CHASING DREAMS

Chapter 38:

Several hours later, the weary crew returned home. Dan was carrying in a sleeping Sammy along with Bob and Lisa quietly told him to lay him down on her bed. They had had a busy but fruitful day. They had found him plenty of clothes and other necessities that Lisa had put on her list. They had even found him a Bob the Builder motorized toothbrush just like Kayti’s Cinderella one. He had wanted to open it and brush his teeth right in the store until Alex had distracted him by showing him something else. They had even been able to find some great Christmas ideas for him while they were walking through the stores.

Dan decided that since it was getting so late that they would go do the Christmas shopping first thing in the morning. Right now he was tired and they still had the beds to put together after a brief rest and dinner. They had called Marie and told her they were on their way home and she informed Dan that the bed had been delivered a short time ago. She had given Kayti a snack in her high chair and gotten a quick dinner together so they could all work on getting the beds set up.

They were home for about an hour and had just sat down to eat their dinner when there was a knock at the door. Dan opened the door and welcomed Brenda in. He remembered her from Anna’s funeral.

“Hi there, how’s it going?” She said looking around at everyone.

“Hi Brenda. We are doing great. Have you eaten dinner yet?” Marie asked her.

“Nope, I was just going to go home and throw some leftovers in the microwave. My husband will have already eaten.”

“You’ll do no such thing. Sit down here and I’ll get you a plate.” Marie knew how much help Brenda had been in getting things sorted out for Lisa and Anna during that stressful time.

While Brenda was saying hello and getting settled in a chair at the table, Lisa noticed that Sammy was looking at Brenda and he looked like he was deep in thought. She wondered what was going through his little head. What was he going to say if Brenda asked him if he was doing okay here? She felt like they had had a pretty good day today, but he was a three year old child that had been through so much upheaval in just a few months.

“Sammy, how have you been? Are you having a good time here?” Brenda asked him.
Brenda watched the emotions on his face and through all of her experience she had learned to read children’s body language. She could tell a good bit of the time if a child was scared or sad and the boy that was sitting across from her tonight, was not the same boy who she had left here yesterday. She knew that it would be necessary for him to undergo a lot of therapy to help him deal with his past, but if things were going as well as it looked like, Sammy was going to be just fine.

“I am having a fun time. I played with Kayti lots and we went to the bed store and I’m going to play on my new Bob the Builder tree house bed, soon as it gets fixed. It’s all broken right now, but we’re gonna fix it soon as we eat our dinner. You wanna see it and my own Bob the Builder man?”

Brenda was sitting there in shock. She didn’t think she had heard this many words out of Sammy in all the hours she had spent with him yesterday. “I surely do want to see all of it as soon as we finish with our dinner okay?

He was a bit impatient looking but he continued to eat. Lisa still had to control his portions and let him have frequent snacks. She believed that he was still afraid of not getting another meal when he was hungry so he was cramming as much in as he could get when he could get it. But she was worried he might make himself sick by eating too much at once. So, she had left out little bowls with a mixture of things for him to snack on such as dry cereal, raisins and Goldfish crackers which she found pretty quickly that he loved.

As soon as they finished with their dinner they all headed for Sammy’s room. He was anxious to show off his Bob doll and his new bed as well as all of the accessories to go with it.

“See, it’s broken.” He told Brenda again as they stood there looking at the bed pieces that Dad and Alex were removing from the boxes.

“It isn’t really broken, buddy. They just have to take it apart so it will fit in the boxes.
Now we get to have fun putting it together.” Dan told him.

“Oh okay.”

Lisa had bought the curtains to go along with the Bob set. The flowery ones that Mom had originally bought for this room no longer were going to work in here. So Marie changed out the curtains to the delight of Sammy to see Bob hanging up in the window.

Brenda watched how excited he was over all of this being done just for him. He wasn’t used to so much positive attention being lavished on him. He was soaking it up like a sponge.

They all worked together with Lisa sitting on a chair and directing traffic and reading off the directions. Marie and Dan were working on one bed and Alex and Brenda were working on the other one, They had brought a few toys in and set the children in a corner to keep them out of the many piles of screws and nuts and other little pieces. This was confusing enough without one of them walking off with a necessary piece and losing it.

When it got near Kayti’s bedtime, Alex took a break and got her ready for bed. Kayti wasn’t too pleased at being removed from where all the action was, but Lisa knew she was tired. She had only taken a short nap for Mom this afternoon. Alex read her her Goodnight Moon book and she was asleep in short order.

Normally, Lisa would have tried to get Sammy in bed too but she knew he was way too excited about this to be able to fall asleep. They were just about to put the sections together so Lisa took Sammy’s hand and led him just out of the doorway so they wouldn’t be in the way, but stayed where he could watch all that was going on. She could feel the energy coursing through him. He wanted so much to run back into the room and try to help. Dad had let him help to tighten some of the screws and he had looked so proud of himself.

When the sections were fastened together, all that was left was to make the beds and put all of the little accessories on where they belonged. When the beds had arrived Mom had taken the sheets and comforters and washed and dried them. As soon as the beds were all made complete with waterproof mattress pads, Sammy ran over to Lisa and said “Can I brush my teeth so I can go to bed now?”

“Did everyone hear that? I believe that is a first for me.” Marie said and they all laughed at the excitement on his face.

Then they watched as he turned to Brenda and asked her, “Can I stay and play at Kayti’s house some more times?”

Brenda looked to Lisa. This was really up to her to tell him what her decision would be. She knew they had agreed to discuss it after the New Year but she believed that Lisa had already made up her mind.

As Lisa took Sammy’s hand everyone else left the room so she could have this private moment alone with him.

“Come sit with me on your new bed. Sammy, I don’t want you to go to live somewhere else. I want you to stay here and live with Kayti and with me. Would you like that?”

“For always?”

“Yes, for always.”

“Are you going to be my new mommy?”

“Would you like for me to be your new mommy?

“Yes. I want you to kiss me goodnight and give me a hug like you did yesterday night and not to hit me and I can have lots of supper and breakfast and lunch and Goldfish.”

Lisa was very emotional but at the same time she was fighting the giggles at the extent that Sammy was making sure she knew that he liked to eat and didn’t want to be hungry anymore.

She put her arm around his shoulder and pulled him into a big hug.

“Sammy, I love you and I will give you so many hugs and kisses that you will get tired of them all, and I told you this morning, all you have to do is tell me if you are hungry and you will get something to eat. You don’t ever have to worry about that again.”

“Can I call you Mommy? I couldn’t member your other name sometimes and my other real mommy got dead by Joey.” He said in a matter of fact tone.

She kissed the top of his head and had to wipe the tears that were pouring off of her face.

“Sammy, I would love for you to call me Mommy, if that is what you want.”

“Okay, I’m gonna go tell them that I live here now.”

He got up off the bed and walked purposefully out to the living room and stood in front of Brenda and looked up into her face.

“I can’t go to nuther house with you anymore. I have to stay here with my new Mommy and Kayti and now I have to brush my teeth so I can go to bed in my Bob tree house bed, bye.”

And with that, he waved happily to his audience and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

His audience just stood there stunned and they saw Lisa standing there with tears running down her face.

Once Lisa had him washed up, teeth brushed and in his new Bob Pajamas, Sammy happily ran into his room and looked around at everything. Besides the bunk beds, he had a dresser filled with new clothes, a small book case and an end table with a lamp on it and a night light plugged in right next to the door. The rest of that didn’t mean a whole lot to him right now. He just wanted to get into his new bed. They had discussed which bed he would sleep on and even he agreed that he wouldn’t sleep on the top bunk yet. So he climbed onto the bottom bunk and Lisa covered him up. She sat next to him and leaned forward and pulled him into a tight hug, kissing him on both cheeks.

“Goodnight Sammy. I love you Sweetheart.”

“I love you too Mommy.” He said and snuggled down into his covers.

When Lisa left his bedroom she walked into Mom’s arms and cried her eyes out.

It had been a long day for everyone, and they decided to call it a night. Brenda left with a plate of cookies that Mom had made and everyone wishing her a Merry Christmas.

Mom, Dad and Alex were making their plans to meet early in the morning to do a whirlwind shopping trip to get the rest of Sammy’s gifts. The stores were bound to be crazy so they wanted to try to get there as early as possible to beat the very last minute shoppers in the afternoon. They said goodnight to Lisa and left.

She plopped herself down on the couch and laid her head back, closing her eyes and really wished that Seb was here with her right now. She missed him so much. Even with all of the excitement today, she never went very long without thoughts of him swirling around in her mind. She couldn’t wait for him to come home and meet Sammy. He had indeed come quite a long way today. She wasn’t deluded into thinking that he wouldn’t have to deal with what happened to him but she knew that as young as he was, with some good therapy and a loving environment, that hopefully Sammy would turn out to be the bright, happy child that she had seen glimpses of today. He deserved to have that. Someone just needed to give him that chance.

After checking the kitchen, which miraculously had been cleaned spotlessly, by Mom no doubt and after taking a peek at her two children who were sleeping soundly all snug in their beds, Lisa got herself ready for bed. She was quite tired and she decided to wait for Seb to call her while resting comfortably in her bed. Before she got into bed, she went to get her camera and took pictures of each of the little ones and quickly uploaded them and sent them to him in a short email that only said,

Seb,

“I just wanted you to see how peaceful our children looked tonight. Don’t you love Sammy’s bed? Alex actually picked it out for him and he loves it. He couldn’t wait to go to bed in it. Not sure that that will last very long but it was so cute tonight. I can’t wait for you to meet him.

I Love You and miss you Seb. Talk to you when you call

Yours,
Lisa

Seb was just getting into his room and was about to start packing for tomorrow’s trip to Paris. He was so torn. He wanted so badly to go home to Lisa and Kayti and to see this new little man in her life, in their lives if the boy wound up staying permanently. But he had heard the affection she already had for Sammy after just a few hours with him. He turned his laptop on to check his mail before calling Lisa and when he saw that she had sent him an email he quickly opened it.

He read her words and a lump formed in his throat at her words of “Our children” and again when he read “Yours” This is everything he had dreamed of. A woman that he knew without a doubt loved him for himself. He knew that Lisa may very well have never married so he felt honored that she loved him and was letting him in when he knew how hard that was for her.

David was in Seb’s room when he read the email and when he opened the pictures, Seb called him over to see them.

“Wow, that is one cool bed. Ask her if I can play on it when I come over.”

“It looks to me like she has made her decision about keeping Sammy.” Seb said, smiling at the pictures of the children sleeping carefree in their beds. “I’m looking forward to meeting him next week.”

“You are one lucky man Seb. It is so obvious how much she loves you, and Kayti, Man that little girl is going to have you wrapped around her cute little fingers. I can’t wait to meet him either. He is really cute. I sent the pictures on to Grace. She wanted to see what Kayti looked like after I spent so much time talking about her.”

“I do feel lucky David. This life isn’t easy on a relationship and I hope that we can make it with as much time as I’ll be away from them.”

“I’ve seen you two together. You are so good for each other. You’ll make it. I don’t know Lisa as well as I know you but I do know that she looks very happy when she’s with you. When we first met her she seemed really sad somehow. I can’t explain it but those last couple of days we were there, it was gone.”

Sebastien was so happy that David could see that too without even knowing what had happened to Lisa. He was just about to take David into his confidence and tell him when Carlos and Urs knocked on the door. They came in and Seb decided that since Urs already knew, it was only fair that the other two had at least the basic information. He didn’t go into too much detail, but he told them Lisa’s story and asked them to keep it to themselves, which they readily agreed.

“I’ve been trying to see when we could plan a wedding somewhere in our crazy schedule.”

“You know what Seb? You and Lisa just figure out when you want to have it and we’ll stand behind you. We aren’t in the middle of a tour. Except for the charity concerts all this is promotional stuff that can be rescheduled if need be.” Urs said.

Seb looked at the other two who quickly agreed with Urs.

“Thanks guys. I’ll talk to Lisa when we are there next week and we’ll see what works for both of us. If you think of any time that definitely wouldn’t work just let me know. I don’t want to mess up any of your plans.”

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, any time that we are off and you have time with Lisa, that also means that I have time with Alex too.” Urs leaned back on the sofa with a huge smile.

“Do you have any long term plans for you and Alex?” Seb asked his friend.

“It’s a bit different for us Seb. We haven’t known each other for nine years like you and Lisa have. I’d like to make sure it’s right for both if us before we make any long term commitments to each other.”

“We knew each other, but really didn’t know each other. It had only been a couple of days and needing a translator at that. But they were there, the feelings between us. It’s amazing that we were both feeling the same things without actually being able to speak to each other and to think that we both held those feelings sacred in our hearts for so long. We just needed some miracles along the way to help us to find each other. If it hadn’t been for Il Divo, I might never have learned to speak English or traveled to the U.S. and if Lisa hadn’t entered that contest maybe Alex wouldn’t have seen me. I don’t know it just seems to me that we were meant to be together and all of the pieces fell into the right places for us.”

“I hope things work out for all of you. You have both found some great girls.” David said.

“It would be great to be able to get our girls all together to meet sometime soon. Carlos added.

“Yeah, sure that would be great. What about next week? Any chance of you two meeting Seb and I and the girls for New Years in Tampa?”

“I’d have to check with Vicki to see if she could get away for a few days. I’ll go call her.” Carlos said and stepped out of the room to make the call.

“I’ll go call Grace to see what she had planned for us too.” David said and left to make his call.

“That would be a lot of fun for all eight of us to get together.” Urs said to Seb.

“Yes it would. It would be great for Lisa and Alex to see the relationships that Carlos and David have with Vicki and Grace, and that they have made it so long through all of our craziness.”

“Yes, but they came into it gradually like we four did. They weren’t thrust into it like our girls will be.” Urs reminded him.

“What time are you leaving for home?” Seb asked Urs.

“Very early. My flight leaves at 5 in the morning. What about you and David?”

“We won’t leave until around 9. We wanted to be able to sleep in a bit.”

“Well, my friend, you have a Happy Christmas and I’ll see you when we meet up on Boxing Day and we’ll talk more about getting the girls together if Grace and Vicki can make it.” Urs said as he was leaving.

David came in the door just as Urs was about to open it to leave.

“Well, Grace is really excited. The thought of going to the warmth of Florida from New York in January didn’t hurt either. She was going to have us in all the craziness at Times Square New Years Eve. I’m glad we now have an alternative.”

Now all we need to know is if Vicki can make it.” Seb said happily.

They wished each other a Merry Christmas and all went their separate ways to finish packing to go where they were going for Christmas.

Seb settled into a chair and called Lisa and thanked her for sending the pictures. He relayed David’s message about wanting to play on Sammy’s bed. Lisa got a kick out of that and said she could just see it too. Seb told her about their plans to try to get everyone together for New Years and that Grace was already coming. They were just waiting to hear about whether Vicki could get away. Her schedule was almost as busy as theirs. Lisa said she was excited to meet both of them and that they must be something to be able to survive a relationship with the likes of Carlos who flirted with every woman he met and David who was like a giant teddy bear and girls were obviously very attracted to him as well. She was curious to meet these women and talk to them about this ride they had been on with the guys these past few years. She knew that both Grace and Vicki had been with their men since before Il Divo came to be and without even knowing them, she admired their fortitude to be able to handle what she was just beginning to see. She just hoped she could handle the constant barrage of press and fans always getting into their private lives.

They said goodnight and as it was already Christmas Eve where he was at the moment, Seb was just about to get online and post his Christmas message to his Sirens as well as all of the other Il Divo fans on the forum. He told Lisa to check it out in the morning when she woke up.

Lisa decided to get online and wait for Seb to post his message. She was curious as to what the reaction would be to his announcement of their engagement. She already knew that the reactions would come very quickly. There were always quite a few people on the forum no matter what time of day or night she got online. Il Divo’s fans were spread all over the world in every time zone.

Chapter 39:

She didn’t have long to wait before she saw Seb online. And shortly after, she saw his message pop up as a Sticky in the Lounge. She had spent enough time on the forum lately that she basically knew how things ran on here. She smiled as she began reading the Christmas message to all of the fans from the guys. They really did care about their fans and it showed.

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR
to all of our fans. We have had such an amazing year. We have traveled to so many new places and met countless wonderful fans who show us your love at every opportunity through your support and lovely, creative gifts that we receive at every event. We hope to meet many more of you in the next year as well as seeing familiar faces and hope that you will enjoy our next CD when it comes out late in the year.

All our Love,
Carlos, David, Sebastien, & Urs


Then she got to the engagement announcement and she started to feel a bit nervous as she knew that other fans, Seb’s fans, who felt very attached and were extremely committed to him were also sitting at their computers reading it too.

Hi everyone, this is Seb. In addition to the Christmas message that I just posted from all four of us, I have an additional announcement from just myself. I wanted you to hear about this from me and not in the tabloids. We all know how things can be distorted in those sometimes.

Years ago, I met my soul mate, the woman that was created for me. Her name is Lisa. We both fell in love with each other but timing and circumstances kept us separated for nine years. We have found each other again and are still deeply in Love with each other and I have never been happier in my entire life. I feel as if I am in the middle of a Fairy Tale and I have found my Princess.

I have asked this beautiful lady to be my wife, and thankfully she has accepted. We are still undecided when we will be wed. Because of scheduling concerns it could be soon or we might need to wait a while. In the meantime, I am asking that all of you, especially my Sirens, will wholeheartedly welcome my lady into our circle and treat her with all of the love and respect that you treat me.

I also have another blessing that has been added because of our relationship. A little girl named Kayti, who lost her only parent, her mother, just a few months ago and a three year old boy named Sammy who I have yet to meet as he has only been home for just a day. I can tell you that these children are absolutely beautiful and I can’t be more proud to be their Papa.

Lisa’s vocation has always been taking care of children and she is in the process of building a group home to take care of around a dozen orphaned children. Kayti and Sammy are the first of those children. All of you who know anything about me know that I love children and Kayti has already stolen my heart. She calls me Papa. (Can you see me smiling?) Carlos just says that Kayti is just one more female for him to convert to being a Cutie. LOL Good Luck to him while he tries. 

Again, I wish each of you, wherever you are in the world, a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year. My wish is for every one of you to be as happy as I am right now. The only thing that would make me any happier would be if I was home with them for Christmas, but that was not possible as we are far away.

So, to my Love, my Lisa, Merry Christmas Cheri. I love you more with every beat of my heart. Yes, I see that you are there. 

LOVE, SEB
XXXXXXX


Lisa could barely see through her tears as she finished reading his message. There were several sentences that he added that he hadn’t shown her, like the Fairy Tale part and with a bit of extra nerve, she posted a reply that she hadn’t told him she would do. Actually, until this moment, she didn’t know it either.

Seb was sitting back in the chair waiting to see what the response would be from the fans that were online. He never thought that Lisa would post a reply. But, when he hit the refresh button to see the new posts to his message he was pleasantly surprised. He read down the list of posts and saw some expected posts, some were not as nice as he’d like but he had warned Lisa that some may not welcome this news.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Seb,
I am so happy that you have found your soul mate. I found mine many years ago and he is the love of my life. Be happy and when you can we’d love to see some pictures of you with your new family.
LOVE
Donna

____________________________________________________________________________________

Seb,
I too am happy for you. Take care and Happy Christmas to you.
Hugs
Gina
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Seb

I hope that she is good enough for you. We all want the very best for you. Are you sure it isn’t too soon to talk of marriage.

Sara
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Seb,

Yes, I’m on. The children are sleeping and I wasn’t too tired and decided to stay up for a bit. Thank you so much for your lovely words about me but I know that I am the lucky one here to have you back in my life and even more so that you want to be part of my passion of taking these children into my heart and my life and now into yours as well.
I LOVE YOU TOO, My Prince. 

Lisa

______________________________________________________________________________________
Seb had a smile on his face as he read a few more posts, but most were from people who were very happy for him and sent their best wishes. There were a few that he wished he could delete before Lisa saw them such as this one:



Seb,

Please be careful. We care so much for you. Are you absolutely sure that this woman hasn’t just latched onto you for your money to help take care of all of those kids?? It seems awful sudden. It wasn’t that long ago that you broke up with Rachele. Maybe she saw the reports of that and pushed her way into your life and knew how wonderful you were and how much you love children and saw a sugar daddy just ripe for the picking. I hope you won’t be upset with me for saying this but I would hate to see you get hurt by some gold digger. It would break my heart.

JENNIFER
______________________________________________________________________________________

Just after reading that last post, Seb saw Lisa’s screen name disappear from the ones that were online.

“Mon Dieu, I hope she didn’t see that one before she logged off. He decided since he knew she was awake that he would call her again. He needed to make sure she wasn’t upset. He logged off and dialed her number.

Lisa had logged off as soon as she read that last post. Seb was still logged on so she hoped he saw her post. He had warned her that some fans may not be very happy but she hadn’t thought about anyone thinking something like that about her, that she would only want Seb for his money. If some of them thought that now, what would they say when they found out that Il Divo was going to be supporting the group home indefinitely?

She didn’t have too long to think about it before Seb called her. Had he seen that post?

“Hi Seb”

Yup, she saw it, he thought as he heard the tone of her voice.

“Hi Baby, what did you think of my post?” He said trying to cheer her up.

“It was so beautiful Seb. You had read most of it to me, but those extra parts you added were very special, Thank You.”

“I hoped that you would like it. I do wish I was there with you. You did see the last post before you logged off didn’t you?”

She didn’t answer right away and he wondered if she was crying.

“Sweetheart, are you there?”

“Yes, I’m sorry. Yes, I saw it, the one from Jennifer. Do you think many people would think that about me, Seb?”

“I don’t care and neither should you. There will definitely be very few that are like that. I know our fans. I think they have a higher opinion of me than that. What does that say about me if I was to be taken in by someone like that? Please don’t worry about the few people who just want to stir up controversy.”

“Alright, I just love you so much and I don’t want to be the cause of anyone saying anything bad about you.”

“Oh Baby, I love you too and just like with the media, I don’t pay attention to people like that. I had to learn that even before Il Divo. I’m going to finish getting packed then we are all going to dinner. We’ll all be leaving in a few short hours. I’ll call you when I reach Paris, Baby. Get some rest and please don’t worry about it anymore.”

They said goodnight and hung up and Lisa did go get into bed, but she kept thinking about that post that accused her of being a gold digger. First it made her upset, but then she got angry that someone who didn’t even know her was saying something like that. Seb knew she wasn’t like that. She knew that he knew how much she loved him. She was just going to have to put that out of her mind. She wasn’t going to let anything spoil her Christmas.

For Lisa and the children, Christmas Eve day was pretty quiet. She spent a lot of time in their bedrooms playing with them with a constant rotation of Christmas music playing in the background. They both absolutely loved Sammy’s bed. The slide got plenty of use which meant that Lisa was on constant guard duty next to it especially for Kayti.

Lisa got to feeling a bit melancholy, wishing that Seb could be there sharing this wonderful day with her and the children. She felt an overwhelming need to see his face and not just hear him singing so she turned off the Christmas music and put the Encore DVD in the player and turned it on. She curled up on the couch and sat there glued to the screen and because she already had watched this so many times, she knew exactly when Seb’s face would be shown every time.

The children were in Kayti’s room playing. When Lisa wasn’t in Sammy’s room with Kayti she would shut his door so she wouldn’t get hurt on the bed. She had already climbed up onto the top bunk several times. She had no fear. She was sitting on the floor playing with her toys with her new friend and she heard the sound of her Papa on the TV. She knew he was on the TV because her Mama watched it so often. She hopped up and went running out to the living room.

Sammy stared after her as she ran out and then he heard her shouting, Papa, Papa. He didn’t know what a Papa was so he went to find out. He stood behind the couch and saw that Mommy and Kayti were watching some men singing some songs pretty loud.

“Papa, Mama. See Papa.”

“Yes, Baby, There’s Papa. He’s singing for us isn’t he?”

“Papa, Papa.” Kayti said as she started dancing around and spinning in circles and having a grand old time.

Lisa almost couldn’t see the TV anymore with Kayti standing almost up against it. She realized that Sammy was standing behind the couch where she was sitting. She hadn’t wanted to give him more than he could handle, so she hadn’t told him about Sebastien yesterday. They had been busy shopping and she wanted to wait until she could talk to him calmly and with no other distractions. It looked like this was as good a time as any.

“Come here Sammy. There is someone I want to tell you about.”

Sammy came around to stand in front of Lisa and she lifted him onto her lap and wrapped her arms around him. She had found that he really liked to snuggle. Kayti used to but she had gotten to be a very busy girl lately and didn’t sit still for too long most of the time. But Sammy loved it when he could sit in her lap and have her just holding him and stroking his hair. She doubted that anyone had done this with him for a very long time, if ever. She kissed his temple and gave him a bit of a squeeze.

“Sammy, you aren’t only going to have a Mommy now. You are also going to have a Daddy too.”

“I don’t like Daddies” Sammy said and began to cry, huge tears running down his cheeks. “I don’t want to have no Daddy.”

“Oh Baby. Papa would never hurt you. I promise you. Do you think I would ever hurt you, or let anyone else hurt you?”

Sammy looked up at his new Mommy. She was pretty and she was nice to him. She didn’t yell at him when he went pee pee by accident or when he spilled his juice at breakfast and even when he went up on top of his new bed when she said not to. She just talked to him and asked him not to go up there again if she wasn’t there to make sure they wouldn’t get hurt. He speshully liked to sit in her lap like this and she would talk really softly to him.

His first real Mommy and all the Daddies used to pull his hair, and twist his arms and push him down and sometimes when he fell, he would hurt himself on something and have big owies on himself for a long time. His last Daddy at his other real Mommy’s house even used to touch him with his cigarette while it was still all fiery and it hurted really bad.

He liked it here with his new Mommy and he liked to play with Kayti. She was funny and she laughed all the time and it made him giggle when she did. He didn’t used to giggle too much. He didn’t want to have a new Daddy though. Daddies are really mean and they had loud voices that yelled at you and they hurt you. He knew. He had had a bunch of them that lived with his first, real Mommy. Then he had the one at the house that had lots of kids. Yup, he didn’t like Daddies at all.

Lisa had lifted Sammy up and went to get a picture of Seb off of the mantle. She sat back down and pulled him back onto her lap and let him snuggle really close to her like he liked to.

“Sammy, look at me. Please, Sweetheart. Do you see this man right here?”

He looked at the man in the picture. He was smiling very big. It almost made Sammy want to smile when he saw it. He looked up at Mommy and nodded at her.

“I am going to be getting married to him very soon. He is Kayti’s Daddy and he wants to be your Daddy too. He is a very nice man, Sammy. He would never, ever hurt you, Baby. I promise. I told him about you and he can’t wait to meet you.”

Lisa watched his face as he processed this information. He looked up at her and she could see the fear on his face.

“Daddies make Mommies get dead.” Sammy said in a matter of fact way and laid his head on her shoulder.

“Sammy, this Daddy would never do that. I promise you. He is a very nice man. He loves children very much. He plays with Kayti, building towers with her blocks and takes her outside to play ball and runs around the yard and makes her laugh all the time. She loves her Papa very much.”

“She does?”

“Yes, why don’t you go ask her about her Papa? See if she looks happy or sad.”

“K” and Sammy climbed down from her lap and went over to Kayti who was still watching the video and dancing, even if the dance didn’t quite match the tempo of the song. He stood there watching her and looking at the video. Then he turned to Lisa and said

“Is that Papa right there on that TV?”

“Yes Baby, it is. He’s a singer. That’s his job. He travels all over the world to sing pretty songs for people.”

Sammy looked back at the TV and then at Kayti who was dancing and smiling.

“Kayti…Kayti? Kayti, Yisen to me.” He was getting frustrated because she wouldn’t stand still.

Lisa called Kayti’s name and she finally stopped and looked around.

“Kayti, Sammy wants to ask you something. Can you listen to him for a minute please?

She looked at Sammy and he pointed at the TV.

“Is that Papa a mean one?”

Of course Kayti had no idea what he was asking her, but when she heard him say Papa, that set her off. She jumped up and down.

“Papa come, Papa come, play boks, Mama?

“Papa will be here in a few days, Baby. Then he will play blocks with you and Sammy Won’t that be fun?”

Lisa watched Sammy to see what he would do or say. She dreaded having Seb come home to have Sammy screaming in fear of him. She knew it would break his heart.

“Ok, I guess he can be my Daddy.”

For now, Sammy seemed to be satisfied. But only time would tell how he would react when Seb actually came home. He kept watching the video and Lisa wished she knew what was going on in that little head of his.

Alex was glad that she was off today and tomorrow. This Christmas was going to be great. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Urs and Seb had been able to come home. She understood their commitments though. They had been made long before that first visit to Florida, before she had met Urs and found Seb. She let the memories of those first minutes when she’d bumped into Urs at work and all of the wonderful time they had spent together since then just flow over her.

She was home showering and changing to go to Lisa’s and she would bring all of her gifts for everyone. Mom and Dad had all of the gifts that the three of them had bought this morning when they had gone shopping for Sammy’s gifts. They had so much fun buying things that a preschooler would enjoy. They took everything home and had a marathon wrapping session and when they were finished, Alex went home and then they would all meet at Lisa’s for dinner. As planned, Alex would spend the night there and enjoy Christmas morning with Lisa and the kids.

She was almost ready to head out her door to the elevator when her phone rang. Like Lisa, Alex had delegated a special ring tone for when Urs called her from his phone. Hers was Senza Catene.

“Hi Urs, How are you?

“Hi Baby. You sound winded. What’s up?”

“I was just heading out the door to go to Lisa’s.”

“Oh Yeah it is that late isn’t it. I’m glad that you’re going to be there instead of alone on Christmas morning.”

“Oh, every year, if I wasn’t working, I’ve usually spent the night at Mom and Dad’s on Christmas Eve. You don’t think they’d let me be alone on Christmas do you? They wouldn’t let me even if that was what I wanted, although I love Christmas and would hate being alone.”

“I wish I was going to wake up with you on Christmas morning. I miss you Alex, more than I would have ever imagined.”

“I miss you too Urs. You’ve changed the way I think about almost everything, especially when I think about my future. I have always made my career my number one priority, but not anymore. Now I know that there is so much more to life than the station and I feel so good about my future. You are still coming for New Years aren’t you?”

“Try keeping me away.” He said seriously. “I’ll let you go to Lisa’s and I’ll call you in a few hours. Have a great time tonight and please tell everyone I said hello.”

“I will. I love you Urs.”

“Love you too, Baby Bye”

Chapter 40:

Alex arrived at Lisa’s and as Lisa requested, she left all of the gifts in the car for now. Lisa didn’t want to put any gifts under the tree until the children were sound asleep. She came in the door and found Lisa sitting on the floor of Kayti’s room. She and the kids were playing Chutes and Ladders, a game that was a bit old for Kayti but Lisa had picked it up for her to play with Sammy. Even though Lisa was actually playing for Kayti too, helping her to find her playing piece and showing her where to move it, Kayti didn’t mind. She was having fun anyway.

“Hi everyone, Merry Christmas.”

“Hey, hi Alex. Sammy, can you say Merry Christmas to Auntie Alex?”

Kayti had already run across the room and flung herself into Alex’s arms. Alex picked her up and swung her around in circles and Kayti was giggling. Sammy was sitting on the floor, watching them together.

“Merry Christmas Auntie Alex” Sammy said.

“Hi Sammy. Would you like to fly around like Kayti just did?”

He shook his head yes and Alex held her arms out to him and he hesitated but then he walked into Alex’s arms. She lifted him just a few inches off of the floor and spun him around in a circle. Lisa thought that she had never heard a sweeter sound than when Sammy was happy and laughing, sounding like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Within an hour, Mom and Dad showed up. They came bearing gifts of some more of Mom’s homemade baked goodies. She always baked several types of cookies and a few candies that she always had available throughout the holidays.

Wanting to make it an easy carefree night they had a simple dinner of a pan of Auntie’s homemade Lasagna that Lisa had put together last night before bed. All it needed today was to be baked. They tossed a salad, made some homemade garlic bread and for the children in place of the salad, they gave them a bowl of fruit cocktail.

Kayti was getting better at holding her spoon and being able to get her food into her mouth without it falling off a lot more often now. Sammy was a very big eater, still seeming to want to stuff himself at every meal. Lisa had found ways to curb his helpings a bit, only giving him a small portion at one time. Then she could allow him to eat a bit longer. Otherwise, he was finished eating long before everyone else.

After dinner, Mom and Lisa gave the kids their baths and got them ready for bed while Dad and Alex cleaned the kitchen up. The four of them sat on the couch, Lisa holding Sammy and Mom holding Kayti in their laps. Dad read them the story of Christmas from the Gospel of Luke, and then Alex read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas as was their tradition every Christmas Eve. Alex had read her story every year since she has known how to read. Mom had read it before that.

Lisa shared with Sammy her long time tradition from when she was a child of leaving milk and a cookie out for Santa. “It’s hard work flying all over the world in one night to bring all the presents to all of the girls and boys.” She helped Sammy prepare a plate and they poured a glass of milk and set them on the coffee table where Santa would be sure to find it.

Lisa allowed the children one last cookie before Mom took them into their bathroom to brush their teeth and to let Sammy go potty. Then Lisa took them into Sammy’s room and she read Good Night Moon to them and tucked Sammy into his bed.

“Goodnight Sammy, Mommy loves you very much. Have a good sleep and don’t forget that Santa will come while you’re sleeping tonight.”

“He will come, for really?”

Lisa smiled and said “Yes Baby, for really. Sweet Dreams.”

As usual, Kayti went to bed with little fuss except tonight she knew that Auntie Alex and Grandma and Grandpa were here. They all came in and kissed her goodnight, then left the room so Lisa could get her settled.

While she was in Kayti’s room, Mom was pouring them all a glass of Egg Nog and had set a plate of cookies on the coffee table. They had their snack while they waited for the kids to be completely asleep so they could begin their task of turning the living room into a Christmas wonderland for the children.

When they were convinced the kids were asleep, Mom, Dad and Alex went to their vehicles to retrieve their treasures. Lisa couldn’t believe the amount of bags and boxes that were transported into the house. Lisa still didn’t know everything they had bought and everything was already wrapped so for the most part, she would just have to wait until morning to find out.

When Dad opened one of the boxes Lisa saw what was inside she almost squealed in her excitement. They had bought Sammy an electric train set and Dad was going to set it up so it would wind around the tree. All she’d have to do in the morning was turn it on and it would run around on its track.

“Oh Dad, Sammy is going to love this.” Lisa said to him and hugged him when he was finished setting it up. He turned the switch on and let it run around one time. It also had a whistle so they didn’t leave it on. They didn’t want the kids to wake up now.

After helping to arrange all of the gifts around the tree, including what was bought today and the other gifts that Lisa had had stored away in her large walk in closet, Mom and Dad gathered their things, kissed the girls and headed home to get some sleep. It would be a busy day tomorrow.

Lisa and Alex sat together on the couch just enjoying the scene laid out before them. The tree lights were still on and Lisa had decided to leave them on overnight. It would add to the children’s enjoyment in the morning when they woke up. Under and beside the tree was loaded with packages of many different shapes and sizes and lots of different wrapping paper.

Yesterday, a UPS truck had pulled up and unloaded several packages and brought them to the door while Mom was there watching Kayti. Lisa had opened them after everyone else was gone and the children were asleep. Everything in the boxes was wrapped and tagged. There were gifts to Kayti from Tio Carlos, Uncle David and Onkle Urs. Lisa found several for Alex from Urs. He must have known she would be staying here. When Lisa found them she put them aside so Alex wouldn’t see them.

In another box were gifts from Papa to Kayti. She knew that these children were going to get very spoiled if she didn’t keep a tight reign on what Seb would be buying for them, she thought with a smile. She then found some packages from Seb to her. It had been very hard not to open them when she found them, but she didn’t. She had behaved herself and put them aside with the ones for Alex.

So now that everything was under the tree, it was amazing how many gifts there actually were, mostly for the children of course.

Alex’s phone rang and Lisa knew it was Urs by the Senza ring tone. Alex excused herself and stepped out onto the front porch and sat in a chair to the new patio set that Lisa had bought and had delivered. It was so nice to be able to sit out here and enjoy the night air and watch the moon and stars. This was one big advantage to living in Florida during the winter. Here it was Christmas Eve and at nine o’clock at night it was still over fifty degrees out. She got comfortable and spent the next thirty minutes talking with the man she loved. She only wished he was sitting beside her.

Lisa figured that Alex would be on the phone for a while, so she decided to see what had been posted on the thread where Seb made their announcement. She’d checked it a couple of times already today. The well wishes had far outweighed the ones like the woman who had suggested that she was a gold digger, only looking for money for her group home. She couldn’t deny that that had hurt and there was still a twinge of hurt at every post that suggested that she might not be right for him or when they said it was too sudden to be anything lasting. But, the amount of posts that only wanted Seb to be happy and wished the couple all the best, more than made up for those few negative ones. There were several posts that had also added pictures of Seb from the recent promotional and fundraising events for charities that had exclaimed over how happy Seb looked these past few weeks. Lisa looked at the pictures and wondered. Is he really that much happier now that he and I are together? The thought gave her what Auntie used to call a warm fuzzy. It is when something happened to make you feel extra happy and content and that is exactly how she felt.

She scrolled down through the pages of posts and saw the same ratio of good and bad posts that she had already seen. She came to one and started reading it.
_________________________________________________________________________________


Seb, Lisa, Kayti, & Sammy (Who I haven’t met yet since I am currently out of town, but I can’t wait to meet the new little man.)

You know how I feel about all of you and I wish you every happiness. I only hope that you will have as much love and joy as I had with my husband throughout our marriage.

To all of you ladies who have suggested that Lisa may not be the right person for Sebastien,

I have known Lisa for several years now as a coworker and have recently been blessed enough to be able to get to know her and her daughter better outside of work. I have also gotten to see the love that is shared by Our Dear Seb and his Lady. They care so much for each other and Seb absolutely adores Kayti and she has been missing him terribly. It is so cute to see him with her. I believe he will make a wonderful Dad to Kayti, Sammy and whatever other children are lucky enough to find their way to their home.

Please understand that when you say things that hurt Lisa, which I know it must when she reads some of your negative posts, (No she hasn’t said anything to me), that it must hurt Seb terribly to know that she is upset by them and I doubt any of you have set out to hurt Seb.

Just thought I’d give you something to think about.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all,

Mary B.


Lisa sat there with silent tears running down her face as she finished reading Mary’s post. She didn’t think for one minute that it would change they way anyone felt or thought about her and Seb. People were going to think whatever they wanted to. But just reading how much Mary cared for them made her feel so good.

She opened up the Private Message screen and typed a quick note to Mary.

__________________________________________________________________________
Mary,

I just wanted to tell you that I just read your post about me and Seb. I honestly don’t have the words to tell you how much that meant to me. I can barely see the screen for the tears that are running down my face. I can’t wait until you are home so that I can give you a giant hug.

About Sammy,

It was a very unexpected thing when the social worker came to my door with Sammy. I wish you were home so you could come and meet him. I have so much to tell you about him. For now I’ll just say that he will need bucket loads of love and care from everyone that comes in contact with him for him to be able to lead a normal happy life. I know that you will be a big part of that. Right now he seems content here. We have stayed pretty busy and I will take him to the daycare with me on Wednesday for his first day. I hope he does alright but at least I’ll be there with him.

I want so much to wrap him up and cocoon him away from everything bad in the world. I know that isn’t possible but I am going to be like a mother bear protecting him as much as possible from any more hurt or harm.

He said that Santa never came to his house so I am so excited for tomorrow morning to come so that I can see his and Kayti’s faces when they see the bounty that is in my living room for them. That isn’t even counting what they will open at Mom and Dad’s tomorrow afternoon either.

I hope that you are having a most wonderful time with all of your family. Take lots of pictures. I want to see those Grandchildren of yours.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my friend.
I will see you when you get home.

Take Care,

Lisa

________________________________________________________________________________

Alex came in after she was done speaking to Urs and found Lisa typing away at her computer.

“What are you doing? Not work I hope.”

No I was just sending a message to Mary.”

She had just sent the message as Alex came in the door and she went back to the page where Mary’s post was and showed it to Alex who said she was glad that Mary had done that. Lisa had told Alex about the two different categories of posts.

Alex hadn’t spent much time on the forum yet but she had seen enough to know that the women on there were very opinionated and didn’t usually shy away from stating what they felt, good or bad.

Lisa knew that Seb wouldn’t be calling her tonight. He and David were traveling to Paris right now. He would call in the morning sometime before they went to Mom and Dad’s, so she and Alex finished cleaning up and Lisa made sure that everything was ready for breakfast. She had found a recipe for a coffee cake that had cocoa and nuts in the center and it had been very easy to make. She would just pop it in the oven in the morning and serve it with some scrambled eggs.

She had done a bit of research to find high protein foods for Sammy. He was very malnourished. His ribs were protruding. He needed to put some weight on because if he ever got sick, he wouldn’t have anything to fall back on. She didn’t have any problem feeding him. He wasn’t picky. The boy ate everything he got his hands on.

So with everything ready for the morning, she and Alex called it a night and after a hug and Merry Christmas, the girls went to bed. Lisa had insisted that Alex take her bed. She wanted to be in the living room if Sammy woke up and came out here. She had a small video camera all ready to record the Christmas morning excitement. It would be a wonderful day.

“Mommy….Mommy…wake up….Please wake up Mommy.”

Lisa woke to the sound of Sammy’s little voice calling her and his hands gently touching her face. She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

“Good morning Sammy. Merry Christmas, Baby.” Lisa wrapped him up in a big hug.

“Santa came to our house Mommy” Sammy said all excited, jumping up and down.

“He did? Are you sure?” Lisa said trying not laugh.

“See the lots of presents.” He said pointing to the tree and the multitude of packages.

“Oh My Goodness, Yes I see them now. Wow, he sure brought lots of presents. Who do you think they are for?”

“I dunno.”

Lisa turned her head away for a second. She couldn’t contain her laughter anymore. She snuck a peek at the clock sitting on the mantle and saw that it was almost seven. She figured they were lucky. He could have woken up at five in the morning.

“Let’s go wake Auntie Alex and Kayti up, shall we?”

“Okay”

Lisa picked up her video camera, turned it on and they went to wake Kayti up first. It didn’t take much. She was usually up earlier so she was not in a heavy sleep.

“Kayti…Kayti, Santa came to our house last night when we went to sleep. He really, really did. Wake up and come see, Kayti.” Sammy said and tried to reach in and touch her.

She turned over and gave a sleepy smile and sat up.

“Hi Mama.”

“Hi Baby, Merry Christmas. Are you ready to get up? We’re going to go wake Auntie Alex up.”

That was all she needed to hear was Alex’s name and she was up and waiting to get lifted out.

Lisa followed behind the children as they hurried over to the bedroom. Lisa tapped on the door lightly just in case Alex was already awake. When she didn’t get an answer, she opened the door and the children ran into the room.

Sammy jumped up on the bed and Lisa gave Kayti’s behind a boost up onto the bed. Sammy was bouncing up and down.

“Auntie Alex wake up. Santa came, He really came.

Alex opened her eyes to find four little eyes staring at her. She reached out and hugged them both together.

“Good morning, everybody. How come we are all up so early today?”

Alex smiled and winked at Lisa over the tops of their heads.

“Come see, Santa came to our house last night and he brought a lots of presents.” Sammy said excitedly as he pulled on Alex’s hand.

“Alright, I guess I’d better come see for myself. I want to see if he really came.”

She climbed out of bed and put on her robe and with Sammy pulling on one hand and Kayti who decided to copy Sammy, pulling the other one, they made their way out to the living room where Alex pretended to be in shock.

“Lisa, would you look at that. Santa really did come last night and look at all of those presents. Who are they for Sammy?”

“I don’t know. I can’t read yet.” He said seriously as he looked at the tags on some of them.

Lisa still had the camera rolling and she said to Sammy,

“Sammy go look behind that great big box over there. It looks like there’s something hiding behind it.”

She followed his movement in the viewfinder and she saw him stop short.

“Mommy, there’s a bike in back here.” Sammy said and his mouth was hanging open.

“Wow, I wonder who that belongs to.” Lisa could barely contain herself as she saw the amazement on his face. “Auntie Alex, could you read the tag on it for us?”

“Wow, It says..S..A..M..M..Y. Isn’t that your name Sammy?” Alex asked him.

Sammy just stood there for a few seconds like he didn’t believe it. He looked at Alex and then at Lisa. “Is it really for me?”

“It sure is, Baby. Why don’t you sit on it and see how it feels. We won’t usually ride it in the house, but I think once around won’t hurt. After we finish seeing who these presents all belong to and have breakfast, we’ll go out and you can ride it.” Lisa told him.

Sammy had climbed onto the seat of the two wheeled bike with training wheels and started peddling around the room. The handle bar had a bell on it and he found it quickly and was having fun ringing the bell. Lisa turned and scanned the room looking for Kayti. She had climbed up on the couch and was sucking her thumb and watching Sammy. She sometimes took a while to completely wake up. Lisa called her over and showed her a little tricycle with a little white wicker basket on the front. Hers also had a bell and Alex showed her how to ring it and how to pedal the bike. Lisa and Alex just stood back and watched the two of them moving around the room. Alex had to help them get untangled a couple of times as they ran into each other. They were gently told to be careful so they wouldn’t hurt each other.

Lisa took a break to put the coffee cake into the oven to heat. It was already cooked but it tasted much better warmed up with a powdered sugar glaze drizzled on it while it was hot.

With promises of going out later to ride their bikes in the big yard, Alex set the bikes out onto the front porch to make some room and to get the bells out of the house. It was a bit early in the morning and Alex hadn’t had her first cup of coffee yet. Lisa got a huge hug and a thank you when Lisa told her that the coffee was finished brewing and she could come pour a cup before they started opening the rest of the gifts.

Alex poured herself and Lisa each a cup of the strong coffee that would help them wake up. They had two very excited children they needed to help open gifts. Lisa got comfortable on the couch and Alex sat on the floor reading the tags. Lisa helped Kayti and Alex helped Sammy. Occasionally, Lisa would turn on the camera for a few minutes to capture some of the memories of this very special day. She decided to put a tripod on her shopping list for hands free videoing.

This was Lisa’s first Christmas as a Mom. It was a bit overwhelming when she sat and thought about it but she had never been happier in her life. She just wished Seb was here to share this wonderful morning with all of them. She knew Alex was feeling the same way. She missed Urs terribly. Lisa could tell without Alex even telling her.

Once the bikes and some of the other gifts were opened and were out of the way, that allowed the train tracks to be seen. Alex reached under the tree to turn it on. Sammy and Kayti were mesmerized as they watched it make its circle around the tree. Sammy squealed when the train whistle blew. He was so excited. He stood up and walked up to the train and Alex had to show him to be careful not to step on the tracks. She told him that Grandpa was going to build him a platform for his train to be set up on in his room.

It took them quite a while to open everything with the kids. Mixed in, Lisa and Alex had opened their gifts from each other. Lisa had gotten Alex some pretty summer tops and gift certificates to the Salon that Alex liked to go to where she could get everything from her nails, hair and feet taken care of as well as a facial or a massage. She also got her a necklace; bracelet and earring set that would go with several of Alex’s nicer outfits.

Alex also got Lisa some pretty tops as well as some slacks and Capri’s. She also got her some vouchers for going out on the ocean to go whale and dolphin watching. Lisa loved to do this but hadn’t taken the time to go since before Auntie passed away. She also gave her some certificates that she had made on her computer that said they were redeemable for free babysitting by Auntie Alex.

“I figured you could use a break once in a while.”

“I haven’t gotten there too often yet, but I’m sure I will eventually, thank you so much.”

The children were sitting in the middle of the floor playing with various toys. Kayti had several new dolls, a doll sized stroller, playpen and baby carrier set. A lot of books and educational games, some of which were computer games plus a large wooden kitchen complete with sink, stove, refrigerator, cabinets and even a telephone mounted on the end and bunches of play food, pans and utensils. She had gotten a lot of new clothes. She had hit a growth spurt and was growing out of everything she had. Seb had sent her some beautiful dresses, including a lovely red one in an oriental style. Kayti would look so cute in it.

Although she had given a list of ideas, Lisa was seeing all of Sammy’s gifts for the first time. Besides his new bike, complete with helmet and the train set, Sammy had gotten the whole series of Bob the Builder DVD’s and books, a large set of K’NEX building toys, a carry case that held one hundred different matchbox cars, more clothes to add to what was bought the other day and Alex knew of some other things that were left out in the storage building for both of the children, they would see them after breakfast.

Chapter 41:

They ate breakfast and got dressed, then cleaned up the living room of the wrapping paper and the packaging from the items that had already been opened. Just as they were finishing with the living room the phone rang. Alex answered it and after a minute of speaking to the caller, she told Lisa to boot up her computer.

When it was booted, Alex told the caller that it was all booted and she handed the phone to Lisa.

“Hello?”

“Hi Lisa. It’s David Miller.”

“Hi David Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Lisa. Seb is in the shower and I wanted to surprise him with getting you both set up on the webcams. He’s been a bit down all day today. He misses you and Kayti.”

Tears sprang into Lisa’s eyes. “Thank you, David. I miss him too.” I can’t wait until next Monday when you all get here. Is Grace still coming?”

“Yes actually I think she will be in town on Saturday. Is it alright to give her your number?

“Of course, tell her to call any time. I’m looking forward to meeting her. Is Vicki coming?”

“I’m not sure. Carlos had told her about wanting for us to all get together and she was going to check and see if she could come and how long she could stay. Ooops, Seb is coming. I’d better make sure he isn’t just in a towel or something.” David said with a cheeky grin.

Lisa could hear David calling out to Seb and saying he’d better be decent because they had company. When David came back into the room, Seb was right behind him; all dressed in his jeans and a T-shirt and rubbing his hair dry with a small towel. He was looking around the room and trying to find the visitors. He wasn’t expecting anyone. He and David were leaving in a bit to go and have a late dinner with his family.

Seb thought that David was just playing one of his practical jokes on him. It was never good for David to get bored or he would find something to do and usually it meant trouble for someone. He played enough of his own practical jokes so he couldn’t really complain.

Alex was standing next to Lisa’s chair and she had set Kayti in Lisa’s lap and she was holding Sammy up so he could see the computer screen.

“Them guys was on the TV yesterday.” Sammy said.

“That’s right Sammy. That really tall man is David. He is a very funny man. He told your Papa that he wants to play on your bed with you. He saw the picture of it and thinks it would be fun. And the other man right there,” Lisa stopped for a second because she had gotten a bit choked up. “That man is your new Papa, Sammy.”

David finally put Lisa out of her misery as she was going nuts. She wanted to speak to Seb.

“Hey buddy, your visitors are right there.” He said turning Seb around and pointed at the computer screen.

Seb finally saw that the webcam was on and he could see the four faces looking back at him and he rushed over to the chair in front of the computer and sat down.

“Hi Baby, Oh my God. I didn’t know you were there. Merry Christmas. How are you all doing? I love you so much.”

Lisa was just grinning at him as the rush of words escaped him in a heavily accented English as often happened when Seb was emotional..

Kayti realized finally that Seb was not just on a music video but was actually speaking to them.

“Papa..Papa. play boks Papa.”

“Hello ma petite. Papa misses you. I will play blocks with you when I come home next week. Papa loves you Sweetheart. Did Santa bring you lots of presents?”

Kayti scooted off of Lisa’s lap and ran to get one of her new dolls. Lisa knew that it was one that Seb had sent her and she could see the pleasure on his face when he saw how much she liked his gift. She was hugging it to her as she climbed back up into Lisa’s lap, then she held it out and showed it to Seb.

“Baby” Kayti said. “Kayti’s Baby”

“I see your new baby. She’s very pretty.”

Alex leaned down and said hello to Seb. They spoke for a minute, and then Alex lifted Kayti off of Lisa’s lap to take her to play in her room. She figured that this would be a good time for Lisa to introduce Seb to Sammy.

“Say bye to Papa, Kayti.” Alex told her.

“Bye Papa”

“Bye Sweetheart. Papa will see you in a few days. I Love you.”

“Love you Papa.”

After Alex and Kayti were gone, Lisa lifted Sammy onto her lap.

“Seb, this is Sammy. He’s been staying here with us and if he likes it here, I think I would like him to stay here and we will be his Mommy and Daddy.”

“Hello Sammy. How are you?”

“Fine” Sammy said in a little voice, one that Lisa hadn’t really heard in a couple of days and he wasn’t looking right at Seb.

“Good, I’m glad. Did Santa bring you lots of fun things to play with?”

“Yes, he brought me a bike and a train and…. Sammy went on to list almost everything he’d gotten. Lisa was amazed at the memory he had, plus it was as if that question had unlocked the key to the door that had had him trapped by his fear of Seb. Of course it might still be there for a while when Seb came home but for now he was talking to him and that was a start.

“Wow, that’s great, son. I am very excited to see you next week. We can play together outside. Do you like baseball or soccer or football?”

“I don’t know” he said

“Well, we’ll find out then.” Seb told him. “You have a fun day today, alright. I love you, son.”

“Sammy, do you want to go play with Auntie Alex and Kayti?”

He nodded his head and Seb said goodbye to him.

“Bye, Papa.” He said and slid off of Lisa’s knees.

Lisa had to reach for a Kleenex after Sammy had joined the girls in the bedroom.

“Baby, he is wonderful. You are going to have him stay aren’t you?”

“Seb, I don’t think I could ever let him go now. I just hope that everything works out okay. Brenda is hopefully going to get him in to see someone this week, if not then, surely by the week after.

They spoke for a while, each one of them glad to have had this time to speak alone.
David had disappeared into the other room after Sammy left. Seb had to leave for dinner so they wrapped up their chat for now and Seb promised her that he’d call her later. He placed his fingers to his lips and kissed them and then he pressed his fingers to the screen.

“I Love you Cherie. Have a wonderful day. Tell your parents hello for me.”

“Alright I will. I love you too. Bye.”

After they closed the connection, Lisa sat back and thought about how much she loved him. She hoped they could arrange a date to get married soon.

The girls got themselves and the kids ready to go and they went outside.

“Hey Sammy, remember I told you that there were some more presents outside? Come with me.” Alex said

Lisa unlocked the storage room and turned on the light.

Sammy’s mouth dropped open.

“That’s just like Bob the builder.” He said

All lined up were four little pieces of excavation equipment for him to play with outside.
Dad had told Lisa they could have a load of playground sand delivered. She would just have to decide where to put it. He had a dump truck, a backhoe, a bull dozer and a power wheels pick up truck. Each one had a seat for him to sit in and controls to move. Once he learned how, Sammy would be able to scoop up a pile of sand and dump it into the dump truck which had pedals. The Pick up truck was battery powered and he could actually drive around the yard.

“Grandpa is going to get you some sand to play in with your building equipment, Sammy. Do you like them?”

“Oh yes I can be like Bob’s worker helper now.”

“You sure can, Buddy.”

Lisa let Sammy ride his power wheel truck around the yard and Alex had gotten Kayti’s bike off the porch for her. She also put Sammy’s bike in the storage room. After a few minutes, Lisa told them that they had to go to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house for dinner. She thought Sammy might protest but she should have known better. Any mention of food and Sammy was ready to go.

They got to Mom and Dad’s and it smelled wonderful. Lisa hadn’t realized how hungry she was until her stomach started grumbling.

“Mom, it smells wonderful in here. Is there anything that needs to be done?”

“No, we had ourselves pretty organized and everything is done. Dad is just about to come and pull the turkey out of the oven.”

Right on cue, Dan entered the kitchen carrying Kayti who hadn’t wasted any time finding him. He handed her over to Marie to keep her away from the hot stove while he took the turkey out. Lisa pulled Sammy back a bit to give Dad room. Sammy’s eyes became huge as he saw the size of the bird.

“That’s a big turkey isn’t it Sammy?”

He just nodded his head and his eyes followed where the turkey went as Dan placed it on the stove. Then he helped Marie move the turkey over to a platter so it could sit for awhile.

Everyone went about doing something. Kayti had found her basket of toys in the spare room and was sitting on the floor by Dan’s feet playing happily. Alex was helping mom by washing up some of the dishes that had been used in preparation of dinner. Marie was making gravy from the drippings and Lisa felt like she should be helping with something but there wasn’t anything else to do and as she sat there and watched Sammy who hadn’t left the kitchen, she saw how he still hadn’t stopped watching the turkey.

“What do you think of that big turkey, Sammy?”

“I never seen something big like that before. Mommy my tummy is hungry.”

“Mine too honey. Dinner is almost ready.”

Marie heard that Sammy had said he was hungry, so she sliced off a couple of pieces of the turkey and put it on a small plate and set it in front of him on the table.

“Thank you Grandma.” He said smiling up at her.

She leaned down and kissed the top of his head and hugged him close to her leg.

“You are very welcome, Sweetheart.”

He ate the first piece and then pushed the plate over to Lisa.

“Here Mommy, you can have the other one.”

“Thank you Baby that is so kind of you. Are you sure you don’t want it?”

“Your tummy is hungry too”

“Yes it is and thank you.”

Lisa could have declined and insisted on him eating the meat, but he was obviously a very giving child and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Mom and Alex looked at each other and smiled when they heard the conversation.

Just a few minutes later everything was ready and Alex called Dad and Kayti to come to the table. Lisa put her in her high chair and Sammy was still in his seat. Mom, Dad and Alex carried all of the steaming food to the table.

Dad said the blessing over the food and added an extra prayer at the end.

“And dear Lord, thank you so much for bringing Sammy into Lisa’s home and therefore into all of our lives. Help him to know how much he is loved and cherished by each one of us. Amen”

The other three adults followed with their own Amen’s and then Kayti said her own
“Amen” and smiled at everyone.” She knew she was cute and used every excuse to flaunt it.

When they were finished eating, everyone was way too full after sampling all of the wonderful dishes that had been prepared. There were pies and cookies for dessert but no one could fit any in yet. So they cleaned up most of the mess and then they sat in the living room to open the gifts.

It was much like this morning, with the children getting totally spoiled by the amount of gifts they received. Marie said if they didn’t mind, they could leave a lot of what she’d gotten for them here so they could play with it when they visited. They got videos and Lego building blocks. There were small cars and trucks for Sammy and a giant bubble maker for Kayti. She loved to chase around after bubbles. Kayti got another soft baby to leave at Grandma’s house and Grandpa had found Sammy a yellow children’s hard hat Just like Bob’s along with a tool belt with a plastic hammer, screwdriver, ruler, wrench and pliers. This was one thing that they would have to take home. Sammy wouldn’t take it off even when he was playing with something else. He looked so cute with his hat and tool belt on and they heard him tell Kayti that he would fix her doll if she got all broken.

Among the other gifts that Mom and Dad had gotten for Alex and Lisa, Mom had found a new book that she didn’t think the girls had yet. It was an autobiography of Il Divo. She had purchased three copies, one for Alex, one for Lisa and one for herself. She too wanted to know about these four lovely men and how they came to be, especially about their lives before Il Divo.

Mom and Dad had a nice fenced in yard and when they took the children outside, they found a Little Tykes house that they could play in and a table and chair set. But their favorite thing was a good sized wading pool. They wanted to have Grandpa fill it up but it was just a bit chilly for swimming today so he promised that the next nice day that they were here that he would let them swim.

Later after the children had taken a nap, they all had dessert. Alex had driven over in her own car and after helping to clean the rest of the kitchen, she said goodbye to everyone and left for home. She had to work early tomorrow morning, so she wanted some time to unwind and relax. Urs would be calling her in a while too.

Mom, Dad and Lisa sat in the living room with the children playing with their toys on the floor. Sammy had dumped out the legos and was already building something. It had been a terrific day. Sammy had had one surprise after the other. Brenda called to see how their day had gone and he even got on the phone to tell her everything that he had gotten.

After letting the children play a few more minutes, Mom and Dad helped Lisa get them all buckled into their seats in the car and the gifts that were going home were put in the trunk, except for Sammy’s tool belt and hard hat which he was still wearing. She thanked them for everything they’d done to help make this one of the best Christmases she’d ever had and for helping her give Sammy such a perfect day. He had been happy all day. There wasn’t one minute that he was upset. She knew that wouldn’t be the case everyday but they had come such a long way in just a few days.

Lisa got the kids into the house and into the bath. Tomorrow was going to be the day to get back to the routine of working after being off since Friday. Sammy was going to have his first day at the daycare. Brenda said he’d never been to any kind of daycare or school so this would be another adjustment for him. But he had been dealing with all of the other changes fairly well so she hoped that if she talked to him and prepared him that he would be okay. He already played well with Kayti.

“Sammy, how would you like to go to school?”

“On a big yellow bus?”

“No Baby, in the car with me. I work there so I will be around all day. You will meet lots of other children and there are lots of fun toys to play with. They might even finger paint tomorrow too.”

He gave her a blank look about the finger painting so she just figured she would have to show him.

“I promise it will be a fun time.”

“Can Kayti go to school too?”

“Yes Kayti goes to school too, but she is in a different group than you will be in because you are a much bigger boy. She has to go with the little ones.”

“Oh Okay”

Lisa got the children settled and before long they were sound asleep. It had been a long, exciting day for all of them.

Chapter 42:

Wednesday afternoon, Lisa sat back in her chair in her office just before it was time to go home. The day had had mixed results as far as Sammy’s first day went. When they got there, Shirley one of the teachers was manning the front door. Mary wouldn’t be back to work until tomorrow.

She introduced Shirley to Sammy who had reverted back to clinging tightly to her with one arm and holding his Bob doll tightly in the other when they entered the building. Shirley called back to the other room for Kayti’s teacher, Miss Susan, to come get her. Then Lisa could concentrate on getting Sammy settled.

Miss Susan had come to take Kayti to her class and Kayti picked this time to be difficult. She wanted Sammy to go with her. They had a strict policy of keeping the age groups in their correct rooms and Lisa was still concerned about Sammy lashing out and couldn’t put him in with children who couldn’t speak up if something happened. They finally got Kayti settled down and off to her room with Miss Susan. Sammy had gotten upset that Kayti was crying. He hadn’t really seen her upset before today. They had had such a peaceful long weekend together.

“She’s alright Sammy. You’ll see Kayti later and at the end of the day we’ll all go home to our house together, you, me and Kayti.”

It did help when they passed Kayti’s classroom as she was showing him around the daycare and introducing him to everyone when Sammy saw that Kayti was playing happily with some other children. His mood seemed to lighten a bit but he was still clinging tightly to Lisa’s shirt. Lisa didn’t want him to be in such distress all day. She sat down in a chair and pulled him close to her.

“Sammy, I don’t want you to be afraid here. You can stay with me today and you will see how much fun all of the children have. They do lots of fun things. But like I said, you can stay with me today and if you decide that you want to go play with the other children you can just tell me, alright?”

“I don’t want to go to nuther room. I want to stay with you Mommy.”

“Alright Sweetheart. That’s okay. You can be my special helper today. How does that sound?”

“Oh Yes, Please Mommy. I want to be your special helper.” He said and finally had a smile on his face for the first time since they’d gotten there.

“Alright then, as soon as I’m finished showing you all around and letting you meet everyone, you can come to my office to help me.”

Sammy calmed down after that, knowing he wouldn’t have to leave Lisa. He even let go of her shirt and walked beside her. He was really happy when she took him outside to show him the playground. His eyes got huge.

“Can I go play on there?”

“Yes, for a minute. Then Mommy has some work to do. We’ll come out to play for a longer time later and there will be lots of children out here to play with then. We are going to have a playground at our house, kind of like this one in a couple of weeks. Won’t that be fun?”

Sammy was all smiles as he ran around and climbed the ladder and went down the big slide and went around right away to do it again.

Sammy had stayed calmly by Lisa’s side all morning. She had taken him out to the big room when it was lunch time and he saw how all of the children were sitting in their little chairs at their little tables and they were eating and talking and some of them were laughing at something. Even Kayti was sitting in a little chair and Lisa put a chair next to Kayti so Sammy could sit next to her. Lisa’s heart swelled when he sat down and immediately put his arm around Kayti and gave her a hug. Kayti hugged him right back and smiled so big at him.

While they were eating, for the first time that day, Lisa had the chance to speak to the other workers to tell them about Sammy. Then they were able to understand why he had behaved as he had.

“Lisa, it’s no wonder he won’t let go of you. You are the first stable person that he has had in his life. He’s probably afraid that it will end, that he will wind up back in another bad home.” Shirley said.

“I know. I’m trying to make him feel secure. But I think it will be quite some time before he can stop being afraid of people and of being hurt. I just want him to know that I love him and I won’t let anymore harm come to him.”

After lunch, the young babies went down for their naps. Kayti’s class always went out to the playground with the older children for a few minutes after lunch before taking their naps. Sammy saw that she was going out to the playground and wanted to go with her.

“Mommy, can we go too?”

“Why don’t you go with Kayti and I will go work in my office and when you are done playing, you can come back to my office and stay with me?

He looked conflicted. He wanted to go outside but he also wanted to stay with Lisa. Finally, the lure of the playground and seeing Kayti having fun out there was too much for him and he reluctantly left with Miss Kelly to go out with Kayti.

Lisa had been working in her office for a while when she realized she was surprised that Sammy hadn’t come back to her yet. She logged off of the computer and went to see what he was up to. When she found him, he was lying snuggled up to Kayti on the nap mat and they were both asleep.

“He’s very attached to her already.” Susan said as she came over to Lisa.

“I know. I actually have seen quite a few times since Saturday that he has looked to her for cues or signals as to how she would react to things. When he sees she’s happy about something, I guess he figures it’s alright. How did he do playing with the other children?”

“He only really played with Kayti, but I did see him observing. I’m hoping that maybe after naptime he’ll want to go back out.”

“That would be great. The sunshine would do him good. He will be hungry when he wakes up. I feed him frequent snacks. The doctor said he is very malnourished. He loves Goldfish crackers and apple slices so I keep them handy for him.”

“I’ll make sure he has plenty to eat.”

“Ok, well, I am going to try to get some work done. Come get me if he needs me. I really don’t mind if he stays with me even for a few days until he gets totally comfortable.”

Sammy wound up staying with the other children for a couple more hours but when they came inside from their afternoon play time, he got upset and wanted Lisa. Miss Susan brought him into her office and he stayed there the rest of the day. All in all, Lisa was pleased at how the day went. If she could get Sammy to spend some time with the other children each day, hopefully he would eventually get comfortable enough to go into his own class soon.

When they got home that evening, she let them play outside for a short time. It was already dark out since they’d had to stay for the late pick ups. The porch light gave a little light. Seb was right about needing more light out here. Florida is warm enough most days to be out in the evenings and if they had more light, they could do that. She’d have to remember that when they were installing the playground too. If they installed lighting for the playground they could play outside in the evenings after the sun went down. On some days here, it is almost too hot to be out for very long during the middle of the day, so in the evening would be perfect for playing.

She watched them from the porch and they were laughing and riding their bikes around the yard, Sammy looked up at Lisa with such joy on his little face and she smiled back at him and waved.
When she decided it was time to go in she came down into the yard, she opened the storage room door.

“Alright, let’s put the bikes in their room for the night. We need to go have some dinner.”

They weren’t too happy. Sammy did as he was told but he was definitely unhappy and finally Kayti rode her bike into the room but she didn’t want to get off.

“I promise, you can ride your bikes again tomorrow as long as it isn’t raining and on Saturday, you will be able to ride them all day of you want.

“Really all day?” Sammy said.

“Yes, Sweety, as long as you want to.”

“YAY!” He said jumping up and down. “Can we have dinner now?”

“We sure can. Let’s go Kayti.”

It sure was easier when you could have a conversation with a child and make them understand. Kayti seemed to follow Sammy’s lead. He seemed okay with going inside so she was happy to go too.

They had an easy dinner. Mom had sent Lisa home with leftovers from Christmas dinner, so she only had to heat it up. After bath time, Lisa got Sammy all snuggled into bed and sat Kayti next to him so she could read to them. They each had their favorite books. Kayti’s of course was her Goodnight Moon book and Sammy had his Bob the builder books. He really didn’t care which one.

When she was done reading, she kissed Sammy and told him to have sweet dreams.

“Sometimes I have dreams that the monsters are coming to get me.” He said.

“Well, they can’t get you here, Baby. Mommy wouldn’t let them. So you go to sleep and Mommy will be right out there.” She hugged him and helped Kayti slide down off the bed.

“Kayti can you say goodnight to Sammy.”

“Night night, Sammy.”

“Good night Kayti.” He said with already sleepy eyes. He turned on his side and when Lisa turned off the light she saw him pull his Bob doll close to his chest.

She got Kayti settled and cleaned up the kitchen. They seemed to be settling into an easy evening routine. Both children went to bed well without too much fuss. She had learned when it was still just Kayti that these evening hours after Kayti went to bed, were the time to work on her plans and projections for the group home and not while Kayti was still needing her attention. She got far more accomplished this way. She had so many ideas in her head of activities to do with the children. She would be doing something else or out somewhere and see something that would give her an idea. So she decided to start some spreadsheets with different age groups and the different activities she’d thought of. Her children were not going to be couch potatoes. Some of the activities would overlap some of the different age groups and that was great.

She had also decided to make it a point to make time for each child individually as much as possible. It would be easier once she was fully staffed to take one child at a time to do a favorite activity so they would feel special and she would be able to talk to them and see how they were feeling and if they had any concerns. Of course that part would only be possible with the ones who were old enough to talk. With the little ones it would just be a fun day out. But she did feel that especially as the amount of children increased, that not one child would feel lost in the shuffle and not cared for.

As she thought about the rooms in the house, Lisa wrote down all of the different specialty rooms she wanted. There was already quite a large library that was fairly common in the old large homes. That would stay as such with her books and also a side of it for other books that weren’t special to a particular child. Those would remain in their rooms.

She also wanted to set up a craft area, hopefully in a room where everything could be set up and left out with places for their creations to hang. She already had most of the set up for this room mapped out in her mind.

One whole wall would be painted with chalkboard paint, complete with the ledge for the chalk and eraser. This stuff was ingenious. It went on the wall just as any other paint but it was the same as a regular chalkboard. Another area of the room would have rolls of paper for the children to make posters and banners or make drawings of themselves. It would be fully stocked with paper of different kinds, paints, markers, crayons and children’s scissors and all sorts of other fun extras like glitter and stickers and of course little smocks to cover their clothes. This was one room that Lisa knew would get a lot of use and she was very excited about it.

Another room was going to be a computer room for either computer games or homework when the children were old enough. They would be monitored for their protection. The internet was a scary place sometimes when you thought about what children could access without good filtering software and a parent’s diligence in monitoring the sites their children visited.

She hadn’t decided which room yet, but she wanted to set up a movie room with comfortable, squishy couches and bean bag chairs so everyone could sit and watch a movie together from time to time with a movie theater type popcorn machine to add to the fun.

The more ideas Lisa had the more excited she got to get everything completed and move into the main house. When she thought of the changes in Sammy in just a few days, she was chomping at the bit to be able to add to her home and help more children to feel safe and loved. There were times when twelve children had seemed like an enormous amount, but now she wasn’t so sure. At least at first, she would have to stay within a reasonable amount of children until they had all the kinks out and were running pretty smoothly, but this property had a lot of potential for growth in the future if they decided to do so. She would just have to keep her eyes and ears open for good people to staff it with. She wanted to be hands on with everything but she knew as it grew, the home would need some like minded people who would love and care for the children as much as she did. She didn’t want to spread herself so thin that she would be ineffective.

She finally made herself shut the computer down even though there were still so many ideas flying around in her head. She had to be up for her appointment with the doctor about her ankle in the morning so she shut it down and went to bed smiling as she realized that her dreams were all coming true. In fact they were even better than she’d ever imagined before.


The guys had all met back up the day after Christmas and shared their stories of their Christmases. They had one performance tonight, one tomorrow, a day off on Friday and a final performance on Saturday before they would be able to leave for Florida. Then they had two glorious months off. Seb had spoken to Simon and told him of their plans and that he and Lisa might be getting married during this break if they could arrange it. He would let Simon know when any decision was made.

Grace was still coming and would arrive in Florida on Saturday afternoon, and Vicki was coming too but wouldn’t arrive until late Sunday night. The guys were happy to be getting all of them together. They were all looking forward to introducing the girls to each other.

Urs had told Alex that if she could stand having him around for a whole two months that he’d like to spend this break with her. He wanted to know if what they had felt and shared when they were together last time was going to be the beginning of a lasting relationship. He hoped she felt as strongly as he did. He had thought about her so much over these last couple of weeks and couldn’t wait to get back to her. He didn’t want to think of the possibility that she wasn’t as serious about them as he was. She had seemed to love him and when they spoke on the phone they could talk for hours about everything and nothing at all. To just be connecting for a while was wonderful to him when he had to be so far away.
Maybe they could go away somewhere just the two of them after the New Year, if she could get some time off from work. He wondered where she would like to go.

Urs was brought out of his musings by Seb knocking on his door, telling him that their car had arrived to take them to the venue. He picked up his phone and jacket and headed out and thought, “Only four more days and I’ll be back with her.” Seb saw the look on his face and knew exactly what Urs was thinking about. He’d done enough of it himself lately. He patted Urs on the back and smiled a knowing smile and they went to make another group of their fans very happy.

When they came off the stage after the concert, Urs’ phone rang while he was getting changed. When he met the guys out by the exit to where their transport was waiting to take them back to the hotel, he had the biggest smile on his face. The guys all figured he’d been talking to Alex again. They tended to stay far away from him when they were talking. It usually got pretty hot listening to them. On the ride back to the hotel, he kept smiling but didn’t say anything and when they were in the hall leading to each of their rooms, it was still there. Just before he entered his room, Urs said, “I know something that you would all like to know and I’m not telling.” He sounded like David right then. Then he hurried into his room and shut the door.

The other three just stood there for a second looking at each other, then as if on cue, they all started knocking on Urs’ door and telling him he’d better hurry up and open the door or he’d be sorry.

He let them stand out there for a moment longer then he opened the door really fast and they almost fell on the floor.

He went and got himself a drink and told the rest of them they could help themselves. He was seemingly in absolutely no hurry to tell them. Finally, when it looked like they might kill him if he didn’t tell them what it was, he sat down on the in suite sofa and told them that Simon had called him just as he was changing.

“AND??” David said

“Yeah what’s the big secret? Seb said.

“Whatever it is, he is enjoying having it all to himself.” Carlos said.

“The concert on Saturday night has been cancelled. There’s been a fire in the venue where we were supposed to sing and they can’t find an alternate venue on such short notice. They’ll reschedule at a later date. Soooo,….since we had a day off on Friday and now no concert on Saturday, we can leave after the concert tomorrow night and start our holiday early.”

It got rather loud in the hotel room as the other three guys started yelling hooray and Wooo Hooing, as well as high fives all around, not that they were happy about the actual fire of course, but they were getting a very much needed break and were soon going to be reunited with their ladies.

Thursday morning, Lisa had the doctor’s appointment for her ankle so she wouldn’t be going into work until the afternoon. She dropped Kayti off at school but knew it was too soon to try to leave Sammy there without her. Mom was going to meet her at the doctor’s office and help keep an eye on Sammy while she was in with the doctor.

When Lisa came out of the doctors, it was with a new cast on. After speaking with the doctor about the situation at home, she asked him if a walking cast would be possible at this stage of healing. He said her ankle still needed at least three more weeks before the cast could come off. It would make her life so much easier if she didn’t need the crutches. He had compromised with her and agreed to put a walking cast on, but that if she was going to do a bunch of walking, like in a store or something, that she would still use the crutches. She was more than happy with that. To be able to walk without the crutches even just at home was going to be wonderful. Now she could pick up the children again.

“Mommy, I’m hungry.” Sammy said as they were getting in the car. Mom had just left to go meet Dad for lunch.

“Alright Sweetheart, we’ll go get something to eat.”

Lisa didn’t mind feeding the children fast food once in a while as a special thing. So she decided to treat Sammy to a happy meal at McDonalds. He was thrilled when he found out that not only was he going to get yummy French fries and a cheeseburger, but he had also gotten a toy in it too. She got him some Apple Dippers for a snack for later. Lisa loved how the littlest things made children so happy, and even more so with Sammy.

While they were sitting there eating, Lisa had an idea and called to see if they could do without her for a few hours. She would go in to work later to cover the afternoon and late pick ups. This way she could spend some time with just her and Sammy all alone. She wanted to just be able to sit and talk with him and see how he was really doing. How he was feeling about all the changes that were happening for him. Lisa got confirmation that they wouldn’t be short handed so she and Sammy went to the local park.

She let him play on the playground and while she was pushing him on the swing she and Sammy got to know one another better. She stayed away from any topic that she thought would make him upset. She just wanted to know what kinds of things he liked and disliked. Then she told him all about the new house and how they were going to have other children coming to live with them someday and they would all be a big happy family with a Mommy and a Daddy that loved them very much and some other people that would be working in their new big house to help with all of the children. She decided to take him to the house and show him the inside. It would be much easier now with the walking cast and without having to watch Kayti.

Some of the work crew had started back today so there were a lot of trucks and cars in the yard today. It was the first time that Sammy would see the workmen there and Lisa wondered how he would react to seeing a bunch of men around. They went inside and Lisa looked for Drew Williams, the lead contractor. They would all be meeting in the next few days to go over the new schedule and by the end of next week, when the holidays were all over, the extra crewmen would be working and they should be seeing a surge of activity and progress in the house.

After finding Drew and introducing him to Sammy, who had a funny look on his face, Lisa went to show Sammy around the house and to see what had been done in the last few weeks. She hadn’t been inside since she broke her ankle.

“Sammy, what do you think about all these people working on our new house?”

He was still looking funny and Lisa wanted to know what was going on in his little head.

“I need my yellow hat that Grandpa gotted me. Then I can wear my tools and I can be a worker helper just like on Bob the Builder.” He said and Lisa had to stifle a laugh. She had expected him to be nervous or downright afraid when he saw a bunch of men but all he saw were construction workers just like on his favorite show. This was great; one more thing to make him happy, except he was probably going to be disappointed when he found out that he couldn’t really help in here. It was too dangerous for such a little guy. She would have to find something for him to do around the guest house that made him feel like he was a “worker helper”.

“Excuse me Lisa. Do you have a minute?” Drew asked her.

“Sure Drew. What’s up?”

“I just had a guy call me that knew we would be needing a another crew here soon. He just found out about a whole crew of guys that are out of work because the job they were working on came into some kind of permit trouble and they had to quit working on that job. So now this whole crew has been laid off. So I told him to call their foreman and have him come out and look at our job and see if they’d want to be part of the add-on crew. That would save us a bunch of time. We wouldn’t have to go hunting for another crew. We might still need a few more men here and there but this would be great if they want to hook up with us.”

“Drew that sounds fantastic. I can’t tell you how anxious I am and once the accelerated plans get started it is going to be so exciting for me. Um, Drew… Sammy is in awe of all of you. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it but his favorite show is Bob the builder.”

“Of course I have. I have a five year old son. He’s loved Bob for several years.”

Drew crouched down and Sammy didn’t even flinch. Lisa wanted to shout for joy.

“Sammy, someday maybe you can come in and help me. It will have to be when there isn’t anything dangerous happening. Would you like that?”

“Oh yes please, Mr. Drew. I have a yellow hard hat and my own tools and my own Bob the Builder Man.” Sammy said all excited.

“Okay pal. It’s a deal.” He said as he stuck out his hand for Sammy to shake. Sammy didn’t know what he was supposed to do so Drew showed him that when two men make a deal they shook hands to say that they agreed with each other.

“Thanks Drew, You’re great with kids.”

“Practice” He said with a smile. “I’ve got four at home. Three boys and a girl”

Someone called Drew from another room so he waved goodbye and then Lisa took Sammy upstairs to show him the bedrooms. She showed him her room and Kayti’s room and some of the other bedrooms.

“Which of these rooms would you like to have for your own Sammy?”

She grinned as he wandered around and went into the rooms and looked around and seemed to be seriously considering which would be the best room.

“Mommy, if I come to this house, can I bring my tree house bed and my Bob sheets and blanket?”

So that is what was troubling him.

“Of course we will, Sweetheart. And we will have to get more curtains for the other two windows in the room. You only have one window in your other room.”

“Okay, cuz I like this big room for my tree house bed.”

“Alright then from now on this room will be known as Sammy’s new room.”

Lisa saw one of the carpenter’s pencils lying on the floor and had an idea. The doors hadn’t been painted yet so she went to the door and in very large letters she wrote, “SAMMY’S ROOM.” When she told him what it said, he had such a look of pride and joy. He walked into the room again and looked around the empty space.

“I like my room Mommy, but it will be better with my tree house bed in here.”

“It sure will, Sammy. It will be a few months before we can move over here but we can come and visit your room sometimes and see what the workmen are doing in our house.”

He looked up and smiled at her. She hugged him and then she told him that they had to go to work and then get Kayti and come home later. Every minute she spent with him she was so thankful that he had come into her life. It made her so aware of how fragile people’s hearts were. This boy’s heart had been broken but she was doing everything she could to help him put it back together.

Chapter 43:

Originally he and the other guys wouldn’t get into Tampa International Airport until late Sunday, but now they had changed their flight to get them there midday Friday. Seb checked the time difference and found it was perfect. He dialed the number he wanted and waited for her to answer. Hopefully she would be the one to answer. When he heard her voice he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hello Mary, This is Seb. How are you? Did you enjoy your Christmas with your family?”

“Oh Hello. Yes I had a wonderful time and my Christmas was perfect, thank you for asking. Seb, Lisa isn’t here right now. She had a doctor’s appointment today. She’ll be in later.

“Actually it was you I wanted to speak to Mary. First of all I wanted to thank you for your post on the forum. It meant a lot to both Lisa and to me as well.”

“You’re welcome. I just didn’t like a few of the posts I saw that were attacking Lisa without even knowing her.”

“No, I didn’t like them either and you were right about them upsetting her. Now she’s concerned about people finding out about Il Divo supporting the group home.”

Seb and Mary spoke for a while longer and then said goodbye with Seb asking Mary not to tell Lisa that he’d called there today and she gave her word that she’d never tell.

About an hour after Mary hung up with Seb, Lisa and Sammy came in the door. Lisa wasn’t using her crutches and Mary looked down to see if Lisa was out of her cast already. It seemed way too soon.

“Mary, it’s so good to have you home. I hope you had a wonderful time with your family.” Lisa said and gave Mary a huge hug.

“I did have a fantastic time. It was so nice to spend time with all of the babies. Some of them aren’t even babies anymore. Little Stevie was showing me how he can read already. He just turned five last month. How can you walk on that without your crutches? Aren’t you going to hurt yourself?”

“No, it’s a walking cast. He changed it today and I only need to use my crutches if I’m going to be doing a lot of walking. It’s going to be so much easier now. There’s been so many times at home that I really wanted to pick up one of the children and carry them to the bathroom or to bed and I couldn’t.”

“So, this is Sammy. Hello, how are you? My name is Mary.”

Sammy had been watching his Mommy and this other lady talking. Mommy gave the other lady a big hug like she gives him and Kayti and Mommy had a big smile.

“Hi” Sammy said and he didn’t feel afraid of this other lady. She smiled a lot like Mommy.

“Sammy and I went to McDonalds and I took him into our big house for the first time and he picked out which room he wants when we move over there.”

“And I get to have my tree house bed over there too and my Bob the Builder blankets and sheets. And Mr. Drew said I can be his worker helper sometimes.” Sammy said surprising Lisa that he had been so forthcoming with Mary who he’d just met.

She had always known this but he had just reminded her that you really have to be careful about the promises you make to children. They won’t forget! You need to be prepared to follow through on whatever you say to them.

Lisa went back to check on Kayti who was playing happily out on the playground and when Sammy spotted her he ran to join her. They were so happy to see each other and they ran off to play on the slide. She saw how Sammy always watched out for Kayti on the ladder, telling her each time she climbed it to be careful just like she did when Kayti was sliding on Sammy’s slide at home.

They went home after the last of the children had gone and Lisa had locked up. They were all tired but happy and as she drove home, Lisa listened to Sammy telling Kayti everything he’d done today when she wasn’t with them. Most of the time it looked like Kayti was actually listening to him too. After the kids were in bed, Lisa was cleaning up the house and really loving not having to use the crutches. Someone was knocking on the door and she rushed to answer it.

“Hi” she said breathlessly.

“Hi Chick. How was your day? Mom told me the doctor put a walking cast on. That must be so much easier.” Alex said

“It is a lot easier and under my arms doesn’t hurt so much now. How are you?”

“I’m doing okay. I was just wondering if you had spoken to Seb today. I tried to get a hold of Urs before they would have been going on stage earlier today. He didn’t answer and it went straight to voicemail. We always talk before he goes on stage. You don’t think he could be getting tired of me already do you?”

“I highly doubt it Alex. I saw how he looked at you. He loves you. What’s up with you? You’re never this nervous about how a guy is feeling towards you. Are you really in love with him?”

Tears sprang into Alex’s eyes and Lisa scooted over to where Alex was sitting on the other end of the couch and pulled her into a hug.

“Alex, I’ve never seen you like this. Please talk to me.”

“I love him, Lisa.”

“I know you do.”

“No, I mean I really, really love him and I think I’m going to wind up losing him. I am so scared. I always thought I’d rather be alone than to be tied to one man forever, but now I can’t imagine ever being with anyone else.”

“Why would you think you might lose him? From what I’ve seen of you two together and the way Seb said he’s acted while he’s been away from you tells me that he loves you.”

Alex hung her head. She was afraid of her situation and she needed Lisa’s input, and more importantly, her comfort.

“Lisa, I…….I’m pregnant. I’m really scared. I went to the doctor yesterday because I was feeling lousy and I was hoping he could give me a shot of something so I could kick it before Urs got into town. The doctor ran some routine tests to check my blood and urine for infections. I just couldn’t believe it when he called me today to tell me I was pregnant.”

Lisa had just been sitting there listening with an expressionless face. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to say congratulations but it looked like that wasn’t what Alex wanted to hear.

“How far along are you?”

With that one question, Alex burst into a fresh stream of tears.

“It looks like about a three to six weeks. I don’t know Lisa. That’s what your asking isn’t it? Whose baby is it? I’ve been on the pill for years and made the guys use protection EVERY time so I have no idea if it’s Urs’s baby or not.”

“Who else’s could it be?”

“Do you remember that guy Joe Haley that I dated last year for about six months, but then he took a job in New York?”

“Yes I remember him. He seemed like a nice guy.”

“Well, two weeks before I met Urs, Joe came into town, just for a couple of days. He stayed with me. We always had a good time together, enjoyed a lot of the same things and it was nice to see him. But then he went back to New York. So, you see, it was just too close together. I have no idea who is the father of this baby Lisa.”

“First of all, you need to calm down. Let me get you a drink of water. Are you hungry?”

“I guess I should be. I haven’t eaten since breakfast and that was just some toast. After the doctor called I got really sick to my stomach so I didn’t try to eat anything.”

“Come over to the table. You need to eat. I’ll fix you a plate. The kids and I had spaghetti. Is that alright?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Have you told Mom and Dad?”

“No, not yet, I just needed to get my head straight first. You won’t tell them will you?”

“Of course not, Alex. That isn’t my place. I know you’ll tell them when you’re ready.”

“How is your relationship with Joe? Do you love him? I mean I know I’ve never seen you act the way you have around Urs with anyone else.”

“Lisa, I have never loved anyone like I love Urs, never. Like you said, Joe is a really nice guy. We have a good time when we are together. It’s just been nice with him, but with Urs, I don’t know how to explain it. Before, like when Joe moved away, I felt a little upset that he was leaving, but once he was gone and all there was were emails and a couple of phone calls, I wasn’t broken up or devastated. But if I tell Urs…If I tell him and he doesn’t want to see me anymore….. Lisa, I’d die. I love him. There’s never been anyone like him for me before.”

“Okay, you just said IF you tell Urs. Don’t you think you need to tell him? I wouldn’t tell Joe yet unless you think there’s a good chance it is his baby, but you are in a relationship with Urs. I’d think he would be upset if he finds out later and knows that you kept it from him. I wouldn’t tell him over the phone, but when he comes, I really think he should be told. But it is your decision.”

“I know you’re right, but I am so afraid of losing him.”

“Alex, let me play the Devil’s advocate here. What if Urs came to you and said that a girl he’d been seeing just before he met you turned up pregnant and she wasn’t sure yet if the baby was his or another guy she was with now. There’s nothing going on between him and this other girl now, not since a couple of weeks before he met you. Would you tell him you couldn’t see him anymore or that you had stopped loving him because that happened?”

“NO, of course not!”

“Well, isn’t that what you are accusing Urs of without even giving him a chance? No matter whose baby this is, you still want to stay with Urs, am I right?”

“You’re right, I’m not being fair to Urs and yes of course I want to stay with him. I love him so much.”

“You’re sure? What if the baby turns out to be Joe’s and he says he wants to marry you and raise the baby with you?”

“You sure are asking a lot of questions, you know” Alex said with half a smile. “Joe is a good guy but I don’t see me ever marrying him. If the baby is his, of course I would tell him and want him to be in the baby’s life as much as possible, but no, I wouldn’t marry him even if Urs wasn’t in the picture.”

“What if Urs asked you to marry him?”

“In a heartbeat!” Alex said quickly.

Alex had finished most of the spaghetti Lisa had dished up for her and they talked about this for a while longer then they saw how late it was and they both had to be up early.

“Call me, Alex. I don’t care what time. If you need to talk, just call or come over.” Lisa said and hugged her tightly. “It’s going to be okay, you know.”

“I know it will because I have you to help me. No matter who the father is, being a mother is not even something I’d ever seriously considered. I don’t know how to be a Mom. That’s your job.”

“Alex, you have been wonderful with Kayti and now with Sammy too. You will be a terrific Mom. Don’t worry about that part, especially not now. You just need to take extra good care of yourself. Did they give you vitamins?”

“No, he said that a lot of doctor’s are just having women drink two of those bottles of Ensure drinks each day. He said they have all the vitamins and nutrients that the pills would have.”

“I hadn’t heard that. That’s great. I’ve seen those prenatal vitamins, real horse pills. Well, go home and get some sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you, you know.”

“I love you too and thanks for being here for me. I’m really going to need you.”

“I’ll always be here for you, Alex just like you’ve always been there for me. Umm….Can I say one more thing?” Lisa said hesitantly

“Sure, what is it?”

“Congratulations?” Lisa said with a quiet squeal and another hug. “I’m going to be the Auntie now.” Lisa said with a big smile.

Alex just walked out the door shaking her head, but with a smile on her face that hadn’t been there before. Lisa had given her a lot to think about. Everything she’d said made sense to her. She just hoped that it worked out the way she wanted it to, no she needed it to. She didn’t care whose baby it was. She just wanted Urs to stay in her life and to love her. Actually, yes of course she cared. She wanted more than anything for it to be Urs’s baby that she was carrying inside of her. But Lisa was right. She needed to tell him right away when he got here. She didn’t want to start their relationship by keeping any secrets from him. They would deal with it together, she hoped.

Lisa felt sorry for the turmoil that Alex was in right now but, she didn’t think she’d said anything to her that wasn’t true. She just hoped that Alex calmed down and was able to deal with this without constantly worrying. Alex had a great supportive family. Lisa knew that from experience. They would never turn their back on her. Even in the unlikely event that Alex wound up taking care of this baby alone, Lisa and the rest of the family would be there to help and support her and the baby.

On Friday morning, getting herself and the kids ready to go was so much easier and faster with the new cast on. She thought about Alex’s news and couldn’t help but be excited at the thought of a new little baby coming into their lives.

Lisa didn’t know if she’d ever have any newborns or infants come to the home but now she even had occasionally let herself dream of one day becoming a mother to a baby that she and Sebastien would create together. The thought didn’t frighten her. It used to, but she knew that in time she would be able to allow their love to be as it should be and hopefully then that love would produce a child of their own making. That was one of the happiest thoughts she’d ever had.

With yesterday being a short day, Sammy hadn’t stayed alone without Lisa at the daycare, so Lisa wanted to see if he felt any more comfortable today. First, she dropped Kayti into her room. She gave her a kiss and a hug and Sammy followed suit doing the same.

“Bye, Kayti, I see you later.” He said to her.

“Sammy, you are so nice to your sister.”

“Kayti is my sister?”

“She is now. Do you like that?”

“Oh yes Mommy. I like to have a sister.” He said all excited.

Lisa smiled at the look on his face. Each new thing was so exciting for him. She came to the correct room for his age group. He had been out on the playground with all of these children over the previous two days, but hadn’t actually interacted with any of them yet. Miss Lauren came over to the door with a smile and knelt down.

“Sammy, are you going to come and have a lot of fun with our class today? I need a special helper today. Would you like the job? Your Mommy will be right in her office if we want to talk to her.”

Sammy looked thoughtful for a minute and Lisa didn’t really think he’d go in without her.

“Okay, I come in for the few minutes. I have a sister now. Her name is Kayti.”

Lauren and Lisa smiled at each other over Sammy’s head and Lauren could see the tears at the corners of her eyes.

“Have fun Sammy. I’ll see you at lunch and you can tell me all about the fun things you’ve done.”

“Can we paint on our fingers?”

Lauren looked confused but Lisa remembered telling Sammy about finger painting.

“Sammy honey. Miss Lauren might show you about finger painting if you ask her.”

“Sammy, that is just an amazing idea. Why don’t we tell the other kids that we are going to paint some pictures?” Lauren said to him as she took his hand and led him into the room.

Lisa stayed for just a moment longer and watched him walk to the little table and sit down where Lauren had directed him to. He looked a little apprehensive and just when he started to look up at the door she quickly backed out of his line of sight. He was definitely making progress and she had a funny sense of loss that he wasn’t completely attached to just her anymore. But that is the way of children. They are always growing and changing and moving on from needing their parents just a little more until finally they move out on their own.

“Alright, I need to quit with those thoughts. He’s only three and I’ve already got him moving out on his own.” Lisa thought with a chuckle as she headed for her office.

Just after getting settled in her office, Mary transferred a phone call to her from the owner telling her that just by chance, she had met someone she wanted Lisa to meet and interview and then give her an honest opinion. She was considering this woman as the replacement for when Lisa was ready to leave permanently. If they could get her hired, then Lisa would train her and decide if she was up to the job.

Lisa didn’t only work with the children. The owner was rarely here as she had now increased the number of daycares she owned and was still planning on branching out further, so Lisa did all of the books for this daycare and then forwarded everything monthly to the owner. She also did all of the hiring and firing when necessary. It was also her job to interview prospective families with children applying to enter the daycare. It was mostly a formality so that the families were aware of all of their policies and they could ask any questions they might have. They also took a tour of the facility and told the parent which room the child would be in depending on the child’s age, and introduced them to the teachers in that particular room. If the child was old enough to understand, the child would be shown some of the fun things their class would be doing, trying to make the child comfortable with coming here. After ending that phone call, Lisa got back to work and time flew by before she suddenly realized how late it had gotten.

During the morning hours, Sammy had stayed in his class so Lisa hadn’t been interrupted except for the phone call from the owner and got a surprising amount of work done. She needed to stretch her legs so she decided to go out to the lunch room and help the others get the tables ready for when it was time for the children to eat.

It was just after eleven in the morning as the guys made their way through customs and then retrieved their luggage. David and Carlos were going to stay at a hotel in Clearwater instead of Tampa. They figured they’d be spending much of the time at Lisa’s when they were all together. They had both told their significant others about the change in their schedule, but Urs and Seb had not. They wanted it to be a surprise for the girls. Both of them were on pins and needles for the whole trip, wishing the plane would move a bit faster and take them home.

Three different cabs were hailed as they exited the airport. Surprisingly, they hadn’t run into any fans this time or at least none that had come up to them. David and Carlos said goodbye to Seb and Urs as they got into a cab together. They laughed as they pulled off, knowing they probably wouldn’t see Seb or Urs for at least a day or two.

They knew Urs and Alex were intimate. It was very obvious what they’d been doing in the airport bathroom the day they’d left and Seb and Lisa had a new son for him to get to know as well as Kayti, who would be thrilled to see her Papa. No one had talked about the status of Seb and Lisa’s private life. After what he had told them, it seemed wrong of them to even joke about it like they always did with each other. The other guys just hoped that Seb and Lisa would wind up being as happy in that part of their life as they seemed to be just being with each other.

Urs hailed a cab that would take him to the TV station. He hoped he would get there in time to take Alex to lunch if her schedule allowed. He hadn’t called her yesterday. He hoped she wouldn’t be too upset with him about that, but he’d been afraid he would give the secret away if he spoke to her.

Just after Urs left, Seb was able to wave the next taxi down. He gave the driver the address to the daycare and sat back and smiled. All he could think of was, “I’m home, Lisa.” I can’t wait to hold you. I’ve missed your kisses and your smile. And Kayti, I hope that she remembers me and wants me to pick her up and play with her like she did before I left. Then there’s Sammy, who he was really nervous about meeting. He and Lisa had talked about what his approach should be with Sammy when they first met. She thought it would be best if Sammy was allowed to just be around and see Seb’s interaction with her and Kayti before he tried to touch the boy. It made him so angry to think about the way Sammy had been treated and it brought back memories he’d tried to bury from his past. He knew first hand the effects of abuse on a child and he wanted to help Sammy heal from all his wounds, both the physical as well as the more difficult emotional ones.

The driver pulled into the parking lot and Seb pulled out some bills to pay him, telling him to keep the change and have a nice day. He pulled his suitcase and carry on out of the trunk and headed for the door.

Mary was doing some paperwork for Lisa and when she heard the bell jingle that signaled the door opening, she automatically looked up to see who was coming in the door.

“Oh Seb, Hi. You’re early. I didn’t expect you for at least an hour.” She said standing and coming around to the front of her desk.

Seb pulled the woman into a giant hug. She had become dear to both he and Lisa and he was so pleased that she wanted to be part of the group home. She would fit in so well with what they would need there. They would only want people to work there that had huge hearts and loved all kinds of children. Mary definitely fit that to a T.

“It’s good to see you, Mary. Where’s Lisa?”

“I believe she is out in the big room helping to get lunch ready for the children. Here let me put your luggage in Lisa’s office and lock the door.”

“Okay thanks. I’ll carry them though.” After he’d put his things into Lisa’s office he turned and said to Mary, “I’ll see you later.” Then he hurried off to find his lady.

Chapter 44:

Seb came to the doorway and looked around the room and saw her getting the tables set up with all of the drinks and food that they were serving for lunch. He knew some of the children brought their own food and some ate what was prepared by the staff. She looked great, he thought and then it occurred to him that she wasn’t using her crutches. He couldn’t see the bottom of her leg but he didn’t think she could have the plaster off already. Like Urs who hadn’t called Alex, he hadn’t spoken to Lisa yesterday in fear of giving their surprise away.

Several of the other women had noticed him standing there and saw him looking at Lisa. Of course they all knew who he was now. Even the ones who hadn’t been Il Divo fans before the party knew and had seen the difference in Lisa since he had come into her life.

“Are you my new Papa?” a small voice said below him.

Seb looked down into the face of the little boy he’d met on the webcam on Christmas morning. All of the preparation for meeting Sammy that he and Lisa had talked about, went flying out the window. He had a huge lump in his throat. He was so afraid of frightening Sammy. He wanted him to know that his Papa loved him and wouldn’t hurt him but he thought that kind of trust could only come from them spending time together.

He got down on one knee and tried to keep the tears he had at bay. They were threatening to blind him.

“Hello Son. Yes Sammy, I am your Papa. It is so nice to finally get to meet you.” He said cheerily, but he wasn’t sure if he should hug him or not. The fact that Sammy had recognized and spoken to him first, had him totally off balance.

Lisa had been setting the table and all of a sudden the noise level in the room had dropped considerably as the other ladies had stopped what they were doing. There was no sound of silverware clanking as they were being set on the table or chairs being slid into their correct spots and when she looked up to see what was going on, she got the surprise of her life. Everyone was standing there watching the scene of Seb and Sammy meeting for the first time.

In the doorway, was Seb looking down into the face of his new son. She could see the emotions in him that were threatening to take over. She understood because right now she had almost a pain in her chest as she waited to see what would happen with Seb and Sammy. It wasn’t until later the she would find out that it was Sammy that had initiated their contact. She watched as Seb knelt down to Sammy’s level and she debated whether she should go over and be with them, but quickly decided against it. Sammy was standing there on his own and wasn’t running away to find her. That alone was amazing to her.

“I have a new Mommy and I have a sister too. Her name is Kayti.” Sammy said.

“I know and I am so glad that you have come to live with Mommy and Kayti. They love you very much and you know what?”

“What?”

“I love you too Sammy. I love you very much and I’m so happy to be able to be your Papa. We are going to have so much fun together.”

“We will?”

“Oh yes and when we go home from here, you can show me all the new toys that Santa brought you. Mommy said you got all kinds of cool toys to play with.”

“I did. Lots and all for mine own.”

“That’s right son. All for your very own.” Seb said and the urge to give Sammy a hug was too strong to resist anymore and he slowly reached for the boy and watched to see if he was afraid of him. He didn’t seem to be afraid. Lisa said he would know if Sammy was frightened of something. He gently pulled Sammy into a hug, not too much pressure at first but then when he felt no resistance, he increased the contact between them.

The tears that had up till now been held back, fell down his face and when he looked up while still holding onto Sammy it was Lisa’s face he saw standing across the room with her own tears falling in torrents down her beautiful cheeks.

He pulled back from Sammy and looked into his little face wanting to read what Sammy was thinking about. Sammy took hold of one of his hands and pulled on it and said with a smile on his face, “Come on Papa, Kayti wants to play blocks with you.” Seb grinned and chuckled at him. “Kayti always likes to play blocks. Where is she?”

“She is in her class with her friends that are littler than me. She can’t go in my bigger kid class.”

Seb was being led by the hand towards Kayti’s classroom and he looked over at Lisa and lifted his hand and shrugged as if to say, “What can I do. He wants me to go.”

As much as they were dying to be in each others arms, this moment was much too important for Sammy, so Seb followed where Sammy wanted him to go. When they were in the doorway to Kayti’s class, Sammy hollered in, “Kayti, our Papa is here, come see.”

Seb was mildly embarrassed that so many people were seeing him in such an emotional state, but he couldn’t help it. The reception he was getting from Sammy was overwhelming to him. He had had so many scenarios run through his mind when he had thought about their first meeting. This was definitely not one of them.

Kayti looked up when she heard Sammy say Papa was there and she got up from the carpet where she had been playing and she ran across the room into Seb’s open arms. He lifted her up over the gate that was placed in front of the door to keep the young children from wandering out of their class. He kissed her all over her face and she started giggling. He squeezed her into a tight hug.

“Papa missed you so much ma petite. I love you very, very much.”

“Love you Papa” she said and hugged him again and laid her head on his shoulder and stuck her thumb in her mouth. It was nap time after lunch and she was already tired and to have her Papa there holding her was just what she needed.

Sammy smiled up at Kayti and his new Papa. It was good when Papa hugged him. It made him feel all funny inside, just like when Mommy hugged him. It was a good kind of funny. He liked it. Papa didn’t act like all his other Daddies did.

Lisa couldn’t wait anymore and she hurried over and with Seb’s free arm he pulled her to him and inhaled her scent as he buried his face in her hair. He knew they would have to watch how they acted in front of the children but he couldn’t resist just one kiss. He reluctantly pulled away and smiled at her.

“Surprise” he said with his cheeky grin.

The other teachers finished getting lunch on the table while Seb told Lisa about the fire that had allowed him to get home earlier. Seb tried to set Kayti down in her seat but she wouldn’t let go. Lisa went and got him a chair and not until after he sat in the chair, did Kayti sit in hers when she realized he wasn’t going anywhere. Sammy sat in the chair on the other side of Seb.

When Miss Lauren came and brought Sammy his lunch, he told her, “Miss Lauren, this is my new Papa.”

“I know. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Lisa and Seb just sat there looking at each other and talking to the children while they ate their lunch. She was sitting across the table and she looked at the three of them sitting all in a row together. What a sight they made, her family, Kayti, Seb and Sammy. Seb was sitting on a very small chair, making him look like he couldn’t be comfortable but he wasn’t complaining. Her heart was overflowing.

“Are the other guys all here now too?” she asked him, thinking of the conversation that Alex would be having with Urs soon and she hoped it would go well.

“Yes, David and Carlos went to get checked into a hotel and Urs went to surprise Alex at the station.”

When they finished their lunch it was time to play outside before nap time. Seb followed his children out to the playground. Kayti was so excited that her Papa was here and was going to play with her. Sammy, although he didn’t seem afraid, stood watching them but wasn’t participating. He had already had a good day so far. He had stayed with his class all morning until lunch time and seemed to enjoy it.

When Susan called for her class to line up at the gate, Lisa told Seb that that was Kayti’s class. She didn’t want to leave her Papa. Seb told Lisa he’d be right back. He carried Kayti into the building and into the nap area. Miss Susan told him she probably needed to be changed before her nap and offered to do it for him but he just asked where her things were and did it himself. When he found where Kayti was going to sleep he realized that she had graduated from a crib to a mat like some of the other kids.

He knelt down on the floor and coaxed Kayti into lying down like all of her friends already were. He sat next to her with his hand rubbing her back. She was lying on her belly facing him with her thumb in her mouth.

“Baby, Papa” Kayti said, but the words were garbled because of her thumb being in the way.

He looked up to Susan to see if she knew what Kayti was saying. Susan walked over to Kayti’s cabinet and pulled out her special new baby that Seb had bought her. When he saw it he smiled. Susan handed it to him and he laid it next to Kayti, who quickly drew it up against her chest and smiled, her thumb was still firmly in her mouth.

He began softly singing a French lullaby and before long, the whole room of children were sound asleep.

“Do you want a job?” Susan asked him quietly, grinning at him as he walked to the door to go back outside to Lisa and Sammy.

He stepped up beside Lisa and pulled her against his side as they stood there watching Sammy playing with some other children.

“This is the first time I’ve seen him play with other children out here. He’s had such a wonderful day.” Lisa said and sighed at her contentment. Her family was here together and happy. What more could you want?

“What time are you working till?” Seb asked

“I’m off at three. Can you stay here til then?”

“If it’s alright for me to, I’d love to. I am all yours for the next two months.”

“Two whole months? That’s great Seb.”

“We’ve got a lot to talk about.” He said winking at her.

The afternoon seemed to pass so slowly to Lisa. She just wanted to go home with her family.

Seb didn’t just sit around. He made himself useful when he saw a problem between two children and when one of the smaller children fell, he went over and carried him to the first aid area and helped him get a band aid on his knee.

All of the ladies were in heaven having Sebastien hanging around and helping. And as some of the parents of the children who would leave early began arriving, Seb got a lot of appreciative looks from the Moms. Some of them knew who he was and some didn’t, but they all liked what they saw.

After that wave of children left, it was finally time to go home. Seb helped Lisa to get all of the children’s things into the car and carried Kayti out and buckled her into her seat. Sammy had informed him, he knew how to buckle his own self into his booster seat. Seb looked around in Lisa’s little car. It was nice but it was really too small with both a car seat and a booster seat.

They stopped on the way home and Lisa went into the grocery store for a few things. Seb stayed in the car with the kids and chatted with them. When Lisa came back to the car, the windows had been open and she could hear Seb singing to the kids. She stood and listened and realized he was singing the children’s song Frère Jacques. When Kayti saw her she pointed and said, “Mama here.” And she started swinging her legs and was all excited.

Seb jumped out and helped load the groceries into the car. Lisa kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re a great babysitter.” She said as she got into the car. “I remember that song from when I was little. You’ll have to teach me the correct words and pronunciation. I’ve forgotten it.”

So, all the way home, Seb sang the song, helping Lisa with the pronunciation of the words. What they didn’t realize until they were in the house was that Sammy was listening intently to everything.

They got the groceries into the house and the children followed. While they were putting the groceries away, they stopped and listened when they heard a little voice singing,

“Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matinées, sonnez les matinées
Ding dang dong, ding dang dong”

Seb and Lisa walked over to Sammy’s bedroom and watched him. He was singing as he was putting on his hard hat and tool belt, something he did every day when they got home. He’d wanted to wear them to school but Lisa convinced him that they might get lost, so he only brought Bob with him, but as with all of the children, he could only have Bob at nap time and so far, that hadn’t been a problem.

“Sammy, you sang that just perfectly. I am so proud of you. Did you know that you were singing in another language?” Seb said

Sammy shook his head no.

“You were singing in French. French is the language spoken in a country called France. That is where I am from.” Seb said as he sat on the floor next to Sammy.

Lisa went to get dinner started and to check on Kayti who had gone into her room and taken out her bucket of blocks and was sitting on the floor waiting. Lisa knew she was waiting for her Papa to come play. She was torn. This time alone for Sammy with Seb was so very important, but she didn’t want Kayti’s feelings to get hurt.

She shouldn’t have worried about it. The next thing she heard was Sammy telling Seb that he had to go play with his sister.

“You wanna come play with me and my sister?” he said to Seb

“That sounds like fun. Let’s go.” Seb said as he ruffled Sammy’s hair.

While Lisa was getting dinner, Seb entertained the kids. She just smiled when she heard all three of them laughing together. She couldn’t have hoped for a better meeting between Seb and Sammy. As she finished putting everything on the table she thought about Alex and wondered how things were going with them.

“Do you need any help? I should have asked you earlier. I’m sorry.” Seb said as he wrapped his arms around Lisa from behind and kissed her neck.

“No Seb. That was fine. You kept the kids occupied while I cooked. That was a huge help. Usually, I’d have to be running back and forth checking on them. They sounded like they were having fun.”

She leaned back against him and enjoyed this feeling of his closeness. She laid her arms on top of his and entwined their fingers. They hadn’t really had much time together yet. She guessed they would have to wait until the little ones were asleep.

“I’ve missed you so much Seb.”

“I missed you too Cheri.” He said and kissed her on her cheek, not really wanting to let go of her. Finally, he did let go and with one last kiss he went to help her get the kids ready to eat.

They got the kids washed up and Seb looked around the table at his family and had the most amazing feeling of peace and contentment he’d ever felt in his entire life. He squeezed Lisa’s hand and smiled a smile that threatened to turn her into a puddle. She was thinking that this must be pretty close to what the girls on the forum called a THUD moment and she was actually living it.

Earlier that day, Alex was finishing up her preparation for her noon news broadcast. She had just been heading back out to the studio from the break room after getting something to drink. She was coming around the corner and as it had been all day, her mind was on how she would tell Urs about the baby when he came back and she wasn’t looking where she was going.

Thankfully, this time Urs at least was watching where he was going and he saw her coming before she saw him. He opened his arms and when she would have fallen, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him and started laughing. He even managed to save her drink without it being spilled.

“Is this going to become a habit, Liebe?”

At the sound of his velvety voice, she realized it really was him and not her wild imagination.

“Urs!” she yelled and threw herself back into his arms. “You’re early!”

“Well, I can leave and come back in a couple of days, if you’d like me to.” He said as he was crushing her to him and taking her drink and setting it on a window sill.

Before she could even answer him, he had covered her mouth with his own and he was taking her breath away. Neither one of them could have told you how long they stood there lost in their embrace, clutching each other as close as possible and drinking from each other, neither one of them wanting to break the contact. She was pressed up against the wall and her arms pulled him closer, if that was even possible.

“Oh Miss Huggins, there you are. Um…Miss Huggins?...Alex?” Susanna, the make up lady was getting flustered.

“Liebe, I think you’re needed.” He said with his lips just barely breaking the contact they’d craved.

“I sure hope so.” she said as she ran her hands down his shoulders and kept going down his back. He reached back, stopping her hands before they could go any lower. He didn’t think this was a good time or place for a performance and he was fast losing control.

“Alex, Liebe, someone is here trying to talk to you.” He said and stepped back from her.

Finally, she came to her senses and realized that Susanna was standing there with a very red face.

“Oh my God, Susanna. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s alright Miss Huggins but you need to come to make up pretty quickly or you’ll be late.”

“I’ll be right there, Susanna.” She said and turned to Urs. “Can you stay for a while?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Baby.”

She leaned in and gave him one last quick kiss and ran after Susanna and he smiled knowing that they were going to have two whole months to explore their unbelievable chemistry together.

Alex ran after Susanna and sat in the chair to have her make up done. It was really a good thing that she didn’t have to do her own make up. It would really be a terrible mess. Her hands were shaking so badly. She looked in the mirror and saw her red swollen lips and touched them with her fingers. She caught Susanna’s eyes in the mirror.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t think he was back in town until Sunday. He really surprised me.”

Susanna laughed and said, “Well, you won’t need much lipstick.”

She thought she had a couple more days to deal with the knowledge of her pregnancy before Urs would be here. Now she was going to have to deal with it much sooner and even though her talk with Lisa had made her feel a little better, now that Urs was actually here she was really afraid.

When her make up was finished she went and did the noon broadcast. She only had a few other small things that she had to take care of, and then she was ready to go home.

Urs was in the middle of a conversation with Jeff Sanborn, Alex’s boss. They hadn’t seen each other since the night of the party. Jeff had just finished saying how very glad he was that the whole Jenna mess had been taken care of with no publicity somehow and that was good for both Lisa and for the TV station. Alex tapped Urs on the shoulder.

“I’m all set to go. Are you ready?”

“Sure am. Jeff, it was good to see you. Take care.” He said as the two men shook hands, and then Urs took Alex’s smaller hand into his own and they headed for her car after Urs stopped at the reception desk to gather his luggage.

“I can’t believe you’re here already. I was wondering why I hadn’t heard from you.”

“Well I could have called you early yesterday but I don’t think I could have kept the surprise then and Seb and I wanted to surprise both of you.”

“Oh Seb’s here too. I’m glad. Lisa has missed him so much and now he’ll get to meet Sammy. Wait till you see him Urs. It is so sad on one hand but you wouldn’t believe the change in him already. Lisa has just been worried about how it will be when he meets Seb. Sammy doesn’t have a very high opinion of men, I’m afraid. Who can blame him though with all he’s been through?”

“Yeah I’ve heard a lot from both you and Seb. It is terrible to think what he’s been through and for Seb, it kind of hits home for him. He knows first hand some of what that boy has dealt with.”

“Really? I didn’t know anything had happened to Seb as a child.”

“Let’s just say it was very unpleasant. He and his some of his family have quite a strained relationship now, but they do speak and he goes to visit. He had Christmas dinner with his Mum and some of the rest of his family.”

“That’s terrible! How can someone who has been treated that way as a child turn out to be the kind, loving man that Seb is today?” I hope that means there is hope for Sammy then. He seems like a loving child, so far. But Lisa has been worried that he could lash out in anger at other children, especially Kayti. So far though, he seems to love her. They get along great.”

Stopping long enough to pick up some Chinese take-out for dinner, they hurried back to Alex’s apartment. No words were needed for either of them to know where they were headed. Urs put his bags in the bedroom and turned to find Alex standing right behind him, looking at him expectantly.

Smiling a slow sexy grin that was making her turn to mush, he reached for her and pulled her into his arms and their lips met in a hungry, greedy kiss that said that neither one of them could get enough. They were devouring each other. They had been too long without the other’s bodies close to them. Clothes did not remain in the way for long and then they quickly wound up in the bed.

Alex momentarily thought about stopping Urs and telling him about the baby before they made love, but the thought died quickly. She wanted this time with him. If he became upset about the baby possibly belonging to another man, she would at least have had this last time with him to remember.

Urs leaned over her and pushed her hair from her face and kissed her everywhere he could reach. She wrapped her arms around him, drawing him down and holding him close to her.

Urs could feel Alex’s urgency but he only thought it was the same urgency he had in wanting to make her his own again, to make them one. He didn’t disappoint. Their first time was filled with a need for both of them to be completely connected to the other. After that, they made love slowly, taking their sweet time exploring each other, revisiting places that they remembered as being particularly sensitive to the other.

Urs noticed that Alex seemed to be extra sensitive in a lot of places now but figured it was from them being apart for so long. They made love until both of them were totally satisfied and exhausted. The food would be reheated later, much later in fact.

Chapter 45:

For Seb and Lisa, the time right after dinner was spent outside, letting the children ride their bikes. Seb coaxed Sammy into talking to him, to tell him all about Bob and all of the work vehicles. Once Seb got him on that subject, Sammy had plenty to say.

Lisa was sitting in one of the patio chairs watching Seb down in the yard playing with the children. She could see how hard Seb was trying to get Sammy to talk to him and it was working. Kayti wasn’t left out. Seb would pretend to be chasing her as she rode her bike and Kayti was laughing so hard that she almost fell off of the bike but Seb caught her and got her sitting back upright in the seat.

Lisa was glad that it was Friday. Tomorrow they didn’t have to be anywhere unless they decided to go somewhere. Dad was coming over to work on the platform for Sammy’s train in his room. They were also having a load of sand delivered for Sammy’s work vehicles and a sand box for them to play in. Dad was going to build a custom one with seats on the sides.

She could call and postpone him coming to do that but she didn’t want to disappoint Sammy. He’d been looking forward to it since Grandpa told him about it on Christmas day.

They got the kids inside and washed their hands and let them have a snack and some juice before heading into the bath.

Lisa got Kayti and went into the bathroom and ran the water in the tub.

“Sammy, can you show Papa where all of your clothes are and get your pajamas, please?”

“Okay Mommy. Come on Papa, I’ll show you where they are. I have a lots of new clothes that Mommy and Santa brought me.” He said as he took Seb’s hand and led him to his room.

“Sammy, this is really a great room and I love your tree house bed.”

“It’s really fun and Kayti likes to come on it to play with me too.”

“I bet she does. That does look like lots of fun but I guess I’m too big to go on the slide aren’t I?”

“Yes, Papa your legs are really long and I think you might get stuck.”

Seb had to laugh at that insightful observation as Sammy got his Bob pajamas and they went to the bathroom where Kayti was already in the tub with her toys and a bunch of bubbles sitting on her head making Sammy laugh.

“Kayti, you look very funny with bubbles on your hair.” He said giggling again.

“She is funny isn’t she?” Seb said as he placed Sammy’s pajamas on the shelf and went to help him undress.

Lisa had told Seb about Sammy’s injuries but still nothing she’d said had really prepared him for the sight of all of the bruises and little round burn marks all over his son’s body. It had just about been a week since he was removed from the foster home and a lot of the fresh bruises were from there.

They were now turning various shades of blues, greens and yellows as they were beginning to heal. Most of the others just looked like dark shadows of various sizes and shapes. Seb knew that the fact that some of the old bruises were still so visible, that he must have been hit with terrible force with whatever the weapon was for all of these to still be able to be seen so much later. The bruises were bad enough but, the burn marks were the worst part. They were all at least four months old and some much older but they were still quite visible and some of them would leave permanent scarring on his little body.

He quickly helped Sammy into the tub and stood and told Lisa that he would be back and he rushed out of the bathroom feeling like he was going to be sick.

Lisa had watched the naked emotion she had seen on Seb’s face when he saw the condition of Sammy’s body. She’d wanted to reach out to him but was afraid that they would both wind up crying and she didn’t want to upset the children who were playing happily in the tub.

She stood and went to the bathroom door, keeping the children in her sights. She looked out into the living room and saw him sitting on the couch, bent forward with his head dropped down into his hands, much like you would wind up sitting when you were on a plane that was going down.

She could tell he was crying. She wanted so much to be able to comfort him but she couldn’t leave the children alone while they were in the water.

“Seb? Seb, please come here.” She said quietly. “Please, I can’t come to you. Please come to me.”

He turned and looked at her and then he stood and slowly walked over to her with the tears still evident on his face. When he was standing in front of her, she gently brushed the tears from his face and stood on her tip toes and kissed him, first in several places on each cheek and then she moved to his lips.

He crushed her to him and let his tears fall. Seeing the raw evidence of what he knew Sammy had suffered was almost more than he could bear. It dredged up so many memories of his own hurts. The physical evidence was obviously long gone but the emotional pain, the memories, were still there and as he saw each injury on their new son’s body, he felt an overwhelming anger at the people who were supposed to love and protect their children but used them to take out all of their own frustrations on.

“Mommy, I’m cold now.” Sammy said.

“Okay Baby. I’m coming. Stay seated until I come with the towel. I don’t want you to slip and fall.”

She looked up into Seb’s tear streaked face and he looked at her own tears that had fallen. He reached up and gently wiped them from her face and then they went into the bathroom to get their children out of the tub.

Lisa picked Kayti up and wrapped her in her special towel and handed her to Seb.

“Her pajamas are on her changing table, as well as a diaper.”

“Okay” he said and bent to give her a kiss on her head and then carried Kayti to her room to get her dried and dressed for bed.

She helped Sammy out and got him dried off and into his pj’s. When they went back out into the living room, Seb was sitting holding Kayti close to him on the couch and he was rocking her back and forth, something she seemed to be enjoying.

“Mommy how come you and Papa cried?” Sammy asked, looking up into her eyes.

Seb’s head snapped up. He wasn’t as used to children as she was. They didn’t miss very much. He patted the couch next to him and told Sammy to come sit next to him. Sammy hopped up on the couch and knelt next to Seb, with his arm up on the back of the couch. Seb put his arm around Sammy and took a deep breath. He wanted to be the best father he could be to all of his children and he didn’t want to start off by lying to Sammy.

“Sammy, Papa was sad when he saw all of your….”

“Boo Boo’s” Lisa said helping him when he wasn’t sure of the word to use.

“Thank you Mommy. Sammy, Papa was very sad when he saw all of your Boo Boo’s.”

Sammy put his hands on Seb’s face and kissed his cheek and then he threw his arms around Seb’s neck.

“I love you Papa. I was ‘fraid you would be a mean one like Joey and all the other daddies.”

Seb hugged the boy. “I love you too, Sammy, Very much and I am so glad that you came to live with Mommy and me and Kayti. You will always be our special boy.”

“Alright, I think it is story time, Papa, after we get our teeth brushed. Most of the time we get Sammy all snuggled into bed and Kayti sits next to him and we read a few small books. Then Kayti goes into her own bed.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me, Mommy. Let’s go.”

Thirty minutes later, both children were all tucked in and were sound asleep. When Seb came out of Kayti’s room after checking on her one last time, he smiled at Lisa and held out his hand to her. She was standing in the kitchen fixing them a snack and a drink. She went to him and he folded her into his embrace and they just stood there for a time just enjoying the feeling of the other’s heartbeat next to theirs.

“Would you like to sit out on the front porch and enjoy the night air?” she asked him.

“That sounds nice. Will we be able to hear the children if they wake up?”

“Yes, as long as we leave the door open.”

Seb carried the tray that held their snacks and drinks and held the door open with his foot until she had come past him. After setting the tray down, he moved the chairs until they were right next to each other. They had been too far apart. They settled into their seats and were quiet for a while. Each of them lost in their own thoughts as they watched the stars. Seb had reached out and taken hold of her hand in his and laid their clasped hands on his thigh.

“I’m sorry about earlier, Cherie. I just lost control when I saw him. You had told me but, even my worst imaginings hadn’t prepared me for what I saw.”

“Seb, you don’t have to apologize to me at all. I’ve done the same thing, several times. I have been so angry that someone could do that to a child.”

They shared their snack and talked outside for quite a while. Seb began yawning. He’d been going non-stop for a few weeks and then the long flight here. So he was pretty tired.

“Baby, I’m sorry. I’m just really tired. If you don’t mind, I’m going to get some sleep so I will be better prepared to help you with the children tomorrow.”

“Of course I don’t mind, and I’m pretty tired too. It’s been a long and very emotional week for me. It’s going to be nice to have you home and to just be able to relax tomorrow with no pressures.”

They cleaned up the last of the mess in the kitchen and headed for the bedroom. Seb stopped and laid his hand on Lisa’s shoulder.

“Baby, is it ok if we sleep together again, like before? I’ve really missed holding you.”

Lisa’s face colored slightly as she met his eyes.

“I’ve missed it too, Seb. I would be disappointed if you went back to sleeping on the couch now.”

When they had each taken care of what they needed to do before bed, Lisa came back into the bedroom and showed him the space she’d made in cleaning out the whole extra dresser that she’d only used for storage of extra blankets and such.

“That will be yours from now on. You can unpack everything tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Baby.” He said smiling at her as he noticed that she was still quite shy when she thought of them getting into bed together.

He’d wondered all evening though, if she would have changed her mind about them sleeping together like before. So he was very glad that she still wanted him in with her and not banished to the couch.

He slid in between the sheets and she did the same on her side of the bed. They each reached for the lights beside the bed and turned them off. He pulled her close to him and sighed as he felt her softness against him.

He’d forgotten how difficult it was to keep his body in control when she was next to him. Just the feeling of her bare skin on her arms and legs touching him and her soft cheek lying on his shoulder was making him crazy. And then she laid her hand on his bare chest, her fingertips grazing one of his nipples as she settled herself next to him.

“I love you, Seb.”

He turned so she was lying beneath his chest and brushed her hair back from her face.

“I love you too, Lisa, so much. I am so glad to be home.”

He lowered his head and for the first time since he’d been home they were able to share a proper kiss without holding anything back because the children needed attention or dinner was ready. He began the kiss slow and tender, giving her time to reacquaint herself with the feel of them being so close together. He continued to kiss her but was ever mindful of any sign that she had become uncomfortable as they increased the intensity of the kiss.

She on the other hand was thinking of the conversation she’d had with Alex about how she felt about being intimate with Sebastien. Alex was right. The more she was with him, the more he touched her and the more she could feel their closeness, she did want more and she wasn’t afraid. She knew without a doubt that she trusted Seb completely and she wanted them to be married as soon as possible.

She pulled him closer and pressed her lips to his and as he explored her mouth and brought their tongues together, she groaned as the overwhelming feelings that she’d described to Alex were getting more intense. Her hands were making their own exploration of his back and around the front to his chest and felt the sprinkling of hair over his chest and then the small nubs that she felt harden at her touch. She felt as much as heard his sharp intake of his breath as she was touching him. She drew back just a little to look at him. Should she put a stop to this now? Were they going too far to stop?

“It’s alright Baby. I promise I’ll stop when I need to. I am so pleased that you are feeling more comfortable with me now.”

“You’ll stop?! What about me? I….Seb…Have you thought anymore about when we can get married.”

He chuckled and then quickly apologized when he saw the look of confusion on her face.

“I’m sorry Cherie. I didn’t mean to laugh at you. I am just so happy. I want for us to be married as soon as possible. I’ve hoped that maybe we could figure out something for while I’m home this time.”

Lisa nearly jumped off the bed in her excitement.

“You mean it? Really? That soon? Do you think we could?”

She saw that Seb was holding in his laughter at her line of questions that she’d fired at him and had given him no time to answer any of them and she looked at him apologetically.

“Sorry, I just want to be your wife so badly, Seb. I would love it if we could arrange it that soon.”

“I’m just not sure how fancy a wedding we could put together that quickly.”

“Seb, I don’t care about fancy. As long as we end up married, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me. But, what about your family? Would they be able to come on such short notice?”

“Well, I’ve thought a bit about that. We could have our wedding here and whoever can make it will be here and then we can have like a big reception party whenever we can arrange it, probably in Paris, for those over in Europe that couldn’t make it to the wedding. Everyone important to me knows about you and the children and I told a lot of them at Christmas that I would be getting married soon and suggested this scenario to them and everyone agreed that it was alright. They know how crazy my schedule is and that I might need to fit a wedding in wherever it fit into both our schedules.”

“I know you just got home and would probably not like to have a lot of company but would you mind if I cooked dinner and invited Mom, Dad, Alex and Urs over for dinner tomorrow night? Oh, and of course David and Carlos can come too.”

“Grace will be here tomorrow, too.” He added.

“Would you mind? It’s just that between Mom and Alex, they have so many connections and I think with their help we could really do this, and soon. I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“That will be fine, Sweetheart. We’ll call everyone tomorrow and see who can make it.”

Seb laid back and pulled Lisa against him again. He could feel her smile against his chest.

“Are you really happy, Cherie?”

“Oh yes, Seb. I’m happier than I’ve ever been. How could I not be? I’ve got you and Kayti and now Sammy. I have been so blessed to have so many special people come into my life.”

Lisa pulled herself up so she was leaning on Seb’s chest and he put his arms around her and held her tightly to him. She ran her hand up his arm and over his shoulder, and continued upward and caressed his neck. She ran her fingers through the thick hair on his head. She leaned down and kissed his cheek and then left a line of kisses across his jaw and down the side of his neck and she felt him pull her tighter to him and heard the groan escape him as she continued to press gentle kisses back up until she found his lips again.

He was just lying there running his hands up and down her back and letting her take this wherever she wanted it to go. But when she leaned down and placed kisses on his chest, dangerously close to those sensitive nubs, Seb didn’t know if he could handle much more. Her loving attentions were quickly driving him wild with need for her.

She stopped after a few minutes and looked into his eyes.

“I hope that I can make you happy Seb. I want to. When the time comes, I just may need for you to tell me what that is.” She said with color flooding her face at the mention of being intimate with him.

“Don’t you know that you already are making me happy? Except for the actual act of becoming one, you have just been loving me, Baby.” He said in a choked voice filled with emotion as his hands were running up and down her back and through her hair.

“I have haven’t I?” she said giving him a squeeze and smiling at the realization that she had been in the beginning stages of making love to Seb and it had felt wonderful.

They each fell asleep with lovely thoughts of a wedding night coming soon if everything went as they hoped it would.



Urs and Alex had finally gotten themselves out of bed, showered, then showered again until the water ran cold and then they eventually made it out to the kitchen to heat up their food that had long ago gotten cold.

As they sat there eating, Alex started trying to think of the best way to tell Urs the news. Even though she couldn’t imagine being without him now, they had only known each other for five weeks and had only been a couple for just over three.

Urs noticed that Alex was distracted and seemed far away. He watched the emotions on her face, becoming concerned when he saw the way her brows were furrowing and she looked unhappy.

“Alex, Liebe? Is everything alright?”

She looked up at him and tried not to start crying. She didn’t like to be weepy but she had done more than her share over the last couple of days since she’d learned of her pregnancy.

“Urs, there’s something I need to talk to you about and I’m not going to lie to you. I’m pretty scared right now at what your reaction might be so please bear with me.”

Urs reached across the table and took Alex’s hand in his and squeezed it.

“You can tell me anything. Whatever it is, you can tell me. The only bad thing you could tell me right now would be if you said you wouldn’t see me any more. I love you Alex. I love you very much and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

She gave him a small smile and held tighter to his hand.

“I hope you still feel that way after I tell you this.” She said dropping her head and sighing, trying to gather the courage to say the words.

He tipped her chin back up so she had to look at him.

“I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think. Just tell me and we’ll deal with it and then you won’t have to be sitting there worrying about it. I want to hurry up and take you back to bed.” He said with a Blinky wink.

In spite of her fears, she couldn’t help smiling at that. They definitely had no shortage of passion between them.

“Urs before I tell you, I just want you to know that I love you too. I never saw myself tied to one man for the rest of my life. But now I can’t imagine my life without you in it and that is really scary for me. I’m scared because I don’t know if you feel the same way.”

Urs thought that that was what she’d been wanting to tell him.

“Oh Baby, you don’t know how happy that makes me to hear that because I’ve been thinking the same thing, worrying that you weren’t as serious about us as I am. So now neither of us needs to worry about it anymore.”

“That’s not all of it, Urs. I found out yesterday morning….I…God, this is so hard.”

“Alex, please just tell me. You’re scaring me. Are you ill?”

“No Urs, not…..not really. I…I’m pregnant Urs. I’m pregnant and I don’t know how it happened.”

When she saw the look on his face she quickly amended her statement.

“Well, of course I know how it happened but the fact that I’ve been on the pill and we’ve always used protection….”

She was trying to read his face and see what he was thinking about what she’d just told him but she couldn’t tell.

“That isn’t all of it either, Urs. Two weeks before you and I met, a man I’d dated for quite a while before he moved to New York, Well, he came into town on business and I let him stay here and we… we slept together while he was here. We had always gotten along well and kind of just fell back into an old habit. I was feeling run down and I went to the doctor. After telling him my schedule he said he could understand why and told me I probably needed at least a short vacation but he ran some tests to rule some things out, that’s when he discovered I was pregnant. He was as surprised as I was about using two forms of protection and both of them failing. What are the odds of that?”

Urs was sitting there listening to everything she was saying. He knew he loved her and now she was telling him that she was pregnant, but that she didn’t know if it was his. How did he feel about that? He wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if she’d cheated on him after they were a couple so he couldn’t be upset with her. He could see that she was in great turmoil over this. She was just rambling now and he was the only one with the power to calm her fears.

He kneeled down on the floor beside her and turned her to face him.

“Alex I’ll say it again. I love you. I can’t imagine my life without you in it either, but I need for you to tell me how you feel about this other guy. Do you love him? What if this is his child you are carrying?” Urs had his hands running up and down her thighs in a calming motion.

“He’s a nice guy, Urs. It wasn’t like we had a bad break up or anything but I’ve never felt about him the way I feel about you. We were just…….comfortable. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, I mean the way I feel about you. Lisa asked me these same questions, like if it was his, would I want to be with him? The answer is no, Urs. Even if it is his baby, I can’t see him and me together as a couple like that. But,…. How do you feel? What if this is his child? Do you still want me?”

Alex couldn’t hold her tears back anymore. She was so afraid of what his answer would be.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her off of her chair and into his arms right onto the floor and held her.

“It’s alright, Baby. We’ll work this out. I really do hope that it is my child that is growing inside of you, but even if it isn’t, I don’t want to lose you, Alex. I mean that.”

He kissed the top of her head and when she raised her head up to look at him, he took advantage and leaned down to kiss her and the fire that was always there between them, quickly ignited again. He nudged her to stand up off of his lap and he followed her and then they made their way back into the bedroom and he spent the next several hours reassuring Alex of the extent of his love for her.

Later, when she had fallen asleep in his arms, it all of a sudden hit him that he was about to become a father. He’d meant what he’d said to her. Whether or not this was his child, he wanted to be with her. But, he really did hope it was his child. If not, then this other man would be in their lives forever. He realized though that he would love any child that was part of her. He would make sure she knew that he would be here for her as much as possible and when he couldn’t physically be here, he would make sure that she had everything she needed. He knew this wouldn’t be easy, but if Seb could have a family along with this crazy life they were leading then why couldn’t he?

Marriage had not been something that Urs had thought much of for himself. He had spent so much of his adult life traveling for his work and he hadn’t thought that marriage would fit in with his lifestyle, but now with Alex in his life, he knew it was something he wanted to at least consider. He wasn’t going to rush into anything just because of the baby. He wanted to make sure that he and Alex were going to be in a forever kind of relationship before they committed to be together on paper. But one thing had been shown to him tonight. Alex truly loved him. He’d seen it in her eyes when he saw the fear that she had of his reaction. She was so afraid of him rejecting her because of the pregnancy and even more so because of the question about the child’s father. He went to sleep with Alex in his arms and a smile on his face. His life had taken on quite an unexpected turn.

Chapter 46:

Seb woke to the sound of what he thought was someone crying. He quietly slid out from under Lisa and went to check on the children. The sound was low and actually sounded far away. When he opened their bedroom door and went out into the hall, he could tell it wasn’t Kayti’s cry. He quietly opened Sammy’s door and looked into the bed but, Sammy wasn’t there. The crying he’d heard had stopped and in the dark, he couldn’t see where Sammy had gone. Maybe he was in the bathroom. He turned to go back out into the hall to go check the bathroom but, just as he was about to go out Sammy’s door, he heard a breath being let out like someone was holding it for a while and had to let it out.

Seb turned back around and at the angle he was standing, the moonlight was illuminating the form of Sammy hunched up in the corner of his room with his legs drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped protectively around his legs. His head was buried into his arms and Seb could see how badly the boy was shaking.

“Sammy” Seb said softly as he walked over to him. “What’s wrong buddy? Are you alright?”

Seb got down on his knees in front of Sammy and lightly touched the top of Sammy’s head and Seb heard the muffled sound of his little voice quivering as he spoke.

“Please Papa, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go pee on my bed. I had a bad monster dream and it made me scared and I went on accident.”

Seb’s heart was breaking that this boy still was in fear of being hurt because of an accident. He reached out and carefully pulled Sammy to his feet and looked him in the eye.

“Sammy, I am not angry with you, son. It was an accident. Papa will help you get changed and we will fix up your bed ok?”

Seb pulled him into a hug and stroked Sammy’s hair and down his back until the boy’s shaking had slowed down considerably. Then he realized Sammy was still shaking because he was cold from being in the wet clothes.

“Let’s get you changed and into some warm, dry clothes and then you will feel much better.”

Seb rummaged through the dresser until he found a clean pair of pajamas and underwear. Then they went into the bathroom and he helped Sammy get cleaned up and dressed. He picked Sammy up and carried him through to the kitchen and turned on the small light over the stove.

“How would you like to have a snack?”

Sammy hadn’t said anything since he’d told Seb about wetting the bed. Seb just kept speaking softly to him. Lisa had told him that Sammy liked Goldfish crackers, so he got a few handfuls and put them in a bowl and poured a small amount of milk and set them on the table in front of Sammy.

“Aren’t you hungry, Sammy? You don’t have to eat them if you don’t want them but Mommy told me that you liked these. Are they good? I’ve never had Goldfish crackers. May I try one of yours?” he said as he sat next to Sammy.

Sammy was looking at the bowl of Goldfish. He loved them and wanted to take some but he was still afraid. Papa didn’t act like he was angry, but he wasn’t sure yet. He looked up at his new Papa and saw him smiling down at him with his cheek leaning on his hand. That didn’t look like any of his other Daddies when they were mad at him. They never smiled at him anyway but ‘speshully when they were angry with him. They ‘speshully got angry when he wet the bed sometimes.

Sammy picked up a cracker and raised up his hand and offered it to Seb.

“They are really yummy, Papa. Here, try one.”

Seb put it in his mouth and made a big deal about chewing it and making noises like it was the best thing he’d ever eaten.

“Wow, those are great. Can we share these? I think I’d like some more.”

Sammy pushed the bowl so it was sitting on the table right between them and he took a few and popped them in his mouth.

“Sometimes I like to bite the tail off first though.” Sammy told his Papa.

“Hmm, let me try that.” Seb made a show of biting the tail off of the fish shaped cracker. “Hey, that is fun. Thanks for showing me.”

After they had eaten a few each, Seb told him that he was going take care of the bed and he would be right back. He stood up and leaned down and kissed the top of Sammy’s head. He felt Sammy flinch as his lips made contact with Sammy’s head. Seb hoped that Sammy would stop being afraid of him soon. It was going to be very painful for him to have Sammy thinking he was going to hit him all the time.

Seb turned around to go to Sammy’s room and standing there watching them was Lisa with a grin on her face.

“And what are you two doing up in the middle of the night?”

“I had a bad monster dream and I had a accident. Papa helped me.” Sammy said as he popped another cracker in his mouth then took a big sip of the milk.

“I was just going to go look for some more sheets for his bed.”

“I hadn’t gotten an extra set yet. We can take the sheet off of the top bunk though. I’m glad I thought to get the waterproof mattress pads.” She said as she followed him into the bedroom.

“He was afraid that I was going to hit him for wetting his bed, Cherie.” He whispered to her when they entered Sammy’s room.

Lisa could hear the intense distress in Seb’s voice and she stood in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tightly.

“He’s had so many bad experiences with men, Seb. It’ll just take time for him to see that you won’t hurt him. He’s come such a long way already. If you could have seen what he looked like when Brenda brought him last week, you would see that he really is doing terrific. He has done so much better with you than I thought he would. Just be patient with him and I think the two of you are going to be very close. I was watching the two of you out there. He already wants to trust you.”

“I hope you’re right because it hurts so much every time he flinches or draws away from me. He was huddled in the corner over there and when I came in to check on him he was holding his breath so I wouldn’t find him.”

“Maybe you could take him and do some special things with him, just the two of you. Build up his trust of you. I doubt he’s ever had a man take any time with him to do anything fun.”

“That’s a good idea. We’ll have to think of something fun to do this week. Thanks Baby.”

Seb kissed her and then they got the bed changed and when they went back to the kitchen, Sammy had fallen asleep with his head on the table. Seb picked him up and carried him to his bed and tucked him in. Sammy stirred a bit and Seb whispered to him that everything was alright and he should go back to sleep.

“I love you, Sammy.” Seb leaned down and kissed Sammy’s forehead. “Papa really loves you. Sleep well, son.” He said as he tucked Bob into the boy’s embrace.

Seb found Lisa all tucked back into their bed and he climbed in beside her and drew her close.

As she snuggled close to him and leaned up for a kiss, she could feel the wetness on his cheeks. She leaned further up and wiped the tears off of his face. This situation with Sammy was really tearing him up. It had done the same to her too, but she hadn’t seen Seb like this before and it was painful to see him hurting so much.

“I am so glad that the children are going to have such a wonderful, loving man to be their father. You have no idea how much it means to me, considering I thought I would be raising them alone with only some hired help.”

“You and the children have added so much joy to my life, Cherie. I thought I was a happy man before. Boy, was I mistaken? I was just going through the days, making others happy through the music which I enjoy, but I never realized how much of me was missing until I found you again. I love being their Papa. It fills my heart with so much joy to see them smiling up at me.”

They slept peacefully until morning and got up and had breakfast and waited for Dad to get here. When Lisa was cleaning up the kitchen she heard Dad’s truck pulling up to the house.

“Sammy, Kayti, Grandpa is here.” Lisa called to the children who were getting dressed with some help from Seb.

Sammy came running out of his room all dressed except for his shoes and socks and Kayti came running out of her room with Seb trying to catch her. She was in just her diaper and her head was in and one arm in the sleeve of her shirt and the other sleeve flying empty. She had escaped when she heard that Grandpa was here.

Lisa smiled but gave Seb an apologetic look when he came rushing out after Kayti.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize they weren’t done yet.” She said still grinning as he tried to keep Kayti still so he could finish getting the other arm into the sleeve. He had brought her shorts out with him and quickly helped her get her legs in just as Dan came in the door.

Kayti was still trying to pull away to go to her Grandpa.

“Kayti, Sweetheart. Stay still and let Papa get you dressed then you can come see me.” Dan told the little girl gently as he sat next to Seb on the couch and grinning as he watched Seb struggling with getting Kayti’s clothes on.

As soon as Seb released her, she jumped up into Dan’s arms where she got her usual kiss and hug. That was all she needed, then she jumped down and went to find Sammy. Sammy had been sitting on the other side of Seb and Kayti hadn’t seen him there so after searching for him, she finally came running back out and found him and he laughed at her.

“I was hiding right here ‘side Papa, you silly.”

The children both started giggling and Seb thought it was the most wonderful sound and turned to Sammy and started tickling his belly. Sammy was laughing really hard and Seb finally stopped so the boy could catch a breath. Then the kids went into Kayti’s room to play.

“Sebastien, it’s good to have you home, son.” Dan said shaking Seb’s hand.

“It’s really good to be home. Show me what you have planned and I’ll give you a hand.”

So the men went outside and got to working on the sandbox and the platform that Dan had in mind for Sammy’s train. Lisa kept the kids inside as long as possible to keep them from being underfoot while they worked. She called Mom and asked her about coming for dinner. She agreed and said she’d be there to help with dinner in a few hours after she got some things done.

She called Alex and it rang several times and went to the answering machine so Lisa left a message.

“Hi, Alex. I was calling to see if you guys wanted to come for dinner. Seb and I have something to talk with you about. Call me and let me know if you guys can make it. Love you, Bye.”

She stepped out on the porch and called across the yard to where they were working.

“Seb, did you call Carlos and David about dinner yet?”

He walked over to the porch and leaned in to give her a kiss. Yes, I got a hold of both of them at the same time. It was just as David was leaving to go to the airport to pick Grace up. They both said they’ll be here this afternoon. I also tried Urs’s phone but it is off, but I left a message for him to call me.” He said with a grin on his face.

“Umm yeah, I guess they’re busy huh. I called Alex too and only got the machine and also left a message so I guess they’ll call eventually. How’s all that coming” she said pointing towards their work.

“It’s going great. He knew exactly what he wanted to do and we are almost ready to put the sandbox together. We decided to do that first so the sand can be dumped right in when it gets here. They already called him and they are on their way with it. The kids will love it.”

“I know they will. I’ll have to look around for some old bowls and spoons and other things for them to play with out here.”

“Mommy can we come outside and play now? Sammy asked through the screen door.

“Sure, let’s get shoes on you both and then we’ll come out.”

She kissed Seb and went in to help the kids with their shoes. Just as she finished and was about to head outside, they heard the loud noise of a dump truck pulling into the driveway. Sammy ran to the door and started squealing.

“Mommy, Mommy, look at the big truck. It’s really, really big. Can I go see it Mommy? Can I?”

“Just a minute. Wait until it stops moving before we go outside. The driver wouldn’t be able to see you. I don’t want you to get squished. But you can watch it from the door while it finishes turning around.”

“Okay Mommy.”

He was so excited to see the truck in their yard. She could see that he was itching to get outside and as soon as the driver had dumped the load of sand and gotten out of the cab to talk to Seb and Dad, she let Sammy out the door. He ran right up to the driver and just stood staring up at him. Of course Sammy was wearing his tool belt and hat.

“Hello there. Is all of this sand for you to play in?”

Sammy was so in awe of the man who looked to him like Bob, all dressed in his overalls and a ball cap and he just nodded to the man.

“Why don’t we go get your trucks out of the storage room, Sammy.” Seb told him.

They pulled out all of the toys and the driver got a kick out of the real looking equipment.

“It’s amazing what they have for kids nowadays. They didn’t have these when I was a kid.” The driver said.

Sammy was still looking up at the real dump truck. He walked around it, tentatively touching the huge tires in awe of their size next to him.

“Would you like to sit up in the driver’s seat for a minute?” the driver asked Sammy.

“Oh yes, I really, really would, Can I Papa?”

“Sure you can, Buddy.”

Seb got into the passengers side and the driver hoisted Sammy up into the driver’s seat. Sammy kneeled up so he could try to see out of the windshield. He was still too short so he stood on the seat and still had head room. He gripped the steering wheel and turned it pretending to drive the truck. He was so happy. The driver leaned in and showed Sammy how to blow the loud horn. Kayti covered her ears. It scared her at first. Then Sammy pulled it a few times, laughing when he made the horn blow.

Lisa was sitting on the porch watching with Kayti in her lap until she squirmed out and down the steps trying to see Sammy in through the window. Dan picked her up and carried her over to Seb who took her and let her see Sammy driving.

They let him play for a couple more minutes until the driver apologized and said he had to go deliver another load somewhere.

“Sammy, can you thank the nice man for bringing your sand and letting you drive his truck?” Seb asked the boy.

“Thank you Mister driver man. That was a lot’s of fun driving your truck.”

“You are welcome. Have fun with your trucks and your sand.” He said then he got into the truck and after making sure everyone was out of the way, he pulled out of the yard and when he got onto the road he blew his horn, much to Sammy’s delight.

Shortly after they all had lunch, Lisa finally got a call from Alex. She apologized for taking so long to get back to her.

“That’s okay. I understand. So can you make it for dinner?”

“We’ll be there in just a bit.”

“Great….Um have you talked to Urs yet?” Lisa asked after making sure there wasn’t anyone else around.

“Yes, I shouldn’t have been so worried. He’s such a good man, Lisa.”

“You told him everything, even about Joe?”

“Yes, he knows everything. I think he’s still in a bit of shock about becoming a father but he wasn’t upset or angry with me.”

“I’m glad it went alright. I’ve been worried about you. Now that he knows, you can deal with it together. Well, I need to try to get at least Kayti down for a nap before everyone gets here so I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

Lisa hung up and smiled. She was really glad that things were okay with Urs and Alex. They made a cute couple and she really hoped they could work everything out and as much as she had liked Joe, she really hoped this was Urs’s baby. It would make things a lot less complicated.

“What has you smiling?”

Lisa turned to find Seb watching her. Alex hadn’t said either way about whether or not to say anything to anyone about the baby, but Lisa wasn’t going to start lying to Seb. She took his arm, went into the bedroom and shut the door and quietly told him about the baby and about the possibility of it being Joe’s. Seb promised to keep the news to himself until Urs and Alex decided to announce it themselves.

Chapter 47:

That afternoon, after Lisa had been successful at getting Kayti and even Sammy to take a nap, everyone else was outside. Marie had gotten there and helped Lisa with the early preparations for dinner. Urs and Alex got there and a bit later David pulled in the driveway. He got out and on the other side of the car a very pretty lady got out and came to stand next to David. He wrapped one long arm around her and brought her over to introduce her to everyone who hadn’t met her.

Before long, all of the women including Grace, who had fit right in, had gone into the house while the guys helped Dan finish up on the train platform. It wasn’t just a blank piece of plywood. He had drawn lines and had painted streets and signs and had made it very colorful. Underneath the top where the train would sit, he had built a cabinet with two drawers and two doors under the drawers to put any train accessories that they would later get. He told the guys about all of the extras like trees and people and little buildings that they could set around the town that he had painted onto the wood.

The guys also helped him shovel some of the dirt out of the sandbox and they put it in a big pile for Sammy to be able to scoop from with his backhoe. The sandbox was quite large. It was built keeping in mind that eventually there would be more children than just Sammy and Kayti. So Dan built it large enough for at least eight children to be able to play comfortably at once and it had a bench seat attached all the way around. When Lisa came out and saw the finished sand box she was thrilled with the size of it.

“Dad, this is so great. The kids will have so much fun. I’m sure they’ll be out here when they wake up.” She said giving him a kiss and a squeeze.

“I’m happy to be able to put some of myself into the home here, honey.” He said kissed her forehead.

Carlos arrived just as everyone was heading into the house. He had gone to the beach and done some much longed for sunbathing. He was laughing flirting with the girls.

Lisa went to get Kayti up from her nap and Seb went in to get Sammy so they could show them the sandbox and sand pile. The train platform still had to wait for the paint to finish drying.

“Lisa, is Sammy in here with you? He isn’t in his room.”

Lisa’s head snapped up. “No, Seb. He was in his bed. Are you sure he’s not there?” She said as she followed him back into Sammy’s room.

“He’s not in here honey. I thought maybe he’d snuggled under the blankets, but he’s not there.”

“Sammy…. Sammy…..where are you Baby. Mommy can’t find you.” She called out but got no response.

Lisa started panicking and then she ran out to check and see if he might have gotten by them and gone out to the sandbox or to ride his bike.

“Cherie, please be careful. Don’t hurt yourself. We’ll find him. He can’t have gone very far.”

Everyone split up looking around the yard and even going to the edge of the woods. Lisa didn’t think he would go in there alone but you never knew.

Seb talked her into checking in the house once more. She told him if they didn’t find him in five minutes, she was going to call the police. She went into the house where Mom was waiting with Kayti.

“Sammy, please answer Mommy if you are in here. Mommy is getting really worried.” she said trying to keep from crying.

“Sammy” Kayti called, copying Lisa. ”Sammy come out.” She yelled as she went to look for him in his room. She even tried to climb up onto the top bunk to look for him before Lisa caught her and put her back down on the floor.

“Mommy…. Mommy, I’m in here.” said a muffled voice.

Lisa spun around to where the voice was coming from and looked at the closet door. She opened the door and there he was hiding at the back of the closet.

“Sammy, honey, what are you doing in here? Mommy was very afraid when I couldn’t find you and you didn’t answer me when I called out for you.”

“I’m hiding from Joey. You and Kayti come in here too.”

“Joey?”

“He’s the Daddy that made my other real Mommy get dead. I don’t want him to make me get dead too and you and my sister.”

“Sweetheart, Brenda told me that Joey is in jail. He won’t hurt you or any of us.”

“But he is here Mommy, I heard him. Come and hide in here with me so he won’t find us. Please Mommy.”

Lisa didn’t know what had made Sammy think that Joey was here but she could see that he was terrified. She turned around and Mom was standing there as much at a loss as she was as to what to do to convince Sammy that he was safe here.

“Mom, could you please go tell everyone that I’ve found him and he’s alright?”

Marie turned to go out of Sammy’s room but stopped in her tracks when she heard the cry that came from Sammy.

“Please no Grandma please don’t tell Joey where I am. I promise I’ll be good. I really promise.”

Marie turned and looked back at Lisa who had sat down on the floor and was trying to pull Sammy from the corner of the closet and into her lap but he was resisting and trying to stay in the closet.

“Sammy, I promised you I would never let anyone hurt you and I won’t. There is no one here that would ever want to hurt you. I don’t know what you heard, but I promise you that Joey is not here.”

Sammy was crying uncontrollably now and wasn’t hearing what she was saying.

“Mom please get Seb.”

Marie turned and hurried out the door and hollered for Seb to come quickly. He came running and asked what was wrong. She filled him in and then went to tell everyone else that Sammy had been found.

When Lisa heard Seb at the doorway to Sammy’s room she looked up at him with a look of utter helplessness.

“Sammy, Papa is here. Come out and see Papa. It’s alright son. No one is going to hurt anyone here. Come on out and see me.”

Lisa moved out of the way and let Seb in where she was. He actually went further and got into the closet and sat next to Sammy who immediately climbed into his lap and hid his face.

“Please Papa, let Mommy and Kayti come in too so Joey won’t make them get dead.”

“Sammy, tell Papa why you think that Joey is here.”

“I heard him talking to you and Grandpa and Mommy in his loud voice and he was laughing. But I did heard him I promise I did.”

Seb looked up at Lisa and they both had the same thought. Carlos! For some reason, Sammy thought that Carlos was Joey. They both had the same look of relief that at least they knew why he was afraid. Now they just had to convince Sammy that he shouldn’t be afraid of Carlos. Something obviously reminded him of Joey.

“Sammy, Buddy, that wasn’t Joey. That was my friend, Carlos. He is a very nice man. He wouldn’t ever hurt you. He just has a very big voice.”

“Sammy, remember when we watched the music on TV and I showed you that Papa was singing? One of the other men that was singing was Carlos.” Lisa told him.

They heard everyone coming back into the house. Alex came into Sammy’s room.

“Is Sammy okay?”

“He is now. He thought he heard the man that hurt his mom out there in the living room when he woke from his nap and had gone to hide in his closet.” Lisa told her.

Sammy was still sitting on Seb’s lap in the closet and Lisa went out to talk to the others.

As she began to tell everyone what was happening she started by telling them that Sammy had awakened from his nap and got frightened. He thought he heard the voice of the man that had killed his mother so he had hidden in the back of the closet.

“What was he hearing that made him think that?” David asked.

Lisa stopped in front of Carlos. She didn’t want to hurt Carlos’ feelings, but she had to tell him.

“He heard Carlos’ voice and thought it was Joey.”

“Me? He thought I was a man like that?”

“I’m sorry Carlos. It was something about your voice. I don’t know. But we need to introduce you to him so he won’t be afraid of you. They are still in Sammy’s room.”

Urs had already gone in and was standing with Alex and Sammy didn’t seem to be paying Urs any attention, at least he wasn’t afraid of him.

David went in and Seb introduced him next. He still had his arms protectively around Sammy.

“Hi Sammy. I saw the picture of this really cool bed and I wish I had one just like it.”

“Mommy told me that you wanted to play on it with me.” Sammy said through his sniffles.

“I sure would but I might be too big though. I have really long legs. But I’ll sit on the floor and you can sit on your bed or slide down the slide.”

Lisa came in with Carlos beside her. She had her arm linked through his.

“Sammy, this is Carlos. Papa’s other friend that he sings with. Can you say hello?”

“Hello” Sammy said still sounding a bit weepy and with his arms around Seb’s neck.

Carlos softened his voice as much as possible without actually whispering.

“Hello Sammy. It is very nice to meet you. Your Papa has told me a lot about you.”

Sammy’s eyes got really big when he heard the voice, but he also had a confused look on his face.

He heard the voice that had frightened him so much but he had the wrong face. He looked at this man that sounded like Joey but didn’t look like him at all. He didn’t know what to do. Papa, Mommy and Kayti weren’t afraid of him, but he was. He didn’t know why this man sounded like Joey.

“Do you think you’d like to go outside with me and see your new sandbox that we helped Grandpa build?” Seb asked him.

Sammy just clung to Seb around his neck, but Seb felt him nod his head, so while still holding on tightly to Sammy, he scooted out of the closet and Urs offered his hand to Seb to help him up. Sammy’s grip was choking him so he reached up and gently repositioned Sammy’s hands off of his throat. As they all exited the bedroom, Sammy never took his eyes off of Carlos for a second, even when he was outside, and he wouldn’t let Seb put him down. Kayti was in the sandbox playing happily, the earlier drama totally forgotten by her. He wanted to go play with her but he was afraid to let go of Seb. It was only when Seb climbed into the sandbox and sat on the seat and sat Sammy next to him that he finally played with Kayti, but he still kept Seb right next to him and he still kept watching to see what Carlos was going to do.

Carlos wanted to talk to Sammy but they decided that he’d had enough stress for today. There would be plenty of time for Carlos to make friends with him. As the afternoon passed, Sammy finally calmed enough for Seb to leave him and he seemed to be convinced that Joey wasn’t here.

That evening after dinner and after the children were in bed, Lisa and Seb in silent agreement decided it was time to talk about the subject that had prompted this get together. They told everyone about wanting to make a serious effort to be able to be married while Seb was home on this break.

“I thought you might.” Marie said. “I’ve already been thinking about it.” She said grinning when Dan gave her the look.

“I can’t help it. You know how I love weddings.”

Over the next couple of hours, the group discussed plans to try to put a wedding together on short notice. By the time everyone was ready to leave, they had made some serious progress. Lisa told them she wanted to at least wait until the cast was supposed to be off in three weeks. Of course there was always the possibility that the doctor would say it had to stay on longer, but if that happened she would deal with it. For now though, she was going to go on the assumption that it would be off. They would just have to wait until Monday for most of the phone calls that would have to be made but Grace suggested that the girls go out tomorrow and go dress hunting. Before David and Grace left, they had agreed that Mom and Lisa would drive and meet at Alex’s, then the three of them would go pick Grace up at the hotel. Seb said he would stay with the children. The party broke up and everyone went their separate ways. Morning would come soon enough with a long day of trying on dresses for Lisa.

Sebastien had been quiet most of the day after the incident with Sammy. Lisa knew that Sammy’s history bothered him, a lot. Of course it bothered her but she needed to focus on moving forward and trying to help him instead of focusing on what had been in Sammy’s past. She tried talking to Seb about it but he would just say that it was ok and he’d rather not discuss it now.

They went to bed both of them feeling awkward with each other. Lisa knew something wasn’t right. Seb held her but they didn’t kiss any more than just a quick kiss goodnight.

Seb felt terrible. He knew he was making Lisa feel bad but he couldn’t help how he felt. This situation with Sammy was making things that he had buried deep down inside of him come to the surface and making him remember the frightened, hurt little boy he’d been as a child, just like Sammy.

Morning came and Lisa got up before the others and made breakfast. By the time Seb and the children woke, she almost had everything on the table. She went and changed Kayti’s diaper and when she was in the bathroom washing her hands, Seb’s arms came around her from behind. Their eyes met in the mirror and he leaned down and kissed her cheek and then her neck and snuggled there.

“I am so sorry, Cheri, about yesterday and last night, especially last night. Please forgive my mood.”

She turned in his arms and wrapped hers around his waist, laying her head on his chest.

“It’s alright Seb. I know that it was stressful yesterday. Dealing with children is not easy, especially with children who have been so damaged. Sammy is just going to need every bit of love and patience that we have to give him. Then on top of that he will need extensive counseling by a professional who can help him where we can’t. Most of the time, I see the wonderful, happy child that Sammy is. He really is happy here I think.”

“Mommy, me and my sister are hungry.”

“Alright Baby, Mommy has breakfast all ready. Go hop up in your chair and I’ll get Kayti into hers.”

“I already did.”

“You already did what?”

“I helped Kayti in her chair. She told me thank you, like a nice girl.”

“Sammy, that was very nice of you.” Lisa said as she and Seb went to have breakfast with the children.

Sure enough, Kayti was all in her high chair. She even had her bib on.

“Eat Mama.”

“Coming right up, Sweetheart.”

They had a good morning, discussing what was going to happen today.

“Are you sure that you don’t mind keeping the kids all day?”

“No, It will give us time to play together, won’t it Sammy. We can go out and play in the new sandbox. Carlos will be picking Vicki up at the airport and spending time with her but, I think David and Urs may come over since Alex and Grace will be with you. You all seemed to get on quite well.”

“Can we play with my Bob the builder trucks too?”

“You sure can. That will be fun.” Seb told him.

“We did. I like her. She’s a very genuine person. She and David seem perfect for each other. She feeds right off his silliness and gives it right back to him.” Lisa said smiling. She was thinking of how much of a clown David was sometimes and Grace did seem to fit with him.

Lisa helped the kids get dressed and then she got ready to go. She was excited to be going to try wedding dresses on but she hated leaving Seb and the kids. Seb had seemed better today. They hadn’t spoken anymore about yesterday, but she still worried about his mood last night.

“Are you sure about this Seb? I can take them with me if you want to go off with the guys today. You really haven’t had any time off yet.”

“No, Sweetheart, this is fine. I am looking forward to it, really.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.”

“I’m positive. Now you go and have a fantastic time with the girls.” He said and kissed her until her knees went weak. “I love you, Cherie, for always.”

“I love you too, for always.” She was clinging to him and still trying to get her balance back after the way he’d just kissed her.

“Don’t forget to take the crutches in case you need them.”

“Good idea. Alright, I’m off. Call me if you need me.”

“I’ll always need you baby.” He said with a wink.

Lisa left the house smiling and looking forward to finding the dress that she would wear very soon to be married to Seb, the man she loved with everything she had. Of course everything wasn’t always going to be perfect. She went through moods, why wouldn’t he? She pushed all those thoughts about yesterday to the far recesses of her mind so she could go and enjoy this day full of promise of fun and hope that their wedding would be able to be arranged, soon.

The girls all met as planned and Mom and Alex had already talked this morning about where to start looking. So, with somewhat of a plan, they set off after picking Grace up.

“I wish Vicki was here already. She has a wonderful fashion sense. She could probably spend an hour with you and then take you and show you the perfect dress for you and it would be one you would love.” Grace told the others.

“I can’t wait to meet her. She must be one heck of a woman put up with a man with such a love for the ladies.” Alex laughed

“They are wonderful together. They were together for years before Il Divo happened. David and I were too, but not near as long as Carlos and Vicki. Even before their wedding, they were already like an old married couple, finishing each others sentences and such.”

“I know exactly what you mean. Mom and Dad are the same way. It’s uncanny sometimes how they can finish each others thoughts.” Alex said.

“It comes from spending years with each other and knowing how their minds work.” Mom said.

As they drove into downtown Tampa towards the shops they intended to start at, they passed over the bridge that separated an inlet that led to the ocean just a couple of miles away.

“Have you thought about maybe getting married on the beach?” Grace asked Lisa.

“Well…..No, I hadn’t thought about it. It really isn’t a bad time of year for it. In another couple of months it would be way too hot. It would be nice though, wouldn’t it? Mom what do you think? Would it be possible?”

“I don’t see why not. All we’d have to do is rent some of those large party tents to keep the worst of the sun off and it would also protect in case of a stray rain shower. That’s not a bad idea actually. Why don’t you talk to Sebastien when we get back and see what he thinks and if you both decide that it is what you want, we can look at dates and then call about the tents. We could have the wedding there and also the reception. We’ll just have food catered in to wherever you decide to have it.”

The more Lisa thought about it, the more she liked the idea of having the wedding on the beach, but she needed to talk to Seb before she got her heart set on it. He might hate the idea. When they got to the first boutique, Lisa stepped out of Alex’s car and told the others that she’d be right in. She wanted to call Seb and ask him what he thought about it. It might affect the type of dress she’d choose.

She dialed his cell phone thinking he’d probably already be outside with the kids.

“Checking up on me already, Huh?” he said with a chuckle.

“No, I wasn’t checking up on you. But now that you mention it, how is it going?”

“We’re fine they are sitting in the sandbox. They are really enjoying it.”

“Good. Seb, the reason I called is that Grace had an idea about the wedding. I like it, but I wanted to check and see what you thought of it. It might affect which dress I’d choose to get. Will you tell me if you hate the idea?”

“Well, what is it?”

“I mean it Seb. I want to know what you really think, okay. What would you think about getting married on the beach?”

Wow…Well….What if it should rain after we plan it?”

Lisa went on to tell him about the details the girls had discussed that would make it possible.

“It sounds like it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Yes but, would you like it?”

“Actually, I do like it. It sounds very romantic. If that would make you happy then I say let’s do it.”

“You make me happy, Seb. I really don’t care where we get married as long as we do. I love you. I’d better get inside and see what the rest of them have up their sleeves.”

“I love you too, Cherie. Have fun and don’t worry about us here. We’ll be just fine.”

Lisa went into the boutique and told the others that if it could be arranged, then a beach wedding it would be. Everyone got all excited and began telling the ideas that had been swirling around in their heads since the idea had been mentioned. Mom asked the clerk if she had a piece of paper, so she could write all of the ideas that seemed to fit with what Lisa wanted so they would remember them all. As they looked at the dresses at this boutique and several others, Mom would write down things as they just chatted. This would actually be an easy wedding to plan if they could find a place to rent the large party tents and a good caterer on short notice. She would have to set Lisa and Seb down and try to get a rough estimate on how many guests there would be coming.

They stopped for lunch and talked about the dresses Lisa had tried on. Everyone had different ideas which type of dress looked good on her but she quickly let them know that she had a look in mind but hadn’t seen it yet.

Chapter 48:

It wasn’t long after lunch when Lisa saw Alex making a hasty retreat to the ladies room. Mom rushed after her, seeing that Alex wasn’t feeling well.

“Alex, are you alright?” Mom said after Alex finished emptying her stomach.

Alex moved to the sink to wash her face and rinse her mouth out. She would kill for a toothbrush right now. She’d have to get one to keep with her if this sort of thing was going to start happening. When she had freshened up she realized she did feel a lot better. She turned around and looked at her mother. Was she going to be upset or disappointed in her? She knew she was going to have to tell her sometime.

“Mom……I’m pregnant. I’m going to have a baby.”

Marie stood there in a state of shock. She wasn’t naïve to Alex’s dating life. But Alex had told her that she was on the pill and always made the guy use protection just to make them both safe.

“I can see the questions running around in your head. I don’t know how both forms of contraception failed. And even more importantly, I am not sure who the father is. Joe Haley was in town for a few days and he stayed with me. That was two weeks before I met Urs. Urs and I didn’t sleep together until the week of the party. So, I don’t know Mom.”

“Do they know about the baby?” Mom said and Alex couldn’t tell yet what she was thinking or feeling about the baby.

“I told Urs yesterday. I told him everything, even about Joe. I haven’t told Joe. I’m going to wait to tell him I think, at least for a month or so, then maybe I’ll call him.”

“He has a right to know that he may be a father. He’s a nice man. I think he’ll do what is right.”

“What is it that you think he should do?” Alex said, feeling uneasy at the tone her mother was taking.

“Well, if it’s his child he needs to take care of it and you.”

“Mom, Joe is a nice guy, but I love Urs and he loves me. No matter whose baby this is, we are going to be together. If it does turn out to be Joe’s baby then of course I would want him in his child’s life but I would never marry him.”

“How does Urs feel about the possibility of having to raise another man’s baby?”

“He loves me Mom and he told me he would love any child that was part of me. I know that he is hoping it is his baby, I am too, but until we can know for sure, we are not going to worry about it.”

“I don’t mean to sound like I’m not happy for you. I’m just worried about you and how this will affect your life.”

“I’ve had a few days to think about it. I know my life will change and it actually already did change the minute I met Urs, Mom. I love him so much. I’d never let a man into my heart like this before. I can actually see us together forever. I was afraid to tell him about the baby but when I did, he was great. He was just happy that I want to be with him as much as he wants to be with me.”

Alex breathed a huge sigh of relief when she saw the smile on her mother’s face. Mom gathered Alex into her arms and held her there.

“I love you Alex and I really am excited about being a grandmother. As long as you are happy, that’s all I want for you.”

“I am happy Mom, I promise. I’m a little nervous about becoming a mother though. I’m going to need you.”

“I’m always here for you, Alex and I think you’ll make a terrific mother.”

They stood there hugging for another minute and after making sure that Alex felt better, they went back out to see if Lisa had found any interesting dresses.

When they came back out to join the others, Lisa saw the look on Mom and Alex’s faces and she knew that Alex had told her about the baby. She was glad. Now Alex would have Mom’s support too. She was going to need all she could get. Lisa knew Alex was nervous about becoming a mother.

After going to several other boutiques, Lisa found a shop that had two dresses that she really liked. They fit her perfectly and looked amazing. Now she just had to choose one.

While she was trying to decide, Grace got Lisa’s attention and showed her a little white dress with a wide peach sash. It had a full ruffled skirt with lace overlay. It was perfect for Kayti! Lisa hugged Grace and thanked her for finding it. She searched for the right size and took it to show Mom and Alex, then placed it on the rack by the register.

In the end, she chose the dress that felt the lightest to her; since they were going to have the wedding outdoors and it would probably be warm out. They both had the option of a veil or a tiara type headpiece. Lisa opted for the tiara.

After making sure the dress fit perfectly everywhere it should, the clerk boxed the dresses up and when Lisa was about to pull her credit card out of her purse, Mom put her hand on Lisa’s.

“I’ve got this.”

“Mom, you don’t have to do this.”

“Lisa, it’s customary for the bride’s parents to take care of the wedding and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Lisa wasn’t sure what to say. This was a lot of money, just for the dresses. Marie and Dan had said they wanted her to call them Mom and Dad but she hadn’t thought that they would take responsibility for something like this.

Marie saw Lisa wrestling with it.

“Lisa, Dad made me promise to let you know that we are doing this for you.”

With tears in her eyes, Lisa hugged Marie. “Thank you so much, for everything. For being here for me and supporting me in all I’m doing. But paying for this wedding is above the call of duty. Both Seb and I have enough money to pay for the wedding. You shouldn’t have to make a dent in your savings for this.”

“Please don’t deprive us of the pleasure of doing this for you. We both want to. You know that you are special to us.”

Lisa hated giving in about this but the last thing she wanted to do was to hurt Mom and Dad’s feelings. It was obvious that this wasn’t just a token attempt at paying for the dresses. This was something they really wanted to do for her, as their daughter.

Lisa smiled and hugged Marie once more and said, “Alright, if you insist. Thank you so much.”

As they were carefully fitting the dress boxes into the trunk of Alex’s car Lisa decided to ask Mom a question.

“Mom, do you think that Dad would give me away at the wedding?”

“Sweetheart, I think he would be very disappointed if you didn’t ask him to.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to him as soon as I can.” Lisa said with a smile. She had hers and Kayti’s dresses. Dad would walk her down the aisle and she was feeling so happy at how beautiful the wedding was going to be.

They drove back to Alex’s apartment and dropped Mom and Lisa back at their cars. Grace was going to ride back to Lisa’s where the three Divo’s were playing with the children. She had spoken to David and he said they were having a great time. Of course they were. David was just a big overgrown kid himself.

Alex was going to go up and begin cooking the special dinner she had planned for Urs. She called him and let him know that she was home and she was going to get a shower and change as soon as she got their dinner cooking. As soon as they hung up, Urs excused himself and told David and Seb that he was heading back to Alex’s. He was really hoping to get there before she was ready to get into the shower so he could join her. He was also hoping that she felt better. She’d told him about getting sick after lunch and telling her mother about the baby. He supposed he ought to speak to her parents and let them know that he was going to be taking care of Alex as much as she’d let him, no matter whose baby she was carrying.

Lisa and Grace had a nice chat on the way home, just getting to know each other better. Grace held a wealth of Divo information about the group’s beginning and telling Lisa how happy Seb looked since he’d found her.

“I really am happy for both of you. Seb is a really great guy and he deserves to be happy. As much as the guys love what they do, it hasn’t been an easy life, especially on their relationships. Carlos and Vicki and David and I had very strong relationships already when Il Divo formed so we had a foundation to keep it strong while they have been on this wild ride. But for Urs and Seb, it has been difficult. Most women have a hard time dealing with all of the press and the fans.”

“How do you do it? How do you block all of that out of your relationship with David?”

“First, I know to talk to David if anything is reported in the press or even on the forum before I start getting all upset. There have been many times over these years of Il Divo that one or more of the guys has had something totally untrue reported. Probably the biggest one was that they are all gay. I talk to him and find out if there is a story of even the slightest truth to what was being reported and then I ignore the rest. As far as the fans go, that one is even tougher sometimes. Most of them are great and very respectful of the guys and very happy when they know that one of them has found love. I know you have seen some of that already. I’ve seen the posts after Seb announced your engagement on the forum Christmas Eve and David told me about what your coworker did. Things like that can be very stressful. But I love David and I am not ever going to allow some jealous woman to come between us.

The biggest thing is trust, Lisa. You’re going to have to trust that Seb loves you and that you are the one he comes home to. There are a lot of beautiful women all over the world trying everything they can to get the guys to notice them. Most of the time it is harmless and after they have had their few moments with their favorite Divo, they are content to take that memory home and that is the end of it. But there will always be the women who don’t care about us. They wouldn’t care if they were going to harm our relationships as long as they got to spend time with them. I try not to think about those women too much. It will make you crazy. Like I said, just trust Seb’s love for you and you will both be fine.”

“Thanks Grace. I really appreciate having you here to talk about this. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m getting in over my head.”

“No, don’t think that and if you ever want to chat just give me a call.” Grace said as she wrote down her numbers for Lisa.

“Thanks” Lisa said as she pulled into her driveway.

She took the dress boxes into her room and put them on the shelf of her walk in closet. She hoped Seb wouldn’t snoop and look at them. The house was empty and she could hear the children outside playing together so she and Grace went outside to find the children and their men.

As they rounded the corner of the house, the girls stopped and watched Sammy and Kayti riding their bikes around the big open space behind the main house. Seb and David were facing the children, sitting on some of the patio chairs that they’d brought from the porch. The children were playing so intently that they didn’t notice the girls and they walked quietly up behind the guys, intending to surprise them. Lisa was actually surprised that they hadn’t heard the car pulling into the driveway but the children were being loud and Seb and David seemed to be deep in conversation.

“I just don’t know if I can do it Dave. I mean it is so hard. I had tried to bury all of it for so long and now it is being brought back up in my mind and I don’t know if I can handle dealing with everything here. It hurts so much to see how he was treated. There will be others too, some that are more damaged than Sammy. As much as I love Lisa, I don’t think I’m strong enough to deal with it.”

Lisa stood there listening to what Seb was saying, not knowing what to do. There was no way that she could back away and not have them hear her. Grace heard it too. Lisa could tell by the look on her face.

Finally, the guys realized they were there. Seb jumped out of his seat and turned to look at Lisa. The look on her face told him that she’d heard at least some of what he’d said. Lisa, who was using her crutches after the long day of walking, turned and headed for the house without a word.

Seb’s head dropped and he let out a breath that he hadn’t known he was holding. Grace walked over to him and touched his arm.

“Seb, have you told Lisa about your childhood?”

“No, not yet. It just hadn’t come up.”

“Go talk to her, Seb. She loves you so much. She’ll understand why you just said what you did. She’s a great girl and I think she’s perfect for you. Don’t let her get away.” Grace said and kissed him on the cheek and hugged him before moving over to wrap her arms around David.

“Don’t worry about the kids. We’ll watch them. Go talk to her.” David added.

Seb turned and headed for the house. He could tell that he had hurt her badly by the things he’d said. He hadn’t meant to. He never intended for her to hear what he’d said. He was just venting to David. He could never seriously consider leaving Lisa or the kids. They were too important to him. He hoped he hadn’t damaged their relationship beyond repair.

Lisa felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her chest felt like a huge weight was sitting on it. Her dream was falling apart right in front of her. She had spent the last five years planning her life around being alone and raising children who needed love and a stable home. Then Sebastien had come back into her life, making her believe that she could have everything that she’d ever wanted, a man who truly loved her, would never hurt her the way Jeremy had and shared her love for the children and would help her to raise them and take care of all of their needs. She couldn’t believe how much she loved Kayti and had also come to love Sammy in even the short time he’d been here with her. Was he going to ask her to choose between him and the children? How could she do that? Both Seb and the children were extremely important to her. She didn’t know how she could let any of them go.

The sobs that were coming hard and fast were making her stomach hurt. She went into the bedroom and sat on her bed, dropping her head into her hands. Had she been fooled again? Of course not! Seb was absolutely nothing like Jeremy, she knew that. But he knew how she felt about the children. Why hadn’t he said anything before about not wanting them? He knew how important they were to her. It would be like her asking him to give up his music.

She hadn’t heard him come into the room. He knelt on the floor in front of her and reached up and laid his hand on her cheek.

“I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

Lisa raised her head up to look at him. She could see the torment in his face. She felt like he must be struggling with the decision and she knew that she had to make it easier for him. He loved her. She would never doubt that. But she wouldn’t be responsible for tying him down with children that he hadn’t fathered and obviously after hearing his words, she knew that he wasn’t emotionally capable of taking care of. But, she also couldn’t turn her back on her children. They were her children now. She had committed herself to be Kayti’s mother months ago and Sammy needed her too, even more than Kayti had. Kayti had been so young when Anna died and other than losing her parents, her life had been unscathed unlike Sammy’s. Kayti would have done well anywhere with someone who would take care of her and love her. He needed someone who would love him and protect him as much as possible to give him even a small chance at a normal life. The damage that had been done to him would likely follow him throughout his life, even if he had a wonderful life from here on out.

From what she’d heard Seb saying, it sounded like even if she didn’t take any more children than even just Kayti and Sammy, that Sebastien didn’t feel able to be part of that. She had to let him go and not make him feel bad about it. She would never stop loving him. Even just having the last couple of months with him had freed her from so much of the damage that Jeremy had done to her.

“Seb… It’s alright. I understand. I won’t hold you to the marriage proposal. I wouldn’t do that to you, knowing that this isn’t what you want. The children and I will be fine. My family has been such a great support for me. I don’t want you to worry about us. I know you love me, but I can’t let these children go. I just can’t do it. I will miss you though, and I will always love you.”

“Stop… please stop, Baby. I can’t listen to any more of that. I love you Lisa. I don’t want to leave you. Is that what you think?” He said wrapping his hands around hers. “I’m not going anywhere, not unless you want me to. I love you and I love our children. I wouldn’t be whole anymore without the three of you. I could never leave you.”

“I heard you Seb. I heard what you said to David and I knew yesterday and last night that something was wrong but I didn’t know what it was, now I do and I won’t hold you back. I just want you to be happy.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

No, of course I don’t. When you walk out that door it will break my heart. But I heard you say that you couldn’t handle things with the children, especially Sammy. Can you tell me why you would say something like that if you didn’t mean it?”

“Part of me did mean it. Listen Honey, scoot back there to the top of the bed and get comfortable. This may take a while. David and Grace are taking care of the children.

It’s not something I like to talk about. I don’t want you to think I was hiding it from you. A lot of it is written in the new autobiography of Il Divo. It just hadn’t come up. We’re always so busy doing something and frankly, I just hadn’t even thought about any of it until I saw Sammy’s injuries the other night when we were getting him into the bath.”

“Mom got me and Alex a copy of that book for Christmas but I haven’t had time to read it yet.”

“Actually, I’m glad you didn’t read that yet, especially when I wasn’t here.”

“Isn’t it true, whatever is written in there?”

“Yes, it is all true, all of that and more.”

Seb spent the next hour telling Lisa about his childhood and the abuse by several people in his family. He had shut their bedroom door and they vaguely heard when someone come in to go into the bathroom and then go back outside and it sounded like someone was in the kitchen rummaging around but they really weren’t aware of anything else but the two of them sitting there as Seb told his story.

Lisa thought her heart was breaking earlier when she thought he was going to leave her. Now she could almost feel it tearing in two as he told her everything. He told her about his mother and how their relationship was very strained but they did talk occasionally. Some of these people that he told her about were no longer living. When he was done telling her, they were sitting up against the headboard of the bed and he was holding her against his chest while both of their tears were still falling.

“So, now what Seb? Now I understand why you have acted the way you have but, you said even with as much as you love me, you didn’t think you could handle it. I can’t let Sammy go, Seb. I just can’t.”

“Neither can I. He needs us and we need him. He has already brought us so much joy even in the middle of all of the other stuff. We are going to make this family work, Ma Cherie. I may have to go to some counseling to help me deal with my past so I can help Sammy and any other children who come into our lives but, I’m not giving up on us.” He said squeezing her closer to him.

After they had both taken a few minutes alone in the bathroom to gather themselves together and freshen up, they went out to see how much mischief the children had gotten into.

David and Grace were both very relieved to see Seb and Lisa coming outside together. Seb had his arm around Lisa. She was walking without her crutches and leaning into his side. She had her arm around his waist and he had his around her shoulder. It was obvious that they’d been crying but it looked like they were okay.

“I’m sorry that we left you with the children for so long.” Lisa said to the couple.

“Don’t you worry about that at all. I’m glad we were here so you could talk alone. Is everything alright now?” David asked.

“Yes, everything is fine. Marie had actually gotten her and Alex a copy of the book but she hadn’t read it yet. I am really glad I got to talk to her before she read it.”

“It’s getting on to dinner time and Grace and I have reservations and if we go now we will still have time to go change before we go out. So I guess we will see you tomorrow night.”

Lisa looked to Seb. “We haven’t actually talked about tomorrow night yet. Were we going to go out somewhere? I will need to find a sitter if we are.”

“I’ve already taken care of that. We are all going to go to the hotel where David and Carlos are staying. They are opening up both ballrooms and having a party there with different kinds of music playing at different times in each room. There will be all kinds of food and drinks. It is a pretty formal party, so I thought this might be a good time for us to be seen all dressed up in our best. There will be photographers there and we could get some pictures done of us to release to the press and on the forum.”

“Oh alright, I need something to wear then. I don’t want to wear the same dress I just wore to the party a few weeks ago.”

David and Grace left and as Seb and Lisa talked about what to do. They decided to go to the mall. It was still on its late holiday hours so they packed up the kids and decided that Lisa could look for a dress and they would get something to eat at the food court in the mall. This would be quite an adventure with the four of them going out in public for the first time together as a family. They arrived at the mall and got Kayti strapped into the stroller and deciding that it would be a lot of walking for Sammy, they rented a stroller for him. They started walking the lower floor and made frequent stops as they looked into the windows of the stores. Some of what they were looking at had nothing to do with looking for Lisa’s dress and was just them having fun window shopping. Seb did however, tuck away into his memory when he would see Lisa’s eyes light up at something she saw either for her or for the children. It was always good to have an idea of what to get for a birthday, Christmas or other special occasion and even for no reason at all other than a gift just to say “I love you.”

By the time they left the mall with two very sleepy children, Lisa had found a dress and they had eaten dinner in the food court. They had taken the children on the indoor carousel, each of them standing next to one of the children and holding them on their horses as it went around in circles.

When they got home, they undressed the children and got them into their pajamas with absolutely no fuss and they didn’t even stay awake long enough for their usual story time. Besides the trip to the mall, the children had been able to play outside in the fresh air a lot today and it had all worn them out.

Chapter 49:

Lisa went to hang up her dress that she’d brought in from the car after the children were settled. Seb came into the room and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck and along her jaw and then finding her lips, he slowly kissed her until they were both breathless.

“I’m going to go take a quick shower. I’ll be right back.” He said with a husky tone to his voice.

“Alright” Lisa said still holding on to him because she thought she might fall over if she let go.

When she finally was able to stand on her own, she let him go and kissed his cheek before he headed into the bathroom. She was finding it increasingly harder to keep from letting things get out of control. She was beginning to really want him to touch her in places that she had never let anyone touch her before. It both thrilled her and scared her at the same time. He had respected her wishes and restrained himself from crossing those lines but now it was she that was having second thoughts about waiting. They would be married in a month. Would it make that much difference? They had so little time together. Before they knew it, Seb would be gone on another tour or recording another CD. She thought maybe they were just wasting time waiting for the few weeks that were left before the wedding.

Seb stood under the shower, letting the water fall over him as he thought about the events of the day. He’d almost lost her. He couldn’t ever let that happen. When he’d thought he had lost her earlier, it was the most terrible feeling he’d ever had and he never wanted to feel like that again. He was going to have to learn to deal with the similarities between his and Sammy’s childhood without it affecting his relationship with her or the children. Then he thought about the kiss they just shared. It made him so happy to see the changes in Lisa over the last weeks. She was definitely opening up more and it made him look forward to their wedding night when he could finally show Lisa what a loving sexual relationship was like and especially between the two of them. He believed that their relationship would even be beyond anything that he’d experienced before with anyone else. It had to be. He had never loved anyone as much as he loved her.

He finished up in the shower and got dried off. It had been pretty warm the last few nights so he opted for just a pair of boxer shorts to wear to bed tonight instead of the heavier sweatpants. He came out of the bathroom and found Lisa already in bed. Her light was off but the one on his side was still on, waiting for him to come back out.

“I didn’t realize that you were ready for bed this early.” Seb said as he dried his hair with the towel.

He could see the intense way that she was looking at him. Her eyes were traveling over his near naked body and it was making him hot just having her look at him that way. He really didn’t think that she realized what she was doing to him.

“I thought we could have some quiet time, just the two of us since the kids went right to bed. We’ll be out late tomorrow night.”

“You’re right. It won’t hurt to get some extra sleep tonight, will it?” he said smiling as he got into bed beside her.

She didn’t waste any time snuggling up to him and leaning up to begin kissing him. She was running her hand over his chest and lacing the fingers of her other hand through his hair and definitely increasing the pressure and intensity of the kiss. Seb was enjoying it but he was also a bit curious at the change in her. He was getting very close to being unable to stop himself. She had him so aroused and he wanted so much to make love to her right now. She continued to kiss him, pressing kisses to the sensitive spot on his neck and he could feel her breasts pressing against his chest as she leaned closer to him. He needed to put a little space between them. He wasn’t going to be able to control himself any longer if she kept up what she was doing to him. He ran his hands down her back and hugged her to him and gently kissed her.

“Baby, I’m sorry but we really need to take a break here.” Seb said trying to catch his breath.

“I don’t want to take a break. I want you to make love to me, Seb.” She whispered in his ear.

He was shocked when he heard her say that. But as much as he wanted to love her right now, he knew how she was feeling right now. She was highly aroused, just as he was and he knew that if he gave in and made love to her, tomorrow morning when they woke up, he believed that she would be disappointed that she had spoiled her dream of her wedding night.

“Cherie, you have no idea how much I want you right now. But, you’ve waited so long. It’s only three more weeks. I don’t want to mess that up. I want our wedding night to be as special as you’ve always dreamed it would be. We can wait can’t we? I know it won’t be easy. It is getting more difficult every time you touch me, Baby.”

She searched his face. He did want her. She knew he did, but he was doing this for her so she would be able to keep her dream intact.

“I love you, Seb.”

“I love you, Baby. I don’t know about you but I’m a bit hungry. Would you like a snack?”

“Yes, I think I would. I’ll get it.”

“No, you stay right there and I’ll be right back.”

Seb climbed out of bed and went to the kitchen. He stopped on the way to peek into each of the children’s rooms and checked to make sure they were sleeping soundly. While they were out today, Lisa had gotten Sammy some of the boy’s underwear for children who still wet the bed. They would eliminate Sammy’s fear of wetting the bed. They weren’t diapers but still did the same job. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. Seb wanted to chase all of Sammy’s monsters away. He leaned down and brushed the hair off of his forehead and kissed him.

After he saw that the kids were both asleep Seb went to the kitchen and got them a snack and poured he and Lisa each a drink. He was hungry, but he mainly had needed to take some space for a bit to calm himself down after the way she had aroused him. He couldn’t believe that he had declined to make love to her when she was freely offering herself to him. Even after a few minutes, he still wanted to run back in there and tell her he’d changed his mind. But he wouldn’t do that. Like he’d said, they’d waited this long, what were three more weeks in the grand scheme of their whole lives. It would be a rough three weeks though if tonight was any indication.

New Years Eve morning dawned warm and sunny and the final day of the year promised to be a beautiful day. Each of the four Divo’s was enjoying the precious time with their loved ones.

Carlos and Vicki hadn’t spent any time together for almost four months. When he’d been off, she had been working somewhere that made it difficult for him to get to her and spend time with her before he had to be back with the group. They intended to just stay locked away in their suite at the hotel until it was time to go to the party. Vicki was worried that they should be visiting with the others but Carlos promised her that they would all understand. They had plenty of time over the next couple of weeks to visit with everyone else. Right now he wanted her all to himself and it really didn’t take much to convince her that that was a good idea.

They ordered room service and had brunch since it was rather late in the morning by the time they got out of bed for the first time. Then after eating to build up some energy, they returned to their bed where they stayed, loving each other and taking a short nap until they needed to get ready for the party.

David and Grace’s story wasn’t much different. She and the other two girls who made up the new group The Three Sopranos were just beginning and were seeing the same type of whirlwind start to their group that the Divo’s had. Grace had experienced all of it with David when Il Divo got started, so it wasn’t a total shock but it was still a bit different with it happening to her. The press, the traveling, the photo shoots and the fans. They already had quite a following. They owed a large thank you to not only David’s fans but a lot of the Diva’s who had embraced her and her group and were spreading the word about them. They knew that with both of them leading this life of touring and making CD’s, that their time together would be hard to come by but, they would make every moment they did have together very special.

They didn’t leave their room until that evening either. After getting up and ordering some breakfast, they snuggled up together on the in suite sofa and talked until their food arrived and after they finished eating, they took a long hot shower that eventually got cold, driving them once more into their bed to get warmed up again.

Urs and Alex were still doing a lot of talking about the baby and what it would mean to their lives. They were actually getting excited about it. Urs said right off that he hoped it was a girl. Alex didn’t really have a preference. Urs asked her if she wanted to stay in the apartment or if she’d like for them to find a house. After the time that Lisa had been living with her with Kayti, she knew it was not the best place to have a child. Her apartment really wasn’t big enough for all of the baby gear and then to have sufficient room to move around. They decided to start calling realtors about looking for a house the day after tomorrow. They actually did a bit of looking online at some of the houses that were listed on some of the local realtor’s sites. Lisa had found the property she had by looking online so they knew it was possible.

They started a list of what each of them wanted in a house. Urs wanted it to have enough room for a gym and a music room and Alex wanted her own office so she could do some of her work at home when it was possible. They wound up having a lot of fun as they scoured through the sites and added or deleted different homes from their list and then they had a significant list of properties to call about on Wednesday morning. Then they retreated to their bed to try to take a nap so they wouldn’t be tired tonight. It wound up being quite a while before either of them got any sleep. By the time they needed to get ready for the New Years party they were both well loved and had finally managed a short nap.

Seb and Lisa and the kids had a quiet day with only one visitor. Brenda came to check on Sammy and Lisa suspected that she was hoping to meet Seb, but she didn’t mind.

“Seb, this is Brenda Chandler, the Children’s Services worker and my friend and also an Il Divo fan.”

“Brenda, it is my pleasure to meet you. Lisa has told me what a help you have been to her and I want to thank you. I’m really glad that you brought Sammy to us as well and of course it is always a pleasure to meet a fan.” He said and kissed her cheeks which made her blush profusely.

‘I’m so happy to meet you Sebastien. I do love your music. Not only Il Divo but your solo stuff as well. I don’t understand a word of French but I still love the sound of it.”

“Well, thank you.”

Sammy came into the kitchen and saw Brenda.

“I still can’t go with you nowhere. I have to stay here and help to take care of my sister.”

“Hello Sammy. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing good. You aren’t going to take me to nuther house are you?”

“No Sammy. This is your home. You are going to stay here forever.”

“You really mean it?” Sammy said, looking like a very happy child.

“Yes Sammy, I really mean it.”

Brenda had brought the permanent custody papers for Lisa to sign and since Seb was here he could sign them too.

“Brenda, Is it going to be possible for Lisa and I to legally adopt Sammy?

They hadn’t really talked about it, so Lisa was surprised to hear Seb ask Brenda about adopting Sammy. She was thrilled at the thought especially after what he’d said yesterday.

“What does dopt mean, Papa?” Sammy asked.

“It’s adopt, Sammy and it means that Mommy and I will go to court and tell a judge that we want to be your Mommy and Papa forever.” Seb told him.

“Sure, after the New Year, I’ll get the necessary papers filed and let you know when the court date will be. You can get your lawyer involved if you want to but it really isn’t necessary. This will just be a formality since he has no other living relatives. Do you want to go ahead with Kayti’s as well at the same time?”

“Oh that would be great. If we could do that I would love it.” Lisa said with excitement at the thought of the children becoming theirs legally and forever. She knew that it would not always be possible to adopt every child that came into their home but, as many as wanted to and were free to be adopted; she and Seb would give their home, their name and their love forever.

Brenda stayed for a while longer then left to get her own preparations done for tonight. She and her husband were going out to dinner then going home for a quiet night.

They took advantage of the children’s naptime to take a little nap for themselves since they would most likely be out very late. Seb still hadn’t told Lisa what arrangements he’d made for the children so when Mary arrived as they were giving the children a snack after their nap, Lisa was pleasantly surprised.

“Mary, It is good to see you. Are you watching the kids tonight? Seb wouldn’t tell me.”

“Yes I am and don’t either of you worry about what time it is when you get home. I can sleep on the couch if I get tired. I came early so that you could get ready to go out without worrying what the children were up to.”

Thank you, Mary. Now I can go out and relax and enjoy myself and not worry about the children, knowing that you are here with them.”

It was still a little early to get dressed, so Lisa fixed the three of them a drink and they sat and told Mary about their wedding plans and told her to expect an invitation.

A while later after Seb and Lisa had taken turns showering and getting dressed, Seb pulled a box out of his jacket and gave it to Lisa. When she opened it, she found a pair of earrings and a necklace to match the ruby bracelet that Seb had given her the night of the party. She put them on and looked in the mirror.

“Seb Thank you. They are all so beautiful.”

“You are beautiful.” He said pulling her into his arms.”

“I wish I already had the cast off. It doesn’t really go with my outfit.” She said trying to grin as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

“You look lovely and you can’t help it that it’s still there so don’t worry about it. We are going to have a wonderful time tonight. I’m so proud to be able to have you on my arm. I can’t wait to show you off.”

Lisa blushed and kissed him.

“I love you Seb and I am the luckiest girl ever, to have you by my side.”

Mary’s presence had made it much easier to get ready to go out and before long they were ready to go.

Lisa showed Mary where everything was to fix the kids dinner.

“Mary, please don’t hesitate to call us if there are any problems.” Lisa went on to tell her about the situation with Sammy and Carlos yesterday.

“Oh no, poor Carlos. He must have felt terrible that Sammy was afraid of him like that.”

Lisa had forgotten how much Mary liked Carlos and smiled at Mary’s reaction.

“He was upset Mary but, as the afternoon went on Sammy just kept his eye on Carlos but didn’t seem to be quite so afraid of him once he was sure that it wasn’t Joey after all.”

“Please wish him a Happy New Year for me.”

“I will, Mary. We haven’t heard from him yesterday or today at all. He picked Vicki up from the airport early yesterday and I guess they’ve kept themselves hidden away for some private time.”

“I don’t know how they do it, being away from their loved ones for so long. It has been hard these last few years, not being able to see my children and Grandchildren as much as I’d like.”

Lisa made a mental note to make sure that Mary got to visit her family more often. She had no family here at all and Lisa knew how much Mary loved her family.

Seb and Lisa were leaving early to meet everyone at the hotel so they could spend some time just the eight of them before the actual party started.

Lisa was a little nervous about it. She’d been out with Seb but, not formally as his fiancé before and they would be having pictures taken as a couple that might end up in a paper or magazine or even online where they would be all over the world in seconds. She just hoped that she didn’t do anything to embarrass Seb.

They said goodnight to the children and after a minor disturbance by Kayti, who didn’t want her Mama to leave, they finally were able to slip out after Mary got them distracted in Sammy’s room on the slide.

“Thank you for arranging for Mary to come, Seb. It will be nice to be able to relax and enjoy the evening and know that the kids are safe and happy. When did you ask her to come?”

“I called her just after we knew we were coming home early. I wanted to be sure that you would be at work when I got there. Then I also asked her about coming tonight if she didn’t have any other plans.

As they drove to the hotel, they talked about all the press that would be there. He knew that it would be new for Lisa to deal with having her picture taken constantly and hoped it wouldn’t be too much for her. He was proud to have her next to him. She looked so beautiful. He was looking forward to being able to show her off to the world.

When they arrived at the hotel, they saw that Alex and Urs were already there with Carlos, David and their ladies. Seb introduced Lisa to Vicki and they all moved into a private lounge to have some time before the rest of the crowd started arriving. They spent the next hour talking amongst themselves and bringing Vicki up to speed on the wedding developments. As long as the wedding was able to be arranged before the end of January, all three of the other girls would be able to be there for the wedding. Vicki was going to be starting to record another CD right after that.

Alex quietly told Lisa that she was thinking of going to New York for a couple of days and to go speak to Joe. She planned to talk to Urs about it and see if he’d go with her to New York. Lisa was glad that Alex seemed to be much calmer when she talked about the baby. Alex had called and spoken to her father today and besides the same concerns that her mother had, he seemed to be happy that Alex was going to give him a grandchild.

Lisa wasn’t upset that Dan and Marie would be very excited about Alex’s baby. She was their only child and this would be their blood grandchild. It didn’t mean that they didn’t love her or loved her children any less. Her children couldn’t have better grandparents than Mom and Dad had been to Sammy and Kayti. But it was only natural for them to feel an extra excitement that Alex was going to give them a grandchild of their blood, especially when for most of her adult life, Alex seemed to have no need for a husband or a baby.

As they discussed the wedding, Lisa wanted to ask Seb if his mother would be coming. Now knowing that their relationship was strained, she decided to wait until they were alone to ask him. She thought it would be awkward for her to have his mother here now that she knew how she had treated him and let others treat him as a child. It was her responsibility to take care of him and protect him and in Lisa’s eyes, Sebastien’s mother had failed him miserably.

David asked Lisa if she had taken the children to Disney World or Busch Gardens.

“Not yet, David. I think I’d wait a year or so before I would take them to Disney. I think Kayti is a bit young. But I love Busch Gardens. I may take them there before too long. It’s not near as big of a place and wouldn’t be so overwhelming to them.”

“What is Busch Gardens?” Seb asked.

“It is a combination of a zoo and an amusement park with plenty of rides for both adults and children. There are also shows and exhibits for those who can’t or don’t like the rides. There is so much to do there. I have always loved it. Auntie and I went there a lot. I really haven’t been there very much since she died.”

“We should go soon then. It sounds like fun.” Seb said.

“We should all go, or as many of us that want to. I think it would be fun. I haven’t been on a roller coaster in ages and I love them.”

“Why does that not surprise me, David?” Alex said laughing at him.

“Let’s try to go this week if the weather is good.” Urs added.

They began hearing the noise of the crowd increasing, so after finishing their drinks, they all made their way into one of the two ballrooms. During the evening, people would be moving back and forth between the two rooms, sampling the different foods and music that would be played during the night by many local bands. Both rooms had tables set up to sit at and enjoy the wide array of food and a generous sized dance floor for those who wished to show off their dancing skills or lack of them as the case may be.

Lisa decided to call Mary and check on the kids before they got wrapped up in whatever they’d be doing for the rest of the night. As she was talking to Mary, Carlos overheard her say Mary’s name and gestured for her to let him have the phone. Lisa smiled and handed it to him.

“Hello Mary.” Carlos said in his most sexy voice.

Mary was stunned to hear him speaking to her. Of course they had spoken several times, especially while the work was done that Saturday at Lisa’s house, but Mary didn’t think she’d ever get used to hearing him speaking to her personally. She thought he had the sexiest voice she’d ever heard.

“Hello Carlos. How are you?”

“I’m fine. And how are you doing, my favorite Cutie?”

Mary felt like a teenager, having her first crush as he spoke to her. She could feel her heart pounding.

“I’m fine, just having fun with Sammy and Kayti.”

“So I heard, although I wish you were here and then I could have another dance with you.”

“I would have liked that, Carlos.”

“We’ll have our dance, lovely lady. We’ll dance at Seb and Lisa’s wedding.”

“I’ll look forward to that. Happy New Year, Carlos. Enjoy your evening.”

“Happy New Year to you as well, Mary. Good night.”

It was a very happy and breathless Mary that Lisa spoke to as they finished up their conversation. Mary assured Lisa that the children were fine. They were playing nicely together and Kayti hadn’t gotten upset again. They ended their conversation and Lisa went to speak to Carlos.

“Carlos, thank you for being so nice to Mary. You made her night speaking to her.”

“She is a lovely lady and I have enjoyed the times we’ve had to talk to one another.”

Lisa kissed him on the cheek. She still felt bad about the other day when Sammy had been so afraid of him. She could tell it had really bothered him that a child had been frightened of him and there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. They’d just have to let Sammy see for himself the Carlos wasn’t anyone to be afraid of and that would just take time.

They guys and ladies separated long enough to make a stop in the rest rooms to freshen up before going into the party and then headed for the doorway to the first ballroom.

Chapter 50:

They entered the ballroom in pairs and eyes all over the room couldn’t help but be drawn to them. Even the people who didn’t know who the four men were couldn’t help but see the elegance and class and beauty and that was just of the men. Their ladies were all very beautiful and except for one, they could see the confidence that these women had of their place beside their men. One however, was obviously a bit nervous at first. She did relax as the evening wore on, they could tell.

As they expected there were camera flashes popping all over the room as they entered. There were probably going to be quite a few local celebrities in attendance tonight. Seb pulled Lisa close to his side and whispered that he loved her into her ear and got the desired result when she smiled a smile that was sure to wind up creating a lovely picture of them both. She looked up at him and smiled telling him without words that she loved him too. Her eyes held the words for everyone in the room to see.

His words did help her to feel better and more confident. She felt privileged to be by his side and she wanted him to be proud of her. Except for the limp from the walking cast, she tried to stand tall and keep a smile on her face even when she felt nervous.

Alex saw quite a few familiar faces. Some she knew personally and others she hadn’t met but knew who they were. There were a lot of local news people and journalists here tonight. She took the time to say hello to many of them and introduced the rest of the group to those she spoke to.

The music started before long and the large wheeled trolleys of food were brought in with steaming dishes and wonderful aromas. Other trolleys were wheeled in that contained everything you could ever want to put on a salad and still another with some cold foods and a final one with dozens of different cakes, pies and other sweets.

A bar was set up with three men ready to get whatever drink you wanted. Of course they had plenty of other options for those who would not be drinking any alcohol.

Alex ran into a photographer for one of the local papers that she’d known for years. She asked him to take lots of pictures of the eight of them and especially her and Urs and Seb and Lisa. She wanted to remember this night forever. She was feeling pretty good tonight. Urs had taken away all of her fears of him being upset about the unplanned pregnancy and they were so happy together. She only hoped they could stay this happy. This could wind up being the best year of her life.

“Dance with me.” Seb said coming up behind Lisa and whispering in her ear as he placed his hands on her waist.

She turned into his arms and smiled at him.

“Sure, I’ll dance with you but I hope I don’t step on your toes, especially not with this cast.”

“I’m not worried about it.” He said and pulled her close for a kiss.

They moved over to the dance floor where there were already several couples dancing to the slow tune. He held her against him and as they danced together, he placed tiny kisses wherever his lips found themselves. Her neck was particularly inviting and he felt her shiver as he kissed her there. She gripped his shoulders tighter and gave him a look that told him how much she wanted him. They hadn’t spoken any more about last night when she’d asked him to make love to her, but he could definitely see the change from a few weeks ago when she had been so afraid of the thought of being intimate with him.
She was much more confident when she touched him and did so frequently, sometimes just her hand gliding down his arm as she passed him and more often she would stop him for a kiss that they were both craving. This knowledge only made him want her more now that he knew she was as eager as he was to be together.

When the music changed to a faster tempo, Seb led Lisa back to the table and then went to get them a drink. Lisa didn’t think it was a good idea to try any fast dancing with the cast on. She also didn’t want to make the doctor decide to leave the cast on longer. She really wanted it to be off by their wedding so they would stick to dancing to some of the slower ones tonight.

“How would you like to get some great pictures of the two of you taken tonight? I have a photographer friend here tonight and he takes wonderful pictures.” Alex asked Seb and Lisa. “You both look terrific and I know you said you wanted some taken for the press release after the wedding.” She directed to Seb.

“That’s fine with me. What about you, Cherie? Would you mind?”

“No, I wouldn’t mind but can we keep the cast out of them?”

“I’ll make sure of it.” He told her kissing her cheek.

Alex went to speak to her friend and before long they had arranged it and found a small unused room near the ballrooms and they spent the next thirty minutes getting their pictures taken. Lisa felt so excited as she thought about the wedding and that soon she would be his wife. As he wrapped his arms around her from behind for another shot, she leaned back into him and the smile on her face didn’t have to be forced. She had the most lovely feelings whenever he touched her.

Eric, the photographer told them that they would have the proofs in a couple of days. He was pleased with the pictures he had gotten. These two were definitely in love and made very easy subjects for the photos he had taken. He knew they would come out fantastic. He gathered his gear and they all went back into the ballroom.

Throughout the remainder of the evening they all ate and socialized with the others at the party. They all danced, some more than others. Lisa told Seb to go when Alex tried to get him to come and dance a faster song with her. Urs didn’t care to dance to the faster ones very much but, he said he wouldn’t mind her asking Seb to dance with her seeing that Lisa couldn’t dance to the fast ones.

Seb kissed her and said if she didn’t mind, then he would love to go dance with Alex. She watched them dance together and she was very glad that she had no doubt that there wasn’t anything going on between the two of them because the way they looked dancing together could make her feel very jealous. She caught the look on Urs’s face and realized that he was having the same thoughts.

“They dance well together don’t they?”

“Yes, and I’m very glad that I am confident in her love for me and that I know how much Seb loves you or I might have to take him outside and beat him senseless.” He said with a smile.

Lisa laughed and was glad that Urs wasn’t upset by it either. But as they continued to watch Alex and Seb, they saw a woman come up and speak to Sebastien.

She was young, and very beautiful, probably in her early twenties. She had long blonde hair that flowed down her back and some of it was falling over her shoulders. The dress she was wearing was lovely. It was quite revealing, but no more so than a lot of the other dresses being worn tonight. She was walking like she had already had a few too many drinks and they still had an hour left to midnight. Lisa felt very uncomfortable as she sat there and watched the younger woman run her fingers with overly long, bright red nails up Seb’s arm and was obviously asking if he would dance with her. It reminded her of the situation at the party when Jenna had cut in and at the time she hadn’t even known how far Jenna had been willing to go to have Seb all to herself.

Lisa gave herself a mental shake, reminding herself of what Grace had said to her yesterday about trusting Seb always. Grace was right. She could never have a happy life with Seb if she worried about every woman that tried to get Seb’s attention. Even if he wasn’t famous, he was gorgeous and he was bound to have women looking at him and trying to get him to look at them. She needed to trust his love for her and trust that he would know when to put a stop to someone’s overly ambitious attentions. She also had to make up her mind that there was no harm in him dancing with someone if he wanted to, just like when he danced with Alex. But the thought was still there that she trusted Alex implicitly. These other women she didn’t trust at all.

As the woman ran her fingers down his arm, Seb looked at Alex for assistance. He could tell that the woman was more than a bit drunk and didn’t trust this to be just an innocent dance. Alex picked up on Seb’s uncomfortable look and ran her hands up his chest, draped her arms further around his shoulders and then his neck, looking very much like a possessive lover.

“I’m really sorry, Honey. I’m just not willing to share him tonight.” She said snidely to the stunned woman and smiling up into Seb’s eyes and then she laid her head on his shoulder facing away from the woman as if to say the subject was closed.

Sebastien was having a hard time holding his laughter in at the performance Alex had just given as the dejected woman walked unsteadily away from them. Alex could feel him shaking with the barely contained chuckle. He turned and whispered in her ear. “Thank you, Alex.” And he felt her little squeeze as she acknowledged it.

When the dance was over they made their way back to the table and it was only when they were about to sit down that they realized that Lisa and Urs had seen the whole thing. Seb sat down with a sigh and kissed Lisa’s cheek.

“You saw that huh?” he said

“Yes, I saw her.” Lisa answered trying to stifle the smile that was coming. “Thank You Alex, for saving my man from the clutches of that woman.” She finished, unable to hold back her laughter any longer.

They all had a good laugh much to Sebastien’s relief then they all went and got another drink and before they knew it the dee jay was at the microphone announcing that it was just one minute until midnight and for everyone to find the love of their life and be ready to welcome in the New Year together.

Each of the Divos was already with their partners and they all gathered in the center of the room, on the dance floor with most of the other partiers. When it got down to ten seconds to midnight, they all counted down with the dee jay….10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1 and everyone hollered HAPPY NEW YEAR! Balloons and confetti came floating down from the ceiling, where they had been waiting to be released at midnight.

All over the room couples were sharing their first kiss of the New Year that was full of promise and hope of so many good things for all of them, especially the Divos as a group and individually in their personal lives with the women they loved.

Sebastien held Lisa and he kissed her and told her how much he loved her.

“The end of this last year has given me so much hope for what our future will be, Baby. I have never been happier than when I’m with you and our children. I can’t wait to look back on our lives and see where we’ve been and look back at all of the children we’ve been given to love, whether they come like Kayti and Sammy or by the old fashioned way through our loving.”

Lisa had tears running down her face at his words. She felt the same way and told him so. People, who observed them, saw a couple that was so in love and hardly realized that there were any other people in the room.

Urs and Alex had taken a spot over to the edge of the crowd and slipped out to the lobby. They had spent the whole evening touching and looking at each other with wordless messages telling each other how much they wanted them. Urs kissed Alex with so much love and passion and told her that as soon as it wouldn’t be considered rude, that they were going to have to go because he was ready to find one of those family rest rooms like they found at the airport.

“We don’t have to do that. I’ve rented us a room here in the hotel so we don’t have to go anywhere but up to our room. I even packed us a bag and it is already up there. Let’s go tell the others goodnight and slip out.”

Urs lifted her and spun her around in a circle and kissed her again. “I knew I loved you for some reason. Let’s go.”

They quickly made the rounds and said goodnight to everyone and hurried up to the room that Alex already had the key for and they weren’t planning to be seen or heard from until Wednesday.

Carlos and David and their ladies said their goodnights to Seb and Lisa and went to their rooms. Lisa and Seb danced to a couple more slow songs and then realized that they were getting pretty tired. Seb took the keys to Lisa’s car and they walked outside. It was a beautiful night. The weather was perfect. There wasn’t even a chill in the air.

“I can’t wait until we can take some walks along the beach. It would be perfect tonight.”

“Tonight was perfect, Ma Cherie. I had a wonderful time and you look so beautiful.”

“Thank you, Seb. I had a great time too. It was the best New Years Eve I’ve ever had.”

“Let’s go home to our children and let Mary get home, unless she just wants to stay until morning.” Seb said as he helped Lisa into the car.

“It will be nice when the main house is finished. I wanted to ask you what you thought about me asking Mary to move in there with us when enough of the bedrooms are finished.”

“I think it is a wonderful idea. She’s really seemed excited about working for you. We talked for a while when I called last week. She has a big heart and obviously loves you and the children. I would feel better knowing she is there to help you when I’m away.”

“I’ll talk to her about it soon then. The extra crew that Drew found will be starting on Wednesday. The amount of things getting done should move much faster now. I love our little house but I am really excited to be able to move into the bigger house. I have so many ideas that I’ve been writing down for fun rooms and learning areas for the children and I’m really itching to be able to get them fixed up.”

“I’d love to see your ideas.”

“I’ll show you my lists tomorrow then.” She said smiling over at him. The moonlight was creating a glow across his features and she was enjoying looking at him as he was driving. He was so handsome. She’d never get tired of looking at him.

Seb was driving towards their house on the near deserted streets. Most people were still at whatever party they had attended or had stayed safe in their homes. Lisa turned towards the road as he rounded a corner. A pickup truck was barreling towards them at a high rate of speed, and on their side of the road. Lisa called out to Seb to watch out for the truck but it was too late.

The sound of the two vehicles crunching together was terrible and what seemed to last a long time was only merely seconds as the front driver’s side of the pickup hit the front of the driver’s side of their car, sending the car into a spin and then the pickup caught the back of the driver’s side as it spun around sending it sliding off of the road. Finally both vehicles came to a stop and then there was silence.

Seb had reacted to Lisa’s warning by reaching his right arm over and laying it across the front of her chest helping to hold her back against the seat. It was somewhat effective and probably saved her from a much more serious injury. She hadn’t actually hit anything until the second hit of the truck when she was pushed by Seb’s body being thrown towards her and her head and face bumped into the window beside her.

Seb’s head had hit his window on the first hit and he had taken a hard hit against the steering wheel at the first hit. The second hit had sent him pushing against Lisa and then he realized he was trapped where he was.

“Baby, are you alright?” Seb yelled frantically, but regretted it when he felt the pain shoot through both his head and his chest.

“I think so. My head is bleeding a little. What about you? Are you okay?”

“I’m hurting a bit in my chest and the side of my head, but I think we might have just gotten lucky. Don’t move in case you are injured inside. Help will come. Can you reach your phone without moving too much?”

“I’ll try.”

He was frustrated because he couldn’t turn more than his head to see if Lisa was alright. The steering wheel was crushed in and pressing against his chest and abdomen, preventing him from moving.

Another car had rounded the corner behind their car as they had been in their spin and had narrowly avoided hitting both of the other vehicles. The driver had jumped out as soon as he came to a stop and pulled out his phone and was dialing 911 as he was running towards the destroyed vehicles. He came to the pickup truck and the driver was out cold. He felt for a pulse and it seemed strong. The pickup truck driver was a large man and he didn’t dare try to move him for fear of causing more injuries. He didn’t seem to be bleeding anywhere so he moved on to the smaller car and was relieved to see that the two passengers were moving a bit. He couldn’t open the driver’s side door because it was crushed too much, so he went around to the other side and opened the ladies door.

“Are you both alright? I’ve called 911. They’re on their way. You probably shouldn’t move too much until they check you out.”

I think we could have been a lot worse. How about the other driver? Are they hurt bad?” Seb asked and realized it hurt really bad when he took a deep breath.

“I’m not sure. He’s not bleeding that I could see but, he is out. I couldn’t move him and thought I shouldn’t anyway.”

They began hearing the sirens from the emergency vehicles coming. A police car arrived at the accident scene and by the looks of the vehicles; the officer expected to see some very serious injuries.

He approached the pickup truck that had the door opened and the driver of the car that had stopped came over to talk to him and told him what he had seen and that the other people were hurt but not too badly it seemed. The odor of alcohol was strong in the pickup and on further investigation; several empty bottles of liquor were found on the floor of the truck. When the paramedics arrived, the driver of the pick up was already waking up from his stupor and didn’t even realize he’d been in a wreck. He started to climb out of the truck and as soon as his feet touched the ground, the rest of his body followed since he was too drunk to stand. They loaded him into the first of the two ambulances that had arrived and took him to the hospital to check to make sure he had no internal injuries.

The other medics had rushed over to the little car and began their assessment of the couple that was still sitting in their seats. The woman only had a small laceration on her head but, would be thoroughly checked for any internal bleeding or other injuries when they got her to the hospital.

The man who had been driving was in worse shape and they were concerned about internal injuries from the steering wheel. He seemed to be in distress when he was breathing. The wheel had him trapped and was affecting his breathing. The cut on his head, much like the woman seemed to be superficial but that would be checked out further at the hospital as well. They moved the woman out of the car and onto a gurney and into the second ambulance.

“Is Sebastien alright?” she asked the medic.

“We’re taking good care of him. We’ll get him to the hospital and get him checked out.” He answered vaguely.

Lisa didn’t feel like he was telling her everything and that only made her more worried than she already was. She felt okay except for the bump and cut on her head. Seb had really held her tightly against the seat and she knew that had cost him, in that he had been holding her instead of protecting himself. She couldn’t stop the hot tears that slid down her cheeks as she really began to worry about him.

“Can I make a phone call?”

“Sure you can.”

“My phone is in my purse in the car.”

“Here, just use mine. I don’t want to get in their way over there.” He said as he handed her his cell phone.

Lisa dialed the number and it went straight to Alex’s voicemail. Lisa knew that Alex had taken a room at the hotel for her and Urs and decided that if it seemed like it was necessary, then she would have the hotel personnel go knock on their door, but for now she’d leave them alone. After leaving a generic message for Alex asking her to call her as soon as possible, she dialed a second number and waited while it rang a few times until it was finally answered.

“Hello” the deep, sleepy voice answered.

“Dad, it’s Lisa. I’m sorry to wake you.”

“Honey, what’s wrong?” he became totally awake when could hear the tears and her fear in her voice.

“We’ve had an accident on the way home from the party. A pickup truck was in our lane when we came around the corner.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m not too bad. I just have a small cut and a bump on my head. It’s Seb I’m worried about. They’re taking so long to get him out of the car. I’m really afraid he’s hurt bad and they aren’t telling me.”

“Where are the children?” he asked forgetting that they would have had a babysitter tonight.

“They are at home with Mary.”

“Okay, good. I’m almost out the door. Where are you?”

Lisa handed the phone to the medic and he told Dan where they were located and what hospital they would be taken to if they were gone when he got here. When he was finished, he handed the phone back to her.

“Sweetheart, Mom and I are on our way. Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. Did you call Mary yet?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“I’ll call her. You just relax and we’ll see you soon. We love you, Honey.”

“I love you both too.” Lisa hung up the phone and handed it back to the medic and thanked him.

“How much longer will it take to get him out of there?”

“I’m not sure. They are cutting his door off now and the steering wheel is bent, preventing them from getting him right out. They tried sliding him out your door but, they couldn’t get him out from under the steering wheel that way. So they’ll get his door off and then cut the steering wheel out of their way and then they should be able to slide him right out.

“Does he seem to be injured badly? He said he was alright when I asked him but, he seemed to be in pain.”

“I can’t tell you that. I was concentrating on taking care of you. They’ll do everything they can to get him out as fast as they can but they need to be sure they won’t hurt him more by hurrying.” He answered as he stayed by her side. He was keeping a close watch that she wasn’t actually injured more than it seemed in their first assessment. He kept taking her blood pressure and checking her eyes for any changes. He knew she was mostly just worried about the man in the car.

“Is he your husband?”

“No, not yet. We’ll be married in a few weeks.”

“Congratulations.” He said and tried to keep making small talk to distract her from worrying too much. He knew it wasn’t likely to be working very well but he had to try at least. He asked about the children she had spoken of on the phone and she told him about Sammy and Kayti and wound up getting into a few of the details about the group home.

“I saw you a few weeks ago on TV, didn’t I? Your home won all of those donations. That was great.”

“Yes, that was me.”

“That’s terrific. When do you think the house will be done then?” he asked genuinely interested now.

“We will be seeing an updated schedule at the end of this week. It is really going to help having the extra crew working.” Lisa always loved to talk about the group home and tell anyone willing to listen about its progress, but right now she just wanted to know that Seb was ok.

“Would you please go check on him and make sure he’s alright.”

“I’m really supposed to be keeping my eye on you to make sure that you are alright.”

“I’ll be better if you tell me that he is okay.” She pleaded.

He saw that the police officer was coming over to talk to the woman so he agreed to go check on Sebastien for her.

The officer had been writing up the accident report from all of the information he had so far. The truck driver was obviously drunk and had passed out, causing him to cross into the wrong lane and into the path of the little car. He wasn’t sure yet if the other driver was legally drunk. He was in pain, so his speech was a little off. Besides, it sounded like he had an accent. He’d talk to him again after he’d been taken care of at the hospital. The man said he’d only had a couple of drinks early in the evening and since he’d planned to drive he hadn’t had any after about eight o’clock and had felt fine to drive.

All participants would have their blood alcohol tested as was normal procedure after an accident like this. Now he was going to go and speak to the woman who had been the passenger in the car. She seemed to be the less injured in the wreck according to the medics. He approached her and introduced himself as Officer Jim Dunn. She answered all of his questions. He had been doing this job for almost fifteen years and had handled a lot of accident cases. Most of the time he could tell right off if someone was drunk or lying to him. He didn’t get the impression that either was the case with the woman.

She confirmed that Sebastien, her fiancé, was from France and that explained his accent. She also told him about the same couple of drinks that the man had said he’d had and that he’d only had a few sips of Champagne at midnight, over an hour before they’d left the hotel. It seemed pretty cut and dried. The blood tests would confirm his suspicions and then he could finish the report. He thanked the woman for taking this stressful time to talk with him and went to check on the progress in the car. He hoped the man was ok. They seemed like a nice couple.

Chapter 51:

Mom and Dad pulled up and both of them were immediately struck with horror by the damage to both of the vehicles. The pickup truck was being loaded onto a flatbed wrecker to be transported to the police impound yard until the investigation was complete. The damaged truck was a heavy duty pickup just like the one Dan drove and he knew the weight that was behind one of those trucks.

They rushed over to the opened back end of the ambulance where Lisa was laying inside on a gurney. Her eyes were closed and they weren’t sure if she was sleeping or worse.

“Can I help you?” the medic who was coming back over to the ambulance asked them as they were staring in at Lisa.

“We are her parents. Is she alright?”

At the sound of Dad’s voice her eyes popped open.

“Mom, Dad, I’m alright. It’s Seb I’m worried about. They are taking so long to get him out of there. Did you find out anything?” she said directing the last question at the medic.

“They are still working on getting the steering wheel out. Then they’ll be able to move him. He’s stable.”

“Dad will you go talk to him and tell him I’m okay and I just want him to be alright.” She said and then she broke down crying.

Dan assisted Marie as she climbed into the ambulance to sit beside her and Lisa was glad that they were here.

Dan went over to the car to check on Seb. There were so many people around him that he couldn’t see him.

“Sebastien? It’s Dan Huggins. Can you hear me?”

“Yes, I hear you.” came Seb’s voice, but it was weak and he could hear that Seb was in pain.

“Lisa wanted me to tell you that she’s okay and not to worry about her. She loves you.”

“Thank you, Dan. I love her too. Tell her I’ll be okay if they can ever get me out of here.” He said making a lousy attempt at humor.

“I’ll tell her. You just let them do their job and they’ll get you out. I’ll be right back.”

Mom told Lisa that she’d called and told Mary about the accident and she told Marie to tell Lisa not to worry about the children. She would stay and take care of them as long as it was necessary and to have her call as soon as she could so she wouldn’t worry. Again, Lisa was glad that it was Mary that was there with the children. She didn’t need to worry about them at all with Mary there.

Finally, they heard hollering over at the car in celebration that they’d gotten the door and steering wheel out of the way. Now they could get Seb out of the car and to the hospital to be checked out.

Seb felt much better after the wheel wasn’t crushing his chest. But he was still in a lot of pain. Right now, he just wanted to get out of here and go see for himself that Lisa was alright.

When the medics wheeled Seb over and hoisted the gurney into the ambulance beside Lisa they both had tears falling. All they could do was reach their fingers together and they did that as much as possible on the ride to the hospital. They kept reassuring the other that they were okay and after the medics told the waiting parents that there wasn’t enough room for anyone else to ride with them; Mom and Dad got into their car and followed them to the hospital. It seemed that Lisa and Seb were both awake and alert and they hoped that neither of them had any internal injuries.

Dan called the hotel where the party had been and tried to get a hold of Alex and Urs. The phone was off the hook so he asked the clerk to try to ring David’s room. When David answered, Dan told him all that he knew and what hospital they were going to and that if they didn’t want to come now, he’d call later with an update. He told him that he had been unable to reach Urs and Alex and what room they were in. David promised to go knock on their door. Dan and Marie weren’t surprised later when all six of them came rushing into the emergency room waiting area. All of them were talking at once trying to get information on how badly Seb and Lisa had gotten hurt.

It was a couple of hours before someone came out and told them that they could come back two at a time and see each of the patients.

Mom and Dad went to see Lisa first and Urs and Alex went to see Seb.

After visiting with them for a few minutes they switched so that Mom and Dad could check on Sebastien.

They had both been put through all the tests, X-rays, CAT scans, MRI’s, to check for any hidden injuries.

Lisa’s head wound had been stitched up and was now covered by a bandage. She had been cleared of having any other injuries except for some major soreness all over from the jostling of the accident. They gave her some pain medication and a muscle relaxant and said she’d be fine in a few days to a couple of weeks depending on how persistent the muscle soreness was, warning her that she would probably feel worse before she felt better. They were doing her discharge papers and then she would be free to go. As soon as she was told it was alright, Lisa got off the bed, got dressed into her dress that was dirty and had blood on it from her head. She went over to Seb’s bed and stroked his head and tried to lean over to kiss him but she got a bit dizzy. He was trying to get her to go sit down. He could tell that she was sore but she didn’t want to leave his side. Dad pulled a chair over by the top of Sebastien’s bed so Lisa could sit.

Sebastien’s head wound on the opposite side of his head was also stitched up and bandaged. They were both very lucky that this was the extent of their head wounds and that it hadn’t been more serious. Seb was also very sore all over but, he was really in pain in his chest and abdomen. It was already bruising up where the wheel had been pressing against him. They were waiting on the final word from the doctor about whether Seb had anything internal that they needed to worry about.

The four that went in first came out and let the others go in to visit for a few minutes. They were obviously sore and tired so David, Carlos and their girls didn’t stay in there very long. In fact, they said goodnight and headed back to the hotel after Seb told them he was fine and to go ahead and get some sleep. Urs and Alex hung around a while longer while they waited for the doctor to come back with the results from the tests.

Officer Dunn came back to speak to them. He told them that their blood tests had cleared Seb of any fault in the accident and that the driver of the truck had no injuries and had been transported to jail, awaiting arraignment on the drunk driving charge. He told them that a copy of the report would be mailed to them and sent to Lisa’s insurance company, but if they had any questions not to hesitate to call him.

Finally the doctor came back and told Lisa she was free to go and he was still debating whether he should release Sebastien or not. Eventually after scouring over all of the tests he came back and told Seb it was up to him whether he wanted to stay here overnight or not. There wasn’t anything broken or any internal injuries. He just had some deep bruising to his ribs from the steering wheel and to expect to be very sore for a couple of weeks.

He warned them both to be aware of any dizziness or nausea. If they were persistent, he wanted to see them back immediately. After giving Sebastien some prescriptions of the same pain meds and muscle relaxants, he told them both they could go. It wasn’t too soon for them. Unfortunately, they had to cut off Seb’s Armani suit when they got him to the hospital. So, they gave him a pair of scrub pants and shirt to wear home from the hospital.

Mom and Dad said they’d drive them home and Mom asked them if they wanted her to stay with them at least until tomorrow.

“Thanks Mom but I thought I’d ask Mary if she would be able to stay. It’ll also give us a chance to see if she can really cook or not. She’s going to be helping with the cooking once we get moved over to the main house. What we’ve eaten of hers at the daycare has been really good. But that has been mostly sweets. This will give me a chance to have her help cook some regular meals. That is, if she can stay.”

“Well, if she can’t, I’ll stay then. You’ll need help with the children too.”

“Thanks Mom.”

Urs and Alex said goodbye with strict instructions to call if they needed anything, then they headed back to the hotel. Alex had paid for two nights, knowing that they wouldn’t get to bed until very late when they left the party. Now she was really glad that she had because they could go and get some sleep without worrying about the checkout time.

Dad helped Seb into the back seat carefully. When he had gotten out of the hospital bed, he’d made a joke about not feeling too bad, but he wasn’t joking now. Every rib was screaming at him to stop moving and he could feel his muscles starting to tighten up, just like the doctor had said they would. He breathed a sigh of relief when he had finally gotten settled into the seat, but even the sigh had hurt.

Lisa slid slowly into the seat beside him both to keep from hurting herself but also to keep from jostling Seb any more than was necessary and she saw how much pain he was in. She wanted to hold onto him and hug him but knew that she would hurt him more by doing that.

“Are you alright?” she asked as Dad slowly pulled out of the hospital driveway.

“I will be, Cherie, but right now I am hurting pretty bad. I am looking forward to taking one of those pills he gave me. I know we are both very lucky that we weren’t hurt more than we were or even worse, killed by that man. Our children could have been left alone, again. Why are people so stupid to do things like that and be so careless about other people’s lives? Weren’t your parents taken by a drunk driver?”

“Yes, they were, when I was only five. That was when I went to live with Aunt Jessie and Uncle Jonathan.”

“They were very good people, your Aunt and Uncle. They weren’t young when they took you in either. I believe they were both in their late sixties.” Mom said.

“I’ve been very thankful for them. Auntie was so special to me. She was a bit opinionated but she always took very good care of me and I always knew she loved me. I believe Uncle Jonathan did too, but he didn’t show it as easily as she did. I remember being so angry with her when she moved us here after Uncle Jonathan died. I treated her really bad.”

“I remember that, too. But you were only fifteen and you changed after you met Alex. Those two became inseparable pretty quickly. And….It was only three years later that against our better judgment, ours meaning ours and her Aunt Jessie’s, that these two girls went on a trip to Paris.” Mom told Seb, smiling at him.

“Well, I’m sure glad they did come to Paris. And I’m glad that Alex is so talkative. She’s the one that started talking to me and then she introduced me to this beautiful lady here. I remember being so frustrated that we couldn’t talk to each other and my heart breaking that night when we said goodbye for what I thought was the last time.” Seb reached across and linked their fingers together and gave hers a squeeze.

He gently leaned his head against the car door and closed his eyes. He really was hurting and as easy as Dan was trying to drive, avoiding as many bumps as possible, the trip home was very painful.

Dan drove to the all night pharmacy and they got their prescriptions filled and then he bought them each a bottle of water so they could take their pain medicine, then it would be able to start working quicker. He drove them home and helped Seb into the house. Mom rushed in and turned the bed down. Seb was already in the hospital scrubs, so he just went into the bathroom for a minute then got into bed.

Mary had woken up as soon as she heard them coming in the door. She was flitting around trying to see what she could do to help. When Lisa asked her about staying for a couple of days, she told Lisa that she would stay as long as she was needed. Marie told Mary that she would come and relieve her for a while later so she could go home and get some things together. Mom and Dad said goodnight and left so they could get settled and try to get some sleep. Their medicine was kicking in and making them very drowsy. Everyone had been as quiet as possible, trying not to wake Sammy and Kayti up. Mary helped Lisa get changed into a nightgown. She had quite a few bruises down her right arm and that side of her face. After peeking in at the children, Lisa said goodnight to Mary and went into the bedroom.

She went into the bathroom and she tried to wipe off some more of the blood that the nurses hadn’t washed off of her face. Seb was almost asleep as she climbed into bed next to him. She was trying really hard not to shake the bed too much. She could tell that every move was hurting him.

“I’m sorry, Seb. If we had another bed, I’d go in there.”

“No you wouldn’t. I wouldn’t let you. He said trying to smile. “Come on Baby. Snuggle up next to me. I need to feel you close to me.”

Lisa moved over next to him and held his hand. She missed not getting to lay her head on his chest or shoulder, but it would be way too painful for him so she pressed her face up against the side of his shoulder and kept her fingers linked with his.

“I love you Seb. Thank you for what you did tonight in the car.”

“What did I do?” he honestly didn’t know what she was referring to.

“When you reached over and held me back when the truck was coming at us. I probably would have been hurt a lot worse if you hadn’t done that. So thank you.”

“I should have been able to keep you from getting hurt at all. I should have seen him coming and avoided him all together. I’m sorry Baby.”

“Sebastien Izambard, don’t you even say that. I mean it. There was not one thing you could have done to avoid him. He was already in our lane as we rounded the corner. There wasn’t anywhere to go and he was too close when we saw him. Please don’t think that.” Lisa said firmly.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t be upset with me. I just felt like I should have had more control over it. Maybe you are right. I don’t know. It all just happened so fast.”

“I’m just glad that we’re both okay. I mean we are both really sore but we’ll heal. Sleep now. Hopefully we’ll feel better when we wake up. I love you.”

“I love you too, Baby. Sweet dreams.” Seb said sounding like he was fading fast.

The medicine finally took over and forced much needed sleep upon both of them.

Mary had slept for several hours before the phone call came about the accident and had slept off and on after that. She woke up when they got home and was going to try to stay awake to hear them if they needed anything or if the children woke up. She didn’t want the kids to wind up running in and jumping on their bed. By the time the kids woke up, Mary had dozed off and on but she heard Kayti calling for her Mama. She hurried in and picked her up to quiet her. Sammy woke not long after and she brought him out with her and Kayti to the kitchen and fixed them some breakfast.

“Where’s my Mommy and Papa?” Sammy asked.

“They are still sleeping. They were out very late. We are going to try to be quiet and let them sleep for a while, okay? After we finish breakfast and get dressed, we can go outside and play while we wait for them to wake up.”

When they woke up, Lisa looked out and saw Sammy happily playing on his backhoe, moving piles of sand from one spot to another. Brenda told them yesterday about what she’d recently learned about Sammy’s home with his birth mother. She was a drug addict and went through countless men, most of whom were addicts themselves and a lot of them were physically violent with not only Sammy’s mother but also with Sammy. The little apartment they lived in was piled high with garbage and dirty dishes and there was very little food in the house other than a few sweets which is a common occurrence for addicts because they crave sweets.

Sammy had pretty much been fending for himself, finding whatever food happened to be in the house. It was obvious by the condition of his little body that he’d gone a long time without sufficient nutrition. Brenda had received the final report from the doctor who had seen Sammy the day she met him. They wanted to see him back next week and follow him closely to see if he was responding to the increased nutrition and also wanted to make sure that he was also taking a vitamin supplement daily. Lisa had told Brenda that she already had children’s chewable vitamins in the house for Kayti and had immediately started giving them to Sammy when he came to live with her.

It was unbelievable to Lisa that anyone could have a child, especially one as wonderful as Sammy and to treat him the way he had been treated. He was a treasure, so loving and compassionate and so eager to please. Although, Lisa knew that a lot of the eagerness to please was out of his previous fear of being hurt when someone was angry. He was already very protective of Kayti and was always helping her. Kayti was loving the attention she got from Sammy. Lisa had loved having Kayti with her but having the two of them together and watching how they interacted together was wonderful. She could see them having a very special bond all throughout their lives and that would be good for both of them.

Sammy looked up and saw Lisa in the doorway watching them.

“Mommy’s awake.” He hollered as he jumped off the toy and ran to the steps. He stopped short when he saw her. Fear filled his little face.

“Mommy..” his little voice trembled. “Why do you have a boo boo? Did Papa hurt you?”

“No Sammy, of course not.” Lisa was horrified that that had been his first thought.

Lisa rushed out the door and sat in the porch chair and pulled Sammy close to her and told him about the accident. She promised him that they would be alright but that they were very sore.

“Is our car all squished up?”

“Yes Sammy, the car is all squished. We’ll have to get another one in a few days when Mommy feels better.”

“I’m glad that Papa didn’t hurt you Mommy. I would be very mad at him.”

“I love you Sammy.” Lisa said and hugged him to her until it hurt too much.

“I love you too Mommy.” He kissed her on her cheek and touched her cheek. “That’s a bad owie isn’t it?”

“It’s bad but it will get better.”

Mary came over carrying Kayti who looked at Lisa and said “Boo Boo.

Sammy told Kayti everything about the accident and told Kayti that she had to be careful not to hurt Mommy’s boo boo’s.

Lisa and Mary looked at each other in amazement at Sammy. They hated that he knew to tell her that. He had been hurt so many times and knew what it felt like.

“Lisa..” Seb called from inside the house.

He was trying to get up to go into the bathroom but his muscles had stiffened up so much overnight that he was having a very hard time moving without it hurting too much.

They all went into the house and Mary put Kayti into her high chair with a snack and then she went into the bedroom with Lisa and helped Seb get into the bathroom and then left to let him have some privacy, telling him to call her if he needed her.

When they got him back into the bed and covered up they let the children come and say hi to him but they had to stay off of the bed. He kept his chest covered up. The bruising was very visible today and he didn’t want to frighten them. The bandage and visible bruises on the left side of his face were enough for them to see. Lisa allowed them to stay for only a few minutes and then Mary took them out of the room telling Lisa and Seb that she’d bring them something to eat in a few minutes.

Lisa was hoping that the accident wasn’t going to make it impossible to plan their wedding. When she voiced these concerns to Seb, he promised her that they would get married no matter how he felt. Right now he was hurting but he really hoped that the worst of it would go away quickly.

Chapter 52:

For Seb, the next few days went by in a blur. His chest hurt so bad that he wound up taking the pain medicine as often as was allowed which in turn made him very sleepy. He spent most of the time in bed either asleep or just laying there watching the television.

The other Divos and their ladies popped in occasionally to check on them and brought some meals and to help occupy the children for a while. Otherwise they were taking advantage of the beautiful weather and exploring the area and sunbathing on the many wonderful beaches.

David and Grace took Lisa’s advice and booked a day on a whale watching cruise several miles out off the Florida coast and had a wonderful time. They both came back a little bit sunburned and tired from the fresh air but it had been so worth it when they saw several whale groups during their cruise.

Carlos and Vicki would have gone, but Carlos remembered a former ocean trip that had left him feeling seasick for days afterwards. Instead they did the touristy thing and visited several of the nearby attractions like, Weeki Wachee Springs and the Tarpon Springs sponge docks. Then they went and shared a fantastic seafood platter that left them very full and when the fresh air and good food left them worn out, they went back to their hotel for a shower, a bit of loving and a nap in their nice cool room.

When Alex wasn’t working, she and Urs mostly just enjoyed their time together at home.
Alex asked Urs if he would go with her to New York next week if she decided to go. She hadn’t totally made up her mind yet. He agreed to go and asked her if they could spend a couple of days there to enjoy the trip instead of just flying in to talk to Joe and then flying right home. He wanted to take her to some places that she had never been. She had been to New York on business for the station several times but there was a lot of the city that she hadn’t explored yet. Once they got talking about that, it kind of made up Alex’s mind for her and after checking that Alex could get the time off of work, they made the reservations to go on Monday and come home on Thursday.

After a couple of days, Lisa felt better unless something touched the wound on her head or if she tried to move too quickly and she told Mary that they would get along fine. Mary made her promise to call if she changed her mind or just needed her to come and play with the kids for a while. Lisa knew that they needed Mary at work and felt like she could do alright alone. After the first day without Mary she regretted sending her home. She felt exhausted and was glad once it was time for them all to go to bed. She called Mom and asked if there was any way that she could pick the kids up and take them to the daycare for a few hours the next day.

Sammy, who knew what it was to be in pain, walked around the house looking worried all the time, once he saw what they looked like. Lisa had explained to him about the accident and that they were going to be alright. They just needed some time to feel better, especially Papa. Sammy had been frightened when he saw Seb’s bruises on his chest and abdomen. He wanted to sit with Seb and Seb said it would be alright as long as he sat still. So, she let him climb up on the bed carefully and sit next to Seb. She saw that Sammy kept looking at Seb to make sure he was ok. Once when she walked into the room, she saw that Seb was asleep and Sammy was just sitting there next to him holding Seb’s hand. When he saw her he looked up at her and she saw that there were tears in his eyes.

“Sammy, are you alright?” Lisa asked him quietly as she ran her hand through his hair.

“I don’t like for Papa to have that big boo boo. Papa hurts real bad and I know he wants to cry sometimes just like me, but he is being very brave.”

Lisa was constantly overwhelmed by the things that Sammy said. For one so young, he had so much compassion and he seemed very smart. Lisa was really looking forward to having the time to spend on seeing how much she could teach him. She had already started teaching him his letters and he was learning so fast. She had also heard Seb teaching Sammy some French words as they had been sitting in here together. Then he would go and try to get Kayti to say them. Once she began having a bigger vocabulary, Lisa knew that Kayti would probably pick up the new language very quickly, especially having two teachers now instead of just one.

In the morning, Lisa fixed the kids some breakfast and told them that Grandma was going to pick them up and take them to school. Lisa watched for Sammy’s reaction. He just looked towards the bedroom door where Seb was still sleeping.

“Sammy, I will take very good care of Papa. I promise, and then you can help me take care of him when Grandma brings you home, alright? You will have lots of fun at school and Papa will love to hear you tell him about everything you got to do at school. I bet you could even draw him a picture while you are there. It will make him feel so much better.”

“Papa will like me to draw a picture for him?” Sammy said, not sounding quite convinced yet.

“Oh I know he will and we can hang it up in there on the wall so he can see it all the time. I can’t wait to see what you decide to draw for him. Mary will be there too in case you need her.”

Sammy went to school, but Lisa wasn’t sure how he would do without her there. She hoped he would be alright. Mom was prepared to go pick him up early if need be.

When Mom came to pick the kids up she told Lisa that she had bought a car seat and booster seat to have in her car. Then they wouldn’t have to keep transferring the seats back and forth. That made Lisa think about the ones in her car. She was just going to go get new ones. She didn’t want to take a chance that they might have been damaged in the wreck.

After Mom left with the kids, Lisa fixed her and Seb some breakfast and went to sit beside him on the bed to eat.

“How are you feeling today?” she asked him. He had been pretty quiet this morning.

“I’m alright. I’ve been thinking about vehicles. You need another one and I’d like to have one here. I’m just not sure what yet. When I came home and saw your small car with the car seat and booster back there, I was already thinking that you needed something bigger.”

“Yeah, I’d been thinking of getting a mini-van. I’ll never know when I might wind up with another child. Look at how unexpected Sammy’s arrival was. I need to have enough space. After we finish eating, I’ll bring my laptop in if you feel up to it and we can go online and look at some different vehicles for both of us.”

Once they started looking, it didn’t take Lisa long to see what would be the best one for her, plus she loved the look of it and the interior had so many extras, like the built in GPS and adjustable seats. She could even plug in her IPod that held all of her music, into a built in jack right on the dash. For the children there was an available drop down screen to watch a DVD while they were riding. just wanted to test drive the Escalade and see how comfortable it felt and then if it felt comfortable to drive, then she would purchase it.

Seb took a little longer to decide on what he wanted to get. He figured that since they would have the reliable, family type vehicle that he should get them something fun to ride in too. Finally he saw what he wanted. It was a black BMW 650i Convertible and once he’d decided on it, he couldn’t wait to go get it. He knew though that it would be at least a week if not more before he would feel up to driving.

They enjoyed the quiet while the kids were gone to school. In between napping, they organized the wedding plans. Mom was going to come in when she dropped the kids off and they would start making the phone calls about reserving the tents and other necessities, they would find out who was still available at this short notice.

When Mom brought the kids into the house, it was very quiet. She asked Sammy to take Kayti into her room for a few minutes so they wouldn’t wake Mommy and Papa up from their nap. She peeked in through the open door to their bedroom and saw them lying together sleeping peacefully. Seb was holding Lisa’s hand in his, high on his chest and just under his chin, above the many colorful bruises that were beginning to heal.

She was so happy that Seb had come back into Lisa’s life. She may have gone through her life alone, with only her children filling her life and she may have even thought that she was happy that way. But seeing the way that Seb and Lisa were together, Marie knew for sure that they were meant to be. She pulled the door closed quietly, hoping to give them a little more time to rest before the children woke them up. Sammy had been so excited to show them his pictures that he had drawn for them so he wasn’t really happy having to wait but so far he had been quiet as she’d asked him. She waited to wake them until she had dinner on the table. She had made a casserole for dinner for her and Dan, so she had just put and extra one together and brought it for Lisa so she wouldn’t have to cook tonight. She had also made a salad and brought a loaf of French bread.

She tapped lightly on the bedroom door when everything was ready.

“Coming.” Lisa answered sleepily. “Oh, hi Mom. I didn’t hear you come in. What time is it?’

“Almost five. I’ve got dinner on the table and the kids are already eating. Do you need me to stay or would it be alright for me to go and get Dad’s dinner heating?”

“Thank you so much. Of course you can go. That’s great. I guess I overslept. Dinner would have been very late if it wasn’t for you.” She hugged Mom and went to say hello to the children.

“You two have been very good. Mommy didn’t even hear you.”

“Grandma said you and Papa needed to take a long nap so you can feel better. So me and my sister played outside on our bikes and Grandma watched us and helped Kayti when she fell off her bike. But she didn’t get a boo boo. I didn’t fall off of my bike.”

“I’m so proud of you. Did you have a good day at school?”

“I had fun and I colored some pictures for you and Papa.” He told her and he was beaming.

“You did one for me too?”

“Yup, wanna see it?” he asked bouncing in his seat.

“I sure do. Just wipe your hands on your napkin and you can go get it.”

While Sammy was gone to get his prized pictures out of his new back pack, Mom said goodbye and headed home. She said she would come and take the kids to school in the morning and then come back so they could make their phone calls and take care of the rest of the wedding plans. They’d obviously needed the sleep today. Sammy came running back waving the pieces of paper.

“Here they are Mommy. One is for you and one is for Papa. I drawed flowers for you cuz you like your flowers that are outside and I drawed Papa a picture of the big giant dump truck that came and bringed the sand for the sandbox.”

“Sammy, these pictures are both wonderful. You did a great job. Did you really draw these all by yourself?”

“Uh huh. My teacher said I am like an artist….Mommy, what’s an artist?”

“An artist is someone who draws or paints pictures really well.”

A huge smile came over Sammy’s face and Lisa could almost see him puff his chest out in pride as he realized what his teacher had said about him.

“I like to go to school Mommy. Can I go to school tomorrow?”

“You sure can Sweetheart, but right now, we need to eat our dinner. You sit here and eat with Kayti and I’ll be right back as soon as I check to see if Papa is ready to eat.”

Another battle won, Lisa thought and wanted to remember to thank Lauren for being so great with Sammy. He had obviously felt comfortable with her and she had made quite an impression on him. But most of all she had given him something to feel really good about himself.

Lisa walked quietly back into the bedroom in case Seb had fallen back to sleep. He wasn’t in the bed and then she heard the water running in the shower so she went back to the kitchen to sit with the children while they ate.

Seb came out into the kitchen and seemed to be moving a little better than he had since the accident.

“I’m hungry and something smells really great.” He said and seemed awfully chipper.

“Someone is feeling better, I think. Mom brought us a casserole and had it all ready when she woke me up. She even got these two hungry children eating for me.”

“Papa, are you feeling better today? Cuz, Grandma said if we let you and Mommy take a long nap that it would make you feel much better.”

“Well, Grandma must be a smart lady then, because I do feel much better and thank you Sammy and Kayti for letting us take such a good nap.”

“Papa wait until you see what Sammy drew for us today at school. I think we have an artist in the family.”

“Yup and Miss Lauren said that’s what I am, an artist, cuz I drawed so good.”

Seb made all of the correct comments on Sammy’s picture which was actually quite good for his age. Lisa loved watching Seb’s face as he tried to process some of Sammy’s incorrect words, like drawed instead of drew. As far as Seb had come in his English skills, there were still sometimes she had seen him searching his memory for a word for something in English.

She served them each a plate and they enjoyed their first sit down at the table meal all together since the accident. Sammy was really coming out of his shell and had plenty to tell them about his day at school. Kayti tried to cut in with her own stories of which you could understand only a few words that she’d said, but everyone at least tried to pay attention to her so she wouldn’t feel left out.

Friday morning, Mom came and took the kids to school and came back as promised. Then they got to work and first they decided on a tentative date, Saturday January 28th, for their wedding. They planned the wedding for sunset with a reception following. Then Mom called a few contacts that she had and asked them their opinion on who would be best to call for the tents and a caterer. The ladies she called had weddings in their families in the last year and some of them even had outdoor weddings. Even though those weddings weren’t on the beach, they would have the same challenges to deal with, being prepared for whatever weather they would have on the chosen day. That would be the most important thing to make sure that was adequately prepared for by having several party tents, one for the actual wedding, one for the food and one for the reception complete with a dance floor.

Mom came away from those phone calls with a wealth of much needed information, such as a suggestion for a solid path laid out for Lisa and the rest of the wedding party that was walking down the aisle instead of walking in the sand in their shoes. The other option was to have them walk down barefoot and Lisa wasn’t sure she wanted to go quite that informal. Generators were suggested for keeping the food hot and other electrical needs like the music for the wedding and reception. Upon calling one of the rental shops that carried the necessary tents, they also told Mom that they carried the generators that she would need and the flooring for the aisle and the dancing at the reception as well as several different types of chairs for the wedding and the tables and chairs for the reception.

Mom also got names of several reputable caterers from her friends. She called them all to see who had the best ideas and prices for what they wanted which was a buffet style dinner but with semi formal tables and chairs. In this outside setting, they felt that the less formal dinner was called for.

By just after lunch, they had the tents and other equipment all reserved and they had a caterer that was available on their date coming out this afternoon to sit down with them to come up with a completed menu and to decide on their wedding cake.

Lisa and Seb were thrilled at the amount that had been accomplished so quickly. They just needed to find a wedding photographer and contact everyone and find out how many people could make it. The caterer said that if they could have a rough estimate of people before she arrived, that she would get right on the arrangements.

While they waited for her to arrive, Seb and Lisa were busy making calls to everyone that they intended to invite, leaving messages for those that they were unable to speak to and telling them to get back to them as soon as possible.

Lisa loved hearing Seb while he was calling those of his family and friends in France. She enjoyed hearing the words flow over his tongue. She watched him and even though she couldn’t understand the words, she knew when he was telling them about the accident as he visibly winced as he talked about the initial fear they’d both had and the pain he’d been in. Then she saw his eyes glimmer as she could tell that he was talking about her and their wedding. She could see the joy in his face as he told them of their plans and requested their presence if they were able to make it. Lisa was still going to go get some actual wedding invitations to send out but, they felt like they needed to give everyone as much time as possible to try to make travel arrangements where necessary.

When they had both finished all of their calls and Mom had left to go pick the kids up from the day care, they compared notes on who they’d been successful in reaching and who had already responded that they would definitely be there for the wedding.

Lisa was waiting for Seb to tell her if his mother was coming. She wasn’t sure how she felt. While she knew that he had called her and seemed happy when he spoke to her, she just kept lining up Seb’s and Sammy’s histories and didn’t know how she could be pleasant to his mother when she knew what she did now. But she decided that if Seb wanted his mother here and she did wind up coming, that for his sake, she would have to put aside her feelings and welcome her.

As he went down the list he’d been writing, he did finally come to her name and told Lisa that she was in fact going to come. She had even said she was going to come early so she could spend some time with them and meet her new daughter and grandchildren. She had wanted to come right away when he told her about the accident but she told him that realistically it would probably be a couple of weeks before she would arrive and promised to call him as soon as her travel plans were set.

Now that everything was well on its way to being planned for the wedding, all the bride and groom to be had to do is relax and get healed up in the next few weeks so they could enjoy it.

When Mom and the kids came back, Seb asked Marie if she or Dan could take them to the Cadillac dealership tomorrow so Lisa could get her vehicle. It would only be a few more days before she would go back to work and he knew that she didn’t like being tied down without a vehicle, especially if there was an emergency.

Marie called Dan to confirm it with him and then told Seb and Lisa that they would be here in the morning. She would stay with the children and Dan would take them to check out the Escalade. Seb said he would see how he felt in the morning and decide if it was too soon to be out riding around since he was still very sore. He had done well today as long as he took a pain pill and relaxed until the sleepiness wore off, then he was feeling pretty good for at least a couple of hours until it started wearing off and then he felt like the truck had run him over instead of just hitting the car if he didn’t take another pill soon enough, so he tried not to let that happen.

Lisa answered the knock on the door and found Drew Williams standing there with his back to the door as he looked around the property, admiring the view from here.

“Hi Drew.”

“Hi Lisa. How are you and Seb doing? We’ve tried to keep the noise in the house to a minimum this week so you both could rest.”

“Thanks Drew, we appreciate that.”

“I just came by to show you the updated schedule that we’ve put together if you’re up to it. It actually looks really good.”

“Hi Mr. Drew.”

Sammy had come running when he heard Drew in the house.

“Hi Sammy, I love your sandbox and sand pile and I’ve seen how great you do when you are driving your trucks. Maybe when you grow up, you can come and help me.”

“Really!!!” Sammy said and the excitement was oozing out of him.

“Yup, you just need to eat all of your vegetables so you can get big and strong like my guys that work for me.”

“Okay. Mommy can we have our vetchtables for dinner?”

“Yes Sammy, We’ll have some vegetables with our dinner.” Lisa said smiling at his exuberance. “Come on in Drew and sit and I’ll get Seb. I know he wanted to see this too. Sammy, can you take Kayti into her room and play for a few minutes and after we are done talking to Drew, Mommy will finish fixing our dinner.”

“Yes, Mommy.”

“Thank you Sweetheart.”

They went over the schedule that included the new crew that was being added and they would all be working full time on Monday morning when everyone would be back from their holidays.

“I was really excited when I realized just how much quicker things were going to go. I allocated all the individual jobs to each of the crews which are split up into smaller groups and everyone has their list of tasks. If they have any questions or concerns they will all come to me and if need be I will come to you if I have any questions. Also, I will be monitoring everything daily to make sure everything is done the way you and I have discussed it. I saw the sign on Sammy’s door and I’ve added that room to the list of first rooms to be completed upstairs along with the master bedroom and bath and Kayti’s room. We are very close to completing the ceilings in most of the rooms which will allow us to start painting the rooms. I’ll let you know when we are ready so you can come and give your final approval for the completed work just before we paint. Do you have any questions or concerns about anything?”

“Not right now, Drew. You have done such a great job already and have kept us informed all along the way and I appreciate that. It’s getting close now isn’t it?”

“It really is. By this schedule, I think we are looking at the job being completed by the end of June at the latest.”

“You’re kidding!!! The whole house? That soon?”

“Unless there are any unforeseen problems, that is what we’re looking at right now. That extra crew helped us to really step it up. I’m scheduling the roofers to come out next month and we are almost ready to order all of the light fixtures and they will be installed as soon as the ceilings are finished. So if there are any changes to what you had previously picked out, just let me know.”

“No, I think everything I had listed is fine.

“You wanna see my train, Mr. Drew?” Sammy called from Kayti’s room.

“Sure Sammy, I’d love to see it. Just one minute. Unless there is anything else for us to discuss, I’m going to check out Sammy’s train and then head home for the weekend.”

“I think that is all for now.”

“Great. Sammy lead the way and show me your train.”

When Drew had gone into Sammy’s room, Seb hugged Lisa very gently.

“In six months we’ll be moving into our house.” She said kissing his cheek.

“He is really doing such a great job. I’ve looked at a lot of the work in the house and he and his crew are doing such high quality work. They aren’t just hurrying through everything.”

“I don’t know much about that type of work but Dad has been telling me the same thing. He says that he can tell that Drew really cares about the outcome of his jobs.”

Drew came back out and seemed really excited.

“I’ve just had an idea but you can tell me if you hate it. I was looking at Sammy’s train and I just had a vision of not only his train platform that he says his Grandpa made for him but another track as well. In addition to the typical chair rail mounted mid height on the wall, I was thinking that I could build narrow shelving that would go around the room just above the closet, entry door and windows so it wouldn’t interfere with anything. We’d mount a track inside the shelf and then he could watch a train circle the whole room. Of course it wouldn’t be one that he could take down without help but I thought it would be a great addition. But you think about it and let me know. I won’t be offended if it doesn’t suit you.”

“Drew, that sounds like a fantastic idea. I love it. What do you think, Cherie?

“I think it is a great idea. Go right ahead and do it. I know Sammy will love it. Let’s not tell him. We can make it a surprise for when we move in.”

“Alright. Well, I’m off then. See you on Monday. I hope that you both get feeling better really soon.”

Chapter 53:

Saturday morning, Sebastien took his pain medicine when Mom called to say that they were on their way. He really wanted to go with Lisa. After he took the pill he laid down until they arrived which gave him the time to let the drowsiness wear off. By the time they arrived, he wasn’t feeling too bad but he took a pill with him just in case they wound up being out long enough to need it.

Since they had already been online and Lisa knew exactly which vehicle she wanted to test drive, Dan helped them put a stop to all of the chit chat that the salesman was trying to keep up. He told the man that Lisa was prepared to purchase the vehicle after she test drove it first. The salesman got Lisa a set of keys for a blue Escalade that only had sixteen miles on it and she got into the driver’s seat, Seb got into the passenger’s seat and Dan got into the back and played with all of the little extras like the cup holders and the DVD player and made note of the many storage compartments he found.

Seb was up front doing the same thing and she laughed as she watched the two men looking like little boys playing with a new toy. She couldn’t say anything about it. She wanted to do the same thing. But for now she wanted to test drive it and finalize the purchase and get Seb home before he started hurting.

During the drive, they marveled at how smooth the ride was. Seb especially could vouch for the gentleness of the ride. Lisa felt very comfortable in the seat. It had so many adjustments that it was impossible not to be able to set it where you needed it for your own height and for how close you liked to be to the steering wheel. Dan asked Seb to turn the air on so he could see how well it cooled the back area where the children would be sitting. He gave it a thumbs up as it quickly cooled of the back area. He did tell Lisa to be aware that the air did work exceptionally well and to be careful not to turn the kids into popsicles. When they got back to the dealership they played with the seats to see how all of the adjustments worked and were amazed at the versatility of the vehicle. Lisa was convinced that this was what she wanted so they went in and found the salesman and told him they were ready to purchase the vehicle.

While they waited for the salesman to come back to them, Lisa took the opportunity to talk to Dad.

“Dad, I need to ask you something.”

“Sure Sweetheart. What is it?”

“I was wondering if you would walk me down the aisle and give me away.” She didn’t know why she was feeling nervous but she couldn’t help it and was standing there doing her usual nervous gesture of fidgeting with her hands.

Dan thought it was cute, the way she’d asked him and was looking nervous.

“Lisa, I’ve been hoping that you would ask me. I would consider it an honor to do that.”

“Thank you Dad and thank you also for taking care of the wedding. You didn’t have to do that. But I really appreciate it and you and Mom make me feel very special.”

“You are special to us, all of you.” He said including Seb as he looked at him.

The salesman sat down with them and showed Lisa all of the paper work that went with the vehicle. One of the more important ones to Lisa was the booklet that showed her all of the little extras and how they worked and where they were all located. This model already had all of the extras added on. Otherwise, she would have had to put an order in for what she wanted and probably would have had to wait a week or more. So she was glad that they had this one on the lot. He also informed her of the satellite radio that was already installed and that the vehicle purchase included a year of free subscription to the satellite radio channels. After the year was up they would have the option of paying for the monthly charge or discontinuing it. They began doing the purchase papers and the salesman was beginning to tell her about the financing options but Seb stopped him and told him that it was being totally paid for today. Dan wasn’t sure who was more stunned, the salesman or Lisa.

“Seb, I didn’t really want to cut into my available cash right now, not until the house is completed. I’m going to have to finance it. I haven’t gotten into any of the donation money yet and I have no idea how long it will be before we have the insurance settlement.”

“I’m paying for the Escalade, Baby.”

She just stared at him and she could tell by the look on his face that there was no arguing about this with him. His mind was made up. She was marrying him and she was going to have to learn to trust that he knew what was best for them financially. She usually left all of the money matters up to the lawyer and accountant she had hired. She was actually glad that he seemed to always know what he wanted to do about any financial matters. He too had an accountant and consulted him when necessary but he had a good financial sense and it really made Lisa feel more comfortable knowing that he was so good in this area.

After a substantial pause, Lisa said, “Alright Seb. Thank You.”

Dan had been sitting back just being there for support, but ready to offer any advice if either of them asked him. But he was really glad as he watched the exchange between the two. Lisa had been very independent up until now, out of necessity, but now she had Seb and Dan was glad that it looked like Lisa was easing into the shared decisions very well. She could have stuck to her decision and not allowed Seb to help and he thought that that would not have been a good sign for their relationship.

When the purchase was complete, Dan left to go to the guest house. Seb and Lisa had one stop to make. Actually Seb stayed in the Escalade playing while Lisa went into the store and purchased a new car seat for Kayti and a booster seat for Sammy. Now they were ready to go anywhere they needed to.

By the time they got home, Seb and Lisa were really tired. This had been their first outing since the accident. Mom had fixed them all lunch and after they all ate, she and Dan gave hugs all around and left so that they could get some rest.

Sammy was very excited to see the new vehicle. He called it a truck and so that is what they called it. They knew they wouldn’t get him to settle down so they could rest until he had seen the inside of the Escalade. So, they all went out and showed the children their new truck and Seb enjoyed showing Sammy how the seats changed around and about the DVD player. Of course Sammy said it would be fun to watch Bob when they went riding somewhere.

Lisa took the time to acquaint herself with everything on the dash. She especially liked the GPS and looked forward to being able to use it. After the children had been showed everything, they all went into the house and Kayti went down for a nap. Lisa told Sammy that he didn’t have to go to sleep but she wanted him to lie down and rest for a few minutes. Whenever he did that it was inevitable, he always fell asleep for at least an hour and that gave her time to take a rest. Seb wound up sleeping for most of the afternoon.

On Sunday, the other three couples came over so they could talk about the wedding plans. Alex and Urs would be gone most of this next week so they wanted to finalize everything before they left. The others took care of the children and the cooking all day Sunday. Seb and Lisa were told to stay sitting or lying down as needed and they would take care of everything.

Lisa hadn’t officially asked Alex yet about being her maid of honor so she pulled her aside and spoke to her and Alex told her that of course she would do that. Lisa told her that one of their other school friends, Stacie that had moved away after High School was going to come and be a Bridesmaid.

Seb had called Pierre in France and he was definitely coming and was going to be his Best Man and the other three Divos would be his groomsmen. Lisa felt really comfortable asking Grace and Vicki to be her bridesmaids. They hadn’t known each other long but they all got on very well. That took care of the wedding party. Their only detail left was to find a photographer that was available. They had called a few and they were already booked, so they would make more calls on Monday.

Sammy was in his room kneeling on the floor in front of his train platform and moving some of the pieces around while the train was gliding over the tracks. Marie and Dan had gotten him some little people and trees and buildings. Sammy looked up when someone knocked on his door.

“May I come in Sammy?” Carlos asked him.

Sammy hadn’t gone and hidden from Carlos again, but he didn’t talk to him either. He seemed to avoid being anywhere too close and especially not alone with him. Carlos wanted to change that. He knew that he would be spending a lot of time with Seb’s new family and he didn’t want Sammy to be in a continuing state of unease around him. He needed to find a way to build a bridge between them.

“That’s a really great train set. I had one like it when I was a Nino. That means boy in Spanish. Your Papa says you are doing great learning his French words. If you would like me to, I could teach you some Spanish words too.” Carlos added but stayed standing leaning up against the door jam. He wasn’t going to go into Sammy’s room until he was invited.

“What kind of word is train in Spanish?” Sammy asked him.

Carlos wanted to jump for joy that Sammy had spoken to him, but he kept his composure. He took a couple of tentative steps into the room.

“Train in Spanish is, Tren.”

“Tren?”

“Yes, that’s very good, Sammy.” Carlos said and sat on the floor, across the table from Sammy.

“It sounds almost the same.”

“Yes, it does. A lot of Spanish and English words sound a bit like each other.” He slowly reached out and stood a tree up that had fallen over. “Sammy, I would very much like to be your amigo, your friend.”

Sammy looked at Carlos thoughtfully. “You sound like Joey, but you don’t look like him.”

“Do you think that I do things like Joey did?”

“No.” Sammy said in a small voice.

“No, and I never would, Sammy. I promise you. I don’t want you to be afraid of me. I would like for us to be friends. Do you think we could be amigos? That means friends.”

“Okay.”

Carlos put his hand out and Sammy remembered what Mr. Drew had taught him so he shook Carlos’ hand. Carlos smiled really big at him. He was really glad that he didn’t have to be afraid of Papa’s friend anymore. He knew it made Mommy and Papa sad when he was afraid of Carlos, but he couldn’t help it before.

Carlos held the little hand in his and smiled at Sammy. He could visibly see Sammy relax. It was a very good feeling for Carlos. Maybe now he wouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around the boy.

When they came walking out into the living room, Sammy announced to anyone within
listening distance, “Me and Carlos are amigos now.”

There was a collective sigh of relief and lots of smiles from everyone. Seb pulled Sammy into an easy hug and told him how happy it made him that he wasn’t afraid of Carlos anymore. That situation had created a lot of stress and a general uncomfortable feeling when Carlos was around and everyone knew how bad it made Carlos feel. They were glad to be able to put that behind them.

Lisa and Alex discussed the trip that she and Urs were taking to New York to talk to Joe.

“Are you nervous?”

“You know, I was, but knowing that Urs will at least be there in the city with me and knowing that he loves me no matter whose baby this is, has really helped me to feel much better. If the baby turns out to be Joe’s, we’ll deal with it and I guess he will always be in our lives but I just couldn’t get past the fact that he has a right to know that there is a child growing inside of me that might be his. He has always been good to me and I think if I waited and it is his baby, he might be angry that I stole time away from him that he could have spent preparing for being a father. I just didn’t feel right when I thought about keeping it from him.”

“I’m glad that you feel so good about the baby now. When you came that night and were so upset, I was worried about you. But I am already excited about this baby. When you get back and after the wedding, you and I will have to go and scour all of the baby stores and at least window shop if you aren’t ready to buy anything yet.”

“Actually, Urs and I are looking at houses. We saw one only a few miles from here that we liked and we are considering that one and one more that we saw.”

“Oh Alex, I am so happy for you.” Lisa said as she hugged Alex.

Seb and Urs had been talking and they were watching their ladies who were deep in conversation.

“You know Seb; we are two very lucky guys.”

“I know.” Seb said patting Urs on the back.

David and Carlos gave everyone something to laugh at as they watched the pair sharing the cooking duties over their prized grill that evening. Each acting as if their way was the best to do it and mildly arguing.

Lisa and Seb had been sitting outside in the chairs enjoying the sunshine. They weren’t allowed to lift a finger. The children were being well looked after by Auntie Alex while Grace and Vicki worked together in the kitchen getting the rest of the meal together, and they did it with much less friction than their male counterparts. Dinner did finally get put on the table and even though it had been a hard fought battle, the two rival grill cooks wound up making some wonderful steaks that just about melted in your mouth.

Seb and Lisa told everyone about where all of the wedding plans stood and about the accelerated finish time for the main house. Everyone got all excited and Alex suggested they plan some sort of Grand Opening party when it was done.

“There’s something I also wanted to talk to you both about. It’s just an idea I’ve had and if you don’t like it or just don’t want to do it for whatever reason, you won’t offend me.

“What is it Urs?” Lisa asked him.

I was wondering, what you would think of a complete music room either somewhere in the house or building a separate building somewhere on the property? I was thinking that it would be great for the kids to have access to music training if they are interested.”

“That’s a fantastic idea. Sammy already loves to sing. Kayti tries with her limited vocabulary too. What do you think Baby? Is there somewhere in the house that you don’t already have set aside for something?” Seb said and Lisa could see the wheels turning in his head.

“I love the idea. I want the children to be exposed to as many different things as possible, but I don’t think there are any rooms that would be appropriate that I haven’t already got plans for. Why don’t we talk to Drew about building something behind the house? Then it could be built however you guys think would be most suitable for what you have in mind. I will even leave that totally up to all of you and you can design it and Seb you can decide where it would be best to put it.”

That suggestion opened the door for a long discussion between the guys and even some input from Grace and Vicki about all the possibilities for the building.

Alex noticed that Seb and Lisa were looking tired and quietly told Urs that they should
help clean up and then let them get some rest. Besides, she and Urs were leaving early in the morning for New York and they still had to finish packing.

After the cleanup, everyone said goodnight and they all agreed that they would keep talking about the music building and Seb was going to speak to Drew on Monday about it.

Once it was ready, they would see that all of the children would be able to learn whatever instrument they wanted to learn to play and if they were interested in singing they would get vocal training. No child is too young to be exposed to music. When the Divos weren’t around, they would see to it that some reputable musicians would come to the house and work with the children.

************************************************************************

Urs and Alex were sitting on the plane as it was landing at JFK Airport in New York, midday on Monday. Alex had tried to reach Joe but had been unsuccessful so far. She did leave a message that she was coming to the city and that she wanted to meet with him in the next couple of days whenever it was convenient for him.

They got checked into their hotel and spent a couple of hours enjoying the comfortable bed in their room. Then they showered and decided to go exploring the city for a while. They were really enjoying this freedom, just the two of them together with no time limits, no obligations. They strolled through small shops and the big department stores.

Urs was beginning to start thinking more often about asking Alex to marry him. He wasn’t really sure that she would want to marry him. He knew she loved him. He had no doubt about that. But like him, she had been such a free spirit so much in control of her own life, her own destiny, and hadn’t allowed anything to steer her off her desired course, at least not until now.

Now there was a child to consider. It really didn’t have to change too much in her life. She would still be the same dynamic woman and he was fairly certain that she would never be able to be the stay at home type of Mom. She would need to keep her job. There wasn’t anything wrong with that at all. There were mothers who had important careers and also juggled the family life and did it well. He knew that Alex could be that type of Mom. But whatever she decided to do, it would be fine with him. If by some chance she did decide to quit working for a while, he would gladly support her and his child. He had already begun thinking of this baby as his child. Even if the biological father turned out to be Joe, he would be in this child’s life for as long as Alex wanted him to be. He was beginning to have trouble thinking of any kind of life that didn’t have his beautiful Alex in it, right by his side.

“Everything okay? Alex asked when she felt like his mind was somewhere else.

“Everything is perfect, Sweetheart.” He answered smiling into her lovely blue eyes. “I was just thinking how much I love you.” He added with a kiss to her soft lips.

Just when they had started heading back towards the hotel, Alex’s cell phone began to ring. When she looked at the caller ID, she saw that it was Joe that was returning her call. Suddenly, she got a case of nerves. Urs noticed and put his arm around her, giving her added strength. She answered and talked to him for a couple of minutes and arranged to meet him for lunch tomorrow at a small deli just outside of where he worked.

“Well, that’s it. I’ll meet him for lunch tomorrow and get this over with.” She told Urs when she had hung up her phone and put it back into her purse.

“There is nothing to worry about. No matter what he says, I’ll be waiting for you to come back to me when you are done with your lunch.” He gave her an extra tight squeeze as they continued walking.

They had done a lot of walking and Urs could tell that Alex was tiring and suggested they take the subway back to the stop right outside the hotel. Alex didn’t argue.

As they waited on the platform for the next train, Urs could tell that a couple of women were looking at him. Alex had made a comment to him one time when they were out to dinner in a restaurant, that not every woman that looks at him knows he is famous. They are just appreciating looking at a gorgeous man for a few minutes. He remembered laughing when she’d said that. In this case he really hoped that this time it was the truth. He didn’t want anyone or anything intruding on this special time that he and Alex were sharing.

“Hey lover boy, I think you are being watched.” Alex whispered in his ear after they had gotten seated in the sparsely filled train car. It was more than an hour before the rush hour surge of passengers would make this train car look like a can of sardines. He smiled and looked in the direction of the ladies. They were definitely talking about him. He still didn’t know whether they knew who he was or not though.
When they came to their stop, the ladies stepped off just behind he and Alex. He turned to them and smiled and treated them to a Blinky wink that Alex had told him ought to be patented.

“I told you it was him. I told you, but you didn’t believe me.” One of the girls squealed, making the other girl wince and she gave Urs an apologetic look.

“Mister, I’m sorry. Please let me apologize for my sister. She has been staring at you since we were at the other station. She insists you are some famous singer named Erz or something. She’s quite obsessed with his group.”

“Really, so am I. They are fantastic aren’t they?” Alex said winking at the star struck younger girl and linking her arm into Urs’.

“You are Urs, I knew it. Nobody else could Blinky wink like that.”

“Yes, I am Urs and I am always glad to meet a fan.” He said and took her hand to shake it and he could feel it trembling.

When she asked if she could take a picture with her phone, he agreed to just one picture with her and her sister after the girl showed Alex how to use it. The girl thanked him and asked him if the others were in town. He told her no, they weren’t here. Just him and he would just be here for a few days.

“Is it true that Sebastien was in an accident on New Years?” she asked solemnly.

“Yes, he and Lisa, his fiancée, were in an accident. They are both very sore but he was home from the hospital and he was healing nicely but still in some pain. He also added that he knew that Seb had appreciated all the get well wishes that had been posted on the forum.

Sony had called Seb and told him to be prepared for an onslaught of cards and gifts that they were forwarding to him from the offices. Every day they had been slammed when the postal delivery was made. They always got a high volume of mail for the guys. It always increased when one of their birthdays was coming up or like in the case of Carlos’ wedding and even a couple of weeks ago when Seb announced his engagement to Lisa. But they had been unprepared for the amount of cards and gifts that had been sent to Seb after the accident.

They weren’t sure who leaked the news on the forum before they could make their own statement but the report on the accident had been in the local paper in Tampa and it was probably a Diva that lived in the area that had seen that news article. Urs had gone onto the forum creating quite a stir since he was so rarely seen online. He had posted a short but clear message that Seb had in fact been in the accident but was okay and would just need some private time to heal from his minor injuries.

The young girl’s sister thanked Urs and Alex for taking the time to speak to her sister. She could see how excited she was. They all said goodbye and went their separate ways.

“You’re a good man, Urs. I know that you didn’t want to be disturbed, but you still gave her that time and made not only her day but probably her week.

“I just didn’t want to have anything taking any of our time together. But she was a nice girl and we know how important the fans are to us.”

They had a shower and changed into some dressier clothes and went out to a restaurant that was only a few doors down from the hotel and then they made it an early night, at least it was early when they got into the bed. Getting to sleep was an entirely different matter. Urs was thoroughly enjoying Alex’s increased sex drive. She said it must be the pregnancy. It wasn’t like they’d had any shortage of it before but she’d had a wonderful extra burst of energy in that department lately.

Chapter 54:

Urs woke just before sunrise, bathed in sweat. He was soaked like he had just completed a long workout in the gym. He had a dream that had felt so real. Alex had gone to her lunch date with Joe and when she came back, it was to collect all of her things and to go move in with Joe. Joe had asked her to marry him and she had been overjoyed and said yes. She even had a giant rock of an engagement ring on her finger. It wasn’t even a pretty ring, just huge. Joe shared a much longer history than he had with Alex and Joe had convinced her that they belonged together with their child. No mention was made that the child could belong to Urs.

He took a very cool shower to rid himself of the sweat and to clear his head and walked back out to the bed and sat next to it in a chair just watching Alex as she slept. What would he do if she left him? He loved her more than he’d ever loved anyone. The thoughts of having a real family with her had become more than just appealing to him. He was starting to feel like it was a craving. He wanted to be with her forever and have not just this one baby, but a whole houseful if she agreed.

Alex stretched and rolled onto her side facing the bathroom. She opened her eyes and was momentarily startled when she saw Urs sitting in the chair with a bath towel wrapped around his waist and he was watching her. After the startled feeling disappeared it was replaced by concern as she saw the look on his face. She hurried out from under the sheet and climbed naked into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Urs, Baby, what’s wrong? You look…. I don’t know…. Sad maybe. Talk to me, please.”

He told her about the dream and she of course promised him that nothing like that would ever happen. She didn’t love Joe. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and hugged her and carried her back to the bed. Alex felt his desperation as he loved her. She knew that there was nothing she could do to calm his fears except to go meet Joe and get it over with as quickly as possible and then come back here, to him. Only then would he relax and believe that she only ever wanted him, no one else.

After they showered again later, Urs called and ordered them brunch to be delivered to their room. He didn’t want to share her with anyone, not even just having a waiter or waitress interrupting. Alex said she was hungry and couldn’t wait for lunch.

She would be going soon to meet with Joe. She tried to talk him into going out for a walk or something while she was gone, but he declined saying he just wasn’t up to it, especially if he should come upon fans again. Not until he knew what had happened at their lunch meeting.

When it was time for her to leave, he kissed her and she felt the hug he gave her last just a bit longer and tighter than normal. She knew that he was nervous about this. She was just going to hurry and tell Joe and then hurry back here and then they could enjoy the rest of their time in this city. She kissed him thoroughly, placing her hands on his face and promised to be back as quick as possible and then she left, taking the elevator down to the lobby where a cab was waiting that Urs had ordered for her.

Urs spent the first hour that Alex was gone pacing and sitting there flipping through the TV channels, trying to find something to watch to take his mind off of what was happening. Nothing he saw kept his attention for more than a few minutes so he finally turned it off and got changed into his workout clothes and after leaving a note for Alex, he went to the hotel gym to work out his frustrations there.

Alex stepped out of the cab just outside the deli where Joe had said to meet him. She went into the deli and looked around to see if he was already there. He wasn’t, but she was a few minutes early so she went and got a table. It was lunch time and it looked like the place was filling up. Some were just ordering and taking their meals with them but in just the five minutes that Alex was there before Joe walked in the tables were almost full.

Joe walked through the door of the deli and Alex waved him over when he spotted her and smiled. He asked her what she’d like to eat and she just asked him to get her a coffee. She was rather cold. It was the beginning of January in the northeast and being from Florida, she was not used to these temperatures. When he came back to the table with his sandwich and their drinks, he immediately took a generous bite and groaned in appreciation. Joe never got up in the mornings in enough time to eat. He slept in until he had just enough time to shower and dress and then fly out the door.

Joe was an extremely handsome man. He knew it and made no apologies for flirting with women. He was respectful and restrained himself when they were out together, but it wouldn’t have been anything unusual if she’d just happened upon him in public to find him looking at other women in open appreciation or striking up a conversation with someone. Alex knew him well enough to not be threatened and their relationship was such that she knew if he ever met someone else that he wanted to be with, he would break things off with her. He wouldn’t have gone sneaking behind her back.

“Sorry, I didn’t have time for breakfast this morning. I know, you are going to say that I always leave my time too short for breakfast in the mornings. Yes, I like to sleep in in the morning.”

Alex smiled at his partially correct interpretation of what she was thinking.

“Ah, I see I was right. You look amazing Alex, as always. In fact, you’re glowing. How are you and to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” he said and reached across the table to stroke her cheek.

He wondered if it was his imagination that she backed away from his touch. They’d always gotten along well. Even when he’d come to town on business a couple of months ago they had fallen right back into their old habit of dinner and then some of the most amazing sex he’d ever had. It was liked he’d never left town. As he looked at her he thought about how they were the same, him and Alex. They were both very much career driven and all they wanted out of life was to get as far as possible in the news business. He would not be surprised to turn on a national news program and see Alex looking back at him someday. She was beautiful and very good at her job. They were also the same in not caring to get tied up into a relationship where they had to be together all the time or to keep tabs on each other. He and Alex had just spent time together when it was convenient for them both and if they didn’t see each other for several days or even weeks, neither one of them got upset. It had been too bad that the next step in his career had taken him away from the perfect situation that he’d had with her.

“Joe, I need to tell you something that I felt you had a right to know and I didn’t want to tell you over the phone. I found out a couple of weeks ago that I’m pregnant. I have been with another man since you and I were together when you came to town so, I’m not sure who the father is but I will find out as soon as it is possible. It may be that we can’t find out until after the birth though. I’m not sure.”

Joe hadn’t heard anything Alex said after the word pregnant. He was seeing red. She was ruining everything. He had trusted her. She promised that she was on the pill and he had used protection too. She must have lied about the pill and sabotaged the condoms.

Alex was waiting for a reaction from Joe. He hadn’t said a word.

“Joe? I’m really sorry about this..”

“ You B1tch!!! I bet you are.” He said, loudly interrupting her, not caring that others were able to hear their conversation and it was only then that she realized the look on his face was anger.

“Joe, this was not intentional. And like I said, it may not be your child.

“And if it is? Are you expecting me to marry you or move back to Florida to take care of you and a brat? Well, you can think again, Alex. I am not father material. You knew that our relationship was one that had no strings. NONE. You are not trapping me here, Alex. I am not messing up my career because of you. How much will it cost for an abortion?”

“I have no idea and it doesn’t matter because there is no way that I would ever kill my child.”

Alex was stunned. She could understand it that he was shocked, she had been too when she found out. She still was a bit, but she had never seen him angry like this, especially not at her. He seemed so cold towards her. Had he not had any feelings for her at all? Sure, she had felt pretty much like he said, that their relationship was a “No strings attached” type of thing, but she had at least cared about him and had felt a loss when he left.

“Listen Alex, if you aren’t going to have an abortion, you aren’t going to get any other help from me. I did all I was supposed to do prevent having kids short of getting it snipped. So, you are on your own. If you change your mind and want me to pay for an abortion, call me and I’ll send you a check. I don’t even think I should be responsible for that, seeing as you did this on purpose to trap me. You lied to me and I won’t ever forgive you for that.” He paused and stood, glaring at her. “I’ve lost my appetite. On second thought, don’t call me Alex. If you need a check for an abortion, you have my email address. Write me an email with the amount. I don’t want to hear from you again.”

“Not even if this is your child? You don’t want to know anything about it?”

“No Alex, not a word, EVER.” He said with force and turned and without a backward glance he stormed out of the deli, letting the door slam causing several patrons to jump in their seats.

Alex wasn’t sure how long she sat there after Joe left the deli. It had gone quiet in there. The whole lunch crowd had come and gone and the deli employee was going around and cleaning off the tables.

“Are you alright? Can I get you anything? A refill on your coffee?”

“Huh? Oh sorry, no, I’m going to go now. Thank you.” Alex said and stood and put on her coat.

The girl felt sorry for this woman. The man had been talking pretty loud and quite a few people had overheard what he was saying to her. She was pregnant and the guy was obviously angry about it. She had seen him in here plenty of times. She had thought he was really nice looking, but now that she had seen the way he had treated this woman he had lost any attraction for her.

After dropping a tip on the table, Alex went outside and looked around to see if there was a cab that just happened to be waiting for a fare. There wasn’t one, but it was only a few minutes before one came driving towards where she was standing. She held out her arm signaling for him to stop. She was relieved when she was able to get into the cab. The tears that she had been holding in came in a flood.

What a huge difference in the reactions of Joe and Urs. She had known Joe for much longer. They had shared a lot of time together. She had hardly known Urs, but he had taken the news with much more compassion and care for her feelings. Joe hadn’t shown one bit of concern for her well being. She shouldn’t even be upset. Urs, the man she loved was waiting for her back at the hotel and she knew he loved her too. He had also been getting excited about the baby. She just couldn’t reconcile Joe, the man that she had laid in bed with, the tender lovemaking they’d shared, with the man who had been so mean and angry with her. To think that he’d thought that she had done this on purpose to trap him, hurt more than she would have ever imagined.

She barely remembered the ride back to the hotel. When the cab driver told her that they were there, she pulled out some bills and handed them to him. “Is that enough?”

“It’s way too much. Wait a minute and I’ll get your change.”

“Keep it.” She said as she headed for the door which the doorman opened with a slight bow.

Alex felt as if she was on auto pilot as she made her way to the elevator bank. She didn’t even hear that someone was calling her name.

“Alex, wait up.” Urs said running to get to the elevator before the door closed. He reached in and stopped the door from shutting. He was all sweaty as he had just been heading back to their room after a punishing workout.

He got one quick look at her face before she threw herself into his arms, tears rushing down her cheeks.

“Alex, Baby, what’s wrong?.... Alex please answer me. You’re scaring me.”

Urs set Alex back away from him a little so he could look her in the eye.

“It was so awful, Urs. He was so angry and mean. He accused me of getting pregnant on purpose to trap him. He told me that the only thing he would do for me was pay for an abortion. Otherwise, he doesn’t want to hear from me again, not even if we find out that the baby is his. He doesn’t want to know anything about it. I didn’t even recognize the man that was there today.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I should have gone with you today. I haven’t felt good about this all day.” He held her tight against him and stroked her back.

He led her out of the elevator and into their room. She disappeared into the bathroom for a while and when she came out, he could tell that she had still been crying. They wound up spending the rest of the afternoon in their room. Alex apologized to Urs and after he assured her that he understood, they snuggled up on the bed. After Alex had cried herself out, she fell asleep in his arms.

When she woke up, Urs was asleep beside her. She turned towards him slowly so she wouldn’t wake him. She laid there watching him as he slept. He was such a good man. He was willing to love and care for an unplanned child that may not even be his. How did she get so lucky to have found him? She decided right there and then that she wasn’t going to waste one more second being upset about Joe’s reaction. She had Urs beside her and her whole family. They would be fine. Her child didn’t need a man like Joe in its life. She hoped now that if it turned out to be Joe’s child that he kept to his word and never tried to contact her again. This child would have a life of being loved and cherished no matter who its father was.

Its… she didn’t like that word, not when it came to talking about her baby. As soon as it was possible, she wanted to find out the sex of the baby. She wanted to be able to say him or her and she was going to start thinking of some names. She’d have to ask Urs if he had any names for her to consider.

Urs woke up to find her lips just a few inches from his. She smiled at him and he was relieved that she seemed to be feeling better.

“Hi”

“Hi” he answered

“I love you”

“I love you, too Alex.”

She kissed him and they felt their passion ignite. It was dark by the time they got showered and dressed and went out for dinner. She told him that she didn’t want to spend another minute talking about Joe. Urs wanted to go find Joe and beat him to a pulp for treating Alex like he had but, she just wanted them to enjoy their vacation here in New York and together they did.

He fought hard to put the situation out of his mind and in the end they wound up having a terrific time together. Urs did everything he could to make the rest of the week special for her. He even sent her for a whole spa treatment that he knew she loved and while she was occupied there, he went shopping. He wasn’t sure when, but he was definitely going to ask Alex to marry him. So he scoured the jewelry stores and he finally found the perfect ring. He put the small box in his pocket as he left the store and smiled. He hadn’t ever felt so sure about anything in his life, not even Il Divo in the beginning.

Chapter 55:

On Monday, Marie finally found a photographer that was available on their date. She got him booked and on her way over to the daycare to pick the children up, she purchased several types of wedding invitations for Lisa to look at. She purchased enough of each type for Lisa to choose what she wanted and then Marie would take the rest back to the store.

Lisa and Seb had a really good day. Lisa was feeling much better with only occasional bouts of soreness now. Seb had a lot further to go but he could definitely feel a big improvement over the weekend. Of course, he hadn’t been allowed to lift a finger since the accident. He hated that Lisa and her family had to wait on him so much. He was determined that now that he was feeling better, he was going to pull more of his own weight. After lunch, he walked over to the main house. The yard was packed tight with all the vehicles that were here now that the extra crew was working. He was going to talk to Drew about the music building. He knew it wouldn’t even get started until the main house was finished but he wanted to at least tell Drew about it and find out what they needed to do.

Drew told him that they would need to meet with an architect who would help them draw up some plans. Then Drew showed him around the house and told him what was being worked on. By the time Seb left and headed back to the house, he was wiped out from all of the stairs and being on his feet for so long. He went to lie down while Marie and Lisa decided on the wedding invitations.

While they were sitting at the table with the invitations laid out in a row, Lisa’s phone rang. Marie watched her face and knew it wasn’t a good phone call. When Lisa hung up, she stayed sitting and staring straight ahead.

“Lisa, What’s wrong? Who was that?”

“That was Jerry Bradford, the attorney. He just got notice that the schedule for parole hearings had to be revised for some reason. Jeremy’s hearing has been rescheduled for this Friday morning. It wasn’t supposed to be for a couple more weeks.” Lisa said and dropped her head into her hands on the table.

“Honey, I know that any thought of Jeremy bothers you and I don’t blame you, but this is actually a good thing you know.”

Lisa lifted her head up and looked confused at Mom.

“How do you figure that?”

“Well, now the hearing will be over sooner and you can put it out of your mind and concentrate on your wedding without that hanging over you. The original date was so close to your wedding date.”

Lisa sighed and thought about it and had to agree. They had been so busy and it hadn’t been a subject that she wanted to think about anyway so she hadn’t spent any time seriously thinking about whether to go to the hearing or not.

When Seb woke from his nap and came out for a drink, Lisa told him about the call.

“Well, I’m glad I’m here to be able to go with you if you decide to go to the hearing.” Seb said and hugged her.

“I’m glad too. I really don’t want to go but Jerry had told me that it carries more weight and makes a bigger impression if the people affected by the inmate’s crimes show up to these hearings. I would hate to think they would decide to let him out and I could have prevented it, even for another eighteen months. So, I guess I need to go whether I want to or not. Jerry said he’ll clear his schedule for the day, if I decide to go. I just wish I knew for sure if Jeremy was going to be there. Jerry had told me that I wouldn’t know if he would be there until we were in the hearing.”

“Well, we’ll all be with you so even if he is, you have nothing to worry about.” Mom told her.

After she made her decision to go to the hearing, she told Mom and Seb that she didn’t want to spend the whole week thinking about it. Friday would come all too soon for her liking. They had much nicer things to talk about.

Now that everything was in place for their wedding, they just needed to decide which beach to have it on. There were so many beautiful beaches to choose from in the area. After Dinner that evening, Seb and Lisa snuggled in the bed and looked online at all of the area beaches and what they had to offer. In the end they chose Sand Key beach. Lisa had been there and knew that it was beautiful and they also had bath houses so whoever wanted to change after the wedding would be able to, plus they would have the bathroom facilities close by. There were other pretty beaches but they would have had to go to nearby restaurants to use facilities and to change and that was not an appealing thought.

The rest of the week went by quickly. Lisa returned to work on Tuesday, taking the children with her. That allowed Seb to get extra rest and when he felt up to it, he walked across the yard and had a chat with Drew once in a while. He made sure that he didn’t stay in their way too long. He didn’t want to slow up any progress they were making.

Also on Tuesday, Lisa spoke to Mary about Lisa dropping the children off at school on Friday morning and Lisa asked her if it would be possible for her to take them home with her when she left, either to her house or to Lisa’s if they weren’t back from the hearing. Lisa had no idea how long they would be gone that day. It was about an hour ride over to where the hearings were being held.

Mary told her that she would be happy to do that and it would probably be easier to take them home to their house. Then they could play with their own toys and be in familiar surroundings. Mary didn’t have much of anything as far as toys went.

On Wednesday, Seb was standing in the bathroom looking at the bottle that the pain pills had been in. They were now all gone and he was going to have to get by with just over the counter medication when he needed something. That was actually fine with him. He had hated the way they made him feel so drugged all the time. Lisa had suggested that he ask the doctor for a refill if he felt like he needed it and he told her no, that he had known several people who had become addicted to painkillers and he didn’t want to wind up like that.

While Lisa was at work, she got a call on her cell phone. She didn’t recognize the number and almost didn’t answer it since she was busy doing paperwork. When she did answer, she was glad that she had.

“Lisa, It’s Laray Brady.”

“Hi Laray. How are you?”

“I’m great! I just got your message. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. I was away visiting family and Tom’s been busy.

“Yeah they’re still winning. That’s great. How’s Tom?”

“He’s better, just concentrating on getting ready for the Super Bowl. If you make the playoffs and Super Bowl it get’s crazy with the media. But I’m used to it. It’s been this way for several years.

When the season is over, after he’s had a couple of weeks to start healing from all of the tiredness and soreness from all the minor injuries, he is ready to go again and gets frustrated waiting. So he usually winds up spending a lot of time in the gym. Thankfully, we have all the gym equipment he needs right at home. Otherwise, I’d never see him. The reason I called was about your wedding in a couple of weeks. Is it too late to RSVP?”

“Of course not! Are you and Tom going to be able to come? I didn’t really think you would be able to, but I wanted to make sure that you knew that we’d love to have you both here.”

“Well, I’ll gladly be there then. I told Tom about it and he said he’d love to go and he usually hates weddings so I know he enjoyed getting to know you and Seb and the rest of the guys, but he’ll be in the middle of Super Bowl craziness then so he won’t be able to come. He sends his apologies. Will they all be there?”

“Yes, everyone is here already. They have a two month break, so we figured now was as good a time as any. If we didn’t get married now, we had no idea when we would be able to.”

Lisa and Laray spoke for a few more minutes. Lisa told her about the accident and the upcoming hearing. They had spoken several times on the phone and Laray knew about Jeremy so she knew that the hearing would be a hard day.

Meanwhile in New York City, Alex had gotten up feeling refreshed and a lot happier than she was yesterday.

The first two days they had been in New York had been cold, but clear and crisp. There had been no snow on the ground when they got to town and none had fallen since they had been there, not until this morning. While Alex waited for the breakfast she ordered to arrive, she stood looking out of the large window that had a breathtaking view of the city. As she stood there, she began to see a few flakes falling. She began to get excited as each minute that passed brought a marked increase in the size and the amount of the snowflakes that were falling.

When the food arrived, the employee that brought the trolley in had to stifle a laugh as the woman was bouncing as she announced to him that it was snowing outside. Snow was nothing new to him. He had lived here all his life. But he was accustomed to travelers that stayed here that hadn’t seen snow in a long time or in some cases had never seen any snow in their lives.

Alex tipped and thanked the young man and after he left, she went into the bedroom and leaned over and kissed Urs on the cheek and when he didn’t stir, she continued to plant kisses all over his face and neck and even nibbled on his ear. He began trying to swat away whatever was disturbing his sleep until all of a sudden Alex could tell that he realized that it wasn’t some insect tickling him. His eyes were still closed but a slow grin spread across his face as she continued to kiss him. The aromas coming into the bedroom from the breakfast trolley helped to wake him. His stomach began to complain as the food called out to him.

“Urs, wake up. It’s snowing….Did you hear me? It’s snowing outside, a lot. Come see.” She said as she pulled on his arm, trying to get him to get out of bed.

“Alex, I’ve seen snow my whole life. Come back to bed. I need you.”

“You may have seen a lot of snow, but I haven’t. I’ve lived in Florida my whole life. I’ve been a few places when there was snow and I’ve even gone skiing a couple of times but it has been a long time. It is so beautiful. Come on Urs, please get up. Let’s eat and then go outside.”

Urs could have lived without going out in the cold but there was no way that he could disappoint Alex, especially when he saw her childlike excitement. After the day that she’d had yesterday, he wanted to give her the best time for the rest of their visit here and going out and playing in the snow was going to make her happy so he dragged himself out of bed and they ate breakfast and got ready to go out.

She had only had a few cold weather sweaters and had brought them with her. She chose the warmest one and also put on a t-shirt underneath. Her coat wasn’t the best for this weather but she didn’t really care. If they got too cold, they could come back in but she wanted to go out and enjoy this. She put on her boots instead of her heels. They weren’t exactly cold weather boots but they would be much better that the shoes she had with her. She felt like a child in her excitement. She rubbed her hand over her still flat belly.

“Someday, I’ll take you to play in the snow, Little One. I can’t wait for you to get here. It seems so far away though. There is just so much I want to show you.”

She looked up and blushed at being caught talking to the baby. Urs was standing in the doorway watching her and he was smiling at her. He walked over and kneeled down on the floor and placed the palms of his hands flat on her abdomen.

“Hello, Little One. I’m your Papa. I can’t wait for you to get here either. When you are here, I’ll take you and your Mami to Switzerland and then you’ll really get to see some beautiful snow. The snow there is so beautiful when you look at the mountains where it is untouched except for by the animals.”

Before getting back on his feet he lifted her sweater and t-shirt and kissed her bare belly.

“I love you, Little One. Mami and I both love you very much and are looking forward to meeting you.”

When he looked into Alex’s eyes when he was standing, he saw her happy tears. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him so hard that he had to loosen her arms a bit so he could breathe. He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her so tenderly that she felt like she was going to melt away. This wasn’t the demanding, passionate kiss that they shared when they were losing control, but it was so full of the love they felt for each other.

They went down to the lobby and made a stop into the hotel dining room to get a couple of coffees to go to keep themselves a bit warmer while they were outside. With their coffees in one hand and their other hand linked with each others, they went out into the snow.

When they returned to the room several hours later, they were cold with red noses and ears but they had a wonderful carefree time. They had even gone into Central Park and had a snowball fight. The snow had been too light and fluffy at first but as the morning warmed up closer to the midday high temperatures, the snow became wetter and therefore became perfect for snowballs. They even left a snowperson family behind. They had made two larger ones and a tiny one in between. Urs took a picture of the snow people so they could look back on them and remember this when they were melting in the Florida heat.

When they got back to the room, they ordered some lunch and some warm drinks and while they waited for that to arrive, they took a hot shower to thaw out their frozen limbs and their toes which felt numb until the hot water made them get their feeling back.

After lunch they rested together and snuggled, talking about the baby and all of the change in their lives. Urs assured Alex that he would support her in every way, no matter how she wound up handling her job situation. She told him that she had no plans to quit working anytime soon. She supposed she would have to tell her boss soon, but not yet. She wanted them to just enjoy the news themselves for a while longer.

That afternoon Alex went to the spa appointment that Urs had set up for her and he disappeared for a few hours.

Thursday, Brenda came to the day care to pick Sammy up to take him to his doctor’s appointments. They had been scheduled for just a few hours apart. As much as Lisa wanted to go with him, she had missed so much work and left them short handed and she would be gone all day tomorrow again. Brenda didn’t mind taking him.

Sammy was going to see the same medical doctor that had examined him the day Brenda had met him. Then after lunch she was taking him for his first session with a psychologist that would be evaluating him. How long Sammy would be seeing her wouldn’t be determined yet. A lot would be decided after his initial evaluation. Brenda wished this psychologist had met Sammy before he had started living with Lisa. She wouldn’t believe the difference in him in such a short time.

When Brenda came to pick Sammy up, he seemed a bit nervous about leaving with her.

“What’s wrong Sweetheart?”

“I don’t want to go to nuther house with her. I want to stay with you and Papa and my sister.” He said and tears began to run down his little cheeks.

“Oh Sammy, you are just going with Brenda to visit the doctor and then she will bring you right back to me. I promise. We love you Sammy. No one is going to take you away from us, ever. I wish I could go with you today. I have to work, but I will take you next time.”

Sammy went with Brenda and he had stopped crying but he wasn’t happy to leave with her. Lisa realized that only Brenda taking him and bringing him back home to her would convince him.

The doctor ran most of the same tests that he had when he had first examined Sammy a couple of weeks ago. Sammy had been in terrible shape. Only Brenda’s assurance that Sammy would be well taken care of and have plenty of nourishing food, had changed his mind about admitting him to the hospital that day.

When he had come into the examining room and saw the boy, at first he didn’t think it was the same child. He still looked sad but his color was wonderful, like he had been outside playing a lot and not locked up in a room and his little face was fuller, not so sunken in.

Brenda spent the next half hour telling the doctor about everything that had happened for Sammy since he’d been here last. From what she was saying it sounded like Sammy was indeed in a good home but he wondered about the sadness that he saw on the boy’s face. If he was as happy as Brenda was telling him, why was he looking so sad?

“Sammy, it sounds like you have a wonderful family. Do you like living there?”

Sammy finally spoke and the doctor was amazed at the sudden change in the boy. He started talking a mile a minute. He told him all about his new Mommy and Papa and his sister, Kayti.

“I help to take care of her cuz she’s littler than me.”

He told him all about his tree house bed and his Bob the Builder room.

“That sounds wonderful. Can you tell me why you had a sad face when you came in here?”

“Cuz I don’t want to go to nuther house with Miss Brenda. I want to go with my new Mommy.”

Brenda explained how frightened he was that she had come to take him away from Lisa.

“Well, I know that Miss Brenda is bringing you right back to your new Mommy, right after you are finished today. I wish I had a Mommy and Daddy like you have. You are a very lucky little boy.”

After he finished his thorough examination of Sammy and had the lab draw some blood, he told Brenda that they could go and he would contact her with the results, but just through his exam, he could tell that Sammy was doing terrific. He had actually gained almost three pounds since he had been there two weeks ago. That said a lot for how little nutrition he had received previously.

He told her to make sure that Sammy remained either taking children’s vitamins or drinking Pediasure to make sure he got extra nutrients. It was going to take quite a while for him to catch back up to where he should be physically, but he was very pleased with the progress already, in such a short time. He shook Sammy’s hand and told him to have fun with his new family.

When they left the doctors office Sammy was studying the band aid the lab technician had put on the spot where she had drawn the blood.

“They didn’t have any Bob Band aids like Mommy has. They only had Spiderman. But that’s okay.”

Sammy hadn’t even cried when the needle had poked him. Brenda figured that he’d been so de-sensitized to pain, that a little stick like that must have not seemed like anything to him.

They had almost two hours before their next appointment, so Brenda took him to McDonalds for lunch and after he finished all of his lunch, she let him go into the play area. There were a few other small children playing and he stood there watching them for a few minutes, then he began to talk to them and played with them, showing how far he had come socially since he’d started going to school. She watched as he showed them his band aid and then he started playing a chasing game through the tunnels. She let him play until they had to leave for the other appointment. The other children had already gone so it wasn’t too hard to get him to come out of the play area. She had gotten him another carton of milk and a bag of apple dippers with the caramel to dip them in. Lisa said that he had loved them when she brought him here and he would need a snack while they were at the psychologists.

As she watched Sammy buckle his seat belt over the booster seat, she smiled as she listened to him singing. It was such a joyous sound coming from him. This job she had been doing, more often had sad or upsetting days, and even days that left her angry and wondering if anything she did made even the slightest difference. She marveled at the difference in Sammy. She knew that she had done a good thing when she took Sammy to Lisa’s that day. It had been good for Sammy, but she also thought it had been good for Lisa too. She hadn’t spent enough time with Seb to know for sure but he did seem to love the children and handled them very well for a man that hadn’t spent much time with young ones.

Chapter 56:

Brenda checked in with the very young receptionist, who was reading a fashion magazine while she waited for the phone to ring or patients to come in, telling her that she had Samuel Jenkins with her to see the doctor. The receptionist took down Sammy’s information and made a copy of his insurance card and the paperwork that showed that Brenda Chandler had the authority to bring Sammy here today.
Brenda was handed back all of the original papers and they went to sit and wait to be called. Sammy went and kneeled down at a table that had Lego building blocks all over it. He stayed occupied until they were called.

The psychologist walked into the room and observed Samuel as he sat at the table eating his apple slices. He was a beautiful child and she had read his file that had been faxed to her so she would have time in advance of his appointment to get acquainted with his story. She had seen his familiar story way too many times in the form of other children, in her twenty two years in this business.

He looked like he was enjoying dipping the apple in the caramel and giggled as some of it dripped onto his chin. She saw his social worker smiling and laughing with him as she helped him to wipe it off. She hadn’t met this social worker before, but watching her with Samuel told her a lot. Some of the social workers were hard people. They had seen too much hurt and pain in too many children and it made them change. They closed their hearts off to protect themselves because it hurt too much to let the children get too close to them. She could tell that this woman wasn’t like that at all. She obviously cared about this child and he seemed to respond well to her. Now it was her job to get inside his little head and figure out how damaged he was inside of his mind and to try to make a determination to the best of her ability whether or not Samuel was going to be suitable for a normal family life. If she determined that he was not able to function in a family setting, Samuel would be placed in the state home with other children that had been through too much and had been too damaged to function in normal society. She really hoped that was not the case for this child.

“Hello Samuel, Miss Chandler. My name is Dr Talbot, but you can call me Miss Janie.” She said nodding to Brenda and smiled at Sammy.

He gave her a funny look.

“He goes by Sammy.” Brenda supplied as she saw the look that Sammy gave to the doctor.

“Oh please forgive me. I didn’t know that Sammy. I like that name.”

“Sammy is my real name but my other name is Samuel. But only my other real Mommy called me that when she was angry with me. But she won’t call me that no more cuz she got dead.”

A lot of the children Dr. Jane Talbot saw who had been through what this child had been didn’t usually talk to her right away. Most of them were in the middle of being shuffled around different foster homes and they didn’t easily trust adults, especially ones in white lab coats, which is why she never wore one. She dressed very casually, usually in jeans and a t shirt or a casual button down top. She wanted the children to feel as comfortable as possible when they were here. She kept the rooms well stocked with toys, books and magazines for all ages. She saw children as young as one year old all the way up unto their late teens. Some even into their early adulthood still came to see her because they trusted her and she gave them good advice.

She went and pulled out some drawing paper and some washable magic markers and crayons and placed them in front of Sammy.

“Sammy, I need to talk to Miss Chandler for a few minutes. After you finish eating your apples, would you draw some pictures for me?”

“Uh Huh. I like to draw cuz I’m an artist. My teacher, her name is Miss Lauren and she said so.”

“That’s great Sammy. I can’t wait to see what you draw for me. I would like for you to draw two special pictures for me. On one picture I would like for you to draw me a picture of where you lived with your Mom and Joey.” She said after looking in the file again to make sure that she had the right name.

“Then, on the other picture, I would like for you to draw a picture of where you live now. Could you do that for me?”

“Yes, I can do that.” Sammy said but his tone changed and he looked like her request had disturbed him.

“Sammy, why don’t you draw the picture of your house that you live at now and you can do the other one in a while, Okay? I just need to talk to Miss Chandler for a couple of minutes. We’ll be right over here at the other table if you need us.”

“Who is Miss Chandler?”

“She means me, Sammy.” Then she turned to the doctor and told her, “I’m friends with his new Mom so he knows me by Brenda.”

The two women sat down and after looking at the paper for a few minutes while he finished his apples, Sammy picked up a crayon and began to draw.

They spent the next half hour talking about Sammy’s history. The doctor needed to know as much information as possible for her to be effective in helping him. Brenda told Jessica all that she knew of his history before she met him two weeks ago including the situation at the foster home up until someone had called to report them as unfit which was a glaring understatement. Both parents in that foster home had been arrested and their natural children were now in the system as well as the foster children that had been placed in their home. Then Janie asked her to tell her all about his home life since he went to live with his new family.

Brenda again told her that she and Lisa were friends. She told her about how she met Lisa when she had been dealing with the paperwork about Kayti and that they had spent quite a bit of time together. She told her about the Saturday morning when she had been given Sammy’s case and she had spent the day with him at the hospital and while she had been sitting there waiting for all of the tests to be completed on Sammy, she started thinking about whether Lisa would be able to take him because she couldn’t think of a better home for him.

“Lisa isn’t classified as a group home yet, but she has been cleared for foster care and because both of these children have no other living relatives they are clear for adoption immediately. The paperwork has already been submitted and we are just waiting for the court date to be set for the adoptions to be finalized. I wish you could have seen him before I brought him to Lisa’s. He is like a different child altogether. He has had a few bad moments, but they deal with them so well.”

She went on to tell Jessica about him wetting the bed and also about his first meeting with his new father when he came home from being out of town. She also told her about the situation with Carlos, that his new father’s friend has a voice that is deep and for whatever reason, Sammy thought he sounded like Joey. Lisa had told her all about it this morning, starting with his disappearance the other day, to their new friendship that began on Sunday.

“So between your help and having Lisa and Seb as his parents, I have such high hopes for Sammy. I hope that you will be able to confirm my feelings that Sammy is doing amazingly well right now, considering all that has happened in his life.”

Well, I think for now I have all the information that I need from you. I just need to spend some time alone with Sammy. Feel free to leave your cell phone number with the receptionist and you can leave until we call you to come back and get him.”

“Thanks, but I promised Lisa that I wouldn’t leave him. I’ll be out in the waiting room. I brought some paperwork to do and a book if I finish that. So don’t worry about how long it is.”

I don’t have any appointments after Sammy. When I have a new evaluation to do, I like to leave a large block of time open. I don’t like to rush when I have a new patient. I need to get a clear understanding of where each patient is so I can come up with an effective treatment plan. I’m really glad that you brought him today so you could give me so much history on Sammy, but after today, I really would prefer to see him with his mother or father or even both, so I can gauge how he is doing in his family life from week to week.”

Brenda told her that that was the plan. That really the only reason that she had brought Sammy today, was because Lisa had missed a lot of work lately because of a car accident.

A few minutes later, the receptionist showed Brenda to a quiet conference room where she could spread her paperwork out and do it in a quiet place where children weren’t trying to put toys in her lap and knocking her papers and her laptop off of her lap.

Janie went back over to where Sammy was drawing. She sat next to him and looked at what he was drawing. Not only had he drawn one picture already, but he had drawn three. She clicked on the mini tape recorder at the far side of the table. She needed to be able to be attentive to Sammy and recording the session was much easier than trying to write down everything he said.

The first finished picture had two houses. One was much bigger than the other one. Outside, were trees and flowers and what looked like a large SUV like a Suburban. The vehicle was obviously drawn after the houses and it covered a lot of the front of the buildings. The second was of a room, probably his bedroom. It had an elaborate looking bed. It actually looked like he was sleeping in a tent. She’d have to ask him about that. He had drawn a window and it even had curtains on the windows. On the floor was a square and it looked like there were long cars of some kind on it.

The third picture was the one he was still working on. It was of people. The first person looked like it must be a man. Next to him was a shorter figure with long hair, probably the Mom and two small people the first one was definitely a boy and the last figure is the one he was still working on.

“Who’s that Sammy? You’re working so hard on these pictures. You are right. You’re definitely an artist.”

She did think that Sammy’s drawings were exceptional for a boy his age. She used her patient’s drawings frequently to get a sense of how they were feeling but younger children like him, usually didn’t draw very well yet.

He smiled up at her, obviously pleased with her compliment.

“This is my sister, Kayti. But her hair is hard for me to draw cuz she has yellow hair and has a lots of curly’s.”

Janie took another piece of paper and drew a small head and a face and started coloring in small circles around the head with a pale yellow crayon to show Sammy how he might be able to draw Kayti’s curls.

“Hey, that looks like Kayti’s hair, just like that.” Sammy said excitedly and he took the offered crayon and copied what she had just done and drew the hair on the smallest figure until it had pale yellow ringlets down to her shoulders. Then he took a blue crayon and made a line across the top of her head.

“There I’m all finished.” He said and pushed it over so she could look at it.

“Sammy you have done a great job here. Can you tell me about these pictures?” She placed the first picture on top and he told her about their little house and that they were going to live in the great big house when Mr. Drew finished fixing it.

“And he is going to let me be a worker helper when I get big and strong like his other workers and like Bob the Builder. And this is our new big truck that Mommy and Papa buyed because Mommy’s other little car got squished by nuther truck.”

She loved how descriptive Sammy was. It would make understanding him and how he was feeling so much easier.

“And what about this one?” she said as she pointed to the one with the tent or bed.

“That is my room. Mommy and Auntie Alex and Grandpa and me all went to the bed store and I got my new tree house bed. And Mommy got me a Bob the Builder man there too. And that is my train and Grandpa made this for me to put my train on.”

“Can you tell me about these people?” she said pointing to the last picture, the one of the four people.

“Uh huh, this is my new Papa. He came home from his work and he likes me. He plays outside with me and my sister. Well, he did before, but now he hurt hisself when Mommy’s car got squished and he has big boo boo’s right here.” He said pointing to the man’s chest and belly. “So now he just sits in the chair and watches us while we ride our bikes outside. But he said he will play with us more when his boo boo’s don’t hurt no more.”

“He sounds like a nice Daddy.”

“He is, but I call him Papa and he tells me some French words to say, cuz he is from Franch and he sings songs to me and Kayti and to Mommy too.”

“You mean he is from France?” she said holding back her laughter.

“Yes, that’s what Papa said. Sometimes I forget what it sounds like.” Sammy said and giggled.

“You like your new Papa don’t you?”

“Uh huh, cuz he isn’t mean and doesn’t hurt me or yell at me. He didn’t even hit me when I wet my bed sometimes on accident. Mommy buyed me special big boy underwear for me to wear when I go to bed so my bed can’t get wet if I have a accident. Papa likes Goldfish crackers just like me and I showed him how to bite off the tail first.” He said with a smile looking very proud of himself.

“What about this person?” she said pointing to his new Mom.

“That’s my new Mommy.” He said and got the most angelic look on his face as he smiled and looked at the drawing.

“She is very pretty.” Janie said.

“Yup and she gives me and Kayti lots and lots of hugs and kisses and talks softly to us.
Cept sometimes she gets nuther voice when Kayti doesn’t do what Mommy said.”

“What does her voice sound like when Kayti doesn’t listen to your Mommy?”

Sammy tipped his chin down and changed his voice and said, “Kayti, if you can’t listen to Mommy, I’ll have to put you in time out….Kayti doesn’t like to go into time out.”

“What happens when Kayti goes in time out?”

“Mommy tells Kayti she has to sit in the time out chair in the kitchen for two minutes, that’s cuz she’s almost two years old. I’m not two. I’m gonna be four when I get my nuther birthday. But Kayti cries sometimes when she sits in timeout. But Mommy tells her that she has to start time out over til she stops crying. I tell Kayti to hurry up and stop crying cuz I want to play wif her.”

“And this is you?”

“Yup” he said smiling at the self portrait.

“You look very happy in your drawing. You drew a big smile on your face.”

“Yup”

“And this littlest person is Kayti?”

“Uh huh, she is still kind of a baby, but she doesn’t drink a bottle no more, but she still wears diapers though. Mommy says she is going to teach Kayti how to go on the big potty, only she is going to go on a little potty first.”

“And you like Kayti?”

“I tell Kayti I love her and I give her kisses and hugs, speshully at bedtime.”

“What is this blue line on her head?”

“That’s her hair bow. Mommy always makes Kayti’s hair all pretty every day, but sometimes Kayti takes her pretty hair bows out by herself.”

“Do you have fun when you play with Kayti?”

“Yup, we have lots of fun at our house. When it doesn’t rain, we can play outside and ride our bikes and play in the big sandbox Grandpa and Papa made for us.”

Janie was very pleased with everything Sammy was telling her. He was definitely happy in his new family and it sounded to her like his new parents were handling the situations that arose very well, just as Brenda had said. She was looking forward to meeting these people and seeing for herself how they interacted together and with Sammy. His medical needs were being looked after and she hoped he would continue to make the progress that Brenda told her he had made in the two weeks he had been in his new home.

She pulled out some more drawing paper and slid it over to Sammy.

“Could you draw me a picture of your other Mommy?”

“You mean my first real Mommy?” Sammy’s eyes were open wide and he looked disturbed again but she wasn’t sure if it was fear or sadness.

“Yes.”

He didn’t say anything else. He just began drawing a picture. Janie sat back and didn’t speak to him while he was busy. She didn’t want to distract him from whatever was going through his mind.

She hated to upset Sammy when he was so happy, but she had to explore the other part of his life with him, the time before he went to live in his current home. There were several issues that Sammy had to deal with. First and most important was the abuse and neglect by his mother and the fact that she allowed the many men in her life to not only abuse her but also abuse her child. The hardest part would be to deal with her death. According to the report, Sammy had actually witnessed the murder.

Second, Sammy had lived through a constant revolving door of men through his life and on top of the neglect and abuse from his mother, she had either encouraged or allowed these men to abuse him physically and emotionally. So far there had been no sign of sexual abuse and for that she was grateful.

Some of these issues wouldn’t even come into Sammy’s emotional consciousness until he was older and could even understand exactly what his mother’s problems were. Hopefully if he stayed where he was and had an emotionally stable life from now on, he might not have as traumatic a time in dealing with it.

She had about a dozen pictures in his file of his body. Some were from right after his mother was killed. He had a new cast on his arm in the first picture. The medical and police report stated that his arm had been twisted until it broke in several places on his forearm. They also showed numerous bruises and cigarette burns all over and the condition of his body looked like he had been severely malnourished. Sammy looked more like a two to just turning three year old instead of almost four years old. The lack of proper nutrients had not only made him thin but had stunted his growth. The current medical report showed hope that since Sammy was still so young and he seemed to be getting plenty of good nutrition now and extra vitamin supplements, that maybe he would catch up in height in the coming years. The rest of the test results from the blood work would arrive in a few days.

Then he had been placed in a foster home and probably had been told by the social workers involved that he would be safe there, that he wouldn’t be hurt anymore, but he had been hurt and the children in that home had been locked up like cattle in a bare room with nothing but a wood floor. Most children that had dealt with any form of abuse, whether it was physical, sexual, mental, or emotional, always suffer from serious trust issues. Only time could help with that, time of having people in their lives that created a loving, safe and caring atmosphere and showing them that it was okay to trust someone again. It seemed like Sammy would have that safe haven now.

After finishing one picture, Sammy placed another blank sheet of paper on top of it and began to draw again. He definitely knew what he wanted to draw. Each time he had started a picture he didn’t stop until it was done. When he stopped drawing, he sat there looking at it.

Chapter 57:

“May I look at your drawings?”

Sammy didn’t answer but he slid the two pictures over to her. She looked at both of them for a couple of minutes and the whole time, Sammy sat there with his head down and didn’t speak. It was obvious what the second picture was but she wanted him to tell her about the first one.

“Sammy, can you tell me about the people in this picture?”

At first she didn’t think he was going to answer her, but then he let out a long sigh, making his shoulders slump even further than they already were.

“That is me and my first real Mommy.”

“She is smiling and so are you.” Janie said in a statement not a question.

“That is like we did sometimes when Mommy liked me. Sometimes if she wasn’t angry with me or sick, sometimes she smiled at me and she hugged me one time. Mommy said she was sick lots. But she only liked me some when we didn’t have no Daddy at our house.”

“Your Mommy was different to you when there were daddy’s there.”

“Yup, cuz the daddy’s didn’t like me there. One time Steven told Mommy to make me go away so he didn’t have to look at me. He said “I hate kids.” Sammy had changed his voice mimicking a man’s tone.

“But Mommy didn’t make me go away but I had to stay in my room lots. She told me to stay in there so I would not be in trouble. I was hungry though and my belly was telling me to go eat. I tried to wake Mommy up but she was sick again and wouldn’t wake up. Daddy Steven just threw his big shoe at me that was on the floor and told me to get out. But I found some cookies and I climbed on the chair and got a drink of water.”

Janie watched his face as he sat there expressionless as he was obviously telling her of a specific memory of his mother and one of the men that had been there. He had mentioned several times about her being sick. That must have been when she was either looking for drugs because she needed a fix or after she had taken them and was too out of it to do anything for herself or her son. She had seen this scenario all too often. Unfortunately, too many of them turned out just like Sammy’s situation or the children were just taken away before a death occurred but either way, the child has seen way too much in their young lives.

“You loved your Mommy.” Again it was a statement.

He just nodded his head and then a big tear fell down his cheek. Janie was a seasoned professional and some cases were harder than others for her to handle in her own heart. This boy was so gentle and loving and he had been treated so badly by the woman who had given birth to him and was supposed to love him. It had been just five months since her murder.

Most children his age stayed in a sort of shock for several months after witnessing something like he had. So she knew that Sammy hadn’t really even begun to grieve for his birth mother. Only time would tell how rough a road that would be, when the grief finally found its way out.

She didn’t say anything but she slid the other picture over so that now it was on top. He just sat there looking at it for a while. She saw that he had drawn his mother again, but this time she was lying down on the floor and Sammy was standing next to her. The third figure in the picture was much larger and had huge eyes for the size of the face that he’d drawn. The face was frowning. The form of his mother on the floor was covered with red splotches and lines all over.

“Joey made my Mommy get dead and he hurted my arm when I was pushing him. Joey yelled lots of the time. I wanted him to stop making my Mommy cry. She had blood on her everywhere. And then she fell down when Joey hit her again. And then she had more blood again. I tried to help her to get up but she couldn’t and I couldn’t pull too much to help her. I told her that she needed to wake up and Joey pushed me down again and told me to go away but I didn’t and then he hit me like he hit Mommy and it hurted really bad and I bumped my head on the floor by Mommy. Joey ran outside when we heard the polices coming. But he couldn’t run away. The polices made him go to jail just like on the TV. I tried to get Mommy to wake up. I told her my arm and my face hurted but she didn’t hear me. The polices came in and the ambilance mens too. They tried to tell Mommy to wake up too, but she didn’t. They told me I had to go to the hostible to get my arm fixed and I was scared and I wanted my Mommy to come with me but they made me go in a different ambilance than Mommy. Mommy went in a black ambilance. I never got to see my Mommy no more cuz she got dead.”

He was sitting hunched over and rubbing his hands over his pants leg in a nervous gesture. Janie waited just another moment making sure that he didn’t want to say anything else. She believed that she had grown a thick skin in protection of stories like Sammy’s but she wanted to pull him into her arms and tell him that no one would ever hurt him again like that. But she couldn’t do that. She had to remain professional.

“Sammy, I am so sorry about what happened to you and to your Mommy. I know that it hurts to think about it but it is okay to talk about it when you want to. Have you told your new Mommy about this?”

Sammy shook his head no.

“I’m sure she would listen if you needed to tell her anything. She sounds like a great Mommy.”

“I love my new Mommy. She gives me lots to eat.”

Children’s needs were so simple, especially to them. If their basic needs were met, they could forgive almost anything. Sammy had a long road of dealing with his birth mother’s failure to provide for those needs. She knew she really needed to schedule a session that included his new family, and soon. They needed to know what they were up against. As many times as she had dealt with children like Sammy, there was still no real way to predict how Sammy would deal with his past. Brenda said that Lisa wanted at least some reassurance that Sammy wouldn’t become violent, especially with other children like their little girl. She wished she could give them that assurance, but experience told her that there was no way to make that kind of prediction. Sure, she saw no aggression at all in Sammy today, but until he really began to deal with his grief and they saw how he dealt with the memories of the violence he likely lived with on a daily basis, they just couldn’t know what would happen. If his new parents weren’t prepared to deal with the very real possibility of some acting out in some form or another, then they needed to let him go now. It would only be harder to let him go later and cause much more damage. Even if they decided they couldn’t keep him now, it would create more problems for Sammy. He obviously loved and trusted them and would be devastated to leave them.

She led Sammy over to the play area and began to play a fun game with him. She never liked to have a patient leave right after a difficult session without getting their mind on a more pleasant track. Younger children were usually easier to achieve this with. They were easily distracted. She called the receptionist and told her to send Miss Chandler back in. When Brenda came back in the room, Sammy jumped up and ran to her and threw himself into her arms. She looked at the doctor over his head in a questioning glance.

“Sammy, could you play with the toys for just a few more minutes while I talk to Miss Brenda and then it will be time for you to go home to your Mommy.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Okay, sit right here and I’ll get you a snack. You said that you like Goldfish. I happen to have some right here.”

She poured some out of the box onto a paper towel and poured him a glass of apple juice from her little refrigerator. He immediately started crunching away. She and Brenda went to sit at another table.

“How did it go?” Brenda asked. She was concerned when Sammy had flung himself at her and he was holding onto her so tightly.

“We actually had a great session. It will be hard for Sammy. This actually might be the easiest of our sessions. I don’t think he’s ever talked about what happened the day his mother was killed before. He has had it locked away and now that it is becoming unlocked, the people in his life need to be watchful and prepared for however his anger and grief finally start to show themselves. I am going to call his mother and set up a session with her and Sammy together and some separate time too on the same day. If the husband can make it too, that would be even better.”

“They aren’t married yet. They are getting married in two weeks.”

“Oh okay. Well, I’ll call her and set it up. I don’t want to wait too long though. This is important for us to stay in constant contact for these next few months and with all the transitions he is going through, it will only make the grief more likely to begin to show itself.”

Brenda and Sammy left the doctor’s office and headed for Lisa’s house. They had been so long at the doctor’s, that Lisa and Kayti had already left the day care. She had only had to work a short day today.

She kept her eye on Sammy in the rear view mirror and tried to talk to him. He was a bit quieter than he’d been lately.

“Maybe it won’t be too late for you too ride your bike when I get you home.”

“Can I ride my bike?” he said and she was glad when she saw his smile.

“Well, we will have to ask Mommy first.”

“Okay.”

The next time she looked at him, he was slumped over to the side, sound asleep. He did usually take at least a short nap and today had been a particularly long and trying day for him. She was actually glad that he was still asleep when they arrived at the house. Lisa had rushed out when she’d seen Brenda’s car pulling around to the house.

Brenda gave her a run down on all that had gone on that day and told Lisa to be prepared for Sammy to be quiet tonight.

“I know Dr. Talbot called me. We just had hung up when you pulled in. We’ve set up an appointment for Monday afternoon. I’ll work until lunch and then I’ll come get Seb and we’ll go to meet with her. She said it would be alright to bring Kayti too. She wants to see them together.”

Seb had come out slower than Lisa but now he was standing there. He opened the car door, unbuckled Sammy and without waking the boy he lifted him into his arms.

“Seb, we could have woken him or I could have carried him. Don’t hurt yourself.” Brenda said.

Seb just gave a half smile and continued walking into the house with Sammy pulled close to his chest. He had heard the conversation with the doctor. Well, he had heard Lisa’s side and saw the pained look on her face. It didn’t take much of an imagination to know that Sammy had had a rough day. He sat on the couch still holding Sammy. It did hurt to have Sammy leaning on him like this but he didn’t care. It was just a soreness. Sammy’s presence against him wasn’t going to break anything.

When Lisa came in the house, Brenda had gone home to let them have some time alone. Seb looked up at her with shining eyes that were threatening to spill over. She sat down next to him and just laid her head on his shoulder. Neither one of them felt the need to speak just then. They were just content being close and holding their son near to them.

Kayti finally got tired of playing in her room alone and she was delighted when she saw Sammy in Seb’s lap.

“Sammy…Sammy come play Kayti.”

Lisa saw that Seb was about to ask Kayti to be quiet and not to wake Sammy up but she reminded him that if Sammy slept too long now, he would have trouble falling asleep when it was bedtime. She intended to get them to bed on time and try to get some sleep tonight herself. Tomorrow was going to be another long day.

Sammy began stirring when he heard Kayti’s voice. Seb quickly wiped his eyes. He didn’t want to upset Sammy. When he opened his eyes and realized where he was, he smiled and said, “Hi Mommy and Papa, I came home.”

“You sure did buddy and we missed you so much while you were gone.” Seb told him.

Sammy looked towards Seb’s chest.

“Papa, is your boo boo’s all better?”

“Not all the way yet Sammy, but Papa just wanted to hold you. Is that okay?”

“Yup but I might hurt you.”

“You were very still while you were sleeping.”

Lisa came and lifted Sammy off of Seb. She could tell that it had really hurt him to have Sammy leaning there, but she understood his need to hold him.

“Can I ride on my bike?”

“Papa, can the children ride their bikes while I finish fixing dinner?”

Seb knew she was asking if he was up to taking them out and watching them.

“Sure, we can do that. Come on. We’ll let Mommy get dinner ready.”

Seb slowly got up off of the couch. Lisa had given him her arm to help pull him up. He seemed okay once he got up straight so she went to the kitchen while he took the children out.

They ate dinner together and when they had bathed the children and gotten them to bed, they were glad that Sammy seemed okay after his session with the doctor. She had told Lisa that he may be sad or upset tonight. He had played outside happily and ate like he hadn’t eaten all day. Then he had giggled with Kayti while they played in the tub. At bed time he had snuggled down with Bob tucked safely into the crook of his arm and had fallen asleep as usual, much to their relief.

On Wednesday in New York City, Urs and Alex had both met back in their room after her spa treatment and his shopping trip. When Alex asked him what he’d done to keep busy while she was out and if he’d had a good time, all he would tell her was that he had a wonderful time. She could have pressed him for an answer, but she knew that he would answer her if and when he wanted her to know where he’d been.
She was still learning all of his little idiosyncrasies, his moods, his body language to tell how he was feeling or what he was thinking. This time, Alex correctly thought that he was just covering for whatever he had been doing. He wasn’t really trying to cover up that he was toying with her.

After showering and changing into their dressiest clothes, Urs was standing in the bathroom, looking in the mirror, combing his hair and going over in his head for the thousandth time, what he was going to say. God, this is so soon, he thought to himself. Would she think he was crazy asking her so soon? Would she believe that he really loved her and wasn’t only asking because of the baby? All he could think about was the relief he had felt when he was holding her in his arms after she had gotten back from her lunch with Joe. He knew the nightmare was irrational after the loving they shared but he was so happy that she came back to him. As angry as he’d been about the way Joe had treated her, Urs was glad that Joe had closed the door on that part of Alex’s life. Now he wouldn’t have to wonder if he had to be worried about his presence in her life.

He took a deep breath, much like he would do before singing and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself. He could easily stand on stage and sing in front of thousands of people and thinking about speaking to one beautiful woman was turning him to jelly.

Alex was getting worried. Urs had already been dressed when he went into the bathroom but he didn’t look like he felt well. She hoped that she hadn’t made him sick insisting that they go out in the snow today.

“Urs? Are you alright?” just as she said this, the door opened and he came out and smiled.

“Sure, I’m fine…. Alex before we go to dinner there is something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Okay, What is it?” she said as he took her hands in his and stood in front of her. He was looking down as if he was studying her shoes. She was about to ask if he didn’t like them when his head came back up and he began speaking.

I was going to wait until later, after dinner, to do this….. But I can’t……..Alex….. I know that in the grand scheme of things we have really only known each other for such a short time…..

As he kept pausing, Alex got a sick feeling in her stomach. Was he going to tell her that while they had had a great time together, that he really couldn’t get into a committed relationship and be responsible for her and the baby? Yesterday, her self esteem had taken quite a hit with the way Joe had treated her. She had been feeling really confused with the contrast between the two men and now Urs was looking so serious it scared her.

“Alex, I’m sorry, this is hard for me. I never saw myself in this position, not in all my thoughts about where my life would head. But…but now I have never been more sure about anything in my entire life…. I just hope that you feel the same. I’m afraid that you are going to think I’m crazy.”

Alex choked out the words, “Urs please just say it. I can’t take anymore.”

Urs was confused at the look on her face. She looked upset.

“Alex, I love you so much…. And…Will you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife?” He was so nervous. Had he just made a huge mistake? Was she about to tell him that there was no way she was getting married?

“What?” She looked back at him with wide eyes. Had she heard him correctly?

“Will you marry me, Alex?” He raised his hand and stroked her face. “I love you and I want us to be married and build a life together, you, me and our child who I love so much already.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jeweler’s box that could only be a ring box. He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful rings that Alex had ever seen. First, was a heart shaped diamond, three carat, he later told her. It was in a Pav’e setting. Also, in the box, was a women’s wedding ring with a notch in it for the engagement ring to nestle in and beside them sat the man’s wedding ring that matched the ladies band. The wedding bands and the engagement ring were encircled with tiny diamonds.


“Urs, They’re lovely. Yes… Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you too. I know it has been quick and some people are going to think it’s too soon. But, I don’t care. As long as you love me, I’d marry you tomorrow.” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him and kissed him before she looked back to the rings.

Her hand was shaking badly as he slipped the engagement ring on her finger.

“I love you Alex and I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I hope we have a houseful of children running around in the future.”

She looked into his eyes through her tears and saw his sincerity. “You have already made me happy Urs, and I can’t wait to see what is to come in our future.”

Their kiss began and continued for quite some time. Urs finally looked at his watch.

“We need to go now or call and cancel the reservation.”

“I’m ready.” She said smiling and put on her coat before looking once again at her finger where the symbol of his love for her was resting.

Urs took Alex to the Tavern on the Green for dinner to celebrate their engagement. They had a sumptuous dinner and they talked and laughed together for hours. When they finished eating, Urs helped her into her coat and when they went out the door of the restaurant, right in front of them was a horse drawn carriage.

“Oh Urs, Aren’t they lovely?” Alex said excitedly and asked the driver if it was okay to pet the horses. He nodded to her and said to Urs,

“Are you Mr. Buhler?”

“Yes, And we’re ready.”

“Are we going for a ride in the carriage?”

“Yes, unless you think you’ll be too cold.”

“Oh no, I’d love to go for a ride. It’s a beautiful night and I don’t want it to end yet.” She said as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

He helped her up into the seat and then climbed in next to her.

Urs loved how such simple things as a carriage ride and playing in the snow made her so happy. She was going to make a wonderful mother. He hoped she would pass on her happy nature to their child. They were both covered with a thick rug that kept them warm against the night air as the horses took them on a site seeing trip through the city.

Alex snuggled against Urs as close as possible.

“Are you cold?”

“Just a bit, but I just really wanted to be as close as possible to you.”

He drew her tightly against his side and kissed the top of her head as it lay against his chest. He wondered if life could get any better than this. He leaned back and enjoyed the feel of her in his arms and looked out over the city as the carriage made its way across town.

They were dropped off at their hotel with cold ears and noses again and went up to their room and decided to go to the hotel pool for a swim. At this time of night it should be pretty well deserted, at least by any children. They were happy when they made it into the water that they hadn’t seen a soul. It was almost midnight. Urs swam laps for a while then swam over to where Alex was just floating around. He reached around her and pulled her close to him and she wrapped her legs around his waist. They began kissing and before long they knew they needed to get up to their room soon.

Later, when they were all warm in their fluffy robes provided by the hotel, Urs poured them a glass of champagne.

“To us, for always.”

“For always.” Alex agreed. “Thank you Urs for coming to New York with me and making it the most special time in my life. I’ll never forget today for as long as I live.”

“Someday when we are old and grey and are looking back on our life together, I know that this will be right up there with one of the best days of my life. The best day of my life so far was the day that we ran into each other, literally, at the TV station. I remember not being able to take my eyes off of you and thinking that I needed to get to know you. And you knowing Seb sure made that so much easier. I couldn’t believe my luck when he said we were going to your apartment for dinner. I love you Alex. You are the most special person I have ever known in my life.”

Alex leaned in and kissed him until she had left no doubt in his mind how special she thought he was. Minutes later their robes lay in puddles on the floor as they loved each other until sleep claimed them.

They woke Thursday morning and had several hours before they had to be at the airport so they packed everything up and checked out and left their belongings with the hotel and went to go do a bit more shopping. They decided to look for a wedding gift for Lisa and Seb. When they’d almost given up because they hadn’t seen anything that just said, “Take me home,” Alex saw the most beautiful collection. It had several different sizes and shapes of vases. They were ivory colored with the most delicate rose pattern with a thin line of gold trim on the rim. She knew that Lisa would love them. She decided to get several different sizes and styles. This was a big house they were moving into and these could be scattered through some of the different rooms. It all of a sudden occurred to her that she hadn’t discussed planning a wedding shower with Mom or the other girls so as soon as they had finished with their purchase and arranged for the vases to be shipped priority overnight, she went outside to call her Mom and ask her about the shower.

While Alex spoke to her mother, Urs went into a small café and got them both a coffee to warm them up against the chilly air. It wasn’t as cold as yesterday, but the breeze still had a bite to it. When Urs came back out of the café, Alex was off the phone. She looked so serious and when he asked her of everything was alright, she told him about the hearing being changed to tomorrow. She hoped Lisa wasn’t getting too nervous about it, but she knew how upset Lisa had been when she found out about the hearing right before Christmas.

It was now time for them to go and gather their things and head for the airport. When they got there and checked in, they went to the business lounge and had a light lunch while they waited to board their flight home.

When they were back in Tampa and waiting for their luggage, Alex told Urs that she wanted to call Lisa before it got any later. They had been delayed from taking off and had arrived home much later than originally planned. She wanted to find out if Lisa had definitely decided to go to the hearing and what the plans were.

She moved away from the luggage carousel where there was a lot of noise and dialed Lisa’s number. Seb answered the phone before it had completed the second ring.

“Hi Seb”

“Hi Alex. Are you and Urs home?”

“Almost, we’re getting our luggage at the airport. We’ll be home in less than an hour. I wanted to see what the plans were for tomorrow. Mom told me about the hearing.”

Seb filled her in, telling her that they were in fact, definitely going and Mom and Dad were going as well. Dad would drive them all in the new Escalade. They knew that Lisa would be really nervous and even though he felt like he might feel up to a drive down the street to go to the store, an hour long drive was way too long for him yet.

“Is Lisa busy?”

“Hang on, I’ll get her. She was checking on Sammy again.” He didn’t tell her that both of them had been repeatedly going at least to his door if not all the way into his room to make sure he wasn’t awake and laying there crying or upset.

“Did something happen to Sammy?”

Seb gave her the short version of the day’s events.

“Oh, that poor baby. Auntie Alex will just have to come and give him some extra loving.”

“I’m sure he’d love that. Here comes Lisa. I’ll let you talk to her. Oh, I almost forgot to ask. Did everything go alright in New York?”

“We’re fine. I’ll give you the whole story when we see each other.”

“Alright, well here she is.” Seb handed the phone to Lisa and kissed her temple before he walked away.

Alex and Lisa talked for a while. Lisa told her that as much as she would like to have Alex there tomorrow, she knew that they would be tired after their trip and that with Mom and Dad and Seb there that she would be okay.

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, Alex. Take tomorrow to get some rest. I know you have to be back to work on Saturday.”

Although Alex wasn’t going to tell Lisa anything that had happened in New York over the phone, she did finally break down and tell her about Joe and all that he’d said to her.

“Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry that he treated you like that. I have a good mind to tell him what I think of him.”

“Don’t worry about it, Lisa. He is out of our lives and I say good riddance. My baby is going to have the most wonderful Daddy in the world; well after my Dad of course… maybe they’ll be tied….”

“Alex you are a nut. I’m glad you’re home. If it isn’t too late tomorrow when we get home, I’ll call you.”

“Uh uh, you call me right after the hearing, so I’ll know that you are okay. I’ll be worried all day. Do you hear me?” Alex said leaving no room for argument.

“Alright, I’ll call.”

“Well, here’s Urs with all of the luggage. Let me get off of here and go help him. He-Man is trying to carry it all himself. You take care and I’ll talk to you tomorrow and if Jeremy is there, don’t you let him bother you. He can’t hurt you anymore. I love you Chick.”

“I love you too, Alex. Say hello to He-Man for me.”

They both hung up giggling and Lisa had to explain to Seb what was so funny. He got a
kick out of it and vowed to give Urs a hard time about it.

Chapter 58:

As Seb helped Lisa clean up the kitchen, he apologized for his rudeness in not answering Brenda and just walking away like he had. He told Lisa that he would call and apologize to her directly as soon as possible.

“Seb, I’m sure that she understood. She knew we were worried about Sammy.”

“All the same, I feel bad and I’ll make it right.”

Lisa leaned up and kissed him. “I love you so much Seb. My life is so much fuller with you here. I feel complete. Does that make any sense?”

“Absolutely!! I know, because I feel the same way.” He thoroughly returned her kiss before they finished their chore.

Seb had washed some laundry while Lisa was at work and she was finishing putting hers and Seb’s away. She had put the children’s away before they went to bed.

He was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. After the shock of seeing his bruises had worn off, he had gone back to wearing only the boxers to bed.

When he came out, she went in to take her turn. When she came out, dressed in her nightshirt, he moved to go back in for something and they wound up almost wedged in the doorway together. They smiled at each other and Seb reached down and caressed her face and immediately saw her eyes darken when he touched her.

She had hazel eyes, a mix of green and brown, depending on her mood, her clothes or even the weather. He enjoyed looking into them, frequently, to see what color they were at any particular moment. Now, they had turned very dark brown as she looked into his own darkened green ones.

She reached up to cover his hand that was still lying against her cheek. He leaned down and kissed her, slowly, taking his sweet time tasting each of her lips. She reached her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, being careful not to lean against his chest. He was still kissing her and he could feel her pulse quicken beneath his hands. She was threading her fingers through his hair, feeling its softness and pulling his head down to increase the pressure of his lips on hers. His own breathing was speeding up and he knew that keeping himself under control tonight was going to be very difficult. He had missed being able to pull her close to him.

This was a sure sign that he was on the mend because as much as he loved Lisa, the first days after the accident, sex had been that last thing on his mind because of the pain. Now that it had turned into just a major soreness, he was getting back to his old self. The arousal he was feeling was testament to that.

She ran her hands out of his hair and across his bare shoulders and on down his strong back. Her palms were spread and feeling as much of his back as her small hands could. She had opened her mouth to let him in and he was glad to oblige as he explored the warm cavern and toyed with her tongue. His arms came around behind her and easily pulled her against him. His need to feel her body against him was more important than pain right now. He was in a different sort of pain, the pain of needing to bury himself inside of her, but they still had two weeks to go until their wedding day.

She tried to back away when she realized that she was leaning on his chest and stomach but he gently held her there. His movement telling her without words that he wanted her to stay where she was.

He moved them so that he was sitting on the bed and she was sitting on his lap. He was struggling for control. He didn’t want her to get worried if she felt his arousal. She began kissing his shoulder and his neck and as she pressed her lips there, he felt the electricity run through him at an amazing speed all the way down to his bare toes. Her left hand was playing with the hair on his chest and her nails skimmed over his nipples which immediately hardened. With one arm around her, he was trying to concentrate on holding her up from falling off of his lap. His other hand was lying on her leg just a few inches below her knee. As she was slowly loving him, his hand began its assent up over her bare knee and his palm opened flat as it encountered the smooth skin of her thigh and found the hem of the nightshirt.

His fingertips slid under the shirt and he began kneading her thigh as she moved her attentions from his left side to the right side of his face and neck. His head dropped to kiss the soft skin where her neck and shoulder met. He could feel that he was losing control and a little voice in his head told him that if he didn’t stop now, he would have to take this all the way to its natural end. That was it. He knew he had to put a stop to their actions now.

“Baby, I need to stop. I’m sorry.” He said as he kissed her once more and then he set her off of him, but kept his hands on her waist long enough to make sure that she had her balance before he let go.

He could see the disappointment on her face as they both struggled to steady their breathing, but she smiled at him before she went to the kitchen. Just before she left the bedroom, she turned and asked him if he wanted anything while she was in the kitchen.

“No, thank you. I just want you back in here and lying in my arms.” He said with a wink as he slid between the cool sheets and got the desired result when she smiled a wide smile at him.

“I’ll be right back” she said shyly.

When she came back with a glass of water, she put it on the night table and slid into the bed. Since the accident, Lisa had just laid as close as possible to Seb as they slept, but tonight Seb wanted her back where she belonged. He held his arm out as he had done when he was ready for her to snuggle up and lay her head on his shoulder.

She looked into his eyes “Are you sure? I’m afraid of hurting you. You will probably wake up really sore in the morning.”

“There’s only one way to find out and I miss holding you.”

“I miss it too.”

“Then come here.”

He smiled as he felt as much as heard the long sigh that escaped from Lisa as she got comfortable on his shoulder with his arm holding her close to his side.

“See isn’t this much better?”

“MMM Yes, much better…………………………….Seb?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Are you sure that you really want to go tomorrow? You could stay here and be here when Mary brings the kids home from school.”

“Don’t you want me to go with you?”

After a long pause she finally answered, “It’s not that. I’ll feel safer with you there……it’s just…...I don’t want that part of my life touching you.”

“Hey, don’t you think that way. Every part of you is part of me. Just like every part of me is part of you, the good and the bad. Do you think I liked telling you about my childhood? I didn’t, not at all. I didn’t want you to look at me as less of a man because of that.”

“How could you think that? I could never think of you that way.”

“Because when I look at Sammy and think of what was done to him and remember my past, I feel like that little boy again.”

“Well, it was definitely not a little boy whose lap I was just sitting on.”

He could feel her lips rise in a smile against his shoulder as she remembered what they were just doing.

“HMM no, I guess you’re right about that.” He said and gave her another squeeze. “Don’t worry about tomorrow sweetheart. I’ll be right beside you and even if he is there, there is nothing he can do. I am sure that there would be guards. I also would think he would be trying to look as good as possible if he wants a chance at getting out.”

He felt her whole body shiver as he said those words.

“I’m sorry, Baby. I wish I could fix it so he would never get out. But now, or in eighteen months, Jeremy will be back on the streets and I don’t want you to be afraid for the rest of your life.”

“Most of me wants to believe that he wouldn’t come near me, that he will just want to get on with his life when he gets out, but in so many of my nightmares, he is terribly angry at me for him having to go to jail and is determined to make me pay for it. I know it is probably all just a dream, but it still scares me. I would die if he ever did that to me again.”

“I would kill him before I would allow him to ever touch you again.” she could feel his body tense up underneath her as he said that.

“Thank you Seb for the thought, but you won’t always be here.”

“Well, as soon as possible, especially in the main house, there will be a state of the art security system. It will help to protect you and the children.”

“That will make me feel better.”

“If we find out that he is being released, we will have a system put in this house right away. If it is going to be eighteen months before he is released, by then even when I am gone, you will have other staff on site. I will do whatever is necessary to keep you safe, Cherie, even if it means bringing you three with me when we go back on tour.”

Lisa was still uncomfortable about going tomorrow, but hearing Seb tell her that he would take whatever steps necessary to protect her, made her feel safer than she had felt since the attack over five years ago and she fell asleep happy, wrapped safely in his protective and loving arms.

*

After she had hung up the phone with Lisa, Alex had sidestepped Urs’ question about what was so funny. She just reached for some of the bags and headed for the car that they had left parked in the long term parking lot.

“Urs? We haven’t talked about telling anyone. I just wanted to make sure it was alright before I told anyone about our engagement.”

“Well, until you and I have time to sit down and talk about when and all that, I think we should keep it between us and family and the other three guys, If that’s alright with you.”

“No, that’s fine. I just almost told Lisa but I really didn’t want to tell her over the phone anyway.”

When they got home to Alex’s apartment, neither of them felt like cooking after the long day so, they called for Chinese to be delivered. When it arrived, they curled up on the sofa together and watched a movie while they ate.

Urs was thinking how much he was enjoying these comfortable nights at home. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman who didn’t feel the need to be out in public almost every night, to make sure they were seen. He loved to be able to just take off his shoes and whatever else he felt like taking off and kicking back at home. They spent more than enough time out in the public eye for him.

Alex heard his sigh and asked him if he was alright.

“I’m great. It just feels so good to be home.”

That statement said so much to Alex and gave her such a sense of happiness and well being as they sat together. She never thought she could feel so secure in a permanent relationship. Some people who had lived in broken homes didn’t want to try to be in a committed relationship for fear of it turning out like their parents. For Alex, it had always been just the opposite. She had never believed that with her career mindedness and her zany personality that she could ever even come close to finding the perfect man for her, like her mother had done.

Her parents had had the perfect marriage. That wasn’t to say they didn’t argue, because they did, frequently, but very rarely with raised voices or real anger. But most of the arguments were really just differences of opinion and they would always talk it out and come to a compromise or after talking, one or the other would see the point of what the other was saying and actually wind up agreeing after all. Alex had just never met a man that she loved enough to dare to take a chance on finding the same kind of love and respect that her parents had.

“Do you want to go back and look at those two houses again tomorrow?” Urs asked.

“Sure, that is if they weren’t sold while we were away. We can call the realtor in the morning. I’ll need something to do to keep busy tomorrow so I won’t worry about Lisa so much.”

“We’ll call first thing in the morning then and if those were sold, we’ll have him show us some others. I don’t want you to be dealing with a move when you get too much further into the pregnancy. I’m hoping that we could get it settled before I have to leave.”

“I’m not sure, but I doubt a closing would be that soon, even if we made an offer tomorrow.”

“That’s alright as long as we at least make it definite that we have a house. Papers can always be faxed to me to sign and a moving company can come in and do all of the packing and moving.”

“I’ve been content in the apartment up until now, but since we’ve been house hunting, I’ve been getting excited about owning a home of our own. You know Urs; I’m not going to just be sitting around doing nothing through the whole pregnancy. I can pack boxes without hurting myself or the baby.”

Urs had the good sense not to argue with her on this point, at least not right now. He just skillfully changed the subject.

“Someday soon, you’ll have to come and see our other houses in the UK, France and Switzerland. The one in the UK is actually just a condo but the other two are houses with a bit of property.”

Alex was stunned. “You own all three of them?”

“Yes, I need to have my own space outside of a hotel as much as possible. We spend so much time on the road. It just feels good to come home to something familiar when I can. I don’t know when yet, but as soon as possible, I want to take you at least to Switzerland and France and then the UK if we have time.”

It also hadn’t been missed by Alex that he had said “Our” other houses. Without saying the words, he was constantly showing her that he was committed to this relationship.

“If we don’t go in the next few months, we’ll have to wait until after Little One is born.” He said.

Alex began thinking about the possibility of taking a leave of absence from the station. She had to find out if it was possible without jeopardizing her job. If it would cause her to lose her job, then she wouldn’t do it. She had hardly taken more than a day off here and there for years. She had been so wrapped up in getting as far as possible in her career. She was due a good long vacation.

“Are you ready to head to bed yet?” Urs asked breaking Alex out of her thoughts.

“Sure, just let me get this stuff put away. You go get ready for bed and I’ll join you in just a minute.” She said, running her hand over his chest and kissing him in a way that left no doubt what she had in mind.

“Mommy….Mommy….

Lisa began hearing Sammy calling her and she carefully rolled off of Seb’s shoulder. She had stayed there all night, for a couple of reasons. First was because that was where she felt safe and she could feel his love for her in his embrace even when he was asleep.

The other reason she hadn’t moved off of his shoulder was because she had hardly slept and she made sure that she didn’t fidget around too much. She didn’t want to hurt him or wake him up. He needed his rest. So did she, but as hard as she tried, she could not stay asleep. She had just managed to nod of for a bit when Sammy came in.

Visions of Jeremy kept invading her mind. She tried to put other more pleasant visions in their place, such as Seb playing with the children, her and Seb locked together in an embrace that just a matter of weeks ago would have scared her to death. There were so many more things she would have been happy to see in her mind. Jeremy still had a power over her mind that she didn’t know how to stop. If it was this bad now, what would it be like when he eventually got out of prison, either now or in eighteen months?

“Good morning Sammy.” Lisa said to him after she had guided him quietly out of the bedroom.

“Good morning Mommy. I forgot my pictures that I drawed for Dr. Janie. I left them at her….umm, did I go to her house?”

“No Baby, that is where she works. We’ll be going there on Monday and we can see if we can find your pictures, alright? Sammy nodded and then she asked him, “Would you like to help me make breakfast?”

“Uh huh, that’s funnest.”

Mornings weren’t usually a time that she could have him “helping” to cook unless it was the weekend. But, they had gotten up early enough that they had some extra time today.

When Seb woke up and came out into the kitchen, he stopped just before they would have seen him. The table was all set and Lisa had Sammy sitting on the edge of the counter “helping her to watch the pancakes that were cooking across on the stove. Sammy had already been told that the stove was too dangerous for him to help with until he got bigger.

Sammy was singing a children’s song and Lisa was singing along with him. They both giggled at the end of the silly song. She wouldn’t sing if she knew he was anywhere close by. She was too embarrassed. She didn’t have a bad voice at all and he loved to hear her sing because she sounded so happy when she did. He hoped that as time went on and she got more comfortable around him that she would start singing around him too.

Sammy was the first to realize that his Papa was there.

“Hi Papa. We’re making breakfast for you and Kayti.”

“Thank You. It smells wonderful.” He said and kissed the top of Sammy’s head and then he moved over to wrap his arm around Lisa’s waist and kissed her. “Good morning, Cherie.”

“Good morning Seb. Did you sleep well?”

“I did. But I can see that you didn’t.”

“I look that bad huh? Sorry.”

“Baby, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Lisa was tired and it was going to be such a long day. She was trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

“Lisa, go lie down and try to rest for a while. Sammy and I can finish up here.”

“Kayti will be up soon and we need to get ready to go.”

Seb set Sammy down off of the counter and took the spatula out of Lisa’s hand. He removed the cooked pancakes from the pan and slid the frying pan off of the burner.

“Sammy, would you tiptoe into Kayti’s room and see if she is awake? If she isn’t awake, please don’t wake her up.”

“Okay, Papa. I’ll be right back.”

When Sammy had left the room, Seb pulled Lisa into his embrace.

“Baby, what kept you awake all night, Sammy or Jeremy?”

“Jeremy. I kept seeing his face every time I closed my eyes. I tried to make him go away but he wouldn’t” she said into his shoulder that her head was laying on.

“You should have woken me up. I would have made him go away.”

He started kissing her cheek and ear and on down her neck and he felt her arms tighten around him, showing him that he had been effective in taking her mind off of Jeremy.

“See, I can take your mind off of anything, if you let me.”

She lifted up her head and kissed him.

“I thought about it but you needed your rest.”

“So do you. Go lie down for a while. I’ll wake you in plenty of time to be ready to go.”

She knew he was right. She needed to get at least a nap in for now.

“I’ll feed the kids and get them dressed. Go on.”

“Alright, Thanks.”

Seb managed to finish cooking the pancakes, get the kids fed, washed up and dressed and sent them to play in Kayti’s room. He went quietly into the room and found Lisa sound asleep. He decided to let her have a few more minutes so he got a shower and got himself dressed. When he was finished he knew he had to wake her now for her to be able to get a shower and get ready on time. He sat next to her on the bed and swept the hair off of her face.

“Wake up Cherie? You need to get up now.”

Lisa smiled as she began waking up to the wonderful fragrance that was Seb. The cologne he wore drove her crazy. He didn’t over do it, there was just enough to assault the senses and make her want to get closer to him.

Without opening her eyes, Lisa reached over and put her hand on his leg.

“How long was I asleep?”

“At least an hour, I think. I’m not exactly sure when you first fell asleep.”

“Thanks Seb. I did need that.”

“You’re welcome, Cherie. Wait there and I’ll wrap your leg so you can get in the shower.”

With Seb’s help, everyone was ready and getting into the Escalade in plenty of time. They were going to drop the kids off at the daycare and then go pick up Mom and Dad. When they got to school, they got the kids into their classes and then they went out to speak to Mary.

“Mary, are you sure you don’t mind taking care of the kids this evening until we’re back? Alex is back in town and I’m sure I could get her to come pick them up.”

“No, I’ve been looking forward to it. I’ll take them to your house and depending on what time you get back, I can have them fed and let them play.”

Alright then, I’ll go put the kid’s seats in your car.” Seb said.

Mary handed him her keys and after he’d gone outside Mary came around the desk to stand in front of Lisa.

“How are you holding up?”

One afternoon, Mary had sat in Lisa’s office with her and she had told her the whole story of Jeremy. Mary had already heard bits and pieces of what had happened through other people so she was glad to have gotten the truth from Lisa and put the rumors to rest.

“I don’t know. I’m alright I guess. I couldn’t stay asleep last night though.”

Lisa told Mary about the updated schedule on the house and asked her if she thought she could be ready soon after the house was finished.

“Have you made a decision about whether you’re prepared to move into the house with us? I know that you’ve lived in your house for a long time and with your husband. I bet it would be hard to leave the memories. I know I had a hard time moving out of the house that I lived in with Auntie all of those years.”

“Actually, I have thought a lot about it and my husband would be so tickled for me to get this opportunity to do something that will make me so happy. It will be hard to sell the house, but I’ve decided that is what I’m going to do. As soon as you say I can move into the house, I’ll put mine on the market. It isn’t a bad house and is still in great shape. We’ve always taken good care of it, so it shouldn’t take long to sell.

They are looking at sometime in June for the house to be finished. Then we’ll have to furnish it. Of course, you’ll pick out what you want for furniture in your bedroom. You’ll also have a private bathroom and walk-in closet.”

“It sounds fantastic. Although, I won’t need a new bedroom set, Lisa. I have a nice one and I can’t part with it. It is the bed that we slept in together. I’ll sell everything that I’m not bringing with me.”

“Oh, okay I understand.”

Seb came back in and kissed Mary on the cheek as he gave her the keys back.

“The seats are all buckled in. Just leave them in your car and I’ll transfer them when we get home. We’d better go. We still need to pick up Dan and Marie. Thanks for taking care of the children, Mary.”

“It’s my pleasure, Seb. You know I love them both…. Take care of her today.” She said in Seb’s ear as he followed Lisa out the door.

“You know I will.” He said with a hug and a wink.

Chapter 59:

Dan and Marie were both ready to leave when Seb pulled into the driveway. Marie brought a bag with some needlework to do for her and a crossword puzzle book for Dan. They had no idea how long they’d be waiting. Theirs wasn’t the only parole hearing that was scheduled for today.

On the drive there, there was a lot of talk about the house and how quickly things were being accomplished. Seb told them about what he had seen being worked on this week while Lisa was at work. He said that Drew was pleased with the work that the new crew was doing. Their foreman was just as conscientious of the work quality as Drew was himself. So he hadn’t needed to keep a watch over every little thing. Seb told Dan and Marie about Urs’s great idea for the music building. They went over a few of the plans for the wedding that still needed hashing out, mostly just little things but that still needed to be set. Lisa told them that she had confirmed the minister that was going to perform the ceremony. That was the last major detail and now that was done, it was just a matter of waiting for the day to arrive in nine days. And of course they talked about Alex’s meeting with Joe. Everyone agreed that it was a good thing Alex found out what kind of man that Joe was now and that he wasn’t going to try to be around after the baby was born, even if it was his. She didn’t need someone like that in her life.

“Urs is really getting excited about the baby.” Seb told them.

“He’s been great with Sammy and Kayti. I think he’ll make a great Papa.” Lisa said.

As the talk continued, Lisa had laid her head on Seb’s shoulder and when Marie asked her a question and she didn’t answer, she turned around in her seat to find that Lisa had fallen asleep.

“She didn’t sleep very well last night. I’m glad she’s getting some rest now.” Seb said quietly and turned a bit so he could get her head settled into a more comfortable position.

When they were about ten minutes from their destination, Dan stopped at a café and they all got a coffee and Danish. They had gotten there in good time and weren’t scheduled to be there for forty five minutes.

“How are you doing Honey?” Dan asked her.

“I know that we’ve come a long way, but I’m not sure that I can go in there if he’s in there.” She said as she looked down into her cup of coffee.

Dan scooted his chair over so he was very close to her. He took both of her hands in his and gave them a squeeze

“Sweetheart, I don’t care how far we’ve come. If you decide you don’t want to go in there, no one is going to force you. And if you decide not to, then I’ll turn the truck around and take us all home. This is your decision to make. Nobody will think any less of you if you don’t go in there. But..…You are a very strong woman, honey. I’ve been so proud of you over the years. You made it through one of the hardest times a person would ever have to go through when Jeremy hurt you and in the trial afterwards. Then, when your Aunt Jessie died, and you thought you had no family left, you picked yourself up and kept your plans for your dream going strong. Helping Anna like you did and taking such wonderful care of Kayti and now Sammy. I don’t think you have any idea how proud we both are of you.”

Lisa had tears flowing down her face as she listened to Dan’s words.

“Like I said it’s up to you. You tell me what you want to do. If you decide to go on, we’ll all be right beside you in there. You can draw your strength from us and from our love for you.”

Lisa never ceased to be overwhelmed by the feelings that came over her when Mom and Dad told her how much she meant to them and here he was telling her that he thought she was strong. She didn’t always feel that way, totally the opposite sometimes. But hearing Dad list all of the things that she had dealt with, she felt a surge of something akin to pride, although Lisa was definitely not a proud person. She had made it through all of those things.

“Thank you Dad, Mom. I love both of you so much. Knowing that you both were there all along the way has helped to give me that strength you say that you see in me. I’ll go, only because I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t do everything I can to keep him in there for as long as possible. Even if they let him out, at least I’ve done what I could. But I’m going to be counting on all three of you to be there with me, beside me, especially if he is in there.” She said squeezing Dan’s hand and grasping at Seb’s.

“We will be Cherie, all of us. You won’t be alone for a second. If he even looks at you funny, they’ll have to drag me off of him.”

“Seriously Seb, I know from experience. When we went through the trial with Lisa, I wanted to jump him and rip his throat out right there in the courtroom. But, that won’t help Lisa if you wind up getting put in jail.” Dan told him.

“I know, Dan. I promise I’ll control myself.”

“We’d better go. Do any of you want a refill on your coffee to take with you?” Dan asked.

Everyone did and they piled back into the Escalade and Mom immediately put on the CD that was in the player. She jumped and had to turn it down a bit for her old ears. Lisa grinned when Nights in White Satin came blasting out of the speakers. Seb just raised his eyebrows at her.

“Sorry. I just like it. What can I say?”

Seb smiled back at her. That had been the first real smile he’d seen since they left home.

Just a few minutes later, Dan pulled up into the parking lot of the building where the hearings were being held. When they got parked and found the entrance, Jerry Bradford was standing just inside the doorway, waiting for them.

“Good Morning. I’m glad to see that you’ve brought reinforcements with you.”

Lisa saw the little grin on Jerry’s face when he realized that it was Sebastien standing with her. She remembered back before Christmas he’d told her that his wife was a fan, a Siren in fact.

“Seb, this is Jerry Bradford. He is the attorney that made sure that Jeremy went to prison.
His wife is a big fan. Actually, she’s a Siren.”

Jerry said hello and shook Seb’s hand and looked at the handsome man holding Lisa close to his side. Sebastien was dressed in one of his Armani suits and looked very professional. He’d had to put up with his wife drooling over this man for almost two years. His picture or pictures of the group were in places of honor all over the house. She had the screensaver, wallpaper and a mouse pad with the group’s photo on it. She had a calendar in both the office area and the kitchen. Her morning coffee was frequently drunk out of her Il Divo mug. When anything came on the television that had Il Divo on it their world had to stop for the time being until the program was over. Thankfully, most of the talk shows were held in the morning after he’d already gone to work, although there was always the recordings that she’d made on the Tivo.

He wasn’t really bothered by it that much, not as much as he pretended. At sixty two years old, his Emma was still beautiful and this obsession for the four singers had brought a youthfulness back to her features and her excitement when she was watching them reminded him of the girl of sixteen that he’d first met.

“It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for being here for Lisa again. I appreciate it. What do you think the chances are of him getting out now?”

Jerry was impressed immediately by the younger man. He’d sidestepped the comment Lisa made about his wife being a fan and had gone right to the business at hand. He had met celebrities over the years and most of them would have jumped at the chance to talk about themselves or their careers.

“It’s nice to meet you as well. Honestly, I’m not sure. I’ve spoken to one of the parole board members and he told me that, while in prison, after kicking the drugs, Jeremy has been a model inmate.”

While Lisa was always glad if someone could kick their drug habit, what she was hearing from Jerry didn’t give her much hope that Jeremy would be kept in prison for the next year and a half.

Seb could feel Lisa’s body language and knew she wasn’t happy about that news. He gave her another squeeze, reminding her that he was still there with her.

“But that doesn’t always mean anything so don’t go getting worried before you have to.” Jerry continued. “You coming here and speaking out will hold great value in their decision process. They’ll already have read the file on the attack, but like I told you in December, it really helps for them to be able to put a face to the event and to hear from you how it has affected your life. Let’s move on into the waiting area and let them know that we are here.”

“Is he here?” Lisa asked in a voice choked with fear.

“I don’t know yet.”

“Okay.” She said gripping tighter to Seb’s arm as they made their way into the waiting room.

Jerry walked up to the desk and gave the receptionist their names and told her which hearing they were there to be part of. She gave him some papers to fill out and when he’d completed them, he handed them back to her and she told them all to have a seat and someone would be out to speak to them. They waited about thirty minutes and watched as the room steadily filled up with people waiting for their hearing to be called. A man in a suit came out to speak to the room in general.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention? Thank you all for bearing with us as we had to change our schedule and even the location of the hearings today. We will try to keep you waiting as short a time as possible today. I am afraid that there is a difference from the normal allowances made for people entering the hearing room. Only two people per hearing will be allowed in the room this time. There just isn’t room in there for any more. We had to have the area for the parole board and the inmates who are here, with room for the guards that are there with them. I’m truly sorry for the inconvenience this causes any of you.”

The man really was sorry. He saw the faces of several women go very pale throughout the room and when they gripped tighter to people they were with. He knew a lot of these extra people were there for moral support for victims of the crimes committed by the inmates that would be sitting right in the room with them during the hearing.

“The board has their list of cases and will call them as they are ready. As I said, they will be as quick as possible and we appreciate your patience during the process.”

With that, he turned around and went back into the room. The tension level in the room had just increased a thousand times over.

Lisa was just staring into space. The others watched as after some discussion among the others in the room that several of the groups of people went to speak to the receptionist and then they left. Some of the others just stood up and left without speaking to anyone else.

Seb leaned over and kissed Lisa’s temple and asked her what she wanted to do. After a minute or two she finally looked up at him.

“I don’t know. I was counting on all four of you being in there with me. That’s what helped me decide that I would be able to do this, knowing that all of you were right there surrounding me.”

“Do you want to leave?”

“Yes!”

The others began picking up their things in preparation to leave. Jerry had even stood and was about to head over to the receptionist’s desk.

“But I can’t. Even though my whole body is screaming for me to get out of here, we’ve come this far and I can’t leave and live with the fact that I didn’t do what I could to keep him incarcerated. Now we just need to decide who will go in with me.”

They discussed the best option and in the end it was decided that Jerry would accompany Lisa into the hearing room. He was the one who was familiar with these hearings and knew what questions should be asked or when it was appropriate to speak. So, it was decided that in the interest of doing the best possible job in the hearing, he should be the one to go in.

He knew he was a poor substitute for the moral support that Lisa really needed in the room but was glad when they had decided on him going in. He would be able to guide the hearing as much as possible and also it would keep anyone else from getting emotional and out of hand. He could feel the anger seeping out of Sebastien. He felt that given half a chance, the man would kill Jeremy or at least beat him into a coma and that wouldn’t help any one of them.

“I wish I knew if he was here. If he isn’t even here, I won’t be so nervous. I’d just be going in to speak to the board. That will be hard enough. But, if he is in there……” that final statement just hung in the air.

They waited as one by one, cases were called and those that hadn’t left, made their way into the room behind the double doors. Lisa noticed when some of them came out, they looked worn and haggard, a lot of them looked as if they’d been crying and they were in a hurry to leave and get away from this place. She was in a hurry. She wanted to get this over with and go home to her children with Seb. She began pacing the floor as the room emptied a little at a time. There was however other people arriving during this time. They had been given afternoon times for their hearing. The same man that had come out this morning came back out and gave the same speech over again for the new arrivals. It was announced after several hours that the board was taking a break for lunch and that they were free to leave and go eat at one of the area restaurants, but to return in an hour.

“Should we go eat?” Marie asked.

“I think so. You need to eat, love.” Dan said to his wife who although she was generally in good health, suffered from hypoglycemia, which is an occasional sudden drop in the blood sugar level. This made Marie weak and get shaky and sometimes made it hard to even think of what she needed to be doing, if it was severe enough. Meals at regular intervals generally helped to keep this from happening.

“He’s right Mom. You need something to eat and I need to get out of here for a while.”

So they went back to the diner and sat down at a table. The waitress brought them their menus and silverware. They ordered drinks and told her that they needed a few minutes to decide what to eat.

“I’m not sure if I want anything more than the drink.” Lisa said.

“You should try to eat something, even some soup or a grilled cheese. It still could be a while.”

Lisa knew Mom was right, so she ordered a sandwich. She didn’t know how she would keep it down when her stomach was tied in so many knots.

Conversation was attempted while they waited for their meal and when they were eating. Jerry was updated by Dan on the progress of the house. He hadn’t seen it but had heard about it in several circles. A lot of them hadn’t even met Lisa, but had heard so many good things about what she was doing and would be doing once the house was finished. It seemed that the television exposure after the party had made her a bit of a celebrity in her own right.

Right now, that all had little meaning when all she could think about was whether Jeremy was going to be sitting in the room when they were called for his hearing. Not knowing was making her crazy. She was able to choke down a little more than half of her lunch before she pushed it away. She excused herself from the table and went to the ladies room. After using the restroom and while she was washing her hands, tears began falling. She had felt like she was wound so tight all day. She barely made it back into the stall before losing every bit of the lunch she’d just eaten. She knew it had been a mistake to try to eat with the way her stomach had felt all day, but she’d only eaten one of the pancakes and a piece of the bacon that Seb had placed in front of her this morning.

After rinsing her mouth several times, she reapplied the little bit of make up she wore and headed back to the table. It was time to go back to the hearings. Marie passed her on her way out and hugged her tightly when she could tell by her red eyes, that Lisa had been crying. No words were spoken and after a minute, Marie went into the restroom and Lisa went back to the others. Seb also saw the evidence of her having been crying. He pulled her to him and kissed her cheek. She wrapped her arms around him, needing so much to feel his protection around her. They stayed that way until Marie came back and after Jerry insisted on buying their lunch, he paid and then they went back to the waiting room that had filled back up.

Several more cases were heard before theirs was called. When Jerry told her that it was their case that was being announced, Lisa stiffened and immediately went into Seb’s arms.

“I’ll be right here waiting for you, Cherie. Just remember how much I love you and that I am just a few steps away. He can’t hurt you anymore, Baby.” He kissed her, not caring who was watching.

Dan and Marie also both hugged her as she passed and followed Jerry to the open door. Just before going through it, she turned to look at Sebastien once more to give herself an extra boost of courage. She was in very short supply right now.

This was it. The day she had been dreading for a month. She needed to get through this and get out of here. She still felt sick to her stomach but knew there was nothing left to lose in it. Seb smiled at her, gave her a wink and blew her a kiss and then Lisa felt Jerry’s arm around her shoulder, guiding her on into the room.

Chapter 60:

When Alex woke up, she realized immediately what today was. She quietly got out of bed and started the coffee. She knew that she would be on pins and needles until Lisa called her and told her the hearing was over and that she was alright. She still felt like she should be sitting in there with her best friend, her sister. She felt useless standing here worrying about her when she could have gone. She regretted letting Lisa talk her out of going.

As they had discussed, she and Urs were going to go looking at houses again today. She tried the number for the realtor and was glad when someone answered. It was still pretty early in the morning.

“Hi, this is Alex Huggins. My fiancé and I would like to see the two houses we were looking at if they haven’t been sold while we were away.”

“Hold please”

When Mike, the realtor that had shown them the houses last week came on the phone, he told her that one of the houses had been sold but the other was still available. He also told her about a house that he was very excited to show them. He said it had everything they had wanted and had fifty acres with it if they wanted, or the property could be parceled off and sold separately.

Alex told him that they’d like to see both of those houses. They set a time to meet in a couple of hours. They’d meet and then ride with him. She thanked him and then hung up. She decided to get some breakfast ready before waking Urs up. They had been awake long into the night. She had teased him just long enough to make him crazy, by taking a long shower and then coming out to clean the kitchen and even threw more of their laundry in the washer. Then when he couldn’t wait for her any longer, he had come out and scooped her into his arms and carried her to their bed. She was giggling and asked him what took him so long. Then they had loved each other until they couldn’t stay awake any longer.

When she had breakfast ready, Alex carried a cup of coffee into the bedroom planning to wake Urs up. He was already done with his shower and was shaving in front of the large mirror.

He smelled the coffee before he heard her and without turning his head, he said carefully so he wouldn’t cut himself,

“Good morning, Liebe. That coffee smells great. Is that for me?”

“Good morning, my love. Yes, it is. We have an appointment in two hours to meet with Mike. He has a new house to show us, besides the one house that hasn’t been sold. He seemed really excited about showing it to us. It has fifty acres with it. I really hope we like it because the one that sold was the one we were leaning towards putting an offer on. The other one we didn’t care so much for.”

“I’d love to have some property with it. The others didn’t have much land with them.” He said as he made one of the funny faces that men need to make while shaving.

It made Urs laugh when Alex watched him shave. A lot of the time while she was watching, she would end up making the faces he was making to shave in one of the creases or beside his nose. He didn’t even think she was aware that she did it. So sometimes, he would make an exaggeratedly funny face just to see if she would copy him. He had come close to cutting himself several times when she did copy him because he was trying to hold his laughter in. He had nicked himself just a bit a couple of times, but it was worth it to watch her. He never let on that he was doing it. He was afraid she would stop if she realized it.

This time however, while she was doing it, all of a sudden her face got such a serious look on it and he remembered about the hearing today. He figured correctly that Alex was worried about Lisa. He wiped the remaining shaving cream off of his face when he was finished and turned and put his hands on her face making her look up at him.

“Seb is with her and your Mom and Dad are there as well. She’ll be alright.”

Alex threw her arms around him.

“I love you, you know! How do you always know what I’m feeling?”

“Because, I love you, too and my heart beats for you and when you are feeling upset my heart knows.”

He kissed her until her knees were weak.

“As much as I’d like to stand here with you kissing me all day, breakfast is ready and we have that appointment.”

Reluctantly, they separated and went to the kitchen to eat, clean up and they left to meet with Mike and hopefully decide on a house today.


Jerry had his arm around Lisa’s shoulder as he guided her into the room.

Lisa was feeling shell shocked at having to do this, but she was determined that she must. She took in the set up of the room. Directly in front of her were two empty folding chairs. In front of the chairs was a long table with six people seated behind it. There were three men and three women. All of them were dressed very professionally.

One of the men welcomed Lisa and Jerry into the room and asked them to be seated. Other than the eight of them, and a man sitting by himself over by the wall to the right of her and Jerry, the room was empty. Three seats on the side of the room by a side door were empty. Jeremy wasn’t here. Lisa was filled with such a rush of relief, she thought she might cry, but she just took a deep breath and sat down. Now she could get through this and go home. It wasn’t going to be as bad as she had feared.

Jerry gave her hand a squeeze. They took their seats and the hearing began. A few instructions were given, asking that they not speak out unless they had permission to do so. They were assured that they would be given plenty of time to say whatever they wanted to at the appropriate time.

“We understand how difficult this hearing is for you Miss Daniels. We will try to make it as quick and painless as possible for you. We are familiar with all aspects of the case in question.”

She could see the file open in front of each of the panel members. There were even the disgusting photos of her after the attack, sitting there in front of some of them. Seeing those, even though she didn’t have a clear view of them, made her feel sick to her stomach. She remembered them clearly in her mind, having seen them way too many times after the attack and during the trial. She didn’t need to see them again to know what they looked like.

The man, who was sitting alone, introduced himself as Richard Reilly, Attorney for Jeremy Chambliss.

The next thing she knew, the side door by the empty chairs opened and two guards were flanking a man in an orange jumpsuit with a number across the right side of his chest. He had handcuffs that had a chain threaded through them that surrounded his waist and he also wore leg shackles. The shackles made him have to shuffle more than walk. His hair was gone, shaved off, although you could tell where his hair actually grew, showing that his hairline had receded considerably in the five years since she had seen him.

He was thirty two, but looked quite a bit older now. But she knew it was him. It was Jeremy and she began having a severe pain in her chest. She felt like she was going to have a heart attack. She could hear and feel the blood rushing in her ears and she felt very light headed.

It was only when Jerry placed his other hand on the two of theirs that had been clasped together, that she realized she was squeezing his hand hard enough that it was turning white from lack of blood flow.

Jerry raised a hand in a signal to the panel to give them a minute and he turned in his seat to look at her.

She lifted her eyes to his and he really thought she might pass out on him. Her breathing was ragged and speeding up by the second. He placed one hand on her cheek and leaned down and whispered into her ear.

“Look at me, Lisa, not at him. Look at me and breathe slowly. That’s it, come on. Slow and steady, you can do this.”

He knew if she didn’t get calmed down, they would be looking at a medical emergency. He reached out his thumb and wiped the tear off of her cheek that escaped from the corner of her eye. She shook her head and he thought she was going to get up and run out of the room. Her eyes were opened so wide. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She’d come this far and he really hoped that she would stay and help to keep Jeremy where he belonged. But, he couldn’t force her to if she really couldn’t do it. He remembered the terrible shape she was in physically and mentally after the attack.

“What do you want to do? We can go if you want to, but I know you and you’ll regret it.” He whispered again.

She was still staring into Jerry’s eyes, afraid to let her eyes move anywhere else. He was right. She would be so angry with herself if she left now. With sheer willpower, she took a few long, deep breaths and forced her breathing into a more regular pattern. It was kind of like she was doing the Lamaze breathing for childbirth. Her mouth felt so dry, like it had a ball of cotton stuffed into it.

Jerry smiled at her as he recognized her attempt at getting herself under control. She was so much stronger than she realized, he thought.

The pain in her chest didn’t go away completely, but it lessened significantly. With one last deep, cleansing breath, she turned slowly in her seat and nodded to the panel of the board members. She was very thankful for their graciousness in allowing her those few minutes to compose herself after the shock of Jeremy entering the room. Surely, they must be used to the effect that seeing their attacker had on the victims of the terrible crimes that had been committed by these people.

The man that had given the announcements earlier in the day came back into the room and brought her a bottle of water, for which she was very grateful. After taking a few sips, she set it on the floor next to her chair. Then she sat up straight and looked one of the men on the panel in the eye. He must have gotten the message that she was as ready as she was ever going to be.

Rich Reilly watched the young woman as she valiantly tried to compose herself. He had met with Jeremy several times in the last two years since he had taken over Jeremy’s case. The other court appointed attorney had moved out of state and had been given permission by a judge to transfer the case to another attorney. Jeremy had sworn to him that it had all been a gross misunderstanding between himself and the victim, Lisa Daniels.

He swore that he hadn’t hurt her and that she had not said no to him until they were almost finished making love and by then he was so engrossed in what he was doing, he just hadn’t heard her and he was really sorry about that.

Rich had seen so many cases that had been exactly like that and had been easily argued. But just by looking at this terrified woman, who even after five years was becoming physically disturbed by just the sight of him, he knew without a doubt, Jeremy had really done some serious damage to her. He stood and walked over to the table and asked to see a complete file of the events in question. He explained that he felt like he could not do his job adequately with the incomplete file he’d been given. As he stood there while a copy of the file was made by the receptionist, Rich saw the copies of the pictures and was sickened by what he saw. He had a daughter that was about the same age as this poor woman. This wasn’t even just a matter of a few slaps. This woman’s face had been beaten severely and other parts of her body were covered by huge bruises.

He wished he could back off of this case. He couldn’t but at least he wasn’t the one who had had to defend him in court. That would have been an impossible task and he wouldn’t have been able to look himself in the mirror if he had. At least all he was having to do was make sure that Jeremy got a fair hearing and if he was released on parole, he would have to help him complete the paperwork. But as soon as those obligations were done, he would have no other dealings with this vile man. On the other hand, if the parole was denied, he would have to stay available to him until he was released at the end of his sentence.

The beginning of the hearing was a formal reading of the charges that the inmate had been convicted of and the sentence that he was given by the jury. One of the panel members asked Jeremy to stand in front of them. A guard led him to stand in front of them, and then he took a couple of steps back away from Jeremy; not helping Lisa’s nerves any.

“Jeremy Chambliss, do you understand that this is only a hearing and that this hearing in no way means that your parole has been granted? After the hearing, the board will deliberate when all parties have had their turn to speak and a decision will be made. You will receive notice within three days of the decision. If you are granted parole, you will be released within 7 days; after all necessary paperwork has been completed. This will include all of your information that you will need to get set up with a probation officer.”

“Yes, I understand.” He said, sending a rain of shivers all over Lisa’s body when she heard his voice.

“Furthermore Mr. Chambliss, if you’re released, you will forevermore have the responsibility to register as a sex offender in the county you live in. This will be necessary each time you move. Failure to do so, will earn you a trip back to prison, even if it’s after your original sentence would have expired. Is everything clear to you?”

“Yes sir.”

“Just so that everyone knows, we do record these hearings in case we have any question about what was said, so we can listen back to it during our deliberations.” Another man said.

“Alright Mr. Chambliss, in your own words, I would like for you to tell those of us on the panel why you think you are ready to be released from your sentence early. Tell us what you have learned about yourself during your incarceration.”

Jeremy was visibly sweating. Jerry was keeping a close eye on him.

Lisa wouldn’t look in Jeremy’s direction. Her gaze was directed somewhere behind the table. If anyone could have seen inside of her mind, they would have seen visions of Seb and both of the children running around their yard, playing with their toys and laughing so hard that they got the hiccups. It was a defense mechanism. She was trying to keep herself together as Jeremy began speaking with the voice that had haunted her for five years.

“May I turn around? I have something to say to Miss Daniels. It is still Miss Daniels isn’t it?” Jeremy said in a tone that was probably fooling everyone else, but not Lisa. She didn’t even care if he was being sincere.

“Yes, it is still Miss Daniels.” One of the women on the panel said. I suppose you may turn around for a minute.” This woman was curious as to what he would say to his victim.

With permission, Jeremy turned around and looked Lisa in the eye, although she wasn’t looking at him. She was still looking at a point beyond where he was standing. He took an almost imperceptible step to the right, which brought him right in her line of vision and before she knew it, she was looking Jeremy in the eye.

He knew that he was getting to her. He could see her hands shaking in her lap, even though the man next to her was holding one of her hands. He was actually surprised that she was here. He knew he had done quite a number on her back then and didn’t think she’d have the nerve to show up here today.

He couldn’t wait until they let him out. That B1tch was going pay for what she’d done to him. She had teased him for over six months and he’d had to put up with her sweet talking old aunt. So many times, he’d wanted to figure out a way to do away with the old bat. But he could never figure out a way that wouldn’t look suspicious and would look like an accident. If she was still alive, she was getting pretty old. She was already in her late eighties when he’d been there. Maybe he could still do away with her now, if he got out. If not now, then he would definitely do it whenever he did get out. He remembered the evil looks he’d gotten from the old woman at the trial. He’d make her pay, if she was still kicking.

Lisa was another matter. She was going to suffer for a very long time when he got his hands on her. He’d had five extremely long years of suffering to think about what he would do to her when he had the chance. Every time he’d been used by one of the bigger guys or one that was seen as a boss of one of the cell blocks, he got angrier and it just fueled his determination to get even with her. In the meantime, he began his speech that he’d spent weeks perfecting.

“Miss Daniels, Lisa, I would like to offer you my greatest apologies for every wrong that I’ve done to you. I hope that someday you might even be able to forgive me. I’m not trying to make excuses, but I was addicted to drugs at the time and what happened was not me. It was a man that was not the real Jeremy Chambliss. That man is gone forever and I look forward to the day that I can get back out into the world and prove what kind of man I really am.” With a grin that sent shivers all over Lisa, Jeremy turned around and faced the panel with a solemn look on his face.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself while being incarcerated. I now know that I can live… and live a much better life without the drugs that were controlling my life for so long. If you decide that I should be released now, I will do my very best to make you glad that you decided for letting me out. Thank you for listening to what I had to say.”

Lisa was not fooled for one second by Jeremy. She knew he was just trying to win over the panel with his mild mannered speech. Isn’t that the kind of talk that had kept her in the dark to his true nature for so long?

Jeremy turned back towards Lisa and got an answer to one question.

“Please tell your Aunt Jessie hello for me.”

When he said those words, he saw the pain rush to her features and rejoiced inside, one less problem in the way when he gets out.

“Oh Lisa, I’m so sorry, when did she pass away?”

Seeing that Miss Daniels was in no mood for a chatty conversation with Mr. Chambliss, one of the women panel members put a stop to it.

“Mr. Chambliss, back to the situation at hand, please.”

“Oh forgive me. Miss Daniels’ Aunt was a lovely lady and I’m just in shock that she’s left us.”

Lisa wanted so badly to jump up and scream for him to shut up. He wasn’t worthy to even speak about her. She remembered well how he had said he had been waiting for her to die.

“Please, just take your seat Mr. Chambliss. Miss Daniels, do you have a statement that you would like to make to the panel?”

Lisa felt like she could feel each nerve ending in her body and they were all twitching. She had thought many times about what to say to these people and how to make them understand how important it was that Jeremy be kept in prison for at least the rest of his original sentence.

Lisa stood just in front of her chair, not wanting to get any closer to Jeremy and needing to stay next to Jerry. She took a deep breath and wished that it had occurred to her to write the statement down ahead of time, then she wouldn’t have this block that was preventing her from remembering what it was that she’d wanted to say. She had to clear her throat and get another drink of water before any words would come out.

”First, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here and have some input into the hearing. It was not easy for me to be here but I knew that I had to be. Jeremy Chambliss is a very devious and conniving person and I honestly don’t believe that it was only the drugs that affected his behavior. He would have to have been on them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to explain his actions. Also, a lot of what he said to me that night were things that he had thought long and hard about and I don’t believe that someone on drugs could think as clearly as he was. I do know drugs were in his system when he was arrested but he had been able to hold a job and do it well, so I don’t think his use was that heavy. I am naïve in those areas but that was my opinion. During the attack, Jeremy told me that he had been waiting for my aunt to die so that we could live off of her inheritance, so his statement about his regret at her passing rings totally false to me. My attorney, who has kindly accompanied me here today, told me that I should tell you how Jeremy’s attack on me affected my life.”

“In my early adult life, I made a decision that I wanted to wait for my wedding night to share intimacy with a man. I wanted my wedding night to be extra special and Jeremy knew that from very early in our relationship, but he constantly hounded me and made me feel like there was something wrong with me for wanting this. Thankfully, I had people who supported me and continuously told me that there was nothing wrong with what I wanted and if Jeremy didn’t like it, I should let him go. The times I told him that, he would act all contrite and apologize until the next time we’d argue about the same thing. So it was on that night that we were arguing about this issue and as I had done so many times, I told Jeremy I was going home. His anger flared quickly and within minutes I was in a fight for my life. His beating of me took me months to recover from. The rape……”

Lisa had to stop and catch her breath and Jerry handed her a Kleenex to wipe her tears away.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry…. The beating and the rape have left me with nightmares, even after five years. I am engaged to be married and I am fearful of my wedding night now. I……am afraid of the intimacy. What should have been the most special night of my life was stolen from me by him. All I can remember is the pain as Jeremy repeatedly raped me that night. I am just thankful that I have a very understanding man in my life that has been very patient with me. When we first started spending time together, even when he’d just put his arms around me, I would have an overwhelming fear and flashbacks of the attack.”

“I listened to the smooth talking that Jeremy did for six months and was unfortunately deceived by him. His apology to me just now only makes me angry because I don’t believe him for a minute. I don’t know what more I can tell you here today except that I hope that you will take into consideration the brutality of the attack and although I know that he will not be able to be kept in prison longer than his original sentence, I hope that you will give me the peace of mind to know that he will at least serve out his full sentence. Again, thank you for listening to me.”

Lisa sat down heavily into her chair. She hadn’t thought she could, but she’d done it. Now it was up to the panel to decide whether or not to release him early. She wanted to go out to Seb. But Jerry hadn’t moved yet, so she waited, staring at the same spot on the wall that she had been earlier.

“Thank you, Miss Daniels, for your courage in being here today. We all know it wasn’t an easy thing for you to do. As it was said previously, a decision will be made and both attorneys will be notified of the results.”

One of the panel members nodded to the guards who told Jeremy to stand and head for the door. Just before going through the doorway, Jeremy turned and stared at Lisa with a look that told her how angry he was right now. It was the same look that he’d had that night. No, it wasn’t all because of the drugs that he’d behaved that way.

Lisa knew that the people at the table couldn’t see the look on his face and hoped that they were wise enough to have figured it out anyway.

Jerry put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.

“Let’s go.” He said.

Nobody had to tell her twice. She quickly stood and headed for the door and when she was back out in the waiting room, she threw herself into Seb’s waiting arms.

Sebastien had been pacing the floor of the waiting room the whole time she was in there. He still didn’t know if Jeremy had been in there or not. When she had finally come out, she ran as fast as she could with her cast and threw herself at him. He had been more than happy to welcome her back into his arms.

Dan and Marie spoke with Jerry and got a rundown of what had transpired in the other room. They were saddened to hear that Jeremy had been there. They knew how much that would have affected her and wished they could have been in there with her. They came over and wrapped their arms around Lisa and Seb, adding to the hug. They could see that she wasn’t letting go of Sebastien very soon.

When they finally broke apart, Jerry made a statement.

“Lisa, I am very proud of the way that you handled yourself in there. I know it was very difficult. I believe that your statement was very effective. I could sense the anger in Jeremy especially at the end after Lisa’s statement and I’m hoping that the panel realized it too.”

Lisa thanked him again for being here today and after goodbyes were said, everyone headed for their vehicles and started for home.

Chapter 61:

The prison bus that was taking some of the inmates back to the prison after their hearing was pulling out of the parking lot on the side of the building. As they rounded the corner, heading for the street, Jeremy had a clear view of Lisa and three other people. It looked like Alex’s parents. Dan Huggins was unlocking the vehicle and while they were waiting, Lisa was in the arms of a man and he was kissing her. That must be the fiancé she was talking about. Well, whether he got to her before or after her wedding, he didn’t care but he was going to make sure that no sane man would want her when he was finished with her.

Jeremy sat back in his seat when he could no longer see Lisa. He spent the time on the ride back to the prison thinking about all the ways he could hurt her and humiliate her like he had been over the last five years.

Lisa was very quiet on the ride home. She knew that Jeremy was furious about what she’d said. What if they let him out? Am I in danger? What about the children? How was she going to live in this fear once he was released, either now or in 18 months?

Seb held her close to him and felt how tense she was. When were they going to be able to extricate Jeremy for their lives permanently? He wasn’t going to let Jeremy affect the rest of their lives. They were too happy to let him spoil what they had together. She snuggled her head into the crook of his neck and pressed herself as close as possible to him.

When they got halfway home, Dan asked if they wanted to stop for dinner. It would be six o’clock when they got home, even if they didn’t stop. None of them would feel like cooking anyway. So they decided to stop and eat. Lisa knew that she should be starving after losing her lunch. She hadn’t told anyone about that. Maybe once they had their food in front of them, she would get her appetite back.

Dan found a nice Italian restaurant. After they were seated, Lisa excused herself and told everyone that she was going to call and check on the children. She called Mary, who was at the guest house with the children and she told Mary that they had stopped to eat dinner.

Mary could hear in Lisa’s voice that this wasn’t a good time to ask for any details, but she did ask if she was alright.

“I am, now that it’s over and once I was able to come back out to Seb.”

“He wasn’t able to go in with you?”

“No, only Jerry Bradford and I were allowed in, because of lack of space in the room. I was doing alright until Jeremy came into the room. I’d better get in and eat so we can come home. Thank you, Mary.”

After hanging up with Mary, Lisa made a quick call to Alex. She let her know that they would be on their way home as soon as they finished eating. She quickly gave her an abbreviated version of what had happened today and told her that she’d fill her in on the rest tomorrow when they came for dinner.

Alex had some exciting news to tell Lisa and hoped it would take her mind off of the rough time she’d had today.

“We’re buying a house. Because we aren’t financing it, but purchasing it right out, we were able to get the ball rolling much quicker. Plus, the owners are an elderly couple who have moved into an assisted living facility, which makes it better because the place is empty. They weren’t able to keep up the property any longer and are very happy that they have a buyer so quickly. We will be having the inspection and then setting up a closing date for as soon as possible. Mike’s been great. He knows that Urs wanted to be here for as much of this as possible, so he is helping to push things along. I’m sure that the big cut he’ll get out of the sale of this property has nothing to do with it.” She said sarcastically.

“Alex, that’s fantastic. I can’t wait to see it. Listen, Mom, Dad, and Seb are inside the restaurant waiting for me, so I’d better go. I’ll see you after work tomorrow. I want to hear all about the house and the property.”

Lisa hurried inside and excitedly told everyone about Alex and Urs buying a house. Afterwards, she belatedly thought that Alex might have wanted to share the news herself, but it was too late now. She’d let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. She would have to plead temporary insanity, because that’s how she’d felt today, like she was losing her mind.

Hearing Alex’s great news had helped to lift Lisa’s spirits and in turn everyone else’s as well. Dinner wound up being a lot nicer than they’d thought it would be when they first stopped to eat. Lisa found she actually was quite hungry and ate accordingly. She and Seb even shared a huge, sinfully delicious piece of chocolate cake.

Lisa fell asleep almost as soon as they left the restaurant and didn’t wake up until they had pulled into Mom and Dad’s. The stopping of the truck woke her and she was surprised that she’d slept the rest of the way home.

They didn’t go in, just said goodnight and Lisa thanked them heartily for coming and being such a strength for her. With hugs and kisses all around, they got in the truck and headed home to their children.

Unfortunately, they were just a little bit too late in getting home. The children were already sound asleep when they got in. Seb transferred the children’s seats back into the Escalade and they said thank you and goodnight to Mary with a promise to give her a tour of the house the next time she came over, so she could see how it was coming along. Seb and Lisa both plopped down on the couch and just nestled together in silence, just feeling very content to be home at last.

“Are you okay, Love?”

“Yes, I’m alright. It was not a day I’d like to have to repeat and I’m very glad it’s over, but I am glad I went and did what was necessary. I’d like to put it out of my mind as much as possible and concentrate on us and our wedding.”

“That sounds wonderful to me. There are only eight more days and nine more nights until we are married, my love.”

“You’ve been counting, huh?”

“Absolutely, this is going to be the most special day of my life. I can’t wait. Oh, I forgot to tell you. While you were outside talking to Alex and Mary on your phone, my mother called. She will be arriving on Saturday evening and will stay for a month.”

Having been in a panic mode most of the day already, it wasn’t a long trip for her to get right back there when Seb said his mother was staying for a month. What was she going to say to her? How much could they communicate? She had visions of when Alex had to translate everything Seb said. Plus, she still had some unresolved feelings about this woman who had given birth to Sebastien. But Marlene was his mother and she was going to have to get used to her being a part of their lives. If Seb could deal with having her around, then she would have to learn to accept her too.

“Seb?... Can your mother speak any English? I’ve been working on learning some French words, but I have a long way to go. Sammy knows more words than I do and putting them in a sentence is even further away for me. Does she know that I don’t speak French?”

“Calm down, Baby. It will all work out. She speaks English fairly well now and yes, she does know that you don’t speak French. Don’t worry about anything, Cherie. I will take care of everything. I also know that you are having a hard time coming to terms about what I told you about my childhood and having my mother here. Please don’t let her presence here spoil your enjoyment of our special time. She and I have had our conversations about the past and she knows I still struggle with it. But I do try to include her in my life whenever possible.”

“I’m sorry Seb. Like you, I have a hard time separating what you and Sammy have been through. It is still so new for me, dealing with this level of abuse. I promise, I will treat your mother with respect.”

“I never doubted that you would, baby.” Seb said softly as he ran his fingers across her cheek.

Seb talked Lisa into going to bed early. She had to work in the morning and she’d gotten so little sleep last night. She went into each of the children’s rooms and made sure that they were asleep and covered, kissing her fingertips and lightly touching Kayti’s forehead, and then in Sammy’s room, she leaned down and kissed his cheek. How much these children already filled her heart with so much love? It amazed her that it had happened so quickly.

She stepped into their bedroom and found Seb already shirtless and he stepped past her to go kiss the children goodnight. She was not immune to the feelings that flowed through her at seeing him in a state of semi-undress. She wanted so much to reach out to touch his bare chest as he walked past her, but sometimes she still let the nerves make her hesitate until it was too late and the moment was gone. She was beginning to recognize some of the different things that made Seb feel good and she was tucking all of these little tidbits of information away in her memory for future use.

That future was only just over a week away. On one hand, it seemed so far away and then when she thought about all that would be happening between now and then she wondered if there was enough time for it all.

Sebastien woke up in the morning, for the second time. He’d been awake for a while before Lisa and the kids had left for school and then he decided to lie down and get a little more rest after they’d gone. Tonight all of the other guys and their ladies would be here for dinner and they would probably be up late. He was actually feeling pretty good now. He only got sore if something pressed on his ribs. His stomach felt much better.

He knew Lisa planned on leaving work at three and was going to clean the house before everyone got there. He decided to beat her to it and get as much done as possible before she came home. He’d lazed around the house long enough. Except for some dishes and a couple of loads of laundry, he didn’t feel like he’d done his share around here.

Thankfully Mom and Dad had come over the week after New Years and took down all of the Christmas decorations and put them away in the storage building. Kayti and Sammy were not very happy that the tree was coming down and the snowman and Santa were getting stored away. But after Grandpa told them that all of their Christmas decorations were just going to take a nice long rest until it was time to come back out next year, Sammy at least, decided that it was okay for them to do that. Kayti took a lot of distraction before she forgot what she was upset about in the first place.

By the time Lisa came home, Seb had done just about everything that Lisa wanted to do. Lisa didn’t even get to tell Seb what she had done today. She was beginning to discover that if she wanted anything to stay a secret; she’d better not let Sammy know. He just didn’t understand the concept of a secret yet.

“Hi Papa, we came home and Mommy’s boo boo on her leg is almost all better now. The doctor said so. See, she got her cast off of her leg.”

Lisa and Seb grinned at each other over the excited boy’s head.

“I didn’t know that you had an appointment today.”

“I didn’t, but I got thinking while I was at work this morning. It is only another few days. My appointment was for Wednesday. One of the girls told me about how bad her leg looked after she got a cast off and I wanted to give it a few extra days to look better before the wedding. So I called the doctor, he said I could come in and he’d take an x-ray. He did and said it looked good. He wants me to wear this boot thing for a while, when I’m walking around, although he did give me permission to keep it off for the wedding. But, if you don’t mind, I am going to go take a quick shower and shave off the foot long fur on my leg.”

“A foot long? Let me see.”

“Not in this lifetime.” She said as she hurried into the bathroom and locked the door as she heard Seb coming after her.

He could hear her giggling behind the door.

“Awww come on baby. I bet it looks really cool.”

“You are kidding, right?”

“No!”

“Sorry Seb. Not this time.”

“Oh alright.” He sounded like one of the children when they weren’t getting their own way.

“I love you, Seb.” She hollered out to him.

Sammy, who didn’t think Seb had heard her, made sure he knew.

“Papa, Mommy said she loves you.”

“I know, isn’t it great?”

“Uh huh, Mommy loves me too, cuz she told me.”

“She sure does, Sammy. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Seb kept the children occupied and when Lisa came out she was all showered and dressed, with the boot on her foot to protect her ankle for a while longer. But it felt wonderful to be free from the confining plaster cast. Her leg did look terrible, even after the shaving was done. She’d had to be quite careful while she was shaving. As it was, she still nicked herself quite a few times because of the unevenness of her skin. It was all shriveled looking from being deprived of the air for all of those weeks. Her coworker had advised her to liberally apply a heavy duty moisturizing lotion as many times a day as possible until it was back to normal. She just hoped it would be better by next Saturday, because right now it looked like a prune.

She began going around the house intending to do the cleaning that needed to be done, but everything she went to do, she found that it had already been completed. She even went to the kitchen to do some prep work for their dinner and found a Cesar salad all ready and a wonderful looking dessert all ready in the fridge. When she looked on the counter and saw the recipe sitting there, she read it to see what he’d made. He had prepared a Tiramisu Toffee Dessert. But on further investigation, she saw that he’d used an available Toblerone in place of the toffee bar.
(http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tiramisu-Toffee-Dessert/Detail.aspx)

Lisa went outside where Seb was playing with the children. She walked up to him and without a word of warning; she leaned up and planted a wet and thorough kiss on his lips. When they finally broke apart and were trying to get their breath back, Seb asked,

“What did I do to deserve that, not that I’m complaining of course?”

“Everything! Thank you, Seb. You did everything that needed to be done. You cleaned the whole house and that dessert looks heavenly.” She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest.

“You’re welcome, but it was about time I started pulling my weight around here.”

“Sebastien Izambard, you have been healing from a very painful injury and you haven’t exactly been sitting around doing nothing either. You are always helping with the children, you’ve done some laundry and dishes and who knows what else.”

The rental car carrying David, Grace, Carlos and Vicki, pulled into the driveway and Seb ran to scoop Kayti up as she was running towards the slow moving car and trying to see who was here. She was becoming a social butterfly and enjoyed the amount of attention she got when there were guests.

“Kayti, you can’t run next to a car when it’s still driving or you will get squished all up.” Sammy admonished his sister loudly with a very serious look on his face.

Kayti was still in Seb’s arms and she began to tear up and her bottom lip began to quiver when she heard her brother speaking harshly to her. They were always the best buddies and she had never heard him speak to her this way.

Lisa leaned down and told Sammy to go and let Kayti know that he wasn’t angry with her.

“Mommy knows that you just wanted to make her be safe, but Kayti thinks you are mad at her.”

Sammy walked over to Seb and Kayti. Seb had knelt down so Sammy could talk to her.

“I’m sorry Kayti. Don’t cry. I just don’t want you to get all squished up.” He hugged her tightly and Kayti had a smile on her face when he let go.

“That was very nice Sammy.” His Papa told him.

The children ran to the sandbox and jumped in and began playing happily, allowing the adults to have a conversation. Everyone congratulated Lisa on getting her cast off. Seb of course had to tell everyone the tale of the exaggerated foot long fur on her leg that he wasn’t allowed to see.

Dinner was going to be a bit late since Alex had to complete the five and six o’clock news broadcasts before they would be over. Urs had spoken to the other guys, so they already knew about the house that they were buying. They all couldn’t wait to hear the details from the happy couple.

The girls finished preparing dinner while the guys stayed outside playing with the children until it got dark and a bit chilly. Urs and Alex arrived just as dinner was ready.

The dinner conversation went into full swing as they talked about the hearing yesterday, Lisa’s cast coming off, hopefully in time for her leg to stop looking like a prune by her wedding day.

David and Carlos told everyone what they and their ladies had been up to the past few days. They had done a lot of sightseeing, some with all four of them and some with each couple going alone to their destination.

Urs and Alex began telling them all about their house. It was a five bedroom, four bathroom, 6000 square foot, house, with fifty acres of property attached to it. The Newsome’s had raised all of their children in the same house. It had been taken care of lovingly for almost all of the years that they had owned it. It was only in the last several years that, due to their advancing age, they had been unable to do the necessary upkeep on their own and had finally decided to let it go.

Most of what needed to be done was cosmetic. A coat of fresh paint was going to do wonders for the house. The property directly around the house needed a cleanup, much like Lisa’s had, but it hadn’t been as long since theirs had been cleaned up so it wasn’t going to be as big of a project. Alex was mostly pleased with the trees and flowers that were planted on the property. She could only think of a few additions she would like to make. She was getting so excited to be moving out of the apartment now. Their biggest news about the house was still to come.

“Lisa, remember before you moved in and we drove around the surrounding streets to see what was surrounding your property?”

“Yes.”

“Remember that area directly behind you where your property ends and there is another section of undeveloped property behind yours?”

“Uh Huh.”

“That’s our property!” Alex said excitedly. “We’ll be neighbors, sort of, with just a lot of woodsy area between us.”

Of course the girls began squealing and hugging.

“We could run a private road out back there between the properties.” Seb suggested.

“Oh Seb, that would be so perfect. That’s a great idea. Urs, we’ll need to see about doing that as soon as we close on the house.”

“If you agree, Lisa, we could get started on our end right away and then we’d just have to complete the section on your property once you own it.” He said looking to Urs for approval.

“Oh definitely, we can get that started as soon as we could get someone out here to begin clearing the road.” Lisa said.

“Urs why don’t you come tomorrow and we can take a walk out back there and decide where it would be best to put it.”

“That would be great, but are you sure you’re up to it?”

“I’m doing much better and a good walk will do me good. And if Mommy says it’s okay, maybe someone could walk with us.” Seb said silently indicating Sammy.

He didn’t want Sammy to be disappointed if Lisa didn’t think it was a good idea. But he’d felt bad that he hadn’t yet been able to take Sammy anywhere and do anything with him like they had talked about. Of course, when they had first discussed that, it was to help rid Sammy of any remaining fears of Seb. They hadn’t seen any indication of any nervousness from Sammy with Seb for days. He seemed totally comfortable.

Seb still became overwhelmed when he thought about Sammy’s care and compassion while he had been in bed recovering from the accident. He wanted so much to be able to look back in the years to come and see that he and Sammy had a very close relationship.

“Sure, that’s a great idea. It will be good exercise for him. You’ll just need to watch for snakes and bushes with briars on them. Snakes shouldn’t be out too much this time of year but it’s been extra warm this year. I know he’ll love it though.”

“Sammy, how would you like to take a long walk with us tomorrow?”

“Uh Huh. That will be fun. I can look for snakes too.” Sammy said with all the enthusiasm of every little boy who wants to be outside picking up snakes and frogs and all kinds of bugs.

“Oh lovely” Lisa said grinning at Seb.

“We can make it a little bit of an educational walk for him. We can teach him about the snakes and how not to try to pick them up. Especially here, there are so many poisonous snakes in Florida.” Urs said.

“You are going to make such a great Papa, Urs.” Alex said wrapping her arms around him.”

Sammy didn’t miss a thing.

“Are you gonna get a little boy like me, Onkle Urs?”

Urs looked to Lisa for help. How should he answer the question? How much information was appropriate for the boy?

“Sammy, Onkle Urs and Auntie Alex are going to have a little baby, not a big boy like you yet.”

“Like Kayti?”

“No, even smaller. You know the very tiny babies at school that I showed you?”

“Oh yes, they are very tiny. My first real Mommy had one like that. But it fell asleep in Mommy’s bed and wouldn’t wake up no more. Mommy digged a hole and put it in a box by our tree and covered it up. She gived it a teddy bear to sleep with in the box.”

Everyone was stunned at Sammy’s revelation. She’d have to ask Brenda about it. She felt sure thought that Brenda probably would have told her if she knew about it. Maybe he was mistaken. Maybe his Mother was watching someone else’s baby and then they went home. Children’s views on events were sometimes a bit jumbled when they didn’t understand something. Then again, from Sammy’s account of things, maybe the baby had died and she buried it in her yard to cover up the death.

It wasn’t very late and Lisa was so bothered by this that she went to call Brenda and tell her what Sammy had just said to them. When she returned to the table, she said that Brenda was going to call the police and have them check out the yard where Sammy and his mother lived.

While Lisa was putting the children to bed, Seb asked Urs if he would come with him on an errand tomorrow, probably before they went for their walk.

“Sure, where are you going?”

“I’m going to go get a car. Now that I’m feeling better, I don’t want to be stuck in the house all week while Lisa’s working. Maman is coming tomorrow evening and staying for a month.”

“How do you feel about that? That’s a long visit.”

“It’s alright. I want her to get to know my new family. I’m hoping it will help us to keep repairing our relationship.”

“That will be good, if that is what you want.”

“It is. She’ll always be my mother.”

“Why don’t you take Lisa to get your car? Alex and I will watch the little ones.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I need all the practice I can get.” Urs said with a cheeky grin. “Then when you get back, we will go for our walk.”

“Okay, that would be great.”

They had dessert and then called it a night. Everyone had some kind of plans for tomorrow. David, Carlos and their girls were going to go hang out on a semi private beach that David and Grace had found. There were still other people, but not the kind of crowds you’d find on the public beaches, especially near the boardwalk. They’d just bring their own food and drinks instead of venturing into the heavily populated areas.

Everyone thanked Lisa and Seb for the great meal as they were leaving. Seb and Lisa stood outside enjoying the night air as they watched their friends leaving and wound up staying out there for a while, just looking at the stars and Seb even pointed out a satellite that he found slowly making its track across the sky.

While they were cleaning the kitchen up, Seb told Lisa about going to purchase his car and that Urs offered to watch the kids if she wanted to go.

“I’d like to go, if they really don’t mind watching Sammy and Kayti for a while. What are your plans for when you pick up your mother at the airport tomorrow? Were you planning on going alone?”

“No, actually I’d like for us to all go as a family. That is, if that is okay with you. If you’d rather wait here until I pick her up, that’s okay too.”

Lisa hugged him and assured him that she was very glad that he wanted them all to go to pick her up. That settled, and the kitchen done, they went into the living room and sat snuggling on the couch and enjoyed the closeness. Seb could feel Lisa’s smile against his chest.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Seven more days and eight more nights.” She said, continuing the countdown Seb had started last night.

“Grrrrrr, I know and I’m going crazy with wanting you.” Seb said in a growl and turned and pretended to bite her neck.

Lisa knew that he wasn’t pushing her. He was just stating a fact. She knew at least somewhat what he was feeling, because she was feeling some of the same. Seb kissed her thoroughly, making her feel the need as much as he and eventually moved them to the bed so they could get a good nights sleep.

Chapter 62:

Saturday, one week before the wedding, was a busy day. Urs and Alex came over just after breakfast, allowing Seb and Lisa to go get Seb’s car. They went through much the same routine as when they’d purchased the Escalade and just over an hour after arriving at the dealership, a very happy Seb drove away in his brand new BMW, top down of course, since it was such a beautiful day. Lisa had to agree that this was a great car and fun to ride in. This time, it was her turn to play with all of the knobs and controls while Seb was driving. By the time they got back to the house, she knew how most everything worked. She’d even set the clock on the dash to the correct time.

Seb spent the time it took for Lisa to fix them all lunch, to show Urs and Alex his new toy. After they ate, Lisa quickly got Kayti settled down in her crib for a nap. If she saw Sammy going off with Seb and Urs, it would not be pretty.

Sammy was so excited. For the first time, he wasn’t interested in finishing what was on his plate. He wasn’t worried anymore about getting enough to eat. He just wanted to get outside and go on their adventure. Seb talked him into finishing his lunch so he would have enough energy to do all that walking. Sammy seemed to understand a lot if you took the time to explain things to him and he was usually very easy to get to do exactly as instructed. Like all children, he did get distracted from his task occasionally.

Lisa fixed some little bags of trail mix for them to take on their walk. She didn’t think they’d really be gone long enough to get hungry, but she always liked for Sammy to have food available to him. Now that he was putting on some weight, he didn’t feel the need to constantly eat what Lisa had left on the tables for him to snack on. Just having it available, had made that less of an issue.

Three men left out the back door and went on their walk. Sammy would run ahead a bit then come running back and run around them and then head off again. Seb had instructed him before they left, that he needed to stay where he and Urs could see him, so he wouldn’t get lost in all of the trees. They were pleased when they noticed that he constantly looked behind him to make sure he could see them.

“He looks great, Seb. He’s so happy. It is amazing the difference in him. His skin has a healthy glow now and he isn’t all skin and bones anymore.”

“I know, he makes me smile and laugh so much. He learns quickly too. I’ve been teaching him French and Carlos has been giving him some Spanish words. You should give him some in Swiss German.”

“You don’t think it will get too confusing for him, with so many languages at once?”

“It hasn’t seemed to confuse him yet. Lisa said he knows all of his letters on sight now as long as they are all upper case letters. She has only been working with him on them for a month.

She is so excited to get all of the learning areas set up in the new house. She has so many great ideas for activities. Of course there will be the usual reading and math and things like that, but she has ideas for crafts, computer learning, dress up play, she even went after Halloween and bought a bunch of costumes, none of them scary though.”

“Papa, come see it.”

Seb and Urs hurried to Sammy, hoping that he hadn’t found the snake he’d been hoping to find. Instead it was a large toad and he wanted to pick it up, but Urs talked him into just watching it for a while.

“But I wish Mommy could see it.” Sammy mildly complained.

“I have an idea. I brought the camera with me, so we can take pictures of where the new road will be. How about I take a picture of the toad and you can tell Mommy and Kayti all about it?”

“Can I take a piture?”

“Sure, come here buddy and I’ll help you.” Seb told him.

With help, Sammy proudly got his picture of the toad and couldn’t wait to get home to show his Mommy. During their walk, Sammy found many more things he wanted to take “pitures” of. Seb decided he’d have to get Sammy a cheap camera to use. Who knew, he might wind up becoming a photographer someday.

As they’d been walking, Seb and Urs had placed wooden stakes with a red flag on them, along a path that they thought would be good for the new road. They had even kept going once they realized they must be on the property that Urs was buying. It wouldn’t hurt anything to go ahead and get the stakes laid out.

Urs was hoping that in the five weeks that he was still going to be here, that the purchase would be completed. Then he would make sure that Alex had help moving and maybe even get the road cleared so the girls could travel between the two homes without going all the way around.

While the boys were out walking, Alex and Lisa had time for a long talk. Lisa kept pressing for as many details as Alex would give her about the new property until Alex realized that Lisa was avoiding talking about the hearing.

“Okay, Spill it, Chickie. I know that whatever happened yesterday bothered you, a lot.”

Lisa told Alex everything, right from the beginning of the hearing all the way until Jeremy’s chilling look at her as he exited the room. Alex understood then why Lisa was so spooked. Even as Lisa spoke about the hearing Alex could see how tense Lisa got.

“He’s furious that I was there yesterday and that I spoke out. I could see it in his eyes. You should have heard him when he told me how sorry he was that Auntie had died. I knew he was just saying that for the benefit of the board members. I’m afraid of what he’ll do if he gets out, Alex.”

“Try not to let it eat you up this week. There isn’t anything you can do about it. Please, don’t let him ruin your wedding, Sweetie.”

“I know, I keep thinking, he’s taken enough from me already. I can’t let him take anything else. This is the most important day of my life and I am going to have only wonderful memories to tuck away.”

When Seb, Urs and Sammy returned from their walk, Sammy couldn’t wait to tell them about his adventure. Lisa pulled him into her lap and listened while he told her about all of the interesting things he’d seen. Seb downloaded the pictures they’d taken so he could show his Mommy his toad and all of the bugs and even a large bird’s nest they spotted up in a tree.

He showed Sammy that he was setting up a folder on the computer just for Sammy’s pictures.

Then Urs and Seb showed the girls the pictures they had taken of Urs and Alex’s house. They showed where the road would come out of the woods and intersect with the driveway that was already there. Both houses had iron gates at the entrance of the driveways off of the main roads, so they wouldn’t have traffic trying to use their private road as a cut through. There would be a lot of children running around and traffic would be kept to a minimum.

They would have to be leaving to pick up Marlene soon, so Seb called Sammy over and took him into the bathroom and got them both showered and dressed. Seb had showed him the shower the other day and at first he wasn’t too keen on it but eventually he decided it was okay but he still like to play in the bathtub better. There wasn’t enough time for play today so a quick shower had been in order.

Urs and Alex left, deciding to drive around and look over the property again. Alex couldn’t get enough of going over there and imagining all the things she would be able to do there that hadn’t been possible in the apartment.

Lisa gave Kayti a quick bath and dressed her in one of her pretty dresses and put her hair up in bows and hoped she would leave them in at least until they had picked Marlene up. Seb gave the kids a snack of apple slices and goldfish, even thinking to put a bib on Kayti and a towel in front of Sammy’s shirt while Lisa got ready to go. This Papa stuff was getting easier as he went along, Seb thought.

Lisa was glad that the weather was so mild. She wore a sleeveless, knee length linen dress. It was comfortable and pretty. She put on a light covering of makeup and brushed her hair until it had a beautiful shine to it.

She was still nervous about meeting her soon to be mother in law. She hadn’t said any more about it to Seb but she hoped the woman liked her and that she was kind to the children. She had had visions of a cold woman who had little patience for little ones. It would break their hearts if either Sammy or Kayti were snubbed by this woman. She knew that Seb had told her all about them and where they had come from, and about what Lisa would be doing at the group home.

The phone rang and Seb told Lisa the he would get it. He didn’t come to get her so she just finished getting ready. When Seb came to stand in the doorway to the bedroom, Lisa thought he looked a bit pale.

“Seb, what’s wrong?”

He turned to make sure that the children were still otherwise occupied and wouldn’t overhear what he was going to say. Then he turned back and told her.

“That was Brenda. The police have found the box that Sammy told us about. It was buried under a tree in the back yard, just as he’d said it was. She said the box contained the remains of an infant wrapped in a blanket. It looked to be female by the clothes it was wearing. There was also a small teddy bear in the box. So, Sammy’s recollections were correct. Brenda said she would be going to the records offices on Monday and see if there was ever a record of Sammy’s mother giving birth to another child. The remains were taken to the medical examiner and they would release a report when it was completed.”

Seb had sat on the end of the bed and tears were streaming down his face as he told her. Lisa sat next to him and pulled him into her arms and they both cried for this baby who had never had a chance to live its life. Sammy obviously had a sibling that he had longed so much for.

“I told Brenda that after all the necessary investigations were done, that we would take possession of the baby and handle the burial. Sammy should be able to go visit the grave of this child when he is older, if he wants to. We’ll order a nice stone for her.”

“Thank you Seb. That is just what I was thinking that I would like to do.”

Realizing that it was getting late, they finished getting ready and loaded the kids into the truck. They put a video into the player to occupy the kids on the half hour ride.

Sammy didn’t last long before he fell asleep, tired out from the walk. He had enjoyed it so much and Seb vowed to make that a special thing for them. Over the years, they would take many walks together taking that time to talk about things that were on their minds, some serious and others just small talk. But, Sammy was comfortable talking to Seb about things that troubled him or when he had a decision to make. He usually would hash it out with Seb and get his Papa’s opinion about it. He didn’t always follow Seb’s advice, but at least he knew that Papa would always be there to talk to.

For Seb and Lisa, the ride to the airport was quiet. Each of them was lost in their thoughts about Sammy’s baby sister. How did she die? They both hoped it hadn’t suffered, but after the condition Sammy was in they didn’t hold out much hope for that.

When they were almost to the airport, Sammy woke up and asked if they were there yet.

“Almost Buddy. Do you remember who we are picking up at the airport?”

“Uh Huh, your Maman.” Sammy said with his new French word that Seb had taught him.

“That’s right. She is my mother. She is going to come and stay for a while.”

“Is she going to live at our house?”

“Yes, she will stay in Kayti’s room this time. That is why we moved Kayti’s crib into your room for a while. Okay?”

“Yup”

Lisa had kept the day bed that she had ordered before Sammy’s arrival and now she was glad that she had. They had made room in Sammy’s room for the crib and had put the daybed in Kayti’s room and a night stand. Lisa had one of Auntie’s antique dressers that she wanted to have refinished eventually, but for now it would work well enough and they had put that in Kayti’s room as well, so Maman wouldn’t have to live out of a suitcase for a month.

They arrived at the airport about twenty minutes before the flight was scheduled to arrive and after checking the screens to make sure that the flight was still on time, they each took a child and made a stop in the restrooms. Sammy felt so grown up when Seb helped him potty in the men’s room like the big men.

They met back out on the concourse and headed for the baggage claim area which was going to be the easiest place to find her.

Lisa saw the excitement in Seb when they saw that the plane had landed. They found the correct carousel that her luggage would be on and waited for her there.

“Maman” Seb shouted when he spotted his mother coming down the escalator. She almost wasn’t even able to get off of it before he swept her into a giant hug.

Marlene Izambard was overcome with emotion at seeing her son. Even though she had just seen him at Christmas, she had been quite emotional since she’d heard about the accident he and Lisa had been in. She held onto him tightly until she realized that she might be hurting him.

Seb guided his mother to where Lisa and the children were standing and he introduced them to her. At first, they spoke for just a bit in French and then Seb apologized to Lisa and claimed that his excitement had gotten the better of him and the French had just tumbled out.

“Maman, I would like to introduce you to my fiancée, Lisa Daniels and these are our two children. This handsome boy here is Sammy and this beautiful little angel here is Kayti.” He said, indicating the little girl who was now being happily lifted into her Papa’s arms.

“Bonjour…Hello, Mrs. Izambard. It is wonderful that you could make the trip to be here for our wedding, especially on such short notice.” Lisa could feel the woman sizing her up and she couldn’t get any kind of sense of what she was thinking about her.

Marlene looked at this beautiful young woman that her son had chosen to be his wife. She had met quite a few of Sebastien’s lady friends over the years and had liked some of them more than others. Some she hadn’t liked at all and told him so. She wondered at the information that Seb had given her about this woman. Could she be as wonderful as he said she was? He often let his heart take over and forgot to use his head when it came to falling in love so she was always concerned. So many women were just out to get him so they could live the life of the rich and famous. That had been her concern when he told her about their quick wedding.

She could see that Lisa was nervous about meeting her. She was trying so hard to repair the damage that she and others had done to Seb as a child. She was thankful that he was allowing her that chance. She knew that it was very important for the relationship with her and Seb, that she build a good relationship with Lisa. If she didn’t she knew that she would lose him for sure and this time it would be forever. Marlene just hoped that she would actually like Lisa once she got to know his chosen one.

“Hello, Lisa. It is a pleasure to meet you. My Sebastien has told me so much about you, especially when he was home for Christmas. He talked about nothing more than you and the children.” She said taking Lisa’s hand in hers.

Lisa finally relaxed just a bit when Marlene smiled at her.

“Thank you so much for inviting me to come visit and to be here for the wedding. I wouldn’t have missed my only child’s wedding for anything.”

Marlene crouched down so that she was down to Sammy’s level. She looked into the face that made her think way back to when Sebastien was that small. That was before his father had left them and she had believed them to be a very happy family.

“Hello Grand-mere.” Then he looked up to Seb and asked, “Did I say it right, Papa?”

“You said it perfectly, Son.” Seb told him and he saw the smile on his mother’s face as she heard the child calling her little boy, Papa.

“Maman, I have been teaching Sammy some French and he is so smart. With two of us to teach him, he will be speaking it fluently in no time.”

“It does sound like you are a very smart boy, Sammy. We will have to do some talking together.” She smiled into the happy face. She could see how much it meant to him to please his Papa.

She stood with Seb’s help on her arm. She was rather stiff after the long flights.

“You are right, Seb. This is truly an angel. “Hello, Mon Ange.” She said to Kayti and ran her hand over the long blonde curls.

Kayti’s hair that had been just to the top of her shoulders when she moved in with Lisa, was now several inches longer and still curling wildly.

Marlene fell instantly in love with Kayti. She had always wanted to have a little girl but had been unable to have any more children after Sebastien. She looked appreciatively at the way Lisa had dressed her up and did her hair. She had obviously taken extra care to make a good impression today.

“Kayti, can you say hello?” Lisa asked Kayti.

“Hi Granmam.”

Marlene’s face lit up with such a genuine smile that Lisa couldn’t help but smile with her. She had obviously taken to the children, but, what about her? What was she really thinking about her?

Seb suggested they gather Maman’s luggage and get out of the way. It looked like another group of travelers was making its way to the carousel from another flight. Once they had gotten her luggage and put it into the back of the Escalade, she stopped and put her hand on his arm.

“Titti, how are you feeling? You look a bit pale to me. Are you healing well from your injuries?”

“Yes, I’m much better now. I have had excellent care while I have been recuperating. Between Lisa and Sammy, I couldn’t have had better nurses. I am just a bit sore in a few spots, but otherwise I am much better now. In a few weeks, I’ll be as good as new.”

Marlene threw her arms around her son.

“I am so happy to hear that. I was so worried after your call about the accident. I wanted to come sooner to take care of you. But I can see that your beautiful lady has done a fine job.”

Hearing Seb’s mother say that meant a great deal to Lisa. Maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

As they left the airport, Seb and his mother got caught up on tidbits of news. She filled him in on things at home, with the family and people that he knew. He told her about Urs and Alex finding a house right behind them and only after he saw her confused look, he realized that the news about the baby and Urs’s proposal had come after he had seen her at Christmas, so he wound up starting at the beginning, telling her about Lisa’s best friend and Urs falling in love and that they were already expecting a child. He didn’t go into the details about Joe.

“I remember Sebastien telling me about you and your friend all those years ago when you visited Paris.” Marlene turned and told Lisa who had insisted that Marlene sit up front with Seb and she was in back with the children.

Both Lisa and Seb were surprised at this.

“You remember that, Maman?”

“How could I not? You were very…..moody, yes that’s the word, moody after she left.” She said smiling. “You stayed that way for a long time. I wondered how you could think yourself in love after such a short time and with someone you couldn’t even speak to. It would have made more sense for you to have fallen in love with her French speaking friend.”

Seb was ready to jump in and defend Lisa to his last breath but his mother continued,

“But now I see. I see the love between you. It is so clear to see in both of your eyes. Who can explain it when it happens? It makes me very happy to see how much you love my son.” She said looking back at Lisa.

“I do love Seb, Mrs. Izambard. I promise I do, with everything I have inside of me.”

Marlene reached back and grasped Lisa’s hand.

“Please, call me Maman.”

And so, the tension that had been eating at Lisa since the day that she knew about Seb’s mother coming, finally disappeared. They of course had awkward moments when Marlene had trouble thinking of an English word for something and Lisa didn’t know what the woman wanted to say, but Seb was around most of the time and helped to bridge that gap effectively. She was thankful that she was able to stay with them instead of an impersonal hotel room for a whole month and she told Lisa so.

“I appreciate you making these adjustments so I could stay here.”

“I’m glad we were able to do it too. When the main house is finished there will be guest rooms at least until we fill them all with children. I’ve already looked into planning for additions to the house when they are needed.

Lisa had planned a light and easy dinner and had it on the table in just a few minutes. She went to call everyone to the table and found them all in Sammy’s room. He was as usual, having fun showing her his bedroom and Bob. She was unfamiliar with Bob the Builder but over the course of her stay, Sammy made sure that his new Grandmere was well educated.

After the children were in bed, Seb, Lisa and Maman sat around the table. They made sure they told her about all of the plans for the wedding. That was still almost a week away and they still had so much going on before then.

On Monday morning, both Seb and Lisa had doctor’s appointments to have their stitches removed from their head wounds and just a general recheck to make sure they were healing well from the accident. Right after that, they had the appointment with Dr. Talbot. Lisa momentarily thought about canceling and rescheduling that appointment for after they got back from their honeymoon. But, Dr. Talbot had stressed how important it was for Sammy, that they keep on their schedule and not skip appointments unless there was no other option. So she decided they’d keep the appointment.

On Tuesday, It was going to be the big day that Ty and Ed were coming with their team and putting in the new playground. Lisa had taken Sammy and Kayti to the local park and they had played on the one at school and Sammy was so excited to be having one put in, right in their own yard. They had been in contact online and had finalized the plans for what the playground would look like.

After Seb made sure that his mother was comfortable in her room and made her promise to knock and wake him if she needed anything, he came into the bedroom and found Lisa just sliding into bed.

“Is she all set? Do you think she’ll tell us if she needs anything?”

“I told her to let us know if there was anything.” Seb said as he slid in beside her and gathered her into his arms.

He wasn’t sure if Lisa was even aware of the sigh of contentment that she made every night when they got into bed and got comfortable. Once she was all settled with her head on his shoulder, she always let out a big sigh that always made him smile. Their wedding had seemed so far away even just a few weeks ago, but now it was less than a week away and he couldn’t wait.

Lisa leaned up and kissed him goodnight, lingering on his lips and running her fingers through his hair and then sliding her hand over the hair on his chest. All of a sudden Seb saw that she had gotten rather a nice blush to her face as she looked to be thinking about something.

“What is it, Baby? Tell me what you are thinking about.”

“Your mother. She thinks we are sleeping together.”

“We are sleeping together.” He pointed out with a cheeky grin.

“No, you know what I mean. She thinks we are…. You know.” She said, the color in her cheeks increasing .

“Oh, well actually no she doesn’t. She knows that you are waiting for our wedding night.”

“She does?”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh… okay.” Lisa settled down into Seb’s warm embrace and fell into a contented sleep.