay, with certainty he was going to be yelling and screaming and crying.
But in front of his parents, he was going to pull out his best officer training and stoic face.
They needed, no, his mother needed, to know that he was a responsible functioning adult before she—
“Richard, did you hear me?” Shit. What had she said?
“Sorry, Mom. I was paying attention to the cars on the road and wasn’t fully listening. I’m just outside of Knoxville so I’ll be there about zero-one-hundred. Tell Dad that I’ll grab a room near the hospital and come up in the morning.”
“You will do no such thing. You will drive to the house and sleep in your room. Yes, you haven’t lived with us since you left for college but it is still your home. The key is where we’ve always hidden it.” He could tell his mother wasn’t budging on this.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll try and not wake Dad,” Rick gave in. “Even though you know that I can afford a hotel room, right? I have learned budgeting and how to curtail my impulse spending.”
“I know you’re not spending all your money on gummy worms and Sour Patch Kids these days. You do have things like rent and groceries. We don’t want you—” His mother went into a coughing fit. She gasped for a minute, then quietly said, “This isn’t how we wanted you to find out.”
The tears started to roll down his cheeks. He reached up and angrily wiped them away. “I know, Mom. I know.”
“Drive safe, baby boy. I’ll be here in the morning, waiting,” she finished.
He choked back a sob and responded, “Love you, Mama.”
Rick stumbled down the stairs of his childhood home, sweatpants barely staying on his hips.
Coffee, he needed coffee. Even though he’d gotten in at oh-dark-thirty, his mind wouldn’t let him sleep.
As he got to the end of the hall, someone started banging on the front door.
Shit. Rick turned and practically ran to the door.
It was only 0630. He’d heard his father snoring when he’d walked by his parents’ room.
If he knew anything about his father, he hadn’t been sleeping with everything going on with Mom.
Rick yanked the door open, ready to give whoever was on the other side a piece of his mind. He had a split second to brace himself before a woman was throwing her arms around his neck. The minute she started talking, he knew that Drew was taking care of him from a distance. Julia had arrived.
“Rick! I got here as soon as Drew called. Well, okay, I had to make a few arrangements for coverage but I’m owed so many hours since we just finished this year’s tax season.
Even with an assistant, it was hard. Why I thought being an accountant was a good idea, I’m not sure.
Mom and Dad were going to move things around to be here, but Dad’s got graduation coming up, and Mom’s got a few patients who aren’t doing well.
Why she changed to palliative care, no one knows.
I told them I had it. That it was time for the kids to pick up the mantle from the heptad.
That we’d learned from the womb to take care of our family.
And you’re one of them. How are you? Do you need coffee?
I need some. Where’s your father? Mother?
What time do visiting hours start? What can I do?
” Julia finished as she dropped her head to Rick’s shoulder.
Somewhere in the middle of Julia’s verbal assault, Rick had wrapped his arms around his sister of the heart.
He leaned his cheek against the side of her head and just breathed.
This. This right here was family. Rick had known that Drew’s family was grateful for their friendship.
Knew that they had drawn him into their network when Coop and he had dinner with Mackey and Scott.
But Drew’s sister driving two-plus hours to be there for him and his family?
Yeah, this was what Drew had always talked about.
“Hey, Julia, I’m glad you’re here,” Rick whispered. Maybe he didn’t have his man or his best friend with him, but they’d made sure that he had someone by his side.
“Not going to say that there’s nowhere I’d rather be, because the beach in the Bahamas sounds heavenly.
The beach anywhere sounds amazing. But there was no way one of us wasn’t going to be here for you.
Drew is going to try to get some leave. Cal and Maddy said they could be here in a few hours.
Uncle Liam said to call him if you don’t understand any of the medical talk.
Mom and Dad will make the trip when…well, when.
” Julia pulled out of his arms and looked him up and down.
“Fantastic view but I don’t think Coop would appreciate me taking you out to breakfast dressed like that.
Chop, chop. Put on some clothes and let’s find coffee and eggs. ”
His father’s laughter rang down the stairs.
Rick turned and saw his father for the first time.
Damn, this had taken a toll on him. His face was drawn and he was sure that he’d lost weight like Christopher had said Mom had.
Rick stepped to the bottom of the stairs and met his father with a crushing embrace.
“Dad—” Rick choked back a sob. His parents were supposed to be there forever. Be there for any kids Rick adopted or had, not that he and Coop had talked about children. He was supposed to have them forever. They were immortal.
“It’s okay, son. Let it out,” Dad whispered, as he ran his hands up and down Rick’s back.
“I’ve got you. Let it out now so when you see your mother, you’ll be all smiles for her.
You can tell her all about what you and Coop are up to.
I would expect a cross-examination as to why your partner isn’t with you.
” It took Rick a few minutes to bring himself under control.
As he stepped back, his father asked, “Now, why don’t you introduce me to this little spitfire and then I’ll take you both to the Waffle House for breakfast before we go see my Jessie. ”
Rick straightened his shoulders as he’d learned from many hours in formation and held out a hand to Julia. “Dad, this is Drew’s sister Julia. Julia, this is my dad, Hal Stanton. She’s come to be here for us.”
“Ma’am, you didn’t need to—” Dad didn’t get to finish his sentence as Julia cut him off.
“Yes, I did need to be here. Rick’s important to Drew and our family.
We learned from our parents, uncles, and aunts.
Family is there for you when you need someone, whether they are biological or chosen.
Drew chose Rick long ago as his brother of the heart.
He’s part of our family so we’re here. I’m just the forward contingent.
As soon as I’ve got the lay of the land, I’ll text with the others.
One of us will be here until Rick doesn’t need us,” Julia said, standing there with her hands on her hips.
Rick felt the tears that had just dried up return with a vengeance. What was the quote Drew's uncle had said? Oh yeah, one of these days these kids were going to kill him.