Chapter 36 – Darren
8 Months Later
Christmas carols floated through the air in my house on Christmas eve, mixed with the pleasant sound of polite conversation and laughter. My house had never been so alive, so full of love.
Harlow, Ramsey, and Jensen Bradford were all there with their wives and children. The toddlers, Drew and James, played cars on a race track with my son Bryant. Our fellow former SEAL, Larson was there too, with his wife Brynn. He had adopted her son, Caleb, who was the oldest of the bunch and who was alternating between playing cars with Drew and Bryant and James, and wandering over to where Harlow and Whitney’s now nearly one year old daughter, Bella, was playing blocks in the corner.
“Boom!” Caleb said, knocking over some blocks and causing Bella to laugh and stack them up again.
“Boom, boom, boom!” Bella repeated, before going back to blowing raspberries.
Caleb was really good with younger kids, and enjoyed helping her stack the blocks back up. I hoped that Bryant would be as good with his younger sibling— we had decided not to find out if it was a girl or a boy, and instead be surprised after the baby’s birth, which, judging from the size of Hope’s baby bump and her overdue due date, could be any day now.
The baby was supposed to be here by Christmas but it turned out babies have their own ways of doing things and sometimes like to take their own sweet time. I had decided long ago that whenever the baby wanted to make his or her arrival would be fine with me, even though I was rather impatient.
I realized now, though, that some things had to be worth waiting for, and were. I was also treasuring the time together with Bryant, making up for lost weeks and months and years, before his baby sibling arrived. I hoped he wouldn’t be jealous and that instead we could all be a happy family.
Everyone was in a great mood. It was like the accident had never happened and we were just five happy families enjoying our holiday together. Plus Eve was there, of course, as was my mother. Bryant had been really enjoying living with Hope and me, but he always loved when Grandma came over to visit, or when we went over to her house. Those two would always have a very special bond thanks to how she had cared for him when I needed her to the most.
“Hope, you look absolutely amazing,” said Ramsey’s wife Monica. “Do you mind if I touch? I always hated when people just did that to me without asking.
“Go right ahead,” Hope answered, giggling, while Monice rubbed her very pregnant belly. “And thank you for the compliment. I hope that I look a lot better than I have been feeling these days.”
That got laughter from everyone in the house.
“Is everyone ready to eat?” called Eve from the kitchen.
She was looking better than ever and had insisted on coming over and cooking for the party. She didn’t usually cook or clean any more, as she had enough money to live on and we had hired someone new quite a while back.
I had told her that she didn’t have to cook today, either, but she said that she would be glad to do that for her future son-in-law, daughter, and grandchild. She was quite insistent on calling me her future son in law, so I knew I should get the ball rolling with plans to make that official soon. I could tell that Hope was happy to have her there doing what she loved, and that Eve of course enjoyed cooking Christmas dinner, so I didn’t put up much of a protest, even though I would have rather her just rest instead of slave over the stove.
Eve had been seeing some of the best doctors in the country. I had told them to find the best treatment and that I would pay for it, whatever the cost.
It seemed that as soon as she started being treated by the doctors, her condition improved dramatically. She came right back to working for me, even though I told her that I would have to find someone to replace her. There was no way that my child’s grandmother was going to be working for me or anyone else if I had anything to do with it.
So, as far as I was concerned, the day she insisted on coming back was the last day she was ever going to work for me. She took her time, making everything sparkle and shine, for her last time being my housekeeper.
At dinner, I felt like I wanted to make a speech.
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” Everyone turned to look at me and the music was turned all the way down.
“Thank you all so much for joining us here today. Your love and support means the world to me. I know that it has not been easy with all that we have been through, but I am happy that we are able to spend time together as we prepare for a new chapter of our lives. Cheers.”
Everyone raised their glasses and called out “cheers”.
“I’d like to say something, too,” said Ramsey, standing up. “I am so grateful that we are here with you today. For a while, I thought that we would never come back together. And the fact that you welcomed us into your home to celebrate Christmas and the birth of your new child says a lot. We love you, man.”
Ramsey and I hugged like long lost brothers. And soon, the rest of the Bradford brothers joined us, as did Larson. Because, that’s what we really were.
Ramsey had saved my life. And Harlow had helped me restore it. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.
I motioned to Hope, and she came over to join the hug. Her hair smelled like cinnamon as I pulled her in close to me.
“Have you been baking?” I asked her.
“Perhaps I got up earlier than you to make you one of my famous apple pies,” she said.
I laughed, and kissed her. Bryant had been busy with his toys, but— never one to want to be left out— he bounded over to us to join in the group hug, as did my mom, and the rest of the women who had been at the table.
“I love you, Daddy,” he said.
“I love you too, son.”
I looked around at everyone there with us and decided to say something cheesy. It was Christmas eve, after all, and the first time I had ever been able to put this expensive cabin to use, filling it with love and light of friends coming together for a special occasion.
“I love all of you, too.”
“Cheers,” said Harlow, grabbing his bottle of beer and holding it up high. We all did the same. “To our reunion.”
“To our reunion.”
We had certainly been reunited by love and a baby.
Merry Christmas to us all.